{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_58829/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_58829","id":"gutenberg_58829","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/58829","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Legends -- Germany","Mythology, Germanic","Mythology, Norse"],"text":"Produced by Charlene Taylor and the Online Distributed\nProofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was\nproduced from images generously made available by The\nInternet Archive/American Libraries.)\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n Teutonic Mythology\n\n Gods and Goddesses\n of the Northland\n\n IN\n THREE VOLUMES\n\n By VIKTOR RYDBERG, Ph.D.,\n MEMBER OF THE SWEDISH ACADEMY; AUTHOR OF \"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. II.\n\n PUBLISHED BY THE\n NORR\u0152NA SOCIETY,\n LONDON COPENHAGEN STOCKHOLM BERLIN NEW YORK\n 1906\n\n _OF THE_\n\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: NORR\u0152NA]\n\n COPYRIGHT,\n T. H. SMART,\n 1905.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: VALKYRIES BRINGING THE BODY OF A SLAIN WARRIOR TO VALHALLA\n\n(_From an etching by Lorenz Fr\u00f6lich._)\n\nHeimdal, the god of light, father of men, sire of kings, was warder of\nthe gates of Valhalla and lived in a castle at the end of the rainbow\n(Bifr\u00f6st bridge). He possessed a trumpet called Gjallarhorn with which he\nsummoned together the gods at Ragnarok. He is represented as the zealous\ngate-keeper who received and admitted to Valhalla the bodies of warriors\nslain in battle, when brought hence by Valkyrie maidens who gathered them\nfrom battle-fields. Valhalla was the abode of Odin in Asgard which was\nsituated in Gladsheim, the valley of joy. In this paradise dead warriors\nwere revived and spent all after-time fighting, feasting, and drinking\nas the guests of Odin, pursuing those pleasures that most delighted them\nwhen in the flesh.]\n\n\n\n\nTEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY.\n\n\n\n\nTABLE OF CONTENTS.\n\nVOLUME TWO\n\n\n Page\n\n Myth in Regard to the Lower World 353\n\n Myth Concerning Mimer's Grove 379\n\n Mimer's Grove and Regeneration of the World 389\n\n Gylfaginning's Cosmography 395\n\n The Word Hel in Linguistic Usage 406\n\n Border Mountain Between Hel and Nifelhel 414\n\n Description of Nifelhel 426\n\n Who the Inhabitants of Hel are 440\n\n The Classes of Beings in Hel 445\n\n The Kingdom of Death 447\n\n Valkyries, Psycho-messengers of Diseases 457\n\n The Way of Those who Fall by the Sword 462\n\n Risting with the Spear-point 472\n\n Loke's Daughter, Hel 476\n\n Way to Hades Common to the Dead 482\n\n The Doom of the Dead 485\n\n The Looks of the Thingstead 505\n\n The Hades Drink 514\n\n The Hades Horn Embellished with Serpents 521\n\n The Lot of the Blessed 528\n\n Arrival at the Na-gates 531\n\n The Places of Punishment 534\n\n The Hall in Nastrands 540\n\n Loke's Cave of Punishment 552\n\n The Great World-Mill 565\n\n The World-Mill makes the Constellations Revolve 579\n\n Origin of the Sacred Fire 586\n\n Mundilfore's Identity with Lodur 601\n\n Nat, Mother of the Gods 608\n\n Narfi, Nat's Father 611\n\n Giant Clans Descended from Ymer 624\n\n Identity of Mimer and Nidhad 630\n\n Review of Mimer's Names and Epithets 641\n\n The Mead Myth 644\n\n The Moon and the Mead 669\n\n Myths of the Moon-God 680\n\n\n\n\nLIST OF PHOTOGRAVURES.\n\n\n Page\n VOL. II.\n\n Valkyries Bringing the Body of a Slain Warrior\n to Valhalla Frontispiece\n\n Thor Destroys the Giant Thrym 456\n\n The Punishment of Loke 552\n\n Gefion and King Gylphi 616\n\n\n\n\nTHE MYTH IN REGARD TO THE LOWER WORLD.\n\n(_Part IV. Continued from Volume I._)\n\n\n53.\n\n AT WHAT TIME DID LIF AND LEIFTHRASER GET THEIR PLACE OF REFUGE\n IN MIMER'S GROVE? THE ASMEGIR. MIMER'S POSITION IN MYTHOLOGY.\n THE NUMINA OF THE LOWER WORLD.\n\nIt is necessary to begin this investigation by pointing out the fact that\nthere are two versions of the last line of strophe 45 in Vafthrudnersmal.\nThe version of this line quoted above was--_enn thadan af aldir alaz_:\n\"Thence (from Lif and Leifthraser in Mimer's grove) races are born.\"\nCodex Upsalensis has instead--_ok thar um alldr alaz_: \"And they (Lif\nand Leifthraser) have there (in Mimer's grove) their abiding place\n_through ages_.\" Of course only the one of these versions can, from\na text-historical standpoint, be the original one. But this does not\nhinder both from being equally legitimate from a mythological standpoint,\nproviding both date from a time when the main features of the myth about\nLif and Leifthraser were still remembered. Examples of versions equally\njustifiable from a mythological standpoint can be cited from other\nliteratures than the Norse. If we in the choice between the two versions\npay regard only to the age of the manuscripts, then the one in Codex\nUpsalensis, which is copied about the year 1300,[1] has the preference.\nIt would, however, hardly be prudent to put the chief emphasis on this\nfact. Without drawing any conclusions, I simply point out the fact\nthat the oldest version we possess of the passage says that Lif and\nLeifthraser live through ages in Mimer's grove. Nor is the other version\nmuch younger, so far as the manuscript in which it is found is concerned,\nand from a mythological standpoint that, too, is beyond doubt correct.\n\nIn two places in the poetic Edda (Vegtamskv, 7, and Fjolsvinnsm., 33)\noccurs the word _\u00e1smegir_. Both times it is used in such a manner that\nwe perceive that it is a mythological _terminus technicus_ having a\ndefinite, limited application. What this application was is not known. It\nis necessary to make a most thorough analysis of the passages in order to\nfind the signification of this word again, since it is of importance to\nthe subject which we are discussing. I shall begin with the passage in\nFjolsvinnsmal.\n\nThe young Svipdag, the hero in Grogalder and in Fjolsvinnsmal, is in the\nlatter poem represented as standing before the gate of a citadel which\nhe never saw before, but within the walls of which the maid whom fate\nhas destined to be his wife resides. Outside of the gate is a person who\nis or pretends to be the gate-keeper, and calls himself Fjolsvinn. He\nand Svipdag enter into conversation. The conversation turns chiefly upon\nthe remarkable objects which Svipdag has before his eyes. Svipdag asks\nquestions about them, and Fjolsvinn gives him information. But before\nSvipdag came to the castle, within which his chosen one awaits him, he\nhas made a remarkable journey (alluded to in Grogalder), and he has seen\nstrange things (thus in str. 9, 11, 33) which he compares with those\nwhich he now sees, and in regard to which he also desires information\nfrom Fjolsvinn. When the questions concern objects which are before him\nat the time of speaking, he employs, as the logic of language requires,\nthe present tense of the verb (as in strophe 35--_segdu m\u00e8r hvat that\nbjarg heitir, er ek s\u00e8 brudi \u00e1_). When he speaks of what he has seen\nbefore and elsewhere, he employs the past tense of the verb. In strophe\n33 he says:\n\n Segdu m\u00e9r that, Fj\u00f6lsvidr,\n er ek thik fregna mun\n ok ek vilja vita;\n hverr that g\u00f6rdi,\n er ek fyr gard s\u00e1k\n innan \u00e1smaga?\n\n\"Tell me that which I ask you, and which I wish to know, Fjolsvinn: Who\nmade that which I saw within the castle wall of the _\u00e1smegir_?\"[2]\n\nFjolsvinn answers (str. 34):\n\n Uni ok Iri,\n Bari ok Ori,\n Varr ok Vegdrasil,\n Dori ok Uri;\n Dellingr ok vardar\n lithsci alfr, loki.\n\n\"Une and Ire, Bare and Ore, Var and Vegdrasil, Dore and Ure, Delling, the\ncunning elf, is watchman at the gate.\"[3]\n\nThus Svipdag has seen a place where beings called _\u00e1smegir dwell_. It\nis well enclosed and guarded by the elf Delling. The myth must have\nlaid great stress on the fact that the citadel was well guarded, since\nDelling, whose cunning is especially emphasised, has been entrusted\nwith this task. The citadel must also have been distinguished for its\nmagnificence and for other qualities, since what Svipdag has seen within\nits gates has awakened his astonishment and admiration, and caused him\nto ask Fjolsvinn about the name of its builder. Fjolsvinn enumerates not\nless than eight architects. At least three of these are known by name\nin other sources--namely, the \"dwarfs\" Var (Sn. Edda, ii. 470, 553),\nDore, and Ore. Both the last-named are also found in the list of dwarfs\nincorporated in V\u00f6luspa. Both are said to be dwarfs in Dvalin's group of\nattendants or servants (_i Dvalins lidi_--V\u00f6luspa, 14).\n\nThe problem to the solution of which I am struggling on--namely,\nto find the explanation of what beings those are which are called\n_\u00e1smegir_--demands first of all that we should find out where the myth\nlocated their dwelling seen by Svipdag, a fact which is of mythological\nimportance in other respects. This result can be gained, providing\nDvalin's and Delling's real home and the scene of their activity can be\ndetermined. This is particularly important in respect to Delling, since\nhis office as gate-keeper at the castle of the _\u00e1smegir_ demands that he\nmust have his home where his duties are required. To some extent this is\nalso true of Dvalin, since the field of his operations cannot have been\nutterly foreign to the citadel on whose wonders his sub-artists laboured.\n\nThe author of the dwarf-list in V\u00f6luspa makes all holy powers assemble\nto consult as to who shall create \"the dwarfs,\" the artist-clan of\nthe mythology. The wording of strophe 10 indicates that on a being by\nname _Modsognir_, _Motsognir_, was bestowed the dignity of chief[4] of\nthe proposed artist-clan, and that he, with the assistance of Durin\n(_Durinn_), carried out the resolution of the gods, and created dwarfs\nresembling men. The author of the dwarf list must have assumed--\n\nThat Modsogner was one of the older beings of the world, for the assembly\nof gods here in question took place in the morning of time before the\ncreation was completed.\n\nThat Modsogner possessed a promethean power of creating.\n\nThat he either belonged to the circle of holy powers himself, or stood in\na close and friendly relation to them, since he carried out the resolve\nof the gods.\n\nAccordingly, we should take Modsogner to be one of the more remarkable\ncharacters of the mythology. But either he is not mentioned anywhere\nelse than in this place--we look in vain for the name Modsogner\nelsewhere--or this name is merely a skaldic epithet, which has taken the\nplace of a more common name, and which by reference to a familiar _nota\ncharacteristica_ indicates a mythic person well known and mentioned\nelsewhere. It cannot be disputed that the word looks like an epithet.\nEgilsson (Lex. Poet.) defines it as the _mead-drinker_. If the definition\nis correct, then the epithet were badly chosen if it did not refer to\nMimer, who originally was the sole possessor of the mythic mead, and who\ndaily drank of it (V\u00f6luspa, 29--_dreckr mi\u00f3d Mimir morgin hverjan_).\nStill nothing can be built simply on the definition of a name, even if it\nis correct beyond a doubt. All the indices which are calculated to shed\nlight on a question should be collected and examined. Only when they all\npoint in the same direction, and give evidence in favour of one and the\nsame solution of the problem, the latter can be regarded as settled.\n\nSeveral of the \"dwarfs\" created by Modsogner are named in V\u00f6luspa, 11-13.\nAmong them are Dvalin. In the opinion of the author of the list of\ndwarfs, Dvalin must have occupied a conspicuous place among the beings\nto whom he belongs, for he is the only one of them all who is mentioned\nas having a number of his own kind as subjects (V\u00f6luspa, 14). The\nproblem as to whether Modsogner is identical with Mimer should therefore\nbe decided by the answers to the following questions: Is that which is\nnarrated about Modsogner also narrated of Mimer? Do the statements which\nwe have about Dvalin show that he was particularly connected with Mimer\nand with the lower world, the realm of Mimer?\n\nOf Modsogner it is said (V\u00f6luspa, 12) that he was _m\u00e6str ordinn dverga\nallra_: he became the chief of all dwarfs, or, in other words, the\nforemost among all artists. Have we any similar report of Mimer?\n\nThe German middle-age poem, \"Biterolf,\" relates that its hero possessed\na sword, made, by Mimer the Old, _Mime der alte_, who was the most\nexcellent smith in the world. To be compared with him was not even\nWieland (Volund, Wayland), still less anyone else, with the one exception\nof Hertrich, who was Mimer's co-labourer, and assisted him in making all\nthe treasures he produced:\n\n Zuo siner (Mimer's) meisterschefte\n ich nieman kan gelichen\n in allen f\u00fcrsten richen\n an einen, den ich nenne,\n daz man in dar bi erkenne:\n Der war Hertrich genant.\n\n ...\n\n Durch ir sinne craft\n so h\u00e6ten sie geselleschaft\n an werke und an allen dingen. (Biterolf, 144.)\n\nVilkinasaga, which is based on both German and Norse sources, states\nthat Mimer was an artist, in whose workshop the sons of princes and the\nmost famous smiths learned the trade of the smith. Among his apprentices\nare mentioned Velint (Volund), Sigurd-Sven, and Eckihard.\n\nThese echoes reverberating far down in Christian times of the myth\nabout Mimer, as chief of smiths, we also perceive in Saxo. It should\nbe remembered what he relates about the incomparable treasures which\nare preserved in Gudmund-Mimer's domain, among which in addition to\nthose already named occur _arma humanorum corporum habitu grandiora_\n(i., p. 427), and about Mimingus, who possesses the sword of victory,\nand an arm-ring which produces wealth (i. 113, 114). If we consult the\npoetic Edda, we find Mimer mentioned as _Hodd-Mimer_, Treasure-Mimer\n(Vafthr. 45); as _naddg\u00f6fugr jotunn_, the giant celebrated for his\nweapons (Grogalder, 14); as _Hoddrofnir_, or _Hodd-dropnir_, the\ntreasure-dropping one (Sigrdr., 13); as _Baugreginn_, the king of the\ngold-rings (Solarlj., 56). And as shall be shown hereafter, the chief\nsmiths are in the poetic Edda put in connection with Mimer as the one on\nwhose fields they dwell, or in whose smithy they work.\n\nIn the mythology, artistic and creative powers are closely related to\neach other. The great smiths of the Rigveda hymns, the Ribhus, make\nhorses for Indra, create a cow and her calf, make from a single goblet\nthree equally good, diffuse vegetation over the fields, and make brooks\nflow in the valleys (Rigveda, iv. 34, 9; iv. 38, 8; i. 20, 6, 110, 3,\nand elsewhere). This they do although they are \"mortals,\" who by their\nmerits acquire immortality. In the Teutonic mythology Sindre and Brok\nforge from a pig-skin Frey's steed, which looks like a boar, and the\nsons of Ivalde forge from gold locks that grow like other hair. The ring\n_Draupnir_, which the \"dwarfs\" Sindre and Brok made, possesses itself\ncreative power and produces every ninth night eight gold rings of equal\nweight with itself (Skaldsk., 37). The \"mead-drinker\" is the chief and\nmaster of all these artists. And on a closer examination it appears\nthat Mimer's mead-well is the source of all these powers, which in the\nmythology are represented as creating, forming, and ordaining with wisdom.\n\nIn Havam\u00e1l (138-141) Odin relates that there was a time when he had not\nyet acquired strength and wisdom. But by self-sacrifice he was able to\nprevail on the celebrated Bolthorn's son, who dwells in the deep and has\ncharge of the mead-fountain there and of the mighty runes, to give him\n(Odin) a drink from the precious mead, drawn from _Odr\u00e6rir_:\n\n Tha nam ec frovaz Then I began to bloom\n oc frodr vera and to be wise,\n oc vaxa oc vel hafaz; and to grow and thrive;\n ord mer af ordi word came to me\n orz leitadi, from word,\n verc mer af verki deed came to me\n vercs leitadi. from deed.\n\nIt is evident that Odin here means to say that the first drink which he\nreceived from Mimer's fountain was the turning-point in his life; that\nbefore that time he had not blossomed, had made no progress in wisdom,\nhad possessed no eloquence nor ability to do great deeds, but that he\nacquired all this from the power of the mead. This is precisely the same\nidea as we constantly meet with in Rigveda, in regard to the soma-mead as\nthe liquid from which the gods got creative power, wisdom, and desire to\naccomplish great deeds. Odin's greatest and most celebrated achievement\nwas that he, with his brothers, created Midgard. Would it then be\nreasonable to suppose that he performed this greatest and wisest of his\nworks before he began to develop fruit, and before he got wisdom and\nthe power of activity? It must be evident to everybody that this would\nbe unreasonable. It is equally manifest that among the works which he\nconsidered himself able to perform after the drink from Mimer's fountain\nhad given him strength, we must place in the front rank those for which\nhe is most celebrated: the slaying of the chaos-giant Ymer, the raising\nof the crust of the earth, and the creation of Midgard. This could not\nbe said more clearly than it is stated in the above strophe of Havam\u00e1l,\nunless Odin should have specifically mentioned the works he performed\nafter receiving the drink. From Mimer's fountain and from Mimer's hand\nOdin has, therefore, received his creative power and his wisdom. We are\nthus able to understand why Odin regarded this first drink from Odr\u00e6rer\nso immensely important that he could resolve to subject himself to the\nsufferings which are mentioned in strophes 138 and 139. But when Odin by\na single drink from Mimer's fountain is endowed with creative power and\nwisdom, how can the conclusion be evaded, that the myth regarded Mimer\nas endowed with Promethean power, since it makes him the possessor of\nthe precious fountain, makes him drink therefrom every day, and places\nhim nearer to the deepest source and oldest activity of these forces in\nthe universe than Odin himself? The given and more instantaneous power,\nthanks to which Odin was made able to form the upper world, came from\nthe lower world and from Mimer. The world-tree has also grown out of the\nlower world and is Mimer's tree, and receives from his hands its value.\nThus the creative power with which the dwarf-list in V\u00f6luspa endowed the\n\"mead-drinker\" is rediscovered in Mimer. It is, therefore, perfectly\nlogical when the mythology makes him its first smith and chief artist,\nand keeper of treasures and the ruler of a group of dwarfs, underground\nartists, for originally these were and remained creative forces\npersonified, just as Rigveda's Rubhus, who smithied flowers and grass,\nand animals, and opened the veins of the earth for fertilising streams,\nwhile they at the same time made implements and weapons.\n\nThat Mimer was the profound counsellor and faithful friend of the Asas\nhas already been shown. Thus we discover in Mimer Modsogner's governing\nposition among the artists, his creative activity, and his friendly\nrelation to the gods.\n\nDvalin, created by Modsogner, is in the Norse sagas of the middle\nages remembered as an extraordinary artist. He is there said to have\nassisted in the fashioning of the sword Tyrfing (Fornald. Saga, i.\n436), of Freyja's splendid ornament Brisingamen, celebrated also in\nAnglo-Saxon poetry (Fornald. Saga, i. 391). In the Snofrid song, which\nis attributed to Harald Fairhair, the drapa is likened unto a work of\nart, which rings forth from beneath the fingers of Dvalin (_hrynr fram\nur Dvalin's greip_--Fornm. Saga, x. 208; Flat., i. 582). This beautiful\npoetical figure is all the more appropriately applied, since Dvalin was\nnot only the producer of the beautiful works of the smith, but also sage\nand skald. He was one of the few chosen ones who in time's morning were\npermitted to taste of Mimer's mead, which therefore is called his drink\n(_Dvalin's drykkr_--Younger Edda, i. 246).\n\nBut in the earliest antiquity no one partook of this drink who did not\nget it from Mimer himself.\n\nDvalin is one of the most ancient rune-masters, one of those who brought\nthe knowledge of runes to those beings of creation who were endowed\nwith reason (Havam\u00e1l, 143). But all knowledge of runes came originally\nfrom Mimer. As skald and runic scholar, Dvalin, therefore, stood in the\nrelation of disciple under the ruler of the lower world.\n\nThe myth in regard to the runes (cp. No. 26) mentioned three apprentices,\nwho afterwards spread the knowledge of runes each among his own class\nof beings. Odin, who in the beginning was ignorant of the mighty and\nbeneficent rune-songs (Havam\u00e1l, 138-143), was by birth Mimer's chief\ndisciple, and taught the knowledge of runes among his kinsmen, the Asas\n(Havam\u00e1l, 143), and among men, his prot\u00e9g\u00e9s (Sigdrifm., 18). The other\ndisciples were Dain (_D\u00e1inn_) and Dvalin (_Dvalinn_). Dain, like Dvalin,\nis an artist created by Modsogner (V\u00f6luspa, 11, Hauks Codex). He is\nmentioned side by side with Dvalin, and like him he has tasted the mead\nof poesy (_munnvigg D\u00e1ins_--Fornm. Saga, v. 209). Dain and Dvalin taught\nthe runes to their clans, that is, to elves and dwarfs (Havam\u00e1l, 143).\nNor were the giants neglected. They learned the runes from _\u00c1svidr_.\nSince the other teachers of runes belong to the clans, to which they\nteach the knowledge of runes--\"Odin among Asas, Dain among elves, Dvalin\namong dwarfs\"--there can be no danger of making a mistake, if we assume\nthat _\u00c1svidr_ was a giant. And as Mimer himself is a giant, and as the\nname _\u00c1svidr_ (= _\u00c1svinr_) means Asa-friend, and as no one--particularly\nno one among the giants--has so much right as Mimer to this epithet,\nwhich has its counterpart in Odin's epithet, _Mims vinr_ (Mimer's\nfriend), then caution dictates that we keep open the highly probable\npossibility that Mimer himself is meant by _\u00c1svidr_.\n\nAll that has here been stated about Dvalin shows that the mythology has\nreferred him to a place within the domain of Mimer's activity. We have\nstill to point out two statements in regard to him. Sol is said to have\nbeen his _leika_ (Fornald., i. 475; Allvism, 17; Younger Edda, i. 472,\n593). _Leika_, as a feminine word and referring to a personal object,\nmeans a young girl, a maiden, whom one keeps at his side, and in whose\namusement one takes part at least as a spectator. The examples which\nwe have of the use of the word indicate that the _leika_ herself, and\nthe person whose _leika_ she is, are presupposed to have the same home.\nSisters are called _leikur_, since they live together. Parents can call\na foster-daughter their _leika_. In the neuter gender _leika_ means a\nplaything, a doll or toy, and even in this sense it can rhetorically be\napplied to a person.\n\nIn the same manner as Sol is called Dvalin's _leika_, so the son of Nat\nand Delling, Dag, is called _leikr Dvalins_, the lad or youth with whom\nDvalin amused himself (Fornspjal., 24).\n\nWe have here found two points of contact between the mythic characters\nDvalin and Delling. Dag, who is Dvalin's _leikr_, is Delling's son.\nDelling is the watchman of the castle of the _\u00e1smegir_, which Dvalin's\nartists decorated.\n\nThus the whole group of persons among whom Dvalin is placed--Mimer,\nwho is his teacher; Sol, who is his _leika_; Dag, who is his _leikr_;\nNat, who is the mother of his _leikr_; Delling, who is the father of\nhis _leikr_--have their dwellings in Mimer's domain, and belong to the\nsubterranean class of the _numina_ of Teutonic mythology.\n\nFrom regions situated below Midgard's horizon, Nat, Sol, and Dag draw\ntheir chariots upon the heavens. On the eastern border of the lower world\nis the point of departure for their regular journeys over the heavens of\nthe upper world (\"the upper heavens,\" _upphiminn_--V\u00f6luspa, 3; Vafthr.,\n20, and elsewhere; _uppheimr_--Alvm., 13). Nat has her home and, as shall\nbe shown hereafter, her birthplace in dales beneath the ash Ygdrasil.\nThere she takes her rest after the circuit of her journey has been\ncompleted. In the lower world Sol and Nat's son, Dag, also have their\nhalls where they take their rest. But where Delling's wife and son have\ntheir dwellings there we should also look for Delling's own abode. As the\nhusband of Nat and the father of Dag, Delling occupies the same place\namong the divinities of nature as the dawn and the glow of sunrise among\nthe phenomena of nature. And outside the doors of Delling, the king of\ndawn, mythology has also located the dwarf _thj\u00f3dreyrir_ (\"he who moves\nthe people\"), who sings songs of awakening and blessing upon the world:\n\"power to the Asas, success to the elves, wisdom to Hroptatyr\" (_afl\nasom, enn alfum frama, hyggio Hroptaty_--Havam., 160).\n\nUnlike his kinsmen, Nat, Dag, and Sol, Delling has no duty which requires\nhim to be absent from home a part of the day. The dawn is merely a\nreflection of Midgard's eastern horizon from Delling's subterranean\ndwelling. It can be seen only when Nat leaves the upper heaven and\nbefore Dag and Sol have come forward, and it makes no journey around the\nworld. From a mythological standpoint it would therefore be possible to\nentrust the keeping of the castle of the _\u00e1smegir_ to the elf of dawn.\nThe sunset-glow has another genius, Billing, and he, too, is a creation\nof Modsogner, if the dwarf-list is correct (V\u00f6luspa, 12). Sol, who on her\nway is pursued by two giant monsters in wolf-guise, is secure when she\ncomes to her forest of the Varns behind the western horizon (_til varna\nvidar_--Grimn., 30). There in western halls (Vegtamskv., 11) dwells\nBilling, the chief of the Varns (_Billing veold Vernum_--Cod. Exon.,\n320). There rests his daughter Rind bright as the sun on her bed, and his\nbody-guard keeps watch with kindled lights and burning torches (Havam.,\n100). Thus Billing is the watchman of the western boundary of Mimer's\ndomain, Delling of the eastern.\n\nFrom this it follows:\n\nThat the citadel of the _\u00e1smegir_ is situated in Mimer's lower world, and\nthere in the regions of the elf of dawn.\n\nThat Svipdag, who has seen the citadel of the _\u00e1smegir_, has made a\njourney in the lower world before he found Menglad and secured her as his\nwife.\n\nThe conclusion to which we have arrived in regard to the subterranean\nsituation of the citadel is entirely confirmed by the other passage in\nthe poetic Edda, where the _\u00e1smegir_ are mentioned by this name. Here we\nhave an opportunity of taking a look within their castle, and of seeing\nthe hall decorated with lavish splendour for the reception of an expected\nguest.\n\nVegtamskvida tells us that Odin, being alarmed in regard to the fate of\nhis son Balder, made a journey to the lower world for the purpose of\nlearning from a vala what foreboded his favourite son. When Odin had rode\nthrough Nifelhel and come to green pastures (_foldvegr_), he found there\nbelow a hall decorated for festivity, and he asks the prophetess:\n\n hv\u00e6im eru bekkir\n baugum s\u00e1nir,\n fl\u00e6t fagrlig\n floth gulli?\n\n\"For whom are the benches strewn with rings and the gold beautifully\nscattered through the rooms?\"\n\nAnd the vala answers:\n\n Her st\u00e6ndr Balldri\n of bruggin miodr,\n skirar v\u00e6igar,\n liggr skiolldr yfir\n \u00e6n \u00e1smegir\n i ofv\u00e6ni.\n\n\"Here stands for Balder mead prepared, pure drink; shields are\noverspread, and the _\u00e1smegir_ are waiting impatiently.\"\n\nThus there stands in the lower world a hall splendidly decorated awaiting\nBalder's arrival. As at other great feasts, the benches are strewn (cp.\n_breida bekki_, _str\u00e1 bekki_, _bua bekki_) with costly things, and the\npure wonderful mead of the lower world is already served as an offering\nto the god. Only the shields which cover the mead-vessel need to be\nlifted off and all is ready for the feast. Who or what persons have,\nin so good season, made these preparations? The vala explains when she\nmentions the _\u00e1smegir_ and speaks of their longing for Balder. It is this\nlonging which has found utterance in the preparations already completed\nfor his reception. Thus, when Balder gets to the lower world, he is to\nenter the citadel of the _\u00e1smegir_ and there be welcomed by a sacrifice,\nconsisting of the noblest liquid of creation, the strength-giving\n_soma-madhu_ of Teutonic mythology. In the old Norse heathen literature\nthere is only one more place where we find the word _\u00e1smegir_, and that\nis in Olaf Trygveson's saga, ch. 16 (Heimskringla). For the sake of\ncompleteness this passage should also be considered, and when analysed\nit, too, sheds much and important light on the subject.\n\nWe read in this saga that Jarl Hakon proclaimed throughout his kingdom\nthat the inhabitants should look after their temples and sacrifices, and\nso was done. Jarl Hakon's hird-skald, named Einar Skalaglam, who in the\npoem \"Vellekla\" celebrated his deeds and exploits, mentions his interest\nin the heathen worship, and the good results this was supposed to have\nproduced for the jarl himself and for the welfare of his land. Einar says:\n\n Ok hertharfir hverfa\n hlakkar m\u00f3ts til bl\u00f3ta,\n raudbrikar fremst r\u00e6kir\n rikr, \u00e1smegir, sliku.\n Nu gr\u00e6r j\u00f6rd sem adan, &c.\n\nPut in prose: _Ok hertharfir \u00e1smegir hverfa til bl\u00f3ta; hlakkar m\u00f3ts\nraudbr\u00edkar r\u00edkr r\u00e6k\u00edr fremst sliku. Nu gr\u00e6r j\u00f6rd sem \u00e1dan._\n\nTranslation: \"And the _\u00e1smegir_ required in war, turn themselves to the\nsacrificial feasts. The mighty promoter of the meeting of the red target\nof the goddess of war has honour and advantage thereof. Now grows the\nearth green as heretofore.\"\n\nThere can be no doubt that \"the _\u00e1smegir_ required in war\" refer to the\nmen in the territory ruled by Hakon, and that \"the mighty promoter of the\nmeeting of the red target of the goddess of war\" refers to the warlike\nHakon himself, and hence the meaning of the passage in its plain prose\nform is simply this: \"Hakon's men again devote themselves to the divine\nsacrifices. This is both an honour and an advantage to Hakon, and the\nearth again yields bountiful harvests.\"\n\nTo these thoughts the skald has given a garb common in poetry of art,\nby adapting them to a mythological background. The persons in this\nbackground are the \u00e1smegir and a mythical being called \"the promoter of\nthe red target,\" _raudbr\u00edkar r\u00e6kir_. The persons in the foreground are\nthe men in Hakon's realm and Hakon himself. The persons in the foreground\nare permitted to borrow the names of the corresponding persons in the\nbackground, but on the condition that the borrowed names are furnished\nwith adjectives which emphasise the specific difference between the\noriginal mythic lenders and the real borrowers. Thus Hakon's subjects are\nallowed to borrow the appellation _\u00e1smegir_, but this is then furnished\nwith, the adjective _hertharfir_ (required in war), whereby they are\nspecifically distinguished from the _\u00e1smegir_ of the mythical background,\nand Hakon on his part is allowed to borrow the appellation _raudbr\u00edkar\nr\u00e6kir_ (the promoter of the red target), but this appellation is then\nfurnished with the adjective phrase _hlakkar m\u00f3ts_ (of the meeting of the\ngoddess of war), whereby Hakon is specifically distinguished from the\n_raudbr\u00edkar r\u00e6kir_ of the mythical background.\n\nThe rule also requires that, at least on that point of which the skald\nhappens to be treating, the persons in the mythological background should\nhold a relation to each other which resembles, and can be compared with,\nthe relation between the persons in the foreground. Hakon's men stand\nin a subordinate relation to Hakon himself; and so must the _\u00e1smegir_\nstand in a subordinate relation to that being which is called _raudbr\u00edkar\nr\u00e6kir_, providing the skald in this strophe as in the others has produced\na tenable parallel. Hakon is, for his subjects, one who exhorts them\nto piety and fear of the gods. _Raudbr\u00edkar r\u00e6kir_, his counterpart in\nthe mythological background, must have been the same for his _\u00e1smegir_.\nHakon's subjects offer sacrifices, and this is an advantage and an honour\nto Hakon, and the earth grows green again. In the mythology the _\u00e1smegir_\nmust have held some sacrificial feast, and _raudbr\u00edkar r\u00e6kir_ must have\nhad advantage and honour, and the earth must have regained its fertility.\nOnly on these conditions is the figure of comparison to the point, and\nof such a character that it could be presented unchallenged to heathen\nears familiar with the myths. It should be added that Einar's greatness\nas a skald is not least shown by his ability to carry out logically such\nfigures of comparison. We shall later on give other examples of this.\n\nWho is, then, this _raudbr\u00edkar r\u00e6kir_, \"the promoter of the red target?\"\n\nIn the mythological language _raudbrik_ (red target) can mean no\nother object than the sun. Compare _r\u00f6dull_, which is frequently used\nto designate the sun. If this needed confirmation, then we have it\nimmediately at hand in the manner in which the word is applied in the\ncontinuation of the paraphrase adapted to Hakon. A common paraphrase for\nthe shield is the sun with suitable adjectives, and thus _raudbrik_\nis applied here. The adjective phrase is here _hlakkar m\u00f3ts_, \"of the\nmeeting of the war-goddess\" (that is, qualifying the red target), whereby\nthe red target (= sun), which is an attribute of the mythic _r\u00e6kir_ of\nthe background, is changed to a shield, which becomes an attribute of\nthe historical _r\u00e6kir_ of the foreground, namely Hakon jarl, the mighty\nwarrior. Accordingly, _raudbr\u00edkar r\u00e6kir_ of the mythology must be a\nmasculine divinity standing in some relation to the sun.\n\nThis sun-god must also have been upon the whole a god of peace. Had\nhe not been so, but like Hakon a war-loving shield-bearer, then the\nparaphrase _hlakkar m\u00f3ts raudbr\u00edkar r\u00e6kir_ would equally well designate\nhim as Hakon, and thus it could not be used to designate Hakon alone,\nas it then would contain neither a _nota characteristica_ for him nor a\n_differentia specifica_ to distinguish him from the mythic person, whose\nepithet _raudbr\u00edkar r\u00e6kir_ he has been allowed to borrow.\n\nThis peaceful sun-god must have descended to the lower world and there\nstood in the most intimate relation with the _\u00e1smegir_ referred to the\ndomain of Mimer, for he is here represented as their chief and leader in\nthe path of piety and the fear of the gods. The myth must have mentioned\na sacrificial feast or sacrificial feasts celebrated by the _\u00e1smegir_.\nFrom this or these sacrificial feasts the peaceful sun-god must have\nderived advantage and honour, and thereupon the earth must have regained\na fertility, which before that had been more or less denied it.\n\nFrom all this it follows with certainty that _raudbrikar r\u00e6kir_ of\nthe mythology is Balder. The fact suggested by the Vellekla strophe\nabove analysed, namely, that Balder, physically interpreted, is a solar\ndivinity, the mythological scholars are almost a unit in assuming to be\nthe case on account of the general character of the Balder myth. Though\nBalder was celebrated for heroic deeds he is substantially a god of\npeace, and after his descent to the lower world he is no longer connected\nwith the feuds and dissensions of the upper world. We have already seen\nthat he was received in the lower world with great pomp by the _\u00e1smegir_,\nwho impatiently awaited his arrival, and that they sacrifice to him that\nbright mead of the lower world, whose wonderfully beneficial and bracing\ninfluence shall be discussed below. Soon afterwards he is visited by\nHermod. Already before Balder's funeral pyre, Hermod upon the fastest of\nall steeds hastened to find him in the lower world (Gylfag., 51, 52), and\nHermod returns from him and Nanna with the ring _Draupnir_ for Odin, and\nwith a veil for the goddess of earth, Fjorgyn-Frigg. The ring from which\nother rings drop, and the veil which is to beautify the goddess of earth,\nare symbols of fertility. Balder, the sun-god, had for a long time before\nhis death been languishing. Now in the lower world he is strengthened\nwith the bracing mead of Mimer's domain by the _\u00e1smegir_ who gladly give\nofferings, and the earth regains her green fields.\n\nHakon's men are designated in the strophe as _hertharfir \u00e1smegir_.\nWhen they are permitted to borrow the name of the _\u00e1smegir_, then the\nadjective _hertharfir_, if chosen with the proper care, is to contain a\nspecific distinction between them and the mythological beings whose name\nthey have borrowed. In other words, if the real _\u00e1smegir_ were of such a\nnature that they could be called _hertharfir_, then that adjective would\nnot serve to distinguish Hakon's men from them. The word _hertharfir_\nmeans \"those who are needed in war,\" \"those who are to be used in war.\"\nConsequently, the _\u00e1smegir_ are beings who are _not_ to be used in war,\nbeings whose dwelling, environment, and purpose suggest a realm of peace,\nfrom which the use of weapons is banished.\n\nAccordingly, the parallel presented in Einar's strophe, which we have now\ndiscussed, is as follows:\n\n _Mythology._ _History._\n\n Peaceful beings of the lower Warlike inhabitants of the\n world (\u00e1smegir). earth (hertharfir \u00e1smegir).\n\n at the instigation of their at the instigation of their\n chief, chief,\n\n the sun-god Balder (raudbr\u00edkar the shield's Balder, Hakon\n r\u00e6kir), (hlakkar m\u00f3ts raudbr\u00edkar r\u00e6kir),\n\n go to offer sacrifices. go to offer sacrifices.\n\n The peaceful Balder is thereby The shield's Balder is thereby\n benefited. benefited.\n\n The earth grows green again. The earth grows green again.\n\n ok \u00e1smegir, ok hertharfir \u00e1smegir,\n\n hverfa til bl\u00f3ta; hverfa til bl\u00f3ta\n\n raudbrikar rikr r\u00e6kir hlakkar m\u00f3ts raudbr\u00edkar rikr r\u00e6kir\n fremst sliku. fremst sliku.\n\n N\u00fa gr\u00e6r j\u00f6rdsem \u00e1dan. N\u00fa gr\u00e6r j\u00f6rd sem \u00e1dan.\n\nIn the background which Einar has given to his poetical paraphrase, we\nthus have the myth telling how the sun-god Balder, on his descent to the\nlower world, was strengthened by the soma-sacrifice brought him by the\n_\u00e1smegir_, and how he sent back with Hermod the treasures of fertility\nwhich had gone with him and Nanna to the lower world, and which restored\nthe fertility of the earth.\n\nTo what category of beings do the _\u00e1smegir_ then belong? We have seen the\nword applied as a technical term in a restricted sense. The possibilities\nof application which the word with reference to its definition supplies\nare:\n\n(1) The word may be used in the purely physical sense of Asa-sons,\nAsa-descendants. In this case the subterranean _\u00e1smegir_ would be by\ntheir very descent members of that god-clan that resides in Asgard, and\nwhose father and clan-patriarch is Odin.\n\n(2) The word can be applied to men. They are the children of the\nAsa-father in a double sense: the first human pair was created by Odin\nand his brothers (V\u00f6lusp., 16, 17; Gylfag., 9), and their offspring\nare also in a moral sense Odin's children, as they are subject to his\nguidance and care. He is Alfather, and the father of the succeeding\ngenerations (_allfadir_, _aldafadir_). A word resembling _\u00e1smegir_ in\ncharacter is _\u00e1sasynir_, and this is used in Allvismal, 16, in a manner\nwhich shows that it does not refer to any of those categories of beings\nthat are called gods (see further, No. 62)[5] The conception of men as\nsons of the gods is also implied in the all mankind embracing phrase,\n_megir Heimdallar_ (V\u00f6lusp., 1), with which the account of Rig-Heimdal's\njourney on the earth and visit to the patriarchs of the various classes\nis connected.[6]\n\nThe true meaning of the word in this case is determined by the fact that\nthe _\u00e1smegir_ belong to the dwellers in the lower world already before\nthe death of Balder, and that Balder is the first one of the Asas and\nsons of Odin who becomes a dweller in the lower world. To this must be\nadded, that if _\u00e1smegir_ meant Asas, Einar would never have called the\ninhabitants of Norway, the subjects of jarl Hakon, _hertharfir \u00e1smegir_,\nfor _hertharfir_ the Asas are themselves, and that in the highest degree.\nThey constitute a body of more or less warlike persons, who all have been\n\"needed in conflict\" in the wars around Asgard and Midgard, and they all,\nBalder included, are gods of war and victory. It would also have been\n_malapropos_ to compare men with Asas on an occasion when the former\nwere represented as bringing sacrifices to the gods; that is, as persons\nsubordinate to them and in need of their assistance.\n\nThe _\u00e1smegir_ are, therefore, human beings excluded from the surface of\nthe earth, from the mankind which dwell in Midgard, and are inhabitants\nof the lower world, where they reside in a splendid castle kept by the\nelf of dawn, Delling, and enjoy the society of Balder, who descended to\nHades. To subterranean human beings refers also Grimnismal, 21, which\nsays that men (_mennzkir menn_) dwell under the roots of Ygdrasil; and\nAllvismal, 16 (to be compared with 18, 20, and other passages), and\nSkirnersmal, 34, which calls them _\u00e1slithar_, a word which Gudbrand\nVigfusson has rightly assumed to be identical with _\u00e1smegir_.\n\nThus it is also demonstrated that the _\u00e1smegir_ are identical with the\nsubterranean human persons Lif and Leifthraser and their descendants\nin Mimer's grove. The care with which the mythology represents the\ncitadel of the _\u00e1smegir_ kept, shown by the fact that the elf Delling,\nthe counterpart of Heimdal in the lower world, has been entrusted with\nits keeping, is intelligible and proper when we know that it is of the\ngreatest importance to shield Lif and Leifthraser's dwelling from all\nills, sickness, age, and moral evil (see above). It is also a beautiful\npoetic thought that it is the elf of the morning dawn--he outside of\nwhose door the song of awakening and bliss is sung to the world--who has\nbeen appointed to watch those who in the dawn of a new world shall people\nthe earth with virtuous and happy races. That the _\u00e1smegir_ in the lower\nworld are permitted to enjoy the society of Balder is explained by the\nfact that Lif and Leifthraser and their offspring are after Ragnarok to\naccompany Balder to dwell under his sceptre, and live a blameless life\ncorresponding to his wishes. They are to be his disciples, knowing their\nmaster's commandments and having them written in their hearts.\n\nWe have now seen that the _\u00e1smegir_ already before Balder's death dwell\nin Mimer's grove. We have also seen that Svipdag on his journey in\nthe lower world had observed a castle, which he knew belonged to the\n_\u00e1smegir_. The mythology knows two fimbul-winters; the former raged in\ntime's morning, the other is to precede Ragnarok. The former occurred\nwhen Freyja, the goddess of fertility, was treacherously delivered into\nthe power of the frost-giants and all the air was blended with corruption\n(V\u00f6lusp., 26); when there came from the Elivogs stinging, ice-cold arrows\nof frost, which put men to death and destroyed the greenness of the earth\n(Fornspjallsljod); when King Snow ruled, and there came in the northern\nlands a famine which compelled the people to emigrate to the South (Saxo,\ni. 415). Svipdag made his journey in the lower world during the time\npreceding the first fimbul-winter. This follows from the fact that it was\nhe who liberated Freyja, the sister of the god of the harvests, from the\npower of the frost-giants (see Nos. 96-102). Lif and Leifthraser were\naccordingly already at that time transferred to Mimer's grove. This ought\nto have occurred before the earth and her inhabitants were afflicted by\nphysical and moral evil, while there still could be found undefiled men\nto be saved for the world to come; and we here find that the mythology,\nso far as the records make it possible for us to investigate the matter,\nhas logically met this claim of poetic justice.\n\n[1] S. Bugge, S\u00e6mund. Edda, xxvi. Thorl. J\u00f3nsson's Edda, Snorra St., viii.\n\n[2] Looking simply at the form, the strophe may also be translated in the\nfollowing manner: \"Tell me, Fjolsvinn, what I ask of you, and what I wish\nto know. Who of the _\u00e1smegir_ made what I saw within the castle wall?\"\nAgainst this formal possibility there are, however, several objections\nof facts. Svipdag would then be asking Fjolsvinn who had made that which\nhe once in the past had seen within a castle wall without informing\nFjolsvinn in regard to which particular castle wall he has reference.\nIt also presupposes that Svipdag knew that the _\u00e1smegir_ had made the\nthings in question which were within the castle wall, and that he only\nwished to complete his knowledge by finding out which one or ones of the\n_\u00e1smegir_ it was that had made them. And finally, it would follow from\nFjolsvinn's answer that the dwarfs he enumerates are sons of Asas. The\nformal possibility pointed out has also a formal probability against it.\nThe gen. pl. _\u00e1smaga_ has as its nearest neighbour _gard_, not _hverr_,\nand should therefore be referred to _gard_, not to _hverr_, even though\nboth the translations gave an equally satisfactory meaning so far as the\nfacts related are concerned; but that is not the case.\n\n[3] I follow the text in most of the manuscripts, of which Bugge has\ngiven various versions. One manuscript has in the text, another in the\nmargin, _Lidscialfr_, written in one word (instead of _lithsci alfr_). Of\nthis Munch made _Lidskjalfr_. The dative _loki_ from _lok_, a gate (cp.\n_luka loka_, to close, enclose) has been interpreted as _Loki_, and thus\nmade the confusion complete.\n\n[4] _Thar_ (in the assembly of the gods) _var Modsognir m\u00e6str um ordinn\ndverga allra_.\n\n[5]\n\n _Sol heitir med monnom,\n enn sunna med godum,\n kalla dvergar Dvalin's leika\n eyglo iotnar,\n alfar fagra hvel\n alscir asa synir._\n\n[6] Cp. also Gylfag., 9, in regard to Odin: _Ok fyrir thvi m\u00e1 hann heita\nAllfodr, at hann er fadir alra godanna ok manna ok alls thess, er af\nhonom ok hans krapti var fullgj\u00f6rt._\n\n\n54.\n\n THE IRANIAN MYTH CONCERNING MIMER'S GROVE.\n\nIn connection with the efforts to determine the age of the Teutonic\nmyths, and their kinship with the other Aryan (Indo-European)\nmythologies, the fact deserves attention that the myth in regard to a\nsubterranean grove and the human beings there preserved for a future\nregenerated world is also found among the Iranians, an Asiatic race\nakin to the Teutons. The similarity between the Teutonic and Iranian\ntraditions is so conspicuous that the question is irresistible--Whether\nit is not originally, from the standpoint of historical descent, one and\nthe same myth, which, but little affected by time, has been preserved\nby the Teutonic Aryans around the Baltic, and by the Iranian Aryans in\nBaktria and Persia? But the answer to the question requires the greatest\ncaution. The psychological similarity of races may, on account of the\nlimitations of the human fancy, and in the midst of similar conditions\nand environments, create myths which resemble each other, although they\nwere produced spontaneously by different races in different parts of\nthe earth. This may happen in the same manner as primitive implements,\ntools, and dwellings which resemble each other may have been invented\nand used by races far separated from each other, not by the one learning\nfrom the other how these things were to be made, nor on account of a\ncommon descent in antiquity. The similarity is the result of similar\ncircumstances. It was the same want which was to be satisfied; the same\nhuman logic found the manner of satisfying the want; the same materials\noffered themselves for the accomplishment of the end, and the same\nuniversal conceptions of form were active in the development of the\nproblems. Comparative mythology will never become a science in the strict\nsense of this word before it ceases to build hypotheses on a solitary\nsimilarity, or even on several or many resemblances between mythological\nsystems geographically separated, unless these resemblances unite\nthemselves and form a whole, a mythical unity, and unless it appears\nthat this mythical unity in turn enters as an element into a greater\ncomplexity, which is similar in fundamental structure and similar in its\ncharacteristic details. Especially should this rule be strictly observed\nwhen we compare the myths of peoples who neither by race nor language\ncan be traced back to a prehistoric unity. But it is best not to relax\nthe severity of the rules even when we compare the myths of peoples who,\nlike the Teutons, the Iranians, and the Rigveda-Aryans, have the same\norigin and same language; who through centuries, and even long after\ntheir separation, have handed down from generation to generation similar\nmythological conceptions and mythical traditions. I trust that, as this\nwork of mine gradually progresses, a sufficient material of evidence\nfor the solution of the above problem will be placed in the hands of my\nreaders. I now make a beginning of this by presenting the Iranian myth\nconcerning Jima's grove and the subterranean human beings transferred to\nit.\n\nIn the ancient Iranian religious documents Jima is a holy and mighty\nancient being, who, however, does not belong to the number of celestial\ndivinities which surround the highest god, Ahuramazda, but must be\ncounted among \"the mortals,\" to the oldest seers and prophets of\nantiquity. A hymn of sacrifice, dedicated to the sacred mead, the\nliquid of inspiration (_homa_, the _soma_ and _soma-madhu_ of the\nRigveda-Aryans, the last word being the same as our word _mead_),\nrelates that Jima and his father were the first to prepare the mead\nof inspiration for the material world; that he, Jima, was the richest\nin honour of all who had been born, and that he of all mortals most\nresembled the sun. In his kingdom there was neither cold nor heat,\nneither frost nor drought, neither aging nor death. A father by the side\nof his son resembled, like the son, a youth of fifteen years. The evil\ncreated by the demons did not cross the boundaries of Jima's world (The\nYounger _Jasna_, ch. 9).\n\nJima was the favourite of Ahuramazda, the highest god. Still he had a\nwill of his own. The first mortal with whom Ahuramazda talked was Jima,\nand he taught him the true faith, and desired that Jima should spread it\namong the mortals. But Jima answered: \"I am not suited to be the bearer\nand apostle of the faith, nor am I believed to be so\" (_Vendidad_).\n[In this manner it is explained why the true doctrine did not become\nknown among men before the reformer Zarathustra came, and why Jima the\npossessor of the mead of inspiration, nevertheless, was in possession of\nthe true wisdom.]\n\nIt is mentioned (in _Gosh Jasht_ and _R\u00e2m Jasht_) that Jima held two\nbeings in honour, which did not belong to Ahuramazda's celestial circle,\nbut were regarded as worthy of worship. These two were:\n\n1. The cow (_Gosh_), that lived in the beginning of time, and whose\nblood, when she was slain, fertilised the earth with the seed of life.\n\n2. _Vajush_, the heavenly breeze. He is identical with the ruler of the\nair and wind in Rigveda, the mighty god _V\u00e2yu-V\u00e2ta_.\n\nIn regard to the origin and purpose of the kingdom ruled by Jima, in\nwhich neither frost nor drought, nor aging nor death, nor moral evil, can\nenter Vendidad relates the following:[7]\n\n _Avesta._ _Zend._\n\n 21. A meeting was held A meeting was held with\n with the holy angels of Ahuramazda, the best men of Jima, the king,\n the creator. To the one rich in flocks. To\n this meeting came, with the this meeting came, with the\n best men, Jima, the king rich holy angels, Ahuramazda, the\n in flocks. creator.\n\n 22. Then said Ahuramazda In the material world there\n to Jima: \"Happy Jima Vivanghana! shall come an evil winter,\n In the material world consequently much snow\n there shall come an evil winter, shall fall on the highest\n and consequently a hard, mountains, on the tops of the\n killing frost.\" rocks.\n\n 23. From three places, O From three places, O Jima,\n Jima, the cows should be the cows should be driven\n driven to well-enclosed shelters; to well-enclosed shelters;\n whether they are in the whether they are in the\n wildernesses, or in the heights wilderness, or on the heights\n of the mountains, or in the of the mountains, or in the\n depths of the valleys. depths of the valleys.\n\n 24. Before the winter this\n land had meadows. Before\n that time the water (the rain)\n was wont to flow over it, and\n the snow to melt; and there\n was found, O Jima, in the\n material world, water-soaked\n places, in which were visible\n the footprints of the cattle\n and their offspring.\n\n 25. Now give this enclosure Now give the enclosure the\n (above, \"the well-enclosed length of one ... on each of\n shelters\") on each of its four sides as a dwelling for\n its four sides the length of men, and give the same length\n one ... and bring thither to each of the four sides as a\n the seed of your cattle, of field for the cows.\n oxen, of men, of dogs, and of\n birds, and red blazing fires.\n\n 26. Gather water there in a\n canal, the length of one h\u00e2thra.\n Place the landmarks\n there on a gold-coloured spot,\n furnished with imperishable\n nourishment. Put up a house\n there of mats and poles, with\n roof and walls.\n\n 27. Bring thither seed of all\n men and women, who are the\n largest, best, and most fair on\n this earth. Bring thither seed\n of all domestic animals that\n are the largest, best, and\n fairest on this earth.\n\n 28. Bring thither seed of all\n plants which are the highest\n and most fragrant on this\n earth. Bring thither seed of\n all articles of food which are\n the best tasting and most\n fragrant on this earth. And\n make pairs of them unceasingly,\n in order that these beings\n may have their existence\n in the enclosures.\n\n 29. There shall be no pride,\n no despondency, no sluggishness,\n no poverty, no deceit,\n no dwarf-growths, no blemish\n ... nor aught else of those\n signs which are Angr\u00f4-mainyush's\n curses put on men.\n\n 30. Make, in the uppermost\n part of that territory, nine\n bridges; in the middle, six; in\n the lowest part, three. To the\n bridges of the upper part you\n must bring seed of a thousand\n men and women, to those of\n the middle the seed of six\n hundred, to those of the\n lower, of three hundred....\n And make a door in the enclosure,\n and a self-luminous\n window on the inside.\n\n 33. Then Jima made the\n enclosure.\n\n 39. Which are those lights,\n thou just Ahuramazda, which\n give light in the enclosures\n made by Jima?\n\n 40. Ahuramazda answered:\n Once (a year) the stars and\n moon and the sun are there\n seen to rise and set.\n\n 41. And they (who dwell within\n Jima's enclosures) think that\n one year is one day. Every\n fortieth year two persons are\n born by two persons. These\n persons enjoy the greatest\n bliss in the enclosures made\n by Jima.\n\n 42. Just creator! Who\n preached the pure faith in\n the enclosures which Jima\n made? Ahuramazda answered:\n The bird Karshipta.\n\nJima's garden has accordingly been formed in connection with a terrible\nwinter, which, in the first period of time, visited the earth, and it was\nplanned to preserve that which is noblest and fairest and most useful\nwithin the kingdoms of organic beings. That the garden is situated in the\nlower world is not expressly stated in the above-quoted passages from\nVendidad; though this seems to be presupposed by what is stated; for the\nstars, sun, and moon do not show themselves in Jima's garden excepting\nafter long, defined intervals--_at their rising and setting_; and as the\nsurface of the earth is devastated by the unparalleled frost, and as the\nvalleys are no more protected therefrom than the mountains, we cannot\nwithout grave doubts conceive the garden as situated in the upper world.\nThat it is subterranean is, however, expressly stated in _Bundehesh_, ch.\n30, 10, where it is located under the mountain Damkan; and that it, in\nthe oldest period of the myth, was looked upon as subterranean follows\nfrom the fact that the Jima of the ancient Iranian records is identical\nwith Rigveda's Jama, whose domain and the scene of whose activities is\nthe lower world, the kingdom of death.\n\nAs Jima's enclosed garden was established on account of the\nfimbul-winter, which occurred in time's morning, it continues to exist\nafter the close of the winter, and preserves through all the historical\nages those treasures of uncorrupted men, animals, and plants which in the\nbeginning of time were collected there. The purpose of this is mentioned\nin Minokhird, a sort of catechism of the legends and morals of the Avesta\nreligion. There it is said that after the conflagration of the world, and\nin the beginning of the regeneration, the garden which Jima made shall\nopen its gate, and thence men, animals and plants shall once more fill\nthe devastated earth.\n\nThe lower world, where Jima, according to the ancient Iranian records,\nfounded this remarkable citadel, is, according to Rigveda, Jama's\nkingdom, and also the kingdom of death, of which Jama is king (Rigv.,\nx. 16, 9; cp. i. 35, 6, and other passages). It is a glorious country,\nwith inexhaustible fountains, and there is the home of the imperishable\nlight (Rigv., ix. 7, 8,; ix. 113, 8). Jama dwells under a tree \"with\nbroad leaves.\" There he gathers around the goblet of mead the fathers of\nantiquity, and there he drinks with the gods (Rigv., x. 135, 1).\n\nRoth, and after him Abel Bergaigne (Religion Ved., i. 88 ff.), regard\nJama and Manu, mentioned in Rigveda, as identical. There are strong\nreasons, for the assumption, so far as certain passages of Rigveda are\nconcerned; while other passages, particularly those which mention Manu\nby the side of Bhriga, refer to an ancient patriarch of human descent.\nIf the derivation of the word _Mimer_, _Mimi_, pointed out by several\nlinguists, last by M\u00fcllenhoff (_Deutsche Alt._, vol. v. 105, 106), is\ncorrect, then it is originally the same name as _Manu_, and like it is to\nbe referred to the idea of thinking, remembering.\n\nWhat the Aryan-Asiatic myth here given has in common with the Teutonic\none concerning the subterranean persons in Mimer's grove can be\nsummarised in the following words:\n\nThe lower world has a ruler, who does not belong to the group of\nimmortal celestial beings, but enjoys the most friendly relations with\nthe godhead, and is the possessor of great wisdom. In his kingdom flow\ninexhaustible fountains, and a tree grown out of its soil spreads its\nfoliage over his dwelling, where he serves the mead of inspiration, which\nthe gods are fond of and which he was the first to prepare. A terrible\nwinter threatened to destroy everything on the surface of the earth.\nThen the ruler of the lower world built on his domain a well-fortified\ncitadel, within which neither destructive storms, nor physical ills,\nnor moral evil, nor sickness, nor aging, nor death can come. Thither\nhe transferred the best and fairest human beings to be found on earth,\nand decorated the enclosed garden with the most beautiful and useful\ntrees and plants. The purpose of this garden is not simply to protect\nthe beings collected there during the great winter; they are to remain\nthere through all historical ages. When these come to an end, there\ncomes a great conflagration and then a regeneration of the world. The\nrenewed earth is to be filled with the beings who have been protected by\nthe subterranean citadel. The people who live there have an instructor\nin the pure worship of the gods and in the precepts of morality, and in\naccordance with these precepts they are to live for ever a just and happy\nlife.\n\nIt should be added that the two beings whom the Iranian ruler of the\nlower world is said to have honoured are found or have equivalents in\nthe Teutonic mythology. Both are there put in theogonic connection with\nMimer. The one is the celestial lord of the wind, Vayush, Rigveda's\nV\u00e2yu-V\u00e2ta. V\u00e2ta is thought to be the same name as Wodan, Odinn (Zimmer,\nHaupt's Zeitschr., 1875; cp. Mannhardt and Kaegi). At all events, V\u00e2ta's\ntasks are the same as Odin's. The other is the primeval cow, whose\nNorse name or epithet, _Audhumla_ is preserved in Gylfag., 6. Andhunla\nliberates from the frost-stones in Chaos Bure, the progenitor of the Asa\nrace, and his son Bor is married to Mimer's sister Bestla, and with her\nbecomes the father of Odin (Havam., 140; Gylfag., 6).\n\n[7] The outlines of the contents are given here from the interpretation\nfound in Haug-West's _Essays on the Sacred Language of the Parsis_\n(London, 1878).\n\n\n55.\n\n THE PURPOSE OF MIMER'S GROVE IN THE REGENERATION OF THE WORLD.\n\nWe now know the purpose of _Odainsakr_, Mimer's land and Mimer's grove\nin the world-plan of our mythology. We know who the inhabitants of the\ngrove are, and why they, though dwellers in the lower world, must be\n_living persons_, who did not come there through the _gate of death_.\nThey must be living persons of flesh and blood, since the human race of\nthe regenerated earth must be the same.\n\nStill the purpose of Mimer's land is not limited to being, through this\nepoch of the world, a protection for the fathers of the future world\nagainst moral and physical corruption, and a seminary where Balder\neducates them in virtue and piety. The grove protects, as we have seen,\nthe _\u00e1smegir_ during _Ragnarok_, whose flames do not penetrate thither.\nThus the grove, and the land in which it is situated, exist after the\nflames of Ragnarok are extinguished. Was it thought that the grove after\nthe regeneration was to continue in the lower world and there stand\nuninhabited, abandoned, desolate, and without a purpose in the future\nexistence of gods, men and things?\n\nThe last moments of the existence of the crust of the old earth are\ndescribed as a chaotic condition in which all elements are confused\nwith each other. The sea rises, overflows the earth sinking beneath\nits billows, and the crests of its waves aspire to heaven itself (cp.\nV\u00f6lusp., 54, 2--_Sigr fold i mar_, with Hyndlulj., 42, 1-3--_Haf gengr\nhridum vid himinn sialfann, lidr lond yfir_). The atmosphere, usurped by\nthe sea, disappears, as it were (_loft bilar_--Hyndlulj., 42, 4). Its\nsnow and winds (Hyndlulj., 42, 5-6) are blended with water and fire, and\nform with them heated vapours, which \"play\" against the vault of heaven\n(V\u00f6lusp., 54, 7-8). One of the reasons why the fancy has made all the\nforces and elements of nature thus contend and blend was doubtless to\nfurnish a sufficiently good cause for the dissolution and disappearance\nof the burnt crust of the earth. At all events, the earth is gone when\nthe rage of the elements is subdued, and thus it is no impediment to the\nact of regeneration which takes its beginning beneath the waves.\n\nThis act of regeneration consists in the rising from the depths of the\nsea a new earth, which on its very rising possesses living beings and\nis clothed in green. The fact that it, while yet below the sea, could\nbe a home for beings which need air in order to breathe and exist, is\nnot necessarily to be regarded as a miracle in mythology. Our ancestors\nonly needed to have seen an air-bubble rise to the surface of the water\nin order to draw the conclusion that air can be found under the water\nwithout mixing with it, but with the power of pushing water away while\nit rises to the surface. The earth rising from the sea has, like the old\nearth, the necessary atmosphere around it. Under all circumstances, the\nseeress in V\u00f6luspa sees after Ragnarok--\n\n upp koma\n audro sinni\n iord or \u00e6gi\n ithia gr\u00e6na (str. 56).\n\nThe earth risen from the deep has mountains and cascades, which, from\ntheir fountains in the fells, hasten to the sea. The waterfalls contain\nfishes, and above them soars the eagle seeking its prey (V\u00f6lusp., 56,\n5-8). The eagle cannot be a survivor of the beings of the old earth.\nIt cannot have endured in an atmosphere full of fire and steam, nor is\nthere any reason why the mythology should spare the eagle among all the\ncreatures of the old earth. It is, therefore, of the same origin as the\nmountains, the cascades, and the imperishable vegetation which suddenly\ncame to the surface.\n\nThe earth risen from the sea also contains human beings, namely, Lif\nand Leifthraser, and their offspring. Mythology did not need to have\nrecourse to any hocus-pocus to get them there. The earth risen from\nthe sea had been the lower world before it came out of the deep, and\na paradise-region in the lower world had for centuries been the abode\nof Lif and Leifthraser. It is more than unnecessary to imagine that the\nlower world with this Paradise was duplicated by another with a similar\nParadise, and that the living creatures on the former were by some magic\nmanipulation transferred to the latter. Mythology has its miracles, but\nit also has its logic. As its object is to be trusted, it tries to be\nas probable and consistent with its premises as possible. It resorts to\nmiracles and magic only when it is necessary, not otherwise.\n\nAmong the mountains which rise on the new earth are found those which\nare called _Nida fj\u00f6ll_ (V\u00f6lusp., 62), Nide's mountains. The very name\nNide suggests the lower world. It means the \"lower one.\" Among the\nabodes of Hades, mentioned in V\u00f6luspa, there is also a hall of gold on\nNide's plains (_a Nitha vollum_--str. 36), and from _Solarljod_ (str.\n56) we learn--a statement confirmed by much older records--that Nide is\nidentical with Mimer (see No. 87). Thus, Nide's mountains are situated\non Mimer's fields. V\u00f6luspa's seeress discovers on the rejuvenated\nearth Nidhog, the corpse-eating demon of the lower world, flying, with\ndead bodies under his wings, away from the rocks, where he from time\nimmemorial had had his abode, and from which he carried his prey to\nNastrands (V\u00f6lusp., 39). There are no more dead bodies to be had for him,\nand his task is done. Whether the last line of V\u00f6luspa has reference to\nNidhog or not, when it speaks of some one \"who must sink,\" cannot be\ndetermined. M\u00fcllenhoff (_Deutsche Alt._) assumes this to be the case,\nand he is probably right; but as the text has _hon_ (she) not _han_ (he)\n[_nu mun hon seyquas_], and as I, in this work, do not base anything\neven on the most probable text emendation, this question is set aside,\nand the more so, since V\u00f6luspa's description of the regenerated earth\nunder all circumstances shows that Nidhog has naught there to do but to\nfly thence and disappear. The existence of Nide's mountains on the new\nearth confirms the fact that it is identical with Mimer's former lower\nworld, and that Lif and Leifthraser did not need to move from one world\nto another in order to get to the daylight of their final destination.\n\nV\u00f6luspa gives one more proof of this.\n\nIn their youth, free from care, the Asas played with strange tablets. But\nthey had the tablets only _i arladaga_, in the earliest time (V\u00f6lusp.,\n8, 58). Afterwards, they must in some way or other have lost them. The\nIcelandic sagas of the middle ages have remembered this game of tablets,\nand there we learn, partly that its strange character consisted in the\nfact that it could itself take part in the game and move the pieces, and\npartly that it was preserved in the lower world, and that Gudmund-Mimer\nwas in the habit of playing with tablets (Fornalder Sagas, i. 443; iii.\n391-392; iii. 626, &c. In the last passages the game is mentioned in\nconnection with the other subterranean treasure, the horn.) If, now, the\nmythology had no special reason for bringing the tablets from the lower\nworld before Ragnarok, then they naturally should be found on the risen\nearth if the latter was Mimer's domain before. V\u00f6luspa (str. 58) also\nrelates that they were found in its grass:\n\n Thar muno eptir\n undrsamligar\n gullnar tavlor\n i grasi finaz.\n\n\"There were the wonderful tablets found left in the grass (_finaz\neptir_).\"\n\nThus, the tablet-game was refound in the grass, in the meadows of the\nrenewed earth, having from the earliest time been preserved in Mimer's\nrealm. Lif and Leifthraser are found after Ragnarok on the earth of\nthe regenerated world, having had their abode there for a long time\nin Mimer's domain. Nide's mountains, and Nidhog with them, have been\nraised out of the sea, together with the rejuvenated earth, since these\nmountains are located in Mimer's realm. The earth of the new era--the era\nof virtue and bliss--has, though concealed, existed through thousands of\nyears below the sin-stained earth, as the kernel within the shell.\n\n_Remark_--V\u00f6luspa (str. 56) calls the earth rising from the sea\n_idjagr\u00e6na_:\n\n Ser hon upp koma\n audro sinni\n iord or \u00e6gi\n ithia gr\u00e6na.\n\nThe common interpretation is _ithia gr\u00e6na_, \"the ever green\" or \"very\ngreen,\" and this harmonises well with the idea preserved in the sagas\nmentioned above, where it was stated that the winter was not able to\ndevastate Gudmund-Mimer's domain. Thus the idea contained in the\nexpression _Haddingjalands oskurna ax_ (see Nos. 72, 73) recurs in\nV\u00f6luspa's statement that the fields unsown yield harvests in the new\nearth. Meanwhile the composition _idja-gr\u00e6na_ has a perfectly abnormal\nappearance, and awakens suspicion. M\u00fcllenhoff (_Deutsche Alt._) reads\n_idja_, _gr\u00e6na_, and translates \"the fresh, the green.\" As a conjecture,\nand without basing anything on the assumption; I may be permitted to\npresent the possibility that _idja_ is an old genitive plural of _ida_,\nan eddying body of water. _Ida_ has originally had a _j_ in the stem (it\nis related to _id_ and _idi_), and this _j_ must also have been heard\nin the inflections. From various metaphors in the old skalds we learn\nthat they conceived the fountains of the lower world as roaring and in\ncommotion (e.g., _Odreris alda thytr_ in Einar Skalaglam and _Bodnar b\u00e1ra\nter vaxa_ in the same skald). If the conjecture is as correct as it seems\nprobable, then the new earth is characterised as \"the green earth of the\neddying fountains,\" and the fountains are those famous three which water\nthe roots of the world-tree.\n\n\n56.\n\n THE COSMOGRAPHY. CRITICISM ON GYLFAGINNING'S COSMOGRAPHY.\n\nIn regard to the position of Ygdrasil and its roots in the universe,\nthere are statements both in Gylfaginning and in the ancient heathen\nrecords. To get a clear idea, freed from conjectures and based in all\nrespects on evidence, of how the mythology conceived the world-tree and\nits roots, is of interest not only in regard to the cosmography of the\nmythology, to which Ygdrasil supplies the trunk and the main outlines,\nbut especially in regard to the mythic conception of the lower world and\nthe whole eschatology; for it appears that each one of the Ygdrasil roots\nstands not alone above its particular fountain in the lower world but\nalso over its peculiar lower-world domain, which again has its peculiar\ncosmological character and its peculiar eschatological end.\n\nThe first condition, however, for a fruitful investigation is that we\nconsider the heathen or heathen-appearing records by themselves without\nmixing their statements with those of Gylfaginning. We must bear in mind\nthat the author of Gylfaginning lived and wrote in the 13th century, more\nthan 200 years after the introduction of Christianity in Iceland, and\nthat his statements accordingly are to be made a link in that chain of\ndocuments which exist for the scholar, who tries to follow the fate of\nthe myths during a Christian period and to study their gradual corruption\nand confusion.\n\nThis caution is the more important for the reason that an examination\nof Gylfaginning very soon shows that the whole cosmographical and\neschatological structure which it has built out of fragmentary mythic\ntraditions is based on a conception wholly foreign to Teutonic mythology,\nthat is, on the conception framed by the scholars in Frankish cloisters,\nand then handed down from chronicle to chronicle, that the Teutons were\ndescended from the Trojans, and that their gods were originally Trojan\nchiefs and magicians. This \"learned\" conception found its way to the\nNorth and finally developed its most luxurious and abundant blossoms in\nthe Younger Edda preface and in certain other parts of that work.\n\nPermit me to present in brief a sketch of how the cosmography\nand eschatology of Gylfaginning developed themselves out of this\nassumption:--The Asas were originally men, and dwelt in the Troy which\nwas situated on the centre of the earth, and which was identical with\nAsgard (_thar n\u00e6st gerdu their ser borg i midjum heimi, er kallat er\nAsgardr; that k\u00f6llum ver Tr\u00f3ja; thar bygdu gudin ok \u00e6ttir theirra ok\ngj\u00f6rdust thadan af m\u00f6rg tidindi ok greinir b\u00e6di \u00e1 jord ok \u00e1 lopti_--ch.\n9).\n\nThe first mythic tradition which supplies material for the structure\nwhich Gylfaginning builds on this foundation is the bridge Bifrost. The\nmyth had said that this bridge united the celestial abodes with a part of\nthe universe situated somewhere below. Gylfaginning, which makes the Asas\ndwell in Troy, therefore makes the gods undertake an enterprise of the\ngreatest boldness, that of building a bridge from Troy to the heavens.\nBut they are extraordinary architects and succeed (_Gudin gj\u00f6rdu br\u00fa til\nhimins af j\u00f6rdu_--ch. 13).\n\nThe second mythic tradition employed is Urd's fountain. The myth had\nstated that the gods daily rode from their celestial abodes on the bridge\nBifrost to Urd's (subterranean) fountain. Thence Gylfaginning draws the\ncorrect conclusion that Asgard was supposed to be situated at one end of\nthe bridge and Urd's fountain near the other. But from Gylfaginning's\npremises it follows that if Asgard-Troy is situated on the surface of\nthe earth Urd's fountain must be situated in the heavens, and that the\nAsas accordingly when they ride to Urd's fountain must ride upward, not\ndownward. The conclusion is drawn with absolute consistency (\"_Hvern dag\nrida \u00e6sir thangat upp um Bifr\u00f6st_\"--ch. 15).\n\nThe third mythic tradition used as material is the world-tree, which went\n(down in the lower world) to Urd's fountain. According to V\u00f6luspa (19),\nthis fountain is situated beneath the ash Ygdrasil. The conclusion drawn\nby Gylfaginning by the aid of its Trojan premises is that since Urd's\nfountain is situated in the heavens, and still under one of Ygdrasil's\nroots, this root must be located still further up in the heavens. The\nplacing of the root is also done with consistency, so that we get the\nfollowing series of wrong localisations:--Down on the earth, Asgard-Troy;\nthence up to the heavens the bridge Bifrost; above Bifrost, Urd's\nfountain; high above Urd's fountain, one of Ygdrasil's three roots (which\nin the mythology are all in the lower world).