UtJt) CORNELL UNIVE^|2x %_' LIBR^^RIES^^ - itHACA. N: Y. 14853^ ^W^ UNDERGRADUATE LIBRARY Myths of northern lands :narrated with s 3 1924 014 683 662 DATE DUE -~SEf I 4 1995 mr JAN 2 2 2008 PRINTED IN U5A '" PI Cornell University y Library The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924014683662 MYTHS OF NORTHERN LANDS NARRATED WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO LITERATURE AND ART BY H. A. GUERBER AOTHOK OF " MYTHS OF GREECE AND ROME '' *'Wake agaiHf Teutonic Fathir ages. Speak again, beloi'ed privzcEval creeds; Flash ancestral spirit from your pages^ Wake the greedy age to noble deeds'' Charles Kingsley y/?/5 lm^nY AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY NEW YORK CINCINNATI CHICAGO Copyright, 1895, by AMERICAN Book Company. MYTHS OF NORTHERN LANDS. E-P 17 DEDICATED TO MY PARENTS. PREFACE. THE aim of this handbook of Northern mythology is to famiharize the English student of letters with the religion of his heathen ancestors, and to set forth, as clearly as possible, the various myths which have exercised an influence over our customs, arts, and literature. As Norwegians, Danes, Swedes, Icelanders, Germans, English, and French all came originally from the same stock and worshiped the same gods, so these tales formed the basis not only of their religious belief, but also of their first attempts at poetry. They are the classics of the North, and deserve as much attention at our hands as the more graceful and idyllic mythology of the South. The most distinctive traits of the Northern mythology are a peculiar grim humor which is found in the rehgion of no other race, and a dark thread of tragedy which runs throughout the whole woof. These two characteristics, touching both extremes of the scale, have colored Northern thought, and have left their indelible imprint upon all our writings even to this day. The mythology of Greece and Rome, growing as spontaneous and luxuriant as the tropical vegetation, came to its full fruition and began to decay before the introduction of Christianity. But Northern mythology, of slower growth, was arrested in mid- career before it had attained its complete development. 5 6 PREFACE. A glossary, and complete index have been added to adapt this book for general use in libraries and pubUc schools. Author and publishers sincerely trust that this Httle work will be as kindly received and as well appreciated as has been the case with its predecessor, " Myths of Greece and Rome," the first volume of this series. CONTENTS. CHAP. PAGE I. The Beginning of All Things 9 II. Odin 23 III. FRIGGA...?r 46 IV. Thor ....?> 61 V. Tyr t 84 VI. Bragi 93 VII. Idun .'. 100 VIII. NiORD fr i 107 IX. FrEY ^ 112 X. Freya f': 124 XI. Uller .*? 131 XII. FORSETl 134 XIII. Heimdall 137 XIV. Hermod 144 XV. Vidar 147 XVI. Vali 150 XVII. The Norns 154 XVIII. The Valkyrs 160 XIX. Hel 166 XX. .(Egir 171 XXI. Balder 182 XXII. LoKi 198 XXIII. The Giants 210 XXIV. The Dwarfs 217 XXV. The Elves 221 XXVI. The Sigurd Saga 225 XXVII. The Twilight of the Gods 263 )iXVIII. Greek AND Northern Mythologies — A Comparison. : 274 INDEX TO POETICAL QUOTATIONS 293 INDEX AND GLOSSARY 295 7 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Odin Frontispiece North Cape and the Midnight Sun To face page 9 Valhalla — Hoffmann " 25 The Pied Piper of Hamelin — H. Kaulbach " 32 Frigga " 48 EASTRE, OR Ostara " 57 Thor " 69 Frey " 112 Freya ' " 124 The Witches Dance (Valpurgisnacht) — Von Kreling. " 129 Valkyrs riding to Battle — P. N. Arbo " 160 Lorelei and the Fisherman — Paul Thumann " 180 Balder " 188 LOKI AND Sigyn — Carl Gebhardt " 200 Norwegian Waterfall " 208 Torghatten, Norway " 213 Dance of the Will-o'-the-Wisps — W. ICray " 221 Old Houses with Carved Doorposts, Norway " 224 The Branstock — Hoffmann " 229 Sigurd and the Dragon — K. Dielitz " 245 Brunhild's Awakening — Th. Pixis " 249 GUDRUN GIVING THE MAGIC DrINK TO SiGURD — Th. Pixis " 252 Brunhild — Th. Pixis- " 256 HOgni Throwing the Treasure into the Rhine — Julius Schnorr " 260 8 I.Oj>p.p,a.) MYTHS OF NORTHERN LANDS. CHAPTER I. THE BEGINNING OF ALL THINGS. ALTHOUGH the Aryan inhabitants of northern Europe are Jrx. supposed by some authorities to have come originally from the plateau of Iran, in the heart of Asia, the climate and scenery of the countries where they finally settled had great influence in shaping their early religious beliefs, as well as in ordering their mode of hving. The grand and rugged landscapes of Northern Europe, the midnight sun, the flashing rays of the aurora borealis, the ocean continually lashing itself into fury against the great cliffs and icebergs of the arctic circle, could not but impress the people- as vividly as the almost miraculous vegetation, the perpetual light, and the blue seas and skies of their brief summer season. It is no great wonder, therefore, that the Icelanders, for instance, to whom we owe the most perfect records of this belief, fancied in looking about them that the world was originally created from a strange mixture of fire and ice. Northern mythology is grand and tragical. Its principal theme is the perpetual struggle of the beneficent forces of Nature against the injurious, and hence it is not graceful and idyllic in character like the religion of the sunny South, where the people could bask 9 10 MYTHS OF NORTHERN LANDS. in perpetual sunshine, and the fruits of the earth grew ready to their hand. It was very natural that the dangers incurred in hunting and fishing under these inclement skies, and the suffering entailed by the long cold winters when the sun never shines, made our ances- tors contemplate cold and ice as malevolent spirits ; and it was with equal reason that they invoked with special fervor the benefi- cent influences of heat and light. When questioned concerning the creation of the world, the Northern scalds or poets, whose songs are preserved in the Eddas Myths of ^^'^ Sagas, declared that in the beginning, when creation. there was as yet no earth, nor sea, nor air, when darkness rested over all, there existed a powerful being called Allfather, whom they dimly conceived as uncreated as well as unseen, and that whatever he willed came to pass. In the center of space there was, in the morning of time, a great abyss called Ginnunga-gap, the cleft of clefts, the yawning gulf, whose depths no eye could fathom, as it was enveloped in perpetual twilight. North of this abode was a space or world known as Nifl-heiip , the home of mist and darkness, in the cen- ter of which bubbled the exhaustless spring Hvergelmir, the seething caldron, whose waters supplied twelve great streams known as the Elivagar. As the water of these streams flowed swiftly away from its source and encountered the cold blasts from the yawning gulf, it soon hardened into huge blocks of ice, which rolled downwards into the immeasurable depths of the great abyss with a continual roar like thunder. South of this dark chasm, and directly opposite Nifl-heim, the realm of mist, was another world called Muspells-heim, the home of elemental fire, where all was warmth and brightness, and whose frontiers were continually guarded by Surtr, the flame giant. This giant fiercely brandished his flashing sword, and continually sent forth great showers of sparks, which fell with a hissing sound upon the ice blocks in the bottom of the abyss, and partly flielted them by their heat. THE BEGINNING OF ALL THINGS. II " Great Surtur, with his burning sword, Southward at Muspel's gate kept ward, And flashes of celestial flame, Life-giving, from the Fire-world came." Valhalla (J. C. Jones). As the Steam rose in clouds it again encountered the prevail- ing cold, and was changed into rime or hoar frost, which, layer by layer, iilled up the great central space. Thus ymir and by the continual action of cold and heat, and also Audhumia. probably by the will of the uncreated and unseen, a gigantic creature called Ymir or Orgelmir (seething clay), the personifi- cation of the frozen ocean, came to life amid the ice blocks in the abyss, and as he was bom of rime he was called a Hrim-thurs M ice giant. " In early times. When Ymir lived, Was sand, nor sea. Nor cooling wave ; No earth was found. Nor heaven above ; One chaos all. And nowhere grass." S.emund's Edda (Henderson's tr.). Groping about in the gloom in search of something to eat, Vmir perceived a gigantic cow called .Audhumia (the nourisher), which had been created by the same agency as himself, and out of the same materials. Hastening towards her, Ymir noticed with pleasure that four great streams of milk flowed from her udder to supply him with nourishment. All his wants were thus satisfied ; but the cow, looking about her for food, began to lick the salt off a neighboring ice block with her rough tongue. There she stood patiently licking that selfsame lump until the hair of a god appeared. After she had licked some time longer the whole head emerged from its icy envelope, and by and by Buri (the producer) stepped forth entirely free. 12 MYTHS OF NORTHERN LANDS. While the cow had been thus engaged, Ymir, the giant, had 1 fallen asleep, and as he slept a son and daughter were born from the perspiration under his armpit, and his feet produced the six- headed giant Thrudgelmir, who, shortly after his birth, brought forth in his turn the giant Bergelmir, from whom all the evil frost giants are descended. " Under the armpit grew, 'Tis said of Hrim-thurs, A girl and boy together ; Foot with foot begat, Of that wise Jotuu, A six-headed son." SjGmund's Edda (Thorpe's tr.). When these giants became aware of the existence of the god Buri, and of his son Borr (born), whom he had immediately pro- duced, they began waging war against them, for as the gods and giants represented the opposite forces of good and evil, there was no hope of their ever coming to an agreement and L'ving together in peace. This struggle continued evidently for ages, neither party gaining a decided advantage, until Borr married the giantess Bestla, daughter of Bolthorn (the thorn of evil), who bore him three powerful sons, Odin (spirit), Vili (will), and Ve (holy). Odin Vili These three sons immediately joined their father and Ve. jjj jjjg struggle against the inimical frost giants, and finally succeeded in slaying their deadliest foe, the great Ymir. As he sank down lifeless the blood gushed from his wounds in such floods that it produced a great deluge, in which all his race perished, with the exception of Bergelmir, who escaped in a boat and went with his wife to the confines of the world. "And all the race of Ymer thou didst drown. Save one, Bergelmer, — he on shipboard fled Thy deluge, and from him the giants sprang." Balder Dead (Matthew Arnold). Here he took up his abode, calling the place Jotun-heim (the home of the giants), and here he begat a new race of frost giants, who l±iJi Ji±.UJNNJJVG UF ALL THJNGS. 13 inherited his dislikes, continued the feud, and were always ready to sally forth from their desolate country and make a raid into the territory of the gods. The gods, who in Northern mythology are called ^sir (pillars and supporters of the world), having thus triumphed over all their foes, and being no longer engaged in perpetual warfaffe, now began to look about them, wondering how they could improve the desolate aspect of things and fashion a habitable world. After due consideration Borr's sons rolled Ymir's great corpse into the yawning abyss, and began to make the world out of its various component parts. Out of the giant's flesh they fashioned Midgard (middle garden), as the earth was called, which was placed in the exact center of the vast space, and hedged all round creation of with Ymir's eyebrows which formed its bulwarks ^^^ earth, or ramparts. The solid portion of Midgard was surrounded by the giant's blood or sweat, which now formed the ocean, while his bones made the hills, his flat teeth the cliffs, and his curly hair the trees and all vegetation. Well pleased with the result of these their first efforts at crea- tion, the gods took the giant's unwieldy skull and poised it skillfully above earth and sea as the vaulted heavens ; then scattering his brains throughout the expanse they fashioned from them the fleecy clouds. " Of Ymir's flesh Was earth created, Of his blood the sea, Of his bones the hills. Of his hair trees and plants. Of his skull the heavens, And of his brows The gentle powers Formed Midgard for the sons of men ; But of his brain The heavy clouds are All created." Norse Mythology (R. B. Anderson). 14 MYTHS OF NORTHERN LANDS. To support the heavenly vault in place, the gods stationed the strong dwarfs, Nordri,_Sudri, Austri,_Westri, at its four corners, bidding them uphold it on their shoulders, and from them the four points of the compass received their present names of North, South, East, and West. To light up the world thus created, the gods began to stud the heavenly vault with sparks secured from Muspells-heim, points of light which shone steadily through the gloom like brilliant stars. The most vivid of all these sparks, however, were reserved for the manufacture of the sun and moon, which were placed in beautiful golden chariots. " And from the flaming world, where Muspel reigns. Thou sent'st and fetched'st fire, and madest lights : Sun, moon, and stars, which thou hast hung in Heaven, Dividing clear the paths of night and day." Balder Dead (Matthew Arnold). When all these preparations had been finished, and the steeds Arvakr (the early waker) and Alsvin (the rapid goer) were har- nessed to the sun chariot, the gods, fearing lest the animals should suffer from their proximity to this ardent sphere, placed under their withers great skins filled with air or with some iron refrigerant substance. They also fashioned the shield Svalin (the cooler), and placed it in front of the car to shelter them from the sun's direct rays, which would else have burned them and the earth to a crisp. The moon car was, moreover, provided with a fleet steed called Alsvider (the all-swift) ; but as its rays were very mild indeed, no shield was required to protect him. The chariots were all ready, the steeds harnessed and im- patient to begin their daily round, but there was no one to guide Mani and ^^^"^ along the right road. The gods, perceiving ^°'- this, looked about them and soon beheld Mani (the moon) and Sol (the sun), children of giant Mundilfari, who was so inordinately proud of his beautiful offspring that he called them by the names of the newly created orbs. He gave his daughter Sol in marriage to Glaur (glow), who was probably THE BEGINNING OF ALL THINGS. 15 one of Surtr's sons. The brother and sister were transferred to the sky, where, after receiving minute directions from the gods, they skillfully guided their fleet steeds along their appointed paths. " Know that Mundilfaer is hight Father to the moon and sun ; Age on age shall roll away, While they mark the months and days." HAvamXl (W. Taylor's tr). Seeing how satisfactory all these arrangements were, the gods now summoned Nott (night), a daughter of one of the giants, Norvi, and intrusted to her care a dark chariot, drawn by a sable steed, Hrim-faxi (frost mane), from whose waving mane the dew and hoar frost dropped down upon the earth. " Hrim-faxi is the sable steed. From the east who brings the night, Fraught with the showering joys of love : As he champs the foamy bit. Drops of dew are scattered round To adorn the vales of earth." Vapthrudni's-mal (W. Taylor's tr.). The goddess of night had already thrice been married : by her first husband, Naglfari, she had had a son named Aud ; by her second, Annar, a daughter Jord (earth) ; and by her third, the god Delhnger (dawn), she now had a son, radiant with beauty, who was called Dag (day). As soon as the gods became aware of this beautiful being's existence they provided a chariot for him also, drawn by the resplendent white steed Skin-faxi (shining mane), from whose mane bright beams of hght shone forth in every direction, illuminating all the world, and bringing hght and gladness to all. " Forth from the east, up the ascent of Heaven, Day drove his courser with the shining mane." Balder Dead (Matthew Arnold). l6 MYTHS OF NORTHERN LANDS. But as evil always treads close upon the footsteps of good, hoping to destroy it, the ancient inhabitants of the Northern re- The wolves gions imagined that both Sun and Moon were in- Skbii and Hati. cessantly pursued by the fierce wolves Skoll (re- pulsion) and Hati (hatred), whose sole aim was to overtake and swallow the brilliant objects before them, so that the world might again be enveloped in its primeval darkness. " Skoll the wolf is named That the fair-faced goddess To the ocean chases ; Another Hati hight, He is Hrodvitnir's son ; He the bright maid of heaven shall precede." SvEMUnd's Edda (Thorpe's tr.). At times, they said, the wolves overtook and tried to swallow their prey, thus producing an eclipse of the radiant orbs. Then the terrified people raised such a deafening clamor that the wolves, frightened by the noise, hastily dropped them. Thus rescued. Sun and Moon resumed their course, fleeing more rapidly than before, the hungry monsters rushing along in their wake, anxious for the time when their efforts would prevail and the end of the world would come. For the Northern nations all believed that as their \ gods had sprung from an alliance between the divine element \ (Borr) and the mortal (Bestla), they were finite, and doomed to perish with the world they had made. " But even in this early mom Faintly foreshadowed was the dawn Of that fierce struggle, deadly shock, Which yet should end in Ragnarok; When Good and Evil, Death and Life, Beginning now, end then their strife." Valhalla (J. C. Jones). Mani was also accompanied by Hiuki, the waxing, and Bil, the waning moon, two children whom he had snatched from earth where a cruel father forced them to carry water all night. Our THE BEGINNING OF ALL THINGS. 17 ancestors fancied they saw these children, the original " Jack and Jill," with their pail, darkly outlined upon the moon. The gods not only appointed Sun, Moon, Day, and Night to count out the year, but also called Evening, Midnight, Morning, Forenoon, Noon, and Afternoon to share their duties, making Summer and Winter the rulers of the seasons. Summer, a direct descendant of Svasud (the mild and lovely), inherited his gentle disposition, and was loved by all except Winter, his deadly enemy, the son of Vindsual, himself a son of the disagreeable god Vasud, the personification of the icy wind. " Vindsual is the name of him Who begat the winter's god ; Summer from Suasuthur sprang: Both shall walk the way of years, Till the twilight of the gods.'' Vafthrudni's-mal (W. Taylor's tr.). As the cold winds continually swept down from the north, chiUing all the earth, these nations further imagined that at the extreme northern verge of the heavens sat the great giant Hrae- svelgr (the corpse swallower), all clad in eagle plumes, and that whenever he raised his arms or wings the cold blasts darted forth and swept ruthlessly over the face of the earth, blighting all things with their icy breath. " Hrae-svelger is the name of him Who sits beyond the end of heaven, And winnows wide his eagle-wings, Whence the sweeping blasts have birth." VafthrODNi's-mal (W. Taylor's tr.). While the gods were occupied in creating the earth and pro- viding for its illumination, a whole host of maggot-like creatures had been breeding in Ymir's flesh. CrawUng in Dwarfs and and out, they now attracted divine attention. Elves. Summoning these uncouth beings into their presence, the gods, after giving them forms and endowing them with superhuman intelligence, divided them into two large classes. Those which 2 i8 MYTHS OF NORTHERN LANDS. were dark, treacherous, and cunning by nature were banished to Svart-alfa-heim, the home of the black dwarfs, situated under- ground, whence they were never allowed to come forth as long as it was day, under penalty of being turned into stone. They were called Dwarfs, Trolls, Gnomes, or Kobolds, and spent all their time and energy in exploring the secret recesses of the earth. They collected gold, silver, and precious stones, which they stowed away in secret crevices, whence they could withdraw them at will. As for the remainder of these small creatures, including all that were fair, good, and useful, the gods called them Fairies and Elves, and gave them a dwelling place in the airy realm of Alf-heim (home of the light-elves), situated between heaven and earth, whence they could flit downwards whenever they pleased, to attend to the plants and flowers, sport with the birds and butterflies, or dance in the silvery moonlight on the green. Odin, who had been the leading spirit in all these under- takings, now bade the gods, his descendants, follow him to the broad plain called Idawold, far above the earth, on the other side of the great stream Ifing, whose waters never froze. " Ifing's deep and murky wave Parts the ancient sons of earth From the dwelling of the Goths : Open flows the mighty flood, Nor shall ice arrest its course While the wheel of Ages rolls." Vafthrudni's-mal (W. Taylor's tr.). In the very center of the sacred space, which from the be- ginning of the world had been reserved for their own abode and called Asgard (home of the gods), the twelve Msai (gods) and twenty-four Asynjur (goddesses) all assembled. They decreed that no blood should ever be shed within the limits of their realm, or peace stead, but that harmony must reign there forever. Then after due consultation they established a forge where they fash- ioned all their weapons and the tools required to build magnifi- THE BEGINNING OF ALL THINGS. 