I TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY VIKTOR RYDBERG, Ph.D. MEMBER OF THE SWEDISH A-CADEMY ; AUTHOR OF " THE LAST ATHENIAN, " ROMAN DAYS," AND OTHER WORKS AUTHORISED TRANSLATION FROM THE SWEDISH BY RASMUS B. ANDERSON, LL.D. UNITED STATES MINISTER TO DENMARK; AUTHOR OF "NORSE MYTHOLOGY, " VIKING TALES OF THE NORTH," ETC., ETC. LONDON SWAN SONNENSCHEIN & CO. PATERNOSTER SQUARE 1889 THE ABERDEEN UNIVERSITY PRESS. TO HIS MAJESTY KING OSCAR II., THE RULER OF THE ARYAN PEOPLE OF THE SCANDINAVIAN PENINSULA, THE PROMOTER OF THE SCIENCES. THE CROWNED POET, THIS WORK IS MOST RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED BY THE AUTHOR, AND TRANSLATOR, Viktor Rydberg. Rasmus B. Anderson. Stockholm, November 20, 1887. Hon. Kasmus B. Anderson, United States Minister, Copenhagen, Denmark. Dear Sir, It gives me pleasure to authorise you to translate into English my work entitled "Researches in Teutonic Mythology," being convinced that no one could be found better qualified for this task than yourself. Certainly no one has taken a deeper interest than you in spreading among our Anglo-Saxon kinsmen, not only a knowledge of our common antiquity, but also of what modern Scandinavia is contributing to the advancement of culture — a work in which England and the United States of America are taking so large a share. Yours faithfully, VIKTOR RYDBERG. TABLE OF CONTENTS. i. INTRODUCTION. 1. -THE ANCIENT ARYANS. PAGE 1 3 4 10 14 1. The Words German and Germanic, .... 2. The Aryan Family of Languages, .... 3. The Hypothesis concerning the Asiatic Origin of the Aryans, 4. The Hypothesis concerning the European Origin of the Aryans, 5. The Aryan Land of Europe, . .... B. -ANCIENT TEUTONDOM (GERMANIEN). 6. The Geographical Position of Ancient Teutondoni. The Stone Age .if Prehistoric Tentondom, . . . . .18 A.— MEDLEVAL MIGRATION SAGAS. The Learned Saga in Regard to the Emigration from Troy-Asgarp. 7. The Saga in Eeimskringla and the Prose Edda, . . .22 8. The Troy Saga in Heiinskringla anil the Prose Edda (continued), . 30 '». Sazo'a Relation of the Story of Troy, . . . .32 10. The Older Periods of the Troy Saga, .... 33 11. Tin- Origin of the Story in regard to the Trojan Descent of the Flunks, . . . . . . . .40 12. Why Odin was given Antenor's Place as Leader of the Trojan Emigration, . . . . . . .45 13.'The Materials of the Icelandic Troy Saga, .... 66 14. The Result of the Foregoing Investigations, . . . .64 viii TABLE OF CONTENTS. B REMINISCENCES IN" THE POPULAR TRADITIONS OF THE M |.i; A.QES OF THE HEATHEN MIGRATION SAGA. PAGE 16. The Longobardian Migration Saga, . . . . .66 16. The Saxon and Swabian Migration Saga, . . . .71 17. The Frankish Migration Saga, . • • • .74 l& Jordanee on the Emigration of the Goths, Gepidse, and Herulians. The Migration Saga of the Burgundians. Traces of an Alamannic Migration Saga, . . . . .76 LD. The Teutonic Emigration Saga found in Tacitus, . . .80 3. THE MYTH CONCERNING THE EARLIEST PERIOD AND THE EMIGRATIONS FROM THE NORTH. 30. The Creation of Man. The Primeval Country. Scef the Bringer of Culture, 84 21. Scef the Author of Culture identical with Heimdal-Rig, the Origina] Patriarch, ...... 90 22. Eeimdal's Son Borgar-Skjold, the Second Patriarch, . . 95 2a Borgar-Skjold'a Son Halfdan, the Third Patriarch, . . .98 24 Balfdan's Enmity with Orvandel and Svipdag . . . lul 25. Halfdan's Identity with Mannus in " Germania," . . . 103 26. The Sacred Runes learned from Heimdal, .... 107 27. Sorcerj the Reverse of the Sacred Rimes. Gulveig-HeiSr the Source of Sorcery. The Moral Deterioration of the Original Man, Ill 28a. Heimdal and the Sun-dis (Die = goddess), . . . 112 28b. Loke causes Enmity between the Gods and the Original Artists (the Creators of all things growing). The Consequence is the Fimbul-winter and Emigrations, .... 115 29. Evidence thai Halfdan is identical with Helge Hundingsbane, . 121 8a Halfdan's Birth and the End of the Age of Peace. The Family Names Fifing, Hilding, Budlung, .... 125 81. Halfdan's Character. The Weapon-myth, .... 129 82. Halfdan's < Jonflicts int.-i ]>]ttrd as Myths of Nature. The War with the Heroes limn Svarin's Mound. Halfdan's Marriage with I t Vegetation, ...... 132 33. Review of the Svipdag-myth and its Points of Connection with the Myth aboul Hal Man, ...... 136 84 The World War. Its Cause. The Murder of Gullveig-HeiSr. The Voice of Counsel between the Asas and the Vans, . . 139 :'""'- Gullveig-Hefi r. Her [dentity with Aurbooa, AngerboSa, Hyrrokin. The Myth concerning the Sword Guardian and Fjalar, . 145 TABLE OF CONTENTS. IX PAGE 36. The World War (continued). The Breach of Peace between Asas and Vans. Prigg, Skade, and Oil in the Conflict. The Siege of Asgard. The Vaferllames. The Defence and Surroundings ofAsgard. The Victory of the Vans, . . . .160 37. The World War (continued). The Significance of the Conflict from a Religious-Ritual Standpoint, . . .171 38. The World War (continued). The War in Midgard between Half- dan's Sons. Groa's Sons against Alveig's. Loke's Appearance on the Stage. Hadding's Youthful Adventures, . . 173 39. The World War (continued). The Position of the Divine Clans to the Warriors, . . . • • • .178 40. The World War (continued). Hadding's Defeat. Loke in the Council and on the Battlefield. Heimdal the Protector of his Descendant Hadding, ..... 183 41. The World War (continued). Hadding's Journey to the East. Re- conciliation between the Asas and the Vans. "The Hun War." Hadding Returns and Conquers. Reconciliation between Groa's Descendants and Alveig's. Loke's Punish- ment, . . . • • • • .186 42. Halfdan and Hamal Foster-brothers. The Amalians Fight in Be- half of Halfdan's Son Hadding. Hamal and the Wedge- formed Battle-array. The Original Model of the Bravalla Battle, 191 43. Evidence that Dieterich "of Bern" is Hadding. The Dieterich Saga thus has its Origin in the Myth concerning the War between Mannus-Halfdan's Sons, .... 194 II. THE MYTH IN REGARD TO THE LOWER WORLD. 44. Middle Age Sagas with Roots in the Myth concerning the Lower World. Erik Vidforle's Saga, . 45. Middle Age Sagas (continued). Icelandic Sources in regard to Gudmund, King of the Glittering Plains, 46. Middle Age Sagas (continued). Saxo concerning this same Gudmund Ruler of the Lower World, .... 47. Middle Age Sagas (continued). Fjallerus and Hadingus (Hadding in the Lower World, .... 48. Middle Age Sagas (continued). A Frisian Saga in Adam of Bremen 49. Analysis of the Sagas mentioned in Nos. 44-48, 50. Analysis .it the Sagas mentioned in Nos. 44-48. The Question in regard to the Identification of Odainsaker, 51. Gudmund's Identity with Mimer, .... b 208 210 212 215 217 218 228 230 x TABLE OF CONTENTS. PAGE 58. Homer's Grove. Lit" and Leifthraser, . . • .231 53. At what Time did Lif and Leifthraser get their Place of Refuge in Mimer'e Grove? The Asmegir. Mimer's Position in My- thology. The Numina of the Lower World, . . . 238 64 The Iranian Myth concerning Mimer's Grove, . • .256 56. The Purpose of Mimer's I hrave in the Regeneration of the World, . 264 66. The Cosmography. Criticism on Gylfaginning's Cosmography, . 268 57. The Word Hel in Linguistic Usage, . . . • .275 5a The WordHdinVegtainskvidaandinVafthrudnersmal, . . 278 59. The Word He] in GrimnersmaL Hvergelmer's Fountain and its 1 defenders. The Border Mountain between Hel and Nifelhel. The Word Helblotinn in Thorsdrapa, . . . -281 60. The Word Hel in Skirnersmal. Description of Nifelhel. The Mythic Meaning of Ndr, Nair. The Hades Division of the Frost-giants and Spirits of Disease, .... 289 61. The Word Hel in Voluspa. Who the Inhabitants of Hel are, . 298 62. The Word Hel in AllvismaL The Classes of Beings in Hel, . . 302 68. The Word Hel in other Passages. The Result of the Investigation for the Cosmography and for the Meaning of the Word Hel. Hel in a Local Sense the Kingdom of Death, particularly its Realms of Bliss. Hel in a Personal Sense Identical with the Goddess of Fate and Death, that is, Urd, . . . 304 64. Urd's Maid-servants: (1) Maid-servants of Life — Norns,Dises of Birth, Hamingjes, Giptes, Fylgjes ; (2) Maid-servants of Death — Valkyries, the Psycho-messengers of Diseases and Accidents, 65. On the Cosmography. The Way of those Fallen by the Sword to Valhal is through the Lower World, .... 66 The Choosing. The Middl i-age Fable about Risting with the Spear- Point, ........ 321 67. The Psycho-messengers of those not Fallen by the Sword. Loke's Daughter! Pseudo-Hel in Gylfaginning) Identical with Leikin, 323 68. The Way to Hades Common to the Dead, .... 32« 'he Two Thingsteada of the Asas. The Extent of the Authority of the Asaa and of the Dis of Fate. The Doom of the Dead, . 330 70. The Doom of the Dead (continued). Speech-runes. Or'5sTirr,Ndinadi, 333 71. Tin- Doom of the Dead (continued). The Looks of the Thingstead. The Duty of taking Care of the Ashes of the Dead. The Hamingje at the Judgment. Sins of Weakness. Sins unto Death, ........ 344 72. The Hades-drink, ....... 350 7:1. The Hades-drink (continued). The Hades-horn embellished with Serpents, . . . . . . .354 74. After the Judgment The Lot of the Blessed, . . . 360 7.".. After the Judgment (continued). The Fate of the Damned. Their Path. Arrival at the Na-gates, .... 361 7':. The Places of Punishment ..... 363 III. THE IVALDE EACE. TABLE OF CONTENTS. xi PAGE 77 The Places of Punishment (continued). The Hall in Nastrands, . 367 78* The Places of Punishment (continued). Loke's Cave of Punishment. Gvlia-inuin-s Confounding of Muspel's Sons with the Sons 376 ofSuttung, 79. The Great World-mill. Its Mistaken Identity with the Frode-null, 385 80. The World-mill (continued), . • • • ■ 81. The World-mill {continued). The World-mill makes the Constella- tions Revolve. Mundilfori, . . • • " 82 The World-mill (continued). The Origin of the Sacred Fire through Mundilfore. Heimdal the Personification of the Sacred I ire. His Identity with Rigveda's Agni. His Antithesis, Loke, also a Fire-being, . 83. Mundilfore's Identity with Lodur, . 84. Nat, the Mother of the Gods, . . • • • ■ 85. Narfi, Nat's Father, identical with Mimer. A Pseudo-Narfi in the Younger Edda, . 86. The Two Giant Clans descended from Ymer, 87. The Identity of Mimer and Nidhad of the Volund Saga, . . 428 88. A General Review of Mimer's Names and Epithets, . 89. The Mead-myth, . • • • ■ • " 90 The Mead-myth (continued). The Moon and the Mead. Proofs that Nanna's Father is the Ward of the Atmosphere and God of the Moon, . • • • • 91 The Myth Concerning the Moon-god (continued), 92. The Moon-dis Nanna. The Merseburg Formula. Raider's Name Fair, ..••••• 93. Cosmographic Review, . 94. The Seven Sleepers, ...••■ 95. On the Anthropology of the Mythology, . 399 409 414 416 424 436 438 455 462 463 470 479 494 507 96. Svipdag and Groa, . . • • • • 97. Svipda^ Outside of the Gates of Asgard. Menglad's Identity with rrevja, ...•••• 98. Svipdag brings to Asgard the Sword of Revenge Forged by Volund, 515 99. Svipdag's Father Orvandel, the Star-hero. Explanation of his Epithet S6lDJartr, . • 521 100. Svipdag Rescued Freyja from the Hands of the Giants. Saxo on Otharus and Syritha. Svipdag Identical with Otharus, . 523 101. Svipdag in Saxo's Account of Hotherus, . 53° 102. Svipdag's Synonym Eirekr. Ericus Disertus in Saxo, . • 538 103. The Svipdag Synonym Eirekr (continued), . . • .545 xii TABLE OF CONTENTS. PAGE 104. The Later Fortunes of the Volund Sword, . . . .548 105. The Svipdag Epithet Skirner. The Volund Sword's Name. Gani- bantein, ........ 553 106. Svipdag's Later Fortunes. His Transformation and Death. Freyja goes in Search of him. Freyja's Epithet Mardoll. The Sea- kiilney Brisingamen. Svipdag's Epithet HermoSr, . . 555 107. Reminiscences of the Svipdag-myth, ..... 563 108. Svipdag's Father Orvandel. Evidence that he is identical with Volund's brother Egil. The Orvandel Synonym Ebbo (Ebur, Ibor), ........ 575 109. Frey Fostered in the Home of Orvandel-Egil and Volund. Orvandel's Epithet Isolfr. Volund's Epithet Aggo, . . .587 110. Svipdag's Grandfather is Ivalde. Orvandel, Volund, and Slagfln therefore Identical with Ivalde's Sons, . . . 590 111. The Results of the Judgment passed on the Works of Art produced by the Ivalde Sons. Parallel Myths in Rigveda, . . 593 112. The Consequences of the Judgment Passed on the Ivalde Sons (con- tin a id). Njord's Efforts to bring about a Reconciliation, . 600 113. Proofs that Ivalde's Sons are identical with Olvalde's, . . 604 114. Proofs that Ivalde's Sons are Olvalde's (continued). A Review of Thorsdrapa, ....... 632 115. Review of the Proofs of Volund's Identity with Thjasse, . . 646 116. A Look at the Myth concerning Thjasse- Volund. His Epithet HlebarSr. His Worst Deed of Revenge, . . . 649 117. The Guard at Hvergelmer and the Elivagar, . . . 656 118. Slagfin. His Identity with Gjuke. Slagfin, Egil, and Volund are Niflungs, . . . . . . .659 119. The Nifiung Hoard is the Treasure left by Volund and his Brothers, 661 120. Slagfin-Gjuke's Synonyms : Dankrat (Pakkra'Sr), Irung, Aldrian. Slagfiii a Star-hero like his Brothers. Aldrian's Identity with Cheldricus-Gelderus, ...... 665 121. Slagfin's [dentity with Hjuke. His Appearance in the Moon-myth and in the Balder-myth. Bil's Identity with Idun, . . 668 122. Review of the Synonyms of the Sons of Ivalde, . . . 672 123. Ivalde, •••..... 673 I. INTRODUCTION. A. THE ANCIENT AKYANS. 1. The Words German and Germanic. Already at the beginning of the Christian era the name Ger- mans was applied by the Eomans and Gauls to the many clans of people whose main habitation was the extensive territory east of the Ehine, and north of the forest-clad Hercynian Mountains. That these clans constituted one race was evident to the Eomans, for they all had a striking similarity in type of body ; moreover, a closer acquaintance revealed that their numerous dialects were all variations of the same parent language, and finally, they re- sembled each other in customs, traditions, and religion. The characteristic features of the physical type of the Germans were light hair, blue eyes, light complexion, and tallness of stature as compared with the Eomans. Even the saga-men, from whom the Eoman historian Tacitus gathered the facts for his Gcrmania — an invaluable work for the history of civilisation — knew that in the so-called Svevian Sea, north of the German continent, lay another important part of Germany, inhabited by Sviones, a people divided into several clans. Their kinsmen on the continent described them as rich in weapons and fleets, and in warriors on land and sea (Tac, Germ., 44). This northern sea-girt portion of Germany is called Scan- dinavia— Scandeia by other writers of the Eoman Empire ; and there can be no doubt that this name referred to the peninsula 1 2 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. which, as far back as historical monuments can be found, has been inhabited by the ancestors of the Swedes and the Norwegians. I therefore include in the term Germans the ancestors of both the Scandinavian and Gothic and German (tyske) peoples. Science needs a sharply - denned collective noun for all these kindred branches sprung from one and the same root, and the name by which they make their first appearance in history would doubtless long since have been selected for this purpose had not some of the German writers applied the terms German and Deutsch as synonymous. This is doubtless the reason why Danish authors have adopted the word "Goths" to describe the Germanic nations. But there is an important objection to this in the fact that the name Goths historically is claimed by a particular branch of the family—that branch, namely, to which the East and West Goths belonged, and in order to avoid ambiguity, the term should be applied solely to them. It is therefore necessary to re-adopt the old collective name, even though it is not of Germanic origin, the more so as there is a prospect that a more correct use of the words German and Germanic is about to prevail in ( rermany itself, for the German scholars also feel the weight of the demand which science makes on a precise and rational terminology.* * Yiktur Rydberg styles his work Researches in Germanic Mythology, but after consultation with the Publishers, the Translator decided to use the word Ti iitnnir instead of Germanic both in the title and in the body of the work. In English, the words German, Germany, and Germanic are ambiguous.. The Scandivaniane and Germans have the words Tysldand, tysk, Deutschland, deutsch, when they wish to refer to the present Germany, and thus it is easy for them to adopl tin- words German and Germanisk to describe the Germanic orTeutonic I'f'ijiles collectively. The English language applies the above word Dutch not rmany, but to Holland, and it is necessary to use the words German and Germany in translating deutsch, Deutschland, tysk, and Tysldand. Teutonic has already been adopted by Max Midler and other scholars in England and America as a designation of all the kindred branches sprung from one and the same root, and speaking dialects of the same original tongue. The words Teuton, Teutonic, and Teutondom also have the advantage over German and Germanic thai they are of native growth and not borrowed from a foreign language. In the following pages, therefore, the word Teutonic will be used to describe Scandivanians, Germans, Anglo-Saxons, &c, collectively, while German will be used exclusively in regard to Germany proper. — Translator. TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 2. The Akyan Family of Languages. It is universally known that the Teutonic dialects are related to the Latin, the Greek, the Slavic, and Celtic languages, and that the kinship extends even beyond Europe to the tongues of Armenia, Irania, and India. The holy books ascribed to Zoroaster, which to the priests of Cyrus and Darius were what the Bible is to us ; Rigveda's hymns, which to the people dwelling on the banks of the Ganges are God's revealed word, are written in a language which points to a common origin with our own. However unlike all these kindred tongues may have grown with the lapse of thou- sands of years, still they remain as a sharply-defined group of older and younger sisters as compared with all other language groups of the world. Even the Semitic languages are separated therefrom by a chasm so broad and deep that it is hardly possible to bridge it. This language-group of ours has been named in various ways. It has been called the Indo-Germanic, the Indo-European, and the Aryan family of tongues. I have adopted the last designation. The Armenians, Iranians, and Hindoos I call the Asiatic Aryans ; all the rest I call the European Aryans. Certain it is that these sister-languages have had a common mother, the ancient Aryan speech, and that this has had a geographi- cal centre from which it has radiated. (By such an ancient Aryan language cannot, of course, be meant a tongue stereotyped in all its inflections, like the literary languages of later times, but simply the unity of those dialects which were spoken by the clans dwelling around this centre of radiation.) By comparing the grammatical structure of all the daughters of this ancient mother, and by the aid of the laws hitherto discovered in regard to the transition of sounds from one language to another, attempts have been made to restore this original tongue which many thousand years ago ceased to vibrate. These attempts cannot, of course, in any sense claim to reproduce an image corresponding to the lost original as regards syntax and inflections. Such a task would be as impossible as to reconstruct, on the basis of all the now spoken languages derived from the Latin, the dialect used in Latium. The purpose is simply to present as faithful an idea of the ancient tongue as the existing means permit. 4 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. In the most ancient historical times Aryan-speaking people were found only in Asia and Europe. In seeking for the centre and the earliest conquests of the ancient Aryan language, the scholar may therefore keep within the limits of these two con- tinents, and in Asia he may leave all the eastern and the most of the southern portion out of consideration, since these extensive regions have from prehistoric times been inhabited by Mongolian and allied tribes, and may for the present be regarded as the cradle of these races. It may not be necessary to remind the reader that the question of the original home of the ancient Aryan tongue is not the same as the question in regard to the cradle of the Caucasian race. The white race may have existed, and may have been spread over a considerable portion of the old world, before a language possessing the peculiarities belonging to the Aryan had appeared; and it is a known fact that southern portions of Europe, such as the Greek and Italian peninsulas, were inhabited by white people before they were conquered by Aryans. 3. The Hypothesis concerning the Asiatic Origin of the Aryans. When the question of the original home of the Aryan language and race was first presented, there were no conflicting opinions on the main subject* All who took any interest in the problem referred to Asia as the cradle of the Aryans. Asia had always been regarded as the cradle of the human race. In primeval time, the yellow Mongolian, the black African, the American redskin, and the fair European had there tented side by side. From some common centre in Asia they had spread over the whole surface of the inhabited earth. Traditions found in the literatures of various Kmopean peoples in regard to an immigration from the East sup- ported this view. The progenitors of the Romans were said to have come from Troy. The fathers of the Teutons were reported to have immigrated from Asia, led by Odin. There was also the original home of the domestic animals and of the cultivated plants. Ami when the startling discovery was made that the sacred books of lli*- Iranians and Hindoos were written in languages related to • Compare 0. Schroder, Sprachvergleichung wnd Urgcschichte (1883). TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 5 the culture languages of Europe, when these; linguistic monuments betrayed a wealth of inflections in comparison with which those of the classical languages turned pale, and when they seemed to have the stamp of an antiquity by the side of which the European dialects seemed like children, then what could be more natural than the following conclusion : The original form has been pre- served in the original home ; the farther the streams of emigra- tion got away from this home, the more they lost on the way of their language and of their inherited view of the world ; that is, of their mythology, which among the Hindoos seemed so original and simple as if it had been watered by the dews of life's dawn. To begin with, there was no doubt that the original tongue itself, the mother of all the other Aryan languages, had already been found when Zend or Sanscrit was discovered. Fr. v. Schlegel, in his work published in 1808, on the Language and Wisdom of the Hindoos, regarded Sanscrit as the mother of the Aryan family of languages, and India as the original home of the Aryan family of peoples. Thence, it was claimed, colonies were sent out in pre- historic ages to other parts of Asia and to Europe ; nay, even mis- sionaries went forth to spread the language and religion of the mother-country among other peoples. Schlegel's compatriot Link looked upon Zend as the oldest language and mother of Sanscrit, and the latter he regarded as the mother of the rest ; and as the Zend, in his opinion, was spoken in Media and surrounding countries, it followed that the highlands of Media, Armenia, and Georgia were the original home of the Aryans, a view which prevailed among the leading scholars of the age, such as Anquetil-Uuperron, Herder, and Heeren, and found a place in the historical text-books used in the schools from 1820 to 1840. Since Bopp published his epoch-making Comparative Grammar the illusion that the Aryan mother-tongue had been discovered had, of course, gradually to give place to the conviction that all the Aryan languages, Zend and Sanscrit included, were relations of equal birth. This also affected the theory that the Persians or Hindoos were the original people, and that the cradle of our race was to be sought in their homes. On the other hand, the Hindooic writings were found to con- tain evidence that, during the centuries in which the most of the 6 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. Rigveda songs were produced, the Hindooic Aryans were possessors only of Kabulistan and Pendschab, whence, either expelling or subjugating an older black population, they had advanced toward the Ganges. Their social condition was still serai-nomadic, at least in the sense that their chief property consisted in herds, and the feuda between the clans had for their object the plundering of such possessions from each other. Both these facts indicated that these Aryans were immigrants to the Indian peninsula, but not the aborigines, wherefore their original home must be sought elsewhere. The strong resemblance found between Zend and Sanscrit, and which makes these dialects a separate subdivision in the Ayran family of languages, must now, since we have learned to regard them as M^trr-tongues, be interpreted as a proof that the Zend people or Iranians and the Sanscrit people or Hindoos were in ancient times one people with a common country, and that this union must have continued to exist long after the European Aryans were parted from them and had migrated westwards. When, then, the question was asked where this Indo-Iraniau cradle was situated, the answer was thought to be found in a chapter of Avesta, to which the German scholar lihode had called attention already in 1820. To him it seemed to refer to a migration from a more northerly and colder country. The passage speaks of sixteen countries created by the fountain of light and goodness, Ormuzd (Ahura Mazda), and of sixteen plagues produced by the fountain of evil, Ahriman (Angra Mainyn), to destroy the work of Ormuzd. The first country was a paradise, but Ahriman ruined it with cold and frost, so that it had ten months of winter and only two of summer. The second country, in the name of which Sughda Sogdiana was recognised, was rendered uninhabitable by Ahriman by a pest which destroyed the domestic animals. Ahriman made the third (which, by the way, was recognised as Merv) impossible as a dwelling on account of never-ceasing wars and plunderings. In this manner thirteen other countries with partly recognisable names are enumerated as created by Ormuzd, and thirteen other plagues produced by Ahriman. Ifhode's view, that these sixteen regions were stations in the migration of the Indo-Iranian people from their original country became universally adopted, and it was thought that the track of the migration could now be followed back through Persis, Baktria, and Sogdiana, up to the first region created by Ormuzd, TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 7 which, accordingly, must have been situated in the interior high- lands of Asia, around the sources of the Jaxartes and Oxus. The reason for the emigration hence was found in the statement that, although Ormuzd had made this country an agreeable abode, Ahriman had destroyed it with frost and snow. In other words, this part of Asia was supposed to have had originally a warmer temperature, which suddenly or gradually became lower, wherefore the inhabitants found it necessary to seek new homes in the West and South. The view that the sources of Oxus and Jaxartes are the original home of the Aryans is even now the prevailing one, or at least the one most widely accepted, and since the day of Rhode it has been supported and developed by several distinguished scholars. Then Julius v. Klaproth pointed out, already in 1830, that, among the many names of various kinds of trees found in India, there is a single one which they have in common with other Aryan peoples, and this is the name of the birch. India has many kinds of trees that do not grow in Central Asia, but the birch is found both at the sources of the Oxus and Jaxartes, and on the southern spurs of the Himalaya mountains. If the Aryan Hindoos immi- grated from the highlands of Central Asia to the regions through which the Indus and Ganges seek their way to the sea, then it is natural, that when they found on their way new unknown kinds of trees, then they gave to these new names, but when they discovered a tree with which they had long been acquainted, then they would apply the old familiar name to it. Mr. Lassen, the great scholar of Hindooic antiquities, gave new reasons for the theory that the Aryan Hindoos were immigrants, who through the western pass of Hindukush and through Kabulistan came to Pendschab, and thence slowly occupied the Indian peninsula. That their original home, as well as that of their Iranian kinsmen, was that part of the highlands of Central Asia pointed out by Khode, he found corroborated by the circumstance, that there are to be found there, even at the present time, remnants of a people, the so-called Tadchiks, who speak Iranian dialects. According to Lassen, these were to be regarded as direct descendants of the original Aryan people, who remained in the original home, while other parts of the same people migrated to Baktria or Persia and became Iranians, or migrated down to Pendschab and became 8 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. Hindoos, or migrated to Europe and became Celts, Greco-Italians, Teutons, and Slavs. Jacob Grimm, whose name will always be mentioned with honour as the great pathfinder in the field of Teutonic antiquities, was of the same opinion ; and that whole school of scientists who were influenced by romanticism and by the philosophy of Schelling made haste to add to the real support sought for the theory in ethnological and philological facts, a support from the laws of natural analogy and from poetry. A mountain range, so it was said, is the natural divider of waters. From its fountains the streams flow in different directions and irrigate the plains. In the same manner the highlands of Central Asia were the divider of Aryan folk-streams, which through Baktria sought their way to the plains of Persia, through the mountain passes of Hindukush to India, through the lands north of the Caspian Sea to the extensive plains of modern Eussia, and so on to the more inviting regions of Western Europe. The sun rises in the east, ex oriente lux ; the-highly gifted race, which was to found the European nations, has, under the guidance of Pro- vidence, like the sun, wended its way from east to west. In taking a grand view of the subject, a mystic harmony was found to exist between the apparent course of the sun and the real migrations of people. The minds of the people dwelling in Central and Eastern Asia seemed to be imbued with a strange instinctive yearning. The Aryan folk-streams, which in pre- historic times deluged Europe, were in this respect the forerunners of the hordes of Huns which poured in from Asia, and which in the fourth century gave the impetus to the Teutonic migrations, and of the Mongolian hordes which in the thirteenth century invaded our continent. The Europeans themselves are led by this same instinct to follow the course of the sun : they flow in great numbers to America, and these folk-billows break against each other on the coasts of the Pacific Ocean. " At the breast of oui Asiatic mother," thus exclaimed, in harmony with the romantic school, a scholar with no mean linguistic attainments — " at the breast of our Asiatic mother, the Aryan people of Europe have rested; around her as their mother they have played as children. There or nowhere is the playground ; there or nowhere is the gymnasium of the first physical and intellectual efforts on the part of the Aryan race." TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 9 The theory that the cradle of the Aryan race stood in Central Asia near the sources of the Indus and Jaxartes had hardly been contradicted in 1850, and seemed to be secured for the future by the great number of distinguished and brilliant names which had given their adhesion to it. The need was now felt of clearing up the order and details of these emigrations. All the light to be thrown on this subject had to come from philology and from the geography of plants and animals. The first author who, in this manner and with the means indicated, attempted to furnish proofs in detail that the ancient Aryan land was situated around the Oxus river was Adolphe Pictet. There, he claimed, the Aryan language had been formed out of older non-Aryan dialects. There the Aryan race, on account of its spreading over Baktria and neighbouring regions, had divided itself into branches of various dialects, which there, in a limited territory, held the same geogra- phical relations to each other as they hold to each other at the present time in another and immensely larger territory. In the East lived the nomadic branch which later settled in India ; in the East, too, but farther north, that branch herded their flocks, which afterwards became the Iranian and took possession of Persia. West of the ancestors of the Aryan Hindoos dwelt the branch which later appears as the Greco-Italians, and north of the latter the common progenitors of Teutons and Slavs had their home. In the extreme West dwelt the Celts, and they were also the earliest emigrants to the West. Behind them marched the ancestors of the Teutons and Slavs by a more northern route to Europe. The last in this procession to Europe were the ancestors of the Greco-Italians, and for this reason their languages have preserved more resemblance to those of the Indo- Iranians who migrated into Southern Asia than those of the other European Aryans. Eor this view Pictet gives a number of reasons. Accord- ing to him, the vocabulary common to more or less of the Aryan branches preserves names of minerals, plants, and animals which are found in those latitudes, and in those parts of Asia which he calls the original Aryan country. The German linguist Schleicher has to some extent discussed the same problem as Pictet in a series of works published in the fifties and sixties. The same has been done by the famous German- English scientist Max Miiller. Schleicher's theory, briefly stated, is HI TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. the following. The Aryan race originated in Central Asia. There, in the most ancient Aryan country, the original Aryan tongue was spoken for many generations. The people multiplied and enlarged their territory, and in various parts of the country they occupied, the language assumed various forms, so that there were developed at least two different languages before the great migrations began. As the chief cause of the emigrations, Schleicher regards the fact that the primitive agriculture practised by the Aryans, including the burning of the forests, impoverished the soil and had a bad effect on the climate. The principles he laid down and tried to vindicate were : (1) The farther East an Aryan people dwells, the more it has preserved of the peculiarities of the original Aryan tongue. (2) The farther West an Aryan-derived tongue and daughter people are found, the earlier this language was separated from the mother-tongue, and the earlier this people became separated from the original stock. Max Muller holds the common view in regard to the Asiatic origin of the Aryans. The main difference between him and Schleicher is that Muller assumes that the Aryan tongue originally divided itself into an Asiatic and an European branch. He accordingly believes that all the Aryan- European tongues and all the Aryan-European peoples have de- veloped from the same European branch, while Schleicher assumes that in the beginning the division produced a Teutonic and Letto- Slavic branch on the one hand, and an Indo-lranian, Greco-Italic, and Celtic on the other. This view of the origin of the Aryans had scarcely met with any opposition when we entered the second half of our century. We might add that it had almost ceased to be questioned. The theory that the Aryans were cradled in Asia seemed to be established as an historical fact, supported by a mass of ethno- graphical, linguistic, and historical arguments, and vindicated by ;i host of brilliant scientific names. 4. The Hypothesis concerning the European Origin of the Aryans. In the year 1854 was heard for the first time a voice of doubt. The sceptic was an English ethnologist, by name Latham, who had TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 11 spent many years in Russia studying the natives of that country. Latham was unwilling to admit that a single one of the many reasons given for the Asiatic origin of our family of languages was conclusive, or that the accumulative weight of all the reasons given amounted to real evidence. He urged that they who at the outset had treated this question had lost sight of the rules of logic, and that in explaining a fact it is a mistake to assume too many premises. The great fact which presents itself and which is to be explained is this : There are Aryans in Europe and there are Aryans in Asia. The major part of Aryans are in Europe, and here the original language has split itself into the greatest number of idioms. From the main Aryan trunk in Europe only two branches extend into Asia. The northern branch is a new creation, consisting of Prussian colonisation from Europe ; the southern branch, that is, the Iranian-Hindooic, is, on the other hand, pre- historic, but was still growing in the dawn of history, and the branch was then growing from West to East, from Indus toward Ganges. When historical facts to the contrary are wanting, then the root of a great family of languages should naturally be looked for in the ground which supports the trunk and is shaded by the crown, and not underneath the ends of the farthest-reaching branches. The mass of Mongolians dwell in Eastern Asia, and for this very reason Asia is accepted as the original home of the Mongolian race. The great mass of Aryans live in Europe, and have lived there as far back as history sheds a ray of light. Why, then, not apply to the Aryans and to Europe the same conclusions as hold good in the case of the Mongolians and Asia ? And why not apply to ethnology the same principles as are admitted un- challenged in regard to the geography of plants and animals ? Do we not in botany and zoology seek the original home and centre of a species where it shows the greatest vitality, the greatest power of multiplying and producing varieties ? These questions, asked by Latham, remained for some time unanswered, but finally they led to a more careful examination of the soundness of the reasons given for the Asiatic hypothesis. The gist of Latham's protest is, that the question was decided in favour of Asia without an examination of the other possibility, and that in such an examination, if it were undertaken, it would appear at the very outset that the other possibility — that is, the 12 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. European origin of the Aryans— is more plausible, at least from the standpoint of methodology. This objection on the part of an English scholar did not even produce an echo for many years, and it seemed to be looked upon simply as a manifestation of that fondness for eccentricity which we are wont to ascribe to his nationality. He repeated his protest in 1862, but it still took five years before it appeared to have made any impression. In 1867, the celebrated linguist Whitney came out, not to defend Latham's theory that Europe is the cradle of the Aryan race, but simply to clear away the widely spread error that the science of languages had demonstrated the Asiatic origin of the Aryans. As already indicated, it was especially Adolphe Pictet Mho had given the first impetus to this illusion in his great work Origincs indo-europeenncs. Already, before Whitney, the Germans Weber and Kuhn had, without attacking the Asiatic hypothesis, shown that the most of Pictet's arguments failed to prove that for which they were intended. Whitney now came and refuted them all without exception, and at the same time he attacked the assumption made by PJiode, and until that time universally accepted, that a record of an Aryan emigration from the highlands of Central Asia was to be found in that chapter of Avesta which speaks of the sixteen lands created by Ormuzd for the good of man, but which Ahriman destroyed by sixteen different plagues. Avesta does not with a single word indicate that the first of these Li in Is which Ahriman destroyed with snow and frost is to be regarded as the original home of the Iranians, or that they ever in the past emigrated from any of them. The assumption that a migration record of historical value conceals itself within this geo- graphical mythological sketch is a mere conjecture, and yet it was made the very basis of the hypothesis so confidently built upon for years about Central Asia as the starting-point of the Aryans. The following year, 1868, a prominent German linguist — Mr. Benfey — came forward and definitely took Latham's side. He remarked at the outset that hitherto geological investigations had found the oldest traces of human existence in the soil of Europe, and that, so long as this is the case, there is no scientific fact which can admit the assumption that the present European stock has immigrated from Asia after the quaternary period. The mother-tongues of many of the dialects which from time imme- TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 13 morial have been spoken in Europe may just as well have originated on this continent as the mother-tongues of the Mongolian dialects now spoken in Eastern Asia have originated where the descendants now dwell. That the Aryan mother-tongue originated in Europe, not in Asia, Benfey found probably on the following grounds : In Asia, lions are found even at the present time as far to the north as ancient Assyria, and the tigers make depredations over the highlands of Western Iran, even to the coasts of the Caspian Sea. These great beasts of prey are known and named even among Asiatic people who dwell north of their habitats. If, therefore, the ancient Aryans had lived in a country visited by these animals, or if they had been their neighbours, they certainly would have had names for them ; but we find that the Aryan Hindoos call the lion by a word not formed from an Aryan root, and that the Aryan Greeks borrowed the word lion (Xis Xecov) from a Semitic language. (There is, however, division of opinion on this point.) Moreover, the Aryan languages have borrowed the word camel, by which the chief beast of burden in Asia is called. The home of this animal is Baktria, or precisely that part of Central Asia in the vicinity of which an effort has been made to locate the cradle of the Aryan tongue. Benfey thinks the ancient Aryan country has been situated in Europe, north of the Black Sea, between the mouth of the Danube and the Caspian Sea. Since the presentation of this argument, several defenders of the European hypothesis have come forward, among them Geiger, Cuno, Friedr. Miiller. Spiegel, Posche, and more recently Schrader and Penka. Schrader's work, Sprachvcrgleidtung und Urgcschichte, contains an excellent general review of the history of the question, original contributions to its solution, and a critical but cautious opinion in regard to its present position. In France, too, the Euro- pean hypothesis has found many adherents. Geiger found, indeed, that the cradle of the Aryan race was to be looked for much farther to the west than Benfey and others had supposed. His hypothesis, based on the evidence furnished by the geography of plants, places the ancient Aryan land in Germany. The cautious Schrader, who dislikes to deal with conjectures, regards the question as undecided, but he weighs the arguments presented by the various sides, and reaches the conclusion that those in favour of the European origin of the Aryans are the stronger, but that they are not conclusive. 14 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. Schrader himself, through his linguistic and historical investiga- tions, has been led to believe that the Aryaus, while they still were one people, belonged to the stone age, and had not yet become acquainted with the use of metals. 5. The Aryan Land of Europe. On one point— and that is for our purpose the most important one — the advocates of both hypotheses have approached each other. The leaders of the defenders of the Asiatic hypothesis have ceased to regard Asia as the cradle of all the dialects into which the ancient Aryan tongue has been divided. While they cling to the theory that the Aryan inhabitants of Europe have immigrated from Asia, they have well-nigh entirely ceased to claim" that these peoples, already before their departure from their Eastern home, were so distinctly divided linguistically that it was necessary to imagine certain branches of the race speaking Celtic, others Teutonic, others, again, Greco-Italian, even before they came to Europe. The prevailing opinion among the advocates of the Asiatic hypothesis now doubtless is, that the Aryans who immigrated to Europe formed one homogeneous mass, which gradu- ally on our continent divided itself definitely into Celts, Teutons, Slavs, and Greco-Italians. The adherents of both hypotheses have thus been able to agree that there has been a European-Aryan country. And the question as to where it was located is of the most vital importance, as it is closely connected with the question of the original home of the Teutons, since the ancestors of the Teutons must have inhabited this ancient European-Aryan country. Philology has attempted to answer the former question by comparing all the words of all the Aryan - European languages. The attempt has many obstacles to overcome ; for, as Schrader has remarked, the ancient words which to-day are common to all or several of these languages are presumably a mere remnant of the ancient European-Aryan vocabulary. Nevertheless, it is possible to arrive at important results in this manner, if we draw con- clusions from the words that remain, but take care not to draw conclusions from what is wanting. TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 15 The view gained in this manner is, brieHy stated, as follows : The Aryan country of Europe has been situated in latitudes where snow and ice are common phenomena. The people who have emigrated thence to more southern climes have not forgotten either the one or the other name of those, phenomena. To a com- paratively northern latitude points also the circumstance that the ancient European Aryans recognised only three seasons — winter, spring, and summer. This division of the year continued among the Teutons even in the days of Tacitus. For autumn they had no name. Many words for mountains, valleys, streams, and brooks com- mon to all the languages show that the European-Aryan land was not wanting in elevations, rocks, and flowing waters. Nor has it been a treeless plain. This is proven by many names of trees. The trees are fir, birch, willow, elm, elder, hazel, and a beech called bhaga, which means a tree with eatable fruit. From this word bhaga is derived the Greek $77709, the Latin fagus, the German Buehe, and the Swedish bok. But it is a remarkable fact that the Greeks did not call the beech but the oak $77709, while the Romans called the beech fagus. From this we conclude that the European Aryans applied the word bhaga both to the beech and the oak, since both bear similar fruit ; but in some parts of the country the name was particularly applied to the beech, in others to the oak. The beech is a species of tree which gradually ap- proaches the north. On the European continent it is not found east of a line drawn from Konigsberg across Poland and Podoliato Crimea. This leads to the conclusion that the Aryan country of Europe must to a great extent have been situated west of this line, and that the regions inhabited by the ancestors of the Romans, and north of them by the progenitors of the Teutons, must be looked for west of this botanical line, and between the Alps and the North Sea. Linguistic comparisons also show that the Aryan territory of Europe was situated near an ocean or large body of water. Scandinavians, Germans, Celts, and Romans have preserved a common name for the ocean — the Old Norse mar, the Old High German mari, the Latin marc. The names of certain sea-animals are also common to various Aryan languages. The Swedish hummer (lobster) corresponds to the Greek Kaudpos. and the Swedish sal (seal) to the Greek o-e\a^;o9. 16 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. In the Aryan country of Europe there were domestic animals — cows, sheep, and goats. The horse was also known, but it is uncertain whether it was used for riding or driving, or simply valued on account of its flesh and milk. On the other hand, the ass was not known, its domain being particularly the plains of Central Asia. The bear, wolf, otter, and beaver certainly belonged to the fauna of Aryan Europe. The European Aryans must have cultivated at least one, perhaps two kinds of grain ; also flax, the name of which is preserved in the Greek \lvov (linen), the Latin linum, and in other languages. The Aryans knew the art of brewing mead from honey. That liny also understood the art of drinking it even to excess may be taken for granted. This drink was dear to the hearts of the ancient Aryans, and its name has been faithfully preserved both by the tribes that settled near the Ganges, and by those who emigrated to Great Britain. The Brahmin by the Ganges still knows this beverage as madhu, the Welshman has known it as medu, the Lithuanian as mcdus ; and when the Greek Aryans came to Southern Europe and became acquainted with wine, they gave it the name of mead (fxeOv). It is not probable that the European Aryans knew bronze or iron, or, if they did know any of the metals, had any large quantity 01 made any daily use of them, so long as they linguistically formed one homogeneous body, and lived in that part of Europe which we here call the Aryan domain. The only common name for metal is that which we find in the Latin aes (copper), in the Gothic "/:, and in the Hindooic dyas. As is known, the Latin aes, like the Gothic "iz, means both copper and bronze. That the wind originally meant copper, and afterwards came to signify bronze, which is an alloy of copper and tin, seems to be a matter of course, and that it was applied only to copper and not to bronze among the ancient Aryans seems clear not only because a common name for tin is wanting, but also for the far better and remarkable reason particularly pointed out by Schrader, that all the Aryan European languages, even those which are nearest akin to each other ;md are each other's neighbours, lack a common word for the tools of a smith and the inventory of a forge, and also for the various kinds of weapons of defence and attack. Most of all does TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 17 it astonish us, that in respect to weapons the dissimilarity of names is so complete in the Greek and Koman tongues. Despite this fact, the ancient Aryans have certainly used various kinds of •weapons — the club, the hammer, the axe, the knife, the spear, and the crossbow. All these weapons are of such a character that they could be made of stone, wood, and horn. Things more easily change names when the older materials of which they were made give place to new, hitherto unknown materials. It is, therefore, probable that the European Aryans were in the stone age, and at best were acquainted with copper before and during the period when their language was divided into several dialects. Where, then, on our continent was the home of this Aryan European people in the stone age ? Southern Europe, with its peninsulas extending into the Mediterranean, must doubtless have been outside of the boundaries of the Aryan land of Europe. The Greek Aryans have immigrated to Hellas, and the Italian Aryans are immigrants to the Italian peninsula. Spain has even within historical times been inhabited by Iberians and Basques, and Basques dwell there at present. If, as the linguistic monu- ments seem to prove, the European Aryans lived near an ocean, this cannot have been the Mediterranean Sea. There remain the Black and Caspian Sea on the one hand, the Baltic and the North Sea on the other. But if, as the linguistic monuments likewise seem to prove, the European Aryans for a great part, at least, lived west of a botanical line indicated by the beech in a country producing fir, oak, elm, and elder, then they could not have been limited to the treeless plains which extend along the Black Sea from the mouth of the Danube, through Dobrudscha, Bessarabia, and Cherson, past the Crimea. Students of early Greek history do not any longer assume that the Hellenic immigrants found their way through these countries to Greece, but that they came from the north-west and followed the Adriatic down to Epirus ; in other words, they came the same way as the Visigoths under Alarik, and the Eastgoths under Theodoric in later times. Even the Latin tribes came from the north. The migrations of the Celts, so far as history sheds any light on the subject, were from the north and west toward the south and east. The movements of the Teutonic races were from north to south, and they migrated both eastward and westward. Both prehistoric and historic beta 2 18 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. thus tend to establish the theory that the Aryan domain of Europe, within undefinable limits, comprised the central and north part of Europe ; and as one or more seas were known to these Aryans, we cannot exclude from the limits of this knowledge the ocean pene- trating the north of Europe from the west. On account of their undeveloped agriculture, which compelled them to depend chiefly on cattle for their support, the European Aryans must have occupied an extensive territory. Of the mutual position and of the movements of the various tribes within this territory nothing can be stated, except that sooner or later, but already away back in prehistoric times, they must have occupied precisely the position in which we find them at the dawn of history and which they now hold. The Aryan tribes which first entered Gaul must have lived west of those tribes which became the progenitors of the Teutons, and the latter must have lived west of those who spread an Aryan language over Eussia. South of this line, but still in Central Europe, there must have dwelt another body of Aryans, the ancestors of the Greeks and Eomans, the latter west of the former. Farthest to the north of all these tribes must have dwelt those people who afterwards produced the Teutonic tongue. B. ANCIENT TEUTONDOM (GERMANIEN). 6. The Geographical Position of Ancient Teutondom. The Stone Age of Prehistoric Teutondom. The northern position of the ancient Teutons necessarily had the effect that they, better than all other Aryan people, preserved their original race-type, as they were less exposed to mixing with non- Aryan elements. In the south, west, and east, they had kinsmen, separating them from non- Aryan races. To the north, on the other hand, lay a territory which, by its very nature, could be but sparsely populated, if it was inhabited at all, before it was occupied by the fathers of the Teutons. The Teutonic type, which doubtless also was the Aryan in general before much spreading and consequent mixing with other races had taken place, has, as already indicated, been described in the following manner : Tall, white skin, blue eyes, TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 19 fair hair. Anthropological science has given them one more murk — they are dolicocephalons, that is, having skulls whose anterio- posterior diameter, or that from the frontal to the occipital bone, exceeds the transverse diameter. This type appears most pure in the modern Swedes, Norwegians, Danes, and to some extent the Dutch ; in the inhabitants of those parts of Great Britain that are most densely settled by Saxon and Scandinavian emigrants ; and in the people of certain parts of North Germany. Welcker's craniological measurements give the following figures for the breadth and length of Teutonic skulls : Swedes and Hollanders, , 75—71 belt Icelanders and Danes^ 76—71 ^1A Englishmen, ..... . 76—73 ' Holsteinians, 77—71 Hanoverians, } 77—72 The vicinity of Jena, Bonn, and Cologne Hessians, . 79—72 Swabians, . 79—73 Bavarians, 80—74 Thus the dolicocephalous form passes in Middle and Southern Germany into the brachycephalous. The investigations made at the suggestion of Virchow in Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, and Austria, in regard to blonde and brunette types, are of great interest. An examination of more than nine million individuals showed the following result : Germany, 31-80 % blonde, 14-05 % brunette, 54-15 % mixed. Austria, 19-79% „ 2317% „ 57'04% „ Switzerland, 11-10% „ 25*70% „ 61-40% „ Thus the blonde type has by far a greater number of representa- tives in Germany than in the southern part of Central Europe, though the latter has German-speaking inhabitants. In Germany itself the blonde type decreases and the brunette increases from north to south, while at the same time the dolicocephalous gives place to the brachycephalous. Southern Germany has 25 % of brunettes, North Germany only 7 %. If we now, following the strict rules of methodology which 20 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. Latham insists on, bear in mind that the cradle of a race- or language-type should, if there are no definite historical facts to the contrary, especially be looked for where this type is most abundant and least changed, then there is no doubt that the part of Aryan Europe which the ancestors of the Teutons inhabited when they developed the Aryan tongue into the Teutonic must have included the coast of the Baltic and the North Sea. This theory is certainly not contradicted, but, on the other hand, supported by the facts so far as we have any knowledge of them. Eoman history supplies evidence that the same parts of Europe in which the Teutonic type predominates at the present time were Teutonic already at the beginning of our era, and that then already the Scandinavian peninsula was inhabited by a North Teutonic people, which, among their kinsmen on the Continent, were celebrated for their wealth in ships and warriors. Centuries must have passed ere the Teutonic colonisation of the peninsula could have developed into so much strength — centuries during which, judging from all indications, the transition from the bronze to the iron age in Scandinavia must have taken place. The painstaking investigations of Montelius, conducted on the principle of methodology, have led him to the conclusion that Scandinavia and North Germany formed during the bronze age one common domain of culture in regard to weapons and implements. The manner in which the other domains of culture group themselves in Europe leaves no other place for the Teutonic race than Scandinavia and North Germany, and possibly Austria-Hungary, which the Teutonic domain resembles most. Back of the bronze age lies the stone age. The examinations, by v. Duben, Gustaf Eetzius, and Virchow, of skeletons found in northern graves from the stone age prove the existence at that time of a race in the North which, so far as the characteristics of the skulls are concerned, cannot be distinguished from the race now dwelling there. Here it is necessary to take into con- sideration the results of probability reached by comparative philology, showing that the European Aryans were still in the stone age when they divided themselves into Celts, Teutons, &c, and occupied separate territories, and the fact that the Teutons, so far back as conclusions may be drawn from historical know- ledge, have occupied a more northern domain than their kinsmen. Thus all tends to show that when the Scandinavian peninsula was TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 21 first settled by Aryans — doubtless coming from the South by way of Denmark — these Aryans belonged to the same race, which, later in history, appear with a Teutonic physiognomy and with Teutonic speech, and that their immigration to and occupation of the southern parts of the peninsula took place in the time of the Aryan stone age. For the history of civilisation, and particularly for mythology, these results are important. It is a problem to be solved by com- parative mythology what elements in the various groups of Aryan myths may be the original common property of the race while the race was yet undivided. The conclusions reached gain in trustworthiness the further the Aryan tribes, whose myths are compared, are separated from each other geographically. If, for instance, the Teutonic mythology on the one hand and the Asiatic Aryan (Avesta and Eigveda) on the other are made the subject of comparative study, and if groups of myths are found which are identical not only in their general character and in many details, but also in the grouping of the details and the epic connection of the myths, then the probability that they belong to an age when the ancestors of the Teutons and those of the Asiatic Aryans dwelt together is greater, in the same proportion as the probability of an intimate and detailed exchange of ideas after the separation grows less between these tribes on account of the geo- graphical distance. With all the certainty which it is possible for research to arrive at in this field, we may assume that these common groups of myths — at least the centres around which they revolve — originated at a time when the Aryans still formed, so to speak, a geographical and linguistic unity — in all probability at a time which lies far back in a common Aryan stone age. The discovery of groups of myths of this sort thus sheds light on beliefs and ideas that existed in the minds of our ancestors in an age of which we have no information save that which we get from the study of the finds. The latter, when investigated by pains- taking and penetrating archaeological scholars, certainly give us highly instructive information in other directions. In this manner it becomes possible to distinguish between older and younger elements of Teutonic mythology, and to secure a basis for studying its development through centuries which have left us no literary monuments. 22 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. II. A. MEDIEVAL MIGRATION SAGAS. The Learned Saga in Regard to the Emigration from Troy- Asgard. 7. The Saga in Heimskringla and the Prose Edda. In the preceding pages we have given the reasons which make it appear proper to assume that ancient Teutondom, within certain indefinable limits, included the coasts of the Baltic and the North Sea, that the Scandinavian countries constituted a part of this ancient Teutondom, and that they have been peopled by Teutons since the days of the stone age. The subject which I am now about to discuss requires an investi- gation in reference to what the Teutons themselves believed, in regard to this question, in the earliest times of which we have knowledge. Did they look upon themselves as aborigines or as immigrants in Teutondom ? For the mythology, the answer to this question is of great weight. For pragmatic history, on the other hand, the answer is of little importance, for whatever they believed gives no reliable basis for conclusions in regard to historical facts. If they regarded themselves as aborigines, this does not hinder their having immi- grated in prehistoric times, though their traditions have ceased to speak of it. If they regarded themselves as immigrants, then it does not follow that the traditions, in regard to the immigration, contain any historical kernel. Of the former we have an example in the case of the Brahmins and the higher castes in India : their orthodoxy requires them to regard themselves as aborigines of the country in which they live, although there is evidence that they are immigrants. Of the latter the Swedes are an example : the people here have been taught to believe that a greater or less portion of the inhabitants of Sweden are descended from immigrants who, led by Odin, are supposed to have come here about one hundred years before the birth of Christ, and that this immigration, whether it brought many or few people, was of the most decisive influence on the culture of the country, so that Swedish history might properly begin with the moment when Odin planted his feet on Swedish soil. TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 23 The more accessible sources of the traditions in regard to Odin's immigration to Scandinavia are found in the Icelandic works, Heimskringla and the Prose Edda. Both sources are from the same time, that is, the thirteenth century, and are separated by more than two hundred years from the heathen age in Iceland. We will first consider Heimskringla's story. A river, by name Tanakvisl, or Vanakvisl, empties into the Black Sea. This river separates Asia from Europe. East of Tanakvisl, that is to say, then in Asia, is a country formerly called Asaland or Asaheim, and the chief citadel or town in that country was called Asgard. It was a great city of sacrifices, and there dwelt a chief who was known by the name Odin. Under him ruled twelve men who were high- priests and judges. Odin was a great chieftain and conqueror, and so victorious was he, that his men believed that victory was wholly inseparable from him. If he laid his blessing hand on anybody's head, success was sure to attend him. Even if he was absent, if called upon in distress or danger, his very name seemed to give comfort. He frequently went far away, and often remained absent half-a-year at a time. His kingdom was then ruled by his brothers Vile and Ve. Once he was absent so long that the Asas believed that he would never return. Then his brothers married his wife Frigg. Finally he returned, however, and took Frigg back ayain. The Asas had a people as their neighbours called the Vans. Odin made war on the Vans, but they defended themselves bravely. When both parties had been victorious and suffered defeat, they grew weary of warring, made peace, and exchanged hostages. The Vans sent their best son Njord and his son Frey, and also Kvaser, as hostages to the Asas ; and the latter gave in exchange Honer and Mimer. Odin gave Njord and Frey the dignity of priests. Frey's sister, too, Freyja, was made a priestess. The Vans treated the hostages they had received with similar consideration, and created Honer a chief and judge. But they soon seemed to discover that Honer was a stupid fellow. They considered themselves cheated in the exchange, and, being angry on this account, they cut off the head, not of Honer, but of his wise brother Mimer, and sent it to Odin. He embalmed the head, sang magic songs over it, so that it could talk to him and tell him many strange things. Asaland, where Odin ruled, is separated by a great mountain 24 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. range from Tyrkland, by which Heimskringla means Asia Minor, of which the celebrated Troy was supposed to have been the capital. In Tyrkland, Odin also had great possessions. But at that time the Romans invaded and subjugated all lands, and many rulers fled on that account from their kingdoms. And Odin, being wise and versed in the magic art, and knowing, therefore, that his descendants were to people the northern part of the world, he left his kingdom to his brothers Vile and Ve, and migrated with many followers to Gardarike, Eussia. Njord, Frey, and Freyja, and the other priests who had ruled under him in Asgard, accompanied him, and sons of his were also with him. From Gardarike he proceeded to Saxland, conquered vast countries, and made his sons rulers over them. From Saxland he went to Funen, and settled there. Seeland did not then exist. Odin sent the maid Gefion north across the water to investigate what country was situated there. At that time ruled in Svithiod a chief by name Gylfe. He gave Gefion a ploughland,* and, by the help of four giants changed into oxen, Gefion cut out with the plough, and dragged into the sea near Funen that island which is now called Seeland. Where the land was ploughed away there is now a lake called Logrin. Skjold, Odin's son, got this land, and married Gefion. And when Gefion informed Odin that Gylfe possessed a good land, Odin went thither, and Gylfe, being unable to make resistance, though he too was a wise man skilled in witchcraft and sorcery, a peaceful compact was made, according to which Odin acquired a vast territory around Logrin ; and in Sigtuna he established a great temple, where sacrifices henceforth were offered according to the custom of the Asas. To his priests he gave dwellings — Noatun to Njord, Upsala to Frey, Himminbjoig to Heimdal, Thrudvang to Thor, Breidablik to Balder, &c. Many new sports came to the North with Odin, and he and the Asas taught them to the people. Among other things, he taught them poetry and runes. Odin himself always talked in measured rhymes. Besides, he was a most excellent sorcerer. He could change shape, make his foes in a conflict blind and deaf; he was a wizard, and could wake the dead. He owned the ship Skidbladner, which could be folded as a napkin. He had two ravens, which he had taught to speak, and they brought him tidings from all lands. He knew where all treasures were hid in the earth, and could call them * As much land as can be ploughed in a day. TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 25 forth with the aid of magic songs. Among the customs he introduced in the North were cremation of the dead, the raising of mounds in memory of great men, the erection of bauta-stones in commemoration of others ; and he introduced the three great sacrificial feasts — for a good year, for good crops, and for victory. Odin died in Svithiod, When he perceived the approach of death, he suffered himself to be marked with the point of a spear, and declared that he was going to Gudheim to visit his friends and receive all fallen in battle. This the Swedes believed. They have since worshipped him in the belief that he had an eternal life in the ancient Asgard, and they thought he revealed himself to them before great battles took place. On Svea's throne he was followed by Njord, the progenitor of the race of Ynglings. Thus Heims- kringla. We now pass to the Younger Edda,* which in its Foreword gives us in the style of that time a general survey of history and religion. First, it gives from the Bible the story of creation and the deluge. Then a long story is told of the building of the tower of Babel. The descendants of Noah's son, Ham, warred against and conquered the sons of Sem, and tried in their arrogance to build a tower which should aspire to heaven itself. The chief manager in this enterprise was Zoroaster, and seventy-two master-masons and joiners served under him. But God confounded the tongues of these arrogant people so that each one of the seventy-two masters with those under him got their own language, which the others could not understand, and then each went his own way, and in this manner arose the seventy-two different languages in the world. Be- fore that time only one language was spoken, and that was Hebrew. "Where they tried to build the tower a city was founded and called Babylon. There Zoroaster became a king and ruled over many Assyrian nations, among which he introduced idolatry, and which worshiped him as Baal. The tribes that departed with his master- workmen also fell into idolatry, excepting the one tribe which kept the Hebrew language. It preserved also the original and pure faith. Thus, while Babylon became one of the chief altars of heathen worship, the island Crete became another. There was * A translation of the Younger or Prose Edda was edited by R. B. Ander- son and published by S. C. Griggs & Co., Chicago, in 1881. 26 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. born a man, by name Saturnus, who became for the Cretans and Macedonians what Zoroaster was for the Assyrians. Saturnus' knowledge and skill in magic, and his art of producing gold from red-hot iron, secured him the power of a prince on Crete ; and as he, moreover, had control over all invisible forces, the Cretans and Macedonians believed that he was a god, and he encouraged them in this faith. He had three sons — Jupiter, Neptunus, and Plutus. Of these, Jupiter resembled his father in skill and magic, and he was a great warrior who conquered many peoples. When Saturnus divided his kingdom among his sons, a feud arose. Plutus got as his share hell, and as this was the least desirable part he also re- ceived the dog named Cerberus. Jupiter, who received heaven, was not satisfied with this, but wanted the earth too. He made war against his father, who had to seek refuge in Italy, where he, out of fear of Jupiter, changed his name and called himself Njord, and where he became a useful king, teaching the inhabitants, who lived on nuts and roots, to plough and plant vineyards. Jupiter had many sons. From one of them, Dardanus, de- scended in the fifth generation Priamus of Troy. Priamus' son was Hektor, who in stature and strength was the foremost man in the world. From the Trojans the Romans are descended ; and when Rome had grown to be a great power it adopted many laws and customs which had prevailed among the Trojans before them. Troy was situated in Tyrkland, near the centre of the earth. Under Priamus, the chief ruler, there were twelve tributary kings, and they spoke twelve languages. These twelve tributary kings were exceedingly wise men ; they received the honour of gods, and from them all European chiefs are descended. One of these twelve was called Munon or Mennon. He was married to a daughter of Priamus, and had with her the son Tror, " whom we call Thor ". He was a very handsome man, his hair shone fairer than gold, and at the age of twelve he was full-grown, and so strong that he could lift twelve bear-skins at the same time. He slew his foster-father and foster-mother, took possession of his foster-father's kingdom Thracia, " which we call Thrudheim," and thenceforward he roamed about the world, conquering berserks, giants, the greatest dragon, and other prodigies. In the North he met a prophetess by name Sibil (Sibylla), " whom we call Sif," and her he married. In the twentieth generation from this Thor, Vodin TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 27 descended, " whom we call Odin," a very wi.su and well-informed man, who married Frigida, " whom we cull Frigg". At that time the Roman general Pompey was making wars in the East, and also threatened the empire of Odin. Meanwhile Odin and his wife had learned through prophetic inspiration thai B glorious future awaited them in the northern part of the world. He therefore emigrated from Tyrkland, and took with him many people, old and young, men and women, and costly treasures. Wherever they came they appeared to the inhabitants more like gods than men. And they did not stop before they came as far north as Saxland. There Odin remained a long time. One of his sons, Veggdegg, he appointed king of Saxland. Another son, Beldegg, " whom we call Balder," he made king in Westphalia. A third son, Sigge, became king in Frankland. Then Odin proceeded farther to the north and came to lieidgothaland, which is now called Jutland, and there took possession of as much as he wanted. There he appointed his son Skjold as king ; then he came to Svithiod. Here ruled king Gylfe. When he heard of the expedition of Odin and his Asiatics he went to meet them, and offered Odin as much land and as much power in his kingdom as he might desire. One reason why people everywhere gave Odin so hearty a welcome and offered him land and power was that wherever Odin and his men tarried on their journey the people got good harvests and abundant crops, and therefore they believed that Odin and his men controlled the weather and the growing grain. Odin went with Gylfe up to the lake " Logrin " and saw that the land was good ; and there he chose as his citadel the place which is called Sigtuna, founding there the same institutions as had existed in Troy, and to which the Turks were accustomed. Then he organised a council of twelve men, who were to make laws and settle disputes. From Svithiod Odin went to Norway, and there made his son Sa3ming king. But the ruling of Svithiod he had left to his son Yngve, from whom the race of Ynglings are descended. The Asas and their sons married the women of the land of which they had taken possession, and their descendants, who preserved the lan- guage spoken in Troy, multiplied so fast that the Trojan language displaced the old tongue and became the speech of Svithiod, Norway, Denmark, and Saxland, and thereafter also of England. 28 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. The Prose Edda's first part, Gylfaginning, consists of a collection of mythological tales told to the reader in the form of a conversation between the above-named king of Sweden, Gylfe, and the Asas. Before the Asas had started on their journey to the North, it is here said, Gylfe had learned that they were a wise and knowing people who had success in all their undertakings. And believing that this was a result either of the nature of these people, or of their peculiar kind of worship, he resolved to investigate the matter secretly, and therefore betook himself in the guise of an old man to Asgard. But the foreknowing Asas knew in advance that he was coming, and resolved to receive him with all sorts of sorcery, which might give him a high opinion of them. He finally came to a citadel, the roof of which was thatched with golden shields, and the hall of which was so large that he scarcely could see the whole of it. At the entrance stood a man playing with sharp tools, which he threw up in the air and caught again with his hands, and seven axes were in the air at the same time. This man asked the traveller his name. The latter answered that he was named Ganglere, that he had made a long journey over rough roads, and asked for lodgings for the night. He also asked whose the citadel was. The juggler answered that it belonged to their king, and conducted Gylfe into the hall, where many people were assembled. Some sat drinking, others amused themselves at games, and still others were practising with weapons. There were three high-seats in the hall, one above the other, and in each high-seat sat a man. In the lowest sat the king ; and the juggler informed Gylfe that the king's name was Har ; that the one who sat next above him was named Jaf nhar ; and that the one who sat on the highest throne was named Thride (Jrridi). Har asked the stranger what his errand was, and invited him to eat and drink. Gylfe answered that he first wished to know whether there was any wise man in the hall. Har replied that the stranger should not leave the hall whole unless he was victorious in a contest in wisdom. Gylfe now begins his questions, which all concern the worship of the Asas, and the three men in the high- seats give him answers. Already in the first answer it appears that the Asgard to which Gylfe thinks he has come is, in the opinion of the author, a younger Asgard, and presumably the same as the author of Heimskringla places beyond the river Tanakvisl, but there had existed an older Asgard identical with Troy in TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 29 Tyrkland, where, according to Heimskringla, Odin had extensive possessions at the time when the Romans began their invasions in the East. When Gylfe with his questions had learned the most important facts in regard to the religion of Asgard, and had at length been instructed concerning the destruction and regeneration of the world, he perceived a mighty rumbling and quaking, and when he looked about him the citadel and hall had disappeared, and he stood beneath the open sky. He returned to Svithiod and related all that he had seen and heard among the Asas ; but when he had gone they counselled together, and they agreed to call them- selves by those names which they used in relating their stories to Gylfe. These sagas, remarks Gylfaginning, were in reality none but historical events transformed into traditions about divinities. They described events which had occurred in the older Asgard — that is to say, Troy. The basis of the stories told to Gylfe about Thor were the achievements of Hektor in Troy, and the Loke of whom Gylfe had heard was, in fact, none other than Ulixes (Ulysses), who was the foe of the Trojans, and consequently was represented as the foe of the gods. Gylfaginning is followed by another part of the Prose Edda called Bragaroedur (Brage's Talk), which is presented in a similar form. On Lesso, so it is said, dwelt formerly a man by name JSgvr. He, like Gylfe, had heard reports concerning the wisdom of the Asas, and resolved to visit them. He, like Gylfe, comes to a place where the Asas receive him with all sorts of magic arts, and conduct him into a hall which is lighted up in the evening with shining- swords. There he is invited to take his seat by the side of Brage, and there were twelve high-seats in which sat men who were called Thor, Njord, Frey, &c, and women who were called Frigg, Freyja, Xanna, &c. The hall was splendidly decorated with shields. The mead passed round was exquisite, and the talkative Brage instructed the guest in the traditions concerning the Asas' art of poetry. A postscript to the treatise warns young skalds not to place confidence in the stories told to Gylfe and JEgvr. The author of the postscript says they have value only as a key to the many metaphors which occur in the poems of the great skalds, but upon the whole they are deceptions invented by the Asas or Asiamen to make people believe that they were gods. Still, the author thinks these falsifications have an historical kernel. They are, he tliinks, 30 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. based on what happened in the ancient Asgard, that is, Troy. Thus, for instance, Ragnarok is originally nothing else than the siege of Troy ; Thor is, as stated, Hektor ; the Midgard-serpent is one of the heroes slain by Hektor ; the Fenris-wolf is Pyrrlms, son of Achilles, who slew Priam (Odin) ; and Vidar, who survives Eagna- rok, is /Eneas. 