\n\nSince one of Ygdrasil's roots thus had received its place far up in the\nheavens, it became necessary to place a second root on a level with the\nearth, and the third one was allowed to retain its position in the lower\nworld. Thus was produced a just distribution of the roots among the\nthree regions which in the conception of the middle ages constituted the\nuniverse, namely, the heavens, the earth, and hell.\n\nIn this manner two myths were made to do service in regard to one of\nthe remaining Ygdrasil roots. The one myth was taken from V\u00f6luspa,\nwhere it was learned that Mimer's fountain is situated below the\nsacred world-tree; the other was Grimnismal (31), where we are told\nthat frost-giants dwell under one of the three roots. At the time when\nGylfaginning was written, and still later, popular traditions told that\nGudmund-Mimer was of giant descent (see the middle-age sagas narrated\nabove). From this Gylfaginning draws the conclusion that Mimer was a\nfrost-giant, and it identifies the root which extends to the frost-giants\nwith the root that extends to Mimer's fountain. Thus this fountain of\ncreative power, of world-preservation, of wisdom, and of poetry receives\nfrom Gylfaginning its place in the abode of the powers of frost, hostile\nto gods and to men, in the land of the frost-giants, which Gylfaginning\nregards as being Jotunheim, bordering on the earth.\n\nIn this way Gylfaginning, with the Trojan hypothesis as its\nstarting-point, has gotten so far that it has separated from the lower\nworld with its three realms and three fountains Urd's realm and fountain,\nthey being transferred to the heavens, and Mimer's realm and fountain,\nthey being transferred to Jotunheim. In the mythology these two realms\nwere the subterranean regions of bliss, and the third, Nifelhel, with\nthe regions subject to it, was the abode of the damned. After these\nseparations were made, Gylfaginning, to be logical, had to assume that\nthe lower world of the heathens was exclusively a realm of misery and\ntorture, a sort of counterpart of the hell of the Church. This conclusion\nis also drawn with due consistency, and Ygdrasil's third root, which in\nthe mythology descended to the well Hvergelmer and to the lower world\nof the frost-giants, Nifelhel, Nifelheim, extends over the whole lower\nworld, the latter being regarded as identical with Nifelheim and the\nplaces of punishment therewith connected.\n\nThis result carries with it another. The goddess of the lower world, and\nparticularly of its domain of bliss, was in the mythology, as shall be\nshown below, the goddess of fate and death, Urd, also called Hel, when\nnamed after the country over which she ruled. In a local sense, the\nname Hel could be applied partly to the whole lower world, which rarely\nhappened, partly to Urd's and Mimer's realms of bliss, which was more\ncommon, and Hel was then the opposite of Nifelhel, which was solely the\nhome of misery and torture. Proofs of this shall be given below. But when\nthe lower world had been changed to a sort of hell, the name Hel, both\nin its local and in its personal sense, must undergo a similar change,\nand since Urd (the real Hel) was transferred to the heavens, there was\nnothing to hinder Gylfaginning from substituting for the queen of the\nlower world Loke's daughter cast down into Nifelhel and giving her the\nname Hel and the sceptre over the whole lower world.\n\nThis method is also pursued by Gylfaginning's author without hesitation,\nalthough he had the best of reasons for suspecting its correctness.\nA certain hesitancy might here have been in order. According to the\nmythology, the pure and pious Asa-god Balder comes to Hel, that is to\nsay, to the lower world, and to one of its realms of bliss. But after\nthe transformation to which the lower world had been subjected in\nGylfaginning's system, the descent of Balder to Hel must have meant a\ndescent to and a remaining in the world of misery and torture, and a\nrelation of subject to the daughter of Loke. This should have awakened\ndoubts in the mind of the author of Gylfaginning. But even here he had\nthe courage to be true to his premises, and without even thinking of the\nabsurdity in which he involves himself, he goes on and endows the sister\nof the Midgard-serpent and of the Fenris-wolf with that perfect power\nwhich before belonged to Destiny personified, so that the same gods who\nbefore had cast the horrible child Loke down into the ninth region of\nNifelhel are now compelled to send a minister-plenipotentiary to her\nmajesty to treat with her and pray for Balder's liberation.\n\nBut finally, there comes a point where the courage of consistency\nfails Gylfaginning. The manner in which it has placed the roots of the\nworld-tree makes us first of all conceive Ygdrasil as lying horizontal in\nspace. An attempt to make this matter intelligible can produce no other\npicture of Ygdrasil, in accord with the statements of Gylfaginning, than\nthe following:\n\n The root over heaven\n and over Urd's fountain.\n -------------------------+\n |\n The root over Jotunheim |\n and over Mimer's +-----------------------------\n well. |\n -------------------------+\n |\n The root over the lower +-----------------------------\n world and over | Ygdrasil's trunk.\n Hvergelmer's fountain. |\n -------------------------+\n\nBut Gylfaginning is not disposed to draw this conclusion. On the\ncontrary, it insists that Ygdrasil stands erect on its three roots. How\nwe, then, are to conceive its roots as united one with the other and with\nthe trunk of this it very prudently leaves us in ignorance, for this is\nbeyond the range of human imagination.\n\nThe contrast between the mythological doctrine in regard to the three\nYgdrasil roots, and Gylfaginning's view of the subject may easily be\ndemonstrated by the following parallels:\n\n _The Mythology._ _Gylfaginning._\n\n 1. Ygdrasil has three roots. 1. Ygdrasil has three roots.\n\n 2. All three roots are subterranean. 2. One is in the lower world;\n a second stands over Jotunheim\n on a level with the earth; a\n third stands over the heavens.\n\n 3. To each root corresponds 3. To each root corresponds\n a fountain and a realm in the a fountain and a realm; the\n lower world. The lower world realms are the heavens,\n consists of three realms, each Jotunheim, and the lower world,\n with its fountain and each which are located each under\n with its root. its root.\n\n 4. Under one of the subterranean 4. Under one of the roots,\n roots dwells the goddess that is the one which stands\n of death and fate, Urd, over heaven, dwells Urd the\n who is also called Hel, and in goddess of fate, and there is\n her realm is Urd's fountain. Urd's fountain.\n\n 5. Under the other (subterranean)\n root dwells Mimer. In his realm is\n Mimer's fountain and Mimer's grove,\n where a subterranean race of men\n are preserved for the future world.\n This root may, therefore, be said\n to stand over mennskir menn\n (Grimnersmal).\n\n It is said that one of the\n roots stands over mennskir menn\n (Grimnersmal). By this is meant,\n according to Gylfaginning, not\n the root over Mimer's well, but\n the root over Urd's fountain,\n near which the Asas hold their\n assemblies, for the Asas are\n in reality men who dwelt on\n earth in the city of Troy.\n\n 6. Under the third (subterranean) 6. Under the third (and\n root dwell frost-giants. Under only subterranean) root dwell\n this root is the well Hvergelmer, the souls of sinners and those\n and the realm of the frost-giants who have died from sickness\n is Nifelhel (Nifelheim). Under and age. Under this root is\n Nifelhel are nine regions of torture. the well Hvergelmer and\n the whole lower world. The\n lower world is called Nifelhel\n or Nifelheim, and contains\n nine places of torture.\n\n 7. The sister of the Midgard-serpent 7. The sister of the\n and of the Fenris-wolf was cast by Midgard-serpent and of the\n the gods into the regions of torture Fenris-wolf was cast by the gods\n under Nifelhel, and received the into the regions of torture\n rule over the places where the under Nifelhel, and received\n damned are punished. the rule over the whole lower\n world, which consists of\n Nifelhel with the nine regions\n of torture.\n\n 8. The name Hel can be applied to 8. As Hel means the lower\n the whole lower world, but means world, and as the sister of the\n particularly that region of bliss Midgard-serpent governs the\n where Urd's fountain is situated, whole lower world, she is\n for Urd is the personal Hel. The meant by the personal Hel.\n Loke-daughter in Nifelhel is\n her slave and must obey her\n commands.\n\nGylfaginning does not stop with the above results. It continues the chain\nof its conclusions. After Hvergelmer has been selected by Gylfaginning\nas the only fountain in the lower world, it should, since the lower\nworld has been made into a sort of hell, be a fountain of hell, and\nin this respect easily recognised by the Christian conception of the\nmiddle ages. In this new character Hvergelmer becomes the centre and\nthe worst place in Gylfaginning's description of the heathen Gehenna.\nNo doubt because the old dragon, which is hurled down into the abyss\n(Revelation, chap. 20), is to be found in the hell-fountain of the\nmiddle ages, Gylfaginning throws Nidhog down into Hvergelmer, which it\nalso fills with serpents and dead bodies found in Grimnismal (Str. 34,\n35), where they have no connection with Hvergelmer. According to V\u00f6luspa\nit is in Nastrands that Nidhog sucks and the wolf tears the dead bodies\n(_n\u00e1ir_). Gylfaginning follows V\u00f6luspa in speaking of the other terrors\nin Nastrands, but rejects V\u00f6luspa's statements about Nidhog and the wolf,\nand casts both these beasts down into the Hvergelmer fountain. As shall\nbe shown below, the Hvergelmer of the mythology is the mother-fountain of\nall waters, and is situated on a high plain in the lower world. Thence\nits waters flow partly northward to Nifelheim, partly south to the\nelysian fields of heathendom, and the waves sent in the latter direction\nare shining, clear, and holy.\n\nIt was an old custom, at least in Iceland, that booths for the\naccommodation of the visitors were built around a remote thing-stead,\nor place for holding the parliament. Gylfaginning makes its Trojan Asas\nfollow the example of the Icelanders, and put up houses around the\nthing-stead, which they selected near Urd's fountain, after they had\nsucceeded in securing by Bifrost a connection between Troy and heaven.\nThis done, Gylfaginning distributes as best it can the divine halls and\nabodes of bliss mentioned in the mythology between Troy on the earth and\nthe thing-stead in heaven.\n\nThis may be sufficient to show that Gylfaginning's pretended account of\nthe old mythological cosmography is, on account of its making Troy the\nstarting-point, and doubtless also to some extent as a result of the\nChristian methods of thought, with which the author interpreted the\nheathen myths accessible to him, is simply a monstrous caricature of the\nmythology, a caricature which is continued, not with complacency and\nassurance, but in a confused and contradictory manner, in the eschatology\nof Gylfaginning.\n\nMy chief task will now be to review and examine all the passages in the\nElder Edda's mythological songs, wherein the words Hel and Nifelhel\noccur, in order to find out in this manner in which sense or senses\nthese words are there employed, and to note at the same time all the\npassages which may come in my way and which are of importance to the myth\nconcerning the lower world.\n\n\n57.\n\n THE WORD HEL IN LINGUISTIC USAGE.\n\nThe Norse Hel is the same word as the Gothic _Halja_, the Old High German\n_Hella_, the Anglo-Saxon _Hellia_, and the English Hell. On account of\nits occurrence with similar signification in different Teutonic tongues\nin their oldest linguistic monuments, scholars have been able to draw the\nconclusion that the word points to a primitive Teutonic _Halja_, meaning\nlower world, lower world divinity. It is believed to be related to the\nLatin _oc-cul-ere_, _cel-are_, _clam_, and to mean the one who \"hides,\"\n\"conceals,\" \"preserves.\"\n\nWhen the books of the New Testament were for the first time translated\ninto a Teutonic tongue, into a Gothic dialect, the translator, Ulfilas,\nhad to find some way of distinguishing with suitable words between the\ntwo realms of the lower world mentioned in the New Testament, Hades and\nGehenna (_geen a_).\n\nHades, the middle condition, and the locality corresponding to this\ncondition, which contains both fields of bliss and regions of torture,\nhe translated with Halja, doubtless because the signification of this\nword corresponded most faithfully with the meaning of the word Hades. For\nGehenna, hell, he used the borrowed word _gaiainna_.\n\nThe Old High German translation also reproduces Hades with the word\n_Hella_. For Gehenna it uses two expressions compounded with Hella. One\nof these, Hellawisi, belongs to the form which afterwards predominated\nin Scandinavia. Both the compounds bear testimony that the place of\npunishment in the lower world could not be expressed with Hella, but\nit was necessary to add a word, which showed that a subterranean place\n_of punishment_ was meant. The same word for Gehenna is found among the\nChristian Teutons in England, namely, Hellewite; that is to say, _the_\nHellia, that part of the lower world where it is necessary to do penance\n(_vite_) for one's sins. From England the expression doubtless came to\nScandinavia, where we find in the Icelandic _Helv\u00edti_, in the Swedish\n_H\u00e4lvete_, and in the Danish _Helvede_. In the Icelandic literature it\nis found for the first time in Hallfred, the same skald who with great\nhesitation permitted himself to be persuaded by Olaf Trygveson to abandon\nthe faith of his fathers.\n\nMany centuries before Scandinavia was converted to Christianity, the\nRoman Church had very nearly obliterated the boundary line between the\nsubterranean Hades and Gehenna of the New Testament. The lower world had,\nas a whole, become a realm of torture, though with various gradations.\nRegions of bliss were no longer to be found there, and for Hel in the\nsense in which Ulfilas used Halja, and the Old High German translation\nHella, there was no longer room in the Christian conception. In the\nNorth, Hel was therefore permitted to remain a heathen word, and to\nretain its heathen signification as long as the Christian generations\nwere able or cared to preserve it. It is natural that the memory of this\nsignification should gradually fade, and that the idea of the Christian\nhell should gradually be transferred to the heathen _Hel_. This change\ncan be pretty accurately traced in the Old Norse literature. It came\nslowly, for the doctrine in regard to the lower world in the Teutonic\nreligion addressed itself powerfully to the imagination, and, as appears\nfrom a careful examination, far from being indefinite in its outlines, it\nwas, on the contrary, described with the clearest lines and most vivid\ncolours, even down to the minutest details. Not until the thirteenth\ncentury could such a description of the heathen Hel as Gylfaginning's be\npossible and find readers who would accept it. But not even then were the\nmemories (preserved in fragments from the heathen days) in regard to the\nlower world doctrine so confused, but that it was possible to present a\nfar more faithful (or rather not so utterly false) description thereof.\nGylfaginning's representation of the heathen Hades is based less on the\nthen existing confusion of the traditions than on the conclusions drawn\nfrom the author's own false premises.\n\nIn determining the question, how far Hel among the heathen Scandinavians\nhas had a meaning identical with or similar to that which Halja and\nHella had among their Gothic and German kinsmen--that is to say, the\nsignification of a death-kingdom of such a nature that it could not\nwith linguistic propriety be used in translating Gehenna--we must first\nconsult that which really is the oldest source, the usage of the spoken\nlanguage in expressions where Hel is found. Such expressions show by the\nvery presence of Hel that they have been handed down from heathendom, or\nhave been formed in analogy with old heathen phrases. One of these modes\nof speech still exists: _i hj\u00e4l_ (sl\u00e5 ihj\u00e4l, sv\u00e4lta ihj\u00e4l, frysa ihj\u00e4l,\n&c.), which is the Old Norse _i Hel_. We do not use this expression in\nthe sense that a person killed by a weapon, famine, or frost is relegated\nto the abyss of torture. Still less could the heathens have used it in\nthat sense. The phrase would never have been created if the word Hel had\nespecially conveyed the notion of a place of punishment. Already in a\nvery remote age _\u00ed Hel_ had acquired the abstract meaning _to death_, but\nin such a manner that the phrase easily suggested the concrete idea--the\nrealm of death (an example of this will be given below). What there is\nto be said about _\u00ed Hel_ also applies to such phrases as _bida Heljar_,\nto await Hel (_death_); _buask til Heljar_, to become equipped for the\njourney to Hel (to be shrouded); _liggja milli heims ok Heljar_, to lie\nbetween this world and Hel (between life and death); _liggja \u00e1 Heljar\nthremi_, to lie on Hel's threshold. A funeral could be called a _Helf\u00f6r_\n(a Hel-journey); fatal illness _Hels\u00f3tt_ (Hel-sickness); the deceased\ncould be called _Helgengnir_ (those gone to Hel). Of friends it is said\nthat Hel (death) alone could separate them (Fornm., vii. 233).\n\nThus it is evident that Hel, in the more general local sense of the word,\nreferred to a place common for all the dead, and that the word was used\nwithout any additional suggestion of damnation and torture in the minds\nof those employing it.\n\n\n58.\n\n THE WORD HEL IN VEGTAMSKVIDA AND IN VAFTHRUDNERSMAL.\n\nWhen Odin, according to Vegtamskvida, resolved to get reliable\ninformation in the lower world in regard to the fate which threatened\nBalder, he saddled his Sleipner and rode thither. On the way he took he\ncame first to Nifelhel. While he was still in Nifelhel, he met on his way\na dog bloody about the breast, which came from the direction where that\ndivision of the lower world is situated, which is called Hel. Thus the\nrider and the dog came from opposite directions, and the former continued\nhis course in the direction whence the latter came. The dog turned, and\nlong pursued Odin with his barking. Then the rider reached a _foldvegr_,\nthat is to say, a road along grass-grown plains. The way resounded under\nthe hoofs of the steed. Then Odin finally came to a high dwelling which\nis called _Heljarrann_ or _Heljar rann_. The name of the dwelling shows\nthat it was situated in Hel, not in Nifelhel. This latter realm of the\nlower world Odin now had had behind him ever since he reached the green\nfields, and since the dog, evidently a watch of the borders between\nNifelhel and Hel, had left him in peace. The high dwelling was decorated\nas for a feast, and mead was served. It was, Odin learned, the abode\nwhere the _\u00e1smegir_ longingly waited for the arrival of Balder. Thus\nVegtamskvida:\n\n 2. R\u00e6id hann (Odin) nidr thathan\n Niflh\u00e6ljar til,\n m\u00e6tti hann hv\u00e6lpi\n theim \u00e6r or h\u00e6liu kom.\n\n 3. Sa var blodugr\n urn briost framan\n ok galldrs f\u00f6dur\n gol um l\u00e6engi.\n\n 4. Framm r\u00e6id Odinn,\n foldv\u00e6gr dundi,\n ban kom at hafu\n H\u00e6liar ranni.\n\n 7. Her standr Balldri\n of brugginn mi\u00f6dr.\n Ok \u00e1smegir\n i ofv\u00e6no.\n\nVegtamskvida distinguishes distinctly between Nifelhel and Hel. In Hel\nis the dwelling which awaits the son of the gods, the noblest and most\npious of all the Asas. The dwelling, which reveals a lavish splendour, is\ndescribed as the very antithesis of that awful abode which, according to\nGylfaginning, belongs to the queen of the lower world. In Vafthrudnersmal\n(43) the old giant says:\n\n Fra iotna runom Of the runes of giants\n oc allra goda and of all the gods\n ec kann segia satt, I can speak truly;\n thviat hvern hefi ec for I have been\n heim um komit: in every world.\n nio kom ec heima In nine worlds I came\n fyr Niflhel nedan, below Nifelhel,\n hinig deyja or Helio halir. thither die \"halir\" from Hel.\n\nLike Vegtamskvida, so Vafthrudnersmal also distinguishes distinctly\nbetween Hel and Nifelhel, particularly in those most remarkable words\nthat thither, _i.e._, to Nifelhel and the regions subject to it, _die_\n\"halir\" from Hel. _Halir_ means men, human beings; applied to beings in\nthe lower world _halir_ means dead men, the spirits of deceased human\nbeings (cp. Allvism., 18, 6; 20, 6; 26, 6; 32, 6; 34, 6, with 28, 3).\nAccordingly, nothing less is here said than that deceased persons who\nhave come to the realm called Hel, may there be subject to a second\ndeath, and that through this second death they come to Nifelhel. Thus\nthe same sharp distinction is here made between life in Hel and in\nNifelhel as between life on earth and that in Hel. These two subterranean\nrealms must therefore represent very different conditions. What these\ndifferent conditions are, Vafthrudnersmal does not inform us, nor will I\nanticipate the investigation on this point; still less will I appeal to\nGylfaginning's assurance that the realms of torture lie under Nifelhel,\nand that it is wicked men (_v\u00e2ndir menn_) who are obliged to cross the\nborder from Hel to Nifelhel. So far it must be borne in mind that it was\nin Nifelhel Odin met the bloody dog-demon, who barked at the Asa-majesty,\nthough he could not hinder the father of the mighty and protecting\nsorceries from continuing his journey; while it was in Hel, on the other\nhand, that Odin saw the splendid abode where the _\u00e1smegir_ had already\nserved the precious subterranean mead for his son, the just Balder. This\nargues that they who through a second death get over the border from\nHel to Nifelhel, do not by this transfer get a better fate than that to\nwhich Hel invites those who have died the first death. Balder in the one\nrealm, the blood-stained kinsman of Cerberus in the other--this is, for\nthe present, the only, but not unimportant weight in the balance which is\nto determine the question whether that border-line which a second death\ndraws between Hel and Nifelhel is the boundary between a realm of bliss\nand a realm of suffering, and in this case, whether Hel or Nifelhel is\nthe realm of bliss.\n\nThis expression in Vafthrudnersmal, _hinig deyja or Helio halir_, also\nforces to the front another question, which as long as it remains\nunanswered, makes the former question more complicated. If Hel is a realm\nof bliss, and if Nifelhel with the regions subject thereto is a realm of\nunhappiness, then why do not the souls of the damned go at once to their\nfinal destination, but are taken first to the realm of bliss, then to\nthe realm of anguish and pain, that is, after they have died the second\ndeath on the boundary-line between the two? And if, on the contrary, Hel\nwere the realm of unhappiness and Nifelhel offered a better lot, then why\nshould they who are destined for a better fate, first be brought to it\nthrough the world of torture, and then be separated from the latter by a\nsecond death before they could gain the more happy goal? These questions\ncannot be answered until later on.\n\n\n59.\n\n THE WORD HEL IN GRIMNERSMAL. HVERGELMER'S FOUNTAIN AND ITS\n DEFENDERS. THE BORDER MOUNTAIN BETWEEN HEL AND NIFELHEL. THE\n WORD HELBLOTINN IN THORSDRAPA.\n\nIn Grimnersmal the word Hel occurs twice (str. 28, 31), and this poem is\n(together with Gylfaginning) the only ancient record which gives us any\ninformation about the well Hvergelmer under this name (str. 26, ff.).\n\nFrom what is related, it appears that the mythology conceived Hvergelmer\nas a vast reservoir, the mother-fountain of all the waters of the world\n(_thadan eigo votn aull vega_). In the front rank are mentioned a number\nof subterranean rivers which rise in Hvergelmer, and seek their courses\nthence in various directions. But the waters of earth and heaven also\ncome from this immense fountain, and after completing their circuits they\nreturn thither. The liquids or saps which rise in the world-tree's stem\nto its branches and leaves around Herfather's hall (Valhal) return in the\nform of rain to Hvergelmer (Grimnersmal, 26).\n\nForty rivers rising there are named. (Whether they were all found in\nthe original text may be a subject of doubt. Interpolators may have\nadded from their own knowledge.) Three of them are mentioned in other\nrecords--namely, _Slidr_ in V\u00f6luspa, 36, _Gj\u00f6ll_ in that account of\nHermod's journey to Hel's realm, which in its main outlines was rescued\nby the author of Gylfaginning (Gylfag., ch. 52), and _Leiptr_ in Helge\nHund., ii. 31--and all three are referred to in such a way as to prove\nthat they are subterranean rivers. Slid flows to the realms of torture,\nand whirls weapons in its eddies, presumably to hinder or frighten\nanybody from attempting to cross. Over _Gj\u00f6ll_ there is a bridge of\ngold to Balder's subterranean abode. _Leiptr_ (which name means \"the\nshining one\") has clear waters which are holy, and by which solemn\noaths are sworn, as by Styx. Of these last two rivers flowing out of\nHvergelmer it is said that they flow down to Hel (_falla til Heljar_,\nstr. 28). Thus these are all subterranean. The next strophe (29) adds\nfour rivers--_K\u00f6rmt_ and _\u00d6rmt_, and the two _Kerl\u00f6gar_, of which it is\nsaid that it is over these Thor must wade every day when he has to go\nto the judgment-seats of the gods near the ash Ygdrasil. For he does\nnot ride like the other gods when they journey down over Bifrost to the\nthingstead near Urd's fountain. The horses which they use are named in\nstrophe 30, and are ten in number, like the asas, when we subtract Thor\nwho walks, and Balder and _H\u00f6dr_ who dwell in Hel. Nor must Thor on\nthese journeys, in case he wished to take the route by way of Bifrost,\nuse the thunder-chariot, for the flames issuing from it might set fire\nto the Asa-bridge and make the holy waters glow (str. 29). That the\nthunder-chariot also is dangerous for higher regions when it is set in\nmotion, thereof Thjodolf gives us a brilliant description in the poem\nHaustlaung. Thor being for this reason obliged to wade across four rivers\nbefore he gets to Urd's fountain, the beds of these rivers must have been\nconceived as crossing the paths travelled by the god journeying to the\nthingstead. Accordingly they must have their courses somewhere in Urd's\nrealm, or on the way thither, and consequently they too belong to the\nlower world.\n\nOther rivers coming from Hvergelmer are said to turn their course around\na place called _Hodd-goda_ (str. 27 _ther hverfa um Hodd-goda_). This\ngirdle of rivers, which the mythology unites around a single place,\nseems to indicate that this is a realm from which it is important\nto shut out everything that does not belong there. The name itself,\n_Hodd-goda_, points in the same direction. The word _hodd_ means that\nwhich is concealed (the treasure), and at the same time a protected\nsacred place. In the German poem _Heliand_ the word _hord_, corresponding\nto _hodd_, is used about the holiest of holies in the Jerusalem temple.\nAs we already know, there is in the lower world a place to which these\nreferences apply, namely, the citadel guarded by Delling, the elf of\ndawn, and decorated by the famous artists of the lower world--a citadel\nin which the _\u00e1smegir_ and Balder--and probably _Hodr_ too, since\nhe is transferred to the lower world, and with Balder is to return\nthence--await the end of the historical time and the regeneration.\nThe word _goda_ in Hodd-goda shows that the place is possessed by, or\nentrusted to, beings of divine rank.\n\nFrom what has here been stated in regard to Hvergelmer it follows that\nthe mighty well was conceived as situated on a high water-shed, far up\nin a subterranean mountain range, whence those rivers of which it is\nthe source flow down in different directions to different realms of\nHades. Of several of these rivers it is said that they in their upper\ncourses, before they reach Hel, flow in the vicinity of mankind (_gumnom\nn\u00e6r_--str. 28, 7), which naturally can have no other meaning than that\nthe high land through which they flow after leaving Hvergelmer has been\nconceived as lying not very deep below the crust of Midgard (the earth).\nHvergelmer and this high land are not to be referred to that division of\nthe lower world which in Grimnersmal is called Hel, for not until after\nthe rivers have flowed through the mountain landscape, where their source\nis, are they said to _falla til Heljar_.\n\nThus (1) there is in the lower world a mountain ridge, a high land, where\nis found Hvergelmer, the source of all waters; (2) this mountain, which\nwe for the present may call Mount Hvergelmer, is the watershed of the\nlower world, from which rivers flow in different directions; and (3) that\ndivision of the lower world which is called Hel lies below one side of\nMount Hvergelmer, and thence receives many rivers. What that division\nof the lower world which lies below the other side of Mount Hvergelmer\nis called is not stated in Grimnersmal. But from Vafthrudnersmal and\nVegtamskvida we already know that Hel is bounded by Nifelhel. In\nVegtamskvida Odin rides through Nifelhel to Hel; in Vafthrudnersmal\n_halir_ die from Hel to Nifelhel. Hel and Nifelhel thus appear to be each\nother's opposites, and to complement each other, and combined they form\nthe whole lower world. Hence it follows that the land on the other side\nof the Hvergelmer mountain is Nifelhel.\n\nIt also seems necessary that both these Hades realms should in the\nmythology be separated from each other not only by an abstract\nboundary line, but also by a natural boundary--a mountain or a body of\nwater--which might prohibit the crossing of the boundary by persons who\nneither had a right nor were obliged to cross. The tradition on which\nSaxo's account of Gorm's journey to the lower world is based makes Gorm\nand his men, when from Gudmund-Mimer's realm they wish to visit the\nabodes of the damned, first cross a river and then come to a boundary\nwhich cannot be crossed, excepting by _scal\u00e6_, steps on the mountain\nwall, or ladders, above which the gates are placed, that open to a city\n\"resembling most a cloud of vapour\" (_vaporanti maxime nubi simile_--i.\n425). This is Saxo's way of translating the name Nifelhel, just as he\nin the story about Hadding's journey to the lower world translated\n_Gl\u00e6sisvellir_ (the Glittering Fields) with _loca aprica_.\n\nIn regard to the topography and eschatology of the Teutonic lower world,\nit is now of importance to find out on which opposite sides of the\nHvergelmer mountain Hel and Nifelhel were conceived to be situated.\n\n_Nifl_, an ancient word, related to _nebula_ and _nephek_ means fog,\nmist, cloud, darkness. Nifelhel means _that_ Hel which is enveloped\nin fog and twilight. The name _Hel_ alone has evidently had partly a\nmore general application to a territory embracing the whole kingdom\nof death--else it could not be used as a part of the compound word\n_Nifelhel_--partly a more limited meaning, in which _Hel_, as in\nVafthrudnersmal and Vegtamskvida, forms a sharp contrast to _Nifelhel_,\nand from the latter point of view it is that division of the lower world\nwhich is not enveloped in mist and fog.\n\nAccording to the cosmography of the mythology there was, before the time\nwhen \"Ymer lived,\" Nifelheim, a world of fog, darkness, and cold, north\nof Ginungagap, and an opposite world, that of fire and heat, south of the\nempty abyss. Unfortunately it is only Gylfaginning that has preserved for\nour time these cosmographical outlines, but there is no suspicion that\nthe author of Gylfaginning invented them. The fact that his cosmographic\ndescription also mentions the ancient cow Audhumla, which is nowhere\nelse named in our mythic records, but is not utterly forgotten in our\npopular traditions, and which is a genuine Aryan conception, this is\nthe strongest argument in favour of his having had genuine authorities\nfor his theo-cosmogony at hand, though he used them in an arbitrary\nmanner. The Teutons may also be said to have been compelled to construct\na cosmogony in harmony with their conception of that world with which\nthey were best acquainted, their own home between the cold North and the\nwarmer South.\n\nNifelhel in the lower world has its counterpart in Nifelheim in chaos.\nGylfaginning identifies the two (ch. 6 and 34). Forspjallsljod does the\nsame, and locates Nifelheim far to the north in the lower world (_nordr\nat Nifelheim_--str. 26), behind Ygdrasil's farthest root, under which\nthe poem makes the goddess of night, after completing her journey around\nthe heavens, rest for a new journey. When Night has completed such a\njourney and come to the lower world, she goes northward in the direction\ntowards Nifelheim, to remain in her hall, until Dag with his chariot gets\ndown to the western horizon and in his turn rides through the \"horse\ndoors\" of Hades into the lower world.\n\nFrom this it follows that Nifelhel is to be referred to the north of\nthe mountain Hvergelmer, Hel to the south of it. Thus this mountain is\nthe wall separating Hel from Nifelhel. On that mountain in the gate,\nor gates, which in the Gorm story separates Gudmund-Mimer's abode from\nthose dwellings which resemble a \"cloud of vapour,\" and up there is the\ndeath boundary, at which \"halir\" die for the second time, when they are\ntransferred from Hel to Nifelhel.\n\nThe immense water-reservoir on the brow of the mountain, which stands\nunder Ygdrasil's northern root, sends, as already stated, rivers down to\nboth sides--to Nifelhel in the North and to Hel in the South. Of the most\nof these rivers we now know only the names. But those of which we do know\nmore are characterised in such a manner that we find that it is a sacred\nland to which those flowing to the South towards Hel hasten their course,\nand that it is an unholy land which is sought by those which send their\nstreams to the north down into Nifelhel. The rivers _Gj\u00f6ll_ and _Leiptr_\nfall down into Hel, and _Gj\u00f6ll_ is, as already indicated, characterised\nby a bridge of gold, Leiptr by a shining, clear, and most holy water.\nDown there in the South are found the mystic Hodd-goda, surrounded by\nother Hel-rivers; Balder's and the _\u00e1smegir's_ citadel (perhaps identical\nwith Hodd-goda); Mimer's fountain, seven times overlaid with gold,\nthe fountain of inspiration and of the creative force, over which the\n\"overshadowing holy tree\" spreads its branches (V\u00f6luspa), and around\nwhose reed-wreathed edge the seed of poetry grows (Eilif Gudrunson);\nthe Glittering Fields, with flowers which never fade and with harvests\nwhich never are gathered; Urd's fountain, over which Ygdrasil stands\nfor ever green (V\u00f6luspa), and in whose silver-white waters swans swim;\nand the sacred thingstead of the Asas, to which they daily ride down\nover Bifrost. North of the mountain roars the weapon-hurling Slid, and\ndoubtless is the same river as that in whose \"heavy streams\" the souls of\nnithings must wade. In the North _sol\u00fa fjarri_ stands, also at Nastrands,\nthat hall, the walls of which are braided of serpents (V\u00f6luspa). Thus Hel\nis described as an Elysium, Nifelhel with its subject regions as a realm\nof unhappiness.\n\nYet a few words about Hvergelmer, from and to which \"all waters find\ntheir way.\" This statement in Grimnersmal is of course true of the\ngreatest of all waters, the ocean. The myth about Hvergelmer and its\nsubterranean connection with the ocean gave our ancestors the explanation\nof ebb- and flood-tide. High up in the northern channels the bottom\nof the ocean opened itself in a hollow tunnel, which led down to the\n\"kettle-roarer,\" \"the one roaring in his basin\" (this seems to be the\nmeaning of _Hvergelmir_: _hverr_ = kettle; _galm_ = Anglo-Saxon _gealm_,\na roaring). When the waters of the ocean poured through this tunnel down\ninto the Hades-well there was ebb-tide; when it returned water from its\nsuperabundance there was flood-tide (see Nos. 79, 80, 81).\n\nAdam of Bremen had heard this tunnel mentioned in connection with the\nstory about the Frisian noblemen who went by sea to the furthest north,\ncame to the land of subterranean giants, and plundered their treasures\n(see No. 48). On the way up some of the ships of the Frisians got into\nthe eddy caused by the tunnel, and were sucked with terrible violence\ndown into the lower world.[8]\n\nCharlemagne's contemporary, Paul Varnefrid (Diaconus), relates in his\nhistory of the Longobardians that he had talked with men who had been in\nScandinavia. Among remarkable reports which they gave him of the regions\nof the far north was also that of a maelstrom, which swallows ships, and\nsometimes even casts them up again (see Nos. 15, 79, 80, 81).\n\nBetween the death-kingdom and the ocean there was, therefore, one\nconnecting link, perhaps several. Most of the people who drowned did not\nremain with _Ran_. \u00c6gir's wife received them hospitably, according to\nthe Icelandic sagas of the middle age. She had a hall in the bottom of\nthe sea, where they were welcomed and offered _sess ok rekkju_ (seat and\nbed). Her realm was only an ante-chamber to the realms of death (Kormak,\nSonatorrek).\n\nThe demon Nidhog, which by Gylfaginning is thrown into Hvergelmer is,\naccording to the ancient records, a winged dragon flying about, one of\nseveral similar monsters which have their abode in Nifelhel and those\nlower regions, and which seek to injure that root of the world-tree\nwhich is nearest to them, that is the northern one, which stands over\nNifelhel and stretches its rootlets southward over Mount Hvergelmer and\ndown into its great water-reservoir (Grimnersmal, 34, 35). Like all the\nAryan mythologies, the Teutonic also knew this sort of monsters, and did\nso long before the word \"dragon\" (_drake_) was borrowed from southern\nkinsmen as a name for them. Nidhog abides now on Nastrands, where, by\nthe side of a wolf-demon, it tortures _n\u00e1ir_ (corpses), now on the Nida\nMountains, whence the vala in V\u00f6luspa sees him flying away with _n\u00e1ir_\nunder his wings. Nowhere (except in Gylfaginning) is it said that he\nlives in the well Hvergelmer, though it is possible that he, in spite of\nhis wings, was conceived as an amphibious being which also could subsist\nin the water. Tradition tells of dragons who dwell in marshes and swamps.\n\nThe other two subterranean fountains, Urd's and Mimer's, and the roots\nof Ygdrasil standing over them, are well protected against the influence\nof the foes of creation, and have their separate guardians. Mimer, with\nhis sons and the beings subject to him, protects and guards his root of\nthe tree, Urd and her sisters hers, and to the latter all the victorious\ngods of Asgard come every day to hold counsel. Was the northern root of\nYgdrasil, which spreads over the realms of the frost-giants, of the\ndemons, and of the damned, and was Hvergelmer, which waters this root and\nreceived so important a position in the economy of the world-tree, left\nin the mythology without protection and without a guardian? Hvergelmer\nwe know is situated on the watershed, where we have the death-borders\nbetween Hel and Nifelhel fortified with abysses and gates, and is\nconsequently situated in the immediate vicinity of beings hostile to\ngods and men. Here, if anywhere, there was need of valiant and vigilant\nwatchers. Ygdrasil needs its northern root as well as the others, and if\nHvergelmer was not allowed undisturbed to conduct the circuitous flow of\nall waters, the world would be either dried up or drowned.\n\nAlready, long before the creation of the world, there flowed from\nHvergelmer that broad river called _Eliv\u00e1gar_, which in its extreme north\nfroze into that ice, which, when it melted, formed out of its dropping\nvenom the primeval giant Ymer (Vafthr., 31; Gylfag., 5). After creation\nthis river like Hvergelmer, whence it rises and Nifelhel, into which\nit empties, become integral parts of the northern regions of the lower\nworld. _Eliv\u00e1gar_, also called _Hraunn Hr\u00f6nn_, sends in its upper course,\nwhere it runs near the crust of the earth, a portion of its waters up to\nit, and forms between Midgard and the upper Jotunheim proper, the river\nVimur, which is also called _Eliv\u00e1gar_ and _Hraunn_, like the parent\nstream (cp. Hymerskv., 5, 38; Grimnersm., 28; Skaldskaparm., ch. 3, 16,\n18, 19, and Helg. Hj., 25). Eliv\u00e1gar separates the realm of the giants\nand frost-giants from the other \"worlds.\"\n\nSouth of Eliv\u00e1gar the gods have an \"outgard,\" a \"s\u00e6ther\" which is\ninhabited by valiant watchers--_snotrir vikingar_ they are called in\nThorsdrapa, 8--who are bound by oaths to serve the gods. Their chief is\nEgil, the most famous archer in the mythology (Thorsdrapa, 1, 8; cp.\nHymerskv., 7, 38; Skaldskap., ch. 16). As such he is also called Orvandel\n(the one busy with the arrow). This Egil is the guardian entrusted with\nthe care of Hvergelmer and Eliv\u00e1gar. Perhaps it is for this reason that\nhe has a brother and fellow-warrior who is called Ide (_Idi_ from _ida_,\na fountain with eddying waters). The \"s\u00e6ter\" is called \"Ides s\u00e6ter\"\n(Thorsdrapa, 1). The services which he as watcher on Mt. Hvergelmer\nand on the Eliv\u00e1gar renders to the regions of bliss in the lower world\nare so great that, although he does not belong to the race of the gods\nby birth or by adoption, he still enjoys among the inhabitants of Hel\nso great honour and gratitude that they confer divine honours on him.\nHe is \"the one worshipped in Hel who scatters the clouds which rise\nstorm-threatening over the mountain of the lower world,\" _helblotinn\nhneitr undir-fj\u00e1lfrs bliku_ (Thorsdr., 19). The storm-clouds which Are,\n_Hr\u00e6svelgr_, and other storm-demons of Nifelheim send to the elysian\nfields of the death-kingdom, must, in order to get there, surmount Mt.\nHvergelmer, but there they are scattered by the faithful watchman. Now in\ncompany with Thor, and now alone, Egil-Orvandel has made many remarkable\njourneys to Jotunheim. Next after Thor, he was the most formidable foe\nof the giants, and in connection with Heimdal he zealously watched their\nevery movement. The myth in regard to him is fully discussed in the\ntreatise on the Ivalde-sons which forms a part of this work, and there\nthe proofs will be presented for the identity of Orvandel and Egil. I\nsimply desire to point out here, in order to present complete evidence\nlater, that Ygdrasil's northern root and the corresponding part of the\nlower world also had their defenders and watchmen, and I also wished to\ncall attention to the manner in which the name _Hel_ is employed in the\nword _Helbl\u00f3tinn_. We find it to be in harmony with the use of the same\nword in those passages of the poetic Edda which we have hitherto examined.\n\n[8] \"Et ecce instabilis Oceani Euripus, ad initia qu\u00e6dam fontis sui\narcana recurrens, infelices nautas jam desperatos, immo de morte sola\ncogitantes, vehementissimo impetu traxit ad Chaos. Hanc dicunt esse\nvoraginem abyssi, illud profundum, in quo fama est omnes maris recursus,\nqui decrescere videntur, absorberi et denuo removi, quod fluctuatio dici\nsolet\" (_De situ Dani\u00e6_, ed. Mad., p. 159).\n\n\n60.\n\n THE WORD HEL IN SKIRNERSMAL. DESCRIPTION OF NIFELHEL. THE\n MYTHIC MEANING OF N\u00c1R, N\u00c1IR. THE HADES-DIVISION OF THE\n FROST-GIANTS AND SPIRITS OF DISEASE.\n\nIn Skirnersmal (strophe 21) occurs the expression _horfa ok snugga Heljar\ntil_. It is of importance to our theme to investigate and explain the\nconnection in which it is found.\n\nThe poem tells that Frey sat alone, silent and longing, ever since he had\nseen the giant Gymer's wonderfully beautiful daughter Gerd. He wasted\nwith love for her; but he said nothing, since he was convinced in advance\nthat neither Asas nor Elves would ever consent to a union between him\nand her. But when the friend of his youth, who resided in Asgard, and\nin the poem is called Skirner, succeeded in getting him to confess the\ncause of his longing, it was, in Asgard, found necessary to do something\nto relieve it, and so Skirner was sent to the home of the giant to ask\nfor the hand of Gerd on Frey's behalf. As bridal gifts he took with him\neleven golden apples and the ring _Draupnir_. He received one of the best\nhorses of Asgard to ride, and for his defence Frey's magnificent sword,\n\"which fights of itself against the race of giants.\" In the poem this\nsword receives the epithets _Tams-v\u00f6ndr_ (str. 26) and _Gambanteinn_\n(str. 32). _Tams-v\u00f6ndr_, means the \"staff that subdues;\" _Gambanteinn_\nmeans the \"rod of revenge\" (see Nos. 105, 116). Both epithets are\nformed in accordance with the common poetic usage of describing swords\nby compound words of which the latter part is _v\u00f6ndr_ or _teinn_. We\nfind, as names for swords, _benvondr_, _blodvondr_, _hjaltvondr_,\n_hridvondr_, _hvitvondr_, _mordvondr_, _sarvondr_, _benteinn_,\n_eggteinn_, _h\u00e6vateinn_, _hjorteinn_, _hr\u00e6teinn_, _sarteinn_, _valteinn_,\n_mistelteinn_.\n\nSkirner rides over damp fells and the fields of giants, leaps, after\na quarrel with the watchman of Gymer's citadel, over the fence, comes\nin to Gerd, is welcomed with ancient mead, and presents his errand of\ncourtship, supported by the eleven golden apples. Gerd refuses both the\napples and the object of the errand. Skirner then offers her the most\nprecious treasure, the ring _Draupnir_, but in vain. Then he resorts to\nthreats. He exhibits the sword so dangerous to her kinsmen; with it he\nwill cut off her head if she refuses her consent. Gerd answers that she\nis not to be frightened, and that she has a father who is not afraid to\nfight. Once more Skirner shows her the sword, which also may fell her\nfather (_ser thu thenna m\u00e6ki, mey_, &c.), and he threatens to strike her\nwith the \"subduing staff,\" so that her heart shall soften, but too late\nfor her happiness, for a blow from the staff will remove her thither,\nwhere sons of men never more shall see her.\n\n Tamsvendi ec thic drep,\n enn ec thic temia mun,\n mer! at minom munom;\n thar skaltu ganga\n er thic gumna synir\n sithan eva se (str. 26).\n\nThis is the former threat of death repeated in another form. The former\ndid not frighten her. But that which now overwhelms her with dismay is\nthe description Skirner gives her of the lot that awaits her in the\nrealm of death, whither she is destined--she, the giant maid, if she\ndies by the avenging wrath of the gods (_gamban-reidi_). She shall then\ncome to that region which is situated below the Na-gates (_fyr n\u00e1grindr\nnethan_--str. 35), and which is inhabited by frost-giants who, as we\nshall find, do not deserve the name _mannasynir_, even though the word\n_menn_ be taken in its most common sense, and made to embrace giants of\nthe masculine kind.\n\nThis phrase _fyr n\u00e1grindr nethan_ must have been a stereotyped\neschatological term applied to a particular division, a particular realm\nin the lower world. In Lokasenna (str. 63), Thor says to Loke, after\nthe latter has emptied his phials of rash insults upon the gods, that\nif he does not hold his tongue the hammer Mjolner shall send him to Hel\n_fyr n\u00e1grindr nethan_. Hel is here used in its widest sense, and this\nis limited by the addition of the words \"below the Na-gates,\" so as to\nrefer to a particular division of the lower world. As we find by the\napplication of the phrase to Loke, this division is of such a character\nthat it is intended to receive the foes of the Asas and the insulters of\nthe gods.\n\nThe word _Nagrind_, which is always used in the plural, and accordingly\nrefers to more than one gate of the kind, has as its first part _n\u00e1r_\n(pl. _n\u00e1ir_), which means corpse, dead body. Thus Na-gates means\nCorpse-gates.\n\nThe name must seem strange, for it is not dead bodies, but souls,\nreleased from their bodies left on earth, which descend to the kingdom of\ndeath and get their various abodes there. How far our heathen ancestors\nhad a more or less _material_ conception of the soul is a question which\nit is not necessary to discuss here (see on this point No. 95). Howsoever\nthey may have regarded it, the very existence of a Hades in their\nmythology demonstrates that they believed that a conscious and sentient\nelement in man was in death separated from the body with which it had\nbeen united in life, and went down to the lower world. That the body from\nwhich this conscious, sentient element fled was not removed to Hades,\nbut went in this upper earth to its disintegration, whether it was burnt\nor buried in a mound or sunk to the bottom of the sea, this our heathen\nancestors knew just as well as we know it. The people of the stone-age\nalready knew this.\n\nThe phrase Na-gates does not stand alone in our mythological eschatology.\nOne of the abodes of torture lying within the Na-gate is called Nastrands\n(_N\u00e1strandir_), and is described in V\u00f6luspa as filled with terrors. And\nthe victims, which Nidhog, the winged demon of the lower world, there\nsucks, are called _n\u00e1ir framgenga_, \"the corpses of those departed.\"\n\nIt is manifest that the word _n\u00e1r_ thus used cannot have its common\nmeaning, but must be used in a special mythological sense, which had its\njustification and its explanation in the heathen doctrine in regard to\nthe lower world.\n\nIt not unfrequently happens that law-books preserve ancient\nsignifications of words not found elsewhere in literature. The Icelandic\nlaw-book Gr\u00e1g\u00e1s (ii. 185) enumerates four categories within which the\nword _n\u00e1r_ is applicable to a person yet living. Gallows-_n\u00e1r_, can be\ncalled, even while living, the person who is hung; grave-_n\u00e1r_, the\nperson placed in a grave; skerry-_n\u00e1r_ or rock-_n\u00e1r_ may, while yet\nalive, he be called who has been exposed to die on a skerry or rock. Here\nthe word _n\u00e1r_ is accordingly applied to persons who are conscious and\ncapable of suffering, but on the supposition that they are such persons\nas have been condemned to a punishment which is not to cease so long as\nthey are sensitive to it.\n\nAnd this is the idea on the basis of which the word _n\u00e1ir_ is\nmythologically applied to the damned and tortured beings in the lower\nworld.\n\nIf we now take into account that our ancestors believed in a _second_\ndeath, in a slaying of souls in Hades, then we find that this same use of\nthe word in question, which at first sight could not but seem strange,\nis a consistent development of the idea that those banished from Hel's\nrealms of bliss die a second time, when they are transferred across the\nborder to Nifelhel and the world of torture. When they are overtaken\nby this second death they are for the second time _n\u00e1ir_. And, as this\noccurs at the gates of Nifelhel, it was perfectly proper to call the\ngates _n\u00e1grindr_.\n\nWe may imagine that it is terror, despair, or rage which, at the sight\nof the Na-gates, severs the bond between the damned spirit and his\nHades-body, and that the former is anxious to soar away from its terrible\ndestination. But however this may be, the avenging powers have runes,\nwhich capture the fugitive, put chains on his Hades-body, and force him\nto feel with it. The Sun-song, a Christian song standing on the scarcely\ncrossed border of heathendom, speaks of damned ones whose breasts were\nristed (carved) with bloody runes, and Havam\u00e1l of runes which restore\nconsciousness to _n\u00e1ir_. Such runes are known by Odin. If he sees in a\ntree a gallows-n\u00e1r (_virgil-n\u00e1r_), then he can rist runes so that the\nbody comes down to him and talks with him (see No. 70).\n\n Ef ec se a tre uppi\n vafa virgiln\u00e1,\n sva ec rist\n oc i runom f\u00e1c,\n at sa gengr gumi\n oc m\u00e6lir vith mic (Havam\u00e1l, 157).\n\nSome of the subterranean _n\u00e1ir_ have the power of motion, and are doomed\nto wade in \"heavy streams.\" Among them are perjurers, murderers, and\nadulterers (V\u00f6luspa, 38). Among these streams is Vadgelmer, in which\nthey who have slandered others find their far-reaching retribution\n(Sigurdarkv., ii. 4). Other _n\u00e1ir_ have the peculiarity which their\nappellation suggests, and receive quiet and immovable, stretched on iron\nbenches, their punishment (see below). Saxo, who had more elaborate\ndescriptions of the Hades of heathendom than those which have been handed\ndown to our time, translated or reproduced in his accounts of Hadding's\nand Gorm's journeys in the lower world the word _n\u00e1ir_ with _exsanguia\nsimulacra_ (p. 426).\n\nThat place after death with which Skirner threatens the stubborn Gerd is\nalso situated within the Na-gates, but still it has another character\nthan Nastrands and the other abodes of torture which are situated below\nNifelhel. It would also have been unreasonable to threaten a person\nwho rejects a marriage proposal with those punishments which overtake\ncriminals and nithings. The Hades division, which Skirner describes as\nawaiting the giant-daughter, is a subterranean Jotunheim, inhabited by\ndeceased ancestors and kinsmen of Gerd.\n\nMythology has given to the giants as well as to men a life hereafter.\nAs a matter of fact, mythology never destroys life. The horse which was\ncremated with its master on his funeral pyre, and was buried with him\nin his grave-mound, afterwards brings the hero down to Hel. When the\ngiant who built the Asgard wall got into conflict with the gods, Thor's\nhammer sent him \"down below Nifelhel\" (_nidr undir Niflhel_--Gylfag.,\nch. 43.) King Gorm saw in the lower world the giant Geirrod and both\nhis daughters. According to Grimnersmal (str. 31), frost-giants dwell\nunder one of Ygdrasil's roots--consequently in the lower world; and\nForspjallsljod says that hags (giantesses) and thurses (giants), _n\u00e1ir_,\ndwarfs, and swarthy elves go to sleep under the world-tree's farthest\nroot on the north border of Jormungrund[9] (the lower world), when Dag on\na chariot sparkling with precious stones leaves the lower world, and when\nNat after her journey on the heavens has returned to her home (str. 24,\n28). It is therefore quite in order if we, in Skirner's description of\nthe realm which after death awaits the giant-daughter offending the gods,\nrediscover that part of the lower world to which the drowned primeval\nancestors of the giant-maid were relegated when Bor's sons opened the\nveins of Ymer's throat (Sonatorr., str. 3) and then let the billows of\nthe ocean wash clean the rocky ground of earth, before they raised the\nlatter from the sea and there created the inhabitable Midgard.\n\nThe frost-giants (rimethurses) are the primeval giants (_gigantes_)\nof the Teutonic mythology, so called because they sprang from the\nfrost-being Ymer, whose feet by contact with each other begat their\nprogenitor, the \"strange-headed\" monster Thrudgelmer (Vafthr. 29, 33).\nTheir original home in chaos was Nifelheim. From the Hvergelmer fountain\nthere the Elivagar rivers flowed to the north and became hoar-frost and\nice, which, melted by warmth from the south, were changed into drops of\nvenom, which again became Ymer, called by the giants Aurgelmer (Vafthr.,\n31; Gylfag., 5). Thrudgelmer begat Bergelmer countless winters before\nthe earth was made (Vafthr., 29; Gylf., ch. 7). Those members of the\ngiant race living in Jotunheim on the surface of the earth, whose memory\ngoes farthest back in time, can remember Bergelmer when he _a var ludr um\nlagidr_. At least Vafth-rudmer is able to do this (Vafthr., 35).\n\nWhen the original giants had to abandon the fields populated by Bor's\nsons (V\u00f6luspa, 4), they received an abode corresponding as nearly as\npossible to their first home, and, as it seems, identical with it,\nexcepting that Nifelheim now, instead of being a part of chaos, is an\nintegral part of the cosmic universe, and the extreme north of its Hades.\nAs a Hades-realm it is also called Nifelhel.\n\nIn the subterranean land with which Skirner threatens Gerd, and which\nhe paints for her in appalling colours, he mentions three kinds of\nbeings--(1) frost-giants, the ancient race of giants; (2) demons; (3)\ngiants of the later race.\n\nThe frost-giants occupy together one abode, which, judging from its\nepithet, hall (_h\u00f6ll_), is the largest and most important there; while\nthose members of the younger giant clan who are there, dwell in single\nscattered abodes, called gards.[10] Gerd is also there to have a separate\nabode (str. 28).\n\nTwo frost-giants are mentioned by name, which shows that they\nare representatives of their clan. One is named Rimgrimner\n(_Hr\u00edmgrimnir_--str. 35), the other Rimner (_Hr\u00edmnir_--str. 28).\n\nGrimner is one of Odin's many surnames (Grimnersmal, 47, and several\nother places; cp. Egilsson's Lex. Poet.). Rimgrimner means the same\nas if Odin had said Rim-Odin, for Odin's many epithets could without\nhesitation be used by the poets in paraphrases, even when these referred\nto a giant. But the name Odin was too sacred for such a purpose. Upon\nthe whole the skalds seem piously to have abstained from using that name\nin paraphrases, even when the latter referred to celebrated princes\nand heroes. Glum Geirason is the first known exception to the rule. He\ncalls a king _M\u00e1lm-Odinn_. The above epithet places Rimgrimner in the\nsame relation to the frost-giants as Odin-Grimner sustains to the asas;\nit characterises him as the race-chief and clan-head of the former,\nand in this respect gives him the same place as Thrudgelmer occupies\nin Vafthrudnersmal. Ymer cannot be regarded as the special clan-chief\nof the frost-giants, since he is also the progenitor of other classes\nof beings (see Vafthr., 33, and V\u00f6luspa, 9; cp. Gylfag., ch. 14). But\nthey have other points of resemblance. Thrudgelmer is \"strange-headed\"\nin Vafthrudnersmal; Rimgrimner is \"three-headed\" in Skirnersmal (str.\n31; cp. with str. 35). Thus we have in one poem a \"strange-headed\"\nThrudgelmer as progenitor of the frost-giants; in the other poem a\n\"three-headed\" Rimgrimner as progenitor of the same frost-giants.\nThe \"strange-headed\" giant of the former poem, which is a somewhat\nindefinite or obscure phrase, thus finds in \"three-headed\" of the latter\npoem its further definition. To this is to be added a power which is\npossessed both by Thrudgelmer and Rimgrimner, and also a weakness for\nwhich both Thrudgelmer and Rimgrimner are blamed. Thrudgelmer's father\nbegat children without possessing _gygjar gaman_ (Vafthr., 32). That\nThrudgelmer inherited this power from his strange origin and handed\nit down to the clan of frost-giants, and that he also inherited the\ninability to provide for the perpetuation of the race in any other way,\nis evident from Allvismal, str. 2. If we make a careful examination, we\nfind that Skirnersmal presupposes this same positive and negative quality\nin Rimgrimner, and consequently Thrudgelmer and Rimgrimner must be\nidentical.\n\nGerd, who tries to reject the love of the fair and blithe Vana-god,\nwill, according to Skirner's threats, be punished therefor in the lower\nworld with the complete loss of all that is called love, tenderness, and\nsympathy. Skirner says that she either must live alone and without a\nhusband in the lower world, or else vegetate in a useless cohabitation\n(_nara_) with the three-headed giant (str. 31). The threat is gradually\nemphasised to the effect that she _shall_ be possessed by Rimgrimner, and\nthis threat is made immediately after the solemn conjuration (str. 34) in\nwhich Skirner invokes the inhabitants of Nifelhel and also of the regions\nof bliss, as witnesses, that she shall never gladden or be gladdened by a\nman in the physical sense of this word.\n\n Hear, ye giants, Heyri iotnar,\n Hear, frost-giants, heyri hrimthursar,\n Ye sons of Suttung-- synir Suttunga,\n Nay, thou race of the Asa-god![11]-- sjalfir \u00e1slithar\n how I forbid, hve ec fyr byd,\n how I banish hve ec fyrir banna\n man's gladness from the maid, manna glaum mani\n man's enjoyment from the maid! manna nyt mani.\n Rimgrimner is the giant's name Hr\u00edmgrimner heiter thurs,\n who shall possess thee er thic hafa scal\n below the Na-gates. fyr nagrindr nedan.\n\nMore plainly, it seems to me, Skirner in speaking to Gerd could not have\nexpressed the negative quality of Rimgrimner in question. Thor also\nexpresses himself clearly on the same subject when he meets the dwarf\nAlvis carrying home a maid over whom Thor has the right of marriage. Thor\nsays scornfully that he thinks he discovers in Alvis something which\nreminds him of the nature of thurses, although Alvis is a dwarf and\nthe thurses are giants, and he further defines wherein this similarity\nconsists: _thursa lici thicci m\u00e9r \u00e1 ther vera; erat thu till brudar\nborinn_: \"Thurs' likeness you seem to me to have; you were not born to\nhave a bride.\" So far as the positive quality is concerned it is evident\nfrom the fact that Rimgrimner is the progenitor of the frost-giants.\n\nDescended to Nifelhel, Gerd must not count on a shadow of friendship and\nsympathy from her kinsmen there. It would be best for her to confine\nherself in the solitary abode which there awaits her, for if she but\nlooks out of the gate, staring gazes shall meet her from Rimner and all\nthe others down there; and she shall there be looked upon with more\nhatred than Heimdal, the watchman of the gods, who is the wise, always\nvigilant foe of the rime-thurses and giants. But whether she is at home\nor abroad, demons and tormenting spirits shall never leave her in peace.\nShe shall be bowed to the earth by _tramar_ (evil witches). _Morn_ (a\nTeutonic Eumenides, the agony of the soul personified) shall fill her\nwith his being. The spirits of sickness--such also dwell there; they\nonce took an oath not to harm Balder (Gylf., ch. 50)--shall increase her\nwoe and the flood of her tears. Tope (insanity), Ope (hysteria), Tjausul\nand Othale (constant restlessness), shall not leave her in peace. These\nspirits are also counted as belonging to the race of thurses, and hence\nit is said in the rune-song that _thurs veldr kvenna kvillu_, \"thurs\ncauses sickness of women.\" In this connection it should be remembered\nthat the daughter of Loke, the ruler of Nifelhel, is also the queen of\ndiseases. Gerd's food shall be more loathsome to her than the poisonous\nserpent is to man, and her drink shall be the most disgusting. Miserable\nshe shall crawl among the homes of the Hades giants, and up to a mountain\ntop, where Are, a subterranean eagle-demon has his perch (doubtless the\nsame Are which, according to V\u00f6luspa [47], is to join with his screeches\nin Rymer's shield-song, when the Midgard-serpent writhes in giant-rage,\nand the ship of death, Naglfar, gets loose). Up there she shall sit early\nin the morning, and constantly turn her face in the same direction--in\nthe direction where Hel is situated, that is, south over Mt. Hvergelmer,\ntoward the subterranean regions of bliss. Toward Hel she shall long to\ncome in vain:\n\n Ara thufo \u00e1\n scaltu \u00e1r sitja\n horfa ok snugga Heljar til.\n\n\"On Are's perch thou shalt early sit, turn toward Hel, and long to get to\nHel.\"\n\nBy the phrase _snugga Heljar til_, the skald has meant something far more\nconcrete than to \"long for death.\" Gerd is here supposed to be dead, and\nwithin the Na-gates. To long for death, she does not need to crawl up to\n\"Are's perch.\" She must subject herself to these nightly exertions, so\nthat when it dawns in the foggy Nifelhel, she may get a glimpse of that\nland of bliss to which she may never come; she who rejected a higher\nhappiness--that of being with the gods and possessing Frey's love.\n\nI have been somewhat elaborate in the presentation of this description\nin Skirnersmal, which has not hitherto been understood. I have done so,\nbecause it is the only evidence left to us of how life was conceived in\nthe forecourt of the regions of torture, Nifelhel, the land situated\nbelow Ygdrasil's northern root, beyond and below the mountain, where\nthe root is watered by Hvergelmer. It is plain that the author of\nSkirnersmal, like that of Vafthrudnersmal, Grimnersmal, Vegtamskvida,\nand Thorsdrapa (as we have already seen), has used the word Hel in the\nsense of a place of bliss in the lower world. It is also evident that\nwith the root under which the frost-giant dwells that one, referred to\nby Gylfaginning, can impossibly be meant under which Mimer's glorious\nfountain, and Mimer's grove, and all his treasures stored for a future\nworld, are situated.\n\n[9] With this name of the lower world compare Gudmund-Mimer's abode _\u00e1\nGrund_ (see No. 45), and _Helligrund_ (Heliand., 44, 22), and _neowla\ngrund_ (Caedmon, 267, 1, 270, 16).\n\n[10] Compare the phrase _iotna gaurthum i_ (str. 30, 3) with _til\nhrimthursa hallar_ (30, 4).\n\n[11] With race of the Asa-god _\u00e1slidar_ there can hardly be meant others\nthan the _\u00e1smegir_ gathered in the lower world around Balder. This is the\nonly place where the word _\u00e1slidar_ occurs.\n\n\n61.\n\n THE WORD HEL IN V\u00d6LUSPA. WHO THE INHABITANTS OF HEL ARE.\n\nWe now pass to V\u00f6luspa, 40 (Hauk's Codex), where the word _Helvegir_\noccurs.\n\nOne of the signs that Ragnarok and the fall of the world are at hand, is\nthat the mighty ash Ygdrasil trembles, and that a fettered giant-monster\nthereby gets loose from its chains. Which this monster is, whether it is\nGarm, bound above the Gnipa cave, or some other, we will not now discuss.\nThe astonishment and confusion caused by these events among all the\nbeings of the world, are described in the poem with but few words, but\nthey are sufficient for the purpose and well calculated to make a deep\nimpression upon the hearers. Terror is the predominating feeling in those\nbeings which are not chosen to take part in the impending conflict. They,\non the other hand, for whom the quaking of Ygdrasil is the signal of\nbattle for life or death, either arm themselves amid a terrible war-cry\nfor the battle (the giants, str. 41), or they assemble to hold the last\ncouncil (the Asas), and then rush to arms.\n\nTwo classes of beings are mentioned as seized by terror--the dwarfs, who\nstood breathless outside of their stone-doors, and those beings which are\n_\u00e1 Helvegum_. _Helvegir_ may mean the paths or ways in Hel: there are\nmany paths, just as there are many gates and many rivers. _Helvegir_ may\nalso mean the regions, districts in Hel (cp. _Austrvegr_, _Sudrvegr_,\n_Norvegr_; and Allvism., 10, according to which the Vans call the earth\n_vegir_, ways). The author may have used the word in either of these\nsenses or in both, for in this case it amounts to the same. At all events\nit is stated that the inhabitants in Hel are terrified when Ygdrasil\nquakes and the unnamed giant-monster gets loose.\n\n Skelfr Yggdrasils Quakes Ygdrasil's\n askr standandi, Ash standing,\n ymr hid alldna tre The old tree trembles,\n enn iotunn losnar; The giant gets loose;\n hr\u00e6daz allir All are frightened\n a Helvegum On the Helways (in Hel's regions)\n adr Surtar thann ere Surt's spirit (or kinsman)\n sevi of gleypir. swallows him (namely, the giant).\n\nSurt's spirit, or kinsman (_sevi_, _sefi_ may mean either), is, as has\nalso hitherto been supposed, the fire. The final episode in the conflict\non Vigrid's plain is that the Muspel-flames destroy the last remnant\nof the contending giants. The terror which, when the world-tree quaked\nand the unnamed giant got loose, took possession of the inhabitants of\nHel continues so long as the conflict is undecided. Valfather falls,\nFrey and Thor likewise; no one can know who is to be victorious. But\nthe terror ceases when on the one hand the liberated giant-monster is\ndestroyed, and on the other hand Vidar and Vale, Mode and Magne, survive\nthe conflict and survive the flames, which do not penetrate to Balder and\n_H\u00f6dr_ and their proteg\u00e9s in Hel. The word _thann_ (him), which occurs\nin the seventh line of the strophe (in the last of the translation) can\nimpossibly refer to any other than the giant mentioned in the fourth\nline (_iotunn_). There are in the strophe only two masculine words to\nwhich the masculine _thann_ can be referred--_iotunn_ and _Yggdrasils\naskr_. _Iotunn_, which stands nearest to _thann_, thus has the\npreference; and as we have seen that the world-tree falls by neither fire\nnor edge (Fjolsv., 20), and as it, in fact, survives the conflagration of\nSurt, then _thann_ must naturally be referred to the _iotunn._\n\nHere V\u00f6luspa has furnished us with evidence in regard to the position\nof Hel's inhabitants towards the contending parties in Ragnarok. They\nwho are frightened when a giant-monster--a most dangerous one, as it\nhitherto had been chained--gets free from its fetters, and they whose\nfright is allayed when the monster is destroyed in the conflagration\nof the world, such beings can impossibly follow this monster and its\nfellow warriors with their good wishes. Their hearts are on the side of\nthe good powers, which are friendly to mankind. But they do not take an\nactive part in their behalf; they take no part whatever in the conflict.\nThis is manifest from the fact that their fright does not cease before\nthe conflict is ended. Now we know that among the inhabitants in Hel are\nthe _\u00e1smegir_ Lif and Leifthraser and their offspring, and that they are\nnot _hertharfir_; they are not to be employed in war, since their very\ndestiny forbids their taking an active part in the events of this period\nof the world (see No. 53). But the text does not permit us to think of\nthem alone when we are to determine who the beings _\u00e1 Helvegum_ are. For\nthe text says that _all_, who are _\u00e1 Helvegum_, are alarmed until the\nconflict is happily ended. What the interpreters of this much abused\npassage have failed to see, the seeress in V\u00f6luspa has not forgotten,\nthat, namely, during the lapse of countless thousands of years,\ninnumerable children and women, and men who never wielded the sword, have\ndescended to the kingdom of death and received dwellings in Hel, and that\nHel--in the limited local sense which the word hitherto has appeared to\nhave in the songs of the gods--does not contain warlike inhabitants.\nThose who have fallen on the battle-field come, indeed, as shall be shown\nlater, to Hel, but not to remain there; they continue their journey to\nAsgard, for Odin chooses one half of those slain on the battlefield for\nhis dwelling, and Freyja the other half (Grimnersmal, 14). The chosen\naccordingly have Asgard as their place of destination, which they reach\nin case they are not found guilty by a sentence which neutralises the\nforce and effect of the previous choice (see below), and sends them to\ndie the second death on crossing the boundary to Nifelhel. Warriors who\nhave not fallen on the battlefield are as much entitled to Asgard as\nthose fallen by the sword, provided they as heroes have acquired fame and\nhonour. It might, of course, happen to the greatest general and the most\ndistinguished hero, the conqueror in hundreds of battles, that he might\ndie from sickness or an accident, while, on the other hand, it might be\nthat a man who never wielded a sword in earnest might fall on the field\nof battle before he had given a blow. That the mythology should make\nthe latter entitled to Asgard, but not the former, is an absurdity as\nvoid of support in the records--on the contrary, these give the opposite\ntestimony--as it is of sound sense. The election contained for the\nchosen ones no exclusive privilege. It did not even imply additional\nfavour to one who, independently of the election, could count on a\nplace among the einherjes. The election made the person going to battle\n_feigr_, which was not a favour, nor could it be considered the opposite.\nIt might play a royal crown from the head of the chosen one to that of\nhis enemy, and this could not well be regarded as a kindness. But for the\nelecting powers of Asgard themselves the election implied a privilege.\nThe dispensation of life and death regularly belonged to the norns; but\nthe election partly supplied the gods with an exception to this rule, and\npartly it left to Odin the right to determine the fortunes and issues of\nbattles. The question of the relation between the power of the gods and\nthat of fate--a question which seemed to the Greeks and Romans dangerous\nto meddle with and well-nigh impossible to dispose of--was partly solved\nby the Teutonic mythology by the na\u00efve and simple means of dividing the\ndispensation of life and death between the divinity and fate, which, of\ncourse, did not hinder that fate always stood as the dark, inscrutable\npower in the background of all events. (On election see further, No. 66).\n\nIt follows that in Hel's regions of bliss there remained none that were\nwarriors by profession. Those among them who were not guilty of any of\nthe sins which the Asa-doctrine stamped as sins unto death passed through\nHel to Asgard, the others through Hel to Nifelhel. All the inhabitants\non Hel's elysian fields accordingly are the _\u00e1smegir_, and the women,\nchildren, and the agents of the peaceful arts who have died during\ncountless centuries, and who unused to the sword, have no place in the\nranks of the einherjes, and therefore with the anxiety of those waiting\nabide the issue of the conflict. Such is the background and contents of\nthe V\u00f6luspa strophe. This would long since have been understood, had not\nthe doctrine constructed by Gylfaginning in regard to the lower world,\nwith Troy as the starting-point, bewildered the judgment.\n\n\n62.\n\n THE WORD HEL IN ALLVISMAL. THE CLASSES OF BEINGS IN HEL.\n\nIn Allvismal occurs the phrases: those _i helio_ and _halir_. The premise\nof the poem is that such objects as earth, heaven, moon, sun, night,\nwind, fire, &c., are expressed in six different ways, and that each\none of these ways of expression is, with the exclusion of the others,\napplicable within one or two of the classes of beings found in the world.\nFor example, Heaven is called--\n\n Himinn among men,\n Lyrner among gods,\n Vindofner among Vans,\n Uppheim among giants.\n Elves say Fager-tak (Fairy-roof),\n dwarfs Drypsal (dropping-hall) (str. 12).