19 cent palaces of precious metals, in which they lived for many long years in a state of such perfect happiness that this period hasjaeen called the Golden Age. Although the gods had from the beginning designed Midgard, or Mana-heim, as the abode of man, there were at first no human beings to inhabit it. One day Odin, Vili, and Ve, creation of according to some authorities, or Odin, Hoenir (the ™^"- bright one), and Lodur, or Loki (fire), started out together and walked along the seashore, where they found either two trees, the ash, Ask, and the elm, Embla, or two blocks of wood, hewn into rude semblances of the human form. The gods gazed at first upon the inanimate wood in silent wonder, then perceiving the use it could be put to, Odin gave these logs souls, Hoenir bestowed motion and senses, and Lodur coiitributed blood and blooming complexions. " There were twain and they went upon earth, and were speechless, unmighty, and wan ; They were hopeless, deathless, lifeless, and the Mighty named them Man. Then they gave them speech and power, and they gave them color and breath ; And deeds and the hope they gave them, and they gave them Life and Death." Sigurd the Volsung (William Morris). This newly created man and woman were then left to rule Mid- gard at will. They gradually peopled it with their descendants, while the gods, remembering they had called them into Ufe, took a special interest in all they did, watched over them, and often vouchsafed their aid and protection. AUfather in the mean while had not been idle, but had created a huge ash called Yggdrasil, the tree of the universe, of time, or of Ufe, which filled all the world, taking root not The Yggdrasil only in the remotest depths of Nifi-heim, where *'**• bubbled the spring Hvergelmir, but also in Midgard, near Mimir's well (the ocean), and in Asgard, near the Urdar fountain. 20 MYTHS OF NORTHERN LANDS. These three great roots permitted the tree to attain such a marvelous height that its topmost bough, called Lerad (the peace giver), overshadowed Odin's hall, while the other wide-spreading branches towered over all the other worlds. An eagle was perched on the bough Lerad, and between his eyes sat the falcon Vedfolnir, sending his piercing glances down into heaven, earth, and Nifl-heim, and reporting all he saw. As the tree Yggdrasil was ever green, and its leaves never withered, it served as pasturing ground not only for Odin's goat Heidfun, which suppUed the heavenly mead, the drink of the gods, but also for the stags Dain, Dvalin, Duneyr, and Durathor, from whose horns the honeydew dropped down upon the earth and furnished the water for all the rivers in the world. In the seething caldron Hvergelmir, close by the great tree, was a horrible dragon called Nidhug, which continually gnawed the roots, and was helped in his work of destruction by countless worms, whose aim it was to kill the tree, knowing that its death would be the signal for the downfall of the gods. " Through all our life a tempter prowls malignant, The cruel Nidhug from the world below. He hates that asa-light whose rays benignant On th' hero's brow and glitt'ring sword bright glow." Viking Tales of tHe North (R. B. Anderson). Scampering continually up and down the branches and trunk of the tree was the squirrel Ratatosk (branch borer), the typical busybody and tale bearer, which passed up and down, reporting the eagle's remarks to the dragon, and vice versa, in the hope of stirring up strife between them. To maintain the tree Yggdrasil in a perfectly healthy condition, the Norns or Fates daily sprinkled it with the holy waters from the Urdar fountain, and as this water trickled down Bifrost. to earth it suppUed the bees with Jioney. From either edge of Nifl-heim, arching high above Midgard, rose the gods' bridge, Bifrost (Asabru, the rainbow), built of fire, water, THE BEGINNING OF ALL THINGS. 21 and air, whose quivering and changing hues it retained, and over which none but the gods were privileged to travel to and fro, on their journey to the earth or to the Urdar well, at the foot of the ash Yggdrasil, where they daily assembled in council. " The gods arose And took their horses, and set forth to ride O'er the bridge Bifrost, where is Heimdall's watch, To the ash Igdrasil, and Ida's plain. Thor came on foot, the rest on horseback rode." Balder Dead (Matthew Arnold). Of all the gods only Thor, the god of thunder, never passed over the bridge, for they feared that his heavy tread or the heat of his lightnings would destroy it. The gods' watchman, Heim- dall, kept guard there night and day. He was armed with a very trenchant sword, and carried a trumpet called Giallar-hom, upon which he generally blew a soft note to announce the coming or going of the gods, but upon which he would blow a terrible blast when Ragnarok should come, and the frost giants and Surtr threatened to destroy the world. " Surt from the south comes With flickering flame ; Shines from his sword The Val-god's sun. The stony hills are dashed together, The giantesses totter ; Men tread the path of Hel, And heaven is cloven." S^mund's Edda (Thorpe's tr.). Now although the original inhabitants of heaven were the ^sir, they were not the sole divinities of the Northern races, who also recogiuzed the power of the sea and wind gods, the Vanas, dwelling in Vana-heim and ruhng their realms as they pleased. In early times, before the golden palaces in Asgard were built, a dispute arose between the -^sir and Vanas, 22 MYTHS OF NORTHERN LANDS. and they soon resorted to arms to settle it, using rocks, mount- ains, and icebergs as missiles. But discovering ere long that in unity alone lay their strength, they agreed to let the quarrel drop and make peace, and to ratify the treaty they exchanged hostages. It was thus that the Van, Niord, came to dwell in Asgard with his two children. Fray and Freya, while the Asa, Hoenir, Odin's own brother, took up his abode in Vana-heim forever. CHAPTER 11. ODIN. Odin, Wuotan, or Woden was the highest and hohest god of the Northern races. He was the all-pervading spirit of the uni- verse, tlie personification of the air, the god of universal wisdom and victory, and the leader and protector of princes and heroes. As aU the gods were supposed to be descended from him, he was sumamed AUfather, and as eldest and chief among them he occupied Asgard, the highest seat. Known by the name of ' Hlidskialf, this chair was not only an exalted throne, but also a mighty watch tower, from whence he could overlook the whole world and see at a glance all that was happening among gods, giants, elves, dwarfs, and men. " From the hall of Heaven he rode away To Lidskialf, and sate upon his throne, The mount, from whence his eye surveys the world. And far from Heaven he turn'd his shining orbs To look on Midgard, and the earth and men. " Baldbr Dead (Matthew Arnold). None but Odin and his wife and queen Frigga had the privi- lege of using this seat, and when they occupied it they generally gazed towards the south and west, the goal of all odin-s personal the hopes and excursions of the Northern nations. appearance. Odin was generally represented as a tall, vigorous man, about fifty years of age, either with dark curling hair or with a long gray beard and bald head. He was clad in a suit of gray, with a blue hood, and his muscular body was enveloped in a wide blue 23 24 MYTHS OF NORTHERN LANDS. mantle all flecked with^gray. — an emblem of the sky with its Heecy cTouHsT^ In his hand Odin generally carried the infallible spear Gungnir, which was so sacred that an oath sworn upon its point could never be broken, and on his finger or arm he wore the marvelous ring Draupnir, the emblem of fruitfulness, precious beyond compare. When seated upon his throne or armed for the fray, in 'which he often took an active part, Odin wore his eagle helmet ; but when he wandered about the earth in human guise, to see what men were doing, he generally donned a broad- brimmed hat, drawn down low over his forehead to conceal the fact of jiis hayingJjuLone-eye. " Then into the Volsungs' dwelling a mighty man there strode, One-eyed and seeming ancient, yet bright his visage glowed ; Cloud-blue was the hood upon him, and his kirtle gleaming-gray As the latter morning sun dog when the storm is on the way : A bill he bore on his shoulder, whose mighty ashen beam Burnt bright with the flame of the sea and the blended silver's gleam." Sigurd the Volsung (William Morris). Two ravens, Hugin (thought) and Munin (memory), perched upon his shoulders as he sat upon his throne, and these he sent out into the wide world every morning, anxiously watching for their return at nightfall, when they whispered into his ears news of all they had seen and heard, keeping him well informed about everything that was happening on earth. " Hugin and Munin Fly each day Over the spacious earth. I fear for Hugin That he come not back, Yet more anxious am I for Munin." Norse Mythology (R. B. Anderson). At his feet crouched two wolves or hunting hounds, Geri and Freki, which animals were therefore considered sacred to him, and of good omen if met by the way. Odin always fed these ODIN. 25 wolves with his own hands from the meat set before him, for he required no food at all, and seldom tasted anything except the sacred mead. " Geri and Freki The war-wont sates, The triumphant sire of hosts ; But on wine only The famed in arms Odin, ever lives." Lay of Gsimnir (Thorpe's tr.). When seated in state upon his throne, Odin rested his feet upon a footstool of gold, the work of the gods, whose furniture and utensils were all fashioned either of that precious metal or of silver. Besides the magniiicent hall Glads-heim,where stood the twelve seats occupied by the gods when they met in council, and Vala- skialf, where his throne, Hlidskialf, was placed, Odin had a third palace in Asgard, situated in the midst of the marvelous grove Glasir, whose leaves were all of shimmering red gold. TTiis palace, called Valhalla^ (the hall of the chosen slain), had(jf ive hu ndred and forty doors , wide enough to allow the pas- sage ofeigTTniuSredwarriors abreast, and above ° . . ' , Valhalla. the principal gate were a boar's head and an eagle whose piercing glance looked all over the world. The walls of this marvelous building were fashioned of glittering spears, so highly polished that they illuminated all the hall. The roof was of golden shields, and the benches were decorated with fine armor, the god's gifts to his guests. Here long ta bles affor ded^ ample accommodations foijhe-warriorsJEalIiii^iivSattlef^wh«-were called T;inheriar, and were consider ed Odin's favorit £_gu£sts. " Easily to be known is. By those who to Odin come. The mansion by its aspect. Its roof with spears is laid. Its hall with shields is decked, With corselets are its benches strewed." Lay of Grimnir (Thorpe's tr.). 26 MYTHS OF NORTHERN LANDS. r^ The ancien^ Northern nations, who deemed warfare the most honorable of occupations, and considered courage the greatest 1 virtue, jrorshiped Odin principally as god of battle and victory, and believed thatwhenevera'fight was about to occur he- sent out his special attendants, the shield, battle, or wish maidens, called Valkyrs (choosers of the slain). They selected one half the dead warriors, and bore them on their fleet steeds over the quiv- ering rainbow bridge Bifrost, into his hall, where many honors awaited them. Welcomed by Odin's sons, Hermod and Bragi, the heroes were then conducted to the foot of Odin's throne, where they received the praises due their valor. When some special favorite of the god was thus brought into Asgard, Val- father (father of the slain), as Odin was called when he presided over the warriors, sometimes rose from his throne to meet him at the door and himself bid him welcome. / Besides the hope of the glory of such a distinction, and the i promise of dwelling in Odin's beloved presence day after day, other more material pleasures awaited the warriors in Valhalla. The feast of They were seated around the board, where the the heroes. beautiful white-armed virgins, the Valkyrs, having laid aside their armor and clad themselves in pure white robes, constantly waited upon them. These maidens, nine in number, according to some mythologists, brought the heroes great horns full of delicious mead, and set before them huge portions of boars' flesh, upon which they feasted most heartily. The usual Northern drink was beer or ale, but our ancestors fancied this beverage too coarse for the heavenly sphere. They therefore imagined that Valfather kept his table liberally supplied with mead or hydromel, which was daily furnished in great abundance by his she-goat Heidrun, continually browsing on the tender leaves and twigs on Yggdrasil's topmost branch, Lerad. " Rash war and perilous battle, their delight; And immature, and red with glorious wounds, Unpeaceful death their choice : deriving thence A right to feast and drain immortal bowls, ODIN. 2 J In Odin's hall ; whose blazing roof resounds The genial uproar of those shades who fall In desperate fight, or by some brave attempt." Liberty (James Thomson). The meat upon which the Einlieriar feasted was the flesh of the divine boar Saehrimnir, a marvelous beast, daily slain by the coolf Andhrimnir, and boiled in the great caldron Eldhrimnir; but although Odin's guests had true Northern appetites and fairly gorged themselves, there was always plenty of meat for all. " Andhrimnir cooks In Eldhrimnir Sashrimnir; 'Tis the best of flesh ; But few know What the einherjes eat." Lay of Grimnir (Anderson's vension). Moreover the supply was exhaustless, for the boar always came to life again before the time for the next meal, when he was again slain and devoured. This miraculous renewal of sup- ' phes in the larder was not the only wonderful occurrence in Valhalla, for it is also related that the warriors, after having eaten and drunk to satiety, always called for their weapons, armed themselves, and rode out into the great courtyard, where they j fought against one another, repeating the feats of arms achieved j while on earth, and recklessly dealing terrible wounds, which were | miraculously and completely healed as soon as the dinner horn / sounded. ^ " All the chosen guests of Odin Daily ply the trade of war; From the fields of festal fight Swift they ride in gleaming arms. And gaily, at the board of gods. Quaff the cup of sparkling ale And eat Saehrimni's vaunted flesh." Vafthrudni's-mal (W. Taylor's tr.). 28 MYTHS OF NORTHERN LANDS. Whole and happy once more, — for they bore one another no grudge for the cruel thrusts given and received, and lived in perfect amity together, — the Einheriar then rode gaily back to Valhalla to renew their feasts in Odin's beloved presence, while the white-armed Valkyrs, with flying hair, glided gracefully about, constantly filling their horns or their favorite drinking vessels, the skulls of their enemies, while the scalds sang of war and stirring Viking expeditions. " And all day long they there are hack'd and hewn 'Mid dust, and groans, and limbs lopp'd off, and blood; But all at night return to Odin's hall Woundless and fresh; such lot is theirs in Heaven." Balder Dead (Matthew Arnold). Thus fighting and feasting, the heroes were said to spend day after day in perfect bUss, while Odin delighted in their strength and number, which, however, he foresaw would not long avail to ward off his downfall when the day of the last battle had dawned. As such pleasures were the highest a Northern warrior's fancy could paint, it was very natural that all fighting men should love Odin, and early in life should dedicate themselves to his service. They vowed to die arms in hand, if possible, and even wounded themselves with their own spears when death drew near, if they had been unfortunate enough to escape death on the battlefield and were threatened with " straw death," as they called decease from old age or sickness. " To Odin then true-fast Carves he fair runics, — Death-runes cut deep on his arm and his breast." Viking Tales of the North (R. B. Anderson). In reward for this devotion Odin watched with special care over his favorites, giving them a magic sword, spear, or horse, and making them invincible until their last hour had come, when he himself appeared to claim or destroy the gift he had bestowed, and the Valkyrs bore them off to Valhalla. ODIN. 29 " He gave to Hermod A helm and corselet, And from him Sigmund A sword received." 1 Lay of Hyndla (Thorpe's tr.). Whenever Odin took an active part in war, he generally rode his eight-footed gray steed, Sleipnir, brandished his white shield, and flung his glittering spear over the heads of the combatants, who only awaited this signal to fall upon one another, while the god dashed into their midst shouting his warcry : " Odin has you all! " " And Odin donn'd His dazzling corslet and his helm of gold, And led the way on Sleipnir." Balder Dead (Matthew Arnold). At times he also used his magic bow, from which he shot ten arrows at once, every one invariably bringing down a foe. Odin was also supposed to inspire his favorite warriors with the re- nowned "Berserker rage" (bare sark or shirt), which enabled them, although naked, weaponless, and sore beset, to perform unheard-of feats of valor and strength, and go about as with charmed lives. As Odin's characteristics, like the all-pervading elements, were multitudinous, so were also his names, of which he had no less than two hundred, almost all of which were descriptive of some phase of his being. He was considered the ancient god of sea- men and of the wind : " Mighty Odin, Norsemen hearts we bend to thee ! Steer our barks, all-potent Woden, O'er the surging Baltic Sea." Vail. _Odin, as wind god, generally rode about on his eight-footed steed Sleipnir, a habit which gave rise to the oldest Northern 30 MYTHS OF NORTHERN LANDS. riddle, which runs as follows : " Who are the two who ride to the Thing? Three eyes have they together, ten feet, and one tail; knd thus they travel through the lands." And as the souls of the jdead were supposed to be wafted away on the wings of the storm, Odin was worshiped as the leader of all disembodied spirits. In this character he was most generally known as the Wild Hunts- man, and when people heard the rush and roar of the wind they cried aloud in superstitious fear, fancying they heard and saw him ride past with his train, all mounted on snorting steeds, and accom- The Wild panied by baying hounds. And the passing of the Hunt. ^j](j yLmxvI, known as Woden's Hunt, the Raging Host, Gabriel's Hounds, or Asgardreia, was also considered a presage of misfortune of some kind, such as pestilence or war. " The Rhine flows bright; but its waves ere long Must hear a voice of war, And a clash of spears our hills among, And a trumpet from afar; And the brave on a bloody turf must lie, For the Huntsman hath gone by ! " The Wild Huntsman (Mrs. Hetnans). People further fancied that if any were so sacrilegious as to join in the wild halloo in mockery, they were immediately snatched up and whirled away with the vanishing host, while those who joined in the halloo with implicit good faith were rewarded for their credulity by the sudden gift of a horse's leg, hurled at them from above, which, if they carefully kept until the morrow, was changed into a solid lump of gold. Even after the introduction of Christianity the ignorant North- ern people still dreaded the on-coming stOrm, declaring that it was the Wild Hunt sweeping across the sky. "And ofttimes will start. For overhead are sweeping Gabriel's hounds. Doomed with their impious lord the flying hart To chase forever on aereal grounds. " Sonnet (Wordsworth). ODIN. 31 Sometimes it left behind it a small black dog, which, cowering and whining upon a neighboring hearth, had to be kept for a whole year and carefully tended unless the people succeeded in exor- cising it or frightening it away. The usual recipe, the same as for the riddance of changelings, was to brew beer in egg-shells, which performance so startled the spectral dog that he fled witli ■ his tail between his legs, exclaiming that, although as old as the Behmer, or Eohemian forest, he had never yet seen such an un- canny sight. " I am as old As the Behmer wold, And have in my life Such a brewing not seen." Old' Saving (Thorpe's tr.). The object of this phantom hunt varied greatly, and was either a visionary boar or wild horse, white-breasted maidens who were caught and borne away bound only once in seven years, or the wood nymphs, called Moss Maidens, who were thought to rep- resent the autumn leaves torn from the trees and whirled away by the wintry gale. In the middle ages, when the belief in the old heathen deities was partly forgotten, the leader of the Wild Hunt was no longer Odin, but Charlemagne, Frederick Barbarossa, King Arthur, or soipe Sabbath breaker, like the squire of Rodenstein or Hans von Hackelberg, who, in punishment for his sins, was condemned to hunt forever through the realms of air. As the winds blew fiercest in autumn and winter, Odin was supposed to hunt in preference during that season, especially during the time between Christmas and Twelfth-night, and the peasants were always careful to leave the last sheaf or measure of grain out in the fields to serve as food for his horse. This hunt was of course known by various names in the differ- ent countries of northern Europe ; but as the tales told about it are all alike, they evidently originated in the same old heathen belief, and to this day ignorant people of the North still fancy 32 MYTHS OF NORTHERN LANDS. that the baying of a hound on a stormy night is an infallible presage of death. " Still, still shall last the dreadful chase, Till time itself shall have an end ; By day, they scour earth's cavern'd space, At midnight's witching hour, ascend. " This is the horn, and hound, and horse That oft the lated peasant hears ; Appall'd, he signs the frequent cross. When the wild din invades his ears. " The wakeful priest oft drops a tear For human pride, for human woe, When, a:t his midnight mass, he hears The infernal cry of ' Holla, ho ! '" Sir Walter Scott. The Wild Hunt, or Raging Host of Germany, was called Her- lathing in England, from the mythical king Herla, its supposed leader; in northern France it bore the name of Mesn^e d'Helle- quin, from Hel, goddess of death ; and in the, middle ages it was known as Cain's Huiit or Herod's Hunt, these latter names being given because the leaders were supposed to be unable to find rest on account of the iniquitous murders of Abel, of John the Baptist and of the Holy Innocents. In central France the Wild Huntsman, whom we have al- ready seen in other countries as Odin, Charlemagne, Barbarossa, Rodeiistein, von Hackelberg, King Arthur, Hel, one of the Swed- ish kings, Gabriel, Cain, or Herod, is also called the Great Huntsman of Fontainebleau (le Grand Veneur de Fontainebleau), and people declare that on the eve of Henry IV. 