8. The Troy Saga in Heimskringla and the Prose Edda (continued). The sources of the traditions concerning the Asiatic immigration to the North belong to the Icelandic literature, and to it alone. Saxo's Historia Danica, the first books of which were written toward the close of the twelfth century, presents on this topic its own peculiar view, which will be discussed later. The Icelandic accounts disagree only in unimportant details ; the fundamental view is the same, and they have flown from the same fountain vein. Their contents may be summed up thus : Among the tribes who after the Babylonian confusion of tongues emigrated to various countries, there was a body of people who settled and introduced their language in Asia Minor, which in the sagas is called Tyrkland; in Greece, which in the sagas is called Macedonia; and in Crete. In Tyrkland they founded the great city which was called Troy. This city was attacked by the Greeks during the reign of the Trojan king Priam. Priam descended from Jupiter and the latter's father Saturnus, and accordingly belonged to a race which the idolaters looked upon as divine. Troy was a very large city ; twelve languages were spoken there, and Priam had twelve tributary kings under him. But however powerful the Trojans were, and however bravely they defended themselves under the leadership of the son of Priam's daughter, that valiant hero Thor, still they were defeated. Troy was captured and burned by the Greeks, and Priam himself was slain. Of the surviving Trojans two parties emigrated in different directions. They seem in advance to have been well informed in regard to the quality of foreign lands ; for Thor, the son of Priam's daughter, had made extensive expeditions in which he had fought giants and monsters. On his journeys he had even visited the North, and there he had met Sibil, the cele- TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 31 brated prophetess, and married her. One of the parties of Trojan emigrants embarked under the leadership of iEneas for Italy, and founded Rome. The other party, accompanied by Thor'a son, Loride, went to Asialand, which is separated from Tyrkland by a mountain ridge, and from Europe by the river Tanais or Tanakvisl. There they founded a new city called Asgard, and there preserved the old customs and usages brought from Troy. Accord- ingly, there was organised in Asgard, as in Troy, a council of twelve men, who were high priests and judges. Many centuries passed without any political contact between the new Trojan settlements in Rome and Asgard, though both well remembered their Trojan origin, and the Romans formed many of their institutions after the model of the old fatherland. Meanwhile, Rome had grown to be one of the mightiest empires in the world, and began at length to send armies into Tyrkland. At that time there ruled in Asgard an exceedingly wise, prophetic king, Odin, who was skilled in the magic arts, and who was descended in the twentieth generation from the above-mentioned Thor. Odin had waged many successful wars. The severest of these wars was the one with a neighbouring people, the Vans ; but this had been ended with compromise and peace. In Tyrkland, the old mother country, Odin had great possessions, which fell into the hands of the Romans. This circumstance strengthened him in his resolution to emigrate to the north of Europe. The prophetic vision with which he was en- dowed had told him that his descendants would long flourish there. So he set out with his many sons, and was accompanied by the twelve priests and by many people, but not by all the inhabitants of the Asa country and of Asgard. A part of the people remained at home ; and among them Odin's brothers Vile and Ve. The expedition proceeded through Gardarike to Saxland ; then across the Danish islands to Svithiod and Norway. Every- where this great multitude of migrators was well received by the inhabitants. Odin's superior wisdom and his marvellous skill in sorcery, together with the fact that his progress was everywhere attended by abundant harvests, caused the peoples to look upon him as a god, and to place their thrones at his disposal. He accordingly appointed his sons as kings in Saxland, Denmark, Svithiod, and Norway. Gylfe, the king of Svithiod, submitted to his superiority and gave him a splendid country around Lake 32 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. Mailer to rule over. There Odin built Sigtuna, the institutions of which were an imitation of those in Asgard and Troy. Poetry and many other arts came with Odin to the Teutonic lands, and so, too, the Trojan tongue. Like his ancestors, Saturnus and Jupiter, he was able to secure divine worship, which was extended even to his twelve priests. The religious traditions which he scattered among the people, and which were believed until the introduction of Christianity, were misrepresentations spun around the memories of Troy's historical fate and its destruction, and around the events of Asgard. 9. Saxo's E elation of the Story of Troy. Such is, in the main, the story which was current in Iceland in the thirteenth century, and which found its way to Scandinavia through the Prose Edda and Heimskringla, concerning the immi- gration of Odin and the Asas. Somewhat older than these works is Historia Danica, by the Danish chronicler Saxo. Sturlason, the author of Heimskringla, was a lad of eight years when Saxo began to write his history, and he (Sturlason) had certainly not begun to write history when Saxo had completed the first nine books of his work, which are based on the still-existing songs and traditions found in Denmark, and of heathen origin. Saxo writes as if he were unacquainted with Icelandic theories concerning an Asiatic immigration to the North, and he has not a word to say about Odin's reigning as king or chief anywhere in Scandinavia. This is the more remarkable, since he holds the same view as the Ice- landers and the chroniclers of the Middle Ages in general in regard to the belief that the heathen myths were records of historical events, and that the heathen gods were historical persons, men changed into divinities ; and our astonishment increases when we consider that he, in the heathen songs and traditions on which he based the first part of his work, frequently finds Odin's name, and consequently could not avoid presenting him in Danish history as an important character. In Saxo, as in the Icelandic works, Odin is a human being, and at the same time a sorcerer of the greatest power. Saxo and the Icelanders also agree that Odin came from the East. The only difference is that while the Icelandic hypo- thesis makes him rule in Asgard, Saxo locates his residence in TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 33 Byzantium, on the Bosphorus; but this is not far from the ancient Troy, where the Prose Edda locates his ancestors. From Byzan- tium, according to Saxo, the fame of his magic arts and of the miracles he performed reached even to the north of Europe. On account of these miracles he was worshipped as a god by the peoples, and to pay him honour the kings of the North once sent to Byzantium a golden image, to which Odin by magic arts im- parted the power of speech. It is the myth about Mimer's head which Saxo here relates. But the kings of the North knew him not only by report ; they were also personally acquainted with him He visited Upsala, a place which "pleased him much". Saxo, like the Heimskringla, relates that Odin was absent from his capital for a long time ; and when we examine his statements on this point, we find that Saxo is here telling in his way the myth concerning the war which the Vans carried on successfully against the Asas, and concerning Odin's expulsion from the mythic Asgard, situated in heaven {Hist. Dan., pp. 42-44; vid. No. 36). Saxo also tells that Odin's son, Balder, was chosen king by the Danes " on account of his personal merits and his respect-com- manding qualities". But Odin himself has never, according to Saxo, had land or authority in the North, though he was there worshipped as a god, and, as already stated, Saxo is entirely silent in regard to any immigration of an Asiatic people to Scandinavia under the leadership of Odin. A comparison between him and the Icelanders will show at once that, although both parties are Euhemerists, and make Odin a man changed into a god, Saxo confines himself more faithfully to the popular myths, and seeks as far as possible to turn them into history ; while the Icelanders, on the other hand, begin with the learned theory in regard to the original kinship of the northern races with the Trojans and Romans, and around this theory as a nucleus they weave about the same myths told as history as Saxo tells. 10. The Older Periods of the Troy Saga. How did the belief that Troy was the original home of the Teutons arise ? Does it rest on native traditions ? Has it been inspired by sagas and traditions current among the Teutons them- 3 34 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. selves, and containing as kernel " a faint reminiscence of an immi- gration from Asia," or is it a thought entirely foreign to the heathen Teutonic world, introduced in Christian times by Latin scholars ? These questions shall now be considered. Already in the seventh century— that is to say, more than five hundred years before Heimskringla and the Prose Edda were written— a Teutonic people were told by a chronicler that they were of the same blood as the Eomans, that they had like the Eomans emigrated from Troy, and that they had the same share as the Eomans in the glorious deeds of the Trojan heroes. This people were the Franks. Their oldest chronicler, Gregorius, bishop of Tours, who, about one hundred years before that time — that is to say, in the sixth century — wrote their history in ten books, does not say a word about it. He, too, desires to give an account of the original home of the Franks (Hist. Franc, ii. 9), and locates it quite a distance from the regions around the lower Rhine, where they first appear in the light of history ; but still not farther away than to Pannonia. Of the coming of the Franks from Troy neither Gregorius knows anything nor the older authors, Sulpicius Alex- ander and others, whose works he studied to find information in regard to the early history of the Franks. But in the middle of the following century, about 650, an unknown author, who for reasons unknown is called Fredegar, wrote a chronicle, which is in part a reproduction of Gregorius' historical work, but also con- tains various other things in regard to the early history of the Franks, and among these the statement that they emigrated from Troy. He even gives us the sources from which he got this infor- mation. His sources are, according to his own statement, not Frankish, not popular songs or traditions, but two Latin authors — the Church father Hieronymus and the poet Virgil. If we, then, go to these sources in order to compare Fredegar's statement with his authority, we find that Hieronymus once names the Franks in passing, but never refers to their origin from Troy, and that Virgil does not even mention Franks. Nevertheless, the reference to Virgil is the key to the riddle, as we shall show below. What Fredegar tells about the emigration of the Franks is this: A Frankish king, by name Priam, ruled in Troy at the time when this city was conquered by the cunning of Ulysses. Then the Franks emigrated, and were afterwards ruled by a king named TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 35 Friga. ruder his reign a dispute arose between them, and they divided themselves into two parties, one of which settled in Macedonia, while the other, called after Friga's name Frigians (Phrygians), migrated through Asia and settled there. There they were again divided, and one part of them migrated under king Francio into Europe, travelled across this continent, and settled, with their women and children, near the Rhine, where they began building a city which they called Troy, and intended t<> organise in the manner of the old Troy, but the city was not completed. The other group chose a king by name Turchot, and were called after him Turks. But those who settled on the Rhine called themselves Franks after their king Francio, and later chose a king named Theudemer, who was descended from Priam, Friga, and Francio. Thus Fredegar's chronicle. About seventy years later another Frankish chronicle saw the light of day — the Gcsta regurn Franco rum. In it we learn more of the emigration of the Franks from Troy. Gesta reijiim Francorum (i.) tells the following story : In Asia lies the city of the Trojans called Ilium, where king ^Eneas formerly ruled. The Trojans were a strong and brave people, who waged war against all their neighbours. But then the kings of the Greeks united and brought a large army against iEneas, king of the Trojans. There were great battles and much bloodshed, and the greater part of the Trojans fell. ^Eneas fled with those surviving into the city of Ilium, which the Greeks besieged and conquered after ten years. The Trojans who escaped divided themselves into two parties. The one under king JEneas wTent to Italy, where he hoped to receive auxiliary troops. Other distinguished Trojans became the leaders of the other party, which numbered 12,000 men. They embarked in Bhips and came to the banks of the river Tanais. They sailed farther and came within the borders of Pannonia, near the Moeotian marshes (navigantes pervenerunt intra terminos Pannoniarum juxta Mceotidas paludes), where they founded a city, which they called Sicambria, where they remained many years and became a mighty people. Then came a time when the Roman emperor Valeu- tinianus got into war with that wicked people called Alamanni (also Alani). He led a great army against them. The Alamanni were defeated, and fled to the Mceotian marshes. Then said the emperor, "If anyone dares to enter those marshes and drive away 36 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. this wicked people, I shall for ten years make him free from all burdens ". When the Trojans heard this they went, accompanied by a Roman army, into the marshes, attacked the Alamanni, and hewed them down with their swords. Then the Trojans received from the emperor Valentinianus the name Franks, which, the chronicle adds, in the Attic tongue means the savage (feri), "for the Trojans had a defiant and indomitable character". For ten years afterwards the Trojans or Franks lived undisturbed by Roman tax-collectors ; but after that the Roman emperor de- manded that they should pay tribute. This they refused, and slew the lax-collectors sent to them. Then the emperor collected a large army under the command of Aristarcus, and strengthened it with auxiliary forces from many lands, and attacked the Franks, who were defeated by the superior force, lost their leader Priam, and had to take flight. They now proceeded under .their leaders Markomir, Priam's son, and Sunno, son of Antenor, away from Sicambria through Germany to the Rhine, and located there. Thus this chronicle. About fifty years after its appearance— that is, in the time of Charlemagne, and, to be more accurate, about the year 787 — the well-known Longobardian historian Paulus Diaconus wrote a history of the bishops of Metz. Among these bishops was the Frank Arnulf, from whom Charlemagne was descended in the fifth genera- tion. Arnulf had two sons, one of whom was named Ansgisel, in a contracted form Ansgis. When Paulus speaks of this he remarks that it is thought that the name Ansgis comes from the father of iEneas, Anchises, who went from Troy to Italy ; and he adds that according to evidence of older date the Franks were believed to be descendants of the Trojans. These evidences of older date we have considered above — Fredegar's Chronicle and Gesta regum Francorum. Meanwhile this shows that the belief that the Franks were of Trojan descent kept spreading with the lapse of time. It hardly needs to be added that there is no good foundation for the derivation of Ansgisel or Ansgis from Anchises. Ansgisel is a genuine Teutonic name. (See No. 123 concerning Ansgisel, the emigration chief of the Teutonic myth.) We now pass to the second half of the tenth century, and there we find the Saxon chronicler Widukind. When he is to tell the story of the origin of the Saxon people, he presents two conflicting TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 37 accounts. The one is from a Saxon source, from old native traditions, which we shall discuss later; the other is from a scholastic source, and claims that the Saxons are of Macedonian descent. According to this latter account they were a remnant of the Macedonian army of Alexander the Great, which, as Widukind had learned, after Alexander's early death, had spread over the whole earth. The Macedonians were at that time regarded as Hellenicised Trojans. In this connection I call the reader's attention to Fredegar's Chronicle referred to above, which tells that the Trojans, in the time of king Friga, disagreed among themselves, and that a part of them emigrated and settled in Macedonia. In this manner the Saxons, like the Franks, could claim a Trojan descent : and as England to a great extent was peopled by Saxon conquerors, the same honour was of course claimed by her people. In evidence of this, and to show that it was believed in England during the centuries immediately following Widukind's time, that the Saxons and Angles were of Trojan blood, I will simply refer here to a pseudo-Sibylline manuscript found in Oxford and written in very poor Latin. It was examined by the French scholar Alexandre {Excursus ad Sibyllina, p. 298), and in it Britain is said to be an island inhabited by the survivors of the Trojans (insidam reliquiis Trojanorum inhabitatam). In another British pseudo-Sibylline document it is stated that the Sibylla was a daughter of king Priam of Troy; and an effort has been made to add weight and dignity to this document by incorporating it with the works of the well-known Church historian Beda, and thus date it at the beginning of the eighth century, but the manuscript itself is a compilation from the time of Frederik Barbarossa (Excurs. ad Sib., p. 289). Other pseudo-Sibylline documents in Latin give accounts of a Sibylla who lived and prophesied in Troy. I make special mention of this fact, for the reason that in the Foreword of the Prose Edda it is similarly stated that Thor, the son of Priam's daughter, was married to Sibil (Sibylla). Thus when Franks and Saxons had been made into Trojans — the former into full-blooded Trojans and the latter into Hellenicised Trojans — it could not take long before their northern kinsmen received the same descent as a heritage. In the very nature of things the beginning must be made by those Northmen who became the conquerors and settlers of Normandy in the midst of " Trojan** 38 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. Franks. About a hundred years after their settlement there they produced a chronicler, Dudo, deacon of St. Quentin. I have already shown that the Macedonians were regarded as Hellenicised Trojans. Together with the Hellenicising they had obtained the name Danai, a term applied to all Greeks. In his Norman Chronicle, which goes down to the year 99G, Dudo relates (De moribus ct gestis, &c, lib. i.) that the Norman men regarded themselves as Danai, for Danes (the Scandinavians in general) and Danai was regarded as the same race name. Together with the Normans the Scandinavians also, from whom they were descended, accordingly had to be made into Trojans. And thus the matter was understood by Dudo's readers ; anil when Robert Wace wrote his rhymed chronicle, Roman de Bern, about the northern conquerors of Normandy, and wanted to give an account of their origin, he could say, on the basis of a common tradition : " When the walls of Troy in ashes were laid, And the Greeks exceedingly glad were made, Then fled from flames on the Trojan strand The race that settled old Denmark's land ; And in honour of the old Trojan reigns, The people called themselves the Danes". I have now traced the scholastic tradition about the descent of the Teutonic races from Troy all the way from the chronicle where we first find this tradition recorded, down to the time when Are, Iceland's first historian, lived, and when the Icelander Ssemund is said to have studied in Paris, the same century in which Sturlason, Heimskringla's author, developed into manhood. Saxo rejected the theory current among the scholars of his time, that the northern races were Danai-Trojans. He knew that Dudo in St. Quentin was the authority upon which this belief was chiefly based, and he gives his Danes an entirely different origin, quanquam Dudo, rerum Aquitanicarwm scriptor, Danos a Danais ortos nuncupatosque rccen- seat. The Icelanders, on the other hand, accepted and continued to develop the belief, renting on the authority of five hundred years, concerning Troy as the starting-point for the Teutonic race ; and in Iceland the theory is worked out and systematised as we have already seen, and is made to fit in a frame of the history of the world. The accounts given in Heimskringla and the Prose Edda in regard to the emigration from AsgardSform the natural denoue- TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 39 ment of an era which had existed for centuries, and in which the events of antiquity were able to group themselves around a common centre. All peoples and families of chiefs were located around the Mediterranean Sea, and every event and every hero was connected in some way or other with Troy. In fact, a great part of the lands subject to the Roman sceptre were in ancient literature in some way connected with the Trojan war and its consequences : Macedonia and Epirus through the Trojan emigrant Helcnus ; Illyria ami Venetia through the Trojan emigrant Antenor; Rhetia and Viudelicia through the Amazons, allies of the Trojans, from whom the inhabitants of these provinces were said to be descended (Serviics ad Virr/., i. 248) ; Etruria through Dardanus, who was said to have emigrated from there to Troy ; Latium and Campania through the JEneids ; Sicily, the very home of the zEnean traditions, through the relation between the royal families of Troy and Sicily; Sardinia (see Sallust) ; Gaul (see Lucanus and Ammianus Marcellinus) ; Carthage through the visit of .Eneas to Dido ; and of course all of Asia Minor. This was not all. According to the lost Argive History by Anaxikrates, Scamandrius, son of Hektor and Andromache, came with emigrants to Scythia and settled on the banks of the Tanais ; and scarcely had Germany become known to the Romans, before it, too, became drawn into the cycle of Trojan stories, at least so far as to make this country visited by Ulysses on his many journeys and adven- tures (Tac, Germ.). Every educated Greek and Roman person's fancy was filled from his earliest school-days with Troy, and traces of Dardanians and Danaiana were found everywhere, just as the English in our time think they have found traces of the ten lost tribes of Israel both in the old and in the new world. In the same degree as Christianity, Church learning, and Latin manuscripts were spread among the Teutonic tribes, there were dis- seminated among them knowledge of and an interest in the great Trojan stories. The native stories telling of Teutonic gods and heroes received terrible shocks from Christianity, but were rescued in another form on the lips of the people, and continued in their new guise to command their attention and devotion. In the class of Latin scholars which developed among the Christianised Teutons, the new stories learned Prom Latin literature, telling of Ilium, of the conflicts between Trojans and Greeks, of migrations, of the 40 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. founding of colonies on foreign shores and the creating of new empires, were the things which especially stimulated their curiosity and captivated their fancy. The Latin literature which was to a greater or less extent accessible to the Teutonic priests, or to priests labouring among the Teutons, furnished abundant materials in regard to Troy both in classical and pseudo-classical authors. We Deed only call attention to Virgil raid his commentator Servius, which became a mine of learning for the whole middle age, and among pseudo-classical works to Dares Phrygius' Historia de Excidio Trojcc (which was believed to have been written by a Trojan and translated by Cornelius Nepos !), to Dictys Cretensis' Ephemeris belli Trojani (the original of which was said to have been Phoenician, and found in Dictys' alleged grave after an earthquake in the time of Nero !), and to " Pindari Thebani," Epitome Iliados Homeri. Before the story of the Trojan descent of the Franks had been created, the Teuton Jordanes, active as a writer in the middle of the sixth century, had already found a place for his Gothic fellow- countrymen in the events of the great Trojan epic. Not that he made the Goths the descendants either of the Greeks or Trojans. On the contrary, he maintained the Goths' own traditions in regard to their descent and their original home, a matter which I shall discuss later. But according to Orosius, who is Jordanes' authority, the Goths were the same as the Getce, and when the identity of these was accepted, it was easy for Jordanes to connect the history of the Goths with the Homeric stories. A Gothic chief marries Priam's sister and fights with Achilles and Ulysses (Jord., c. 9), and Ilium, having scarcely recovered from the war with Agamemnon, is destroyed a second time by Goths (c. 20). 11. The Origin of the Story in regard to the Trojan Descent of the Pranks. We must now return to the Prankish chronicles, to Fredegar's and Gcsta rcgum Francorum, where the theory of the descent from Troy of a Teutonic tribe is presented for the first time, and thus renews the agitation handed down from antiquity, which attempted t" make all ancient history a system of events radiating from Troy as their centre. I believe I am able to point out the sources of all TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 41 the statements made in these chronicles in reference to this subject, and also to find the very kernel out of which the illusion regarding the Trojan birth of the Franks grew. As above stated, Fredegar admits that Virgil is the earliest authority for the claim that the Franks are descended from Troy. livilfgar's predecessor, Gregorius of Tours, was ignorant of it, and, as already shown, the word Franks does not occur anywhere in Virgil. The discovery that he nevertheless gave information about the Franks and their origin must therefore have been made or known in the time intervening between Gregorius' chronicle and [Tredegar's. Which, then, can be the passage in Virgil's poems in which the discoverer succeeded in finding the proof that the Franks were Trojans ? A careful examination of all the circum- stances connected with the subject leads to the conclusion that the jage is in JBneis, lib. i., 242 ff. : "Anterior potuit, meiliis elapsus Achivi8, Illyricos penetrare sinus atque intima tutus Regna Liburnorum, et fontem superare Timavi : Unde per ora novem vasto cum mnrmere montia It mare proruptum, et pelago premit arva sonanti. Hie tamen Die urbem Patavi sedesque locavit Teucrorum." "Antenor, escaped from amidst the Greeks, could with safety penetrate the Illyrian Gulf and the inmost realms of Liburnia, and overpass the springs of Timavus, whence, through nine mouths, with loud echoing from the mountain, it bursts away, a sea im- petuous, and sweeps the fields with a roaring deluge. Yet there he built the city of Padua and established a Trojan settlement." The nearest proof at hand, that this is really the passage which was interpreted as referring to the ancient history of the Franks, is based on the following circumstances: Gregorius of Tours had found in the history of Sulpicius Alex- ander accounts of violent conflicts, on the west bank of the Rhine, between the Romans and Franks, the latter led by the chiefs Markomir and Sunno (Greg., Hist., ii. 9). From Gregorius, Gcsta regum Francorum has taken both these names. According to Gesta, the Franks, under the command of Markomir and Sunno, emigrate from Pannonia, near the Moeotian marshes, and settle on the Rhine. The supposition that they had 42 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. lived iii Pannonia before their coming to the Rhine, the author of Gesta had learned from Gregorius. In Gesta, Markomir is made a BOn of the Trojan Priam, and Sunno a son of the Trojan Antenor. From this point of view, Virgil's account of Antenor's and his Trojans' journey to Europe from fallen Troy refers to the emigra- tion of the father of the Frankish chief Sunno at the head of a tribe of Franks. And as Gesta's predecessor, the so-called Fredegar, appeals to Virgil as his authority for this Frankish emigration, and aa the wanderings of Antenor are nowhere else mentioned by the Roman poet, there can be no doubt that the lines above quoted were the very ones which were regarded as the Virgilian evidence in regard to a Frankish emigration from Troy. But how did it come to be regarded as an evidence ? Virgil says that Antenor, when he had escaped the Achivians, succeeded in penetrating Illyricos sinus, the very heart of Illyria. The name Illyricum served to designate all the regions inhabited by kindred tribes extending from the Alps to the mouth of the Danube and from the Danube to the Adriatic Sea and Hasmus (cp. Marguardt Horn. Staatsverwalt, 295). To Illyricum belonged the Roman provinces Dalmatia, Pannonia, and Moesia, and the Pannonians were an Illyrian tribe. In Pannonia Gregorius of Tours had located the Franks in early times. Thus Antenor, with his Trojans, on their westward journey, traverses the same regions from which, according to Gregorius, the Franks had set out for the Rhine. Virgil also says that Antenor extended his journeys to the Liburnian kingdoms {reyna Libumorum). From Servius' commen- tary on this passage, the middle age knew that the Liburnian kingdoms were Ehetia and Arindelicia [Rhetia Vindclici ipsi sunt Liburni). Rhetia and Vindelicia separate Pannonia from the Rhine. Antenor, accordingly, takes the same route toward the West as the Franks must have taken if they came from Pannonia to the Phine. Virgil then brings Antenor to a river, which, it is true, is called Timavus, but which is described as a mighty stream, coming- thundering out of a mountainous region, where it has its source, carrying with it a mass of water which the poet compares with a Bea, luiining before it reaches the sea a delta, the plains of which arc deluged by the billows, and finally emptying itself by many TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 43 outlets into the ocean. Virgil says nine; but Servius interprets this as meaning many: "ftnMv& est numerus pro injmito". We must pardon the Fraukish scribes for taking this river to be the Rhine; for if a water-course is to be looked for in Europe west of the land of the Liburnians, which answers to the Virgilian description, then this must be the Rhine, on whose banks the ancestors of the Franks for the first time appear in history. Again Virgil tells us that Antenor settled near this river and founded a colony — Pataviuin — on the low plains of the delta. The Salian Franks acquired possession of the low and flat regions around the outlets of the Rhine (Insula Batavorvm) about the year 287, and also of the land to the south as far as to the Scheldt ; and after protracted wars the liumans had to leave them the control of this region. By the very occupation of this low country, its conquerors might properly be called Batavian Franks. It is only necessary to call attention to the similarity of the words Patavi and Batavi, in order to show at the same time that the conclusion could scarcely be avoided that Virgil had reference to the immigration of the Franks when he spoke of the wanderings of Antenor, the more so, since from time out of date the pronunciation of the initials B and P have been interchanged by the Germans. In the conquered territory the Franks founded a city (Ammian. Marc, xvii. 2, 5). Thus it appears that the Franks were supposed to have migrated to the Rhine under the leadership of Antenor. The first Fraukish chiefs recorded, after their appearance there, are Markomir and Suuno. From this the conclusion was drawn that Sunno was Antenor's sou ; and as Markomir ought to be the son of some celebrated Trojan chief, he was made the son of Priam. Thus we have explained Freciegar's statement that Virgil is his authority for the Trojan descent of these Franks. This seemed to be esta- blished for all time. The wars fought around the Mceotian marshes between the emperor Valentinianus, the Alamanni, and the Franks, of which Qi sta speaks, are not wholly inventions of the fancy. The historical kernel in this confused semi-mythical narrative is that Valentinianus really did fight with the Alamanni, and that the Franks for some time were allies of the Romans, and came into conflict with those same Alamanni (Ammian. Marc, libs. XXX., xxxi.). But the scene of 44 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. these battles was not the Mceotian marshes and Pannonia, as Gesta supposes, but the regions on the Rhine. The unhistorical statement of Gregorius that the Franks came from Pannonia is based only on the fact that Frankish warriors for some time formed a Sicambra cohors, which about the year 26 was incorporated with the Roman troops stationed in Pannonia and Thracia. The cohort is believed to have remained in Hungary and formed a colony, where Buda now is situated. Gesta makes Pan- nonia extend from the Moeotian marshes to Tanais, since, according to Gregorius and earlier chroniclers, these waters were the boundary between Europe and Asia, and since Asia was regarded as a synonym of the Trojan empire. Virgil had called the Trojan kingdom Asia : Postquam res Asicc Priamique everlerc gentem, &c. (JSneid, iii. 1). Thus we have exhibited the seed out of which the fable about the Trojan descent of the Pranks grew into a tree spreading its branches over all Teutonic Europe, in the same manner as the earlier fable, which was at least developed if not born in Sicily, in regard to the Trojan descent of the Romans had grown into a tree overshadowing all the lands around the Mediterranean, and extending one of its branches across Gaul to Britain and Ireland. The first son of the Britons, " Brutus," was, according to Galfred, great-grandson of iEneas, and migrated from Alba Longa to Ireland. So far as the Gauls are concerned, the incorporation of Cis-Alpine Gaul with the Roman Empire, and the Romanising of the Gauls dwelling there, had at an early day made way for the belief that they had the same origin and were of the same blood as the Romans. Consequently the}7 too were Trojans. This view, en- couraged by Roman politics, gradually found its way to the Gauls on the other side of the Rhine ; and even before Caesar's time the Rdman senate had in its letters to the iEduans, often called them the " brothers and kinsmen " of the Romans (fratres consanguin- cirjue — Caesar, De Bell. Gall, i. 33, 2). Of the Avernians Lucanus sings (i. 427) : Avemi . . . ausi Latio se fingcre fratres, sanguine rib Iiiaco populi. Thus we see that when the Franks, having made themselves masters of the Romanised Gaul, claimed a Trojan descent, then this was the repetition of a history of which Gaul for many cen- turies previously had been the scene. After the Frankish conquest TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 45 the population of Gaul consisted for the second time of two nationalities unlike in language and customs, and now as before it was a political measure of no slight importance to bring these two nationalities as closely together as possible by the belief in a common descent. The Roman Gauls and the Franks were repre- sented as having been one people in the time of the Trojan war. Alter the fall of the common fatherland they were divided into two separate tribes, with separate destinies, until they refound each other in the west of Europe, to dwell together again in Gaul. This explains how it came to pass that, when they thought they had found evidence of this view in Virgil, this was at once accepted, and was so eagerly adopted that the older traditions in regard to the origin and migrations of the Franks were thrust aside and consigned to oblivion. History repeats itself a third time when the Normans conquered and became masters of that part of Gaul which after them is called Normandy. Dudo, their chronicler, says that they regarded themselves as being ex Antenore progenitos, descendants of Antenor. This is sufficient proof that they had borrowed from the Franks the tradition in regard to their Trojan descent. 12. Why Odin was given Antenor's Place as Leader of the Trojan Emigration. So long as the Franks were the only ones of the Teutons who claimed Trojan descent, it was sufficient that the Teutonic-Trojan immigration had the father of a Frankish chief as its leader. But in the same degree as the belief in a Trojan descent spread among the other Teutonic tribes and assumed the character of a statement equally important to all the Teutonic tribes, the idea would natu- rally present itself that the leader of the great immigration was a person of general Teutonic importance. There was no lack of names to choose from. Most conspicuous was the mythical Teu- tonic patriarch, whom Tacitus speaks of and calls Mannus (Gcr- niania, 2), the grandson of the goddess Jord (Earth). There can be no doubt that he still was remembered by this (Mann) or some other name (for nearly all Teutonic mythic persons have several names), since he reappears in the beginning of the fourteenth ecu- 46 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. tm v in Heinrich Frauenlob as Mennor, the patriarch of the German people and German tongue.* But Mannus had to yield to another universal Teutonic mythic character, Odin, and for reasons which we shall now present. As Christianity was gradually introduced among the Teutonic peoples, the question confronted them, what manner of beings those gods had been in whom they and their ancestors so long had believed. Their Christian teachers had two answers, and both were easily reconcilable. The common answer, and that usually given to the converted masses, was that the gods of their ancestors were demons, evil spirits, who ensnared men in superstition in order to become worshipped as divine beings. The other answer, which was better calculated to please the noble-born Teutonic families, who thought themselves descended from the gods, was that these divinities were originally human persons — kings, chiefs, legislators, who, endowed with higher wisdom and secret know- ledge, made use of these to make people believe that they were gods, and worship them as such. Both answers could, as stated, easily be reconciled with each other, for it was evident that when these proud and deceitful rulers died, their unhappy spirits joined the ranks of evil demons, and as demons they continued to deceive the people, in order to maintain through all ages a worship hostile to the true religion. Both sides of this view we find current among the Teutonic races through the whole middle age. The one which particularly presents the old gods as evil demons is found in popular traditions from this epoch. The other, which presents the old gods as mortals, as chiefs and lawmakers with magic power, is more commonly reflected in the Teutonic chronicles, and was regarded among the scholars as the scientific view. Thus it followed of necessity that Odin, the chief of the Teu- tonic gods, and from whom their royal houses were fond of tracing their descent, also must have been a wise king of antiquity and skilled in the magic arts, and information was of course sought with the greatest interest in regard to the place where he had reigned, and in regard to his origin. There were two sources of * " Mennor der erste was genant, Dem diutische rede got tet bekant." Later on in this work we shall discuss the traditions of the Mannussaga found in Scandinavia and Germany. TEUTONIC' MYTIIOLoCY. 47 investigation in reference to this matter. One source was the treasure of mythic songs and traditions of their own race. Bui what might be history in these seemed to the students so involved in superstition and fancy, thai not much information seemed ob- tainable from them. But there was also another source, which in regard to historical trustworthiness seemed incomparably better, and that was the Latin literature to be found in the libraries of the convents. During centuries when the Teutons had employed no other art than poetry for preserving the memory of the life and deeds of their ancestors, the Romans, as we know, had bad parch- ment and papyrus to write on, and had kept systematic annals extending centuries back. Consequently this source must be more reliable. But what had this source — what had the Roman annals or the Roman literature in general to tell about Odin ? Absolutely nothing, it would seem, inasmuch as the name Odin, or Wodan, does not occur in any of the authors of the ancient literature. But this was only an apparent obstacle. The ancient king of our race, Odin, they said, has had many names — one name among one people, and another among another, and there can be no doubt that he is the same person as the Romans called Mercury and the Greeks Hermes. The evidence of the correctness of identifying Odin with Mer- cury and Hermes the scholars might have found in Tacitus' work on Germany, where it is stated in the ninth chapter that the chief god of the Germans is the same as Mercury among the Romans. But Tacitus was almost unknown in the convents and schools of this period of the middle age. They could not use this proof, but they had another and completely compensating evidence of the assertion. Originally the Romans did not divide time into weeks of seven days. Instead, they had weeks of eight days, and the farmer worked the seven days and went on the eighth to the market. But the week of seven days had been in existence for a very long time among certain Semitic peoples, and already in the time of the Roman republic many Jews lived in Rome and in Italy. Through them the week of seven days became generally known. The Jewish custom of observing the sacredness of the Sabbath, the firsl day of the week, by abstaining from all labour, could not fail to be noticed by the strangers among whom they dwelt. The Jews had, 48 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. however, no special name for each day of the week. But the Oriental, Egyptian, and Greek astrologers and astronomers, who in large numbers sought their fortunes in Rome, did more than the Jews to introduce the week of seven days among all classes of the metropolis, and the astrologers had special names for each of the seven days of the week. Saturday was the planet's and the planet- god Saturnus' day ; Sunday, the sun's ; Monday, the moon's ; Tues- day, Mars'; Wednesday, Mercury's; Thursday, Jupiter's; Friday, Venus' day. Already in the beginning of the empire these names of the days were quite common in Italy. The astrological almanacs, which were circulated in the name of the Egyptian Petosiris among all families who had the means to buy them, contributed much to bring this about. From Italy both the taste for astrology and the adoption of the week of seven days, with the above-mentioned names, spread not only into Spain and Gaul, but also into those parts of Germany that were incorporated with the 1 Ionian Empire, Germania superior and inferior, where the Roman- ising of the people, with Cologne (Civitas UUorum) as the centre, made great progress. Teutons who had served as officers and soldiers in the Roman armies, and were familiar with the everyday customs of the Romans, were to be found in various parts of the inde- pendent Teutonic territory, and it is therefore not strange if the week of seven days, with a separate name given to each day, was known and in use more or less extensively throughout Teutondom even before Christianity had taken root east of the Rhine, and long before Rome itself was converted to Christianity. But from this introduction of the seven-day week did not follow the adoption of the Roman names of the days. The Teutons translated the names into their own language, and in so doing chose among their own divinities those which most nearly corresponded to the Roman. The translation of the names is made with a discrimina- tion which seems to show that it was made in the Teutonic border country, governed by the Romans, by people who were as familiar with the Roman gods as with their own. In that border land there must have been persons of Teutonic birth who officiated as priests before Roman altars. The days of the sun and moon were permitted to retain their names. They were called Sunday and Monday. The day of the war-god Mars became the day of the war-god Tyr, Tuesday. The day of Mercury became Odin's day, TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 49 Wednesday. The day of the lightning-armed Jupiter became the day of the thundering Tho-r, Thursday. The day of the goddess of love Venus became that of the goddess of love Fivyja, Friday. Saturnus, who in astrology is a •watery star, and has his house in the sign of the waterman, was among the Romans, and before them among the Greeks and Chaldseans, the lord of the seventh day. Among the North Teutons, or, at least, among a part of them, his day got its name from laug* which means a bath, and it is worthy of notice in this connection that the author of the Prose Edda's Foreword identifies Saturnus with the sea-god Njord. Here the Latin scholars had what seemed to them a complete proof that the Odin of which their stories of the past had so much to tell was — and was so recognised by their heathen ancestors — the same historical person as the Eomans worshipped by the name Mercury. At first sight it may seem strange that Mercury and Odin were regarded as identical. We are wont to conceive Hermes (Mercury) as the Greek sculptors represented him, the ideal of beauty and elastic youth, while we imagine Odin as having a con- templative, mysterious look. And while Odin in the Teutonic mythology is the father and ruler of the gods, Mercury in the Roman has, of course, as the son of Zeus, a high rank, but his dignity does not exempt him from being the very busy messenger of the gods of Olympus. But neither Greeks nor Eomans nor Teutons attached much importance to such circumstances in the specimens we have of their comparative mythology. The Romans knew that the same god among the same people might be repre- sented differently, and that the local traditions also sometimes differed in regard to the kinship and rank of a divinity. They therefore paid more attention to what Tacitus calls vis nvminis — that is, the significance of the divinity as a symbol of nature, or its relation to the affairs of the community and to human culture. Mercury was the symbol of wisdom and intelligence ; so was Odin. Mercury was the god of eloquence ; Odin likewise. Mercury had introduced poetry and song among men ; Odin also. Mercury had taught men the art of writing; Odin had given them the runes. Mercury did not hesitate to apply cunning when it was needed to * Saturday is in the North called Loverdag, Lordag — that is, Laugardag = batlulay.— Tr. 4 50 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. secure him possession of something that he desired ; nor was Odin particularly scrupulous in regard to the means. Mercury, with wings on his hat and on his heels, flew over the world, and often appeared as a traveller among men ; Odin, the ruler of the wind, did the same. Mercury was the god of martial games, and still he was not really the war-god; Odin also was the chief of martial -aiiics and combats, but the war-god's occupation he had left to Tvr. In all important respects Mercury and Odin, therefore, re- sembled each other. To the scholars this must have been an additional proof that this, in their eyes, historical chief, whom the Romans called Mercury and the Teutons Odin, had been one and the same human person, who had lived in a distant past, and had alike induced Greeks, Romans, and Goths to worship him as a god. To get additional and more reliable information in regard to this Odin- Mercury than what the Teutonic heathen traditions could impart, it was only necessary to study and interpret correctly what Roman history had to say about Mercury. As is known, some mysterious documents called the Sibylline books were preserved in Jupiter's temple, on the Capitoline Hill, in Rome. The Roman State was the possessor, and kept the strictest watch over them, so that their contents remained a secret to all excepting those whose position entitled them to read them. A college of priests, men in high standing, were appointed to guard them and to consult them when circumstances demanded it. The common opinion that the Roman State con- sulted them for information in regard to the future is incorrect. They were consulted only to find out by what ceremonies of penance and propitiation the wrath of the higher powers might be averted at times when Rome was in trouble, or when prodigies of one kind or another had excited the people and caused fears of impending misfortune. Then the Sibylline books were pro- duced by the properly-appointed persons, and in some line or passage they found which divinity was angry and ought to be propitiated. This done, they published their interpretation of the passage, but did not make known the words or phrases of the passage, for the text of the Sibylline books must not be known to the public. The books were written in the Greek tongue. The story telling how these books came into the possession of TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. .",1 the Roman State through a woman who sold them to Tarquin — according to one version Tarquin the Elder, according to another Tarquin the Younger — is found in Roman authors who were well known and read throughout the whole middle age. The woman was a Sibylla, according to Varro the Erythreian, so called from a Greek city in Asia Minor; according to Virgil the Cumeean, a pro- phetess from Cumffi in southern Italy. P.oth versions could easily be harmonised, for Cunue was a Greek colony from Asia Minor ; and we read in Servius' commentaries on Virgil's poems that the Erythreian Sibylla was by many regarded as identical with the Cumeean. From Asia Minor she was supposed to have come to Oumse. In western Europe the people of the middle age claimed that there were twelve Sibyllas: the Persian, the Libyan, the Delphian, the Cimmerinean, the Erythreian, the Samian, the Cumsean, the Helles- pontian or Trojan, the Phrygian and Tiburtinian, and also the Sibylla Europa and the Sibylla Agrippa. Authorities for the first ten of these were the Church father Lactantius and the West Gothic historian Isodorus of Sevilla. The last two, Europa and Agrippa, were simply added in order to make the number of Sibyllas equal to that of the prophets and the apostles. But the scholars of the middle ages also knew from Servius that the Cumrean Sibylla was, in fact, the same as the Erythreian ; and from the Church father Lactantius, who was extensively read in the middle ages, they also learned that the Erythreian was identical with the Trojan. Thanks to Lactantius, they also thought they could determine precisely where the Trojan Sibylla was born. Her birthplace was the town Marpessus, near the Trojan Mount Ida. From the same Church father they learned that the real contents of the Sibylline books had consisted of narrations con- cerning Trojan events, of lives of the Trojan kings, etc., and also of prophecies concerning the fall of Troy and other coming events, and that the poet Homer in his works was a mere plagiator, who had found a copy of the books of the Sibylla, had recast ami falsi- fied it, and published it in his own name in the form of heroic poems concerning Troy. This seemed to establish the fact that those books, which the woman from Cuinae had sold to the Roman king Tarquin, were written by a Sibylla who was born in the Trojan country, and that 52 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. the books which Tarquin bought of her contained accounts and prophecies— accounts especially in regard to the Trojan chiefs and heroes afterwards glorified in Homer's poems. As the Romans came from Troy, these chiefs and heroes were their ancestors, and in this capacity they were entitled to the worship which the Romans considered due to the souls of their forefathers. From a Christian standpoint this was of course idolatry ; and as the Sibyllas were believed to have made predictions even in regard to Christ, it might seem improper for them to promote in this manner the cause of idolatry. But Lactantius gave a satisfactory explanation of this matter. The Sibylla, he said, had certainly prophesied truthfully in regard to Christ ; but this she did by divine compulsion and in moments of divine inspiration. By birth and in her sympathies she was a heathen, and when under the spell of her genuine inspira- tions, she proclaimed heathen and idolatrous doctrines. In our critical century all this may seem like mere fancies. But careful examinations have shown that an historical kernel is not wanting in these representations. And the historical fact which lies back of all this is that the Sibylline books which were preserved in Rome actually were written in Asia Minor in the ancient Trojan territory ; or, in other words, that the oldest known collection of so-called Sibylline oracles was made in Marpessus, near the Trojan mountain Ida, in the time of Solon. From Mar- pessus the collection came to the neighbouring city Gergis, and was preserved in the Apollo temple there ; from Gergis it came to Cumas, and from Cumse to Rome in the time of the kings. How it came there is not known. The story about the Cumrean woman and Tarquin is an invention, and occurs in various forms. It is also demonstrably an invention that the Sibylline books in Rome contained accounts of the heroes in the Trojan war. On the other hand, it is absolutely certain that they referred to gods and to a worship which in the main were unknown to the Romans before the Sibylline books were introduced there, and that to these books must chiefly be attributed the remarkable change which took place in Roman mythology during the republican centuries. The Roman mythology, which from the beginning had but few gods of clear identity with the Greek, was especially during this epoch enlarged, and received gods and goddesses who were worshipped in Greece and in the Greek and Hellenised part of Asia Minor where the Sibylline TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 53 books originated. The way this happened was that whenever the Romans in trouble or distress consulted the Sibylline books they received the answer that this or that Greek-Asiatic god or goddess was angry and must be propitiated. In connection with the pro- pitiation ceremonies the god or goddess was received in the Roman pantheon, and sooner or later a temple was built to him ; and thus it did not take long before the Romans appropriated the myths that were current in Greece concerning these borrowed divinities. This explains why the Roman mythology, which in its oldest sources is so original and so unlike the Greek, in the golden period of Roman literature comes to us in an almost wholly Cheek attire; this explains why Roman and Greek mythology at that time might be regarded as almost identical. Nevertheless the Romans were able even in the later period of antiquity to discriminate between their native gods and those introduced by the Sibylline books. The former were worshipped according to a Roman ritual, the latter according to a Greek. To the latter belonged Apollo, Artemis, Latona, Ceres, Hermes-Mercury, Proserpina, Cybile, Venus, and Esculapius ; and that the Sibylline books were a Greek-Trojan work, whose original home was Asia Minor and the Trojan territory, was well known to the Romans. When the temple of the Capitoline Jupiter was burned down eighty-four years before Christ, the Sibylline books were lost. But the State could not spare them. A new collection had to be made, and this was mainly done by gather- ing the oracles which could be found one by one in those places which the Trojan or Erythreian Sibylla had visited, that is to say, in Asia Minor, especially in Erytlme, and in Ilium, the ancient Troy. So far as Hermes-Mercury is concerned, the Roman annals inform us that he got his first lectisternium in the year 399 before Christ by order from the Sibylline books. Lectisternium was a sacrifice: the image of the god was laid on a bed with a pillow under the left arm, and beside the image was placed a table and a meal, which as a sacrifice was offered to the god. About one hundred years before that time, Hermes-Mercury had received his first temple in Rome. Hermes-Mercury seemed, therefore, like Apollo, Venus, Escula- pius, and others, to have been a god originally unknown to the Romans, the worship of whom the Trojan Sibylla had recommended to the Romans. 54 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. This was known to the scholars of the middle age. Now, we must bear in mind that it was as certain to them as an undoubted scientific fact that the gods were originally men, chiefs, and heroes, and that the deified chief whom the Eomans worshiped as Mercury, and the Greeks as Hermes, was the same as the Teutons called Odin, and from whom distinguished Teutonic families traced their descent. We must also remember that the Sibylla who was supposed to have recommended the Romans to worship the old king Odin-Mercurius was believed to have been a Trojan woman, and that her books were thought to have contained stories about Troy's heroes, in addition to various prophecies, and so this manner of reasoning led to the conclusion that the gods who were introduced in Borne through the Sibylline books were celebrated Trojans who had lived and fought at a time preceding the fall of Troy. Another inevitable and logical conclusion was that Odin had been a Trojan chief, and when he appears in Teutonic mythology as the chief of gods, it seemed most probable that he was identical with the Trojan king Priam, and that Priam was identical with Hermes-Mercury. Now, as the ancestors of the Eomans were supposed to have emigrated from Troy to Italy under the leadership of iEneas, it was necessary to assume that the Romans were not the only Trojan emigrants, for, since the Teutons worshipped Odin-Priamus-Hermes as their chief god, and since a number of Teutonic families traced their descent from this Odin, the Teutons, too, must have emigrated from Troy. But, inasmuch as the Teutonic dialects differed greatly from the Roman language, the Trojan Romans and the Trojan Teutons must have been separated a very long time. They must have parted company immediately after the fall of Troy and gone in different directions, and as the Romans had taken a southern course on their way to Europe, the Teutons must have taken a northern. It was also apparent to the scholars that the Romans had landed in Europe many centuries earlier than the Teutons, for Rome had been founded already in 754 or 753 before Christ, but of the Teutons not a word is to be found in the annals before the period immediately preceding the birth of Christ. Con- sequently, the Teutons must have made a halt somewhere on their journey to the North. This halt must have been of several centuries' duration, and, of course, like the Romans, they must have TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. founded a city, and from it ruled a territory in commemoration of their fallen city Troy. In that age very little was known of Asia, where this Teutonic-Trojan colony was supposed to have been situated, but, both from Orosius and, later, from Gregorius of Tours, it was known that our world is divided into three large divisions — Asia, Europe, and Africa — and that Asia and Europe are divided by a river called Tanais. And having learned from Gregorius of Tours that the Teutonic Franks were said to have lived in Pannonia in ancient times, and having likewise learned that the Mceotian marshes lie east of Pannonia, and that the Tanais empties into these marshes, they had the course marked out by which the Teutons had come to Europe — that is, by way of Tanais and the Mceotian marshes. Not knowing anything at all of importance in regard to Asia beyond Tanais, it was natural that they should locate the colony of the Teutonic Trojans on the banks of this river. 1 think I have now pointed out the chief threads of the web of that scholastic romance woven out of Latin convent learning concerning a Teutonic emigration from Troy and Asia, a web which extends from Fredegar's Frankish chronicle, through the following chronicles of the middle age, down into Heimskringla and the Fore- word of the Younger Edda. According to the Frankish chronicle, Gcsta regum Francorum, the emigration of the Franks from the Trojan colony near the Tanais was thought to have occurred very late ; that is, in the time of Valentinianus I., or, in other words, between 364 and 375 after Christ. The Icelandic authors very well knew that Teutonic tribes had been far into Europe long before that time, and the reigns they had constructed in regard to the North indicated that they must have emigrated from the Tanais colony long before the Franks. As the Roman attack was the cause of the Frankish emigration, it seemed probable that these world-conquerors had also caused the earlier emigration from Tanais ; and as Pompey's expedition to Asia was the most celebrated of all the expeditions made by the Romans in the East — Pompey even entered Jerusalem and visited its Temple — it was found most convenient to let the Asas emigrate in the time of Pompey, but they left a remnant of Teutons near the Tanais, under the rule of Odin's younger brothers Vile and Ve, in order that this colony might continue to exist until the emigration of the Franks took place. 56 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. Finally, it should be mentioned that the Trojan migration saga, as born and developed in antiquity, does not indicate by a single word that Europe was peopled later than Asia, or that it received its population from Asia. The immigration of the Trojans to Europe was looked upon as a return to their original homes. Dardauus, the founder of Troy, was regarded as the leader of an emigration from Etruria to Asia (JZncid, iii. 165 ff., Serv. Comm.). As a rule the European peoples regarded themselves in antiquity as autochtones, if they did not look upon themselves as immigrants from regions within Europe to the territories they inhabited in historic times. 13. The Materials of the Icelandic Teoy Saga. We trust the facts presented above have convinced the reader that the saga concerning the immigration of Odin and the Asas to Europe is throughout a product of the convent learning of the middle ages. That it was born and developed independently of the traditions of the Teutonic heathendom shall be made still more apparent by the additional proofs that are accessible in regard to this subject. It may, however, be of some interest to first dwell on some of the details in the Heimskringla and in the Younger Edda and point out their source. It should be borne in mind that, according to the Younger Edda, it was Zoroaster who first thought of building the Tower of Babel, and that in this undertaking he was assisted by seventy-two master-masons. Zoroaster is, as is well known, another form for the Bactrian or Iranian name Zarathustra, the name of the prophet and religious reformer who is praised on every page of Avesta's holy books, and who in a prehistoric age founded the religion which far down in our own era has been confessed by the Persians, and is still confessed by their descendants in India, and is marked by a most serious and moral view of the world. In the Persian and in the classical literatures this Zoroaster has naught to do with Babel, still less with the Tower of Babel. But already in the first century of Christianity, if not earlier, traditions became current which made Zoroaster the founder of all sorcery, magic, and astrology (Plinms, Hist. JYat.,xxx. 2); and as astrology par- ticularly was supposed to have had its centre and base in Babylon, TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 57 it was natural to assume that Babel had been the scene of Zoro- aster's activity. The Greek-Roman chronicler Ammianus Marcel- linus, who lived in the fourth century after Christ, still knows that Zoroaster was a man from Bactria, not from Babylon, but he already has formed the opinion that Zoroaster had gotten much of his wisdom from the writings of the Babylonians. In the Church fathers the saga is developed in this direction, and from the Church fathers it got into the Latin chronicles. The Christian historian Orosius also knows that Zoroaster was from Bactria, but lie already connects Zoroaster with the history of Nineveh and Baby- lon, and makes Ninus make war against him and conquer him. Orosins speaks of him as the inventor of sorcery and the magic arts. Gregorius of Toms told in his time that Zoroaster was identical with Noah's grandson, with Chus, the son of Ham, that this Chus went to the Persians, and that the Persians called him Zoroaster, a name supposed to mean "the living star". Gregorius also relates that this Zoroaster was the first person who taught men the arts of sorcery and led them astray into idolatry, and as he knew the art of making stars and fire fall from heaven, men paid him divine worship. At that time, Gregorius continues, men desired to build a tower which should reach to heaven. But God confused their tongues and brought their project to naught. Nimrod, who was supposed to have built Babel, was, according to Gregorius, a son of Zoroaster. If we compare this with what the Foreword of the Younger Edda tells, then we find that there, too, Zoroaster is a descendant of Noah's son Cham and the founder of all idolatry, and that he himself was worshipped as a god. It is evident that the author of the Foreword gathered these statements from some source related to Gregorius' history. Of the 72 master-masons who were said to have helped Zoroaster in building the tower, and from whom the 72 languages of the world originated, Gregorius has nothing to say, but the saga about these builders was current every- where during the middle ages. In the earlier Anglo-Saxon literature there is a very naive little work, very characteristic of its age, called "A Dialogue between Saturn and Solomon," in which Saturnus tests Solomon's knowledge and puts to him all sorts of biblical questions, which Solomon answers partly from the Bible and partly from sagas connected with the Bible. Among 58 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. other things Saturnus informs^Solomon that Adam was created out of various elements, weighing altogether eight pounds, and that when created he was just 116 inches long. Solomon tells that Shem, Noah's son, had thirty sons, Cham thirty, and Japhet twelve — making 72 grandsons of Noah: and as there can be no doubt that it was the author's opinion that all the languages of the world, thought to be 72, originated at the Tower of Babel, and were spread into the world by these 72 grandsons of Noah, we here find the key to who those 72 master-masons were who, according to the Edda, assisted Zoroaster in building the tower. They were accordingly his brothers. Luther's contem- porary, Henricus Cornelius Agrippa, who, in his work Be occulta Philosopliia, gathered numerous data in regard to the superstition of all ages, has a chapter on the power and sacred meaning of various numbers, and says in speaking of the number 72 : " The number 72 corresponds to the 72 languages, the 72 elders in the synagogue, the 72 commentators of the Old Testament, Christ's 72 disciples, God's 72 names, the 72 angels who govern the 72 divisions of the Zodiac, each division of which corresponds to one of the 72 languages ". This illustrates sufficiently how widespread was the tradition in regard to the 72 master-masons during the centuries of the middle ages. Even Nestor's Eussian chronicle knows the tradition. It continued to enjoy a certain authority in the seven- teenth century. An edition of Sulpicius Severus' Opera Omnia, printed in 1647, still considers it necessary to point out that a certain commentator had doubted whether the number 72 was en- tirely exact. Among the doubters we find Eudbeck in his Atlantica. What the Edda tells about king Saturnus and his son, king Jupiter, is found in a general way, partly in the Church-father Lactantius, partly in Virgil's commentator Servius, who was known and read during the middle age. As the Edda claims that Saturnus knew the art of producing gold from the molten iron, and that no other than gold coins existed in his time, this must be considered an interpretation of the statement made in Latin sources that Saturnus' was the golden age — a/urea sccula, cmrea regna. Among the Eomans Saturnus was the guardian of treasures, and the trea- sury of the Eomans was in the temple of Saturnus in the Forum. The genealogy found in the Edda, according to which the Trojan king Priam, supposed to be the oldest and the proper Odin, TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 59 was descended in the sixth generation from Jupiter, is taken from Latin chronicles. Herikon of the Edda, grandson of Jupiter, i> the Roman-Greek Erichtonius ; the Edda's Lamedon is Laomedon. Th.n the Edda has the difficult task of continuing the genealog] through the dark centuries between the burning of Troy and the younger Odin's immigration to Europe. Here the Latin sources naturally fail it entirely, and it is obliged to seek other aid. It first considers the native sources. There it finds that Thor is also called Lorride, Indride, and Yingthor, and that he had two sons, Mode and Magne; hut it also finds a genealogy made about the twelfth century, in which these different names of Thor are applied to different persons, so that Lorride is the son of Thor, Indride the son of Lorride, Yingthor the son of Indride, &c. This mode of making genealogies was current in Iceland in the twelfth century, and before that time among the Christian Anglo-Saxons. Thereupon the Edda continues its genealogy with the names Bedvig, Atra, Itrman, Heremod, Skjaldun or Skold, Bjsef, Jat, Gudolf, Fjarlaf or Eridleif, and finally Odin, that is to say, the younger Odin, who had adopted this name after his deified progenitor Hermes-Priam. This whole genealogy is taken from a Saxon source, and can be found in the Anglo-Saxon chronicle name for name. From Odin the genealogy divides itself into two branches, one from Odin's son, Veegdegft and another from Odin's son, Beldegg or Balder. The one branch has the names Yeggdegg, Yitrgils, liitta, Heingest. These names are found arranged into a genealogy by the English Church historian Beda, by the English chronicler Nennius, and in the Anglo-Saxon chronicle. From one of these three sources the Edda has taken them, and the only difference is that the Edda must have made a slip in one place and changed the name Vitta to liitta. The other branch, which begins with Balder or Beldegg, embraces eight names, which are found in precisely the same order in the Anglo-Saxon chronicle. In regard to Balder, the Edda says that Odin appointed him king in Westphalia. This statement is based on the tradition that Balder was known among the heathen Germans and Scandinavians by the name Fal (Fair, see No. 92), with its variation Fol. In an age when it was believed that Sweden got its name from a king Sven, Gotaland from a king Got, Danmark from a king Dan, Angeln from a king Angul, the Franks from a duke Francio, it 60 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. might be expected that Falen (East- and West-Phalia) had been named after a king Fal That this name was recognised as belong- ing to Balder not only in Germany, but also in Scandinavia, I shall give further proof of in No. 92. As already stated, Thor was, according to the Edda, married to Sibil, that is to say, the Sibylla, and the Edda adds that this Sibil is called Sif in the North. In the Teutonic mythology Thor's wife is the goddess Sif. It has already been mentioned that it was believed in the middle age that the Cumrean or Erythreian Sibylla originally came from Troy, and it is not, therefore, strange that the author of the Younger Edda, who speaks of the Trojan descent of Odin and his people, should marry Thor to the most famous of Trojan women. Still, this marriage is not invented by the author. The statement has an older foundation, and taking all circumstances into consideration, may be traced to Germany, where Sif, in the days of heathendom, was as well known as Thor. To the northern form Sif corresponds the Gothic form Sibba, the Old English Sib, the Old Saxon Sibbia, and the Old High German Sibba, and Sibil, Sibilla, was thought to be still another form of the same name. The belief, based on the assumed fact that Thor's wife Sif was identical with the Sibylla, explains a phenomenon not hitherto understood in the saga-world and church sculpture of the middle age, and on this point I now have a few remarks to make. In the Norse mythology several goddesses or dises have, as we know, feather - guises, with which they fly through space. Freyja has a falcon-guise; several dises have swan-guises (Volun- darkv. Helreid. Brynh., 6). Among these swan-maids was Sif (see No. 123). Sif could therefore present herself now in human form, and again in the guise of the most beautiful swimming bird, the swan. A legend, the origin of which may be traced to Italy, tells that when the cpaeen of Saba visited king Solomon, she was in one place to cross a brook. A tree or beam was thrown across as a bridge. The wise cpaeen stopped, and would not let her foot touch the beam. She preferred to wade across the brook, and when she was asked the reason for this, she answered that in a prophetic vision she had seen that the time would come when this tree would 1m- made into a cross on which the Saviour of the world was to suffer. The legend came also to Germany, but here it appears with the TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 61 addition that the queen of Saba was rewarded for this piety, and was freed while wading across the brook from a bad blemish. One of her feet, so says the German addition, was of human form, but the other like the foot of a water-bird up to the moment when she took it out of the brook. Church sculpture sometimes in the middle age represented the queen of Saba as a woman well formed, except that she had one foot like that of a water-bird. How the Germaus came to represent her with this blemish, foreign to the Italian legend, has not heretofore been explained, although the in- fluence of the Greek-Iioniaii mythology on the legends of the Romance peoples, and that of the Teutonic mythology on the Teutonic legends, has been traced in numerous instances. During the middle ages the queen of Saba was called queen Seba, on account of the Latin translation of the Bible, where she is Styled Rcgina Seba, and Seba was thought to be her name. The name suggested her identity, on the one hand, with Sibba, Sif, whose swan-guise lived in the traditions ; on the other hand, with Sibilla, and the latter particularly, since queen Seba had proved herself to be in possession of prophetic inspiration, the chief characteristic of the Sibylla. Seba, Sibba, and Sibilla were in the popular fancy blended into one. This explains how queen Seba among the Germans, but not among the Italians, got the blemish which reminds us of the swan-guise of Thor's wife Sibba. Ami having come to the conclusion that Thor was a Trojan, his wife Sif also ought to be a Trojan woman. And as it was known that the Sibylla was Trojan, and that queen Seba was a Sibylla, this blending was almost inevitable. The Latin scholars found further evidence of the correctness of this identity in a statement drawn originally from Greek sources to the effect that Jupiter had had a Sibylla, by name Lamia, as mistress, and had begotten a daughter with her by name Herophile, who was endowed with her mother's gift of prophecy. As we know, Mercury corresponds to Odin, and Jupiter to Thor, in the names of the days of the week. It thus follows that it was Thor who stood in this relation to the Sibylla. The character of the anthropomorphosed Odin, who is lawgiver and king, as represented in Heimskringla and the Prose Edda, is only in part based on native northern traditions concerning the heathen god Odin, the ruler of heaven. This younger Odin, constructed by Christian authors, has received his chief features from documents 62 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. f< rand in the convent libraries. When the Prose Edda tells that the chief who proceeded from Asgard to Saxland and Scandinavia did not really bear the name Odin, but had assumed this name after the elder and deified Odin-Priam of Troy, to make people believe that he was a god, then this was no new idea. Virgil's com- mentator, Servius, remarks that ancient kings very frequently assumed names which by right belonged only to the gods, and he 1 James Virgil for making Saturnus come from the heavenly Olympus to found a golden age in Italy. This Saturnus, says Servius, was not a god from above, but a mortal king from Crete who had taken the god Saturnus' name. The manner in which Saturnus, on his arrival in Italy and the vicinity of Rome, was received by Janus, the king ruling there, reminds us of the manner in which Odin, on his arrival in Svithiod, was received by king Gylfe. Janus is unpretentious enough to leave a portion of his territory and his royal power to Saturnus, and Gylfe makes the same concessions to Odin. Saturnus thereupon introduces a higher culture among the people of Latium, and Odin brings a higher culture to the inhabitants of Scandinavia. The Church father Lactantius, like Servius, speaks of kings who tried to appropriate the name and worship of the gods, and condemns them as foes of truth and violators of the doctrines of the true God. In regard to one of them, the Persian Mithra, who, in the middle age, was confounded with Zoroaster, Tertulianus relates that he (Mithra), who knew in advance that Christianity would come, resolved to anticipate the true faith by introducing some of its customs. Thus, for example, Mithra, according to Tertulianus, introduced the custom of blessing by laying the hands on the head or the brow of those to whom he wished to insure prosperity, and he also adopted among his mysteries a practice resembling the breaking of the bread in the Eucharist. So far as the blessing by the laying on of hands is concerned, Mithra especially used it in giving courage to the men whom he sent out as soldiers to war. With these words of Tertulianus it is interesting to compare the following passage in regard to Odin in the Heimskringla : " It was his custom when he sent his men to war, or on some errand, to lay his hands on their head and give them bjannak ". Bjannak is not a Norse word, not even Teutonic, and there has been uncertainty in regard to its significance. The well-known Icelandic philologist, TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. o.; Vigfusson, has, as I believe, given the correct definition of the word, having referred it to the Scottish word bannock and the Gaelic banagh, which means bread Presumably the author of fieims- kringla has chosen this foreign word in order not to wound the religious feelings of readers with a native term, for it' bfannak really means bread, and if the author of Heimskringla desired in this way to indicate that Odin, by the aid of sacred usages, practised in the Christian cult — that is, by the laying on of hands and the breaking of bread — had given his warriors the assurance of victory, then it lay near at hand to modify, by the aid of a foreign word for' bread, the impression of the disagreeable- similarity between the heathen and Christian usages. But at the >ai He time the complete harmony between what Tertulianus tells about Mithra and Heimskringla about Odin is manifest. What Heimskringla tells about Odin, that his spirit could leave the body and go to far-off regions, and that his body lay in the meantime as if asleep or dead, is told, in the middle age, of Zoroaster and of Hermes-Mercurius. New Platonian works had told much about an originally Egyptian god, whom they associated with the Greek Hermes and called Hermes-Trismegistus — that is, the thrice greatest and highest. The name Hermes-Trismernstus became known through Latin authors even to the scholars in the middle age convents, and, as a matter of course, those who believed that Odin was identical with Hermes also regarded him as identical with Hermes-Trisme- gistus. When Gylfe sought Odin and his men he came to a citadel which, according to the statement of the gatekeeper, belonged to king Odin, but when he had entered the hall he there saw not one throne, but three thrones, the one above the other, and upon each of the thrones a chief. When Gylfe asked the names of these chiefs, he received an answer that indicates that none of the three alone was Odin, but that Odin the sorcerer, who was able to turn men's vision, was present in them all. One of the three, says the door- keeper, is named Hdr, the second Jafnhdr, and the one on the highest throne is fmJSi. It seems to me probable that what rise to this story was the surname " the thrice-highest," which in the middle age was ascribed to Mercury, and, consequently, was regarded as one of the epithets which Odin assumed. The names Third and High seem to point to the phrase " the thrice-highest ". 64 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. It was accordingly taken for granted that Odin had appropriated this name in order to anticipate Christianity with a sort of idea of trinity, just as Zoroaster, his progenitor, had, under the name Mithra, in advance imitated the Christian usages. The rest that Heimskringla and the Younger Eclda tell about the king Odin who immigrated to Europe is mainly taken from the stories embodied in the mythological songs and traditions in regard to the god Odin who ruled in the celestial Valhal. Here belongs what is told about the war of Odin and the Asiatics with the Vans. In the myth, this war was waged around the walls built by a giant around the heavenly Asgard (Volusp., 25). The citadel in which Gylfe finds the triple Odin is decorated in harmony with the Valhal described by the heathen skalds. The men who drink and present exercises in arms are the einherjes of the myth. G-ylfe him- self is taken from the mythology, but, to all appearances, he did not play the part of a king, but of a giant, dwelling in Jotunheim. The Fornmanna sagas make him a descendant of Fomjotr, who, with his sons, HJe'r, Logi, and Kdri, and his descendants, Jokull, Sneer, Geitir, &c, doubtless belong to Jotunheim. When Odin and the Asas had been made immigrants to the North, it was quite natural that the giants were made a historical people, and as such were regarded as the aborigines of the North— an hypothesis which, in connection with the fable about the Asiatic emigration, was accepted for centuries, and still has its defenders. The story that Odin, when he perceived death drawing near, marked himself with the point of a spear, has its origin in the words which a heathen song lays on Odin's lips : " I know that I hung on the wind-tossed tree nine nights, by my spear wounded, given to Odin, myself given to myself " (Havam., 138). 