\n\nIn this manner thirteen objects are mentioned, each one with its six\nnames. In all of the thirteen cases man has a way of his own of naming\nthe objects. Likewise the giants. No other class of beings has any of the\nthirteen appellations in common with them. On the other hand, the Asas\nand Vans have the same name for two objects (moon and sun); elves and\ndwarfs have names in common for no less than six objects (cloud, wind,\nfire, tree, seed, mead); the dwarfs and the inhabitants of the lower\nworld for three (heaven, sea, and calm). Nine times it is stated how\nthose in the lower world express themselves. In six of these nine cases\nAllvismal refers to the inhabitants of the lower world by the general\nexpression \"those in Hel;\" in three cases the poem lets \"those in Hel\" be\nrepresented by some one of those classes of beings that reside in Hel.\nThese three are _upregin_ (str. 10), _\u00e1sasynir_ (str. 16), and _halir_\n(str. 28).\n\nThe very name _upregin_ suggests that it refers to beings of a certain\ndivine rank (the Vans are in Allvismal called _ginnregin_, str. 20, 30)\nthat have their sphere of activity in the upper world. As they none the\nless dwell in the lower world, the appellation must have reference to\nbeings which have their homes and abiding places in Hel when they are not\noccupied with their affairs in the world above. These beings are Nat,\nDag, Mane, Sol.\n\n_\u00c1sasynir_ has the same signification as _\u00e1smegir_. As this is the\ncase, and as the _\u00e1smegir_ dwell in the lower world and the _\u00e1sasynir_\nlikewise, then they must be identical, unless we should be credulous\nenough to assume that there were in the lower world two categories of\nbeings, both called sons of Asas.\n\n_Halir_, when the question is about the lower world, means the souls of\nthe dead (Vafthr., 43; see above).\n\nFrom this we find that Allvismal employs the word Hel in such a manner\nthat it embraces those regions where Nat and Dag, Mane and Sol, the\nliving human inhabitants of Mimer's grove, and the souls of departed\nhuman beings dwell. Among the last-named are included also souls of the\ndamned, which are found in the abodes of torture below Nifelhel, and it\nis within the limits of possibility that the author of the poem also\nhad them in mind, though there is not much probability that he should\nconceive them as having a nomenclature in common with gods, _\u00e1smegir_,\nand the happy departed. At all events, he has particularly--and probably\nexclusively--had in his mind the regions of bliss when he used the word\nHel, in which case he has conformed in the use of the word to V\u00f6luspa,\nVafthrudnersmal, Grimnersmal, Skirnersmal, Vegtamskvida, and Thorsdrapa.\n\n\n63.\n\n THE WORD HEL IN OTHER PASSAGES. THE RESULT OF THE INVESTIGATION\n FOR THE COSMOGRAPHY AND FOR THE MEANING OF THE WORD HEL. HEL IN\n A LOCAL SENSE THE KINGDOM OF DEATH, PARTICULARLY ITS REALMS OF\n BLISS. HEL IN A PERSONAL SENSE IDENTICAL WITH THE GODDESS OF\n FATE AND DEATH, THAT IS, URD.\n\nWhile a terrible winter is raging, the gods, according to\nForspjallsljod,[12] send messengers, with Heimdal as chief, down to a\nlower-world goddess (dis), who is designated as _Gj\u00f6ll's_ (the lower\nworld river's) _Sunna_ (Sol, sun) and as the distributor of the divine\nliquids (str. 9, 11) to beseech her to explain to them the mystery of\ncreation, the beginning of heaven, of Hel, and of the world, life and\ndeath, if she is able (_hlyrnis_, _heliar_, _heims of vissi_, _\u00e1rtith_,\n_\u00e6fi_, _aldrtila_). The messengers get only tears as an answer. The poem\ndivides the universe into three great divisions: heaven, Hel, and the\npart lying between Hel and heaven, the world inhabited by mortals. Thus\nHel is here used in its general sense, and refers to the whole lower\nworld. But here, as wherever Hel has this general signification, it\nappears that the idea of regions of punishment is not thought of, but is\nkept in the background by the definite antithesis in which the word Hel,\nused in its more common and special sense of the subterranean regions\nof bliss, stands to Nifelhel and the regions subject to it. It must be\nadmitted that what the anxious gods wish to learn from the wise goddess\nof the lower world must, so far as their desire to know and their fears\nconcern the fate of Hel, refer particularly to the regions where Urd's\nand Mimer's holy wells are situated, for if the latter, which water the\nworld-tree, pass away, it would mean nothing less than the end of the\nworld. That the author should make the gods anxious concerning Loke's\ndaughter, whom they had hurled into the deep abysses of Nifelhel, and\nthat he should make the wise goddess by _Gj\u00f6ll_ weep bitter tears over\nthe future of the sister of the Fenris-wolf, is possible in the sense\nthat it cannot be refuted by any definite words of the old records; but\nwe may be permitted to regard it as highly improbable.\n\nAmong the passages in which the word Hel occurs in the poetic Edda's\nmythological songs we have yet to mention Harbardsljod (str. 27), where\nthe expression _drepa i Hel_ is employed in the same abstract manner as\nthe Swedes use the expression \"at sl\u00e5 ihj\u00e4l,\" which means simply \"to\nkill\" (it is Thor who threatens to kill the insulting Harbard); and also\nV\u00f6luspa (str. 42), Fj\u00f6llsvinnsmal (str. 25), and Grimnersmal (str. 31).\n\nV\u00f6luspa (str. 42), speaks of Goldcomb, the cock which, with its crowing,\nwakes those who sleep in Herfather's abode, and of a sooty-red cock\nwhich crows under the earth near Hel's halls. In Fj\u00f6llsvinnsmal (str.\n25), Svipdag asks with what weapon one might be able to bring down to\nHel's home (_\u00e1 Heljar sj\u00f6t_) that golden cock Vidofner, which sits in\nMimer's tree (the world-tree), and doubtless is identical with Goldcomb.\nThat Vidofner has done nothing for which he deserves to be punished in\nthe home of Loke's daughter may be regarded as probable. _Hel_ is here\nused to designate the kingdom of death in general, and all that Spivdag\nseems to mean is that Vidofner, in case such a weapon could be found,\nmight be transferred to his kinsman, the sooty-red cock which crows below\nthe earth. Saxo also speaks of a cock which is found in Hades, and is\nwith the goddess who has the cowbane stalks when she shows Hadding the\nflower-meadows of the lower world, the Elysian fields of those fallen\nby the sword, and the citadel within which death does not seem able to\nenter (see No. 47). Thus there is at least one cock in the lower world's\nrealm of bliss. That there should be one also in Nifelhel and in the\nabode of Loke's daughter is nowhere mentioned, and is hardly credible,\nsince the cock, according to an ancient and wide-spread Aryan belief,\nis a sacred bird, which is the special foe of demons and the powers of\ndarkness. According to Swedish popular belief, even of the present time,\nthe crowing of the cock puts ghosts and spirits to flight; and a similar\nidea is found in Avesta (Vendidad, 18), where, in str. 15, Ahuramazda\nhimself translates the morning song of the cock with the following words:\n\"Rise, ye men, and praise the justice which is the most perfect! Behold\nthe demons are put to flight!\" Avesta is na\u00efvely out of patience with\nthoughtless persons who call this sacred bird (_Parodarsch_) by the\nso little respect-inspiring name \"Cockadoodledoo\" (_Kahrkat\u00e2s_). The\nidea of the sacredness of the cock and its hostility to demons was also\nfound among the Aryans of South Europe and survived the introduction of\nChristianity. Aurelius Prudentius wrote a _Hymnus ad galli cantum_, and\nthe cock has as a token of Christian vigilance received the same place on\nthe church spires as formerly on the world-tree. Nor have the May-poles\nforgotten him. But in the North the poets and the popular language\nhave made the red cock a symbol of fire. Fire has two characters--it\nis sacred, purifying, and beneficent, when it is handled carefully and\nfor lawful purposes. In the opposite case it is destructive. With the\nexception of this special instance, nothing but good is reported of the\ncocks of mythology and poetry.\n\nGrimnersmal (str. 31) is remarkable from two points of view. It\ncontains information--brief and scant, it is true, but nevertheless\nvaluable--in regard to Ygdrasil's three roots, and it speaks of Hel in an\nunmistakable, distinctly personal sense.\n\nIn regard to the roots of the world-tree and their position, our\ninvestigation so far, regardless of Grimnersmal (str. 31), has produced\nthe following result:\n\nYgdrasil has a northern root. This stands over the vast reservoir\nHvergelmer and spreads over Nifelhel, situated north of Hvergelmer and\ninhabited by frost-giants. There nine regions of punishment are situated,\namong them Nastrands.\n\nYgdrasil's second root is watered by Mimer's fountain and spreads over\nthe land where Mimer's fountain and grove are located. In Mimer's grove\ndwell those living (not dead) beings called _\u00c1smegir_ and _\u00c1sasynir_, Lif\nand Leifthraser and their offspring, whose destiny it is to people the\nregenerated earth.\n\nYgdrasil's third root stands over Urd's fountain and the subterranean\nthingstead of the gods.\n\nThe lower world consists of two chief divisions: Nifelhel (with the\nregions thereto belonging) and Hel,--Nifelhel situated north of the\nHvergelmer mountain, and Hel south of it. Accordingly both the land where\nMimer's well and grove are situated and the land where Urd's fountain is\nfound are within the domain Hel.\n\nIn regard to the zones or climates, in which the roots are located,\nthey have been conceived as having a southern and northern. We have\nalready shown that the root over Hvergelmer is the northern one. That\nthe root over Urd's fountain has been conceived as the southern one\nis manifest from the following circumstances. Eilif Gudrunson, who was\nconverted to Christianity--the same skald who wrote the purely heathen\nThorsdrapa--says in one of his poems, written after his conversion, that\nChrist sits _sunnr at Urdarbrunni_, in the south near Urd's fountain, an\nexpression which he could not have used unless his hearers had retained\nfrom the faith of their childhood the idea that Urd's fountain was\nsituated south of the other fountains. Forspjallsljod puts upon Urd's\nfountain the task of protecting the world-tree against the devastating\ncold during the terrible winter which the poem describes. _Othhr\u00e6rir\nskyldi Urthar geyma m\u00e6ttk at veria mestum thorra._--\"Urd's Odreirer\n(mead-fountain) proved not to retain strength enough to protect against\nthe terrible cold.\" This idea shows that the sap which Ygdrasil's\nsouthern root drew from Urd's fountain was thought to be warmer than the\nsaps of the other wells. As, accordingly, the root over Urd's well was\nthe southern, and that over Hvergelmer and the frost-giants the northern,\nit follows that Mimer's well was conceived as situated between those two.\nThe memory of this fact Gylfaginning has in its fashion preserved, where\nin chapter 15 it says that Mimer's fountain is situated where Ginungagap\nformerly was--that is, between the northern Nifelheim and the southern\nwarmer region (Gylfaginning's \"Muspelheim\").\n\nGrimnersmal (str. 31) says:\n\n Thrir r\u00e6tr standa Three roots stand\n a thria vega on three ways\n undan asci Yggdrasils: below Ygdrasil's ash:\n Hel byr und einni, Hel dwells under one,\n annari hrimthursar, under another frost-giants,\n thridio mennzkir menn. under a third human-\"men.\"\n\nThe root under which the frost-giants dwell we already know as the root\nover Hvergelmer and the Nifelhel inhabited by frost-giants.\n\nThe root under which human beings, living persons, _mennskir menn_, dwell\nwe also know as the one over Mimer's well and Mimer's grove, where the\nhuman beings Lif and Leifthraser and their offspring have their abode,\nwhere _j\u00f6rd lifanda manna_ is situated.\n\nThere remains one root: the one under which the goddess of fate, Urd, has\nher dwelling. Of this Grimnersmal says that she who dwells there is named\nHel.\n\nHence it follows of necessity that the goddess of fate, Urd, is identical\nwith the personal Hel, the queen of the realm of death, particularly\nof its regions of bliss. We have seen that Hel in its local sense has\nthe general signification, the realm of death, and the special but most\nfrequent signification, the elysium of the kingdom of death. As a person,\nthe meaning of the word Hel must be analogous to its signification as a\nplace. It is the same idea having a personal as well as a local form.\n\nThe conclusion that Urd is Hel is inevitable, unless we assume that\nUrd, though queen of her fountain, is not the regent of the land where\nher fountain is situated. One might then assume Hel to be one of Urd's\nsisters, but these have no prominence as compared with herself. One of\nthem, Skuld, who is the more known of the two, is at the same time one\nof Urd's maid-servants, a valkyrie, who on the battlefield does her\nerrands, a feminine psycho-messenger who shows the fallen the way to\nHel, the realm of her sisters, where they are to report themselves ere\nthey get to their destination. Of _Verdandi_ the records tell us nothing\nbut the name, which seems to preclude the idea that she should be the\npersonal Hel.\n\nThis result, that Urd is identical with Hel; that she who dispenses life\nalso dispenses death; that she who with her serving sisters is the ruler\nof the past, the present, and the future, also governs and gathers in her\nkingdom all generations of the past, present, and future--this result\nmay seem unexpected to those who, on the authority of Gylfaginning,\nhave assumed that the daughter of Loke cast into the abyss of Nifelhel\nis the queen of the kingdom of death; that she whose threshold is\ncalled Precipice (Gylfag., 34) was the one who conducted Balder over\nthe threshold to the subterranean citadel glittering with gold; that\nshe whose table is called Hunger and whose knife is called Famine was\nthe one who ordered the clear, invigorating mead to be placed before\nhim; that the sister of those foes of the gods and of the world, the\nMidgard-serpent and the Fenris-wolf, was entrusted with the care of at\nleast one of Ygdrasil's roots; and that she whose bed is called Sickness,\njointly with Urd and Mimer, has the task of caring for the world-tree and\nseeing that it is kept green and gets the liquids from their fountains.\n\nColossal as this absurdity is, it has been believed for centuries. And in\ndealing with an absurdity which is centuries old, we must consider that\nit is a force which does not yield to objections simply stated, but must\nbe conquered by clear and convincing arguments. Without the necessity\nof travelling the path by which I have reached the result indicated,\nscholars would long since have come to the conviction that Urd and the\npersonal Hel are identical, if Gylfaginning and the text-books based\nthereon had not confounded the judgment, and that for the following\nreasons:\n\nThe name _Urdr_ corresponds to the Old English _Vurd_, _Vyrd_, _Vird_,\nto the Old Low German _Wurth_, and to the Old High German _Wurt_. The\nfact that the word is found in the dialects of several Teutonic branches\nindicates, or is thought by the linguists to indicate, that it belongs to\nthe most ancient Teutonic times, when it probably had the form _Vorthi_.\n\nThere can be no doubt that Urd also among other Teutonic branches than\nthe Scandinavian has had the meaning of goddess of fate. Expressions\nhanded down from the heathen time and preserved in Old English documents\ncharacterise Vyrd as tying the threads or weaving the web of fate (Cod.\nEx., 355; Beowulf, 2420), and as the one who writes that which is to\nhappen (Beowulf, 4836). Here the plural form is also employed, _Vyrde_,\nthe urds, the norns, which demonstrates that she in England, as in the\nNorth, was conceived as having sisters or assistants. In the Old Low\nGerman poem \"Heliand,\" Wurth's personality is equally plain.\n\nBut at the same time as _Vyrd_, _Wurth_, was the goddess of fate, she\nwas also that of death. In Beowulf (4831, 4453) we find the parallel\nexpressions:\n\n him vas Vyrd ungemete neah: Urd was exceedingly near to him;\n vas de\u00e1d ungemete neah: death was exceedingly near.\n\nAnd in Heliand, 146, 2; 92, 2:\n\n Thiu Wurth is at handun: Urd is near;\n D\u00f4d is at hendi: death is near.\n\nAnd there are also other expressions, as _Thiu Wurth n\u00e2hida thus_: Urd\n(death) then approached; _Wurth ina benam_: Urd (death) took him away\n(cp. J. Grimm, _Deutsche Myth._, i. 373).\n\nThus Urd, the goddess of fate, was, among the Teutonic branches in\nGermany and England, identical with death, conceived as a queen. So also\nin the North. The norns made laws and chose life and _\u00f6rl\u00f6g_ (fate) for\nthe children of time (V\u00f6luspa). The word _\u00f6rl\u00f6g_ (Nom. Pl.; the original\nmeaning seems to be _urlagarne_, that is, the original laws) frequently\nhas a decided leaning to the idea of death (cp. V\u00f6luspa: _Ek s\u00e1 Baldri\n\u00f6rl\u00f6g f\u00f3lgin_). Hakon Jarl's _\u00f6rl\u00f6g_ was that Kark cut his throat (Nj.,\n156). To receive the \"judgment of the norns\" was identical with being\ndoomed to die (Yng., Heimskringla, ch. 52). Fate and death were in the\nidea and in usage so closely related, that they were blended into one\npersonality in the mythology. The ruler of death was that one who could\nresolve death; but the one who could determine the length of life, and\nso also could resolve death, and the kind of death, was, of course, the\ngoddess of fate. They must blend into one.\n\n[Illustration: THOR DESTROYS THE GIANT THRYM.\n\n_From an etching by Lorenz Fr\u00f6lich_\n\nTo protect themselves against the giants of Jotunheim, the gods decided\nto build a wall around Asgard, and through the persuasion of treacherous\nLoke, they engaged Thrym, who appeared before them as a tall, stately\nman, to do the work. An agreement was made whereby Thrym was to receive\nas his reward--provided the wall and gates were completed in a single\nwinter--the beautiful Freya for wife, and the moon and stars were to be\ngiven him for light to work by. With the aid of his horse Swadilfari\nThrym performed all that was required of him except the placing of one\ngate when discovery was made by the gods that Thrym was a giant in\ndisguise. Thereupon they cried aloud for Thor to defend Asgard against\nthis invasion, who immediately appeared amid thunder and lightning, and\nrecognizing Thrym, despite the form he had taken, flung his hammer with\nsuch force that the giant's head was broken in many pieces and his soul\ncast into Nifelhel.]\n\nIn the ancient Norse documents we also find the name Urd used to\ndesignate death, just as in Heliand and Beowulf, and this, too, in such\na manner that Urd's personal character is not emphasised. Ynglingatal\n(Heimskr., ch. 44) calls Ingjald's manner of death his _Urdr_, and to\ndetermine death for anyone was to _draga Urdr_ at him.\n\nFar down in the Christian centuries the memory survived that Urd was the\ngoddess of the realm of death and of death. When a bright spot, which\nwas called Urd's moon, appeared on the wall, it meant the breaking out\nof an epidemic (Eyrbyggia Saga, 270). Even as late as the year 1237 Urd\nis supposed to have revealed herself, the night before Christmas, to\nSnobjorn to predict a bloody conflict, and she then sang a song in which\nshe said that she went mournfully to the contest to choose a man for\ndeath. Saxo translates _Urdr_ or _Hel_ with \"Proserpina\" (_Hist._, i. 43).\n\n[12] Of the age and genuineness of Forspjallsljod I propose to publish a\nseparate treatise.\n\n\n64.\n\n URD'S MAID-SERVANTS: (1) MAID-SERVANTS OF LIFE--NORNS, DISES\n OF BIRTH, HAMINGJES, GIPTES, FYLGIES; (2) MAID-SERVANTS OF\n DEATH--VALKYRIES, THE PSYCHO-MESSENGERS OF DISEASES AND\n ACCIDENTS.\n\nAs those beings for whom Urd determines birth, position in life, and\ndeath, are countless, so her servants, who perform the tasks commanded by\nher as queen, must also be innumerable. They belong to two large classes:\nthe one class is active in her service in regard to life, the other in\nregard to death.\n\nMost intimately associated with her are her two sisters. With her\nthey have the authority of judges. Compare V\u00f6luspa, 19, 20, and the\nexpressions _norna d\u00f3mr_, _norna kvidr_. And they dwell with her under\nthe world-tree, which stands for ever green over her gold-clad fountain.\n\nAs maid-servants under Urd there are countless hamingjes (fylgjes) and\ngiptes (also called gafes, audnes, heilles). The hamingjes are fostered\namong beings of giant-race (who hardly can be others than the norns and\nMimer). Three mighty rivers fall down into the world, in which they\nhave their origin, and they come wise in their hearts, soaring over the\nwaters to our upper world (Vafthr., 48, 49). There every child of man\nis to have a hamingje as a companion and guardian spirit. The testimony\nof the Icelandic sagas of the middle ages in this regard are confirmed\nby phrases and forms of speech which have their root in heathendom. The\nhamingjes belong to that large circle of feminine beings which are called\ndises, and they seem to have been especially so styled. What Urd is on\na grand scale as the guardian of the mighty Ygdrasil, this the hamingje\nis on a smaller scale when she protects the separate fruit produced\non the world-tree and placed in her care. She does not appear to her\nfavourite excepting perhaps in dreams or shortly before his death (the\nlatter according to Helgakv. Hj\u00f6rv. the prose; Njal, 62; Hallf, ch. 11;\nproofs from purely heathen records are wanting). In strophes which occur\nin Gisle Surson's saga, and which are attributed (though on doubtful\ngrounds) to this heathen skald, the hero of the saga, but the origin of\nwhich (from a time when the details of the myth were still remembered)\nis fully confirmed by a careful criticism, it is mentioned how he stood\nbetween good and evil inspirations, and how the _draumkona_ (dream-woman)\nof the good inspirations said to him in sleep: \"Be not the first cause\nof a murder! excite not peaceful men against yourself!--promise me this,\nthou charitable man! Aid the blind, scorn not the lame, and insult not a\nTyr robbed of his hand!\" These are noble counsels, and that the hamingjes\nwere noble beings was a belief preserved through the Christian centuries\nin Iceland, where, according to Vigfusson, the word _hamingja_ is still\nused in the sense of Providence. They did not usually leave their\nfavourite before death. But there are certain phrases preserved in the\nspoken language which show that they could leave him before death. He who\nwas abandoned by his hamingje and gipte was a lost man. If the favourite\nbecame a hideous and bad man, then his _hamingja_ and _gipta_ might even\nturn her benevolence into wrath, and cause his well-deserved ruin. _Uvar\n'ro disir_, angry at you are the dises! cries Odin to the royal nithing\nGeirrod, and immediately thereupon the latter stumbles and falls pierced\nby his own sword. That the invisible hamingje could cause one to stumble\nand fall is shown in Fornm., iii.\n\nThe _giptes_ seem to have carried out such of Urd's resolves, on account\nof which the favourite received an unexpected, as it were accidental,\ngood fortune.\n\nNot only for separate individuals, but also for families and clans, there\nwere guardian spirits (_kynfylgjur_, _\u00e6ttar-fylgjur_).\n\nAnother division of this class of maid-servants under Urd are those who\nattend the entrance of the child into the world, and who have to weave\nthe threads of the newborn babe into the web of the families and events.\nLike Urd and her sisters, they too are called norns. If it is a child\nwho is to be a great and famous man, Urd herself and her sisters may be\npresent for the above purpose (see No. 30 in regard to Halfdan's birth).\n\nA few strophes incorporated in Fafnersmal from a heathen didactic poem,\nnow lost (Fafn., 12-15), speak of norns whose task it is to determine and\nassist the arrival of the child into this world. _Nornir, er naudgaunglar\n'ro oc kj\u00f3sa m\u00e6dr fr\u00e1 maugum._ The expression _kj\u00f3sa m\u00e6dr fr\u00e1 maugum_,\n\"to choose mothers from descendants,\" seems obscure, and can under all\ncircumstances not mean simply \"to deliver mothers of children.\" The word\n_kj\u00f3sa_ is never used in any other sense than to choose, elect, select.\nHere it must then mean to choose, elect as mothers; and the expression\n\"from descendants\" is incomprehensible, if we do not on the one hand\nconceive a crowd of eventual descendants, who at the threshold of life\nare waiting for mothers in order to become born into this world, and on\nthe other hand women who are to be mothers, but in reference to whom\nit has not yet been determined which descendant each one is to call\nhers among the great waiting crowd, until those norns which we are here\ndiscussing resolve on that point, and _from_ the indefinite crowd of\nwaiting _megir_ choose mothers _for_ those children which are especially\ndestined for them.\n\nThese norns are, according to Fafn., 13, of different birth. Some are\nAsa-kinswomen, others of elf-race, and again others are daughters of\nDvalin. In regard to the last-named it should be remembered that Dvalin,\ntheir father, through artists of his circle, decorated the citadel,\nwithin which a future generation of men await the regeneration of the\nworld, and that the mythology has associated him intimately with the\nelf of the morning dawn, Delling, who guards the citadel of the race of\nregeneration against all that is evil and all that ought not to enter\n(see No. 53). There are reasons (see No. 95) for assuming that these\ndises of birth were Honer's maid-servants at the same time as they were\nUrd's, just as the valkyries are Urd's and Odin's maid-servants at the\nsame time (see below).\n\nTo the other class of Urd's maid-servants belong those lower-world beings\nwhich execute her resolves of death, and conduct the souls of the dead to\nthe lower world.\n\nForemost among the psycho-messengers (psycho-pomps), the attendants of\nthe dead, we note that group of shield-maids called valkyries. As Odin\nand Freyja got the right of choosing on the battlefield, the valkyries\nhave received Asgard as their abode. There they bring the mead-horns to\nthe Asas and einherjes, when they do not ride on Valfather's errands\n(V\u00f6luspa, 31; Grimnersmal, 36; Eiriksm., 1; Ulf Ugges. Skaldsk., 238).\nBut the third of the norns, Skuld, is the chief one in this group\n(V\u00f6luspa, 31), and, as shall be shown below, they for ever remain in the\nmost intimate association with Urd and the lower world.\n\n\n65.\n\n ON THE COSMOGRAPHY. THE WAY OF THOSE FALLEN BY THE SWORD TO\n VALHAL IS THROUGH THE LOWER WORLD.\n\nThe modern conception of the removal of those fallen by the sword to\nAsgard is that the valkyries carried them immediately through blue space\nto the halls above. The heathens did not conceive the matter in this\nmanner.\n\nIt is true that the mythological horses might carry their riders through\nthe air without pressing a firm foundation with their hoofs. But such a\nmode of travel was not the rule, even among the gods, and, when it did\nhappen, it attracted attention even among them. Compare Gylfaginning,\ni. 118, which quotes strophes from a heathen source. The bridge Bifrost\nwould not have been built or established for the daily connection between\nAsgard and Urd's subterranean realm if it had been unnecessary in the\nmythological world of fancy. Mane's way in space would not have been\nregarded as a road in the concrete sense, that quakes and rattles when\nThor's thunder-chariot passes over it (Haustl., Skaldsk., ch. 16), had\nit not been thought that Mane was safer on a firm road than without one\nof that sort. To every child that grew up in the homes of our heathen\nfathers the question must have lain near at hand, what such roads and\nbridges were for, if the gods had no advantage from them. The mythology\nhad to be prepared for such questions, and in this, as in other cases, it\nhad answers wherewith to satisfy that claim on causality and consistency\nwhich even the most na\u00efve view of the world presents. The answer was: If\nthe Bifrost bridge breaks under its riders, as is to happen in course of\ntime, then their horses would have to _swim_ in the sea of air (_Bilraust\nbrotnar, er their \u00e1 bru fara, oc svima i modo marir_--Fafn., 15., compare\na strophe of Kormak, Kormak's Saga, p. 259, where the atmosphere is\ncalled the fjord of the gods, _Dia fj\u00f6rdr_). A horse does not swim as\nfast and easily as it runs. The different possibilities of travel are\nassociated with different kinds of exertion and swiftness. The one method\nis more adequate to the purpose than the other. The solid connections\nwhich were used by the gods and which the mythology built in space are,\naccordingly, objects of advantage and convenience. The valkyries, riding\nat the head of their chosen heroes, as well as the gods, have found solid\nroads advantageous, and the course they took with their favourites was\nnot the one presented in our mythological text-books. Grimnersmal (str.\n21; see No. 93) informs us that the breadth of the atmospheric sea is too\ngreat and its currents too strong for those riding on their horses from\nthe battlefield to wade across.\n\nIn the 45th chapter of Egil Skallagrimson's saga we read how Egil saved\nhimself from men, whom King Erik Blood-axe sent in pursuit of him to\nSaud Isle. While they were searching for him there, he had stolen to\nthe vicinity of the place where the boat lay in which those in pursuit\nhad rowed across. Three warriors guarded the boat. Egil succeeded in\nsurprising them, and in giving one of them his death-wound ere the latter\nwas able to defend himself. The second fell in a duel on the strand.\nThe third, who sprang into the boat to make it loose, fell there after\nan exchange of blows. The saga has preserved a strophe in which Egil\nmentions this exploit to his brother Thorolf and his friend Arinbjorn,\nwhom he met after his flight from Saud Isle. There he says:\n\n at thrymreynis thj\u00f3nar\n thrir n\u00f6kkurrir Hlakkar,\n til h\u00e1salar Heljar\n helgengnir, f\u00f6r dvelja.\n\n\"Three of those who serve the tester of the valkyriedin (the warlike Erik\nBlood-axe) will late return; they have gone to the lower world, to Hel's\nhigh hall.\"\n\nThe fallen ones were king's men and warriors. They were slain by weapons\nand fell at their posts of duty, one from a sudden, unexpected wound, the\nothers in open conflict. According to the conception of the mythological\ntext-books, these sword-slain men should have been conducted by valkyries\nthrough the air to Valhal. But the skald Egil, who as a heathen born\nabout the year 904, and who as a contemporary of the sons of Harald\nFairhair must have known the mythological views of his fellow-heathen\nbelievers better than the people of our time, assures us positively that\nthese men from King Erik's body-guard, instead of going immediately\nto Valhal, went to the lower world and to Hel's high hall there. He\ncertainly would not have said anything of the sort, if those for whom\nhe composed the strophe had not regarded this idea as both possible and\ncorrect.\n\nThe question now is: Does this Egil's statement stand alone and is it\nin conflict with those other statements touching the same point which\nthe ancient heathen records have preserved for us? The answer is, that\nin these ancient records there is not found a single passage in conflict\nwith Egil's idea, but that they all, on the contrary, fully agree with\nhis words, and that this harmony continues in the reports of the first\nChristian centuries in regard to this subject.\n\nAll the dead and also those fallen by the sword come first to Hel. Thence\nthe sword-slain come to Asgard, if they have deserved this destiny.\n\nIn Gisle Surson's saga (ch. 24) is mentioned the custom of binding\nHel-shoes on the feet of the dead. Warriors in regard to whom there was\nno doubt that Valhal was their final destiny received Hel-shoes like all\nothers, _that er tidska at binda m\u00f6nnum helsk\u00f3, sem menn, skulo \u00e1 ganga\ntill Valhallar_. It would be impossible to explain this custom if it had\nnot been believed that those who were chosen for the joys of Valhal were\nobliged, like all others, to travel _\u00e1 Helvegum_. Wherever this custom\nprevailed, Egil's view in regard to the fate which immediately awaited\nsword-fallen men was general.\n\nWhen Hermod betook himself to the lower world to find Balder he came,\nas we know, to the golden bridge across the river _Gj\u00f6ll_. Urd's\nmaid-servant, who watches the bridge, mentioned to him that the day\nbefore five _fylki_ of dead men had rode across the same bridge.\nConsequently all these dead are on horseback and they do not come\nseparately or a few at a time, but in large troops called _fylki_,\nan expression which, in the Icelandic literature, denotes larger or\nsmaller divisions of an army--legions, cohorts, maniples or companies\nin battle array; and with _fylki_ the verb _fylkja_, to form an army or\na division of an army in line of battle, is most intimately connected.\nThis indicates with sufficient clearness that the dead here in question\nare men who have fallen on the field of battle and are on their way to\nHel, each one riding, in company with his fallen brothers in arms, with\nthose who belonged to his own _fylki_. The account presupposes that men\nfallen by the sword, whose final destination is Asgard, first have to\nride down to the lower world. Else we would not find these _fylkes_ on a\nHelway galloping across a subterranean bridge, into the same realm as had\nreceived Balder and Nanna after death.\n\nIt has already been pointed out that Bifrost is the only connecting\nlink between Asgard and the lower regions of the universe. The air was\nregarded as an ether sea which the bridge spanned, and although the\nhorses of mythology were able to swim in this sea, the solid connection\nwas of the greatest importance. The gods used the bridge every day\n(Grimnismal, Gylfaginning). Frost giants and mountain-giants are anxious\nto get possession of it, for it is the key to Asgard. It therefore\nhas its special watchman in the keen-eyed and vigilant Heimdal. When\nin Ragnarok the gods ride to the last conflict they pass over Bifrost\n(Fafnersmal). The bridge does not lead to Midgard. Its lower ends were\nnot conceived as situated among mortal men. It stood outside and below\nthe edge of the earth's crust both in the north and in the south. In the\nsouth it descended to Urd's fountain and to the thingstead of the gods\nin the lower world (see the accompanying drawing, intended to make these\nfacts intelligible). From this mythological topographical arrangement it\nfollows of necessity that the valkyries at the head of the chosen slain\nmust take their course through the lower world, by the way of Urd's\nfountain and the thingstead of the gods, if they are to ride on Bifrost\nbridge to Asgard, and not be obliged to betake themselves thither on\nswimming horses.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThere are still two poems extant from the heathen time, which describe\nthe reception of sword-fallen kings in Valhal. The one describes the\nreception of Erik Blood-axe, the other that of Hakon the Good.\n\nWhen King Erik, with five other kings and their attendants of fallen\nwarriors, come riding up thither, the gods hear on their approach a\nmighty din, as if the foundations of Asgard trembled. All the benches of\nValhal quake and tremble. What single probability can we now conceive as\nto what the skald presupposed? Did he suppose that the chosen heroes came\non horses that swim in the air, and that the movements of the horses\nin this element produced a noise that made Valhal tremble? Or that it\nis Bifrost which thunders under the hoofs of hundreds of horses, and\nquakes beneath their weight? There is scarcely need of an answer to this\nalternative. Meanwhile the skald himself gives the answer. For the skald\nmakes Brage say that from the din and quaking it might be presumed that\nit was Balder who was returning to the halls of the gods. Balder dwells\nin the lower world; the connection between Asgard and the lower world is\nBifrost: this connection is of such a nature that it quakes and trembles\nbeneath the weight of horses and riders, and it is predicted in regard\nto Bifrost that in Ragnarok it shall break under the weight of the host\nof riders. Thus Brage's words show that it is Bifrost from which the\nnoise is heard when Erik and his men ride up to Valhal. But to get to\nthe southern end of Bifrost, Erik and his riders must have journeyed in\nHel, across Gjoll, and past the thingstead of the gods near Urd's well.\nThus it is by this road that the psychopomps of the heroes conduct their\nfavourites to their final destination.\n\nIn his grand poem \"H\u00e1kon\u00e1rmal,\" Eyvind Skaldaspiller makes Odin send\nthe valkyries Gandul and Skagul \"to choose among the kings of Yngve's\nrace some who are to come to Odin and abide in Valhal.\" It is not said\nby which road the two valkyries betake themselves to Midgard, but when\nthey have arrived there they find that a battle is imminent between\nthe Yngve descendants, Hakon the Good, and the sons of Erik. Hakon is\njust putting on his coat-of-mail, and immediately thereupon begins the\nbrilliantly-described battle. The sons of Erik are put to flight, but\nthe victor Hakon is wounded by an arrow, and after the end of the battle\nhe sits on the battlefield, surrounded by his heroes, \"with shields cut\nby swords and with byrnies pierced by arrows.\" Gandul and Skagul, \"maids\non horseback, with wisdom in their countenances, with helmets on their\nheads, and with shields before them,\" are near the king. The latter hears\nthat Gandul, \"leaning on her spear,\" says to Skagul that the wound is to\ncause the king's death, and now a conversation begins between Hakon and\nSkagul, who confirms what Gandul has said, and does so with the following\nwords:\n\n Rida vit n\u00fa skulum,\n kvad hin rika Skagul,\n gr\u00e6na heima goda\n Odni at segja,\n at un mun allvaldr koma\n \u00e1 hann sj\u00e1lfan at sj\u00e1.\n\n\"We two (Gandul and Skagul) shall now, quoth the mighty Skagul, _ride\no'er green realms_ (or worlds) _of the gods_ in order to say to Odin that\nnow a great king is coming to see him.\"\n\nHere we get definite information in regard to which way the valkyries\njourney between Asgard and Midgard. The fields through which the road\ngoes, and which are beaten by the hoofs of their horses, are _green\nrealms of the gods_ (worlds, _heimar_).\n\nWith these green realms Eyvind has not meant the blue ether.\nHe distinguishes between blue and green. The sea he calls blue\n(_bl\u00e1m\u00e6r_--see Heimskringla). What he expressly states, and to which we\nmust confine ourselves, is that, according to his cosmological conception\nand that of his heathen fellow-believers, there were realms clothed in\ngreen and inhabited by divinities on the route the valkyries had to\ntake when they from a battlefield in Midgard betook themselves back to\nValhal and Asgard. But as valkyries and the elect ride on Bifrost up to\nValhal, Bifrost, which goes down to Urd's well, must be the connecting\nlink between the realms decked with green and Asgard. The _gr\u00e6nar heimar_\nthrough which the valkyries have to pass are therefore the realms of the\nlower world.\n\nAmong the realms or \"worlds\" which constituted the mythological\nuniverse, the realms of bliss in the lower world were those which might\nparticularly be characterised as the green. Their groves and blooming\nmeadows and fields of waving grain were never touched by decay or frost,\nand as such they were cherished by the popular fancy for centuries after\nthe introduction of Christianity. The Low German language has also\nrescued the memory thereof in the expression _gr\u00f3ni godes wang_ (Hel.,\n94, 24). That the green realms of the lower world are called realms of\nthe gods is also proper, for they have contained and do contain many\nbeings of a higher or lower divine rank. There dwells the divine mother\nNat, worshipped by the Teutons; there Thor's mother and her brother and\nsister Njord and Fulla are fostered; there Balder, Nanna, and _H\u00f6dr_\nare to dwell until Ragnarok; there Delling, Billing, Rind, Dag, Mane,\nand Sol, and all the clan of artists gathered around Mimer, they who\n\"smithy\" living beings, vegetation, and ornaments, have their halls;\nthere was born Odin's son Vale. Of the mythological divinities, only\na small number were fostered in Asgard. When Gandul and Skagul at the\nhead of sword-fallen men ride \"o'er the green worlds of the gods,\" this\nagrees with the statement in the myth about Hermod's journey to Hel, that\n\"fylkes\" of dead riders gallop over the subterranean gold-bridge, on the\nother side of which glorious regions are situated, and with the statement\nin Vegtamskvida that Odin, when he had left Nifelhel behind him, came to\na _foldvegr_, a way over green plains, by which he reaches the hall that\nawaits Balder.\n\nIn the heroic songs of the Elder Edda, and in other poems from the\ncenturies immediately succeeding the introduction of Christianity, the\nmemory survives that the heroes journey to the lower world. Sigurd\nFafnersbane comes to Hel. Of one of Atle's brothers who fell by Gudrun's\nsword it is said, _i Helju hon thana hafdi_ (Atlam., 51). In the same\npoem, strophe 54, one of the Niflungs says of a sword-fallen foe that\nthey had him _lamdan til Heljar_.\n\nThe mythic tradition is supported by linguistic usage, which, in such\nphrases as _berja i Hel_, _drepa i Hel_, _drepa til Heljar_, _f\u00e6ra til\nHeljar_, indicated that those fallen by the sword also had to descend to\nthe realm of death.\n\nThe memory of valkyries, subordinate to the goddess of fate and death,\nand belonging with her to the class of norns, continued to flourish in\nChristian times both among Anglo-Saxons and Scandinavians. Among the\nformer _v\u00e4lcyrge_, _v\u00e4lcyrre_ (valkyrie) could be used to express the\nLatin _parca_, and in Beowulf occur phrases in which _Hild_ and _Gud_\n(the valkyries _Hildr_ and _Gunnr_) perform the tasks of _Vyrd_. In\nAtlamal (28), the valkyries are changed into \"dead women,\" inhabitants\nof the lower world, who came to choose the hero and invite him to their\nhalls. The basis of the transformation is the recollection that the\nvalkyries were not only in Odin's service, but also in that of the lower\nworld goddess Urd (compare Atlamal, 16, where they are called norns), and\nthat they as psychopomps conducted the chosen Heroes to Hel on their way\nto Asgard.\n\n\n66.\n\n THE CHOOSING. THE MIDDLE-AGE FABLE ABOUT \"RISTING WITH THE\n SPEAR-POINT.\"\n\nIf death on the battle-field, or as the result of wounds received on\nthe field of battle, had been regarded as an inevitable condition for\nthe admittance of the dead into Asgard, and for the honour of sitting\nat Odin's table, then the choosing would under all circumstances have\nbeen regarded as a favour from Odin. But this was by no means the case,\nnor could it be so when regarded from a psychological point of view (see\nabove, No. 61). The poems mentioned above, \"Eiriksm\u00e1l\" and \"Hakonarmal,\"\ngive us examples of choosing from a standpoint quite different from that\nof favour. When one of the einherjes, Sigmund, learns from Odin that\nErik Blood-axe has fallen and is expected in Valhal, he asks why Odin\nrobbed Erik of victory and life, _although_ he, Erik, possessed Odin's\nfriendship. From Odin's answer to the question we learn that the skald\ndid not wish to make Sigmund express any surprise that a king, whom\nOdin loves above other kings and heroes, has died in a lost instead of\na won battle. What Sigmund emphasises is, that Odin did not rather take\nunto himself a less loved king than the so highly appreciated Erik, and\npermit the latter to conquer and live. Odin's answer is that he is hourly\nexpecting Ragnarok, and that he therefore made haste to secure as soon as\npossible so valiant a hero as Erik among his einherjes. But Odin does not\nsay that he feared that he might have to relinquish the hero for ever, in\ncase the latter, not being chosen on this battlefield, should be snatched\naway by some other death than that by the sword.\n\nHakonarmal gives us an example of a king who is chosen in a battle in\nwhich he is the victor. As conqueror the wounded Hakon remained on the\nbattlefield; still he looks upon the choosing as a disfavour. When he had\nlearned from Gandul's words to Skagul that the number of the einherjes is\nto be increased with him, he blames the valkyries for dispensing to him\nthis fate, and says he had deserved a better lot from the gods (_v\u00e1run\nth\u00f3 verdir gagns fr\u00e1 godum_). When he enters Valhal he has a keener\nreproach on his lips to the welcoming Odin: _ill\u00fadigr mj\u00f3k thykkir oss\nOdinn vera, sj\u00e1m ver hans of hugi_.\n\nDoubtless it was for our ancestors a glorious prospect to be permitted to\ncome to Odin after death, and a person who saw inevitable death before\nhis eyes might comfort himself with the thought of soon seeing \"the\nbenches of Balder's father decked for the feast\" (Ragnar's death-song).\nBut it is no less certain from all the evidences we have from the heathen\ntime, that honourable life was preferred to honourable death, although\nbetween the wars there was a chance of death from sickness. Under these\ncircumstances, the mythical eschatology could not have made death from\ndisease an insurmountable obstacle for warriors and heroes on their way\nto Valhal. In the ancient records there is not the faintest allusion to\nsuch an idea. It is too absurd to have existed. It would have robbed\nValhal of many of Midgard's most brilliant heroes, and it would have\ndemanded from faithful believers that they should prefer death even\nwith defeat to victory and life, since the latter lot was coupled with\nthe possibility of death from disease. With such a view no army goes\nto battle, and no warlike race endowed with normal instincts has ever\nentertained it and given it expression in their doctrine in regard to\nfuture life.\n\nThe absurdity of the theory is so manifest that the mythologists who\nhave entertained it have found it necessary to find some way of making\nit less inadmissible than it really is. They have suggested that Odin\ndid not necessarily fail to get those heroes whom sickness and age\nthreatened with a straw-death, nor did they need to relinquish the joys\nof Valhal, for there remained to them an expedient to which they under\nsuch circumstances resorted: they risted (marked, scratched) themselves\nwith the spear-point (_marka sik geirs-oddi_).\n\n_If_ there was such a custom, we may conceive it as springing from a\nsacredness attending a voluntary death as a sacrifice--a sacredness\nwhich in all ages has been more or less alluring to religious minds. But\nall the descriptions we have from Latin records in regard to Teutonic\ncustoms, all our own ancient records from heathen times, all Northern\nand German heroic songs, are unanimously and stubbornly silent about\nthe existence of the supposed custom of \"risting with the spear-point,\"\nalthough, if it ever existed, it would have been just such a thing as\nwould on the one hand be noticed by strangers, and on the other hand\nbe remembered, at least for a time, by the generations converted to\nChristianity. But the well-informed persons interviewed by Tacitus,\nthey who presented so many characteristic traits of the Teutons, knew\nnothing of such a practice; otherwise they certainly would have mentioned\nit as something very remarkable and peculiar to the Teutons. None of\nthe later classical Latin or middle age Latin records which have made\ncontributions to our knowledge of the Teutons have a single word to say\nabout it; nor the heroic poems. The Scandinavian records, and the more or\nless historical sagas, tell of many heathen kings, chiefs, and warriors\nwho have died on a bed of straw, but not of a single one who \"risted\nhimself with the spear-point.\" The fable about this \"risting with the\nspear-point\" has its origin in Ynglingasaga, ch. 10, where Odin, changed\nto a king in Svithiod, is said, when death was approaching, to have let\n_marka sik geirs-oddi_. Out of this statement has been constructed a\ncustom among kings and heroes of anticipating a straw-death by \"risting\nwith the spear-point,\" and this for the purpose of getting admittance\nto Valhal. Vigfusson (Dictionary) has already pointed out the fact that\nthe author of Ynglingasaga had no other authority for his statement than\nthe passage in Havam\u00e1l, where Odin relates that he wounded with a spear,\nhungering and thirsting, voluntarily inflicted on himself pain, which\nmoved Bestla's brother to give him runes and a drink from the fountain\nof wisdom. The fable about the spear-point risting, and its purpose,\nis therefore quite unlike the source from which, through ignorance and\nrandom writing, it sprang.\n\n\n67.\n\n THE PSYCHO-MESSENGERS OF THOSE NOT FALLEN BY THE SWORD. LOKE'S\n DAUGHTER (PSEUDO-HEL IN GYLFAGINNING) IDENTICAL WITH LEIKIN.\n\nThe psychopomps of those fallen by the sword are, as we have seen,\nstately dises, sitting high in the saddle, with helmet, shield, and\nspear. To those not destined to fall by the sword Urd sends other\nmaid-servants, who, like the former, may come on horseback, and who, as\nit appears, are of very different appearance, varying in accordance with\nthe manner of death of those persons whose departure they attend. She who\ncomes to those who sink beneath the weight of years has been conceived\nas a very benevolent dis, to judge from the solitary passage where she\nis characterised, that is in Ynglingatal and in Ynglingasaga, ch. 49,\nwhere it is said of the aged and just king Halfdan Whiteleg, that he was\ntaken hence by the woman, who is helpful to those bowed and stooping\n(_hallvarps hl\u00edfinauma_). The burden which Elli (age), Utgard-Loke's\nfoster-mother (Gylfag., 47), puts on men, and which gradually gets too\nheavy for them to bear, is removed by this kind-hearted dis.\n\nOther psychopomps are of a terrible kind. The most of them belong to\nthe spirits of disease dwelling in Nifelhel (see No. 60). King Vanlande\nis tortured to death by a being whose epithet, _vitta v\u00e6ttr_ and\n_trollkund_, shows that she belongs to the same group as _Heidr_, the\nprototype of witches, and who is contrasted with the valkyrie Hild by the\nappellation _lj\u00f3na lids b\u00e1ga Grimhildr_ (Yngl., ch. 16). The same _vitta\nv\u00e6ttr_ came to King Adils when his horse fell and he himself struck his\nhead against a stone (Yngl., ch. 33). Two kings, who die on a bed of\nstraw, are mentioned in Ynglingasaga's Thjodolf-strophes (ch. 20 and 52)\nas visited by a being called in the one instance Loke's kinswoman (_Loka\nm\u00e6r_), and in the other Hvedrung's kinswoman (_Hvedrungs m\u00e6r_). That this\nLoke's kinswoman has no authority to determine life and death, but only\ncarries out the dispensations of the norns, is definitely stated in the\nThjodolf-strophe (ch. 52), and also that her activity, as one who brings\nthe invitation to the realm of death, does not imply that the person\ninvited is to be counted among the damned, although she herself, the\nkinswoman of Loke, the daughter of Loke, surely does not belong to the\nregions of bliss.\n\n Ok til things\n thridja j\u00f6fri\n hvedrungs m\u00e6r\n or heimi baud,\n th\u00e1 er H\u00e1lfdan,\n sa er \u00e1 Holti bj\u00f3\n norna d\u00f3ms\n um notit hafdi.\n\nAs _all_ the dead, whether they are destined for Valhal or for Hel (in\nthe sense of the subterranean realms of bliss), or for Nifelhel, must\nfirst report themselves in Hel, their psychopomps, whether they dwell in\nValhal, Hel, or Nifelhel, must do the same. This arrangement is necessary\nalso from the point of view that the unhappy who \"die from Hel into\nNifelhel\" (Grimnersmal) must have attendants who conduct them from the\nrealms of bliss to the Na-gates, and thence to the realms of torture.\nThose dead from disease, who have the subterranean kinswoman of Loke as\na guide, may be destined for the realms of bliss--then she delivers them\nthere; or be destined for Nifelhel--then they die under her care and are\nbrought by her through the Na-gates to the worlds of torture in Nifelhel.\n\nFar down in Christian times the participle _leikinn_ was used in a\nmanner which points to something mythical as the original reason for\nits application. In Biskupas, (i. 464) it is said of a man that he was\n_leikinn_ by some magic being (_flagd_). Of another person who sought\nsolitude and talked with himself, it is said in Eyrbyggja (270) that\nhe was believed to be _leikinn_. Ynglingatal gives us the mythical\nexplanation of this word.\n\nIn its strophe about King Dyggve, who died from disease, this poem says\n(Yngling., ch. 20) that, as the lower world dis had chosen him, Loke's\nkinswoman came and made him _leikinn (Allvald Yngva thjodar Loka m\u00e6r um\nleikinn hefir)_. The person who became _leikinn_ is accordingly visited\nby Loke's kinswoman, or, if others have had the same task to perform,\nby some being who resembled her, and who brought psychical or physical\ndisease.\n\nIn our mythical records there is mention made of a giantess whose very\nname, _Leikin_, _Leikn_, is immediately connected with that activity\nwhich Loke's kinswoman--and she too is a giantess--exercises when she\nmakes a person _leikinn_. Of this personal _Leikin_ we get the following\ninformation in our old records:\n\n1. She is, as stated, of giant race (Younger Edda, i. 552).\n\n2. She has once fared badly at Thor's hands. He broke her leg (_Leggi\nbrauzt thu Leiknar_--Skaldsk., ch. 4, after a song by Vetrlidi).\n\n3. She is _kveldrida_. The original and mythological meaning of\n_kveldrida_ is a horsewoman of torture or death (from _kvelja_, to\ntorture, to kill). The meaning, a horsewoman of the night, is a\nmisunderstanding. Compare Vigfusson's Dict., _sub voce_ \"Kveld.\"\n\n4. The horse which this woman of torture and death rides is black,\nuntamed, difficult to manage (_styggr_), and ugly-grown (_lj\u00f3tvaxinn_).\nIt drinks human blood, and is accompanied by other horses belonging to\nLeikin, black and bloodthirsty like it. (All this is stated by Hallfred\nVandradaskald.)[13] Perhaps these loose horses are intended for those\npersons whom the horsewomen of torture causes to die from disease, and\nwhom she is to conduct to the lower world.\n\nPopular traditions have preserved for our times the remembrance of the\n\"ugly-grown\" horse, that is, of a three-legged horse, which on its\nappearance brings sickness, epidemics, and plagues. The Danish popular\nbelief (Thiele i. 137, 138) knows this monster and the word Hel-horse has\nbeen preserved in the vocabulary of the Danish language. The diseases\nbrought by the Hel-horse are extremely dangerous, but not always fatal.\nWhen they are not fatal the convalescent is regarded as having ransomed\nhis life with that tribute of loss of strength and of torture which the\ndisease caused him, and in a symbolic sense he has then \"given death a\nbushel of oats\" (that is, to its horse). According to popular belief in\nSlesvik (Arnkiel, i. 55; cp. J. Grimm, _Deutsche Myth_, 804), Hel rides\nin the time of a plague on a three-legged horse and kills people. Thus\nthe ugly-grown horse is not forgotten in traditions from the heathen time.\n\nV\u00f6luspa inform us that in the primal age of man, the sorceress Heid went\nfrom house to house and was a welcome guest with evil women, since she\n_seid Leikin_ (_sida_ means to practise sorcery). Now, as Leikin is the\n\"horsewoman of torture and death,\" and rides the Hel-horse, then the\nexpression _sida Leikin_ can mean nothing else than by sorcery to send\nLeikin, the messenger of disease and death, to those persons who are the\nvictims of the evil wishes of \"evil women;\" or, more abstractly, to bring\nby sorcery dangerous diseases to men.[14]\n\nFrom all this follows that Leikin is either a side-figure to the daughter\nof Loke, and like her in all respects, or she and the Loke-daughter are\none and the same person. To determine the question whether they are\nidentical, we must observe (1) the definitely representative manner in\nwhich V\u00f6luspa, by the use of the name Leikin, makes the possessor of this\nname a mythic person, who visits men with diseases and death; (2) the\nmanner in which Ynglingatal characterises the activity of Loke's daughter\nwith a person doomed to die from disease; she makes him _leikinn_, an\nexpression which, without doubt, is in its sense connected with the\nfeminine name Leikn, and which was preserved in the vernacular far down\nin Christian times, and there designated a supernatural visitation\nbringing the symptoms of mental or physical illness; (3) the Christian\npopular tradition in which the deformed and disease-bringing horse,\nwhich Leikin rides in the myth, is represented as the steed of \"death\"\nor \"Hel;\" (4) that change of meaning by which the name Hel, which in the\nmythical poems of the Elder Edda designates the whole heathen realm of\ndeath, and especially its regions of bliss, or their queen, got to mean\nthe abode of torture and misery and its ruler--a transmutation by which\nthe name Hel, as in Gylfaginning and in the Slesvik traditions, was\ntransferred from Urd to Loke's daughter.\n\nFinally, it should be observed that it is told of Leikin, as of Loke's\ndaughter, that she once fared badly at the hands of the gods, who\ndid not, however, take her life. Loke's daughter is not slain, but\nis cast into Nifelhel (Gylfaginning, ch. 34). From that time she is\n_gn\u00fapleit_--that is to say, she has a stooping form, as if her bones had\nbeen broken and were unable to keep her in an upright position. Leikin is\nnot slain, but gets her legs broken.\n\nAll that we learn of Leikin thus points to the Loke-maid, the Hel, not of\nthe myth, but of Christian tradition.\n\n[13]\n\n _Tidh\u00f6ggvit l\u00e9t tiggi\n Tryggvar sonr fyrir styggvan\n Leiknar hest \u00e1 leiti\n ljotvaxinn hr\u00e6 Saxa.\n\n Vinhr\u00f6digr gaf vida\n visi margra Fr\u00edsa\n bl\u00f3kku br\u00fbnt at derkka\n bl\u00f6d kvellridu st\u00f3di._\n\n\n[14] V\u00f6luspa 23, Cod. Reg., says of Heid:\n\n _seid hon kuni,\n seid hon Leikin_.\n\nThe letter _u_ is in this manuscript used for both _u_ and _y_ (compare\nBugge, S\u00e6mund Edd., Preface x., xi.), and hence _kuni_ may be read\nboth _kuni_ and _kyni_. The latter reading makes logical sense. _Kyni_\nis dative of _kyn_, a neuter noun, meaning something sorcerous,\nsupernatural, a monster. _Kynjamein_ and _kynjas\u00f6tt_ mean diseases\nbrought on by sorcery. _Seid_ in both the above lines is past tense of\nthe verb _sida_, and not in either one of them the noun _seidr_.\n\nThere was a sacred sorcery and an unholy one, according to the purpose\nfor which it was practised, and according to the attending ceremonies.\nThe object of the holy sorcery was to bring about something good either\nfor the sorcerer or for others, or to find out the will of the gods and\nfuture things. The sorcery practised by _Heidr_ is the unholy one, hated\nby the gods, and again and again forbidden in the laws, and this kind\nof sorcery is designated in V\u00f6luspa by the term _sida kyni_. Of a thing\npractised with improper means it is said that it is not _kynja-lauss_,\nkyn-free.\n\nThe reading in Cod. Hauk., _seid hon hvars hon kunni, seid hon\nhugleikin_, evidently has some \"emendator\" to thank for its existence who\ndid not understand the passage and wished to substitute something easily\nunderstood for the obscure lines he thought he had found.\n\n\n68.\n\n THE WAY TO HADES COMMON TO THE DEAD.\n\nIt has already been demonstrated that all the dead must go to Hel--not\nonly they whose destination is the realm of bliss, but also those who\nare to dwell in Asgard or in the regions of torture in Nifelheim. Thus\nthe dead tread at the outset the same road. One and the same route is\nprescribed to them all, and the same Helgate daily opens for hosts of\nsouls destined for different lots. Women and children, men and the aged,\nthey who have practised the arts of peace and they who have stained\nthe weapons with blood, those who have lived in accordance with the\nsacred commandments of the norns and gods and they who have broken\nthem--all have to journey the same way as Balder went before them, down\nto the fields of the fountains of the world. They come on foot and on\nhorseback--nay, even in chariots, if we may believe _Helreid Brynhildar_,\na very unreliable source--guided by various psychopomps: the beautifully\nequipped valkyries, the blue-white daughter of Loke, the sombre spirits\nof disease, and the gentle maid-servant of old age. Possibly the souls of\nchildren had their special psychopomps. Traditions of mythic origin seem\nto suggest this; but the fragments of the myths themselves preserved to\nour time give us no information on this subject.\n\nThe Hel-gate here in question was situated below the eastern horizon of\nthe earth. When Thor threatens to kill Loke he says (Lokas., 59) that he\nwill send him _\u00e1 austrvega_. When the author of the Sol-song sees the\nsunset for the last time, he hears in the opposite direction--that is,\nin the east--the Hel-gate grating dismally on its hinges (str. 39). The\ngate has a watchman and a key. The key is called _gillingr_, _gyllingr_\n(Younger Edda, ii. 494); and hence a skald who celebrates his ancestors\nin his songs, and thus recalls to those living the shades of those in\nHades, may say that he brings to the light of day the tribute paid to\nGilling (_yppa gillings gj\u00f6ldum_. See Eyvind's strophe, Younger Edda,\ni. 248. The paraphrase has hitherto been misunderstood, on account of\nthe pseudo-myth _Bragar\u00e6dur_ about the mead.) From the gate the highway\nof the dead went below the earth in a westerly direction through deep\nand dark dales (Gylfag., ch. 52), and it required several days--for\nHermod nine days and nights--before they came to light regions and to\nthe golden bridge across the river Gjoll, flowing from north to south\n(see No. 59). On the other side of the river the roads forked. One road\nwent directly north. This led to Balder's abode (Gylfag., ch. 52); in\nother words, to Mimer's realm, to Mimer's grove, and to the sacred\ncitadel of the _\u00e1smegir_, where death and decay cannot enter (see No.\n53). This northern road was not, therefore, the road common to all the\ndead. Another road went to the south. As Urd's realm is situated south\nof Mimer's (see Nos. 59, 63), this second road must have led to Urd's\nfountain and to the thingstead of the gods there. From the Sun-song we\nlearn that the departed had to continue their journey by that road.\nThe deceased skald of the Sun-song came to the norns, that is to say,\nto Urd and her sisters, after he had left this road behind him, and he\nsat for nine days and nights _\u00e1 norna stoli_ before he was permitted to\ncontinue his journey (str. 51). Here, then, is the end of the road common\nto all, and right here, at Urd's fountain and at the thingstead of the\ngods something must happen, on which account the dead are divided into\ndifferent groups, some destined for Asgard, others for the subterranean\nregions of bliss, and a third lot for Nifelhel's regions of torture.\nWe shall now see whether the mythic fragments preserved to our time\ncontain any suggestions as to what occurs in this connection. It must be\nadmitted that this dividing must take place somewhere in the lower world,\nthat it was done on the basis of the laws which in mythological ethics\ndistinguish between right and wrong, innocence and guilt, that which is\npardonable and that which is unpardonable, and that the happiness and\nunhappiness of the dead is determined by this division.\n\n\n69.\n\n THE TWO THINGSTEADS OF THE ASAS. THE EXTENT OF THE AUTHORITY OF\n THE ASAS AND OF THE DIS OF FATE. THE DOOM OF THE DEAD.\n\nThe Asas have two thingsteads: the one in Asgard, the other in the lower\nworld.\n\nIn the former a council is held and resolutions passed in such matters as\npertain more particularly to the clan of the Asas and to their relation\nto other divine clans and other powers. When Balder is visited by ugly\ndreams, Valfather assembles the gods to hold counsel, and all the Asas\nassemble _\u00e1 thingi_, and all the asynjes _\u00e1 m\u00e1li_ (Vegtamskv., 1;\nBalder's Dr., 4). In assemblies here the gods resolved to exact an oath\nfrom all things for Balder's safety, and to send a messenger to the lower\nworld to get knowledge partly about Balder, partly about future events.\nOn this thingstead efforts are made of reconciliation between the Asas\nand the Vans, after Gulveig had been slain in Odin's hall (V\u00f6luspa, 23,\n24). Hither (\u00e1 thing goda) comes Thor with the kettle captured from\nHymer, and intended for the feasts of the gods (Hymerskv., 39); and\nhere the Asas hold their last deliberations, when Ragnarok is at hand\n(V\u00f6luspa, 49: _\u00c6sir 'ro a thingi_). No matters are mentioned as discussed\nin this thingstead in which any person is interested who does not dwell\nin Asgard, or which are not of such a nature that they have reference to\nhow the gods themselves are to act under particular circumstances. That\nthe thingstead where such questions are discussed must be situated in\nAsgard itself is a matter of convenience, and is suggested by the very\nnature of the case.\n\nIt follows that the gods assemble in the Asgard thingstead more for the\npurpose of discussing their own interests than for that of judging in\nthe affairs of others. They also gather there to amuse themselves and to\nexercise themselves in arms (Gylfaginning, 50).\n\nOf the other thingstead of the Asas, of the one in the lower world, it\nis on the other hand expressly stated that they go thither to sit in\njudgment, to act as judges; and there is no reason for taking this word\n_d\u00e6ma_, when as here it means activity at a thingstead, in any other than\nits judicial and common sense.\n\nWhat matters are settled there? We might take this to be the proper\nplace for exercising Odin's privilege of choosing heroes to be slain by\nthe sword, since this right is co-ordinate with that of the norns to\ndetermine life and dispense fate, whence it might seem that the domain\nof the authority of the gods and that of the norns here approached\neach other sufficiently to require deliberations and decisions in\ncommon. Still it is not on the thingstead at Urd's fountain that Odin\nelects persons for death by the sword. It is expressly stated that it\nis in his own home in Valhal that Odin exercises his right of electing\n(Grimnersmal, 8), and this right he holds so independently and so\nabsolutely that he does not need to ask for the opinion of the norns.\nOn the other hand, the gods have no authority to determine the life and\ndeath of the other mortals. This belongs exclusively to the norns. The\nnorns elect for every other death but that by weapons, and their decision\nin this domain is never called a decision by the gods, but _norna domr,\nnorna kvidr, freigdar ord, Dauda ord_.\n\nIf Asas and norns did have a common voice in deciding certain questions\nwhich _could_ be settled in Asgard, then it would not be in accordance\nwith the high rank given to the Asas in mythology to have them go to the\nnorns for the decision of such questions. On the contrary, the norns\nwould have to come to them. Urd and her sisters are beings of high rank,\nbut nevertheless they are of giant descent, like Mimer. The power they\nhave is immense; and on a closer investigation we find how the mythology\nin more than one way has sought to maintain in the fancy of its believers\nthe independence (at least apparent and well defined, within certain\nlimits) of the gods--an independence united with the high rank which they\nhave. It may have been for this very reason that the youngest of the\ndises of fate, Skuld, was selected as a valkyrie, and as a maid-servant\nboth of Odin and of her sister Urd.\n\nThe questions in which the Asas are judges near Urd's fountain must\nbe such as _cannot_ be settled in Asgard, as the lower world is their\nproper forum, where both the parties concerned and the witnesses are to\nbe found. The questions are of great importance. This is evident already\nfrom the fact that the journey to the thingstead is a troublesome one for\nthe gods, at least for Thor, who, to get thither, must wade across four\nrivers. Moreover, the questions are of such a character that they occur\nevery day (Grimnersmal, 29, 31).\n\nAt this point of the investigation the results hitherto gained from the\nvarious premises unite themselves in the following manner:\n\nThe Asas _daily_ go to the thingstead near Urd's fountain. At the\nthingstead near Urd's fountain there _daily_ arrive hosts of the dead.\n\nThe task of the Asas near Urd's fountain is to judge in questions of\nwhich the lower world is the proper forum. When the dead arrive at Urd's\nfountain their final doom is not yet sealed. They have not yet been\nseparated into the groups which are to be divided between Asgard, Hel,\nand Nifelhel.\n\nThe question now is, Can we conceive that the daily journey of the\nAsas to Urd's fountain and the daily arrival there of the dead have no\nconnection with each other?--That the judgments daily pronounced by the\nAsas at this thingstead, and that the daily event in accordance with\nwhich the dead at this thingstead are divided between the realms of\nbliss and those of torture have nothing in common?\n\nThat these mythological facts should have no connection with each other\nis hard to conceive for anyone who, in doubtful questions, clings to that\nwhich is probable rather than to the opposite. The probability becomes a\ncertainty by the following circumstances:\n\nOf the kings Vanlande and Halfdan, Ynglingatal says that after death they\nmet Odin. According to the common view presented in our mythological\ntext-books, this should not have happened to either of them, since both\nof them died from disease. One of them was visited and fetched by that\nchoking spirit of disease called _vitta v\u00e6ttr_, and in this way he was\npermitted \"to meet Odin\" (_kom a vit Vilja brodur_). The other was\nvisited by _Hvedrungs m\u00e6r_, the daughter of Loke, who \"called him from\nthis world to Odin's Thing.\"\n\n Ok til things\n thridja j\u00f6fri\n Hvedrungs m\u00e6r\n or heimi baud.\n\n_Thing-bod_ means a legal summons to appear at a Thing, at the seat of\njudgment. _Bjoda til things_ is to perform this legal summons. Here it is\nHvedrung's kinswoman who comes with sickness and death and _thing-bod_\nto King Halfdan, and summons him to appear before the judgment-seat of\nOdin. As, according to mythology, all the dead, and as, according to the\nmythological text-books, at least all those who have died from disease\nmust go to Hel, then certainly King Halfdan, who died from disease, must\ndescend to the lower world; and as there is a Thing at which Odin and\nthe Asas daily sit in judgment, it must have been this to which Halfdan\nwas summoned. Otherwise we would be obliged to assume that Hvedrung's\nkinswoman, Loke's daughter, is a messenger, not from the lower world and\nUrd, but from Asgard, although the strophe further on expressly states\nthat she comes to Halfdan on account of \"the doom of the norns;\" and\nfurthermore we would be obliged to assume that the king, who had died\nfrom sickness, after arriving in the lower world, did not present himself\nat Odin's court there, but continued his journey to Asgard, to appear at\nsome of the accidental deliberations which are held at the thingstead\nthere. The passage proves that at least those who have died from sickness\nhave to appear at the court which is held by Odin in the lower world.\n\n\n70.\n\n THE DOOM OF THE DEAD (_continued_). SPEECH-RUNES ORDS T\u00cdRR\n N\u00c1M\u00c6LI.\n\nIn Sigrdrifumal (str. 12) we read:\n\n M\u00e1lrunar skaltu kunna,\n vilt-ar magni ther\n heiptom gjaldi harm;\n th\u00e6r um vindr,\n th\u00e6r um vefr,\n th\u00e6r um setr allar saman\n a thvi thingi,\n er thjothir scolo\n i fulla doma fara.\n\n\"Speech-runes you must know, if you do not wish that the strong one with\nconsuming woe shall requite you for the injury you have caused. All those\nrunes you must wind, weave, and place together in that Thing where the\nhost of people go into the full judgments.\"\n\nIn order to make the significance of this passage clear, it is necessary\nto explain the meaning of speech-runes or mal-runes.\n\nSeveral kinds of runes are mentioned in Sigrdrifumal, all of a magic\nand wonderful kind. Among them are mal-runes (speech-runes). They have\ntheir name from the fact that they are able to restore to a tongue mute\nor silenced in death the power to _m\u00e6la_ (speak). Odin employs mal-runes\nwhen he rists _i runom_, so that a corpse from the gallows comes and\n_m\u00e6lir_ with him (Havam., 157). According to Saxo (i. 38), Hadding places\na piece of wood risted with runes under the tongue of a dead man. The\nlatter then recovers consciousness and the power of speech, and sings a\nterrible song. This is a reference to mal-runes. In Gudrunarkvida (i.)\nit is mentioned how Gudrun, mute and almost lifeless (_hon gordiz at\ndeyja_), sat near Sigurd's dead body. One of the kinswomen present lifts\nthe napkin off from Sigurd's head. By the sight of the features of the\nloved one Gudrun awakens again to life, bursts into tears, and is able\nto speak. The evil Brynhild then curses the being (_vettr_) which \"gave\nmal-runes to Gudrun,\" that is to say, freed her tongue, until then sealed\nas in death.\n\nThose who are able to apply these mighty runes are very few. Odin boasts\nthat he knows them. Sigrdrifva, who also is skilled in them, is a dis,\nnot a daughter of man. The runes which Hadding applied were risted by\nHardgrep, a giantess who protected him. But within the court here in\nquestion men come in great numbers (_thj\u00f3dir_), and among them there\nmust be but a small number who have penetrated so deeply into the secret\nknowledge of runes. For those who have done so it is of importance\nand advantage. For by them they are able to defend themselves against\ncomplaints, the purpose of which is \"to requite with consuming woe the\nharm they have done.\" In the court they are able to _m\u00e6la_ (speak) in\ntheir own defence.\n\nThus it follows that those hosts of people who enter this thingstead\nstand there with speechless tongues. They are and remain mute before\ntheir judges unless they know the mal-runes which are able to loosen\nthe fetters of their tongues. Of the dead man's tongue it is said in\nSolarljod (44) that it is _til tr\u00e9s metin ok kolnat alt fyr utan_.\n\nThe sorrow or harm one has caused is requited in this Thing by _heiptir_,\nunless the accused is able--thanks to the mal-runes--to speak and give\nreasons in his defence. In Havam\u00e1l (151) the word _heiptir_ has the\nmeaning of something supernatural and magical. It has a similar meaning\nhere, as Vigfusson has already pointed out. The magical mal-runes,\nwound, woven, and placed together, form as it were a garb of protection\naround the defendant against the magic _heiptir_. In the Havam\u00e1l strophe\nmentioned the skald makes Odin paraphrase, or at least partly explain,\nthe word _heiptir_ with _mein_, which \"eat\" their victims. It is in\nthe nature of the myth to regard such forces as personal beings. We\nhave already seen the spirits of disease appear in this manner (see No.