's murder, and also just before the outbreak of the great French Revolution, his shouts were distinctly heard as he swept across the skv. It was generally believed among the Northern nations that the soul escaped from the body in the shape of a mouse, which crept out of a corpse's mouth and ran away, and it was also said to creep THE PIED PIPER OF HAMELIN.— H. Kaulbach. ODIN. 33 in and out of the mouths of people in a trance. While the soul was absent, no effort or remedy could recall the patient to life i but as soon as it had come back animation returned. As Odin was the leader of all disembodied spirits, he was identified in the middle ages with the Pied Piper of Ham- elin. According to mediaeval legends, Hamelin was so infested by rats (the souls of the dead) that life became unbearable, and a large reward was offered to the person who would xhe Pied rid the town of these rodents. A piper, in party- Piper, colored garments, undertook the job, and piped so gaily that the rats were one and all beguiled out of their holes, along the street, and down to the river Weser, where they were drowned. " And ere three shrill notes the pipe uttered, You heard as if an army muttered ; And the muttering grew to a grumbling ; And the grumbling grew to a mighty rumbling; And out of the houses the rats came tumbling. Great rats, small rats, lean rats, brawny rats. Brown rats, black rats, gray rats, tawny rats, Grave old plodders, gay young friskers. Fathers, mothers, uncles, cousins, Cocking tails and pricking whiskers, Families by tens and dozens. Brothers, sisters, husbands, wives — Followed the Piper for their lives. From street to street he piped advancing, And step for step they followed dancing, Until they came to the river Weser, Wherein all plunged and perished ! " Robert Browning. As the rats were all dead, and there was no chance of their returning to plague them, the people of HameUn refused to pay the promised reward, and braving the piper's anger bade him do his worst. A few moments later the magic flute again began to play, and the astonished parents saw all their children gaily swarm out of the houses and merrily follow the piper. 3 34 MYTHS OF NORTHERN LANDS. " There was a rustling that seemed like a bustling Of merry crowds justling at pitching and hustling ; Small feet were pattering, wooden shoes clattering, Little hands clapping and little tongues chattering, And, like fowls in a farmyard when barley is scattering, Out came all the children running. All the little boys and girls, With rosy cheeks and flaxen curls, And sparkling eyes and teeth like pearls, Tripping and skipping, ran merrily after The wonderful music with shouting and laughter." Robert Browning. While the parents stood there helpless and spellbound, the piper led the children out of the town to the Koppelberg, a hill, which miraculously opened to receive them, and only closed again when the last child had passed out of sight. The children were never seen in Hamelin again, and in commemoration of this public calamity all official decrees have since been dated so many years after the Pied Piper's visit. "They made a decree that lawyers never Should think their records dated duly If, after the day of the month and year, These words did not as well appear, ' And so long after what happened here On the Twenty-second of July, Thirteen hundred and seventy-six.' And the better in memory to fix The place of the children's last retreat. They called it the Pied Piper street — Where any one playing on pipe or tabor Was sure for the future to lose his labor.'' Robert Browning. In this myth Odin is the piper, the shrill tones of the flute are emblematic of the whistling wind, the rats represent the souls of the dead, which cheerfully follow him, and he even leads the children into the hollow mountain, which is typical of the grave. ODIN. ODIN. 35 Another German legend, which owes its existence to this belief, is the story of Bishop Hatto, the miserly prelate, who, annoyed by the clamors of the poor during a time of famine, had them all burned alive in a deserted bam, like " "'' the rats whom he declared they resembled, rather than give them some of the precious grain which he had laid up for himself. " ' r faith, 'tis an excellent bonfire ! ' quoth he, ' And the country is greatly obliged to me For ridding it in these times forlorn Of rats that only consume the corn. ' " Robert Southey. No sooner had this terrible crime been accomplished than the souls of the poor murdered wretches, assuming the forms of the rats to which he had likened them, came rushing towards the wicked bishop, whom they pursued even into the middle of the Rhine, where he took refuge in a stone tower to escape from their fangs. But the rats swam to the tower, gnawed their way through the stone walls, and pouring in on all sides at once, they pounced upon the bishop and devoured him. " And in at the windows, and in at the door. And through the walls, helter-skelter they pour. And down from the ceiling, and up through the floor, From the right and the left, from behind and before, From within and without, from above and below, And all at once to the Bishop they go. They have whettfed their teeth against the stones; And now they pick the Bishop's bones ; They gnaw'd the flesh from every limb. For they were sent to do judgment on him ! " Robert Southey. The red glow of the sunset above the Rat Tower near Bingen on the Rhine is supposed to be the reflection of the hell fire in which the wicked bishop is slowly roasting in punishment for this heinous crime. In some parts of Germany Odin was considered identical with 36 MYTHS OF NORTHERN LANDS. the Saxon god Irmin, whose statue, the Irminsul, near Paderborn, was destroyed by Charlemagne in 772. Irmin was said to pos- sess a ponderous brazen chariot, in which he rode across the sky along the path which we know as the Milky Way, but which the ancient Germans designated as Irmin's Way. This chariot, , whose rumbling sound occasionally became perceptible to mortal ears as thunder, never left the sky, where it can still be seen in the constellation of the Great Bear, which is also known in the North as Odin's, or Charles's Wain. " The Wain, who wheels on high His circling course, and on Orion waits; Sole star that never bathes in the Ocean wave." Homer's Iliad (Derby's tr.). To obtain the great wisdom for which he is so famous, Odin, in the morn of time, wandered off to Mimir's (Memor, memory) spring, " the fountain of all wit and wisdom," in Mimir's well, ,..,,, , . , , whose liquid depths even the future was clearly mirrored, and besought the old man who guarded it to let him have a draught. But Mimir, who well knew the value of such a favor (for his spring was considered the source or headwater of memory), refused to grant it unless Odin would consent to give one of his eyes in exchange. The god did not hesitate, but immediately plucked out one of his eyes, which Mimir kept in pledge, sinking it deep down into his fountain, where it shone with mild luster, leaving Odin with but one eye, which is considered emblematic of the sun. " Through our whole lives we strive towards the sun ; That burning forehead is the eye of Odin. His second eye, the moon, shines not so bright ; It has he placed in pledge in Mimer's fountain, That he may fetch the healing waters thence. Each morning, for the strengthening of this eye." Oehlenschlager (Howitt's tr.). Drinking deeply of Mimir's fount, Odin gained the knowledge he coveted, and such was the benefit received that he never regretted ODIN. 37 the sacrifice he had made, but as further memorial of that day broke oil a branch of the sacred tree Yggdrasil, which over- shadowed the spring, and fashioned from it his beloved spear Gungnir. " A dauntless god Drew for drink to its gleam. Where he left in endless Payment the light of an eye. From the world-ash Ere Wotan went he broke a bough ; For a spear the staff He split with strength from the stem." Dusk of the Gods, Wagner (Forman's tr.). But although Odin had won all knowledge, he was sad and oppressed, for he had also won an insight into futurity, and had become aware of the transitory nature of all things, and even of the fate of the gods, who were doomed to pass away. This knowledge so affected his spirits that he ever after wore a melan- choly and contemplative expression. To test the value of the wisdom he had thus obtained, Odin soon went to visit the most learned of all the giants, Vafthrudnir, and entered with him into a contest of wit, in which the stake was nothing less than the loser's head. " Qdin rose with speed, and went To contend in runic lore With the wise and crafty Jute. To Vafthrudni's royal hall Came the mighty king of spells." Vafthrudni's-mal (W. Taylor's tr.). On this occasion Odin had disguised himself as a Wanderer, by Frigga's advice, and when asked his name declared it was Gangrad. The contest of wit immediately began, qj;„ ^^^ Vafthrudnir questioning his guest concerning the Vafthrudmr. horses which carried Day and Night across the sky, the river 38 MYTHS OF NORTHERN LANDS. Ifing separating Jotun-heim from Asgard, and also about Vigrid, the field where the last battle was to be fought. AH these questions were minutely answered by Odin, who, when Vafthrudnir had ended, began the interrogatory in his turn, and received equally explicit answers about the origin of heaven and earth, the creation of the gods, their quarrel with the Vanas, the occupations of the heroes in Valhalla, the offices of the Noms, and the rulers who were to replace the ^sir when they had all perished with the world they had created. But, when in conclusion, Odin bent near the giant and softly inquired what words AUfather whispered to his dead son Balder as he lay upon his funeral pyre, Vafthrudnir suddenly recognized his divine visitor. Starting back in dismay he declared that no one but Odin himself could answer that question, and that it was now quite plain to him, that he had madly striven in a contest of wisdom and wit with the king of the gods, and fully deserved the penalty of failure, the loss of his head. " Not the man of mortal race Knows the words which thou hast spoken To thy son in days of yore. I hear the coming tread of death ; He soon shall raze the runic lore, And knowledge of the rise of gods, From his ill-fated soul who strove With Odin's self the strife of wit, Wisest of the wise that breathe : Our stake was life, and thou hast won." Vafthrudni's-mal (W. Taylor's tr.). As is the case with so many of the Northern myths, which are often fragmentary and obscure, this one ends here, and none of the scalds inform us whether Odin really slew his rival, nor what was the answer to his last question ; but mythologists have haz- arded the suggestion that the word whispered by Odin in Balder's ear, to console him for his untimely death, must have been the hopeful term " resurrection." ODIN. 39 Besides being god of wisdom, Odin was god and inventor of runes, the earliest alphabet used by Northern nations, which characters, meaning mystery, were at first used for invention of divination, although in later times they served for runes, inscriptions and records. Just as wisdom could only be obtained at the cost of sacrifice, Odin himself relates that he hung nine days and nights from the sacred tree Yggdrasil, gazing down into the immeasurable depths of Nifl-heim, plunged in deep thought, ere, after wounding himself with his spear, he won the knowl- edge he sought. " I know that I hung On a wind-rocked tree Nine whole nights, With a spear wounded, And to Odin offered Myself to myself; On that tree Of which no one knows From what root it springs." Odin's Rune-Song (Thorpe's tr.). When he had fully mastered this knowledge, Odin cut magic runes upon his spear Gungnir, upon the teeth of his horse Sleipnir, upon the claws of the bear, and upon countless other animate and inanimate things. And because he had thus hung over the abyss for such a long space of time, he was ever after considered the pa- tron divinity of all who were condemned to be hanged or who perished by the noose. After obtaining the gift of wisdom and runes, which gave him power over all things, Odin also coveted the gift of eloquence and poetry, which became his in a manner which we shall relate in a subsequent chapter. Odin, as has already been stated, took great interest in the affairs of mortals, and, we are told, was specially fond of watching King Hrauding's handsome little sons, Geirrod Geirrodand and Agnar, when they were about eight and ten Agnar. years of age. One day these little lads went fishing, and when 40 MYTHS OF NORTHERN LANDS. a storm suddenly arose their boat drifted far out to sea, and was finally stranded upon an island, where dwelt an old couple, Odin and Frigga, in disguise. The lads were warmly welcomed and kindly treated, Odin choosing Geirrod as his favorite, and teach- ing him the use of arms, while Frigga petted and made much of httle Agnar. The boys tarried on the island with their kind pro- tectors during the long, cold winter season ; but when spring came, the skies were blue, and the sea calm, they embarked in a boat which Odin provided, and set out for their native shores. Favored by gentle breezes, they were soon wafted thither ; but as the boat neared the shore Geirrod quickly sprang out and shoved it far into the water, bidding his brother sail away into the evil spirit's power. At that selfsame moment the wind veered, and Agnar was carried away, while his brother hastened back to his father's palace, where he was joyfully received, and where, in due time, he succeeded his father upon the throne. Years had passed since Odin and Frigga had spent that winter in human form on the desert island, when one day, while the royal couple were seated on the throne Hlidskialf, Odin bade his wife notice how powerful his pupil had become, and taunted her because her favorite Agnar had married a giantess and had re- mained poor and of no importance in the world. Frigga quietly replied that it was better to be poor than hard hearted, and accused Geirrod of lack of hospitality — one of the most heinous crimes in the eyes of a Northerner. She even went so far as to declare that in spite of all his wealth he often ill treated his guests. When Odin heard this accusation he declared that he would prov,e the falsity of her charge by assuming the guise of a Wan- derer and testing Geirrod's generosity. Wrapped in his cloud- hued raiment, with slouch hat and pilgrim staff, — ' Wanderer calls me the world, Far have I carried my feet, On the back of the earth I have boundlessly been," — Wagner (Forman's tr.). ODIN. 41 Odin immediately set out by a roundabout way, while Frigga, to outwit him, sent Geirrod a secret warning to beware of a man in wide mantle and broad-brimmed hat, as he was a wicked enchanter who would work him ill. As soon, therefore, as Odin presented himself before the king's palace he was dragged into Geirrod's presence, where, when he had given his name as Grimnir, and had refused to tell whence he came or what he wanted, he was bound between two fires, whose flames played around him without quite touching him. There he remained eight days and nights, in obstinate silence, without a morsel of food, and had it not been that Agnar, who had returned to his brother's palace and occupied a menial posi- tion there, once secretly brought him a horn of ale, he would have had nothing to drink. At the end of the eighth day, while Geirrod, seated upon his throne, was gloating over his prisoner's sufferings, Odin began to sing — softly at first, then louder and louder, until the hall re- echoed with his triumphant notes — a prophecy that the king, who had so long enjoyed the god's favor, would soon perish by his own sword. " The fallen by the sword Ygg shall now have ; Thy life is now run out : Wroth with thee are the Disir : Odin thou now shall see : Draw near to me if thou canst." S.cmund's Edda (ITioipe's tr.). As the last notes died away the chains dropped from his hands, the flames flickered and went out, and Odin stood in the midst of the hall, no longer in human form, but in all the power and beauty of a god. On hearing the ominous prophecy Geirrod hastily drew his sword, intending to slay the insolent singer ; but when he beheld the sudden transformation he started in dismay, tripped, fell upon the sharp blade, and perished as Odin had just foretold. 42 MYTHS OF NORTHERN LANDS. Turning to Agnar, who, according to some accounts, was the king's son and not his brother, Odin then bade him ascend the throne in reward for his humanity and, further to repay him for the timely draught of ale, the king of the gods blessed him with all manner of prosperity. On another occasion Odin wandered off to earth, and was absent so long that no one ever expected to see him in Asgard again. His brothers Vili and Ve, who by some mythologists are considered as other personifications of himself, then usurped his power, occupied his throne, and even, we are told, married his wife Frigga. " Be thou silent, Frigg ! Thou art Fiorgyn's daughter And ever hast been fond of men, Since Ve and Vili, it is said, Thou, Vidrir's wife, didst Both to thy bosom take." S.emund's Edda (Thorpe's tr.). But upon his return they vanished forever; and in commem- oration of the disappearance of the false Odin, who had ruled seven months and had brought nothing but unhappiness to the world, and of the return of the benevolent deity, the heathen May-day Northerners formerly celebrated yearly festivals festivals. ^jj^ processions, which were long continued as May-day rejoicings. Until very lately there was always, on that day, a grand procession in Sweden, known as the May Ride, in which a flower-decked May king (Odin) pelted with blossoms the fur-enveloped Winter (his supplanter), until he put him to igno- minious flight. In England the first of May was also a festive occasion, in which May-pole dances, May queens. Maid Marian, and Jack in the Green played prominent parts. As personification of heaven, Odin, of course, was the lover and spouse of the earth, and as it appeared under a threefold aspect, the Northerners, although a chaste race, depicted him as a polygamist, and allotted to him several wives. The first among ODIN. 43 these was Jord (Erda), the primitive earth, daughter of Night or of the giantess Fiorgyn. She bore him his famous son Thor, the god of thunder. The second and principal wife was Frigga, a personification of the civilized world. She gave him Balder, the gentle god of spring, Hermod, and, according to some authori- ties, Tyr. The third wife was Rinda, a personification of the hard and frozen earth, who reluctantly yields to his warm em- brace, but finally gives birth to Vali, the emblem of vegetation. Odin is also said to have married Saga or Laga, the goddess of history (hence our verb " to say "), and to have daily visited her in the crystal hall of Sokvabek, beneath a cool, ever-flowing river, to drink its waters ai^d listen to her songs about olden times and ranished races. " Sokvabek hight the fourth dwelling; Over it flow the cool billows ; Glad drink there Odin and Saga Every day from golden cups." NoKSE Mythology (R. B. Anderson). His other wives were Grid, the mother of Vidar; Gunlod, the mother of Bragi ; Skadi ; and the nine giantesses who simultane- ously bore Heimdall — all of whom play more or less important parts in the various myths of the North. Besides this ancient Odin, there was a more modem, semi-his- torical personage of the same name, to whom all the virtues, powers, and adventures of his predecessor have Historical been attributed. He was the chief of the ^sir, °'^'"- inhabitants of Asia Minor, who, sore pressed by the Romans, and threatened with destruction or slavery, left their native land about 70 