14. The Eesult of the Foregoing Investigations. Herewith I close the examination of the sagas in regard to the Trojan descent of the Teutons, and in regard to the immigration of Odin and his Asia-men to Saxland, Denmark, and the Scan- dinavian peninsula. I have pointed out the seed from which the sagas grew, the soil in which the seed could be developed, and how it gradually grew to be what we find these sagas to be in TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY'. 65 Heimskvingla and the Younger Edda. I have shown that they do not belong to the Teutonic heathendom, but that they were born, as it were of necessity, in a Christian time, among Teutons converted to Christianity, and that they are throughout the work of the Latin scholars in the middle age. The assumption that they concealed within themselves a tradition preserved for centuries among the Teutons themselves of an ancient emigration from Asia is alto- gether improbable, and is completely refuted by the genuine migration sagas of Teutonic origin which were rescued from oblivion, and of which I shall give an account below. In my opinion, these old and genuine Teutonic migration sagas have, from a purely historical standpoint, but little more claim than the fables of the Christian age in regard to Odin's emigration from Asia to be looked upon as containing a kernel of reality. This must in each case be carefully considered. But that of which they furnish evidence is, how entirely foreign to the Teutonic heathens was the idea of an immigration from Troy or Asia, and besides, they are of great interest on account of their connection with what the myths have to say in regard to the oldest dwelling- places, history, and diffusion of the human race, or at least of the Teutonic part of it. As a rule, all the old migration sagas, no matter from win it race they spring, should be treated with the utmost caution. Large portions of the earth's surface may have been appropriated by various races, not by the sudden influx of large masses, but by a gradual increase of the population and consequent inovin^ of ~tbeir boundaries, and there need not have been any very remark- able or memorable events in connection therewith. Such an ex- pansion of the territory may take place, and be so little remarked by the people living around the centre, that they actually do not need to be aware of it, and much less do they need to remember it in sagas and songs. That a few new settlers year by year exb'uu .hfi boundaries of a race has no influence on the imagina- tion, and it can continue generation after generation, and produce as its final result an immense expansion, and yet the separate generations may scarcely have been conscious of the change in pro- gress. A people's spreading over new territory may be compared with the movement of the hour-hand on a clock. It is not per- ceptible to the eye, and is only realised by continued observation. g5 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. In many instances, however, immigrations have taken place in larae masses, who' have left their old abodes to seek new homes. Such undertakings are of themselves worthy of being remembered, and they are attended by results that easily cling to the memory. But even in such cases it is surprising how soon the real historical events either are utterly forgotten or blended with fables, which gradually, since they appeal more to the fancy, monopolise the interest. The conquest and settlement of England by Saxon and Scandinavian tribes— and that, too, in a time when the art of writing was known — is a most remarkable instance of this. Hengist, under whose command the Saxons, according to their own immigration saga, are said to have planted their feet on British soil, is a saga-figure taken from mythology, and there we shall find him later on (see No. 123). No wonder, then, if we dis- cover in mythology those heroes under whose leadership the Longobardians and Goths believed they had emigrated from their original Teutonic homes. B REMINISCENCES IN THE POPULAR TRADITIONS OE THE MIDDLE AGES OE THE HEATHEN MIGRA- TION SAGA. 15. The Longobardian Migration Saga. What there still remains of migration sagas from the middle ages, taken from the saga-treasure of the Teutons themselves, is, alas ! but little. Among the Franks the stream of national tradi- tions early dried up, at least among the class possessing Latin culture. Among the Longobardians it fared better, and among them Christianity was introduced later. Within the ken of Roman history they appear in the first century after Christ, when Tiberius invaded their boundaries. Tacitus speaks of them with admiration as a small people whose paucity, he says, was balanced by their unity and warlike virtues, which rendered them secure in the midst of the numerous and mighty tribes around them. The Longobardians dwelt at that time in the most northern part of Germany, on the lower Elbe, probably in Luneburg. Five hundred years later we find them as TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 67 rulers in Pannonia, whence they invade Italy. They had then been converted to Christianity. A hundred years alter they had become settled in North Italy, one of their Latin scholars wrote a little treatise, Dc Origins Longobardorum, which begins in the following manner: " In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ ! Here begins the oldest history of our Longobardian people. There is an island called Skadan, far in the north. There dwelt many peoples. Among them was a little people called the Vinnilians. and among the Vinnilians was a woman by name Gambara. Gambara had two sons: one by name Ibor, the other named A jo. She and these sons were the rulers among the Vinnilians. Then it came to pass that the Vandals, with their dukes Ambri and Assi, turned against the Vinnilians, and said to them : ' Pay ye tribute unto us. If ye will not, then arm yourselves for war ! ' Then made answer Ibor and Ajo and their mother Gambara : 'It is better for us to arm ourselves for war than to pay tribute to the Vandals'. When Ambri and Assi, the dukes of the Vandals, heard this, they ad- dressed themselves to Odin (Godan) with a prayer that he should grant them victory. Odin answered and said: 'Those whom I first discover at the rising of the sun, to them I shall give victory '. But at the same time Ibor and Ajo, the chiefs of the Vinnilians, and their mother Gambara, addressed themselves to Frigg (Frea), Odin's wife, beseeching her to assist them. Then Frigg gave the advice that the Vinnilians should set out at the rising of the sun, and that the women should accompany their husbands and arrange their hair so that it should hang like a beard under their chins. When the sky cleared and the sun was about to rise, Frigg, Odin's wife, went to the couch where her husband was sleeping and directed his face to the east (where the Vinnilians stood), and then she waked him. And as he looked up he saw the Vinnilians, and observed the hair hanging down from the faces of their women. And then said he : ' What long-beards are they ? ' Then said Frigg to Odin : ' My lord, as you now have named them, you must also give them victory ! ' And he gave them victory, so that they, in accord- ance with his resolve, defended themselves well, and got the upper hand. From that day the Vinnilians were called Longobardians — that is to say, long-beards. Then the Longobardians left their country and came to Golaida, and thereupon they occupied Aldonus, Anthaib, Bainaib, and Burgundaib." 68 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. In the days of Charlemagne the Longobardians got a historian by name Paulus Diaconus, a monk in the convent Monte Cassino, and he was himself a Longobardian by birth. Of the earliest history of his people he relates the following: The Vinnilians or Longobardians, who ruled successfully in Italy, are of Teutonic descent, and came originally from the island Scandinavia. Then he says that he has talked with persons who had been in Scandi- navia, and from their reports he gives some facts, from which it is evident that his informants had reference to Scania with its extensive coast of lowlands and shallow water. Then he con- tinues : " When the population on this island had increased beyond the ability of the island to support them, they were divided into three parts, and it was determined by lot which part should emigrate from the native land and seek new homes. The part whose destiny it became to leave their native land chose as their leaders the brothers Ibor and Ajo, who were in the bloom of man- hood and were distinguished above the rest. Then they bade fare- well to their friends and to their country, and went to seek a land in which they might settle. The mother of these two leaders was called Gambara, who was distinguished among her people for her keen understanding and shrewd advice, and great reliance was placed on her prudence in difficult circumstances." Paulus makes a digression to discuss many remarkable things to be seen in .Scandinavia : the light summer nights and the long winter nights, a maelstrom which in its vortex swallows vessels and sometimes throws them up again, an animal resembling a deer hunted by the nci-hbours of the Scandinavians, the Scritobinians (the Skee* Finns), and a cave in a rock where seven men in Ptoman clothes have slept for centuries (see Nos. 79-81, and No. 94). Then he relates that the Vinnilians left Scandinavia and came to a country called Scoringia, and there was fought the aforesaid battle, in which, thanks to Frigg's help, the Vinnilians conquered the Vandals, who demanded tribute from then). The story is then told how this occurred, and how the * The snow-skate, used so extensively in the north of Europe, is called Ski in the Noise, and I have taken the liberty of introducing this word here and spelling it phonetically — skee, pi. skees. The words snow-shoes, snow- skates, hardly describe sufficiently these skees used by the Finns, Norsemen, and [celanders. Compare the English word skid, the drag applied to a coach- wheel.— Tr. TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 69 Vinnilians got the name Longobardians in a manner corresponding with the source already quoted, with the one addition, that it was Odin's custom when he awoke to look out of the window, which was open, to the east toward the rising sun. Paulus Diaconus finds this Longobardian folk-saga ludicrous, not in itself, but because Odin was, in the first place, he says, a man, not a god. In the second place, Odin did not live among the Teutons, but among the Greeks, for he is the same as the one called by the Romans Mercury. In the third place, Odin-Mercury did not live at the time when the Longo- bardians emigrated from Scandinavia, but much earlier. Accordhv to Paulus, there were only five generations between the emigration of the Longobardians and the time of Odoacer. Thus we find in Paulus Diaconus the ideas in regard to Odin-Mercury which I have already called attention to. Paulus thereupon relates the adven- tures which happened to the Longobardians after the battle with the Vandals. I shall refer to these adventures later on. They belong to the Teutonic mythology, and reappear in mythic sources (see No. 112), but in a more original form, and as events which took place in the beginning of time in a conflict between the Asas and Vans on the one hand, and lower beings on the other hand ; lower, indeed, but unavoidable in connection with the well- being of nature and man. This conflict resulted in a terrible winter and consequent famine throughout the North. In this mythological description we shall find Ajo and Ibor, under whose leadership the Longobardians emigrated, and Hengist, under whom the Saxons landed in Britain. It is proper to show what form the story about the Longo- bardian emigration had assumed toward the close of the twelfth century in the writings of the Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus. The emigration took place, he says, at a time when a Danish king, by name Sno, ruled, and when there occurred a terrible famine. First, those starving had resolved to kill all the aged and all children, but this awful resolve was not carried out, thanks to a good and wise woman, by name Gambaruc, who advised that a part of the people should emigrate. This was done under the leadership of her sons Aggo and Ebbo. The emigrants came first to Blekingia (Blekinge), then they sailed past Moringia (More) and came to Gutland, where they had a contest with the Vandals, and by the aid of the goddess Frigg they won the victory, and 70 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. got the name Longobardians. From Gutland they sailed to Eugen, and thence to the German continent, and thus after many adventures they at length became masters of a large part of Italy. In regard to this account it must be remarked that although it contains many details not found in Paulus Diaconus, still it is the same narrative that has" come to Saxo's knowledge. This Saxo also admits, and appeals to the testimony of Paulus Diaconus. Paulus' Gambara is Saxo's Gambaruc ; Ajo and Ibor are Aggo and Ebbo. But the Longobardian monk is not Saxo's only source, and the brothers Aggo and Ebbo, as we shall show, were known to him from purely northern sources, though not as leaders of the Longo- bardians, but as mythic characters, who are actors in the great winter which Saxo speaks of. The Longobardian emigration saga — as we find it recorded in the seventh century, and then again in the time of Charlemagne — contains unmistakable internal evidence of having been taken from the people's own traditions. Proof of this is already the circum- stance, that although the Longobardians had been Christians for nearly 200 years when the little book De Origine Longobardorum appeared, still the long-banished divinities, Odin and Frigg, re- appear and take part in the events, not as men, but as divine beings, and in a manner thoroughly corresponding with the stories recorded in the North concerning the relations between Odin and his wife. For although this relation was a good and tender one, judging from expressions in the heathen poems of the North (Volusp., 51 ; Vafthr., 1-4), and although the queen of heaven, Frigg, seems to have been a good mother in the belief of the Teutons, this does not hinder her from being represented as a wily person, with a will of her own which she knows how to carry out. Even a Norse story tells how Frigg resolves to protect a person whom Odin is not able to help ; how she and he have different favourites among men, and vie with each other in bringing greater luck to their favourites. The story is found in the prose introduction to the poem " Grimnismal," an introduction which in more than one respect reminds us of the Longobardian emigration saga. In both it is mentioned how Odin from his dwelling looks out upon the world and observes what is going on. Odin has a favourite by name Geirrod. Frigg, on the other hand, TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 71 protects Geirrod's brother Agnar. The man and wife find fault with each other's proteges. Frigg remarks about Geirrod, that he- is a prince, " stingy with food, so that he lets his guests starve if they are many ". And the story goes on to say that Geirrod, at the secret command of Odin, had pushed the boat in which Agnar was .sitting away from shore, and that the boat had gone to sea with Agnar and had not returned. The story looks like a parable founded on the Longobardian saga, or like one grown in a Christian time out of the same root as the Longobardian story. Geirrod is in reality the name of a giant, and the giant is in the myth a being who brings hail and frost. He dwells in the uttermost North, beyond the mythical Gandvik (Thorsdrapa, 2), and as a mythical winter symbol he corresponds to king Sno in Saxo. His " stinginess of food when too many guests come " seems to point to lack of food caused by the unfavourable weather, which necessitated emigrations, when the country became over-populated. Agnar, abandoned to the waves of the sea, is protected, like the Longobardians crossing the sea, by Frigg, and his very name, Agnar, reminds us of the names Aggo, Acho, and Agio, by which Ajo, one of the leaders of the Longobardians, is known. The prose introduction has no original connection with Grimnismal itself, and in the form in which we now have it, it belongs to a Christian age, and is apparently from an author belonging to the same school as those who regarded the giants as the original inhabitants of Scandinavia, and turned winter giants like Jokull, Snaer, &c, into historical kings of Norway. The absolutely positive result of the Longobardian narra- tives written by Longobardian historians is that the Teutonic race to which they belonged considered themselves sprung, not from Troy or Asia, but from an island, situated in the ocean, which washes the northern shores of the Teutonic continent, that is to say, of Germany. 16. The Saxon and Swabian Migration Saga. From the Longobardians I now pass to the great Teutonic group of peoples comprised in the term the Saxons. Theil historian, Widukind, who wrote his chronicle in the tenth century, 72 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. begins by telling what he has learned about the origin of the Saxons. Here, he says, different opinions are opposed to each other. According to one opinion held by those who knew the Greeks and Romans, the Saxons are descended from the remnants of Alexander the Great's Macedonian army; according to the other, which is based on native traditions, the Saxons are descended from Danes and Northmen. Widukind so far takes his position between these opinions that he considers it certain that the Saxons had come in ships to the country they inhabited on the lower Elbe and the North Sea, and that they landed in Hadolaun, that is to say, in the district Hadeln, near the mouth of the Elbe, which, we may say in passing, still is distinguished for its remarkably vigorous population, consisting of peasants whose ancestors throughout the middle ages preserved the communal liberty in successful conflict with the feudal nobility. Widukind's statement that the Saxons crossed the sea to Hadeln is found in an older Saxon chronicle, written about 860, with the addition that the leader of the Saxons in their emigration was a chief by name Hadugoto. A Swabian chronicle, which claims that the Swabians also came from the North and experienced about the same adventures as the Saxons when they came to their new home, gives from popular traditions additional details in regard to the migration and the voyage. According to this account, the emigration was caused by a famine which visited the Northland situated on the other side of the sea, because the inhabitants were heathens who annually sacrificed twelve Christians to their gods. At the time when the famine came there ruled a king Rudolph over that region in the Northland whence the people emigrated. He called a convention of all the most noble men in the land, and there it was decided that, in order to put an end to the famine, the fathers of families who had several sons should slay them all except the one they loved most. Thanks to a young man, by name Ditwin, who was himself included in this dreadful resolution, a new convention was called, and the above resolution was rescinded, and instead, it was decided to procure ships, and that all they who, according to the former resolution, were doomed to die, should seek new homes beyond the sea. Accompanied by their female friends, they em- barked, and they had not sailed far before they were attacked by a TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 73 violent storm, which carried them to a Danish harbour near a place, says the author, which is called Slesvik. Here they went ashore, and to put an end to all discussion in regard to a return to the old dear fatherland, they hewed their ships into pieces. Then they wandered through the country which lay before them, and, together with much other booty, they gathered 20,000 horses, so that a large number of the men were able to ride on horseback. The rest followed the riders on foot. Armed with weapons, they proceeded in this manner through the country ruled by the Danes, and they came to the river Alba (Elbe), which they crossed ; after which they scattered themselves along the coast. This Swabian narrative, which seems to be copied from the Saxon, tells, like the latter, that the Thuringians were rulers in the land to which the immigrants came, and that bloody battles had to be fought before they got possession of it. Widukind's account attempts to give the Saxons a legal right, at least to the landing-place and the immediate vicinity. This legal right, he says, was acquired in the following manner. While the Saxons were still in their ships in the harbour, out of which the Thuringians were unable to drive them, it was resolved on both sides to open negotiations, and thus an understanding was reached, that the Saxons, on the condition that they abstained from plundering and murder, might remain and buy what they needed and sell whatever they could. Then it occurred that a Saxon man, richly adorned with gold and wearing a gold necklace, went ashore. There a Thuringian met him and asked him : " Why do you wear so much gold around your lean neck ? " The youth answered that he was perishing from hunger, and was seeking a purchaser of his gold ornaments. " How much do you ask ? " impaired the Thuringian. " What do you bid?" answered the Saxon. Near by was a large sand-hill, and the Thuringian said in derision : " I will give you as much sand as you can carry in your clothes ". The Saxon said he would accept this offer. The Thuringian rilled the skirts of his frock with sand; the Saxon gave him his gold ornaments and returned to the ships. The Thuringians laughed at this bargain with contempt, and the Saxons found it foolish ; but the youth said: "Go with me, brave Saxons, and I will show you that my foolishness will be your advantage ". Then he took the sand he had bought and scattered it as widely as possible over the ground, covering in this manner so lanre an area that it 1 1 wj I* am u\, in which he has recorded a Punic alphabet, and added the information that it is the alphabet used by the Northmen and by other heathen tribes, and that songs and formulas tor healing, incantation, and prophecy are written with these characters. When Hrabanus speaks of the Northmen, he adds that those who speak the German tongue trace their descent from the Northmen. This statement cannot be harmonised with the hypothesis concerning the Asiatic descent of the Franks and other Teutons, except by assuming that the Teutons on their immigration from Asia to Europe took a route so far to the north that they reached the Scandinavian peninsula and Denmark without touching Germany and Central Europe, and then came from the North to Germany. But of such a view there is not a trace to be found in the middle age chronicles. The Frankish chronicles make the Franks proceed from Pannonia straight to the Ehine. The Icelandic imitations of the hypothesis make Odin and his people proceed from Tanais to Saxland, and found kingdoms there before he comes to Denmark and Sweden. Hrabanus has certainly not heard of any such theory. His statement that all the Teutons came from the North rests on the same foundation as the native traditions which produced the sagas in regard to the descent of the Longobardians, Saxons, and Swabians from the North. There still remains one trace of the Frankish migration saga, and that is the statement of Paulus Diaconus, made above, concerning the supposed identity of the name Ansgisel with the name Anchises. The identification is not made by Paulus himself, but was found in the Frankish source which furnished him with what he tells about the ancestors of Charlemagne, and the Frankish source, under the influence of the hypothesis regarding the Trojan descent of the Franks, has made an emigration leader mentioned in the popular traditions identical with the Trojan Anchises. This is corroborated by the Eavenna geographer, who also informs us that a certain Anschis, Ansgisel, was a Teutonic emigration leader, and that he was the one under whose leadership the Saxon tribes left their old homes. Thus it appears that, according to the Frankish saga, the Franks origin- ally emigrated under the same chief as the Saxons. The charac- ter and position of Ansgisel in the heathen myth will 1" plained in No. 123. 76 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 18. JORDANES ON THE EMIGRATION OF THE GOTHS, GEPID^E, AND Herulians. The Migration Saga of the Burgundians. Traces of an Alamannic Migration Saga. The most populous and mighty of all the Teutonic tribes was during a long period the Gothic, which carried victorious weapons over all eastern and southern Europe and Asia Minor, and founded kingdoms between the Don in the East and the Atlantic ocean and the Pillars of Hercules in the West and South. The traditions of the Goths also referred the cradle of the race to Scandinavia. Jordanes, a Romanised Goth, wrote in the sixth century the history of his people. In the North, he says, there is a great ocean, and in this ocean there is a large island called Scandza, out of whose loins our race burst forth like a swarm of bees and spread ovei Europe. In its capacity as cradle of the Gothic race, and of other Teutonic tribes, this island Scandza is clearly of great interest to Jordanes, the more so since he, through his father Yamod or Alano-Vamut, regarded himself as descended from the same royal family as that from which the Amalians, the famous royal family of the East Goths, traced their ancestry. On this account Jordanes gives as complete a description of this island as possible. He first tells what the Greek and Eoman authors Claudius Ptolemy and Pomponius Mela have written about it, but he also reports a great many things which never before were known in literature, unless they were found in the lost Historia Gotliorwm by Cassiodorus — things which either Jordanes himself or Cassio- dorus had learned from Northmen who were members of the large Teutonic armies then in Italy. Jordanes also points out, with an air of superiority, that while the geographer Ptolemy did not know more than seven nations living on the island Scandza, he is able to enumerate many more. Unfortunately several of the Scandinavian tribe-names given by him are so corrupted by the transcriber that it is useless to try to restore them. It is also evident that Jordanes himself has had a confused notion of the proper geographical or political application of the names. Some of them, however, are easily recognisable as the names of tribes in various parts of Sweden and Norway, as, for instance, Vagoth, Ostrogothre, Einnaitha3 (in- TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 77 habitants of Finved), Bergio, Hallin, Raumaricii, Ragnaricii, Rani He gives us special accounts of a Scandinavian people, which he calls sometimes Svehans and sometimes Svethidi, and with these words there is every reason to believe that he means the Swedes in the wider or more limited application of this term. This is what he tells about the Svehans or Svethidi : The Svehans are in con- nection with the Thuringiana living on the continent, that Teutonic people which is particularly celebrated for their excellent horses. The Svehans are excellent hunters, who kill the animals whose skins through countless hands are sent to the Romans, and are treasured by them as the finest of furs. This trade cannot have made the Svehans rich. Jordanes gives us to understand that their economical circumstances were not brilliant, but all the more brilliant were their clothes. He says they dressed dtiiswrru . Finally, he has been informed that the Svethidi are superior to other races in stature and corporal strength, and that the Danes are a branch of the Svethidi. What Jordanes relates about the excellent horses of the Swedes is corroborated by the traditions which the Icelanders have preserved. The fact that so many tribes inhabited the island Scandza strengthens his conviction that this island is the cradle of many of the peoples who made war on and invaded the Roman Empire. The island Scandza, he says, has been officiate gentium, vagina nationum— the source of races, the mother of nations. And thence — he continues, relying on the traditions and songs of his own people — the Goths, too, have emigrated. This emigration occurred under the leadership of a chief named Berig, and he thinks he knows where they landed when they left their ships, and that they, like the Longobardian^. on their progress came in conflict with the Vandals before they reached the regions north of the Black Sea, where they afterwards founded the great Gothic kingdom which flourished when the Huns invaded Europe. The saga current among the Goths, that they had emigrated from Scandinavia, ascribed the same origin to the Gepida?. The Gepidce were a brave but rather sluggish Teutonic tribe, who shared the fate of the Goths when the Huns invaded Europe, and, like the Goths, they cast off the Hunnish yoke after the | death of Attila. The saga, as Jordanes found it, stated that when the ancestors of the Goths left Scandza, the whole number of the 78 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. emigrants did not fill more than three ships. Two of them came to their destination at the same time ; but the third required more time, and therefore the first-comers called those who arrived last Gepanta (possibly Gepaita), which, according to Jordanes, means those tarrying, or the slow ones, and this name changed in course of time into Gepidte. That the interpretation is taken from Gothic traditions is self-evident. Jordanes has heard a report that even the warlike Teutonic Herulians had come to Germany from Scandinavia. According to the report, the Herulians had not emigrated voluntarily from the large island, but had been driven away by the Svethidi, or by their descendants, the Danes. That the Herulians themselves had a tradition concerning their Scandinavian origin is corroborated by history. In the beginning of the sixth century, it happened that this people, after an unsuccessful war with the Longobardians, were divided into two branches, of which the one received land from the emperor Anastasius south of the Danube, while the other made a resolve, which has appeared strange to all historians, viz., to seek a home on the Scandinavian peninsula. The circum- stances attending this resolution make it still more strange. When they had passed the Slavs, they came to uninhabited regions — uninhabited, probably, because they had been abandoned by the Teutons, and had not yet been occupied by the Slavs. In either case, they were open to the occupation of the Herulians; but they did not settle there. We misunderstand their character if we suppose that they failed to do so from fear of being disturbed in their possession of them. Among all the Teutonic tribes none were more distinguished than the Herulians for their indomitable desire for war, and for their rash plans. Their conduct furnishes evidence of that thoughtlessness with which the historian has characterised them. After penetrating the wilderness, they came to the landmarks of the Varinians, and then to those of the Danes. These granted the Herulians a free passage, whereupon the adven- turers, in ships which the Danes must have placed at their dis- posal, sailed over the sea to the island "Thule," and remained there. Procopius, the East Eoman historian who records this (De Bcllo Goth., ii. 15), says that on the immense island Thule, in whose northern part the midnight sun can be seen, thirteen large tribes occupy its inhabitable parts, each tribe having its own king. TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 79 Excepting the Skee Finns, who clothe themselves in skins and live from the chase, these Thulitic tribes, he says, are scarcely to be distinguished from the people dwelling farther south in Europe. One of the largest tribes is the Gauts (the Gotar). The Herulians went to the Gauts and were received by them. Some decades later it came to pass that the Herulians remain- ing in South Europe, and dwelling in Illyria, were in want of a king. They resolved to send messengers to their kinsmen who had settled in Scandinavia, hoping that some descendant of their old royal family might be found there who was willing to assume the dignity of king among them. The messengers returned with two brothers who belonged to the ancient family of rulers, and these were escorted by 200 young Scandinavian Herulians. As Jordanes tells us that the Herulians actually were descended from the great northern island, then this seems to me to explain this remarkable resolution. They were seeking new homes in that land which in their old songs was described as having belonged to their fathers. In their opinion, it was a return to the country which contained the ashes of their ancestors. According to an old middle age source, Vita Sigismundi, the Burgundians also had old traditions about a Scandinavian origin. As will be shown further on, the Burgundian saga was connected with the same emigration chief as that of the Saxons and Franks (see No. 123). Eeminiscences of an Alamannic migration saga can be traced in the traditions found around the Vierwaldstadter Lake. The inhabitants of the Canton Schwitz have believed that they origin- ally came from Sweden. It is fair to assume that this tradition in the form given to it in literature has suffered a change, and that the chroniclers, on account of the similarity between Sweden and Schwitz, have transferred the home of the Alamannic Switzians to Sweden, while the original popular tradition has, like the other Teutonic migration sagas, been satisfied with the more vague idea that the Schwitzians came from the country in the sea north of Germany when they settled in their Alpine valleys. In the same regions of Switzerland popular traditions have preserved the memory of an exploit which belongs to the Teutonic mythology, and is there performed by the great archer Ibor (see No. 108), and as he reappears in the Longobardian tradition as a migration chief, 80 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. the possibility lies near at hand, that he originally was no stranger to the Alamannic migration saga. 19. The Teutonic Emigration Saga found in Tacitus. The migration sagas which I have now examined are the only ones preserved to our time on Teutonic ground. They have come down to us from the traditions of various tribes. They embrace the East Goths, West Goths, Longobardians, Gepida3, Burgundians, Eerulians, Franks, Saxous, Swabians, and Alamannians. And if we add to these the evidence of Hrabanus Maurus, then all the German tribes are embraced in the traditions. All the evidences are unanimous in pointing to the North as the Teutonic cradle. To these testimonies we must, finally, add the oldest of all — the testimony of the sources of Tacitus from the time of the birth of Christ and the first century of our era. The statements made by Tacitus in his masterly work concern- in- the various tribes of Germany and their religion, traditions, laws, customs, and character, are gathered from men who, in Germany itself, had seen and heard what they reported. Of this every page of the work bears evidence, and it also proves its author to have been a man of keen observation, veracity, and wide knowledge. The knowledge of his reporters extends to the myths and heroic songs of the Teutons. The latter is the characteristic means with which a gifted people, still leading their primitive life, makes compensation for their lack of written history in regard to the events and exploits of the past. We find that the man he interviewed had informed himself in regard to the contents of the songs which described the first beginning and the most ancient ad- ventures of the race, and he had done this with sufficient accuracy to discover a certain disagreement in the genealogies found in these songs of the patriarchs and tribe heroes of the Teutons — a dis- agreement which we shall consider later on. But the man who had done this had heard nothing which could bring him, and after him Tacitus, to believe that the Teutons had immigrated from some remote part of the world to that country which they occupied immediately before the birth of Christ — to that Germany which TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 81 Tacitus describes, and in which he embraces that large island in the North Sea where the Beafaring and warlike Svionea dwelt. Quite the contrary. In his sources of information Tacitus found nothing to hinder him from assuming as probable the view he expresses — that the Teutons were aborigines, autochthones, fostered on the soil which was their fatherland. He expresses his surprise at the typical similarity prevailing among all the tribes of this populous people, and at the dissimilarity existing between them on the one hand, and the uon-Teutonic peoples on the other ; and he draws the conclusion that they are entirely unmixed with other races, which, again, presupposes that the Teutons from the most ancient times have possessed their country for themselves, and that no foreign element has been able to get a foothold there. He remarks that there could scarcely have been any immigrations from thai part of Asia which was known to him, or from Africa or Italy, since the nature of Germany was not suited to invite people from richer' and more beautiful regions. But while Tacitus thus doubts that non- Teutonic races ever settled in Germany, still he has heard that people who desired to exchange their old homes for new ones have come there to live. But these settlements did not, in his opinion, result in a mixing of the race. Those early immigrants did not come by land, but in fleets over the sea ; and as this sea was the boundless ocean which lies beyond the Teutonic continent and was seldom visited by people living in the countries embraced in the Roman empire, those immigrants must themselves have been Teutons. The words of Tacitus are {Germ., 2) : Germanos indigenes erediderim 'in inline que cdiarum gentium advmtibus et hospitii* mi'ios, cpiia nee terra olim sed classibus advehebantur qui mutare sedes qucerebant, et immensus ultra atque ut sic dixerim adversus Oceanus raris ab orbe nostro navibus aditur. " I should think that the Teutons themselves are aborigines, and not at all mixed through immigrations or connection with non-Teutonic tribes. For those desiring to change homes did not in early times come by land, but in ships across the boundless and, so to speak, hostile ocean — a sea seldom visited by ships from the Roman world." This passage is to be compared with, and is interpreted by, what Tacitus tells when he, for the second time, speaks of this same ocean in chapter 44, where he relates that in the very midst of this ocean lies a land inhabited by Teutonic tribes, rich 6 32 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. not only in men and arms, but also in fleets (prwter vivos armaque dassibus valent), and having a stronger and better organisation than the other Teutons. These people formed several communities (civitates). He calls them the Sviones, and describes their ships. The conclusion to be drawn from his words is, in short, that those immigrants were Northmen belonging to the same race as the continental Teutons. Thus traditions concerning immigrations from the North to Germany have been current among the conti- nental Teutons already in the first century after Christ. But Tacitus' contribution to the Teutonic migration saga is not limited to this. In regard to the origin of a city then already ancient and situated on the Ehine, Asciburgium (Germ., 3), his reporter had heard that it was founded by an ancient hero who had come with his ships from the German Ocean, and had sailed up the Rhine a great distance beyond the Delta, and had then disembarked and laid the foundations of Asciburgium. His reporter had also heard such stories about this ancient Teutonic hero that persons acquainted with the Greek-Eoman traditions (the Komans or the Gallic neighbours of Asciburgium) had formed the opinion that the hero in question could be none else than the Greek Ulysses, who, in his extensive wanderings, had drifted into the German Ocean and thence sailed up the Ehine. In weighing this account of Tacitus we must put aside the Eoman-Gallic conjecture concerning Ulysses' visit to the Ehine, and confine our attention to the fact on which this conjecture is based. The fact is that around Ascibur- gium a tradition was current concerning an ancient hero who was said to have come across the northern ocean with a host of immigrants and founded the above-named city on the Ehine, and that the songs or traditions in regard to this ancient hero were of such a character that they who knew the adventures of Ulysses thought they had good reason for regarding him as identical with the latter. Now, the fact is that the Teutonic mythology has a hero who, to quote the words of an ancient Teutonic document, " was the greatest of all travellers," and who on his journeys met with adventures which in some respects remind us of Ulysses'. Both descended to Hades ; both travelled far and wide to find their - beloved. Of this mythic hero and his adventures see Nos. 96-107, and No. 107 about Asciburgium in particular. It lies outside the limits of the present work to investigate 7lace in the genealogy. But in the Beowulf poem Scef still retains lis dignity as ancient patriarch of the kings of Denmark. Erom England this same distortion of the myth comes to the orth in connection with the hypothesis concerning the immigra- r(T(t). Evidence is presented in No. 82 thai Scef-Heimdal brought the fire-auger to primeval man who until that time had lived without the blessings produced by the sacred fire. The boy grows up among the inhabitants on the Scandian coast, and, when he has developed into manhood, human culture has germinated under his influence and the beginnings of classes in society with distinct callings appear. In Rigsthula, we find him journeying along "green paths, from house to house, in that land which his presence has blessed ". Here he is called Bigr — it is true of him as of nearly all mythological persons, that he has several names — but the introduction to the poem informs us that the person so called is the god Heimdal (eirihverr af asum sd cr lL'niuhtUf li> do with <>nnr. It ma} be that the name should be divided Ghid- fwrmr, and that hormr shi'idd be referred to Hermio. M annus' third son is Istcevo. The Celtic scholar Zeuss has connected this name with that of the Gothic (more properly Vandal) heroic race Azdingi, and Grimm has again connected Azdingi with Hazdiggo (Hdddingr). Halfdan'a third son is in Saxo called Hadingus. Whether the comparisons made by Zenss and Grimm are to the point or not (see further, No. 43) makes but little difference here. It nevertheless remain- as a result of the investigation that all that is related by Tacitus about the Teutonic patriarch Mannus has its counterpart in the question concerning Halfdan, and that both in the myths occupy precisely the same place as sons of a god and as founders of Teutonic tribes and royal families. The pedigrees are : Tacitus. Norse documents. Tivi and the goddess Jord. Tivi = Odin and the goddess Joid. Tivi's son (Tiusco). Tivi's son Thor. Mannus, progenitor of the Teu- Halfdan, progenitor of the royal tonic tribes. families. [ngsevo. Hermio. Istsevo. Yngve. Guonormr. Hadding. 2G. The Sacbed Runes leabned fkom Heimdal. The mythic ancient history of the human race and of the Teutons may, in accordance with the analysis above given, he divided into the following epochs : — (1) From Ask and Embla's creation until Heimdal's arrival ; (2) from Heimdal's arrival until his departure ; (?■>) the age of Skjold-Borgar ; (4) Halfdan'a time ; (5) The time of Halfdan's sons. And now we will discuss the events of the last three epochs. In the days of Borgar the moral condition of men grows worse, and an event in nature takes place threatening at least the northern 108 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. part of the Teutonic world with destruction. The myth gives the causes of both these phenomena. The moral degradation has its cause, if not wholly, yet for the greater part, in the activity among men of a female being from the giant world. Through her men become acquainted with the black ai't, the evil art of sorcery, which is the opposite of the wisdom drawn from Mimer's holy fountain, the knowledge of runes, and acquaintance with the application of nature's secret forces for good ends (see Nos. 34, 35). The sacred knowledge of runes, the " fimbul-songs," the white art, was, according to the myth, originally in the possession of Mimer. Still he did not have it of himself, but got it from the subterranean fountain, which he guarded beneath the middle root of the world-tree (see No. 6o) — a fountain whose veins, together with the deepest root of the wTorld-tree, extends to a depth which not even Odin's thought can penetrate (Havam., 138). By self- sacrifice in his youth Odin received from Bestla's brother (Mimer ; see No. 88) a drink from the precious liquor of this fountain and nine fimbul-songs (Havam., 140 ; cp. Sigrdr., 14), which were the basis of the divine magic, of the application of the power of the word and of the rune over spiritual and natural forces, in prayer, in sacrifices and in other religious acts, in investigations, in the practical affairs of life, in peace and in war (Havam., 144 ff. ; Sigrdr., 6 ff.). The character and purpose of these songs are clear from the fact that at the head is placed " help's fimbul-song," which is able to allay sorrow and cure diseases (Havam., 146). In the hands of Odin they are a means for the protection of the power of the Asa-gods, and enable them to assist their worshippers in danger and distress. To these belong the fimbul-song of the runes of victory ; and it is of no little interest that we, in Havamal, 156, find what Tacitus tells about the oarditus of the Germans, the shield-song with which they went to meet their foes — a song which Ammianus Paulus himself has heard, and of which he gives a vivid description. When the Teutonic forces advanced to battle the warriors raised their shields up to a level with the upper lip, so that the round of the shield formed a sort of sounding-board for their song. This began in a low voice and preserved its subdued colour, but the sound gradually increased, and at a distance it resembled the roar of the breakers of the sea. Tacitus says that the TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 109 Teutons predicted the result of the battle from the impression the song as a whole made upon themselves : it might Bound in their ears in such a manner that they thereby became more terrible to their enemies, or in such a manner that they were overcome by despair, ■he above-mentioned strophe of Havamal gives us an explanation of this : the warriors were roused to confidence if they, in the har- nionv of the subdued song increasing in volume, seemed to perceive falfather's voice blended with theirown. The strophe makes Odin sav : Ef "■ seal til orrostu leipa langvini, undir randir ec gel, m fair mj) rikifara heilir hildar til,licilir Midi frd — " If I am to lead those to battle whom I have long held in Friendship, then I sing- under their shields. With success they go to the conflict, and Successfully they go out of it." Voluspa also refers to the shield- ong in 47, where it makes the storm-giant, Hrymjr, advancing against the gods, "lift his shield before him" (heps UndfyHr), an txpression which certainly has another significance than that of ^necessarily pointing out that he has a shield for protection. The runes of victory were able to arrest weapons in their flight and to make those whom Odin loved proof against sword-edge and ate against ambush (Havam., 148, 150). Certain kinds of runes ere regarded as producing victory and were carved on the hilt d on the blade of the sword, and while they were carved Tyr's ame was twice named (Sigrdr., 6). Another class of runes (brimriinar, Sigrdr., 10 ; Havana., 150) :ontrolled the elements, purified the air from evil beings (Havana., L55), gave power over wind and waves for good purposes — is, for instance, when sailors in distress were to be rescued — or lower over the flames when they threatened to destroy human Iwellings (Havani., 152). A third kind of runes (mdlrunar) gave peech to the mute and speechless, even to those whose lips were lealed in death (see No. 70). A fourth kind of runes could free he limits from bonds (Ilavam., 149). A fifth kind of runes pro- l against witchcraft (Havam., 151). A sixth kind of runes plr&nar) takes the strength from the love-potion prepared by mother man's wife, and from every treachery mingled therein Sigrdr., 7, 8). A seventh kind (bfargr&nar and limriimar) helps n childbirth and heals wounds. An eighth kind gives wisdom knd knowledge (hugr&nar, Sigrdr., 13; cp. Havam., 159). A iiinth kind extinguishes enmity and hate, and produces friendship 110 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. and love (Havana., 153, 161). Of great value, and a great honour to kings and chiefs, was the possession of healing runes and healing hands ; and that certain noble-born families inherited the power of these runes was a belief which has been handed down even to our time. There is a distinct consciousness that the runes of this kind were a gift of the blithe gods. In a strophe, which sounds as if it were taken from an ancient hymn, the gods are beseeched for runes of wisdom and healing : " Hail to the gods ! Hail to the goddesses ! Hail to the bounteous Earth (the goddess Jord). Words and wisdom give unto us, and healing hands while we live !" (Sigrdr., 4). In ancient times arrangements were made for spreading the knowledge of the good runes among all kinds of beings. Odin taught them to his own clan ; Damn taught them to the Elves ; Dvalinn among the dwarfs ; Asvinr (see No. 88) among the giants (Havam., 143). Even the last-named became participators in the good gift, which, mixed with sacred mead, was sent far and wide, and it has since been among the Asas, among the Elves, among the wise Vans, and among the children of men (Sigrdr., 18). The above-named Dvalinn, who taught the runes to his clan of ancient artists, is the father of daughters, who, together with dises of Asa and Vana birth, are in possession of bjargrilna?-, and employ them in the service of man (Fafnism., 13). To men the beneficent runes came through the same god who as a child came with the sheaf of grain and the tools to Scandia. Hence the belief current among the Franks and Saxons that the alphabet of the Teutons, like the Teutons themselves, was of northern origin. Eigsthula expressly presents Heimdal as teach- ing runes to the people whom he blessed by his arrival in Midgard. The noble - born are particularly his pupils in runic lore. Of Heimdal's grandson, the son of Jarl Borgar, named Kon-Halfdan, it is said : En Konr ungr But Kon the young kunni runar, taught himself runes, cefinrunar runes of eternity ok alldrrunar, and runes of earthly life. Meir kunni hann Then he taught himself rndnnum bjanja, men to save, the sword-edge to deaden, TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. Ill asgi legia, the 8ea to quiet, Idok namfugla, bird-song to Interpret, Icyrra ellda, fires to extinguish, sceva ok svefia, to soothe and comfort, sortjir Icegia. Borrows to allay. The fundamental character of this rune-lore bears distinctly the stamp of nobility. The runes of eternity united with those of the earthly life can scarcely have any other reference than to the heathen doctrines concerning religion and morality. These were looked upon as being for all time, and of equal importance to the life hereafter. Together with physical runes with magic power — that is, runes that gave their possessors power over the hostile forces of nature — we find nines intended to serve the cause of sympathy and mercy. 27. Sorcery the Reverse oe the Sacred Runes. Gullveig-HeiSr, the Source of Sorcery. The Moral Deterioration of the Original Man. But already in the beginning of time evil powers appear for the purpose of opposing and ruining the good influences from the world of gods upon mankind. Just as Heimdal, "the fast traveller," proceeds from house to house, forming new ties in society and giving instruction in what is good and useful, thus we soon find a messenger of evil wandering about between the houses in Midgard, practising the black art and stimulating the worst passions of the human soul. The messenger comes from the powers of frost, the enemies of creation. It is a giantess, the daughter of the giant Hrimnir (Hyndlulj., 32), known among the gods as Gulveig and by other names (see Nos. 3-4, 35), but on her wanderings on earth called Heiffr. " Heid they called her (Gul- veig) when she came to the children of men, the crafty, prophesy- ing vala, who practised sorcery (vitti ganda), practised the evil art, caused by witchcraft misfortunes, sickness, and death (leMcm, see No. 67), and was always sought by bad women." Thus Yoluspa describes her. The important position Heid occupies in regard to the corruption of ancient man, and the consequences of her appear- 112 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. ance for the gods, for man, and for nature (see below), have led Voluspa's author, in spite of his general poverty of words, to describe her with a certain fulness, pointing out among other things that she was the cause of the first war in the world. That the time of her appearance was during the life of Borgar and his son shall be demonstrated below. In connection with this moral corruption, and caused by the same powers hostile to the world, there occur in this epoch such disturbances in nature that the original home of man and culture —nay, all Midgard — is threatened with destruction on account of long, terrible winters. A series of connected myths tell of this. Ancient artists — forces at work in the growth of nature — personi- fications of the same kind as Eigveda's Eibhus, that had before worked in harmony with the gods, become, through the influence of Loke, foes of Asgard, their work becoming as harmful as it before was beneficent, and seek to destroy what Odin had created (see Nos. Ill and 112). Idun, with her life-renewing apples, is carried by Thjasse away from Asgard to the northernmost wilderness of the world, and is there concealed. Freyja, the goddess of fertility, is robbed and falls into the power of giants. Frey, the god of harvests, falls sick. The giant king Snow and his kinsmen fiorri (Black Frost), Johull (the Glacier), &c, extend their sceptres over Scandia. Already during Heimdal's reign, after his protege Borgar had grown up, something happens which forebodes these terrible times, but still has a happy issue. 28a. Heimdal and the Sun-dis (Dis = goddess). In Saxo's time there was still extant a myth telling how Heim- dal, as the ruler of the earliest generation, got himself a wife. The myth is found related as history in Historia Danica, pp. 335-337. Changed into a song of chivalry in middle age style, we find it on German soil in the poem concerning king Ruther. Saxo relates that a certain king Alf undertook a perilous journey of courtship, and was accompanied by Borgar. Alf is the more noble of the two; Borgar attends him. This already points to the fact that the mythic figure which Saxo has changed into a historical TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 113 king must be Heimdal, Borgar'a co-father, his ruler and fosterer, other- wise Borgar himself would be the chief person in his country, and could not be regarded as subject to anyone else. Alf's identity with Heimdal is corroborated by "King Ruther," and to a degree also by the description Saxo makes of his appearance, a description based on a definite mythic prototype. Alf, says Saxo, had a fine exterior, and over his hair, though he was young, a so remarkably white splendour was diffused that rays of light seemed to issue from his silvery locks (cujus etiam insignem candorc coshi-uih iantux coma decor asp< ru rat, <>/ argenteo nine nitere putaretur). The Heimdal of the myth is a god of light, and is described by the colour applied to pure silver in the old Norse literature to distinguish it from that which is alloyed ; he is hviti ass (Gylfag., 27) and hvitastr dsa (Thrymskvida, 5) ; his teeth glitter like gold, and so does his horse. We should expect that the maid whom Alf, if he is Heimdal, desires to possess belongs like himself to the divinities of light. Saxo also says that her beauty could make one blind if she was seen without her veil, and her name Alfhild belongs, like Alf sol, Hild, Alfhild Solglands, Svanhild Guldfjasder, to that class of names by which the sun-dises, mother and daughter, were trans- ferred from mythology to history. She is watched by two dragons. Suitors who approach her in vain get their heads chopped off and set up on poles (thus also in " King Ruther "). Alf conquers the guarding dragons ; but at the advice of her mother Alfhild takes flight, puts on a man's clothes and armour, and becomes a female warrior, fighting at the head of other Amazons. Alf and Borgar Search for and find the troop of Amazons amid ice and snow. It is conquered and flies to " Finnia ". Alf and Borgar pursue them thither. There is a new conflict. Borgar strikes the helmet from Alfhild's head. She has to confess herself conquered, and becomes Alf's wife. In interpreting the mythic contents of this story we must remember that the lad who came with the sheaf of grain to Scandia needed the help of the sun for the seed which he brought with him to sprout, before it could give harvests to the inhabitants. But the saga also indicates that the sun-dis had veiled herself, and made herself as far as possible unapproachable, and that when Heimdal had forced himself into her presence she fled to northern ice-enveloped regions, where the god and his foster-son, sword in 8 114 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. hand, had to fetch her, whereupon a happy marriage between him and the sun-dis secures good weather and rich harvests to the land over which he rules. At the first glance it might seem as if this myth had left no trace in our Icelandic records. This is, however, not the case. Its fundamental idea, that the sun at one time in the earliest ages went astray from southern regions to the farthest north and desired to remain there, but that it was brought back by the might of the gods who created the world, and through them received, in the same manner as Day and Night, its course defined and regularly established, we find in the Voluspa strophe, examined with so great acumen by Julius Hoffory, which speaks of a be- wilderment of this kind on the part of the sun, occurring before it yet " knew its proper sphere," and in the following strophe, which tells how the all-holy gods thereupon held solemn council and so ordained the activity of these beings, that time can be divided and years be recorded by their course. Nor is the marriage into which the sun-dis entered forgotten. Skalds- kaparmal quotes a strophe from Skule Thorsteinson where Sol * is called Glenr's wife. That he whom the skald characterises by this epithet is a god is a matter of course. Qlenr signifies " the shining one," and this epithet was badly chosen if it did not refer to " the most shining of the Asas," hvitastr dsa — that is, Heimdal. The fundamental traits of " King Euther " resemble Saxo's story. There, too, it is a king who undertakes a perilous journey of courtship and must fight several battles to win the wondrous fair maiden whose previous suitors had had to pay for their eagerness by having their heads chopped off and fastened on poles. The king is accompanied by Berter, identical with Berchtung-Borgar, but here, as always in the German story, described as the patriarch and adviser. A giant, Vidolt — Saxo's Vitolphus, Hyndluljod's Viffolfr — accompanies Euther and Berter on the journey ; and when Vitolphus in Saxo is mentioned under circumstances which show that he accompanied Borgar on a warlike expedition, and thereupon saved his son Halfdan's life, there is no room for doubt that Saxo's saga and " King Euther " originally flowed from the same mythic source. It can also be demonstrated that the very name Euther is one of those epithets which belong to Heimdal. The Norse Hrtitr is, according to the Younger Edda (i. 588, 589), a synonym of * Sol is feminine in the Teutonic tongues. — Tr. TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 115 1L imdali, and Hewndali is another form of Hcimdall (Isl., i. 231). As Hnitr means a ram, and as Heirndali is an epithet of a ram (see Younger Edda, i. 589), light is thrown upon the bold meta- phors, according to which " head," " Heimdal's head," and " Heim- dal'a sword" are synonyms (Younger Edda, i. 100, 264; ii. 499). The ram's head carries and is the rain's sword. Of the age of this animal symbol we give an account in No. 82. There is reason for believing that Heimdal's helmet has been conceived as decorated with ram's horns.* A strophe quoted in the Younger Edda (i. 608) mentions Heimdal's helmet, and calls the sword the fyllr of Heim- dal's helmet, an ambiguous expression, which may be interpreted as that which rills Heimdal's helmet ; that is to say, Heimdal's head, but also as that which has its place on the helmet. Compare the expression fyllr hilmis stols as a metaphor for the power of the ruler. 28b. Loke causes Enmity between the Gods and the Original Artists (the Creators of all things growing). The Consequence is the Fimbul- winter and Emigrations. The danger averted by Heimdal when he secured the sun-dis with bonds of love begins in the time of Borgar. The corruption of nature and of man go hand in hand. Borgar has to contend with robbers (pugilcs and piratcc), and among them the prototype of pirates — that terrible character, remembered also in Icelandic poetry, called FiocFi (Saxo, Hist., 23, 354). The moderate laws given by Heimdal had to be made more severe by Borgar (Hist., 24, 25). While the moral condition in Midgard grows worse, Loke carries out in Asgard a cunningly-conceived plan, which seems to be to the advantage of the gods, but is intended to bring about the ruin of both the gods and man. His purpose is to cause enmity * That some one of the gods has worn a helmet with such a crown can he seen on one of the golden horns found near Gallehuus. There twice occurs a being wearing a helmet furnished with long, carved, sharp pointed horns. Near him a ram is drawn, and in his hand he has something resembling a staff which ends in a circle, and possibly is intended to represent Heimdal's horn. 116 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. between the original artists themselves and between them and the gods. Among these artists the sons of Ivalde constitute a separate group. Originally they enjoyed the best relations to the gods, and gave them the best products of their wonderful art, for ornament and for use. Odin's spear Gungnir, the golden locks on Sif's head, and Frey's celebrated ship Skidbladner, which could hold all the warriors of Asgard and always had favourable wind, but which also could be folded as a napkin and be carried in one's pocket (Gylfaginning), had all come from the workshop of these artists. Ivalda synir The sons of Ivalde gengu i ardaga went in ancient times Scidbladni at skapa, to make Skidbladner, scipa bezt, among ships the best, scirom Frey, for the shining Frey, nytom Njardar bur. Njord's useful son. (Grimnismal.) Another group of original artists were Sindre and his kinsmen, who dwelt on Nida's plains in the happy domain of the lower world (Volusp., Nos. 93, 94). According to the account given in Gylfaginning, ch. 37, Loke meets Sindre's brother Brok, and wagers his head that Sindre cannot make treasures as good as the above-named gifts from Ivalde's sons to the Asas. Sindre then made in his smithy the golden boar for Frey, the ring Draupner for Odin, from which eight gold rings of equal weight drop every ninth night, and the incomparable hammer Mjolner for Thor. When the treasures were finished, Loke cunningly gets the gods to assemble for the purpose of deciding whether or not he has for- feited his head. The gods cannot, of course, decide this without at the same time passing judgment on the gifts of Sindre and those of Ivalde's sons, and showing that one group of artists is inferior to the other. And this is done. Sindre's treasures are preferred, and thus the sons of Ivalde are declared to be inferior in comparison. But at the same time Sindre fails, through the decision of the gods, to get the prize agreed on. Both groups of artists are offended by the decision. Gylfaginning does not inform us whether the sons of Ivalde TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 117 accepted the decision with satisfaction or anger, or whether any- noteworthy consequences followed or not. An entirely similar judgment is mentioned in Rigveda (see No. 111). The judg- ment there has the most important consequences : hatred toward the artists who were victorious, and toward the gods who were the judges, takes possession of the ancient artist who was de- feated, and nature is afflicted with great suffering. That the Teutonic mythology has described similar results of the decision shall be demonstrated in this work. dust as in the names Alvcig and Almveig, Bil-rost and Bif-rost, ArinJijnrn and Grjotbjdni, so also in the name Ivaldi or Ivaldr, the latter part of the word forms the permanent part, corresponding to the Old English Valdere, the German Walther, the Latinised Waltharius.* The former part of the word may change without any change as to the person indicated : Ivaldi, AUvaldi, Olvcddi, Audvaldi, may be names of one and the same person. Of these variations Ivaldi and AUvaldi are in their sense most closely related, for the prefixed / (Id) and All may interchange in the language without the least change in meaning. Compare all-likr, i!U,-i\ and ijftglihr ; all-litill and ilitill; all-nog, ignog, and idgnog. On the other hand, the prefixes in Olvaldi and Au&valdi produce different meanings of the compound word. But the records give most satisfactory evidence that Olvaldi and Audvaldi nevertheless are the same person as AUvaldi (Ivaldi). Thjasse's father is called in Harbardsljod (19) AUvaldi; in the Younger Edda (i. 214) Olvaldi and Audvaldi. He has three sons, Ide, Gang, also called Urner (the Grotte-song), and the just-named Thjasse, who are the famous ancient artists, "the sons of Ivalde" (lvalda vynir). We here point this out in passing. Complete statement and proof of this fact, so important from a mythological standpoint, will be given in Nos. 113, 114, 115. Nor is it long before it becomes apparent what the conse- quences are of the decision pronounced by the Asas on Loke's advice upon the treasures presented to the gods. The sons of * Elsewhere it .-hall be shown that the heroes mentioned in the middle age poetry under the names Valdere, Walther, Waltharius manufortia, and Valthere of Vaakaaten are all variations of the name of the Bame mythic type changed into a human here, and the same, too, as Evaldeofthe Norsedocu- menta (see No. 123). 118 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. Ivalde regarded it as a mortal offence, born of the ingratitude of the gods. Loke, the originator of the scheme, is caught in the snares laid by Thjasse in a manner fully described in Thjodolfs poem " Haustlaung," and to regain his liberty he is obliged to assist him (Thjasse) in carrying Idun away from Asgard. Iduu, who possesses " the Asas' remedy against old age," and keeps the apples which symbolise the ever - renewing and rejuvenating force of nature, is carried away by Thjasse to a part of the world in- accessible to the gods. The gods grow old, and winter extends its power more and more beyond the limits prescribed for it in creation. Thjasse, who before was the friend of the gods, is now their irreconcilable foe. He who was the promoter of growth and the benefactor of nature — for Sif's golden locks, and Skidbladner, belonging to the god of fertility, doubtless are symbols thereof — is changed into "the mightiest foe of earth," dolg ballastan vallar (Haustl., 6), and has wholly assumed the nature of a giant. At the same time, with the approach of the great winter, a terrible earthquake takes place, the effects of which are felt even in heaven. The myth in regard to this is explained in No. 81. In this explanation the reader will find that the great earthquake in primeval time is caused by Thjasse's kinswomen on his mother's side (the Grotte-song) — that is, by the giantesses Fenja and Menja, who turned the enormous world-mill, built on the foundations of the lower World, and working in the depths of the sea, the proto- type of the mill of the Grotte-song composed in Christian times ; that the world-mill has a mondull, the mill-handle, which sweeps the uttermost rim of the earth, with which handle not only the mill-stone but also the starry heavens are made to whirl round ; and that when the mill was put in so violent a motion by the angry giantesses that it got out of order, then the starry constella- tions were also disturbed. The ancient terrible winter and the inclination of the axis of heaven have in the myth been connected, and these again with the close of the golden age. The mill had up to this time ground gold, happiness, peace, and good-will among men ; henceforth it grinds salt and dust. The winter must of course first of all affect those people who inhabited the extensive Svithiod north of the original country and over which another kinsman of Heimdal, the first of the race of Skilfmgs or Ynglings, ruled. This kinsman of Heimdal has an TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 119 important part in the mythology, and thereof we shall give an account in Nos. 89, 91, 110, 113-115, ami 123. It is there found that he is the same as Ivahle, who, with a giantess, begot the ille- gitimate children Ide, Urner, and Thjasse. Already before his sons he became the foe of the gods, and from Svithiod now proceeds, in connection with the spreading of the rimbul- winter, a migration southward, the work at the same time of the Skilfings and the primeval artists. The list of dwarfs in Voluspa has preserved the record of this in the strophe about the artist migration from the rocks of the hall (Salar steinar) and from Svarin's mound situated in the north (the Voluspa strophe quoted in the Younger Edda ; cp. Saxo., Hist., 32, 33, and Helg. Huud., i. 31, ii. to str. 14). The attack is directed against aurvanga sjot, the land of the clayey plains, and the assailants do not stop before they reach JoramWi, the Jara plains, which name is still applied to the south coast of Scandinavia (see No. 32). In the pedigree of these emigrants — J?eir cr sdttu frd Salar steina (or Svarins haugi) aurvanga sjot til Joruvallo — occur the names Alfr and Yngvi, who have Skilfing names ; Fjalarr, who is Ivalde's ally and Odin's enemy (see No. 89) ; Finnr, which is one of the several names of Ivalde himself (see No. 123) ; Frosti, who symbolises cold ; Skirfcr, a name which points to the Skilfings ; and Virfir, whom Saxo {Hist. Dan., 178, 179) speaks of as Huj/r- vilhis, and the Icelandic records as Virvill and Vifill (Fornalders. ii. 8 ; Younger Edda, i. 548). In Fornalders. Vifill is an emigration leader who married to Loge's daughter Eijmgrja (a metaphor for fire — Younger Edda, ii. 570), betakes himself from the far North and takes possession of an island on the Swedish coast. That this island is Oland is clear from Saxo, 178, where Huyrvillus is called Holandim princcps. At the same time a brother-in-law of Virfir takes possession of Bornholm, and Gotland is colonised by Thjelvai {ThjaJfi of the myth), who is the son of Thjasse's brother (see Nos. 113, 114, 115). Virfir is allied with the sons of Finnr (Fgn— Saxo, Hist., 178). The saga concerning the emigration of the Longobardians is also connected with the myth about Thjasse and his kinsmen (see Nos. 112-115). 120 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. From all this it appears that a series of emigration and colonisa- tion tales have their origin in the myth concerning the fimbul- winter caused by Thjasse and concerning the therewith connected attack by the Skilfings and Thjasse's kinsmen on South Scandinavia, that is, on the clayey plains near Jaravall, where the second son of Heimdal, Skjold-Borgar, rules. It is the remembrance of this migration from north to south which forms the basis of all the Teutonic middle-age migration sagas. The migration saga of the Goths, as Jordanes heard it, makes them emigrate from Scandi- navia under the leadership of Berig. (Ex hoc igitur Scandza insula quasi ojicina gentium aid ccrte velut vagina nationum cum rege suo Berig Gothi quondam memorantur cgressi — De Goth, Ong., c. 4. Meminisse deles, me de Scandza) insidcc gremio Gothos dixisse cgressos cum Berich suo rege — c. 17.) The name Berig, also written Berich and Berigo, is the same as the German Berker, Berchtung, and indicates the same person as the Norse Borgarr. With Berig is connected the race of the Amalians ; with Borgar the memory of Hamal (Amala), who is the foster-brother of Borgar's son (cp. No. 28 with Helge Hund., ii.). Thus the emigration of the Goths is in the myth a result of the fate experienced by Borgar and his people in their original country. And as the Swedes constituted the northernmost Teutonic branch, they were the ones who, on the approach of the fimbul-winter, were the first that were compelled to surrender their abodes and secure more southern habitations. This also appears from saga fragments which have been preserved ; and here, but not in the circumstances themselves, lies the explanation of the statements, according to which the Swedes forced Scandi- navian tribes dwelling farther south to emigrate. Jordanes (c. 3) claims that the Herulians were driven from their abode in Scandza by the Svithidians, and that the Danes are of Svithidian origin — in other words, that an older Teutonic population in Denmark was driven south, and that Denmark was repeopled by emigrants from Sweden. And in the Norse sagas themselves, the centre of gravity, as we have seen, is continually being moved farther to the south. Heimdal, under the name Scef-Skelfir, comes to the original in- habitants in Scania. Borgar, his son, becomes a ruler there, but founds, under the name Skjold, the royal dynasty of the Skjoldungs in Denmark. With Scef and Skjold the Wessex royal family of Saxon origin is in turn connected, and thus the royal dynasty of TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 121 the Goths is again connected with the Skjold who emigrated from Scandza, and who is identical with Borgar. And finally there existed in Saxo's time mythic traditions or songs which related that all the present Germany came under the power of the Teutons who emigrated with Borgar; that, in other words, the emigration from the North carried with it the hegemony of Teutonic tribes over other tribes which before them inhabited Germany. Saxo says of Skjold-Borgar that ortmem Alamannorum gmtem trUnUaria ditionc pcrdomuit; that is, " he made the whole race of Alanianni tributary ". The name Alamanni is in this case not to be taken in an ethnographical but in a geographical sense. It means the people who were rulers in Germany before the immigration of Teutons from the North. From this we see that migration traditions remembered by Teutons beneath Italian and Icelandic skies, on the islands of Great Britain and on the German continent, in spite of their wide diffusion and their separation in time, point to a single root : to the myth concerning the primeval artists and their conflict with the gods; to the robbing of Idun and the finibul-winter which was the result. The myth makes the gods themselves to be seized by terror at the fate of the world, and Mimer makes arrangements to save all that is best and purest on earth for an expected regeneration of the world At the very beginning of the nmbul-winter Mimer opens in his subterranean grove of immortality an asylum, closed against all physical and spiritual evil, for the two children of men, Lit' and Lit'thrasir (Vafthr., -45), who are to be the parents of a new race of men (see Nos. 52, 53). The war begun in Borgar's time for the possession of the ancient country continues under his son Halfdan, who reconquers it for a time, invades Svithiod, and repels Thjasse and his kinsmen (see Nos. 32, 33). 29. Evidence that Halfdan is identical with Helge Hundingsbam:. The main outlines of Halfdan's saga reappear related as history, and more or less blended with foreign elements, in Saxo's accounts 122 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. of the kings Gram, Halfdan Berggram, and Halfdan Borgarson (see No. 23). Contributions to the saga are found in Hyndluljod (str. 14, 15, 16) and in Skaldskaparmal (Younger Edda, i. 516 ff.), in what they tell about Halfdan Skjoldung and Halfdan the Old. The juvenile adventures of the hero have, with some modifications, furnished the materials for both the songs about Helge Hundings- bane, with which Saxo's story of Helgo Hundingicida (Hist., 80-110) and Volsungasaga's about Helge Sigmundson are to be compared. The Grotte-song also (str. 22) identifies Helge Hun- dingsbane with Halfdan. For the history of the origin of the existing heroic poems from mythic sources, of their relation to these and to each other, it is important to get the original identity of the hero-myth, con- cerning Halfdan and the heroic poems concerning Helge Hun- dingsbane, fixed on a firm foundation. The following parallels suffice to show that this Helge is a later time's reproduction of the mythic Halfdan : Halfdan-Gram, sent on a warlike expedition, meets Groa, who is mounted on horseback and accompanied by other women on horseback (Saxo, 26, 27). The meeting takes place in a forest (Saxo, 26). Halfdan-Gram is on the occasion completely wrapped in the skin of a wild beast, so that even Jiis face is concealed (Saxo, 26). Conversation is begun be- tween Halfdan-Gram and Groa. Halfdan pretends to be a person who is his brother-at-arms (Saxo, 27). Groa asks Halfdan-Gram : Helge Hundingsbane, sent on a warlike expedition, meets Sig- run, who is mounted on horse- back and is accompanied by other women on horseback (Helge Hund., i. 16 ; Volsunga- saga, c. 9). The meeting takes place in a forest (Vols., c. 9). Helge is on the occasion disguised. He speaks frd ulfidi " from a wolf guise " (Helge Hund., i. 16), which expression finds its interpretation in Saxo, where Halfdan appears wrapped in the skin of a wild beast. Conversation is begun be- tween Helge and Sigrun. Helge pretends to be a person who is his foster-brother (Helge Hund., ii. 6). Sigrun asks Helge : TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 123 Quis, rogo, vcstrv m dirigit agmen, quo duce sign" bcllicafcrtis? (Saxo, 27.) Half dan- Gram invites Groa to accompany him. At first the invitation is refused (Saxo, 27). Groa's father had already given her hand to another (Saxo, 26). Halfdan-Gram explains that this rival ought not to cause them to fear (Saxo, 28). Halfdan-Gram makes war on Groa's father, on his rival, and on the kinsmen of the latter (Saxo, 32). Halfdan-Gram slays Groa's father and betrothed, and many heroes who belonged to his circle of kinsmen or were subject to him (Saxo, 32). Halfdan-Gram marries Groa (Saxo, 33). Halfdan-Gram conquers a king Ring (Saxo, 32). Borgar's son has defeated and slain king Hunding (Saxo, 3G2 ; cp. Saxo, 337). Halfdan-Gram has felled Svarin and many of his brothers. Svarin was viceroy under Groa's father (Saxo, 32). Halfdan-Gram is slain by Hnrir bda jljutu Jley v iff bad", hvar her meg ir h> ima ciguff? (Helge Hund., ii. 5.) Helge invites Sigrun to ac- company him. At first the invi- tation is rebuked (Helge Hund., i. 16, 17). Sigrun's father had already promised her to another (Helge Hund., i. 18). Helge explains that this rival should not cause them to fear (Helge Hund., i., ii.). Helge makes war on Sigrun's father, on his rival, and on the kinsmen of the latter (Helge Hund., i., ii.). Helge kills Sigrun's father and suitors, and many heroes who were the brothers or allies of his rival (Helge Hund., ii.). Helge marries Sigrun (Helge Hund., i. 56). Helge conquers Ring's sons (Helge Hund., i. 52). Helge has slain king Hun- ding, and thus gotten the name Hundingsbane (Helge Hund., i. 10). Helge's rival and the many brothers of the latter dwell around Svarin's grave-mound. They are allies or subjects of Sigrun's father. Helge is slain by Dag, who 124 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. Svipdag, who is armed with an Asgard weapon (Saxo, 34, to be compared with other sources. See Nos. 33, 98, 101, 103). Halfdan- Berggram's father is slain by his brother Frode, who took his kingdom (Saxo, 320). Halfdan Berggram and his brother were in their childhood protected by Eegno (Saxo, 320). Halfdan Berggram and his brother burnt Frode to death in his house (Saxo, 323). Halfdan Berggram as a youth left the kingdom to his brother and went warfaring (Saxo, 320 ff.). During Halfdan's absence Denmark is attacked by an enemy, who conquers his brother in three battles and slays him in a fourth (Saxo, 325). Halfdan, the descendant of Scef and Scyld, becomes the father of Rolf (Beowulf poem). Halfdan had a son with his own sister Yrsa (Grotte-song, 22 : mon Yrsu sonr vi<5 Halfdana hefna Fro da ; sa man hennar hcitinn vcrfia oorr oc hrofiir). is armed with an Asgard weapon (Helge HuncL, ii.). Helge's father was slain by his brother Frode, who took his kingdom (Rolf Krake's saga). Helge and his brother were in their childhood protected by Regin (Rolf Krake's saga). Helge and his brothers burnt Frode to death in his house (Rolf Krake's saga). Helge Hundingsbane as a youth left the kingdom to his brother and went warfaring (Saxo, 80). During Helge Hundings- bane's absence Denmark is at- tacked by an enemy, who conquers his brother in three battles and slays him in a fourth (Saxo, 82). Hel«;e Hundingsbane became the father of Rolf (Saxo, 83; compare Rolf Krake's saga). Helge Hundingsbane had a son with his own sister Ursa (Saxo, 82). The son was Rolf (compare Rolf Krake's saga). A glance at these parallels is sufficient to remove every doubt that the hero in the songs concerning Helge Hundingsbane is originally the same mythic person as is celebrated in the song or songs from which Saxo gathered his materials concerning the kings, Gram Skjoldson, Halfdan Berggram, and Halfdan Bor- garson. It is the ancient myth in regard to Halfdan, the son of Skjold-Borgar, which myth, after the introduction of Christianity in Scandinavia, is divided into two branches, of which the one TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 125 continues to be the saga of this patriarch, while the other utilises the history of his youth and tranforms it into a aew saga, that of Helge Hundingsbane, In Saxo'a time, and long before him, this division into two branches had already taken place. How this younger branch, Helge Hundingabane'a Baga, was afterwards partly appropriated by the all-absorbing Sigurdsaga and became con- nected with it in an external and purely genealogical maimer, and partly did itself appropriate (as in Saxo) the old Danish local tradition about Eolf, the illegitimate son of Halfdan Skjoldung, and, in fact, foreign to his pedigree ; how it got mixed with the saga about an evil Frode and his stepsons, a saga with which it formerly had no connection ; — all these are questions which I shall fliscnaa fully in a second part of this work, and in a separate treatise on the heroic sagas. For the present, my task is to show what influence this knowledge of Halfdan and Helge Hundiugs- bane's identity has upon the interpretation of the myth concerning the antiquity of the Teutons. 