\n60). The _heiptir_ were also personified. They were the Erinnyes of the\nTeutonic mythology, armed with scourges of thorns (see below).\n\nHe who at the Thing particularly dispenses the law of requital is called\n_magni_. The word has a double meaning, which appears in the verb\n_magna_, which means both to make strong and to operate with supernatural\nmeans.\n\nFrom all this it must be sufficiently plain that the Thing here referred\nto is not the Althing in Iceland or the Gulathing in Norway, or any other\nThing held on the surface of the earth. The thingstead here discussed\nmust be situated in one of the mythical realms, between which the earth\nwas established. And it must be superhuman beings of higher or lower rank\nwho there occupy the judgment-seats and requite the sins of men with\n_heiptir_. But in Asgard men do not enter with their tongues sealed in\ndeath. For the einherjes who are invited to the joys of Valhal there are\nno _heiptir_ prepared. Inasmuch as the mythology gives us information\nabout only two thingsteads where superhuman beings deliberate and\njudge--namely, the Thing in Asgard and the Thing near Urd's fountain--and\ninasmuch as it is, in fact, only in the latter that the gods act as\njudges, we are driven by all the evidences to the conclusion that\nSigrdrifumal has described to us that very thingstead at which Hvedrung's\nkinswoman summoned King Halfdan to appear after death.\n\nSigrdrifumal, using the expression _\u00e1 thvi_, sharply distinguished this\nthingstead or court from all others. The poem declares that it means\n_that_ Thing where hosts of people go into _full_ judgments. \"Full\"\nare those judgments against which no formal or real protests can be\nmade--decisions which are irrevocably valid. The only kind of judgments\nof which the mythology speaks in this manner, that is, characterises as\njudgments that \"never die,\" are those \"over each one dead.\"\n\nThis brings us to the well-known and frequently-quoted strophes in\nHavam\u00e1l:\n\nStr. 76.\n\n Deyr f\u00e6,\n deyja fr\u00e6ndr,\n deyr sialfr it sama;\n enn orztirr\n deyr aldregi\n hveim er ser godan getr.\n\nStr. 77.\n\n Deyr f\u00e6,\n deyja fr\u00e6ndr,\n deyr sialfr it sama;\n ec veit einn\n at aldri deyr:\n domr um daudan hvern.\n\n(76) \"Your cattle shall die; your kindred shall die; you yourself shall\ndie; but the fair fame of him who has earned it never dies.\"\n\n(77) \"Your cattle shall die; your kindred shall die; you yourself shall\ndie; one thing I know which never dies: the judgment on each one dead.\"\n\nHitherto these passages have been interpreted as if Odin or Havam\u00e1l's\nskald meant to say--What you have of earthly possessions is perishable;\nyour kindred and yourself shall die. But I know one thing that never\ndies: the reputation you acquired among men, the posthumous fame\npronounced on your character and on your deeds: that reputation is\nimmortal, that fame is imperishable.\n\nBut can this have been the meaning intended to be conveyed by the skald?\nAnd could these strophes, which, as it seems, were widely known in the\nheathendom of the North, have been thus understood by their hearers and\nreaders? Did not Havam\u00e1l's author, and the many who listened to and\ntreasured in their memories these words of his, know as well as all other\npersons who have some age and experience, that in the great majority of\ncases the fame acquired by a person scarcely survives a generation, and\npasses away together with the very memory of the deceased?\n\nCould it have escaped the attention of the Havam\u00e1l skald and his hearers\nthat the number of mortals is so large and increases so immensely with\nthe lapse of centuries that the capacity of the survivors to remember\nthem is utterly insufficient?\n\nWas it not a well-established fact, especially among the Germans, before\nthey got a written literature, that the skaldic art waged, so to speak,\na desperate conflict with the power of oblivion, in order to rescue at\nleast the names of the most distinguished heroes and kings, but that\nnevertheless thousands of chiefs and warriors were after the lapse of a\nfew generations entirely forgotten?\n\nDid not Havam\u00e1l's author know that millions of men have, in the course of\nthousands of years, left this world without leaving so deep footprints\nin the sands of time that they could last even through one generation?\n\nEvery person of some age and experience has known this, and Havam\u00e1l's\nauthor too. The lofty strains above quoted do not seem to be written by a\nperson wholly destitute of worldly experience.\n\nThe assumption that Havam\u00e1l with that judgment on each one dead, which is\nsaid to be imperishable, had reference to the opinion of the survivors in\nregard to the deceased attains its climax of absurdity when we consider\nthat the poem expressly states that it means the judgment on _every_\ndead person--\"_domr um daudan hvern_.\" In the cottage lying far, far\nin the deep forest dies a child, hardly known by others than by its\nparents, who, too, are soon to be harvested by death. But the judgment\nof the survivors in regard to this child's character and deeds is to be\nimperishable, and the good fame it acquired during its brief life is to\nlive for ever on the lips of posterity! Perhaps it is the sense of the\nabsurdity to which the current assumption leads on this point that has\ninduced some of the translators to conceal the word _hvern_ (every) and\nled them to translate the words _domr um daudan hvern_ in an arbitrary\nmanner with \"judgment on the dead man.\"\n\nIf we now add that the judgment of posterity on one deceased,\nparticularly if he was a person of great influence, very seldom is so\nunanimous, reliable, well-considered, and free from prejudice that in\nthese respects it ought to be entitled to permanent validity, then we\nfind that the words of the Havam\u00e1l strophes attributed to Odin's lips,\nwhen interpreted as hitherto, are not words of wisdom, but the most\nstupid twaddle ever heard declaimed in a solemn manner.\n\nThere are two reasons for the misunderstanding--the one is formal, and\nis found in the word _ords-tirr_ (str. 76); the other reason is that\nGylfaginning, which too long has had the reputation of being a reliable\nand exhaustive codification of the scattered statements of the mythic\nsources, has nothing to say about a court for the dead. It knows that,\naccording to the doctrine of the heathen fathers, good people come to\nregions of bliss, the wicked to Nifelhel; but who he or they were who\ndetermined how far a dead person was worthy of the one fate or the other,\non this point Gylfaginning has not a word to say. From the silence of\nthis authority, the conclusion has been drawn that a court summoning\nthe dead within its forum was not to be found in Teutonic mythology,\nalthough other Aryan and non-Aryan mythologies have presented such a\njudgment-seat, and that the Teutonic fancy, though always much occupied\nwith the affairs of the lower world and with the conditions of the dead\nin the various realms of death, never felt the necessity of conceiving\nfor itself clear and concrete ideas of how and through whom the deceased\nwere determined for bliss or misery. The ecclesiastical conception, which\npostpones the judgment to the last day of time and permits the souls\nof the dead to be transferred, without any special act of judgment, to\nheaven, to purgatory, or to hell, has to some extent contributed to\nmaking us familiar with this idea which was foreign to the heathens. From\nthis it followed that scholars have been blind to the passages in our\nmythical records which speak of a court in the lower world, and they\nhave either read them without sufficient attention (as, for instance,\nthe above-quoted statements of Ynglingatal, which it is impossible to\nharmonise with the current conception), or interpreted them in an utterly\nabsurd manner (which is the case with Sigrdrifumal, str. 12), or they\nhave interpolated assumptions, which, on a closer inspection, are reduced\nto nonsense (as is the case with the Havam\u00e1l strophes), or given them\na possible, but improbable, interpretation (thus Sonatorrek, 19). The\ncompound _ordstirr_ is composed of _ord_, _gen_, _ords_, and _tirr_. The\ncomposition is of so loose a character that the two parts are not blended\ninto a _new_ word. The sign of the gen. _-s_ is retained, and shows that\n_ordstirr_, like _lofstirr_, is not in its sense and in its origin a\ncompound, but is written as one word, probably on account of the laws of\naccentuation. The more original meaning of _ordstirr_ is, therefore, to\nbe found in the sense of _ords tirr_.\n\n_Tirr_ means reputation in a good sense, but still not in a sense so\ndecidedly good but that a qualifying word, which makes the good meaning\nabsolute, is sometimes added. Thus in _lofs-tirr_, laudatory reputation;\n_g\u00f3dr tirr_, good reputation. In the Havam\u00e1l strophe 76, above-quoted,\nthe possibility of an _ords tirr_ which is not good is presupposed. See\nthe last line of the strophe.\n\nSo far as the meaning of _ord_ is concerned, we must leave its relatively\nmore modern and grammatical sense (word) entirely out of the question.\nIts older signification is an utterance (one which may consist of many\n\"words\" in a grammatical sense), a command, a result, a judgment; and\nthese older significations have long had a conscious existence in the\nlanguage. Compare Fornmanna, ii. 237: \"The first word: All shall be\nChristians; the second word: All heathen temples and idols shall be\nunholy,\" &c.\n\nIn V\u00f6luspa (str. 27) _ord_ is employed in the sense of an established law\nor judgment among the divine powers, _a gengoz eidar, ord oc s\u00e6ri_, where\nthe treaties between the Asas and gods, solemnised by oaths, were broken.\n\nWhen _ord_ occurs in purely mythical sources, it is most frequently\nconnected with judgments pronounced in the lower world, and sent from\nUrd's fountain to their destination. _Urdar ord_ is Urd's judgment, which\nmust come to pass (Fj\u00f6lsvinnsm., str. 48), no matter whether it concerns\nlife or death. _Feigdar ord_, a judgment determining death, comes to\nFjolner, and is fulfilled \"where Frode dwelt\" (Yng.-tal, Heimskr., 14).\n_Dauda ord_, the judgment of death, awaited Dag the Wise, when he came to\nVorva (Yng.-tal, Heimskr., 21). To a subterranean judgment refers also\nthe expression _bana-ord_, which frequently occurs.\n\nVigfusson (Dict., 466) points out the possibility of an etymological\nconnection between _ord_ and _Urdr_. He compares _word_ (_ord_) and\n_wurdr_ (_urdr_), _word_ and _weird_ (fate, goddess of fate). Doubtless\nthere was, in the most ancient time, a mythical idea-association between\nthem.\n\nThese circumstances are to be remembered in connection with the\ninterpretation of _ordstirr_, _ords-tirr_ in Havam\u00e1l, 76. The real\nmeaning of the phrase to be; reputation based on a decision, on an\nutterance of authority.\n\nWhen _ordstirr_ had blended into a compound word, there arose by the side\nof its literal meaning another, in which the accent fell so heavily on\n_tirr_ that _ord_ is superfluous and gives no additional meaning of a\njudgment on which this _tirr_ is based. Already in Hofudlausn (str. 26)\n_ordstirr_ is used as a compound, meaning simply honourable reputation,\nhonour. There is mention of a victory which Erik Blood-axe won, and it is\nsaid that he thereby gained _ordstirr_ (renown).\n\nIn interpreting Havam\u00e1l (76) it would therefore seem that we must choose\nbetween the proper and figurative sense of _ordstirr_. The age of the\nHavam\u00e1l strophe is not known. If it was from it Eyvind Skaldaspiller drew\nhis _deyr f\u00e9, deyja fr\u00e6ndr_, which he incorporated in his drapa on Hakon\nthe Good, who died in 960, then the Havam\u00e1l strophe could not be composed\nlater than the middle of the tenth century. Hofudlausn was composed by\nEgil Skallagrimson in the year 936 or thereabout. From a chronological\npoint of view there is therefore nothing to hinder our applying the less\nstrict sense, \"honourable reputation, honour,\" to the passage in question.\n\nBut there are other hindrances. If the Havam\u00e1l skald with _ords-tirr_\nmeant \"honourable reputation, honour,\" he could not, as he has done,\nhave added the condition which he makes in the last line of the strophe:\n_hveim er ser godan getr_, for the idea \"good\" would then already be\ncontained in ordstirr. If in spite of this we would take the less strict\nsense, we must subtract from _ordstirr_ the meaning of _honourable_\nreputation, _honour_, and conceive the expression to mean simply\nreputation in general, a meaning which the word never had.\n\nWe are therefore forced to the conclusion that the meaning of\ncourt-decision, judgment, which _ord_ has not only in Ynglingatal and\nFj\u00f6lsvinnsmal, but also in linguistic usage, was clear to the author of\nthe Havam\u00e1l strophe, and that he applied _ords tirr_ in its original\nsense and was speaking of imperishable judgments.\n\nIt should also have been regarded as a matter of course that the judgment\nwhich, according to the Havam\u00e1l strophe (77), is passed on everyone dead,\nand which itself never dies, must have been prepared by a court whose\ndecision could not be questioned or set aside, and that the judgment\nmust have been one whose influence is eternal, for the infinity of the\njudgment itself can only depend on the infinity of its operation. That\nthe more or less vague opinions sooner or later committed to oblivion\nin regard to a deceased person should be supposed to contain such a\njudgment, and to have been meant by the immortal doom over the dead, I\nventure to include among the most extraordinary interpretations ever\nproduced.\n\nBoth the strophes are, as is evident from the first glance, most\nintimately connected with each other. Both begin: _deyr f\u00e6, deyja\nfr\u00e6ndr_. _Ord_ in the one strophe corresponds to _domr_ in the other.\nThe latter strophe declares that the judgment on _every_ dead person\nis imperishable, and thus completes the more limited statement of the\nforegoing strophe, that the judgment which gives a good renown is\neverlasting. The former strophe speaks of only _one_ category of men who\nhave been subjected to an ever-valid judgment, namely of that category\nto whose honour the eternal judgment is pronounced. The second strophe\nspeaks of both the categories, and assures us that the judgment on the\none as on the other category is everlasting.\n\nThe strophes are by the skald attributed to Odin's lips. Odin pronounces\njudgment every day near Urd's fountain at the court to which King Halfdan\nwas summoned, and where hosts of people with fettered tongues await their\nfinal destiny (see above.) The assurances in regard to the validity of\nthe judgment on everyone dead are thus given by a being who really may be\nsaid to know what he talks about (_ec veit_, &c.), namely, by the judge\nhimself.\n\nIn the poem Sonatorrek the old Egil Skallagrimson laments the loss of\nsons and kindred, and his thoughts are occupied with the fate of his\nchildren after death. When he speaks of his son Gunnar, who in his tender\nyears was snatched away by a sickness, he says (str. 19):\n\n Son minn\n s\u00f3ttar brimi\n heiptuligr\n \u00f3r heimi nam,\n thann ec veit\n at varnadi\n vamma varr\n vid n\u00e1m\u00e6li.\n\n\"A fatal fire of disease (fever?) snatched from this world a son of mine,\nof whom I know that he, careful as he was in regard to sinful deeds, took\ncare of himself for _n\u00e1m\u00e6li_.\"\n\nTo understand this strophe correctly, we must know that the skald in the\npreceding 17th, as in the succeeding 20th, strophe, speaks of Gunnar's\nfate in the lower world.\n\nThe word _n\u00e1m\u00e6li_ occurs nowhere else, and its meaning is not known. It\nis of importance to our subject to find it out.\n\nIn those compounds of which the first part is _n\u00e1-_, _n\u00e1_ may be the\nadverbial prefix, which means _near by_, _by the side of_, or it may be\nthe substantive _n\u00e1r_, which means a corpse, dead body, and in a mythical\nsense one damned, one who dies for the second time and comes to Nifelhel\n(see No. 60). The question is now, to begin with, whether it is the\nadverbial prefix or the substantive _n\u00e1-_ which we have in _n\u00e1m\u00e6li_.\n\nCompounds which have the adverbial _n\u00e1_ as the first part of the word are\nvery common. In all of them the prefix _n\u00e1-_ implies nearness in space or\nin kinship, or it has the signification of some thing correct or exact.\n\n(1) In regard to space: _n\u00e1b\u00fad_, _n\u00e1b\u00fai_, _n\u00e1b\u00fdli_, _n\u00e1granna_,\n_n\u00e1granni_, _n\u00e1grennd_, _n\u00e1grenni_, _n\u00e1kommin_, _n\u00e1kv\u00e6ma_, _n\u00e1kv\u00e6md_,\n_n\u00e1kv\u00e6mr_, _n\u00e1leid_, _n\u00e1l\u00e6gd_, _n\u00e1l\u00e6gjast_, _n\u00e1l\u00e6gr_, _n\u00e1munda_,\n_n\u00e1sessi_, _n\u00e1seta_, _n\u00e1settr_, _n\u00e1s\u00e6ti_, _n\u00e1vera_, _n\u00e1verukona_,\n_n\u00e1verandi_, _n\u00e1vist_, _n\u00e1vistarkona_, _n\u00e1vistarmadr_, _n\u00e1vistarvitni_.\n\n(2) In regard to friendship: _n\u00e1borinn_, _n\u00e1fr\u00e6ndi_, _n\u00e1fr\u00e6ndkona_,\n_n\u00e1magr_, _n\u00e1skyldr_, _n\u00e1st\u00e6dr_, _n\u00e1ongr_.\n\n(3) In regard to correctness, exactness: _n\u00e1kv\u00e6mi_, _n\u00e1kv\u00e6mliga_,\n_n\u00e1kv\u00e6mr_.\n\nThe idea of correctness comes from the combination of _n\u00e1-_ and _kv\u00e6mi_,\n_kv\u00e6mliga_, _kv\u00e6mr_. The exact meaning is--_that which comes near to_,\nand which in that sense is precise, exact, to the point.\n\nThese three cases exhaust the meanings of the adverbial prefix _n\u00e1_-. I\nshould consider it perilous, and as the abandoning of solid ground under\nthe feet, if we, without evidence from the language tried, as has been\ndone, to give it another hitherto unknown signification.\n\nBut none of these meanings can be applied to _n\u00e1m\u00e6li_. In analogy with\nthe words under (1) it can indeed mean \"An oration held near by;\" but\nthis signification produces no sense in the above passage, the only place\nwhere it is found.\n\nIn another group of words the prefix _n\u00e1_-is the noun _n\u00e1r_. Here belong\n_n\u00e1bjargir_, _n\u00e1bleikr_, _n\u00e1grindr_, _n\u00e1g\u00f6ll_, _n\u00e1reid_, _n\u00e1strandir_,\nand other words.\n\n_M\u00e6li_ means a declamation, an oration, an utterance, a reading, or\nthe proclamation of a law. _M\u00e6la_, _m\u00e6landi_, _form\u00e6landi_, _form\u00e6li_,\n_nym\u00e6li_, are used in legal language. _Form\u00e6landi_ is a defendant in\ncourt. _Form\u00e6li_ is his speech or plea. _Nym\u00e6li_ is a law read or\npublished for the first time.\n\n_M\u00e6li_ can take either a substantive or adjective as prefix. Examples:\n_Gudm\u00e6li_, _fullm\u00e6li_. _N\u00e1_ from _n\u00e1r_ can be used as a prefix both to a\nnoun and to an adjective. Examples: _n\u00e1grindr_, _n\u00e1bleikr_.\n\n_N\u00e1m\u00e6li_ should accordingly be an oration, a declaration, a proclamation,\nin regard to _n\u00e1r_. From the context we find that _n\u00e1m\u00e6li_ is something\ndangerous, something to look out for. Gunnar is dead and is gone to the\nlower world, which contains not only happiness but also terrors; but his\naged father, who in another strophe of the poem gives to understand that\nhe had adhered faithfully to the religious doctrines of his fathers, is\nconvinced that his son has avoided the dangers implied in _n\u00e1m\u00e6li_, as\nhe had no sinful deed to blame himself for. In the following strophe\n(20) he expressed his confidence that the deceased had been adopted by\n_Gauta spjalli_, a friend of Odin in the lower world, and had landed in\nthe realm of happiness. (In regard to _Gauta spjalli_ see further on. The\nexpression is applicable both to Mimer and Honer).\n\n_N\u00e1m\u00e6li_ must, therefore, mean a declaration (1) that is dangerous; (2)\nwhich does not affect a person who has lived a blameless life; (3) which\nrefers to the dead and affects those who have not been _vamma varir_, on\nthe look-out against blameworthy and criminal deeds.\n\nThe passage furnishes additional evidence that the dead in the lower\nworld make their appearance in order to be judged, and it enriches\nour knowledge of the mythological eschatology with a technical term\n(_n\u00e1m\u00e6li_) for that judgment which sends sinners to travel through the\nNa-gates to Nifelhel. The opposite of _n\u00e1m\u00e6li_ is _ords tirr_, that\njudgment which gives the dead fair renown, and both kinds of judgments\nare embraced in the phrase _domr um daudan_. _N\u00e1m\u00e6li_ is a proclamation\nfor _n\u00e1ir_, just as _n\u00e1grindr_ are gates and _n\u00e1strandir_ are strands for\n_n\u00e1ir_.\n\n\n71.\n\n THE DOOM OF THE DEAD (_continued_). THE LOOKS OF THE\n THINGSTEAD. THE DUTY OF TAKING CARE OF THE ASHES OF THE DEAD.\n THE HAMINGJE AT THE JUDGMENT. SINS OF WEAKNESS. SINS UNTO DEATH.\n\nThose hosts which are conducted by their psychopomps to the Thing near\nUrd's fountain proceed noiselessly. It is a silent journey. The bridge\nover _Gj\u00f6ll_ scarcely resounds under the feet of the death-horses and of\nthe dead (Gylfaginning). The tongues of the shades are sealed (see No.\n70).\n\nThis thingstead has, like all others, had its judgment-seats. Here are\nseats (in V\u00f6luspa called _r\u00f6kst\u00f3lar_) for the holy powers acting as\njudges. There is also a rostrum (_\u00e1 thularst\u00f3li at Urdar brunni_--Havam.,\n111) and benches or chairs for the dead (compare the phrase, _falla\n\u00e1 Helpalla_--Fornald., i. 397, and the sitting of the dead one, _\u00e1\nnornast\u00f3li_--Solarlj., 51). Silent they must receive their doom unless\nthey possess mal-runes (see No. 70).\n\nThe dead should come well clad and ornamented. Warriors bring their\nweapons of attack and defence. The women and children bring ornaments\nthat they were fond of in life. Hades-pictures of those things which\nkinsmen and friends placed in the grave-mounds accompany the dead\n(Hakonarm., 17; Gylfaginning, 52) as evidence to the judge that they\nenjoyed the devotion and respect of their survivors. The appearance\npresented by the shades assembled in the Thing indicates to what extent\nthe survivors heed the law, which commands respect for the dead and care\nfor the ashes of the departed.\n\nMany die under circumstances which make it impossible for their kinsmen\nto observe these duties. Then strangers should take the place of kindred.\nThe condition in which these shades come to the Thing shows best whether\npiety prevails in Midgard; for noble minds take to heart the advices\nfound as follows in Sigrdrifumal, 33, 34: \"Render the last service to the\ncorpses you find on the ground, whether from sickness they have died,\nor are drowned, or are from weapons dead. Make a bath for those who are\ndead, wash their hands and their head, comb them and wipe them dry, ere\nin the coffin you lay them, and pray for their happy sleep.\"\n\nIt was, however, not necessary to wipe the blood off from the byrnie of\none fallen by the sword. It was not improper for the elect to make their\nentrance in Valhal in a bloody coat of mail. Eyvind Skaldaspiller makes\nKing Hakon come all stained with blood (_allr i dreyra drifinn_) into the\npresence of Odin.\n\nWhen the gods have arrived from Asgard, dismounted from their horses\n(Gylfag.) and taken their judges' seats, the proceedings begin, for the\ndead are then in their places, and we may be sure that their psychopomps\nhave not been slow on their Thing-journey. Somewhere on the way the\nHel-shoes must have been tried; those who ride to Valhal must then have\nbeen obliged to dismount. The popular tradition first pointed out by\nWalter Scott and J. Grimm about the need of such shoes for the dead and\nabout a thorn-grown heath, which they have to cross, is not of Christian\nbut of heathen origin. Those who have shown mercy to fellowmen that in\nthis life, in a figurative sense, had to travel thorny paths, do not need\nto fear torn shoes and bloody feet (W. Scott, _Minstrelsy_, ii.); and\nwhen they are seated on Urd's benches, their very shoes are, by their\ncondition, a conspicuous proof in the eyes of the court that they who\nhave exercised mercy are worthy of mercy.\n\nThe Norse tradition preserved in Gisle Surson's saga in regard to the\nimportance for the dead to be provided with shoes reappears as a popular\ntradition, first in England, and then several places (M\u00fcllenhoff,\n_Deutsche Alt._, v. 1, 114; J. Grimm., _Myth._, iii. 697; nachtr., 349;\nWeinhold, _Altn. Leb._, 494; Mannhardt in _zeitschr. f. deutsch. Myth._,\niv. 420; Simrock, _Myth._, v. 127). _Visio Godeschalci_ describes a\njourney which the pious Holstein peasant Godeskalk, belonging to the\ngeneration immediately preceding that which by Vicelin was converted to\nChristianity, believed he had made in the lower world. There is mentioned\nan immensely large and beautiful linden-tree hanging full of shoes, which\nwere handed down to such dead travellers as had exercised mercy during\ntheir lives. When the dead had passed this tree they had to cross a\nheath two miles wide, thickly grown with thorns, and then they came to\na river full of irons with sharp edges. The unjust had to wade through\nthis river, and suffered immensely. They were cut and mangled in every\nlimb; but when they reached the other strand, their bodies were the same\nas they had been when they began crossing the river. Compare with this\nstatement Solarljod, 42, where the dying skald hears the roaring of\nsubterranean streams mixed with much blood--_Gylfar straumar grenjudu,\nblandnir mj\u00f6k ved bl\u00f3d_. The just are able to cross the river by putting\ntheir feet on boards a foot wide and fourteen feet long, which floated on\nthe water. This is the first day's journey. On the second day they come\nto a point where the road forked into three ways--one to heaven, one to\nhell, and one between these realms (compare M\u00fcllenhoff, _D. Alt._, v.\n113, 114). These are all mythic traditions, but little corrupted by time\nand change of religion. That in the lower world itself Hel-shoes were\nto be had for those who were not supplied with them, but still deserved\nthem, is probably a genuine mythological idea.\n\nProofs and witnesses are necessary before the above-named tribunal, for\nOdin is far from omniscient. He is not even the one who knows the most\namong the beings of mythology. Urd and Mimer know more than he. With\njudges on the one hand who, in spite of all their loftiness, and with\nall their superhuman keenness, nevertheless are not infallible, and with\ndefendants on the other hand whose tongues refuse to serve them, it\nmight happen, if there were no proofs and witnesses, that a judgment,\neverlasting in its operations, not founded on exhaustive knowledge and on\nwell-considered premises, might be proclaimed. But the judgment on human\nsouls proclaimed by their final irrevocable fate could not in the sight\nof the pious and believing bear the stamp of uncertain justice. There\nmust be no doubt that the judicial proceedings in the court of death were\nso managed that the wisdom and justice of the _dicta_ were raised high\nabove every suspicion of being mistaken.\n\nThe heathen fancy shrank from the idea of a knowledge able of itself\nto embrace all, the greatest and the least, that which has been, is\ndoing, and shall be in the world of thoughts, purposes, and deeds. It\nhesitated at all events to endow its gods made in the image of man with\nomniscience. It was easier to conceive a divine insight which was\nsecured by a net of messengers and spies stretched throughout the world.\nSuch a net was cast over the human race by Urd, and it is doubtless for\nthis reason that the subterranean Thing of the gods was located near\nher fountain and not near Mimer's. Urd has given to every human soul,\nalready before the hour of birth, a maid-servant, a hamingje, a norn of\nlower rank, to watch over and protect its earthly life. And so there\nwas a wide-spread organization of watching and protecting spirits, each\none of whom knew the motives and deeds of a special individual. As such\nan organisation was at the service of the court, there was no danger\nthat the judgment over each one dead would not be as just as it was\nunappealable and everlasting.\n\nThe hamingje hears of it before anyone else when her mistress has\nannounced _dauda ord_--the doom of death, against her favourite. She (and\nthe _gipte, heille_, see No. 64) leaves him then. She is _horfin_, gone,\nwhich can be perceived in dreams (Balder's Dream, 4) or by revelations\nin other ways, and this is an unmistakable sign of death. But if the\ndeath-doomed person is not a nithing, whom she in sorrow and wrath has\nleft, then she by no means abandons him. They are like members of the\nsame body, which can only be separated by mortal sins (see below). The\nhamingje goes to the lower world, the home of her nativity (see No. 64),\nto prepare an abode there for her favourite, which also is to belong to\nher (Gisle Surson's saga.) It is as if a spiritual marriage was entered\ninto between her and the human soul.\n\nBut on the dictum of the court of death it depends where the dead\nperson is to find his haven. The judgment, although not pronounced\non the hamingje, touches her most closely. When the most important\nof all questions, that of eternal happiness or unhappiness, is to be\ndetermined in regard to her favourite, she must be there where her duty\nand inclination bid her be--with him whose guardian-spirit she is. The\ngreat question for her is whether she is to continue to share his fate\nor not. During his earthly life she has always defended him. It is of\nparamount importance that she should do so now. His lips are sealed, but\nshe is able to speak, and is his other ego. And she is not only a witness\nfriendly to him, but, from the standpoint of the court, she is a more\nreliable one than he would be himself.\n\nIn Atlamal (str. 28) there occurs a phrase which has its origin in\nheathendom, where it has been employed in a clearer and more limited\nsense than in the Christian poem. The phrase is _ec qued aflima ordnar\nther disir_, and it means, as Atlamal uses it, that he to whom the dises\n(the hamingje and gipte) have become _aflima_ is destined, in spite of\nall warnings, to go to his ruin. In its very nature the phrase suggests\nthat there can occur between the hamingje and the human soul another\nseparation than the accidental and transient one which is expressed\nby saying that the hamingje is _horfin_. _Aflima_ means \"amputated,\"\nseparated by a sharp instrument from the body of which one has been a\nmember. The person from whom his dises have been cut off has no longer\nany close relation with them. He is for ever separated from them, and\nhis fate is no longer theirs. Hence there are persons doomed to die and\npersons dead who do not have hamingjes by them. They are those whom the\nhamingjes in sorrow and wrath have abandoned, and with whom they are\nunable to dwell in the lower world, as they are nithings and are awaited\nin Nifelhel.\n\nThe fact that a dead man sat _\u00e1 nornast\u00f3li_ or _\u00e1 Helpalli_ without\nhaving a hamingje to defend him doubtless was regarded by the gods as a\nconclusive proof that he had been a criminal.\n\nIf we may judge from a heathen expression preserved in strophe 16 of\nAtlakvida, and there used in an arbitrary manner, then the hamingjes who\nwere \"cut off\" from their unworthy favourite continue to feel sorrow and\nsympathy for them to the last. The expression is _nornir gr\u00e1ta n\u00e1i_, \"the\nnorns (hamingjes) bewail the _n\u00e1ir_.\" If the _n\u00e1m\u00e6li_, the na-dictum,\nthe sentence to Nifelhel which turns dead criminals into _n\u00e1ir_, in the\neschatological sense of the word, has been announced, the judgment is\nattended with tears on the part of the former guardian-spirits of the\nconvicts. This corresponds, at all events, with the character of the\nhamingjes.\n\nThose fallen on the battlefield are not brought to the fountain of Urd\nwhile the Thing is in session. This follows from the fact that Odin is in\nValhal when they ride across Bifrost, and sends Asas or einherjes to meet\nthem with the goblet of mead at Asgard's gate (Eiriksm., Hakonarmal).\nBut on the way there has been a separation of the good and bad elements\namong them. Those who have no hamingjes must, _\u00e1 nornast\u00f3li_, wait for\nthe next Thing-day and their judgment. The Christian age well remembered\nthat brave warriors who had committed nithing acts did not come to Valhal\n(see Hakon Jarl's word in Nj\u00e1la). The heathen records confirm that men\nslain by the sword who had lived a wicked life were sent to the world of\ntorture (see Harald Harfager's saga, ch. 27--the verses about the viking\nThorer Wood-beard, who fell in a naval battle with Einar Ragnvaldson, and\nwho had been scourge to the Orkneyings).\n\nThe high court must have judged very leniently in regard to certain\nhuman faults and frailties. Sitting long by and looking diligently\ninto the drinking-horn certainly did not lead to any punishment worth\nmentioning. The same was the case with fondness for female beauty, if\ncare was taken not to meddle with the sacred ties of matrimony. With a\npleasing frankness, and with much humour, the Asa-father has told to\nthe children of men adventures which he himself has had in that line.\nHe warns against too much drinking, but admits without reservation and\nhypocrisy that he himself once was drunk, nay, very drunk, at Fjalar's\nand what he had to suffer, on account of his uncontrollable longing for\nBilling's maid, should be to men a hint not to judge each other too\nseverely in such matters (see Havam\u00e1l.) All the less he will do so as\njudge. Those who are summoned to the Thing and against whom there are no\nother charges, may surely count on a good _ords tirr_, if they in other\nrespects have conducted themselves in accordance with the wishes of Odin\nand his associate judges: if they have lived lives free from deceit,\nhonourable, helpful, and without fear of death. This, in connection with\nrespect for the gods, for the temples, for their duties to kindred and\nto the dead, is the alpha and the omega of the heathen Teutonic moral\ncode, and the sure way to Hel's regions of bliss and to Valhal. He who\nhas observed these virtues may, as the old skald sings of himself, \"glad,\nwith serenity and without discouragement, wait for Hel.\"\n\n Skal ek th\u00f3 gladr\n med godan vilja\n ok \u00fahryggr\n Heljar bida (Sonatorrek, 24).\n\nIf the judgment on the dead is lenient in these respects, it is\ninexorably severe in other matters. Lies uttered to injure others,\nperjury, murder (secret murder, assassination, not justified as\nblood-revenge), adultery, the profaning of temples, the opening of\ngrave-mounds, treason, cannot escape their awful punishment. Unutterable\nterrors await those who are guilty of these sins. Those psychopomps\nthat belong to Nifelhel await the adjournment of the Thing in order\nto take them to the world of torture, and Urd has chains (_Heljar\nreip_--Solarljod, 27; _Des Todes Seil_--J. Grimm, _D. Myth._, 805) which\nmake every escape impossible.\n\n\n72.\n\n THE HADES-DRINK.\n\nBefore the dead leave the thingstead near Urd's fountain, something\nwhich obliterated the marks of earthly death has happened to those who\nare judged happy. Pale, cold, mute, and with the marks of the spirits\nof disease, they left Midgard and started on the Hel-way. They leave the\ndeath-Thing full of the warmth of life, with health, with speech, and\nmore robust than they were on earth. The shades have become corporal.\nWhen those slain by the sword ride over the Gjoll to Urd's fountain,\nscarcely a sound is heard under the hoofs of their horses; when they\nride away from the fountain over Bifrost, the bridge resounds under the\ntrampling horses. The sagas of the middle ages have preserved, but at the\nsame time demonised, the memory of how Hel's inhabitants were endowed\nwith more than human strength (Gretla, 134, and several other passages).\n\nThe life of bliss presupposes health, but also forgetfulness of the\nearthly sorrows and cares. The heroic poems and the sagas of the middle\nages have known that there was a Hades-potion which brings freedom\nfrom sorrow and care, without obliterating dear memories or making one\nforget that which can be remembered without longing or worrying. In the\nmythology this drink was, as shall be shown, one that produced at the\nsame time vigour of life and the forgetfulness of sorrows.\n\nIn Saxo, and in the heroic poems of the Elder Edda, which belong to the\nGjukung group of songs, there reappear many mythical details, though they\nare sometimes taken out of their true connection and put in a light which\ndoes not originally belong to them. Among the mythical reminiscences is\nthe Hades-potion.\n\nIn his account of King Gorm's and Thorkil's journey to the lower world,\nSaxo (see No 46) makes Thorkil warn his travelling companions from\ntasting the drinks offered them by the prince of the lower world, for the\nreason that they produce forgetfulness, and make one desire to remain\nin Gudmund's realm (_Hist., Dan._, i. 424--_amissa memoria ... pocalis\nabstinendum edocuit_).\n\nThe Gudrun song (ii. 21) places the drinking-horn of the lower world in\nGrimhild's hands. In connection with later additions, the description of\nthis horn and its contents contains purely mythical and very instructive\ndetails in regard to the _pharmakon nepenthes_ of the Teutonic lower\nworld.\n\nStr. 21.\n\n F\u00e6rdi mer Grimildr\n full at drecka\n svalt oc sarlict,\n ne ec sacar mundac;\n thar var um aukit\n Urdar magni,\n svalcauldom s\u00e6\n oc Sonar dreyra.\n\nStr. 22.\n\n Voro i horni\n hverskyns stafir\n ristnir oc rodnir\n ratha ec ne mattac,\n lyngfiscr langr\n lands Haddingja,\n ax oscorit,\n innleid dyra.\n\n\"Grimhild handed me in a filled horn to drink a cool, bitter drink, in\norder that I might forget my past afflictions. This drink was prepared\nfrom _Urd's strength, cool-cold sea, and the liquor of Son_.\"\n\n\"On the horn were all kinds of staves engraved and painted, which I\ncould not interpret: _the Hadding-land's long heath-fish, unharvested\nears of grain, and animals' entrances_.\"\n\nThe Hadding-land is, as Sv. Egilsson has already pointed out, a\nparaphrase of the lower world. The paraphrase is based on the mythic\naccount known and mentioned by Saxo in regard to Hadding's journey in\nHel's realm (see No. 47).\n\nHeath-fish is a paraphrase of the usual sort for serpent, dragon. Hence\na lower-world dragon was engraved on the horn. More than one of the\nkind has been mentioned already: Nidhog, who has his abode in Nifelhel,\nand the dragon, which, according to Erik Vidforle's saga, obstructs\nthe way to Odain's-acre. The dragon engraved on the horn is that of\nthe Hadding-land. Hadding-land, on the other hand, does not mean the\nwhole lower world, but the regions of bliss visited by Hadding. Thus\nthe dragon is such an one as Erik Vidforle's saga had in mind. That\nthe author did not himself invent his dragon, but found it in mythic\nrecords extant at the time, is demonstrated by Solarljod (54), where it\nis said that immense subterranean dragons come flying from the west--the\nopposite direction of that the shades have to take when they descend into\nthe lower world--and obstruct \"the street of the prince of splendour\"\n(_gl\u00e6valds g\u00f6tu_). The ruler of splendour is Mimer, the prince of the\nGlittering Fields (see Nos. 45-51).\n\nThe Hadding-land's \"unharvested ears of grain\" belong to the flora\ninaccessible to the devastations of frost, the flowers seen by Hadding\nin the blooming meadows of the world below (see No. 47). The expression\nrefers to the fact that the Hadding-land has not only imperishable\nflowers and fruits, but also fields of grain which do not require\nharvesting. Compare herewith what V\u00f6luspa says about the Odain's-acre\nwhich in the regeneration of the earth rises from the lap of the sea:\n\"unsown the fields yield the grain.\"\n\nBeside the heath-fish and the unharvested ears of grain, there were\nalso seen on the Hadding-land horn _dyrainnleid_. Some interpreters\nassume that \"animals entrails\" are meant by this expression; others have\ntranslated it with \"animal gaps.\" There is no authority that _innleid_\never meant entrails, nor could it be so used in a rhetorical-poetical\nsense, except by a very poor poet. Where we meet with the word it means a\nway, a way in, in contrast with _\u00fatleid_, a way out. As both Gorms saga\nand that of Erik Vidforle use it in regard to animals watching entrances\nin the lower world, this gives the expression its natural interpretation.\n\nSo much for the staves risted on the horn. They all refer to the lower\nworld. Now as to the drink which is mixed in this Hades-horn. It consists\nof three liquids:\n\n Urdar Magn, Urd's strength,\n svalkaldr s\u00e6r, cool-cold sea,\n Sonar dreyri. Son's liquid.\n\nSon has already been mentioned above (No. 21) as one of the names of\nMimer's fountain, the well of creative power and of poetry. Of Son Eilif\nGudrunson sings that it is enwreathed by bulrushes and is surrounded by\na border of meadow on which grows the seed of poetry.\n\nAs Urd's strength is a liquid mixed in the horn, nothing else can be\nmeant thereby than the liquid in Urd's fountain, which gives the warmth\nof life to the world-tree, and gives it strength to resist the cold (see\nNo. 63).\n\nFrom this it is certain that at least two of the three subterranean\nfountains made their contributions to the drink. There remains the\nwell Hvergelmer, and the question now is, whether it and the liquid it\ncontains can be recognised as the _cool-cold sea_. Hvergelmer is, as we\nknow, the mother-fountain of all waters, even of the ocean (see No. 59).\nThat this immense cistern is called a sea is not strange, since also\nUrd's fountain is so styled (in V\u00f6luspa, Cod. Reg., 19.) Hvergelmer is\nsituated under the northern root of the world-tree near the borders of\nthe subterranean realm of the rime-thurses--that is, the powers of frost;\nand the Elivagar rivers flowing thence formed the ice in Nifelheim. Cool\n(_Sv\u00f6l_) is the name of one of the rivers which have their source in\nHvergelmer (Grimnersmal). Cool-cold sea is therefore the most suitable\nword with which to designate Hvergelmer when its own name is not to be\nused.\n\nAll those fountains whose liquids are sucked up by the roots of the\nworld-tree, and in its stem blend into the sap which gives the tree\nimperishable strength of life, are accordingly mixed in the lower-world\nhorn (cp. No. 21).\n\nThat Grimhild, a human being dwelling on earth, should have access to\nand free control of these fountains is, of course, from a mythological\nstandpoint, an absurdity. From the standpoint of the Christian time the\nabsurdity becomes probable. The sacred things and forces of the lower\nworld are then changed into deviltry and arts of magic, which are at the\nservice of witches. So the author of Gudrunarkvida (ii.) has regarded the\nmatter. But in his time there was still extant a tradition, or a heathen\nsong, which spoke of the elements of the drink which gave to the dead who\nhad descended to Hel, and were destined for happiness, a higher and more\nenduring power of life, and also soothed the longing and sorrow which\naccompanied the recollection of the life on earth, and this tradition was\nused in the description of Grimhild's drink of forgetfulness.\n\n_Magn_ is the name of the liquid from Urd's fountain, since it _magnar_,\ngives strength. The word _magna_ has preserved from the days of\nheathendom the sense of strengthening in a supernatural manner by magical\nor superhuman means. Vigfusson (Dict., 408) gives a number of examples of\nthis meaning. In Heimskringla (ch. 8) Odin \"magns\" Mimer's head, which is\nchopped off, in such a manner that it recovers the power of speech. In\nSigrdrifumal (str. 12) Odin himself is, as we have seen, called _magni_,\n\"the one magning,\" as the highest judge of the lower world, who gives\n_magn_ to the dead from the Hades-horn.\n\nThe author of the second song about Helge Hundingsbane has known of\n_dyrar veilgar_, precious liquids of which those who have gone to Hel\npartake. The dead Helge says that when his beloved Sigrun is to share\nthem with him, then it is of no consequence that they have lost earthly\njoy and kingdoms, and that no one must lament that his breast was\ntortured with wounds (Helge Hund., ii. 46.) The touching finale of this\nsong, though preserved only in fragments, and no doubt borrowed from\na heathen source, shows that the power of the subterranean potion to\nallay longing and sorrow had its limits. The survivors should mourn over\ndeparted loved ones with moderation, and not forget that they are to meet\nagain, for too bitter tears of sorrow fall as a cold dew on the breast of\nthe dead one and penetrate it with pain (str. 45).\n\n\n73.\n\n THE HADES-DRINK (_continued_), THE HADES-HORN EMBELLISHED WITH\n SERPENTS.\n\nIn Sonatorrek (str. 18) the skald (Egil Skallagrimson) conceives himself\nwith the claims of a father to keep his children opposed to a stronger\npower which has also made a claim on them. This power is firm in its\nresolutions against Egil (_stendr \u00e1 f\u00f6stum thokk \u00e1 hendi m\u00e9r_); but, at\nthe same time, it is lenient toward his children, and bestows on them the\nlot of happiness. The mythic person who possesses this power is by the\nskald called _F\u00e1ns hrosta hilmir_, \"the lord of _F\u00e1nn's_ brewing.\"\n\n_F\u00e1nn_ is a mythical serpent-and dragon-name (Younger Edda, ii. 487,\n570). The serpent or dragon which possessed this name in the myths or\nsagas must have been one which was engraved or painted somewhere. This\nis evident from the word itself, which is a contraction of _f\u00e1inn_,\nengraved, painted (cp. Egilsson's Lex. Poet., and Vigfusson's Dict., _sub\nvoce_). Its character as such does not hinder it from being endowed with\na magic life (see below.) The object on which it was engraved or painted\nmust have been a drinking-horn, whose contents (brewing) is called by\nEgil _F\u00e1nn's_, either because the serpent encircled the horn which\ncontained the drink, or because the horn, on which it was engraved, was\nnamed after it. In no other way can the expression, _F\u00e1nn's_ brewing, be\nexplained, for an artificial serpent or dragon is neither the one who\nbrews the drink nor the malt from which it is brewed.\n\nThe possessor of the horn, embellished with _F\u00e1nn's_ image, is the\nmythical person who, to Egil's vexation, has insisted on the claim of the\nlower world to his sons. If the skald has paraphrased correctly, that is\nto say, if he has produced a paraphrase which refers to the character\nhere in question of the person indicated by the paraphrase, then it\nfollows that \"_F\u00e1nn's_ brewing\" and _F\u00e1nn_ himself, like their possessor,\nmust have been in some way connected with the lower world.\n\nFrom the mythic tradition in Gudrunarkvida (ii.), we already know that a\nserpent, \"a long heath-fish,\" is engraved and painted on the subterranean\nhorn, whose sorrow-allaying mead is composed of the liquid of the three\nHades-fountains.\n\nWhen King Gorm (_Hist., Dan._, 427; cp. No. 46) made his journey of\ndiscovery in the lower world, he saw a vast ox-horn (_ingens bubali\ncornu_) there. It lay near the gold-clad mead-cisterns, the fountains\nof the lower world. Its purpose of being filled with their liquids is\nsufficiently clear from its location. We are also told that it was carved\nwith figures (_nec c\u00e6latur\u00e6 artificio vacuum_), like the subterranean\nhorn in Gudrunarkvida. One of Gorm's men is anxious to secure the\ntreasure. Then the horn lengthens into a dragon who kills the would-be\nrobber (_cornu in draconem extractum sui spiritum latoris eripuit._)\nLike Slidrugtanne and other subterranean treasures, the serpent or\ndragon on the drinking-horn of the lower world is endowed with life when\nnecessary, or the horn itself acquires life in the form of a dragon, and\npunishes with death him who has no right to touch it. The horn itself is\naccordingly a _F\u00e1nn_, an artificial serpent or dragon, and its contents\nis _F\u00e1nn's hrosti_ (_F\u00e1nn's_ brewing).\n\nThe Icelandic middle-age sagas have handed down the memory of an\naurocks-horn (_\u00fararhorn_), which was found in the lower world, and was\nthere used to drink from (Fornald., iii. 616).\n\nThus it follows that the _hilmir F\u00e1n's hrosta_, \"the lord of Fan's\nbrewing,\" mentioned by Egil, is the master of the Hades-horn, he who\ndetermines to whom it is to be handed, in order that they may imbibe\nvigour and forgetfulness of sorrow from \"Urd's strength, cool sea,\nand Son's liquid.\" And thus the meaning of the strophe here discussed\n(Sonatorrek, 18) is made perfectly clear. Egil's deceased sons have drunk\nfrom this horn, and thus they have been initiated as dwellers for ever in\nthe lower world. Hence the skald can say that _Hilmir F\u00e1n's hrosta_ was\ninexorably firm against him, their father, who desired to keep his sons\nwith him.[15]\n\nFrom V\u00f6luspa (str. 28, 29), and from Gylfaginning (ch. 15), it appears\nthat the mythology knew of a drinking-horn which belonged at the same\ntime, so to speak, both to Asgard and to the lower world. Odin is\nits possessor, Mimer its keeper. A compact is made between the Asas\ndwelling in heaven and the powers dwelling in the lower world, and a\nsecurity (_ved_) is given for the keeping of the agreement. On the part\nof the Asas and their clan patriarch Odin, the security given is a\ndrinking-horn. From this \"Valfather's pledge\" Mimer every morning drinks\nmead from his fountain of wisdom (V\u00f6luspa, 29), and from the same horn\nhe waters the root of the world-tree (V\u00f6luspa, 28). As M\u00fcllenhoff has\nalready pointed out (_D. Alterth._, v. 100 ff.), this drinking-horn is\nnot to be confounded with Heimdal's war-trumpet, the Gjallarhorn, though\nGylfaginning is also guilty of this mistake.\n\nThus the drinking-horn given to Mimer by Valfather represents a treaty\nbetween the powers of heaven and of the lower world. Can it be any other\nthan the Hades-horn, which, at the thingstead near Urd's fountain, is\nemployed in the service both of the Asa-gods and of the lower world? The\nAsas determine the happiness or unhappiness of the dead, and consequently\ndecide what persons are to taste the strength-giving mead of the horn.\nBut the horn has its place in the lower world, is kept there--there\nperforms a task of the greatest importance, and gets its liquid from the\nfountains of the lower world.\n\nWhat Mimer gave Odin in exchange is that drink of wisdom, without which\nhe would not have been able to act as judge in matters concerning\neternity, but after receiving the which he was able to find and proclaim\nthe right decisions (_ord_) (_ord m\u00e9r af ordi ordz leitadi_--Hav., 141).\nBoth the things exchanged are, therefore, used at the Thing near Urd's\nfountain. The treaty concerned the lower world, and secured to the Asas\nthe power necessary, in connection with their control of mankind and with\ntheir claim to be worshipped, to dispense happiness and unhappiness in\naccordance with the laws of religion and morality. Without this power the\nAsas would have been of but little significance. Urd and Mimer would have\nbeen supreme.\n\nWith the _dyrar veigar_ (precious liquids), of which the dead Helge\nspeaks, we must compare the _skirar veigar_ (clear liquids), which,\naccording to Vegtamskvida, awaited the dead Balder in the lower world.\nAfter tasting of it, the god who had descended to Hades regained his\nbroken strength, and the earth again grew green (see No. 53).\n\nIn _dyrar veigar_, _skirar veigar_, the plural form must not be passed\nover without notice. The contents of one and the same drink are referred\nto by the plural _veigar_--\n\n Her stendr Balldri Here stands for Balder\n of brugginn mi\u0153dr mead brewed\n skirar veigar clear \"veigar\" (Vegt., 7)--\n\nwhich can only be explained as referring to a drink prepared by a mixing\nof several liquids, each one of which is a _veig_. Originally _veigar_\nseems always to have designated a drink of the dead, allaying their\nsorrows and giving them new life. In Hyndluljod (50) _dyrar veigar_ has\nthe meaning of a potion of bliss which Ottar, beloved by Freyja, is\nto drink. In strophe 48, Freyja threatens the sorceress Hyndla with a\nfire, which is to take her hence for ever. In strophe 49, Hyndla answers\nthe threat with a similar and worse one. She says she already sees the\nconflagration of the world; there shall nearly all beings \"suffer the\nloss of life\" (_verda flestir fj\u00f6rlausn thola_), Freyja and her Ottar of\ncourse included, and their final destiny, according to Hyndla's wish, is\nindicated by Freyja's handing Ottar a pain-foreboding, venomous drink.\nHyndla invokes on Freyja and Ottar the flames of Ragnarok and damnation.\nFreyja answers by including Ottar in the protection of the gods, and\nforetelling that he is to drink _dyrar veigar_.\n\nBesides in these passages _veigar_ occurs in a strophe composed by Ref\nGestson, quoted in Skaldskaparmal, ch. 2. Only half of the strophe is\nquoted, so that it is impossible to determine definitely the meaning of\nthe _veigar_ referred to by the skald. We only see that they are given by\nOdin, and that \"we\" must be grateful to him for them. The half strophe\nis possibly a part of a death-song which Ref Gestson is known to have\ncomposed on his foster-father, Gissur.\n\n_Veig_ in the singular means not only drink, but also power, strength.\nPerhaps Bugge is right in claiming that this was the original meaning\nof the word. The plural _veigar_ accordingly means strengths. That this\nexpression \"strengths\" should come to designate in a rational manner a\nspecial drink must be explained by the fact that \"the strengths\" was the\ncurrent expression for the liquids of which the invigorating mythical\ndrink was composed. The three fountains of the lower world are the\nstrength-givers of the universe, and as we have already seen, it is the\nliquids of these wells that are mixed into the wonderful brewing in the\nsubterranean horn.\n\nWhen Eilif Gudrunson, the skald converted to Christianity, makes Christ,\nwho gives the water of eternal life, sit near Urd's fountain, then\nthis is a Christianised heathen idea, and refers to the power of this\nfountain's water to give, through the judge of the world, to the pious a\nless troublesome life than that on earth. The water which gives warmth\nto the world-tree and heals its wounds is to be found in the immediate\nvicinity of the thingstead, and has also served to strengthen and heal\nthe souls of the dead.\n\nTo judge from Hyndluljod (49), those doomed to unhappiness must also\npartake of some drink. It is \"much mixed with venom\" (_eitri blandinn\nmiok_), and _forebodes_ them evil (_illu heilli_). They must, therefore,\nbe compelled to drink it _before_ they enter the world of misery,\nand accordingly, no doubt, while they sit _\u00e1 nornastoli_ on the very\nthingstead. The Icelandic sagas of the middle ages know the venom drink\nas a potion of misery.\n\nIt appears that this potion of unhappiness did not loosen the speechless\ntongues of the damned. _Eitr_ means the lowest degree of cold and poison\nat the same time, and would not, therefore, be serviceable for that\npurpose, since the tongues were made speechless with cold. In Saxo's\ndescriptions of the regions of misery in the lower world, it is only the\ntorturing demons that speak. The dead are speechless, and suffer their\nagonies without uttering a sound; but, when the spirits of torture so\ndesire, and force and egg them on they can produce a howl (_mugitus_.)\nThere broods a sort of muteness over the forecourt of the domain of\ntorture, the Nifelheim inhabited by the frost-giants, according to\nSkirnersmal's description thereof (see No. 60.) Skirner threatens Gerd\nthat she, among her kindred there, shall be more widely hated than\nHeimdal himself; but the manner in which they express this hate is with\nstaring eyes, not with words (_a thic Hrimnir hari, a thic hotvetna\nstari_--str. 28).\n\n[15] The interpretation of the passage, which has hitherto prevailed,\nbegins with a text emendation. _F\u00e1nn_ is changed to Finn. Finn is the\nname of a dwarf. _Finns hrosti_ is \"the dwarf's drink,\" and \"the dwarf's\ndrink\" is, on the authority of the Younger Edda, synonymous with poetry.\nThe possessor of _Finns hrosti_ is Odin, the lord of poetry. With text\nemendations of this sort (they are numerous, are based on false notions\nin regard to the adaptability of the Icelandic Christian poetics to\nthe heathen poetry and usually quote Gylfaginning as authority) we can\nproduce anything we like from the statements of the ancient records.\nOdin's character as the Lord of poetry has not the faintest idea in\ncommon with the contents of the strophe. His character as judge at the\ncourt near Urd's fountain, and as the one who, as the judge of the dead,\nhas authority over the liquor in the subterranean horn, is on the other\nhand closely connected with the contents of the strophe, and is alone\nable to make it consistent and intelligible. Further on in the poem, Egil\nspeaks of Odin as the lord of poetry. Odin, he says, has not only been\nsevere against him (in the capacity of _hilmir F\u00e1ns hrosta_), but he has\nalso been kind in bestowing the gift of poetry, and therewith consolation\nin sorrow (_b\u00f6lva b\u00e6tr_). The paraphrase here used by Egil for Odin's\nname is _Mims vinr_ (Mimer's friend). From Mimer Odin received the drink\nof inspiration, and thus the paraphrase is in harmony with the sense.\nAs _hilmir F\u00e1ns hrosta_ Odin has wounded Egil's heart; as _Mims vinr_\n(Mimer's friend) he has given him balsam for the wounds inflicted. This\ntwo-sided conception of Odin's relation to the poet permeates the whole\npoem.\n\n\n74.\n\n AFTER THE JUDGMENT. THE LOT OF THE BLESSED.\n\nWhen a deceased who has received a good _ords tirr_ leaves the Thing, he\nis awaited in a home which his hamingje has arranged for her favourite\nsomewhere in \"the green worlds of the gods.\" But what he first has to do\nis to _leita kynnis_, that is, visit kinsmen and friends who have gone\nbefore him to their final destination (Sonatorr., 17). Here he finds not\nonly those with whom he became personally acquainted on earth, but he\nmay also visit and converse with ancestors from the beginning of time,\nand he may hear the history of his race, nay, the history of all past\ngenerations, told by persons who were eye-witnesses. The ways he travels\nare _munvegar_ (Sonatorr., 10), paths of pleasure, where the wonderful\nregions of Urd's and Mimer's realms lie open before his eyes.\n\nThose who have died in their tender years are received by a being\nfriendly to children, which Egil Skallagrimson (Sonatorrek, 20) calls\n_Gauta spjalli_. The expression means \"the one with whom Odin counsels,\"\n\"Odin's friend.\" As the same poem (str. 22) calls Odin Mimer's friend,\nand as in the next place _Gauta spjalli_ is characterised as a ruler\nin _Godheim_ (compare _gr\u00e6nar heimar goda_--Hakonarmal, 12), he must\neither be Mimer, who is Odin's friend and adviser from his youth until\nhis death, or he must be Honer, who also is styled Odin's friend, his\n_sessi_ and _m\u00e1li_. That Mimer was regarded as the friend of dead\nchildren corresponds with his vocation as the keeper in his grove of\nimmortality _Mimisholt_, of the Asa-children, the _\u00e1smegir_, who are to\nbe the mankind of the regenerated world. But Honer too has an important\ncalling in regard to children (see No. 95), and it must therefore be left\nundecided which one of the two is here meant.\n\nEgil is convinced that his drowned son Bodvar found a harbour in the\nsubterranean regions of bliss.[16] The land to which Bodvar comes is\ncalled by Egil \"the home of the bee-ship\" (_b\u00fdskips b\u00e6r_.) The poetical\nfigure is taken from the experience of seamen, that birds who have grown\ntired on their way across the sea alight on ships to recuperate their\nstrength. In Egil's paraphrase the bee corresponds to the bird, and the\nhoney-blossom where the bee alights corresponds to the ship. The fields\nof bliss are the haven of the ship laden with honey. The figure may be\ncriticised on the point of poetic logic, but is of a charming kind on the\nlips of the hardy old viking, and it is at the same time very appropriate\nin regard to a characteristic quality ascribed to the fields of bliss.\nFor they are the proper home of the honey-dew which falls early in the\nmorning from the world-tree into the dales near Urd's fountain (V\u00f6luspa).\nLif and Leifthraser live through ages on this dew (see Nos. 52, 53), and\ndoubtless this same Teutonic ambrosia is the food of the happy dead. The\ndales of the earth also unquestionably get their share of the honey-dew,\nwhich was regarded as the fertilising and nourishing element of the\nground. But the earth gets her share directly from Rimfaxe, the steed\nof the Hades-goddess Nat. This steed, satiated with the grass of the\nsubterranean meadows, produces with his mouth a froth which is honey-dew,\nand from his bridle the dew drops \"in the dales\" in the morning (Vafthr.,\n14). The same is true of the horses of the valkyries coming from the\nlower world. From their manes, when they shake them, falls dew \"in deep\ndales,\" and thence come harvests among the peoples (Helge Hjorv., 28.)\n\n[16] Likewise the warlike skald Kormak is certain that he would have come\nto Valhal in case he had been drowned under circumstances described in\nhis saga, a work which is, however, very unreliable.\n\n\n75.\n\n AFTER THE JUDGMENT (_continued_). THE FATE OF THE DAMNED. THEIR\n PATH. ARRIVAL AT THE NA-GATES.\n\nWhen the na-dictum (the judgment of those who have committed sins unto\ndeath) has been proclaimed, they must take their departure for their\nterrible destination. They cannot take flight. The locks and fetters of\nthe norns (_Urdar lokur, Heljar reip_) hold them prisoners, and amid the\ntears of their former hamingjes (_nornir gr\u00e1ta n\u00e1i_) they are driven\nalong their path by _heiptir_, armed with rods of thorns, who without\nmercy beat their lazy heels. The technical term for these instruments of\ntorture is _limar_, which seems to have become a word for eschatological\npunishment in general. In Sigrdrifumal (23) it is said that horrible\n_limar_ shall fall heavy on those who have broken oaths and promises,\nor betrayed confidence. In Sigurd Fafnesb. (ii. 3) it is stated that\neveryone who has lied about another shall long be tortured with _limar_.\nBoth the expressions _troll brutu hr\u00eds i h\u00e6la theim_ and _troll visi ydr\ntil b\u00fars_ have their root in the recollection of the myth concerning\nthe march of the damned under the rod of the Eumenides to Nifelhel (see\nfurther on this point Nos. 91 and 123).\n\nTheir way from Urd's well goes to the north (see No. 63) through Mimer's\ndomain. It is ordained that before their arrival at the home of torture\nthey are to see the regions of bliss. Thus they know what they have\nforfeited. Then their course is past Mimer's fountain, the splendid\ndwellings of Balder and the _\u00e1smegir_, the golden hall of Sindre's race\n(see Nos. 93, 94), and to those regions where mother Nat rests in a\nhall built on the southern spur of the Nida mountains (Forspjallsljod).\nThe procession proceeds up this mountain region through valleys and\ngorges in which the rivers flowing from Hvergelmer find their way to the\nsouth. The damned leave Hvergelmer in their rear and cross the border\nrivers _Hraunn_ (the subterranean Elivagar rivers, see No. 59), on the\nother side of which rise Nifelhel's black, perpendicular mountain-walls\n(Saxo, _Hist., Dan._; see No. 46). Ladders or stairways lead across\ngiddying precipices to the Na-gates. Howls and barking from the monstrous\nNifelheim dogs watching the gates (see Nos. 46, 58) announce the\narrival of the damned. Then hasten, in compact winged flocks, monsters,\nNifelheim's birds of prey, Nidhog, Are, _Hr\u00e6svelger_, and their like to\nthe south, and alight on the rocks around the Na-gates (see below). When\nthe latter are opened on creaking hinges, the damned have died their\nsecond death. To that event, which is called \"the second death,\" and to\nwhat this consists of, I shall return below (see No. 95).\n\nThose who have thus marched to a terrible fate are sinners of various\nclasses. Below Nifelheim there are nine regions of punishment. That these\ncorrespond to nine kinds of unpardonable sins is in itself probable, and\nis to some extent confirmed by Solarljod, if this poem, standing almost\non the border-line between heathendom and Christianity, may be taken as\na witness. Solarljod enumerates nine or ten kinds of punishments for as\nmany different kinds of sins. From the purely heathen records we know\nthat enemies of the gods (Loke), perjurers, murderers, adulterers (see\nV\u00f6luspa), those who have violated faith and the laws, and those who have\nlied about others, are doomed to Nifelhel for ever, or at least for a\nvery long time (_oflengi_--Sig. Fafn., ii. 3). Of the unmerciful we\nknow that they have already suffered great agony on their way to Urd's\nfountain. Both in reference to them and to others, it doubtless depended\non the investigation at the Thing whether they could be ransomed or not.\n\nThe sacredness of the bond of kinship was strongly emphasised in\nthe eschatological conceptions. _Niflg\u00f3dr_, \"good for the realm of\ndamnation,\" is he who slays kinsmen and sells the dead body of his\nbrother for rings (Sonatorrek, 15); but he who in all respects has\nconducted himself in a blameless manner toward his kinsmen and is slow\nto take revenge if they have wronged him, shall reap advantage therefrom\nafter death (Sigrdr., 22).\n\nWhen the damned come within the Na-gates, the winged demons rush at\nthe victims designated for them, press them under their wings, and fly\nwith them through Nifelheim's foggy space to the departments of torture\nappointed for them. The seeress in V\u00f6luspa (str. 62) sees Nidhog,\nloaded with _n\u00e1ir_ under his wings, soar away from the Nida mountains.\nWhither he was accustomed to fly with them appears from strophe 38,\nwhere he in Nastrands is sucking his prey. When King Gorm, beyond the\nabove-mentioned boundary river, and by the Nida mountains' ladders, had\nreached the Na-gates opened for him, he sees dismal monsters (_larv\u00e6\natr\u00e6_; cp. V\u00f6luspa's _in dimmi dreki_) in dense crowds, and hears the air\nfilled with their horrible screeches (cp. V\u00f6luspa's _Ari hlaccar, slitr\nnai neffaulr_, 47). When Solarljod's skald enters the realm of torture\nhe sees \"scorched\" birds which are not birds but souls (_s\u00e1lir_), flying\n\"numerous as gnats.\"\n\n\n76.\n\n THE PLACES OF PUNISHMENT.\n\nThe regions over which the flocks of demons fly are the same as those\nwhich the author of Skirnersmal has in view when Skirner threatens\nGerd with sending her to the realms of death. It is the home of the\nfrost-giants, of the subterranean giants, and of the spirits of disease.\nHere live the offspring of Ymer's feet, the primeval giants strangely\nborn and strangely bearing, who are waiting for the quaking of Ygdrasil\nand for the liberation of their chained leader, in order that they may\ntake revenge on the gods in Ragnarok, and who in the meantime contrive\nfutile plans of attack on Hvergelmer's fountain or on the north end of\nthe Bifrost bridge. Here the demons of restless uneasiness, of mental\nagony, of convulsive weeping, and of insanity (Othale, Morn, Ope, and\nTope) have their home; and here dwells also their queen, Loke's daughter,\nLeikin, whose threshold is precipice and whose bed is disease. According\nto the authority used by Saxo in the description of Gorm's journey,\nthe country is thickly populated. Saxo calls it _urbs, oppidum_ (cp.\nSkirnismal's words about the giant-homes, among which Gerd is to drag\nherself hopeless from house to house). The ground is a marsh with putrid\nwater (_putidum c\u0153num_), which diffuses a horrible stench. The river Slid\nflowing north out of Hvergelmer there seeks its way in a muddy stream to\nthe abyss which leads down to the nine places of punishment. Over all\nhovers Nifelheim's dismal sky.\n\nThe mortals who, like Gorm and his men, have been permitted to see these\nregions, and who have conceived the idea of descending into those worlds\nwhich lie below Nifelheim, or the most of them, are vast mountain caves,\nabyss in question and have cast a glance down into it. The place is\nnarrow, but there is enough daylight for its bottom to be seen, and the\nsight thereof is terrible. Still, there must have been a path down to\nit, for when Gorm and his men had recovered from the first impression,\nthey continued their journey to their destination (Geirrod's place of\npunishment), although the most terrible vapour (_teterrimus vapor_) blew\ninto their faces. The rest that Saxo relates is unfortunately wanting\nboth in sufficient clearness and in completeness. Without the risk of\nmaking a mistake, we may, however, consider it as mythically correct that\nsome of the nine worlds of punishment below Nifelheim, or the most of\nthem, are vast mountain caves, mutually united by openings broken through\nthe mountain walls and closed with gates, which do not however, obstruct\nthe course of Slid to the Nastrands and to the sea outside. Saxo speaks\nof a _perfractam scopuli partem_, \"a pierced part of the mountain,\"\nthrough which travellers come from one of the subterranean caves to\nanother, and between the caves stand gatekeepers (_janitores_). Thus\nthere must be gates. At least two of these \"homes\" have been named after\nthe most notorious sinner found within them. Saxo speaks of one called\nthe giant Geirrod's, and an Icelandic document of one called the giant\n_Geitir's_. The technical term for such a cave of torture was _guyskuti_\n(clamour-grotto). Saxo translates _sk\u00fati_ with _conclave saxeum_. \"To\nthrust anyone before Geitir's clamour-grotto\"--_reka einn fyrir Geitis\nguyskuta_--was a phrase synonymous with damning a person to death and\nhell.\n\nThe gates between the clamour-grottoes are watched by various kinds of\ndemons. Before each gate stand several who in looks and conduct seem\nto symbolise the sins over whose perpetrators they keep guard. Outside\nof one of the caves of torture Gorm's men saw club-bearers who tried\ntheir weapons on one another. Outside of another gate the keepers\namused themselves with \"a monstrous game\" in which they \"mutually gave\ntheir ram-backs a curved motion.\" It is to be presumed that some sort\nof perpetrators of violence were tortured within the threshold, which\nwas guarded by the club-bearers, and that the ram-shaped demons amused\nthemselves outside of the torture-cave of debauchees. It is also probable\nthat the latter is identical with the one called Geitir's. The name\n_Geitir_ comes from _geit_, goat. Saxo, who Latinised _Geitir_ into\nG\u00f6tharus, tells adventures of his which show that this giant had tried\nto get possession of Freyja, and that he is identical with Gymer, Gerd's\nfather. According to Skirnersmal (35), there are found in Nifelhel\ngoats, that is to say, trolls in goat-guise, probably of the same kind\nas those above-mentioned, and it may be with an allusion to the fate\nwhich awaits Gymer in the lower world, or with a reference to his\nepithet _Geitir_, that Skirner threatens Gerd with the disgusting drink\n(_geita hland_) which will there be given her by \"the sons of misery\"\n(_v\u00e9lmegir_). One of the lower-world demons, who as his name indicates,\nwas closely connected with Geitir, is called \"Geitir's Howl-foot\"\n(_Geitis Gu\u00fdfeti_); and the expression \"to thrust anyone before Geitir's\nHowl-foot\" thus has the same meaning as to send him to damnation.\n\nContinuing their journey, Gorm and his men came to Geirrod's _sk\u00fati_ (see\nNo. 46).\n\nWe learn from Saxo's description that in the worlds of torture there are\nseen not only terrors, but also delusions which tempt the eyes of the\ngreedy. Gorm's prudent captain Thorkil (see No. 46) earnestly warns his\ncompanions not to touch these things, for hands that come in contact with\nthem are fastened and are held as by invisible bonds. The illusions are\ncharacterised by Saxo as _\u00e6dis supellectilis_, an expression which is\nambiguous, but may be an allusion that they represented things pertaining\nto temples. The statement deserves to be compared with Solarljod's\nstrophe 65, where the skald sees in the lower world persons damned, whose\nhands are riveted together with burning stones. They are the mockers at\nreligious rites (they who _minst vildu halda helga daga_) who are thus\npunished. In the mythology it was probably profaners of temples who\nsuffered this punishment.\n\nThe Nastrands and the hall there are thus described in V\u00f6luspa:\n\n Sal s\u00e1 hon standa\n s\u00f3lu fjarri\n N\u00e1str\u00f6ndu \u00e1\n nordr horfa dyrr;\n fellu eitrdropar\n inn um ljora,\n S\u00e1 er undinn salr\n orma hryggjum.\n\n S\u00e1 hon thar vada\n thunga strauma\n menn meinsvara\n ok mordvarga\n ok thanns annars glepr\n eyrar\u00fana;\n thar saug Nidh\u00f6ggr\n n\u00e1i framgengna,\n sleit vargr vera.\n\n\"A hall she saw stand far from the sun on the Nastrands; the doors opened\nto the north. Venom-drops fell through the roof-holes. Braided is that\nhall of serpent-backs.\"\n\n\"There she saw perjurers, murderers, and they who betrayed the wife of\nanother (adulterers) wade through heavy streams. There Nidhog sucked the\n_n\u00e1ir_ of the dead. And the wolf tore men into pieces.\"\n\nGylfaginning (ch. 52) assumes that the serpents, whose backs, wattled\ntogether, form the hall, turn their heads into the hall, and that\nthey, especially through the openings in the roof (according to Codex\nUps. and Codex Hypnones.), vomit forth their floods of venom. The\nlatter assumption is well founded. Doubtful seems, on the other hand,\nGylfaginning's assumption that \"the heavy streams,\" which the damned in\nNastrands have to wade through, flow out over the floor of the hall.\nAs the very name Nastrands indicates that the hall is situated near a\nwater, then this water, whether it be the river _Slidr_ with its eddies\nfilled with weapons, or some other river, may send breakers on shore\nand thus produce the heavy streams which V\u00f6luspa mentions. Nevertheless\nGylfaginning's view may be correct. The hall of Nastrands, like its\ncounterpart Valhal, has certainly been regarded as immensely large. The\nserpent-venom raining down must have fallen on the floor of the hall, and\nthere is nothing to hinder the venom-rain from being thought sufficiently\nabundant to form \"heavy streams\" thereon (see below).\n\nSaxo's description of the hall in Nastrands--by him adapted to the realm\nof torture in general--is as follows: \"The doors are covered with the\nsoot of ages; the walls are bespattered with filth; the roof is closely\ncovered with barbs; the floor is strewn with serpents and bespawled with\nall kinds of uncleanliness.