B.C., and migrated into Europe. This Odin is said to have conquered Russia, Germany, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, leaving a son on the throne of each conquered country. He also built the town of Odenso. He was welcomed in Sweden by Gylfi, the king, who made him associate ruler, and allowed him to found the city of Sigtuna, where he built a 44 MYTHS OF NO'rTHERN LANDS. temple and introduced a new system of worship. Tradition further relates that as his end drew near, this mythical Odin assembled his followers, pubhcly cut himself nine times in the breast with his spear, — a ceremony called "carving Geir odds," — and told them he was about to return to his native land Asgard, his old home, where he would await their coming, to share with him a life of feasting, drinking, and fighting. According to another account, Gylfi, having heard of the power of the ^sir, the inhabitants of Asgard, and wishing to ascertain whether these reports were true, journeyed off to the south. He soon came to Odin's palace, where he was expected, and where he was deluded by the vision of three divinities, enthroned one above the other, and called Har, lafn-har, and Thridi. The gatekeeper, Gangler, answered all his questions, gave him a long explanation of Northern mythology, which is recorded in the Younger Edda, and having finished his instructions, suddenly vanished with the palace amid a deafening noise. According to other very ancient poems, Odin's sons, Weldegg, Beldegg, Sigi, Skiold, Sasming, and Yngvi, became kings of East Saxony, West Saxony, Franconia, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, and from them are descended the Saxons, Hengist and Horsa, and the royal families of th^ Northern lands. Still an- other version relates that Odin and Frigga had seven sons, who founded the Anglo-Saxon heptarchy. In the course of time this mysterious king was confounded with the Odin whose worship he introduced, and all his deeds were attributed to the god. Odin was worshiped in numerous temples, but especially in the great fane at Upsala, where the most solemn festivals were held, and where sacrifices were oflfered. The victim was generally a horse, but in times of pressing need human offerings were made, even the king being once offered up to avert a famine. ' Upsal's temple, where the North Saw Valhal's halls fair imag'd here on earth." Viking Tales of the North (R. B. Anderson). ODIN. 45 The first toast at every festival here was drunk in his honor, and, besides the first of May, one day in every week was held sacred to him, and, from his Saxon name, Woden, was called Woden's day, whence the English word " Wednesday " has been derived. It was customary for the people to assemble at his shrine on festive occasions, to hear the songs of the scalds, who were rewarded for their minstrelsy by the gift of golden bracelets or armlets, which curled up at the ends and were called " Odin's serpents." There are but few remains of ancient Northern art now extant, and although rude statues of Odin were once quite common they have all disappeared, as they were made of wood — a perishable substance, which in the hands of the missionaries and especially of Olaf the Saint, the Northern iconoclast, was soon reduced to ashes. " There in the Temple, carved in wood, The image of great Odin stood." "^ Saga of King Olaf (Longfellow) Odin himself is supposed to have given his people a code of laws whereby to govern their conduct, in a poem called Hivamal, or the High Song, which forms part of the Edda. In this lay he taught the fallibility of man, the necessity for courage, temper- ance, independence, and truthfulness, respect for old age, hos- pitality, charity, and contentment, and gave instructions for the burial of the dead. " At home let a man be cheerful, And toward a guest liberal ; Of wise conduct he should be, Of good memory and ready speech ; If much knowledge he desires. He must often talk on what is good." HAvamAl (Thorpe's tr.). CHAPTER III. FRIGGA. Frigga or Frigg, daughter of Fiorgyn and sister of Jord, according to some mythologists, is considered bjr others as a The queen of daughter of Jord and Odin, whom she eventually the gods. married. This wedding caused such general re- joicing in Asgard, where the goddess was greatly beloved, that ever after it was custbmary to celebrate its anniversary with feast and song, and the goddess being declared patroness of marriage, her health was always proposed with that of Odin and Thor at wedding feasts. Frigga was goddess of the atmosphere, or rather of the clouds, and as such was represented as wearing either snow-white or dark garments, according to her somewhat variable moods. She was queen of the gods, and she alone had the privilege of sitting on the throne Hlidskialf, beside her august husband. From thence she, too, could look over all the world and see what was happening, and, according to our ancestors' declarations, she possessed the knowledge of the future, which, however, no one could ever pre- vail upon her to reveal, thus proving that Northern women could keep a secret inviolate. " Of me the gods are sprung ; And all that is to come I know, but lock In my own breast, and have to none reveal'd." Balder Dead (Matthew Arnold). She was generally represented as a tall, beautiful, and stately woman, crowned with heron plumes, the symbol of silence or 46 FRIGGA. 4-j forgetfulness, and clothed in pure-white robes, secured at the waist by a golden girdle, from which hung a bunch of keys, the distinctive sign of the Northern housewife, whose special patron- ess she was said to be. Although she often appeared beside her husband, Frigga preferred to remain in her own palace, called Fensahr, the hall of mists or of the sea, where she diligently twirled her wheel or distaff, spinning golden thread or weaving long webs of bright-colored clouds. In order to perform this work she owned a marvelous jeweled spinning wheel or distaff, which at night shone brightly in the sky in the shape of a constellation, known in the North as Frigga's Spinning Wheel, while the inhabitants of the South called the same stars Orion's Girdle. To her hall Fensahr the gracious goddess invited all husbands and wives who had led virtuous lives on earth, so that they might enjoy each other's companionship even after death, and never be called upon to part again. " There in the glen, Fensalir stands, the house Of Frea, honor'd mother of the gods, And shows its lighted windows and the open doors." Balder Dead (Matthew Arnold). Frigga was therefore considered the goddess of conjugal and motherly love, and was specially worshiped by married lovers and tender parents. This exalted office did not so entirely ab- sorb all her thoughts, however, that she had no time for other matters ; for we are told that she was very fond of dress, and when- ever she appeared before the assembled gods her attire was rich and becoming, and her jewels always chosen with much taste. This love of adornment once led her sadly astray, for, in her longing to possess some new jewel, she secretly purloined a piece of gold from a statue representing her husband, .j.^^ stolen which had just been placed in his temple. The s"'**- stolen metal was intrusted to the dwarfs, with instructions to fashion a marvelous necklace for her use. This jewel, once 48 MYTHS OF NORTHERN LANDS. finished, was so resplendent that it greatly enhanced her charms and even increased Odin's love for her. But when he discovered the theft of the gold he angrily summoned tlie dwarfs and bade them reveal who had dared to touch his statue. Unwilling to betray the queen of the gods, the dwarfs remained obstinately silent, and, seeing that no information could be elicited from them, Odin commanded that the statue should be placed above the temple gate, and set to work to devise runes which should endow it with the power of speech and enable it to denounce the thief. When Frigga heard these tidings she, trembled with fear, and implored her favorite attendant, Fulla, to invent some means of protecting her from AUfather's wrath. Fulla, who was always ready to serve her mistress, immediately departed, and soon re- turned, accompanied by a hideous dwarf, who promised to, pre- vent the statue from speaking if Frigga would only deign to smile graciously upon him. This boon having been granted, the dwarf hastened off to the temple, caused a deep sleep to fall upon the guards, and while they were thus unconscious, pulled the statue down from its perch and broke it to pieces, so that it could never betray Frigga's theft in spite of all Odin's efforts to give it the power of speech. Odin, discovering this sacrilege on the morrow, was very angry indeed ; so angry that he left Asgard and utterly disappeared, carrying away with him all the blessings which he had been wont to shower upon gods and men. According to some authorities, his brothers, as we have already seen, took advantage of his absence to assume his form and secure possession of his throne and wife ; but although they looked exactly like him they could not restore the lost blessings, and allowed the ice giants, or Jo- tuns, to invade the earth and bind it fast in their cold fetters. These wicked giants also pinched the leaves and buds till they all shriveled up, stripped the trees bare, shrouded the earth in a great white coverlet, and veiled it in impenetrable mists. But at the end of seven weary months the true Odin relented and returned, and when he saw all the evil that had been done FRIGGA. FRIGGA. 49 he drove the usurpers away, forced the frost giants to beat a hasty retreat, released the earth from her icy bonds, and again showered all his blessings down upon her, cheering her with the Ught of his smile. As has already been seen, Odin, although god of wit and wis- dom, was sometimes outwitted by his wife Frigga, who, woman- like, was sure to obtain her will by some means. ona On one occasion the divine pair were seated upon outwitted. Hlidskialf, gazing with interest upon the Winilers and Vandals, who were preparing for a battle which was to decide which people should henceforth have the supremacy. Odin gazed with satis- faction upon the Vandals, who were loudly praying to him for victory ; but Frigga watched the movements of the Winilers with more attention, because they had entreated her aid. She there- fore turned to Odin and coaxingly inquired whom he meant to favor on the morrow ; he, wishing to evade her question, de- clared he would not yet decide, as it was time for bed, but would give the victory to those upon whom his eyes first rested in the morning. This answer was shrewdly calculated, for Odin knew that his bed was so turned that upon waking he would face the Vandals, and he intended looking out from thence, instead of waiting until he had mounted his throne. But, although so cunningly con- trived, this plan was entirely frustrated by Frigga, who, divining his purpose, waited until he was sound asleep and then noiselessly turned his bed around so that he should face her favorites instead of his. Then she sent word to the Winilers to dress their women in armor and send them out in battle array at dawn, with their long hair carefully combed down over their cheeks and breasts. " Take thou thy women-folk, Maidens and wives : Over your ankles Lace on the white war-hose; Over your bosoms Link up the hard mail-nets ; go MYTHS OF NORTHERN LANDS. Over your lips Plait long tresses with cunning ; — So war beasts full-bearded King Odin shall deem you, When off the gray sea-beach At sunrise ye greet him." The Longbeards' Saga (Charles Kingsley). These instructions were carried out with scrupulous exactness by the Winiler women, and when Odin awoke and sat up in bed early the next morning, his first conscious glance fell upon their armed host, and he exclaimed in surprise, " What Longbeards are those ? " (In German the ancient word for long beards was Langobarden, which was the name used to designate the Lom- bards.) Frigga, upon hearing this exclamation, which she had foreseen, immediately cried out in triumph that Allfather had given them a new name, and was in honor bound to follow the usual Northern custom and give them also a baptismal gift. " ' A name thou hast given them. Shames neither thee nor them. Well can they wear it. Give them the victory. First have they greeted thee ; Give them the victory, Yoke-fellow mine ! ' " The Longbeards' Saga (Charles Kingsley). Odin, seeing he had been so cleverly outwitted, gave them the victory, and in memory of this auspicious day the Winilers retained the name given by the king of the gods, who ever after watched over them with special care, and vouchsafed them many blessings, among others a home in the sunny South, on the fruitful plains of Lombardy. Frigga had, as her own special attendants, a number of beau- tiful maidens, among whom were FuUa (Volla), her sister, accord- ing to some authorities, to whom she intrusted her jewel casket. FuUa always presided over her mistress's toilet, was privileged to put FRIGGA. SI on her golden shoes, attended her everywhere, was her confidante and adviser, and often told her how best to help the mortals who implored her aid. FuUa was very beautiful in- . . FuUa. deed, and had long golden hair, wliich she wore flowing loose over her shoulders, restrained only by a golden circlet or snood. As her hair was emblematic of the golden grain, this circlet represented the binding of the sheaf. Fulla was also known as Abundia, or Abundantia, in some parts of Germany, where she was considered the symbol of the fullness of the earth. Hlin, Frigga's second attendant, was the goddess of consola- tion, sent out to kiss away the tears of mourners and pour balm into hearts wrung by grief. She also Ustened with ever-open ears to the prayers of mortals, repeated them to her mistress, and advised her at times how best to answer them and give the desired relief. Gna was Frigga's swift messenger, who, mounted upon her fleet steed Hofvarpnir (hoof thrower), traveled with marvelous rapidity through fire and air, over land and sea, and was therefore considered the personification of the refreshing breeze. Darting thus to and fro, Gna saw all that was happening upon earth, and told her mistress all she knew. On one occasion, as she was passing over Hunaland, she saw King Rerir, a hneal descendant of Odin, sitting mournfully by the shore, bewailing his childlessness. The queen of heaven, who W£iS also goddess of childbirth, upon hearing this took an apple (the emblem of fmitfulness) from her private store, gave it to Gna, and bade her carry it to the king. With the rapidity of the element she personified, Gna darted away, passed over Rerir's head, and dropped her apple into his lap with a radiant smile. " 'What flies up there, so quickly driving past? ' Her answer from the clouds, as rushing by : ' I fly not, nor do drive, but hurry fast, Hoof flinger swift through cloud and mist and sky.' " AsGARD AKD THE GoDS (Wagner-Macdowall). 52 MYTHS OF NORTHERN LANDS. The king, after pondering for a moment upon the meaning of this sudden apparition and gift, returned home, his heart beating high with hope, gave the apple to his wife to eat, and to his in- tense joy was soon no longer childless, for his wife bore him a son, Volsung, the great Northern hero, who became so famous that he gave his name to all his race. Besides the three above-mentioned attendants, Frigga also had in her train the mild and gracious maiden Lofn (praise or love), whose duty it was to remove all obstacles from the path of lovers. " My lily tall, from her saddle bearing, I led then forth through the temple, faring To th' altar-circle where, priests among, Lofn's vows she took with unfalt'ring tongue." Viking Tales of the North (R. B. Anderson). Vjofn's duty was to incline obdurate hearts to love, to maintain peace and concord among mankind, and to reconcile quarreling husbands and wives. Syn (truth) guarded the door of Frigga's palace, refusing to open it to those who were not allowed to come in. When she had once shut the door upon a would-be intruder there was no appeal which would avail to change her decision, She therefore presided over all tribunals and trials, and whenever a thing was to be vetoed the usual formula was to declare that Syn was against it. Gefjon was also one of the maidens in Frigga's palace, and to her were intrusted all those who died virgins, whom she received and made happy forever. According to some mythologists, Gefjon did not always remain a vir- gin herself, but married one of the giants, by whom she had four sons. This same tradition goes on to declare that Odin sent her ahead of him to visit Gylfi, King of Sweden, and beg for some land which she might call her own. The king, amused at her re- quest, promised her as much land as she could plow around in one day and night. Gefjon, nothing daunted, changed her four FRIGGA. 53 sons into oxen, harnessed them to a plow, and began to cut a furrow so wide and deep that the king and his courtiers were amazed. But Gefjon continued her work without giving any signs of fatigue, and when she had plowed all around a large piece of land forcibly wrenched it away, and made her oxen drag it down into the sea, where she made it fast and called it Seeland. " Gefjun drew from Gylfi, Rich in stored up treasure, The land she joined to Denmark. Four heads and eight eyes bearing, While hot sweat trickled down them, The oxen dragged the reft mass That formed this winsome island." Norse Mythology (R. B. Anderson). As for the hollow she left behind her, it was quickly filled with water and formed a lake, at first' called Logrum (the sea), but now known as Malar, whose every indentation corresponds with the headlands of Seeland. Gefjon then married Skiold, one of Odin's sons, and became the ancestress of the royal Danish race of Skioldungs, dwelling in the city of Hleidra or Lethra, which she founded, and which became the principal place of sacrifice for the heathen Danes. Eira, also Frigga's attendant, was considered a most skillful physician. She gathered simples all over the earth to cure both wounds and diseases, and it was her province to , , ■ , , , Eira. teach her science to women, who were the only ones to practice medicine among the ancient nations of the North. " Gaping wounds are bound by Eyra." Valhalla (J. C. Jones). Vara heard all oaths and punished perjurers, while she rewarded those who faithfully kept their word. Then there were also Vor (faith), who knew all that was to occur throughout the world, and Snotra, goddess of virtue, who had mastered every kind of study. With such a band of followers it is no wonder that Frigga was 54 MYTHS OF NORTHERN LANDS. considered an influential goddess ; but in spite of the prominent place she occupied in Northern religion, she had no special temple or shrine, and was but little worshiped except in company with Odin. While Frigga was not known by this name in southern Ger- many, there were other goddesses worshiped there, whose attributes were so exactly like hers, that they were evidently the same, al- though they bore very different names in the various provinces. Among them was the fair goddess Holda (Hulda or Frau HoUe) who graciously dispensed many rich gifts, and as she presided over the weather, the people were wont to declare when the snowflakes fell that Frau Holle was shaking her bed, and when it rained, that she was washing her clothes, often pointing to the white clouds as her linen which she had put out to bleach. When long gray strips of clouds drifted across the sky they said she was weaving^ for she too was supposed to be a very diligent weaver, spinner, and housekeeper. It is said she gave flax to mankind and taught them how to use it, and in Tyrol the following story is told about the way in which she bestowed this invaluable gift : There was once a peasant who daily left his wife and children down in the valley to take his sheep up the mountain to pasture ; Discovery of ^"^^ ^^ ^^ watched his flock graze on the mountain ^^^- side, he often had the opportunity to use his cross- bow and bring down a chamois, whose flesh furnished his larder with food for many a day. While pursuing some fine game one day he saw it disappear be- hind a bowlder, and when he came to the spot, he was amazed to see a doorway in the neighboring glacier, for in the excite- ment of the pursuit he had climbed higher and higher until he was now on top of the mountain, where glittered the everlasting snow. The shepherd boldly passed through the open door, and soon found liimself in a wonderful jeweled and stalactite-hung cave, in the center of which stood a beautiful woman, clad in silvery FRIGGA. 