30. Halfdan's Biktii and the End of the Age of Peace. The Family Names Ylfing, Hilding, Bubluxg. The first strophes of the first song of Helge Hundingsbane distinguish themselves in tone and character and broad treatment from the continuation of the song, and have clearly belonged to a genuine old mythic poem about Halfdan, and without much change the compiler of the Helge Hunbingsbane song has incorporated them into his poem. They describe Halfdan's ("Helge Hundinga- bane'a") birth. The real mythic names of his parents, Borgar and Drott, have been retained side by side with the names given by the compiler, Sigmund and Borghild. Ar var alda, It was time's morning, pat er urn,- gutto, eagles screeched, hu'ujo hcilog votn holy waters fell af ' himinfjolln in ; from the heavenly mountain-. jtd Jut/pi Hclga Then was the mighty inn hugom stora Helge born Borghildr borit by Borghild i Brahcndi. in Bralund. 126 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. Nott varp i bos, nornir qvomo, per er auplingi aldr nm scopo ; pann bapo fylci frosgstan verpa oc buplunga beztan ticcia. Sncro per af afli aurlaugpdtto, pa er Borgarr braut i Brdlundi ; per urn greiddo gidlin simo oc und maiiasal mipian fosto. It was night, norns came, they who did shape the fate of the nobleman ; they proclaimed him best among Budlungs, and most famed among princes. With all their might the threads of fate they twisted, when Borgar settled in Bramnd ; of gold they made the warp of the web, and fastened it directly 'neath the halls of the moon. per austr oc vestr enda fdlo : par dtti lofcfungr land a milli ; brd nipt Neva « nordrvega einni festi ey bap lion halda. In the east and west they hid the ends : there between the chief should rule ; Nere's * kinswoman northward sent one thread and bade it hold for ever. Eitt var at angri Ylfinga nip oc peirre meyio er nunup feeddi ; hrafn gvap at hrafni — sat a hdm meipi andvanr dto : — " Ec veit noccop ! * Urd, the chief goddess of fate, jorden". One cause there was of alarm to the Yngling (Borgar), and also for her who bore the loved one. Hungry cawed raven to raven in the high tree : " Hear what I know ! See the treatise " Mythen om Under- TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 127 " Stcmlr i brynio hurr Sigmundar, dcegrs eins gamatt, iui i /• dagr hominn; hversir augo sem hildingar, sa er varga vinr, vifi scolom teitir." " In coat of mail stands Sigmund's son, one day old, now the day is come ; sharp eyes of the Hildinga has he, and the wolves' friend he becomes, We shall thrive." Drott fiotti sa dauglingr vera qiuulo Hi' J) gumnom god-dr kominn; sialfr gecc visi or vig primo ungom fecra itrlauc grami. Drott, it is said, saw In him a dayling,* saying, " Now are good seasons come among men " ; to the young lord from thunder-strife came the chief himself with a "lorious flower. Halfdan's (" Helge Hundingsbane's ") birth occurs, according to the contents of these strophes, when two epochs meet. His arrival announces the close of the peaceful epoch and the be- ginning of an age of strife, which ever since has reigned in the world. His significance in this respect is distinctly manifest in the poem. The raven, to whom the battle-field will soon be as a well-spread table, is yet suffering from hunger {andvanr dtu) ; but from the high tree in which it sits, it has on the day after the birth of the child, presumably through the window, seen the new- comer, and discovered that he possessed " the sharp eyes of the Hildings," and with prophetic vision it has already seen him clad in coat of mail. It proclaims its discovery to another raven in the same tree, and foretells that theirs and the age of the wolves has come : " We shall thrive ". The parents of the child heard and understood what the raven said. Among the runes which Heimdal, Borgar's father, taught him, and which the son of the latter in time learned, are the knowledge of bird-speech (Konr ungr Jdok nam fugla — Rigsthula, 43, 44). The raven's appearance in the song of Helge Hundings- * Dayling = bright son of day or light 128 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. bane is to be compared with its relative the crow in Eigsthula ; the one foretells that the new-born one's path of life lies over battle- fields, the other urges the grown man to turn away from his peace- ful amusements. Important in regard to a correct understanding of the song, and characteristic of the original relation of the strophes quoted to the myth concerning primeval time, is the circumstance that Halfdan's (" Helge Hundingsbane's ") parents are not pleased with the prophecies of the raven ; on the contrary they are filled with alarm. Former interpreters have been surprised at this. It has seemed to them that the prophecy of the lad's future heroic and blood-stained career ought, in harmony with the general spirit pervading the old Norse literature, to have awakened the parents' joy and pride. But the matter is explained by the mythic con- nection which makes Borgar's life constitute the transition period from a happy and peaceful golden age to an age of warfare. With all their love of strife and admiration for warlike deeds, the Teutons still were human, and shared with all other people the opinion that peace and harmony is something better and more desirable than war and bloodshed. Like their Aryan kinsmen, they dreamed of primeval Satumia regna, and looked forward to a regeneration which is to restore the reign of peace. Borgar, in the myth, established the community, was the legislator and judge. He was the hero of peaceful deeds, who did not care to employ weapons except against wild beasts and robbers. But the myth had also equipped him with courage and strength, the necessary qualities for inspiring respect and interest, and had given him abundant oppor- tunity for exhibiting these qualities in the promotion of culture and the maintenance of the sacredness of the law. Borgar was the Hercules of the northern myth, who fought with the gigantic beasts and robbers of the olden time. Saxo {Hist., 23) has pre- served the traditions which tell how he at one time fought breast to breast with a giant bear, conquering him and bringing him fettered into his own camp. As is well known, the family names Ylfings, Hildings, Budlungs, &c, have in the poems of the Christian skalds lost their specific application to certain families, and are applied to royal and princely warriors in general. This is in perfect analogy with the Christian Icelandic poetry, according to which it is proper to take the name of any viking, giant, or dwarf, and apply it to any special TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 129 viking, giant, or drawf, a poetic principle which scholars even of our time claim can also be applied in the interpretation of the heathen poems. In regard to the old Norse poets this method is, however, as impossible as it would be in Greek poetry to call Odysseus a Peleid, or Achilleus a Laertiatid, or Prometheus Hepluestos, or Hephoestos Dcedalos. The poems concerning Helge Hundingsbane are compiled in Christian times from old songs about Borgar's son Halfdan, and we find that the patronymic appellations Ylfing, Hilding, Bndlung, and Lofdung are copiously strewn on "Helge Hundingsbane". But, so far as the above-quoted strophes are concerned, it can be shown that the appellations Ylfing, Hilding, and Budlung are in fact old usage and have a mythic foundation. The German poem " Wolfdieterich und Sabin "' calls Berchtnng (Borgar) Potelung — that is, Budlung; the poem " Wolfdieterich " makes Berchtung the progenitor of the Hildings, and adds : " From the same race the Ylfings have come to us " — von dem sclbc gcslehte sinl una die wilfmge humu n (v. 223). Saxo mentions the Hilding Hildeger as Halfdan's half-brother, and the tradition on which the saga of Asmund Kaempebane is based has done the same (compare No. 43). The agreement in this point between German, Danish, and Icelandic statements points to an older source common to them all, and furnishes an additional proof that the German Berchtung occupied in the mythic genea- logies precisely the same place as the Norse Borgar. That Thor is one of Halfdan's fathers, just as Heimdal is one of Borgar's, has already been pointed out above (see No. 25). To a divine common fatherhood point the words : " Drott, it is said, saw in him (the lad just born) a day ling (son of a god of light), a son divine ". Who the divine partner-father is is indicated by the fact that a storm has broken out the night when Drott's son is born. There is a thunder-strife vig primo, the eagles screech, and holy waters fall from the heavenly mountains (from the clouds). The god of thunder is present, and casts his shadow over the house where the child is born. 31. Halfdan's Character. The Weapon-myth. The myths and heroic poems are not wanting in ideal heroes, who are models of goodness of heart, justice, and the most sensitive 9 130 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. nobleness. Such are, for example, the Asa-god Balder, his counter- part among heroes, Helge Hjorvardson, Beowulf, and, to a certain degree also, Sigurd Fafnesbane. Halfdan did not belong to this group. His part in the myth is to be the personal representative of the strife- age that came with him, of an age when the inhabitants of the earth are visited by the great winter and by dire misfortunes, when the de- moralisation of the world has begun along with disturbances in nature, and when the words already are applicable, " hart cr i heimi " (hard is the world). Halfdan is guilty of the abduction of a woman — the old custom of taking a maid from her father by violence or cunning is illustrated in his saga. It follows, however, that the myth at the same time embellished him with qualities which made him a worthy Teutonic patriarch, and attractive to the hearers of the songs concerning him. These qualities are, besides the necessary strength and courage, the above-mentioned knowledge of runes, wherein he even surpasses his father (Eigsth.), great skaldic gifts (Saxo, Hist., 325), a liberality which makes him love to strew gold about him (Helge Hund., i. 9), and an extraordinary, fascinating physical beauty — which is emphasised by Saxo (Hist., 30), and which is also evident from the fact that the Teutonic myth makes him, as the Greek myth makes Achiileus, on one occasion don a woman's attire, and resemble a valkyrie in this guise (Helge Hund., ii.). No doubt the myth also described him as the model of a faithful foster-brother in his relations to the silent Hamal, who externally was so like him that the one could easily be taken for the other (cp. Helge Hund., ii. 1, 6). In all cases it is certain that the myth made the foster-brotherhood between Halfdan and Hamal the basis of the unfailing fidelity with which Hamal's descendants, the Amalians, cling to the son of Halfdan's favourite Hadding, and support his cause even amid the most difficult cir- cumstances (see Nos. 42, 43). The abduction of a woman by Halfdan is founded in the physical interpretation of the myth, and can thus be justified. The wife he takes by force is the goddess of vegetation, Groa, and he does it because her husband Orvandel has made a compact with the powers of frost (see Nos. 33, 38, 108, 109). There are indications that our ancestors believed the sword to be a later invention than the other kinds of weapons, and that it was from the beginning under a curse. The first and most im- TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 131 portent of all sword-smiths was, according to the myth, Thjasse,* who accordingly is called fa&ir muni", the father of the swords (Haustlaung, Younger Edda, 306). The best sword made by him is intended to make way for the destruction of the gods (see Nos. 33, 98, 101, 103). After various fortunes it conies into the posses- sion of Frey, but is of no service to Asgard. It is given to the parents of the giantess Gerd, and in Ragnarok it causes the death of Frey. Halfdan had two swords, which his mother's father, for whom they were made, had buried in the earth, and his mother long kept the place of concealment secret from him. The first time he uses one of them he slays in a duel his noble half-brother Hildeger, fighting on the side of the Skilfings, without knowing who he is (cp. Saxo, Hist., 351, 355, 356, with Asmund Kasmpebane's saga). Cursed swords are several times mentioned in the sagas. Halfdan's weapon, which he wields successfully in advantageous exploits, is, in fact, the club (Saxo, Hist, 26, 31, 323, 353). That the Teutonic patriarch's favourite weapon is the club, not the sword; that the latter, later, in his hand, sheds the blood of a kinsman; and that he himself finally is slain by the sword forged by Thjasse, and that, too, in conflict with a son (the step-son Svipdag — see below), I regard as worthy of notice from the stand- point of the views cherished during some of the centuries of the Teutonic heathendom in regard to the various age and sacredness of the different kinds of weapons. That the sword also at length was looked upon as sacred is plain from the fact that it was adopted and used by the Asa-gods. In Ragnarok, Vidar is to avenge his father with a hjurr and pierce Fafner's heart (Voluspa). Bjorr may, it is true, also mean a missile, but still it is probable that it, in Vidar's hand, means a sword. The oldest and most sacred weapons were the spear, the hammer, the club, and the axe. The spear which, in the days of Tacitus, and much later, was the elm f weapon both for foot-soldiers and cavalry in the Teutonic armies, is wielded by the Asa-father himself, whose Gungner was forged for him by Ivalde's sons before the dreadful enmity between the gods and them had begun. The hammer is Trior's most sacred weapon. Before Sindre * Proofs of Thjasse'e original identity with Volund are ^'iven in Nos. 113- 115. 132 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. forged one for him of iron (Gylfaginning), lie wielded a hammer of stone. This is evident from the very name hamarr, a rock, a stone. The club is, as we have seen, the weapon of the Teutonic patriarch, and is wielded side by side with Thor's hammer in the conflict with the powers of frost. The battle-axe belonged to Njord. This is evident from the metaphors found in the Younger Edda, p. 346, and in Islend. Saga, 9. The mythological kernel in the former metaphor is Njdr&r hlauf Herjan's hurffir, i.e., " Njord cleaved Odin's gates " (when the Vans conquered Asgard) ; in the other the battle - axe is called Grant's meginhwrcfar galli, i.e., " the destroyer of Odin's great gate ". The bow is a weapon employed by the Asa-gods BoSr and Ullr, but Balder is slain by a shot from the bow, and the chief archer of the myth is, as we shall see, not an Asa-god, but a brother of Thjasse. (Further discussion of the weapon-myth will be found in No. 39.) 32. Halfdan's Conflicts interpreted as Myths of Nature. The War with the Heroes from Svarin's Mound. Halfdan's Marriage with Dises of Vegetation. In regard to the significance of the conflicts awaiting Halfdan, and occupying his whole life, when interpreted as myths of nature, we must remember that he inherits from his father the duty of stopping the progress southward of the giant-world's wintry agents, the kinsmen of Thjasse, and of the Skilfing (Yngling) tribes dwell- ing in the north. The migration sagas have, as we have seen, shown that Borgar and his people had to leave the original country and move south to Denmark, Saxland, and to those regions on the other side of the Baltic in which the Goths settled. For a time the original country is possessed by the conquerors, who, according to Voluspa, " from Svarin's Mound attacked and took (sdtti) the clayey plains as far as Jaravall". But Halfdan represses them. That the words quoted from Voluspa really refer to the same mythic persons with whom Halfdan afterwards fights is proved by the fact that Svarin and Svarin's Mound are never named in our documents except in connection with Halfdan's saga. In Saxo it is Halfdan -Gram who slays Svarin and his numerous TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. L33 brothers ; in the saga of " Helge Hundingsbane " it is again Halfdan, under the name Helge, who attacks triors dwelling around Svarin's Hound, and conquers them. To this may be added, that the com- piler of the first song about Helge Hundingsbane borrowed from the saga-original, on which the song is based, names which point to the Voluspa strophe concerning the attack on the south Scan- dinavian plains. In the category of names, or the genealogy of the aggressors, occur, as has been shown already, the Skilfing names Alt' and Vngve. Thus also in the Helge-song's list of persons with whom the conflict is waged in the vicinity of Svarin's &found. In the Voluspa's list Moinn is mentioned among the aggressors (in the variation in the Prose Edda) ; in the Helge-song, strophe 46, it is said that Helge-Halfdan fought d Mdinshcimom against his brave foes, whom he afterwards slew in the battle around Svarin's Mound. In the Voluspa's list is named among the aggressors one Haugspori, "the one spying from the mound"; in the Helge-song is mentioned Sporvitnir, who from Svarin's Mound watches the forces of Helge-Halfdan advancing. I have already (No. 28b) pointed out several other names which occur in the Voluspa list, and whose connection with the myth concerning the artists, frost-giants, and Shillings of antiquity, and their attack on the original country, can be shown. The physical significance of Halfdan's conflicts and adventures is apparent also from the names of the women, whom the saga makes him marry. Groa (grow), whom he robs and keeps for some time, is, as her very name indicates, a goddess of vegetation. Signe-Alveig, whom he afterwards marries, is the same. Her name signifies "the nourishing drink". According to Saxo she is the daughter of Sumblus, Latin for Sumbl, which means feast, ale, mead, and is a synonym for Olvaldi, Olmoffr, names which belonged to the father of the Ivalde sons (see No. 123). According to a well-supported statement in Forspjallsljod (see No. 123), Ivalde was the father of two groups of children. The mother of one of these groups is a giantess (see Nos. 113, 114, 115). With her he has three sons, viz., the three famous artists of antiquity — Ide, Gang-Urnir, and Thjasse. The mother of the other group is a goddess of light (see No. 123). With her he has daughters, who are goddesses of growth, among them Idun and Sicne-Alvekr. That Idun is the daughter of Ivalde is clear 134 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. from Forspjallsljod (6), dlfa cettar Ifrunni heto Ivallds ellri rfngsta hama. Of the names of their father Sumbl, Olvalcli, Olmdffr, it may be said that, as nature-symbols, " 61 " (ale) and " mjod " (mead), are in the Teutonic mythology identical with soma and somamadhu in Eigveda and haoma in Avesta, that is, they are the strength- developing, nourishing saps in nature. Mimer's subterranean well, from which the world-tree draws its nourishment, is a mead-fountain. In the poem " Haustlaung " Idun is called Olgefn ; in the same poem Groa is called Olgefion. Both appellations refer to goddesses who give the drink of growth and regeneration to nature and to the gods. Thus we here have a family, the names and epithets of whose members characterise them as forces, active in the service of nature and of the god of harvests. Their names and epithets also point to the family bond which unites them. We have the group of names, l&valdi, Iffi, I&unn, and the group, Olvaldi (OlmdcTr), Olgefn, and Olgefion, both indicating- members of the same family. Further on (see Nos. 113, 114, 115) proof shall be presented that Groa's first husband, Orvandel the brave, is one of Thjasse's brothers, and thus that Groa, too, was closely connected with this family. As we know, it is the enmity caused by Loke between the Asa-gods and the lower serving, yet powerful, divinities of nature belonging to the Ivalde group, which produces the terrible winter with its awful consequences for man, and particularly for the Teutonic tribes. These hitherto beneficent agents of growth have ceased to serve the gods, and have allied themselves with the frost-giants. The war waged by Halfdan must be regarded from this standpoint. Midgard's chief hero, the real Teutonic patriarch, tries to reconquer for the Teutons the country of which winter has robbed them. To be able to do this, he is the son of Thor, the divine foe of the frost-giants, and performs on the border of Midgard a work corresponding to that which Thor has to do in space and in Jotunheim. And in the same manner as Heimdal before secured favourable conditions of nature to the original country, by uniting the sun-goddess wTith himself through bonds of love, his grandson Halfdan now seeks to do the same for the Teutonic country, by robbing a hostile son of Ivalde, Orvandel, of his wife Groa, the growth-giver, and thereupon also of Alveig, TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 135 the giver of the nourishing sap. A symbol of nature may also be found in Saxo's statement, that the king of Svithiod, Sigtrygg, Groa's father, could not be conquered unless Halfdan fastened a golden ball to his club {Hist., 31). The purpose of Halfdan's conflicts, the object which the norns particularly gave to his life, that of reconquering from the powers of frost the northernmost regions of the Teutonic territory and of permanently securing them for culture, and the difficulty of this task is indicated, it seems to me, in the strophes above quoted, which tell us that the norns fastened the woof of his power in the east and west, and that he from the beginning, and undisputed, extended the sceptre of his rule over these latitudes, while in regard to the northern lati- tudes, it is said that Nere's kinswoman, the chief of the norns (see Nos. 57-04, §o), cast a single thread in this direction and prayed that it might hold for ever : per austr oc vestr enda fdlo, par dtti lofdumjr I "iid a milli ; brd nipt Neva a nordrvega einni festi, cy hap lion halda. The norns' prayer was heard. That the mytli made Halfdan proceed victoriously to the north, even to the very starting-point of the emigration to the south caused by the fimbul-winter, that is to say, to Svarin's Mound, is proved by the statements that he slays Svarin and his brothers, and wins in the vicinity of Svarin's Mound the victory over his opponents, which was for a time decisive. His penetration into the north, when regarded as a nature-myth, means the restoration of the proper change of seasons, and the rendering of the original country and of Svithiod inhabit- able. As far as the hero, who secured the " giver of growth " and the " giver of nourishing sap," succeeds with the aid of his father Thor to carry his weapons into the Teutonic lands destroyed by frost, so far spring and summer again extend the sceptre of their reign. The songs about Helge Hnndingsbane have also preserved from the myth the idea that Halfdan and his forces penetrating 136 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. northward by land and by sea are accompanied in the air by "valkyries," "goddesses from the south," armed with helmets, coats of mail, and shining spears, who fight the forces of nature that are hostile to Halfdan, and these valkyries are in their vay nature goddesses of growth, from the manes of whose horses falls the dew which gives the power of growth back to the earth and harvests to men. (Cp. Helg. Hund., i. 15, 30 ; il, the prose to v. 5, 12, 13, with Helg. Hjorv., 28.) On this account the Swedes, too, have celebrated Halfdan in their songs as their patriarch and benefactor, and according to Saxo they have worshipped him as a divinity, although it was his task to check the advance of the Skilfings to the south. Doubtless it is after this successful war that Halfdan performs the great sacrifice mentioned in Skaldskaparmal, ch. 64, in order that he may retain his royal power for three hundred years. The statement should be compared with what the German poems of the middle ages tell about the longevity of Berchtung-Borgar and other heroes of antiquity. They live for several centuries. But the response Halfdan gets from the powers to whom he sacrificed is that he shall live simply to the age of an old man, and that in his family there shall not for three hundred years be born a woman or a fameless man. 33. Review of the Svipdag Myth and its Points of Connection with the Myth about Halfdan (cp. No. 24). When Halfdan secured Groa, she was already the bride of Orvandel the brave, and the first son she bore in Halfdan's house was not his, but Orvandel's. The son's name is Svipdag. He develops into a hero who, like Halfdan himself, is the most brilliant and most beloved of those celebrated in Teutonic songs. We have devoted a special part of this work to him (see Nos. 96-107). There we have given proofs of various mythological facts, which I now already must incorporate with the following series of events in order that the epic thread may not be wanting : (a) Groa bears with Halfdan the son Guthorm (Saxo, Hist. Ban., 34). (b) Groa is rejected by Halfdan (Saxo, Hist. Dan., 33). She TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 137 returns to Orvandel, and brings with her her own and his son Svipdag. (c) Halfdan marries Signe-Alveig (Hyndluljod, 15 ; Prose Edda, i. 516 ; Saxo, Hist., 33), and with her becomes the father of the son Hadding (Saxo, Hist. Dan., 34). {f unites culpam m ridere putares, 144 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. Hist., 130). The result of the deliberation of the gods is, in Saxo as in Voluspa, that Odin is banished, and that another clan of gods than his holds the power for some time. Thereupon he is, with the consent of the reigning gods, recalled to the throne, which he henceforth occupies in a brilliant manner. But one of his first acts after his return is to banish the black art and its agents from heaven and from earth {Hist., 44). Thus the chain of events in Saxo both begins and ends with sorcery. It is the background on which both in Saxo and in Voluspa those events occur which are connected with the dispute between the Asas and Vans. In both the documents the gods meet in council before the breaking out of the enmity. In both the ques- tion turns on a deed done by Odin, for which certain gods do not wish to take the responsibility. Saxo indicates this by the words : Ne vel ipsi, alieno crimine implicati, innocentcs noccntis crimine pum- rentur. Voluspa indicates it by letting the Vans present, against the proposition that go&in oil skyldu gildi eiga, the claim that Odin's own clan, and it alone, should afrd& gjcdda. And while Voluspa makes Odin suddenly interrupt the deliberations and hurl his spear among the deliberators, Saxo gives us the explanation of his sudden wrath. He and his clan had slain and burnt Gulveig- Heid because she practised sorcery and other evil arts of witch- craft. And as he refuses to make compensation for the murder and demands that all the gods take the consequences and share the blame, the Vans have replied in council, that he too once practised sorcery on the occasion when he visited Rind, and that, if Gulveig was justly burnt for this crime, then he ought justly to be deposed from his dignity stained by the same crime as the ruler of all the gods. Thus Voluspa' s and Saxo's accounts supplement and illustrate each other. One dark point remains, however. Why have the Vans ob- jected to the killing of Gulveig-Heid ? Should this clan of gods, celebrated in song as benevolent, useful, and pure, be kindly disposed toward the evil and corrupting arts of witchcraft ? This cannot have been the meaning of the myth. As shall be shown, the evil plans of Gulveig-Heid have particularly been directed against those very Vana-gods who in the council demand compen- sation for her death. In this regard Saxo has in perfect faithful- ness toward his mythic source represented Odin on the one hand, TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 145 and his opponents among the gods on the other, as alike hostile to the black art. Odin, who on one occasion and under peculiar circumstances, which I shall discuss in connection with the Balder myth, was guilty of the practice of sorcery, is nevertheless the declared enemy of witchcraft, and Saxo makes him take pains to foil iid and persecute it. The Vans likewise look upon it with horror, and it is this horror which adds streugth to their words when they attack and depose Odin, because he has himself prac- tised that for which he has punished Gulveig. The explanation of the fact is, as shall be shown below, that Frey, on account of a passion of which he is the victim (probably through sorcery), was driven to marry the giant maid Gerd, whose kin in that way became friends of the Vans. Frey is obliged to demand satisfaction for a murder perpetrated on a kinswoman of his wife. The kinship of blood demands its sacred right, and according to Teutonic ideas of law, the Vans must act as they do regardless of the moral character of GuLveig. 35. Gullveig-Heior. Her Identity with AurboSa, AngrboSa, Hyurokin. The Myth concerning the Sword Guardian and Fjalar. The duty of the Vana-deities becomes even more plain, if it can be shown that Gulveig-Heid is Gerd's mother ; for Frey, supported l»v the Yaiia-gods, then demands satisfaction for the murder of his own mother-in-law. Gerd's mother is, in Hyndluljod, 30, called Aurboda, and is the wife of the giant Gymer : Fir U r atti Gcrdi, Hon vor Gi/mis dotlir, iotna cettar ok Aurbodu. It can, in fact, be demonstrated that Aurboda is identical with Gulveig-Heid. The evidence is given below in two divisions. (a) Evidence that Gulveig-Heid is identical with Angerboda, "the ancient one in the Irouwood"; (b) evidence'that Gulveig-Heid- Angerboda is identical with Aurboda, Gerd's mother. 10 146 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. (a) Gulveid-Heid identical with Angerboda. Hyndluljod, 40, 41, says : 01 ulf Loki vid Angrbodu, (enn Sleipni gat vid Svadilfara) ; eitt fiotti sJcars allra feiknazst ]yat var brodur fra Bylcistz Jcomit. Loki of hiarta lindi brendu, fann liann haalfsuidinn Juigstein konu ; vard Zoptr kvidugr af konu illri ; Jmdan er aa folldu fiagd Jwert komit. From the account we see that an evil female being (ill kona) had been burnt, but that the flames were not able to destroy the seed of life in her nature. Her heart had not been burnt through or changed to ashes. It was only half- burnt (hdlfsvidinn hugsteinn), and in this condition it had together with the other remains of the cremated woman been thrown away, for Loke finds and swallows the heart. Our ancestors looked upon the heart as the seat of the life principle, of the soul of living beings. A number of linguistic phrases are founded on the idea that goodness and evil, kindness and severity, courage and cowardice, joy and sorrow, are connected with the character of the heart; sometimes we find hjarta used entirely in the sense of soul, as in the expression hold ok hjarta, soul and body. So long as the heart in a dead body had not gone into decay, it was believed that the principle of life dwelling therein still was able, under peculiar circumstances, to operate on the limbs and exercise an influence on its environment, particularly if the dead person in life had been endowed with a will at once evil aud powerful. In such cases it was regarded as important to TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 1-47 pierce the heart of the dead with a pointed spear (cp. Saxo, Hist., 43, and No. 95). The half-burnt heart, accordingly, contains the evil woman's soul, and its influence upon Loke, after he has swallowed it, is most remarkable. Once before when he bore Sleipner with the giant horse Svadilfare, Loke had revealed his androgynous nature So he does now. The swallowed heart redeveloped the feminine in him (Loki lindi af brcndit hjarta). It fertilised him with the evil purposes which the heart contained. Loke became the possessor of the evil woman (kvi&ugr af komt illri), and became the father of the children from which the trolls {flag$) are come which are found in the world. First among the children is mentioned the wolf, which is called Fcnrir, and which in Ragnarok shall cause the death of the Asa -father. To this event point Njord's words about Loke, in Lokasenna, str. 33 : ass rayr er hcjir horn of borit. The woman possessing the half-burnt heart, who is the mother or rather the father of the wolf, is called Angerboda (o7 t'lf Loki vi& Angrbo&u). N. M. Petersen and other mycologists have rightly seen that she is the same as " the old one," who in historical times and until Kagnarok dwells in the Ironwood, and " there fosters Fenrer's kinsmen " (Voluspa, 39), her own offspring, which at the close of this period are to issue from the Iron- wood, and break into Midgard and dye its citadels with blood (Voluspa, 30). The fact that Angerboda now dwells in the Ironwood, although there on a former occasion did not remain more of her than a half-burnt heart, proves that the attempt to destroy her with fire was unsuccessful, and that she arose again in bodily form after this cremation, and became the mother and nourisher of were-wolves. Thus the myth about Angerboda is identical with the myth about Gulveig-Heid in the two characteristic points : Unsuccessful burning of an evil woman. Her regeneration after the cremation. These points apply equally to Gulveig-Heid and to Angerboda, " the old one in the Ironwood ". The myth about Gulveig-Heid- Angerboda, as it was remem- bered in the first period after the introduction of Christianity, We find in part recapitulated in Helgakvida Hundingsbane, i. 37-40, 148 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. where Sinfjotle compares his opponent Gudmund with the evil female principle in the heathen mythology, the vala in question, and where Gudmund in return compares Sinfjotle with its evil masculine principle, Loke. Sinfjotle says : pu vart vaidva i Varinseyio, scollvis kona bartu scrauc samcui ; J?u vart, en scefia, scass valkyria, autid, amdtlig at Alfauclar ; mundo einlierjar allir beriaz, svevis hona, um sakar pinar. Nio attic vifi a neri Sagu idfa alna cc var einn fapir peirra. Gaidmund's answer begins : Fa5ir varattu fenrisidfa. . . . The evil woman with whom one of the two heroes compares the other is said to be a vala, who has practised her art partly on Varin's Isle, partly in Asgard at Alfather's, and there she was the cause of a war in which all the warriors of Asgard took part. This refers to the war between the Asas and Vans. It is the second feud among the powers of Asgard. The vala must therefore be Gulveig-Heid of the myth, on whose account the war between the Asas and Vans broke out, according to Voluspa. Now it is said of her in the lines above quoted, that she gave birth to wolves, and that these wolves were " fenrisulfar ". Of Angerboda we already know that she is the mother of the real Fenris-wolf, and that she, in the Ironwood, pro- TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 149 duces other wolves which are called by Fenrer's name (Femria Icindir — Voluspa). Thus the identity of Gulveig-Heid and Anger- boda is still further established by the fact that both the one and the other is called the mother of the Fenris family. The passage quoted is not the only one which has preserved the memory of Gulveig-Heid as mother of the were-wolves. Yolsungasaga (c. ii. 8) relates that a giantess, Hrimnirs daughter, first dwelt in Asgard as the maid-servant of Frigg, then on earth, and that she, during her sojourn on earth, became the wife of a king, and with him the mother and grandmother of were-wolves, who in- fested the woods and murdered men. The fantastic and horrible saga about these were-wolves has, in Christian times and by Christian authors, been connected with the poems about Helge Hundingsbane and Sigurd Fafnersbane. The circumstance that the giantess in question first dwelt in Asgard and thereupon in Midgard, indicates that she is identical with Gulveig-Heid, and this identity is confirmed by the statement that she is a daughter of the giant Hrimnir. The myth, as it has come down to our days, knows only one daughter of this giant, and she is the same as Gulveig-Heid. Hyndluljod states that Hciffr is HHmnir's daughter, and mentions no sister of hers, but, on the other hand, a brother Hrosspiofr (Heidr ok Hrorsjnofr Hrimnis kindar — Hyndl., 30). In allusion to the cremation of Gulveig-Heid fire is called in Thorsdrapa Hrimnis drdsar lyptisylgr, "the lifting drink of Hrimner's daughter," the drink which Heid lifted up on spears had to drink. Nowhere is any other daughter of Hriinner mentioned. And while it is stated in the above-cited strophe that the giantess wlm caused the war in Asgard and became the mother of fenris- wolves was a vala on Varin's Isle (vctulva i Varinscyio), a comparison of Helgakv. Hund., i. 26, with Volsungasaga, c. 2, shows that Varin's Isle and Varin's Fjord were located in that very country, where Hrimner's daughter was supposed to have been for some time the wile of a king and to have given birth to were-wolves. Thus we have found that the three characteristic points — unsuccessful cremation of an evil giantess, her regeneration after the cremation, the same woman as mother of the Fenrer race — are common to Gulveig-Heid and Angerboda. Their identity is apparent from various other circumstances, 150 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. but may be regarded as completely demonstrated by the proofs given. Gulveig's activity in antiquity as the founder of the diabolical magic art, as one who awakens man's evil passions and produces strife in Asgard itself, has its complement in Angerboda's activity as the mother and nourisher of that class of beings in whose members witchcraft, thirst for blood, and hatred of the gods are personified. The activity of the evil principle has, in the great epic of the myth, formed a continuity spanning all ages, and this continuous thread of evil is twisted from the treacherous deeds of Gulveig and Loke, the feminine and the masculine representatives of the evil principle. Both appear at the dawn of mankind : Loke has already at the beginning of time secured access to Alfather (Lokasenna, 9), and Gulveig deceives the sons of men already in the time of Heimdal's son Borgar. Loke entices Idun from the secure grounds of Asgard, and treacherously delivers her to the powers of frost ; Gulveig, as we shall see, plays Freyja into the hands of the giants. Loke plans enmity between the gods and the forces of nature, which hitherto had been friendly, and which have their personal representatives in Ivalde's sons ; Gulveig causes the war between the Asas and Vans. The interference of both is in- terrupted at the close of the mythic age, when Loke is chained, and Gulveig, in the guise of Angerboda, is an exile in the Ironwood. Before this they have for a time been blended, so to speak, into a single being, in which the feminine assuming masculineness, and the masculine effeminated, bear to the world an offspring of foes to the gods and to creation. Both finally act their parts in the destruction of the world. Before that crisis comes Angerboda has fostered that host of " sons of world-ruin " which Loke is to lead to battle, and a magic sword which she has kept in the Ironwood is given to Surt, in whose hand it is to be the death of Frey, the lord of harvests (see Nos. 89, 98, 101, 103). That the woman who in antiquity, in various guises, visited Asgard and Midgard was believed to have had her home in the Ironwood* of the East during the historical age down to Eagnarok * In Voluspa the wood is called both Jamvi&r, GaglviSr (Cod. Reg.), and Galgvifir (Cod. Hauk.). It may be that we here have a fossil word preserved in Voluspa meaning metal. Perhaps the wood was a copper or bronze forest before it became an iron wood. Compare ghalgha, ghalghi (Fick., ii. 578) = metal, which, again, is to be compared with xa^«os = copper, bronze. TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 151 is explained by what Saxo says — viz., that Odin, after his return and reconciliation with the Vans, banished the agents of the black art both from heaven and from earth. Here, too, the connection between Gulveig-Heid and Angerboda is manifest. The war between the Asas and Vans was caused by the burning of Gulveig by the former. After the reconciliation with the Asas this punishment cannot again be inflicted on the regenerated witch. The Asas must allow her to live to the end of time ; but both the clans of gods agree that she must not show her face again in Asgard or Midgard. The myth concerning the banishment of the famous vala to the Iron wood, and of the Loke progeny which she there Posters, has been turned into history by Jordanes in his Dc Goth. OHgiru , eh. 24, where it is stated that a Gothic king compelled the sus- pected valas (Jialiorunas) found among his people to take their refuge to the deserts in the East beyond the Mceotian Marsh, where they mixed with the wood-sprites, and thus became the progenitors of the Huns. In this manner the Christian Goths got from their mythic traditions an explanation of the source of the eastern hosts of horsemen, whose ugly faces and barbarous manners seemed to them to prove an other than purely human origin. The vala Gulveig-Heid and her like become in Jordanes these lialiorunce ; Loke and the giants of the Ironwood become these wood-sprites ; the Asa-god who caused the banishment becomes a king, son of Gandaricus Magnus (the great ruler of the Gandians, Odin), and Loke's and Angerboda's wonderful progeny become the Huns. Stress should be laid on the fact that Jordanes and Saxo have in the same manner preserved the tradition that Odin and the Asas, after making peace and becoming reconciled with the Vans, do not apply the death-penalty and burning to Gulveig-Heid- Angerboda and her kith and kin, but, instead, sentence them to banishment from the domains of gods and men. That the tradition preserved in Saxo and Jordanes corresponded with the myth is proved by the fact thai we there rediscover Gulveig-Heid-Angerboda with her offspring in the Ironwood, which was thought to be situated in the utmost East, far away from the human world, and that she remains there undisturbed until the destruction of the world. The reconciliation between the Asas and Vans has, as this eonclusively shows, been based on an admission on the part of the Asas that the Vans had a right to find fault with and demand satisfaction for the murder oi 152 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. Gulveig-Heid. Thus the dispute which caused the war between Asas and Vans was at last decided to the advantage of the latter, while they on their part, after being satisfied, reinstate Odin in his dignity as universal ruler and father of the gods. (&) Gulveig-Heid- Angerboda identical with Aurboda. In the Ironwood dwells Angerboda, together with a giant, who is gygjar hir&ir, the guardian and watcher of the giantess. He has charge of her remarkable herds, and also guards a sword brought to the Ironwood. This vocation has given him the epithet Egther {Egperr — Voluspa), which means sword-guardian. Saxo speaks of him as Egtherus, an ally of Finns, skilled in magic, and a chief of Bjarmians, equally skilful in magic (cp. Hist., 248, 249, with Nos. 52, 53). Bjarmians and Finns are in Saxo made the heirs of the wicked inhabitants of Jotunheim. Vilkinasaga knows him by the name Etgeir, who watches over precious implements in Isung's wood. Etgeir is a corruption of Egther, and Isung's wood is a reminiscence of Isamvi&r, Isamho, the Ironwood. In the Vilkina- saga he is the brother of Vidolf. According to Hyndluljod, all the valas of the myth come from Vidolf. As Gulveig-Heid- Angerboda is the chief of all valas, and the teacher of the arts practised by the valas, this statement in Hyndluljod makes us think of her par- ticularly ; and as Hrimnir's daughter has been born and burnt several times, she may also have had several fathers. Among them, then, is Vidolf, whose character, as described by Saxo, fits well for such a daughter. He is a master in sorcery, and also skilful in the art of medicine. But the medical art he practises in such a manner that those who seek his help receive from him such remedies as do harm instead of good. Only by threats can he be made to do good with his art (Hist., 323, 324). The statement in Vilkinasaga compared with that in Hyndluljod seems therefore to point to a near kinship between Angerboda and her sword-guard. She appears to be the daughter of his brother. In Voluspa's description of the approach of Eagnarok, Egther, Angerboda's shepherd, is represented as sitting on a mound — like Aurboda's shepherd in Skirnisfor — and playing a harp, happy over that which is to happen. That the giant who is hostile to the gods, and who is the guardian of the strange herds, does not play an idyl on the strings of his harp does not need to be stated. He is visited TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 153 by a being in the guise of the red cock. The cock, says Voluspa, is Fjalarr (str. 44). What the heathen records tell us about Fjalar is the following : * (a) He is the same giant as the Younger Edda (i. 144 it) calls Utgard-Loke. The latter is a fire -giant, Logcs, the fire's ruler (Younger Edda, 152), the cause of earthquakes (Younger Edda, 144), and skilled in producing optical delusions. Fjalar's identity with Utgard-Loke is proved by Harbardsljod, str. 26, where Thor, on his way to Fjalar, meets with the same adventures as, according to the Younger Edda, he met with on his way to Utgard- Loke. (b) He is the same giant as the one called Suttung. The giant from whom Odin robs the skaldic mead, and whose devoted Daughter Gunlad he causes bitter sorrow, is called in Havamal Sometimes Fjalar and sometimes Suttung (cp. strs. 13, 14, 104, 105). (c) Fjalar is the son of the chief of the fire-giants, Surtr, and dwells in the subterranean dales of the latter. A full account of this in Xo. 89. Here it will suffice to point out that when Odin lies out of Fjalar's dwelling with the skaldic mead, it is " from Burt's deep dales" that he " Hying bears" the precious drink (Jiinn er Surts or sakkdolum farmagnudr fljugandi bar, a strophe by Eyviml, quoted in the Younger Edda, p. 242), and that this drink while it remained with Fjalar was " the drink of Surfs race " (Sylgr Surfs wttar, Forums., iii. 3). {s it. The river that foams around Asgard thus has its source in the thunder-clouds; not as we find them after they have been split by Thor, but such as they are originally, swollen with a celestial water that evaporates vafermist. All waters — subterranean, terrestrial, and celestial — have their source in that great subterranean fountain Evergelmer. Thence they come and thither they return (Grimn., * Tin- author of BragarcB&w in tin' Younger E<1v b river belt covered with vaferflames, which cannot be crossed unless one has that single steed which urn myrckvan beri visan vafrloga, and this belongs to the Asas. (c) The stream which roars around the fortress of the brothers comes ex sum mis montium cacumin'ibus. The Asgard stream comes tVeiii the collector of the thunder-cloud, Eikjn/nir, who stands on 170 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. the summit of the world of tbe gods. The kindled vaferflames, which did not suit an historical narration, are explained by Saxo to be a spumeus candor, a foaming whiteness, a shining froth, which in uniform, eddying billows everywhere whirl on the surface of the stream {iota alvei tractu undis uniformiter turbidatis spumeus ubique candor cxubcrat). (/) The only horse which is able to run through the shining and eddying foam is clearly one of the mythic horses. It is named along with another prodigy from the animal kingdom of mythology, viz., the terrible dog of the giant Offotes. Whether this is a remi- niscence of Fenrir which was kept for some time in Asgard, or of Odin's wolf-dog Freki, or of some other saga-animal of that sort, we will not now decide. (g) Just as Asgard has an artfully contrived gate, so has also the citadel of the brothers. Saxo's description of the gate implies that any person who does not know its character as a draw- bridge, but lays violent hands on the mechanism which holds it in an upright position, falls, and is crushed under it. This explains the words of Fjblsvinnsmal about the gate to that citadel, within which Freyja-Menglad dwells: Fjoturr fastr vcrffr vicf farandq hvcm, er liana hefr frd hlifti. (h) In the myth, it is Njord himself who removes the obstacle, " Odin's great gate," placed in his way. In Saxo's account, it is Fridlevus himself who accomplishes the same exploit. (i) In Saxo's narration occurs an improbability, which is ex- plained by the fact that he has transformed a myth into history] When Fridlevus is safe across the stream, he raises a ladder against the wall and climbs up on to it. Whence did he get this ladder, which must have been colossal, since the wall he got over in this manner is said to be prwaltum ? Could he have taken it with him on the horse's back ? Or did the besieged themselves place it against the wall as a friendly aid to the foe, who was already in possession of the only means for crossing the stream ? Both assumptions are alike improbable. Saxo had to take recourse to a ladder, for he could not, without damaging the "historical" charac- ter of his story, repeat the myth's probable description of the event. The horse which can gallop through the bickering flame can also leap over the highest wall. Sleipner's ability in this direction is demonstrated in the account of how it, with Hermod in the saddle, TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 1 i 1 leaps over the wall to Balder's high hall in the lower world (Younger Edda, ITS). The impassibility of the Asgard wall is limited to mountain-giants and frost-giants ; for a god riding Odin's horse the wall was no obstacle. No doubt the myth has also stated that the Asas, after Njord had leaped over the wall and sought out the above-mentioned place of concealment, found within the wall their precious horse again, which lately had become the booty of the enemy. And where else should they have found it, if we regard the stream with the bickering flamee as breaking against the very foot of the wall ( Finally, it should be added, that our myths tell of no other siege than the one Asgard was subjected to by the Vans. If other sieges have been mentioned, they cannot have been of the same importance as this one, and consequently they could not so easily have left traces in the mythic traditions adapted to history or heroic poetry ; nor could a historicised account of a mythic siege which did not concern Asgard have preserved the points here pointed out, which are in harmony with the story of the Asgard siege. When the citadel of the gods is captured, the gods are, as we have seen, once more in possession of the steed, which, judging from its qualities, must be Sleipner. Thus, Odin has the means of escaping from the enemy after all resistance has proved im- possible. Thor has his thundering car, which, according to the Younger Edda, has room for several besides the owner, and the other Asas have splendid horses (Grimnism., Younger Edda), even though they are not equal to that of their father. The Asas give lip their throne of power, and the Vans now assume the rule of the world. 37. The World Wab (continued). The Significance of the Con- flict FROM A RELIGIOUS-ElTUAL STANDPOINT. In regard to the significance of the change of administration in the world of gods, Saxo has preserved a tradition which is of no small interest. The circumstance that Odin and his sons had to inrrender the reign of the world did not imply that mankind should abandon their faith in the old gods and accept a new religion. Hitherto the Asas and Vans had been worshipped in common. 172 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. Now, when Odin was deposed, his name, honoured by the nations, was not to be obliterated. The name was given to Ull, and, as if he really were Odin, he was to receive the sacrifices and prayers that hitherto had been addressed to the banished one (Hist., 130). The ancient faith was to be maintained, and the shift involved nothing but the person ; there was no change of religion. But in connec- tion with this information, we also learn, from another statement in Saxo, that the myth concerning the war between Asas and Vans was connected with traditions concerning a conflict between various views among the believers in the Teutonic religion concerning offerings and prayers. The one view was more ritual, and demanded more attention paid to sacrifices. This view seems to have gotten the upper hand after the banishment of Odin. It was claimed that sacrifices and hymns addressed at the same time to several or all of the gods, did not have the efficacy of pacifying and reconciling angry deities, but that to each one of the gods should be given a separate sacrificial service (Saxo, Hist., 43). The result of this was, of course, an increase of sacrifices and a more highly-developed ritual, which from its very nature might have produced among the Teutons the same hierarchy as resulted from an excess of sacri- fices among their Aryan-Asiatic kinsmen. The correctness of Saxo's statement is fully confirmed by strophe 145 in Havamal, which advocates the opposite and incomparably more moderate view in regard to sacrifices. This view came, according to the strophe, from Odin's own lips. He is made to proclaim it to the people " after his return to his ancient power ". Betra er obepit en se ofblopit ey ser til gildis giof ; betra er osennt enn se of soil. Sva pundr um reist fyr piopa raue, par hann up um reis er hann aptr uf horn. The expression, par hann up um reis, er hann apter qfkom, refers to the fact that Odin had for some time been deposed from the administration of the world, but had returned, and that he then TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 173 proclaimed to the people the view in regard to the real value of prayers and sacrifices which is laid down in the strophe. Eence it follows that before Odin returned to his throne another more exacting doctrine in regard to sacrifices had, according to the myth, secured prevalence. This is precisely what Saxo tells us. It is difficult to repress the question whether an historical reminis- cence is not concealed in these statements. May it not be the record of conflicting views within the Teutonic religion — views re- presented in the myth by the Vana-gods on the one side and the Asas on the other ? The Vana views, I take it, represented tendencies which, had they been victorious, would have resulted in hierarchy, while the Asa doctrine represented the tendencies of the believers in the time-honoured Aryan custom of those who maintained the priestly authority of the father of the family, and who defended the efficacy of the simple hymns and sacrifices which from time out of mind had been addressed to several or all of the gods in common. That the question really has existed among the Teutonic peoples, at least as a subject for reflection, spontaneously suggests itself in the myth alluded to above. This myth has discussed the question, and decided it in precisely the same manner as history has decided it among the Teutonic races, among whom priestcraft and ritualism have held a far less important position than among their western kinsmen, the Celts, and their eastern kinsmen, the Iranians and Hindoos. That prayers on account of their length, or sacrifices on account of their abundance, should give evidence of greater piety and fear of God, and should be able to secure a more ready hearing, is a doctrine which Odin himself rejects in the strophe above cited. He understands human nature, and knows that when a man brings abundant sacrifices he has the selfish purpose in view of prevailing on the gods to give a more abundant reward — a purpose prompted by Belfishness, not by piety. 38. Tiik Woeld Wab (continued). The War in Midoakd between Haledan's Sons. Gkoa's Sons against Alveig's. Loke's Appearance on the Stack. Haihung's Youtiieul Adven- tures. The conflict between the gods has its counterpart in, and La connected with, a war between all the Teutonic races, and the latter 174 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. is again a continuation of the feud between Halfdan and Svipdag. The Teutonic race comes to the front fighting under three race- representatives — (1) Yngve-Svipdag, the son of Orvandel and Groa ; (2) Gudhorm, the son of Halfdan and Groa, consequently Svipdag's half-brother ; (3) Hadding, the son of Halfdan and Alveig (in Saxo called Signe, daughter of Sumbel), consequently Gud- horm's half-brother. The ruling Vans favour Svipdag, who is Freyja's husband and Frey's brother-in-law. The banished Asas support Hadding from their place of refuge. The conflict between the gods and the war between Halfdan's successor and heir are woven together. It is like the Trojan war, where the gods, divided into parties, assist the Trojans or assist the Danai. Odin, Thor, and Heimdal interfere, as we shall see, to protect Hadding. This is their duty as kinsmen ; for Heimdal, having assumed hurnan nature, was the lad with the sheaf of grain who came to the primeval country and became the father of Borgar, who begat the son Halfdan. Thor was Halfdan's associate father ; hence he too had duties of kinship toward Hadding and Gudhorm, Halfdan's sons. The gods, on the other hand, that favour Svipdag are, in Haclding's eyes, foes, and Hadding long refuses to propitiate Frey by a demanded sacrifice (Saxo, Hist., 49, 50). This war, simultaneously waged between the clans of the gods on the one hand, and between the Teutonic tribes on the other, is what the seeress in Voluspa calls " the first great war in the world ". She not only gives an account of its outbreak and events among the gods, but also indicates that it was waged on the earth. Then — sa lion valkyrior saw she valkyries vitt um komnar far travelled gaurvar at ricfa equipped to ride til Go&Jyjodar to Goththjod. Goththjod is the Teutonic people and the Teutonic country. When Svipdag had slain Halfdan, and when the Asas were expelled, the sons of the Teutonic patriarch were in danger of falling into the power of Svipdag. Thor interested himself in their behalf, and brought Gudhorm and Hadding to Jotunheim, where he concealed them with the giants Hafle and Vagnhofde — Gudhorm in ill (TONIC MYTHOLOGY. 175 Halle's rocky gard mid Hadding in Vagnhofde's. In Saxo, who relates this story, the Asa-god Thor appears partly as Thor deu& and Thoro pugil, Halfdan's protector, whom Saxo himself identifies as the god Thor (Hist., 324), and partly as Brae and Bracks, which lame Saxo formed from Thor's epithet, Asa-Bragr. It is by the bame Brache thai Thor appears as the protector of Halfdan's sons. Hie giants Eafle and Vagnhofde dwell, according to Saxo, in •• Svetia " probably, since Jotunheim, the northernmost Sweden, and the most distant east were called SvipioS hinn kdlda.* Svipdag waged war against Halfdan, since it was his duty to kvenge the disgrace of his mother Groa, and also that of his mother's father, and, as shall be shown later, the death of his father brvandel (see Nos. 108, 109). The revenge for bloodshed was jjacred in the Teutonic world, and this duty he performed when he with his irresistible sword felled his stepfather. But thereby the duty of revenge for bloodshed was transferred to Halfdan's sons — less to Gudhorm, who is himself a son of Groa, but with all its weight to Hadding, the son of Alveig, and it is his bounden duty to Ring about Svipdag's death, since Svipdag had slain Halfdan. Connecting itself with Halfdan's robbery of Groa, the goddess of growth, the red thread of revenge for bloodshed extends throughout the great hero-saga of Teutonic mythology. Svipdag makes an effort to cut the thread. He offers Gudhorm and Hadding peace and friendship, and promises them kingship among the tribes subject to him. Groa's son, Gudhorm, accepts the offer, and Svipdag makes him ruler of the Danes; but Hadding Knds answer that he prefers to avenge his father's death to ac- cepting favours from an enemy (Saxo, Hid., 35, 36). Svipdag's offer of peace and reconciliation is in harmony, if not with his own nature, at least with that of his kinsmen, the reigning Vans. If the offer to Hadding had been accepted, we might have looked for peace in the world. Now the future is threatened with the devastations of war, and the bloody thread of revenge shall continue to be spun if Svipdag does not prevent it by overpowering Hadding. The myth may have contained much information * Filii Gram, Guthormus ct Hadingus, quorum alterwm Gro, alhrum Sign* . - pdagero Daniam <>i>tiuente,per educatorem suum Brack* naw > . Vagnophto ei Haphlio gigantibus w/h solum alendi, verum tbiam •'■ mdi traduntur (Saxo, Hist., 34). 176 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. about the efforts of the one camp to capture him and about con trivances of the other to frustrate these efforts. Saxo has preserved a partial record thereof. Among those who plot against Hadding is also Loke (Lokerus — Saxo, Hist., 40, 41),* the banished ally of Aur- boda. His purpose is doubtless to get into the favour of the reigning Vans. Hadding is no longer safe in Vagnhofde's mountain home. The lad is exposed to Loke's snares. From one of these he is saved by the Asa-father himself. There came, says Saxo, on this occasion a rider to Hadding. He resembled a very aged man, one of whose eyes was lost (granclceviis quidam altero orbus ocido). He placed Hadding in front of himself on the horse, wrapped his mantle about him, and rode away. The lad became curious and wanted to see whither they were going. Through a hole in the mantle he got an oppor- tunity of looking down, and found to his astonishment and fright that land and sea were far below the hoofs of the steed. The rider must have noticed his fright, for he forbade him to look out any more. The rider, the one-eyed old man, is Odin, and the horse is Sleipner, rescued from the captured Asgard. The place to which the lad is carried by Odin is the place of refuge secured by the Asas during their exile i Manlicimum. In perfect harmony with the myths, Saxo refers Odin's exile to the time preceding Hadding's juvenile adventures, and makes Odin's return to power simul- taneous with Hadding's great victory over his enemies {Hist, 42- 44). Saxo has also found in his sources that sword-slain men, whom Odin chooses during " the first great war in the world," cannot come to Valhal. The reason for this is that Odin is not at that time the ruler there. They have dwelling-places and plains for their warlike amusements appointed in the lower world (Hist., 51). The regions which, according to Saxo, are the scenes of Hadding's juvenile adventures lie on the other side of the Baltic down toward the Black Sea. He is associated with " Curetians " and " Hellespontians," doubtless for the reason that the myth has referred those adventures to the far east. The one-eyed old man is endowed with wonderful powers. * The form Loki is also duplicated by the form Lokr. The latter is preserved in the sense of " effeminated man," found in myths concerning Loke. Compare the phrase " veykr Lokr " with " hinn veyki Loki ". TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 1 7 i Winn he landed with the lad a1 his home, he sang over him prophetic incantations to protect him {Hist., 40), and gave him a drink of the " most splendid sort," which produced in Hadding bnormous physical strength, and particularly made him able to free himself from bonds and chains. (Compare Havamal, str. 149, concerning Odin's freeing incantations by which " fetters spring from the feet and chains from the hands ".) A comparison with other passages, which I shall discuss later, shows that the potion of which the old man is lord contains something which is called I Leifner's flames," and that he who has been permitted to drink it, and over whom freeing incantations have simultaneously been sun-, is able with his warm breath to free himself from every fetter which has been put on his enchanted limbs (see Nos. 43, 9G, 103). The old man predicts that Hadding will soon have an oppor- tunity of testing the strength with which the drink and the magic songs have endowed him. And the prophecy is fulfilled. Hadding falls into the power of Loke. He chains him and threatens to expose him as food for a wild beast — in Saxo a lion, in the myth presumably some one of the wolf or serpent prodigies that are Loke's offspring. But when his guards are put to sleep by Odin's magic song, though Odin is far away, Hadding bursts his bonds, slays the beast, and eats, in obedience to Odin's instructions, its heart. (The saga of Sigurd Fafnersbane has copied this feature. Sigurd eats the heart of the dragon Fafner and gets wisdom thereby.) Thus Hadding has become a powerful hero, and his task to make war on Svipdag, to revenge on him his father's death, and to recover the share in the rulership of the Teutons which Halfdan had possessed, now lies before him as the goal he is to reach. Hadding leaves Vagnhofde's home. The latter's daughter, Hardgrep, who had fallen in love with the youth, accompanies him. When we next find Hadding he is at the head of an army. That this consisted of the tribes of Eastern Teutondom is confirmed by documents which I shall hereafter quote ; but it also follows from Saxo's narrative, although he has referred the war to (narrower limits than were given to it in the myth, since he, constructing a Danish history from mythic traditions, has his eves fixed chiefly on Denmark. Over the Scandian tribes and the 12 178 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. Danes rule, according to Saxo's own statement, Svipdag, and as his tributary king in Denmark his half-brother Gudhorm. Saxo also is aware that the Saxons, the Teutonic tribes of the German low- lands, on one occasion were the allies of Svipdag (Hist., 34). From these parts of Teutondom did not come Hadding's friends, but his enemies; and when we add that the first battle which Saxo mentions in this war was fought among the Curetians east of the Baltic, then it is clear that Saxo, too, like the other records to which I am coming later, has conceived the forces under Hadding's banner as having been gathered in the East. From this it is evident that the war is one between the tribes of North Teutondom, led by Svipdag and supported by the Vaus on the one side, and the tribes of East Teutondom, led by Hadding and supported by the Asas on the other. But the tribes of the western Teutonic con- tinent have also taken part in the first great war of mankind. Gudhorm, whom Saxo makes a tributary king in Yngve-Svipdag's most southern domain, Denmark, has in the mythic traditions had a much greater empire, and has ruled over the tribes of Western and Southern Teutondom, as shall be shown below. 39. The World War {continued). The Position of the Divine Clans to the Warriors. The circumstance that the different divine clans had their favourites in the different camps gives the war a peculiar character. The armies see before a battle supernatural forms contending with each other in the starlight, and recognise in them their divine friends and opponents (Hist., 48). The elements are conjured on one and the other side for the good or harm of the contending brother-tribes. When fog and pouring rain suddenly darken the sky and fall upon Hadding's forces from that side where the fylkings of the North are arrayed, then the one-eyed old man comes to their rescue and calls forth dark masses of clouds from the other side, which force back the rain-clouds and the fog (Hist., 53). In these cloud-masses we must recognise the presence of the thundering Thor, the son of the one-eyed old man. Giants also take part in the conflict. Vagnhofde and Hardgrep, TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 179 the latter in ;i man's attire, contend on the side of the foster-son and the beloved Hadding (Hist, 45, 38). From Icelandic records we learn that Halle and the giantesses Fenja and Menja fight under Gndhorm'a banners. In the Grottesong (14, 15) these maids sing: En vit sipa/i a Svi&iojm framvisar tvcer i folk stigum ; beiddum biornu, en brutum skioldu v mjii in igegnum graserl iat lit. Stcyptom stilli, studdum annan, veittum t/nftum Chdhormi US. That the giant Hafle fought on the side of Gudhorm is probable from the fact that he is his foster-father, and it is confirmed by the fact that Thor paraphrased (Grett., 30) is called fangvinr Hajia, " he who wrestled with Halie ". Since Thor and Hafle formerly were friends — else the former would not have trusted Gudhorm to the care of the latter — their appearance afterwards as foes can hardly be explained otherwise than by the war between Thor's protege Hadding and Hafle's foster-son Gudhorm. And as Had- ding's foster-father, the giant Vagnhofde, faithfully supports the young chief whose childhood he protected, then the myth could scarcely avoid giving a similar part to the giant Hafle, and thus make the foster-fathers, like the foster-sons, contend with each other. The heroic poems are fond of parallels of this kind. When Svipdag learns that Hadding lias suddenly mad..' his appearance in the East, and gathered its tribes around him for a war with Gndhorm, he descends from Asgard and reveals himself in the primeval Teutonic country on the Scandian peninsula, and requests its tribes to join the Danes and raise the banner of war against Halfdan's and Alveig's son, who, at the head of the eastern Teutons, is marching against their half-brother Gudhorm. The Wends of both parties among the gods, men and giants, hasten to attach themselves to the cause which they have espoused as their 180 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. own, and Vagnhofde among the rest abandons his rocky home to fight by the side of his foster-son and daughter. This mythic situation is described in a hitherto unexplained strophe in the Old English song concerning the names of the letters in the runic alphabet. In regard to the rune which answers to / there is added the following lines : Ing vds cerest mid Edstdcnum geseven secgum ocT he sicfefan edst ofer vceg gevdt. Veen ccfter ran ; pus Heardingas Jyone hale nemdon. " Yngve (luge) was first seen among the East-Danemen. Then he betook himself eastward over the sea. Vagn hastened to follow : Thus the Heardings called this hero." The Heardings are the Haddings — that is to say, Hadding him- self, the kinsmen and friends who embraced his cause, and the Teutonic tribes who recognised him as their chief. The Norse Haddingr is to the Anglo-Saxon H carding as the Norse hacldr to the Anglo-Saxon heard. Vigfusson, and before him J. Grimm, have already identified these forms. Ing is Yngve-Svipdag, who, when he left Asgard, " was first seen among the East-Danemen ". He calls Swedes and Danes to arms against Hadding's tribes. The Anglo-Saxon strophe confirms the fact that they dwell in the East, separated by a sea from the Scandian tribes. Ing, with his warriors, "betakes himself eastward over the sea" to attack them. Thus the armies of the Swedes and Danes go by sea to the seat of war. What the authorities of Tacitus heard among the continental Teutons about the mighty fleets of the Swedes may be founded on the heroic songs about the first great war not less than on fact. As the army which was to cross the Baltic must be regarded as immensely large, so the myth, too, has represented the ships of the Swedes as numerous, and in part as of immense size. A confused record from the songs about the expedition of Svipdag and his friends against the East Teutons, found in Icelandic tradition, occurs in Fornald., pp. 406-407, where a ship called Gnod, and capable of carrying 3000 men, is mentioned as belonging to a King Asmund- TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 181 Odin did not want this monstrous ship to reach its destination, but sank it, so it is said, in the Lessd seaway, with all its men and contents. The Asmund who is known in the heroic sagas of heathen times is a son of Svipdag and a king among the Sviones (Saxo, Hist., 44). According to Sazo, he has given brilliant proofs of his bravery in the war against Hadding, and fallen by the weapons of Vagnhofde and Hadding. That Odin in the Icelandic tradition appears as his enemy thus corresponds with the myth. The same Asmund may, as Gisle Brynjulfsson has assumed, be mi ant in Grimnersmal (40), where we learn that Odin, concealing himself under the name Jalk, once visited Asmund. The hero Vagn, whom " the Haddings so called," is Hadding's foster-father, Vagnhofde. As the word liofffi constitutes the second part of a mythic name, the compound form is a synonym of that name which forms the first part of the composition. Thus Svart- hof&i is identical with Svartr, Surtr. In Hyndluljod, 33, all the mythical sorcerers (seiffberendr) are said to be sprung from Svartlwf&i. In this connection we must first of all think of Fjalar, who is the greatest sorcerer in mythology. The story about Thor's, Thjalfe's, and Loke's visit to him is a chain of delusions of sight and hearing called forth by Fjalar, so that the Asa-god and his companions always mistake things for something else than they are. Fjalar is a son of Surtr (see No. 89). Thus the greatest agent of sorcery is descended from Surtr, Svartr, and, as Hyndluljod states that all magicians of mythology have come of some Svartlwf&i, Svartr and Svarthv/cTi must be identical. And so it is with Vagn and Vagnhqfdi ; they are different names for the same person. When the Anglo-Saxon rune-strophe says that Vang "made haste to follow" altering had gone across the sea, then this is to be compared with Saxo's statement {Hid., 45), where it is said that Hadding in a battle was in greatest peril of losing his life, but was saved by the sudden and miraculous lauding of Vagnhofde, who came to the battle-field and placed himself at his side. The Bcandian fvlkings advanced against Hadding's; and Svipdag's son Asmund, who fought at the head of his men, forced his way forward against Hadding himself, with his shield thrown on his hack, and with both his hands on the hilt of a sword which felled all before it. Then Hadding invoked the gods who were the friends of himself and his race (Eadingo famUiarium sill nvmiwum prcesidia 182 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. postulante subito Vagnophtus partibus ejus propugnaturus advehitur), and then Vagnhofde is brought {advehitur) by some one of these gods to the battle-field and suddenly stands by Hadding's side, swinging a crooked sword * against Asmund, while Hadding hurls his spear against him. This statement in Saxo corresponds with and explains the old English strophe's reference to a quick journey which Vagn made to help Heardingas against Ing, and it is also illustrated by a passage in Grimnismal, 49, which, in connection with Odin's appearance at Asmund's, tells that he once by the name Kjalar " drew Kjalki " (inic lieto Jalc at Asmundar, enn J?a Kialar, cr ec Kialka dro). The word and name Kjdlki, as also Sle&i, is used as a paraphrase of the word and name VctgnA Thus Odin has once "drawn Vagn" (waggon). The meaning of this is clear from what is stated above. Hadding calls on Odin, who is the friend of him and of his cause, and Odin, who on a former occasion has carried Hadding on Sleipner's back through the air, now brings, in the same or a similar manner, Vagnhofde to the battle-field, and places him near his foster-son. This episode is also interesting from the fact that we can draw from it the conclusion that the skalds who celebrated the first great war in their songs made the gods influence the fate of the battle, not directly but indirectly. Odin might himself have saved his favourite, and he might have slain Svipdag's son Asmund with his spear Gungner ; but he does not do so ; instead, he brings Vagnhofde to protect him. This is well calculated from an epic standpoint, while dii ex machina, when they appear in person on the battle-field with their super- human strength, diminish the effect of the deeds of mortal heroes, and deprive every distress in which they have taken part of its more earnest significance. Homer never violated this rule without injury to the honour either of his gods or of his heroes. * The crooked sword, as it appears from several passages in the sagas, has long been regarded by our heathen ancestors as a foreign form of weapon, used by the giants, but not by the gods or by the heroes of Midgard. t Compare Fornald., ii. 118, where the hero of the saga cries to Gusi, who comes running after him with " 2 hreina ok vagn " — Shrift ]>u af kjalka, Kyrr pit hreina, segejr sift fundi seg hvattu Jieitir ! TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 183 40. The Would Wab (continued). Hadding's Defeat. Loke in the Council and on the Battle-field. Heimdal the Pro- tectoi: of his Descendant Hadding. The first great conflict in which the warriors of North and West Teutondoin fight with the East Teutons ends with the com- plete victory of Groa's sons. Hadding's fylkings are so thoroughly beaten and defeated that he, after the end of the conflict, is nothing but a defenceless fugitive, wandering in deep forests with no other companion than Vagnhofde's daughter, who survived the battle and accompanies her beloved in his wanderings in the wildernesses. Saxo ascribes the victory won over Hadding to Loke. It follows of itself that, in a war whose deepest root must be sought in Loke's and Aurboda's intrigues, and in which the clans of gods on both sides take part, Loke should not be excluded by the skalds from influence upon the course of events. We have already seen that he sought to ruin Hadding while the latter was still a boy. He afterwards appears in various guises as evil counsellor, as an evil intriguer, and as a skilful arranger of the fylkings on the field of battle. His purpose is to frustrate every effort to bring about reconciliation, and by means of persuasion and falsehoods to increase the chances of enmity between Halfdan's descendants, in order that they may mutually destroy each other (see below). His activity among the heroes is the counterpart of his activity among the gods. The merry, sly, cynical, blameworthy, and profoundly evil Mefisto of the Teutonic mythology is bound to bring about the ruin of the Teutonic people like that of the gods of the Teutons. In the later Icelandic traditions he reveals himself as the evil counsellor of princes in the forms of Blind ille, Blind bolvise (in Saxo Bolvisus), 2ft7.-7.