\" The last statement confirms Gylfaginning's\nview. As this bespawling continues without ceasing through ages, the\nmatter thus produced must grow into abundance and have an outlet.\nRemarkable is also Saxo's statement, that the doors are covered with the\nsoot of ages. Thus fires must be kindled near these doors. Of this more\nlater.\n\n\n77.\n\n THE PLACES OF PUNISHMENT (_continued_). THE HALL IN NASTRANDS.\n\nWithout allowing myself to propose any change of text in the V\u00f6luspa\nstrophes above quoted, and in pursuance of the principle which I\nhave adopted in this work, not to base any conclusions on so-called\ntext-emendations, which invariably are text-debasings, I have applied\nthese strophes as they are found in the texts we have. Like M\u00fcllenhoff\n(_D. Alterth._, v. 121) and other scholars, I am, however, convinced that\nthe strophe which begins _s\u00e1 hon thar vada_, &c., has been corrupted.\nSeveral reasons, which I shall present elsewhere in a special treatise\non V\u00f6luspa, make this probable; but simply the circumstance that the\nstrophe has ten lines is sufficient to awaken suspicions in anyone's\nmind who holds the view that V\u00f6luspa originally consisted of exclusively\neight-lined strophes--a view which cannot seriously be doubted. As we now\nhave the poem, it consists of forty-seven strophes of eight lines each,\none of four lines, two of six lines each, five of ten lines each, four of\ntwelve lines each, and two of fourteen lines each--in all fourteen not\neight-lined strophes against forty-seven eight-lined ones; and, while all\nthe eight-lined ones are intrinsically and logically well constructed, it\nmay be said of the others, that have more than eight lines each, partly\nthat we can cancel the superfluous lines without injury to the sense, and\npartly that they look like loosely-joined conglomerations of scattered\nfragments of strophes and of interpolations. The most recent effort to\nrestore perfectly the poem to its eight-lined strophes has been made\nby M\u00fcllenhoff (_D. Alterth._, v.); and although this effort may need\nrevision in some special points, it has upon the whole given the poem a\nclearness, a logical sequence and symmetry, which of themselves make it\nevident that M\u00fcllenhoff's premises are correct.\n\nIn the treatise on V\u00f6luspa which I shall publish later, this subject will\nbe thoroughly discussed. Here I may be permitted to say, that in my own\nefforts to restore V\u00f6luspa to eight-lined strophes, I came to a point\nwhere I had got the most of the materials arranged on this principle, but\nthere remained the following fragment:\n\n (1) \u00c1 fellr austan (1) Falls a river from the east\n um eitrdala around venom dales\n s\u00f6xum ok sverdum, with daggers and spears,\n Slidr heitir s\u00fa. Slid it is called.\n\n (2) S\u00e1 hon thar vada (2) There saw she wade\n thunga strauma through heavy streams\n menn meinsvara perjurers\n ok mordvarga murderers\n ok thanns annars and him who seduces\n glepr eyrar\u00fanu. another's wife.\n\nThese fragments make united ten lines. The fourth line of the fragment\n(1) _Slidr heitir s\u00fa_ has the appearance of being a mythographic addition\nby the transcriber of the poem. Several similar interpolations which\ncontain information of mythological interest, but which neither have the\nslightest connection with the context, nor are of the least importance\nin reference to the subject treated in V\u00f6luspa, occur in our present\ntext-editions of this poem. The dwarf-list is a colossal interpolation\nof this kind. If we hypothetically omit this line for the present, and\nalso the one immediately preceding (_s\u00f6xum ok sverdum_), then there\nremains as many lines as are required in a regular eight-line strophe.\n\nIt is further to be remarked that among all the eight-lined V\u00f6luspa\nstrophes there is not one so badly constructed that a verb in the\nfirst half-strophe has a direct object in the first line of the second\nhalf-strophe, as is the case in that of the present text:\n\n S\u00e1 hon thar vada\n thunga strauma\n menn meinsvara\n ok mordvarga\n ok thann's annars glepr\n eyrar\u00fanu;\n\nand, upon the whole, such a construction can hardly ever have occurred in\na tolerably passable poem. If these eight lines actually belonged to one\nand the same strophe, the latter would have to be restored according to\nthe following scheme:\n\n (1) S\u00e1 hon thar vada\n (2) thunga strauma\n (3) menn meinsvara\n (4) ok mordvarga;\n (5) .......\n (6) .......\n (7) thann's annars glepr\n (8) eyrar\u00fanu.\n\nand in one of the dotted lines the verb must have been found which\ngoverned the accusative object _thann_.\n\nThe lines which should take the place of the dots have, in their present\nform, the following appearance:\n\n \u00e1 fellr austan\n um eitrdala.\n\nThe verb which governed _thann_ must then be _\u00e1fellr_, that is to say,\nthe verb _fellr_ united with the preposition \u00e1. But in that case _\u00e1_ is\nnot the substantive _\u00e1_, a river, a running water, and thus the river\nwhich falls from the east around venom dales has its source in an error.\n\nThus we have, under this supposition, found that there is something\nthat _fellr \u00e1_, falls on, streams down upon, him who seduces the wife\nof another. This something must be expressed by a substantive, which is\nnow concealed behind the adverb _austan_, and must have resembled it\nsufficiently in sound to be transformed into it.\n\nSuch a substantive, and the only one of the kind, is _austr_. This\nmeans something that can _falla \u00e1_, stream down upon; for _austr_ is\n_bail-water_ (from _ausa_, to bail), waste-water, water flowing out of a\ngutter or shoot.\n\nA test as to whether there originally stood _austr_ or not is to be found\nin the following substantive, which now has the appearance of _eitrdala_.\nFor if there was written _austr_, then there must, in the original text,\nhave followed a substantive (1) which explained the kind of waste-water\nmeant, (2) which had sufficient resemblance to _eitrdala_ to become\ncorrupted into it.\n\nThe sea-faring Norsman distinguished between two kinds of _austr_:\n_byttu-austr_ and _d\u00e6lu-austr_. The bail-water in a ship could be removed\neither by bailing it out with scoops directly over the railing, or it\ncould be scooped into a _d\u00e6la_, a shoot or trough laid over the railing.\nThe latter was the more convenient method. The difference between these\ntwo kinds of _austr_ became a popular phrase; compare the expression\n_th\u00e1 var byttu-austr, eigi d\u00e6lu-austr_. The word _d\u00e6la_ was also used\nfiguratively; compare _l\u00e1ta d\u00e6luna ganga_, to let the shoots (troughs)\nrun (Gretla, 98), a proverb by which men in animated conversation are\nlikened unto _d\u00e6lur_, troughs, which are opened for flowing conversation.\n\nUnder such circumstances we might here expect after the word _austr_ the\nword _d\u00e6la_, and, as venom here is in question, _eitr-d\u00e6la_.\n\n_Eitr-d\u00e6la_ satisfies both the demands above made. It explains what sort\nof waste-water is meant, and it resembles _eitr-dala_ sufficiently to be\ncorrupted into it.\n\nThus we get _\u00e1 fellr austr eitrd\u00e6la_: \"On (him who seduces another\nman's wife) falls the waste-water of the venom-troughs.\" Which these\nvenom-troughs are, the strophe in its entirety ought to define. This\nconstitutes the second test of the correctness of the reading.\n\nIt must be admitted that if _\u00e1 fellr austr eitrd\u00e6la_ is the original\nreading, then a corruption into _\u00e1 fellr austan eitrdala_ had almost\nof necessity to follow, since the preposition _\u00e1_ was taken to be\nthe substantive _\u00e1_, river, a running stream. How near at hand such\na confounding of these words lies is demonstrated by another V\u00f6luspa\nstrophe, where the preposition _\u00e1_ in _\u00e1 ser hon ausaz aurgom forsi_ was\nlong interpreted as the substantive _\u00e1_.\n\nWe shall now see whether the expression _\u00e1 fellr austr eitrd\u00e6la_ makes\nsense, when it is introduced in lieu of the dotted lines above:\n\n S\u00e1 hon thar vada\n thunga strauma\n menn meinsvara\n ok mordvarga;\n (en) \u00e1 fellr austr\n eitrd\u00e6la\n thann's annars glepr\n eyrar\u00fana.\n\n\"There saw she heavy streams (of venom) flow upon (or through) perjurers\nand murderers. The waste-water of the venom-troughs (that is, the\nwaste-water of the perjurers and murderers after the venom-streams had\nrushed over them) falls upon him who seduces the wife of another man.\"\n\nThus we get not only a connected idea, but a very remarkable and\ninstructive passage.\n\nThe verb _vada_ is not used only about persons who wade through a\nwater. The water itself is also able to _vada_ (cp. _eisandi udr vedr\nundan_--Rafns S. Sveinb.), to say nothing of arrows that wade _i f\u00f3lk_\n(Havam., 150), and of banners which wade in the throng of warriors.\nHere the venom wades through the crowds of perjurers and murderers.\nThe verb _vada_ has so often been used in this sense, that it has also\nacquired the meaning of _rushing_, _running_, _rushing through_. Heavy\nvenom-streams run through the perjurers and murderers before they fall\non the adulterers. The former are the venom-troughs, which pour their\nwaste-water upon the latter.\n\nWe now return to Saxo's description of the hall of Nastrands, to see\nwhether the V\u00f6luspa strophe thus hypothetically restored corresponds\nwith, or is contradicted by, it. Disagreeable as the pictures are which\nwe meet with in this comparison, we are nevertheless compelled to take\nthem into consideration.\n\nSaxo says that the wall of the hall is bespattered with liquid filth\n(_paries obductus illuvie_). The Latin word, and the one used by Saxo\nfor venom, is _venenum_, not _illuvies_, which means filth that has\nbeen poured or bespattered on something. Hence Saxo does not mean\nvenom-streams of the kind which, according to V\u00f6luspa, are vomited by\nthe serpents down through the roof-openings, but the reference is to\nsomething else, which still must have an upper source, since it is\nbespattered on the wall of the hall.\n\nSaxo further says that the floor is bespawled with all sorts of impurity:\n_pavimentum omni sordium genere respersum._ The expression confirms the\nidea, that unmixed venom is not meant here, but everything else of the\nmost disgusting kind.\n\nFurthermore, Saxo relates that groups of damned are found there within,\nwhich groups he calls _consessus_. _Consessus_ means \"a sitting\ntogether,\" and, in a secondary sense, persons sitting together. The word\n\"sit\" may here be taken in a more or less literal sense. _Consessor_,\n\"the one who sits together with,\" might be applied to every participator\nin a Roman dinner, though the Romans did not actually sit, but reclined\nat the table.\n\nAs stated, several such _consessus_, persons sitting or lying together,\nare found in the hall. The benches upon which they sit or lie are of\niron. Every _consessus_ has a _locus_ in the hall; and as both these\nterms, _consessus_ and _locus_, in Saxo united in the expression\n_consessuum loca_, together mean rows of benches in a theatre or in a\npublic place, where the seats rise in rows one above the other, we must\nassume that these rows of the damned sitting or lying together are found\nin different elevations between the floor and ceiling. This assumption\nis corroborated by what Saxo tells, viz., that their _loca_ are\nseparated by leaden hurdles (_plumbe\u00e6 crates_). That they are separated\nby hurdles must have some practical reason, and this can be none other\nthan that something flowing down may have an unobstructed passage from\none _consessus_ to the other. That which flows down finally reaches the\nfloor, and is then _omne sordium genus_, all kinds of impurity. It must\nfinally be added that, according to Saxo, the stench in this room of\ntorture is well-nigh intolerable (_super omnia perpetui f\u00e6toris asperitas\ntristes lacessebat olfactus_).\n\nWho is not able to see that V\u00f6luspa's and Saxo's descriptions of the hall\nin Nastrands confirm, explain, and complement each other? From V\u00f6luspa's\nwords, we conclude that the venom-streams come from the openings in the\nroof, not from the walls. The wall consists, in its entirety, of the\n_backs_ of serpents wattled together (_s\u00e1 er undinn salr orma hryggjom_).\nThe heads belonging to these serpents are above the roof, and vomit their\nvenom down through the roof-openings--\"the ljors\" (_fellu eitrdropar inn\num lj\u00f3ra_). Below these, and between them and the floor, there are, as\nwe have seen in Saxo, rows of iron seats, the one row below the other,\nall furnished with leaden hurdles, and on the iron seats sit or lie\nperjurers and murderers, forced to drink the venom raining down in \"heavy\nstreams.\" Every such row of sinners becomes \"a trough of venom\" for the\nrow immediately below it, until the disgusting liquid thus produced falls\non those who have seduced the dearest and most confidential friends of\nothers. These seducers either constitute the lowest row of the seated\ndelinquents, or they wade on the floor in that filth and venom which\nthere flows. Over the hall broods eternal night (it is _s\u00f3lu fjarri_).\nWhat there is of light, illuminating the terrors, comes from fires (see\nbelow) kindled at the doors which open to the north (_nordr horfa dyrr_).\nThe smoke from the fires comes into the hall and covers the door-posts\nwith the \"soot of ages\" (_postes long\u00e6va fuligine illit\u00e6_).\n\nWith this must be compared what Tacitus relates concerning the views and\ncustoms of the Germans in regard to crime and punishment. He says:\n\n\"The nature of the crime determines the punishment. Traitors and\ndeserters they hang on trees. Cowards and those given to disgraceful\ndebauchery they smother in filthy pools and marshes, casting a _hurdle_\n(crates) over them. The dissimilarity in these punishments indicates a\nbelief that crime should be punished in such a way that the penalty is\nvisible, while scandalous conduct should be punished in such a way that\nthe debauchee is removed from the light of day\" (_Germania_, xii.).\n\nThis passage in _Germania_ is a commentary on Saxo's descriptions, and on\nthe V\u00f6luspa strophe in the form resulting from my investigation. What\nmight naturally seem probable is corroborated by _Germania's_ words: that\nthe same view of justice and morality, which obtained in the camp of the\nGermans, found its expression, but in gigantic exaggeration, in their\ndoctrines concerning eschatological rewards and punishments. It should,\nperhaps, also be remarked that a similar particularism prevailed through\ncenturies. The hurdle (_crates_) which Saxo mentions as being placed\nover the venom- and filth-drinking criminals in the hall of Nastrands\nhas its earthly counterpart in the hurdle (also called _crates_),\nwhich, according to the custom of the age of Tacitus, was thrown over\nvictims smothered in the cesspools and marshes (_ignavos et imbelles et\ncorpore infames c\u0153no ac palude injecta insuper crate mergunt_). Those\nwho were sentenced to this death were, according to Tacitus, cowards and\ndebauchees. Among those who received a similar punishment in the Teutonic\nGehenna were partly those who in a secret manner had committed murder\nand tried to conceal their crime (such were called _mordvorgr_), partly\ndebauchees who had violated the sacredness of matrimony. The descriptions\nin the V\u00f6luspa strophe and in Saxo show that also in the hall of the\nNastrands the punishment is in accordance with the nature of the crime.\nAll are punished terribly; but there is a distinction between those who\nhad to drink the serpent venom unmixed and those who receive the mixed\npotion, and finally those who get the awful liquid over themselves and\ndoubtless within themselves.\n\nIn closing this chapter I will quote a number of V\u00f6luspa strophes, which\nrefer to Teutonic eschatology. In parallel columns I print the strophes\nas they appear in Codex Regius, and in the form they have assumed as the\nresult of an investigation of which I shall give a full account in the\nfuture. I trust it will be found that the restoration of _\u00e1 fellr austan\num eitrdala_ into _\u00e1 fellr austr eitrd\u00e6la_, and the introducing of these\nwords before _thanns annars glepr eyrar\u00fana_ not only restores to the\nstrophe in which these words occur a regular structure and a sense which\nis corroborated by Saxo's eschatological sources and by the _Germania_\nof Tacitus, but also supplies the basis and conditions on which other\nstrophes may get a regular structure and intelligible contents.\n\n _Codex Regius._ _Revised Text._\n\n A fellr austan\n um eitrdala\n sauxom oc sverthom\n slithr heitir su.\n Stod fyr nordan St\u00f3d fyr nordan\n a nitha vollom a Nida v\u00f6llum\n salr or gulli salr or gulli\n sindra ettar. Sindra \u00e6ttar;\n enn annar stod enn annar stod\n a okolni a \u00d3k\u00f3lni,\n bior salr iotuns bjorsals j\u00f6tuns,\n en sa brimir heitir. en s\u00e1 Brimir heitir.\n\n Sal s\u00e1 hon standa Sal s\u00e1 hon standa\n solo fi\u00e1rri s\u00f3lu fjarri\n na strondu a N\u00e1str\u00f6ndu \u00e1,\n northr horfa dyrr nordr horfa dyrr;\n fello eitr dropar fellu eitrdropar\n inn um li\u00f3ra inn um lj\u00f3ra,\n sa er undinn salr sa er undinn salr\n orma hryggiom. orma hryggjum.\n\n (38) Sa hon thar vada Sa hon thar vada\n thunga strauma thunga strauma\n menn meinsvara menn meinsvara\n oc mordvargar. oc mordvarga;\n oc thann annars glepr en \u00e1 fell austr\n eyra runo eitrd\u00e6la\n thar sug nithhauggr thanns annars glepr\n n\u00e1i fram gegna eyrar\u00fanu\n sleit vargr vera\n vitoth er en etha hvat.\n\n (35) Hapt sa hon liggia Hapt s\u00e1 hon liggja\n undir hvera lundi undir hveralundi\n legiarn lici l\u00e6gjarnliki\n loca atheckian. Loka \u00e1thekkjan;\n thar sitr Sigyn thar saug Nidh\u00f6ggr\n theygi um sinom n\u00e1i framgengna,\n ver velglyiod sleit vargr vera.\n vitoth er en etha hvat. Vitud \u00e9r enn eda hvat?\n\n Thar kn\u00e1 Vala\n vigb\u00f6nd sn\u00faa,\n heldr v\u00e1rn hardg\u00f6r\n h\u00f6pt or\n th\u00f6rmum;\n thar sitr Sigyn\n theygi um s\u00ednum\n ver vel gl\u00fdgud.\n Vitud \u00e9r enn eda hvat?\n\n\n78.\n\n THE PLACES OF PUNISHMENT. (_continued_). LOKE'S CAVE OF\n PUNISHMENT. GYLFAGINNING'S CONFOUNDING OF MUSPEL'S SONS WITH\n THE SONS OF SUTTUNG.\n\nSaxo (_Hist. Dan._, 429 ff.) relates that the experienced Captain Thorkil\nmade, at the command of King Gorm, a second journey to the uttermost\nNorth, in order to complete the knowledge which was gained on the\nfirst journey. That part of the lower world where Loke (by Saxo called\nUgartilocus) dwells had not then been seen. This now remained to be done.\nLike the first time, Thorkil sailed into that sea on which sun and stars\nnever shine, and he kept cruising so long in its darkness that his supply\nof fuel gave out. The expedition was as a consequence on the point of\nfailing, when a fire was suddenly seen in the distance. Thorkil then\nentered a boat with a few of his men and rowed thither. In order to find\nhis way back to his ship in the darkness, he had placed in the mast-top a\nself-luminous precious stone, which he had taken with him on the journey.\nGuided by the light, Thorkil came to a strand-rock, in which there were\nnarrow \"gaps\" (_fauces_), out of which the light came. There was also a\ndoor, and Thorkil entered, after requesting his men to remain outside.\n\n[Illustration: THE PUNISHMENT OF LOKE.\n\n(_From the painting by M. E. Winge._)\n\nLoke, in Norse Mythology, was the god of destruction and of evil. His\nfather was the giant Farbauti, and his mother was Laufey (Leafy Isle),\nso that he had two natures and was therefore both friend and enemy of\nthe gods. For his many evil deeds he was finally seized and bound by the\ngods with chains in a loathsome cave. As a further punishment there was\nset above him a poisonous serpent that drooled venom upon his face that\nburned like fire. To save him from this torture his faithful wife, Sygn,\nshared his captivity and held a bowl to catch the dripping poison until\nLoke was freed at Ragnarok, when he and Heimdal fought and slew each\nother. He had the further distinction of being handsomest of the male\ndeities.]\n\nThorkil found a grotto. At the fire which was kindled stood two\nuncommonly tall men, who kept mending the fire. The grotto had an inner\ndoor or gate, and that which was seen inside that gate is described by\nSaxo in almost the same words as those of his former description of the\nhall at the Nastrands (_obsoleti posies_, _ater situ paries_, _sordidum\ntectum_, _frequens anguibus pavimentum_). Thorkil in reality sees the\nsame hall again; he had simply come to it from another side, from the\nnorth, where the hall has its door opening toward the strand (_nordr\nhorfa dyrr_--V\u00f6luspa), the pillars of which, according to Saxo's previous\ndescription, are covered with the soot of ages. The soot is now explained\nby the fire which is kindled in the grotto outside the hall, the grotto\nforming as it were a vestibule. The two gigantic persons who mend the\nfire are called by Saxo _aquili_.\n\nIn Marcianus Capella, who is Saxo's model in regard to style and\nvocabulary, persons of semi-divine rank (_hemithei_) are mentioned who\nare called _aquili_, and who inhabit the same regions as the souls of\nthe dead (_lares_ and _larv\u00e6_--Marc. Cap., i., ii. Compare P. E. M\u00fcller,\nnot., _Hist. Dan._, pp. 68, 69). Aquilus also has the signification,\n_dark_, _swarthy_, Icel. _d\u00f6kkr_.\n\nIn the northern mythology a particular kind of elves are mentioned--black\nor swarthy elves, _d\u00f6kk\u00e1lfar_. They dwell under the farthest root of the\nworld-tree, near the northern gate of the lower world (_iormungrundar i\niodyr nyrdra_), and have as their neighbours the Thurses and the unhappy\ndead (_n\u00e1ir_--Forspjallsljod, 25). Gylfaginning also (ch. 17) knows of\nthe swarthy elves, at least, that they \"dwell down in the earth\" (_b\u00faa\nnidri \u00ed j\u00f6rdu_). As to mythic rank, colour, and abode, they therefore\ncorrespond with the Roman _aquili_, and Saxo has forcibly and very\ncorrectly employed this Latin word in order to characterise them in an\nintelligible manner.\n\nThe two swarthy elves keeping watch outside of the hall of Nastrands\nought naturally to have been astonished at seeing a living human being\nentering their grotto. Saxo makes them receive the unexpected guest in a\nfriendly manner. They greet him, and, when they have learned the purpose\nof his visit, one of them reproaches him for the rash boldness of his\nundertaking, but gives him information in regard to the way to Loke, and\ngives him fire and fuel after he had tested Thorkil's understanding, and\nfound him to be a wise man. The journey, says the swarthy elf, can be\nperformed in four days' fast sailing. As appears from the context, the\njourney is to the east. The traveller then comes to a place where not\na blade of grass grows, and over which an even denser darkness broods.\nThe place includes several terrible rocky halls, and in one of them Loke\ndwells.\n\nOn the fourth day Thorkil, favoured by a good wind, comes to the goal\nof his journey. Through the darkness a mass of rock rising from the sea\n(_scopulum inusitat\u00e6 molis_) is with difficulty discerned, and Thorkil\nlays to by this rocky island. He and his men put on clothes of skin\nof a kind that protects against venom, and then walk along the beach\nat the foot of the rock until they find an entrance. Then they kindle\na fire with flint stones, this being an excellent protection against\ndemons; they light torches and crawl in through the narrow opening.\nUnfortunately, Saxo gives but a scanty account of what they saw there.\nFirst they came to a cave of torture, which resembled the hall on the\nNastrands, at least, in this particular, that there were many serpents\nand many iron seats or iron benches of the kind described above. A brook\nof sluggish water is crossed by wading. Another grotto which is not\ndescribed was passed through, whereupon they entered Loke's awful prison.\nHe lay there bound hands and feet with immense chains. His hair and beard\nresembled spears of horn, and had a terrible odour. Thorkil jerked out a\nhair of his beard to take with him as evidence of what he had seen. As he\ndid this, there was diffused in the cave a pestilential stench; and after\nThorkil's arrival home, it appeared that the beard-hair he had taken home\nwas dangerous to life on account of its odour (_Hist. Dan._, 433). When\nThorkil and his men had passed out of the interior jurisdiction of the\nrock, they were discovered by flying serpents which had their home on the\nisland (cp. V\u00f6luspa--_thar saug Nidh\u00f6ggr_, &c., No. 77). The skin clothes\nprotected them against the venom vomited forth. But one of the men who\nbared his eyes became blind. Another, whose hand came outside of the\nprotecting garments, got it cut off; and a third, who ventured to uncover\nhis head, got the latter separated from his neck by the poison as by a\nsharp steel instrument.\n\nThe poem or saga which was Saxo's authority for this story must have\ndescribed the rocky island where Loke was put in chains as inhabited by\nmany condemned beings. There are at least three caves of torture, and in\none of them there are many iron benches. This is confirmed, as we shall\nsee, by V\u00f6luspa.\n\nSaxo also says that there was a harbour. From V\u00f6luspa we learn that when\nYgdrasil trembles at the approach of Ragnarok, the ship of the dead,\nNagelfar, lies so that the liberated Loke can go aboard it. That it has\nlong lain moored in its harbour is evident from the fact that, according\nto V\u00f6luspa, it then \"becomes loose.\" Unknown hands are its builders.\nThe material out of which it is constructed is the nail-parings of dead\nmen (Gylfag., 51--probably according to some popular tradition). The\nless regard for religion, the less respect for the dead. But from each\nperson who is left unburied, or is put into his grave without being, when\npossible, washed, combed, cleaned as to hands and feet, and so cared\nfor that his appearance may be a favorable evidence to the judges at\nthe Thing of the dead in regard to his survivors--from each such person\ncomes building material for the death-ship, which is to carry the hosts\nof world-destroyers to the great conflict. Much building material is\naccumulated in the last days--in the \"dagger-and-axe age,\" when \"men no\nlonger respect each other\" (V\u00f6luspa).\n\nNagelfar is the largest of all ships, larger than Skidbladner\n(_Skidbladnir er beztr skipanna ... en Naglfari er mest skip_--Gylfag.,\n43). This very fact shows that it is to have a large number of persons on\nboard when it departs from Loke's rocky island. V\u00f6luspa says:\n\n Str. 47, 8. Naglfar losnar, Nagelfar becomes loose,\n Str. 48. Kioll ferr austan, a ship comes from the east,\n koma muno Muspellz the hosts of Muspel\n um laug lydir, come o'er the main,\n en Loki styrir; Loke is pilot;\n fara Fifls megir all Fifel's descendants\n med Freka allir, come with Freke,\n theim er brodir Byleipt's brother\n Byleipts i f\u00f3r. is with them on the journey.\n\nHere it is expressly stated that \"the hosts of Muspel\" are on board\nthe ship, Nagelfar, guided by Loke, after it has been \"freed from its\nmoorings\" and had set sail from the island where Loke and other damned\nones were imprisoned.\n\nHow can this be harmonised with the doctrine based on the authority of\nGylfaginning, that the sons of Muspel are inhabitants of the southernmost\nregion of light and warmth, Gylfaginning's so-called Muspelheim? or with\nthe doctrine that Surt is the protector of the borders of this realm? or\nthat Muspel's sons proceed under his command to the Ragnarok conflict,\nand that they consequently must come from the South, which V\u00f6luspa also\nseems to corroborate with the words _Surtr ferr sunnan med sviga l\u00e6fi_?\n\nThe answer is that the one statement cannot be harmonised with the other,\nand the question then arises as to which of the two authorities is the\nauthentic one, the heathen poem V\u00f6luspa or Gylfaginning, produced in the\nthirteenth century by a man who had a vague conception of the mythology\nof our ancestors. Even the most uncritical partisan of Gylfaginning would\ncertainly unhesitatingly decide in favour of V\u00f6luspa, provided we had\nthis poem handed down in its pure form from the heathen days. But this is\nclearly not the case. We therefore need a third witness to decide between\nthe two. Such an one is also actually to be found.\n\nIn the Norse heathen records the word _muspell_ occurs only twice, viz.,\nin the above-mentioned V\u00f6luspa strophe and in Lokasenna, 42, where Frey,\nwho has surrendered his sword of victory, is threatened by Loke with the\nprospect of defeat and death--_er Muspellz synir rida Myrcvith yfir_,\n\"when Muspel's sons ride over Darkwood.\" The Myrkwood is mentioned in\nVolundarkvida (1) as a forest, through which the swan-maids coming from\nthe South flew into the wintry Ulfdales, where one chases bears on skees\n(snow-shoes) to get food. This is evidently not a forest situated near\nthe primeval fountains of heat and fire. The very arbitrary manner in\nwhich the names of the mythical geography is used in the heroic poems,\nwhere Myrkwood comes to the surface, does not indicate that this forest\nwas conceived as situated south of Midgard, and there is, as shall be\nshown below, reason for assuming that Darkwood is another name for the\nIronwood famous in mythology; the wood which, according to V\u00f6luspa, is\nsituated in the East, and in which Angerboda fosters the children of Loke\nand Fenrer.\n\nOne of these, and one of the worst, is the monster Hate, the enemy of\nthe moon mentioned in V\u00f6luspa as _tungls tiugari_, that makes excursions\nfrom the Ironwood and \"stains the citadels of rulers with blood.\" In the\nRagnarok conflict Hate takes part and contends with Tyr (Gylfag.), and,\ndoubtless, not only he, but also the whole offspring of the Fenris-wolf\nfostered in the Ironwood, are on the battlefield in that division which\nis commanded by Loke their clan-chief. This is also, doubtless, the\nmeaning of the following words in the V\u00f6luspa strophe quoted above:\n\"Fifel's descendants all come with Freke (the wolf), and in company\nwith them is Byleipt's (or Byleist's) brother.\" As Loke, Byleipt, and\nHelblinde are mentioned as brothers (Gylfag., 33), no one else can be\nmeant with \"Byleipt's brother\" than Loke himself or Helblinde, and\nmore probably the latter, since it has already been stated, that Loke\nis there as the commander of the forces. Thus it is Muspel's sons and\nLoke's kinsmen in the Ironwood who are gathered around him when the great\nconflict is at hand. Muspel's sons accompany the liberated Loke from his\nrocky isle, and are with him on board Nagelfar. Loke's first destination\nis the Ironwood, whither he goes to fetch Angerboda's children, and\nthence the journey proceeds \"over Myrkwood\" to the plain of Vigrid. The\nstatements of V\u00f6luspa and Lokasenna illustrate and corroborate each\nother, and it follows that V\u00f6luspa's statement, claiming that Muspel's\nsons come from the East, is original and correct.\n\nGylfaginning treats Muspel as a place, a realm, the original home of fire\nand heat (Gylfag., 5). Still, there is a lack of positiveness, for the\nland in question is in the same work called _M\u00faspellsheimr_ (ch. 5) and\n_M\u00faspells heimr_ (ch. 8), whence we may presume that the author regarded\n_M\u00faspell_ as meaning both the land of the fire and the fire itself.\nThe true etymology of _M\u00faspell_ was probably as little known in the\nthirteenth century, when Gylfaginning was written, as it is now. I shall\nnot speak of the several attempts made at conjecturing the definition of\nthe word. They may all be regarded as abortive, mainly, doubtless, for\nthe reason that Gylfaginning's statements have credulously been assumed\nas the basis of the investigation. As a word inherited from heathen\ntimes, it occurs under the forms _mutspelli_ and _muspilli_ in the Old\nSaxon poem Heliand and in an Old High German poem on the final judgment,\nand there it has the meaning of the Lord's day, the doom of condemnation,\nor the condemnation. Concerning the meaning which the word had among the\nheathens of the North, before the time of the authors of V\u00f6luspa and\nLokasenna, all that can be said with certainty is, that the word in the\nexpression \"Muspel's sons\" has had a special reference to mythical beings\nwho are to appear in Ragnarok fighting there as Loke's allies, that is,\non the side of the evil against the good; that these beings were Loke's\nfellow-prisoners on the rocky isle where he was chained; and that they\naccompanied him from there on board Nagelfar to war against the gods.\nAs Gylfaginning makes them accompany Surt coming from the South, this\nmust be the result of a confounding of \"Muspel's sons\" with \"Surt's\n(Suttung's) sons.\"\n\nA closer examination ought to have shown that Gylfaginning's conception\nof \"Muspel's sons\" is immensely at variance with the mythical. Under\nthe influence of Christian ideas they are transformed into a sort of\nangels of light, who appear in Ragnarok to contend under the command\nof Surt \"to conquer all the idols\" (_sigra \u00f6ll godin_--Gylfag. 4) and\ncarry out the punishment of the world. While V\u00f6luspa makes them come\nwith Loke in the ship Nagelfar, that is, from the terrible rocky isle in\nthe sea over which eternal darkness broods, and while Lokasenna makes\nthem come across the Darkwood, whose name does not suggest any region\nin the realm of light, Gylfaginning tells us that they are celestial\nbeings. Idols and giants contend with each other on Vigrid's plains;\nthen _the heavens_ are suddenly rent in twain, and out of it ride in\nshining squadrons \"Muspel's sons\" and Surt, with his flaming sword, at\nthe head of the fylkings. Gylfaginning is careful to keep these noble\nriders far away from every contact with that mob which Loke leads to the\nfield of battle. It therefore expressly states that they form a fylking\nby themselves (_I thessum gny Klofnar himininn, ok ridu thadan Muspells\nsynir; Surtr ridr fyrstr, &c. ... enn Muspells synir hafa einir s\u00e9r\nfylking, er s\u00e1 bj\u00f6rt mj\u00f6k_--ch. 56). Thus they do not come to assist\nLoke, but to put an end to both the idols and the mob of giants. The old\ngiant, Surt, who, according to a heathen skald, Eyvind Skaldaspiller,\ndwells in _s\u00f6kkdalir_, in mountain grottoes deep under the earth (see\nabout him, No. 89), is in Gylfaginning first made the keeper of the\nborders of \"Muspelheim,\" and then the chief of celestial hosts. But this\nis not the end of his promotion. In the text found in the Upsala Codex,\nGylfaginning makes him lord in Gimle, and likewise the king of eternal\nbliss. After Ragnarok it is said, \"there are many good abodes and many\nbad;\" _best it is to be in Gimle with Surt (margar ero vistar gothar og\nmargar illar, bezt er at vera a Gimle medr surtr)_. The name Surt means\nblack. We find that his dark looks did not prevent his promotion, and\nthis has been carried to such a point that a mythologist who honestly\nbelieved in Gylfaginning saw in him the Almighty who is to come after\nthe regeneration to equalise and harmonise all discord, and to found holy\nlaws to prevail for ever.\n\nUnder such circumstances, it may be suggested as a rule of critical\ncaution not to accept unconditionally Gylfaginning's statement that the\nworld of light and heat which existed before the creation of the world\nwas called Muspel or Muspelheim. In all probability, this is a result of\nthe author's own reflections. At all events, it is certain that no other\nrecord has any knowledge of that name. But that the mythology presumed\nthe existence of such a world follows already from the fact that Urd's\nfountain, which gives the warmth of life to the world-tree, must have had\nits deepest fountain there, just as Hvergelmer has its in the world of\nprimeval cold, and Mimer has his fountain in that wisdom which unites the\nopposites and makes them work together in a cosmic world.\n\nAccordingly, we must distinguish between _M\u00faspells megir_, _M\u00faspells\nsynir_, from Surt's clan-men, who are called _Surts \u00e6tt_, _synir\nSuttunga_, _Suttungs synir_ (Skirnismal, 34; Alvissm., 35). We should\nalso remember that _M\u00faspell_ in connection with the words _synir_ and\n_megir_ hardly can mean a land, a realm, a region. The figure by which\nthe inhabitants of a country are called its sons or descendants never\noccurs, so far as I know, in the oldest Norse literature.\n\nIn regard to the names of the points of the compass in the poetic Edda,\n_nordan_ and _austan_, it must not be forgotten that the same northern\nregions in the mythical geography to which various events are referred\nmust have been regarded by the Icelanders as lying to the east from\ntheir own northern isle. The _Bjarmia ulterior_, in whose night-shrouded\nwaters mythical adventurers sought the gates to the lower world, lay in\nthe uttermost North, and might still, from an Icelandic and also from a\nNorwegian standpoint, be designated as a land in the East. According to\nthe sagas preserved by Saxo, these adventurers sailed into the Arctic\nOcean, past the Norwegian coast, and eastward to a mythical Bjarmia, more\ndistant than the real Bjarmaland. They could thus come to the coast where\na gate to the lower world was to be found, and to the Nastrands, and if\nthey continued this same course to the East, they could finally get to\nthe rocky isle where Loke lay chained.\n\nWe have seen that Loke is not alone with Sigyn on that isle where in\nchains he abides Ragnarok. There were unhappy beings in large numbers\nwith him. As already stated, Saxo speaks of three connected caves of\ntorture there, and the innermost one is Loke's. Of the one nearest to it,\nSaxo tells nothing else than that one has to wade across a brook or river\nin order to get there. Of the bound Fenrer, Loke's son, it is said that\nfrom his mouth runs froth which forms the river Von (Gylfag., 34). In\nLokasenna (34) Frey says to the abusive Loke: \"A wolf (that is, Fenrer) I\nsee lying at the mouth of the river until the forces of the world come in\nconflict; if you do not hold your tongue, you, villain, will be chained\n_next to him_\" (_thvi n\u00e6st_--an expression which here should be taken\nin a local sense, as a definite place is mentioned in the preceding\nsentence). And as we learn from V\u00f6luspa, that Freke (the wolf) is with\nLoke on board Nagelfar, then these evidences go to show that Loke and\nhis son are chained in the same place. The isle where Fenrer was chained\nis called in Gylfaginning _Lyngvi_, and the body of water in which the\nisle is situated is called _Amsvartnir_, a suitable name of the sea,\nover which eternal darkness broods. On the isle, the probably Icelandic\nauthor of V\u00f6luspa (or its translator or compiler) has imagined a \"grove,\"\nwhose trees consist of jets of water springing from hot fountains (_hvera\nlundr_). The isle is guarded by _Garmr_, a giant-dog, who is to bark\nwith all its might when the chains of Loke and Fenrer threaten to burst\nasunder:\n\n Geyr Garmr mj\u00f6k\n fyr Gnipahelli\n Festr man slitna,\n en Freki renna.\n\nAccording to Grimnersmal, Garm is the foremost of all dogs. The dogs\nwhich guard the beautiful Menglad's citadel are also called Garms\n(Fj\u00f6lsvinnsmal). In Gylfaginning, the word is also used in regard to a\nwolf, Hate Manegarm. _Gnipahellir_ means the cave of the precipitous\nrock. The adventurers which Thorkil and his men encountered with the\nflying serpents, in connection with the watching Hel-dog, show that\nLyngve is the scene of demons of the same kind as those which are found\naround the Na-gates of Nifelheim.\n\nBound hands and feet with the entrails of a \"frost-cold son\" (Lokasenna,\n49), which, after being placed on his limbs, are transformed into iron\nchains (Gylfag., 54), Loke lies on a weapon (_a hiorvi_--Lokasenna,\n49), and under him are three flat stones placed on edge, one under his\nshoulders, one under his loins, and one under his hams (Gylfag., 54).\nOver him Skade, who is to take revenge for the murder of her father,\nsuspends a serpent in such a manner that the venom drops in the face of\nthe nithing. Sigyn, faithful to her wicked husband, sits sorrowing by his\nside (V\u00f6luspa) and protects him as well as she is able against the venom\nof the serpent (Postscript to Lokasenna, Gylfag., 54). Fenrer is fettered\nby the soft, silk-like chain Gleipner, made by the subterranean artist,\nand brought from the lower world by Hermod. It is the only chain that can\nhold him, and that cannot be broken before Ragnarok. His jaws are kept\nwide open with a sword (Gylfag., 35).\n\n\n79.\n\n THE GREAT WORLD-MILL. ITS MISTAKEN IDENTITY WITH THE FRODE-MILL.\n\nWe have yet to mention a place in the lower world which is of importance\nto the na\u00efve but, at the same time, perspicuous and imaginative cosmology\nof Teutonic heathendom. The myth in regard to the place in question is\nlost, but it has left scattered traces and marks, with the aid of which\nit is possible to restore its chief outlines.\n\nPoems, from the heathen time, speak of two wonderful mills, a larger and\na smaller \"Grotte\"-mill.\n\nThe larger one is simply immense. The storms and showers which lash the\nsides of the mountains and cause their disintegration; the breakers of\nthe sea which attack the rocks on the strands, make them hollow, and cast\nthe substance thus scooped out along the coast in the form of sand-banks;\nthe whirlpools and currents of the ocean, and the still more powerful\nforces that were fancied by antiquity, and which smouldered the more\nbrittle layers of the earth's solid crust, and scattered them as sand\nand mould over \"the stones of the hall,\" in order that the ground might\n\"be overgrown with green herbs\"--all this was symbolized by the larger\nGrotte-mill. And as all symbols, in the same manner as the lightning\nwhich becomes Thor's hammer, in the mythology become epic-pragmatic\nrealities, so this symbol becomes to the imagination a real mill,\nwhich operates deep down in the sea and causes the phenomena which it\nsymbolizes.\n\nThis greater mill was also called _Gr\u00e6dir_, since its grist is the mould\nin which vegetation grows. This name was gradually transferred by the\npoets of the Christian age from the mill, which was grinding beneath the\nsea, to the sea itself.\n\nThe lesser Grotte-mill is like the greater one of heathen origin--Egil\nSkallagrimson mentions it--but it plays a more accidental part, and\nreally belongs to the heroic poems connected with the mythology.\nMeanwhile, it is akin to the greater. Its stones come from the lower\nworld, and were cast up thence for amusement by young giant-maids to\nthe surface of the earth. A being called _Hengikj\u00f6ptr_ (the feminine\n_Hengikepta_ is the name of a giantess--Sn. Edda, i. 551; ii. 471) makes\nmill-stones out of these subterranean rocks, and presents the mill to\nKing Frode Fridleifson. Fate brings about that the same young giantesses,\nhaving gone to Svithiod to help the king warring there, Guthorm (see\nNos. 38, 39), are taken prisoners and sold as slaves to King Frode, who\nmakes them turn his Grotte-mill, the stones of which they recognize from\ntheir childhood. The giantesses, whose names are Fenja and Menja, grind\non the mill gold and safety for King Frode, and good-will among men for\nhis kingdom. But when Frode, hardened by greed for gold, refuses them the\nnecessary rest from their toils, they grind fire and death upon him, and\ngive the mill so great speed that the mill-stone breaks into pieces, and\nthe foundation is crushed under its weight.\n\nAfter the introduction of Christianity, the details of the myth\nconcerning the greater, the cosmological mill, were forgotten, and there\nremained only the memory of the existence of such a mill on the bottom\nof the sea. The recollection of the lesser Grotte-mill was, on the other\nhand, at least in part preserved as to its details in a song which\ncontinued to flourish, and which was recorded in Skaldskaparmal.\n\nBoth mills were now regarded as identical, and there sprang up a\ntradition which explained how they could be so.\n\nContrary to the statements of the song, the tradition narrates that the\nmill did not break into pieces, but stood whole and perfect, when the\ncurse of the giant-maids on Frode was fulfilled. The night following\nthe day when they had begun to grind misfortune on Frode, there came a\nsea-king, Mysing, and slew Frode, and took, among other booty, also the\nGrotte-mill and both the female slaves, and carried them on board his\nship. Mysing commanded them to grind salt, and this they continued to do\nuntil the following midnight. Then they asked if he had not got enough,\nbut he commanded them to continue grinding, and so they did until the\nship shortly afterwards sank. In this manner the tradition explained\nhow the mill came to stand on the bottom of the sea, and there the mill\nthat had belonged to Frode acquired the qualities which originally had\nbelonged to the vast Grotte-mill of the mythology. Skaldskaparmal, which\nrelates this tradition as well as the song, without taking any notice of\nthe discrepancies between them, adds that after Frode's mill had sunk,\n\"there was produced a whirlpool in the sea, caused by the waters running\nthrough the hole in the mill-stone, and from that time the sea is salt.\"\n\n\n80.\n\n THE WORLD-MILL (_continued_).\n\nWith distinct consciousness of its symbolic signification, the greater\nmill is mentioned in a strophe by the skald Sn\u00e6bjorn (Skaldskap.,\nch. 25). The strophe appears to have belonged to a poem describing a\nvoyage. \"It is said,\" we read in this strophe, \"that _Eyludr's_ nine\nwomen violently turn the Grotte of the skerry dangerous to man out\nnear the edge of the earth, and that these women long ground Amlode's\n_lid_-grist.\"\n\n Hvat kveda hr\u00e6ra Grotta\n hergrimmastan skerja\n ut fyrir jardar skauti\n Eyludrs n\u00edu br\u00fadir:\n th\u00e6r er .. fyrir laungu\n lid-meld .....\n .........\n ... Amloda m\u00f3lu.\n\nTo the epithet _Eyludr_, and to the meaning of _lid_-in _lid_-grist, I\nshall return below. The strophe says that the mill is in motion out on\nthe edge of the earth, that nine giant-maids turn it (for the lesser\nGrotte-mill two were more than sufficient), that they had long ground\nwith it, that it belongs to a _skerry_ very dangerous to sea-faring men,\nand that it produces a peculiar grist.\n\nThe same mill is suggested by an episode in Saxo, where he relates the\nsaga about the Danish prince, Amlethus, who on account of circumstances\nin his home was compelled to pretend to be insane. Young courtiers, who\naccompanied him on a walk along the sea-strand, showed him a sand-bank\nand said that it was meal. The prince said he knew this to be so: he said\nit was \"meal from the mill of the storms\" (_Hist. Dan._, 141).\n\nThe myth concerning the cosmic Grotte-mill was intimately connected\npartly with the myth concerning the fate of Ymer and the other primeval\ngiants, and partly with that concerning Hvergelmer's fountain.\nVafthrudnersmal (21) and Grimnersmal (40) tell us that the earth was\nmade out of Ymer's flesh, the rocks out of his bones, and the sea from\nhis blood. With earth is here meant, as distinguished from rocks, the\nmould, the sand, which cover the solid ground. Vafthrudnersmal calls\nYmer _Aurgelmir_, Claygelmer or Moldgelmer; and Fj\u00f6lsvinnsmal gives him\nthe epithet _Leirbrimir_, Claybrimer, which suggests that his \"flesh\"\nwas changed into the loose earth, while his bones became rocks. Ymer's\ndescendants, the primeval giants, Thrudgelmer and Bergelmer perished with\nhim, and the \"flesh\" of their bodies cast into the primeval sea also\nbecame mould. Of this we are assured, so far as Bergelmer is concerned,\nby strophe 35 in Vafthrudnersmal, which also informs us that Bergelmer\nwas _laid under the mill-stone_. The mill which ground his \"flesh\" into\nmould can be none other than the one grinding under the sea, that is, the\ncosmic Grotte-mill.\n\nWhen Odin asks the wise giant Vafthrudner how far back he can remember,\nand which is the oldest event of which he has any knowledge from personal\nexperience, the giant answers: \"Countless ages ere the earth was shapen\nBergelmer was born. The first thing I remember is when he _\u00e1 var l\u00fadr um\nlagidr_.\"\n\nThis expression was misunderstood by the author of Gylfaginning himself,\nand the misunderstanding has continued to develop into the theory that\nBergelmer was changed into a sort of Noah, who with his household saved\nhimself in an ark when Bur's sons drowned the primeval giants in the\nblood of their progenitor. Of such a counterpart to the Biblical account\nof Noah and his ark our Teutonic mythical fragments have no knowledge\nwhatever.\n\nThe word _l\u00fadr_ (with radical _r_) has two meanings: (1) a\nwind-instrument, a loor, a war-trumpet; (2) the tier of beams, the\nunderlying timbers of a mill, and, in a wider sense, the mill itself.\n\nThe first meaning, that of war-trumpet, is not found in the songs of the\nElder Edda, and upon the whole does not occur in the Old Norse poetry.\nHeimdal's war-trumpet is not called _l\u00fadr_, but _horn_ or _hlj\u00f3d_. _L\u00fadr_\nin this sense makes its first appearance in the sagas of Christian times,\nbut is never used by the skalds. In spite of this fact the signification\nmay date back to heathen times. But however this may be, _l\u00fadr_ in\nVafthrudnersmal does not mean a war-trumpet. The poem can never have\nmeant that Bergelmer was laid on a musical instrument.\n\nThe other meaning remains to be discussed. _L\u00fadr_, partly in its more\nlimited sense of the timbers or beams under the mill, partly in the sense\nof the subterranean mill in its entirety, and the place where it is\nfound, occurs several times in the poems: in the Grotte-song, in Helge\nHund. (ii. 2), and in the above-quoted strophe by Sn\u00e6bjorn, and also in\nGrogalder and in Fj\u00f6lsvinnsmal. If this signification is applied to the\npassage in Vafthrudnersmal: _\u00e1 var l\u00fadr um lagidr_, we get the meaning\nthat Bergelmer was \"laid on a mill,\" and in fact no other meaning of\nthe passage is possible, unless an entirely new signification is to be\narbitrarily invented.\n\nBut however conspicuous this signification is, and however clear it\nis that it is the only one applicable in this poem, still it has been\noverlooked or thrust aside by the mythologists, and for this Gylfaginning\nis to blame. So far as I know, Vigfusson is the only one who (in his\nDictionary, p. 399) makes the passage _\u00e1 l\u00fadr lagidr_ mean what it\nactually means, and he remarks that the words must \"refer to some ancient\nlost myth.\"\n\nThe confusion begins, as stated, in Gylfaginning. Its author has had no\nother authority for his statement than the Vafthrudnersmal strophe in\nquestion, which he also cites to corroborate his own words; and we have\nhere one of the many examples found in Gylfaginning showing that its\nauthor has neglected to pay much attention to what the passages quoted\ncontain. When Gylfaginning has stated that the frost-giants were drowned\nin Ymer's blood, then comes its interpretation of the Vafthrudnersmal\nstrophe, which is as follows: \"One escaped with his household: him the\ngiants call Bergelmer. He with his wife betook himself upon his _l\u00fadr_\nand remained there, and from them the races of giants are descended\"\n(_nema einn komst undan med sinu hyski: thann kalla j\u00f6tnar Bergelmi;\nhann f\u00f3r upp \u00e1 l\u00fadr sinn ok kona hans, ok helzt thar, ok eru af theim\nkomnar_), &c.\n\nWhat Gylfaginning's author has conceived by the _l\u00fadr_ which he mentions\nit is difficult to say. That he did not have a boat in mind is in the\nmeantime evident from the expression: _hann f\u00f3r upp \u00e1 l\u00fadr sinn_. It is\nmore reasonable to suppose that his idea was, that Bergelmer himself\nowned an immense mill, upon whose high timbers he and his household\nclimbed to save themselves from the flood. That the original text says\nthat Bergelmer was _laid_ on the timbers of the mill Gylfaginning pays\nno attention to. To go upon something and to be laid on something are,\nhowever, very different notions.\n\nAn argument in favour of the wrong interpretation was furnished by the\nResenian edition of the Younger Edda (Copenhagen, 1665). There we find\nthe expression _f\u00f3r upp \u00e1 l\u00fadr sinn_ \"amended\" to _f\u00f3r \u00e1 b\u00e1t sinn_. Thus\nBergelmer had secured a boat to sail in; and although more reliable\neditions of the Younger Edda have been published since from which the\nboat disappeared, still the mythologists have not had the heart to take\nthe boat away from Bergelmer. On the contrary, they have allowed the boat\nto grow into a ship, an ark.\n\nAs already pointed out, Vafthrudnersmal tells us expressly that\nBergelmer, Aurgelmer's grandson, was \"laid on a mill\" or \"on the\nsupporting timbers of a mill.\" We may be sure that the myth would not\nhave laid Bergelmer on \"a mill\" if the intention was not that he was to\nbe ground. The kind of meal thus produced has already been explained. It\nis the mould and sand which the sea since time's earliest dawn has cast\nupon the shores of Midgard, and with which the bays and strands have\nbeen filled, to become sooner or later green fields. From Ymer's flesh\nthe gods created the oldest layer of soil, that which covered the earth\nthe first time the sun shone thereon, and in which the first herbs grew.\nEver since the same activity which then took place still continues. After\nthe great mill of the gods transformed the oldest frost-giant into the\ndust of earth, it has continued to grind the bodies of his descendants\nbetween the same stones into the same kind of mould. This is the meaning\nof Vafthrudner's words when he says that his memory reaches back to the\ntime when Bergelmer was laid on the mill to be ground. Ymer he does not\nremember, nor Thrudgelmer, nor the days when these were changed to earth.\nOf them he knows only by hearsay. But he remembers when the turn came for\nBergelmer's limbs to be subjected to the same fate.\n\n\"The glorious Midgard\" could not be created before its foundations raised\nby the gods out of the sea were changed to _bj\u00f3d_ (V\u00f6luspa). This is\nthe word (originally _bj\u00f3dr_) with which the author of V\u00f6luspa chose to\nexpress the quality of the fields and the fields themselves, which were\nraised out of the sea by Bor's sons, when the great mill had changed the\n\"flesh\" of Ymer into mould. Bj\u00f3d does not mean a bare field or ground,\nbut one that can supply food. Thus it is used in Haustlaung (_af breidu\nbj\u00f3di_, the place for a spread feast--Skaldskaparmal, ch. 22), and its\nother meanings (perhaps the more original ones) are that of a board and\nof a table for food to lie on. When the fields were raised out of Ymer's\nblood they were covered with mould, so that, when they got light and\nwarmth from the sun, then the _grund_ became _gr\u00f3in gr\u00e6num lauki_. The\nvery word _mould_ comes from the Teutonic word _mala_, to grind (cp. Eng.\n_meal_, Latin _molere_). The development of language and the development\nof mythology have here, as in so many other instances, gone hand in hand.\n\nThat the \"flesh\" of the primeval giants could be ground into fertile\nmould refers us to the primeval cow Audhumbla by whose milk Ymer was\nnourished and his flesh formed (Gylfaginning). Thus the cow in the\nTeutonic mythology is the same as she is in the Iranian, the primeval\nsource of fertility. The mould, out of which the harvests grow, has by\ntransformations developed out of her nourishing liquids.\n\nHere, then, we have the explanation of the _lidmeldr_ which the great\nmill grinds, according to Sn\u00e6bjorn. _Lidmeldr_ means limb-grist. It is\nthe limbs and joints of the primeval giants, which on Amlode's mill are\ntransformed into meal.\n\nIn its character as an institution for the promotion of fertility, and\nfor rendering the fields fit for habitation, the mill is under the care\nand protection of the Vans. After Njord's son, Frey, had been fostered\nin Asgard and had acquired the dignity of lord of the harvests, he was\nthe one who became the master of the great Grotte. It is attended on his\nbehalf by one of his servants, who in the mythology is called _Byggvir_,\na name related both to _byggja_, settle, cultivate, and to _bygg_,\nbarley, a kind of grain, and by his kinswoman and helpmate Beyla. So\nimportant is the calling of Bygver and Beyla that they are permitted to\nattend the feasts of the gods with their master (Frey). Consequently they\nare present at the banquet to which \u00c6gir, according to Lokasenna, invited\nthe gods. When Loke uninvited made his appearance there to mix harm in\nthe mead of the gods, and to embitter their pleasure, and when he there\ntaunts Frey, Bygver becomes wroth on his master's behalf and says:\n\nStr. 43.\n\n Veiztu, ef ec \u00f6thli ettac Had I the ancestry\n sem Ingunar-Freyr of Ingunar Frey\n oc sva s\u00e6lict setr, and so honoured a seat,\n mergi sm\u00e6ra maul tha ec know I would grind you\n th\u00e1 meincr\u00e1co finer than marrow, you evil crow,\n oc lemtha alla i litho. and crush you limb by limb.\n\nLoke answers:\n\nStr. 44.\n\n Hvat er that ith litla What little boy is that\n er ec that lauggra sec whom I see wag his tail\n oc snapvist snapir; and eat like a parasite?\n att eyrom Freys Near Frey's ears\n mundu \u00e6 vera always you are\n oc und kvernom klaka. and clatter 'neath the mill-stone.\n\nBygver.\n\nStr. 45.\n\n Beyggvir ec heiti, Bygver is my name,\n enn mic brathan kveda All gods and men\n god aull oc gumar: call me the nimble,\n thvi em ec her hrodugr, and here it is my pride,\n at drecca Hroptz megir that Odin's sons each\n allir aul saman. and all drink ale.\n\nLoke.\n\nStr. 46.\n\n thegi thu, Beyggvir! Be silent, Bygver!\n thu kunnir aldregi Ne'er were you able\n deila meth m\u00f6nnom mat. food to divide among men.\n\nBeyla, too, gets her share of Loke's abuse. The least disgraceful thing\nhe says of her is that she is a _deigia_ (a slave, who has to work at\nthe mill and in the kitchen), and that she is covered with traces of her\noccupation in dust and dirt.\n\nAs we see, Loke characterises Bygver as a servant taking charge of the\nmill under Frey, and Bygver characterises himself as one who grinds, and\nis able to crush an \"evil crow\" limb by limb with his mill-stones. As\nthe one who with his mill makes vegetation, and so also bread and malt,\npossible, he boasts of it as his honour that the gods are able to drink\nale at a banquet. Loke blames him because he is not able to divide the\nfood among men. The reproach implies that the distribution of food is\nin his hands. The mould which comes from the great mill gives different\ndegrees of fertility to different fields, and rewards abundantly or\nniggardly the toil of the farmer. Loke doubtless alludes to this unequal\ndistribution, else it would be impossible to find any sense in his words.\n\nIn the poetic Edda we still have another reminiscence of the great mill\nwhich is located under the sea, and at the same time in the lower world\n(see below), and which \"grinds mould into food.\" It is in a poem, whose\nskald says that he has seen it on his journey in the lower world. In his\ndescription of the \"home of torture\" in Hades, Solarljod's Christian\nauthor has taken all his materials from the heathen mythological\nconceptions of the worlds of punishment, though the author treats these\nmaterials in accordance with the Christian purpose of his song. When\nthe skald dies, he enters the Hades gates, crosses bloody streams, sits\nfor nine days _\u00e1 norna st\u00f3li_, is thereupon seated on a horse, and is\npermitted to make a journey through Mimer's domain, first to the regions\nof the happy and then to those of the damned. In Mimer's realm he sees\nthe \"stag of the sun\" and Nide's (Mimer's) sons, who \"quaff the pure\nmead from Baugregin's well.\" When he approached the borders of the world\nof the damned, he heard a terrible din, which silenced the winds and\nstopped the flow of the waters. The mighty din came from a mill. Its\nstones were wet with blood, but the grist produced was mould, which was\nto be food. Fickle-wise (_svipvisar_, heathen) women of dark complexion\nturned the mill. Their bloody and tortured hearts hung outside of their\nbreasts. The mould which they ground was to feed their husbands.\n\nThis mill, situated at the entrance of hell, is here represented as one\nof the agents of torture in the lower world. To a certain extent this is\ncorrect even from a heathen standpoint. It was the lot of slave-women to\nturn the hand-mill. In the heroic poem the giant-maids Fenja and Menja,\ntaken prisoners and made slaves, have to turn Frode's Grotte. In the\nmythology \"Eylud's nine women,\" thurse-maids, were compelled to keep\nthis vast mechanism in motion, and that this was regarded as a heavy and\ncompulsory task may be assumed without the risk of being mistaken.\n\nAccording to Solarljod, the mill-stones are stained with blood. In the\nmythology they crush the bodies of the first giants and revolve in\nYmer's blood. It is also in perfect harmony with the mythology that the\nmeal becomes mould, and that the mould serves as food. But the cosmic\nsignification is obliterated in Solarljod, and it seems to be the\nauthor's idea that men who have died in their heathen belief are to eat\nthe mould which women who have died in heathendom industriously grind as\nfood for them.\n\nThe myth about the greater Grotte, as already indicated, has also been\nconnected with the Hvergelmer myth. Solarljod has correctly stated the\nlocation of the mill on the border of the realm of torture. The mythology\nhas located Hvergelmer's fountain there (see No. 59); and as this vast\nfountain is the mother of the ocean and of all waters, and the ever open\nconnection between the waters of heaven, of the earth, and of the lower\nworld, then this furnishes the explanation of the apparently conflicting\nstatements, that the mill is situated both in the lower world and at the\nsame time on the bottom of the sea. Of the mill it is said that it is\ndangerous to men, dangerous to fleets and to crews, and that it causes\nthe maelstrom (_svelgr_) when the water of the ocean rushes down through\nthe eye of the mill-stone. The same was said of Hvergelmer, that causes\nebb and flood and maelstrom, when the water of the world alternately\nflows into and out of this great source. To judge from all this, the mill\nhas been conceived as so made that its foundation timbers stood on solid\nground in the lower world, and thence rose up into the sea, in which the\nstones resting on this substructure were located. The revolving \"eye\" of\nthe mill-stone was directly above Hvergelmer, and served as the channel\nthrough which the water flowed to and from the great fountain of the\nworld's waters.\n\n\n81.\n\n THE WORLD-MILL (_continued_). THE WORLD-MILL MAKES THE\n CONSTELLATIONS REVOLVE. MUNDILF\u00d6RI.\n\nBut the colossal mill in the ocean has also served other purposes than\nthat of grinding the nourishing mould from the limbs of the primeval\ngiants.\n\nThe Teutons, like all people of antiquity, and like most men of the\npresent time, regarded the earth as stationary. And so, too, the lower\nworld (_jormurgrundr_--Forspjallsljod) on which the foundations of the\nearth rested. Stationary was also that heaven in which the Asas had their\ncitadels, surrounded by a common wall, for the Asgard-bridge, Bifrost,\nhad a solid bridge-head on the southern and another on the northern\nedge of the lower world, and could not change position in its relation\nto them. All this part of creation was held together by the immovable\nroots of the world-tree, or rested on its invisible branches. Sol and\nMane had their fixed paths, the points of departure and arrival of which\nwere the \"horse-doors\" (_j\u00f3dyrr_), which were hung on the eastern and\nwestern mountain-walls of the lower world. The god Mane and the goddess\nSol were thought to traverse these paths in shining chariots, and their\ndaily journeys across the heavens did not to our ancestors imply that\nany part of the world-structure itself was in motion. Mane's course lay\nbelow Asgard. When Thor in his thunder-chariot descends to Jotunheim\nthe path of Mane thunders under him (_en dundi M\u00e1na vegr und Meila\nbr\u00f3dur_--Haustl., 1). No definite statement in our mythical records\ninforms us whether the way of the sun was over or under Asgard.\n\nBut high above Asgard is the starry vault of heaven, and to the Teutons\nas well as to other people that sky was not only an optical but a real\nvault, which daily revolved around a stationary point. Sol and Mane\nmight be conceived as traversing their appointed courses independently,\nand not as coming in contact with vaults, which by their motions from\neast to west produced the progress of sun and moon. The very circumstance\nthat they continually changed position in their relation to each other\nand to the stars seemed to prove that they proceeded independently in\ntheir own courses. With the countless stars the case was different. They\nalways keep at the same distance and always present the same figures on\nthe canopy of the nocturnal heavens. They looked like glistening heads of\nnails driven into a movable ceiling. Hence the starlit sky was thought\nto be in motion. The sailors and shepherds of the Teutons very well knew\nthat this revolving was round a fixed point, the polar star, and it is\nprobable that _veraldar nagli_, the world-nail, the world-spike, an\nexpression preserved in Eddubrott, ii., designates the north star.\n\nThus the starry sky was the movable part of the universe. And this motion\nis not of the same kind as that of the winds, whose coming and direction\nno man can predict or calculate. The motion of the starry firmament is\ndefined, always the same, always in the same direction, and keeps equal\nstep with the march of time itself. It does not, therefore, depend on the\naccidental pleasure of gods or other powers. On the other hand, it seems\nto be caused by a mechanism operating evenly and regularly.\n\nThe mill was for a long time the only kind of mechanism on a large\nscale known to the Teutons. Its motion was a rotating one. The movable\nmill-stone was turned by a handle or sweep which was called _m\u00f6ndull_.\nThe mill-stones and the _m\u00f6ndull_ might be conceived as large as you\nplease. Fancy knew no other limits than those of the universe.\n\nThere was another natural phenomenon, which also was regular, and which\nwas well known to the seamen of the North and to those Teutons who lived\non the shores of the North Sea, namely, the rising and falling of the\ntide. Did one and the same force produce both these great phenomena? Did\nthe same cause produce the motion of the starry vault and the ebb and\nflood of the sea? In regard to the latter phenomenon, we already know\nthe na\u00efve explanation given in the myth concerning Hvergelmer and the\nGrotte-mill. And the same explanation sufficed for the former. There was\nno need of another mechanism to make the heavens revolve, as there was\nalready one at hand, the influence of which could be traced throughout\nthat ocean in which Midgard was simply an isle, and which around this\nisland extends its surface even to the brink of heaven (Gylfaginning).\n\nThe mythology knew a person by name _Mundilf\u00f6ri_ (Vafthr., 23; Gylfag.).\nThe word _mundill_ is related to _m\u00f6ndull_, and is presumably only\nanother form of the same word. The name or epithet Mundilfore refers to\na being that has had something to do with a great mythical _m\u00f6ndull_\nand with the movements of the mechanism which this _m\u00f6ndull_ kept in\nmotion. Now the word _m\u00f6ndull_ is never used in the old Norse literature\nabout any other object than the sweep or handle with which the movable\nmill-stone is turned. (In this sense the word occurs in the Grotte-song\nand in Helge Hund. ii., 3, 4). Thus Mundilfore has had some part to play\nin regard to the great giant-mill of the ocean and of the lower world.\n\nOf Mundilfore we learn, on the other hand, that he is the father of the\npersonal Sol and the personal Mane (Valfthr. 23). This, again, shows that\nthe mythology conceived him as intimately associated with the heavens\nand with the heavenly bodies. Vigfusson (Dict., 437) has, therefore,\nwith good reason remarked that _mundill_ in Mundilfore refers to _the\nveering round or the revolution of the heavens_. As the father of Sol\nand Mane, Mundilfore was a being of divine rank, and as such belonged\nto the powers of the lower world, where Sol and Mane have their abodes\nand resting-places. The latter part of the name, _f\u00f6ri_, refers to the\nverb _f\u0153ra_, to conduct, to move. Thus he is that power who has to take\ncharge of the revolutions of the starry vault of heaven, and these must\nbe produced by the great _m\u00f6ndull_, the mill-handle or mill-sweep, since\nhe is called _Mundilf\u00f6ri_.\n\nThe regular motion of the starry firmament and of the sea is,\naccordingly, produced by the same vast mechanism, the Grotte-mill,\nthe _meginverk_ of the heathen fancy (Grotte-song, 11; cp. Egil\nSkallagrimson's way of using the word, Arnibj.-Drapa, 26). The handle\nextends to the edge of the world, and the nine giantesses, who are\ncompelled to turn the mill, pushing the sweep before them, march along\nthe outer edge of the universe. Thus we get an intelligible idea of what\nSn\u00e6bjorn means when he says that Eylud's nine women turn the Grotte\n\"along the edge of the earth\" (_hr\u00e6ra Grotta at fyrir jardar skauti_).\n\nMundilfore and Bygver thus each has his task to perform in connection\nwith the same vast machinery. The one attends to the regular motion of\nthe _m\u00f6ndull_, the other looks after the mill-stones and the grist.\n\nIn the name Eylud the first part is _ey_, and the second part is _ludr_.\nThe name means the \"island-mill.\" Eylud's nine women are the \"nine women\nof the island-mill.\" The mill is in the same strophe called _skerja\nGrotti_, the Grotte of the skerry. These expressions refer to each other\nand designate with different words the same idea--the mill that grinds\nislands and skerries.\n\nThe fate which, according to the Grotte-song, happened to King Frode's\nmill has its origin in the myth concerning the greater mill. The stooping\nposition of the starry heavens and the sloping path of the stars in\nrelation to the horizontal line was a problem which in its way the\nmythology wanted to solve. The phenomenon was put in connection with\nthe mythic traditions in regard to the terrible winter which visited\nthe earth after the gods and the sons of Alvalde (Ivalde) had become\nenemies. Fenja and Menja were kinswomen of Alvalde's sons. For they were\nbrothers (half-brothers) of those mountain giants who were Fenja's and\nMenja's fathers (the Grotte-song). Before the feud broke out between\ntheir kin and the gods, both the giant-maids had worked in the service\nof the latter and for the good of the world, grinding the blessings of\nthe golden age on the world-mill. Their activity in connection with\nthe great mechanism, mondul, which they pushed, amid the singing of\nbliss-bringing songs of sorcery, was a counterpart of the activity of\nthe sons of Alvalde, who made for the gods the treasures of vegetation.\nWhen the conflict broke out the giant-maids joined the cause of their\nkinsmen. They gave the world-mill so rapid a motion that the foundations\nof the earth trembled, pieces of the mill-stones were broken loose and\nthrown up into space, and the sub-structure of the mill was damaged.\nThis could not happen without harm to the starry canopy of heaven which\nrested thereon. The memory of this mythic event comes to the surface in\nRimbegla, which states that toward the close of King Frode's reign there\narose a terrible disorder in nature--a storm with mighty thundering\npassed over the country, the earth quaked and cast up large stones. In\nthe Grotte-song the same event is mentioned as a \"game\" played by Fenja\nand Menja, in which they cast up from the deep upon the earth those\nstones which afterwards became the mill-stones in the Grotte-mill. After\nthat \"game\" the giant-maids betook themselves to the earth and took part\nin the first world-war on the side hostile to Odin (see No. 39). It is\nworthy of notice that the mythology has connected the fimbul-winter and\nthe great emigrations from the North with an earthquake and a damage to\nthe world-mill which makes the starry heavens revolve.\n\n\n82.\n\n THE WORLD-MILL (_continued_). THE ORIGIN OF THE SACRED FIRE\n THROUGH MUNDILFORE. HEIMDAL THE PERSONIFICATION OF THE SACRED\n FIRE. HIS IDENTITY WITH RIGVEDA'S AGNI. HIS ANTITHESIS, LOKE,\n ALSO A FIRE-BEING.\n\nAmong the tasks to be performed by the world-mill there is yet another\nof the greatest importance. According to a belief which originated in\nancient Aryan times, a fire is to be judged as to purity and holiness by\nits origin. There are different kinds of fire more or less pure and holy,\nand a fire which is holy as to its origin may become corrupted by contact\nwith improper elements. The purest fire, that which was originally\nkindled by the gods and was afterwards given to man as an invaluable\nblessing, as a bond of union between the higher world and mankind, was\na fire which was produced by rubbing two objects together (friction).\nIn hundreds of passages this is corroborated in Rigveda, and the belief\nstill exists among the common people of various Teutonic peoples. The\ngreat mill which revolves the starry heavens was also the mighty rubbing\nmachine (friction machine) from which the sacred fire naturally ought to\nproceed, and really was regarded as having proceeded, as shall be shown\nbelow.\n\nThe word _m\u00f6ndull_, with which the handle of the mill is designated, is\nfound among our ancient Aryan ancestors. It can be traced back to the\nancient Teutonic _manthula_, a swing-tree (Fick, _W\u00f6rterb d. ind.-germ.\nSpr._, iii. 232), related to Sanscr. _Manthati_, to swing, twist, bore,\nfrom the root _manth_, which occurs in numerous passages in Rigveda, and\nin its direct application always refers to the production of fire by\nfriction (Bergaigne, _Rel. ved._, iii. 7).\n\nIn Rigveda, the sacred fire is personified by the \"pure,\" \"upright,\"\n\"benevolent\" god _Agni_, whose very name, related to the Latin _ignis_,\ndesignates the god of fire. According to Rigveda, there was a time when\nAgni lived concealed from both gods and men, as the element of light\nand warmth found in all beings and things. Then there was a time when\nhe dwelt in person among the gods, but not yet among men; and, finally,\nthere was a time when _M\u00e2taricvan_, a sacred being and Agni's father in a\nliteral or symbolic sense, brought it about that Agni came to our fathers\n(Rigv., i. 60, 1). The generation of men then living was the race of\nBhriguians, so-called after an ancient patriarch Bhrigu. This Bhrigu, and\nwith him Manu (Manus), was the first person who, in his sacrifices to the\ngods, used the fire obtained through Agni (Rigv., i. 31, 17, and other\npassages).