55 robes, and attended by a host of lovely maidens crowned witl. Alpine roses. In his surprise, the shepherd sank to his knees, and as in a dream heard the queenly central figure bid him choose anything he saw to carry away with him. Although dazzled by the glow of the precious stones around him, the shepherd's eyes constantly reverted to a little nosegay of blue flowers which the gracious apparition held in her hand, and he now timidly prof- fered a request that it might become his. Smiling with pleasure, Holda, for it was she, gave it to him, telling him he had chosen wisely and would live as long as the flowers did not droop and fade. Then giving the shepherd a measure of seed which she told him to sow in his field, the goddess bade him begone ; and as the thunder pealed and the earth shook, the poor man found himself out upon the mountain side once more, and slowly wended his way home to tell his adventure to his wife and show her the lovely blue flowers and the measure of seed. The woman reproached her husband bitterly for not having brought some of the precious stones which he so glowingly de- scribed, instead of the blossoms and seed ; nevertheless the man sowed the latter, and often lingered near the field at nightfall to see his new crop grow, for to his surprise the measure had suppUed seed enough for several acres. Soon the little green shoots began to appear, and one moon- light night, while the peasant was gazing upon them, wondering what kind of grain they would .produce, he saw a mistlike form hover above the field, with hands outstretched as if in blessing. At last the field blossomed, and countless little blue flowers opened their calyxes to the golden sun. When the flowers had withered and the seed was ripe, Holda came once more to teach the peasant and his wife how to harvest the flax stalks and spin, weave, and bleach the linen they produced. Of course all the people of the neighborhood were anxious to purchase both linen and flaxseed, and the peasant and his wife soon grew very rich indeed^ for while he plowed, sowed, and harvested, she spun, wove, and bleached her linen. When the man had lived to a 56 MYTHS OF NORTHERN LANDS. good old age and seen his grandchildren and great grandchildren grow up around him, he noticed that his carefully treasured bouquet, whose flowers had remained fresh for many a year, had wilted and died. Knowing that his time had come and that he too must soon die, the peasant cHmbed the mountain once more, came to the gla- cier, and found the doorway which he had long vainly sought. He vanished within, and was never seen or heard of again, for the legend states that the goddess took him under her care, and bade / him live in her cave, where his every wish was gratified. According to a mediaeval tradition, Holda dwelt in a cave in the Horselberg, in Thuringia, where she was known as Frau Venus, and was considered as an enchantress who lured mortals into her realm, where she detained them forever, steeping their senses in all manner of sensual pleasures. The most famous of her victims is doubtless Tannhauser, who, anxious to save his soul, escaped from her power and hastened to Rome to confess his sins and seek absolution. But the pope, hearing that he had been in the company of one of the heathen goddesses, whom the priests taught were nothing but demons, declared that the knight could no more hope for pardon than to see his staff bear buds and bloom. " Hast thou within the nets of Satan lain ? Hast thou thy soul to her perdition pledged ? Hast thou thy lip to Hell's Enchantress lent. To drain damnation from her reeking cup ? Then know that sooner from the withered staff That in my hand I hold green leaves shall spring, Than from the brand in hell-fire scorched rebloom The blossoms of salvation." TannhXuser (Owen Meredith). Crushed with grief at this sentence, Tannhauser fled, and find- ing no rest, returned to the Horselberg, where he reentered the cave in spite of the entreaties of the German mentor, the faithful Eckhardt. He had no sooner disappeared, however, than the '-^^<^ EASTRE or OSTARA. FRIGGA. 57 pope's messengers arrived, proclaiming that he was pardoned, for the withered staff had ipiraculously bloomed, proving to all that there was no sin too heinous to be pardoned, providing repent- ance were sincere. " Dashed to the hip with travel, dewed with haste, A flying post, and in his hand he bore A withered staff o'erflourished with green leaves ; Who, — followed by a crowd of youth and eld, That sang to stun with sound the lark in heaven, ' A miracle ! a miracle from Rome ! Glory to God that makes the bare bough green ! ' — Sprang in the midst, and, hot for answer, asked News of the Knight Tannhauser." Tannhauser (Owen Meredith). This same Holda was also considered the owner of a magic fountain called Quickbom, which rivaled the famed fountain of youth, and of a chariot in which she rode from place to place, in- specting her domain. This wagon having once suffered damage, the goddess bade a wheelwright repair it, and when he had fin- ished told him to keep the chips as his pay. The man, indignant at such a meager reward, kept only a very few ; but to his sur- prise found them on the morrow changed to solid gold. " Fricka, thy wife — This way she reins her harness of rams. Hey ! how she whirls The golden whip ; The luckless beasts Unboundedly bleat ; Her wheels wildly she rattles; Wrath is lit in her look." Wagner (Forman's tr.). The Saxon goddess Eastre, or Ostara, goddess of spring, whose name has survived in the English word Easter, is also identical with Frigga, for she too is considered goddess of the earth, or rather of Nature's resurrection after the long death of winter. 58 MYTHS OF NORTHERN LANDS. This gracious goddess was so dearly loved by the old Teu- tons, that even after Christianity had been introduced they still retained a pleasant recollection of her, utterly Edstre, the goddess of refused to have her degraded to the rank of a demon, like many of their other divinities, and transferred her name to their great Christian feast. It had long been customary to celebrate this day by the exchange of presents of colored eggs, for the egg is the type of the beginning of life; so the early Christians continued to observe this rule, declaring, however, that the egg is also symbolical of the resurrection. In va- rious parts of Germany, stone altars can still be seen, which are known as Easter-stones, because they were dedicated to the fair goddess Ostara. They were crowned with flowers by the young people, who danced gaily around them by the light of great bon- fires, — a species of popular games kept up until the middle of the present century, in spite of the priests' denunciations and of the repeatedly published edict? against them. In other parts of Germany, Frigga, Holda, or Ostara is known by the name of Brechta, Bertha, or the White Lady. She is Bertha the ^^^'- known Under this title in Thuringia, where she White Lady ^^^ supposed to dwell in a hollow mountain, keep- ing watch over the Heimchen, the souls of unborn children, and of those who died unbaptized. Here Bertha watched over agri- culture, caring for the plants, which her infant troop watered carefully, for each babe was supposed to carry a little jar for that express purpose. As long as the goddess was duly respected and her retreat unmolested, she remained where she was ; but tradition relates that she once left the country with her infant train drag- ging her plow, and settled elsewhere to continue her kind minis- trations. Bertha is the legendary ancestress of several noble families, and she is supposed to be the same as the industrious queen of the same name, the mythical mother of Charlemagne, whose era has become proverbial, for in speaking of the golden age ii) France and Germany it is customary to say, " in the days when Bertha spun." FRIGGA. 59 As this Bertha is supposed to have developed a very large and flat foot, from continually pressing the treadle of her wheel, she is often represented in mediaeval art as a woman with a splay foot, and hence known as la reine pedauque. As ancestress of the imperial house of Germany, the White Lady is supposed to appear in the palace before a death or mis- fortune in the family, and this superstition is still so rife in Ger- many, that the newspapers in 1884 contained the official report of a sentinel, who declared that he had seen her flit past him in one of the palace corridors. As Bertha was so renowned for her spinning, she naturally was regarded as the special patroness of that branch of female indus- try, and was said to flit through the streets of every village, at nightfall, during the twelve nights between Christmas and Jan- uary 6th, peering into every window to ascertain whether the work were all done. The maidens whose work had all been carefully performed were rewarded by a present of one of her own golden threads or a distaff full of extra-fine flax ; but wherever a careless spinner was found, her wheel was broken, her flax soiled, and if she had failed to honor the goddess by eating plenty of the cakes baked at that epoch of the year, she was cruelly punished. In Mecklenburg, this same goddess is known as Frau Gode, or Wode, the female form of Wuotan or Odin, and her appearance is always considered the harbinger of great prosperity. She is also supposed to be a great huntress, and to lead the Wild Hunt, mounted upon a white horse, her attendants being changed into hounds and all manner of wild beasts. In Holland she was called Vrou-elde, and from her the Milky Way is known by the Dutch as Vrou-elden-straat ; while in parts of northern Germany she was called Nerthus (Mother Earth). Her sacred car was kept on an island, presumably RUgen, where the priests guarded it carefully until she appeared to take a yearly journey throughout her realm and bless the land. The goddess then sat in this car, which was drawn by two cows, her face 6o MYTHS OF NORTHERN LANDS. completely hidden by a thick veil, respectfully escorted by her priests. The people seeing her pass did her homage by ceasing all warfare, laid aside their weapons, donned festive attire, and began no quarrel until the goddess had again retired to her sanc- tuary. Then both car and goddess were bathed in a secret lake (the Schwartze See in Riigen), which swallowed up the slaves who had assisted at the bathing, and once more the priests re- sumed their watch over the sanctuary and grove of Nerthus or Hlodyn, to await her next apparition. In Scandinavia, this goddess was also known as Huldra, and boasted of a train of attendant wood nymphs, who some- times sought the society of mortals, to enjoy a dance upon the village green. They could always be detected, however, by the tip of a cow's tail which trailed from beneath their long snow- white garments. These Huldra folk were the special protectors of the herds of cattle on the mountain sides, and were said to sur- prise the lonely traveler, at times, by the marvelous beauty of the melodies they sang to beguile their labors. CHAPTER IV. THOR. According to some mythologists, Thor, or Donar, is the soi. of Jord (Erda), and of Odin, but others state that his mother was Frigga, queen of the gods. This child was very remarkable for his great size and strength, and very soon after his birth amazed the assembled gods by playfully lifting and throwing about ten loads of bear skins. Although generally good tempered, Thor occasionally flew into a terrible rage, and as he was very danger- ous under these circumstances, his mother, unable to control him, sent him away from home and intrusted him to the care of Ving- nir (the winged), and of Hlora (heat). These foster parents, who are also considered as the personification of sheet xhor's foster lightning, soon managed to control their trouble- parents, some charge, and brought him up so wisely, that all the gods were duly grateful for their kind offices. Thor himself, recognizing all he owed them, assumed the names of Vingthor and Hlorridi, by which he is also known. " Cry on, Vingi-Thor, With the dancing of the ring-mail and the smitten shields of war." Sigurd the Volsung (William Morris). Having attained his full growth and the age of reason, Thor was admitted in Asgard among the other gods, where he occupied one of the twelve seats in the great judgment hall. He was also given the realm of Thrud-vang or Thrud-heim, where he built a wonderful palace called Bilskirnir (lightning), the most spacious 6i 62 MYTHS OF NORTHERN LANDS. in all Asgard. It contained five hundred and forty halls for the accommodation of the thralls, who after death were welcomed to his home, where they were treated as well as their masters in Val- halla, for Thor was the patron god of the peasants and lower classes. " Five hundred halls And forty more, Methinketh, hath Bowed Bilskirnir. Of houses roofed There's none I know My son's surpassing." S^mund's Edda (Percy's tr.). As he was god of thunder, Thor alone was never allowed to pass over the wonderful bridge Bifrost, lest he should set it aflame by the heat of his presence ; and when he daily wished to join his fellow gods by the Urdar fountain, under the shade of the sacred tree Yggdrasil, he was forced to make his way thither on foot, wading through the rivers Kormt and Ormt, and the two streams Kerlaug, to the trysting place. Thor, who was honored as the highest god in Norway, came second in the trilogy of all the other countries, and was called " old Thor," because he is supposed by some mythologists to have belonged to an older dynasty of gods, and not on account of his actual age, for he was represented and described as a man in his prime, tall and well formed, with muscular limbs and bristling red hair and beard, from which, in moments of anger, the sparks ■ fairly flew. " First, Thor with the bent brow, In red beard muttering low, Darting fierce lightnings from eyeballs that glow, Comes, while each chariot wheel Echoes in thunder peal. As his dread hammer shock Makes Earth and Heaven rock. Clouds rifting above, while Earth quakes below." Valhalla 0. C. Jones). THOR. 63 The Northern races further adorned him with a crown, on each point of which was either a ghttering star, or a steadily burning flame, so that his head was ever surrounded by a kind of halo of fire, his own element. Thor was the proud possessor of a magic hammer called Miol- nir (the crusher) which he hurled at his enemies, „^ , ^ ' ' Thor*s the frost giants, with deshnctive power, and which hammer, possessed the wonderful property of always returning to his hand, however far away he might hurl it. " I am the Thunderer! Here in my Northland, My fastness and fortress. Reign I forever ! " Here amid icebergs Rule I the nations; This is my hammer, Miolnir the mighty; Giants and sorcerers Cannot withstand it 1 " Saga of King Olaf (Longfellow). As this huge hammer, the emblem of the thunderbolts, was generally red hot, the god had an iron gauntlet called larn-greiper, which enabled him to grasp it firmly and hurl it very far, his strength, which was already remarkable, being always doubled when he wore his magic belt called Megin-giord. " This is my girdle : Whenever I brace it, Strength is redoubled ! " Saga of King Olaf (Longfellow). Thor's hammer was considered so very sacred by the ancient Northern people, that they were wont to make the sign of the hammer, as the Christians later taught them to make the sign of the cross, to ward off all evil influences, and to secure many blessings. The same sign was also made over the newly bom 64 MYTHS OF NORTHERN LANDS. infant when water was poured over its head and a name given it. The hammer was used to drive in boundary stakes, which it was considered sacrilegious to remove, to hallow the threshold of a new house, to solemnize a marriage, and, lastly, to consecrate the funeral pyre upon which the bodies of heroes were burned, together with their weapons and steeds, and, in some cases, with their wives and dependents. In Sweden, Thor, like Odin, was supposed to wear a broad- brimmed hat, and hence the storm clouds in that country are known as Thor's hat, a name also given to one of the principal mountains in Norway. The rumble and roar of the thunder were called the roll of his chariot, for he alone among the gods never rode on horseback, but walked, or drove in a brazen chariot drawn by two goats, Tanngniostr (tooth cracker), and Tanngrisnr (tooth gnasher), from whose teeth and hoofs the sparks constantly flew. " Thou camest near the next, O warrior Thor ! Shouldering thy hammer, in thy chariot drawn, Swaying the long-hair'd goats with silver'd rein." Balder Dead (Matthew Arnold). When the god thus drove about from place to place, he was called Aku-thor, or Thor the charioteer, and in southern Germany the people, fancying a brazen chariot alone inadequate to furnish all the noise they heard, declared it was loaded with copper kettles, which rattled and clashed, and therefore often called him, with disrespectful familiarity, the kettle vender. Thor was twice married ; first to the giantess larnsaxa (iron stone), who bore him two sons, Magni (strength) and Modi Thor's (courage), both destined to survive their father and family. (jjg t-^yjiigjit of the gods, and rule over the new world which was to rise like a phenix from the ashes of the first. His second wife was Sif, the golden-haired, who also bore him two children, Lorride, and a daughter named Thrud, a young giantess renowned for her size and strength. By the well-known affinity of contrast, Thrud was wooed by the dwarf Alvis, whom IHUK. 65 she rather favored ; and one evening, when this suitor, who, being a dwarf, could not face the light of day, presented himself in Asgard to sue for her hand, the assembled gods did not refuse their consent. They had scarcely signified their approbation, however, when Thor, who had been absent, suddenly appeared, and casting a glance of contempt upon the puny lover, declared he would have to prove that his knowledge atoned for his small stature, before he could win his bride. To test Alvis's mental powers, Thor then questioned him in the language of the gods, Vanas, elves, and dwarfs, artfully pro- longing his examination until sunrise, when the first beam of light, falling upon the unhappy dwarf, petrified him. There he stood, an enduring example of the gods' power, and served as a warning to all other dwarfs who would fain have tested it. " Ne'er in human bosom Have I found so many Words of the old time. Thee with subtlest cunning Have I yet befooled. Above ground standeth thou, dwarf, By day art overtaken, Bright sunshine fills the hall." S.gmund's Edda (Howitt's version)^ Sif, Thor's wife, was very vain of a magnificent head of long golden hair which covered her from head to foot like a brilliant veil; and as she too was a symbol of the earth, her g;f ^^^ hair was said to represent the long grass, or the BoWen-haired. golden grain covering the Northern harvest fields. Thor was very proud of his wife's beautiful hair; imagine his dismay, there- fore, upon waking one morning, to find her all shorn, and as bald and denuded of ornament as the earth when the grain has all been garnered, and nothing but the stubble remains ! In his anger, Thor sprang to his feet, vowing he would punish the perpetrator of this outrage, whom he immediately and rightly conjectured to be Loki, the 'arch plotter, ever on the lookout for some evil deed to 5 66 MYTHS OF NORTHERN LANDS. perform. Seizing his hammer, Thor soon overtook Loki in spite of his attempting to evade him by changing form, caught him by the throat, and almost strangled him ere he yielded to his implor- ing signs, and slightly loosed his powerful grasp. As soon as Loki could catch his breath, he implored forgiveness, but all his entreaties were vain, until he promised to procure for Sif a new head of hair, as beautiful as the first, and as luxuriant in growth. "And thence for Sif new tresses I'll bring Of gold, ere the daylight's gone, So that she shall liken a field in spring, With its yellow-flowered garment on." The Dwarfs, Oehlenschlager (Pigott's tr.). Thor, hearing this, consented to let the traitor go ; so Loki rapidly crept down into the bowels of the earth, where Svart-alfa- heim was situated, to beg the dwarf Dvalin to fashion not only the precious hair, but a present for Odin and Frey, whose anger he wished to disarm. The dwarf soon made the spear Gungnir, which never failed in its aim, and the ship Skidbladnir, which, always wafted by favor- able winds. Could sail through the ait as well as on the water, and was so elastic, that although it could contain the gods and all their steeds, it could be folded up into the very smallest compass and thrust in one's pocket. Lastly, he spun the very finest golden thread, from which he fashioned the required hair for Sif, declaring that as soon as it touched her head it would grow fast there and become alive. " Though they now seem dead, let them touch but her head, Each hair shall the life-moisture fill ; Nor shall malice nor spell henceforward prevail Sifs tresses to work aught of ill." The Dwarfs, Oehlenschlager (Pigott's tr.). Loki was so pleased with these proofs of the dwarfs' skill that he declared the son of Ivald was the most clever of smiths — words which were overheard by Brock, another dwarf, who ex- THOR. 67 claimed that he was sure his brother Sindri could produce three objects which would surpass those which Loki held, not only in intrinsic value, but also in magical properties. Loki immediately challenged the dwarf to show his skill, wagering his head against Brock's on the result of the undertaking. Sindri, apprised of the wager, accepted Brock's offer to blow the bellows, warning him, however, that he must work persistently if he wished to succeed ; then he threw some gold in the fire, and went out to bespeak the favor of the hidden powers. During his absence Brock diligently plied the bellows, while Loki, hoping to make him fail, changed himself into a gadfly and cruelly stung his hand. In spite of the pain, the dwarf did not let go, and when Sindri returned, he drew out of the fire an enormous wild boar, called GuUin-bursti, on account of its golden bristles, which had the power of radiating light as he flitted across the sky, for he could travel through the air with marvelous velocity. " And now, strange to tell, from the roaring fire Came the golden-haired Gullinborst, To serve as a charger the sun-god Frey, Sure, of all wild boars this the first." The Dwarfs, Oehlenschlager (Pigott's tr.). This first piece of work successfully completed, Sindri flung some more gold on the fire and bade his brother blow, ere he again went out to secure magic assistance. This time Loki, still disguised as a gadfly, stung the dwarf on his cheek ; but in spite of the pain Brock worked on, and when Sindri returned, he tri- umphantly drew out of the flames the magic ring Draupnir, the emblem of fertiUty, from which eight similar rings dropped every ninth night. " They worked it and turned it with wondrous skill. Till they gave it the virtue rare. That each thrice third night from its rim there fell Eight rings, as their parent fair.'' The Dwarfs, Oehlenschlagek (Pigott's tr.). 