-j ; in the German and Old English traditions as Sibich, Sifeoa, Sifka. BikM is a name-form borrowed from Germany. The original Norse Loke-epithet is Belli, which means "the foe," "the opponent". A closer examination shows that everywhere where this counsellor appears his enterprises have originally been connected with persons who belong to Borgar'a race. He has wormed himself into the favour of both the con- tending parties — as Blind ille with King Hadding — whereof 184 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. Hromund Greipson's saga has preserved a distorted record — as Bikke, Sibeke, with King Gudhorm (whose identity with Jormunrek shall be established below). As Blind bolvise he lies in waiting for and seeks to capture the young " Helge Hundingsbane," that is to say, Halfdan, Hadding's father (Helge Huncl, ii.). Under his own name, Loke, he lies in waiting for and seeks to capture the young Hadding, Halfdan's son. As a cunning general and cowardly warrior he appears in the German saga-traditions, and there is every reason to assume that it is his activity in the first great war as the planner of Gudhorm 's battle-line that in the Norse heathen records secured Loke the epithets sagna hrcerir and sagna svvptir, the leader of the warriors forward and the leader of the warriors back — epithets which otherwise would be both unfounded and in- comprehensible, but they are found both in Thjodolfs poem Haustlaung, and in Eilif Gudrunson's Thorsdrapa. It is also a noticeable fact that while Loke in the first great battle which ends with Hadding's defeat determines the array of the victorious army — for only on this basis can the victory be attributed to him by Saxo — it is in the other great battle in which Hadding is victorious that Odin himself determines how the forces of his protege are to be ar- ranged, namely, in that wedge-form which after that time and for many centuries following was the sacred and strictly preserved rule for the battle-array of Teutonic forces. Thus the ancient Teutonic saga has mentioned and compared with one another two different kinds of battle-arrays — the one invented by Loke and the other invented by Odin. During his wanderings in the forests of the East Hadding has had wonderful adventures and passed through great trials. Saxo tells one of these adventures. He and Hardgrep, Vagnhofde's daughter, came late one evening to a dwelling where they got lodgings for the night. The husband was dead, but not vet buried. For the purpose of learning Hadding's destiny, Hardgrep engraved speech-runes (see No. 70) on a piece of wood, and asked Hadding to place it under the tongue of the dead one. The latter would in this wise recover the power of speech and prophecy. So it came to pass. But what the dead one sang in an awe-inspiring voice was a curse on Hardgrep, who had compelled him to return from life in the lower world to life on earth, and a prediction that an avenging Niflheim demon would inflict punishment on her for what she had TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 185 done. A following night, when Eadding and Hardgrep had sought shelter in a bower of twigs and 1 (ranches which they had gathered, there appeared a gigantic hand groping under the ceiling of the bower. The frightened Hadding waked Hardgrep. She then rose in all ber giant strength, seized the mysterious hand, and hade Hadding cut it oil' with his sword. He attempted to do this, but from the wounds he inflicted on the ghost's hand there issued matter or venom more than blood, and the hand seized Hardgrep with its iron claws and tore her into pieces (Saxo, Hist., 36 ff.). When Hadding in this manner had lost his companion, he considered himself abandoned by everybody ; but the one-eyed old man had not forgotten his favourite. He sent him a faithful helper, by name JJscrus (Saxo, Hist., 40). Who was Liserus in our my- thology ? First, as to the name itself : in the very nature of the case it nni-t be the Latinising of some one of the mythological names or fepithets that Saxo found in the Norse records. But as no such root as lis or lis is to be found in the old Norse language, and as Saxo interchanges the vowels i and y* we must regard Liscnis as a Latinising of Id/sir, "the shining one," "the one giving light," I the bright one ". When Odin sent a helper thus described to Hadding, it must have been a person belonging to Odin's circle and subject to him. Such a person and described by a similar epithet is hinn hviti dss, hvttastr dsa (Heimdal). In Saxo's account, this shining messenger is particularly to oppose Loke (Hist, 40). And in the myth it is the keen-sighted and faithful Heimdal who always appears as the opposite of the cunning and faithless Loke. Loke has to contend with Heimdal when the former tries to get possession of Brisingamen, and in lfagnarok the two opponents kill each other. fiadding's shining protector thus has the same part to act in the heroic saga as the whitest of the Asas in the mythology. If we now add that Heimdal is Hadding's progenitor, and on account of blood kinship owes him special proteetion in a war in which all the gods have taken part either for or against Halfdan's and Alveig's son, then we are forced by every consideration to regard Libras and Heimdal as identical (see further, No. 82). * Compare the double forms Trigo, Thrygir ; I earn.*, Yvartu; Sibbo, Sybbo ; Siritha, Syritha ; Swardw, Syvardua j Hibcrwio, Hybemia; laora, Ysora. 186 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 41. The World War {continued). Hadding's Journey to the East. Reconciliation between the Asas and Vans. " The Hun War." Hadding Returns and Conquers. Reconciliation between groa's descendants and alveig's. lore's punish- MENT. Some time later there has been a change in Hadding's affairs. He is no longer the exile wandering about in the forests, but appears once more at the head of warlike hosts. But although he accomplishes various exploits, it still appears from Saxo's narrative that it takes a long time before he becomes strong enough to meet his enemies in a decisive battle with hope of success. In the meanwhile he has succeeded in accomplishing the revenge of his father and slaying Svipdag (Saxo, Hist., 42) — this under circum- stances which I shall explain below (No. 106). The proof that the hero-saga has left a long space of time between the great battle lost by Hadding and that in which he wins a decided victory is that he, before this conflict is fought out, has slain a young grand- son (son's son) of Svipdag, that is, a son of Asmund, who was Svipdag's son (Saxo, Hist., 46). Hadding was a mere boy whei Svipdag first tried to capture him. He is a man of years when he, through decided successes on the battle-field, acquires and secures control of a great part of the domain over which his father, the Teutonic patriarch, reigned. Hence he must have spent consider- able time in the place of refuge which Odin opened for him, and under the protection of that subject of Odin, called by Saxo Liserus. In the time intervening important events have taken place in the world of the gods. The two clans of gods, the Asas and Vans, have become reconciled. Odin's exile lasted, according to Saxo, only ten years, and there is no reason for doubting the mythical correctness of this statement. The reconciliation must have been demanded by the dangers which their enmity caused to the ad- ministration of the world. The giants, whose purpose it is to destroy the world of man, became once more dangerous to the earth on account of the war among the gods. During this time they made a desperate effort to conquer Asgard occupied by the Vans. The memory of this expedition was preserved during the Christian TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 1ST centuries in the traditions concerning the great Hun war. Saxo //■ '., 231 ff.) refers this to Frotho Ill.'s reign. What he relates about this Frotho, son of Fridlevus (Njord), is for the greatest part a historicised version of the myth about the Vana-god Prey (see No. 102) ; and every doubt that his account of the war of the "Huns" against Frotho has its foundation in mythology, and belongs to the chain of events here discussed, vanishes when we learn that the attack of the Huns against Frotho-Frey's power happened at a time when an old prophet, by name Uggerus, " whose age was unknown, ibut exceeded every measure of human life," lived in exile, and [belonged to the number of Frotho's enemies. Uggerus is a Latinised • form of Odin's name Yggr, and is the same mythic character as Saxo •before introduced on the scene as "the old one-eyed man," Had- I ding's protector. Although he had been Frotho's enemy, the aged . Tggr conies to him and informs him what the " Huns" are plotting, land thus Frotho is enabled to resist their assault.* When Odin, out of consideration for the common welfare of man- kind and the gods, lenders the Vans, who had banished him, this services, and as the latter are in the greatest need of the assistance lof the mighty Asa-father and his powerful sons in the conflict with the giant world, then these facts explain sufficiently the reconcilia- tion between the Asas and the Vans. This reconciliation was also in order on account of the bonds of kinship between them. The chief hero of the Asas, Thor, was the stepfather of Ull, the chief warrior of the Vans (Younger Edda, i. 252). The record of a friendly settlement between Thor and Ull is preserved in a para- phrase, by which Thor is described in Thorsdrapa as " gulli Uttar," tie who with persuasive words makes I'll friendly. Odin was in- cited to occupy again the high-seat in Asgard, with all the preroga- ives of a paterfamilias and ruler (Saxo, Hist., 44). But the dispute which caused tin- conflict between him and the Vans was at the iame time manifestly settled to the advantage of the Vans. They lo not assume in common the responsibility for the murder of S-ulveig Angerboda. She is banished to the Ironwood, but remains here unharmed until Kagnarok, and when the destruction of the viuld approaches, then Njord shall leave the A>as threatened with • Deseruii 'inn (Hun) guogus Uggerus votes, vir cetatis incognita et supra 'un terminum prolixa : qui Frothonem transfuga titulo petens quidguid ah Vunis parabatur edocuii (Hist, :>38). 188 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. the ruin they have themselves caused and return to the "wise Vans" (i aldar rmic hann mun aptr coma Jieim mecFvisom vaunom — Vafthr., 39). The " Hun war" has supplied the answer to a question, which those believing in the myths naturally would ask themselves. That question was : How did it happen that Midgard was not in historical times exposed to such attacks from the dwellers in Jotun- heim as occurred in antiquity, and at that time threatened Asgard itself with destruction ? The " Hun war " was in the myth characterised by the countless lives lost by the enemy. This we learn from Saxo. The sea, he says, was so filled with the bodies of the slain that boats could hardly be rowed through the waves. In the rivers their bodies formed bridges, and on land a person could make a three days' journey on horseback without seeing anything but dead bodies of the slain (Hist., 234, 240). And so the answer to the question was, that the " Hun war " of antiquity had so weakened the giants in number and strength that they could not become so dangerous as they had been to Asgard and Midgard for- merly, that is, before the time immediately preceding Ragnarok, when a new fimbul-winter is to set in, and when the giant world shall rise again in all its ancient might. From the time of the " Hun war I and until then, Thor's hammer is able to keep the growth of the giants' race within certain limits, wherefore Thor in Harbardsljod explains his attack on giants and giantesses with micil mundi ctt iotna, ef allir lif&i, vetr mundi manna un&ir Mipcjarpi. Hadding's rising star of success must be put in connection with the reconciliation between the Asas and Vans. The reconciled gods must lay aside that seed of new feuds between them which is contained in the war between Hadding, the favourite of the Asas, and Gudhorm, the favourite of the Vans. The great defeat once suffered by Hadding must be balanced by a corresponding victory, and then the contending kinsmen must be reconciled. And this happens. Hadding wins a great battle and enters upon a secure reign in his part of Teutondom. Then are tied new bonds of kinship and friendship between the hostile races, so that the Teutonic dynasties of chiefs may trace their descent both from Yngve (Svip- dag) and from Borgar's son Halfdan. Hadding and a surviving grandson of Svipdag are united in so tender a devotion to one another that the latter, upon an unfounded report of the former's TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 189 death, is unable to survive him and takes his own life. And when Hadding learns this, he does not cure to live any longer either, but meets death voluntarily (Saxo, Hist., 59, 60). After the reconciliation between the Asas and Vans they succeed in capturing Loke. Saxo relates this in connection with Odin's return from Asgard, and here calls Loke Mitothin. In regard to this name, we may, without entering upon ditlicult con- jectures concerning the first part of the word, be sure that it, too, is taken by Saxo from the heathen records in which he has found his account of the first great war, and that it, in accordance with the rule for forming such epithets, must refer to a mythic person who has had a certain relation with Odin, and at the same time been his antithesis. According to Saxo, Mitothin is a thoroughly evil being, who, like Aurboda, strove to disseminate the practice of witchcraft in the world and to displace Odin. He was compelled to take flight and to conceal himself from the gods. He is captured and slain, but from his dead body arises a pest, so that he does no j less harm after than before his death. It therefore became necessary I to open his grave, cut his head off, and pierce his breast with a sharp stick (Hist., 43). These statements in regard to Mitothin' s death seem at first glance not to correspond very well with the mythic accounts of Loke's exit, and thus give room for doubt as to his identity with the latter. It is also clear that Saxo's uarrative has been in- fluenced by the medieval stories about vampires and evil ghosts, and about the manner of preventing these from doing harm to the (living. Nevertheless, all that he here tells, the beheading included, lis founded on the mythic accounts of Loke. The place where Loke is fettered is situated in the extreme part of the hell of the wicked dead (see No. 78). The fact that he is relegated to the realm of the dead, and is there chained in a subterranean cavern until Ragnarok, win n all the dead in the lower world shall return, has been a saiii- jcient reason for Saxo to represent him as dead and buried. That pe after death causes a pest corresponds with Saxo's account of lUgarthilocus, who has his prison in a cave under a rock situated in la sea, over which darkness broods for ever (the island Lyngm in Amsvartner's sea, where Loke's prison is — see No. 78). Tin- hardy sea-captain, Thorkil, seeks and finds him in his cave of torture, pulls a hair from the beard on his chin, and brings it with him to 190 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. Denmark. When this hair afterwards is exposed and exhibited, the awful exhalation from it causes the death of several persons standing near (Hist., 432, 433). When a hair from the beard of the tortured Loke (" a hair from the evil one ") could produce this effect, then his whole body removed to the kingdom of death must work even greater mischief, until measures were taken to prevent it. In this connection it is to be remembered that Loke, according to the Icelandic records, is the father of the feminine demon of epidemics and diseases, of her who rules in Niflheim, the home of the spirits of disease (see No. 60), and that it is Loke's daughter who rides the three-footed steed, which appears when an epidemic breaks out (see No. 67). Thus Loke is, according to the Icelandic mythic fragments, the cause of epidemics. Lakasenna also states that he lies with a pierced body, although the weapon there is a sword, or possibly a spear (pic a hiorvi scola binda goff— Lakas., 49). That Mitothin takes flight and conceals himself from the gods corresponds with the myth about Loke. But that which finally and conclusively con- firms the identity of Loke and Mitothin is that the latter, though a thoroughly evil being and hostile to the gods, is said to have risen through the enjoyment of divine favour (ccelcsti beneficio vegetatus). Among male beings of his character this applies to Loke alone. In regard to the statement that Loke after his removal to the kingdom of death had his head separated from his body, Saxo here relates, though in his own peculiar manner, what the myth contained about Loke's ruin, which was a logical consequence of his acts and happened long after his removal to the realm of death. Loke is slain in Eagnarok, to which he, freed from his cave of torture in the kingdom of death, proceeds at the head of the hosts of "the sons of destruction ". In the midst of the conflict lie seeks or is sought by his constant foe, Heimdal. The shining god, the protector of Asgard, the original patriarch and benefactor of man, contends here for the last time with the Satan of the Teutonic mythology, and Heimdal and Loke mutually slay each other (Lohi d orustu viff Heimclall, oh verffr hvdrr annars bani — Younger Edda, 192). In this duel we learn that Heimdal, who fells his foe, was himself pierced or " struck through " to death by a head (svd er sagt, at hann var lostinn maims hofffi i gognum — Younger Edda, 264 ; hann var lostinn i hcl mcff maims hofffi — Younger Edda, 100, ed. Ees). When Heimdal and Loke mutually TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 191 cause each other's death, this must mean that Loke's head is that with which lleimdal is pierced after the latter has cut it off with his sword and become the banc (death) of his foe. Light is thrown on this episode by what Saxo tells about Loke's head. "While tin- demon in chains awaits Ragnarok, his hair and beard grow in such a manner that " they in size and stillness resemble horn-spears" (Ugarthilocus . . . cujus olerUes pill fy'.i u fr& honum heyr&i ver sagt a voru landi," — and asked him if he knew where it was situated. The king believed that Odainsakei was identical with Paradise, and said it lies in the East beyond the farthest boundaries of India, but that no one was able to get there because it was enclosed by a fire-wall, which aspires to heaven itself. Still Erik was bound by his vow, and with his Danish namesake he set out on his journey, after the king had instructed them as well as he was able in regard to the way, and had given them a letter of recommendation to the authorities and princes through whose territories they had to pass. They travelled through Syria and the immense and wonderful India, and came to a dark country where the stars are seen all day long. After having traversed its deep forests, they saw when it began to grow light a river, over which there was a vaulted stone bridge. On the other side of the river there was a plain, from which came sweet fragrance. Erik conjectured that the river was the one called by the king in Miklagard Pison, and which rises in Paradise. On the stone bridge lay a dragon with wide open mouth. The Danish prince advised that they return, for he considered it impossible to conquer the dragon or to pass it. But the Norwegian Erik seized one of his men by one hand, and rushed with his sword in the other against the dragon. They were seen to vanish between the jaws of the monster. With the other companions the Danish prince then returned by the same route as he had come, and after many years he got back to his native land. When Erik and his fellow-countryman had been swallowed by the dragon, they thought themselves enveloped in smoke ; but it was scattered, and they were unharmed, and saw before them the great plain lit up by the sun and covered with flowers. There flowed rivers of honey, the air was still, but just above the ground were felt breezes that conveyed the fragrance of the flowers. It is never dark in this country, and objects cast no shadow. Both the adventurers went far into the country in order to find, if possible, inhabited parts. But the country seemed to be uninhabited. Still they discovered a tower in the distance. They continued to travel in that direction, and on coming nearer they found thai the tower was suspended in the air, without foundation or pillars, A ladder led up to it. Within the tower there was a room, carpeted with velvet, and there stood a beautiful table with delicious food in 14 210 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. silver dishes, and wine in golden goblets. There were also splendid beds. Both the men were now convinced that they had come to Odainsaker, and they thanked God that they had reached their destination. They refreshed themselves and laid themselves to sleep. While Erik slept there came to him a beautiful lad, who called him by name, and said he was one of the angels who guarded the gates of Paradise, and also Erik's guardian angel, who had been at his side when he vowed to go in search of Odainsaker. He asked whether Erik wished to remain where he now was or to return home. Erik wished to return to report what he had seen. The angel informed him that Odainsaker, or jorcf lifanda manna, where he now was, was not the same place as Paradise, for to the latter only spirits could come, and the land of the spirits, Paradise, was so glorious that, in comparison, Odainsaker seemed like a desert. Still, these two regions are on each other's borders, and the river which Erik had seen has its source in Paradise. The angel per- mitted the two travellers to remain in Odainsaker for six days to rest themselves. Then they returned by way of Miklagard to Norway, and there Erik was called vi&-forli, the far-travelled. In regard to Erik's genealogy, the saga states (Fornald. Saga, iii. 519) that his father's name was Thrand, that his aunt (mother's sister) was a certain Svanhvit, and that he belonged to the race of Tlijasse's daughter Skade. Further on in the domain of the real myth, we shall discover an Erik who belongs to Thjasse's family, and whose mother is a swan-maid (goddess of growth). This latter Erik also succeeded in seeing Odainsaker (see Nos. 102, 103). 45. Middle Age Sagas {continued). Icelandic Sources in regard to Gudmund, King on the Glittering Plains. In the saga of Hervor, Odainsaker is mentioned, and there without any visible addition of Christian elements. Gudmund (Godmundr) was the name of a king in Jotunheim. His home was called Qrundy but the district in which it was situated was called the Glittering Plains (Glwsisvellir). He was wise and mighty, and in a heathen sense pious, and he and his men became so old that they lived many generations. Therefore, the story con- TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 211 fcinues, thf heathens believed that Odainsaker was situated in his country. "That place (Odainsaker) is for everyone who comes there so healthy that sickness and age depart, and no one ever dies there." According to the saga-author, Jotunheim is situated north from Halogaland, along the shores of Gandvik. The wise and mighty Gudmund died after he had lived half a thousand years. After his death the people worshipped him as a god, and offered sacri- fices to him. The same Gudmund is mentioned in Herrod's and Bose's saga as a ruler of the Glittering Plains, who was very skilful in the magic arts. The Glittering Plains are here said to be situated near Bjarmalaud, just as in Thorstein Biearmagn's saga, in which king Gudmund's kingdom, Glittering Plains, is a country tributary to Jotunheim, whose ruler is Geirrod. In the history of Olaf Trygveson, as it is given in Flatey- book, the following episode is incorporated. The Northman Helge Thoreson was sent on a commercial journey to the far North on the coast of Finmark, but he got lost in a great forest. There he met twelve red-clad young maidens on horseback, and the horses' trappings shone like gold. The chief one of the maidens was [ngeborg, the daughter of Gudmund on the Glittering Plains. The young maidens raised a splendid tent and set a table with dishes of silver and gold. Helge was invited to remain, and he stayed three days with Ingeborg. Then Gudmund's daughters got ready to leave ; but before they parted Helge received from Ingeborg two chests full of gold and silver. With these he returned to his father, but mentioned to nobody how he had obtained them. The Dext Yule night there came a great storm, during which two men carried Helge away, none knew whither. His sorrowing father reported this to Olaf Trygveson. The year passed. Then it happened at Yule that Helge came in to the king in the hall, ami with him two strangers, who handed Olaf two gold-plated horns. They said they were gifts from Gudmund on the Glittering Plains. ( Haf Idled the horns with good drink and handed them to the messengers. Mean- While he had commanded the bishop who was present to bless the drink. The result was that the heathen beings, who were Gud- mund's messengers, cast the horns away, ami at the same time there was ureat noise and confusion in the hall. The lire was 212 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. extinguished, and Gudmund's men disappeared with Helge, after having slain three of King Olaf s men. Another year passed. Then there came to the king two men, who brought Helge with them, and disappeared again. Helge was at that time blind. The king asked him many questions, and Helge explained that he had spent most happy days at Gudmund's ; but King Olaf 's prayers had at length made it difficult for Gudmund and his daughter to retain him, and before his departure Ingeborg picked his eyes out, in order that Norway's daughters should not fall in love with them. With his gifts Gudmund had intended to deceive King Olaf ; but upon the whole Helge had nothing but good to report about this heathen. 46. Middle Age Sagas (continued). Saxo concerning this same Gudmund, Pojler of the Lower World. Saxo, the Danish historian, also knows Gudmund. He relates (Hist. Dan., viii.) that King Gorm had resolved to find a mysterious country in regard to which there were many reports in the North. Incredible treasures were preserved in that land. A certain Geru- thus, known in the traditions, dwelt there, but the way thither was full of dangers and well-nigh inaccessible for mortals. They who had any knowledge of the situation of the land insisted that it was necessary to sail across the ocean surrounding the earth, leave sun and stars behind, and make a journey sub Chao, before reaching the land which is deprived of the light of day, and over whose mountains and valleys darkness broods. First there was a perilous voyage to be made, and then a journey in the lower world. With the experienced sailor Thorkillus as his guide, King Gorm left Den- mark with three ships and a numerous company, sailed past Halo- galand, and came, after strange adventures on his way, to Bjarmaland, situated beyond the known land of the same name, and anchored near its coast. In this Bjarmia ulterior it is always cold ; to its snow-clad fields there comes no summer warmth, through its deep wild forests flow rapid foaming rivers which well forth from the rocky recesses, and the woods are full of wild beasts, the like of which are unknown elsewhere. The inhabitants are monsters with whom it is dangerous for strangers to enter into conversation, for TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 213 from unconsidered words they get power to do harm. Therefore Thorkillus was to do the talking alone for all his companions. The place for anchoring he had chosen in such a manner that they thence had the shortest journey to Geruthus. In the evening twilight the travellers saw a man of unusual size coming to meet them, and to their joy he greeted them by name. Thorkillus informed them that they should regard the coming of this man as a good omen, for he was the brother of Geruthus, Guthmundus, a friendly person and the most faithful protector in peril. When Thorkillus had explained the perpetual silence of his companions by saying that they were too bashful to enter into conversation with one whose language they did not understand, Guthmundus invited them to be his guests and led them by paths down along a river. Then they came to a place where a golden bridge was built across the river. The Danes felt a desire to cross the bridge and visit the land on the other side, but Guthmundus warned them that nature with the bed of this stream has drawn a line between the human and superhuman and mysterious, and that the ground on the other side was by a sacred order proclaimed unlawful for the feet of mortals.* They therefore continued the march on that side of the river on which they had hitherto gone, and so came to the mysterious dwelling of Guthmundus, where a feast was spread before them, at which twelve of his sons, all of noble appearance, and as many daughters, most fair of face, waited upon them. But the feast was a peculiar one. The Danes heeded the advice of Thorkillus not to come into too close contact with their strange table-companions or the servants, and instead of tasting the courses presented of food and drink, they ate and drank of the provisions they had taken with them from home. This they did because Thorkillus knew that mortals who accept the courtesies here offered them lose all memory of the past and remain forever among " these non-human and dismal beings". Danger threatened even those who were weak in reference to the enticing loveliness of the daughters of Guthmundus. He offered King Gorm a daughter in marriage. Gorm himself was prudent enough to decline the honour; but four of his men could not resist the temptation, and had to pay the penalty with the loss of their memory and with enfeebled minds. * Cujus tranfieundi cupidos revocavit, docens, eo alveo humana a mon- strode rerun secrevissu natoram, nee mortalibua ultra fas esse vest 214 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. One more trial awaited them. Guthnmndus mentioned to the king that he had a villa, and invited Gorm to accompany him thither and taste of the delicious fruits. Thorkillus, who had a talent for inventing excuses, now found one for the king's lips. The host, though displeased with the reserve of the guests, still continued to show them friendliness, and when they expressed their desire to see the domain of Geruthus, he accompanied them all to the river, conducted them across it, and promised to wait there until they returned. The land which they now entered was the home of terrors. They had not gone very far before they discovered before them a city, which seemed to be built of dark mists. Human heads were raised on stakes which surrounded the bulwarks of the city. Wild dogs, whose rage Thorkillus, however, knew how to calm, kept watch outside of the gates. The gates were located high up in the bulwark, and it was necessary to climb up on ladders in order to get to them. Within the city was a crowd of beings horrible to look at and to hear, and filth and rottenness and a terrible stench were everywhere. Further in was a sort of mountain-fastness. When they had reached its entrance the travellers were overpowered by its awful aspect, but Thorkillus inspired them with courage. At the same time he warned them most strictly not to touch any of the treasures that might entice their eyes. All that sight and soul can conceive as terrible and loathsome wTas gathered within this rocky citadel. The door-frames were covered with the soot of centuries, the walls were draped with filth, the roofs were composed of sharp stings, the floors were made of serpents encased in foul- ness. At the thresholds crowds of monsters acted as doorkeepers and were very noisy. On iron benches, surrounded by a hurdle- work of lead, there lay giant monsters which looked like lifeless images. Higher up in a rocky niche sat the aged Geruthus, with his body pierced and nailed to the rock, and there lay also three women with their backs broken. Thorkillus explained that it was this Geruthus whom the god Thor had pierced with a red-hot iron ; the women had also received their punishment from the same god. When the travellers left these places of punishment they came to a place where they saw cisterns of mead (dolia) in great num- bers. These were plated with seven sheets of gold, and above them hung objects of silver, round as to form, from which shot numerous TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 215 braids down into the cisterns. Near by was found a gold-plated tooth of some strange animal, and near it, again, there lay an immense horn decorated with pictures and flashing with precious stones, and also an arm-ring of great size. Despite the warnings, three of Gorni's men laid greedy hands on these works of art. But the greed got its reward. The arm-ring changed into a veno- mous serpent; the horn into a dragon, which killed their robbers; the tooth became a sword, which pierced the heart of him who bore it. The others who witnessed the fate of their comrades expected that they too, although innocent, should meet with some misfortune. But their anxiety seemed unfounded, and when they looked about them again they found the entrance to another treasury, which contained a wealth of immense weapons, among which was kept a royal mantle, together with a splendid head-gear and a belt, the finest work of art. Thorkillus himself could not govern his greed when he saw these robes. He took hold of the mantle, and thus gave the signal to the others to plunder. But then the building shook in its foundations; the voices of shrieking women were heard, who asked if these robbers were longer to be tolerated; beings which hitherto had been lying as if half-dead or lifeless started up and joined other spectres who attacked the Danes. The latter would all have lost their lives had not their retreat been covered by two excellent archers whom Gorm had with him. But of the men, nearly three hundred in number, with whom the king had ventured into this part of the lower world, there remained only twenty when they finally reached the river, where Guthmundus, true to his promise, was waiting for them, and carried them in a boat to his own domain. Here he proposed to them that they should remain, but as he could not persuade them, he gave them presents and let them return to their ships in safety the same way as they had come. 47. Middle Age Sagas (continued). Fjallerus and Hading (Hadding) in the Lower World. Two other Danish princes have, according to Saxo, been per- mitted to see a subterranean world, or Odainsaker. Saxo calls the one Fjallerus, and makes him a sub-regent in Scania. The ques- 216 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. tion who this Fjallerus was in the mythology is discussed in another part of this work (see No. 92). According to Saxo he was banished from the realm by King Amlethus, the son of Horven- dillus, and so retired to Undensakre (Odainsaker), "a place which is unknown to our people " (Hist. Dan., iv.) The other of these two is King Hadingus (Hist. Dan., i.), the above-mentioned Hadding, son of Halfdan. One winter's day, while Hadding sat at the hearth, there rose out of the ground the form of a woman, who had her lap full of cowbanes, and showed them as if she was about to ask whether the king would like to see that part of the world where, in the midst of winter, so fresh flowers could bloom. Hadding desired this. Then she wrapped him in her mantle and carried him away down into the lower world. " The gods of the lower world," says Saxo, " must have determined that he should be transferred living to those places, which are not to be sought until after death." In the beginning the journey was through a territory wrapped in darkness, fogs, and mists. Then Hadding perceived that they proceeded along a path " which is daily trod by the feet of walkers ". The path led to a river, in whose rapids spears and other weapons were tossed about, and over which there was a bridge. Before reach- ing this river Hadding had seen from the path he travelled a region in which " a few " or " certain " (quidam), but very noble beings (proceres) were walking, dressed in beautiful frocks and purple mantles. Thence the woman brought him to a plain which glittered as in sunshine (loca aprica, translation of " The Glittering Plains "), and there grew the plants which she had shown him. This was one side of the river. On the other side there was bustle and activity. There Hadding saw two armies engaged in battle. They were, his fair guide explained to him, the souls of warriors who had fallen in battle, and now imitated the sword-games they had played on earth. Continuing their journey, they reached a place surrounded by a wall, which was difficult to pass through or to surmount Nor did the woman make any effort to enter there, either alone or with him: "It would not have been possible for the smallest or thinnest physical being ". They therefore returned the way they had come. But before this, and while they stood near the wall, the woman demonstrated to Hadding by an experi- ment that the walled place had a strange nature. She jerked the TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 217 head off a chicken which she had taken with her, and threw it over the wall, but the head came back to the neck of the chicken, and with a distinct crow it announced "that it had regained its life and breath ". 48. Middle Age Sagas (continued). A Frisian Saga in Adam of Bremen. The series of traditions above narrated in regard to Odainsaker, the Glittering Plains, and their ruler Gudmund, and also in regard to the neighbouring domains as habitations of the souls of the dead, extends, so far as the age of their recording in writing is con- cerned, through a period of considerable length. The latest cannot be referred to an earlier date than the fourteenth century ; the oldest were put in writing toward the close of the twelfth. Saxo began working on his history between the years 1179 and 1186. Thus these literary evidences span about two centuries, and stop near the threshold of heathendom. The generation to which Saxo's father belonged witnessed the crusade which Sigurd the Crusader made in Eastern Smaland, in whose forests the Asa-doctrine until that time seems to have prevailed, and the Odinic religion is believed to have flourished in the more remote parts of Sweden even in Saxo's own time. We must still add to this series of documents one which is to carry it back another century, and even more. This document is ;i saga told by Adam of Bremen in Dc Situ Danicc. Adam, or, perhaps, before him, his authority Adalbert (appointed archbishop in the year 1043), has turned the saga into history, and made it as credible as possible by excluding all distinctly mythical elements. And as it, doubtless for this reason, neither mentions a place which can be compared with Odainsaker or with the Glittering Plains, I have omitted it among the literary evidences above quoted. Never- theless, it reminds us in its main features of Saxo's account of Gorm's journey of discovery, and its relation both to it and to the still older myth shall be shown later (see No. 94). In the form in which Adam heard the Baga, its point of departure lias been located in Friesland, not in Denmark. Frisian noblemen make a voyage past Norway up to the farthest limit- of the 218 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. Artie Ocean, get into a darkness which the eyes scarcely can pene- trate, are exposed to a maelstrom which threatens to drag them down ad Chaos, but finally come quite unexpectedly out of darkness and cold to an island which, surrounded as by a wall of high rocks, contains subterranean caverns, wherein giants lie concealed. At the entrances of the underground dwellings lay a great number of tubs and vessels of gold and other metals which "to mortals seem rare and valuable". As much as the adventurers could carry of these treasures they took with them and hastened to their ships. But the giants, represented by great dogs, rushed after them. One of the Frisians was overtaken and torn into pieces before the eyes of the others. The others succeeded, thanks to our Lord and to Saint Willehad, in getting safely on board their ships. 49. Analysis of the Sagas mentioned in Nos. 44-48. If we consider the position of the authors or recorders of these sagas in relation to the views they present in regard to Odainsaker and the Glittering Plains, then we find that they themselves, with or without reason, believe that these views are from a heathen time and of heathen origin. The saga of Erik Vidforle states that its hero had in his own native land, and in his heathen environment, heard reports about Odainsaker. The Miklagard king who in- structs the prince in the doctrines of Christianity knows, on the other hand, nothing of such a country. He simply conjectures that the Odainsaker of the heathens must be the same as the Paradise of the Christians, and the saga later makes this conjecture turn out to be incorrect. The author of Hervor's saga mentions Odainsaker as a heathen belief, and tries to give reasons why it was believed in heathen times that Odainsaker was situated within the limits of Guclmund's kingdom, the Glittering Plains. The reason is: " Gudmund and his men became so old that they lived through several generations (Gudmund lived five hundred years), and therefore the heathens believed that Odainsaker was situated in his domain ". The man who compiled the legend about Helge Thoreson con- nects it with the history of King Olaf Trygveson, and pits this TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 219 first king of Norway, who laboured for the introduction of Chris- tianity, as a representative of the new and true doctrine againsl Kin;4 Gudmund of the Glittering Plains as the representative of tin- heathen doctrine. The author would nol have done this if he had not believed that the ruler of the Glittering Plains had his ancestors in heathendom. The saga of Thorstein Bsearmagn puts Gudmund and tin- Glittering Plains in a tributary relation to Jotunheim and to Geirrod, the giant, well known in the mythology. Saxo makes Gudmund Geirrod's (Geruthus') brother, and he believes he is discussing ancient traditions when he relates Gorm's journey of discovery and Hadding's journey to Jotunheim. Gorm's reign is referred by Saxo to the period immediately following the reign of the mythical King Sno (Snow) and the emigration of the Longo- bardians. Hadding's descent to the lower world occurred, accord- ing to Saxo, in an antiquity many centuries before King Snow. Hadding is, in Saxo, one of the first kings of Denmark, the grand- son of Skjold, progenitor of the Skjolduugs. The saga of Erik Vidforle makes the way to Odainsaker pass through Syria, India, and an unknown land which wants the light of the sun, and where the stars are visible all day long. On the other side of Odainsaker, and bordering on it, lies the land of the happy spirits, Paradise. That these last ideas have been influenced by Christianity would seem to be sufficiently clear. Nor do we find a trace of Syria, India, and Paradise as soon as we leave this saga and pass to the others, in the chain of which it forms one of the later links. All the rest agree in transferring to the uttermost North the land which must be reached before the journey can be continued to the Glittering Plains and Odainsaker. Hervor's saga says that the Glittering Plains and Odainsaker are situated north of Halogaland, in Jotunheim; Herrod's and Pose's saga states that they are situated in the vicinity of Bjarmaland. The saga of Thorstein Bsearmagn says that they are a kingdom subject to Geirrod in Jotunheim. Gorm's Baga in Saxo says it is necessary to sail past Halogaland north to a Bjarmia ulterior in order to get to the kingdoms of Gudmund and Geirrod. The saga of Helge Thoreson makes its hero meet the daughters of Gudmund, the ruler of the Glittering Plains, after b voyage to Finmarken. Hadding's Baga in Saxo make- the Danish 22U TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. king pay a visit to the unknown but wintry cold land of the " Xitherians," when he is invited to make a journey to the lower world. Thus the older and common view was that he who made the attempt to visit the Glittering Plains and Odainsaker must first penetrate the regions of the uttermost North, known only by hear- say. Those of the sagas which give us more definite local descriptions in addition to this geographical information all agree that the region which forms, as it were, a foreground to the Glittering Plains and Odainsaker is a land over which the darkness of night broods. As just indicated, Erik Vidforle's saga claims that the stars there are visible all day long. Gorrn's saga in Saxo makes the Danish adventurers leave sun and stars behind to continue the journey snh Chao. Darkness, fogs, and mists envelop Hadding before he gets sight of the splendidly-clad proceres who dwell down there, and the shining meadows whose flowers are never visited by winter. The Frisian saga in Adam of Bremen also speaks of a gloom which must be penetrated ere one reaches the land where rich giants dwell in subterranean caverns. Through this darkness one comes, according to the saga of Erik Vidforle, to a plain full of flowers, delicious fragrances, rivers of honey (a Biblical idea, but see Nos. 89, 123), and perpetual light. A river separates this plain from the land of the spirits. Through the same darkness, according to Gorm's saga, one comes to Gudmund's Glittering Plains, where there is a pleasure-farm bearing delicious fruits, while in that Bjarmaland whence the Glittering Plains can be reached reign eternal winter and cold. A river separates the Glittering Plains from two or more other domains, of which at least one is the home of departed souls. There is a bridge of gold across the river to another region, " which separates that which is mortal from the superhuman," and on whose soil a mortal being must not set his foot. Further on one can pass in a boat across the river to a land which is the place of punishment for the damned and a resort of ghosts. Through the same darkness one comes, according to Hadding's saga, to a subterranean land where flowers grow in spite of the winter which reigns on the surface of the earth. The land of flowers is separated from the Elysian fields of those fallen in battle by a river which hurls about in its eddies spears and other weapons. TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY1. 221 These statements from different sources agree with each other in their main features. They agree that the lower world is divided into two main parts by a river, and that departed souls are Pound only on the farther side of the river. The other main part on this side the river thus has another purpose than that of receiving the happy or damned souls of the dead. There dwells, according to Gorm's saga, the giant < rudmund, with his sons and daughters. There are also the I rlittering Plains, since these, according to Hervor's, Herrod's, Thorstein Bsearmagn's, and Helge Thomson's sagas, are ruled by Gudmund. Some of the accounts cited say that the Glittering Plains are situated in Jotunheim. This statement does not contradict the fact that they are situated in the lower world. The myths men- tion two Jotunheims, and hence the Eddas employ the plural form, Jotunheimar. One of the Jotunheims is located on the surface of the earth in the far North and East, separated from the Midgard inha- bited by man by the uttermost sea or the Elivogs (Gylfaginning, 8). The other Jotunheim is subterranean. According to Vafthrud- nismal (31), one of the roots of the world-tree extends down " to the frost-giants ". Urd and her sisters, who guard one of the fountains of Ygdrasil's roots, are giantesses. Mirner, who guards another fountain in the lower world, is called a giant. That part of the world which is inhabited by the goddesses of fate and by Mimer is thus inhabited by giants, and is a subterranean Jotun- heim. Both these Jotunheims are connected with each other. From the upper there is a path leading to the lower. Therefore those traditions recorded in a Christian age, which we are here discussing, have referred to the Arctic Ocean and the uttermost North as the route for those who have the desire and courage to visit the giants of the lower world. When it is said in Hadding's saga that he on the other side of the subterranean river saw the shades of heroes fallen by the sword arrayed in line of battle and contending with each other, then this is no contradiction of the myth, according to which the heroes chosen on the battle-field come to Asgard and play their warlike games on the plains of the world of the gods. In Yoluspa (str. 24) we read that when the first "folk "-war broke out in the world, the citadel of Odin and his clan was Btormed by the Vans, who broke through its bulwark and captured Af 222 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. Iii harmony with this, Saxo {Hist., i.) relates that at the time when Kino I {adding reigned Odin was banished from his power and lived for some time in exile (see Nos. 36-41). It is evident that no great battles can have been fought, and that there could not have been any great number of sword-fallen men, before the first great " folk "-war broke out in the world. Otherwise this war would not have been the first. Thus Valhal has not before this war had those hosts of einherjes who later are feasted in Valfather's hall. But as Odin, after the break- inc out of this war, is banished from Valhal and Asgard, and does not return before peace is made between the Asas and Vans, then none of the einherjes chosen by him could be received in Valhal during the war. Hence it follows that the heroes fallen in this war, though chosen by Odin, must have been referred to some other place than Asgard (excepting, of course, all those chosen by the Vans, in case they chose einherjes, which is pro- bable, for the reason that the Vanadis Freyja gets, after the recon- ciliation with Odin, the right to divide with him the choice of the slain). This other place can nowhere else be so appropriately looked for as in the lower world, which we know was destined to receive the souls of the dead. And as Hadding, who, according to Saxo, descended to the lower world, is, according to Saxo, the same Hadding during whose reign Odin was banished from Asgard, then it follows that the statement of the saga, making him see in the lower world those warlike games which else are practised on Asgard's plains, far from contradicting the myth, on the contrary is a consequence of the connection of the mythical events. The river which is mentioned in Erik Vidforle's, Gorm's, and Hadding's sagas has its prototype in the mythic records. When Hermod on Sleipner rides to the lower world (Gylfaginning, 10) he first journeys through a dark country (compare above) and then conies to the river Gjoll, over which there is the golden bridge called the Gjallar bridge. On the other side of Gjoll is the Hel- gate, which leads to the realm of the dead. In Gorm's saga the bridge across the river is also of gold, and it is forbidden mortals to cross to the other side. A subterranean river hurling weapons in its eddies is mentioned in Voluspa, 33. In Hadding's saga we also read of a weapon-hur- TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 223 ling river which forma the boundary of the Elyseuni of those slain by the sword. In Vegtamskvida is mentioned an underground dog, bloody about the breast, coining from Nifelhel, the proper place <>f punishment. In Gorm's saga the bulwark around the city of the damned is guarded by great dogs. The word "nit'el" (nifl, the German Xebcl), which forms one part of the word Nifelhel, means mist, fog. In Gorm's saga the city in question is most like a cloud of vapour {paporanti mcucime rvubi simile). Saxo's description of that house of torture, which is found within the city, is not unlike Voluspa's description of that dwelling of torture called Nastrand. In Saxo the floor of the house consists of serpents wattled together, and the roof of sharp stings. In Voluspa the hall is made of serpents braided together, whose heads from above spit venom down on those dwelling there. Saxo speaks of soot a century old on the door frames ; Voluspa of Ijdrar, air- and smoke-openings in the roof (see further Nos. 77 and 78). Saxo himself points out that the Geruthus (Geirrodr) mentioned by him, and his famous daughters, belong to the myth about the Asa-god Thor. That Geirrod after his death is transferred to the lower world is no contradiction to the heathen belief, according to which beautiful or terrible habitations await the dead, not only of men but also of other beings. Compare Gylfaginning, ch. 46, where Thor with one blow of his Mjolner sends a giant nidr undir Xijlkcl (see further, No. 60). As Mimer's and Urd's fountains are found in the lower world (see Nos. 63, 93), and as Mimer is mentioned as the guardian of Heimdal's horn and other treasures, it might be expected that these circumstances would not be forgotten in those stories from Chris- tian times which have been cited above and found to have roots in the myths. When in Saxo's saga about Gorm the Danish adventurers had left the horrible city of fog, they came to another place in the lower world where the gold-plated mead-cisterns were found. The Latin word used by Saxo, which I translate with cisterns of mead, is dolium. In the classical Latin this word is used in regard to wine-cisterns of so immense a size that they were counted among the immovables, and usually were sunk in the cellar floors. They were so large that a person could live in such a cistern, and this is '224 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. also reported as having happened. That the word dolium still in Saxo's time had a similar meaning appears from a letter quoted by Du Cange, written by Saxo's younger contemporary, Bishop Geb- hard. The size is therefore no obstacle to Saxo's using this word for a wine-cistern to mean the mead-wells in the lower world of Teutonic mythology. The question now is whether he actually did so, or whether the subterranean dolia in question are objects in regard to which our earliest mythic records have left us in ignor- ance. In Saxo's time, and earlier, the epithets by which the mead- wells — Urd's and Mimer's — and their contents are mentioned in mythological songs had come to be applied also to those mead- buckets which Odin is said to have emptied in the halls of the giant Fjalar or Suttung. This application also lay near at hand, since these wells and these vessels contained the same liquor, and since it originally, as appears from the meaning of the words, was the liquor, and not the place where the liquor was kept, to which the epithets Odrcerir, BoSn, and Son applied. In Havamal (107) Odin expresses his joy that O&rcerir has passed out of the possession of the giant Fjalar and can be of use to the beings of the upper world. But if we may trust Bragar. (ch. 5), it is the drink and not the empty vessels that Odin takes with him to Valhal. On this supposition, it is the drink and not one of the vessels which in Havamal is called OcTrcerir. In Havamal (140) Odin relates how he, through self-sacrifice and Buffering, succeeded in getting runic songs up from the deep, and also a drink dipped out of O&rcerir. He who gives him the songs and the drink, and accordingly is the ruler of the fountain of the drink, is a man, " Bolthorn's celebrated son ". Here again Odrserer is one of the subterranean fountains, and no doubt Mimer's, since the one who pours out the drink is a man. But in Forspjalsljod (2) Urd's fountain is also called Odraerer (O&hrcerir TJr&ar). Para- phrases for the liquor of poetry, such as " Bodn's growing billow " (Einar" Skalaglam) and " Son's reed-grown grass edge " (Eilif Gud- runson), point to fountains or wells, not to vessels. Meanwhile a satire was composed before the time of Saxo and Sturlason about Odin's adventure at Fjalar's, and the author of this song, the con- tents of which the Younger Edda has preserved, calls the vessels which Odin empties at the giant's Ocfhrccrir, Boftn, and S6n (Bro- garreSur, G). Saxo, who reveals a familiarity with the genuine TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 225 heathen, or supposed heathen, poems handed down to his time, may thus have seen the epithets Offrccrir, BoSn, and Sdn applied both to the subterranean mead-wells and to a giant's mead-vessels. The greater reason he would have for selecting the Latin dolivm to express an idea that can be accommodated to both these objects. Over these mead- reservoirs there hang, according to Saxo's description, round-shaped objects of silver, which in close braids drop down and are spread around the seven times gold-plated walls of the mead-cisterns.* Over Mimer's and TJrd'a fountains hang the roots of the ash Ygdrasil. which sends its root-knots and root-threads down into their waters. But not only the rootlets sunk in the water, but also the roots from which they are suspended, partake of the waters of the fountains. The norns take daily from the water and sprinkle the stem of the tree therewith, " and the water is so holy," says Gylfaginning (1G), "that everything that is put in the well (consequently, also, all that which the norns daily sprinkle with the water) becomes as white as the membrane between the egg ami the egg-shell". Also the root over Mimer's fountain is sprinkled with its water (Volusp., Cod. R, 28), and this water, so far as its colour is concerned, seems to be of the same kind as that in Urd's fountain, for the latter is called hvitr aim- (Volusp., 18) and the former runs in awrgvm forsi upon its root of the world-tree (Volusp., 28). The adjective aurigr, which describes a quality of tlie water in Mimer's fountain, is formed from the noun aurr, with which the liquid is described which waters the root over Urd's fountain. Ygdrasil's roots, as far up as the liquid of the wells can set to them, thus have a colour like that of " the membrane between the egg and the egg-shell," and consequently recall both as to posi- tion, form, and colour the round-shaped objects "of silver" which, according to Saxo, hang down and are intertwined in the mead- reservoirs of the lower world. Mimer's fountain contains, as we know, the purest mead — the liquid of inspiration, of poetry, of wisdom, of understanding. Near by Ygdrasil, according to Voluspa (27), Heimdal'a horn is concealed. The seeress in Voluspa knows that it is hid " beneath the hedge-o'ershadowing holy tree ". * Iiule di^rcssis clnli.i septem zonis aureis circumligata panduntur, quibue pensiles ex argento circuli crebros inaerueranl nexo& 15 226 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. Vcit lion Heimdallar hljocf v/m f digit undir heidvonvm lulgum baffmi. Near one of the mead-cisterns in the lower world Gorm's men see a horn ornamented with pictures and flashing with precious stones. Among the treasures taken care of by Mimer is the world's foremost sword and a wonderful arm-ring, smithied by the same master as made the sword (see Nos. 87, 98, 101). Near the gorgeous horn Gorm's men see a gold-plated tooth of an animal and an arm-ring. The animal tooth becomes a sword when it is taken into the hand* Near by is a treasury filled with a large number of weapons and a royal robe. Mimer is known in mythology as a collector of treasures. He is therefore called Hodd- mimir, Hoddropnir, Bmigi'cgin. Thus Gorm and his men have on their journeys in the lower world seen not only Nastrand's place of punishment in Nifelhel, but also the holy land, where Mimer reigns. When Gorm and his men desire to cross the golden bridge and see the wonders to which it leads, Gudmund prohibits it. When they in another place farther up desire to cross the river to see what there is beyond, he consents and has them taken over in a boat. He does not deem it proper to show them the unknown land at the golden bridge, but it is within the limits of his autho- rity to let them see the places of punishment and those regions which contain the mead-cisterns and the treasure chambers. The sagas call him the king on the Glittering Plains, and as the Glitter- ing Plains are situated in the lower world, he must be a lower world ruler. Two of the sagas, Helge Thoreson's and Gorm's, cast a shadow on Gudmund's character. In the former this shadow does not produce confusion or contradiction. The saga is a legend which represents Christianity, with Olaf Trygveson as its apostle, in conflict with heathenism, represented by Gudmund. It is there- fore natural that the latter cannot be presented in the most favour- * The word biti = a tooth (cp. bite) becomes in the composition leggbiti, the name of a sword. TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 227 able light. Olaf destroys with his prayers the happiness of Gud- mimd's daughter. He compels her to abandon her lover, ami Gudmnnd, who is unable to take revenge in any other manner, tries to do so, as is the case with so many of the characters in saga and history, by treachery. This is demanded by the fundamental idea and tendency of the legend. What the author of the legend has heard about Gudmund's character from older sagamen, or what he has read in records, he does not, however, conceal with silence, but admits that Gudmund, aside from his heathen religion and grudge toward Olaf Trygveson, was a man in whose home one might fare well and be happy. Saxo has preserved the shadow, but in his narrative it produces the greatest contradiction. Gudmund offers fruits, drinks, and embraces in order to induce his guests to remain with him for ever, and he does it in a tempting manner and, as it seems, with con- scious cunning. Nevertheless, he shows unlimited patience when the guests insult him by accepting nothing of what he offers. When he comes down to the sea-strand, where Gorm's ships are anchored, he is greeted by the leader of the discoverers with joy, because he is " the most pious being and man's protector in perils ". He conducts them in safety to his castle. When a handful of them returns after the attempt to plunder the treasury of the lower world, he considers the crime sufficiently punished by the loss of life they have suffered, and takes them across the river to his own safe home ; and when they, contrary to his wishes, desire to return to their native land, he loads them with gifts and sees to it that they get safely on board their ships. It follows that Saxo's sources have described Gudmund as a kind and benevolent person. Here, as in the legend about Helge Thoreson, the shadow has been thrown by younger hands upon an older background painted in bright colours. Hervor's saga says that he was wise, mighty, in a heathen sense pious ("a great sacrificer "), and so honoured that sacrifices were offered to him, and he was worshipped as a god after death. Herrod's saga says that he was greatly skilled in magic arts, which is another expression for heathen wisdom, for fimlml-songs, runes, and incantations. The change for the worse which Gudmund's character seems in part to have suffered is confirmed by a change conneeted with, and 228 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. running parallel to it, in the conception of the forces in those things which belonged to the lower world of the Teutonic heathen- dom and to Gudmund's domain. In Saxo we find an idea related to the antique Lethe myth, according to which the liquids and plants which belong to the lower world produce forgetfulness of the past. Therefore, Thorkil (Thorkillus) warns his companions not to eat or drink any of that which Gudmund offers them. In the Gudrun song (ii. 21, 22), and elsewhere, we meet with the same idea. I shall return to this subject (see No. 50). 50. Analysis of the Sagas mentioned in Nos. 44-48. The Ques- tion IN REGARD TO THE IDENTIFICATION OF ODAINSAKER. Is Gudmund an invention of Christian times, although he is placed in an environment which in general and in detail reflects the heathen mythology ? Or is there to be found in the mythology a person who has precisely the same environment and is endowed with the same attributes and qualities ? The latter form an exceedingly strange ensemble, and can there- fore easily be recognised. Euler in the lower world, and at the same time a giant. Pious and still a giant. King in a domain to which winter cannot penetrate. Within that domain an enclosed place, whose bulwark neither sickness, nor age, nor death can surmount. It is left to his power and pleasure to give admittance to the mys- terious meadows, where the mead-cisterns of the lower world are found, and where the most precious of all horns, a wonderful sword, and a splendid arm-ring are kept. Old as the hills, but yet subject to death. Honoured as if he were not a giant, but a divine being. These are the features which together characterise Gudmund, and should be found in his mythological prototype, if there is one. With these peculiar characteristics are united wisdom and wealth. The answer to the question whether a mythical original of this picture is to be discovered will be given below. But before that we must call attention to some points in the Christian accounts cited in regard to Odainsaker. Odainsaker is not made identical with the Glittering Plains, but is a separate place on them, or at all events within Gudmund's TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 229 domain. Thus according to Hervor's saga. The correctness of the statement is confirmed by comparison with Gorm's and Hadding's sagas. The former mentions, as will be remembered, a place which Gudmnnd does not consider himself authorised to show his guests, although they are permitted to see other mysterious places in the lower world, even the mead-fountains and treasure-chambers. To the unknown place, as to Balder's subterranean dwelling, leads a golden bridge, which doubtless is to indicate the splendour of the place. The subterranean goddess, who is Hadding's guide in Eades, slmws him both the Glittering Fields Qoca aprica) and the plains of the dead heroes, but stops with him near a wall, which is not opened for them. The domain surrounded by the wall receives nothing which has suffered death, and its very proximity seems to In- enough to keep death at bay (see No. 47). All the sagas are silent in regard to who those beings are for whom this wonderful enclosed place is intended. Its very name, Acre-of-the-not-dead (Odainsakr), and Thc-jicUJ-of-the-liclnij (Jord lifanda manna), however, makes it clear that it is not intended for the souls of the dead. This Erik Vidforle's saga is also able to Btate, inasmuch as it makes a definite distinction between Odains- ah r and the land of the spirits, between Odaiiisakr and Paradise. If human or other beings are found within the bulwark of the place, they must have come there as living beings in a physical sense ; and when once there, they are protected from perishing, for diseases, age, and death are excluded. Erik Vidforle and his companion find on their journey on Odainsaker only a single dwelling, a splendid one with two beds. Who the couple are who own this house, and seem to have placed it at the disposal of the travellers, is not stated. But in the night there came a beautiful lad to Erik. The author of the saga has made him an angel, who is on duty on the borders between Odainsaker and Paradise. The purpose of Odainsaker is not mentioned in Erik Vidforle's saga. There is no intelligible connection between it and the Chris- tian environment given to it by the saga. The ecclesiastical belief knows an earthly Paradise, that which existed in tin' beginning ami was the home of Adam and Eve, but that it is guarded by the angel with the flaming sword, or, as Erik's saga expresses it, it is encircled by a wall of fire. In the lower world the Christian 230 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. Church knows a Hades and a hell, but the path to them is through the gates of death; physically living persons, persons who have not paid tribute to death, are not found there. In the Christian group of ideas there is no place for Odainsaker. An underground place for physically living people, who are there no longer exposed to aging and death, has nothing to do in the economy of the Church. Was there occasion for it among the ideas of the heathen eschatology ? The above-quoted sagas say nothing about the purposes of Odainsaker. Here is therefore a question of im- portance to our subject, and one that demands an answer. 51. Gudmund's Identity with Mimer. I dare say the most characteristic figure of Teutonic mythology is Mimer, the lord of the fountain which bears his name. The liquid contained in the fountain is the object of Odin's deepest desire He has neither authority nor power over it. Nor does he or any- one else of the gods seek to get control of it by force. Instances are mentioned showing that Odin, to get a drink from it, must sub- ject himself to great sufferings and sacrifices (Voluspa, Cod. Iteg., 28, 29; Havamal, 138-140; Gylfag., 15), and it is as a gift or a loan that he afterwards receives from Mimer the invigorating and soul- inspiring drink (Havamal, 140, 141). Over the fountain and its territory Mimer, of course, exercises unlimited control, an authority which the gods never appear to have disputed. He has a sphere of power which the gods recognise as inviolable. The domain of his rule belongs to the lower world ; it is situated under one of the roots of the world-tree (Voluspa, 28, 29 ; Gylfag., 15), and when Odin, from the world-tree, asks for the precious mead of the foun- tain, he peers doivnward into the deep, and thence brings up the runes (nysta ec nipr, nam ec up rdnar — Havamal, 139). Saxo's account of the adventure of Hotherus {Hist., pp. 113-115, Miiller's ed.) shows that there was thought to be a descent to Mimer's land in the form of a mountain cave (sjjecus), and that this descent was, like the one to Gudmund's domain, to be found in the uttermost North, where terrible cold reigns. Though a giant, Mimer is the friend of the order of the world TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 231 and of the gods. He, like Urd, guards the sacred ash, the world- tree (Voluspa, 28), which accordingly also bears his name and is called Mimer's tree (Mimameidr — Fjolsvinsm, 20 j mciffr Mima — ■ Fjolsv., 24). The intercourse between the Asa-father and him has been of such a nature that the expression "Mimer's friend" (Mims- vinr— Sonatorrek, 22; Younger Edda, i. 238, 250, 602) could be used by the skalds as an epithet of Odin. Of this friendship Ynglingasaga (ch. 4) has preserved a record. It makes Mimer lose his life in his activity for the good of the gods, and makes Odin embalm his head, in order that he may always be able to get wise counsels from its lips. The song about Sigrdrifa (str. 14) represents Odin as listening to the words of truth which come from Mimer's head. Voluspa (str. 45) predicts that Odin, when Rag- narok approaches, shall converse with Mimer's head ; and, according t'> Gvlfaginning (56), he, immediately before the conflagration of the world, rides to Mimer's fountain to get advice from the deep thinker for himself and his friends. The firm friendship between Alfather and this strange giant of the lower world was formed in time's morning while Odin was still young and undeveloped (Haw, 141), and continued until the end of the gods and the world. Mimer is the collector of treasures. The same treasures as Gorm and his men found in the land which Gudmund let them visit are, according to mythology, in the care of Mimer. The won- derful horn (Voluspa, 28), the sword of victory, and the ring (Saxo, Hist., 113, 114; cp. Nos. 87, 97, 98, 101, 103). In all these points the Gudmund of the middle-age sagas and Mimer of the mythology are identical. There still remains an important point. In Gudmund's domain there is a splendid grove, an enclosed place, from which weaknesses, age, and death a re- banished— a Paradise of the peculiar kind, that it is not intended for the souls of the dead, but for certain lifandi menu, yet inac- cessible to people in general. In the myth concerning Mimer we also find such a grove. 52. Mimer's Grove. Lif and Letjthbaseb. The grove is called after its ruler and guardian, Mimer's or Treasure-Mimer's grove (Miinis holt — Younger Edda, Upsala 232 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. Codex; Gylfag., 58; Hoddmimis holt — Vafthrudnism, 45 ; Gylfag., 58). Gylfaginning describes the destruction of the world and its regeneration, and then relates how the earth, rising out of the sea, is furnished with human inhabitants. " During the conflagration (i Surtarloga) two persons are concealed in Treasure-Mimer's grove. Their names are Lif (Lif) and Leifthraser (Zeifprasir), and they feed on the morning dews. From them come so great an offspring that all the world is peopled. " In support of its statement Gylfaginning quotes Vafthrud- nersmal. This poem makes Odin and the giant Vafthrudner ( VaffimicTnir) put questions to each other, and among others Odin asks this question : Fioljj ec for, jiolj) ec freistabac, fiolj? ec um reynda regin : lived lifir meinna, Jja er inn mccra UJ?r fimbulvctr mej? firom ? " Much I have travelled, much I have tried, much I have tested the powers. What human persons shall still live when the famous limbul-winter has been in the world ? " Vafthrudner answers : Lif oc Lcifjjreisir, enn J?au leynaz muno i liolti Hoddmimis ; morginelauggvar Jjciu ser at mat hafa enn pacJan af alelir alaz. " Lif and Leifthraser (are still living) ; they are concealed in Hodd- Mimer's grove. They have morning dews for nourishment. Thence (from Hodd-Mimer's grove and this human pair) are born (new) races. " Gylfaginning says that the two human beings, Lif and Leif- thraser, who become the progenitors of the races that are to people the earth after liagnarok, are concealed during the conflagration of the world in Hodd-Mimer's grove. This is, beyond doubt, in accord- TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 233 ance with mythic views. But mythologists, who have not paid sufficient attention to what Gylfaginning's source (Vafthrudnersmal) has to say on the subject, have from the above expression drawn a conclusion which implies a complete misunderstanding of the tradi- tions in regard to Hodd-Mimer's grove and the human pair therein concealed. They have assumed that Lit' and Leifthraser are, like all other people living at that time, inhabitants of the surface of the earth at the time when the conflagration of the world begins. They have explained Mimer's grove to mean the world-tree, and argued that when Surfs flames destroy all other mortals this one human pair have succeeded in climbing upon some particular branch of the world-tree, where they were protected from the destructive element. There they were supposed to live on morning dews until the end of Eagnarok, and until they could come down from their hiding-place in Ygdrasil upon the earth which has risen from the sea, and there become the progenitors of a more happy human race. According to this interpretation, Ygdrasil was a tree whose trunk and branches could be grasped by human hands, and one or more mornings, with attendant morning dews, are assumed to have come and gone, while fire and llames enveloped all creation, and after the sun had been swallowed by the wolf and the stars had fallen from the heavens (Gylfag., 55; Volusp., 54) ! And with this terrible catastrophe before their eyes, Lif and Leifthraser are supposed to sit in perfect unconcern, eating the morning clews ! For the scientific reputation of mythical inquiry it were well if that sort of investigations were avoided when they are not made necessary by the sources themselves. If sufficient attention had been paid to the above-cited evidence furnished by Vafthrudnersmal in this question, the misunder- standing might have been avoided, and the statement of Gylfagin- ning would not have been interpreted to mean that Lif and Leifthraser inhabited Mimer's grove only during Ragnarok. For Vafthrudnersmal plainly states that this human pair are in perfect security in Mimer's grove, while a 1<>h,r war Hertrich gamut. JDurch ir sinne craft so lucten sic gesclleschaft an werke unci an alien dingen. (Biterolf, 144.) Vilkinasaga, which is based on both German and Norse sources, states that Mimer was an artist, in whose workshop the sons of princes and the most famous smiths learned the trade of the smith. Among his apprentices are mentioned Velint (Volund), Sigurd-Sven, and Eckihard. These echoes reverberating far down in Christian times of the myth about Mimer,. as chief of smiths, we also perceive in Saxo. It should be remembered what he relates about the imcomparable treasures which are preserved in Gudmund-Mimer's domain, among which in addition to those already named occur arma Immanoram corporum habitu grandiora (I, p. 427), and about Mimingus, who possesses the sword of victory, and an arm-ring which produces wealth (i. 113, 114). If we consult the poetic Edda, we find Mimer mentioned as Hodd-Mimer, Treasure-Mimer (Vafthr. 45); as naddgofugr jotimn, the giant celebrated for his weapons (Grogalder, 14); as Hoddrofnir, or Hodd-dropnir, the treasure-dropping one (Sigrdr., 13); as Baugreginn, the king of the gold-rings (Solarlj., 56). And as shall be shown hereafter, the chief smiths are in the poetic Edda put in connection with Mimer as the one on whose fields they dwell, or in whose smithy they work. In the mythology, artistic and creative powers are closely related to each other. The great smiths of the Rigveda hymns, the Eibhus, make horses for India, create a cow and her calf, make from a single goblet three equally good, diffuse vegetation over the fields, and make brooks flow in the valleys (Rigveda, iv. 34, 9 ; iv. 38, 8; L 20, 6, 110, 3, and elsewhere). This they do although they are " mortals," who by their merits acquire immortality. In the Teutonic mythology Sindre and Brok forge from a pig- 244 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. skin Frey's steed, which looks like a boar, and the sons of Ivalde forge from gold locks that grow like other hair. The ring Drawpnir, which the "dwarfs" Sindre and Brok made, possesses itself creative power and produces every ninth night eight gold rings of equal weight with itself (Skaldsk., 37). The "mead- drinker " is the chief and master of all these artists. And on a closer examination it appears that Mimer's mead-well is the source of all these powers, which in the mythology are represented as creating, forming, and ordaining with wisdom. In Havamal (138-141) Odin relates that there was a time when he had not yet acquired strength and wisdom. But by self- sacrifice he was able to prevail on the celebrated Bolthorn son, who dwells in the deep and has charge of the mead-fountain there and of the mighty runes, to give him (Odin) a drink from the precious mead, drawn from O&rcerir : Pa nam ec frovaz Then I began to bloom ocfro&r vera and to be wise, oc vaxa oc vcl hafaz ; and to grow and thrive ; or& trier af or&i word came to me orz leitadi, from word, verc mer af verhi deed came to me vercs leita&i. from deed. It is evident that Odin here means to say that the first drink which he received from Mimer's fountain was the turning-point in his life ; that before that time he had not blossomed, had made no progress in wisdom, had possessed no eloquence nor ability to do great deeds, but that he acquired all this from the power of the mead. This is precisely the same idea as we constantly meet with in Itigveda, in regard to the soma-mead as the liquid from which the gods got creative power, wisdom, and desire to accom- plish great deeds. Odin's greatest and most celebrated achievement was that he, with his brothers, created Midgard. Would it then be reasonable to suppose that he performed this greatest and wisest of his works before he began to develop fruit, and before he got wisdom and the power of activity ? It must be evident to everybody that this would be unreasonable. It is equally manifest that among the works which he considered himself able to perform after the drink from Mimer's fountain had given him strength, we must place in TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 245 tin* front rank those for which he is most celebrated: the slaying of the chaos-giant Ymer, the raising of the crust of the earth, and the creation of Midgard. This could not be said more clearly than it is stated in the above strophe of Havamal, unless .Odin should have specifically mentioned the works he performed after receiving the drink. From Mimer's fountain and from Mimer'e hand Odin has, therefore, received his creative power and his wisdom. We are thus also able to understand why Odin regarded this first drink from Odrserei so immensely important that he could resolve to subject himself to the sufferings which are mentioned in strophes L38 and 139. But when Odin by a single drink from Mimer's fountain is endowed with creative power and wisdom, how can the conclusion be evaded, that the myth regarded Mimer as endowed with Promethean power, since it makes him the possessor of the precious fountain, makes him drink therefrom every day, and places him nearer to the deepest source and oldest activity of these forces in the universe than Odin himself? The given and more instantaneous power, thanks to which Odin was made able to form the upper world, came from the lower world and from Mimer. The wrorld-tree has also grown out of the lower world and is Mimer's tree, and receives from his hands its value. Thus the creative power with which the dwarf-list in Voluspa endowed the "mead-drinker" is rediscovered in Mimer. It is, therefore, per- fectly logical when the mythology makes him its first smith and chief artist, and keeper of treasures and the ruler of a group of dwarfs, underground artists, for originally these were and remained creative forces personified, just as lligveda's Ribhus, who smithied flowers, and grass, and animals, and opened the veins of the earth for fertilising streams, while they at the same time made imple- ments and weapons. That Mimer was the profound counsellor and faithful friend of the Asas has already been shown. Thus we discover in Mimer Modsogner's governing position among the artists, his creative activity, and his friendly relation to the gods. Dvalin, created by Modsogner, is in the Norse sagas of the middle ages remembered as an extraordinary artist He is there said to have assisted in the fashioning of the sword Tyrfing (Fornald. Saga, i. 436), of Freyja's splendid ornament Brisingamen, celebrated also in Anglo-Saxon poetry (Fornald. Saga, i. 3'J1). In 24G TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. the Snofrid song, which is attributed to Harald Fairhair, the drapa is likened unto a work of art, which rings forth from beneath the fingers of Dvalin (hri/nr fram ur Dvalin s greip — Fornm. Saga, x. 208 ; Flat., i. 582). This beautiful poetical figure is all the more appropriately applied, since Dvalin was not only the producer of the beautiful works of the smith, but also sage and skald. He was one of the few chosen ones who in time's morning were permitted to taste of Mimer's mead, which therefore is called his drink (Dvalins drykkr — Younger Edda, i. 246). But in the earliest antiquity no one partook of this drink who did not get it from Mimer himself. Dvalin is one of the most ancient rune-masters, one of those who brought the knowledge of runes to those beings of creation who were endowed with reason (Havamal, 143). But all know- ledge of runes came originally from Mimer. As skald and runic scholar, Dvalin, therefore, stood in the relation of disciple under the ruler of the lower world. The myth in regard to the runes (cp. No. 26) mentioned three apprentices, who afterwards spread the knowledge of runes each among his own class of beings. Odin, who in the beginning was ignorant of the mighty and beneficent rune-songs (Havamal, 138- 143), was by birth Mimer's chief disciple, and taught the know- ledge of runes among his kinsmen, the Asas (Havamal, 143), and among men, his proteges (Sigdrifm., 18). The other disciples were Dain (Ddinri) and Dvalin (Dvalinn). Dain, like Dvalin, is an artist created by Modsogner (Voluspa, 11, Hauks Codex). He is mentioned side by side with Dvalin, and like him he has tasted the mead of poesy (munnviyg Ddins — Fornm. Saga, v. 209). Dain and Dvalin taught the runes to their clans, that is, to elves and dwarfs (Havamal, 143). Nor were the giants neglected. They learned the runes from AsvicTr. Since the other teachers of runes belong to the clans, to which they teach the knowledge of runes — " Odin among Asas, Dain among elves, Dvalin among dwarfs " — there can be no danger of making a mistake, if we assume that AsvicTr was a giant. And as Mimer himself is a giant, and as the name AsvicFr (= Asvinr) means Asa-friend, and as no one — particularly no one among the giants — has so much right as Mimer to this epithet, which has its counterpart in Odin's epithet, Minis vinr (Mimer's friend), then caution dictates that we keep TEUTONIC .MYTHOLOGY. 