\n\nWhen, at the instigation of M\u00e2taricvan, Agni arrived among mankind, he\ncame from a far-off region (Rigv., i. 128, 2). The Bhriguians who did\nnot yet possess the fire, but were longing for it and were seeking for\nit (Rigv., x. 40, 2), found the newly-arrived Agni, \"at the confluence\nof the waters.\" In a direct sense, \"the confluence of the waters\" cannot\nmean anything else than the ocean, into which all waters flow. Thus\nAgni came from the distance across a sea to the coast of the country\nwhere that people dwelt who were named after the patriarch Bhrigu. When\nthey met this messenger of the gods (Rigv., viii. 19, 21), they adopted\nhim and cared for him at \"the place of the water\" (Rigv., ii. 4, 2).\n_M\u00e2taricvan_, by whose directions Agni, \"the one born on the other side\nof the atmosphere\" (x. 187, 5) was brought to mankind, becomes in the\nclassical Sanscrit language a designation for the wind. Thus everything\ntends to show that Agni has traversed a wide ocean, and has been brought\nby the wind when he arrives at the coast where the Bhriguians dwell. He\nis very young, and hence bears the epithet _yavishtha_.\n\nWe are now to see why the gods sent him to men, and what he does among\nthem. He remains among those who care for him, and dwells among them \"an\nimmortal among mortals\" (Rigv., viii. 60, 11; iii. 5, 3), a guest among\nmen, a companion of mortals (iv. 1, 9). He who came with the inestimable\ngift of fire long remains personally among men, in order that \"a wise one\namong the ignorant\" may educate them. He who \"knows all wisdom and all\nsciences\" (Rigv., iii. 1, 17; x. 21, 5) \"came to be asked questions\" (i.\n60, 20) by men; he teaches them and \"they listen to him as to a father\"\n(i. 68, 9). He becomes their first patriarch (ii. 10, 1) and their first\npriest (v. 9, 4; x. 80, 4). Before that time they had lived a nomadic\nlife, but he taught them to establish fixed homes around the hearths, on\nwhich the fire he had brought now was burning (iii. 1, 17). He visited\nthem in these fixed dwellings (iv. 1, 19), where the Bhriguians now let\nthe fire blaze (x. 122, 5); he became \"the husband of wives\" (i. 66, 4)\nand the progenitor of human descendants (i. 96, 2), through whom he is\nthe founder of the classes or \"races\" of men (vi. 48, 8). He established\norder in all human affairs (iv. 1, 2), taught religion, instructed men in\npraying and sacrificing (vi. 1, 1, and many other passages), initiated\nthem in the art of poetry and gave them inspiration (iii. 10, 5; x. 11,\n6).\n\nThis is related of Agni when he came to the earth and dwelt among men. As\nto his divine nature, he is the pure, white god (iv. 1, 7; iii. 7, 1),\nyoung, strong, and shining with golden teeth (v. 2, 2), and searching\neyes (iv. 2, 12) which can see far (vii. 1, 1), penetrate the darkness\nof night (i. 94, 7), and watch the acts of demons (x. 87, 12). He, the\nguard of order (i. 11, 8), is always attentive (i. 31, 12), and protects\nthe world by day and by night from dangers (i. 98, 1). On a circular path\nhe observes all things (vii. 13, 3), and sees and knows them all (x.\n187, 4). He perceives everything, being able to penetrate the herbs, and\ndiffuse himself into plants and animals (vii. 9, 3; viii. 43, 9; x. 1,\n2). He hears all who pray to him, and can make himself heard as if he had\nthe voice of thunder, so that both the halves of the world re-echo his\nvoice (x. 8, 1). His horses are like himself white (vi. 6, 4). His symbol\namong the animals is the bull (i. 31, 5; i. 146, 2).\n\nIn regard to Agni's birth, it is characteristic of him that he is said\nto have several mothers, although their number varies according to the\npoint from which the process of birth is regarded. When it is only to\nbe a figurative expression for the origin of the friction-fire, the\nsinger of the hymn can say that Agni had ten mothers or two mothers. In\nthe case of the former, it is the ten fingers of the person producing\nthe friction-fire that are meant. Sometimes this is stated outright\n(Rigveda, iii. 23, 3); then again the fingers are paraphrased by \"the\ntwice five sisters dwelling together\" (iv. 6, 8), \"the work-master's ten\nuntiring maids\" (i. 95, 1). In the case of the latter--that is, when two\nmothers are mentioned--the two pieces of wood rubbed together are meant\n(viii. 49, 15). In a more real sense he is said to have three places\nof nativity: one in the atmospheric sea, one in heaven, and one in the\nwaters (i. 95, 3), and that his \"great, wise, divine nature proceeded\nfrom the laps of many active mothers\" (i. 95, 4), such as the waters,\nthe stones, the trees, the herbs (ii. 1, 1). In Rigveda (x. 45, 2) nine\nmaternal wombs or births are indicated; his \"triple powers were sown in\ntriplets in heaven, among us, and in the waters.\" In Rigveda (i. 141, 2)\nthree places of nativity and three births are ascribed to him, and in\nsuch a way that he had seven mothers in his second birth. In Rigveda (x.\n20, 7) he is called the son of the rock.\n\nIt scarcely needs to be pointed out that all that is here told about Agni\ncorresponds point by point with the Teutonic myth about Heimdal. Here,\nas in many other instances, we find a similarity between the Teutonic\nand the Aryan-Asiatic myths, which is surprising, when we consider that\nthe difference between the Rigveda and Zend languages on the one hand,\nand the oldest Teutonic linguistic monuments on the other, appear in\nconnection with other circumstances to indicate that the old Aryan unity\nof language and religion lies ages back in antiquity. Agni's birth\n\"beyond the atmosphere,\" his journey across the sea to original man in\nthe savage state, his vocation as the sower of the blessings of culture\namong men, his appearance as the teacher of wisdom and \"the sciences,\"\nhis visit to the farms established by him, where he becomes \"the husband\nof wives,\" father of human sons, and the founder of \"the races\" (the\nclasses among the Teutons),--all this we rediscover completely in the\nHeimdal myth, as if it were a copy of the Aryan-Asiatic saga concerning\nthe divine founder of culture; a copy fresh from the master's brush\nwithout the effects of time, and without any retouching. The very names\nof the ancient Aryan patriarchs, Bhrigu and Manu are recognisable\nin the Teutonic patriarch names Berchter and Mann (Mannus-Halfdan).\nIn the case of Manu and Mann no explanation is necessary. Here the\nidentity of sound agrees with the identity of origin. The descendants\nof Bhrigu and of his contemporary Bhriguians, are called Bhargavans,\nwhich corroborates the conclusion that Bhrigu is derived from _bharg_\n\"to shine,\" whence is derived the ancient Teutonic _berhta_, \"bright,\"\n\"clear,\" \"light,\" the Old Saxon _berht_, the Anglo-Saxon _beorht_, which\nreoccurs in the Teutonic patriarch _Berchter_, which again is actually\n(not linguistically) identical with the Norse _Borgarr_. By Bhrigu's side\nstands Manu, just as Mann (Halfdan) is co-ordinate with Borgar.\n\nPoint by point the descriptions of Agni and Heimdal also correspond in\nregard to their divine natures and attributes. Agni is the great holy\n_white_ god; Heimdal is _mikill_ and _heilagr_, and is called _hviti\n\u00e1ss_ (Younger Edda) or \"the whitest of the Asas\" (Thrymskv., 15). While\nAgni as the fire-god has golden teeth, Heimdal certainly for the same\nreason bears the epithet _gullintanni_, \"the one with the golden teeth.\"\nAgni has white horses. In Ulf Uggeson's poem about the work of art in\nHjardarholt, Heimdal rides his horse _Gulltoppr_, whose name reflects its\nsplendour. While Agni's searching eyes can see in the distance and can\npenetrate the gloom of night, it is said of Heimdal that _hann s\u00e9r jafnt\nn\u00f3tt sem dag hundrad rasta fr\u00e1 s\u00e9r_. While Agni perceives everything,\neven the inaudible motions in the growing of herbs and animals; while\nhe penetrates and diffuses himself in plants and animals, it is said of\nHeimdal that he _heyrir ok that, er gras vex \u00e1 jordu eda ull \u00e1 saudum_.\nWhile Agni--it is not stated by what means--is able to produce a noise\nlike thunder which re-echoes through both the world-halves, Heimdal has\nthe horn, whose sound all the world shall hear, when Ragnarok is at hand.\nOn a \"circular path,\" Agni observes the beings in the world. Heimdal\nlooks out upon the world from Bifrost. Agni keeps his eye on the deeds\nof the demons, is perpetually on the look-out, and protects the world by\nday and by night from dangers; Heimdal is the watchman of the gods _v\u00f6rdr\ngoda_ (Grimnersmal), needs in his vocation as watchman less sleep than a\nbird, and faithfully guards the Asa-bridge against the giants. Agni is\nborn of several mothers; Heimdal has mothers nine. Agni is \"the fast\ntraveller,\" who, in the human abodes he visits, opens a way for prayer\nand sacrifice (Rigv., vii. 13, 3); in Rigsmal, Heimdal has the same\nepithet, \"the fast traveller,\" _r\u00f6skr Stigandi_, as he goes from house to\nhouse and teaches men the \"runes of eternity\" and \"the runes of time.\"\n\nThe only discrepancy is in the animal symbols by which Agni and Heimdal\nare designated. The bull is Agni's symbol, the ram is Heimdal's. Both\nsymbols are chosen from the domestic animals armed with horns, and the\ndifference is linguistically of such a kind, that it to some extent may\nbe said to corroborate the evidence in regard to Agni's and Heimdal's\nidentity. In the old Norse poetry, _Vedr_ (wether, ram), _Heimdali_ and\nthe Heimdal epithet _Hallinskidi_, are synonymous. The word _vedr_,\naccording to Fick (W\u00f6rterb., iii. 307), can be traced to an ancient\nTeutonic _vethru_, the real meaning of which is \"yearling,\" a young\ndomestic animal in general, and it is related to the Latin _vitulus_ and\nthe Sanscrit _vatsala_, \"calf.\" If this is correct, then we also see\nthe lines along which one originally common symbol of a domestic animal\ndeveloped into two and among the Rigveda Aryans settled on the \"yearling\"\nof the cow, and among the Teutons on that of the sheep. It should here be\nremarked that according to Ammianus Marcellinus (xix. 1) the tiara of the\nPersian kings was ornamented with a golden ram's-head. That Agni's span\nof horses were transformed into Heimdal's riding horse was also a result\nof time and circumstances. In Rigveda, riding and cavalry are unknown;\nthere the horses of the gods draw the divine chariots. In the Teutonic\nmythology the draught horses are changed into riding horses, and chariots\noccur only exceptionally.\n\nWe have reason to be surprised at finding that the Aryan-Asiatic myths\nand the Teutonic have so broad surfaces of contact, on which not only\nthe main outlines but even the details completely resemble each other.\nBut the fact is not inexplicable. The hymns, the songs of the divine\nworship and of the sacrifices of the Rigveda Aryans, have been preserved,\nbut the epic-mythological poems are lost, so that there remains the\ndifficult task of reconstructing out of the former a clear and concise\nmythology, freed from \"dissolving views\" in which their mythic characters\nnow blend into each other. The Teutonic mythology has had an opposite\nfate: here the genuine religious songs, the hymns of divine worship and\nof sacrifices, are lost, and there remain fragments of the mighty divine\nepic of the Teutons. But thus we have also been robbed of the opportunity\nof studying those very songs which in a higher degree than the epic are\nable to preserve through countless centuries ancient mythical traits; for\nthe hymns belong to the divine worship, popular customs are long-lived,\nand the sacred customs are more conservative and more enduring than all\nothers, if they are not disturbed by revolutions in the domain of faith.\nIf an epithet of a god, _e.g._, \"the fast traveller,\" has once become\nfixed by hymns and been repeated in the divine service year after year,\nthen, in spite of the gradual transformation of the languages and the\ntypes of the race, it may be preserved through hundreds and thousands\nof years. Details of this kind may in this manner survive the ravages of\ntime just as well as the great outlines of the mythology, and if there be\na gradual change as to signification, then this is caused by the change\nof language, which may make an old expression unintelligible or give it\nanother meaning based on the association of ideas.\n\nFrom all this I am forced to draw the conclusion that Heimdal, like\nseveral other Teutonic gods--for example, Odin (Wodan, Rigveda's\nVata)--belongs to the ancient Aryan age, and retained, even to the\ndecay of the Teutonic heathendom his ancient character as the personal\nrepresentative of the sacred fire, the fire produced by friction, and, in\nthis connection, as the representative of the oldest culture connected\nwith the introduction of fire.\n\nThis also explains Heimdal's epithet _Vindler_, in Cod. Reg. of the\nYounger Edda (i. 266, 608). The name is a subform of _vindill_ and comes\nfrom _vinda_, to twist or turn, wind, to turn anything around rapidly. As\nthe epithet \"the turner\" is given to that god who brought friction-fire\n(bore-fire) to man, and who is himself the personification of this fire,\nthen it must be synonymous with \"the borer.\"\n\nA synonym of Heimdal's epithet _Stigandi_, \"the traveller,\" is _Rati_,\n\"the traveller,\" from _rata_, \"to travel,\" \"to move about.\" Very\nstrangely, this verb (originally _vrata_, Goth. _vr\u00e2ton_, to travel,\nmake a journey) can be traced to an ancient Teutonic word which meant to\nturn or twist, or something of the sort (Fick, _W\u00f6rterb._, iii. 294).\nAnd, so far as the noun _Rati_ is concerned, this signification has\ncontinued to flourish in the domain of mythology after it long seems to\nhave been extinct in the domain of language. Havam\u00e1l (106), Grimnersmal\n(32), and Bragar\u00e6dur testify each in its own way that the mythical name\n_Rati_ was connected with a boring activity. In Havam\u00e1l \"Rate's mouth\"\ngnaws the tunnel through which Odin, in the guise of an eagle, flies away\nwith the mead-treasure concealed in the \"deep dales\" at Fjalar's under\nthe roots of the world-tree. In the allegorical Grimnersmal strophe it\nis \"Rate's tooth\" (_Ratatoskr_) who lets the mead-drinking foe of the\ngods near the root of the world-tree find out what the eagle in the top\nof the world-tree (Odin) resolves and carries out in regard to the same\ntreasure. In Bragar\u00e6dur the name is given to the gimlet itself which\nproduced the connection between Odin's world and Fjalar's halls. The\ngimlet has here received the name of the boring \"traveller,\" of him\nwho is furnished with \"golden teeth.\" Hence there are good reasons for\nassuming that in the epic of the myth it was Heimdal-Gullintanne himself\nwhose fire-gimlet helped Odin to fly away with his precious booty. In\nRigveda Agni plays the same part. The \"tongue of Agni\" has the same task\nthere as \"Rate's mouth\" in our Norse records. The sacred mead of the\nliquids of nourishment was concealed in the womb of the mountain with\nthe Dasyus, hostile to the world; but Agni split the mountain open with\nhis tongue, his ray of light penetrated into the darkness where the\nliquids of nourishment were preserved, and through him they were brought\nto the light of day, after Trita (in some passages of Rigveda identical\nwith Vata) had slain a giant monster and found the \"cows of the son of\nthe work-master\" (cp. Rigveda, v. 14, 4; viii. 61, 4-8; x. 8, 6-9).\n\"The cows of the son of the work-master\" is a paraphrase for the saps\nof nourishment. In the Teutonic mythology there is also \"a son of the\nwork-master,\" who is robbed of the mead. Fjalar is a son of Surt, whose\ncharacter as an ancient artist is evident from what is stated in Nos. 53\nand 89.\n\nBy friction Mataricvan brought Agni out of the maternal wombs in which\nhe was concealed as an embryo of light and warmth. Heimdal was born to\nlife in a similar manner. His very place of nativity indicates this.\nHis mothers have their abodes _vid jardar thraum_ (Hyndl., 35) near the\nedge of the earth, on the outer rim of the earth, and that is where\nthey gave him life (_b\u00e1ru thann man vid jardar thraum_). His mothers\nare giantesses (_iotna meyjar_), and nine in number. We have already\nfound giantesses, nine in number, mentioned as having their activity on\nthe outer edge of the earth--namely, those who with the _m\u00f6ndull_, the\nhandle, turn the vast friction-mechanism, the world-mill of Mundilfore.\nThey are the _n\u00edu br\u00fadir of Eyludr_, \"the Isle-grinder\" mentioned by\nSn\u00e6bjorn (see above). These nine giant-maids, who along the outer zone of\nthe earth (_fyrir jordar skauti_) push the mill's sweep before themselves\nand grind the coasts of the islands, are the same nine giant-maids who\non the outer zone of the earth gave birth to Heimdal, the god of the\nfriction-fire. Hence one of Heimdal's mothers is in Hyndluljod called\n_Angeyja_, \"she who makes the islands closer,\" and another one is called\n_Eyrgjafa_, \"she who gives sandbanks.\" _Mundilf\u00f6ri_, who is the father\nof Sol and Mane, and has the care of the motions of the starry heavens\nis accordingly also, though in another sense, the father of Heimdal\nthe pure, holy fire to whom the glittering objects in the skies must\nnaturally be regarded as akin.\n\nIn Hyndluljod (37) Heimdal's nine giant-mothers are named: _Gj\u00e1lp_,\n_Greip_, _Eistla_, _Eyrgjafa_, _Ulfrun_, _Angeyja_, _Imdr_, _Atla_,\n_J\u00e1rnsaxa_. The first two are daughters of the fire-giant Geirrod\n(Younger Edda, i. 288). To fire refers also _Imdr_, from _\u00edm, embers_.\nTwo of the names, _Angeyja_ and _Eyrgjafa_, as already shown, indicate\nthe occupation of these giantesses in connection with the world-mill.\nThis is presumably also the case with _J\u00e1rnsaxa_, \"she who crushes the\niron.\" The iron which our heathen fathers worked was produced from\nthe sea- and swamp-iron mixed with sand and clay, and could therefore\nproperly be regarded as a grist of the world-mill.\n\nHeimdal's antithesis in all respects, and therefore also his constant\nopponent in the mythological epic, is Loke, he too a fire-being, but\nrepresenting another side of this element. Natural agents such as fire,\nwater, wind, cold, heat, and thunder have in the Teutonic mythology\na double aspect. When they work in harmony, each within the limits\nwhich are fixed by the welfare of the world and the happiness of man,\nthen they are sacred forces and are represented by the gods. But when\nthese limits are transgressed, giants are at work, and the turbulent\nelements are represented by beings of giant-race. This is also true\nof thunder, although it is the common view among mythologists that it\nwas regarded exclusively as a product of Thor's activity. The genuine\nmythical conception was, however, that the thunder which purifies the\natmosphere and fertilises the thirsty earth with showers of rain, or\nstrikes down the foes of Midgard, came from Thor; while that which\nsplinters the sacred trees, sets fire to the woods and houses, and kills\nmen that have not offended the gods, came from the foes of the world. The\nblaze-element (see No. 35) was not only in the possession of the gods,\nbut also in that of the giants (Skirnersmal), and the lightning did not\nproceed alone from Mjolner, but was also found in Hrungner's _hein_ and\nin Geirrod's glowing javelin. The conflicts between Thor and the giants\nwere not only on _terra firma_, as when Thor made an expedition on foot\nto Jotunheim, but also in the air. There were giant-horses that were able\nto wade with force and speed through the atmosphere, as, for instance,\nHrungner's _Gullfaxi_ (Younger Edda, i. 270), and these giant-horses\nwith their shining manes, doubtless, were expected to carry their riders\nto the lightning-conflict in space against the lightning-hurler, Thor.\nThe thunder-storm was frequently a _vig thrimu_, a conflict between\nthundering beings, in which the lightnings hurled by the ward of Midgard,\nthe son of Hlodyn, crossed the lightnings hurled by the foes of Midgard.\n\nLoke and his brothers _Helblindi_ and _Byl-eistr_ are the children of a\ngiant of this kind, of a giant representing the hurricane and thunder.\nThe rain-torrents and waterspouts of the hurricane, which directly or\nindirectly became wedded to the sea through the swollen streams, gave\nbirth to Helblinde, who, accordingly, received _R\u00e1n_ as his \"maid\"\n(Yngl., 51). The whirlwind in the hurricane received as his ward\n_Byleistr_, whose name is composed of _bylr_, \"whirlwind,\" and _eistr_,\n\"the one dwelling in the east\" (the north), a paraphrase for \"giant.\" A\nthunderbolt from the hurricane gave birth to Loke. His father is called\n_F\u00e1rbauti_, \"the one inflicting harm,\" and his mother is _Laufey_, \"the\nleaf-isle,\" a paraphrase for the tree-crown (Younger Edda, 104, 268).\nThus Loke is the son of the burning and destructive lightning, the son\nof him who particularly inflicts damaging blows on the sacred oaks (see\nNo. 36) and sets fire to the groves. But the violence of the father\ndoes not appear externally in the son's character. He long prepares the\nconflagration of the world in secret, and not until he is put in chains\ndoes he exhibit, by the earthquakes he produces, the wild passion of\nhis giant nature. As a fire-being, he was conceived as handsome and\nyouthful. From an ethical point of view, the impurity of the flame which\nhe represents is manifested by his unrestrained sensuousness. After\nhe had been for ever exiled from the society of the gods and had been\nfettered in his cave of torture, his exterior, which was in the beginning\nbeautiful, became transformed into an expression of his intrinsic\nwickedness, and his hair grew out in the form of horny spears (see\nabove). In this too he reveals himself as a counterpart of Heimdal, whose\nhelmet is ornamented with a glittering ram's horn.\n\n\n83.\n\n MUNDILFORE'S IDENTITY WITH LODUR.\n\nThe position which we have found Mundilfore to occupy indicates that,\nalthough not belonging to the powers dwelling in Asgard, he is one of\nthe chief gods of the Teutonic mythology. All natural phenomena, which\nappear to depend on a fixed mechanical law and not on the initiative of\nany mighty will momentarily influencing the events of the world, seem to\nhave been referred to his care. The mythology of the Teutons, like that\nof the Rigveda-Aryans, has had gods of both kinds--gods who particularly\nrepresent that order in the physical and moral world which became fixed\nin creation, and which, under normal conditions, remain entirely uniform,\nand gods who particularly represent the powerful temporary interference\nfor the purpose of restoring this order when it has been disturbed, and\nfor the purpose of giving protection and defence to their worshippers in\ntimes of trouble and danger. The latter are in their very nature war-gods\nalways ready for battle, such as Vita and Indra in Rigveda, Odin and\nThor-Indride in the Eddas; and they have their proper abode in a group\nof fortified celestial citadels like Asgard, whence they have their\nout-look upon the world they have to protect--the atmosphere and Midgard.\nThe former, on the other hand, have their natural abode in Jormungrund's\nouter zone and in the lower world, whence the world-tree grew, and where\nthe fountains are found whose liquids penetrate creation, and where that\nwisdom had its source of which Odin only, by self-sacrifice, secured\na part. Down there dwell, accordingly, Urd and Mimer, Nat and Dag,\nMundilfore with the dises of the sun and the moon, Delling, the genius of\nthe glow of dawn, and Billing, the genius of the blushing sunset. There\ndwell the smiths of antiquity who made the chariots of the sun and moon\nand smithied the treasures of vegetation. There dwell the _nidjar_ who\nrepresent the moon's waxing and waning; there the seven sons of Mimer\nwho represent the changing seasons (see No. 87). Mundilfore is the lord\nof the regular revolutions of the starry firmament, and of the regular\nrising and sinking of the sea in its ebb and flood. He is the father\nof the dises of the sun and moon, who make their celestial journeys\naccording to established laws; and, finally, he is the origin of the holy\nfire; he is father of Heimdal, who introduced among men a systematic\nlife in homes fixed and governed by laws. As the father of Heimdal, the\nVana-god, Mundilfore is himself a Vana-god, belonging to the oldest\nbranch of this race, and in all probability one of those \"wise rulers\"\nwho, according to Vafthrudnersmal, \"created Njord in Vanaheim and sent\nhim as a hostage to the gods (the Asas).\"\n\nWhence came the clans of the Vans and the Elves? It should not have\nescaped the notice of the mythologists that the Teutonic theogony, as\nfar as it is known, mentions only two progenitors of the mythological\nraces--_Ymer_ and _Bure_. From Ymer develop the two very different\nraces of giants, the offspring of his arms and that of his feet (see\nNo. 86)--in other words, the noble race to which the norns Mimer and\nBeistla belong, and the ignoble, which begins with Thrudgelmer. _Bure_\ngives birth to _Burr_ (Bor), and the latter has three sons--_Odinn_,\n_Vei (V\u00e9)_, and _Vili (Vilir)_. Unless Bure had more sons, the Van- and\nElf-clans have no other theogonic source than the same as the Asa-clan,\nnamely, _Burr_. That the hierologists of the Teutonic mythology did not\nleave the origin of these clans unexplained we are assured by the very\nexistence of a Teutonic theogony, together with the circumstance that\nthe more thoroughly our mythology is studied the more clearly we see\nthat this mythology has desired to answer every question which could\nreasonably be asked of it, and in the course of ages it developed into\na systematic and epic whole with clear outlines sharply drawn in all\ndetails. To this must be added the important observation that _Vei_ and\n_Vili_, though brothers of Odin, are never counted among the Asas proper,\nand had no abode in Asgard. It is manifest that Odin himself with his\nsons founds the Asa-race, that, in other words, he is a clan-founder\nin which this race has its chieftain, and that his brothers, for this\nvery reason, could not be included in his clan. There is every reason to\nassume that they, like him, were clan-founders; and as we find besides\nthe Asa-clan two other races of gods, this of itself makes it probable\nthat Odin's two brothers were their progenitors and clan-chieftains.\n\nOdin's brothers, like himself, had many names. When V\u00f6luspa says that\nOdin, in the creation of man, was assisted by Honer and Loder, and when\nthe Younger Edda (i. 52) says that, on this occasion, he was attended\nby his brothers, who just before (i. 46) are called Ve and Vile, then\nthese are only different names of the same powers. Honer and Loder are Ve\nand Vile. It is a mistake to believe that Odin's brothers were mythical\nghosts without characteristic qualities, and without prominent parts\nin the mythological events after the creation of the world and of man,\nin which we know they took an active part (V\u00f6luspa, 4, 16, 17). The\nassumption that this was the case depends simply upon the fact that they\nhave not been found mentioned among the Asas, and that our records, when\nnot investigated with proper thoroughness, and when the mythological\nsynonymics have not been carefully examined, seem to have so little to\nsay concerning them.\n\nDanish genealogies, Saxo's included, which desire to go further back in\nthe genealogy of the Skjoldungs than to Skjold, the eponym of the race,\nmention before him a King Lotherus. There is no doubt that Lotherus,\nlike his descendants, Skjold, Halfdan, and Hadding, is taken from the\nmythology. But in our mythic records there is only one name of which\nLotherus can be a Latinised form, and this name is, as M\u00fcller (_Not\u00e6\nulterior ad Saxonis Hist._) has already pointed out, _Lodurr_.\n\nIt has above been demonstrated (see Nos. 20, 21, 22) that the\nanthropomorphous Vana-god Heimdal was by Vana-gods sent as a child to the\nprimeval Teutonic country, to give to the descendants of Ask and Embla\nthe holy fire, tools, and implements, the runes, the laws of society,\nand the rules for religious worship. It has been demonstrated that,\nas an anthropomorphous god and first patriarch, he is identical with\nScef-Rig, the Scyld of the Beowulf poem, that he becomes the father of\nthe other original patriarch Skjold, and the grandfather of Halfdan. It\nhas likewise been demonstrated (No. 82) that Heimdal, the personified\nsacred fire, is the son of the fire-producer (by friction) Mundilfore,\nin the same manner as Agni is the son of Matari\u00e7van. From all this it\nfollows that when the authors of mythic genealogies related as history\nwish to get further back in the Skjoldung genealogy than to the Beowulf\nSkjold, that is to say, further back than to the original patriarch\nHeimdal, then they must go to that mythic person who is Heimdal's father,\nthat is to say, to Mundilfore, the fire-producer. Mundilfore is the one\nwho appears in the Latinised name Lotherus. In other words, Mundilfore,\nthe fire-producer, is _Lodurr_. For the name _Lodurr_ there is no other\nrational explanation than that which Jacob Grimm, without knowing his\nposition in the epic of mythology, has given, comparing the name with the\nverb lodern, \"to blaze.\" _Lodurr_ is active in its signification, \"he who\ncauses or produces the blaze,\" and thus refers to the origin of fire,\nparticularly of the friction-fire and of the bore-fire.\n\nFurther on (Nos. 90, 91, 92, 121, 123) I shall give an account of the\nward of the atmosphere, _Gevarr (N\u00f6kkvi, N\u00e6fr)_, and demonstrate that\nhe is identical with Mundilfore, the revolver of the starry firmament.\nAll that Saxo tells about Lotherus is explained by the character of\nthe latter as the chieftain of a Vana-clan, and by his identity with\n_Mundilf\u00f6ri-Gevarr_. As a chieftain of the Vans he was their leader\nwhen the war broke out between the Asas on the one side, and the Vans\nand Elves on the other. The banishment of Odin and the Asas by the Vans\ncauses Saxo to say that Lotherus banished from the realm persons who were\nhis equals in noble birth (_nobilitate pares_), and whom he regarded\nas competitors in regard to the government. It is also stated that he\ntook the power from an elder brother, but spared his life, although he\nrobbed him of the sceptre. The brother here referred to is not, however,\nOdin, but _H\u00e6nir (Vei)_. The character of the one deposed is gentle and\nwithout any greed for rule like that by which Honer is known. Saxo says\nof him that he so patiently bore the injustice done him that he seemed to\nbe pleased therewith as with a kindness received (_ceterum injuri\u00e6 tam\npatiens fuit, ut honoris damno tanquam beneficio gratulari crederetur_).\nThe reason why Honer, at the outbreak of the war with the Asas, is\ndeposed from his dignity as the ruler of Vanaheim and is succeeded by\nLoder, is explained by the fact that he, like Mimer, remained devoted to\nthe cause of Odin. In spite of the confused manner in which the troubles\nbetween the Asas and Vans are presented in Heimskringla, it still appears\nthat, before the war between the Asas and Vans, Honer was the chief of\nthe latter on account of an old agreement between the two god-clans;\nthat he then always submitted to the counsels of the wise Mimer, Odin's\nfriend; that Mimer lost his life in the service of Odin, and that the\nVans sent his head to Odin; and, finally, that, at the outbreak of\nthe feud with the Asas and after the death of Mimer, they looked upon\nHoner as unqualified to be their judge and leader. Thus Loder becomes\nafter Honer the ruler of Vanaheim and the chieftain of the Vans, while\nthe Vans Njord, Frey, and the Elf Ull, who had already been adopted\nin Asgard, administer the affairs of the rest of the world. To the\nmythical circumstance, that Honer lost his throne and his power points\nalso V\u00f6luspa, the poem restoring to the gentle and patient Vana-god,\nafter the regeneration, the rights of which he had been robbed, _th\u00e1 kn\u00e1\nH\u00e6nir hlautvid kjosa_ (str. 60). \"Then Honer becomes able to choose the\nlot-wood,\" that is to say, he is permitted to determine and indicate\nthe fortunes of those consulting the oracle; in other words, then he is\nagain able to exercise the rights of a god. In the Eddas, Honer appears\nas Odin's companion on excursions from Asgard. Skaldskaparmal, which does\nnot seem to be aware that Honer was Odin's brother, still is conscious\nthat he was intimately connected with him and calls him his _sessi_,\n_sinni_, and _m\u00e1li_ (Younger Edda, i. 266). During the war between Asas\nand Vans, Frigg espoused the cause of the Vans (see No. 36); hence Loke's\ninsulting words to her (Lokasenna, 26), and the tradition in Heimskringla\n(Yngl., 3), that Vilir and Vei took Frigg to themselves once when Odin\nwas far away from Asgard.\n\nSaxo makes Lotherus fall at the hands of conspirators. The explanation of\nthis statement is to be sought in _Mundilf\u00f6ri-Gevarr's_ fate, of which,\nsee Nos. 91, 123.\n\nMundilfore's character seems at least in one respect to be the opposite\nof Honer's. Gylfaginning speaks of his _ofdrambi_, his pride, founded,\naccording to this record, on the beauty of his children. Saxo mentions\nthe _insolentia_ of Lotherus, and one of his surnames was _Dulsi_, the\nproud. See No. 89, where a strophe is quoted, in which the founder of\nthe Swedish Skilfing race (the Ynglings) is called _Dulsa knor_, Dulse's\ndescendant. As was shown above in the account of the myth about Scef, the\nSkjoldungs, too, are Skilfings. Both these branches of the race have a\ncommon origin; and as the genealogy of the Skjoldungs can be traced back\nto Heimdal, and beyond him to Mundilfore, it must be this personality who\nis mentioned for his _ofdrambi_, that bears the surname _Dulsi_.\n\nWith Odin, _Vei-H\u00f6ner_ and _Vili-Lodurr-Mundilf\u00f6ri_ have participated\nin the shaping of the world as well as in the creation of man. Of the\npart they took in the latter act, and of the importance they thereby\nacquired in the mythical anthropology, and especially in the conceptions\nconcerning the continued creation of man by generation and birth, see No.\n95.\n\n\n84.\n\n NAT, THE MOTHER OF THE GODS.\n\nIt has already been shown above that Nat, the mother of the gods, has her\nhall in the northern part of Mimer's realm, below the southern slopes of\nthe Nida mountains.\n\nThere has been, and still is, an interpretation of the myths as symbols.\nLight is regarded as the symbol of moral goodness, and darkness as that\nof moral evil. That there is something psychologically correct in this\ncannot be denied; but in regard to the Aryan religions the assumption\nwould lead to a great error, if, as we might be tempted to do, we should\nmake night identical with darkness, and should refer her to the world\nof evil. In the mythologies of the Rigveda-Aryans and of the Teutons,\nNat is an awe-inspiring, adorable, noble, and beneficent being. Night is\nsaid in Rigveda \"to have a fair face, to increase riches, and to be one\nof the mothers of order.\" None of the phenomena of nature seemed to the\nTeutons evil _per se_; only when they transgressed what was thought to be\ntheir lawful limits, and thus produced injury and harm, were giant-powers\nbelieved to be active therein. Although the Teutonic gods are in a\nconstant, more or less violent conflict with the powers of frost, still\nwinter, when it observes its limits of time, is not an evil but a good\ndivinity, and the cold liquids of Hvergelmer mixed with those of Urd's\nand Mimer's fountains are necessary to the world-tree. Still less could\nnight be referred to the domain of demons. Mother Nat never transgresses\nthe borders of her power; she never defies the sacred laws, which are\nestablished for the order of the universe. According to the seasons\nof the year, she divides in an unvarying manner the twenty-four hours\nbetween herself and day. Work and rest must alternate with each other.\nRich in blessing, night comes with solace to the weary, and seeks if\npossible to sooth the sufferer with a potion of slumber. Though sombre in\nappearance (Gylfy., 10), still she is the friend of light. She decorates\nherself with lunar effulgence and with starry splendour, with winning\ntwilight in midsummer, and with the light of snow and of northern aurora\nin the winter. The following lines in Sigrdrifumal (str., 3, 4) sound\nlike a reverberation from the lost liturgic hymns of our heathendom.\n\n Heill Dagr, Hail Dag,\n heilir Dags synir, Hail Dag's sons,\n heil Nott ok Nipt! Hail Nat and Nipt!\n Oreithom augom Look down upon us\n litith ocr thinig With benevolent eyes\n oc gefit sitiondom r\u00e8gr! And give victory to the sitting!\n Heilir \u00e6sir, Hail Asas,\n heilar asynjor, Hail Asynjes,\n heil sia in fiolnyta fold! Hail bounteous earth!\n\nOf the Germans in the first century after Christ, Tacitus writes\n(_Germ._, 3): \"They do not, as we, compute time by days but by nights,\nnight seems to lead the day\" (_nec dierum numerum, ut nos, sed noctium\ncomputant: nox ducere diem videtur_). This was applicable to the\nScandinavians as far down as a thousand years later. Time was computed\nby nights not by days, and in the phrases from heathen times, _n\u00f3tt ok\ndagr_, _n\u00f3tt med degi b\u00e6di um n\u00e6tr ok um daga_, night is named before\nday. Linguistic usage and mythology are here intimately associated with\neach other. According to Vafthrudnersmal (25) and Gylfaginning (10), Nat\nbore with Delling the son Dag, with whom she divided the administration\nof the twenty-four hours. Delling is the elf of the morning red (see No.\n35). The symbolism of nature is here distinct as in all theogonies.\n\nThrough other divinities, _Naglfari_ and _\u00d3narr_ (_Anarr_, _Aunarr_), Nat\nis the mother with the former of _Unnr (Udr)_, also called _Audr_, with\nthe latter of the goddess Jord, Odin's wife. _Unnr_ means water, _Audr_\nmeans rich. It has above been shown that _Unnr-Audr_ is identical with\nNjord, the lord of wealth and commerce, who in the latter capacity became\nthe protector of navigators, and to whom sacrifices were offered for a\nprosperous voyage. Gods of all clans--Asas, Vans, and Elves--are thus\nakin to Nat, and are descended from her.\n\n\n85.\n\n NARFI, NAT'S FATHER, IDENTICAL WITH MIMER. A PSEUDO-NARFI IN\n THE YOUNGER EDDA.\n\nNat herself is the daughter of a being whose name has many forms.\n\n _Naurr_, _N\u00f6rr_ (dative _Naurvi_, _N\u00f6rvi_, _Nott var Naurvi\n borin_--Vafthrudnersmal, 25; _Nott_, _Naurvi\n kenda_--Alvism., 29).\n\n _Narfi_, _Narvi_ (_niderfi Narfa_--Egil Skallagr., 56, 2;\n Gylfag., 10).\n\n _Norvi_, _N\u00f6rvi_ (Gylfag., 10; _kund N\u00f6rva_--Forspjallsl., 7).\n\n _Nj\u00f6rfi_, _Nj\u00f6rvi_ (Gylfag., 10; _Nj\u00f6rva nipt_--Sonatorr.).\n\n _Nori_ (Gylfag., 10).\n\n _Nari_ (H\u00f6fudl., 10).\n\n _Neri_ (Helge Hund., 1).\n\nAll these variations are derived from the same original appellation,\nrelated to the Old Norse verb _nj\u00f6rva_, the Old English _nearwian_\nmeaning \"the one that binds,\" \"the one who puts on tight-fitting bonds.\"\n\nSimply the circumstance that Narve is Nat's father proves that he must\nhave occupied one of the most conspicuous positions in the Teutonic\ncosmogony. In all cosmogonies and theogonies night is one of the oldest\nbeings, older than light, without which it cannot be conceived. Light\nis kindled in the darkness, thus foreboding an important epoch in the\ndevelopment of the world out of chaos. The being which is night's\nfather must therefore be counted among the oldest in the cosmogony. The\npersonified representatives of water and earth, like the day, are the\nchildren of his daughter.\n\nWhat Gylfaginning tells of Narve is that he was of giant birth, and the\nfirst one who inhabited Jotunheim (_Norvi eda Narfi h\u00e9t j\u00f6tun, er bygdi\nfyrst Jotunheima_--Gylfag., 10). In regard to this we must remember that,\nin Gylfaginning and in the traditions of the Icelandic sagas, the lower\nworld is embraced in the term Jotunheim, and this for mythical reasons,\nsince Nifelheim is inhabited by rimthurses and giants (see No. 60), and\nsince the regions of bliss are governed by Mimer and by the norns, who\nalso are of giant descent. As the father of the lower-world dis, Nat,\nNarve himself belongs to that group of powers, with which the mythology\npeopled the lower world. The upper Jotunheim did not exist before in a\nlater epoch of the cosmogonic development. It was created simultaneously\nwith Midgard by Odin and his brothers (Gylfaginning).\n\nIn a strophe by Egil Skallagrimson (ch. 56), poetry, or the source of\npoetry, is called _niderfi Narfa_, \"the inheritance left by Narve to\nhis descendants.\" As is well known, Mimer's fountain is the source\nof poetry. The expression indicates that the first inhabitant of the\nlower world, Narve, also presided over the precious fountain of wisdom\nand inspiration, and that he died and left it to his descendants as an\ninheritance.\n\nFinally, we learn that Narve was a near kinsman to Urd and her sisters.\nThis appears from the following passages:\n\n(_a_) Helge Hundingsbane (1, 3, ff.). When Helge was born norns came in\nthe night to the abode of his parents, twisted the threads of his fate,\nstretched them from east to west, and fastened them beneath the hall of\nthe moon. One of the threads _nipt Nera_ cast to the north and bade it\nhold for ever. It is manifest that by Nere's (Narve's) kinswoman is meant\none of the norns present.\n\n(_b_) Sonatorr. (str. 24). The skald Egil Skallagrimson, weary of life,\ncloses his poem by saying that he sees the dis of death standing on the\nness (Digraness) near the grave-mound which conceals the dust of his\nfather and of his sons, and is soon to receive him:\n\n Tveggja b\u00e1ga The kinswoman of Njorve (the binder)\n Nj\u00f6rva nipt of Odin's (Tvegge's) foes\n a nesi stendr. stands on the ness.\n Skal ek th\u00f3 gladr Then shall I be glad,\n med g\u00f3dan vilja with a good will,\n ok \u00fahryggr and without remorse,\n Heljar bida. wait for Hel.\n\nIt goes without saying that the skald means a dis of death, Urd or one of\nher messengers, with the words, \"The kinswoman of Njorve (the binder) of\nOdin's foes,\" whom he with the eye of presentiment sees standing on the\nfamily grave-mound on Digraness. She is not to stop there, but she is to\ncontinue her way to his hall, to bring him to the grave-mound. He awaits\nher coming with gladness, and as the last line shows, she whose arrival\nhe awaits is Hel, the goddess of death or fate. It has already been\ndemonstrated that Hel in the heathen records is always identical with Urd.\n\nNjorve is here used both as a proper and a common noun. \"The kinswoman of\nthe Njorve of Odin's foes\" means \"the kinswoman of the binder of Odin's\nfoes.\" Odin's foe Fenrer was bound with an excellent chain smithied in\nthe lower world (dwarfs in _Svartalfheimr_--Gylfag., 37), and as shall be\nshown later, there are more than one of Odin's foes who are bound with\nNarve's chains (see No. 87).\n\n(_c_) _Hofudlausn_ (str. 10). Egil Skallagrimson celebrates in song a\nvictory won by Erik Blood-axe, and says of the battle-field that there\n_trad nipt Nara n\u00e1ttverd ara_ (\"Nare's kinswoman trampled upon the supper\nof the eagles,\" that is to say, upon the dead bodies of the fallen). The\npsychopomps of disease, of age, and of misfortunes have nothing to do on\na battle-field. Thither come valkyries to fetch the elect. _Nipt Nara_\nmust therefore be a valkyrie, whose horse tramples upon the heaps of dead\nbodies; and as Egil names only one shield-maid of that kind, he doubtless\nhas had the most representative, the most important one in mind. That one\nis Skuld, Urd's sister, and thus a _nipt Nara_ like Urd herself.\n\n(_d_) Ynglingatal (Ynglingasaga, ch. 20). Of King Dygve, who died from\ndisease, it is said that _j\u00f3dis Narva_ (_j\u00f3dis Nara_) chose him. The\nright to choose those who die from disease belongs to the norns alone\n(see No. 69). _J\u00f3dis_, a word doubtless produced by a vowel change from\nthe Old Germanic _idis_, has already in olden times been interpreted\npartly as horse-dis (from _j\u00f3r_, horse), partly as the dis of one's\nkin (from _jod_, child, offspring). In this case the skald has taken\nadvantage of both significations. He calls the death-dis _ulfs ok Narva\nj\u00f3dis_, the wolf's horse-dis, Narve's kin-dis. In regard to the former\nsignification, it should be remembered that the wolf is horse for all\ngiantesses, the honoured norns not excepted. Cp. _grey norna_ as a\nparaphrase for wolf.\n\nThus what our mythic records tell us about Narve is:\n\n(_a_) He is one of the oldest beings of theogony, older than the upper\npart of the world constructed by Bur's sons.\n\n(_b_) He is of giant descent.\n\n(_c_) He is father of Nat, father-in-law of Nagelfar, Onar, and of\nDelling, the elf of the rosy dawn; and he is the father of Dag's mother,\nof _Unnr_, and of the goddess Jord, who becomes Odin's wife and Thor's\nmother. Bonds of kinship thus connect him with the Asas and with gods of\nother ranks.\n\n(_d_) He is near akin to the dis of fate and death, Urd and her sisters.\nThe word _nipt_, with which Urd's relation to him is indicated, may mean\nsister, daughter, and sister's daughter, and consequently does not state\nwhich particular one of these it is. It seems upon the whole to have\nbeen applied well-nigh exclusively in regard to mythic persons, and\nparticularly in regard to Urd and her sisters (cp. above: _Nj\u00f6rva nipt_,\n_nipt Nara_, _nipt Nera_), so that it almost acquired the meaning of\ndis or norn. This is evident from Skaldskaparmal, ch. 75: _Nornir heita\nth\u00e6r er naud skapa; Nipt ok Dis n\u00fa eru taldar_, and from the expression\n_Heil N\u00f3tt ok Nipt_ in the above-cited strophe from Sigrdrifumal. There\nis every reason for assuming that the _Nipt_, which is here used as a\nproper noun, in this sense means the dis of fate and as an appellation\nof kinship, a kinswoman of Nat. The common interpretation of _heil N\u00f3tt\nok Nipt_ is \"hail Nat and her daughter,\" and by her daughter is then\nmeant the goddess Jord; but this interpretation is, as Bugge has shown,\nless probable, for the goddess Jord immediately below gets her special\ngreeting in the words: _heil sia in fiolnyta Fold!_ (\"hail the bounteous\nearth!\")\n\n(_e_) As the father of Nat, living in Mimer's realm, and kinsman of\nUrd, who with Mimer divides the dominion over the lower world, Narve is\nhimself a being of the lower world, and the oldest subterranean being;\nthe first one who inhabited Jotunheim.\n\n(_f_) He presided over the subterranean fountain of wisdom and\ninspiration, that is to say, Mimer's fountain.\n\n(_g_) He was Odin's friend and the binder of Odin's foes.\n\n(_h_) He died and left his fountain as a heritage to his descendants.\n\n[Illustration: GEFION AND KING GYLPHI.\n\n(_From an etching by Lorenz Fr\u00f6lich._)\n\nIt is told that once when Gylphi, King of Sweden and Denmark, was sorely\ndistressed, Gefion, \"the giver,\" appeared before him in the form of a\ncharming maiden and so delighted the king with a song, accompanied with\ndulcet notes of her harp, that Gylphi offered to bestow upon her any\nguerdon she might ask. To this proffer the divine Gefion replied, that if\nshe had found so much favor in the eyes of her sovereign as to merit so\ngreat a reward, she asked that as much land might be given her as could\nbe ploughed around by her four bulls in a day and night. Surprised at the\nmodesty of her request Gylphi immediately granted it. Thereupon Gefion\nbrought four wonderful bulls which she harnessed to a plow that had a\nhundred shares and ploughed the sea day and night, raising earth out of\nthe water until the island of Zealand was formed, upon which she built\na castle and established a kingdom. By her magic spells she transformed\nthe four bulls into as many youths, who were indeed her sons by a giant.\nSoon afterwards she married Skj\u00f6ld and became mother of a long line of\nkings.]\n\nAs our investigation progresses it will be found that all these facts\nconcerning Narve apply to Mimer, that \"he who thinks\" (Mimer) and \"he who\nbinds\" (Narve) are the same person. Already the circumstances that Narve\nwas an ancient being of giant descent, that he dwelt in the lower world\nand was the possessor of the fountain of wisdom there, that he was Odin's\nfriend, and that he died and left his fountain as an inheritance (cp.\n_Mims synir_), point definitely to Narve's and Mimer's identity. Thus the\nTeutonic theogony has made Thought the older kinsman of Fate, who through\nNat bears Dag to the world. The people of antiquity made their first\nsteps toward a philosophical view of the world in their theogony.\n\nThe Old English language has preserved and transferred to the Christian\nParadise a name which originally belonged to the subterranean region of\nbliss of heathendom--_Neorxenavang_. _Vang_ means a meadow, plain, field.\nThe mysterious _Neorxena_ looks like a genitive plural. Grein, in his\nAnglo-Saxon Dictionary, and before him Weinhold, refers _neorxena_ to\n_Narve_, _Nare_, and this without a suspicion that _Narve_ was an epithet\nof Mimer and referred to the king of the heathen regions of bliss. I\nconsider this an evidence that Grein's assumption is as correct as it\nis necessary, if upon the whole we are to look for an etymological\nexplanation of the word. The plural genitive, then, means those who\ninhabit Narve's regions of bliss, and receive their appellation from this\ncircumstance. The opposite Old Norse appellation is _njarir_, a word\nwhich I shall discuss below.\n\nTo judge from certain passages in Christian writings of the thirteenth\ncentury, Mimer was not alone about the name Narve, Nare. One or two of\nLoke's sons are supposed to have had the same name. The statements in\nthis regard demand investigation, and, as I think, this will furnish\nanother instructive contribution to the chapter on the confusion of the\nmythic traditions, and on the part that the Younger Edda plays in this\nrespect. The passages are:\n\n(_a_) _The prosaic afterword to Lokasenna_: \"He (Loke) was bound with the\nentrails of his son _Nari_, but his son _Narfi_ was turned into a wolf.\"\n\n(_b_) _Gylfaginning_, ch. 33. (1) _Most of the codices_: \"His (Loke's)\nwife is hight Sygin; their son is _Nari_ or _Narvi_.\"\n\n(2) _Codex Hypnonesiensis_: \"His (Loke's) wife is hight Sygin; his sons\nare hight _Nari_ or _Narvi_ and _Vali_.\"\n\n(_c_) _Gylfaginning_, ch. 50. (1) _Most of the codices:_ \"Then were taken\nLoke's sons _Vali_ and _Nari_ or _Narfi_. The Asas changed _Vali_ into a\nwolf, and the latter tore into pieces his brother _Narfi_. Then the Asas\ntook his entrails and therewith bound Loke.\"\n\n(2) _Codex Upsalensis_: \"Then were taken Loke's sons _Vali_ and _Nari_.\nThe Asas changed _Vali_ into a wolf, and the latter tore into pieces his\nbrother _Nari_.\"\n\n(_d_) _Skaldskaparmal_, ch. 16. (1) \"Loke is the father of the wolf\nFenrer, the Midgard-serpent, and Hel, 'and also of _Nari_ and _Ali_.'\"\n\n(2) _Codex Wormianus_ and _Codex Hypnonesiensis_, 3: \"Loke is father of\nthe Fenris-wolf, of the Midgard-serpent, and of Hel, 'and also of _Nari_\nand _Vali_.'\"\n\nThe mythology has stated that Loke was bound with chains which were\noriginally entrails, and that he who contributed the materials of these\nchains was his own son, who was torn into pieces by his brother in wolf\nguise. It is possible that there is something symbolic in this myth--that\nit originated in the thought that the forces created by evil contend with\neach other and destroy their own parent. There is at least no reason for\ndoubting that this account is a genuine myth, that is to say, that it\ncomes from a heathen source and from some heathen poem.\n\nBut, in regard to the names of Loke's two sons here in question, we have\na perfect right to doubt.\n\nWe discover at once the contradictions betrayed by the records in regard\nto them. The discrepancy of the statements can best be shown by the\nfollowing comparisons. Besides Fenrer, the Midgard-serpent, and Hel, Loke\nhas, according to\n\n Gylfaginning, 33: the son _Nari_, also called No other son\n _Narfi_ is named;\n\n The Prose added to }\n Lokasenna: } the son _Nari_, and the son _Narfi_;\n\n Codex Hypnon. } the son _Nari_, also called\n (Gylfag., 33): } _Narvi_, and the son _Vali_;\n\n Gylfaginning, ch. 50: the son _Nari_, also called and the son _Vali_;\n _Narfi_,\n\n Skaldskaparmal, }\n ch. 16: } the son _Nari_, and the son _Ali_;\n\n The Prose added to }\n Lokasenna: } _Nari_, is torn into pieces by _Narfi_;\n\n Gylfaginning: _Nari-Narfi_ is torn into pieces by _Vali_.\n\nThe discrepancy shows that the author of these statements did not have\nany mythic song or mythic tradition as the source of all these names of\nLoke's sons.\n\nThe matter becomes even more suspicious when we find--\n\nThat the variations Nare and Narve, both of which belong to one of the\nforemost and noblest of mythic beings, namely, to Mimer, are here applied\nin such a manner that they either are given to two sons of Loke or are\nattributed to one and the same Loke-son, while in the latter case it\nhappens--\n\nThat the names Vale and Ale, which both belong to the same Asa-god and\nson of Odin who avenged the death of his brother Balder, are _both_\nattributed to the other son of Loke. Compare Gylfaginning, ch. 30: _Vali\neda Ali heitir einn (Assin) sonr Odins ok Rindar._\n\nHow shall we explain this? Such an application of these names must\nnecessarily produce the suspicion of some serious mistake; but we cannot\nassume that it was made wilfully. The cause must be found somewhere.\n\nIt has already been demonstrated that, in the mythology, Urd, the dis of\nfate, was also the dis of death and the ruler of the lower world, and\nthat the functions belonging to her in this capacity were, in Christian\ntimes, transferred to Loke's daughter, who, together with her functions,\nusurped her name Hel. Loke's daughter and Hel became to the Christian\nmythographers identical.\n\nAn inevitable result was that such expressions as _nipt Nara_, _j\u00f3dis\nNarfa_, _nipt Nj\u00f6rva_, had to change meaning. The _nipt Nj\u00f6rva_, whom\nthe aged Egil saw standing near the grave-mound on Digraness, and whose\narrival he awaited \"with gladness and good-will,\" was no longer the\ndeath-dis Urd, but became to the Christian interpreters the abominable\ndaughter of Loke who came to fetch the old heathen. The _nipt Nara_,\nwhose horse trampled on the battle-field where Erik Blood-axe defeated\nthe Scots, was no longer Urd's sister, the valkyrie Skuld, but became\nLoke's daughter, although, even according to the Christian mythographers,\nthe latter had nothing to do on a battle-field. The _j\u00f3dis Narfa_, who\nchose King Dygve, was confounded with _Loka m\u00e6r_, who had him _leikinn_\n(see No. 67), but who, according to the heathen conception, was a\nmaid-servant of fate, without the right of choosing. To the heathens\n_nipt Nara_, _nipt Nj\u00f6rva_, _j\u00f3dis Narfa_, meant \"Nare-Mimer's kinswoman\nUrd.\" To the mythographers of the thirteenth century it must, for the\nreason stated, have meant the Loke-daughter as sister of a certain Nare\nor Narve. It follows that this Nare or Narve ought to be a son of Loke,\nsince his sister was Loke's daughter. It was known that Loke besides\nFenrer and the Midgard-serpent, had two other sons, of which the one in\nthe guise of a wolf tore the other into pieces. In Nare, Narve, the name\nof one or the names of both these Loke-sons were thought to have been\nfound.\n\nThe latter assumption was made by the author of the prose in Lokasenna.\nHe conceived Nare to be the one brother and Narve the other. The author\nof Gylfaginning, on the other hand, rightly regarded Nare and Narve as\nsimply variations of the same name, and accordingly let them designate\nthe same son of Loke. When he wrote chapter 33, he did not know what name\nto give to the other, and consequently omitted him entirely. But when he\ngot to the 50th chapter, a light had risen for him in regard to the name\nof the other. And the light doubtless came from the following strophe in\nV\u00f6luspa:\n\n tha kna vala\n vigbond snua,\n helldi voru hardgior\n hoft or thormum.\n\nThis half strophe says that those were strong chains (for Loke) that\nwere made of entrails, and these fetters were \"twisted\" from \"Vale's\n_vigb\u00f6nd_.\" _Vig_ as a legal term means a murder, slaughter. _Vala vig_\nwas interpreted as a murder committed by Vale; and _Vala vigb\u00f6nd_ as the\nbonds or fetters obtained by the slaughter committed by Vale. It was\nknown that Loke was chained with the entrails of his son, and here it\nwas thought to appear that this son was slain by a certain Vale. And as\nhe was slain by a brother according to the myth, then Vale must be the\nbrother of the slain son of Loke. Accordingly chapter 50 of Gylfaginning\ncould tell us what chapter 33 did not yet know, namely, that the two sons\nof Loke were named Vale and Nare or Narve, and that Vale changed to a\nwolf, tore the brother \"Nare or Narve\" into pieces.\n\nThe next step was taken by Skaldskaparmal, or more probably by one of\nthe transcribers of Skaldskaparmal. As Vale and Ale in the mythology\ndesignated the same person (viz., Balder's avenger, the son of Odin),\nthe son of Loke, changed into a wolf, \"Vale\" received as a gift the\nname \"Ale.\" It is by no means impossible that the transcriber regarded\nBalder's avenger, Vale, and the son of Loke as identical. The oldest\nmanuscript we have of Skaldskaparmal is the Upsala Codex, which is\nno older than the beginning of the fourteenth century. The mythic\ntraditions were then in the continuation of that rapid decay which had\nbegun in the eleventh century, and not long thereafter the Icelandic saga\nwritings saw Valhal peopled by giants and all sorts of monsters, which\nwere called einherjes, and Thor himself transferred to the places of\ntorture where he drank venom from \"the auroch's horn,\" presented to him\nby the daughter of Loke.\n\nIn the interpretation of the above-cited half strophe of V\u00f6luspa, we\nmust therefore leave out the supposed son of Loke, Vale. The Teutonic\nmythology, like the other Aryan mythologies, applied many names and\nepithets to the same person, but it seldom gave two or more persons\none and the same name, unless the latter was a patronymic or, in other\nrespects, of a general character. There was not more than one Odin,\none Thor, one Njord, one Heimdal, one Loke, and there is no reason for\nassuming that there was more than one Vale, namely, the divine son of\nthis name. Of Balder's brother Vale we know that he was born to avenge\nthe slaying of Balder. His impatience to do that which he was called to\nperform is expressed in the mythology by the statement, that he liberated\nhimself from the womb of his mother before the usual time (_Baldrs brodir\nvar af borinn snemma_--V\u00f6luspa), and only one night old he went to slay\n_H\u00f6dr_. The bonds which confine the impatient one in his mother's womb\nwere his _vigb\u00f6nd_, the bonds which hindered him from combat, and these\nbonds were in the most literal sense of the word _\u00f3r th\u00f6rmum_. As Loke's\nbonds are made of the same material and destined to hinder him from\ncombat with the gods until Ragnarok, and as his prison is in the womb\nof the earth, as Vale's was in that of the earth-goddess Rind's, then\n_Vala vigb\u00f6nd_ as a designation of Loke's chains is both logically and\npoetically a satisfactory paraphrase, and the more in order as it occurs\nin connection with the description of the impending Ragnarok, when Loke\nby an earthquake is to sever his fetters and hasten to the conflict.\n\n\n86.\n\n THE TWO GIANT CLANS DESCENDED FROM YMER.\n\nIn Havam\u00e1l (140, ff.), Odin says that he in his youth obtained nine\nfimbul-songs and a drink of the precious mead dipped out of Odrerer from\n_Beyzla's_ father, _B\u00f6lthorn's_ famous son:\n\n Fimbulli\u00f3d nio\n nam ec af enom iregia syni\n Baulthorns Beyzlu faudur\n oc ce dryc of gat\n ens dyra miadar\n ausinn Odreri.\n\nThe mythologists have assumed, for reasons that cannot be doubted, that\nBolthorn's famous son, Beistla's brother, is identical with Mimer. No one\nelse than he presided at that time over the drink dipped out of Odrerer,\nthe fountain which conceals \"wisdom and man's sense,\" and Sigrdrifumal\n(13, 14) corroborates that it was from Mimer, and through a drink\nfrom \"Hodrofner's horn,\" that Odin obtained wonderful runes and \"true\nsayings.\"\n\nAccordingly Mimer had a sister by name _Beyzla_ (variations: _Bestla_,\n_Besla_, _Bezla_). A strophe by Einar Skalaglam (Skaldskaparmal, ch. 2;\ncp. Gylfag., ch. 6) informs us that Beistla is Odin's mother. Mimer's\ndisciple, the clan-chieftain of the gods, is accordingly his sister's\nson. Herein we have one more reason for the faithful friendship which\nMimer always showed to Odin.\n\nThe Mimer epithet _Narfi_, Narve, means, as shown above, \"the one who\nbinds.\" His daughter Nat is called _draumnj\u00f6run_, the dream-binder\n(Alvism., 31). His kinswomen, the norns, spin and bind the threads and\nbonds, which, extended throughout the world, weave together the web of\nevents. Such threads and bonds are called _\u00f6rlogth\u00e6ttir_ (Helge Hund., i.\n3), and _Urdar lokur_ (Grogaldr., 7). As the nearest kinswomen of Beistla\nall have epithets or tasks which refer to the idea of _binding_, and\nwhen we add to this that Beistla's sons and descendants as gods have the\nepithet _h\u00f6pt_ and _b\u00f6nd_, her own name might most properly be referred\nto the old word _beizl_, _beisl_ (cp. _betsel_, bridle), which has a\nsimilar meaning.\n\nAs Mimer and Beistla are of giant descent, and in the theogony belong to\nthe same stage of development as Bur (_Burr_), Odin's father, then, as\nthe mythologists also have assumed, _Bolthorn_ can be none else than Ymer.\n\nMimer, Beistla, the norns, and Nat thus form a group of kindred beings,\nwhich belong to the oldest giant race, but still they are most definitely\nseparated from the other descendants of Ymer, as a higher race of giants\nfrom a lower, a noble giant race friendly to the gods and fostering\nthe gods, from that race of deformed beings which bear children in the\nstrangest manner, which are hostile to the gods and to the world, and\nwhich are represented by the rimthurses Thrudgelmer and Bergelmer and\ntheir offspring.\n\nIt now lies near at hand to inquire whether the mythology which\nattributed the same father to Mimer and Thrudgelmer was unable to\nconceive in this connection the idea of a nobler origin for the former\nthan the latter. The remedy nearest at hand would have been to have given\nthem mothers of different characters. But the mythology did not resort to\nthis expedient. It is expressly stated that Ymer bore children without\nthe pleasure of woman (_gygiar gaman_--Vafthrudnersmal, 32; cp. No. 60).\nNeither Mimer nor Thrudgelmer had a mother. Under such circumstances\nthere is another expedient to which the sister of the Teutonic mythology,\nthe Rigveda mythology, has resorted, and which is explained in the 90th\nhymn of book x. of Rigveda. The hymn informs us in regard to a primeval\ngiant Parusha, and this myth is so similar to the Teutonic in regard to\nYmer that it must here be considered.\n\nThe primeval being Parusha was a giant monster as large as the whole\nworld, and even larger (lines 1-5). The gods resolved to sacrifice\nhim, that is to say, to slay him for sacred purposes (l. 6), and from\nhis limbs was created the present world. From his navel was made the\natmosphere, from his head the canopy of heaven, from his two feet the\nearth, from his heart the moon, from his eye the sun, from his breath the\nwind, &c. _His mouth became the brahma_ (the priest), _his arms became\nthe rajanya_ (the warrior), _his thighs became the vaisya_ (the third\nfree caste), _and from his feet arose the sudra_ (the thrall, line 12).\n\nThe two fundamental ideas of the myth concerning Parusha are:\n\n(1) There was a primeval being who was not divine. The gods slew him and\ncreated the material world out of his limbs.\n\n(2) This primeval being gave rise to other beings of different ranks, and\ntheir rank corresponded with the position of the giant's limbs from which\nthey were created.\n\nBoth these fundamental ideas reappear in the Teutonic myth concerning\nYmer. In regard to the former idea we need only to quote what\nVafthrudnersmal says in strophe 21:\n\n Or Ymis holdi Of Ymer's flesh\n var iord um scaupud, the world was shapen,\n en or beinom bjorg, from his bones the rocks,\n himinn or hausi the heavens from the head\n ins hrimkalda iotuns, of the ice-cold giant,\n enn or sveita sior. from his blood the sea.\n\nIn regard to the second fundamental idea, it is evident from the Rigveda\naccount that it is not there found in its oldest form, but that, after\nthe rise of four castes among the Rigveda Aryans, it was changed, in\norder to furnish an explanation of the origin of these castes and make\nthem at least as old as the present material world. Far more original,\nand perfectly free from the influence of social ideas, it appears in the\nTeutonic mythology, where the 33rd strophe of Vafthrudnersmal testifies\nconcerning its character:\n\n Undir hendi vaxa A son and a daughter\n quatho hrimthursi are said to have been born together\n mey oc maug saman; under the rimthurse's arm;\n f\u00f3tr vid f\u00f3ti gat foot begat with foot\n ins froda iotuns the strange-headed son\n serhaufdathan son. of the wise giant.\n\nIn perfect harmony with this Gylfaginning narrates: \"Under Ymer's left\narm grew forth a man and a woman, and his one foot begat with the other a\nson. Thence come (different) races.\"\n\nThe different races have this in common, that they are giant races,\nsince they spring from Ymer; but these giant races must at the same\ntime have been widely different intellectually and physically, since\nthe mythology gives them different origins from different limbs of the\nprogenitor. And here, as in Rigveda, it is clear that the lowest race\nwas conceived as proceeding from the feet of the primeval giant. This is\nstated with sufficient distinctness in Vafthrudnersmal, where we read\nthat a \"strangely-headed\" monster (Thrudgelmer--see No. 60) was born by\nthem, while \"man and maid\" were born under the arm of the giant. \"The\nman\" and \"the maid\" must therefore represent a noble race sprung from\nYmer, and they can only be Mimer and his sister, Odin's mother. Mimer\nand his clan constitute a group of ancient powers, who watch over the\nfountains of the life of the world and care for the perpetuation of the\nworld-tree. From them proceeded the oldest, fairest, and most enduring\nparts of the creation. For the lower world was put in order and had its\nsacred fountains and guardians before Bur's sons created Midgard and\nAsgard. Among them the world-tree grew up from its roots, whose source\nno one knows (Havam\u00e1l, 138). Among them those forces are active which\nmake the starry firmament revolve on its axis, and from them come the\nseasons and the divisions of time, for Nat and _nidjar_, Mane and Sol,\nbelong to Mimer's clan, and were in the morning of creation named by the\noldest \"high holy gods,\" and endowed with the vocation _\u00e1rom at telja_\n(V\u00f6luspa). From Mimer comes the first culture, for in his fountain\ninspiration, spiritual power, man's wit and wisdom, have their source,\nand around him as chief stand gathered the artists of antiquity by whose\nhands all things can be smithied into living and wonderful things. Such\na giant clan demands another origin than that of the frost-giants and\ntheir offspring. As we learn from Vafthrudnersmal that two giant races\nproceeded from Ymer, the one from a part of his body which in a symbolic\nsense is more noble than that from which the other race sprang, and\nthat the race born of his feet was the ignoble one hostile to the gods,\nthen the conclusion follows of necessity that \"the man and maid\" who\nwere born as twins under Ymer's arm became the founders of that noble\ngroup of giants who are friendly to the gods, and which confront us in\nthe mythology of our fathers. It has already been shown above (see No.\n54) that _Jima_ (Yama) in the Asiatic-Aryan mythology corresponds to\nMimer in the Teutonic. Jima is an epithet which means twin. The one with\nwhom Jima was born together was a maid, Yami. The words in the quoted\nVafthrudnersmal strophe, _undir hendi hrimthursi vaxa mey ok maug saman_,\nare evidence that the Germans also considered Mimer and his sister as\ntwins.\n\n\n87.\n\n THE IDENTITY OF MIMER AND NIDHAD OF THE VOLUND SAGA.\n\nThe condition in which the traditions of the great Volund (Wayland) have\ncome down to our time is one of the many examples illustrating how,\nunder the influences of a change of faith, a myth disrobes itself of its\npurely mythical character and becomes a heroic saga. The nature of the\nmythic traditions and songs is not at once obliterated in the time of\ntransition; there remain marks of their original nature in some or other\nof the details as proof of what they have been. Thus that fragment of\na Volund saga, turned into an epic, which the Old Norse literature has\npreserved for us in Volundarkvida, shows us that the artist who is the\nhero of the song was originally conceived not as a son of man, but as\na member of the mythic race of elves which in V\u00f6luspa is mentioned in\nconnection with the Asas (_hvat er med asom, hvat er med alfom?_--str.\n49). Volund is an elf-prince (_alfa visi_, _alfa ljothi_--Volund., str.\n10, 13), and, as shall be shown below, when we come to consider the\nVolund myth exhaustively, he and his brothers and their mistresses have\nplayed parts of the very greatest importance in the epic of Teutonic\nmythology. Under such circumstances it follows that the other persons\nappearing in Volundarkvida also were originally mythical characters.\n\nOne of these is called _Nidadr_ (_Nidudr_), king of Njares, and I am now\nto investigate who this _Nidadr_ was in the mythology.\n\nWhen Volund for the first time appears by this name in the Elder Edda,\nhe is sojourning in a distant country, to which it is impossible to come\nwithout traversing the Myrkwood forest famous in the mythology (see No.\n78). It is a snow-clad country, the home of bears and wolves. Volund gets\nhis subsistence by hunting on skees. The Old English poem, \"Deor the\nScald's Complaint,\" confirms that this region was regarded as very cold\n(cp. _vintercealde vr\u00e6ce_). In Volundarkvida it is called Wolfdales.\n\nVolund stays here many years in company with his two brothers and with\nthree swan-maids, their mistresses or wives, but finally alone. Volund\npasses the time in smithying, until he is suddenly attacked by _Nidadr_\n(_Nidudr_), \"the Njara-king\" (Volundarkv., 6), who puts him in chains and\nrobs him of two extraordinary treasures--a sword and an arm-ring. Seven\nhundred arm-rings hung in a string in Volund's hall; but this one alone\nseemed to be worth more than all the rest, and it alone was desired by\n_Nidadr_ (str. 7, 8, 17).\n\nBefore Volund went to the Wolfdales, he had lived with his people a happy\nlife in a land abounding in gold (str. 14). Not voluntarily, but from\ndire necessity he had exchanged his home for the distant wilderness of\nthe Wolfdales. \"Deor the Scald's Complaint\" says he was an exile (_Veland\nhim be vurman vreces cannade_). A German saga of the middle ages, \"Anhang\ndes Heldenbuchs,\" confirms this statement. Wieland (Volund), it is there\nsaid, \"was a duke who was banished by two giants, who took his land from\nhim,\" whereupon \"he was stricken with poverty,\" and \"became a smith.\" The\nVolundarkvida does not have much to say about the reason for his sojourn\nin the Wolfdales, but strophe 28 informs us that, previous to his arrival\nthere, he had suffered an injustice, of which he speaks as the worst and\nthe most revenge-demanding which he, the unhappy and revengeful man, ever\nexperienced. But he has had no opportunity of demanding satisfaction,\nwhen he finally succeeds in getting free from _Nidadr's_ chains. Who\nthose mythic persons are that have so cruelly insulted him and filled\nhis heart with unquenchable thirst for revenge is not mentioned; but in\nthe very nature of the case those persons from whose persecutions he has\nfled must have been mightier than he, and as he himself is a chief in the\ngodlike clan of elves, his foes are naturally to be looked for among the\nmore powerful races of gods.\n\nAnd as Volundarkvida pictures him as boundlessly and recklessly\nrevengeful, and makes him resort to his extraordinary skill as a smith--a\nskill famous among all Teutonic tribes--in the satisfaction which he\ndemands of _Nidadr_, there is no room for doubt that the many years he\nspent in Wolfdales, he brooded on plans of revenge against those who\nhad most deeply insulted him, and that he made use of his art to secure\ninstruments for the carrying out of these plans. Of the glittering sword\nof which _Nidadr_ robbed him, Volund says (str. 18) that he had applied\nhis greatest skill in making it hard and keen. The sword must, therefore,\nhave been one of the most excellent ones mentioned in the songs of\nTeutonic heathendom. Far down in the middle ages, the songs and sagas\nwere fond of attributing the best and most famous swords wielded by their\nheroes to the skill of Volund.\n\nIn the myths turned by Saxo into history, there has been mentioned a\nsword of a most remarkable kind, of untold value (_ingens pr\u00e6mium_), and\nattended by success in battle (_belli fortuna comitaretur_). A hero whose\nname Saxo Latinised into Hotherus (see _Hist. Dan._, p. 110) got into\nenmity with the Asa-gods, and the only means with which he can hope to\ncope with them is the possession of this sword. He also knows where to\nsecure it, and with its aid he succeeds in putting Thor himself and other\ngods to flight.\n\nIn order to get possession of this sword, Hotherus had to make a journey\nwhich reminds us of the adventurous expeditions already described to\nGudmund-Mimer's domain, but with this difference, that he does not need\nto go by sea along the coast of Norway in order to get there, which\ncircumstance is sufficiently explained by the fact that, according\nto Saxo, Hotherus has his home in Sweden. The regions which Hotherus\nhas to traverse are pathless, full of obstacles, and for the greater\npart continually in the cold embrace of the severest frost. They are\ntraversed by mountain-ridges on which the cold is terrible, and therefore\nthey must be crossed as rapidly as possible with the aid of \"yoke-stags.