68 MYTHS OF NORTHERN LANDS. Now a lump of iron was cast in the flames, and with a new caution not to forfeit their success by inattention, Sindri passed out, leaving Brock to ply the bellows and wrestle with the gadfly, which this time stung him above the eye until the blood began to flow in such a stream, that it prevented his seeing what he was doing. Hastily raising his hand for a second. Brock dashed aside the stream of blood ; but short as was the interruption, Sindri Uttered an exclamation of disappointment when he drew his work out of the fire, for the hammer he had fashioned had too short a handle. " Then the dwarf raised his hand to his brow for the smart, Ere the iron well out was beat, And they found that the haft by an inch was too short, But to alter it then 'twas too late." The Dwarfs, Oehlenschlagee (Pigott's tr.). Notwithstanding this mishap, Brock was so sure of winning the wager that he did not hesitate to present himself before the gods in Asgard, gave Odin the ring Draupnir, Frey the boar GuUin-bursti, and Thor the hammer Miolnir, whose power none could resist. Loki immediately gave the spear Gungnir to Odin, the ship Skidbladnir to Frey, and the golden hair to Thor; but although the latter immediately grew upon Sif's head and was unanimously declared more beautiful than her own locks had ever been, the gods decreed that Brock had won the wager, for the hammer Miolnir, in Thor's hands, would prove invaluable against the frost giants on the last day. " And at their head came Thor, Shouldering his hammer, which the giants know." ■ Balder Dead (Matthew Arnold), Wishing to save his head, Loki fled, but was soon overtaken by Thor, who brought him back and handed him over to Brock, teUing him, however, that although Loki's head was rightfully his, he must not touch his neck. Thus hindered from obtaining THOR. THOR. 69 full vengeance, the dwarf tried to sew Loki's lips together, but, as • his sword would not pierce them, he was obliged to borrow his brother's awl. However, Loki, after enduring the gods' gibes in silence for a little while, managed to cut the string and was soon as loquacious as ever. In spite of his redoubtable hammer, Thor was never consid- ered as the injurious god of the storm, who destroyed peaceful homesteads and ruined the harvest by sudden hail storms and cloud bursts, for the Northerners fancied he hurled it only against ice giants and rocky walls, reducing the latter to powder to fer- tilize the earth and make it yield plentiful fruit to the tillers of the soil. In Germany, where the eastern storms are always cold and blighting, while the western bring warm rains and mild weather, Thor was supposed to journey always from west to east, to wage war against the evil spirits which would fain have enveloped the country in impenetrable veils of mist and have bound it in icy fetters. As the giants from Jotun-heim were continually sending out cold blasts of wind to nip the tender buds and hinder the growth of the flowers, Thor once made up his mind to go and force them to better behavior. Accompanied by Loki he therefore set out in his chariot. After riding for a whole day the gods came at nightfall to the confines of the giant-world, where, seeing a peasant's hut, they resolved to spend the night and refresh themselves. Their host was hospitable but very poor, and Thor seeing that he would scarcely be able to supply the necessary food to satisfy his by no means small appetite, slew both his goats, which he cooked and began to eat, inviting his host and family to partake freely of the food thus provided, but cautioning them to throw all the bones, without breaking them, into the skins spread out on the floor. The peasant and his family ate heartily, but a youth called Thialii, encouraged by Loki, ventured to break one of the bones Tourney to JiStun-heiin. 70 MYTHS OF NORTHERN LANDS. and suck out the man-ow, thinking his disobedience would never be detected. On the morrow, however, Thor, ready to depart, struck the goat skins with his hammer Miolnir, and immediately the goats sprang up as lively as before, except that one seemed somewhat lame. Perceiving in a second that his commands had been disregarded, Thor would have slain the whole family in his wrath. The culprit acknowledged his fault, however, and the peasant offered to compensate for the loss by giving the irate god not only his son Thialfi, but also his daughter Roskva, to serve him forever. Charging the man to take good care of the goats, which he left there until he should return, and bidding the young peasants accompany him, Thor now set out on foot with Loki, and after walking all day fourld himself 3.\ nightfall in a bleak and barren country, which was enveloped in an almost impenetrable gray mist. After seeking for some time, Thor saw through the fog the uncertain outline of what looked like a peculiar-shaped house. Its open portal was so wide and high that it seemed to take up all one side of the house. Entering and finding neither fire nor Hght, Thor and his companions flung themselves wearily down on the floor to sleep, but were soon disturbed by a peculiar noise, and a prolonged trembling of the ground beneath them. Fearing lest the main roof should fall during this earthquake, Thor and his companions took refuge in a wing of the building, where they soon fell sound asleep. At dawn, the god and his compaYiions passed out, but they had not gone very far ere they saw the recumbent form of a sleeping giant, and perceived that the peculiar sounds which had disturbed their rest were produced by his snores. At that moment the giant awoke, arose, stretched himself, looked about him for his missing property, and a second later he picked up the object which Thor and his companions had mistaken in the darkness for a house. They then perceived with amazement that the wing in which they had all slept was the separate place in a mitten for the giant's great thumb ! Learning that Thor and his companions were on their way to THOR. 71 UtgMd, as the giants' realm was also called, Skrymir, the giant, proposed to be their guide ; and after walking with them ail day, he offered them the provisions in his wallet ere he dropped asleep. But, in spite of strenuous efforts, neither Thor nor his companions could unfasten the knots which Skrymir had tied. " Skrymir's thongs Seemed to thee hard, When at the food thou couldst not get, When, in full health, of hunger dying." SiEMUND's Edda (Thorpe's tr.). Angry because of his snoring, which kept them awake, Thor thrice dealt him fearful blows with his hammer. These strokes, instead of annihilating the monster, merely evoked , , , . Utgard-loki. sleepy comments to the effect that a leaf, a bit of bark, or a twig from a bird's nest overhead had fallen upon his face. Early on the morrow, Skrymir left Thor and his com- panions, pointing out the shortest road to Utgard-loki's castle, which was built of great ice blocks, with huge ghttering icicles as pillars. The gods, slipping between the bars of the great gate, presented themselves boldly before the king of the giants, Utgard- loki, who, recognizing them, immediately pretended to be greatly surprised at their small size, and expressed a wish to see for himself what they could do, as he had often heard their prowess vaunted. Loki, who had fasted longer than he wished, immediately declared he was ready to eat for a wager with any one. So the king ordered a great wooden trough full of meat to be brought into the hall, and placing Loki at one end and his cook Logi at the other, he bade them see which would win. Although Loki did wonders, and soon reached the middle of the trough, he still found himself beaten, for whereas he had picked the bones clean, his opponent had devoured both them and the trough. Smiling contemptuously, Utgard-loki said that it was evident they could not do much in the eating Une, and so nettled Thor 72 MYTHS OF NORTHERN LANDS. thereby, that he declared if Loki could not eat more than the voracious cook, he felt confident he could drain the biggest vessel in the house, such was his unquenchable thirst. Imme- diately a horn was brought in, and, Utgard-loki declaring that good drinkers emptied it at one draught, moderately thirsty per- sons at two, and small drinkers at three, Thor applied his lips to the rim. But, although he drank so deep that he thought he would burst, the liquid still came almost up to the rim when he raised his head. A second and third attempt to empty this horn proved equally unsuccessful. Thialfi then offered to run a race, and a young fellow named Hugi soon outstripped him, although he made remarkably good time. Thor next proposed to show his strength by lifting great weights, but when challenged to pick up the giant's cat, he tugged and strained, only to succeed in raising one paw from the floor, although he had taken the precaution to enhance his strength as much as possible by tightening his belt Megin-giord. " Strong is great Thor, no doubt, when Megingarder He braces tightly o'er his rock-firm loins." Viking Tales of the North (R. B. Anderson). An attempt on his part to wrestle with Utgard-loki's old nurse Elli, the only opponent deemed worthy of such a puny fellow, ended equally disastrously, and the gods, acknowledging they were beaten, were hospitably entertained. On the morrow they were escorted to the confines of Utgard, where the giant politely informed them that he hoped they would never call upon him again, as he had been forced to employ magic against them. He then went on to explain that he was the giant Skrymir, and that had he not taken the precaution to interpose a mountain between his head and Thor's blows, he would have been slain, as deep clefts in the mountain side testified to the god's strength. Next he informed them that Loki's opponent was Logi (wild fire) ; that Thialfi had run a race with Hugi (thought), than which no swifter runner exists ; that Thor's drinking horn was connected, THOR. 73 with the ocean, where his deep draughts had produced a percep- tible ebb ; that the cat was in reahty the terrible Midgard snake encircling the world, which Thor had nearly pulled out of the sea ; and that EUi, his nurse, was old age, whom none can resist. Having finished these explanations and cautioned them never to return or he would defend himself by similar delusions, Utgard- loki vanished, and although Thor angrily brandished his ham- mer to destroy his castle, such a mist enveloped it that it could not be seen, and the thunder god was obliged to return to Thrud- vang without having accomphshed his purpose, the extermination of the race of giants. " The strong-armed Thor Full oft against giant Jotunheim did wend, . But spite his belt celestial, spite his gauntlets, Utgard-Loki still his throne retains ; Evil, itself a force, to force yields never.'' Viking Tales of the North (R. B. Anderson). As Odin was once dashing through the air on his eight-footed steed Sleipnir, he attracted the attention of the giant Hrungnir, who proposed a race, declaring he was sure his own ^^^^ ^^^ steed Gullfaxi could rival Sleipnir in speed. In Hrungmr. the heat of the race, Hrungnir did not even notice in what direc- tion they were going, and, in the vain hope of overtaking Odin, urged his steed on to the very gates of Valhalla. Discovering where he was, the giant then grew pale with fear, for he knew he had jeopardized his life by venturing into the stronghold of the gods, his hereditary foes. The ^sir, however, were too honorable to take even an enemy at such a disadvantage, and, instead of doing him any harm, asked him into their banqueting halls, where he proceeded to in- dulge in liberal potations of the heavenly mead set before him. He soon grew so excited that he began to boast of his power, de- claring he would come some day and take possession of Asgard, which he would destroy, as well as all the gods, excepting only 74 MYTHS OF NORTHERN LANDS. Freya and Sif, upon whom he gazed with an admiring, drunken leer. The gods, knowing he was not responsible, let him talk un- molested; but Thor, coming home just then from one of his journeys, and hearing him propose to carry away his beloved Sif, flew into a terrible rage. He furiously brandished his hammer, intending to annihilate the boaster. This the gods would not per- mit, however, and they quickly threw themselves between the irate Thunderer and their guest, imploring the former to respect the sacred rights of hospitality, and not desecrate their peace-stead by shedding blood. Thor at last consented to bridle his wrath, providing the giant Hrungnir would appoint a time and place for a holmgang, as a Northern duel was generally called. Thus challenged, Hrungnir promised to meet Thor at Griottunagard, the confines of his realm, three days later, and departed somewhat sobered by the fright he had experienced. When his fellow giants heard how rash he had been, they chided him sorely ; but hearing he was to have the privilege of being accompanied by a squire, whom Thialfi would engage in fight, they proceeded to construct a crea- ture of clay, nine miles long, and proportionately wide, whom they called Mokerkialfi (mist wader). As they could find no human heart big enough to put in this monster's breast, they secured that of a mare, which, however, kept fluttering and quiv- ering with apprehension. The day of the duel arrived. Hrung- nir and his squire were on the ground awaiting the arrival of their respective opponents. The giant had not only a flint heart and skull, but also a shield and club of the same substance, and therefore deemed himself well-nigh invincible. But when he heard a terrible noise, and Thialfi came running up to announce his master's coming, he gladly followed the herald's advice and stood upon his shield, lest the thunder god should come up from the ground and attack him unprotected. A moment later, however, he saw his mistake, for, while Thialfi attacked Mokerkialfi with a spade, Thor came rushing up and THOR. 75 flung his hammer full at his opponent's head. Hrungnir, to ward off the blow, interposed his stone club, which was shivered into pieces, that flew all over the earth, supplying all the flint stones to be found, and one fragment sank deep in Thor's fore- head. As the god dropped fainting to the ground, his hammer crashed against the head of Hrungnir, who fell down dead beside him, in such a position that one of his ponderous legs was thrown over the recumbent god. " Thou now remindest me How I with Hrungnir fought, That stout-hearted Jotun, Whose head was all of stone ; Yet I made him fall And sink before me." S.eMUND's Edda {Thorpe's tr.). Thialfi, who, in the mean while, had disposed of the great clay giant with its cowardly mare's heart, now rushed to his master's rescue ; but all his efforts and those of the assembled gods, whom he quickly summoned, could not raise the pinioning leg. While they were standing there, helplessly wondering what they should do next, Thor's little son Magni came up. According to varying accounts, he was then only three days or three years old, but he quickly seized the giant's foot, and, unaided, set his father free, declaring that had he only been summoned sooner he would ^" easily have disposed of both giant and squire. This exhibition of strength upon his part made the gods wonder greatly, and helped them to recognize the truth of the various predictions, which one and all declared that their descendants would be mightier than they, would survive them, and would rule in their turn over the new heaven and earth. To reward his son for his timely aid, Thor gave him the steed GuUfaxi (golden-maned), to which he had fallen heir by right of conquest, and Magni ever after rode this marvelous horse, which almost equaled the renowned Sleipnir in speed and endurance. ^6 MYTHS OF NORTHERN LANDS. After vainly trying to remove the stone splinter from his fore- head, Thor sadly returned home to Thrudvang, where Sif's loving Groa the efforts were equally unsuccessful. She therefore sorceress. resolved to Send for Groa (green-making), a sor- ceress, noted for her skill in medicine and for the efBcacy of her spells and incantations. Groa immediately signified her readi- ness to render every service in her power to the god who had so often benefited her, and solemnly began to recite powerful runes, under whose influence Thor felt the stone grow looser and looser. In his delight at the prospect of a speedy deliverance, Thor wished to reward the enchantress. Knowing that nothing could give greater pleasvue to a mother than the prospect of seeing a long- lost child, he therefore told her he had recently crossed the Ehva- gar, or ice streams, to rescue her little son Orvandil (germ) from the frost giants' cruel power, and had succeeded in carrying him off in a basket. But, as the httle rogue would persist in sticking one of his bare toes through a hole in the basket, it had been frost bitten, and Thor, accidentally breaking it off, had flung it up into the sky, where it shone as a star, known in the North as " Orvandil's Toe." DeUghted with these tidings, the prophetess paused in her in- cantations to express her joy, but, having forgotten just where she left off, she was never able to continue her spell, and the flint stone remained imbedded in Thor's forehead, whence it could never be dislodged. Of course, as Thor's hammer always did him such good ser- vice, it was the most prized of all his possessions, and his dismay was very great when he awoke one morning and found it gone. His cry of anger and disappointment soon brought Loki to his side, and to him Thor confided the secret of his loss, declaring that were the giants to hear of it, they would soon attempt to storm Asgard and destroy the gods. " Wroth waxed Thor, when his sleep was flown, And he found his trusty hammer gone ; JHUK. 11 He smote his brow, his beard he shook, The son of earth 'gan round him look; And this the first word that he spoke : ' Now listen what I tell thee, Loke ; Which neither on earth below is known, Nor in heaven above: my hammer's gone.' " Thrym's QuiDA (Herbert's tr.). Loki declared he would try to discover the thief and recover the hammer, if Freya would only lend him her falcon plumes, and immediately hastened off to Folkvang to borrow them. In the form of a bird he then winged his flight across the river Ifing, and over the barren stretches of Jbtun-heim, where he shrewdly suspected the thief was to be found. There he ^hor and saw Thrym, prince of the frost giants and god of Thrym. the destructive thunder storm, sitting alone on a hillside, and, artfully questioning him, soon learned that he had stolen the hammer, had buried it deep underground, and would never give it up unless Freya were brought to him, in bridal array, ready to become his wife. " I have the Thunderer's hammer bound Fathoms eight beneath the ground; With it shall no one homeward tread Till he bring me Freya to share my bed." Thrym's Quida (Herbert's tr.). Indignant at the giant's presumption, Loki returned to Thrud- vang, where Thor, hearing what he had learned, declared it would be well to visit Freya and try to prevail upon her to sacrifice herself for the general good. But when the ^sir told the goddess of beauty what they wished her to do, she flew into such a passion .that even her necklace biu-st. She told them that she would never leave her beloved husband for any god, and much less to marry an ugly old giant and dwell in Jotun- heim, where all was dreary in the extreme, and where she would soon die of longing for the green fields and flowery meadows, in which she loved to roam. Seeing that further persuasions would 78 MYTHS OF NORTHERN LANDS. be useless, Loki and Thor returned home and there devised an- other plan for recovering the hammer. By Heimdall's advice, Thor borrowed and reluctantly put on all Freya's clothes and her necklace, and enveloped himself in a thick veil. Loki, having attired himself as a handmaiden, then mounted with him in the goat-drawn chariot, to ride to Jotun-heim, where they intended to play the respective parts of the goddess of beauty and of her attendant. " Home were driven Then the goats, And hitched to the car ; Hasten they must — The mountains crashed. The earth stood in flames: Odin's son Rode to Jotun-heim." Norse Mythology (R. B. Anderson). Thrym welcomed his guests at the palace door, overjoyed at the thought that he was about to secure undisputed possession of the goddess of beauty, for whom he had long sighed in vain. He quickly led them to the banquet hall, where Thor, the bride elect, almost disgraced himself by eating an ox, eight huge salmon, and all the cakes and sweets provided for the women, washing down these miscellaneous viands with two whole barrels of mead. The giant bridegroom watched these gastronomic feats with amazement, and was not even reassured when Loki confiden- tially whispered to him that the bride was so deeply in love with hina that she had not been able to taste a morsel of food for more than eight days. Thrym then sought to kiss the bride, but drew back appalled at the fire of her glance, which Loki ex- plained as a burning glance of love. The giant's sister, claiming the usual gifts, was not even noticed ; so Loki again whispered to the wondering Thrym that love made people absent-minded. Intoxicated with passion and mead, which he, too, had drunk in liberal quantities, the bridegroom now bade his servants produce THOR. 79 the sacred hammer to consecrate the marriage, and as soon as it was brought he himself laid it in the pretended Freya's lap. The next momtnt a powerful hand closed over the short handle, and the weapon, rapidly hurled by Thor, soon slew the giant, his sister, and all the invited guests. " ' Bear in the hammer to plight the maid ; Upon her lap the bruiser lay, And firmly plight our hands and fay.' The Thunderer's soul smiled in his breast ; When the hammer hard on his lap was placed, Thrym first, the king of the Thursi, he slew, And slaughtered all the giant crew." Theym's QuiDA (Herbert's tr.). Leaving a smoking heap of ruins behind them, the gods then drove rapidly back to Asgard, where the borrowed garments were given back to Freya, and the JSaix all rejoiced at the recovery of the precious hammer. When next, Odin glanced towards that part of Jotun-heim from the top of his throne Hlidskialf, he saw the ruins covered with tender green shoots, for Thor, having conquered his enemy, had taken possession of his land, which no longer remained barren and desolate as before, but brought forth fruit in abvmdance. Loki, in search of adventures, once borrowed Freya's falcon garb and flew off to another part of Jotun-heim, where he perched on top of the gables of Geirrod's house, and, gazing .j.