247 open the highly probable possibility that Minier himself is meant by Asvidr. All that has here been stated about Dvalin shows that the mythology has referred him to a place within the domain of Mimer's activity. We have still to point out two statements in regard to him. Sol is said to have been his Iclka (Fornald., L 475 ; Allvism., 17; Younger Edda, i. 472, ij^'i). Leika, as a feminine word and referring to a personal object, means a young girl, a maiden, whom one keeps at his side, and in whose amusement one takes part at least as a spectator. The examples which we have of the use of the word indicate that the leika herself, and the persou whose Icika she is, are presupposed to have the same home. Sisters are called Irikn/r, since they live together. Parents can call a foster-daughter their leika. In the neuter gender leika means a plaything, a doll or toy, and even in this sense it can rhetorically be applied to a person. In the same manner as Sol is called Dvalin's leika, so the son of Nat and Delling, Dag, is called leikr Dvalins, the lad or youth with whom Dvalin amused himself (Fornspjal., 24). We have here found two points of contact between the mythic characters Dvalin and Delling. Dag, who is Dvalin's leikr, is Dellins's son. Dellin'j; is the watchman of the castle of the dsmegir, which Dvalin's artists decorated. Thus the whole group of persons among whom Dvalin is placed — Miiner, who is his teacher ; Sol, who is his leika ; Dag, who is his leikr ; Nat, who is the mother of his leikr ; Delling, who is the father of his leikr — have their dwellings in Mimer's domain, and belong to the subterranean class of the numina of Teutonic mythology. From regions situated below Midgard's horizon, Xat, Sol, and Dag draw their chariots upon the heavens. On the eastern border of the lower world is the point of departure for their regular journeys over the heavens of the upper world ("the upper heavens," upphimina — Voluspa, 3 ; Yafthr., 20, and elsewhere; uppheimr— Alvm., 13). Nat has her home and, as shall be shown hereafter, her birthplace in dales beneath the ash Ygdrasil. There she takes her rest after the circuit of her journey has been completed In the lower world Sol and Nat's son, Dag, also have their halls where they take their rest. But where Delling's wife and son have their dwellings there we should also look for Delling's own abode. 248 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. A.s the husband of Nat and the father of Dag, Delling occupies the same place among the divinities of nature as the dawn and the glow of sunrise among the phenomena of nature. And outside the doors of Delling, the king of dawn, mythology has also located the dwarf jy'ddreyrir ("he who moves the people"), who sings songs of awakening and blessing upon the world: "power to the Asas, success to the elves, wisdom to Hroptatyr" (afl asom, enn alfum frama, hyggio Hroptaty — Havam., 160). Unlike his kinsmen, Nat, Dag, and Sol, Delling has no duty which requires him to be absent from home a part of the day. The dawn is merely a reflection of Midgard's eastern horizon from Delling's subterranean dwelling. It can be seen only when Nat leaves the upper heaven and before Dag and Sol have come forward, and it makes no journey around the world. From a mythological standpoint it would therefore be possible to entrust the keeping of the castle of the dsmegir to the elf of dawn. The sunset-glow has another genius, Billing, and he, too, is a creation of Modsogner, if the dwarf-list is correct (Vbluspa, 12). Sol, who on her way is pursued by two giant monsters in wolf-guise, is secure when she comes to her forest of the Varus behind the western horizon (til varna vi&ar — Grimm, 30). There in western halls (Vegtamskv., 11) dwells Billing, the chief of the Varus (Billing veold Vernum — Cod. Exon., 320). There rests his daughter Bind bright as the sun on her bed, and his body-guard keeps watch with kindled lights and burning torches (Havam., 100). Thus Bil- ling is the watchman of the western boundary of Mimer's domain, Delling of the eastern. From this it follows : That the citadel of the dsmegir is situated in Mimer's lower world, and there in the regions of the elf of dawn. That Svipdag, who has seen the citadel of the dsmegir, has made a journey in the lower world before he found Menglad and secured her as his wife. The conclusion to which we have arrived in regard to the subterranean situation of the citadel is entirely confirmed by the other passage in the poetic Edda, where the dsmegir are mentioned by this name. Here we have an opportunity of taking a look within their castle, and of seeing the hall decorated with lavish splendour for the reception of an expected guest. TEUTONIC -MYTHOLOGY. 249 Vegtamskvida tells us that Odin, being alarmed in regard to the fate of his son Balder, made a journey to the lower world for the purpose of learning from a vala what foreboded his favourite son. When Odin had rode through Nifelhel and eome to green pastures (foldvegr), he found there below a hall decorated for festivity, and he asks the prophetess: I ir i rim eru bekkir ha ug n hi sdnir, fleet fagrlig flop gulli ? " For whom are the benches strewn with rings and the gold beautifully scattered through the rooms ? " And the vala answers : Her steendr Balldri of bruggin miocfr, skirar vtvigor, ligijr shiolldr yfir ecu dsmegir i ofvecni. " Here stands for Balder mead prepared, pure drink ; shields are overspread, and the dsmegir are waiting impatiently." Thus there stands in the lower world a hall splendidly decorated awaiting Balder' a arrival. As at other great feasts, the benches are strewn (cp. brei&a bekki, strd bekki, bua bekki) with costly things, and the pure wonderful mead of the lower world is already served as an offering to the god. Only the shields which cover the mead-vessel need to be lifted off and all is ready for the feast. Who or what persons have, in so good season, made these prepara- tions ? The vala explains when she mentions the dsmegir and speaks of their longing for Balder. It is this longing which has found utterance in the preparations already completed for his reception. Thus, when Balder gets to the lower world, he is to enter the citadel of the dsmegir and there be welcomed by a Bacri- fice, consisting of the noblest liquid of creation, the Btrength-giving somormadfvu <»f Teutonic mythology. In the old Xorse heathen literature there is only one more place where we find the word dsmegir, and that is in Olaf Trygveson's saga, eh. ID (Heims- 250 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. kringla). For the sake of completeness this passage should also be considered, and when analysed it, too, sheds much and important light on the subject. We read in this saga that Jarl Hakon proclaimed throughout his kingdom that the inhabitants should look after their temples and sacrifices, and so was done. Jarl Hakon's hird-skald, named Einar Skalaglam, who in the poem " Vellekla " celebrated his deeds and exploits, mentions his interest in the heathen worship, and the good results this was supposed to have produced for the jarl him- self and for the welfare of his land. Einar says : Ok herparfir hverfa hlahhar mots til biota, raudbrikar fremst rmkir rikr, dsmegir, sliku. Nu grcer jorff sem acfan, &c. Put in prose : Ok herparfir dsmegir hverfa til biota ; hlakkar mdts raudbrikar rikr rmkir fremst sliku. Nu grmr jorb* sem d&an. Translation: "And the dsmegir required in war, turn them- selves to the sacrificial feasts. The mighty promoter of the meeting of the red target of the goddess of war has honour and advantage thereof. Now grows the earth green as heretofore." There can be no doubt that " the dsmegir required in war " refer to the men in the territory ruled by Hakon, and that " the mighty promoter of the meeting of the red target of the goddess of war " refers to the warlike Hakon himself, and hence the meaning of the passage in its plain prose form is simply this : " Hakon's men again devote themselves to the divine sacrifices. This is both an honour and an advantage to Hakon, and the earth again yields bountiful harvests." To these thoughts the skald has given a garb common in poetry of art, by adapting them to a mythological background. The persons in this background are the dsmegir and a mythical being called " the promoter of the red target," raudbrikar rxkir. The persons in the foreground are the men in Hakon's realm and Hakon himself. The persons in the foreground are permitted to borrow the names of the corresponding persons in the background, but on the condition that the borrowed names are furnished with adjectives which emphasise the specific difference between the TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 251 original mythic lenders and the real borrowers. Thus Hakon's subjects are allowed to borrow the appellation dsmegir, but this is then furnished with the adjective herjxirjir (required in war), whereby they are specifically distinguished from the dsmegir of the mythical background, and Hakon on his part is allowed to borrow the appellation raudhHhar rater (the promoter of the red target), but this appellation is then furnished with the adjective phrase fddkkar mdts (of the meeting of the goddess of war), whereby Hakon is specifically distinguished from the rauftbrihar rater of the mythical background. The rule also requires that, at least on that point of which the skald happens to be treating, the persons in the mythological background should hold a relation to each other which resembles, and can be compared with, the relation between the persons in the foreground. Hakon's men stand in a subordinate relation to Hakon himself; and so must the dsmegir stand in a subordinate relation to that being which is called rawSbrihir rater, providing the skald in this strophe as in the others has produced a tenable parallel. Hakon is, for his subjects, one who exhorts them to piety and fear of the gods. Bauffbrikar rater, his counterpart in the mythological background, must have been the same for his dsmegir. Hakon's subjects offer sacrifices, and this is an advantage and an honour to Hakon, and the earth grows green again. In the mythology the dsmegir must have held some sacri- ficial feast, and rauffbrikar roster must have had advantage and honour, and the earth must have regained its fertility. Only on these conditions is the figure of comparison to the point, and of such a character that it could be presented unchallenged to heathen ears familiar with the myths. It should be added that Einar's greatness as a skald is not least shown by his ability to carry out logically such figures of comparison. We shall later on give other examples of this. Who is, then, this raudbrikar rater, "the promoter of the red target " ? In the mythological language rau&brik (red target) can mean no other object than the sun. Compare ruff all, which is frequently used to designate the sun. If this needed confirmation, then we have it immediately at hand in the manner in which the word is applied in the continuation of the paraphrase adapted to Hakon. 252 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. A common paraphrase for the shield is the sun with suitable adjectives, and thus rau&brik is applied here. The adjective phrase is here hlakkar m6ts, " of the meeting of the war-goddess " (that is, qualifying the red target), whereby the red target (= sun), which is an attribute of the mythic rcekir of the background, is changed to a shield, which becomes an attribute of the historical reeMr of the foreground, namely Hakon jarl, the mighty warrior. Accordingly, rau&brikar rcekir of the mythology must be a mascu- line divinity standing in some relation to the sun. This sun-god must also have been upon the whole a god of peace. Had he not been so, but like Hakon a war-loving shield- bearer, then the paraphrase hlakkar mots rau&brikar rcekir would equally well designate him as Hakon, and thus it could not be used to designate Hakon alone, as it then would contain neither a nota char act eristica for him nor a differentia specifica to distinguish him from the mythic person, whose epithet rau&brikar rcekir he has been allowed to borrow. This peaceful sun-god must have descended to the lower world and there stood in the most intimate relation with the dsmcgir referred to the domain of Mimer, for he is here represented as their chief and leader in the path of piety and the fear of the gods. The myth must have mentioned a sacrificial feast or sacrificial feasts celebrated by the dsmegir. From this or these sacrificial feasts the peaceful sun-god must have derived advantage and honour, and thereupon the earth must have regained a fertility, which before that had been more or less denied it. From all this it follows with certainty that rau&brikar rcekir of the mythology is Balder. The fact suggested by the Vellekla strophe above analysed, namely, that Balder, physically interpreted, is a solar divinity, the mythological scholars are almost a unit in assuming to be the case on account of the general character of the Balder myth. Though Balder was celebrated for heroic deeds he is substantially a god of peace, and after his descent to the lower world he is no longer connected with the feuds and dissensions of the upper world. We have already seen that he was received in the lower world with great pomp by the dsmcgir, who impatiently awaited his arrival, and that they sacrifice to him that bright mead of the lower world, whose wonderfully beneficial and bracing inlluence shall be discussed below. Soon afterwards he is visited TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. L'.":» by Herraod. Already before Balder's funeral pyre, Herinod upon the fastestof all steeds hastened to find him in the Lowei world (Gylfag., 51, 52), and Herniod returns from him and Nanna with the ring Draupnir for Odin, and with a veil fur the goddess of earth, Fjorgyn-Frigg. The ring from which other rings drop, and the veil which is to beautify the goddess of earth, are symbols of fertility. Balder, the sun-god, had for a long time before his death been languishing. Now in the lower world he is strengthened with the bracing mead of Mimer's domain by the dsmegir who gladly give offerings, and the earth regains her green fields. Hakon's men are designated in the strophe as herparfir dsmegir. When they are permitted to borrow the name of the dsmegir, then the aojective herparf/r, if chosen with the proper care, is to contain a specific distinction between them and the mythological beings whose name they have borrowed. In other words, if the teal dsmegir were of such a nature that they could be called herparfir, then that adjective would not serve to distinguish Hakon's men from them. The word herparfir means " those who are needed in war," " those who are to be used in war ". Consequently, the dsmegir are beings who are not to be used in war, beings whose dwelling, environment, and purpose suggest a realm of peace, from which the use of weapons is banished. Accordingly, the parallel presented in Einar's strophe, which we have now discussed, is as follows : Mythology. History. Peaceful beings of the lower Warlike inhabitants of the earth world {dsmegir). (herparfir dsmegir). at the instigation of their chief, at the instigation of their chief, the sun-god Balder (raudbrikar the shield's Balder, Hakon (Mak- roehir\ karmdts rauffbrtkar nrkir), go to offer sacrifices. go to offer sacrifices. The peaceful Balder is thereby The shield's Balder is thereby benefited. benefited. The earth grows green again. The earth grows green again. ok dsmegir, ok herparfir dsmegir hverfa til bldta ; hvcrfa til bldta 254 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. rtniffbrikarrikr rcekir hlahhar mots rau&brikar rikr rcekir fremst sliku. fremst sliku. Xd grew jor& scm dcfan. Nu grcer jorcf sem dcfan. In the background which Einar has given to his poetical paraphrase, we thus have the myth telling how the sun-god Balder, on his descent to the lower world, was strengthened by the sonia- sacrifice brought him by the dsmegir, and how he sent back with Hermod the treasures of fertility which had gone with him and Xanna to the lower world, and which restored the fertility of the earth. To what category of beings do the dsmegir then belong ? We have seen the word applied as a technical term in a restricted sense. The possibilities of application which the word with reference to its definition supplies are : (1) The word may be used in the purely physical sense of Asa-sons, Asa-descendants. In this case the subterranean dsmegir would be by their very descent members of that god- clan that resides in Asgard, and whose father and clan-patriarch is Odin. {'£) The word can be applied to men. They are the children of the Asa-father in a double sense : the first human pair was created by Odin and his brothers (Volusp., 16, 17 ; Gylfag., 9), and their offspring are also in a moral sense Odin's children, as they are sub- ject to his guidance and care. He is Alfather, and the father of the succeeding generations (allfadir, aldafacTir). A word resem- bling dsmegir in character is dsasynir, and this is used in Allvis- mal, 16, in a manner which shows that it does not refer to any of those categories of beings that are called gods (see further, No. 62).* The conception of men as sons of the gods is also implied in the all mankind embracing phrase, megir Heimdcdlar (Volusp., 1), with * Sol heitir metS monnom, enn surma meft go&um, halla dvergar Dvalin's leika eyglo iotnar, alfar fagra hvel alscir asa synir. TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. L\"."i which the account of Hig-Heimdal's journeys on the earth emd visits to the patriarchs of the various classes is connected.* The true meaning of the word in this case is determined by the fact that the dsmcgir belong to the dwellers in the lower world already before the death of Balder, and that Balder is the first one of the Asas and sons of Odin who becomes a dweller in the lower world. To this must be added, that if dsmegir meant Asas, Einar would never have called the inhabitants of Norway, the subjects of jarl Hakon, hcrfcarftr dsmegir, for herfcarfir the Asas are themselves, and that in the highest degree. They constitute a body of more or less warlike persons, who all have been " needed in conflict " in the wars around Asgard and Midgard, and they all, Balder included, are gods of war and victory. It would also have been malapropos to compare men with Asas on an occasion when the former were represented as bringing sacrifices to the gods ; that is, as persons subordinate to them and in need of their assistance. The dsmegir are, therefore, human beings excluded from the surface of the earth, from the mankind which dwell in Midgard, and are inhabitants of the lower world, where they reside in a splendid castle kept by the elf of dawn, Delling, and enjoy the society of Balder, who descended to Hades. To subterranean human beings refers also Grinmismal, 21, which says that men (mennzkir merm) dwell under the roots of Ygdrasil ; and Allvis- mal, 16 (to be compared with 18, 20, and other passages), and Skirnersmal, 34, which calls them aslipar, a word which Gud- brand Vigfusson has rightly assumed to be identical with dsmegir. Thus it is also demonstrated that the dsmegir are identical with the subterranean human persons Lif and Leifthraser and their descendants in Mimer's grove. The care with which the mythology represents the citadel of the dsmegir kept, shown by the fact that the elf Delling, the counterpart of Heimdal in the lower world, has been entrusted with its keeping, is intelligible and proper when we know that it is of the greatest importance to shield Lif and Leifthraser's dwelling from all ills, sickness, age, and moral evil (see above). It is also a beautiful poetic thought that it is the elf of the morning dawn — he outside of whose door the song of • Cp. also Gylfag., 9, in regard to Odin : Ok fyriir J>ri md harm ht ita All- fSSr, at harm er fafiir alra gotianna ok manna ok alls Jm8$, er af horum ok ham krapti var fullgjOrt. 256 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. awakening and bliss is sung to the world — who has been appointed to watch those who in the dawn of a new world shall people the earth with virtuous and happy races. That the dsmegir in the lower world are permitted to enjoy the society of Balder is ex- plained by the fact that Lif and Liefthraser and their offspring are after Eagnarok to accompany Balder to dwell under his sceptre, and live a blameless life corresponding to his wishes. They are to be his disciples, knowing their master's commandments and having them written in their hearts. We have now seen that the dsmegir already before Balder's death dwell in Mimer's grove. We have also seen that Svipdag on his journey in the lower world had observed a castle, which he knew belonged to the dsmegir. The mythology knows two fimbul-winters : the former raged in time's morning, the other is to precede Eagnarok. The former occurred when Freyja, the goddess of fertility, was treacherously delivered into the power of the frost-giants and all the air was blended with corruption (Volusp., 26) ; when there came from the Elivogs stinging, ice-cold arrows of frost, which put men to death and destroyed the greenness of the earth (FornspjallsljoS) ; when King Snow ruled, and there came in the northern lands a famine which compelled the people to emigrate to the South (Saxo, i. 415). Svipdag made his journey in the lower world during the time preceding the first finibul- winter. This follows from the fact that it was he who liberated Freyja, the sister of the god of the harvests, from the power of the frost-giants (see ISTos. 96-102). Lif and Leifthraser were accordingly already at that time transferred to Mimer's grove. This ought to have occurred before the earth and her inhabitants were afflicted by physical and moral evil, while there still could be found un- defiled men to be saved for the world to come ; and we here find that the mythology, so far as the records make it possible for us to investigate the matter, has logically met this claim of poetic justice. 54. The Iranian Myth concerning Mimer's Grove. In connection with the efforts to determine the age of the Teutonic myths, and their kinship with the other Aryan (Indo- TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 257 European) mythologies, the fact deserves attention that the myth in regard to a subterranean grove and the human beings there preserved for a future regenerated world is also found among the Iranians, an Asiatic race akin to the Teutons. The similarity be- tween the Teutonic and Iranian traditions is so conspicuous that the question is irresistible — Whether it is not originally, from the standpoint of historical descent, one and the same myth, which, but little affected by time, has been preserved by the Teutonic Aryans around the Baltic, and by the Iranian Aryaus in Baktria and Persia ? But the answer to the question requires the greatest caution. The psychological similarity of races may, on account of the limitations of the human fancy, and in the midst of similar con- ditions and environments, create myths which resemble each other, although they were produced spontaneously by different races in different parts of the earth. This may happen in the same manner as primitive implements, tools, and dwellings which resemble each other may have been invented and used by races far separated from each other, not by the one learning from the other how these things were to be made, nor on account of a common descent in antiquity. The similarity is the result of similar circumstances. It was the same want which was to be satisfied; the same human logic found the manner of satisfying the want ; the same materials offered themselves for the accomplishment of the end, and the same universal conceptions of form were active in the develop- ment of the problems. Comparative mythology will never become a science in the strict sense of this word before it ceases to build hypotheses on a solitary similarity, or even on several or many resemblances between mythological systems geographically sepa- rated, unless these resemblances unite themselves and form a whole, a mythical unity, and unless it appears that this mythical unity in turn enters as an element into a greater complexity, which is similar in fundamental structure and similar in its characteristic details. Especially should this rule be strictly observed when we compare the myths of peoples who neither by race nor language can be traced back to a prehistoric unity. But it is best not to relax the severity of the rules even when we compare the myths of peoples who, like the Teutons, the Iranians, and the Rigveda-Aiyans, have the same origin and same language; who through centuries, ami even long after their separation, have handed down from genera- 17 258 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. tion to generation similar mythological conceptions and mythical traditions. I trust that, as this work of mine gradually progresses, a sufficient material of evidence for the solution of the above problem will be placed in the hands of my readers. I now make a beginning of this by presenting the Iranian myth concerning Jima's grove and the subterranean human beings transferred to it. In the ancient Iranian religious documents Jima is a holy and mighty ancient being, who, however, does not belong to the number of celestial divinities which surround the highest god, Ahuramazda, but must be counted among " the mortals," to the oldest seers and prophets of antiquity. A hymn of sacrifice, dedi- cated to the sacred mead, the liquid of inspiration (homa, the soma and soma-madhu of the Rigveda- Aryans, the last word being the same as our word mead), relates that Jima and his father were the first to prepare the mead of inspiration for the material world ; that he, Jima, was the richest in honour of all who had been born, and that he of all mortals most resembled the sun. In his kingdom there was neither cold nor heat, neither frost nor drought, neither aging nor death. A father by the side of his son resembled, like the son, a youth of fifteen years. The evil created by the demons did not cross the boundaries of Jima's world (The Younger Jasna, ch. 9). Jima was the favourite of Ahuramazda, the highest god. Still he had a will of his own. The first mortal with whom Ahuramazda talked was Jima, and he taught him the true faith, and desired that Jima should spread it among the mortals. But Jima answered : " I am not suited to be the bearer and apostle of the faith, nor am I believed to be so" (Vendidad). [In this manner it is explained why the true doctrine did not become known among men before the reformer Zarathustra came, and why Jima, the possessor of the mead of inspiration, nevertheless, was in possession of the true wisdom.] It is mentioned (in Gosh Jasht and Bam Jasht) that Jima held two beings in honour, which did not belong to Ahuramazda's celestial circle, but were regarded as worthy of worship. These two were : 1. The cow (Gosh), that lived in the beginning of time, and whose blood, when she was slain, fertilised the earth with the seed of life. 2. Vajush, the heavenly breeze. He is identical with the ruler of the air and wind in Rigveda, the mighty god Vdyu- Vdta. TKUTONIt: MVTlloI.ixiY. 259 In regard to the origin and purpose of the kingdom ruled by Jima, in which neither frost nor drought, nor aging nor death, nor moral evil, can enter, VcwUdnil relates the following : * Avata. 21. A meeting was held with the holy angels of Ahurama/.da, the creator. To this meeting came, with the best men, Jima, the king rich in flocks. l'l'. Then said Ahuramazda to Jima : " Happy Jima Vivan- ghana ! In the material world there shall come an evil winter, and consequently a hard, killing frost." 23. From three places, O Jima, the cows should be driven to well-enclosed shelters ; whether they are in the wilder- nesses, or on the heights of the mountains, or in the depths of the valleys. 24. Before the winter this land had meadows. Before that time the water (the rain) was wont to flow over it, and the snow to melt ; and there was found, 0 Jima, in the material world, water-soaked places, in which were visible the foot- prints of the cattle and their offspring. 25. Now give this enclo- sure (above, "the well-enclosed shelters") on each of its four sides Zend. A meeting was held with the best men by Jima, the king, the one rich in flocks. To this meet- ing came, with the holy angels, Ahuramazda, the creator. In the material world there shall come an evil winter, con- sequently much snow shall fall on the highest mountains, on the tops of the rocks. From three places, O Jima, the cows should be driven to well-enclosed shelters ; whether they are in the wilderness, or on the heights of the mountains, or in the depths of the valleys. Now give the enclosure the length of one ... on each of its four sides as a dwelling for * The outlines of the contents an- given here from the interpretation found in Haug- West's Essays on the Sacred Language of the Pctrtit (London, 1878). 260 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. the length of one ... and bring thither the seed of your cattle, of oxen, of men, of dogs, and of birds, and red blazing fires. 26. Gather water there in a canal, the length of one hathra. Place the landmarks there on a gold-coloured spot, furnished with imperishable nourishment. Put up a house there of mats and poles, with roof and walls. 29. There shall be no pride, no despondency, no sluggishness, no poverty, no deceit, no dwarf- growths, no blemish . . . nor aught else of those signs which are Angro-mainyush's curses put on men. 30. Make, in the uppermost part of that territory, nine bridges ; in the middle, six ; in the lowest part, three. To the men, and give the same length to each of the four sides as a field for the cows. 27. Bring thither seed of all men and women, who are the largest, best, and most fair on this earth. Bring thither seed of all domestic animals that are the largest, best, and fairest on this earth. 28. Bring thither seed of all plants which are the highest and most fragrant on this earth. Bring thither seed of all articles of food which are the best tasting and most fragrant on this earth. And make pairs of them un- ceasingly, in order that these beings may have their existence in the enclosures. TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 261 bridges of the upper part you must bring seed of a thousand men and women, to those of the middle the seed of six hundred, to those of the lower, of three hundred. . . . And make a door in the enclosure, and a self- luminous window on the inside. 33. Then Jima made the enclosure. 39. Which are those lights, thou just Ahuramazda, which give light in the enclosures made by Jima ? 40. Ahuramazda answered : Once (a year) the stars and moon and the sun are there seen to rise and set. 41. And they (who dwell within Jima's enclosures) think that one year is one day. Every fortieth year two persons are born by two persons. These persons enjoy the greatest bliss in the enclosures made by Jima. 42. Just creator ! Who preached the pure faith in the enclosures which Jima made ? Ahuramazda answered : The bird Karshipta. Jima's garden has accordingly been formed in connection with a terrible winter, which, in the first period of time, visited the earth, and it was planned to preserve that which is noblest and fairest and most useful within the kingdoms of organic beings. That the garden is situated in the lower world is not expressly stated in the above-quoted passages from Vendidad ; though this seems to be presupposed by what is stated; for the stars, sun, and moon do not show themselves in Jima's garden excepting after long, defined intervals — at their risiwj and setting ; and as the surface 262 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. of the earth is devastated by the unparalleled frost, and as the . valleys are no more protected therefrom than the mountains, we cannot without grave doubts conceive the garden as situated in the upper world. That it is subterranean is, however, expressly stated in Bmidehesh, ch. 30, 10, where it is located under the mountain Damkan ; and that it, in the oldest period of the myth, was looked upon as subterranean follows from the fact that the Jima of the ancient Iranian records is identical with Eigveda's Jama, whose domain and the scene of whose activities is the lower world, the kingdom of death. As Jima's enclosed garden was established on account of the firu- bul-winter, which occurred in time's morning, it continues to exist after the close of the winter, and preserves through all the historical ages those treasures of uncorrupted men, animals, and plants which in the beginning of time were collected there. The purpose of this is mentioned in Minokhird, a sort of catechism of the legends and morals of the Avesta religion. There it is said that after the conflagration of the world, and in the beginning of the regeneration, the garden which Jima made shall open its gate, and thence men, animals, and plants shall once more fill the devastated earth. The lower world, where Jima, according to the ancient Iranian records, founded this remarkable citadel, is, according to Eigveda, Jama's kingdom, and also the kingdom of death, of which Jama is king (Eigv., x. 16, 9 ; cp. i. 35, 6, and other passages). It is a glorious country, with inexhaustible fountains, and there is the home of the imperishable light (Eigv., ix. 7, 8 ; ix. 113, 8). Jama dwells under a tree " with broad leaves ". There he gathers around the goblet of mead the fathers of antiquity, and there he drinks with the gods (Eigv., x. 135, 1). Eoth, and after him Abel Bergaigne (Eeligion Ved., i. 88 f£), regard Jama and Manu, mentioned in Eigveda, as identical. There are strong reasons for the assumption, so far as certain passages of Eigveda are concerned ; while other passages, particularly those which mention Manu by the side of Bhriga, refer to an ancient patriarch of human descent. If the derivation of the word Mimer, Mi/mi, pointed out by several linguists, last by Mullenhoff (Deutsche Alt., vol. v. 105, 106), is correct, then it is originally the same name as Manu, and like it is to be referred to the idea of thinking, remembering. TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 2G3 What the Aryan-Asiatic myth here given has in common with the Teutonic one concerning the subterranean persons in Mauri's grove can be summarised in the following words: The lower world has a ruler, who does not belong to the group of immortal celestial beings, but enjoys the most friendly relations with the godhead, ami is the possessor of great wisdom. In his kingdom flow inexhaustible fountains, and a tree grown out of its soil spreads its foliage over his dwelling, where he serves the mead of inspiration, which the gods are fond of and which he was the first to prepare. A terrible winter threatened to destroy everything on the surface of the earth. Then the ruler of the lower world built on his domain a well-fortified citadel, within which neither destructive storms, nor physical ills, nor moral evil, nor sickness, nor aging, nor death can come. Thither he transferred the best and fairest human beings to be found on earth, and decorated the enclosed garden with the most beautiful and useful trees and plants. The purpose of this garden is not simply to protect the beings collected there during the great winter ; they are to remain there through all historical ages. When these come to an end, there comes a great conflagration and then a regeneration of the world. The renewed earth is to be filled with the beings who have been protected by the subterranean citadel. The people who live there have an instructor in the pure worship of the gods and in the precepts of morality, and in accordance with these precepts they are to live for ever a just and happy life. It should be added that the two beings whom the Iranian ruler of the lower world is said to have honoured are found or have equivalents in the Teutonic mythology. Both are there put in theogonic connection with Mimer. The one is the celestial lord of the wind, Vayush, Eigveda's "Vayu-Vata. Vata is thought to be the same name as Wodan, OSinn (Zinimer. Haupt's Zeitschr., 1875 ; cp. Mannhardt and Kaegi). At all events, Villa's tasks are the same as Odin's. The other is the primeval cow, whose Noi Be name or epithet, Au&humla is preserved in Gylfag., 6. Andhunla liberates from the frost-stones in Chaos Dure, the progenitor of the Asa race, and his son Bor is married to Mimer's sister Bestla, and with her becomes the father of Odin (Havam., 140 ; Gylfag., 6). 264 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 55. The Purpose of Mimer's Grove in the Regeneration of the World. We now know the purpose of Odainsakr, Mimer's land and Mimer's grove in the world-plan of our mythology. We know who the inhabitants of the grove are, and why they, though dwellers in the lower world, must be living persons, who did not come there through the gate of death. They must be living persons of flesh and blood, since the human race of the regenerated earth must be the same. Still the purpose of Mimer's land is not limited to being, through this epoch of the world, a protection for the fathers of the future world against moral and physical corruption, and a seminary where Balder educates them in virtue and piety. The grove protects, as we have seen, the dsmegir during Eagnarok, whose flames do not penetrate thither. Thus the grove, and the land in which it is situated, exist after the flames of Eagnarok are extinguished. Was it thought that the grove after the regeneration was to continue in the lower world and there stand uninhabited, abandoned, desolate, and with- out a purpose in the future existence of gods, men, and things ? The last moments of the efdstence of the crust of the old earth are described as a chaotic condition in which all elements are confused with each other. The sea rises, overflows the earth sinking beneath its billows, and the crests of its waves aspire to heaven itself (cp. Volusp., 54, 2 — Sigr fold i mar, with Hyndlulj., 42, 1-3 — Haf gengr hridum vi& himinn sialfann, liffr lond yfir). The atmosphere, usurped by the sea, disappears, as it were (loft hilar — Hyndlulj., 42, 4). Its snow and winds (Hyndlulj., 42, 5-6) are blended with water and fire, and form with them heated vapours, which " play " against the vault of heaven (Volusp., 54, 7-8). One of the reasons why the fancy has made all the forces and elements of nature thus contend and blend was doubtless to furnish a sufficiently good cause for the dissolution and disappear- ance of the burnt crust of the earth. At all events, the earth is gone when the rage of the elements is subdued, and thus it is no TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 265 impediment to the act of regeneration which takes its beginning beneath the waves. This act of regeneration consists in the rising from the depths of the sea of a new earth, which on its very rising possesses living beings and is clothed in green. The fact that it, while yet below the sea, could be a home for beings which need air in order to breathe and exist, is not necessarily to be regarded as a miracle in mythology. Our ancestors only needed to have seen an air-bubble rise to the surface of the water in order to draw the conclusion that air can be found under the water without mixing with it, but with the power of pushing water away while it rises to the surface. The earth rising from the sea has, like the old earth, the necessary atmosphere around it. Under all circumstances, the seeress in Voluspa sees after Ragnarok — upp koma auffro sinni ior& or cegi ipia grccna (str. 56). The earth risen from the deep has mountains and cascades, which, from their fountains in the fells, hasten to the sea. The waterfalls contain fishes, and above them soars the eagle seeking its prey (Volusp., 56, 5-8). The eagle cannot be a survivor of the be- ings of the old earth. It cannot have endured in an atmosphere full of fire and steam, nor is there any reason why the mythology should spare the eagle among all the creatures of the old earth. It is, therefore, of the same origin as the mountains, the cascades, and the imperishable vegetation which suddenly came to the surface. The earth risen from the sea also contains human beings, namely, Lif and Leifthraser, and their offspring. Mythology did not need to have recourse to any hocus-pocus to get them there. The earth risen from the sea had been the lower world before it came out of the deep, and a paradise-region in the lower world had for centuries been the abode of Lif and Leifthraser. It is more than unnecessary to imagine that the lower world with this I'ur.i- dise was duplicated by another with a similar Paradise, and that the living creatures on the former were by some magic manipula- tion transferred to the latter. Mythology has its miracles, but it also has its logic. As its object is to be trusted, it tries to be as 266 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. probable and consistent with its premises as possible. It resorts to miracles and magic only when it is necessary, not otherwise. Among the mountains which rise on the new earth are found those which are called Ni&a fjoll (Volusp., 62), Nide's mountains. The very name Nide suggests the lower world. It means the " lower one ". Among the abodes of Hades, mentioned in Voluspa, there is also a hall of gold on Nide's plains (a Nipa vollom — str. 36), and from Solarljo& (str. 56) we learn — a statement confirmed by much older records — that Nide is identical with Mimer (see No. 87). Thus, Nide's mountains are situated on Mimer's fields. Voluspa's seeress discovers on the rejuvenated earth Nidhog, the corpse-eating demon of the lower world, flying, with dead bodies under his wings, away from the rocks, where he from time imme- morial had had his abode, and from which he carried his prey to Nastrands (Volusp., 39). There are no more dead bodies to be had for him, and his task is done. Whether the last line of Voluspa has reference to Nidhog or not, when it speaks of some one " who must sink," cannot be determined. Mullenhoff {Deutsche Alt) assumes this to be the case, and he is probably right ; but as the text has hon (she) nut han (he) [nu mun lion seyqitas], and as I, in this work, do not base anything even on the most probable text emendation, this question is set aside, and the more so, since Voluspa's description of the regenerated earth under all circum- stances shows that Nidhog has naught there to do but to fly thence and disappear. The existence of Nide's mountains on the new earth confirms the fact that it is identical with Mimer's former lower world, and that Lif and Leifthraser did not need to move from one world to another in order to get to the daylight of their final destination. Voluspa gives one more proof of this. In their youth, free from care, the Asas played with strange tablets. But they had the tablets only i arladaga, in the earliest time (Vulusp., 8, 58). Afterwards, they must in some way or other have lost them. The Icelandic saoas of the middle aires have remembered this game of tablets, and there we learn, partly that its strange character consisted in the fact that it could itself take part in the game and move the pieces, and partly that it was preserved in the lower world, and that Gudmuud-Mimer was in the habit of playing with tablets (Fornalder Sagas, i. 443 ; iii. 391-392 ; iii. 626, TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 267 &c. In the last passages the game is mentioned in connection with the other subterranean treasure, the horn.) If, now, the mythology had no special reason for bringing the tablets from the lower world before Ragnarok, then they naturally should be found on the risen earth, if the latter was Mimer's domain before. Voluspa (str. 58) also relates that they were found in its grass : par muno eptir unrfrsavt/ignr gxdlnar tavlor i grasifinaz. "There were the wonderful tablets found left in the grass {jinn: eptir)? Thus, the tablet-game was refound in the grass, in the meadows of the renewed earth, having from the earliest time been preserved in Mimer's realm. Lit' and Leifthraser are found after Ragnarok on the earth of the regenerated world, having had their abode there for a long time in Mimer's domain. Nide's mountains, and Xidhog with them, have been raised out of the sea, together with the rejuvenated earth, since these mountains are located in Mimer's realm. The earth of the new era — the era of virtue and bliss — have, though concealed, existed through thousands of years below the sin-stained earth, as the kernel within the shell. Remark. — Voluspa (str. 56) calls the earth rising from the sea idja grcena : Ser lion wpip koma auSro sinni iorcf or ccgi ipia gran". The common interpretation is ijria grcena, " the ever green " or " very green," and this harmonises well with the idea preserved in the sagas mentioned above, where it was stated that the winter was not able to devastate Gudmund-Mimer's domain. Thus the idea contained in the expression Haddingjalands oskurna ax (see Nbs. 72, 73) recurs in Voluspa's statement that the fields unsown yield harvests in the new earth. Meanwhile the composition idja-grcena has a perfectly abnormal appearance, and awakens suspicion. Miillenhoff (Deutsche Alt) reads idja, grcena, and translate-; "the 268 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. fresh, the green ". As a conjecture, and without basing anything on the assumption, I may be permitted to present the possibility that idj'a is an old genitive plural of ida, an eddying body of water. Ida has originally had a j in the stem (it is related to id and idi), and this j must also have been heard in the inflections. From various metaphors in the old skalds we learn that they conceived the fountains of the lower world as roaring and in commotion {e.g., Odreris aldajrytrm Einar Skalaglam and Bodnar bdra ter vaxa in the same skald). If the conjecture is as correct as it seems probable, then the new earth is characterised as " the green earth of the eddying fountains," and the fountains are those famous three which water the roots of the world-tree. 56. The Cosmography. Criticism on Gylfaginning's Cosmography. In regard to the position of Ygdrasil and its roots in the universe, there are statements both in Gylfaginning and in the ancient heathen records. To get a clear idea, freed from conjectures and based in all respects on evidence, of how the mythology conceived the world-tree and its roots, is of interest not only in regard to the cosmography of the mythology, to which Ygdrasil supplies the trunk and the main outlines, but especially in regard to the mythic conception of the lower world and the whole eschatology ; for it appears that each one of the Ygdrasil roots stands not alone above its particular fountain in the lower world but also over its peculiar lower-world domain, which again has its peculiar cosmological character and its peculiar eschato- logical end. The first condition, however, for a fruitful investigation is that we consider the heathen or heathen-appearing records by them- selves without mixing their statements with those of Gylfaginning. We must bear in mind that the author of Gylfaginning lived and wrote in the 13th century, more than 200 years after the intro- duction of Christianity in Iceland, and that his statements accordingly are to be made a link in that chain of documents which exist for the scholar, who tries to follow the fate of the myths during a Christian period and to study their gradual corrup- tion and confusion. TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 2G9 This caution is the more important for the reason that an exami- nation of Gylfaginning very soon shows that the whole cosnio- graphical and eschatological structure which it has built out of fragmentary mythic traditions is based on a conception wholly foreign to Teutonic mythology, that is, on the conception framed iby the scholars in Frankish cloisters, and then handed down from chronicle to chronicle, that the Teutons were descended from the Trojans, and that their gods were originally Trojan child's and magicians. This "learned" conception found its way to the North, and finally developed its most luxurious and abundant blossoms in the Younger Edda preface and in certain other parts of that work. Permit me to present in brief a sketch of how the cosmography and eschatology of Gylfaginning developed themselves out of this assumption : — The Asas were originally men, and dwelt in tin- Troy which was situated on the centre of the earth, and which was identical with Asgard (fcar ncest ger&u fieir ser borg i miff/ urn lu imi. er kallat er Asgardr ; pat Teollum ver Trdja ; par bygSu gwfiim oh cettir peirra oh gjordust pa&an of morg ticfindi ok greinir bo:ld High German Ilella, the Anglo-Saxon Hcllia, and the English Hell, On account of its occurrence with similar signification in dififerenl 276 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. Teutonic tongues in their oldest linguistic monuments, scholars have been able to draw the conclusion that the word points to a primitive Teutonic Halja, meaning lower world, lower world divinity. It is believed to be related to the Latin oc-cul-ere, eel-are, clam, and to mean the one who " hides," " conceals," " preserves ". When the books of the New Testament were for the first time translated into a Teutonic tongue, into a Gothic dialect, the translator, Ulfilas, had to find some way of distinguishing with suitable words between the two realms of the lower world mentioned in the New Testament, Hades and Gehenna (yeepva). Hades, the middle condition, and the locality corresponding to this condition, which contains both fields of bliss and regions of torture, he translated with Halja, doubtless because the signification of this word corresponded most faithfully with the meaning of the word Hades. For Gehenna, hell, he used the borrowed word gaiainna. The Old High German translation also reproduces Hades with the word Hella. For Gehenna it uses two expressions compounded with Hella. One of these, Hellawisi, belongs to the form which afterwards predominated in Scandinavia. Both the compounds bear testimony that the place of punishment in the lower world could not be expressed with Hella, but it was necessary to add a word, which showed that a subterranean place of punishment was meant. The same word for Gehenna is found among the Christian Teutons in England, namely, Hellewite ; that is to say, the Hellia, that part of the lower world where it is necessary to do penance (vite) for one's sins. From England the expression doubtless came to Scandinavia, where we find iu the Icelandic Hel-viti, in the Swedish Hdlvete, and in the Danish JTelvede. In the Icelandic literature it is found for the first time in Hallfred, the same skald who with great hesitation permitted himself to be persuaded by Olaf Trygveson to abandon the faith of his fathers. Many centuries before Scandinavia was converted to Chris- tianity, the Iioman Church had very nearly obliterated the boundary line between the subterranean Hades and Gehenna of the New Testament. The lower world had, as a whole, become a realm of torture, though with various gradations. Eegions of bliss were no longer to be found there, and for Hel in the sense in which TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 277 Ulfilas used Halja, and the Old High German translation llella, there was no longer room in the Christian conception. In the North, Hel was therefore permitted to remain a heathen word, and to retain its heathen signification as lung as the Christian generations were able or eared to preserve it. It is natural that the memory of this signification should gradually fade, and that the idea of the Christian hell should gradually be transferred to the heathen Hel. This change can be pretty accurately traced in the Old Norse literature. It came slowly, for the doctrine in regard to the lower world in the Teutonic religion addressed itself powerfully to the imagination, and, as appears from a careful examination, far from being indefinite in its outlines, it was, on the contrary, described with the clearest lines and most vivid colours, even down to the minutest details. Not until the thirteenth century could such a description of the heathen Hel as Gylfaginning's be possible and find readers who would accept it. lint not even then were the memories (preserved in fragments from the heathen days) in regard to the lower world doctrine so confused, but that it was possible to present a far more faithful (or rather not so utterly false) description thereof. Gylfaginning's representation of the heathen Hades is based less on the then existing confusion of the traditions than on the conclusions drawn from the author's own false premises. In determining the question, how far Hel among the heathen Scandinavians has had a meaning identical with or similar to that which Halja and Hella had among their Gothic and German kinsmen — that is to say, the signification of a death-kingdom of such a nature that it could not with linguistic propriety be used in translating Gehenna — we must first consult that which really is the oldest source, the usage of the spoken language in expressions where Hel is found. Such expressions show by the very presence of Hel that they have been handed down from heathendom, or have been formed in analogy with old heathen phrases. One of these modes of speech still exists: i hjal (sla ihjal, svalta ihjal, frysa ihjal, &&), which is the Old Norse i Hel. We do not use this expression in the sense that a person killed by a weapon, famine, or frost is relegated to the abyss of torture. Still less could the heathens have used it in that sense. The phrase would never have been created if the word Hel had especially conveyed the notion of 278 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. a place of punishment. Already in a very remote age i Hel had acquired the abstract meaning to death, but in such a manner that the phrase easily suggested the concrete idea — the realm of death (an example of this will be given below). What there is to be said about i Hel also applies to such phrases as U6a Heljar, to await Hel (death) ; buask til Heljar, to become equipped for the journey to Hel (to be shrouded) ; liggja milli heims ok Heljar, to lie between this world and Hel (between life and death) ; liggja d Heljar premi, to lie on Hel's threshold. A funeral could be called a Hclfor (a Hel-journey) ; fatal illness Helsdtt (Hel-sickness) ; the deceased could be called Helgengnir (those gone to Hel). Of friends it is said that Hel (death) alone could separate them (Fornm., vii. 233). Thus it is evident that Hel, in the more general local sense of the word, referred to a place common for all the dead, and that the word was used without any additional suggestion of damnation and torture in the minds of those employing it. 58. The Word Hel in Vegtamskvida and in Vafthrudnersmal. When Odin, according to Vegtamskvida, resolved to get reli- able information in the lower world in regard to the fate which threatened Balder, he saddled his Sleipner and rode thither. On the way he took he came first to Nifelhel. While he was still in Nifelhel, he met on his way a dog bloody about the breast, which came from the direction where that division of the lower world is situated, which is called Hel. Thus the rider and the dog came from opposite directions, and the former continued his course in the direction whence the latter came. The dog turned, and long pursued Odin with his barking. Then the rider reached afoldvegr, that is to say, a road along grass-grown plains. The way resounded under the hoofs of the steed. Then Odin finally came to a high dwelling, which is called Heljarrann or Heljar rami. The name of the dwelling shows that it was situated in Hel, not in Nifelhel. This latter realm of the lower world Odin now had had behind him ever since he reached the green fields, and since the dog, evidently a watch of the borders between Nifelhel and Hel, had left him in TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 279 peace. The high dwelling was decorated as for a feast, and mead was served. It was, Odin learned, the abode where the dsmegir longingly waited fur the arrival of Balder. Thus Vegtamskvida : 2. lurid haan (Odin) nitfr fiapan Niflhodjar til, uurtti he mi liralpi peim cer or haiiii kom. 3. Sa var Moftugr um briost fro. in , the noblest and most pious of all the Asas. The dwelling, which reveals a lavish splendour, is described as the very antithesis of that awful abode which, according to Gylfaginning, belongs to the queen of the lower world. In Vafthrndnersmal (43) the old giant says: Fra iotna runom Of the runes of giants oc allra goffa and of all the gods ec kann segia satt, I can speak truly ; pviat hccni hefi ec for I have been heim um komit : in every world. nio kom ec heima In nine worlds I came fyr Niflhcl nc&an, below Nifelhel, hinig deyja or Hdio halir. thither die "halir" from Hel. 280 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. Like Vegtamskvida, so Vafthrudnersmal also distinguishes distinctly between Hel and Nifelhel, particularly in those most remarkable words that thither, i.e., to Nifelhel and the regions subject to it, die " halir " from Hel. Halir means men, human beings ; applied to beings in the lower world halir means dead men, the spirits of deceased human beings (cp. Allvism., 18, 6 ; 20, 6 ; 26, 6 ; 32, 6 ; 34, 6, with 28, 3). Accordingly, nothing less is here said than that deceased persons who have come to the realm called Hel, may there be subject to a second death, and that through this second death they come to Nifelhel. Thus the same sharp distinction is here made between life in Hel and in Nifelhel as between life on earth and that in Hel. These two subterranean realms must therefore represent very different conditions. What these different conditions are, Vafthrudnersmal does not inform us, nor will I anticipate the investigation on this point ; still less will I appeal to Gylfaginning's assurance that the realms of torture lie under Nifelhel, and that it is wicked men (vdndir menn) who are obliged to cross the border from Hel to Nifelhel. So far it must be borne in mind that it was in Nifelhel Odin met the bloody clog- demon, who barked at the Asa-majesty, though he could not hinder the father of the mighty and protecting sorceries from continuing his journey ; while it was in Hel, on the other hand, that Odin saw the splendid abode where the dsmegir had already served the precious subterranean mead for his son, the just Balder. This argues that they who through a second death get over the border from Hel to Nifelhel, do not by this transfer get a better fate than that to which Hel invites those who have died the first death. Balder in the one realm, the blood-stained kinsman of Cerberus in the other — this is, for the present, the only, but not unimportant weight in the balance which is to determine the question whether that border-line which a second death draws between Hel and Nifelhel is the boundary between a realm of bliss and a realm of suffering, and in this case, whether Hel or Nifelhel is the realm of bliss. This expression in Vafthrudnersmal, hinig deyja or Helio halir, also forces to the front another question, which, as long as it remains unanswered, makes the former question more complicated. If Hel is a realm of bliss, and if Nifelhel with the regions subject thereto is a realm of unhappiness, then why do not the souls of TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 281 the damned go at once to their final destination, but are taken first to the realm of bliss, then to the realm of anguish and pain, that is, after they have died the second death on the boundary-line be- tween the two? And if, on the contrary, Bel were the realm ol unhappinesa and Nifelhel offered a better lot, then why should they who are destined for a better fate, first be brought to it through the world of torture, and then be separated from the latter by a second death before they could gain the more happy goal ' These questions cannot be answered until later on 50. The Word Hel in Grimnersmal. Hvergelmer's Fountain and its Defenders. The Border Mountain between Hel and Nifelhel. The Word Helblotinn in Thorsdrapa. In Grimnersmal the word Hel occurs twice (str. 28, 31), and this poem is (together with Gylfaginning) the only ancient record which gives ns any information about the well Hvergelmer under this name (str. 2G ff.). From what is related, it appears that the mythology conceived Hvergelmer as a vast reservoir, the mother-fountain of all the waters of the world (Jxiffan cigo votn aull vcga). In the front rank are mentioned a number of subterranean rivers which rise in Hver- gelmer, and seek their courses thence in various directions. But the waters of earth and heaven also come from this immense foun- tain, and after completing their circuits they return thither. The liquids or saps which rise in the world-tree's stem to its branches and leaves around Herfather's hall (Yalhal) return in the form of rain to Hvergelmer (Grimnersmal, 26). Forty rivers rising there are named. (Whether they were all found in the original text may be a subject of doubt. Interpolators may have added from their own knowledge.) Three of them are mentioned in other records — namely, Slidr in VSluspa, 36, in that account of Hermod's journey to Hel's realm, which in its main outlines was rescued by the author of Gylfaginning [Gylfag., ch. 52), and Levptr in Beige Hund., ii. 31— and all three are referred to in such a way as to prove that they are subterranean rivers. .Slid flows to the realms of torture, and whirls weapons in it? 282 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. eddies, presumably to hinder or frighten anybody from attempting to cross. Over Gjoll there is a bridge of gold to Balder's subter- ranean abode. Leiptr (which name means " the shining one ") has clear waters, which are holy, and by which solemn oaths are sworn, as by Styx. Of these last two rivers flowing out of Hver- gelnier it is said that they flow down to Hel (falla til Heljar, str. 28). Thus these are all subterranean. The next strophe (29) adds four rivers — Kormt and Ormt, and the two Kerlogar, of which it is said that it is over these Thor must wade every day when he has to go to the judgment-seats of the gods near the ash Ygdrasil. For he does not ride like the other gods when they journey down over Bifrost to the thingstead near Urd's fountain. The horses which they use are named in strophe 30, and are ten in number, like the asas, when we subtract Thor who walks, and Balder and H65r who dwell in Hel. Nor must Thor on these journeys, in case he wished to take the route by way of Bifrost, use the thunder-chariot, for the flames issuing from it might set fire to the Asa-bridge and make the holy waters glow (str. 29). That the thunder-chariot also is dan- gerous for higher regions when it is set in motion, thereof Thjodolf gives us a brilliant description in the poem Haustlaung. Thor being for this reason obliged to wade across four rivers before he gets to Urd's fountain, the beds of these rivers must have been conceived as crossing the paths travelled by the god journeying to the thingstead. Accordingly they must have their courses some- where in Urd's realm, or on the way thither, and consequently they too belong to the lower world. Other rivers coming from Hvergelmer are said to turn their course around a place called Hodd-goda (str. 27 — frer hoerfa um Hodd-goda). This girdle of rivers, which the mythology unites around a single place, seems to indicate that this is a realm from which it is important to shut out everything that does not belong- there. The name itself, Hodd-go&a, points in the same direction. The word liodd means that which is concealed (the treasure), and at the same time a protected sacred place. In the German poem Heliand the word hord, corresponding to hodd, is used about the holiest of holies in the Jerusalem temple. As we already know, there is in the lower world a place to which these references apply, namely, the citadel guarded by Delling, the elf of dawn, and deco- rated by the famous artists of the lower world — a citadel in which TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 283 tlic d&megir and Balder — and probably Hodr too, since he is trans- ferred to the lower world, and with Balder is to return thence — await the end of the historical time and the regeneration. The word go&a in Hodd-gofta shows that the place is possessed by, or entrusted to, beings of divine rank. From what has here been stated in regard to Hvergelmer it follows that the mighty well was conceived as situated on a high Water-shed, far up in a subterranean mountain range, whence those rivers of winch it is the source flow down in different directions to different realms of Hades. Of several of these rivers it is said that they in their upper courses, before they reach Hel, flow in the vicinity of mankind (yumnom nccr — str. 28, 7), which naturally can have no other meaning than that the high land through which they flow after leaving Hvergelmer has been conceived as lying not very deep below the crust of Midgarcl (the earth). Hvergelmer and this high land are not to be referred to that division of the lower world which in Grinmersmal is called Hel, for not until after the rivers have flowed through the mountain landscape, where their source is, are they said to falla til Heljar. Thus (1) there is in the lower world a mountain ridge, a high land, where is found Hvergelmer, the source of all waters ; (2) this mountain, which we for the present may call Mount Hvergelmer, is the watershed of the lower world, from which rivers flow in dif- ferent directions; and (3) that division of the lower world which is called Hel lies below one side of Mount Hvergelmer, and thence receives many rivers. What that division of the lower world which lies below the other side of Mount Hvergelmer is called is not stated in Grimnersmal. But from Vafthrudnersmal and Veg- tamskvida we already know that Hel is bounded by Nifelhel. In Vegtamskvida Odin rides through Nifelhel to Hel ; in Vafthrud- nersmal halir die from Hel to Nifelhel. Hel and Nifelhel thus appear to be each other's opposites, and to complement each other, and combined they form the whole lower world. Hence it follows that the land on the other side of the Hvergelmer mountain is Nifelhel. It also seems necessary that both these Hades realms should in the mythology be separated from each other not only by an abstract boundary line, but also by a natural boundary — a mountain or a body of water — which might prohibit the crossing of the boundary 284 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. by persons who neither had a right nor were obliged to cross. The tradition on which Saxo's account of Gorni's journey to the lower world is based makes Gorm and his men, when from Gudmund-Mimer's realm they wish to visit the abodes of the damned, first cross a river and then come to a boundary which cannot be crossed, excepting by scalce, steps on the mountain wall, or ladders, above which the gates are placed, that open to a city " resembling most a cloud of vapour " (vaporanti maxime nubi simile — i. 425). This is Saxo's way of translating the name Nifelhel, just as he in the story about Hadding's journey to the lower world translated Glccsisvellir (the Glittering Fields) with loco, ajprica. In regard to the topography and eschatology of the Teutonic lower world, it is now of importance to find out on which opposite sides of the Hvergelmer mountain Hel and Nifelhel were conceived to be. situated. Nifi, an ancient word, related to nebula and vecpekr), means fog, mist, cloud, darkness. Nifelhel means that Hel which is enveloped in fog and twilight. The name Hel alone has evidently had partly a more general application to a territory embracing the whole kingdom of death — else it could not be used as a part of the compound word Nifelhel — partly a more limited meaning, in which Eel, as in Vafthrudnersmal and Vegtamskvida, forms a sharp contrast to Nifelhel, and from the latter point of view it is that division of the lower world which is not enveloped in mist and fog. According to the cosmography of the mythology there was, before the time when " Ymer lived," Nifelheim, a world of fog, darkness, and cold, north of Ginungagap, and an opposite world, that of fire and heat, south of the empty abyss. Unfortunately it is only Gylfaginning that has preserved for our time these cosmographical outlines, but there is no suspicion that the author of Gylfaginning invented them. The fact that his cosmographic description also mentions the ancient cow Audhumla, which is nowhere else named in our mythic records, but is not utterly forgotten in our popular traditions, and which is a genuine Aryan conception, this is the strongest argument in favour of his having had genuine authorities for his theo-cosmogony at hand, though he used them in an arbitrary manner. The Teutons may also be said to have been compelled to construct a cosmogony in harmony with l EUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 286 their conception of thai world with which they were besl acquainted, their own home between the cold North and the wanner South. Nifelhel in the lower world has its counterpart in Nifelheim in chaos. Gylfaginning identifies the two (ch. 6 and 34). For- spjallsljod does the same, and locates Nifelheim far to the north in the lower world (norffr at Nifelheim — str. 26), behind YgdrasiTs far- thest mot, under which the poem makes the goddess of night, after completing her journey around the heavens, rest for a new journey. When Night has completed such a journey and come to the lower world, she goes northward in the direction towards Nifelheim, to remain in her hall, until Dag with his chariot gets down to the western horizon and in his turn rides through the " horse doors " of Hades into the lower world. From this it follows that Nifelhel is to be referred to the north of the mountain Hvergelmer, Hel to the south of it. Thus this mountain is the wall separating Hel from Nifelhel. On that mountain is the gate, or gates, which in the Gorin story separates Gudinund-Minier's abode from those dwellings which resemble a "cloud of vapour," and up there is the death boundary, at which "halir" die for the second time, when they an; transferred from Hel to Nifelhel. The immense water-reservoir on the brow of the mountain, which stands under YgdrasiTs northern root, sends, as already stated, rivers down to both sides — to Nifelhel in the North and to Hel in the South. Of the most of these rivers we now know only the names. But those of which we do know more are characterised in such a manner that we find that it is a sacred land to which those flowing to the South towards Hel hasten their course, ami that it is an unholy land which is sought by those which send their streams to the north down into Nifelhel. The rivers Cfjoll and Levptor fall down into Hel, and GjiJll is, as already indicated, characterised by a brid gold, Leiptr by a shining, clear, and most holy water. I town there in the South are found the mystic Hodd-goda, surrounded by other Hel-rivers; Balder's and the dsmegir's citadel (perhaps identical with Eodd-goda) ; Mimer's fountain, seven times overlaid with gold, the fountain of inspiration and of the creative force, over which the "overshadowing holy tree" spreads its branches (Vdluspa), and 286 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. around -whose reed-wreathed edge the seed of poetry grows (Eilif (xiidrunson) ; the Glittering Fields, with flowers which never fade and with harvests which never are gathered ; Urd's fountain, over which Ygdrasil stands for ever green (Voluspa), and in whose silver- white waters swans swim ; and the sacred thing-stead of the Asas, to which they daily ride down over Bifrost. North of the mountain roars the weapon-hurling Slid, and doubtless is the same river as that in whose " heavy streams " the souls of nithings must wade. In the North solufjarri stands, also at Nastrands, that hall, the walls of which are braided of serpents (Voluspa). Thus Hel is described as an Elysium, Nifeihel with its subject regions as a realm of unhappiness. Yet a few words about Hvergelmer, from and to which " all waters find their way ". This statement in Grimnersmal is of course true of the greatest of all waters, the ocean. The myth about Hvergelmer and its subterranean connection with the ocean gave our ancestors the explanation of ebb- and flood-tide. High up in the northern channels the bottom of the ocean opened itself in a hollow tunnel, which led down to the " kettle-roarer," " the one roaring in his basin " (this seems to be the meaning of Evergelmir : hverr — kettle ; galrn = Anglo-Saxon gealm, a roaring). When the waters of the ocean poured through this tunnel down into the Hades-well there was ebb-tide ; when it returned water from its superabundance there was flood-tide (see Nos. 79, 80, 81). Adam of Bremen had heard this tunnel mentioned in con- nection with the story about the Frisian noblemen who went by sea to the furthest north, came to the land of subterranean giants, and plundered their treasures (see No. 48). On the way up some of the ships of the Frisians got into the eddy caused by the tunnel, and were sucked with terrible violence down into the lower world.* Charlemagne's contemporary, Paul Varnefrid (Diaconus), relates in his history of the Longobardians that he had talked with men who had been in Scandinavia. Among remarkable reports which * " Et eceu instabilis Oceani Euripus, ad initia qusedam fontis sui arcana recurrens, infelicea nautas jam desperates, immo de morte sola cogitantes, vehementissinid impetu traxit ad Chaos. Hanc dicunt esse voragineni abyssi, illud profundum, in quo fama est omnes maris recursus, qui decres- cere videntur, absorbed et denuo removi, quod fluctuatio dici solet" (De situ Dcmice, ed. Mail., \>. 159). TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 287 they gave him of the regions of the far north was also that of a maelstrom, which swallows ships, and sometimes even casts them up again (see Nos. 15, 79, 80, 81). Between the death-kingdom and the ocean there was, therefore, one connecting link, perhaps several. Most of the people who drowned did not remain with Han, JEgir's wile received them hospitably, according to the Icelandic sagas of the middle age. She had a hall in the bottom of the sea, where they were wel- comed and offered sess ok rekkfu (seat and bed). Her realm was only an ante-chamber to the realms of death (Kormak, Sonatorrek). The demon Nidhog, which by G-ylfaginning is thrown into Hvergelmer, is, according to the ancient records, a winged dragon living about, one of several similar monsters which have their abode in Nifelhel ami those lower regions, and which seek to injure that root of the world-tree which is nearest to them, that is the northern one, which stands over Nifelhel and stretches its rootlets southward over Mount Hvergelmer and down into its great water- reservoir (Grimnersmal, 34, 35). Like all the Aryan mythologies, the Teutonic also knew this sort of monsters, and did so long before the word " dragon " (drake) was borrowed from southern kinsmen as a name for them. Nidhog abides now on Nastrands, where, by the side of a wolf-demon, it tortures naif (corpses), now on the Nida Mountains, whence the vala in Voluspa sees him flying away with ndir under his wings. Nowhere (except in Gylfa- ginning) is it said that he lives in the well Hvergelmer, though it is possible that he, in spite of his wings, was conceived as an amphibious being which also could subsist in the water. Tradi- tion tells of dragons who dwell in marshes and swamps. The other two subterranean fountains, Urd's and Mimer's, and the roots of Ygdrasil standing over them, are well protected against the influence of the foes of creation, and have their separate guardians. Mimer, with his sons and the beings subject to him, protects and guards his root of the tree, Urd and her sisters hers, and to the latter all the victorious gods of Asgard come every day to hold counsel. Was the northern root of Ygdrasil, which spreads over the realms of the frost-giants, of the demons, and >>f the damned, and was Hvergelmer, which waters this root and received so important a position in the economy of the world-tree, left in the mythology without protection and without a guardian i liver- 288 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. primer we know is situated on the watershed, where we have the death-border between Hel and Nifelhel fortified with abysses and gates, and is consequently situated in the immediate vicinity of beings hostile to gods and men. Here, if anywhere, there was need of valiant and vigilant watchers. Ygdrasil needs its northern root as well as the others, and if Hvergelmer was not allowed undisturbed to conduct the circuitous flow of all waters, the world would be either dried up or drowned. Already, long before the creation of the world, there flowed from Hvergelmer that broad river called Mivdgar, which in its extreme north froze into that ice, which, when it melted, formed out of its dropping venom the primeval giant Ymer (Vafthr., 31 ; Gylfag., 5). After creation this river, like Hvergelmer, whence it rises, and Nifelhel, into which it empties, become integral parts of the northern regions of the lower world. Mivdgar, also called Hraunn, Hronn, sends in its upper course, where it runs near the crust of the earth, a portion of its waters up to it, and forms between Midgard and the upper Jotunheirn proper, the river Vimur, which is also called Mivdgar and Hraunn, like the parent stream (cp. Hymerskv., 5, 38 ; Grinmersm., 28 ; Skaldskaparm., ch. 3, 16, 18, 19, and Helg. Hj., 25). Elivagar separates the realm of the giants and frost-giants from the other " worlds ". South of Elivagar the gods have an " outgard," a " saether " which is inhabited by valiant watchers — snotrir vikingar they are called in Thorsdrapa, 8 — who are bound by oaths to serve the gods. Their chief is Egil, the most famous archer in the mytho- logy (Thorsdrapa, 1, 8 ; cp. Hymiskv., 7, 38 ; Skaldskap., ch. 16). As such he is also called Orvandel (the one busy with the arrow). This Egil is the guardian entrusted with the care of Hvergelmer and Elivagar. Perhaps it is for this reason that he has a brother and fellow-warrior who is called Ide (Iffi from i&a, a fountain with eddying waters). The "saeter" is called "Ides s;oter" (Thorsdrapa, 1). The services which he as watcher on Mt. Hvergelmer and on the Elivagar renders to the regions of bliss in the lower world are so great that, although he does not belong to the race of the gods by birth or by adoption, he still enjoys among the inhabitants of Hel so great honour and gratitude that they confer divine honours on him. He is " the one worshipped in Hel who scatters the clouds which rise storm-threatening over TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. I'S'.t the mountain of the lower world," helblotiwn lme&tr undir-Jydlfn bliku (Thorsdr., ly). The storm-clouds which Are, Hrasavelgr, and other storm-demons of Nifelheim send to the elysian fields of the death-kingdom, must, in order to get there, surmount Mt. Hver- gelmer, but there they .are scattered by the faithful watchman. Now in company with Thor, and now alone, Egil-Orvandel has made many remarkable journeys to Jotunheim. Next after Thor, he was the most formidable foe of the giants, and in connection with Heimdal he zealously watched their every movement. The myth in regard to him is fully discussed in the treatise on the lvalde-sons which forms a part of this work, and there the proofs will be presented for the identity of Orvandel and Egil. I simply desire to point out here, in order to present complete evidence later, that Y-drasii's northern root and the corresponding part of the lower world also had their defenders and watchmen, and 1 also wished to call attention to the manner in which the name Hcl is employed in the word Hclblotinn. We find it to be in harmony with the use of the same word in those passages of the poetic Edda which we have hitherto examined. 