\"\nThe sword is kept concealed in a _specus_, a subterranean cave, and\n\"mortals\" can scarcely cross its threshold (_haud facile mortalibus\npatere posse_). The being which is the ward of the sword in this cave is\nby Saxo called Mimingus.\n\nThe question now is, whether the sword smithied by Volund and the one\nfetched by Hotherus are identical or not. The former is smithied in a\nwinter-cold country beyond Myrkwood, where the mythic _Nidadr_ suddenly\nappears, takes possession of it, and the purpose for which it was made,\njudging from all circumstances, was that Volund with its aid was to\nconquer the hated powers which, stronger than he, the chief of elves, had\ncompelled him to take refuge to the Wolfdales. If these powers were Asas\nor Vans, then it follows that Volund must have thought himself able to\ngive to his sword qualities that could render it dangerous to the world\nof gods, although the latter had Thor's hammer and other subterranean\nweapons at their disposal. The sword captured by Hotherus is said to\npossess those very qualities which we might look for in the Volund\nweapon, and the regions he has to traverse in order to get possession of\nit refer, by their cold and remoteness, to a land similar to that where\n_Nidadr_ surprises Volund, and takes from him the dangerous sword.\n\nAs already stated, Nidad at the same time captured an arm-ring of an\nextraordinary kind. If the saga about Volund and his sword was connected\nwith the saga-fragment turned into history by Saxo concerning Hotherus\nand the sword, whose owner he becomes, then we might reasonably expect\nthat the precious arm-ring, too, should appear in the latter saga. And\nwe do find it there. Mimingus, who guards the sword of victory, also\nguards a wonderful arm-ring, and through Saxo we learn what quality\nmakes this particular arm-ring so precious, that Nidad does not seem to\ncare about the other seven hundred which he finds in Volund's workshop.\nSaxo says: _Eidem (Mimingo) quoque armillam esse mira quadam arcanaque\nvirtute possessoris opes augere solitam_. \"In the arm-ring there dwells\na wonderful and mysterious power, which increases the wealth of its\npossessor.\" In other words, it is a smith's work, the rival of the ring\nDraupner, from which eight similar rings drop every ninth night. This\nexplains why Volund's smithy contains so many rings, that Nidad expresses\nhis suspicious wonderment (str. 13).\n\nThere are therefore strong reasons for assuming that the sword and the\nring, which Hotherus takes from Mimingus, are the same sword and ring\nas Nidad before took from Volund, and that the saga, having deprived\nVolund of the opportunity of testing the quality of the weapon himself\nin conflict with the gods, wanted to indicate what it really amounted\nto in a contest with Thor and his hammer by letting the sword came into\nthe hands of Hotherus, another foe of the Asas. As we now find such\narticles as those captured by Nidad reappearing in the hands of a certain\nMimingus, the question arises whether Mimingus is Nidad himself or some\none of Nidad's subjects; for that they either are identical, or are in\nsome way connected with each other, seems to follow from the fact that\nthe one is said to possess what the other is said to have captured.\nMimingus is a Latinising of _Mimingr_, _Mimungr_, son or descendant of\nMimer.\n\n_Nidadr_, _Nidudr_ (both variations are found in Volundarkvida), has,\non the other hand, his counterpart in the Anglo-Saxon Nidh\u00e2d. The king\nwho in \"Deor the Scald's Complaint\" fetters Volund bears this name, and\nhis daughter is called Beadohild, in Volundarkvida Bodvild. Previous\ninvestigators have already remarked that Beadohild is a more original\nform than Bodvild, and Nidhad than _Nidudr_, _Nidadr_. The name Nidhad is\ncomposed of _nid_ (neuter gender), the lower world, Hades, and _had_, a\nbeing, person, _forma_, _species_. Nidhad literally means the lower world\nbeing, the Hades being. Herewith we also have his mythical character\ndetermined. A mythical king, who is characterised as the _being of the\nlower world_, must be a subterranean king. The mythic records extant\nspeak of the subterranean king Mimer (the middle-age saga's Gudmund, king\nof the Glittering Fields; see Nos. 45, 46), who rules over the realm\nof the well of wisdom and has the dis of fate as his kinswoman, the\nprincess of the realm of Urd's fountain and of the whole realm of death.\nWhile we thus find, on the one hand, that it is a subterranean king\nwho captures Volund's sword and arm-ring, we find, on the other hand,\nthat when Hotherus is about to secure the irresistible sword and the\nwealth-producing ring, he has to betake himself to the same winter-cold\ncountry, where all the traditions here discussed (see Nos. 45-49) locate\nthe descent to Mimer's realm, and that he, through an entrance \"scarcely\napproachable for mortals,\" must proceed into the bosom of the earth after\nhe has subdued a Mimingus, a son of Mimer. Mimer being the one who took\npossession of the treasure, it is perfectly natural that his son should\nbe its keeper.\n\nThis also explains why _Nidadr_ in Volundarkvida is called the king of\nthe Njares. A people called Njares existed in the mythology, but not in\nreality. The only explanation of the word is to be found in the Mimer\nepithet, which we discovered in the variations Narve, Njorve, Nare, Nere,\nwhich means \"he who binds.\" They are called Njares, because they belong\nto the clan of Njorvi-Nare.\n\nVolundarkvida (str. 19, with the following prose addition) makes Nidad's\nqueen command Volund's knee-sinews to be cut. Of such a cruelty the older\npoem, \"Deor the Skald's Complaint,\" knows nothing. This poem relates, on\nthe other hand, that Nidad bound Volund with a fetter made from a strong\nsinew:\n\n siththan hinne Nidhad on\n nede legde\n sveoncre seono-bende.\n\nThough Volund is in the highest degree skilful, he is not able to\nfree himself from these bonds. They are of magic kind, and resemble\nthose _\u00f6rlogth\u00e6ttir_ which are tied by Mimer's kinswoman Urd. Nidad\naccordingly here appears in Mimer-Njorve's character as \"binder.\" With\nthis fetter of sinew we must compare the one with which Loke was bound,\nand that tough and elastic one which was made in the lower world and\nwhich holds Fenrer bound until Ragnarok. And as Volund--a circumstance\nalready made probable, and one that shall be fully proved below--actually\nregards himself as insulted by the gods, and has planned a terrible\nrevenge against them, then it is an enemy of Odin that Nidhad here binds,\nand the above-cited paraphrase for the death-dis, Urd, employed by Egil\nSkallagrimson, \"the kinswoman of the binder (Njorva) of Odin's foes\" (see\nNo. 85), also becomes applicable here.\n\nThe tradition concerning Nidhad's original identity with Mimer flourished\nfor a long time in the German middle-age sagas, and passed thence into\nthe Vilkinasaga, where the banished Volund became Mimer's smith. The\nauthor of Vilkinasaga, compiling both from German and from Norse sources,\nsaw Volund in the German records as a smith in Mimer's employ, and in the\nNorse sagas he found him as Nidhad's smith, and from the two synonyms he\nmade two persons.\n\nThe Norse form of the name most nearly corresponding to the Old English\nNidhad is _Nidi_, \"the subterranean,\" and that Mimer also among the\nNorsemen was known by this epithet is plain both from the Sol-song\nand from V\u00f6luspa. The skald of the Sol-song sees in the lower world\n\"Nide's sons, seven together, drinking the clear mead from the well\nof ring-Regin.\" The well of the lower world with the \"clear mead\" is\nMimer's fountain, and the paraphrase ring-Regin is well suited to Mimer,\nwho possessed among other treasures the wonderful ring of Hotherus.\nV\u00f6luspa speaks of Nide's mountain, the Hvergelmer mountain, from which\nthe subterranean dragon Nidhog flies (see No. 75), and of Nide's plains\nwhere Sindre's race have their golden hall. Sindre is, as we know, one\nof the most celebrated primeval smiths of mythology, and he smithied\nThor's lightning hammer, Frey's golden boar, and Odin's spear Gungner\n(Gylfaginning). Dwelling with his kinsmen in Mimer's realm, he is one\nof the artists whom the ruler of the lower world kept around him (cp.\nNo. 53). Several of the wonderful things made by these artists, as for\ninstance the harvest-god's Skidbladner, and golden boar, and Sif's\ngolden locks, are manifestly symbols of growth or vegetation. The\nsame is therefore true of the original Teutonic primeval smiths as of\nthe Ribhuians, the ancient smiths of Rigveda, that they make not only\nimplements and weapons, but also grass and herbs. Out of the lower world\ngrows the world-tree, and is kept continually fresh by the liquids of\nthe sacred fountains. In the abyss of the lower world and in the sea is\nground that mould which makes the fertility of Midgard possible (see No.\n80); in the lower world \"are smithied\" those flowers and those harvests\nwhich grow out of this mould, and from the manes of the subterranean\nhorses, and from their foaming bridles, falls on the fields and meadows\nthat honey-dew \"which gives harvests to men.\"\n\nFinally, it must be pointed out that when Nidhad binds Volund, the foe of\nthe gods, this is in harmony with Mimer's activity throughout the epic\nof the myths as the friend of the Asa-gods, and as the helper of Odin,\nhis sister's son, in word and deed.\n\nFurther evidences of Mimer's identity with Nidhad are to be found in the\nSvipdag myth, which I shall discuss further on.\n\nVafthrudnersmal states in strophe 25 that \"beneficent _regin_ (makers)\ncreated Ny and Nedan to count times for men,\" this being said in\nconnection with what it states about Narve, Nat, and Dag. In the V\u00f6luspa\ndwarf-list we find that the chief of these _regin_ was Modsogner,\nwhose identity with Mimer has been shown (see No. 53). Modsogner-Mimer\ncreated among other \"dwarfs\" also Ny and Nedan (V\u00f6luspa, 11). These are,\ntherefore, his sons at least in the sense that they are indebted to him\nfor their origin. The expressions to create and to beget are very closely\nrelated in the mythology. Of Njord Vafthrudner also says (str. 39) that\n\"wise _regin_ created him\" in Vanaheim.\n\nAs sons of Nide-Mimer the changes of the moon have been called\nafter his name _Nidi_, and collectively they have been called by\nthe plural _Nidgar_, in a later time _Nidar_. And as Nat's brothers\nthey are enumerated along with her as a stereotyped alliteration. In\nVafthrudnersmal Odin asks the wise giant whether he knows whence Nat and\nNidjar (_Nott med Nithom_) came, and V\u00f6luspa (6) relates that in the\ndawn of time the high holy gods (_regin_) seated themselves on their\njudgment-seats and gave names to Nat and Nidjar (_Nott ok Nithiom_). The\ngiving of a name was in heathen times a sacred act, which implied an\nadoption in the name-giver's family or circle of friends.\n\n_Nidjar_ also appears to have had his signification of moon-changes in\nregard to the changes of months. According to Saxo (see No. 46), King\nGorm saw in the lower world twelve sons of Gudmund-Mimer, all \"of noble\nappearance.\" Again, Solarljod's skald says that the sons of Nide, whom\nhe saw in the lower world, were \"seven together.\" From the standpoint of\na nature-symbol the difference in these statements is explained by the\nfact that the months of the year were counted as twelve, but in regard\nto seasons and occupations there were seven divisions: _gor-m\u00e1nudr_,\n_frer-m._, _hrut-m._, _ein-m._, _sol-m._, _sel-m._, _kornskurdar-m\u00e1nudr_.\nSeven is the epic-mythological number of these _Nidjar_. To the saga in\nregard to these I shall return in No. 94.\n\n\n88.\n\n A GENERAL REVIEW OF MIMER'S NAMES AND EPITHETS.\n\nThe names, epithets, and paraphrases with which the king of the lower\nworld, the ward of the fountain of wisdom, was designated, according to\nthe statements hitherto made, are the following:\n\n(1) _Mimir_ (_Hodd-m\u00edmir_, _M\u00edmr_, _M\u00edmi_, _Mime der alte_).\n\n(2) _Narfi_ (_Narvi_, _Njorvi_, _N\u00f6rr_, _Nari_, _Neri_).\n\n(3) _Nidi_ (_Nidhad_, _Nidadr_, _Nidudr_, _Nidungr_).\n\nThese three names, which means the Thinker, the Binder, the Subterranean,\nare presumably all ancient.\n\n(4) _Modsognir_, \"the mead-drinker.\"\n\n(5) _Hoddrofnir_, presumably \"the one bounteous in treasures.\"\n\n(6) _Gauta spjalli_, \"the one with whom Gaute (Odin) counsels.\"\n\n(7) _Baug-regin_, Ring-regin.\n\n(8) _Godmundr_, the name by which Mimer appears in Christian middle-age\nsagas of Norse origin. To these names may still be added:\n\n(9) _Fimbulthulr_, \"the great teacher\" (the lecturer). Havam\u00e1l (str.\n142; cp. str. 80) says that _Fimbulthulr_ drew (_fadi_) the runes, that\n_ginn-regin_ \"made\" (_gordo_) them, that is to say, in the older sense of\nthe word, prepared them for use, and that Odin (_hroptr raugna_) carved\n(_reist_) them. In the strophes immediately preceding, it is said that\nOdin, by self-sacrifice, begot runes out of the deep and fimbul-songs\nfrom Beistla's brother. These statements, joined with those which mention\nhow the runes given by Mimer were spread over the world, and were taught\nby various clan-chiefs to different clans (see No. 53), make it evident\nthat a perfect myth had been developed in regard to the origin of the\nrunes and the spreading of runic knowledge. Mimer, as the possessor\nof the well of wisdom, was the inventor or source of the runes. When\nSigrdrifumal (str. 13) says that they dropped out of Hoddrofner's horn,\nthis is, figuratively speaking, the same as Havam\u00e1l tells, when it states\nthat Fimbulthul carved them. The oldest powers (_ginnregin_) and Odin\nafterwards developed and spread them.\n\nAt the time of Tacitus, and probably one or two centuries earlier, the\nart of writing was known among the Teutons. The runic inscriptions that\nhave come down to our time bear evidence of a Greek-Roman origin.\n\nBy this we do not mean to deny that there were runes--at least,\nnon-phonetic ones--before them. The many kinds of magic runes of which\nour mythic records speak are perhaps reminiscences of them. At all events\nwe must distinguish the latter from the common runes for writing, and\nalso from the many kinds of cypher-runes the keys of which are to be\nsought in the common phonetic rune-row.\n\n(10) _Brimir_. By the side of the golden hall of Sindre, V\u00f6luspa (str.\n36) mentions the giants Brimer's \"bj\u00f3r\" hall, which is in _Ok\u00f3lnir_.\n_Bj\u00f3rr_ is a synonym for mead and ale (Alvism., 34). _Ok\u00f3lnir_ means \"the\nplace where cold is not found.\" The reference is to a giant dwelling in\nthe lower world who presides over mead, and whose hall is situated in\na domain to which cold cannot penetrate. The myth has put this giant\nin connection with Ymer, who in relative opposition to him is called\n_Leirbrimir_, clay-Brimer (Fj\u00f6llsvinnsmal). These circumstances refer to\nMimer. So also Sigrdrifumal (str. 14), where it is said that \"Odin stood\non the mountain with Brimer's sword\" (_Brimis eggiar_), when Mimer's head\nfor the first time talked with him. The expression \"Brimer's sword\" is\nambiguous. As a head was once used as a weapon against Heimdal, a sword\nand a head can, according to Skaldskaparmal, be employed as paraphrases\nfor each other, whence \"Brimer's sword\" may be the same as \"Mimer's\nhead\" (Skaldskaparmal 69, Cod. H.; cp. Skaldskaparmal, 8, and Gylfag.,\n27). Sigrdrifumal certainly also employs the phrase in its literal\nsense of a famous mythological sword, for, in the case in question, it\nrepresents Odin as fully armed, with helmet on his head; and the most\nexcellent mythological sword, according to an added line in strophe 24 of\nGrimnersmal (Cod. A.), bore Brimer's name, just as the same sword in the\nGerman saga has the name Miminc (Biterolf v. 176, in Vilkinasaga changed\nto Mimmung), doubtless because it at one time was in Mimer-Nidhad's\npossession; for the German saga (Biterolf, 157; cp. Vilkinasaga,\nch. 23) remembers that a sword called by Mimer's name was the same\ncelebrated weapon as that made by Volund (Weiland in Biterolf; Velint in\nVilkinasaga), and hence the same work of art as that which, according to\nVilkinasaga, Nidhad captured from him during his stay in Wolfdales.\n\n\n89.\n\n THE MEAD MYTH.\n\nWe have seen (Nos. 72, 73) that the mead which was brewed from the three\nsubterranean liquids destroys the effects of death and gives new vitality\nto the departed, and that the same liquid is absorbed by the roots of the\nworld-tree, and in its trunk is distilled into that sap which gives the\ntree eternal life. From the stem the mead rises into the foliage of the\ncrown, whose leaves nourish the fair giver of \"the sparkling drink,\" in\nGrimnersmal symbolised as Heidrun, from the streams of whose teats the\nmead-horns in Asgard are filled for the einherjes. The morning dew which\nfalls from Ygdrasil down into the dales of the lower world contains the\nsame elements. From the bridle of Rimfaxe and from the horses of the\nvalkyries some of the same dew also falls in the valleys of Midgard (see\nNo. 74). The flowers receive it in their chalices, where the bees extract\nit, and thus is produced the earthly honey which man uses, and from which\nhe brews _his_ mead (cp. Gylfag., ch. 16). Thus the latter too contains\nsome of the strength of Mimer's and Urd's fountains (_veigar_--see Nos.\n72, 73), and thus it happens that it is able to stimulate the mind\nand inspire poetry and song--nay, used with prudence, it may suggest\nexcellent expedients in important emergencies (cp. Tacitus, _Germania_).\n\nThus the world-tree is among the Teutons, as it is among their kinsmen\nthe Iranians (see below), a _mead-tree_. And so it was called by the\nlatter, possibly also by the former. The name _mi\u00f6tvidr_, with which the\nworld-tree is mentioned in V\u00f6luspa (2) and whose origin and meaning have\nbeen so much discussed, is from a mythological standpoint satisfactorily\nexplained if we assume that an older word, _mi\u00f6dvidr_, the mead-tree,\npassed into the word similar in sound, _mi\u00f6tvidr_, the tree of fate (from\n_mi\u00f6t_, measure; cp. _mj\u00f6tudr_ in the sense of fate, the power which\ngives measure, and the Anglo-Saxon _metod_, Old Saxon _metod_, the giver\nof measure, fate, providence).\n\nThe sap of the world-tree and the _veigar_ of the horn of the lower world\nare not, however, precisely the same mead as the pure and undefiled\nliquid from Mimer's fountain, that which Odin in his youth, through\nself-sacrifice, was permitted to taste, nor is it precisely the same as\nthat concerning the possession of which the powers of mythology long\ncontended, before it finally, through Odin's adventures at Suttung's,\ncame to Asgard. The episodes of this conflict concerning the mead will be\ngiven as my investigation progresses, so far as they can be discovered.\nHere we must first examine what the heathen records have preserved in\nregard to the closing episode in which the conflict was ended in favour\nof Asgard. What the Younger Edda (Bragar\u00e6dur) tells about it I must for\nthe present leave entirely unnoticed, lest the investigation should go\nastray and become entirely abortive.\n\nThe chief sources are the Havam\u00e1l strophes 104-110, and strophes 13\nand 14. Subordinate sources are Grimnersmal (50) and Ynglingatal\n(15). To this must be added half a strophe by Eyvind Skaldaspiller\n(Skaldskaparmal, ch. 2).\n\nThe statements of the chief source have, strange to say, been almost\nwholly unobserved, while the mythologists have confined their attention\nto the later presentation in Bragar\u00e6dur, which cannot be reconciled with\nthe earlier accounts, and which from a mythological standpoint is worse\nthan worthless. In 1877 justice was for the first time done to Havam\u00e1l in\nthe excellent analysis of the strophes in question made by Prof. M. B.\nRichert, in his \"Attempts at explaining the obscure passages not hitherto\nunderstood in the poetic Edda.\"\n\nFrom Havam\u00e1l alone we get directly or indirectly the following:\n\nThe giant Suttung, also called Fjalar, has acquired possession of the\nprecious mead for which Odin longs. The Asa-father resolves to capture it\nby cunning.\n\nThere is a feast at Fjalar's. Guests belonging to the clan of rimthurses\nare gathered in his halls (Havam\u00e1l, 110). Besides these we must imagine\nthat Suttung-Fjalar's own nearest kith and kin are present. The mythology\nspeaks of a separate clan entirely distinct from the rimthurses, known as\n_Suttungs Synir_ (Alvismal, Skirnersmal; see No. 78), whose chief must\nbe Suttung-Fjalar, as his very name indicates. The Suttung kin and the\nrimthurses are accordingly gathered at the banquet on the day in question.\n\nAn honoured guest is expected, and a golden high-seat prepared for him\nawaits his arrival. From the continuation of the story we learn that the\nexpected guest is the wooer or betrothed of Suttung-Fjalar's daughter,\nGunlad. On that night the wedding of the giant's daughter is to be\ncelebrated.\n\nOdin arrives, but in disguise. He is received as the guest of honour, and\nis conducted to the golden high-seat. It follows of necessity that the\nguise assumed by Odin, when he descends to the mortal foes of the gods\nand of himself, is that of the expected lover. Who the latter was Havam\u00e1l\ndoes not state, unless strophe 110, 5, like so many other passages, is\npurposely ambiguous and contains his name, a question which I shall\nconsider later.\n\nAfter the adventure has ended happily, Odin looks back with pleasure\nupon the success with which he assumed the guise of the stranger and\nplayed his part (str. 107). _el keyptz litar hefi ec vel notith_: \"From\nthe well changed exterior I reaped great advantage.\" In regard to the\nmythological meaning of _litr_, see No. 95: The expression _keyptr litr_,\nwhich literally means \"purchased appearance,\" may seem strange, but\n_kaupa_ means not only to \"buy,\" but also to \"change,\" \"exchange;\" _kaupa\nkl\u00e6dum vid einn_ means \"to change clothes with some one.\" Of a queen who\nexchanged her son with a slave woman, it is said that she _keyptr um sonu\nvid amb\u00e1tt_. But the cause of Odin's joy is not that he successfully\ncarried out a cunning trick, but that he in this way accomplished a deed\nof inestimable value for Asgard and for man (str., 107, 4-6), and he is\nsorry that poor Gunlad's trust in him was betrayed (str. 105). This is a\ncharacterisation of Odin's personality.\n\nNor does Havam\u00e1l tell us what hinders the real lover from putting in his\nappearance and thwarting Odin's plan, while the latter is acting his\npart; but of this we learn something from another source, which we shall\nconsider below.\n\nThe adventure undertaken by Odin is extremely dangerous, and he ran the\nrisk of losing his head (str. 106, 6). For this reason he has, before\nentering Suttung-Fjalar's halls, secured an egress, through which he\nmust be able to fly, and if possible, with the skaldic mead as his\nbooty. There is no admittance for everybody to the rocky abode where the\nmead-treasure so much desired by all powers is kept. The dwelling is, as\nEyvind tells us, situated in an abyss, and the door is, as another record\ntells us, watched. But Odin has let Rate bore (\"gnaw\") a tunnel through\nthe mountain large enough to give him room to retire secretly (str. 106).\nIn regard to Rate, see No. 82.\n\nWhen the pretended lover has seated himself in the golden high-seat, a\nconversation begins around the banquet table. It is necessary for Odin to\nguard well his words, for he represents another person, well known there,\nand if he is not cautious he may be discovered. It is also necessary\nto be eloquent and winning, so that he may charm Gunlad and secure her\ndevotion, for without her knowledge he cannot gain his end, that of\ncarrying away the supply of inspiration-mead kept at Suttung's. Odin also\nboasts (str. 103, 104) that on this occasion he proved himself _minnigr_\nand _m\u00e1lugr_ and _margfrodr_ and eloquent for the realisation of his plan.\n\nDuring the progress of the feast the guest had his glass filled to his\nhonour with the precious mead he desired to obtain. \"Gunlad gave me on\nthe golden seat the drink of the precious mead\" (str. 105).\n\nThen the marriage ceremony was performed, and on the holy ring Gunlad\ntook to Odin the oath of faithfulness (str. 110).\n\nIt would have been best for the Asa-father if the banquet had ended here,\nand the bridegroom and the bride had been permitted to betake themselves\nto the bridal chamber. But the jolly feast is continued and the horns\nare frequently filled and emptied. Havam\u00e1l does not state that the part\nplayed by Odin required him to be continually drinking; but we shall show\nthat Gunlad's wooer was the champion drinker of all mythology, and in\nthe sagas he has many epithets referring to this quality. Odin became\non his own confession \"drunk, very drunk, at Fjalar's.\" \"The hern of\nforgetfulness which steals one's wit and understanding hovers over his\ndrink\" (str. 13, 15).\n\nIn this condition he let drop words which were not those of\ncaution--words which sowed the seed of suspicion in the minds of some of\nhis hearers who were less drunk. He dropped words which were not spelt\nwith letters of intelligence and good sense--words which did not suit the\npart he was playing.\n\nAt last the banquet comes to an end, and the bridegroom is permitted to\nbe alone with the bride in that rocky hall which is their bed-chamber.\nThere is no doubt that Odin won Gunlad's heart, \"the heart of that good\nwoman whom I took in my embrace\" (str. 108). With her help he sees his\npurpose attained and the mead in his possession. But the suspicions which\nhis reckless words had sown bear fruit in the night, and things happen\nwhich Havam\u00e1l does not give a full account of, but of a kind which would\nhave prevented Odin from getting out of the giant-gard, had he not had\nGunlad's assistance (str. 108). Odin was obliged to fight and rob Gunlad\nof a kinsman (str. 110--_hann l\u00e8t gr\u00e6tta Gunnl\u00f6du_; see Rich., p. 17).\nTaking the supply of mead with him, he takes flight by the way Rate had\nopened for him--a dangerous way, for \"above and below me were the paths\nof the giants\" (str. 106).\n\nIt seems to have been the custom that the wedding guests on the morning\nof the next day went to the door of the bridal-chamber to hear how\nthe newly-married man was getting on in his new capacity of husband.\nAccording to Havam\u00e1l, Suttung's guests, the rimthurses, observe this\ncustom; but the events of the night change their inquires into the\nquestion whether Odin had succeeded in escaping to the gods or had been\nslain by Suttung (str. 109, 110).\n\nThus far Havam\u00e1l. We must now examine Grimnersmal (150) and Ynglingatal\n(15), whose connection with the myth concerning Odin's exploit in the\nhome of Suttung-Fjalar has not hitherto been noticed.\n\nOdin says in Grimnersmal:\n\n Svitharr oc Svithrir\n er ec het at Sauccmimis\n oc dultha ec thann inn aldna iotun,\n tha er ec Mithvithnis varc\n ins m\u00e6ra burar\n ordinn einbani.\n\n\"_Svidur and Svidrir_ I was called at Sokmimer's, and I presented myself\nto the ancient giant, at the time when I alone became the slayer of\n_Midvitnir's_ famous son.\"\n\nYnglingatal (15) reads:\n\n En Dagskjarr\n Durnis nidja\n salv\u00f6rdudr\n Svegdi velti,\n tha er i stein\n hinn st\u00f3rgedi\n Dulsa konr\n ept dvergi hlj\u00f3p,\n ok sal bjartr\n theirra S\u00f6kkmimis\n jotunbyggdr\n vid jofri gein.\n\n\"The day-shy hall-guard of _Durnir's_ descendants deceived _Svegdir_ when\nhe, the dauntless son of _Dulsi_, ran after the dwarf into the rock, and\nwhen the shining giant-inhabited hall of _S\u00f6kkmimir's_ kinsmen yawned\nagainst the chief.\" (In regard to _Dulsi_, see No. 83).\n\nWhat attracts attention in a comparison of these two strophes is that the\nepithet _S\u00f6kkmimir_ is common to both of them, while this name does not\noccur elsewhere in the whole Old Norse literature.\n\nIn both the strophes _S\u00f6kkmimir_ is a giant. Grimnersmal calls him _inn\naldna iotun_, \"the ancient giant,\" with which we may compare Odin's\nwords in Havam\u00e1l (104): _enn aldna iotun ec sotta_, \"the ancient giant I\nsought,\" when he visited that giant-chief, to whose clan Suttung-Fjalar,\nthe possessor of the skald-mead, belonged.\n\nIn both the strophes the giant _S\u00f6kkmimir_ is the lord and chief of\nthose giants to whom, according to Grimnersmal, Odin comes, and outside\nof whose hall-door, according to Ynglingatal, a certain _Svegdir_ is\ndeceived by the ward of the hall. This position of _S\u00f6kkmimir_ in\nrelation to his surroundings already appears, so far as Grimnersmal is\nconcerned, from the expression _at Sauccmimis_, which means not only\n\"with Sokmimer,\" but also \"at Sokmimer's,\" that is to say, with that\ngroup of kinsmen and in that abode where Sokmimer is chief and ruler. It\nis with this giant-chief, and in his rocky hall, that _Midvitnir_ and\nhis son sojourns when Odin visits him, presents himself to him, and by\nthe name _Svidur_ (_Svidrir_) acts the part of another person, and in\nthis connection causes Midvitner's death. The same quality of Sokmimer\nas clan-chief and lord appears in the Ynglingatal strophe, in the form\nthat the hall, outside of whose door Svegder was deceived, is _theirra\nS\u00f6kkmimis_, that is to say, is the abode of Sokmimer's kinsmen and\nhousehold, \"is their giant-home.\" Thus all the giants who dwell there\ntake their clan-name from Sokmimer.\n\nThe appellation _S\u00f6kkmimir_ is manifestly not a name in the strictest\nsense, but one of the epithets by which this ancient giant-chief could be\nrecognised in connection with mythological circumstances. We shall point\nout these mythological circumstances further on.\n\nThe Ynglingatal strophe gives us, in fact, another epithet for the same\nmythic person. What the latter half of the strophe calls the hall of\nSokmimer's kinsmen and household, the former half of the same strophe\ncalls the hall of _Durnir's_ descendants. Thus Sokmimer and _Durnir_ are\nthe same person.\n\n_Durnir_, on the other hand, is a variation of _Durinn_ (cp. the parallel\nvariations _Dvalnir_ and _Dvalinn_). Of _Durinn_ we already know (see\nNo. 53) that he is one of the ancient beings of mythology who in time's\nmorning, together with _Modsognir_-Mimer and in accordance with the\nresolve of the high-holy powers, created clans of artists. One of the\nartists created by Durin, and whose father he in this sense became, is,\naccording to V\u00f6luspa (11), _Mj\u00f6dvitnir_. Rask and Egilsson have for\nphilological reasons assumed that _Midvitnir_ and _Mj\u00f6dvitnir_ are\nvariations of the same name, and designate the same person (_mj\u00f6dr_,\nin the dative _midi_). It here appears that the facts confirm this\nassumption. _Durinn_ and _Mj\u00f6dvitnir_, in V\u00f6luspa correspond to _Durnir_\nand _Midvitnir_ in the strophes concerning _S\u00f6kkmimir_.\n\n_Mj\u00f6dvitnir_ means the mead-wolf, he who captured the mead celebrated in\nmythology. As Odin, having assumed the name of another, visits the abode\nof the descendants of Durner-Sokmimer, he accordingly visits that rocky\nhome, where that giant dwells who has secured and possesses the mead\ndesired by Odin.\n\nYnglingatal reports, as we have seen, that a certain _Svegdir_ was\ndeceived, when he was outside of the door of the hall of the kinsmen of\nDurner-Sokmimer. He who deceived him was the doorkeeper of the hall.\nThe door appeared to be already open, and the \"giant-inhabited\" hall\n\"yawned\" festively illuminated (_bjartr_) toward Svegder. If we may\nbelieve Ynglingatal's commentary on the strophe, the hall-ward had called\nto him and said that Odin was inside. The strophe represents Svegder\nas running after the hall-ward, that is to say, toward the door in the\nrock, eager to get in. What afterwards happened Ynglingatal does not\nstate; but that Svegder did not gain the point he desired, but fell into\nsome snare laid by the doorkeeper, follows from the expression that he\nwas deceived by him, and that this caused his death follows from the\nfact that the purpose of the strophe is to tell how his life ended.\nYnglingasaga says that he got into the rock, but never out of it. The\nrest that this saga has to say of Svegder--that he was on a journey to\nthe old Asgard in \"Tyrkland,\" to find \"Odin the old,\" Gylfaginning's King\nPriam--has nothing to do with the mythology and with Ynglingatal, but is\nof course important in regard to the Euhemeristic hypothesis in regard\nto the descent of the Asas from Tyrkland (Troy), on which the author of\nYnglingatal, like that of Gylfaginning, bases his work.\n\nThe variations _Svegdir_, _Svidgir_, and _Sveigdir_ are used\ninterchangeably in regard to the same person (cp. Ynglingatal, 14, 15;\nFornald., ii. 2; Fornm., i. 29; and Egilsson, 796, 801). _Svigdir_ seems\nto be the oldest of these forms. The words means the great drinker\n(Egilsson, 801). _Svigdir_ was one of the most popular heroes of\nmythology (see the treatise on the \"Ivalde race\"), and was already in\nheathen times regarded as a race-hero of the Swedes. In Ynglingatal (14)\nSvithiod is called _geiri Svigdis_, \"Svigdir's domain.\" At the same time,\n_Svegdir_ is an epithet of Odin. But it should be borne in mind that\nseveral of the names by which Odin is designated belong to him only in\na secondary and transferred sense, and he has assumed them on occasions\nwhen he did not want to be recognised, and wanted to represent some one\nelse (cp. Grimnersm., 49) whose name he then assumed.\n\nWhen Odin visits the abode of _Durinn-S\u00f6kkmimir_, where the precious mead\nis preserved, he calls himself, according to Grimnersmal, _Svidurr_,\n_Svidrir_. Now it is the case with this name as with _Svigdir_, that it\nwas connected with Svithiod. Skaldskaparmal (65) says that _Svithiod var\nkallat af nafni Svidurs_, \"Svithiod was named after the name of Svidur.\"\n\nHence (1) the name _Svidurr_, like _Svegdir-Svigdir_, belongs to Odin,\nbut only in a secondary sense, as one assumed or borrowed from another\nperson; (2) _Svidurr_, like _Svegdir-Svigdir_, was originally a mythic\nperson, whom tradition connected as a race hero with Svithiod.\n\nFrom all this it appears that the names, facts, and the chain of\nevents connect partly the strophes of Grimnersmal and Ynglingatal with\neach other, and partly both of these with Havam\u00e1l's account of Odin's\nadventure to secure the mead, and this connection furnishes indubitable\nevidence that they concern the same episode in the mythological epic.\n\nIn the mythic fragments handed down to our time are found other epithets,\nwhich like _Svigdir_, refer to some mythical person who played the\npart of a champion drinker, and was connected with the myth concerning\nmead and brewing. These epithets are _\u00d6lvaldi_, _\u00d6lm\u00f3dr_, and _Sumbl\nfinnakonungr_, _Sumblus phinnorum rex_ in Saxo. _Sumbl_, as a common\nnoun, means ale, feast. In the \"Finn-king\" _Sumbl_ these ideas are\npersonified, just as the soma-drink in the Veda songs is personified\nin King Soma. In my treatise on the Ivalde race, I shall revert to the\nperson who had these epithets, in order to make his mythological position\nclear. Here I shall simply point out the following: Havam\u00e1l (110) makes\none of the rimthurses, Suttung's guests, say:\n\n Baugeith Odinn\n hygg ec at unnit hafi;\n hvat scal hans trygdom trua?\n Suttung svikinn\n han let sumbli fra\n oc gr\u00e6tta Gunnlaudo.\n\nThe strophe makes the one who says this blame Odin for breaking the oath\nhe took on the ring, and thus showing himself unworthy of being trusted\nin the promises and oaths he might give in the future, whereupon it is\nstated that he left Suttung deceitfully robbed of _sumbl_ (_Sumbl_), and\nGunlad in tears over a lost kinsman.\n\nThe expression that Suttung was deceitfully robbed of _sumbl_, to be\nintelligible, requires no other interpretation than the one which lies\nnear at hand, that Suttung was treacherously deprived of the mead. But\nas the skald might have designated the drink lost by Suttung in a more\ndefinite manner than with the word _sumbl_, and as he still chose this\nword, which to his hearers, familiar with the mythology, must have\ncalled to mind the personal _Sumbl_ (_\u00d6lvaldi Svigdir_), it is not only\npossible, but, as it seems to me, even probable, that he purposely chose\nan ambiguous word, and wanted thereby to refer at the same time to the\ndeceitfully captured mead, and to the intended son-in-law deceitfully\nlost; and this seems to me to be corroborated by the juxtaposition of\nSuttung's and Gunlad's loss. The common noun _sumbl's_ double meaning\nas mead and \"drink-feast\" has also led M. B. Richert (page 14 in his\ntreatise mentioned above) to assume that \"the expression was purposely\nchosen in such a manner that the meaning should not be entirely limited\nand definite,\" and he adds: \"A similar indefiniteness of statement,\nwhich may give rise to ambiguity and play of words, is frequently found\nin the old songs.\" Meanwhile, I do not include this probability in my\nevidence, and do not present it as the basis of any conclusions.\n\nThe name Suttung shows in its very form that it is a patronymic, and\nalthough we can furnish no linguistic evidence that the original form was\n_Surtungr_ and characterised its possessor as son of _Surtr_, still there\nare other facts which prove that such was actually the case. The very\ncircumstance that the skaldic drink which came into Suttung's possession\nis paraphrased with the expression _sylgr Surts \u00e6ttar_, \"the drink of\nSurt's race\" (Fornmanna, iii. 3), points that way and the question is\nsettled completely by the half-strophe quoted in the Younger Edda (i.\n242), and composed by Eyvind Skaldaspiller, where the skaldic potion is\ncalled--\n\n hinn er Surts\n or s\u00f6kkd\u00f6lum\n farmagnudr\n fljugandi bar.\n\n(\"the drink, which Odin flying bore from Surt's deep dales\").\n\nWhen Odin had come safely out of Fjalar-Suttung's deep rocky halls,\nand, on eagle-pinions, was flying with the precious mead to Asgard, it\nwas accordingly that deep, in which _Surtr_ dwells, which he left below\nhim, and the giant race who had been drinking the mead before that time,\nwhile it was still in Suttung's possession, was Surt's race. From this it\nfollows that \"the ancient giant,\" whom Odin visited for the purpose of\nrobbing his circle of kinsmen of the skaldic mead, is none other than\nthat being so well known in the mythology, _Surtr_, and that _Surtr_ is\nidentical with _Durinn_ (_Durnir_), and _S\u00f6kkmimir_.\n\nThis also explains the epithet _S\u00f6kkmimir_, \"the Mimer of the deep.\"\n_S\u00f6kk-_ in _S\u00f6kk-Mimir_ refers to _S\u00f6kk_ in _S\u00f6kkdalir_, Surt's domain,\nand that Surt could be associated with Mimer is, from the standpoint of\nOld Norse poetics, perfectly justifiable from the fact that he appears in\ntime's morning as a co-worker with Mimer, and operating with him as one\nof the forces of creation in the service of the oldest high-holy powers\n(see No. 53). Consequently Mimer and Sokmimer (_Surtr-Durinn_) created\nthe clans of artists.\n\n_Surtr_, _Durinn_, _Durnir_, _S\u00f6kkmimir_, are, therefore, synonyms, and\ndesignate the same person. He has a son who is designated by the synonyms\n_Suttungr_, _Fjalarr_, _Mj\u00f6dvitnir_ (_Midvitnir_). Suttung has a son\nslain by Odin, when the latter robs him of the mead of inspiration, and\na daughter, Gunlad. The giant maid, deceived and deplored by Odin, is\nconsequently the daughter of Surt's son.\n\nLight is thus shed on the myth concerning the giant who reappears in\nRagnarok, and there wields the sword which fells Frey and hurls the\nflames which consume the world. It is found to be connected with the myth\nconcerning the oldest events of mythology. In time's morning we find the\nfire-being Surt--the representative of subterranean fire--as a creative\nforce by the side of Mimer, who is a friend of the gods, and whose\nkinsman he must be as a descendant of Ymer. Both work together in peace\nfor similar purposes and under the direction of the gods (V\u00f6luspa, 9,\n10). But then something occurs which interrupts the amicable relations.\nMimer and Surt no longer work together. The fountain of creative force,\nthe mead of wisdom and inspiration, is in the exclusive possession of\nMimer, and he and Urd are together the ruling powers in the lower world.\nThe fire-giant, the primeval artist, is then with his race relegated to\nthe \"deep dales,\" situated to the southward (V\u00f6luspa, 52), difficult of\naccess, and dangerous for the gods to visit, and presumably conceived\nas located deeper down than the lower world governed by Mimer and Urd.\nThat he tried to get possession of a part of \"_Odr\u00e6rir_\" follows from the\nposition he afterwards occupies in the myth concerning the mead. When\ndaylight again falls on him from the mythic fragments extant, his son has\ncaptured and is in possession of a supply of mead, which must originally\nhave come from Mimer's fountain, and been chiefly composed of its liquid,\nfor it is skaldic mead, it too, and can also be designated as _\u00d3dr\u00e6rir_\n(Havam\u00e1l, 107), while the son is called \"the mead-wolf,\" the one who\nhas robbed and conceals the precious drink. Odin captures his mead by\ncunning, the grandson of the fire-giant is slain, the devoted love of the\nson's daughter is betrayed, and the husband selected for her is deceived\nand removed. All this, though done for purposes to benefit gods and men,\ndemands and receives in the mythology its terrible retribution. It is a\ntrait peculiar to the whole Teutonic mythology that evil deeds, with a\ngood purpose, even when the object is attained, produce evil results,\nwhich develop and finally smother the fruits of the good purpose. Thus\nSurt has a reason for appearing in Ragnarok as the annihilator of the\nworld of the Asas, when the latter is to make room for a realm of\njustice. The flames of revenge are hurled upon creation.\n\nI have already above (No. 87), had occasion to speak of the choicest\nsword of mythology, the one which Volund smithied and Mimer captured,\nand which was fetched from the lower world by a hero whose name Saxo\nLatinised into Hotherus. In my treatise on \"the Ivalde race\" it shall be\ndemonstrated who this Hotherus was in mythology, and that the sword was\ndelivered by him to Frey. Lokasenna (42; cp. Gylfag., 37), informs us\nthat the lovesick Frey gave the sword to the giant Gymer for his bride.\nAfter coming into the hands of the giants it is preserved and watched\nover until Ragnarok by _Eggther_ (an epithet meaning sword-watcher),\nwho in the Ironwood is the shepherd of the monster herd of Loke's\nprogeny, which in the last days shall harry the world and fight in\nRagnarok (V\u00f6luspa, 39-41). When Ragnarok is at hand a giant comes to this\nsword-watcher in the guise of the red cock, the symbol of the destructive\nfire. This giant is Fjalar (V\u00f6luspa, 41), and that the purpose of his\nvisit is to secure the sword follows from the fact that the best sword of\nmythology is shortly afterwards in the hands of his father Surt (V\u00f6luspa,\n50) when the latter comes from the south with his band (the sons of\nSuttung, not of Muspel) to take part in the last conflict and destroy\nwith fire that part of the world that can be destroyed. Frey is slain by\nthe sword which was once his own.\n\nIn this manner the myth about the mead and that about the Volund sword\nare knit together.\n\nThor, too, ventured to visit Fjalar's abode. In regard to this visit we\nhave a few words in strophe 26 of Harbardsljod. _Harbardr_ accuses Thor,\nno doubt unjustly, of having exhibited fear. Of this matter we have no\nreliable details in the records from heathendom, but a comparison of the\nabove strophe of Harbardsljod with Gylfaginning shows that the account\ncompiled in Gylfaginning from various mythic fragments concerning Thor's\njourney to Utgarda-Loke and his adventures there contains reminiscences\nof what the original myths have had to say about his experience on\nhis expedition to Fjalar's. The fire-giant natures of Surt and of\nhis son Fjalar gleam forth in the narrative: the ruler of Utgard can\nproduce earthquakes, and Loge (the flame) is his servant. It is also\ndoubtless correct, from a mythical standpoint, that he is represented\nas exceedingly skilful in \"deluding,\" in giving things the appearance\nof something else than they really are (see No. 39). When Odin assumed\nthe guise of Fjalar's son-in-law, he defeated Surt's race with their own\nweapons.\n\nEyvind Skaldaspiller states, as we have seen, that Surt's abode is in\ndales down in the deep. From an expression in Ynglingasaga's strophe we\nmust draw the conclusion that its author, in harmony herewith, conceived\nthe abyss where Surt's race dwelt as regions to which the light of day\nnever comes. Sokmimer's doorkeeper, one of whose tasks it was to take\nnotice of the wayfarers who approached, is a day-shy dwarf (_dagskjarr\nsalvordudr_; in regard to dwarfs that shun the light of day, see\nAlvissmal). Darkness therefore broods over this region, but in the abode\nof the fire-giant it is light (the hall is _bjartr_).\n\nI now return to the episodes in the mead-myth under discussion to\nrecapitulate in brief the proofs and results. If we for a moment should\nassume that the main source, namely, the Havam\u00e1l strophes, together with\nEyvind's half strophe, were lost, and that the only remaining evidences\nwere Grimnersmal (50) and Ynglingatal (15), together with the prose text\nin Ynglingasaga, then an analysis of these would lead to the following\nresult:\n\n(1) Grimnersmal (50) and Ynglingatal (15) should be compared with each\nother. The reasons for assuming them to be intrinsically connected are\nthe following:\n\n(_a_) Both contain the epithet _S\u00f6kkmimir_, which occurs nowhere else.\n\n(_b_) Both describe a primeval giant, who is designated by this epithet\nas chief and lord of a giant race gathered around him.\n\n(_c_) Both refer the events described to the same locality: the one tells\nwhat occurred in the halls of _S\u00f6kkmimir_; the other narrates an episode\nwhich occurred outside of the door of Sokmimer's giant abode.\n\n(_d_) The one shows that Sokmimer is identical with _Durnir_ (Durin); the\nother mentions _Midvitnir_ as one of Sokmimer's subjects. _Midvitnir_\n(_Mj\u00f3dvitnir_), according to V\u00f6luspa, was created by _Durinn_.\n\n(_e_) Both describe events occurring while Odin is inside at Sokmimer's.\n\n(_f_) The one mentions _Svidurr_, the other _Svegdir_. Mythologically,\nthe two names refer to each other.\n\n(2) To the giant group which Odin visits in the abode of _S\u00f6kkmimir_\nbelongs the giant who captured the famous mead which Odin is anxious to\nsecure. This appears from the epithet which the author of the Grimnersmal\nstrophe chose in order to designate him in such a manner that he could\nbe recognised, namely, _Midvitnir_, \"the mead-wolf,\" an epithet which\nexplains why the mead-thirsty Odin made his journey to this race hostile\nto the gods.\n\n(3) That Odin did not venture, or did not think it desirable in\nconnection with the purpose of his visit, to appear in his own name\nand in a guise easily recognised, is evident from the fact that he\n\"disguised\" himself, \"acted the hypocrite\" (_dulda_), in the presence of\nthe giant, and appeared as another mythic person, _Svidurr_.\n\nThis mythic person has been handed down in the traditions as the one who\ngave the name to Svithiod, and as a race-hero of the Swedes. _Sv\u00edthi\u00f3d\nvar kallat af nafni Svidurs._\n\n(4) While Odin, in the guise of this race-hero, plays his part in the\nmountain in the abode of Sokmimer, a person arrives at the entrance of\nthe halls of this giant. This person, _Svegdir_ (_Svigdir_), is in the\nsagas called the race-hero of the Swedes, and after him they have called\nSvithiod _geiri Svigdis_. Odin, who acted _Svidurr's_ part, has also been\ncalled _Svigdir_, _Svegdir_.\n\n_Svigdir_ is an epithet, and means \"the champion drinker\" (Anglo-Saxon\n_swig_: to drink deep draughts). \"The champion drinker\" is accordingly on\nhis way to the \"Mead-wolf,\" while Odin is in his abode. All goes to show\nthat the event belongs to the domain of the mead-myth.\n\nAccordingly, the situation is this: A pretended race-hero and namer\nof Svithiod is in the abode of Sokmimer, while a person who, from a\nmythological standpoint, is the real race-hero and namer of Svithiod is\non his way to Sokmimer's abode and about to enter. The myth could not\nhave conceived the matter in this way, unless the pretended race-hero\nwas believed to act the part of the real one. The arrival of the real\none makes Odin's position, which was already full of peril, still more\ndangerous, and threatens him with discovery and its consequences.\n\n(5) If Odin appeared in the part of a \"champion drinker,\" he was\ncompelled to drink much in Sokmimer's halls in order to maintain his\npart, and this, too, must have added to the danger of his position.\n\n(6) Still the prudent Asa-father seems to have observed some degree\nof caution, in order that his plans might not be frustrated by the\nreal _Svigdir_. That which happens gives the strongest support to this\nsupposition, which in itself is very probable. Sokmimer's doorkeeper\nkeeps watch in the darkness outside. When he discovers the approach of\n_Svigdir_, he goes to meet him and informs him that Odin is inside.\nConsequently the doorkeeper knows that _Svidurr_ is Odin, who is unknown\nto all those within excepting to Odin himself. This and what follows\nseems to show positively that the wise Odin and the cunning dwarf act\nupon a settled plan. It may be delusion or reality, but _Svigdir_ sees\nthe mountain door open to the illuminated giant-hall, and the information\nthat Odin is within (the dwarf may or may not have added that Odin\npretends to be _Svigdir_) causes him, the \"proud one,\" \"of noble race,\"\nthe kinsman of _Dulsi_ (epithet of Mundilfore, see No. 83), to rush with\nall his might after the dwarf against the real or apparent door, and\nthe result is that the dwarf succeeded in \"deceiving\" him (he _velti_\nSvegder), so that he never more was seen.\n\nThis is what we learn from the strophes in Grimnersmal and Ynglingatal,\nwith the prose text of the latter. If we now compare this with what\nHavam\u00e1l and Eyvind relates, we get the following parallels:\n\n _Havam\u00e1l and Eyvind._ _The strophes about S\u00f6kkmimir._\n\n Odin visits inn aldna iotum Odin visits inn aldna iotun\n (Surtr and his race). (S\u00f6kkmimir and his race).\n\n Odin's purpose is to deceive Odin's purpose is to deceive\n the old giant. In his abode is the old giant. In his abode is\n found a kinsman, who is in found a kinsman who is in\n possession of the skaldic possession of the skaldic\n mead (Suttung-Fjalar). mead (Midvitnir).\n\n Odin appears in the guise Odin appears as Svidurr-Svigdir.\n of Gunlad's wooer, who, if he Svigdir means the\n is named, is called Sumbl champion drinker.\n (sumbl = a drink, a feast).\n\n Odin became drunk. Odin must have drunk\n much, since he appears among\n the giants as one acting the\n part of a \"champion drinker.\"\n\n A catastrophe occurs causing A catastrophe occurs causing\n Gunnl\u00f6d to bewail the Odin to slay Midvitnir's\n death of a kinsman. son.\n\nTo this is finally to be added that Eyvind's statement, that the event\noccurred in Surt's _S\u00f6kkdalir_, helps to throw light on Surt's epithet\n_S\u00f6kkmimir_, and particularly that Ynglingatal's account of the arrival\nand fate of the real Svegder fills a gap in Havam\u00e1l's narrative, and\nshows how Odin, appearing in the guise of another person who was\nexpected, could do so without fear of being surprised by the latter.\n\nNOTE.--The account in the Younger Edda about Odin's visit to Suttung\nseems to be based on some satire produced long after the introduction\nof Christianity. With a free use of the confused mythic traditions then\nextant, and without paying any heed to Havam\u00e1l's statement, this satire\nwas produced to show in a semi-allegorical way how good and bad poetry\noriginated. The author of this satire either did not know or did not\ncare about the fact that Havam\u00e1l identifies Suttung and Fjalar. To him\nthey are different persons, of whom the one receives the skaldic mead\nas a ransom from the other. While in Havam\u00e1l the rimthurses give Odin\nthe name _B\u00f6lverkr_, \"the evil-doer,\" and this very properly from their\nstandpoint, the Younger Edda makes Odin give himself this name when\nhe is to appear _incognito_, though such a name was not calculated to\ninspire confidence. While in Havam\u00e1l Odin, in the guise of another,\nenters Suttung's halls, is conducted to a golden high-seat, and takes\na lively part in the banquet and in the conversation, the Younger Edda\nmakes him steal into the mountain through a small gimlet-hole and get\ndown into Gunlad's chamber in this manner, where he remains the whole\ntime without seeing anyone else of the people living there, and where,\nwith Gunlad's consent, he empties to the bottom the giant's three\nmead-vessels, _\u00d3dr\u00e6rir_, _Bodn_, and _S\u00f3n_. These three names belong, as\nwe have seen, in the real mythology to the three subterranean fountains\nwhich nourish the roots of the world-tree. Havam\u00e1l contents itself with\nusing a poetic-rhetorical phrase and calling the skaldic mead, captured\nby Odin, _\u00d3dr\u00e6rir_, \"the giver of inspiration,\" \"the inspiring nectar.\"\nThe author of the satire avails himself of this reason for using the\nnames of the two other fountains _Bodn_ and _S\u00f3n_, and for applying them\nto two other \"vessels and kettles\" in which Suttung is said to have\nkept the mead. That he called one of the vessels a kettle is explained\nby the fact that the third lower world fountain is _Hvergelmir_, \"the\nroaring kettle.\" In order that Odin and Gunlad may be able to discuss\nand resolve in perfect secrecy in regard to the mead, Odin must come\nsecretly down into the mountain, hence the satire makes him use the bored\nhole to get _in_. From the whole description in Havam\u00e1l, it appears, on\nthe contrary, that Odin entered the giant's hall in the usual manner\nthrough the door, while he avails himself of the tunnel made by Rate to\nget _out_. Havam\u00e1l first states that Odin seeks the giant, and then tells\nhow he enters into conversation and develops his eloquence in Suttung's\nhalls, and how, while he sits in the golden high-seat (probably opposite\nthe host, as Richter has assumed), Gunlad hands him the precious mead.\nThen is mentioned for the first time the way made for him by Rate, and\nthis on the one hand in connection with the \"evil compensation\" Gunlad\nreceived from him, she the loving and devoted woman whom he had embraced,\nand on the other hand in connection with the fact that his flight from\nthe mountain was successful, so that he could take the mead with him\nthough his life was in danger, and there were giants' ways both above\nand below that secret path by which he escaped. That Odin took the oath\nof faithfulness on the holy ring, that there was a regular wedding feast\nwith the questions on the next morning in regard to the well-being of the\nnewly-married couple--all this the satire does not mention, nor does its\npremises permit it to do so.\n\n\n90.\n\n THE MEAD-MYTH (_continued_). THE MOON AND THE MEAD. PROOFS THAT\n NANNA'S FATHER IS THE WARD OF THE ATMOSPHERE AND GOD OF THE\n MOON.\n\nBefore the skaldic mead came into the possession of Suttung-Fjalar, it\nhad passed through various adventures. In one of these enters _M\u00e1ni_, the\ngod of the moon, who by the names _N\u00f6kkvi_ (variation _N\u00f6kkver_), _Nefr_\n(variation _Nepr_), and _Gevarr_ (_G\u00e6varr_) occupies a very conspicuous\nposition in our mythology, not least in the capacity of Nanna's father.\n\nI shall here present the proofs which lie near at hand, and can be\nfurnished without entering into too elaborate investigations, that the\nmoon-god and Nanna's father are identical, and this will give me an\nopportunity of referring to that episode of the mead-myth, in which he\nappears as one of the actors.\n\nThe identity of _N\u00f6kkvi_, _Nefr_, and _Gevarr_ appears from the following\npassages:\n\n(1) Hyndluljod, 20: \"Nanna was, in the next place, _N\u00f6kkvi's_ daughter\"\n(_Nanna var n\u00e6st thar Nauckua dottir_).\n\n(2) Gylfaginning, 32: \"The son of Balder and of Nanna, daughter of Nef,\nwas called Forsete\" (_Forseti heiter sonr Baldrs ok N\u00f6nnu Nefsd\u00f3ttur_).\nGylfaginning, 49: \"His (Balder's) wife Nanna, daughter of Nef\" (_Kona\nhans Nanna Nefsd\u00f3ttir_).\n\n(3) Saxo, _Hist., Dan._, iii.: \"_Gevarr's_ daughter Nanna\" (_Gevari filia\nNanna_). That Saxo means the mythological Nanna follows from the fact\nthat Balder appears in the story as her wooer. That the Norse form of the\nname, which Saxo Latinised into Gevarus, was _Gevarr_, not _Gefr_, as a\nprominent linguist has assumed, follows from the rules adopted by Saxo in\nLatinising Norse names.\n\nNOTE.--Names of the class to which _Gefr_ would belong, providing such a\nname existed, would be Latinised in the following manner:\n\n(_a_) _Askr_ Ascerus, _Baldr_ Balderus, _Geldr_ Gelderus, _Glaumr_\nGlomerus, _H\u00f6dr_, _Hadr_, _Odr_, H\u00f6therus, Hatherus, Hotherus, _Svipdagr_\nSvipdagerus, _Ullr_ Ollerus, _Yggr_ Uggerus, _Vigr_ Vigerus.\n\n(_b_) _\u00c1smundr_ Asmundus, _Amundr_ Amundus, _Arngrimr_ Arngrimus, _Bildr_\nBildus, _Kn\u00fatr_ Canutus, _Fridleifr_ Fridlevus, _Gautrekr_ Gotricus,\n_G\u00f3dmundr_ Guthmundus, _Haddingr_ Hadingus, _Haraldr_ Haraldus.\n\nNames ending in _-arr_ are Latinised in the following manner:\n\n(_a_) _Borgarr_ Borcarus, _Einarr_ Enarus, _Gunnarr_ Gunnarus, _Hj\u00f6rvarr_\nHjartvarus, _Ingimarr_ Ingimarus, _Ingvarr_ Ingvarus, _\u00cdsmarr_ Ismarus,\n_\u00cdvarr_ Ivarus, _\u00d3ttarr_ Otharus, _Rostarr_ Rostarus, _Sigarr_ Sigarus,\n_Sivarr_ Sivarus, _Valdimarr_ Valdemarus.\n\n(_b_) _Agnarr_ Agnerus, _Ragnarr_ Regnerus.\n\nWith the ending _-arus_ occurs also in a single instance a Norse name\nin _-i_, namely, _Eylimi_ Olimarus. Herewith we might perhaps include\nLiotarus, the Norse form of which Saxo may have had in _Lj\u00f3ti_ from\n_Lj\u00f3tr_. Otherwise _Lj\u00f3tr_ is a single exception from the rules followed\nby Saxo, and methodology forbids our building anything on a single\nexception, which moreover is uncertain.\n\nSome monosyllabic names ending in _-r_ are sometimes unlatinised, as Alf,\nUlf, Sten, Ring, Rolf, and sometimes Latinised with _-o_, as Alvo, Ulvo,\nSteno, Ringo, Rolvo, _\u00c1lfr_ is also found Latinised as Alverus.\n\nFrom the above lists of names it follows that Saxo's rules for Latinising\nNorse names ending with the nominative _-r_ after a consonant were these:\n\n(1) Monosyllabic names (seldom a dissyllabic one, as _Svipdagr_) are\nLatinised with the ending _-erus_ or the ending _-o_.\n\n(2) Names of two or more syllables which do not end in _-arr_ (rarely a\nname of one syllable, as _Bildr_) are Latinised with the ending _-us_.\n\n(3) Names ending in _-arr_ are Latinised with _-arus_; in a few cases\n(and then on account of the Danish pronunciation) with _-erus_.\n\nFrom the above rules it follows (1) that _Gefr_, if such a name existed,\nwould have been Latinised by Saxo either into _Geverus_, _Geferus_, or\ninto _Gevo_, _Gefo_; (2) that _Gevarr_ is the regular Norse for _Gevarus_.\n\nThe only possible meaning of the name _Gevarr_, considered as a common\nnoun is \"the ward of the atmosphere\" from _ge_ (_g\u00e6_; see Younger Edda,\nii. 486, and Egilsson, 227) and _-varr_. I cite this definition not for\nthe purpose of drawing any conclusions therefrom, but simply because it\nagrees with the result reached in another way.\n\nThe other name of Nanna's father is, as we have seen, _N\u00f6kkvi_,\n_N\u00f6kkver_. This word means the ship-owner, ship-captain. If we compare\nthese two names, _Gevarr_ and _N\u00f6kkver_, with each other, then it follows\nfrom the comparison that Nanna's father was a mythic person who operated\nin the atmosphere or had some connection with certain phenomena in the\nair, and particularly in connection with a phenomenon there of such\na kind that the mythic fancy could imagine a ship. The result of the\ncomparison should be examined in connection with a strophe by Thorbjorn\nHornklofve, which I shall now consider.\n\nThorbjorn was the court-skald of Harald Fairfax, and he described many\nof the king's deeds and adventures. Harald had at one time caused to be\nbuilt for himself and his body-guard a large and stately ship, with a\nbeautiful figure-head in the form of a serpent. On board this ship he was\novertaken by a severe gale, which Hornklofve (Harald Harfager's saga, ch.\n9) describes in the following words:\n\n Ut \u00e1 mar m\u00e6tir\n mannsk\u00e6dr lagar tanna\n r\u00e6sinadr til rausnar\n rak vebrautar N\u00f6kkva.\n\nIn prose order: _Lagar tanna mannsk\u00e6dr m\u00e6tir \u00fat \u00e1 mar rak rausnar\nr\u00e6sinadr til N\u00f6kkva vebrautar_ (\"The assailants of the skerry (the teeth\nof the sea), dangerous to man, flung out upon the sea the splendid\nserpent of the vessel's stem to the holy path of Nokve\").\n\nAll interpreters agree that by \"the skerry's assailants, dangerous to\nman,\" is meant the waves which are produced by the storm and rush against\nthe skerries in breakers dangerous to seamen. It is also evident that\nHornklofve wanted to depict the violence of the sea when he says that\nthe billows which rise to assail the skerry tosses the ship, so that\nthe figure-head of the stem reaches \"the holy path of Nokve.\" Poems\nof different literatures resemble each other in their descriptions of\na storm raging at sea. They make the billows rise to \"the clouds,\" to\n\"the stars,\" or to \"the moon.\" _Quanti montes volvuntur aquarum! Jam,\njam tacturos sidera summa putes_, Ovid sings (_Trist._, i. 18, 19); and\nVirgil has it: _Procella fluctus ad sidera tollit_ (_\u00c6n._, i. 107). One\nof their brother skalds in the North, quoted in Skaldskaparmal (ch. 61),\ndepicts a storm with the following words:\n\n Hraud i himin upp gl\u00f3dum\n hafs, gekk s\u00e6r af afli,\n b\u00f6r hygg ek at sky skordi,\n skaut R\u00e1nar vegr m\u00e1na.\n\nThe skald makes the phosphorescence of the sea splash against heaven; he\nmakes the ship split the clouds, and the way of Ran, the giantess of the\nsea, cut the path of the moon.\n\nThe question now is, whether Hornklofve by \"Nokve's holy path\" did not\nmean the path of the moon in space, and whether it is not to this path\nthe figure-head of the ship seems to pitch when it is lifted on high by\nthe towering billows. It is certain that this holy way toward which the\nheaven-high billows lift the ship is situated in the atmosphere above the\nsea, and that Nokve has been conceived as travelling this way in a ship,\nsince Nokve means the ship-captain. From this it follows that Nokve's\ncraft must have been a phenomenon in space resembling a ship which was\nsupposed to have its course marked out there. We must therefore choose\nbetween the sun, the moon, and the stars; and as it is the moon which,\nwhen it is not full, has the form of a ship sailing in space, it is more\nprobable that by Nokve's ship is meant the moon than that any other\ncelestial body is referred to.\n\nThis probability becomes a certainty by the following proofs. In\nSonatorrek (str. 2, 3) Egil Skallagrimson sings that when heavy sorrow\noppresses him (who has lost his favourite son) then the song does not\neasily well forth from his breast:\n\n Thagna fundr\n thriggia nidja\n \u00e1r borinn\n or J\u00f6tunheimum,\n lastalauss\n er lifnadi\n \u00e1 N\u00f6kkvers\n n\u00f6kkva Bragi.\n\nThe skaldic song is here compared with a fountain which does not easily\ngush forth from a sorrowful heart, and the liquid of the fountain is\ncompared with the \"Thrigge's kinsmen's find, the one kept secret, which\nin times past was carried from Jotunheim into Nokve's ship, where Brage,\nunharmed, refreshed himself (secured the vigour of life).\"\n\nIt is plain that Egil here refers to a mythic event that formed an\nepisode in the myth concerning the skaldic mead. Somewhere in Jotunheim\na fountain containing the same precious liquid as that in Mimer's well\nhas burst forth. The vein of the fountain was discovered by kinsmen of\nThrigge, but the precious find eagerly desired by all powers is kept\nsecret, presumably in order that they who made the discovery might\nenjoy it undivided and in safety. But something happens which causes\nthe treasure which the fountain gave its discoverers to be carried from\nJotunheim to Nokve's ship, and there the drink is accessible to the\ngods. It is especially mentioned that Brage, the god of poetry, is there\npermitted to partake of it and thus refresh his powers.\n\nThus the ship of Nanna's father here reappears, and we learn that on its\nholy way in space in bygone times it bore a supply of skaldic mead, of\nwhich Brage in the days of his innocence drank the strength of life.\n\nWith this we must compare a mythic fragment preserved in Gylfaginning\n(ch. 11). There a fountain called _Byrgir_ is mentioned. Two children,\na lass by name _Bil_ and a lad by name _Hjuki_, whose father was named\n_Vidfinnr_, had come with a pail to this fountain to fetch water. The\nallegory in which the tradition is incorporated calls the pail _S\u00e6gr_,\n\"the one seething over its brinks,\" and calls the pole on which the pail\nis carried _Simul_ (according to one manuscript _Sumul_; cp. _Suml_,\nbrewing ale, mead). Bil, one of the two children is put in connection\nwith the drink of poetry. The skalds pray that she may be gracious to\nthem. _Ef unna itr vildi Bil Sk\u00e1ldi_, \"if the noble Bil will favour the\nskald,\" is a wish expressed in a strophe in the Younger Edda, ii. 363.\n_Byrgir_ is manifestly a fountain of the same kind as the one referred\nto by Egil and containing the skaldic mead. _Byrgir's_ fountain must\nhave been kept secret, it must have been a \"concealed find,\" for it is\nin the night, while the moon is up, that Vidfin's children are engaged\nin filling their pail from it. This is evident from the fact that _M\u00e1ni_\nsees the children. When they have filled the pail, they are about to\ndepart, presumably to their home, and to their father Vidfin. But they do\nnot get home. While they carry the pail with the pole on their shoulders\n_M\u00e1ni_ takes them unto himself, and they remain with him, together\nwith their precious burden. From other mythic traditions which I shall\nconsider later (see the treatise on the Ivalde race), we learn that the\nmoon-god adopts them as his children, and _Bil_ afterwards appears as an\nasynje (Younger Edda, i. 118, 556).\n\nIf we now compare Egil's statement with the mythic fragment about Bil\nand Hjuke, we find in both a fountain mentioned which contains the\nliquid of inspiration found in Mimer's fountain, without being Mimer's\nwell-guarded or unapproachable \"well.\" In Egil the find is \"kept secret.\"\nIn Gylfaginning the children visit it in the night. Egil says the liquid\nwas _carried_ from Jotunheim; Gylfaginning says that Bil and Hjuke\n_carried_ it in a pail. Egil makes the liquid transferred from Jotunheim\nto Nokve's ship; Gylfaginning makes the liquid and its bearers be taken\naloft by the moon-god to the moon, where we still, says Gylfaginning, can\nsee Bil and Hjuke (in the moon-spots).\n\nThere can therefore be no doubt that Nokve's ship is the silvery craft\nof the moon, sailing in space over sea and land on a course marked out\nfor it, and that Nokve is the moon-god. As in Rigveda, so in the Teutonic\nmythology, the ship of the moon was for a time the place where the liquid\nof inspiration, the life- and strength-giving mead, was concealed. The\nmyth has ancient Aryan roots.\n\nOn the myth concerning the mead-carrying ship, to which the Asas come to\ndrink, rests the paraphrase for _composing_, for _making a song_, which\nEinar Skalaglam once used (Skaldskaparmal, 1). To make songs he calls \"to\ndip liquid out of Her-Tyr's wind-ship\" (_ausa H\u00e9rtys v\u00edngnodar austr_;\nsee further No. 121, about Odin's visit in Nokve's ship).\n\nThe name _Nefr_ (variation _Nepr_), the third name of Nanna's father\nmentioned above, occurs nowhere in the Norse sources excepting in the\nYounger Edda. It is, however, undoubtedly correct that Nokve-Gevar was\nalso called Nef.\n\nAmong all the Teutonic myths there is scarcely one other with which so\nmany heroic songs composed in heathen times have been connected as with\nthe myth concerning the moon-god and his descendants. As shall be shown\nfurther on, the Niflungs are descendants of Nef's adopted son Hjuke, and\nthey are originally named after their adopted race-progenitor _Nefr_. A\nmore correct and an older form is perhaps _Hnefr_ and _Hniflungar_, and\nthe latter form is also found in the Icelandic literature. In Old English\nthe moon-god appears changed into a prehistoric king, _Hn\u00e4f_, also called\n_Hoce_ (see Beowulf, 2142, and Gleeman's Tale). Hoce is the same name as\nthe Norse _Hjuki_. Thus while _Hn\u00e4f_ and _Hoce_ are identical in the Old\nEnglish poem \"Beowulf,\" we find in the Norse source that the lad taken\naloft by Mane is called by one of the names of his foster-father. In\nthe Norse account the moon-god (_Nefr_) captures, as we have seen, the\nchildren of one _Vidfinnr_, and at the same time he robs _Vidfinnr_ of\nthe priceless mead of inspiration found in the fountain _Byrgir_. In the\nOld English saga _Hn\u00e4f_ has a son-in-law and vassal, whose name is _Finn_\n(_Fin Folcvalding_), who becomes his bitterest foe, contends with him, is\nconquered and pardoned, but attacks him again, and, in company with one\n_Gudere_ (_Gunnr_), burns him. According to Saxo, Nanna's father _Gevarr_\nhas the same fate. He is attacked by a vassal and burnt. The vassal\nis called Gunno (_Gunnr_, _Gudere_). Thus we have in the Old English\ntradition the names _Hn\u00e4f_, _Hoce_, _Fin_, and _Gudere_; and in the\nNorse tradition the corresponding names _Nefr_, _Hjuki_, _Vidfinnr_, and\n_Gunnr_ (_Gunnarr_). The relation of the moon-god (_Nefr_) to _Vidfinnr_\nis the mythological basis of _Fin's_ enmity to _Hn\u00e4f_. The burning is\ncommon to both the Old English and the Norse sources. Later in this work\nI shall consider these circumstances more minutely. What I have stated\nis sufficient to show that the Old English tradition is in this point\nconnected with the Norse in a manner, which confirms _Nefr-Gevarr's_\nidentity with _M\u00e1ni_, who takes aloft _Hjuki_ and robs _Vidfinnr_ of the\nskaldic mead.\n\nThe tradition of _Gevarr-Nefr's_ identity with _M\u00e1ni_ reappears in\nIceland once more as late as in Hromund Greipson's saga. There a person\ncalled _M\u00e1ni Karl_ shows where the hero of the saga is to find the sword\n_Mistelteinn_. In Saxo, Nanna's father _Gevarr_ shows the beforementioned\nHotherus where he is to find the weapon which is to slay Balder. Thus\n_M\u00e1ni_ in Hromund's saga assumes the same position as _Gevarr_, Nanna's\nfather, occupies in Saxo's narrative.\n\nAll these circumstances form together a positive proof of the moon-god's\nidentity with Nanna's father. Further on, when the investigation has\nprogressed to the proper point, we shall give reasons for assuming that\n_Vidfinnr_ of the Edda, the _Fin_ of the English heroic poem, is the same\nperson whom we have heretofore mentioned by the name _Sumbl Finnakonungr_\nand _Svigdir_, and that the myth concerning the taking of the mead aloft\nto the moon accordingly has an epic connection with the myth concerning\nOdin's visit to the giant Fjalar, and concerning the fate which then\nbefell Nokve's slayer.\n\n\n91.\n\n THE MYTH CONCERNING THE MOON-GOD (_continued_).\n\nThe moon-god, like Nat, Dag, and Sol, is by birth and abode a lower-world\ndivinity. As such, he too had his importance in the Teutonic eschatology.\nThe god who on his journeys on \"Nokve's holy way\" serves _auldom at\n\u00e1rtali_ (Vafthrudnersmal, 23) by measuring out to men time in phases of\nthe moon, in months, and in years has, in the mythology also, received a\ncertain influence in inflicting suffering and punishment on sinners. He\nis lord of the _heiptir_, the Teutonic Erinnyes (see No. 75), and keeps\nthose _limar_ (bundles of thorns) with which the former are armed, and in\nthis capacity he has borne the epithet _Eylimi_, which reappears in the\nheroic songs in a manner which removes all doubt that Nanna's father was\noriginally meant. (See in Saxo and in Helge Hjorvardson's saga. To the\nlatter I shall return in the second part of this work, and I shall there\npresent evidence that the saga is based on episodes taken from the Balder\nmyth, and that Helge Hjorvardson is himself an imitation of Balder).\nIn this capacity of lord of the _Heiptir_ the moon-god is the power to\nwhom prayers are to be addressed by those who desire to be spared from\nthose sufferings which the _Heiptir_ represent (_Heithtom scal m\u00e1na\nqvedja_--Havam\u00e1l, 137). His quality as the one who keeps the thorn-rods\nof the _heiptir_ still survives in a great part of the Teutonic world in\nthe scattered traditions about \"the man in the moon,\" who carries bundles\nof thorns on his back (J. Grimm, _Myth._, 680; see No. 123).\n\n\n92.\n\n THE MOON-DIS NANNA. THE MERSEBURG FORMULA. BALDER'S NAME FALR.\n\nThus Nanna is the daughter of the ruler of the moon, of \"the ward of the\natmosphere.\" This alone indicates that she herself was mythologically\nconnected with the phenomena which pertain to her father's domain\nof activity, and in all probability was a moon-dis (goddess). This\nassumption is fully confirmed by a contribution to Teutonic mythology\nrescued in Germany, the so-called Merseburg formula, which begins as\nfollows:\n\n Phol ende Uodan Falr and Odin\n vuoron zi holza went to the wood,\n d\u00fb vart demo Balderes then was the foot sprained\n volon sin vous birenkit on Balder's foal.\n th\u00fb biguolon Sinhtgunt. Then sang over him Sinhtgunt,\n Sunna era svister, Sunna her sister,\n th\u00fb biguolen Friia, then sang over him Frigg,\n Volla era svister Fulla her sister;\n th\u00fb biguolen Uodan then sang over him Odin\n s\u00f4 h\u00ea wola conda. as best he could.\n\nOf the names occurring in this strophe Uodan-Odin, Balder, Sunna (synonym\nof Sol--Alvissm., 17; Younger Edda, i. 472, 593), Friia-Frigg, and\nVolla-Fulla are well known in the Icelandic mythic records. Only Phol and\nSinhtgunt are strangers to our mythologists, though Phol-_Falr_ surely\nought not to be so.\n\nIn regard to the German form Phol, we find that it has by its side the\nform Fal in German names of places connected with fountains. Jacob Grimm\nhas pointed out a \"Pholes\" fountain in Thuringia, a \"Fals\" fountain\nin the Frankish Steigerwald, and in this connection a \"Balder\" well in\nRheinphaltz. In the Danish popular traditions Balder's horse had the\nability to produce fountains by tramping on the ground, and Balder's\nfountain in Seeland is said to have originated in this manner (cp. P. E.