^^^ ^^^ about him, soon attracted the attention of this Geirrod. giant, who bade one of his servants catch the bird. Amused at the fellow's clumsy attempts to secure him, Loki flitted about from place to place, only moving just as the giant was about to lay hands upon him, until, miscalculating his distance, he sud- denly found himself a captive. Geirrod, gazing upon the bird's bright eyes, shrewdly suspected that it was a god in disguise, and to force him to speak, locked him up in a cage, where he kept him for three whole months without food or drink. Conquered at last by hunger and thirst, 8o MYTHS OF NORTHERN LANDS. Loki revealed his identity, and obtained his release by promising that he would induce Thor to visit Geirrod without his hammer, belt, or magic gauntlet. Loki then flew back to Asgard, and told Thor that he had been royally entertained, and that his host had expressed a strong desire to see the powerful thunder- god, of whom Loki had told him such wonderful tales. Flat- tered by this artful speech, Thor was soon brought to consent to a journey to Jotun-heim, and immediately set out, leaving his three marvelous weapons at home. He and Loki had not gone very far, however, ere they came to the house of the giantess Grid, one of Odin's many wives, who, seeing Thor disarmed, lent him her own girdle, staff, and glove, warning him to beware of treachery. Some time after leaving her, Thor and Loki came to the river Veimer, which the thunder-god, accustomed to wad- ing, coolly prepared to ford, bidding Loki and Thialfi cling fast to his belt if they would come safe across. In the middle of the stream, however, a sudden cloudburst and freshet overtook them ; the waters began to rise and roar, and although Thor leaned heavily upon his staff, he was almost swept away by the force of the raging current. " Wax not, Veimer, Since to wade I desire To the realm of the giants ! Know, if thou waxest, Then waxes my asamight As high as the heavens." Norse Mythology ^R. B. Anderson). Looking up the stream, Thor now became aware of the presence of Geirrod's daughter Gialp, and rightly suspected that she was the cause of the storm. He picked up a huge bowlder, which he flung at her, muttering that the best place to dam a river was at its source. The rock had the desired eflfect, for the giantess fled, the waters abated, and Thor, exhausted but safe, pulled himself up on the opposite bank by a little shrub, the mountain-ash or sorb, which has since been known as " Thor's salvation," and 8i considered gifted with occult powers. After resting awhile the god resumed his journey ; but upon arriving at Geirrod's house he was so exhausted that he sank wearily down upon the only chair in sight. To his surprise, however, he felt it rise beneath him, and fearing lest he should be crushed against the rafters, he braced the borrowed staff against the ceiling and forced the chair downward with all his might. A terrible cracking, sudden cries, and moans of pain proved that he had broken the backs of the giant's daughters, Gialp and Greip, who had slipped under his chair and had treacherously tried to slay him. " Once I employed My asamight In the realm of giants. When Gialp and Greip, Geirrod's daughters, Wanted to lift me to heaven." Norse Mythology (R. B. Anderson). Geirrod now challenged Thor to show his strength and skill, and without waiting for the preconcerted signal, flung a red-hot wedge at him. Thor, quick of eye and a practiced catcher, caught the missile with the giantess's iron glove, and hurled it back at his opponent. Such was the force of the god, that the missile passed, not only through the pillar behind which the giant had taken refuge, but through him and the wall of the house, and buried itself deep in the earth without. Thor then marched up to the giant's corpse, which at the blow from his weapon had been changed into stone, and set it up in a conspicuous place, as a monument of his strength and of the victory he had won over his redoubtable foes, the mountain giants. Thor's name has been given to mary of the places he was wont to frequent, such as the principal harbor of the Faroe Islands, and to families which claim to be de- worship of scended from him. It is still extant in such names ''^''°''' as Thunderhill in Surrey, and in the family names of Thorbum 6 82 MYTHS OF NORTHERN LANDS. and Thorwaldsen, but is most conspicuous in the name of one of the days of the week, Thor's day or Thursday. " Over the whole earth Still is it Thor's day ! " Saga of King Olaf (Longfellow). Thor was considered a preeminently benevolent deity, and it was for that reason that he was so widely worshiped and that his temples arose at Moeri, Hlader, Godey, Gothland, Upsala, and other places, where the people never failed to invoke him for a favorable year at Yule-tide, his principal festival. It was cus- tomary on this occasion to bum a great log of oak, his sacred tree, as an emblem of the warmth and light of summer, which would soon come to drive away the darkness and cold of winter. Brides invariably wore red, Thor's favorite color, which was considered emblematical of love, and for the same reason betrothal rings in the North were almost always set with a red stone. Thor's temples and statues, like Odin's, were fashioned of wood, and the greater number of them were destroyed during the reign of King Olaf the Saint. According to ancient chronicles, this monarch forcibly converted his subjects. He was specially incensed against the inhabitants of a certain province, because they worshiped a rude image of Thor, which they decked with golden ornaments, and before which they set food every evening, declaring the god ate it, as no trace of it was left in the morning. The people, being called upon in 1030 to renounce this idol in favor of the true God, promised to consent if the morrow were cloudy ; but when after a whole night spent in ardent prayer, Olaf rapturously beheld a cloudy day, the obstinate people declared they were not yet convinced of his God's power, and would only beheve if the sun shone on the following day. Once more Olaf spent the night in prayer, but at dawn his chagrin was great to see the sky overcast. Nevertheless, de- termined to gain his end he assembled the people near Thor's statue, and after secretly bidding his principal attendant smash THOR. 83 the idol with his battle ax if the people turned their eyes away but for a moment, he began to address them. Suddenly, while all were listening to him, Olaf pointed to the horizon, where the sun was slowly bi-eaking its way through the clouds, and exclaimed, " Behold our God ! " While the people one and all turned to see what he meant, the attendant broke the idol, and a host of mice and other vermin scattered on all sides. Seeing now that the statue was hollow, and that the food placed before their god had been devoured by noxious animals only, the people ceased to revere Thor, and definitely accepted the faith which King Olaf had so long and vainly pressed upon them. CHAPTER V. TYR. Tyr, Tiu, or Ziu was the son of Odin, and, according to dif- ferent mythologists, his mother was either Frigga, queen of the gods, or a beautiful giantess whose name is unknown, but who was a personification of the raging sea. He is the god of martial honor, and one of the twelve principal deities of Asgard. Al- though he appears to have had no special dwelling there, he was always welcome to Vingolf or Valhalla, and occupied one of the twelve thrones in the great council hall of Glads-heim. " The hall Glads-heim, which is built of gold ; Where are in circle ranged twelve golden chairs, And in the midst one higher, Odin's throne." Balder Dead (Matthew Arnold). Tyr was regarded also as the god of courage and of war, and therefore frequently invoked by the various nations of the North, The god ^^° cried to him as well as to Odin to obtain of war. victory. That he ranked next to Odin and Thor is proved by his name, Tiu, having been given to one of the days of the week. Tin's day, which in modern English has become Tuesday. Under the name of Ziu, Tyr was the principal divinity of the Suabians, who originally called their capital, the modern Augsburg, Ziusburg. This people, venerating the god as they did, were wont to worship him under the emblem of a sword, his dis- tinctive attribute, and in his honor held great sword dances, where various figures were carried out. Sometimes the participants forming two long lines, crossed their swords, point upwards, and 84 TYR. 85 challenged the boldest among their number to take a flying leap over them. At other times the warriors joined their sword points closely together in the shape of a rose or wheel, and when this figure was complete invited their chief to stand on the navel thus formed of flat, shining steel blades, and then they bore him upon it through the camp in triumph. The sword point was fiu-ther considered so sacred that it became customary to register oaths upon it. "... Come hither, gentlemen. And lay your hands again upon my sword; Never to speak of this that you have heard. Swear by my sword." Hamlet (Shakespeare), A distinctive feature of the worship of this god among the Franks and some other Northern nations was that the priests called Druids or Godi offered up human sacrifices upon his altars, gen- erally cutting the bloody or spread eagle upon their victims, that is to say, making a deep incision on either side of the backbone, turning the ribs thus loosened inside out, and tearing out the viscera through the opening thus made. Of course only prisoners of war were treated thus, and it was considered a point of honor with north Eiuropean races to endure this torture without a moan. These sacrifices were made upon rude stone altars called dolmens, which can still be seen in Northern Europe. As Tyr was con- sidered the patron god of the sword, it was deemed indispensable to engrave the sign or rune representing him upon the blade of every sword — an observance which the Edda enjoined upon all those who were desirous of obtaining victory. " Sig-runes thou must know, If victory (sigr) thou wilt have. And on thy sword's hilt rist them ; Some on the chapes. Some on the guard. And twice name the name of Tyr." Lay of Sigdsifa (Thorpe's tr.). 86 MYTHS OF NORTHERN LANDS. Tyr was identical with the Saxon god Saxnot (from sax, a sword), and with Er, Heru, or Cheru, the chief divinity of the Cheruski, who also considered him god of the sun, and deemed his shining sword blade an emblem of its rays. " This very sword a ray of light Snatched from the Sun ! " Valhalla (J. C. Jones). According to an ancient legend, Cheru's sword, which had been fashioned by the dwarfs, sons of Ivald — the same who had also made Odin's spear — was held very sacred by his people, to whose care he had intrusted it, de- claring that those who possessed it were sure to have the victory over their foes. But although carefully guarded in the temple, where it was hung so that it reflected the first beams of the morning sun, it suddenly and mysteriously disappeared one night. A Vala, druidess, or prophetess, consulted by the priests, revealed that the Norns had decreed that whoever wielded it would con- quer the world and come to his (leath by it ; but in spite of all entreaties she refused to tell who had taken it or where it might be found. Some time after this occurrence a tall and dignified stranger came to Cologne, where Vitellius, the Roman prefect, was feasting, called him away from his beloved dainties, gave him the sword, telling him it would bring him glory and fenown, and hailed him as emperor. This cry was taken up by the assembled legions, and Vitellius, without making any personal effort to secure the honor, found himself elected Emperor of Rome. The new ruler, however, was so absorbed in indulging his taste for food and drink that he paid but little heed to the divine weapon. One day while leisurely making his way towards Rome he carelessly left it hanging in the antechamber to his apartments. A German soldier seized this opportunity to sub- stitute in its stead his own rusty blade. The besotted emperor went on, and was so busily engaged in feasting that he did not notice the exchange. When he arrived at Rome, he learned that TYR. 87 the Eastern legions had named Vespasian emperor, and that he was even then on his way home to claim the throne. Searching for the sacred weapon to defend his rights, Vitellius now discovered the theft, and, overcome by superstitious fears, did not even attempt to fight. He crawled away into a dark comer of his palace, whence he was ignominiously dragged by the enraged populace to the foot of the CapitoUne Hill. There the prophecy was duly fulfilled, for the German soldier, who had joined the opposite faction, coming along at that moment, cut off Vitellius' head with the sacred sword. The German soldier now changed from one legion to another, and traveled over many lands ; but wherever he and his sword were found, victory was assured. After winning great honor and distinction, this man, having grown old, retired from active service to the banks of the Danube, where he secretly buried his treasured weapon, building his hut over its resting place to guard it as long as he lived. But although implored, when he lay on his deathbed, to reveal where he had hidden it, he persistently refused to do so, saying that it would be found by the man who was des- tined to conquer the world, but that he would not be able to es- cape the curse. Years passed by. Wave after wave the tide of barbarian invasion swept over that part of the country, and last of all came the terrible Huns under the leadership of Attila, the " Scourge of God." As he passed along the river, he saw a peasant mournfully examining his cow's foot, which had been wounded by some sharp instrument hidden in the long grass, and when search was made the point of a buried sword was found sticking out of the soil. Attila, seeing the beautiful workmanship and the fine state of pres- ervation of this weapon, immediately exclaimed that it was Cheru's sword, and brandishing it above-his head announced that he was about to conquer the world. Battle after battle was fought by the Huns, who, according to the Saga, were everywhere victori- ous, until Attila, weary of warfare, settled down in Hungary, taking to wife the beautiful Burgundian princess Ildico, whose 88 MYTHS OF NORTHERN LANDS. father he had slain. This princess, resenting the murder of her kin and wishing to avenge it, took advantage of the king's state of intoxication upon his wedding, night to secure possession of the divine sword, with which she slew him in his bed, once more fulfilHng the prophecy uttered so many years before. The magic sword again disappeared for a long time, only to be unearthed once more and wielded by the Duke of Alva, Charles v. 's general, who shortly after won the victory of Miihlberg (1547). Since then nothing more has been heard of the sword of the god Cheru, in whose honor the Franks were wont to cele- brate yearly martial games ; but it is said that when the heathen gods were renounced in favor of Christianity, the priests trans- ferred many of their attributes to the saints, and that this sword became the property of the Archangel St. Michael, who has wielded it ever since. Tyr, whose name was synonymous with bravery and wisdom, was also considered by the ancient Northern people to have the white-armed Valkyrs, Odin's attendants, at his beck and call, and to designate the warriors whom they had best transfer to Valhalla to aid the gods on the last day. " The god Tyr sent Gondul and Skogul To choose a king Of the race of Ingve, To dwell with Odin In roomy Valhal." Norse Mythology {R, B., Anderson). Tyr was generally spoken of and represented as one-armed, just as Odin was called one-eyed. This fact is explained in Story of the various ways by different authorities j some claim wolf Fenns. (.jjg^j j( ^^ because he could give the victory only to one side ; others, because a sword has but one blade. How- ever this may be, these explanations did not satisfy the ancients, who preferred to account for the fact by the following myth : Loki, the arch deceiver, went to Jbtun-heim and secretly mar- TYU. 89 ried the hideous giantess Angur-boda (anguish boding), who bore him three monstrous children — the wolf Fenris, Hel, the party- colored goddess of death, and lormungandr, a terrible serpent. He kept the existence of these monsters secret as long as he could ; but they speedily grew so large that they could no longer remain confined in the cave where they had come to light. Odin, from the top of his throne Hlidskialf, soon became aware of their ex- istence, and also of the frightful rapidity with which they increased in size. Fearing lest the monsters, when they had gained a little more strength, should invade Asgard and destroy the gods. All- father determined to get rid of them, and, striding off to Jotun- heim, flung Hel down into the depths of Nifl-heim, where he told her she could reign over the nine dismal worlds of the dead. He threw lormungandr into the sea, where he stretched himself and grew until he encircled all the earth and could bite his own tail. " Into mid-ocean's dark depths hurled, Grown with each day to giant size. The serpent soon inclosed the world, With tail in mouth, in circle-wise ; Held harmless still By Odin's will." Valhalla (J. C. Jones). None too well pleased that the serpent should have attained such fearful dimensions in his new element, Odin resolved to lead Fenris to Asgard, where he hoped, by kindly treatment, to make him gentle and tractable. But the gods one and all shrank back in dismay when they saw the wolf, and none dared approach to give him food except Tyr, whom nothing ever daunted. Seeing that Fenris daily increased in size, strength, voracity, and fierce- ness, the gods assembled in council to deliberate how they might best dispose of him. They unanimously decided that it would desecrate their peace-steads to slay him, and resolved to bind him fast so that he could work them no harm. With that purpose in view, they ordered a strong chain named 90 MYTHS OF NORTHERN LANDS. Lseding, and, going out into the yard with it, playfully proposed to Fenris to bind it about him, to see whether his vaunted strength could burst it asunder. Confident in his ability to release himself, Fenris patiently allowed them to bind him fast, but when all stood aside, he shook and stretched himself and easily broke the chain to pieces. Concealing their chagrin, the gods praised his strength, but soon left him to order a much stronger fetter, Droma, which, after some persuasion, the wolf allowed them to fasten around him also. ' A short, sharp struggle sufficed, however, to burst this bond too ; so it has become proverbial in the North to use the figurative expressions," to get loose out of Laeding," and " to dash out of Droma,'' whenever great difficulties have to be surmounted. " Twice did the Asa strive to bind, Twice did they fetters powerless find ; Iron or brass of no avail, Naught, save through magic, could prevail." Valhalla (J, C, Jones). The gods, perceiving now that ordinary bonds, however strong, would never prevail against the Fenris wolf's great strength, bade Skirnir, Frey's servant, go down to Svart-alfa-heim and bid the dwarfs fashion a bond which nothing could sever. By magic arts the dark elves manufactured a slender silken rope out of such impalpable materials as the sound of a cat's footsteps, a woman's beard, the roots of a mountain, the longings of the bear, the voice of fishes, and thef spittle of birds, and when it was finished they gave it to Skirnir, assuring him that no strength would avail to break it, and that the more it was strained the stronger it would become. " Gleipnir, at last, By Dark Elves cast, In Svart-alf-heim, with strong spells wrought, To Odin was by Skirnir brought : TYR. 91 As soft as silk, as light as air, Yet still of magic power most rare." Valhalla (J. C. Jones). Armed with this bond, called Gleipnir, the gods went with Fenris to the Island of Lyngvi, in the middle of Lake Amsvartnir, and again proposed to test his strength. But although Fenris had grown still stronger, he mistrusted the bond which looked so shght. He therefore refused to allow himself to be bound, unless one of the ^sir would consent to put his hand in his mouth, and leave it there, as a pledge of good faith, and that no magic arts were to be used against him. The gods heard this condition with dismay, and all drew back except Tyr, who, seeing that the others would not venture to comply with this request, boldly stepped forward and thrust his hand between the monster's jaws. The gods now fastened Gleipnir around Fenris's neck and paws, shouting and laughing with glee when they saw that his utmost efforts to free himself were fruitless. Tyr, however, could not share their j oy , for the wolf, finding himself captive, snapped his teeth together for rage, biting off the god's hand at the wrist, which since then has been known as the wolf's joint. LOKI. " Be silent, Tyr ! Thou couldst never settle A strife 'twixt two ; Of thy right hand also I must mention make. Which Fenris from thee took. Tyr. I of a hand am wanting But thou of honest fame ; Sad is the lack of either. Nor is the wolf at ease : He in bonds must bide Until the gods' destruction." SiEMUND's Edda (Thorpe's tr.). 