60. The "Word Hel in Skirnersmal. Description of Nifeliikl. The Mythic Meaning of Nar, NXir. The Hades- division of the Frost-giants and Spirits of Disease. In Skirnersmal (strophe 21) occurs the expression horfa ol snugga Heljar til. It is of importance to our theme to investigate and explain the connection in which it is found. The poem tells that Frey sat alone, silent and longing, ever since he had seen the giant Gymer's wonderfully beautiful daughter Gerd. He wasted with love for her ; but he said nothing, since be was convinced in advance that neither Asas nor Elves would ever consent to a union between him and her. But when the friend of his youth, who resided in Asgard, and in the poem is called Skirner, succeeded in getting him to confess the cause of his longing, it was, in Asgard, found necessary to do something to relieve it, and so Skirner was sent to the home of the giant to ask for the hand of Gerd on Frey's behalf. As bridal gifts he 19 290 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. took with him eleven golden apples and the ring Drawpnir. He received one of the best horses of Asgard to ride, and for his defence Frey's magnificent sword, " which fights of itself against the race of giants ". In the poem this sword receives the epithets Tams-vondr (str. 26) and Gambanteinn (str. 32). Tams-vondry means the " staff that subdues " ; Gambanteinn means the " rod of revenge" (see Nos. 105, 116). Both epithets are formed in accord- ance with the common poetic usage of describing swords by com- pound words of which the latter part is vondr or teinn. We find, as names for swords, bcnvondr, blodvondr, hjaltvondr, hridvondr, hvitvondr, mor&vcmdr, sdrvondr, benteinn, eggteinn, hwvatcinn, hjorteinn, hrccteinn, sdrteinn, valteinn, mistelteinn. Skirner rides over damp fells and the fields of giants, leaps, after a quarrel with the watchman of Gymer's citadel, over the fence, comes in to Gerd, is welcomed with ancient mead, and presents his errand of courtship, supported by the eleven golden apples. Gerd refuses both the apples and the object of the errand. Skirner then offers her the most precious treasure, the ring Draupnir, but in vain. Then he resorts to threats. He exhibits the sword so dangerous to her kinsmen ; with it he will cut off her head if she refuses her consent. Gerd answers that she is not to be frightened, and that she has a father who is not afraid to fight. Once more Skirner shows her the sword, which also may fell her father (ser pu pcnna mccki, mey, &c), and he threatens to strike her with the " subduing staff," so that her heart shall soften, but too late for her happiness, for a blow from the staff will remove her thither, where sons of men never more shall see her. Tamsvendi ec pic drep, enn ec pic temia mun, mer ! at minom munom ; par skaltu ganga er pic gumna synir sipan eva se (str. 26). This is the former threat of death repeated in another form. The former did not frighten her. But that which now overwhelms her with dismay is the description Skirner gives her of the lot that awaits her in the realm of death, whither she is destined — she, the giant maid, if she dies by the avenging wrath of the gods {gamban- TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 291 reidi). She shall then conic to that region which is situated below the Na-gates [fyrndgrindr nepan — str. 35), and which is inhabited by frost-giants who, as we shall find, do not deserve the name mannasynir, even though the word menu be taken in its most common sense, and made to embrace giants of the masculine kind. This phrase////- ndgrmdr nepan must have been a stereotype! eschatological term applied to a particular division, a particular realm in the lower world. In Lokasenna (str. 63), Thor says to Luke, after the latter has emptied his phials of rash insults upon the gods, that if he does not hold his tongue the hammer Mjolner shall send him to Hel fyr ndgrmdr ncfcan. Hel is here used in its widest sense, and this is limited by the addition of the words " below the Na-gates," so as to refer to a particular division of the lower world. As we find by the application of the phrase to Loke, this division is of such a character that it is intended to receive the foes of the Asas and the insulters of the gods. The word Nagrind, which is always used in the plural, and accordingly refers to more than one gate of the kind, has as its first part ndr (pi. ndir), which means corpse, dead body. Thus Na-gates means Corpse-gates. The name must seem strange, for it is not dead bodies, but souls, released from their bodies left on earth, which descend to the kingdom of death and get their various abodes there. How far our heathen ancestors had a more or less material conception of the soul is a question which it is not necessary to discuss here (see on this point No. 95). Howsoever they may have regarded it, the very existence of a Hades in their mythology demonstrates that they believed that a conscious and sentient element in man was in death separated from the body with which it had been united in life, and went down to the lower world. That the body from which this conscious, sentient element fled was not removed to Hades, but went in this upper earth to its disintegration, whether it was burnt or buried in a mound or sunk to the bottom of the sea, this our heathen ancestors knew just as well as we know it. The people of the stone-age already knew this. The phrase Na-gates does not stand alone in our mythological eschatology. One of the abodes of torture lying within the Xa- gates is called Nastrands (Ndstrandir), and is described in Voluspa as tilled with terrors. And the victims, which Nidhog, tin- winged 292 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. demon of the lower world, there sucks, are called ndir framgenga, " the corpses of those departed ". It is manifest that the word ndr thus used cannot have its com- mon meaning, but must be used in a special mythological sense, which had its justification and its explanation in the heathen doctrine in regard to the lower world. It not unfrequently happens that law-books preserve ancient significations of words not found elsewhere in literature. The Icelandic law-book Gragas (ii. 185) enumerates four categories within which the word ndr is applicable to a person yet living. Gallows-rwfcr can be called, even while living, the person who is hung ; grave-ndr, the person placed in a grave ; skevry-ndr or rock-ndr may, while yet alive, he be called who has been exposed to die on a skerry or rock. Here the word ndr is accordingly applied to persons who are conscious and capable of suffering, but on the supposition that they are such persons as have been con- demned to a punishment which is not to cease so long as they are sensitive to it. And this is the idea on the basis of which the word ndir is mythologically applied to the damned and tortured beings in the lower world. If we now take into account that our ancestors believed in a second death, in a slaying of souls in Hades, then we find that this same use of the word in question, which at first sight could not but seem strange, is a consistent development of the idea that those banished from Hel's realms of bliss die a second time, when they are transferred across the border to Nifelhel and the world of torture. When they are overtaken by this second death they are for the second time ndir. And, as this occurs at the gates of Nifelhel, it was perfectly proper to call the gates ndgrindr. We may imagine that it is terror, despair, or rage which, at the sight of the Na-gates, severs the bond between the damned spirit and his Hades-body, and that the former is anxious to soar away from its terrible destination. But however this may be, the avenging powers have runes, which capture the fugitive, put chains on his Hades-body, and force him to feel with it. The Sun-song, a Christian song standing on the scarcely crossed border of heathen- dom, speaks of damned ones whose breasts were risted (carved) with bloody runes, and Havamal of runes which restore conscious- TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 293 ness to ndir. Such runes are known by Odin. If he sees in a tree a gallows-TW&r {virgil-ndr), then he can rist runes so that the body comes down to him and talks with him (see No. 70). Ef ec sc a trc uppi rtifn rin/i/n/i, sva ec rist oc i runomfdc, at sa gengr gumi oc mcelir vij> mic (Havamal, 157). Some of the subterranean ndir have the power of motion, and are doomed to wade in " heavy streams ". Among them are perjurers, murderers, and adulterers (Voluspa, 38). Among these streams is Vadgelmer, in which they who have slandered others find their far-reaching retribution (SigurtJarkv., ii. 4). Other ndir have the peculiarity which their appellation suggests, and receive quiet and immovable, stretched on iron benches, their punishment (see below). Saxo, who had more elaborate descriptions of the Hades of heathendom than those which have been handed down to our time, translated or reproduced in his accounts of Hadding's and Gorm's journeys in the lower world the word ndir with exsanguia simulacra (p. 426). That place after death with which Skirner threatens the stubborn Gerd is also situated within the Na-gates, but still it has another character than Nastrands and the other abodes of torture, which are situated below Nifelhel. It would also have been un- reasonable to threaten a person who rejects a marriage proposal with those punishments which overtake criminals and nithings. The Hades division, which skirner describes as awaiting the giant-daughter, is a subterranean Jotunheim, inhabited by deceased ancestors and kinsmen of Gerd. Mythology has given to the giants as well as to men a life hereafter. As a matter of fact, mythology never destroys life. The horse which was cremated with its master on his funeral pyre, and was buried with him in his grave-mound, afterwards brings the hero down to Hel. When the giant who built frhe Asgard wall got into conflict with the gods, Thor's hammer sent him "down below Nifelhel" (niffr undir Nijlhd — Gylfag., ch. 43). King Gorm saw in the lower world the giant Geirrod and both his 294 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. daughters. According to Grimnersmal (str. 31), frost-giants dwell under one of Ygdrasil's roots — consequently in the lower world ; and Forspjallsljod says that hags (giantesses) and thurses (giants), ndir, dwarfs, and swarthy elves go to sleep under the world-tree's farthest root on the north border of Jormungrund* (the lower world), when Dag on a chariot sparkling with precious stones leaves the lower world, and when Nat after her journey on the heavens has returned to her home (str. 24, 28). It is therefore quite in order if we, in Skimer's description of the realm which after death awaits the giant-daughter offending the gods, rediscover that part of the lower world to which the drowned primeval ancestors of the giant-maid were relegated when Bor's sons opened the veins of Ymer's throat (Sonatorr., str. 3) and then let the billows of the ocean wash clean the rocky ground of earth, before they raised the latter from the sea and there created the inhabitable Midgard. The frost-giants (rimethurses) are the primeval giants (gigantes) of the Teutonic mythology, so called because they sprang from the frost-being Ymer, whose feet by contact with each other begat their progenitor, the " strange -headed " monster Thrudgelmer (Vafthv., 29, 33). Their original home in chaos was Nifelheim. From the Hvergelmer fountain there the Elivagar rivers flowed to the north and became hoar-frost and ice, which, melted by warmth from the south, were changed into drops of venom, which again became Ymer, called by the giants Aurgelmer (Vafthr., 31 ; Gylfag.. 5). Thrudgelmer begat Bergelmer countless winters before th<* earth was made (Vafthr., 29 ; Gylf., ch. 7). Those members of the giant race living in Jotunheim on the surface of the earth, whose memory goes farthest back in time, can remember Bergelmer when he a var lu&r um lagicfr. At least Vafthrudner is able to do this (Vafthr., 35). When the original giants had to abandon the fields populated by Bor's sons (Voluspa, 4), they received an abode corresponding as nearly as possible to their first home, and, as it seems, identical with it, excepting that Nifelheim now, instead of being a part of chaos, is an integral part of the cosmic universe, and the ex- * With this name of the lower world compare Gudmund-Mimer's abode d Ordnd (see No. 45), and Helligrund (Heliand., 44, 22), and neowla grund fCaedmon, 207, 1, 270, 16). TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 295 treme north of its Hades. As a Hades-realm it is also called Nifelhel. In the subterranean land with which Skirner threatens Gerd, and which he paints for her in appalling colours, he mentions three kinds of beings — (1) frost-giants, the ancient race of giants; (2) demons ; (3) giants of the later race. The frost-giants occupy together one abode, which, judging from its epithet, hall (holl), is the largest and most important there ; while these members of the younger giant clan who are there, dwell in single scattered abodes, called gards.* Gerd is also there to have a separate abode (str. 28). Two frost-giants are mentioned by name, which shows that they are representatives of their clan. One is named Bimgrimner (Hrimgrimnir — str. 35), the other Rimner (Hrimnir — str. 28). Grimner is one of Odin's many surnames (Grimnersmal, 47, and several other places ; cp. Egilsson's Lex. Poet.). Rimgrinmer means the same as if Odin had said Rim-Odin, for Odin's many epithets could without hesitation be used by the poets in paraphrases, even when these referred to a giant. But the name Odin was too sacred for such a purpose. Upon the whole the skalds seem piously to have abstained from using that name in paraphrases, even when the latter referred to celebrated princes and heroes. Glum Geirason is the first known exception to the rule. He calls a king Mdlm- Ocfinn. The above epithet places Rimgrinmer in the same relation to the frost-giants as Odin-Grimner sustains to the asas : it charac- terises him as the race-chief and clan-head of the former, and in this respect gives him the same place as Thrudgelmer occupies in Vafthrudnersmal. Ymer cannot be regarded as the special clan- chief of the frost-giants, since he is also the progenitor of other classes of beings (see Vafthr., 33, and Aroluspa, 9 ; cp. Gylfag., ch. 14). But they have other points of resemblance. Thrudgelmer is " strange-headed " in Vaitlmidnersmal ; Rimgrinmer is " three- headed" in Skirnersmal (str. 31 ; cp. with str. 35). Thus we have in one poem a " strange-headed " Thrudgelmer as progenitor of the frost-giants; in the other poem a "three-headed" Rimgrinmer as progenitor of the same frost-giants. The "strange-headed" giant of the former poem, which is a somewhat indefinite or obscure ♦Compare the phrase iotna gaurjmm i (str. 30, 3) with til hHmpvna hollar (30, 4). 296 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. phrase, thus finds in " three-headed " of the latter poem its further definition. To this is to be added a power which is possessed both by Thrudgelmer and by Eimgrimne?, and also a weakness for which both Thrudgelmer and Eimgrimner are blamed. Thrudgelmer's father begat children without possessing gygjar gaman (Vafthr., 32). That Thrudgelmer inherited this power from his strange origin and handed it down to the clan of frost-giants, and that he also inherited the inability to provide for the perpetuation of the race in any other way, is evident from Allvismal, str. 2. If we make a careful exa- mination, we find that Skirnersmal presupposes this same positive and negative quality in Eimgrimner, and consequently Thrudgelmer and Eimgrimner must be identical. Gerd, who tries to reject the love of the fair and blithe Vana-god, will, according to Skirner's threats, be punished therefor in the lower world with the complete loss of all that is called love, ten- derness, and sympathy. Skirner says that she either must live alone and without a husband in the lower world, or else vegetate in a useless cohabitation (nam) with the three-headed giant (str. 31). The threat is gradually emphasised to the effect that she shall be possessed by Eimgrimner, and this threat is made immediately after the solemn conjuration (str. 34) in which Skirner invokes the inhabitants of Nifelhel and also of the regions of bliss, as witnesses, that she shall never gladden or be gladdened by a man in the physical sense of this word. Hear, ye giants, Heyri iotnar, Hear, frost-giants, heyri hrimthursar, Ye sons of Suttung — synir Suttunga, Nay, thou race of the Asa-god !* — sfcUJir dslifiar how I forbid, live ec fyr by&, how I banish hve ec fyrir banna man's gladness from the maid, manna glaum mani man's enjoyment from the maid ! manna nyt mani. Eimgrimner is the giant's name Hrimgrimner heiter purs, who shall possess thee er Jyic hafa seal below the Na-gates. fyr nagrindr necfan. * With race of the Asa-god a&litSar there can hardly be meant others than the dsmegir gathered in the lower world around Balder. This is the only- place where the word dsliSar occurs. TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 297 More plainly, it seems to me, Skirner in speaking to Gerd could not have expressed the negative quality of Rimgrimner in question. Thor also expresses himself clearly on the same sub- ject when he meets the dwarf Alvia carrying borne a maid over whom Thor has the right of marriage. Thor says scornfully that he thinks he discovers in Alvis something which reminds him of the nature of thurses, although Alvis is a dwarf and the thurses are giants, and he further defines wherein this similarity consists : pwrsa lid />icci mer d J?cr vera; erat jju I ill brudiir borinn: "Thurs' likeness you seem to me to have; you were not born to have a bride ". So far as the positive quality is concerned it is evident from the fact that Rimgrimner is the progenitor of the frost-giants. Descended to Nifelhel, Gerd must not count on a shadow of friendship and sympathy from her kinsmen there. It would be best for her to confine herself in the solitary abode which there awaits her, for if she but looks out of the gate, staring gazes shall meet her from II miner and all the others down there ; and she shall there be looked upon with more hatred than Heimdal, the watch- man of the gods, who is the wise, always vigilant foe of the rime- thurses and giants. But whether she is at home or abroad, demons and tormenting spirits shall never leave her in peace. She shall be bowed to the earth by tramar (evil witches). Morn (a Teutonic Eumeuides, the agony of the soul personified) shall fill her with his being. The spirits of sickness — such also dwell there; they once took an oath not to harm Balder (Gylf., ch. 50) — shall increase her woe and the flood of her tears. Tope (insanity), Ope (hysteria), Tjausul and Othale (constant restlessness), shall not leave her in peace. These spirits are also counted as belonging to the race of thurses, and hence it is said in the rune-song that jrwrs veldr hvenna kvillu, "thurs causes sickness of women". In this connection it should be remembered that the daughter of Loke, the ruler of Xifelhel, is also the queen of diseases. Gerd's food shall be more loathsome to her than the poisonous serpent is to man, ami her drink shall be the most disgusting. Miserable she shall crawl among the homes of the Hades giants, and up to a mountain top, where Are, a subterranean eagle-demon has his perch (doubtless the same Are which, according to Voluspa (47), is to join with his screeches in liymer's shield-song, when the Midgard-serpent 298 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. writhes in giant-rage, and the ship of death, Naglfar, gets loose). Up there she shall sit early in the morning, and constantly turn her face in the same direction — in the direction where Hel is situated, that is, south over Mt. Hvergelmer, toward the subter- ranean regions of bliss. Toward Hel she shall long to come in vain : Ara Jnifo d scaltu dr sitja horfa ok snugga Heljar til. " On Are's perch thou shalt early sit, turn toward Hel, and long to get to Hel." By the phrase snugga Heljar til, the skald has meant some- thing far more concrete than to " long for death ". Gerd is here supposed to be dead, and within the Na-gates. To long for death, she does not need to crawl up to " Are's perch ". She must subject herself to these nightly exertions, so that when it dawns in the foggy Nifelhel, she may get a glimpse of that land of bliss to which she may never come ; she who rejected a higher happi- ness— that of being with the gods and possessing Frey's love. I have been somewhat elaborate in the presentation of this description in Skirnersmal, which has not hitherto been understood. I have done so, because it is the only evidence left to us of how life was conceived in the fore-court of the regions of torture, Nifelhel, the land situated below Ygrdrasil's northern root, beyond and below the mountain, where the root is watered by Hvergelmer. It is plain that the author of Skirnersmal, like that of Vafthrudnersmal, Grimnersmal, Vegtamskvida, and Thorsdrapa (as we have already seen), has used the word Hel in the sense of a place of bliss in the lower world. It is also evident that with the root under which the frost-giant dwells impossibly can be meant, as supposed by Gylfaginning, that one under which Mimer's glorious fountain, and Mimer's grove, and all his treasures stored for a future world, are situated. 61. The Word Hel in Voluspa. Who the Inhabitants of Hel are. We now pass to Voluspa, 40 (Hauk's Codex), where the word Helvegir occurs. TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 299 One of the signs that Ragnarok and the fall of the world are at hand, is that the mighty ash Ygdrasil trembles, and that a fettered giant-monster thereby gets loose from its chains. Which this monster is, whether it is Garni, bound above the Gnipa cave, or some other, we will not now discuss. The astonishment and confusion caused by these events among all the beings of the world, are described in the poem with but few words, but they are sufficient for the purpose, and well calculated to make a deep impression upon the hearers. Terror is the predominating feeling in those beings which are not chosen to take part in the impending conflict. They, on the other hand, for whom the quaking of Ygdrasil is the signal of battle for life or death, either arm themselves amid a terrible war-cry for the battle (the giants, str. 41), or they assemble to hold the last council (the Asas), and then rush to arms. Two classes of beings are mentioned as seized by terror — the dwarfs, who stood breathless outside of their stone-doors, and those beings which are d Helvegum. Helvegir may mean the paths or ways in Hel: there are many paths, just as there are many gates and many rivers. Helvegir may also mean the regions, districts in Hel (cp. Austrvegr, Suffrvegr, Norvegr ; and Allvism., 10, according to which the Vans call the earth vegir, ways). The author may have used the word in either of these senses or in both, for in this case it amounts to the same. At all events it is stated that the inhabitants in Hel are terrified when Ygdrasil quakes and the unnamed giant-monster gets loose. Shdfr Yggdrasils Quakes Ygdrasil's askr standandi, Ash standing, ymr hid alldna tre The old tree trembles, ( n n iotunn losnar ; The giant gets loose ; hrcedaz allir All are frightened a Helvegum On the Helways (in Hel's regions) a&r Surtar Jyann ere Surfs spirit (or kinsman) scvi qfgleypir. swallows him (namely, the giant). Surfs spirit, or kinsman (scvi, sefi may mean either), is, as haa also hitherto been supposed, the fire. The final episode in the conflict on Vigrid's plain is that the Muspel-flames destroy the last remnant of the contending giants. The terror which, when the 300 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. world-tree quaked and the unnamed giant got loose, took possession of the inhabitants of Hel continues so long as the conflict is un- decided. Valfather falls, Frey and Thor likewise; no one can know who is to be victorious. But the terror ceases when on the one hand the liberated giant-monster is destroyed, and on the other hand Vidar and Vale, Mode and Magne, survive the conflict and survive the flames, which do not penetrate to Balder and Hodr and their proteges in Hel. The word Jxmn (him), which occurs in the seventh line of the strophe (in the last of the trans- lation) can impossibly refer to any other than the giant mentioned in the fourth line {iotunn). There are in the strophe only two masculine words to which the masculine Jyann can be referred — iotunn and Yggdrasils askr. Iotunn, which stands nearest to pann, thus has the preference ; and as we have seen that the world-tree falls by neither fire nor edge (Fjolsv., 20), and as it, in fact, survives the conflagration of Surt, then Jjann must naturally be referred to the iotunn. Here Voluspa has furnished us with evidence in regard to the position of Hel's inhabitants towards the contending parties in Eagnarok. They who are frightened when a giant-monster — a. most dangerous one, as it hitherto had been chained — gets free from its fetters, and they whose fright is allayed when the monster is destroyed in the conflagration of the world, such beings can impossibly follow this monster and its fellow warriors with their good wishes. Their hearts are on the side of the good powers, which are friendly to mankind. But they do not take an active part in their behalf; they take no part whatever in the conflict. This is manifest from the fact that their fright does not cease before the conflict is ended. Now we know that among; the inhabi- tants in Hel are the dsmegir Lif and Leifthraser and their offspring, and that they are not herfiarfir ; they are not to be employed in war, since their very destiny forbids their taking an active part in the events of this period of the world (see No. 53). But the text does not permit us to think of them alone when we are to deter- mine who the beings d Helvegum are. For the text says that all, who are d Helvegum, are alarmed until the conflict is happily ended. What the interpreters of this much abused passage have failed to see, the seeress in Voluspa has not forgotten, that, namely, during the lapse of countless thousands of years, innumerable TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 301 children and women, and men who never wielded the sword, hnve descended to the kingdom of death and received dwellings in Hel, and that Hel — in the limited local sense which the word hitherto has appeared to have in the songs of the gods — does not contain war- like inhabitants. Those who have fallen on the battle-field come, indeed, as shall he shown later, to Hel, but not to remain there; they continue their journey to Asgard, for Odin chooses one half of those slain on the battlefield for his dwelling, and Frevja the other half (( Jrimnersmal, 14). The chosen accordingly have Asgard as their place of destination, which they reach in case they are not found guilty by a sentence which neutralises the force and effect of the previous choice (see below), and sends them to die the second death on crossing the boundary to Nifelhel. Warriors who have not fallen on the battlefield are as much entitled to Asgard as those fallen by the sword, provided they as heroes have acquired fame and honour. It might, of course, happen to the greatest general and the most distinguished hero, the conqueror in hundreds of battles, that he might die from sickness or an accident, while, on the other hand, it might be that a man who never wielded a sword in earnest might fall on the field of battle before he had given a blow. That the mythology should make the latter entitled to Asgard, but not the former, is an absurdity as void of support in the records — on the contrary, these give the opposite testimony — as it is of sound sense. The election contained for the chosen ones no exclusive privilege. It did not even imply additional favour to one who, independently of the election, could count on a place among the einherjes. The election made the person going to battle J'c'ujr, which was not a favour, nor could it be considered the opposite. It might play a royal crown from the head of the chosen one to that of his enemy, and this could not well be regarded as a kindness. But for the electing powers of Asgard themselves the election implied a privilege. The dispensation of life and death regularly belonged to the norns ; but the election partly supplied the gods with an exception to this rule, and partly it left to Odin the right to determine the fortunes and issues of battles. The question of the relation between the power of the gods and that of fate — a question which seemed to the Greeks and Romans dangerous to meddle with and well-nigh impossible to dispose of — was partly solved by the Teutonic mythology by the naive and simple means 302 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. of dividing the dispensation of life and death between the divinity and fate, which, of course, did not hinder that fate always stood as the dark, inscrutable power in the background of all events. (On election see further, No. 66.) It follows that in Hel's regions of bliss there remained none that were warriors by profession. Those among them who were not guilty of any of the sins which the Asa-doctrine stamped as sins unto death passed through Hel to Asgard, the others through Hel to Mfelhel. All the inhabitants on Hel's elysian fields accordingly are the dsmegir, and the women, children, and the agents of the peaceful arts who have died during countless centuries, and who, unused to the sword, have no place in the ranks of the einherjes, and therefore with the anxiety of those waiting abide the issue of the conflict. Such is the background and contents of the Voluspa strophe. This would long since have been understood, had not the doctrine constructed by Gylfaginning in regard to the lower world, with Troy as the starting-point, bewildered the judgment. 62. The Word Hel in Allvismal. The Classes of Beings in Hel. In Allvismal occurs the phrases : those i helio and halir. The premise of the poem is that such objects as earth, heaven, moon, sun, night, wind, fire, &c, are expressed in six different ways, and that each one of these ways of expression is, with the exclusion of the others, applicable within one or two of the classes of beings found in the world. For example, Heaven is called — Himinn among men, Lyrner among gods, Vindofner among Vans, Uppheim among giants. Elves say Fager-tak (Fair-roof), dwarfs Drypsal (dropping-hall) (str. 12). In this manner thirteen objects are mentioned, each one with its six names. In all of the thirteen cases man has a way of his own of naming the objects. Likewise the giants. No other class of beings has any of the thirteen appellations in common with TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 303 them. On the other hand, the Asas and Vans have the same name for two objects (moon and sun); elves and dwarfs have names in common for no less than six objects (cloud, wind, fire, tree, seed, mead); the dwarfs and the inhabitants of the lower world for three (heaven, sea, and calm). Nine times it is stated how those in the lower world express themselves. In six of these nine cases Allvismal refers to the inhabitants of the lower world by the general expression " those in Hel " ; in three cases the poem lets " those in Hel " be represented by some one of those classes of beings that reside in Hel. These three are wpregin (str. 10), dsasynir (str. 16), and halir (str. 28). The very name wpregin suggests that it refers to beings of a certain divine rank (the Vans are in Allvismal called ginnregin, str. 20, 30) that have their sphere of activity in the upper world. As they none the less dwell in the lower world, the appellation must have reference to beings which have their homes and abiding places in Hel when they are not occupied with their affairs in the world above. These beings are Nat, Dag, Mane, Sol. Asasynir has the same signification as dsmcgir. As this is the case, and as the dsmcgir dwell in the lower world and the dsasynir likewise, then they must be identical, unless we should be credu- lous enough to assume that there were in the lower world two categories of beings, both called sons of Asas. Halir, when the question is about the lower world, means the souls of the dead (Vafthr., 43 ; see above). From this we find that Allvismal employs the word Hel in such a manner that it embraces those regions where Nat and Dag, Mane and Sol, the living human inhabitants of Mimer's grove, and the souls of departed human beings dwell. Among the last-named are included also souls of the damned, which are found in the abodes of torture below Nifelhel, and it is within the limits of possibility that the author of the poem also had them in mind, though there is not much probability that he should conceive them as having a nomenclature in common with gods, dsmegvr, and tin' happy departed. At all events, he has particularly — and probably exclusively — had in his mind the regions of bliss when he used the word Hel, in which case he has conformed in the use of the word to Voluspa, Vafthrudnersmal, Grimnersmal, Skirneremal, Vegtamskvida, and Thorsdrapa. 304 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 63. The Word Hel in other Passages. The Result of the In- vestigation for the Cosmography and for the Meaning of the Word Hel. Hel in a Local Sense the Kingdom of Death, particularly its Realms of Bliss. Hel in a Personal Sense Identical with the Goddess of Fate and Death, that is, Urd. While a terrible winter is raging, the gods, according to For- spjallsljod,* send messengers, with Heimdal as chief, down to a lower-world goddess (dis), who is designated as Gjoll's (the lower world river's) Sunna (Sol, sun) and as the distributor of the divine liquids (str. 9, 11) to beseech her to explain to them the mystery of creation, the beginning of heaven, of Hel, and of the world, life and death, if she is able (hlyrnis, heliar, helms of vissi, drtijy, cefi, cddrtila). The messengers get only tears as an answer. The poem divides the universe into three great divisions : heaven, Hel, and the part lying between Hel and heaven, the world inhabited by mortals. Thus Hel is here used in its general sense, and refers to the whole lower world. But here, as wherever Hel has this general signification, it appears that the idea of regions of punish- ment is not thought of, but is kept in the background by the definite antithesis in which the word Hel, used in its more com- mon and special sense of the subterranean regions of bliss, stands to Nifelhel and the regions subject to it. It must be admitted that what the anxious gods wish to learn from the wise goddess of the lower world must, so far as their desire to know and their fears concern the fate of Hel, refer particularly to the regions where Urd's and Mimer's holy wells are situated, for if the latter, which water the world-tree, pass away, it would mean nothing less than the end of the world. That the author should make the gods anxious concerning Loke's daughter, whom they had hurled into the deep abysses of Nifelhel, and that he should make the wise god- dess by Gjoll weep bitter tears over the future of the sister of the Fenris-wolf, is possible in the sense that it cannot be refuted by * Of the age and genuineness of Forspjallsljod I propose to publish a separate treatise. TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. Ml I." any definite words of the old records ; but we may be permitted to regard it as highly improbable. Among the passages in which the word llel occurs in the poetic Edda's mythological songs we have yet to mention Ilar- bardsljod (str. 27), where the expression drepa i Hel is employed in the same abstract manner as the Swedes use the expression " at si a ihjiil," which means simply "to kill" (it is Thor who threatens to kill the insulting Harbard) ; and also Voluspa (str. 42), Fjolls- vinnsmal str. 25), and Grimnersmal (str. 31). Voluspa (str. 42), speaks of Goldcomb, the cock which, with its crowing, wakes those who sleep in Herfather's abode, and of a sooty-red cock which crows under the earth near Hel's halls, In Fjollsvinnsmal (str. 25), Svipdag asks with what weapon one might be able to bring down to Hel's home (a Heljar sjot) that golden cock Vidofner, which sits in Mimer's tree (the world-tree), and doubtless is identical with Goldcomb. That Vidofner has done nothing for which he deserves to be punished in the home of Loke's daughter may be regarded as probable. Hel is here used to designate the kingdom of death in general, and all that Svipdag seems to mean is that Vidofner, in case such a weapon could be found, might be transferred to his kinsman, the sooty-red cock which crows below the earth. Saxo also speaks of a cock which is found in Hades, and is with the goddess who has the cow bane Btalks when she shows Hadding the flower-meadows of the lower world, the Elysian fields of those fallen by the sword, and the citadel within which death does not seem able to enter (see No. 47). Thus there is at least one cock in the lower world's realm of bliss. That there should be one also in Nifelhel and in the abode of Loke's daughter is nowhere mentioned, and is hardly credible. since the cock, according to an ancient and wide-spread Aryan belief, is a sacred bird, which is the special foe of demons and the powers of darkness. According to Swedish popular belief, even of the present time, the crowing of the cock puts ghosts and spirits to flight ; and a similar idea is found in Avesta (Vendidad, IS), where, in str. 15, Ahuramazda himself translates the morning of the cock with the following words : " IJise, ye men, and praise the justice which is the most perfect ! Behold the demons are put to flight!" Avesta is naively out of patience with thoughtless persons who call this sacred bird (Parodarseh) by the so little 20 306 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. respect-inspiring name " Cockadoodledoo " (Kalirkatas). The idea of the sacredness of the cock and its hostility to demons was also found among the Aryans of South Europe and survived the introduction of Christianity. Aurelius Prudentius wrote a Hymnus ad galli cantum, and the cock has as a token of Christian vigilance received the same place on the church spires as formerly on the world-tree. Nor have the May-poles forgotten him. But in the North the poets and the popular language have made the red cock a symbol of tire. Fire has two characters — it is sacred, purifying, and benefi- cent, when it is handled carefully and for lawful purposes. In the opposite case it is destructive. With the exception of this special instance, nothing but good is reported of the cocks of mythology and poetry. Grimnersmal (str. 31) is remarkable from two points of view. It contains information — brief and scant, it is true, but nevertheless valuable — in regard to Ygdrasil's three roots, and it speaks of Hel in an unmistakable, distinctly personal sense. In regard to the roots of the world-tree and their position, our investigation so far, regardless of Grimnersmal (str. 31), has pro- duced the following result : Ygdrasil has a northern root. This stands over the vast reservoir Hvergelmer and spreads over Nifelhel, situated north of Hvergelmer and inhabited by frost-giants. There nine regions of punishment are situated, among them Nastrands. Ygdrasil's second root is watered by Mimer's fountain and spreads over the land where Mimer's fountain and grove are located. In Mimer's grove dwell those living (not dead) beings called Asmcgir and Asasynir, Lif and Leifthraser and their offspring, whose destiny it is to people the regenerated earth. Ygdrasil's third root stands over Urd's fountain and the subterranean thingstead of the gods. The lower world consists of two chief divisions : Nifelhel (with the regions thereto belonging) and Hel, — Nifelhel situated north of the Hvergelmer mountain, and Hel south of it. Accordingly both the land where Mimer's well and grove are situated and the land where Urd's fountain is found are within the domain Hel. In regard to the zones or climates, in which the roots are located, they have been conceived as having a southern and northern. "We have alreadv shown that the root over Hvergelmer is the TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 307 northern one. That the root over Urd'a fountain lias been conceived as the southern one is manifest from the following circumstances. Eilif Gudrunson, who was converted to Christianity — the same .skald who wrote the purely heathen Thorsdrapa — says in one of his poems, written after his conversion, that Christ sits sunnr at Urddrbrunni, in the south near I'rd's fountain, an expression which he could not have used unless his hearers had retained from the faith of their childhood the idea that Urd's fountain was situated smith of the other fountains. Forspjallsljod puts upon Urd's foun- tain the task of protecting the world-tree against tin- devastating cold during the terrible winter which the poem describes. OJfhra rir skyldi Urpar geyma mcettfc at veria mestum porra. — " Urd's Odreirer (mead-fountain) proved not to retain strength enough to protect against the terrible cold." This idea shows that the sap which Ysdrasil's southern root drew from Urd's fountain was thought to lie warmer than the saps of the other wells. As, accordingly, the root over Urd's well was the southern, and that over Hvergelmer and the frost-giants the northern, it follows that Mimer's well was conceived as situated between those two. The memory of this fact Gylfaginning has in its fashion preserved, where in chapter 15 it says that Mimer's fountain is situated where Ginungagap formerly was — that is, between the northern Nifelheim and the southern warmer region (Gylfaginning's " Muspelheim"). i irimnersmal (str. 31) says: priar rcetr standa Three roots stand a pria vcga on three ways undan asci Yggdrasils; below Ygdrasil's ash: //ld Bigh German Wuirt The fact that the word is found in the dialects of several Teutonic branches indicates, or is thought by the linguists to indi- cate, that it belongs to the most ancient Teutonic times, when it probably had the form Vorthi. There can be no doubt that Urd also among other Teutonic •branches than the Scandinavian has had the meaning of goddess of fata Expressions handed down from the heathen time and preserved in Old English documents characterise Vyrd as tying the threads or weaving the web of fate (Cod. Ex., 355; Beowulf, 2420), and as the one wiio writes that which is to happen (Beowulf, 483G). Here the plural form is also employed, Vyrde, the urds, the norns, which demonstrates that she in England, as in the North, was conceived as having sisters or assistants. In the Old Low German poem " Heliand," Wurth's personality is equally plain. But at the Bame time as Vyrd, Wurth, was the goddess of fate, she was also that of death. In Beowulf (4831, 4453) we lind the parallel expressions : him vas Vyrd ungemetc neah : Urd was exceedingly near to him; vas dedd ungemete neah : death was exceedingly near. And in Heliand, 140,1'; 92,2: Thin Wurth is at handun: Urd is near ; Dad is at hendi : death is near. And there are also other expressions, as Thiu Wurth ndhida thus : Urd (death) then approached; Wurth ina benam: Urd (death) took him away (ep. J. Grimm, Deutsche Myth., i. 373). 310 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. Thus Urd, the goddess of fate, was, among the Teutonic branches in Germany and England, identical with death, conceived as a queen. So also in the North. The norus made laws and chose life and orlog (fate) for the children of time (Voluspa). The word orlog (Norn. PI. ; the original meaning seems to be wlagarne, that is, the original laws) frequently has a decided leaning to the idea of death (cp. Voluspa: Eh sd Baldri orlog fo/i/in). Hakon JaiTs orlog was that Kark cut his throat (Nj., 156). To receive the "judgment of the norns " was identical with being doomed to die (Yng., Heimskringla, ch. 52). 1'ate and death were in the idea and in usage so closely related, that they were blended into one personality in the mythology. The ruler of death was that one who could resolve death ; but the one who could deter- mine the length of life, and so also could resolve death, and the kind of death, was, of course, the goddess of fate. They must blend into one. In the ancient Norse documents we also find the name Urd used to designate death, just as in Heliand and Beowulf, and this, too, in such a manner that Urd's personal character is not emphasised. Ynglingatal (Heimskr., ch. 44) calls Ingjald's manner of death his Urffr, and to determine death for anyone was to drag a Urffr at him. Far down in the Christian centuries the memory survived that Urd was the goddess of the realm of death and of death. When a bright spot, which was called Urd's moon, appeared on the wall, it meant the breaking out of an epidemic (Eyrbyggia Saga, 270). Even as late as the year 1237 Urd is supposed to have revealed herself, the night before Christmas, to Snobjorn to predict a bloody conflict, and she then sang a song in which she said that she went mournfully to the contest to choose a man for death. Saxo trans- lates Urffr or Hel with " Proserpina " (Hist., i. 43). 64. Urd's Maid - servants : (1) Maid -servants of Life — Norns, Dises of Birth, Hamixgjes, Giptes, Fylgjes; (2) Maid- servants of Death — Valkyries, the Psycho-messengers of Diseases and Accidents. As those beings for whom Urd determines birth, position in life, and death, are countless, so her servants, who perform the TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 311 tasks commanded by her as queen, must also be innumerable. They belong to two large classes: the one class La active in her service in regard to life, tin' other in regard to death. Most intimately associated with her arc her two sisters. With her they have the authority of judges. Compare Vbluspa, 19, 20, and tlu1 expressions iiomn tlomr, noma hoiSr. And they dwell with her under the world-tree, which stands for ever green over her gold-clad fountain. As maid-servants under Urd there are countless hamingjes (fylgjes) and giptes (also called gates, audnes, heilles). The hamingjes are fostered among beings of giant-race (who hardly can be others than the norns and Mimer). Three mighty rivers fall down into the world, in which they have their origin, and they come wise in their hearts, soaring over the waters to our upper world Vafthr., 48, 49). There every child of man is to have a hamingje as a companion and guardian spirit. The testimony of the Icelandic sagas of the middle ages in this regard are confirmed by phrases and forms of speech which have their root in heathen- dom. The hamingjes belong to that large circle of feminine beings which are called dises, and they seem to have been especially so styled. What Urd is on a grand scale as the guardian of the mighty Ygdrasil, this the hamingje is on a smaller scale when she protects the separate fruit produced on the world-tree and placed in her care. She does not appear to her favourite excepting per- haps m dreams or shortly before his death (the latter according to Helgakv. Hjorv. the prose; Njal, 62; Hallf, ch. 11; proofs from purely heathen records are wanting). In strophes which occur in Gisle Surson's saga, and which are attributed (though on doubtful grounds) to this heathen skald, the hero of the saga, but the origin of which (from a time when the details of the myth were still remembered) is fully confirmed by a careful criticism, it is mentioned how he stood between good and evil inspirations, and how the draumkona (dream-woman) of the good inspirations said to him in sleep: " lie not the first cause of a murder! excite not peaceful men against yourself ! — promise me this, thou charitable man ! Aid the blind, scorn not the lame, and insult not a Tyr robbed of his hand!" These are noble counsels, and that the hamingjes were noble beings was a belief preserved through the Christian centuries in Iceland, where, according to Vigfusson, the word fiamingja is 312 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. still used in the sense of Providence. They did not usually leave their favourite before death. But there are certain phrases pre- served in the spoken language which show that they could leave him before death. He who was abandoned by his hamingje and rymreynis pjdnar }>ri r noTdcv/rir Hlakkar, til hdsalar Heljar Tielgengnir, for dvelja. " Three of those who serve the tester of the valkyrie-din (the warlike Erik Blood-axe) will late return ; they have gone to the lower world, to Hel's high hall." The fallen ones were king's men and warriors. They were slain by weapons and fell at their posts of duty, one from a sudden, unexpected wound, the others in open conflict. According to the conception of the mythological text-books, these sword-slain men should have been conducted by valkyries through the air to Valhal. But the skald Egil, who as a heathen born about the year 904, and who as a contemporary of the sons of Harald Fairhair must have known the mythological views of his fellow-heathen believers 1 letter than the people of our time, assures us positively that these men from King Erik's body-guard, instead of going immediately to Valhal, went to the lower world and to Hel's high hall there. He certainly would not have said anything of the sort if those for whom he composed the strophe had not regarded this idea as both possible and correct. The question now is : Does this Egil's statement stand alone and is it in conflict with those other statements touching the same point which the ancient heathen records have preserved for us ' The answer is, that in these ancient records there is not found a single passage in conflict with Egil's idea, but that they all, mi the contrary, fully agree with his words, and that this harmony continues in the reports of the first Christian centuries in regard to this subject. 316 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. All the dead and also those fallen by the sword come first to Hel. Thence the sword-slain come to Asgard, if they have deserved this destiny. In Gisle Surson's saga (ch. 24) is mentioned the custom of binding Hel-shoes on the feet of the dead. Warriors in regard to whom there was no doubt that Valhal was their final destiny received Hel-shoes like all others, pat cr tidska at binda monnum helskd, scm menn, skulo d ganga till Valhallar. It would be impossible to explain this custom if it had not been believed that those who were chosen for the joys of Valhal were obliged, like all others, to travel a Hdvegum. Wherever this custom prevailed, Egil's view in regard to the fate which immediately awaited sword- fallen men was general. When Hermod betook himself to the lower world to find Balder he came, as we know, to the golden bridge across the river Gjoll. Urd's maid-servant, who watches the bridge, mentioned to him that the day before five fylhi of dead men had rode across the same bridge. Consequently all these dead are on horseback and they do not come separately or a few at a time, but in large troops called fylhi, an expression which, in the Icelandic literature, denotes larger or smaller divisions of an army — legions, cohorts, maniples or companies in battle array; and with fylhi the verb fylhfa, to form an army or a division of an army in line of battle, is most intimately connected. This indicates with sufficient clear- ness that the dead here in question are men who have fallen on the field of battle and are on their way to Hel, each one riding, in company with his fallen brothers in arms, with those who belonged to his own fylki. The account presupposes that men fallen by the sword, whose final destination is Asgard, first have to ride down to the lower world. Else we would not find these fylkes on a Hel- way galloping across a subterranean bridge, into the same realm as had received Balder and Nanna after death. It has already been pointed out that Bifrost is the only connecting link between Asgard and the lower regions of the universe. The air was regarded as an ether sea which the bridge spanned, and although the horses of mythology were able to swim in this sea, the solid connection was of the greatest importance. The gods used the bridge every day (Grimnismal, Gylfaginning). Frost- TKL'TONIC MVTIInl.nilV. 317 giants and mountain-giants arc anxious to get possession of it, for it is the key to Asgard. It therefore has its special watch- man in the keen-eyed and vigilant Heimdal. When in Ragnarok the gods ride to the last conflict they pass over Bifrost (Fafnersmal). The bridge does not Lead to Midgard. Its lower ends were not conceived as situated among mortal men. It stood outside and below the edge of the earth's crust both in the north and in tin- south. In the south it descended to Urd's fountain and to the thingstead of the gods in the lower world (see the accompanying drawing, intruded to make these facts intelligible). From this mythological topographical arrangement it follows of necessity that the valkyries at the head of the chosen slain must take their course through the lower world, by the way of Ord's fountain and the thingstead of the gods, if they are to ride on Bifrost bridge to Asgard, and not be obliged to betake themselves thither on swimming horses. A^fcrd Surtl D«p DaLts There are still two poems extant from the heathen time, which describe the reception of sword-fallen kings in Valhal. The one describes the reception of Erik Blood-axe, the other that of Hakon the Good. When King Erik, with five other kings and their attendants of fallen warriors, come riding up thither, the gods hear on their approach a mighty din, as if the foundations of Asgard trembled. All the benches of Valhal quake and tremble. What single proba- bility can we now conceive as to what the skald presupposed | Did he suppose that the chosen heroes came on horses that swim in the air, and that the movements of the horses in this element produced 318 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. a noise that made Valhal tremble ? Or that it is Bifrost which thunders under the hoofs of hundreds of horses, and quakes beneath their weight ? There is scarcely need of an answer to this alternative. Meanwhile the skald himself gives the answer. For the skald makes Brage say that from the din and quaking it might be presumed that it was Balder who was returning to the halls of the gods. Balder dwells in the lower world ; the connection between Asgard and the lower world is Bifrost : this connection is of such a nature that it quakes and trembles beneath the weight of horses and riders, and it is predicted in regard to Bifrost that in Eagnarok it shall break under the weight of the host of riders. Thus Brake's words show that it is Bifrost from which the noise is heard when Erik and his men ride up to Valhal. But to get to the southern end of Bifrost, Erik and his riders must have journeyed in Hel, across Gjoll, and past the thiugstead of the gods near Urd's well. Thus it is by this road that the psychopomps of the heroes conduct their favourites to their final destination. In his grand poem " Hakonarmal," Eyvind Skalclaspiller makes Odin send the valkyries Gandul and Skagul " to choose among the kings of Yngve's race some who are to come to Odin and abide in Valhal. It is not said by which road the two valkyries betake themselves to Midgard, but when they have arrived there they find that a battle is imminent between the Yngve descendants, Hakon the Good, and the sons of Erik. Hakon is just putting on his coat-of-mail, and immediately thereupon begins the brilliantly- described battle. The sons of Erik are put to flight, but the victor Hakon is wounded by an arrow, and after the end of the battle he sits on the battlefield, surrounded by his heroes, " with shields cut by swords and with byrnies pierced by arrows ". Gandul and Skagul, " maids on horseback, with wisdom in their countenances, with helmets on their heads, and with shields before them," are near the king. The latter hears that Gandul, " leaning on her spear," says to Skagul that the wound is to cause the king's death, and now a conversation begins between Hakon and Skagul, who confirms what Gandul has said, and does so with the following words : Riff a vit nth skulum, kvacFhin rika Skagul, TKUTnMC MYTHOLOGY. 319 gra na Jieima goSa Odhi ni segja, at a a urn n allvaldr Lou," d harm sjdlfan at sjd. ""We two (Gandul and Skagul) shall now, quoth the mighty Skagul, ride o'er green realms (orworlds) of (lie (jod* in order to say to I Min that now a great king is coming to see him." Here we get definite information in regard to which way the valkyries journey between Asgard and Midgard. The Gelds through which the road goes, and which are beaten by the hoot's of their horses, arc green realms of the gods (worlds, heimar . With these green realms Eyvind has not meant the blue ether. He distinguishes between blue and green. The sea he calls blue (bldhiar — see Heimskringla). "What he expressly states, and to which we must confine ourselves, is that, according to his cosmo- logical conception and that of his heathen fellow-believers, there were realms clothed in green and inhabited by divinities on the route the valkyries had to take when they from a battlefield in Midgard betook themselves back to Valhal and Asgard. But as valkyries and the elect ride on Bifrost up to Valhal, Bifrost, which goes down to Urd's well, must be the connecting link between the realms decked with green and Asgard. The grcenar heimar through which the valkyries have to pass are therefore the realms of the lower world. Among the realms or " worlds " which constituted the mvtho- logical universe, the realms of bliss in the lower world were those which might particularly be characterised as the green. Their groves and blooming meadows and fields of waving grain were never touched by decay or frost, and as such they were cherished by the popular fancy for centuries after the introduction of Christianity. The Low German language has also rescued the memory thereof in the expression grdni godes wang (HeL, 94, 24). That the green realms of the lower world are called realms of the gods is also proper, for they have contained and do contain many beings of a limber or lower divine rank. There dwells the divine mother Nat, worshipped by the Teutons ; there Thor's mother and her brother and sister Njord and Fulla are fostered ; there Balder, Banna, and Hoffr are to dwell until Ragnarok ; there helling, 320 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. Billing, Bind, Dag, Mane, and Sol, and all the clan of artists gathered around Mimer, they who " smithy " living beings, vegetation, and ornaments, have their halls ; there was born Odin's son Vale. Of the mythological divinities, only a small number were fostered in Asgard. When Gandul and Skagul at the head of sword-fallen men ride " o'er the green worlds of the gods," this agrees with the statement in the myth about Hermod's journey to Hel, that " fylkes " of dead riders gallop over the subterranean gold-bridge, on the other side of which glorious regions are situated, and with the statement in Vegtamskvida that Odin, when he had left Mfelhel behind him, came to a foldvcgr, a way over green plains, by which he reaches the hall that awaits Balder. In the heroic songs of the Elder Edda, and in other poems from the centuries immediately succeeding the introduction of Christianity, the memory survives that the heroes journey to the lower world. Sigurd Fafnersbane comes to Hel. Of one of Atle's brothers who fell by Gudrun's sword it is said, i Helju lion fiana hafffi (Atlam., 51). In the same poem, strophe 54, one of the Niflungs says of a sword-fallen foe that they had him lamcFan til Hcljar. The mythic tradition is supported by linguistic usage, which, in such phrases as herja i Hel, drepa i Hel, drepa til Hcljar, fcera til Hcljur, indicated that those fallen by the sword also had to descend to the realm of death. The memory of valkyries, subordinate to the goddess of fate and death, and belonging with her to the class of norns, continued to flourish in Christian times both among Anglo-Saxons and Scandinavians. Among the former, vdlcyrge, valcyrre (valkyrie) could be used to express the Latin parca, and in Beowulf occur phrases in which Hild and Gu& (the valkyries Hildr and Gunnr) perform the tasks of Vyrd. In Atlamal (28), the valkyries are changed into " dead women," inhabitants of the lower world, who came to choose the hero and invite him to their halls. The basis of the transformation is the recollection that the valkyries were not only in Odin's service, but also in that of the lower world goddess Urd (compare Atlamal, 16, where they are called norns), and that they as psychopomps conducted the chosen Heroes to Hel on their way to Asgard. TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 32] 66. The Choosing. The Middle-age Fable about "Risting with the Speak-Point". If death on the battlefield, or as the result of wounds received on the field of battle, had beeu regarded as an inevitable condition tor the admittance of the dead into Asgard, and for the honour of Bitting at Odin's table, then the choosing would under all circum- Btances have been regarded as a favour from < Idin. But this was by no means the ease, nor could it be so when regarded from a psycho- logical point of view (see above, No. 61). The poems mentioned above, "Eiriksmal" and "Hakonarmal/'give us examples of choosing from a standpoint quite different from that of favour. When one of the einherjes, Sigmund, learns from Odin that Erik Blood-axe has fallen and is expected in Valhal, he asks why Odin robbed Erik of victory and life, although he, Erik, possessed Odin's friend- ship. From Odin's answer to the question we learn that the skald did not wish to make Sigmund express any surprise that a king, whom Odin loves above cfher kings and heroes, has died in a lost instead of a won battle. What Sigmund emphasises is, that Odin did not rather take unto himself a less loved king than the so highly appreciated Erik, and permit the latter to conquer and live. Odin's answer is that he is hourly expecting Eagnarok, and that he therefore made haste to secure as soon as possible so valiant a hero as Erik among his einherjes. But Odin does not say that he feared that he might have to relinquish the hero for ever, in case the latter, not being chosen on this battlefield, should be snatched away by some other death than that by the sword. Hakonarmal gives us an example of a king who is chosen in a battle in which he is the victor. As conqueror the wounded Hakon remained on the battlefield ; still he looks upon the choosing as a disfavour. When he had learned from Gandul's words to Skagul that the number of the einherjes is to be increased with him, he blames the valkyries for dispensing to him this fate, and says he had deserved a better lot from the gods (vdrun /><> verSir gagas frd go&um). When he enters Valhal he has a keener reproach on his lips to the welcoming Odin: iJlACfigr mjdk J>yhkvr oss Odinn vera, sfdm ver han& ofTmgi. 21 322 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. Doubtless it was for our ancestors a glorious prospect to be permitted to come to Odin after death, and a person who saw inevitable death before his eyes might comfort himself with the thought of soon seeing " the benches of Balder's father decked for the feast" (Eagnar's death-song). But it is no less certain from all the evidences we have from the heathen time, that honourable life was preferred to honourable death, although between the wars there was a chance of death from sickness. Under these circum- stances, the mythical eschatology could not have made death from disease an insurmountable obstacle for warriors and heroes on their way to Valhal. In the ancient records there is not the faintest allusion to such an idea. It is too absurd to have existed. It would have robbed Valhal of many of Midgard's most brilliant heroes, and it would have demanded from faithful believers that they should prefer death even with defeat to victory and life, since the latter lot was coupled with the possibility of death from disease. With such a view no army goes to battle, and no warlike race endowed with normal instincts has ever entertained it and given it expression in their doctrine in regard to future life. The absurdity of the theory is so manifest that the mythologists who have entertained it have found it necessary to find some way of making it less inadmissible than it really is. They have sug- gested that Odin did not necessarily fail to get those heroes whom sickness and age threatened with a straw-death, nor did they need to relinquish the joys of Valhal, for there remained to them an expedient to which they under such circumstances resorted : they risted (marked, scratched) themselves with the spear-point {marka sik geirs-oddi). If there was such a custom, we may conceive it as springing from a sacredness attending a voluntary death as a sacrifice — a sacredness which in all ages has been more or less alluring to reli- gious minds. But all the descriptions we have from Latin records in regard to Teutonic customs, all our own ancient records from heathen times, all Northern and German heroic songs, are unani- mously and stubbornly silent about the existence of the supposed custom of " risting with the spear-point," although, if it ever existed, it would have been just such a thing as would on the one hand be noticed by strangers, and on the other hand be remembered, at least for a time, by the generations converted to Christianity. TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 323 But the well-informed persons interviewed by Tacitus, they who presented BO many characteristic traits of the Teutons, knew nothing of such a practice; otherwise they certainly would have mentioned it as something very remarkable and peculiar to the Teutons. None of the later classical Latin or middle age Latin records which have made contributions to our knowledge of the Teutons have a single word to say about it; nor the heroic poems. The Scandinavian records, and the more or less historical Bagas, tell of many heathen kings, chiefs, and warriors who have died on a bed of straw, but not of a single one who "risted himself with the spear-point". The fable about this " listing with the spear-point" has its origin in Ynglingasaga, ch. 10, where Odin, changed to a king in Svithiod, is said, when death was approaching, to have let market sik geirs-oddi. Out of this statement has been constructed a custom among kings and heroes of anticipating a straw-death by "risting with the spear-point," and this for the purpose of getting admittance to Valhal. Vigfusson (Dictionary) has already pointed out the fact that the author of Ynglingasaga had no other autho- rity for his statement than the passage in Havamal, where Odin relates that he wounded with a spear, hungering and thirsting, voluntarily inflicted on himself pain, which moved Bestla's brother to give him runes and a drink from the fountain of wisdom. The fable about the spear-point risting, and its purpose, is therefore quite unlike the source from which, through ignorance and random writing, it sprang. 67. The Psycho-messengers of those not Fallen by the Sword. Lore's Daughter (Pseudo-Hel in Gylfacixmng) Identical with Leikin. The psychopomps of those fallen by the sword are, as we have seen, stately dises, sitting high in the saddle, with helmet, shield, and spear. To those not destined to fall by the sword Urd Bends other maid-servants, who, like the former, may come on horseback, and who, as it appears, are of very different appearance, varying in accordance with the manner of death of those persmis whose depar- ture they attend. She who comes to those who sink beneath the weight of years has been conceived as a very benevolent dis, to 324 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. judge from the solitary passage where she is characterised, that is in Ynglingatal and in Ynglingasaga, ch. 49, where it is said of the aged and just king Halfdan Whiteleg, that he was taken hence by the woman, who is helpful to those bowed and stooping (hallvarps hlijinauma). The burden which Elli (age), Utgard-Loke's foster- mother (Gylfag., 47), puts on men, and which gradually gets too heavy for them to bear, is removed by this kind-hearted dis. Other psychopomps are of a terrible kind. The most of them belong to the spirits of disease dwelling in Nifelhel (see No. 60). King Vanlande is tortured to death by a being whose epithet, vitta vcdtr and trollhmd, shows that she belongs to the same group as Heidr, the prototype of witches, and who is contrasted with the valkyrie Hild by the appellation Ijdna licFs bdga Grimhildr (Yngl., ch. 16). The same vitta vcettr came to King Adils when his horse fell and he himself struck his head against a stone (Yngl., ch. 33). Two kings, who die on a bed of straw, are mentioned in Ynglinga- saga's Thjodolf-strophes (ch. 20 and 52) as visited by a being called in the one instance Loke's kinswoman (Loka mar), and in the other Hvedrung's kinswoman {HveSnnujs mar). That this Loke's kinswoman has no authority to determine life and death, but only carries out the dispensations of the liorns, is definitely stated in the Thjodolf-strophe (ch. 52), and also that her activity, as one who brings the invitation to the realm of death, dues not imply that the person invited is to be counted among the damned, although she herself, the kinswoman of Loke, the daughter of Loke, surely does not belong to the regions of bliss. 07c til pings firiffja jofri Jwedmcngs nicer or heimi baud', fid er Hdlfdan, s" er & Holti bjo noma ddms um notii haf&i. As all the dead, whether they are destined for Valhal or for Hel (in the sense of the subterranean realms of bliss), or for Nifel- hel, must first report themselves in Hel, their psychopomps, whether they dwell in Valhal, Hel, or Nifelhel, must do the same. TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 325 This arrangement ia necessary also from the point of view that the unhappy \\h<> "die from Hel into Nifelhel" (Grimnersmal) must have attendants who conduct them from the realms of bliss to the Na-gates, and thence to the realms of torture. Those dead from disease, who have the subterranean kinswoman of Loke as a guide, may be destined for the realms of bliss — then she delivers them there; or be destined for Nifelhel — then they die under her care and are brought by her through the Na-gates to the worlds of torture in Nifelhel. Far down in Christian times the participle leikinn was used in a manner which points to something mythical as the original reason for its application. In Biskupas. (i. 464) it is said of a man that he was leikinn by some magic being (flagd). Of another person who sought solitude and talked with himself, it is said in Eyrbyggja (270) that he was believed to be leikinn. Ynglingatal gives us the mythical explanation of this word. In its strophe about King Dyggve, who died from disease, this poem says (Yngling., ch. 20) that, as the lower world dis had chosen him, Loke's kinswoman came and made him leiMnn {Allvald Tngoa fijocfar Loka mar urn leikinn hefir). The person who be- came leikinn is accordingly visited by Loke's kinswoman, or, if others have had the same task to perform, by some being who resembled her, and who brought psychical or physical disease. In our mythical records there is mention made of a giantess whose very name, Lcikin, Lcikn, is immediately connected with that activity which Loke's kinswoman— and she too is a giantess — exercises when she makes a person leikinn. Of this personal Lcikin we get the following information in our old records : 1. She is, as stated, of giant race (Younger Edda, i. 552). 2. She has once fared badly at Thor's hands. He broke her leg (Leggi brauzt pit Leihmr— Skaldsk., ch. 4, after a song by Yetrlio'i). 3. She is kvehlrida. The original and mythological meaning of /, >-, Idrida is a horsewoman of torture or death (from krelja, to torture, to kill). The meaning, a horsewoman of the night, is a misunder- standing. Compare Yigfusson's Diet., sub voce " Kveld ". 4. The horse which this woman of torture and death rides is black, untamed, difficult to manage (styggr), and ugly - grown (Ijdtvazinn). It drinks human blood, and is accompanied by other 326 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. horses belonging to Leikin, black and bloodthirsty like it. (All this is stated by Hallfred Yandradaskald.) * Perhaps these loose horses are intended for those persons whom the horsewoman of torture causes to die from disease, and whom she is to conduct to the lower world. Popular traditions have preserved for our times the remem- brance of the " ugly-grown " -horse, that is, of a three-legged horse, which on its appearance brings sickness, epidemics, and plagues. The Danish popular belief (Thiele., i. 137, 138) knows this monster, and the word Hel-horse has been preserved in the vocabulary of the Danish language. The diseases brought by the Hel-horse are extremely dangerous, but not always fatal. When they are not fatal, the convalescent is regarded as having ransomed his life with that tribute of loss of strength and of torture which the disease caused him, and in a symbolic sense he has then " given death a bushel of oats " (that is, to its horse). According to popular belief in Slesvik (Arnkiel, i. 55; cp. J. Grimm, Deutsche Myth., 804), Hel rides in the time of a plague on a three-legged horse and kills people. Thus the ugly-grown horse is not forgotten in traditions from the heathen time. Voluspa informs us that in the primal age of man, the sorceress Heid went from house to house and was a welcome guest with evil women, since she stiff Leikin (sicfa means to practise sorcery). Now, as Leikin is the " horsewoman of torture and death," and rides the Hel-horse, then the expression sicfa Leikin can mean nothing else than by sorcery to send Leikin, the messenger of disease and death, to those persons who are the victims of the evil wishes of " evil women " ; or, more abstractly, to bring by soicciy dangerous diseases to men.t * Titihoggvit let tiggi Vinlirut5i.gr gaf vi&a Tryggvar sonr fyrir styggvan visi margra Frisa Leiknar hest a leiti blbkku brunt at derkka Ijotvaxinn hrce Saxa. U6& kvcllri<5u stutSi. t Voluspa 23, Cod. Reg., says of Heid : seift lion kuni, seift lion Leikin. The letter u is in this manuscript used for both u and y (compare Bugge, Saemund Edd., Preface x., xi.), and hence kuni may be read both kuni and kyni. The latter reading makes logical sense. Kyni is dative of kyn, a neuter noun, TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. :\'2~, From all this follows that Leikin is either a side-figure to the daughter of Lolce, and like her in all respects, 01 Bhe and the Loke-daughter are one and the same person. To determine the question whether they are identical, we must observe (1) the definitely representative manner in which Voluspa, by the use of the name Leikin, makes the possessor of this name a mythic per- son, who visits men with diseases and death ; (2) the manner in which Ynglingatal characterises the activity of Loke's daughter with a person doomed to die from disease; she makes him leikinn, an expression which, without doubt, is in its sense connected with the feminine name Leikin, and which was preserved in the verna- cular far down in Christian times, and there designated a super- natural visitation bringing the symptoms of mental or physical illness; (3) the Christian popular tradition in which the deformed and disease-bringing horse, which Leikin rides in the myth, is represented as the steed of "death" or "Hel"; (4) that change of meaning by which the name Hel, which in the mythical poems of the Elder Edda designates the whole heathen realm of death, and especially its regions of bliss, or their queen, got to mean the abode of torture and misery and its ruler — a transmutation by which the name Hel, as in Gylfaginning and in the Slesvik traditions, was transferred from Urd to Loke's daughter. Finally, it should be observed that it is told of Leikin, as of Loke's daughter, that she once fared badly at the hands of the meaning something Borcerous, supernatural, a monster. Kijujunii.ia ami hynjas6tt mean diseases brought on by sorcery. Scifi in both the above lines is past tense of the verb mold, and not in either one of them the imun seitSr. There was a sacred sorcery and an unholy one, according to the purpose for which it was practised, and according to the attending ceremonies. The object of the holy sorcery was to bring about something good either for the per or for others, or to find out the will of the :_r"ds and future things. The sorcery practised by Heiftr is the unholy one, hated by the gods, and again and again forbidden in the laws, and this kind <>i' sorcery is desij in Voluspa by the term ridta hyni. Of a thing practised with improper means it is said that it is not kynja-loning-bocf means a legal summons to appear at a Thing, at the seat of judgment. Bjo&a til fiings is to perform this legal summons. Here it is Hvedrung's kinswoman who comes with sickness and TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 333 death and ping-hod to King Halfdan, and summons him to appear pefore the jndgment-seat of Odin. As, according to mythology, all |he dead, and as, according to the mythological text-books, at least all those who have died from disease must go to Hel, then certainly King Halfdan, who died from disease, must descend to the lower world ; and as there is a Thing at which Odin and the Asas daily sit in judgment, it must have been this to which Halfdan was summoned. Otherwise we would be obliged to assume that Hvedrung's kinswoman, Loke's daughter, is a messenger, not from the lower world and CTrd, but from Asgard, although the strophe further on expressly states that she conies to Halfdan on account of "the doom of the norns " ; and furthermore we would be obliged to assume that the king, who had died from sickness, after arriving in the lower world, did not present himself at Odin's court' there. but continued his journey to Asgard, to appear at some of the Accidental deliberations which are held at the thingstead there. The passage proves that at least those who have died from sickness have to appear at the court which is held by Odin in the lower world. 70. The Doom of the Dead {continued). Speech-runes OrSs Tirr Nam^eli. In Sigrdrifumal (str. 12) we read: MiUrunar skaltu Jcunna, vilt-ar magni per liciptom gjaldi harm ; pa /■ urn vindr, pa r /' i,i vefr, pa /• mi) setr allar soman a fit: i pingi, cr fijofiir scolo i fulla doma fara. "Speech-runes you must know, if you do not wish that tie- strong one with consuming woe shall requite you for the injury you have caused. All those runes you must wind, weave, and 334 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. place together in that Thing where the host of people go into the full judgments." In order to make the significance of this passage clear, it is necessary to explain the meaning of speech-runes or mal-runes. Several kinds of runes are mentioned in Sigrdrifumal, all of a magic and wonderful kind. Among them are mal-runes (speech- runes). They have their name from the fact that they are able to restore to a tongue mute or silenced in death the power to mcela (speak). Odin employs mal-runes when he rists i runom, so that a corpse from the gallows comes and mcvlir with him (Havam., 157). According to Saxo (i. 38), Hadding places a piece of wood risted with runes under the tongue of a dead man. The latter then recovers consciousness and the power of speech, and sings a terrible song. This is a reference to mal-runes. In Gudrunarkvida (i.) it is mentioned how Gudrun, mute and almost lifeless {hon gordiz at dei/ja), sat near Sigurd's dead body. One of the kinswomen pre- sent lifts the napkin off from Sigurd's head. By the sight of the features of the loved one Gudrun awakens again to life, bursts into tears, and is able to speak. The evil Brynhild then curses the being (vcttr) which " gave mal-runes to Gudrun," that is to say, freed her tongue, until then sealed as in death. Those who are able to apply these mighty runes are very few. Odin boasts that he knows them. Sigrdrifva, who also is skilled in them, is a dis, not a daughter of man. The runes which Had- ding applied were risted by Hardgrep, a giantess who protected him. But within the court here in question men come in great numbers (l>jo&ir), and among them there must be but a small number who have penetrated so deeply into the secret knowledge of runes. For those who have done so it is of importance and advantage. For by them they are able to defend themselves against complaints, the purpose of which is " to requite with con- suming woe the harm they have done". In the court they are able to mala (speak) in their own defence. Thus it follows that those hosts of people who enter this thing- stead stand there with speechless tongues. They are and remain mute before their judges unless they know the mal-runes which are able to loosen the fetters of their tongues. Of the dead man's tongue it is said in Solarljod (44) that it is til tre's metin ok kolnat alt fyr utan. TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 335 The sorrow or harm one' has caused is requited in this Thing by heiptir, unless the accused is able — thanks to the mal-runes — ho speak and give reasons in his defence. In Havamal (151) the word heiptir has the meaning of something supernatural and magical. It has a similar meaning here, as Vigfusson has already pointed out. The magical mal-runes, wound, woven, and placed together, form as it were a garb of protection around the defendant against the magic heiptir. In the Havamal strophe mentioned the skald makes Odin paraphrase, or at least partly explain, the word heiptir with mein, which "eat'' their victims. It is in the nature of the myth to regard such forces as personal beings. We have already seen the spirits of disease appear in this manner (see Xo. GO). The heiptir were also personified. They were the Erinnyes of the Teutonic mythology, armed with scourges of thorns (see below). He who at the Thing particularly dispenses the law of requital is called magni. The word has a double meaning, which appears in the verb magna, which means both to make strong and to ope- rate with supernatural means. From all this it must be sufficiently plain that the Thing here referred to is not the Althing in Iceland or the Gulathing in Norway, or any other Thing held on the surface of the earth. The thingstead here discussed must be situated in one of the mythical realms, between which the earth was established. And it must be superhuman beings of higher or lower rank who there occupy the judgment-seats and requite the sins of men with heijifir. But in Asgard men do not enter with their tongues sealed in death. For the einherjes who are invited to the joys of Valhal there are no heiptir prepared. Inasmuch as the mythology gives us information about only two thin-steads where super- human beings deliberate and judge — namely, the Thing in Asgard and the Thing near Urd's fountain — and inasmuch as it is, in fact, only in the latter that the gods act as judges, we are driven by all the evidences to the conclusion that Sigrdrifumal has described to us that very thingstead at which Hwdrung's kins- woman summoned King Halfdan to appear alter death. Sigrdrifumal, using the expression d }>ci, sharply distinguished this thingstead or court from all others. The poem declares that it means that Thing where hosts of people go into full judgments. 