\nM\u00fcller on Saxo, _Hist._, 120). In Saxo, too, Balder gives rise to wells\n(_Victor Balderus, ut afflictum siti militem opportuni liquoris beneficio\nrecrearet, novos humi latices terram altius rimatus operuit_--p. 120).\n\nThis very circumstance seems to indicate that Phol, Fal, was a common\nepithet or surname of Balder in Germany, and it must be admitted that\nthis meaning must have appeared to the German mythologists to be\nconfirmed by the Merseburg formula; for in this way alone could it be\nexplained in a simple and natural manner, that Balder is not named in the\nfirst line as Odin's companion, although he actually attends Odin, and\nalthough the misfortune that befalls \"Balder's foal\" is the chief subject\nof the narrative, while Phol on the other hand is not mentioned again\nin the whole formula, although he is named in the first line as Odin's\ncompanion.\n\nThis simple and incontrovertible conclusion, that Phol and Balder in\nthe Merseburg formula are identical is put beyond all doubt by a more\nthorough examination of the Norse records. In these it is demonstrated\nthat the name _Falr_ was also known in the North as an epithet of Balder.\n\nThe first books of Saxo are based exclusively on the myths concerning\ngods and heroes. There is not a single person, not a single name, which\nSaxo did not borrow from the mythic traditions. Among them is also a\ncertain _Fjallerus_, who is mentioned in bk. i. 160. In the question in\nregard to the Norse form which was Latinised into _Fjallerus_, we must\nremember that Saxo writes _Hjallus_ (_Hist._, pp. 371, 672) for _Hjali_\n(cp. p. 370), and alternately _Colo_, _Collo_, and _Collerus_ (_Hist._,\npp. 56, 136, 181), and that he uses the broken form _Bjarbi_ for _Barri_\n(_Hist._, p. 250). In accordance with this the Latin form _Fjallerus_\nmust correspond to the Norse _Falr_, and there is, in fact, in the whole\nOld Norse literature, not a single name to be found corresponding to this\nexcepting Falr, for the name _Fjalarr_, the only other one to be thought\nof in this connection should, according to the rules followed by Saxo, be\nLatinised into _Fjallarus_ or _Fjalarus_, but not into _Fjallerus_.\n\nOf this _Fjallerus_ Saxo relates that he was banished by an enemy, and\nthe report says that _Fjallerus_ betook himself to the place which is\nunknown to our populations, and which is called _Od\u00e1ins-akr_ (_quem ad\nlocum, cui Undensakre nomen est, nostris ignotum populis concessisse est\nfama_--p. 160.)\n\nThe mythology mentions only a single person who by an enemy was\ntransferred to _Od\u00e1insakr_, and that is Balder. (Of _Od\u00e1insakr_ and\nBalder's abode there, see Nos. 44-53).\n\nThe enemy who transfers _Falr_ to the realm of immortality is,\naccording to Saxo, a son of _Horvendillus_, that is to say, a son of\nthe mythological _\u00d6rvandill_, Groa's husband and Svipdag's father (see\nNos. 108, 109). Svipdag has already once before been mistaken by Saxo\nfor _Hotherus_ (see No. 101). _Hotherus_ is, again, the Latin form for\n_H\u00f6dr_. Hence it is Balder's banishment by _H\u00f6dr_ to the subterranean\nrealms of immortality of which we here read in Saxo where the latter\nspeaks of Fal's banishment to _Od\u00e1insakr_ by a son of Orvandel.\n\nWhen Balder dies by a _flaug_ hurled by _H\u00f6dr_ he stands in the midst\nof a rain of javelins. He is the centre of a _mannhringr_, where all\nthrow or shoot at him: _sumir skj\u00f3ta \u00e1 hann, sumir h\u00f6ggva til, sumir\nberja grj\u00f3ti_ (Gylfaginning). In this lies the mythical explanation of\nthe paraphrase _Fal's rain_, which occurs in the last strophe of a poem\nattributed to the skald Gisle Surson. In Gisle's saga we read that he\nwas banished on account of manslaughter, but by the aid of his faithful\nwife he was able for thirteen years to endure a life of persecutions and\nconflicts, until he finally was surprised and fell by the weapons of his\nfoes. Surrounded by his assailants, he is said to have sung the strophe\nin question, in which he says that \"the beloved, beautiful, brave Fulla\nof his hall,\" that is to say, his wife, \"is to enquire for him, her\nfriend,\" for whose sake \"Fal's rain\" now \"falls thick and fast,\" while\n\"keen edges bite him.\" In a foregoing strophe Gisle has been compared\nwith a \"Balder of the shield,\" and this shield-Balder now, as in the\nBalder of the myth, is the focus of javelins and swords, while he like\nBalder, has a beautiful and faithful wife, who, like Nanna, is to take\nhis death to heart. If the name Nanna, as has been assumed by Vigfusson\nand others, is connected with the verb _nenna_, and means \"the brave\none,\" then _rekkil\u00e1t_ Fulla, \"the brave Fulla of Gisle's hall,\" is an\nall the more appropriate reference to Nanna, since Fulla and she are\nintimately connected in the mythology, and are described as the warmest\nof friends (Gylfaginning). Briefly stated: in the poem Gisle is compared\nwith Balder, his wife with Nanna, his death with Balder's death, and the\nrain of weapons by which he falls with _Fal's rain_.\n\nIn a strophe composed by _Refr_ (Younger Edda, i. 240) the skald offers\nthanks to Odin, the giver of the skaldic art. The Asa-father is here\ncalled _Fals hrannvala brautar fannar salar valdi_ (\"The ruler of the\nhall of the drift of the way of the billow-falcons of Fal\"). This long\nparaphrase means, as has also been assumed by others, the ruler of\nheaven. Thus heaven is designated as \"the hall of the drift of the way of\nthe billow-falcons of Fal.\" The \"drift\" which belongs to heaven, and not\nto the earth, is the cloud. The heavens are \"the hall of the cloud.\" But\nin order that the word \"drift\" might be applied in this manner it had to\nbe united with an appropriate word, showing that the heavens were meant.\nThis is done by the adjective phrase \"of the way of the billow-falcons\nof Fal.\" Standing alone, \"the drift of the way of the billow-falcons\"\ncould not possibly mean anything else than the billow white with foam,\nsince \"billow-falcons\" is a paraphrase for ships, and the \"way of the\nbillow-falcons\" is a paraphrase for the sea. By adding the name _Falr_\nthe meaning is changed from \"sea\" to \"sky.\" By Fal's \"billow-falcons\"\nmust therefore be meant objects whose course is through the air, just\nas the course of the ships is on the sea, and which traverse the drift\nof the sky, the cloud, just as the ships plough through the drift of\nthe sea, the white-crested billow. Such a paraphrase could not possibly\navoid drawing the fancy of the hearers and readers to the atmosphere\nstrewn with clouds and penetrated by sunbeams, that is, to Odin's hall.\nBalder is a sun-god, as his myth, taken as a whole, plainly shows, and\nas is manifested by his epithet; _raudbrikar rikr r\u00e6kir_ (see No. 53).\nThus Fal, like Balder, is a divinity of the sun, a being which sends\nthe sunbeams down through the drifts of the clouds. As he, furthermore,\nlike Balder, stood in a rain of weapons under circumstances sufficiently\nfamiliar for such a rain to be recognised when designated as Fal's, and\nas he, finally, like Balder, was sent by an opponent to the realm of\nimmortality in the lower world, then _Falr_ and Balder must be identical.\n\nTheir identity is furthermore confirmed by the fact that Balder in early\nChristian times was made a historical king of Westphalia. The statement\nconcerning this, taken from Anglo-Saxon or German sources, has entered\ninto the foreword to Gylfaginning. Nearly all lands and peoples have,\naccording to the belief of that time, received their names from ancient\nchiefs. The Franks were said to be named after one Francio, the East\nGoth after Ostrogotha, the Angles after Angul, Denmark after Dan, &c.\nThe name Phalia, Westphalia, was explained in the same manner, and as\nBalder's name was Phol, Fal, this name of his gave rise to the name of\nthe country in question. For the same reason the German poem Biterolf\nmakes Balder (Paltram) into king _ze P\u00fclle_. (Compare the local name\nP\u00f6lde, which, according to J. Grimm, is found in old manuscripts written\n_Polidi_ and _Pholidi_.) In the one source Balder is made a king in\nPholidi, since Phol is a name of Balder, and in the other source he is\nfor the same reason made a king in Westphalia, since Phal is a variation\nof Phol, and likewise designated Balder. \"Biterolf\" has preserved the\nrecord of the fact that Balder was not only the stateliest hero to be\nfound, but also the most pure in morals, and a man much praised. Along\nwith Balder, Gylfaginning speaks of another son of Odin, _Siggi_, who\nis said to have become a king in Frankland. The same reason for which\nFal-Balder was made a king in Westphalia also made the apocryphal _Siggi_\nin question the progenitor of Frankian kings. The Frankian branch to\nwhich the Merovingian kings belonged bore the name _Sigambrians_, and to\nexplain this name the son _Siggi_ was given to Odin, and he was made the\nprogenitor and eponym of the Sigambrians.\n\nAfter this investigation which is to be continued more elaborately in\nanother volume, I now return to the Merseburg formula:\n\n \"Fall and Odin\n Went to the wood,\n Then the foot was sprained\n Of Balder's foal.\"\n\nWith what here is said about Balder's steed, we must compare what Saxo\nrelates about Balder himself: _Adeo in adversam corporis valetudinem\nincidit, ut ni pedibus quidem incedere posset_ (_Hist._, 120).\n\nThe misfortune which happened first to Balder and then to Balder's horse\nmust be counted among the warnings which foreboded the death of the son\nof Odin. There are also other passages which indicate that Balder's\nhorse must have had a conspicuous signification in the mythology, and\nthe tradition concerning Balder as rider is preserved not only in\nnorthern sources (Lokasenna, Gylfaginning), and in the Merseburg formula,\nbut also in the German poetry of the middle ages. That there was some\nwitchcraft connected with this misfortune which happened to Balder's\nhorse is evident from the fact that the magic songs sung by the goddesses\naccompanying him availed nothing. According to the Norse ancient records,\nthe women particularly exercise the healing art of witchcraft (compare\nGroa and Sigrdrifva), but still Odin has the profoundest knowledge of the\nsecrets of this art; he is _galdrs fadir_ (Veg., 3). And so Odin comes\nin this instance, and is successful after the goddesses have tried in\nvain. We must fancy that the goddesses make haste to render assistance in\nthe order in which they ride in relation to Balder, for the event would\nlose its seriousness if we should conceive Odin as being very near to\nBalder from the beginning, but postponing his activity in order to shine\nafterwards with all the greater magic power, which nobody disputed.\n\nThe goddesses constitute two pairs of sisters: Sinhtgunt and her sister\nSunna, and Frigg and her sister Fulla. According to the Norse sources,\nFrigg is Balder's mother. According to the same records, Fulla is always\nnear Frigg, enjoys her whole confidence, and wears a diadem as a token of\nher high rank among the goddesses. An explanation of this is furnished\nby the Merseburg formula, which informs us that Fulla is Frigg's sister,\nand so a sister of Balder's mother. And as Odin is Balder's father, we\nfind in the Merseburg formula the Balder of the Norse records, surrounded\nby the kindred assigned to him in these records.\n\nUnder such circumstances it would be strange, indeed, if Sinhtgunt and\nthe sun-dis, Sunna, did not also belong to the kin of the sun-god,\nBalder, as they not only take part in this excursion of the Balder\nfamily, but are also described as those nearest to him, and as the first\nwho give him assistance.\n\nThe Norse records have given to Balder as wife Nanna, daughter of that\ndivinity which under Odin's supremacy is the ward of the atmosphere\nand the owner of the moon-ship. If the continental Teutons in their\nmythological conceptions also gave Balder a wife devoted and faithful\nas Nanna, then it would be in the highest degree improbable that\nthe Merseburg formula should not let her be one of those who, as a\nbody-guard, attend Balder on his expedition to the forest. Besides Frigg\nand Fulla, there are two goddesses who accompany Balder. One of them is\na sun-dis, as is evident from the name Sunna; the other, Sinhtgunt, is,\naccording to Bugge's discriminating interpretation of this epithet, the\ndis \"who night after night has to battle her way.\" A goddess who is the\nsister of the sun-dis, but who not in the daytime but in the night has\nto battle on her journey across the sky, must be a goddess of the moon,\na moon-dis. This moon-goddess is the one who is nearest at hand to bring\nassistance to Balder. Hence she can be none else than Nanna, who we know\nis the daughter of the owner of the moon-ship. The fact that she has to\nbattle her way across the sky is explained by the Norse mythic statement,\naccording to which the wolf-giant Hate is greedy to capture the moon,\nand finally secures it as his prey (V\u00f6luspa, Gylfaginning). In the poem\nabout Helge Hjorvardson, which is merely a free reproduction of the\nmaterials in the Balder-myth (which shall be demonstrated in the second\npart of this work), the giant Hate is conquered by the hero of the poem,\na Balder figure, whose wife is a dis, who, \"white\" herself, has a shining\nhorse (str. 25, 28), controls weather and harvests (str. 28), and makes\n_nightly_ journeys on her steed, and \"inspects the harbours\" (str. 25).\n\nThe name Nanna (from the verb _nenna_; cp. Vigfusson, _Lex._) means \"the\nbrave one.\" With her husband she has fought the battles of light, and in\nthe Norse, as in the Teutonic, mythology, she was with all her tenderness\na heroine.\n\nThe Merseburg formula makes the sun-dis and the moon-dis sisters. The\nNorse variation of the Teutonic myth has done the same. Vafthrudnersmal\nand Gylfaginning (ch. 11) inform us that the divinities which govern\nthe chariots of the sun and moon were brother and sister, but from the\nmasculine form _M\u00e1ni_ Gylfaginning has drawn the false conclusion that\nthe one who governed the car of the moon was not a sister but a brother\nof the sun. In the mythology a masculine divinity _M\u00e1ni_ was certainly\nknown, but he was the father of the sun-dis and moon-dis, and identical\nwith _Gevarr-N\u00f6kkvi-Nefr_, the owner of the moon-ship. The god _M\u00e1ni_ is\nthe father of the sun-dis for the same reason as Nat is the mother of Dag.\n\nVafthrudnersmal informs us that the father of the managers of the sun-\nand moon-cars was called _Mundilf\u00f6ri_. We are already familiar with\nthis mythic personality (see Nos. 81-83) as the one who is appointed to\nsuperintend the mechanism of the world, by whose _M\u00f6ndull_ the starry\nfirmament is revolved. It is not probable that the power governing the\nmotion of the stars is any other than the one who under Odin's supremacy\nis ruler of the sun and moon, and ward of all the visible phenomena in\nspace, among which are also the stars. As, by comparison of the old\nrecords, we have thus reached the conclusion that the managers of the\nsun and moon are daughters of the ward of the atmosphere, and as we have\nalso learned that they are daughters of him who superintends the motion\nof the constellations, we are unable to see anything but harmony in these\nstatements. _Mundilf\u00f6ri_ and _Gevarr-N\u00f6kkvi-Nefr_ are the same person.\n\nIt should be added that the moon-goddess, like her father, could be\ncalled _M\u00e1ni_ without there being any obstacle in the masculine form of\nthe word. The name of the goddess _Skadi_ is also masculine in form, and\nis inflected as a masculine noun (oblique case, _Skada_--Younger Edda,\n212, 268).\n\n\n93.\n\n COSMOGRAPHIC REVIEW.\n\nIn the preceding pages various scattered contributions have been made\nto Teutonic cosmography, and particularly to the topography of the\nlower world. It may not be out of the way to gather and complete these\nfragments.\n\nThe world-tree's three roots, which divide themselves in the lower\nworld and penetrate through the three lower-world fountains into the\nfoundations of the world-structure and hold it together, stand in a\ndirection from north to south--the northernmost over the Hvergelmer\nfountain, with its cold waters; the middle one over Mimer's well, which\nis the fountain of spiritual forces; and the third over Urd's well, whose\nliquids give warmth to Ygdrasil (see No. 63).\n\nIn a north and south direction stands likewise the bridge _Bifr\u00f6st_, also\ncalled _Bilr\u00f6st_, _\u00c1sbru_ (Grimnersmal, 29), and in a bold paraphrase,\nhitherto not understood, _thiodvitnis fiscr_, \"the fish of the\nfolk-wolf.\" The paraphrase occurs in Grimnersmal (21) in its description\nof Valhal and other abodes of the gods:\n\n thytr thund,\n unir thi\u00f3dvitnis\n fiscr fl\u00f3di i\n \u00e1rstraumr thickir\n ofmicil\n valglaumi at vatha.\n\n\"Thund (the air-river) roars. The fish of the folk-wolf stands secure in\nthe stream. To the noisy crowd of sword-fallen men the current seems too\nstrong to wade through.\"\n\nIt has already been shown (No. 65) that those fallen by the sword ride\nwith their psychopomps on Bifrost up to Valhal, and do not proceed\nthither through space, but have a solid foundation for the hoofs of\ntheir steeds. Here, as in Fafnersmal (15), the air is compared with a\nriver, in which the horses are compelled to wade or swim if the bridge\nleading to Asgard is not used, and the current in this roaring stream is\nsaid to be very strong; while, on the other hand, \"the fish\" stands safe\nand inviting therein. That the author of Grimnersmal called the bridge\na fish must seem strange, but has its natural explanation in Icelandic\nusage, which called every bridge-end or bridge-head a _spordr_, that is,\na fish-tail. Compare Sigrdrifumal (16), which informs us that runes were\nristed on \"the fish-tail\" of the great mythic bridge (_\u00e1 bruar spordi_),\nand the expression _br\u00faarspordr_ (bridge-head, bridge-\"fish-tail\") in\nNjala (246) and _Biskupas_ (1, 17). As a bridge-pier could be called\na fish-tail, it was perfectly logical for the poem to make the bridge\na fish. On the zenith of the bridge stands Valhal, that secures those\nfallen in battle, and whose entrance is decorated with images of the wolf\nand of the eagle (Grimnersmal, 10), animals that satisfy their hunger on\nthe field of battle. This explains why the fish is called that of the\nfolk-wolf or great wolf. The meaning of the paraphrase is simply \"the\nValhal bridge.\" That the bow of Bifrost stands north and south follows\nfrom the fact that the gods pass over one end of the bridge on their way\nto Urd's fountain, situated in the south of the lower world, while the\nother end is outside of Nifelhel, situated in the north. From the south\nthe gods come to their judgment-seats in the realm of the dis of fate and\ndeath. From the north came, according to Vegtamskvida, Odin when he rode\nthrough Nifelhel to that hall which awaited Balder. Why the Asa-father\non that occasion chose that route Vegtamskvida does not inform us. But\nfrom Saxo (_Hist. Dan._, 126), who knew an old heathen song about Odin's\nvisit in the lower world on account of Balder's death, we get light\non this point. According to this song[17] it was Rostiophus Phinnicus\nwho told Odin that a son of the latter and Rind was to avenge Balder's\ndeath. Rostiophus is, as P. E. M\u00fcller has already remarked, the rimthurs\n_Hrossthi\u00f3fr_ mentioned in Hyndluljod as a son of _Hrimnir_ and brother\nof the sorceress _Heidr_, the vala and witch well known from V\u00f6luspa and\nother sources. Nifelhel is, as shown above (No. 60), the abode of the\nrimthurses transferred to the lower world. Where his father _Hrimnir_\n(Bergelmer) and his progenitor _Hrimgrimnir_ (Thrudgelmer) dwell in the\nthurs-hall mentioned in Skirnersmal, there we also find _Hrossthi\u00f3fr_,\nand Odin must there seek him. Vegtamskvida makes Odin seek his sister.\n\nIt is Bifrost's north bridge-head which particularly requires the\nvigilance of Heimdal, the ward of the gods, since the rimthurses and the\ndamned are its neighbours. Heimdal is therefore \"widely known\" among the\ninhabitants of Nifelhel (Skirnersmal, 28), and Loke reproaches Heimdal\nthat his vocation as watchman always compels him to expose his back to\nthe torrents of an unfavourable sky (Lokas., 48). In the night which\nconstantly broods over this northern zone shine the forms of the \"white\"\ngod and of his gold-beaming horse _Gulltoppr_, when he makes spying\nexpeditions there. His eye penetrates the darkness of a hundred \"rasts,\"\nand his ear catches the faintest sound (Gylfag., 27). Near Bifrost,\npresumably at the very bridge-head, mythology has given him a fortified\ncitadel, _Himinbjorg_, \"the ward of heaven,\" with a comfortable hall well\nsupplied with \"the good mead\" (Grimn., 13; Gylfag., 27).\n\nThe lower world is more extensive in all directions than the surface of\nthe earth above it. Bifrost would not be able to pass outside and below\nthe crust of the earth to rest with its bridge-heads on the domain of\nthe three world-fountains if this were not the case. The lower world\nis therefore called _Jormungrund_, \"the great ground or foundation\"\n(Forspjallsljod, 25), and its uttermost zone, _jadarr Jormungrundar_,\n\"the domain of the great ground,\" is open to the celestial canopy,\nand the under side of the earth is not its roof. From _Hlidskjalf_,\nthe outlook of the gods in Asgard (Forspjallsljod, the prose texts in\nSkirnersmal and in Grimnersmal), the view is open to Midgard, to the\nsea, and to the giant-world situated beyond the Elivagar rivers (see the\ntexts mentioned), and should accordingly also be so to the broad zone of\nJormungrund, excepting its northernmost part, which always is shrouded in\nnight. From _Hlidskjalf_ the eye cannot discern what is done there. But\nHeimdal keeps watch there, and when anything unusual is perceived Odin\nsends the raven _Huginn_ (_Hugr_) thither to spy it out (Forspjallsljod,\n10, 3, which strophes belong together). But from Hlidskjalf as the point\nof observation the earth conceals all that part of Jormungrund below\nit; and as it is important to Odin that he should know all that happens\nthere, _Huginn_ and _Muninn_ fly daily over these subterranean regions:\n_Huginn oc Muninn fljuga hverjan dag iormungrund yfir_ (Grimnersmal, 20).\nThe expeditions of the ravens over Nifelhel in the north and over Surt's\n\"deep dales\" in the south expose them to dangers: Odin expresses his fear\nthat some misfortune may befall them on these excursions (Grimnersmal,\n20).\n\nIn the western and eastern parts of _jadarr Jormungrundar_ dwell the two\ndivine clans the Vans and Elves, and the former rule over the whole zone\never since \"the gods in time's morning,\" gave Frey, Njord's bounteous\nson, Alfheim as a tooth-gift (Grimners., 5). Delling is to be regarded as\nclan-chief of the Elves (light-Elves), since in the very theogony he is\nranked with the most ancient powers. With Mimer's daughter Nat he becomes\nthe father of Dag and the progenitor of _Dag's synir_ (the light-Elves).\nIt has already been emphasised (see No. 53) that he is the lord of the\nrosy-dawn, and that outside of his doors the song of awakening is sung\nevery morning over the world: \"Power to the Asas, success to the Elves,\nand wisdom to Hroptatyr\" (Havam\u00e1l, 100). The glow of dawn blazes up from\nhis domain beyond the eastern horizon. Where this clan-chieftain of the\nElves dwells, thither the mythology has referred the original home of\nhis clan. _Alfheimr_ occupies the eastern part of Jormungrund's zone. It\nis in the eastern part that Dag, Delling's son, and Sol, his kinswoman,\nmount their chariots to make their journey around the earth in the sky.\nHere is also the Hel-gate through which all the dead must pass in the\nlower world (No. 68).\n\nThere are many proofs that the giant settlement with the Ironwood or\nMyrkwood was conceived as extending from the north over large portions of\nthe east (V\u00f6luspa, 39, 48, &c.). These regions of Alfheim constitute the\nsouthern coasts of the Elivagar, and are the scenes of important events\nin the epic of the mythology (see the treatise on the Ivalde race).\n\n_Vanaheimr_ is situated in the western half of the zone. At the banquet\nin _\u00c6gir's_ hall described in Lokasenna, Loke says to Njord:\n\n thu vast austr hedan\n gisl um sendr godum--\n\n\"From here you were sent out east as a hostage to the gods.\"\n\n\u00c6gir's hall is far out in the depths of the sea. The ocean known by the\nTeutons was the North Sea. The author has manifestly conceived \u00c6gir's\nhall as situated in the same direction from Asgard as Vanaheim, and\nnot far from the native home of the Vans. This lies in the word _hedan_\n(from here). According to Vafthrudnersmal (str. 39), Njord was \"created\nin Vanaheim by wise _regin_.\" When he was sent as a hostage to the gods\nto Asgard he had to journey eastward (_austr_). The western location of\nVanaheim is thereby demonstrated.\n\nIn the \"western halls\" of Vanaheim dwells Billing, Rind's father,\nthe father of the Asa-god, Vale's mother (_Rindr berr Vala i\nv\u00e6strs\u00f6lum_--Vegt., 11). His name has been preserved in both the German\nand the Anglo-Saxon mythic records. An Old German document mentions\ntogether Billunc and Nidunc, that is, Billing and Mimer (see No. 87). In\nthe mythology Mimer's domain is bounded on the west by Billing's realm,\nand on the east by Delling's. Delling is Mimer's son-in-law. According to\nV\u00f6luspa, 13 (Codex Hauk.), Billing is a being which in time's morning,\non the resolve of the gods, was created by _Modsognir_-Mimer and\n_Durinn_. Mimer's neighbours in the east and in the west were therefore\nintimately connected with him. An Anglo-Saxon record (Codex Exoniensis,\n320, 7) makes Billing the race-hero of the kinsmen and neighbours of\nthe Angles, the Varnians (_Billing veold Vernum_). This too has a\nmythological foundation, as appears in Grimnersmal (39) and in the saga\nof Helge Hjorvardson, which, as before stated, is composed of mythic\nfragments. When Sol and Mane leave Delling's domain and begin their\nmarch across the heavens, their journey is not without danger. From the\nIronwood (cp. V\u00f6luspa, 39) come the wolf-giants _Skoll_ and _Hate_ and\npursue them. _Skoll_ does not desist from the pursuit before the car\nof the bright-faced goddess has descended toward the western halls and\nreached _Varna vidr_ (_Scaull heitir ulfr, er fylgir eno scirleita godi\ntil Varna vidar_--Grimnersmal, 39). _Varna vidr_ is the forest of the\nmythic Varnians or Varinians. Varnians, Varinians, means \"defenders,\"\nand the protection here referred to can be none other than that given to\nthe journeying divinities of light when they have reached the western\nhorizon. According to Helge Hjorvardson's saga, Hate, who pursues the\nmoon, is slain near Varin's Bay. _Varinn_, the \"defender,\" \"protector,\"\nis the singular form of the same word as reappears in the genitive plural\n_Varna_. These expressions--_Billing veold Vernum_, _Varna vidr_, and\n_Varins vik_--are to be considered as belonging together. So also the\nlocal names borrowed from the mythology, _Varinsfj\u00f6rdr_ and _Varinsey_,\nin Helge Hjorvardson's saga, where several names reappear, _e.g._,\n_Svarinn_, _M\u00f3inn_, _\u00c1lfr_, and _Yngvi_, which in connection with that of\nBilling occur in the list of the beings created by Mimer and _Durinn_. It\nis manifest that _Varna vidr_, where the wolf _Skoll_ is obliged to turn\nback from his pursuit of Sol, and that _Varins vik_, where the moon's\npursuer Hate is conquered, were conceived in the mythology as situated\nin the western horizon, since the sun and the moon making their journey\nfrom the east to west on the heavens are pursued and are not safe before\nthey reach the western halls. And now as Billing dwells in the western\nhalls and is remembered in the Anglo-Saxon mythic fragments as the prince\nof the Varnians or Varinians, and as, furthermore, _Varinsfj\u00f6rdr_ and\n_Varinsey_ are connected with adventures in which there occur several\nnames of mythic persons belonging to Billing's clan, then this proves\nabsolutely an original mythic connection between Billing and his\nwestern halls and those western halls in whose regions _Varna vidr_\nand _Varinsvik_ are situated, and where the divinities of light, their\njourney athwart the sky accomplished, find defenders and can take their\nrest. And when we add to this that Delling, Mimer's kinsman and eastern\nneighbour, is the lord of morning and the rosy dawn, and that Billing is\nMimer's kinsman and western neighbour, then it follows that Billing, from\nthe standpoint of a symbol of nature, represents the evening and the glow\nof twilight, and that in the epic he is ruler of those regions of the\nworld where the divinities of light find rest and peace. The description\nwhich the Havam\u00e1l strophes (97-101) give us of life in Billing's halls\ncorresponds most perfectly with this view. Through the epic presentation\nthere gleams, as it seems, a conscious symbolising of nature, which\npaints to the fancy the play of colours in the west when the sun is set.\nWhen eventide comes Billing's lass, \"the sun-glittering one,\" sleeps on\nher bed (_Billing's mey ec fann bedjum \u00e1 solhvita sofa_--str. 97). In his\nhalls Billing has a body-guard of warriors, his _saldr\u00f3tt_, _vigdr\u00f3tt_\n(str. 100, 101), in whom we must recognise those Varnians who protect\nthe divinities of light that come to his dwelling, and these warriors\nwatch far into the night, \"with burning lights and with torches in their\nhands,\" over the slumbering \"sun-white\" maiden. But when day breaks\ntheir services are no longer necessary. Then they in their turn go to\nsleep (_Oc n\u00e6r morni ... th\u00e1 var saldrott um sofin_--str. 101).\n\nWhen the Asas--all on horseback excepting Thor--on their daily journey\nto the thingstead near Urd's fountain, have reached the southern\nrune-risted bridge-head of Bifrost, they turn to the north and ride\nthrough a southern Hel-gate into the lower world proper. Here, in the\nsouth, and far below Jormungrund's southern zone, we must conceive\nthose \"deep dales\" where the fire-giant Surt dwells with his race,\nSuttung's sons (not Muspel's sons). The idea presented in Gylfaginning's\ncosmogony, according to which there was a world of fire in the south\nand a world of cold in the north of that Ginungagap in which the world\nwas formed, is certainly a genuine myth, resting on a view of nature\nwhich the very geographical position forced upon the Teutons. Both these\nborder realms afterwards find their representatives in the organised\nworld: the fire-world in _Surt's S\u00f6kkdalir_, and the frost-world in\nthe Nifelhel incorporated with the eschatological places; and as the\nlatter constitutes the northern part of the realm of death, we may in\nanalogy herewith refer the dales of Surt and Suttung's sons to the\nsouth, and we may do this without fear of error, for V\u00f6luspa (50) states\npositively that Surt and his descendants come from the south to the\nRagnarok conflict (_Surtr fer sunan med sviga l\u00e6fi_). While the northern\nbridge-head of Bifrost is threatened by the rimthurses, the southern is\nexposed to attacks from Suttung's sons. In Ragnarok the gods have to\nmeet storms from both quarters, and we must conceive the conflict as\nextending along Jormungrund's outer zone and especially near both ends of\nthe Bifrost bridge. The plain around the south end of Bifrost where the\ngods are to \"mix the liquor of the sword with Surt\" is called _Osk\u00f3pnir_\nin a part of a heathen poem incorporated with Fafnersmal. Here Frey\nwith his hosts of einherjes meets Surt and Suttung's sons, and falls by\nthe sword which once was his, after the arch of Bifrost on this side is\nalready broken under the weight of the hosts of riders (Fafnersmal, 14,\n15; V\u00f6luspa, 51). _Osk\u00f3pnir's_ plain must therefore be referred to the\nsouth end of Bifrost and outside of the southern Hel-gate of the lower\nworld. The plain is also called _Vigridr_ (Vafthrudnersmal, 18), and is\nsaid to be one hundred rasts long each way. As the gods who here appear\nin the conflict are called _in svaso god_, \"the sweet,\" and as Frey falls\nin the battle, those who here go to meet Surt and his people seem to be\nparticularly Vana-gods and Vans, while those who contend with the giants\nand with Loke's progeny are chiefly Asas.\n\nWhen the gods have ridden through the southern Hel-gate, there lie before\nthem magnificent regions over which Urd in particular rules, and which\ntogether with Mimer's domain constitute the realms of bliss in the lower\nworld with abodes for departed children and women, and for men who were\nnot chosen on the field of battle. Rivers flowing from Hvergelmer flow\nthrough Urd's domain after they have traversed Mimer's realm. The way\nleads the gods to the fountain of the norns, which waters the southern\nroot of the world-tree, and over which Ygdrasil's lower branches spread\ntheir ever-green leaves, shading the gold-clad fountain, where swans swim\nand whose waters give the whitest colour to everything that comes in\ncontact therewith. In the vicinity of this fountain are the thingstead\nwith judgment-seats, a tribunal, and benches for the hosts of people who\ndaily arrive to be blessed or damned.\n\nThese hosts enter through the Hel-gate of the east. They traverse deep\nand dark valleys, and come to a thorn-grown plain against whose pricks\nHel-shoes protect those who were merciful in their life on earth, and\nthence to the river mixed with blood, which in its eddies whirls weapons\nand must be waded over by the wicked, but can be crossed by the good on\nthe drift-wood which floats on the river. When this river is crossed the\nway of the dead leads southward to the thingstead of the gods.\n\nFurther up there is a golden bridge across the river to the glorious\nrealm where _Mimer's holt_ and the glittering halls are situated, in\nwhich Balder and the _\u00e1smegir_ await the regeneration. Many streams come\nfrom Hvergelmer, among them _Leiptr_, on whose waters holy oaths are\ntaken, and cast their coils around these protected places, whence sorrow,\naging, and death are banished. The halls are situated in the eastern part\nof Mimer's realm in the domain of the elf of the rosy dawn, for he is\ntheir watchman.\n\nFurther down in Mimer's land and under the middle root of the world-tree\nis the well of creative force and of inspiration, and near it are Mimer's\nown golden halls.\n\nThrough this middle part of the lower world goes from west to east\nthe road which Nat, Dag, Sol, and Mane travel from Billing's domain to\nDelling's. When the mother Nat whose car is drawn by _Hrimfaxi_ makes\nher entrance through the western Hel-gate, darkness is diffused along\nher course over the regions of bliss and accompanies her chariot to the\nnorth, where the hall of Sindre, the great artist, is located, and toward\nthe Nida mountains, at whose southern foot Nat takes her rest in her own\nhome. Then those who dwell in the northern regions of Jormungrund retire\nto rest (Forspjallsljod, 25); but on the outer rim of Midgard there is\nlife and activity, for there Dag's and Sol's cars then diffuse light\nand splendour on land and sea. The hall of Sindre's race has a special\npeculiarity. It is, as shall be shown below, the prototype of \"the\nsleeping castle\" mentioned in the sagas of the middle ages.\n\nOver the Nida mountains and the lands beyond them we find Ygdrasil's\nthird root, watered by the Hvergelmer fountain, the mother of all waters.\nThe Nida mountains constitute Jormungrund's great watershed, from\nwhich rivers rush down to the south and to the north. In Hvergelmer's\nfountain and above it the world-mill is built through whose mill-stone\neye water rushes up and down, causing the maelstrom and ebb and flood\ntide, and scattering the meal of the mill over the bottom of the sea.\nNine giantesses march along the outer edge of the world pushing the\nmill-handle before them, while the mill and the starry heavens at the\nsame time are revolved.\n\nWhere the Elivagar rivers rise out of Hvergelmer, and on the southern\nstrand of the mythic Gandvik, is found a region which, after one of its\ninhabitants, is called _Ide's_ pasture (_setr_--Younger Edda, i. 292).\nHere dwell warriors of mixed elf and giant blood (see the treatise on the\nIvalde race), who received from the gods the task of being a guard of\nprotection against the neighbouring giant-world.\n\nFarther toward the north rise the Nida mountains and form the steep\nwall which constitutes Nifelhel's southern boundary. In this wall are\nthe Na-gates, through which the damned when they have died their second\ndeath are brought into the realm of torture, whose ruler is _Leikinn_.\nNifelheim is inhabited by the spirits of the primeval giants, by the\nspirits of disease, and by giants who have fallen in conflict with the\ngods. Under Nifelhel extend the enormous caves in which the various\nkinds of criminals are tortured. In one of these caves is the torture\nhall of the Nastrands. Outside of its northern door is a grotto guarded\nby swarthy elves. The door opens to Armsvartner's sea, over which\neternal darkness broods. In this sea lies the Lyngve-holm, within whose\njurisdiction Loke, Fenrer, and \"Muspel's sons\" are fettered. Somewhere\nin the same region Bifrost descends to its well fortified northern\nbridge-head. The citadel is called _Himinbj\u00f6rg_, \"the defence or rampart\nof heaven.\" Its chieftain is Heimdal.\n\nWhile Bifrost's arch stands in a direction from north to south, the way\non which Mane and Sol travel across the heavens goes from east to west.\nMane's way is below Asgard.\n\nThe movable starry heaven is not the only, nor is it the highest, canopy\nstretched over all that has been mentioned above. One can go so far to\nthe north that even the horizon of the starry heavens is left in the\nrear. Outside, the heavens _Andl\u00e1nger_ and _Vidblainn_ support their\nedges against Jormungrund (Gylfag., 17). All this creation is supported\nby the world-tree, on whose topmost bough the cock Vidofner glitters.\n\n[17] Possibly the same as that of which a few strophes are preserved in\n_Baldrs draumar_, an old poetic fragment whose gaps have been filled in\na very unsatisfactory manner in recent times with strophes which now are\ncurrent as Vegtamskvida. That Odin, when he is about to proceed to the\nabode which in the subterranean realms of bliss is to receive Balder,\nchooses the route through Nifelhel is explained not by Vegtamskvida,\nwhere this fact is stated, but by the older poem mentioned by Saxo, which\nmakes him seek the dweller in Nifelhel, the rimthurs _Hrossthi\u00f3fr_, son\nof _Hrimnir_.\n\n(_Continuation of Part IV in Volume III._)\n\n\n\n\nINDEX OF PERSONS AND PLACES.\n\nTEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY.\n\nTranscriber's Note: This index has been copied in from Volume III for the\nconvenience of the reader (although it doesn't use the accented letters\nfound in the rest of the text).\n\n\n A\n\n Achilles, 44, 192.\n\n Achivians, 62.\n\n Adalbert, 320.\n\n Adam, 86, 132, 319, 338.\n\n Adam of Bremen, 714.\n\n Adriatic, 62.\n\n Aeduans, 66.\n\n Aegir, 43, 136, 235, 422, 575, 697, 813, 822, 967.\n\n Aeneas, 44, 66, 81, 730.\n\n African, 6.\n\n Agelmund, 858.\n\n Aggo, 104, 861, 893, 953, 1008.\n\n Agni, 587, 605, 886.\n\n Agrippa, 76, 86.\n\n Ahriman, 817.\n\n Ahura, 8.\n\n Ahuramazda, 127, 381, 450.\n\n Ai, 140.\n\n Ajo, 100, 861, 992.\n\n Alamannians, 53, 119, 708.\n\n Alarik, 25.\n\n Alba-Longa, 66.\n\n Aldonus, 101.\n\n Aldrian, 981, 991.\n\n Alexander, 50, 55.\n\n Alf, 167.\n\n Alfather, 376, 220, 340.\n\n Alfheim, 696, 865, 947.\n\n Alfhild, 168.\n\n Alfrandull, 1002.\n\n Alfsol, 168.\n\n Alps, 62.\n\n Almveig, 1000.\n\n Alvalde, 174, 584, 898, 953, 992.\n\n Alveig, 173, 257, 263, 273.\n\n Alveig-Signe, 793, 902.\n\n Alvis, 437.\n\n Alvism, 365, 376.\n\n Alvismal, 436, 445.\n\n Alvitr, 898.\n\n Amala, 293.\n\n Amalgort, 293.\n\n Amalian, 147, 285, 293, 980.\n\n Amazons, 168.\n\n Ambri, 100.\n\n Amelolt, 293.\n\n Amelungs, 147, 293.\n\n America, 940.\n\n Amlethus, 317, 843.\n\n Amlodi, 843, 568.\n\n Amma, 140.\n\n Ammianus, 58.\n\n Amsvartner, 564.\n\n Anarr, 157.\n\n Anchises, 54, 112.\n\n Andlanger, 706.\n\n Andvare, a dwarf, 300, 977.\n\n Angerboda, 226, 275, 558, 707, 809.\n\n Angeyja, 597.\n\n Angles, 55.\n\n Anglo-Saxon, 86.\n\n Angra-Mainyu, 127.\n\n Angul, 89.\n\n Animals, 23.\n\n Anses, 738.\n\n Ansgarius, 806.\n\n Ansgis, 54, 112.\n\n Antenor, 53, 62.\n\n Anthaib, 101.\n\n Anthropology, 729.\n\n Anti-Christ, 722.\n\n Anundus, 848, 884, 896, 932, 951.\n\n Anus, 879.\n\n Anzius, 147.\n\n Apaosha, 970.\n\n Apollo, 79.\n\n Aquili, 553.\n\n Are, 57, 425, 438.\n\n Arinbjorn, 173, 464.\n\n Aristarchus, 53.\n\n Armenia, 3.\n\n Arnulf, 54.\n\n Artimis, 79.\n\n Arvidson, 844.\n\n Aryan, 3, 14, 30, 124, 188, 253, 380, 746.\n\n Asa-Brage, 256, 801.\n\n Asa-father, 746.\n\n Asa-god, 147, 191, 210, 246, 740, 777, 793, 820.\n\n Asaland, 33.\n\n Asalfr, 926.\n\n Asas, 34, 41, 83, 211, 235, 254, 275, 364, 376, 397, 436, 485,\n 580, 620, 720, 819, 838, 852, 875, 888, 946.\n\n Asasynir (goddesses), 446.\n\n Asbjorn, 245.\n\n Asciburgium, 122, 839.\n\n Asgard, 33, 41, 166, 218, 229, 245, 276, 376, 397, 423, 443,\n 467, 575, 601, 693, 724, 751, 772, 790, 806, 845, 865, 877,\n 909, 938, 959, 977, 989, 1004.\n\n Asia-land, 45.\n\n Asia Minor, 77.\n\n Asiatic, 4, 14.\n\n Ask, 127, 140, 604, 733.\n\n Asmegir, 353, 436, 446, 827, 878.\n\n Asmund, 265, 743.\n\n Assi, 100.\n\n Assyrians, 37.\n\n Astrology, 71.\n\n Asvid, 365, 743.\n\n Asvinians, 880, 910.\n\n Atlakvida, 512.\n\n Atlantic, 87.\n\n Atlas, 977.\n\n Atle, 471, 915.\n\n Attic, 53.\n\n Attila, 286, 809, 983.\n\n Audhumbla, 389, 574, 733, 433.\n\n Augustus, 711.\n\n Aurboda, 213, 242, 781, 815, 845, 962.\n\n Aurgelner, 433, 570.\n\n Aurnir, 899, 948, 992.\n\n Austria, 28.\n\n Ave, 140.\n\n Avo, 848, 884, 896.\n\n Avernians, 66.\n\n Avesta, 8, 17, 30, 450, 878.\n\n Azdingi, 159.\n\n\n B\n\n Baal, 37.\n\n Babel, 37, 84.\n\n Babylon, 37, 84.\n\n Bacchus, 900.\n\n Bactria, 9, 84.\n\n B\u00e6rmagnis-Sogo, 310.\n\n Bainaib, 101.\n\n Balder, 36, 88, 191, 212, 248, 346, 368, 377, 400, 413, 436,\n 465, 622, 684, 726, 782, 796, 809, 833, 877, 888, 898, 963, 985.\n\n Banings (destroyers), 297.\n\n Barbarossa, 55.\n\n Baugregin's Well, 577.\n\n Beda, 55, 88.\n\n Beistla, 624.\n\n Bel, 836.\n\n Beldegg, 40, 88.\n\n Belgium, 28.\n\n Beli, 836.\n\n Benfey, 18.\n\n Beowulf, 130, 191, 472, 605, 749, 811, 825, 844, 986, 1002.\n\n Berchter, 591.\n\n Berchtung, 146, 291.\n\n Bergelmer, 434, 570, 626.\n\n Bergio, 115.\n\n Berggram, 848.\n\n Berig, 116.\n\n Berker, 146.\n\n Bergtrollet, 844.\n\n Berserks, 39.\n\n Berther, 146.\n\n Bessarabia, 25.\n\n Bestla, 160, 389, 476.\n\n Beyla, 575.\n\n Bhrigu, 587.\n\n Bifrost, 397, 415, 462, 534, 586, 693, 705, 758, 827, 989.\n\n Bil, 676, 985, 1003.\n\n Billing, 471, 698.\n\n Birka, 806.\n\n Biterolf, 359, 644, 977, 997.\n\n Bjaef, 88.\n\n Bjarmia, 563.\n\n Bjorn, 245.\n\n Bjorno, 884.\n\n Bjort, 229, 756.\n\n Blekingia, 104.\n\n Blid, 229, 756.\n\n Bodn, 331.\n\n Bodvar, 530.\n\n Boethius, 812.\n\n Bolthorn, 361, 624.\n\n Bor, 389, 434, 574, 603.\n\n Borgar, 145, 255, 281, 293, 591, 847, 861, 976.\n\n Bose Saga, 310.\n\n Bosphorus, 48.\n\n Bous, 787.\n\n Bragar\u00e6dur, 959.\n\n Brage, 43, 468, 675, 824, 967, 986.\n\n Bravalla, 283.\n\n Breidablik, 36.\n\n Brimer, 643.\n\n Brisingamen, 272, 364, 725, 819, 829, 876.\n\n Britain, 55.\n\n Brok, 361, 718, 895.\n\n Brunnakr, 898, 953.\n\n Brunnie, 898, 953.\n\n Brutus, 66.\n\n Brynhild, 491, 979.\n\n Buddhism, 732.\n\n Budlungs, 189.\n\n Bundehash, 126.\n\n Bure, 389.\n\n Burgarus, 145.\n\n Burgundaib, 101, 113.\n\n Byggvir, 575.\n\n Byleipt, 559.\n\n Byrgir, 676, 986, 1003.\n\n Byzantium, 48.\n\n\n C\n\n C\u00e6sar, 66, 283.\n\n Cain, 813.\n\n Capitoline Hill, 74.\n\n Carthage, 58.\n\n Cassiodorus, 114.\n\n Cave of Punishment, 552.\n\n Celts, 10, 25, 254.\n\n Cerberus, 38, 413.\n\n Ceres, 79.\n\n Chald\u00e6ans, 72.\n\n Cham, 85.\n\n Chaos, 389.\n\n Charlemagne, 53, 101, 807.\n\n Cheldricus, 981, 990.\n\n Cherson, 25.\n\n Christ, 77, 284, 807.\n\n Christianity, 50, 285.\n\n Chus, 85.\n\n Cimmerians, 76.\n\n Cis-Alpine, 66.\n\n Claudius, 114.\n\n Claybrimer, 570.\n\n Codex Regius, 233.\n\n Codex Upsalensis, 353, 538.\n\n Cool, 519.\n\n Cosmogony, 157.\n\n Cosmographic Review, 692.\n\n Creator, 813.\n\n Creation of Man, 126.\n\n Crete, 38.\n\n Crimea, 25.\n\n Cum\u00e6an Prophetess, 75.\n\n Curetians, 261.\n\n Cuso, 784.\n\n Cybile, 79.\n\n Cyclops, 715.\n\n\n D\n\n Dacians, 129.\n\n Dag, 366, 420, 433, 446, 602, 696.\n\n Dainn, an elf artist, 240, 365, 717.\n\n Dalmatia, 63.\n\n Damkan, 386.\n\n Dan, 137.\n\n Danai, 56, 255.\n\n Danes, 27, 56, 117, 178, 257.\n\n Danische Wold, 811.\n\n Danish Adventurers, 714.\n\n Dankrat, 981.\n\n Danmark, 89.\n\n Dannevirke, 913, 927.\n\n Danr Draupr, 142.\n\n Danube, 62.\n\n Dardanus, 38.\n\n Darius, 3.\n\n Darnanians, 58.\n\n Dasyus, 596.\n\n Decius, 710.\n\n Delling, 356, 366, 377, 416, 461, 602, 696, 823.\n\n Diaconus, 54, 101, 859.\n\n Dictys, 59.\n\n Dieterich, 285, 980.\n\n Dis, sun goddess, 167.\n\n Disertus, 794.\n\n Ditevin, 109.\n\n Dobrudscho, 25.\n\n Domarr, 137.\n\n Don, 113.\n\n Doom of the Dead, 485.\n\n Dore, 356.\n\n Drauper, 361, 374, 427, 635.\n\n Draupner, 725, 824, 862.\n\n Drott, 143.\n\n Duben, 29.\n\n Dudo, 56, 67.\n\n Dulsi, 608, 652.\n\n Dunelmensis, 130.\n\n Durin, 357, 653.\n\n Durnir, 652.\n\n Dutch, 27.\n\n Dvalinn, a dwarf artist, 164, 244, 356, 461, 717.\n\n Dwarfs, 445.\n\n Dygve, 144, 621.\n\n\n E\n\n Earendel, 769.\n\n East Goths, 25.\n\n Ebbo, 104, 779, 847.\n\n Ebur, 863, 953.\n\n Eckenbrecht, 896.\n\n Eckihard, 360.\n\n Edda, 325, 354, 406, 562, 603, 647, 718, 791, 827, 851, 888,\n 927, 962.\n\n Egil, 425, 463, 529, 838, 847, 863, 873, 884, 901, 926, 941,\n 969, 977, 990.\n\n Egilsson, 733.\n\n Eggther, sword guardian, 223, 707, 810, 962.\n\n Egyptian, 94.\n\n Eikthynir, a thunder cloud, 249, 968.\n\n Eilif, 857.\n\n Eilif Gudrunson, 331.\n\n Einar, 372, 908, 914.\n\n Einar Skalaglam, 330.\n\n Einberges, gods, 824, 1003.\n\n Eir, 229, 756.\n\n Eirikr, 793, 803, 823, 847.\n\n Elbe, 107.\n\n Elderich, 984.\n\n Elf Clans, 603.\n\n Elivagar, 424, 519, 532, 695, 775, 827, 835, 846, 857, 911,\n 938, 960, 968, 1003.\n\n Elivogs, 325, 379.\n\n Elizabeth, 723.\n\n Elves, 164, 445, 696.\n\n Elysian Fields, 325.\n\n Embla, 127, 143, 604, 733.\n\n Emperor Theodosius, 710.\n\n Endil, 941.\n\n Endymion, 728.\n\n Eomenric, 830.\n\n Eos, 901.\n\n Ephesus, 709, 728.\n\n Epirus, 25.\n\n Ericus, 793, 868.\n\n Erik, 463, 620, 794, 807, 818, 828, 994.\n\n Eriksmal, 472.\n\n Erikvidforle's Saga, 306, 322.\n\n Erinnyes, 493.\n\n Ermenrich, 980, 998.\n\n Erythreian Sibyl, 76.\n\n Esculapians, 79.\n\n Ethelwardus, 130.\n\n Etgeir, 927.\n\n Etruria, 83.\n\n Etrurians, 58.\n\n Euhemerists, 49.\n\n Euripides, 716.\n\n Europe, 76.\n\n Eylud Mill, 827.\n\n Eyludr, 568, 584.\n\n Eystrasalt, the Baltic, 235.\n\n Eyrbyggja, 478.\n\n Eyrgjafa, 598.\n\n Eyvind, 225, 469.\n\n\n F\n\n Fadir, 140.\n\n Fafner, 977.\n\n Fafnersbane, 191, 218, 260, 735.\n\n Fafnersmal, 460, 693.\n\n Fagerskinna, 741.\n\n Fal, 87.\n\n Falen, 89.\n\n Fann, 522.\n\n Farbaute, 823.\n\n Fenja, 262, 567, 584, 890, 951.\n\n Fenrer, 618, 705.\n\n Fenris Wolf, 44, 215, 404, 448, 558, 618.\n\n Fifel, 559.\n\n Fimbulthul, 642.\n\n Fimbul-Winter, 171, 585, 796.\n\n Finalf, 971.\n\n Finmark, 310.\n\n Finnr, 988.\n\n Finns, 118.\n\n Fjalar, a giant sorcerer, 210, 224, 266, 317, 336, 513, 596,\n 647, 661, 707, 810, 891, 962, 1004.\n\n Fjallgyldir, 926.\n\n Fjolner, 499, 995.\n\n Fjolsvinn, 354, 499, 571.\n\n Fjolsvinsmal, 229, 238, 721, 747, 758, 772, 790, 817, 832, 978.\n\n Fjorgyn, 155.\n\n Fjorgyn-Frigg, 374.\n\n Flatey-bok, 133, 306.\n\n Floedarmal, 858.\n\n Flying Serpents, 564.\n\n Fornald, 363.\n\n Fornaldr Saga, 858.\n\n Fornmanna Saga, 96.\n\n Forsets, 888.\n\n Forspjallsljod, 196, 330, 447, 532, 553, 871, 911, 917, 1008.\n\n Francis, 51.\n\n Franks, 50, 60, 99, 708.\n\n Frankish, 82.\n\n Frankland, 40.\n\n Frau Breyde, 834.\n\n Frauenlob, 68.\n\n Frea, 100.\n\n Frey, 34, 137, 157, 230, 361, 426, 558, 575, 607, 661, 702,\n 718, 777, 796, 810, 820, 863, 884, 918, 958, 983.\n\n Fredegar, 50, 60.\n\n Freyja, 34, 100, 155, 166, 229, 327, 363, 607, 443, 461, 526,\n 684, 796, 819, 834, 843, 879, 887, 897, 931, 958, 989.\n\n Freki, Odin's wolf dog, 249, 559.\n\n Freyja Menglad, 250.\n\n Frid, 229, 842.\n\n Fridleif, 88.\n\n Fridleifson, 567.\n\n Fridigernus, 842.\n\n Fridlevus, 245, 798, 863, 884.\n\n Frigg, 34, 100, 155, 229, 607, 684, 824, 842, 903, 963.\n\n Frigga, 55.\n\n Frigida, 39.\n\n Friesland, 320.\n\n Frisian Adventurers, 715.\n\n Frode, 135, 499, 565, 578, 794.\n\n Froste, 225.\n\n Frotho, 815, 837, 868.\n\n Frotho-Frey, 274.\n\n Fulda, 111.\n\n Fulla, 685, 824.\n\n Funen, 35.\n\n Fylgies, 457.\n\n\n G\n\n Gabriel, 836.\n\n Gaelic, 94.\n\n Galfrid, 66, 984.\n\n Gambanteinn, 427, 815, 964.\n\n Gambara, 100, 893, 953.\n\n Gambarac, 104.\n\n Gambrivians, 155.\n\n Gandaricus Magnus, 222.\n\n Gandil, 468.\n\n Gang, 946, 955, 974.\n\n Ganges, 10.\n\n Gangr, 932, 948.\n\n Gang-Urmir, 196.\n\n Gardarike, 15.\n\n Garm, 440, 564.\n\n Gastrofnir, 754.\n\n Gaul, 26, 58, 66, 129.\n\n Gauta, 505, 642.\n\n Gaya-Maretan, 127.\n\n Gayomert, 127.\n\n Gehenna, 437, 549.\n\n Gefion, 35.\n\n Gefu, 773.\n\n Geiger, 19, 131.\n\n Geirrod, a fire giant, 106, 310, 432, 459, 535, 598, 915, 928,\n 949.\n\n Geiter, 96, 536.\n\n Geirvandil, 848, 867, 883, 948, 974, 993.\n\n Geldr, 784, 984, 1000.\n\n Gepaute, 116.\n\n Gepidians, 708.\n\n Gerd, a giantess, 192, 227, 241, 426, 437, 528, 815, 967.\n\n Geri, 754.\n\n German-Saga Cycle, 294.\n\n Germans, 548.\n\n Germany, 19, 27, 120.\n\n Gernoz, 981.\n\n Gersami, 756.\n\n Gerutha, 779.\n\n Geruthus, 312.\n\n Gesta, 62.\n\n Gevarr, 669, 792, 990, 1002.\n\n Gevarr-Nokkue, 202.\n\n Gevarus, 781, 836.\n\n Ghosts, 742.\n\n Giants, 39, 96, 175, 770, 836.\n\n Gibich, 981.\n\n Gifr, 754.\n\n Gigas, a giant, 776.\n\n Gillingr, 483.\n\n Gilzer, 981.\n\n Gimule, 561.\n\n Ginungagap, 452, 940.\n\n Gipties, 457.\n\n Gisle, 684, 741.\n\n Gisler, 981, 1007.\n\n Gissur, 527.\n\n Gjallahorn, 524.\n\n Gjaller-bridge, 736.\n\n Gjalp, 928, 933.\n\n Gjoll, 328, 415, 448, 515.\n\n Gjuke, 971, 981, 991, 999, 1009.\n\n Gjukung, 515.\n\n Gleipner, 565, 824.\n\n Glenr, husband of the Sun Dis, 169.\n\n Glitner, 827.\n\n Glittering-fields, 309, 322, 418, 517, 636.\n\n Gnipa-Cave, 440, 564.\n\n Godan, Odin, 100.\n\n Godmundr, 642.\n\n Gods of the Week Days, 72.\n\n Golaida, 101.\n\n Gold-Comb, 449.\n\n Gold-glittering Cock, 760.\n\n Gorm, 312, 418, 432, 515, 534, 552, 641, 714.\n\n Gosh, 382.\n\n Got, Gotland, 89, 132.\n\n Gothic, 23, 60, 99, 113, 178.\n\n Goths, 708, 729.\n\n Grafvitner, a giant wolf, 240.\n\n Gragas, 430.\n\n Gram, 147, 283, 794.\n\n Grandvik, 832, 940.\n\n Grane, 241, 978.\n\n Great Babylonia, 836.\n\n Greco, 10, 25.\n\n Greeks, 59.\n\n Greenland, 940.\n\n Greip, a giantess, 551, 598, 893, 928, 1004.\n\n Gregorius, 50, 81, 288, 711, 728.\n\n Grendel, 811.\n\n Grep, 797, 836.\n\n Gridarvolr, 933.\n\n Gridr, 933.\n\n Grimhild, 516.\n\n Grimm, 10, 298.\n\n Grimm's Mythology, 721.\n\n Grimner, 434.\n\n Grimner's Lay, 139.\n\n Grimnersmal, 423, 447, 564, 592, 644, 717, 802, 855, 866, 889.\n\n Grimnismal, 105, 236, 251, 399.\n\n Groa, 150, 196, 255, 268, 747, 776, 793, 819, 847, 858, 900,\n 998.\n\n Gr\u0153dir, 566.\n\n Grogalder, 151, 201, 354, 571, 747, 758, 770, 795, 805, 832.\n\n Grotte, 727.\n\n Grotte-mill, 565.\n\n Grotte-Song, 181, 262, 584, 890, 951.\n\n Grund, 310.\n\n Gugnir, 876.\n\n Gudheim, 36.\n\n Gudhorm, 153, 255, 270.\n\n Gudmund, 217, 309, 360, 393, 516, 636.\n\n Gudmund-Mimer, 727.\n\n Gudolf, 88.\n\n Gudrun, 355, 915, 974, 989.\n\n Gudrunarkvida, 138, 522.\n\n Gudrundson, 138, 421, 452, 491, 516, 932.\n\n Gudzorm, 981.\n\n Gull, 231.\n\n Gulltoppr, 592.\n\n Gulveig, 165, 204, 230, 486.\n\n Gulveig-Heid, 724, 746, 780.\n\n Gunbjorn, 245.\n\n Gunlad, 224, 648, 1004.\n\n Gungner, a sword, 193, 268, 639.\n\n Gunnar, 472, 502, 735, 978, 989.\n\n Gunno, 787.\n\n Gunvara, 795, 815.\n\n Guod, a ship, 265.\n\n Guritha, 150.\n\n Guthmundus, 314.\n\n Guthorm, 567.\n\n Guthormus, 151.\n\n Gutland, 104.\n\n Gylder, 962.\n\n Gygr, a troll woman, 845.\n\n Gylfaginning, 41, 128, 138, 325, 344, 395, 425, 497, 524, 538,\n 552, 565, 607, 757, 856, 925, 962.\n\n Gylfe, 35, 41, 93.\n\n Gymer, 426, 536.\n\n Gymir, a giant, 213, 227, 242.\n\n\n H\n\n Hadaland, 741.\n\n Hadding, 255, 263, 273, 289, 317, 432, 449, 492, 517, 604, 729,\n 737, 793, 806, 819, 843, 902, 980, 997.\n\n Hades, 123, 337, 392, 431, 482, 514, 577, 730, 817, 1004.\n\n Hadingus, 159, 301.\n\n Hadolaun, 107.\n\n Hadugoto, 108.\n\n Hagen, 298, 981.\n\n Haguinus, 896.\n\n Hakon, 370, 467, 500, 824, 867, 904, 913, 929.\n\n Hakonarmal, 468.\n\n Halfdan, 132, 185, 191, 202, 255, 318, 460, 489, 591, 741, 779,\n 792, 803, 819, 847, 896, 919, 958, 973, 1000.\n\n Halfe, 256, 262.\n\n Haliorun\u00e6, 22.\n\n Halir, 446.\n\n Hallfred, 407, 479.\n\n Hallin, 115.\n\n Halogaland, 312.\n\n Ham, 85.\n\n Hama, 830.\n\n Hamal, 147, 192, 281.\n\n Hamingjes, 457, 505.\n\n Hamlet, 843.\n\n Handuanus, 300.\n\n Har, 42, 95.\n\n Harald, 464.\n\n Harald Blue Tooth, 929.\n\n Harald Hardrade, 282.\n\n Harald Hildetand, 282.\n\n Harbard, 889, 961.\n\n Harbardsljod, 276, 449, 953, 967.\n\n Hardgrep, 260, 271, 492, 737.\n\n Hartung, 289.\n\n Hate, a monster, 558, 690, 707, 810.\n\n Haustlaug, 416, 574, 853, 902, 987.\n\n Havamal, 128, 259, 330, 361, 431, 476, 492, 642, 717, 735, 934.\n\n Hedinn, 887.\n\n Heid, 65, 351, 480, 876.\n\n Heidrun, 644.\n\n Heimdal, 36, 135, 170, 236, 272, 280, 298, 378, 425, 447, 586,\n 695, 705, 722, 738, 822, 830, 891.\n\n Heimskringla, 32, 35, 47, 82, 94, 243, 370, 520, 606, 741.\n\n Heingest, 88, 99, 970, 991, 1008.\n\n Hektor, 38.\n\n Hel, 400, 406, 420, 440, 447, 478, 614, 745, 824, 968.\n\n Helblinde, 559, 599.\n\n Helblottin, 414, 969.\n\n Hel-dog, 564.\n\n Helgakvida, 216.\n\n Hel-gate, 702.\n\n Helge, 147, 181, 310, 520, 571, 690, 744, 791, 973.\n\n Helgo, 784.\n\n Hel-horse, 480.\n\n Heliand, 416, 456, 560.\n\n Hellenic, 25.\n\n Hellewite, 407.\n\n Hel-rivers, 765.\n\n Hel-shoes, 737.\n\n Helvegir, 440.\n\n Helvegum, 442.\n\n Hel-way, 515.\n\n Hengikjoptr, 566.\n\n Henricus, 86.\n\n Heph\u00e6stros, 189.\n\n Hercynian, 1.\n\n Herikon, 87.\n\n Hermanaricus, 301.\n\n Hermes, 70.\n\n Hermes-Mercurius, 94.\n\n Hermes-Trismegistus, 94.\n\n Hermionians, 155, 301.\n\n Hermod, 327, 374, 415, 465, 565, 737, 819, 845.\n\n Hertrich, 359.\n\n Herulians, 113.\n\n Hesiodus, 127.\n\n Hervor, 309, 335, 957.\n\n Hieronymus, 51.\n\n Hildebrand, 147, 814.\n\n Hildeger, 147, 193.\n\n Hildigun, 1000.\n\n Hildings, 190.\n\n Himalaya, 10.\n\n Himinn, 445.\n\n Himminbjorg, 36, 289, 705.\n\n Hindoos, 4, 254.\n\n Hindukush, 10.\n\n Hjaller-horn, 708.\n\n Hjardarholt, 592.\n\n Hjarrandi, 989.\n\n Hjorvardson, 746.\n\n Hjuki, 676.\n\n Hlandverr, 997.\n\n Hlebardr, 956, 964.\n\n Hler, 96.\n\n Hlidskjolf, 696.\n\n Hlif, 756.\n\n Hlin, 842.\n\n Hlodyn, 155, 599, 803, 930, 945.\n\n Hnoss, 756.\n\n Hoce, 986.\n\n Hodd-Mimer, 342.\n\n Hodbrod, 973.\n\n Hodd-goda, 416.\n\n Hoder, 415, 684, 791, 885, 963, 985, 880, 887.\n\n Hodrofner's-horn, 624.\n\n Hoenir, 739, 904.\n\n Hofudlausn, 500.\n\n Hogne, 979.\n\n Hohni, 738.\n\n Holt, 818.\n\n Homer, 76, 268.\n\n Honer, 34, 127, 243, 461, 505, 529, 603, 732.\n\n Hordaland, 929.\n\n Horn, 773.\n\n Hornklofve, 674.\n\n Horund, 989.\n\n Horvendillus, 317, 843.\n\n Hothbrodus, 781, 792.\n\n Hother, 340.\n\n Hothurus, 633, 773, 787, 823.\n\n Hrabanus, 111.\n\n Hraunbui, 855.\n\n Hraunn, 424.\n\n Hrimgrimner, 817.\n\n Hrimner, a giantess, 218, 230, 817.\n\n Hrolfr, 801.\n\n Hromund-Greipson's Saga, 269.\n\n Hroptatyr, 367.\n\n Hrunger, 748, 852.\n\n Hrutr-Heimdall, 286.\n\n Huginn, 696.\n\n Hunding's-bane, 184, 281, 744.\n\n Huns, 11, 116, 222, 273.\n\n Huyrvillus, 117.\n\n Hoedrung, 489.\n\n Hoergelmer, 402, 414, 423, 451, 519, 532, 562, 639, 702, 713,\n 749, 765, 968.\n\n Hylten-Cavallius, 735.\n\n Hymir, winter giant, 854.\n\n Hymirskvida, 853.\n\n Hyndla, 526.\n\n Hyndley's Lay, 138.\n\n Hyndluljod, 155, 223, 526, 694, 718, 755, 773, 824, 892, 1000.\n\n Hypnos, 718.\n\n Hyrr, 753.\n\n Hyrroken, a giantess, 234.\n\n\n I\n\n Iberians, 24.\n\n Ibor, 100, 119, 862, 1008.\n\n Iceland, 48, 82.\n\n Ida's Plains, 346.\n\n Ide, 425, 890, 926, 944, 972, 991.\n\n Idi, 197, 935.\n\n Idun, 174, 871, 887, 906, 918, 931, 950, 958, 987, 1003.\n\n Idunn, 197.\n\n Ilium, 52.\n\n Illyrian, 61.\n\n India, 3.\n\n Indo-Iranian, 14.\n\n Indra, 360.\n\n Indride, 88.\n\n Ing, 265.\n\n Ingjold, 457.\n\n Irania, 3, 84, 126, 254.\n\n Ire, 356.\n\n Ireland, 66.\n\n Ironwood, 216, 558, 707, 809, 877, 930.\n\n Irpa, 913.\n\n Irung, 281, 991.\n\n Isodorus, 76.\n\n Isolfr, 865.\n\n Israel, 58.\n\n Ist\u00e6vonians, 155.\n\n Isung's Wood, 223.\n\n Itrman, 88.\n\n Ivalde, 172, 196, 361, 747, 804, 838, 870, 879, 897, 948, 956,\n 974, 999.\n\n Ivalderson, 202.\n\n\n J\n\n Jafnhar, 42, 95.\n\n Jarl Hakonson, 994.\n\n Jarl Rig, 137.\n\n Jat, 88.\n\n Jaxartes, 9.\n\n Jerusalem, 83, 835.\n\n Jessen, 158.\n\n Jewes, 71.\n\n Jima (Grove), 381, 629, 878.\n\n Jokull, 96, 166.\n\n Jonsson, 114.\n\n Jord, the earth, 68, 615.\n\n Jordanes, 59, 113, 178, 301, 830.\n\n Jormungander, 919.\n\n Jormungrun, 601, 695.\n\n Jormunrek, 270, 836, 847.\n\n Jotunheim, home of the giants, 96, 223, 248, 310, 399, 425,\n 434, 580, 599, 675, 770, 827, 845, 876, 885, 914, 936, 947,\n 968, 1003.\n\n Jupiter, 38, 87.\n\n Jupiter's Temple, 74.\n\n Jutland, 40, 785.\n\n\n K\n\n Kabulistan, 7.\n\n Kari, 96.\n\n Kark, 456.\n\n Karl (Churl), 140.\n\n Kiarr, 998.\n\n King Englin, 976.\n\n King Liutwar, 997.\n\n Kirshipta, 386.\n\n Kjalki, 267.\n\n Klage, 981.\n\n Klaproth, 9.\n\n Kollr, 851.\n\n Kon, 142.\n\n Kormak, 210, 463, 530.\n\n Kour-Rig, 137.\n\n Kuhn, 17.\n\n Kullen, 850.\n\n Kvaser, 34.\n\n\n L\n\n Lactantius, 76.\n\n Lake Maelar, 47.\n\n Lamedon, 88.\n\n Lamia, 92.\n\n Lamissio, 859.\n\n Langarbrekku-Einar, 741.\n\n Lassen, 10.\n\n Latham, 15.\n\n Latin, 50, 87.\n\n Latium, 58.\n\n Latona, 79.\n\n Laurin, 301.\n\n Leifner's flames, 260, 299, 750.\n\n Leifthraser, 353, 378, 442, 453, 530.\n\n Legend of the Cross, 90.\n\n Leika, 365.\n\n Leikin, 476, 534, 705.\n\n Leiptr, 420.\n\n Lesso, 43, 265.\n\n Lethe, 335.\n\n Letto-Slavic, 14.\n\n Liburnia, 61.\n\n Libyan, 76.\n\n Lidskjalfn, 356, 911.\n\n Lif, 353, 378, 442, 453, 530.\n\n Lif and Leifthraser, 341.\n\n Lifthraser, 180.\n\n Link, 7.\n\n Liserus-Heimdal, 829.\n\n Liutker, 1006.\n\n Loder, 127, 732.\n\n Lodr, 603.\n\n Lodur, 601, 739.\n\n Lofdung, 189.\n\n Logi, 96, 662.\n\n Logrin, 35, 40.\n\n Loka-Senna, 155, 279, 428, 558, 575, 661, 897, 953, 965.\n\n Loke, 43, 136, 171, 214, 269, 273, 428, 438, 448, 476, 548,\n 556, 575, 600, 697, 722, 761, 822, 840, 856, 876, 891, 904,\n 921, 936, 945, 960, 991.\n\n Longobardians, 54, 156, 422, 708, 858, 995.\n\n Longobardian Saga, 99, 322.\n\n Longlegs, 738.\n\n Loptr, 760.\n\n Loride, 88.\n\n Lothurus, 604.\n\n Lower World Mill, 760.\n\n Ludr, 760.\n\n Luneburg, 100.\n\n Lykoa, 900.\n\n Lyngvi, Island of darkness, 278, 564, 705.\n\n Lyrner, 445.\n\n Lysir, the shining one, 272.\n\n\n M\n\n Macedonia, 45, 54.\n\n Maeringaburg, 297.\n\n Magne, 88, 441.\n\n Malmesburiensis, 130.\n\n Mane, 446, 580, 629, 698.\n\n Manegarm, 564.\n\n Mani, 690.\n\n Mani-Karl, 791.\n\n Manu, 387, 587.\n\n Mannus, 68, 155, 841, 847.\n\n Manufortis, 993, 1008.\n\n Manus, 284.\n\n Mardoll, 819, 830.\n\n Marcellinus, 84.\n\n Markomir, 62.\n\n Marpessus, 76.\n\n Mars, 809.\n\n Mary, 723.\n\n Mashia, Mashiena, 127.\n\n Master Masons, 87.\n\n Maurus, 111.\n\n Mayence, 111.\n\n Mead Myth, 644.\n\n Mead Wells, 329.\n\n Media, 7.\n\n Memnor, 68.\n\n Menelaus, 840.\n\n Menglad, 202, 229, 368, 747, 757, 770, 836.\n\n Menglodum, 747.\n\n Menja, a giantess, 262, 567, 584, 890, 951.\n\n Mennon, 39.\n\n Mercury, 70.\n\n Merv, 9.\n\n Metals, 23.\n\n Metz, 54.\n\n Middle Ages Saga, 309.\n\n Midgard, 127, 136, 166, 232, 255, 276, 325, 362, 377, 404, 417,\n 466, 558, 573, 707, 810, 819, 851, 877, 892, 968, 1003.\n\n Midgard Serpent, 44, 438, 599, 704, 838.\n\n Midjung, 922.\n\n Midvitnir, 651.\n\n Migration Saga, 32.\n\n Miklagard (Constantinople), 307.\n\n Miklagard Pison, 307.\n\n Milky-way, 983.\n\n Mime, 359.\n\n Mimameidr, 833.\n\n Mimer, 34, 180, 197, 203, 243, 326, 362, 389, 403, 423, 448,\n 505, 529, 577, 602, 628, 696, 707, 719, 751, 766, 808, 817,\n 871, 896, 909, 928, 962, 990.\n\n Mimer's Grove, 353, 379, 439, 484, 878.\n\n Mimingus, 635, 783, 804.\n\n Mimisholt, 529.\n\n Mimmung, 644.\n\n Mistelteinn, 790.\n\n Mistletoe, 963.\n\n Mithra, 93.\n\n Mitothian (Loke), 277.\n\n Mjolner, Thor's Hammer, 172, 329, 428, 599, 803, 855, 869, 958.\n\n Mode, 88, 441, 920.\n\n Modinn, 723.\n\n Modir, 140.\n\n Modsognir, 357, 367, 642.\n\n M\u0153otian, 52.\n\n Mokkr-Kalfi, 859.\n\n Moldgelmer, 570.\n\n Molossus, a giant dog, 885.\n\n Monasteriensis, 130.\n\n Mongolian, 5, 11.\n\n Moringia, 104.\n\n Morkwood, 929.\n\n Morn, 534.\n\n Mount Ida, 76.\n\n Muller, 13.\n\n Mundilfore, 579, 607, 721.\n\n Muspel, 441, 552, 705.\n\n Muspelheim, 561.\n\n Myrkwood, 558, 631.\n\n Mysing, 568.\n\n Mythology, 729.\n\n\n N\n\n Nabbi, 718.\n\n Na-gates, 429, 478, 531, 564, 705, 745, 760, 817, 885.\n\n Nagelfar, 438, 556.\n\n Nanna, 43, 374, 466, 469, 782, 824, 986, 999.\n\n Nar, 426, 430.\n\n Narfi, 611.\n\n Narfi-Mimer, 872.\n\n Narve, 157, 612, 640.\n\n Narvi, 612.\n\n Nastrand, a place of torture, 328, 392, 405, 423, 535, 554.\n\n Nat, mother of the gods (also night), 157, 367, 446, 470, 530,\n 602, 640, 719, 762, 871.\n\n Nedan, 640.\n\n Nef, 678.\n\n Nennius, 88.\n\n Neptune, 38.\n\n Nero, 59.\n\n Nerthus, 156.\n\n Nestor, 87.\n\n New Testament, 723.\n\n Niblunc, 977.\n\n Nibelungs, 972, 1000.\n\n Nida Mountains, 423, 532, 608, 704, 725, 765, 968.\n\n Nidad, 631, 634.\n\n Nide, 392, 577.\n\n Nidhad, 630, 763, 874, 915, 955, 975.\n\n Nidhog, 392, 423, 517, 533, 555, 639, 718.\n\n Nidi, 640.\n\n Nine Giant Mothers of Heimdal, 598.\n\n Nifelheim, 419, 532, 564, 764, 827, 969.\n\n Nifelheim demon, 271.\n\n Nifelhel, 328, 368, 399, 419, 431, 443, 478, 512, 694, 722,\n 745, 817, 887, 968.\n\n Niflgodr, 533.\n\n Niflungs, 678, 971.\n\n Niflung hoard, 975.\n\n Nimrod, 85.\n\n Ninevah, 85.\n\n Ninus, 85.\n\n Nitherians, 323.\n\n Njal, 458.\n\n Njord, 34, 156, 203, 236, 244, 346, 470, 611, 640, 697, 721,\n 757, 777, 816, 863, 884, 930, 955.\n\n Njorve, 613.\n\n Noah, 37, 85, 570.\n\n Noatun, 36, 136.\n\n Nokkvi, 669.\n\n Nokver, 987, 1000.\n\n Normandy, 56.\n\n Normans, 56.\n\n Norns (fates), 186, 458.\n\n Norse, 105.\n\n Norse Sagas, 844.\n\n Norwegians, 27.\n\n Noth, 1000.\n\n Numina, 353.\n\n Ny, 640.\n\n\n O\n\n Ochta, 1008.\n\n Od, 772.\n\n Oda, 981.\n\n Odainsaker, a place of joy, 300, 336, 389, 808.\n\n Oder-Svipdag, 791.\n\n Odin, 6, 33, 40, 48, 70, 81, 93, 134, 157, 177, 212, 235, 252,\n 273, 296, 326, 361, 368, 376, 410, 431, 444, 469, 585, 615,\n 645, 687, 732, 758, 777, 787, 821, 858, 866, 906, 934, 987.\n\n Odlungs, 149.\n\n Odoacer, 103, 296.\n\n Odr, 758, 773, 823, 846.\n\n Odr\u00e6rer, 362, 624.\n\n Odysseus, 189, 840.\n\n Offote, a giant, 249, 886.\n\n Oinopion, 900.\n\n Oland, 117.\n\n Olaf, 407.\n\n Olaf Trygveson, 310, 334, 731.\n\n Old, 149.\n\n Olgefion, 863.\n\n Olgefu, 197.\n\n Ollerus, 925.\n\n Olympus, 73, 806.\n\n Onar, 615.\n\n Ope, 534.\n\n Ore, 356.\n\n Orentel, 834, 843, 863.\n\n Origo Longobardarum, 156.\n\n Orion, 802, 900.\n\n Ormuzd, 8, 878.\n\n Orosius, 60, 81.\n\n Orvalde, 890, 932, 954, 988.\n\n Orvandel, 151, 192, 255, 426, 767, 779, 802, 827, 843, 865,\n 900, 947, 975.\n\n Otacher, 296.\n\n Othale, 534.\n\n Otharus, 770, 779, 805, 823, 831, 845.\n\n Otto of Friesinger, 300.\n\n Ottar, 296, 526, 773, 805.\n\n Oxus, 9.\n\n\n P\n\n Padua, 61.\n\n Pannonia, 50, 82, 100, 129.\n\n Paradise, 307.\n\n Parusha, 626.\n\n Patavi, 64.\n\n Paul, 711.\n\n Paulus Diaconus, 288, 712, 887.\n\n Peleid, 189.\n\n Pendschab, 7.\n\n Penka, 19.\n\n Persians, 7, 84.\n\n Petosiris, 71.\n\n Ph\u0153nicians, 59.\n\n Phrygians, 51, 76.\n\n Pictet, 12.\n\n Pindar, 59.\n\n Pliny, 84.\n\n Plutus, 38.\n\n Pompey, 83.\n\n Pomponius, 114.\n\n Posche, 19.\n\n Priam, 44, 55, 87.\n\n Priamus, 38, 81.\n\n Procopius, 117.\n\n Prometheus, 189.\n\n Prose Edda, 32, 48.\n\n Proserpine, 79, 457, 787.\n\n Psychopomps, 477.\n\n Ptolemy, 114, 839.\n\n\n Q\n\n Queen Rusila, 996.\n\n\n R\n\n Rabenbattle, 303.\n\n Race of Ivalde, 125.\n\n Ragnaricii, 115.\n\n Ragnarok, 44, 192, 224, 276, 340, 378, 390, 442, 466, 534, 556,\n 661, 701, 707, 721, 810, 866, 877.\n\n Ragnvaldson, 513.\n\n Ran, 422, 600, 822.\n\n Rati, 596.\n\n Raumaricii, 115.\n\n Reidgothaland, 40.\n\n Regin, 871, 909, 920.\n\n Retzius, 29.\n\n Rhetia, 58, 129.\n\n Rhine, 51, 839.\n\n Rhoa, 901.\n\n Rhoda, 8.\n\n Ribhuians, 639.\n\n Ribhus, 360, 879, 960.\n\n Rig, 137.\n\n Rig-Heimdal, 377.\n\n Rigsthula, 137.\n\n Rig-Veda, 3, 30, 166, 360, 586, 639, 740, 802, 874, 883, 902.\n\n Rimbegla, 585.\n\n Rimfaxe, 530.\n\n Rimgrimner, 434.\n\n Rimner, 437.\n\n Rim-Odin, 435.\n\n Rind, 210, 471, 749, 789.\n\n Rinda, 787.\n\n Ringhorn, 910.\n\n Risting, 472.\n\n Ritta, 88.\n\n Rogner, 871, 899, 909, 920, 943.\n\n Rolf Krake's Saga, 183.\n\n Roller, 795, 838.\n\n Roman Mythology, 78.\n\n Romans, 26, 49.\n\n Romund Greipson, 791.\n\n Roricus, 788.\n\n Rosengarten, 288, 896.\n\n Roskva, 943.\n\n Rubhus, 363.\n\n Rudbeck, 87.\n\n Rudiger, 286.\n\n Rudolph, 108.\n\n Rugen, 104.\n\n Rugians, 708.\n\n Ruler of the Lower World, 312.\n\n Runes, 163.\n\n Ruther, 167, 283.\n\n Rutze, 996.\n\n Rymer, 438.\n\n\n S\n\n Saba, 90.\n\n Sacredfire, 586.\n\n Sacred Runes, 165.\n\n S\u00e6ming, 40.\n\n S\u00e6mund, 57.\n\n Saga, 987.\n\n Saga-Men, 1.\n\n Saint Olaf, 746.\n\n Salian, 64.\n\n Sallust, 58.\n\n Samian, 76.\n\n Sanscrit, 6, 738.\n\n Sardinia, 58.\n\n Sarmatian, 129.\n\n Saturnus, 38, 85.\n\n Satyrs, 810.\n\n Saviour, 90.\n\n Saxo, 44, 49, 104, 211, 261, 360, 535, 546, 553, 607, 714, 773,\n 789, 801, 822, 850, 890, 952.\n\n Saxland, 35, 97, 134.\n\n Saxons, 55, 90, 98.\n\n Scamandrius, 58.\n\n Scandians, 2, 98, 131, 264.\n\n Scandinavians, 2, 27, 49, 102.\n\n Scandza, 115, 178.\n\n Scania, 850.\n\n Sceaf, 131.\n\n Scedeland, 131.\n\n Scef-Saga, 132.\n\n Schelling, 11.\n\n Schelt, 64.\n\n Schildbunc, 977.\n\n Schlegel, 7.\n\n Schleicher, 13.\n\n Schrader, 19.\n\n Scoringia, 102.\n\n Scritobinians, 102.\n\n Scyld, 131.\n\n Scythia, 58.\n\n Sea-kidney, 819.\n\n Seeland, 35, 785.\n\n Sela, a giantess, 860.\n\n Semitic, 18.\n\n Servius, 59, 63, 75.\n\n Seven Sleepers, 707.\n\n Shem, 86.\n\n Shield-Maids, 90, 283.\n\n Shield-Song, 161.\n\n Sib, 90.\n\n Sibil Sibylla, 39, 55.\n\n Sibylline Books, 74.\n\n Sicily, 58.\n\n Sicombria, 52.\n\n Sida, 900.\n\n Sigemund, 826, 828, 976.\n\n Siege of Asgard, 235.\n\n Siegfried, 976.\n\n Sif, 39, 89, 780, 802, 852, 887, 897.\n\n Sigge, 40.\n\n Sigmundson, 181.\n\n Signe, 149, 196.\n\n Sigrdrifva, 49, 531.\n\n Sigrun, 181, 520.\n\n Sigtuna, 36, 40, 47.\n\n Sigtrygg, 149, 198.\n\n Sigurd, 191, 218, 241, 300, 319, 531.\n\n Sigurd-sven, 360, 471, 735, 976, 998.\n\n Sindre, 172, 361, 532, 704, 717, 723, 780, 865, 876, 883, 956.\n\n Sinfjotle, 217.\n\n Singasteinn, 828.\n\n Sinmara, 720, 760, 962.\n\n Sintram, 723.\n\n Skade, 236, 309, 565, 691, 780, 816, 846, 896, 903, 925, 959,\n 989.\n\n Skaden, 100, 203.\n\n Skagul, 468.\n\n Skalaglam, 917.\n\n Skaldaspiller, 468, 500, 561, 799.\n\n Skaldskaparmal, 200, 567, 616, 932.\n\n Skallagrimson, 436, 500, 521, 566, 674.\n\n Skidbladner, 36, 172, 556, 639, 870, 880, 910.\n\n Skida-Rima, 916.\n\n Skidfinna, 713.\n\n Skidner, 241.\n\n Skidnersmal, 426, 434, 447, 528, 562.\n\n Skilfing-Yingling, 843, 862.\n\n Skilfings, 154, 608, 977.\n\n Skirner, 436, 815, 823, 846.\n\n Skjold, 35, 132, 149, 604.\n\n Skjoldun, 88, 154.\n\n Skold, 88, 150, 322.\n\n Skoldung, 827.\n\n Skuld, 453, 621.\n\n Slagfin, 849, 870, 890, 917, 947, 971, 982, 997, 1000.\n\n Slavs, 10, 117.\n\n Sleiper, 215, 241, 300, 327.\n\n Sleipner, 737, 824.\n\n Slesvik, 109, 482.\n\n Slid, 535.\n\n Slidrugtanne, 725, 880.\n\n Smaland, 735.\n\n Sn\u00e6bjorn, 568, 583.\n\n Sno, 104, 322.\n\n Sn\u0153r, 96.\n\n Snot (Idun), 898.\n\n Sokkvabekkar, 987.\n\n Sokmimer, 651, 664.\n\n Sol, 367, 446, 580, 641, 680, 697.\n\n Solarjod, 719.\n\n Solarljod, 534, 579.\n\n Solbjartr, 767, 816.\n\n Solblinde, 238.\n\n Solon, 78.\n\n Solomon, 86.\n\n Sonatorrek, 340.\n\n Sons of the world ruin, 220.\n\n Speechrunes, 490.\n\n Spiegel, 19.\n\n St. Quentin, 56.\n\n Sturlason, 47, 57.\n\n Sughda-Sodiana, 8.\n\n Sulpicius, 50.\n\n Sumble, 901, 952.\n\n Sumblus, 196.\n\n Sunno, 53, 64, 656, 688, 999.\n\n Sursons-Saga, 458.\n\n Surt, 220, 226, 266, 345, 442, 561, 659, 701, 809, 928, 962,\n 1004.\n\n Sutting, 224, 928, 934, 952, 979.\n\n Suttung, 436, 552, 646.\n\n Svafa, 1000.\n\n Svafr, 757.\n\n Svaldilfan, giant Horse, 215.\n\n Svanhild, 301, 971.\n\n Svarin, 98.\n\n Svarin's Mound, 194.\n\n Svartalfaheim, 827.\n\n Svea, 37, 134.\n\n Svedal, 832.\n\n Svefuthorn, 721.\n\n Svehaus, 115.\n\n Sven, 89.\n\n Svend, 832.\n\n Svethidi, 118.\n\n Svevian, 2.\n\n Svider, 995.\n\n Svidferhd, 628, 846.\n\n Svidur, 651.\n\n Svigder, 664, 928, 952.\n\n Sviones, 2, 265.\n\n Svipdag, 150, 200, 255, 283, 354, 368, 379, 640, 683, 729, 744,\n 747, 760, 770, 793, 803, 815, 827, 841, 870, 883, 919, 957,\n 975, 989.\n\n Svithiod, 35, 178, 198, 475, 656.\n\n Swabians, 708.\n\n Swabian Saga, 107.\n\n Swan Maids, 90.\n\n Swedes, 27, 178.\n\n Sweden, 33, 89, 134.\n\n Switzerland, 28.\n\n Sygin, 618.\n\n Sygritha, 770, 831, 845.\n\n Sygrutha, 779, 860.\n\n Symbols of Nature, 73.\n\n Syr, 776.\n\n Syvaldus, 773.\n\n\n T\n\n Tabernaculum, 720.\n\n Tacitus, 21, 68, 119, 193, 283, 475, 548.\n\n Tadchiks, 10.\n\n Tanais, 58, 82.\n\n Tanakvisi, 33, 45.\n\n Tanngnjostr, 853.\n\n Tanngrisnir, 853.\n\n Tarquin, 75.\n\n Teutonic, 726.\n\n Teutonic Mythology, 31, 38, 119, 173, 345.\n\n Teutons, 10, 14, 26, 50, 58, 99, 188, 713.\n\n Tertulianus, 93.\n\n Thakkrod, 982.\n\n Thanatos, 718.\n\n Theodosius, 710.\n\n Theodoric, 25, 295.\n\n Thidrek, 814.\n\n Thingstead, 485.\n\n Thiudemer, 295.\n\n Thjalfe, 857, 943.\n\n Thjasse, 166, 176, 225, 236, 309, 757, 890, 897, 903, 921, 931,\n 943, 952, 970.\n\n Thjaza, 956.\n\n Thjelvar, 859.\n\n Thor, 36, 45, 88, 151, 198, 240, 256, 276, 298, 316, 415, 425,\n 437, 470, 580, 599, 748, 784, 793, 809, 838, 852, 866, 889,\n 909, 920, 933, 943, 960, 996.\n\n Thora, 784, 803.\n\n Thorbjorn, 243.\n\n Thord Sjarekson, 237.\n\n Thorer wood-beard, 513.\n\n Thorgerd, 913.\n\n Thorkil, 278, 312, 335, 515, 537, 552, 714, 727.\n\n Thorolf, 464.\n\n Thorri, 166.\n\n Thorsdraper, 270, 425, 447, 857, 915, 929, 947, 960.\n\n Thracia, 39, 65.\n\n Thraim, 791.\n\n Thrand, 309.\n\n Thride, 42.\n\n Thridi, 95.\n\n Thrudgelmer, 433, 570, 626.\n\n Thrudheim, 39, 866.\n\n Thruma, 753.\n\n Thrundvang, 36.\n\n Thrymheim, 237, 904.\n\n Thrymskvida, 822, 891.\n\n Thule, 117.\n\n Thund, 692.\n\n Thuringian, 108.\n\n Thurs, 752.\n\n Tiberius, 99.\n\n Tiburtinian, 76.\n\n Timavus, 61.\n\n Tistrya, 970.\n\n Tivi, 159.\n\n Toko, 848.\n\n Tope, 534.\n\n Tours, 50.\n\n Troy, 6, 39, 58, 397, 445.\n\n Troy-Asgard, 32.\n\n Trojans, 61, 76, 134.\n\n Trol (thrall), 140.\n\n Troy-Saga, 50.\n\n Trykland, 655.\n\n Tuisco, 155.\n\n Tvashtar, 878.\n\n Tyr, 74, 459, 809, 854, 897.\n\n Tyrfing, 363.\n\n Tysk, 3.\n\n Tyskland, 3, 35, 45.\n\n\n U\n\n Udr Unnr, 157.\n\n Ugarthilocus, 278, 552.\n\n Uggarus, 274.\n\n Uggeson, 592, 823.\n\n Ulf, 823.\n\n Ulfdale, 558.\n\n Ulfilas, 723.\n\n Ulixes (Ulysses), 43, 51.\n\n Ull, 203, 236, 607, 846, 869, 925, 954.\n\n Ullr, 801, 865, 887.\n\n Ulysses, 730, 839.\n\n Undensaker, 317.\n\n Upregin, 446.\n\n Upsala, 36, 49, 561.\n\n Urd, a giantess, 136, 326, 397, 423, 448, 484, 523, 613, 660,\n 759, 611.\n\n Urdr, 457.\n\n Ure, 356.\n\n Urner, 176, 890.\n\n Utgard-Loke, a giant, 224, 477, 662, 857.\n\n\n V\n\n Vade, 927, 989.\n\n Vadgelmer, 431.\n\n Vaferflames, 753, 909, 959.\n\n Vafthrudner, 434.\n\n Vafthrudnersmal, 127, 325, 342, 353, 410, 417, 447, 569.\n\n Vagasker, 823.\n\n Vagn, 265.\n\n Vagnholde, 256.\n\n Vagoth, 114.\n\n Vajush, 382, 389.\n\n Valas, 228.\n\n Valdere, 173.\n\n Vale, 441, 620.\n\n Valentinianus, 53, 82.\n\n Valfather, 162, 441, 524, 720, 875.\n\n Valhal, 95, 207, 327, 414, 462, 512, 623, 692, 824, 876.\n\n Valkyries, 199, 457.\n\n Valthari, 993, 999.\n\n Vana-Child, 143.\n\n Vana-God, 135, 213, 254, 436, 602, 702, 757.\n\n Vanaheim, 607.\n\n Vandals, 100, 708.\n\n Vanlande, 477.\n\n Vamod, 114.\n\n Vans, 34, 49, 95, 157, 208, 275, 326, 441, 486, 603, 696, 720,\n 801, 819, 869, 891.\n\n Var, 356, 367.\n\n Vardir, 754.\n\n Varg, 946, 962.\n\n Varinians, 117.\n\n Varro, 75.\n\n Vate, 899, 954, 989.\n\n Vaya-Vata, 383.\n\n Ve, 34, 83.\n\n Veda, 970.\n\n Vegdrasil, 356.\n\n Veggdegg, 40, 88.\n\n Vegtamskvida, 328, 368, 410, 447.\n\n Vei, 603, 739.\n\n Veig, 231.\n\n Velint, 360, 644.\n\n Velleka, 370, 907.\n\n Venetia, 58.\n\n Venus, 79.\n\n Vestfold, 741.\n\n Vidar, 44, 193, 441, 933.\n\n Vidblainn, 706.\n\n Vidfin, 676, 986.\n\n Vidforle, 517.\n\n Vidga, 869, 980.\n\n Vidofner, 449, 706, 758.\n\n Vidolf, 927, 954.\n\n Vidolt, Vitolphus, 170, 223.\n\n Vifill, 177.\n\n Vifir, 177.\n\n Vigfusson, 94, 156, 264, 459, 499.\n\n Vigrid, 441, 561.\n\n Vildebur, 980.\n\n Vile, 34, 83.\n\n Vili, 603, 739.\n\n Vilkinasaga, 223, 289, 300, 359, 644, 814, 839, 850, 863, 927,\n 952.\n\n Villifer, 863.\n\n Vimur, 424, 933.\n\n Vindelicia, 58.\n\n Vingthor, 88.\n\n Vinnilians, 100.\n\n Virchow, 28.\n\n Virgil, 51, 75, 92.\n\n Visburr, 144.\n\n Visigoths, 25.\n\n Vitrgils, 88.\n\n Volsung, 826.\n\n Volund, 289, 359, 630, 707, 763, 790, 804, 814, 849, 864, 874,\n 897, 909, 920, 947, 962, 978, 994.\n\n Volund's Sword, 815.\n\n Volunga Saga, 218.\n\n Voluspa, 128, 166, 208, 243, 326, 356, 431, 440, 499, 524, 538,\n 555, 603, 707, 732, 758, 776, 875, 891.\n\n Vorva, 499.\n\n Vulcan, 300.\n\n Vyrd, 455.\n\n\n W\n\n Wace, 56.\n\n Walther, 993, 999.\n\n Watlings, 899, 989.\n\n Wayland, 289, 359.\n\n Weapons, 24.\n\n Weber, 17.\n\n Welcker, 27.\n\n Wessex, 133.\n\n Westmonast, 133.\n\n Westphalia, 40, 89.\n\n Whitney, 17.\n\n Widukind, 54, 107.\n\n Wieland, 812, 839, 863, 991.\n\n Wild Boar, 899.\n\n Willehad, a saint, 321.\n\n William Tell, 850, 994.\n\n Wodan, 389.\n\n Wolfdales, 631, 765, 849, 874, 885, 898, 957, 978.\n\n Wolfdieterich, 292.\n\n Wonder-smith, 812.\n\n World-mill, 568, 586, 750.\n\n World-tree, 708, 766.\n\n World-war, 252.\n\n Wurth, 455.\n\n\n Y\n\n Ybor, 861.\n\n Ydaler, 865.\n\n Ygdrasil, tree of life, 326, 366, 395, 421, 433, 451, 534, 556,\n 645, 704, 722, 817.\n\n Yggr, 274.\n\n Yingling-Saga, 231, 340, 475.\n\n Ylfings, 154.\n\n Ymer, 424, 433, 534, 569, 602, 733, 754, 812, 939, 946.\n\n Ynglingatal, 454, 740, 995.\n\n Ynglings, 37, 133.\n\n Yngve, 40, 135, 195, 255, 277, 304, 468.\n\n Younger Edda, 37, 82, 133, 242, 595.\n\n Yse, 838.\n\n\n Z\n\n Zarathustra, 84, 382.\n\n Zend, 6, 878.\n\n Zend Avesta, 383.\n\n Zeus, 73, 159.\n\n Zodiac, 87.\n\n Zoroaster, 3, 37, 84.","title":"Teutonic Mythology: Gods and Goddesses of the Northland, Vol. 2","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":99469}