92 MYTHS OF NORTHERN LANDS. Deprived of his right hand, Tyr was. now forced to use the maimed arm for his shieM, and to wield his sword with his left hand ; but such was his dexterity that he slew just as many ene- mies as before. The gods, in spite of all the wolf's struggles, now drew the end of the fetter Gelgia through the rock Gioll, and fastened it to the bowlder Thviti, which was sunk deep in the ground. Opening wide his fearful jaws, Fenris uttered such terrible howls that the gods, to silence him, thrust a sword into his mouth, the hilt resting upon his lower jaw and the point against his palate. The blood then began to pour out in such streams that it formed a great river, called Von. The wolf was condemned to remain thus chained fast until the last day, when his bonds would burst and he would find himself free to avenge his wrongs. " The wolf Fenrir, Freed from the chain, Shall range the earth." Death-song of HAkon (W. Taylor's tr.). While some mythologists see in this myth an emblem of crime restrained and made innocuous by the power of the law, others see the underground fire, which kept within bounds can injure no one, but which unfettered fills the world with destruction and woe. Just as Odin's second eye is said to rest in Mimir's well, so Tyr's second hand (sword) is found in Fenris's jaws, as he has no more use for two weapons than the sky for two suns. Tyr's worship is commemorated in sundry places (such as Tu- bingen, in Germany), which bear more or less modified forms of his name. It has also been given to the aconite, a plant known in Northern countries as " Tyr's helm." CHAPTER VI. BRAGI. At the time of the dispute between the ^sir and Vanas, when the peace articles had all been agreed upon, a vase was brought into the assembly into which both parties solemnly origin of spat. From this saliva the gods created Kvasir, poetry, a being renowned for his wisdom and goodness, who went about the world answering all questions asked him, thus teaching and benefiting all mankind. The dwarfs, hearing about Kvasir's great wisdom, coveted it, and finding him asleep one day, two of their number, Fialar and Galar, treacherously slew him, and drained every drop of his blood into three vessels — the kettle Od-hroerir (inspiration) and the bowls Son (expiation) and Boden (offering). After duly mixing this blood with honey, they manufactured from it a sort of beverage so inspiring that any one who tasted it imme- diately became a poet, and could sing with a charm which was certain to win all hearts. Now, although the dwarfs had brewed this marvelous mead for their own consumption, they did not even taste it, but hid it away in a secret place, while they went out in search of further adventures. They had not gone very far ere they found the giant Gilling also sound asleep lying on a steep bank, and maliciously rolled him into the water, where he perished. Then hastening to his dwelling, some chmbed on the roof, carrying a huge millstone, while the others, entering, told the giantess that her husband was dead. This news caused the poor woman great grief ; but just as she was rushing out of the house to view Gil- 93 94 MYTHS OF NORTHERN LANDS. ling's remains, the wicked dwarfs rolled the millstone down upon her head, and killed her. According to another account, the dwarfs invited the giant to go fishing with them, and succeeded in slaying him by sending him out in a leaky vessel, which sank be-" neath his weight. , ^ The crime thus committed did not lOng remain unpunished, for although Gilling's wife was dead, he had left a brother, Suttung, who determined to avenge him. Seizing the dwarfs in his mighty grasp, this giant placed them on a shoal far out at sea, where they would surely have perished at the next high tide had they not succeeded in redeeming their lives by relinquish- ing their recently brewed mead. As soon as Suttung set them ashore, they therefore gave him the precious compound, which he intrusted to his daughter Gunlod, bidding her guard it night and day, and allow neither gods nor mortals to have even a taste. To fulfill this command, Gunlod carried the three ves- sels into the hollow mountain, where she kept watch over them with the most scrupulous care, little suspecting that Odin had dis- covered their place of concealment, thanks to the sharp eyes of his ever-vigilant ravens Hugin and Munin. As Odin had mastered the runic lore and had tasted the waters of Mimir's fountain, he was already the wisest of gods; but hearing of the power of the draught of inspiration manu- factured out of Kvasir's blood, he became very anxious to obtain possession of it also. With this purpose in view he therefore donned his broad-brimmed hat, wrapped himself in his cloud- hued cloak, and journeyed off to Jotun-heim. On his way to the giant's dwelling he passed by a field where nine ugly thralls were busy making hay. Odin paused for a moment, watched them work, and then proposed to whet their scythes, which seemed very dull indeed — an offer which the thralls eagerly accepted. Drawing a whetstone from his bosom, Odin proceeded to sharpen the nine scythes, skillfully giving them such a keen edge tJiat the thralls, finding their labor much lightened, asked for his whetstone. With good-humored acquiescence, Odin tossed the BRAGI. 95 whetstone over the wall ; but as the nine thralls simultaneously sprang forward to catch it, they wounded one another with their keen scythes. In anger at their respective carelessness, they now Jsegan to fight, and did not pause until they were all either mor- tally wounded or dead. Quite undismayed by this tragedy, Odin continued on his way, and soon came to the house of the giant Baugi, a brother of Sut- tung, who received him very hospitably, and in the course of the conversation informed him that he was greatly embarrassed, as it was harvest time and all his workmen had just been found dead in the hayfield. Odin, who on this occasion had given his name as Bolwerk (evU doer), promptly offered his services to the giant, prom- ising to accomplish as much work as the nine thralls, and to labor diligently all summer in exchange for one single draught of Suttung's magic mead when the busy season was ended. This bargain was immediately concluded, and Baugi's new servant, Bolwerk, worked incessantly all summer long, more than fulfilling his part of the contract, and safely garnering all the grain before the autumn rains began to fall. When the first days of winter came, Bolwerk presented himself before his master, claiming his reward. But Baugi hesitated and demurred, saying he dared not openly ask his brother Suttung for a draught of inspiration, but would try to obtain it by cunning. Together, Bolwerk and Baugi then proceeded to the mountain where Gunlod dwelt, and as they could find no other mode of entering the secret cave, Odin produced his trusty auger, called Rati, and bade the giant bore with all his might to make a hole through which he might crawl into the mountain. Baugi silently obeyed, and after a few moments' work withdrew the tool, saying that he had pierced through the mountain side, and that Odin would have no difficulty in slipping through. But the god, mistrusting this statement, merely blew into the hole, and when the dust and chips came flying into his face, he sternly bade Baugi resume his boring and never attempt to deceive him again. 96 MYTHS OF NORTHERN LANDS. The giant bored on, and when he withdrew his tool again, Odin ascertained that the hole was really finished. Changing himself into a worm, he wriggled through with such remarkable rapidity that he managed to escape, although Baugi treacherously thrust the sharp auger into the hole after him, intending to kill him. "Rati's mouth I caused To make a space. And to gnaw the rock ; Over and under me Were the Jotun's ways : Thus I my head did peril." HAvamAl (Thorpe's tr.). Having reached the stalactite-hung cave, Odin reassumed his usual godlike form and starry mantle, and then presented himself before the beautiful Gunlod to exert all his fascinations to win her love, and coax her to grant him a sip from each of the vessels confided to her care. Won by his passionate wooing, Gunlod consented to become his wife, and after he had spent three whole days with her in this retreat, she brought out the vessels from their secret hiding place, and told him he might take a sip from each. " And a draught obtained Of the precious mead. Drawn from Od-hroerir.'' Odin's Rune-Song {Thorpe's tr.). Odin made use of this permission to drink so deeply that he completely drained all three vessels, and then, having ob- tained all he wanted, and being intoxicated with love, poetry, and inspiration, he donned his eagle plumes, rose higher and higher up into the blue, and, after hovering for a moment over the moun- tain top, winged his heavy flight towards Asgard. He was still very far from the gods' realm, however, when he suddenly became aware of a pursuer, and, turning his head, ascer- BRAG I. 97 tained that Suttung, having also assumed the form of an eagle, was coming rapidly after him to compel him to surrender the stolen mead. Odin therefore flew faster and faster, straining every nerve to reach Asgard before the foe should overtake him, while the gods anxiously watched the race. Seeing that Odin was greatly handicapped and would scarcely be able to escape, the M&vc hastily gathered all the combustible materials they could find, and as soon as he had flown over the ramparts of their dwelling, they set fire to the mass of fuel, so that the flames, rising high, singed the wings of Suttung, who, bewildered with pain, fell into the very midst of the fire, where he was burned to death. As for Odin, he flew on to the spot where the gods had pre- pared vessels for the stolen mead, and disgorged the draught of inspiration in such breathless haste that a few drops were scat- tered over the earth. There they became the portion of rhym- sters and poetasters, the gods reserving the divine beverage for their own consumption, and only occasionally vouchsafing a taste to some favored mortal, who, immediately after, won world-wide renown by his inspired songs. " Of a well-assumed form I made good use : Few things fail the wise ; For Od-hroerir Is now come up To men's earthly dwellings." HAvamAl (Thorpe's tr.). As men and gods owed this priceless gift to Odin, they were ever ready to show him their gratitude, and not only called it by his name, but also worshiped him as god of eloquence, poetry, and song, and made him the patron of all scalds. Although Odin had thus won the gift of poetry, he seldom made use of it himself. It was reserved for his The god of son Bragi, the child of Gunlod, to become the god music, of poetry and music and to charm the world with his songs. 98 MYTHS OF NORTHERN LANDS. " White-bearded bard, ag'd Bragi, his gold harp Sweeps — and yet softer Stealeth the day." Viking Tales of thb North (R. B. Anderson). As soon as Bragi was born in the stalactite-hung cave where Odin had won Gunlod's affections, the dwarfs presented him with a magic golden harp, and, setting him on board of one of their own vessels, sent him out into the wide world. As the boat gently passed out of subterranean darkness, and floated over the threshold of Nain, the realm of the dwarf of death, Bragi, the fair and immaculate young god, who until then had shown no signs of life, suddenly sat up, and, seizing the golden harp beside him, began to sing the wondrous song of life, which at times rose up to heaven, and then sank down to the underground realm of Hel, the goddess of death. " Yggdrasil's ash is Of all trees most excellent, And of all ships, Skidbladnir; Of the ^sir, Odin, And of horses, Sleipnir ; Bifrost of bridges. And of scalds, Bragi. " Lay of Grimnir (Thorpe's tr.). While he played the vessel was gently wafted over sunlit waters, and soon touched the shore. The god Bragi then pro- ceeded on foot, threading his way through the bare and silent forest, playing as he walked. At the sound of his tender music the trees began to bud and bloom, and the grass underfoot was gemmed with countless flowers. Here he met Idun, daughter of Ivald, the fair goddess of im- mortal youth, whom the dwarfs allowed to visit the earth from time to time, and at her approach nature invariably assumed its loveliest and gentlest aspect. Bragi having secured this fair goddess for his wife hastened BRAGI. 99 with her to Asgard, where both were warmly welcomed and where Odin, after tracing runes on Bragi's tongue, decreed that he should be the heavenly minstrel and compose songs in honor of the gods and of the heroes whom he received in Valhalla. As Bragi was god of poetry, eloquence, and song, the Northern races also called poetry by his name, and scalds of either sex were frequently designated as Braga-men or Braga-wo- -worship of men. Bragi was greatly honored by all the North- Bragi. ern races, and hence his health was always drunk on solemn or festive occasions, but especially at funeral feasts and at Yule-tide celebrations. When it was time to drink this tosist, which was served in cups shaped like a ship, and was called the Bragaful, the sacred sign of the hammer was first made over it. Then the new ruler or head of the family solemnly pledged himself to some great deed of valor, which he was bound to execute within the year, unless he wished to be considered destitute of honor. Following his example, all the guests were then wont to make similar vows and declare what they would do ; and as some of them, owing to previous potations, talked rather too freely of their intentions on these occasions, this custom seems to connect the god's name with the vulgar but very expressive English verb " to brag." In art, Bragi is generally represented as an elderly man, with long white hair and beard, and holding the golden harp from which his fingers could draw such magic tones. CHAPTER VII. IDUN. Idun, the personification of spring or immortal youth, who, according to some mythologists, had no birth and was never to The apples ^^^^^ death, was also warmly welcomed by the of youth. gQ(jg when she made her appearance in Asgard with Bragi. To win their affections she promised them a daily taste of the marvelous apples which she bore in her casket, which had the power of conferring immortal youth and loveli- ness upon all who partook of them. "The golden apples Out of her garden Have yielded you dower of youth, Ate you them every day." Wagner (Forman's tr.). Thanks to this magic fruit, the Scandinavian gods, who, be- cause they sprang from a mixed race, were not all immortal, warded off the approach of old age and disease, and remained vigorous, beautiful, and young through countless ages. These apples were therefore considered very precious indeed, and Idun carefully treasured them in her magic casket. But no matter how many she drew out, the same number always remained for distribution at the feast of the gods, to whom alone she vouchsafed a taste, although dwarfs and giants were eager to obtain pos- session of this fruit. "Bright Iduna, Maid immortal! Standing at Valhalla's portal. IDUN. 101 In her casket has rich store Of rare apples, gilded o'er ; Those rare apples, not of Earth, Ageing Msa give fresh birth." Valhalla (J. C. Jones). One day, Odin, Hoenir, and Loki started out upon one of their usual excursions to earth, and, after wandering for a long while, found themselves in a deserted region, where they could dis- cover no hospitable dwelling. Weary and very hungry, the gods perceiving a herd of oxen, slew one, kindled a fire, and sat down beside it to rest while waiting for their meat to cook. To their surprise, however, in spite of the roaring flames the meat remained quite raw. Realizing that some magic must be at work, they looked about them to discover what could hin- der their cookery. They finally perceived an eagle perched upon a tree above them. The bird addressed them and declared that the spell would be removed and the meat done to a turn in a very short time if they would only give him as much food as he could eat. -The gods agreed to do this, and the eagle, swoop- ing downwards, fanned the flames with his huge wings, and soon the meat was cooked. But as he was about to carry off three quarters of the ox as his share, Loki seized a great stake Ijdng near at hand, and began to belabor the voracious bird, for- getting that it was versed in magic arts. To his great dismay one end of the stake stuck fast to the eagle's back, the other to his hands, and he found himself dragged over stones and through briers, fls^ng through the air, his arms almost torn out of their sockets. In vain he cried for mercy and implored the eagle to let him go ; the bird flew on, until he promised any ran- som his ravisher could ask in exchange for his release. The bird, who was the storm giant Thiassi in eagle guise, let him go only upon one condition. He made him xhiassi the promise upon the most solemn of oaths that he storm giant, would lure Idun out of Asgard, so that the giant might obtain possession of her and of her magic fruit. I02 MYTHS OF NORTHERN LANDS. Released at last, Loki returned to join Odin and Hoenir, to whom, however, he was very careful not to confide the condition upon which he had obtained his freedom ; and when they had re- turned to Asgard he began to plan how he might entice Idun out- side of the gods' abode. A few days later, Bragi being absent on one of his minstrel tours, Loki sought Idun in the groves of Brunnaker, where she had taken up her abode, and by artfully describing some apples which grew at a short distance from there, and which he mendaciously declared were exactly like hers, he lured her away from home with a crystal dish full of fruit, which she intended to compare with that which he extolled. No sooner had Idun left Asgard, however, than the deceiver Loki forsook her, and ere she could return home the storm giant Thiassi swept down from the north on his eagle wings, caught her up in his cruel talons, and bore her swiftly away to his barren and desolate home of Thrym-heim. "Thrymheim the sixth is named, Where Thiassi dwelt, That all-powerful Jotun." Lay of Grimni& (Thorpe's tr.). There she pined, grew pale and sad, but persistently refused to give him the smallest bite of her magic fruit, which, as he well knew, would make him beautiful and renew his strength and youth. " All woes that fall On Odin's hall Can be traced to Loki base. From out Valhalla's portal 'Twas he who pure Iduna lured, — Whose casket fair Held apples rare That render gods immortal, — And in Thiassi's tower immured." Valhalla (J. C. Jones). Time passed. The gods, thinking that Idun had accompanied her husband and would soon return, at first paid no heed to her de- I DUN. 103 parture, but little by little the beneficial effect of their last apple feast passed away. They gradually felt themselves grow old and stiff, and saw their youth and beauty disappear ; so they became alarmed and began to search for the missing goddess of perpetual youth. Close investigation very soon revealed the fact that she had last been seen in Loki's company, and when Odin sternly called him to account, this god was forced to reveal that he had be- trayed her into the storm giant's power. " By his mocking, scornful mien, Soon in Valhal it was seen 'Twas the traitor Loki's art Which had led Idun apart To gloomy tower And Jotun power.'' Valhalla