336 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. " Full " are those judgments against which no formal or real protests can he made — decisions which are irrevocably valid. The only kind of judgments of which the mythology speaks in this manner, that is, characterises as judgments that " never die," are those " over each one dead ". This brings us to the well-known and frequently-quoted strophes in Havamal : Str. 76. Deyr fm, deyja frwndr, deyr sialfr it sama ; enn orztirr deyr aldregi hveim er ser gocfan getr. Str. 77. Deyr foe, deyja frarndr, deyr sialfr it sama ; ec veit einn at aldri deyr : domr mn dau&an livem. (76) " Your cattle shall die ; your kindred shall die ; you your- self shall die ; but the fair fame of him who has earned it never dies." (77) "Your cattle shall die; your kindred shall die; you your- self shall die ; one thing I know which never dies : the judgment on each one dead." Hitherto these passages have been interpreted as if Odin or Havamal's skald meant to say — What you have of earthly posses- sions is perishable ; your kindred and yourself shall die. But I know one thing that never dies : the reputation you acquired among men, the posthumous fame pronounced on your character and on your deeds : that reputation is immortal, that fame is imperishable. But can this have been the meaning intended to be con- veyed by the skald ? And could these strophes, which, as it seems, were widely known in the heathendom of the North, have been thus understood by their hearers and readers ? Did not Havamal's author, and the many who listened to and treasured in their memories these words of his, know as well as all other persons who have some age and experience, that in the great TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 337 majority of cases the fame acquired by a person scarcely survives a generation, and passes away together with the very memory of the deceased ? Could it have escaped the attention of the Havamal skald and his hearers that the number of mortals is so large and increases so immensely with the lapse of centuries that the capacity of the survivors to remember them is utterly insufficient ? Was it not a well-established fact, especially among the Germans, before they got a written literature, that the skaldic art waged, BO to speak, a desperate conilict with the power of oblivion, in order to rescue at least the names of the most distinguished heroes and kings, but that nevertheless thousands of chiefs and warriors were after the lapse of a few generations entirely forgotten ? Did not Havamal'a author know that millions of men have, in the course of thousands of years, left this world without leaving so deep footprints in the sands of time that they could last even through one generation ? Every person of some age and experience has known this, and HavamaTs author too. The lofty strains above quoted do not seem to be written by a person wholly destitute of worldly experience. The assumption that Havamal with that judgment on each one dead, which is said to be imperishable, had reference to the opinion of the survivors in regard to the deceased attains its climax of absurdity when we consider that the poem expressly states that it means the judgment on every dead person — " domr urn dau&a/n Iwern". In the cottage lying far, far in the deep forest dies a child, hardly known by others than by its parents, who, too, are soon to be harvested by death. But the judgment of the survivors in regard to this child's character and deeds is to be imperishable, and the good fame it acquired during its brief life is to live for ever on the lips of posterity! Perhaps it is the sense of the absurdity to which the current assumption leads on this point that has induced some of the translators to conceal the word hvern (every) and led them to translate the words domr urn dau&a/n Iwern in an arbitrary manner with " judgment on the dead man ". If we now add that the judgment of posterity on one deceased, particularly if he was a person of great influence, very seldom is so unanimous, reliable, well-considered, and free from prejudice that 338 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. in these respects it ought to be entitled to permanent validity, then we find that the words of the Havamal strophes attributed to Odin's lips, when interpreted as hitherto, are not words of wisdom, but the most stupid twaddle ever heard declaimed in a solemn manner. There are two reasons for the misunderstanding — the one is formal, and is found in the word orcfs-tirr (str. 76) ; the other reason is that Gylfaginning, which too long has had the reputation of being a reliable and exhaustive codification of the scattered statements of the mythic sources, has nothing to say about a court for the dead. It knows that, according to the doctrine of the heathen fathers, good people come to regions of bliss, the wicked to Nifelhel ; but who he or they were who determined how far a dead person was worthy of the one fate or the other, on this point Gylfaginning has not a word to say. From the silence of this authority, the conclusion has been drawn that a court summoning the dead within its forum was not to be found in Teutonic mythology, although other Aryan and non-Aryan my- thologies have presented such a judgment-seat, and that the Teutonic fancy, though always much occupied with the affairs of the lower world and with the condition of the dead in the various realms of death, never felt the necessity of conceiving for itself clear and concrete ideas of how and through whom the deceased were determined for bliss or misery. The ecclesiastical conception, which postpones the judgment to the last day of time, and permits the souls of the dead to be transferred, without any special act of judgment, to heaven, to purgatory, or to hell, has to some extent contributed to making us familiar with this idea which was foreign to the heathens. From this it followed that scholars have been blind to the passages in our mythical records which speak of a court in the lower world, and they have either read them without sufficient attention (as, for instance, the above-quoted statements of Ynglingatal, which it is impossible to harmonise with the current conception), or interpreted them in an utterly absurd manner (which is the case with Sigrdrifumal, str. 12), or they have interpolated assumptions, which, on a closer inspection, are reduced t<> nonsense (as is the case with the Havamal strophes), or given them a possible, but improbable, interpretation (thus Sonatorrek, 19). The compound ordstirr is composed of or&, gen. orffs, and tirr. TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 339 The composition is of so loose a character that the two parts are not blended into a new word, The sign of the gen. -a is retained, and shows that orfftfirr, like lofstirr, is not in its sense and in its origin a compound, but is written as one word, probably on account of the laws of accentuation. The more original meaning of orSatirr is, therefore, to be found in the sense of orda tirr, Tirr means reputation in a good sense, but still not in a sense so decidedly good but that a qualifying word, which makes the good meaning absolute, is sometimes added. Thus in lofs-tirr, laudatory reputation ; g6Sr £wr,good reputation. In the llavamal strophe 76, above-quoted, the possibility of an orcJs tirr which is not good is presupposed. See the last line of the strophe. So tar as the meaning of orS is concerned, we must leave its relatively more modern and grammatical sense (word) entirely out of the question. Its older signification is an utterance (one which may consist of many " words " in a grammatical sense), a command, a result, a judgment; and these older significations have long had a conscious existence in the language. Compare Fornmanna, ii. 237 : " The first word : All shall be Christians ; the second word : All heathen temples and idols shall be unholy," &c. In Voluspa (str. 27) orcf is employed in the sense of an esta- blished law or judgment among the divine powers, « ycngoz eiffar, orcf oc sccri, where the treaties between the Asas and gods, solem- nised by oaths, were broken. When ore? occurs in purely mythical sources, it is most frequently connected with judgments pronounced in the lower world, and sent from Urd's fountain to their destination. Ur&ar orcf is I' id's judgment, which must come to pass (Fjolsvinnsm., str. 48), no matter whether it concerns life or death. Feig&ar orff, a judg- ment determining death, comes to Fjolner, and is fulfilled " where Erode dwelt" (Yng.-tal, Heimskr., 14). Dau8a orcf, the judgment of death, awaited Dag the Wise, when became to Vorva (Yng.-tal, Heimskr., 21). To a subterranean judgment refers also the ex- pression hana-orcf, which frequently occurs. Yigfusson (Diet., 400) points out the possibility of an etymo- logical connection between ord and UrcTr. He compares word and wurdr (ur8r), worSW minn sottar brvm/i in i/ptuligr or hcimi num. 342 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. prom cc veit at vamacfi vamma varr vi& n&mceli. " A fatal fire of disease (fever ?) snatched from this world a son of mine, of whom I know that he, careful as he was in regard to sinful deeds, took care of himself for n&mceli." To understand this strophe correctly, we must know that the skald in the preceding 17th, as in the succeeding 20th, strophe, speaks of Gunnar's fate in the lower world. The word n&mceli occurs nowhere else, and its meaning is not known. It is of importance to our subject to find it out. In those compounds of which the first part is nd-, nd may be the abverbial prefix, which means near by, by the side of, or it may be the substantive ndr, which means a corpse, dead body, and in a mythical sense one damned, one who dies for the second time and comes to Nifelhel (see No. GO). The question is now, to begin with, whether it is the adverbial prefix or the substantive nd- which we have in n&mceli. Compounds which have the adverbial nd as the first part of the word are very common. In all of them the prefix nd- implies nearness in space or in kinship, or it has the signification of some- thing correct or exact. (1) In regard to space : ndbuff, ndbui, ndbyli, ndgranna, nd- granni, ndgrcnnd, ndgrenni,ndkommin, ndkvcema, ndkvcemd,nakvcemr, ndlcift, n&lcegd', ndkvgjast, ndlccgr, ndmunda, ndsessi, ndseta, ndsettr, n&sceti, ndvcra, ndverukona, ndverandi, ndvist, n&vistarJcona, ndvistar- macfr, ndvistarvitni. (2) In regard to friendship : ndborinn, n&frcendi, ndframdkona, ndmdgr, ndshyldr, ndstccdr, ndongr. (3) In regard to correctness, exactness : ndkircmi, ndkvwmliga, n&kva mr. The idea of correctness comes from the combination of n&- and kvcemi, Jevcemliga, kvcemr. The exact meaning is — that which comes near to, and which in that sense is precise, exact, to the point. These three cases exhaust the meanings of the adverbial prefix nd-. I should consider it perilous, and as the abandoning of solid TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 343 ground under the feet, if we, without evidence from the language, tried, as has been done, to give it another hitherto unknown signification. But none of these meanings can be applied to ndmceli. In analogy with the worda under (1) it can indeed mean "An oration held uear by**; but this signification produces no sense in the above passage, the only place where it is found. In another group of words the prefix nd- is the noun ndr. Here belong ndbfargir, ndbleikr, ndgrindr, n&gott, ndreiff, ndstrandvr, and other words. Modi means a declamation, an oration, an utterance, a reading, or the proclamation of a law. Mala, mcelandi, formcdandi, formcdi, nymcdi, are used in legal language. Formcelandi is a defendant in court. Formal i is his speech or plea. Ni/iiw/i is a law read or published for the first time. Modi can take either a substantive or adjective as prefix. Examples: Ghiffrncdi, fidlmcdi. Nd from ndr can be used as a prefix both to a noun and to an adjective. Examples : ndffrmdr, ndbh ihr. N&mcdi should accordingly be an oration, a declaration, a pro- clamation, in regard to ndr. From the context we find that ndmcdi is something dangerous, something to look out for. Gunnar is dead and is gone to the lower world, which contains not only happiness but also terrors ; but his aged father, who in another strophe of the poem gives to understand that he had adhered faithfully to the religious doctrines of his fathers, is convinced that his son has avoided the dangers implied in ndmceli, as he had no sinful deed to blame himself for. In the following strophe (20 he expressed his confidence that the deceased had been adopted by Gauta sjyul/i, a friend of Odin in the lower world, and had landed in the realm of happiness. (In regard to Gauta spjalli, see further on. The expression is applicable both to Mimer and Honer.) Nd ma 11 must, therefore, mean a declaration (1) that is dan- gerous; (2) which does not affect a person who has lived a blameless life; (3) which refers to the dead and affects those who have not been vamma varir, on the look-out against blameworthy and criminal deeds. The passage furnishes additional evidence that the dead in the lower world make their appearance in order to be judged, and it 344 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. enriches our knowledge of the mythological eschatology with a technical term (ndmaii) for that judgment which sends sinners to travel through the Na-gates to Nifelhel. The opposite of ndmceli is orffs tin; that judgment which gives the dead fair renown, and both kinds of judgments are embraced in the phrase domr um da ml na. Ndmceli is a proclamation for nidi; just as ndgrindr are gates, and ndstrandir are strands for ndir. 71. The Doom of the Dead {continued). The Looks of the Thingstead. The Duty of taking Care of the Ashes of the Dead. The Hamingje at the Judgment. Sins of Weakness. Sins unto Death. Those hosts which are conducted by their psychopomps to the Thing near Urd's fountain proceed noiselessly. It is a silent journey. The bridge over Gjoll scarcely resounds under the feet of the death-horses and of the dead (Gylfaginning). The tongues of the shades are sealed (see No. 70). This thingstead has, like all others, had its judgment-seats. Here are seats (in Voluspa called rokstolar) for the holy powers acting as judges. There is also a rostrum (d J?ularstoli at UrcTar Irunni — Havam., Ill) and benches or chairs for the dead (compare the phrase, falla d Hclpalla — Fornald., i. 397, and the sitting of the dead one, d nomastdli — Solarlj., 51). Silent they must receive their doom unless they possess mal-runes (see No. 70). The dead should come well clad and ornamented. Warriors bring their weapons of attack and defence. The women and children bring ornaments that they were fond of in life. Hades- pictures of those things which kinsmen and friends placed in the grave-mounds accompany the dead (Hakonarm., 17 ; Gylfaginning, 52) as evidence to the judge that they enjoyed the devotion and respect of their survivors. The appearance presented by the shades assembled in the Thing indicates to what extent the survivors heed the law, which commands respect for the dead and care for the ashes of the departed. Many die under circumstances which make it impossible for their kinsmen to observe these duties. Then strangers should take TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 345 the place of kindred. The condition in which these shades come to the Thing shows best whether piety prevails in Midgard ; for noble minds take to heart the advices found as follows in Sigrdri- fumal, 33, 34 : " Render the last service to the corpses you find on the gronnd, whether from sickness they have died, or are drowned, or are from weapons dead. Make a bath for those who are dead, wash their hands and their head, comb them and wipe, them dry, ere in the coffin you lay them, and pray for their happy sleep." It was, however, not necessary to wipe the blood off from the byrnie of one fallen by the sword. It was nut improper for the elect to make their entrance, in Valhal in a bloody coat of mail. Kyvind Skaldaspiller makes King Hakon come all stained with blood (allr i dreyra drifinn) into the presence of Odin. When the gods have arrived from Asgard, dismounted from their horses (Gylfag.) and taken their judges' seats, the proceedings begin, for the dead are then in their places, and we may be sure that their psychopomps have not been slow on their Thing-journey. Somewhere on the way the Hel-shoes must have been tried ; those who ride to Valhal must then have been obliged to dismount. The popular tradition first pointed out by Walter Scott and J. Grimm about the need of such shoes for the dead and about a thorn-grown heath, which they have to cross, is not of Christian but of heathen origin. Those who have shown mercy to fellow- men that in this life, in a figurative sense, had to travel thorny paths, do not need to fear torn shoes and bloody feet (W. Scott, Minstrelsy, ii.) ; and when they are seated on Urd's benches, their very shoes are, by their condition, a conspicuous proof in the eyes of the court that they who have exercised mercy are worthy of mercy. The Norse tradition preserved in Gisle. Surson's saga in regard to the importance for the dead to be provided with shoes reappears as a popular tradition, first in England, and then several places (Mullenhoff, Deutsche Alt., v. 1, 114; J. Grimm., Myth,, iii. 697 ; nachtr., 349 ; Weinhold, Altn.Lcb., 494 ; Mannhardt in Zeitschr.f. deutsch. Myth., iv. 420 ; Simrock, Myth., v. 127). Visio Godeschalci describes a journey which the pious Holstein peasant Godeskalk, belonging to the generation immediately preceding thai which by Vicelin was converted to Christianity, believed he had made in the lower world. There is mentioned an immensely large and beautiful 346 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. linden-tree hanging full of shoes, which were handed down to such dead travellers as had exercised mercy during their lives. When the dead had passed this tree they had to cross a heath two miles wide, thickly grown with thorns, and then they came to a river full of irons with sharp edges. The unjust had to wade through this river, and suffered immensely. They were cut and mangled in every limb ; but when they reached the other strand, their bodies were the same as they had been when they began crossing the river. Compare with this statement Solarljocl, 42, where the dying skald hears the roaring of subterranean streams mixed with much blood — Gfylfar straumar grenju&u, blandnir mjok veff U6&. The just are able to cross the river by putting their feet on boards a foot wide and fourteen feet long, which floated on the water. This is the first day's journey. On the second day they come to a point where the road forked into three ways — one to heaven, one to hell, and one between these realms (compare Miillenhoff, D. Alt., v. 113, 114). These are all mythic traditions, but little corrupted by time and change of religion. That in the lower world itself Hel-shoes were to be had for those who were not supplied with them, but still deserved them, is probably a genuine mythological idea. Proofs and witnesses are necessary before the above-named tribunal, for Odin is far from omniscient. He is not even the one who knows the most among the beings of mythology. Urd and Mimer know more than he. With judges on the one hand who, in spite of all their loftiness, and with all their superhuman keen- ness, nevertheless are not infallible, and with defendants on the other hand whose tongues refuse to serve them, it might happen, if there were no proofs and witnesses, that a judgment, everlasting in its operations, not founded on exhaustive knowledge and on well- considered premises, might be proclaimed. But the judgment on human souls proclaimed by their final irrevocable fate could not in the sight of the pious and believing bear the stamp of uncertain justice. There must be no doubt that the judicial proceedings in the court of death were so managed that the wisdom and justice of the dicta were raised high above every suspicion of being mistaken. The heathen fancy shrank from the idea of a knowledge able of itself to embrace all, the greatest and the least, that which has been, is doing, and shall be in the world of thoughts, purposes, and deeds. TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 341 It hesitated at all events to endow its gods made in the image "I man with omniscience. It was easier to conceive a divine insight which was secured by a net of messengers and spies Btretched throughout the world. Such a net was casl over the human race by (Jrd, and it is doubtless for this reason that the subterranean Thing of the gods was located near her fountain and not near Mimer's. Urd has given to every human soul, already before the hour ol birth, a maid-servant, a hamingje, a norn of lower rank, to watch ever and protect its earthly life. And bo there was a wide-spread organisation of watching and protecting spirits, each one of whom knew the motives and deeds of a special individual. As such an organisation was at the service of the court, there was no dangei that the judgment over each one dead would not be as just as it was unappealable and everlasting. The hamingje hears of it before anyone else when her mistress has announced dau&a orff- — the doom of death, against her favourite. She (and the gipte, heille, see No. 64) leaves him then. She is horjin, gone, which can be perceived in dreams (Haider's Dream, 4) or by revelations in other ways, and this is an unmistakable sigu of death. But if the death-doomed person is not a nithing, whom she in sorrow and wrath has left, then she by no means abandons him. They are like members of the same body, which can only be separated by mortal sins (see below). The hamingje goes to the lower world, the home of her nativity (see Xo. 64), to prepare an abode there for her favourite, which also is to belong to her (Gisle Surson's saga). It is as if a spiritual marriage was entered into between her and the human soul. But on the dictum of the court of death it depends where the dead person is to find his haven. The judgment, although not pro- nounced on the hamingje, touches her most closely. When the most important of all questions, that of eternal happiness or unhappiness, is to be determined in regard to her favourite, Bhe must be there, where her duty and inclination bid her be — with him whose guardian spirit she is. The great question for her is whether she is to continue to share his fate or not During his earthly life she has always defended him. It is of paramount importance that she should do so now. His lips are sealed, but she is able to speak, and is hia other ego. And she is not only a witness friendly to him, but, from the standpoint 348 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. of the court, she is a more reliable one than he would be himself. In Atlamal (str. 28) there occurs a phrase which has its origin in heathendom, where it has been employed in a clearer and more limited sense than in the Christian poem. The phrase is ec gued afiima or&nar per disir, and it means, as Atlamal uses it, that he to whom the dises (the hamignje and gipte) have become afiima is destined, in spite of all warnings, to go to his ruin. In its very- nature the phrase suggests that there can occur between the hamingje and the human soul another separation than the acci- dental and transient one which is expressed by saying that the hamingje is horfin. Afiima means " amputated," separated by a sharp instrument from the body of which one has been a member. The person from whom his dises have been cut off has no longer any close relation with them. He is for ever separated from them, and his fate is no longer theirs. Hence there are persons doomed to die and persons dead who do not have hamingjes by them. They are those whom the hamingjes in sorrow and wrath have abandoned, and with whom they are unable to dwell in the lower world, as they are nithings and are awaited in Nifelhel. The fact that a dead man sat d nomastoli or d Helpalli with- out having a hamingje to defend him doubtless was regarded by the gods as a conclusive proof that he had been a criminal. If we may judge from a heathen expression preserved in strophe 16 of Atlakvida, and there used in an arbitrary manner, then the hamingjes who were "cut off" from their unworthy favourites continue to feel sorrow and sympathy for them to the last. The expression is nornir grdta ndi, " the norns (hamingjes) bewail the ndir ". If the ndmwli, the na-dictum, the sentence to Nifelhel which turns dead criminals into nair, in the eschatological sense of the word, has been announced, the judgment is attended with tears on the part of the former guardian-spirits of the con- victs. This corresponds, at all events, with the character of the hamingjes. Those fallen on the battlefield are not brought to the fountain of Urd while the Thing is in session. This follows from the fact that Odin is in Valhal when they ride across Bifrost, and sends Asas or einherjes to meet them with the goblet of mead at Asgard's gate (Eiriksm., Hakonarmal). But on the way there has been a TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 340 separation of the good and bad elements among them. Those who have nn hamingjes must, & nornastdli, wait for the next Thing-day and their judgment. The Christian age well remembered that brave warriors who had committed nithing acts did not conic to Valhal (see Hakon Jarl's words in Njala). The heathen records confirm that men slain by the Bword who had lived a wicked life were sent to the world of torture (see llarald Harfager's saga, eh. 27 — the verses about the viking Thorer Wood-beard, who fell in a naval battle with Einar Iiagnvaldson, and who had been a scourge to the Orkneyings). The high court must have judged very leniently in regard to certain human faults and frailties. Sitting long by and looking diligently into the drinking-horn certainly did not lead to any punishment worth mentioning. The same was the case with loud- ness for female beauty, if care was taken not to meddle with the sacred ties of matrimony. With a pleasing frankness, and with much humour, the Asa-father has told to the children of men adventures which he himself has had in that line. He warns against too much drinking, but admits without reservation and hypocrisy that he himself once was drunk, nay, very drunk, at Fjalar's, and what he had to suffer, on account of his uncontrollable longing for Billing's maid, should be to men a hint not to judge each other too severely in such matters (see Havanntl). All the less he will do so as judge. Those who are summoned to the Thing, and against whom there are no other charges, may surely count on a good or&s tirr, if they in other respects have conducted themselves in accordance with the wishes of Odin and his associate judges: if they have lived lives free from deceit, honourable, help- ful, and without fear of death. This, in connection with respect for the gods, for the temples, for their duties to kindred ami to the dead, is the alpha and the omega of the heathen Teutonic moral code, and the sure way to Hel's regions of bliss and to Valhal. He who has observed these virtues may, as the old skald sings of himself, "glad, with serenity and without discouragement, wait for Hel ". Skal il p6 gla&r mecf gotF" n vilja ok tiforyggr ll<{jne desire to remain in Gudmund's realm {Hist. Dan., i. 42-A — amissa memoria . . . pocalis abstinendum edocuit). The Grudrun song (ii. 21) places the drinking-horn of the lower world in (Irimhild's hands. In connection with later additions, the description of this horn and its contents contains purely mythical and very instructive details in regard to the (f>dp/j.aKov vryirevBks of the Teutonic lower world. Str. 21. Fcerdi mer GrHmildr full at drecka svalt oc sarlict, nc cc sacar mundac ; par rur urn aukit Ur&ar maglni, svalcauldom sec oc Sonar dreyra. Sir. 22. Voro i horni hversJeyns stafir ristnir oc rodhir, raj?a cc ne mattac, lyngfiscr langr I'tiiil* Haddingja, a c oscorit, innleiff dyra. "Grimhild handed me in a filled hum to drink a cool, hitter drink, in order that 1 might forget my past alllictions. This drink was prepared from Urd's strength, cool-cold sea, <>n>l flu- liquor of Son." "On the horn were all kinds of staves engraved and painted, which I could not interpret: the Hadding-land*s long heath-fish, unharvested cars of grain, and animals' cut run*; j, 352 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. The Hadding-land is, as Sv. Egilsson has already pointed out, a paraphrase of the lower world. The paraphrase is based on the mythic account known and mentioned by Saxo in regard to Had- ding'a journey in Hel's realm (see No. 47). Heath-fish is a paraphrase of the usual sort for serpent, dragon. Hence a lower- world dragon was engraved on the horn. More than one of the kind has been mentioned already: Nidhog, who has his abode in Nifelhel, and the dragon, which, according to Erik Vidforle's saga, obstructs the way to Oclain's-acre. The dragon engraved on the horn is that of the Hadding-land. Hadding-land, on the other hand, does not mean the whole lower world, but the regions of bliss visited by Hadding. Thus the dragon is such an one as Erik Vidforle's saga had in mind. That the author did not himself invent his dragon, but found it in mythic records extant at the time, is demonstrated by Solarljod (54), where it is said that immense subterranean dragons come flying from the west — the opposite direction of that the shades have to take when they descend into the lower world — and obstruct "the street of the prince of splendour" (glccvalds gotu). The ruler of splendour is Mimer, the prince of the Glittering Fields (see Nos. 45-51). The Hadding-land's " unharvested ears of grain " belong to the flora inaccessible to the devastations of frost, the flowers seen by Hadding in the blooming meadows of the world below (see No. 47). The expression refers to the fact that the Hadding-land has not only imperishable flowers and fruits, but also fields of grain which do not require harvesting. Compare herewith what Voluspa says about the Odain's-acre which in the regeneration of the earth rises from the lap of the sea : " unsown the fields yield the grain ". Beside the heath-fish and the unharvested ears of grain, there were also seen on the Hadding-land horn dyra-innlcid. Some inter- preters assume that " animal entrails " are meant by this expres- sion ; others have translated it with " animal gaps ". There is no authority that innlcift ever meant entrails, nor could it be so used in a rhetorical-poetical sense, except by a very poor poet. Where we meet with the word it means a way, a way in, in contrast with ntlcid', a way out. As both Gorm's saga and that of Erik Vidforle use it in regard to animals watching entrances in the lower world, this gives the expression its natural interpretation. So much for the staves risted on the horn. They all refer TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 353 to the lower world. Now as to the think which is mixed in this Hades-horn. It consists of three liquids : Urffar magn, Urd's strength, svcUJcaldr seer, cool-cold sea, Sonar (hri/i-i. Son's liquid. Son has already been mentioned above (No. 21) as one of the names of Mimer's fountain, the well of creative power and of poetry. Of Son Eilif Gudrunson sings that it is en wreathed by bulrushes and is surrounded by a border of meadow on which grows the seed of poetry. As Urd's strength is a liquid mixed in the horn, nothing else can be meant thereby than the liquid in Urd's fountain, which gives the warmth of life to the world-tree, and gives it strength to resist the cold (see No. 63). From this it is certain that at least two of the three subter- ranean fountains made their contributions to the drink. There remains the well Hvergelmer, and the question now is, whether it and the liquid it contains can be recognised as the cool-cold sea. Hvergelmer is, as we know, the mother-fountain of all waters, even of the ocean (see No. 59). That this immense cistern is called a sea is not strange, since also Urd's fountain is so styled (in Voluspa, Cod. Reg., 19). Hvergelmer is situated under the northern root of the world-tree near the borders of the subterranean realm of the rime-thurses — that is, the powers of frost; and the Elivagar rivers flowing thence formed the ice in Nifelheim. Cool (SvoF) is the name of one of the rivers which have their source in Hvergelmer (Grimnersmal). Cool-cold sea is therefore the most suitable word with which to designate Hvergelmer when its own name is not to be used. All those fountains whose liquids are sucked up by the roots of the world-tree, and in its stem blend into the sap which gives the tree imperishable strength of life, are accordingly mixed in the lower- world horn (cp. No. 21). That Grimhild, a human being dwelling on earth, should have access to and free control of these fountains is, of course, from a mythological standpoint, an absurdity. From the standpoint of the Christian time the absurdity becomes probable. The sacred things and forces of the lower world are then changed into deviltry 23 354 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. and arts of magic, which are at the service of witches. So the author of Gudrunarkvida (ii.) has regarded the matter. But in his time there was still extant a tradition, or a heathen song, which spoke of the elements of the drink which gave to the dead who had descended to Hel, and were destined for happiness, a higher and more enduring power of life, and also soothed the longing and sorrow which accompanied the recollection of the life on earth, and this tradition was used in the description of Grimhild's drink of forgetful n ess. Magn is the name of the liquid from Urd's fountain, since it nt < i ndr d fostv/m />r reip) hold tlinn prisoners, and amid the tears of their former liaiiiin!_r,]Cs {nornir grdta ndi) they are driven along their path by heiptir, armed with rods of thorns, who without mercy beat their lazy heels. The technical term for these instruments of torture is 362 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. lunar, which seems to have become a word for eschatological punishment in general. In Sigrdrifumal (23) it is said that hor- rible limar shall fall heavy on those who have broken oaths and promises, or betrayed confidence. In Sigurd Fafnesb. (ii. 3) it is stated that everyone who has lied about another shall long be tortured with limar. Both the expressions troll brutu hris i liwla freim and troll visi yffr til btirs have their root in the recollection of the myth concerning the march of the damned under the rod of the Eumenides to Nifelhel (see further on this point Nos. 91 and 123). Their way from Urd's well goes to the north (see No. 63) through Mimer's domain. It is ordained that before their arrival at the home of torture they are to see the regions of bliss. Thus they know what they have forfeited. Then their course is past Mimer's fountain, the splendid dwellings of Balder and the ds- megir, the golden hall of Sindre's race (see Nos. 93, 94), and to those regions where mother Nat rests in a hall built on the southern spur of the Nida mountains (Forspjallsljod). The procession pro- ceeds up this mountain region through valleys and gorges in which the rivers flowing from Hvergelmer find their way to the south. The damned leave Hvergelmer in their rear and cross the border rivers Hraunn (the subterranean Elivagar rivers, see No. 59), on the other side of which rise Nifelhel' s black, perpendicular mountain- walls (Saxo, Hist. Dan. ; see No. 46). Ladders or stairways lead across giddying precipices to the Na-gates. Howls and barking from the monstrous Nifelheim dogs watching the gates (see Nos. 46, 58) announce the arrival of the damned. Then hasten, in compact winged flocks, monsters, Nifelheim's birds of prey, Nidhog, Are, Hroesvdger, and their like to the south, and alight on the rocks around the Na-gates (see below). When the latter are opened on creaking hinges, the damned have died their second death. To that event, which is called " the second death," and to what this consists of, I shall return below (see No. 95). Those who have thus marched to a terrible fate are sinners of various classes. Below Nifelheim there are nine regions of punish- ment. That these correspond to nine kinds of unpardonable sins is in itself probable, and is to some extent confirmed by Solar- ljod, if this poem, standing almost on the border-line between heathendom and Christianity, may be taken as a witness. Solar- TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 363 ljod enumerates nine or ten kinds of punishments for as many dif- ferent kinds of sins. From the purely heathen records we know that enemies of the gods (Loke), perjurers, murderers, adulterers (see Voluspa), those who have violated faith and the laws, and those who have lied about others, are doomed to Nifelhel for ever, or at leasl for a very long time (pflmgi — Sig. Fafn., ii. .">). Of the unmerciful we know that they have already Buffered greal agony on their way to Urd's fountain. Both in reference to them and to others, it doubtless depended on the investigation at the Thing whether they could be ransomed or not The sacredness of the bond of kinship was Btrongly emphasised in the eschatological conceptions. Nifigddr, "good for the realm of damnation," is he who slays kinsmen and sells the dead body of his brother for rings (Sonatorrek, 15); but he wdio in all respects has conducted himself in a blameless manner toward his kinsmen, and is slow to take revenge if they have wronged him, shall reap advantage therefrom after death (Sigrdr., 22). When the damned come within the Na-gates, the winged demons rush at the victims designated for them, press them under their win--, and fly with them through Xifelheim's foggy space to the departments of torture appointed for them. The seeress in Voluspa (str. 62) sees Nidhog, loaded with ndir under his wings, soar away from the Nida mountains. Whither he was accustomed to fly with them appears from strophe 38, where he in Nastrands i- sucking his prey. When King Gorm, beyond the above-mentioned boundary river, and by the Nida mountains' ladders, had readied the Na-gates opened for him, he sees dismal monsters {larva atrce : bp. Voluspa's in dimmi drehi) in dense crowds, and hears the air filled with their horrible screeches (cp. Voluspa's Ari hlaccar, slitr mi neffavir, 47). When Solarljod's skald enters the realm of torture he sees "scorched" birds, which are not birds but souls [sdlir . flying "numerous as gnats". 76. The Places of Punishment. The regions over which the flock of demons fly are the sam those which the author of Skirnersmal has in view when Skirner 364 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. threatens Gerd with sending her to the realms of death. It is the home of the frost-giants, of the subterranean giants, and' of the spirits of disease. Here live the offspring of Ymer's feet, the primeval giants strangely born and strangely bearing, who are waiting for the quaking of Ygclrasil and for the liberation of their chained leader, in order that they may take revenge on the gods in Ragnarok, and who in the meantime contrive futile plans of attack on Hvergelmer's fountain or on the north end of the Bifrost bridge. Here the demons of restless uneasiness, of mental agony, of con- vulsive weeping, and of insanity (Othale, Morn, Ope, and Tope) have their home ; and here dwells also their queen, Loke's daughter, Leikin, whose threshold is precipice and whose bed is disease. According to the authority used by Saxo in the description of Gorm's journey, the country is thickly populated. Saxo calls it urbs, oppidum (cp. Skirnismal's words about the giant-homes, among which Gerd is to drag herself hopeless from house to house. The ground is a marsh with putrid water (putidum ccenum), which diffuses a horrible stench. The river Slid flowing north out of Hvergelmer there seeks its way in a muddy stream to the abyss which leads down to the nine places of punishment. Over all hovers JSTifelheim's dismal sky. The mortals who, like Gorm and his men, have been permitted to see these regions, and who have conceived the idea of descending into those worlds which lie below Nifelheim, have shrunk back when they have reached the abyss in question and have cast a glance down into it. The place is narrow, but there is enough daylight for its bottom to be seen, and the sight thereof is terrible. Still, there must have been a path down to it, for when Gorm and his men had recovered from the first impression, they continued their journey to their destination (Geirrod's place of punishment), although the most terrible vapour (tcterrimus vapor) blew into their faces. The rest that Saxo relates is unfortunately wanting both in sufficient clearness and in completeness. Without the risk of making a mistake, we may, however, consider it as mythically correct that some of the nine worlds of punishment below Nifel- heim, or the most of them, are vast mountain caves, mutually united by openings broken through the mountain walls and closed with gates, which do not, however, obstruct the course of Slid to the Nastrands and to the sea outside. Saxo speaks of a pcrfradam TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 3G5 scopvli partem,! "a pierced part of the mountain," through which travellers come from one of the subterranean caves to another, and between the raves stand gatekeepers (janitores). Thus there musl be gates. At least two of these "homes" have been named after the most notorious sinner found within them. Saxo speaks of one called the giant Geirrod's, and an [celandic document of one called the giant Geitir's. The technical term for such a cave of torture was (ju//sLi'i/i (clamour-grotto). Saxo translates sk&ti with conclave saxeum. " To thrust anyone before Geitir's clamour-grotto" — reka einnfyrir Gciti* Gi'f/J'di); and the expression "to thrust anyone before Geitir's Howl- foot" thus has the same meaning as to send him to damnation. Continuing their journey, Gorm and his men came to Geirrod's skuti (see No. 46 . 366 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. We learn from Saxo's description that in the worlds of torture there are seen not only terrors, but also delusions which tempt the eyes of the greedy. Gorm's prudent captain Thorkil (see No. 46) earnestly warns his companions not to touch these things, for hands that come in contact with them are fastened and are held as by invisible bonds. The illusions are characterised by Saxo as ccdis supcllectilis, an expression which is ambiguous, but may be an allusion that they represented things pertaining to temples. The statement deserves to be compared with Solarljod's strophe 65, where the skald sees in the lower world persons damned, whose hands are riveted together with burning stones. They are the mockers at religious rites (they who minst vildu halda hclga daga) who are thus punished. In the mythology it was probably profaners of temples who suffered this punishment. The Nastrands and the hall there are thus described in Yuluspa : Sal sd lion standa solufjarrl Ndstrondu d nordr horfa dyrr ; fellu eitrdropar inn urn Ijora, Sd er undlnn salr orma hryggjum. Sd lion par va&a Jmnga strauma main meinsvara ok mor&varga oh fianns annars glepr eyraruna ; par sang Niffhoggr ndi framgengna, shit vargr vera. " A hall she saw stand far from the sun on the Nastrands ; the doors opened to the north, Venom-drops fell through the roof- holes. Braided is that hall of serpent-backs." " There she saw perjurers, murderers, and they who betray the TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 367 wife of another (adulterers) wade through heavy atreama There Nidhog sucked the ndir of the dead. And the wolf tore men into pieces." Gylfaginning (ch. 52) assumes that the BerpentS) whose backs, wattled together, form the hall, turn their heads into the hall, and that they, especially through the openings in the roof (accord- ing to Codex Ups. and Codex Hypnones.), vomit forth their floods of venom. The latter assumption is well founded. Doubtful seems, on the other hand, G-ylfaginning's assumption that "the heavy streams," which the damned in Nastrands have to wade through, flow out over the floor of the hall. As the wry name Nastrands indicates that the hall is situated near a water, then this water, whether it be the river Slidr with its eddies filled with weapons or some other river, may send breakers on shore and thus produce the heavy streams which Voluspa mentions. Nevertheless Gylfaginn- ing's view may be correct. The hall of Nastrands, like its counter- part Valhal, has certainly been regarded as immensely large. The serpent- venom raining down must have fallen on the floor of the hall, and there is nothing to hinder the venom-rain from being thought sufficiently abundant to form " heavy streams " thereon (see below). Saxo's description of the hall in Nastrands — by him adapted to the realm of torture in general — is as follows : " The doors are covered with the soot of ages; the walls are bespattered with tilth; the roof is closely covered with barbs; the floor is strewn witli serpents and bespawled with all kinds of uncleanliness ". The last statement confirms Gylfaginning's view. As this bespawling continues without ceasing through ages, the matter thus produced must grow into abundance and have an outlet. Pemarkable is also Saxo's statement, that the doors are covered with the soot of ages. Thus fires must be kindled near these doors. Of this more below. 77. The Places of Punishment {continued). The Hall in Nastrands. Without allowing myself to propose any change of text in the Voluspa strophes above quoted, and in pursuance of the principle 368 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. which I have adopted in this work, not to base any conclusions on so-called text-emendations, which invariably are text-debasings, I have applied these strophes as they are found in the texts we have. Like Mullenhoff (D- Altcrth., v. 121) and other scholars, I am, however, convinced that the strophe which begins sd lion par vaffa, &c., has been corrupted. Several reasons, which I shall present elsewhere in a special treatise on Voluspa, make this probable ; but simply the circumstance that the strophe has ten lines is sufficient to awaken suspicions in anyone's mind who holds the view that Voluspa originally consisted of exclusively eight-lined strophes — a view which cannot seriously be doubted. As we now have the poem, it consists of forty-seven strophes of eight lines each, one of four lines, two of six lines each, five of ten lines each, four of twelve lines each, and two of fourteen lines each — in all fourteen not eight-lined strophes against forty-seven eight-lined ones ; and, while all the eight-lined ones are intrinsically and logically well constructed, it may be said of the others that have more than eight lines each partly that we can cancel the superfluous lines without injury to the sense, and partly that they look like loosely-joined conglomerations of scattered fragments of strophes and of interpo- lations. The most recent effort to restore perfectly the poem to its eight-lined strophes has been made by Mullenhoff (D. Alterth., v.) ; and although this effort may need revision in some special points, it has upon the whole given the poem a clearness, a logical sequence and symmetry, which of themselves make it evident that Mullenhoff's premises are correct. In the treatise on Voluspa which I shall publish later, this subject will be thoroughly discussed. Here I may be permitted to say, that in my own efforts to restore Voluspa to eight-lined strophes, I came to a point where I had got the most of the materials arranged on this principle, but there remained the follow- ing fragment : (1) A fellr austan (1) Falls a river from the east um eitrdala around venom dales soxum ok sverf necessity to follow, since the preposition d was taken to be the substantive a, a river, a running stream. How near at hand such a confounding of these words lies is demonstrated by another Voluspa strophe, where the preposition d in d scr lion ausaz av/rgom forsi was long interpreted as the substantive d. We shall now see whether the expression d fcllr austr citrdeda makes sense, when it is introduced in lieu of the dotted lines above : Sd lion J>ar vacfa punga strauma menn mcinsvara ok morcJvarga ; (c7i) d fcllr austr eitrdcela Jxi /in' s annars glepr c lira /■ ana. "There saw she heavy streams (of venom) flow upon (or through) perjurers and murderers. The waste- water of the venom - troughs (that is, the waste-water of the perjurers and murderers after the venom-streams had rushed over them) falls upon him who seduces the wife of another man." Thus we get not only a connected idea, but a very remarkable and instructive passage. The verb va&a is not used only about persons who wade through a water. The water itself is also able to vacFa (cp. eisandi udr vcffr v.ndan— Kafns S, Sveinb.), to say nothing of arrows that wade 372 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. i folk (Havam., 150), and of banners which wade in the throng of warriors. Here the venom wades through the crowds of perjurers and murderers. The verb vada has so often been used in this sense, that it has also acquired the meaning of rushing, run- ning, rushing through. Heavy venom-streams run through the perjurers and murderers before they fall on the adulterers. The former are the venom-troughs, which pour their waste-water upon the latter. We now return to Saxo's description of the hall of Nastrands, to see whether the Voluspa strophe thus hypothetically restored corresponds with, or is contradicted by, it. Disagreeable as the pictures are which we meet with in this comparison, we are never- theless compelled to take them into consideration. Saxo says that the wall of the ' hall is bespattered with liquid filth (paries obductus illuvie). The Latin word, and the one used by Saxo for venom, is venenum, not illuvies, which means filth that has been poured or bespattered on something. Hence Saxo does not mean venom-streams of the kind which, according to Voluspa, are vomited by the serpents down through the roof-openings, but the reference is to something else, which still must have an upper source, since it is bespattered on the wall of the hall. Saxo further says that the floor is bespawled with all sorts of impurity : pavimentuon omni sordium genere respersum. The ex- pression confirms the idea, that unmixed venom is not meant here, but everything else of the most disgusting kind. Furthermore, Saxo relates that groups of damned are found there within, which groups he calls consessus. Consessus means " a sitting together," and, in a secondary sense, persons sitting- together. The word " sit " may here be taken in a more or less literal sense. Consessor, "the one who sits together with," might be applied to every participator in a Roman dinner, though the Romans did not actually sit, but reclined at the table. As stated, several such consessus, persons sitting or lying to- gether, are found in the hall. The benches upon which they sit or lie are of iron. Every consessus has a locus in the hall ; and as both these terms, consessus and locus, in Saxo united in the expression consessuum loca, together mean rows of benches in a theatre or in a public place, where the seats rise in rows one above the other, we must assume that these rows of the damned sitting or lying TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 373 together are found in different elevations between the floor and ceiling. This assumption is corroborated by what Sazo tells, viz., that their loca are separated by leaden hurdles (plumbccu crates). That they are separated by hurdles must have some practical reason, and this can be none other than that something iluwiii down may have an unobstructed passage from one consessus to the other. That which flows down finally reaches the floor, and is then omnc sordium genus, all kinds of impurity. It must finally be added that, according to Saxo, the stench in this room of torture is well-nigh intolerable {super omnia pcrpetuifaztoris asperitas Irish's lacessebat ol fact us). Who is not able to see that Voluspa's and Saxo's descriptions of the hall in Nastrands confirm, explain, and complement each other ? From Voluspa's words, we conclude that the venom-streams come from the openings in the roof, not from the walls. The wall con- sists, in its entirety, of the backs of serpents wattled together (sd cr wndinn scdr orma hrgggjom). The heads belonging to these serpents are above the roof, and vomit their venom down through the roof-openings — " the ljors " {fdlu eitrdropar inn urn ljura). Below these, and between them and the floor, there are, as we have seen in Saxo, rows of iron seats, the one row below the other, all furnished with leaden hurdles, and on the iron seats sit or lie perjurers and murderers, forced to drink the venom raining down in " heavy streams ". Every such row of sinners becomes " a trough of venom " for the row immediately below it, until the disgusting liquid thus produced falls on those who have seduced the dearest and most confidential friends of others. These seducers either constitute the lowest row of the seated delinquents, or they wade on the floor in that filth and venom which there flows. Over the hall broods eternal night (it is solu fjarri). What there is of light, illuminating the terrors, comes from fires (see below) kindled at the doors which open to the north (norSr horfa dyrr). The smoke from the fires comes into the hall and covers the door- posts with the " soot of ages " {postcs longccva fuliginc Mite). With this must be compared what Tacitus relates concerning the views and customs of the Germans in regard to crime and punishment. He says : "The nature of the crime determines the punishment. Traitors and deserters they hang on trees. Cowards and those given to 374 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. disgraceful debauchery they smother in filthy pools and marshes, casting a hurdle (crates) over them. The dissimilarity in these punishments indicates a belief that crime should be punished in such a way that the penalty is visible, while scandalous conduct should be punished in such a way that the debauchee is removed from the light of day " (Germania, xii.). This passage in Germania is a commentary on Saxo's descrip- tions, and on the Voluspa strophe in the form resulting from my investigation. What might naturally seem probable is corroborated by Go-mania's words : that the same view of justice and morality, which obtained in the camp of the Germans, found its expression, but in gigantic exaggeration, in their doctrines concerning escha- tological rewards and punishments. It should, perhaps, also be remarked that a similar particularism prevailed through centuries. The hurdle Urates) which Saxo mentions as being placed over the venom- and filth-drinking criminals in the hall of Nastrands has its earthly counterpart in the hurdle (also called crates), which, according to the custom of the age of Tacitus, was thrown over victims smothered in the cesspools and marshes (ignavos et imbclles ct corpore infames cceno ac palacle injeeta insurer crate mergunt). Those who were sentenced to this death were, according to Tacitus, cowards and debauchees. Among those who received a similar punishment in the Teutonic Gehenna were partly those who in a secret mauner had committed murder and tried to conceal their crime (such were called morefvargr), partly debauchees who had violated the sacredness of matrimony. The descriptions in the Voluspa strophe and in Saxo show that also in the hall of the -Nastrands the punishment is in accordance with the nature of the crime. All are punished terribly; but there is a distinction between those who had to drink the serpent venom unmixed and those who receive the mixed potion, and finally those who get the awful liquid over themselves and doubtless within themselves. In closing this chapter I will quote a number of Voluspa strophes, which refer to Teutonic eschatology. In parallel columns I print the strophes as they appear in Codex Regius, and in the form they have assumed as the result of an investigation of which I shall give a full account in the future. I trust it will be found that the restoration of d fellr austan um citrdala into d fellr austr eitrdocla, and the introducing of these words before fianns annars gleyr TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 375 (i/riirana not only restores to the strophe in which these words occur a regular structure and a sense which is corroborated by Saxo's eschatological sources and by the Oermama of Tacitus, but also supplies the basis and conditions on which other strophes may get a regular structure and intelligible contents. Codex Regius. A fellr austan um eitrdala sauxom oc sverbom slibr heitir su. Stod fyr norSan a niba vollom salr or gulli sindra ettar. enn annar stoS a okolni bior salr iotuns en sa brimir heitir. Sal sa hon standa solo fiarri na strondu a norbr horfa dyrr fello eitr dropar inn um liora sa er undinn salr orma hryggiom. (38) Sa hon bar vaSa bunga strauma nienn meinsvara oc moroVargar. oc bann annars glepr eyra runo bar sug oibhauggT luii tram gegna sleit vargr vera vitob er en eba hvat. Revised Text. St6d fyr noroan a Ni'Sa volluin salr or gulli Sindra ajttar ; enn annar stoS a Okolni, bjorsals jotuns, en sa Brimir heitir. Sal sa hon standa solu fjarri Nastrondu a, norSr horfa dyrr ; fellu eitrdropar inn um ljora, sa er undinn salr orma hryggjum. Sa hon ]mr vaSa bunga strauma menn meinsvara oc morrjvarga ; en a fell austr eitrdaila banns annars glepr eyrarunu 376 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. (35) Hapt sa hon liggia uudir hvera lundi legiarn lici loca abeckian. bar sitr Sigyn beygi um sinom ver velglyioS vitob er en eba hvat. Hapt sa hon liggja unclir hveralundi lsegjarnliki Loka abekkjan ; bar saug Nidhoggr nai fraragengna, sleit vargr vera. VituS er enn efta hvat ? bar kna Vala vigbdnd sniia, heldr varn harSgor hopt or bormum ; bar sitr Sigyn beygi um sinum ver vel glyjuS. VituS er enn eSa hvat ? 78 The Places of Punishment {continued). Loke's Cave of Punish- ment. Gylfaginning's Confounding of Muspel's Sons with the Sons of Suttung. Saxo {Hist. Dan., 429 ff.) relates that the experienced Captain Thorkil made, at the command of King Gorm, a second journey to the uttermost North, in order to complete the knowledge which was gained on the first journey. That part of the lower world where Loke (by Saxo called Ugartilocus) dwells had not then been seen. This now remained to be done. Like the first time, Thorkil sailed into that sea on which sun and stars never shine, and he kept cruising so long in its darkness that his supply of fuel gave out. The expedition was as a consequence on the point of failing, when a fire was suddenly seen in the distance. Thorkil then entered a boat with a few of his men and rowed thither. In order to find his way back to his ship in the darkness, he had placed in the mast-top a self-luminous precious stone, which he had taken with him on the journey. Guided by the light, Thorkil came to a strand- rock, in which there were narrow " gaps " {fauces), out of which TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 377 the light came. There was also a door, and Thorkil entered, after requesting his men to remain outside. Thorkil found a grotto. At the fire which was kindled stood two uncommonly tall men, who kept mending the tire. The grotto had an inner door or gate, and that which was seen inside that gate is described by Saxo in almost the same words as those of his former description of the hall at the Nastrands (pbsolcti poster ater situ paries, sordidum tectum, frequens anguibus pavimerUum). Thor- kil in reality sees the same hall again ; he had simply come to it from another side, from the north, where the hall has its door opening toward the strand (nor&r korfa dyrr — Voluspa), the pillars of which, according to Saxo's previous description, are covered with the soot of ages. The soot is now explained by the fire which is kindled in the grotto outside the hall, the grotto forming as it were a vestibule. The two gigantic persons who mend the fire are called by Saxo aguili. In Marcianus Capella, who is Saxo's model in regard to style and vocabulary, persons of semi-divine rank (Jtcmitlici) are mentioned who are called aquili, and who inhabit the same regions as the souls of the dead (lares and larva — Mara Cap., L, ii. Compare P. E. Miiller, not., Hist. Dan., pp. 68, 69). Aquilus also has the significa- tion, dark, swarthy, Icel. dukkr. In the northern mythology a particular kind of elves are men- tioned— black or swarthy elves, ddkkdlfar. They dwell under the farthest root of the world-tree, near the northern gate of the lower world (iormungi-undar i iodyr nyrdra), and have as their neighbours the Thurses and the unhappy dead (ndir — Forspjallsljod, 25). Gylfaginning also (ch. 17) knows of the swarthy elves, at least, that they " dwell down in the earth " (pua nicTri ijurffu). As to mythic rank, colour, and abode, they therefore correspond with the Roman aguili, and Saxo has forcibly and very correctly employed this Latin word in order to characterise them in an intelligible manner. The two swarthy elves keeping watch outside of the hall of Nastrands ought naturally to have been astonished at seeing a living human being entering their grotto. Saxo makes them receive the unexpected guest in a friendly manner. They greet him, and, when they have learned the purpose of his visit, one of them reproaches him for the rash boldness of his undertaking, but gives him information in regard to the way to Loke, and gives him fire 378 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. and fuel after he had tested Thorkil's understanding, and found him to be a wise man. The journey, says the swarthy elf, can be performed in four days' fast sailing. As appears from the context, the journey is to the east. The traveller then comes to a place where not a blade of grass grows, and over which an even denser darkness broods. The place includes several terrible rocky halls, and in one of them Loke dwells. On the fourth day Thorkil, favoured by a good wind, comes to the goal of his journey. Through the darkness a mass of rock rising from the sea (scoptdnm inusitatce molis) is with difficulty discerned, and Thorkil lays to by this rocky island. He and his men put on clothes of skin of a kind that protects against venom, and then walk along the beach at the foot of the rock until they find an entrance. Then they kindle a fire with flint stones, this being an excellent protection against demons ; they light torches and crawl in through the narrow opening. Unfortunately Saxo gives but a scanty account of what they saw there. First they came to a cave of torture, which resembled the hall on the Nastrands, at least, in this particular, that there were many serpents and many iron seats or iron benches of the kind described above. A brook of sluggish water is crossed by wading. Another grotto which is not described was passed through, whereupon they entered Loke's awful prison. He lay there bound hands and feet with immense chains. His hair and beard resembled spears of horn, and had a terrible odour. Thorkil jerked out a hair of his beard to take with him as evidence of what he had seen. As he did this, there was diffused in the cave a pestilential stench ; and after Thorkil's arrival home, it appeared that the beard-hair he had taken home was dangerous to life on account of its odour (Hist. Dan., 433). When Thorkil and his men had passed out of the interior jurisdic- tion of the rock, they were discovered by flying serpents which had their home on the island (cp. Voluspa — par sang Ni&hoggr, &c, No. 77). The skin clothes protected them against the venom vomited forth. But one of the men who bared his eyes became blind. Another, whose hand came outside of the protecting gar- ments, got it cut off; and a third, who ventured to uncover his head, got the latter separated from his neck by the poison as by a sharp steel instrument. The poem or saga which was Saxo's authority for this story must TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 379 have described the rocky island where Loke was put in chains as inhabited by many condemned beings. There are at least three caves of torture, and in one of them there are many iron benches. This is confirmed, as we shall see, by Voluspa, Saxo also says t hat there was a harbour. From Voluspa we learn that when Ygdrasil trembles at the approach of Ragnarok, the ship of the dead, Xagelfar, lies so that the liberated Loke can 140 aboard it. That it has long lain moored in its harbour is evident from the fact that, according to Voluspa, it then " becomes loose ". Unknown hands are its builders. The material out of which it is constructed is the nail-parings of dead men ((lylfag., ~>1 — probably according to some popular tradition). The less regard for religion, the less respect for the dead. But from each person who is left unburied, or is put into his grave without being, when possible, washed, combed, cleaned as to hands and feet, and so cared for that his appearance may be a favourable evidence to the judges at the Thins of the dead in regard to his survivors — from each such person comes building material for the death-ship, which is to carry the hosts of world-destroyers to the great conflict. Much building material is accumulated in the last days — in the " dagger- and-axe age," when " men no longer respect each other" (Voluspa). Xagelfar is the largest of all ships, larger than Skidbladner (Skidbladnir cr bcztr skipanna . . . en NaglfaH er mest skip — (lylfag., 43). This very fact shows that it is to have a Large number of persons on board when it departs from Loke's rocky island. Voluspa says : Str. 47, 8. Narjlfar losnar, Xagelfar becomes loose, Str. 48. Kioll fi /■/■ austan, a ship comes from the east, koma muno Muspellz the hosts of Muspel urn /en;/ lydir, come o'er the main, en Lol'i styrir ; Loke is pilot ; fara Fijh megir all Fifel's descendants med Freka allir, come with Freke, fieim cr bro&ir Byleipt's brother Byleipt& i fur. is with them on the journey Here it is expressly stated that " the hosts of Muspel " are on board the ship, Xagelfar, guided by Loke, after it has been " freed 380 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. from its moorings " and had set sail from the island where Loke and other damned ones were imprisoned. How can this be harmonised with the doctrine based on the authority of Gylfaginning, that the sons of Muspel are inhabitants of the southernmost region of light and warmth, Gylfaginning's so- called Muspelheim ? or with the doctrine that Surt is the protector of the borders of this realm ? or that Muspel's sons proceed under his command to the Ragnarok conflict, and that they consequently must come from the South, which Voluspa also seems to corroborate with the words Surtr ferr sunnan mccf sviga Icefi ? The answer is that the one statement cannot be harmonised with the other, and the question then arises as to which of the two authorities is the authentic one, the heathen poem Voluspa or Gylfaginning, produced in the thirteenth century by a man who had a vague conception of the mythology of our ancestors. Even the most uncritical partisan of Gylfaginning would certainly unhesitatingly decide in favour of Voluspa, provided we had this poem handed down in its pure form from the heathen days. But this is clearly not the case. We therefore need a third witness to decide between the two. Such an one is also actually to be found. In the Norse heathen records the word muspcll occurs only twice, viz., in the above-mentioned Voluspa strophe and in Lokasenna, 42, where Frey, who has surrendered his sword of victory, is threatened by Loke with the prospect of defeat and death — er Muspellz synir ricfa MyrcviJ? yftr, " when Muspel's suns ride over Darkwood ". The Myrkwood is mentioned in Volun- darkvida (1) as a forest, through which the swan-maids coming from the South flew into the wintry Ulfdales, where one chases bears on skees (snow-shoes) to get food. This is evidently not a forest situated near the primeval fountains of heat and fire. The very arbitrary manner in which the names of the mythical geo- graphy is used in the heroic poems, where Myrkwood comes to the surface, does not indicate that this forest was conceived as situated south of Midgard, and there is, as shall be shown below, reason for assuming that Darkwood is another name for the Ironwood famous in mythology ; the wood which, according to Voluspa, is situated in the East, and in which Angerboda fosters the children of Loke and Fenrer. One of these, and one of the worst, is the monster Hate, the TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 381 enemy of the moon mentioned in Voluspa as tvmgh tiuga/ri, that makes excursions from the Ironwood and " stains the citadels of rulers with blood". In the Ragnarok conflict Hate takes part and contends with Tyr (Gylfag.), and, doubtless, not only he, bu1 also the whole offspring of the Fenris-wolf fostered in the Ironwood, are on the battlefield in that division which is commanded by Loke their clan-chief. This is also, doubtless, the meaning of the following words in the Voluspa strophe quoted above : " Fifel's descendants all come with Freke (the wolf), and in company with them is Byleipt's (or Byleist's) brother". As Loke, Byleipt, and Helblinde are mentioned as brothers (Gylfag., 33), no one else can be meant with "Byleipt's brother" than Loke himself or Helblinde, and more probably the latter, since it has already been stated, that Loke is there as the commander of the forces. Thus it is Muspel'a sons and Loke's kinsmen in the Ironwood who are gathered an mud him when the great conflict is at hand. Muspel's sons accompany the liberated Loke from his rocky isle, and are with him on board Na gel far. Loke's first destination is the Ironwood, whither he goes to fetch Angerboda's children, and thence the journey proceeds " over Myrkwood " to the plain of Vigrid. The statements of Voluspa and Lokasenna illustrate and corroborate each other, and it follows that Voluspa's statement, claiming that Muspel's sons come from the East, is original and correct. Gylfaginning treats Muspel as a place, a realm, the original home of fire and heat (Gylfag., 5). Still, there is a lack of positive- ness, for the land in question is in the same work called MtXspellsheimr (ch. 5) and Misspells heimr (ch. 8), whence we may presume that thf author regarded M&spell as meaning both the land of the fire and the fire itself. The true etymology of MiUpcll was probably as little known in the thirteenth century, when Gylfaginning was written, as it is now. I shall not speak of the several attempts made at conjecturing the definition of the word. They may all be regarded as abortive, mainly, doubtless, for the reason that Gylfa- ginning's statements have credulously been assumed as the basis of the investigation. As a word inherited from heathen times, it occurs under the forms mutspclli and muspilli in the < 'Id Saxon poem Heliand and in an Old High German poem on the final judgment, and there it has the meaning of the Lord's day, the doom of condemnation, or the condemnation. Concerning the 382 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. meaning which the word had among the heathens of the North, before the time of the authors of Voluspa and Lokasenna, all that can be said with certainty is, that the word in the expression "Muspel's sons" has had a special reference to mythical beings who are to appear in Eagnarok righting there as Loke's allies, that is, on the side of the evil against the good ; that these beings were Loke's fellow-prisoners on the rocky isle where he was chained ; and that they accompanied him from there on board Nagelfar to war against the gods. As Gylfaginning makes them accompany Suit coming from the South, this must be the result of a confound- ing of " Muspel's sous " with " Surt's (Suttung's) sons ". A closer examination ought to have shown that Gylfagirming's conception of " Muspel's sons " is immensely at variance with the mythical. Under the influence of Christian ideas they are trans- formed into a sort of angels of light, who appear in Eagnarok to contend under the command of Surt " to conquer all the idols " (sigra oil go3in — Gylfag. 4) and carry out the punishment of the world. While Voluspa makes them come with Loke in the ship Nagelfar, that is, from the terrible rocky isle in the sea over which eternal darkness broods, and while Lokasenna makes them come across the Darkwood, whose name does not suggest any region in the realm of light, Gylfaginning tells us that they are celestial beings. Idols and giants contend with each other on Vigrid's plains ; then the heavens are suddenly rent in twain, and out of it ride in shining squadrons " Muspel's sons " and Surt, with his flaming sword, at the head of the fylkings. Gylfaginning is careful to keep these noble riders far away from every contact with that mob which Loke leads to the field of battle. It therefore expressly states that they form a fylking by themselves (/ pesmm gny Klofnar himininn, oh ricfic Jxt&an Muspells synir ; Snrtr riftr fyrstr, &c. . . . enn Muspells synir hafa einir seV fylking, er sd hjort mjoh — ch. 56). Thus they do not come to assist Loke, but to put an end to both the idols and the mob of giants. The old giant, Surt, who, according to a heathen skald, Eyvind Skalda- spiller, dwells in sohhdalir, in mountain grottos deep under the earth (see about him, No. 89), is in Gylfaginning first made the keeper of the borders of " Muspelheim," and then the chief of celestial hosts. But this is not the end of his promotion. In the text found in the Upsala Codex, Gylfaginning makes him lord TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 383 in Gimle, and likewise the king of eternal bliss. Alter Ragnarok it is said, "there are many good abodes and many bad"; best it is to be in Gimle with Skirt (ma/rgar ero vistar gopar og margar illar, bezt er at vera a Qirrde medr surtr). The name Surt means black. We find that his dark looks did not prevenl his promotion, and this has been carried to such a point that a mythologist who honestly believed in Grylfaginning saw in him the Almighty who is to come after the regeneration to equalise and harmonise all discord, and to found holy laws to prevail for ever. Under such circumstances, it may be suggested as a rule of critical caution not to accept unconditionally Gylfaginning's state- ment that the world of light and heat which existed before the creation of the world was called Muspel or Muspelheim. In all probability, this is a result of the author's own reflections. At all events, it is certain that no other record has any knowledge of that name. But that the mythology presumed the existence of such a world follows already from the fact that Ord's fountain, which gives the warmth of life to the world -tree, must have had its deepest fountain there, just as Hvergelnier has its in the world of primeval cold, and Mimer has his fountain in that wisdom which unites the opposites and makes them work together in a cosmic world. Accordingly, we must distinguish between MiXspclls megir, Misspells synir, from Surf's clan-men, who are called Surts cctt, synir Suttunga, Suttungs synir (Skirnisinal, 34 ; Alvissm., 35). We should also remember that Muspell in connection with the words synir and megir hardly can mean a land, a realm, a region. The figure by which the inhabitants of a country are called its sons or descendants never occurs, so far as I know, in the oldest Norse literature. In regard to the names of the points of the compass in the poetic Edda, norcfan and austan, it must not be forgotten that the same northern regions in the mythical geography to which various events are referred must have been regarded by the Icelanders as lying to the east from their own northern isle. The Bjarmia ulterior, in whose night - shrouded waters mythical adventurers sought the gates to the lower world, lay in the uttermost North, and might still, from an Icelandic and also from a Norwegian standpoint, be designated as a land in the East, According to the 384 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. sa^as preserved by Saxo, these adventurers sailed into the Arctic Ocean, past the Norwegian coast, and eastward to a mythical Bjarmia, more distant than the real Bjarmaland. They could thus come to the coast where a gate to the lower world was to be found, and to the Nastrands, and if they continued this same course to the East, they could finally get to the rocky isle where Loke lay chained. We have seen that Loke is not alone with Sigyn on that isle where in chains he abides Eagnarok. There were unhappy beings in large numbers with him. As already stated, Saxo speaks of three connected caves of torture there, and the innermost one is Loke's. Of the one nearest to it, Saxo tells nothing else than that one has to wade across a brook or river in order to get there. Of the bound Fenrer, Loke's son, it is said that from his mouth runs froth which forms the river Von (Gylfag., 34). In Lokasenna (34) Frey says to the abusive Loke : " A wolf (that is, Fenrer) I see lying at the mouth of the river until the forces of the world come in conflict ; if you do not hold your tongue, you, villain, will be chained next to him " (pvi nccst — an expression which here should be taken in a local sense, as a definite place is mentioned in the preceding sentence). And as we learn from Voluspa, that Freke (the wolf) is with Loke on board Nagelfar, then these evidences go to show that Loke and his son are chained in the same place. The isle where Fenrer was chained is called in Gylfaginning Lyngvi, and the body of water in which the isle is situated is called Amsvartnir, a suitable name of the sea, over which eternal dark- ness broods. On the isle, the probably Icelandic author of Voluspa (or its translator or compiler) has imagined a " grove," whose trees consist of jets of water springing from hot fountains (hvera lundr). The isle is guarded by Garmr, a giant-dog, who is to bark with all its might when the chains of Loke and Fenrer threaten to burst asunder : Geyr Garmr mjoh fyr Gnijpahelli Fcstr man slitna, en Freki renna. According to Grimnersmal, Garni is the foremost of all dogs. The dogs which guard the beautiful Menglad's citadel are also TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 385 called Garms (Fjolsvinnsmal). In Gylfaginning, the word Is also need in regard to a wolf, Eate Manegarm. OnipaheUir means the cave of the precipitous rock. The adventures which Thorkil and pis men encountered with the flying serpents, in connection with the watching Hel-dog, show that Lyngve is the scene of dei is of the same kind as those which are found around the Na-gates of Nifelheim. Bound hands and feet with the entrails of a "frost-cold son" (Lokasenna, 49), which, after being placed on his limbs, are trans- formed into iron chains (Gtyfag., 54), Loke lies on a weapon (a miorvi — Lokasenna, 4'.)), and under him are three flat stones placed on edge, one under his shoulders, one. under his loins, and one under his hams (Gylfag., 54). Over him Skade, who is to take levenge for the murder of her father, suspends a serpent in such a manner that the venom drops in the face of the nithing. Sigyn, faithful to her wicked husband, sits sorrowing by his side (Voluspa and protects him as well as she is able against the venom of the Serpent (Postscript to Lokasenna, Gylfag., 54). Fenrer is fettered by the soft, silk-like chain Gleipner, made by the subterranean artist, and brought from the lower world by Hermod. It is the only chain that can hold him, and that cannot be broken before I; - narok. His jaws are kept wide open with a sword (Gylfag., 35). 79. Tin-: Great Wokld-mill. Its Mistaken [dentity with the Fkode-mill. We have yet to mention a place in the lower world which is of importance to the naive but, at the same time, perspicuous and imagi- native cosmology of Teutonic heathendom. The myth in regard to the place in question is lost, but it has left scattered traces and marks, with the aid of which it is possible to restore its chief outlines. Poems, from the heathen time, speak of two wonderful mills, a larger and a smaller " Grotte "-mill. The larger one is simply immense. The storms and showers which lash the sides of the mountains and cause their dilu- tion ; the breakers of the sea which attack the rocks on the 25 33G TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. Strands, make them hollow, and cast the substance thus scooped out along the coast in the form of sand-banks ; the whirlpools and currents of the ocean, and the still more powerful forces that were fancied by antiquity, and which smouldered the more brittle layers of the earth's solid crust, and scattered them as sand and mould over " the stones of the hall," in order that the ground might " be overgrown with green herbs " — all tins was symbolised by the larger Grotte-mill. And as all symbols, in the same manner as the lightning which becomes Trior's hammer, in the mythology become epic-pragmatic realities, so this symbol becomes to the imagination a real mill, which operates deep down in the sea and causes the phenomena which it symbolises. This greater mill was also called Grce&ir, since its grist is the mould in which vegetation grows. This name was gradually trans- ferred by the poets of the Christian age from the mill, which was grinding beneath the sea, to the sea itself. The lesser Grotte-mill is like the greater one of heathen origin — Egil Skallagrimson mentions it — but it plays a more accidental part, and really belongs to the heroic poems connected with the mythology. Meanwhile, it is akin to the greater. Its stones come from the lower world, and were cast up thence for amusement by young giant-maids to the surface of the earth. A being called llcwjlljoptr (the feminine Hengikcpta is the name of a giantess — Sn. Edda, i. 551 ; ii. 471) makes mill-stones out of these subter- ranean rocks, and presents the mill to King Frode Fridleifson. Fate brings about that the same young giantesses, having gone to Svithiod to help the king warring there, Guthorm (see Nos. 38, 39), are taken prisoners and sold as slaves to King*Frode, who makes them turn his Grotte-mill, the stones of which they recog- nise from their childhood. The giantesses, whose names are Fenja and Menja, grind on the mill gold and safety for King Frode, peace and good- will among men for his kingdom. But when Frode, hardened by greed for gold, refuses them the necessary rest from their toils, they grind fire and death upon him, and give the mill so great speed that the mill-stone breaks into pieces, and the founda- tion is crushed under its weight. After the introduction of Christianity, the details of the myth concerning the greater, the cosmological mill, were forgotten, and there remained only the memory of the existence of such a mill on TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 3S7 the bottom of the sea, The recollection of the lesser Grotte-mill was, on the other hand, at least in part preserved as to its details in a song which continued to flourish, and which was recorded in Skaldskaparmal. Both mills were now regarded as identical, and there sprang np a tradition which explained how they could be so. Contrary to the statements of the Bong, the tradition narrates that the mill did not break into pieces, but stood whole and perfect, when the curse of the giant-maids on Frode was fulfilled. The night following the day when they had begun to grind misfortune on Frode, there came a sea-king, Mysing, and slew Frode, and took, among other booty, also the Grotte-mill and both the Female slaves, and carried them on board his ship. Mysing commanded them to grind salt, and this they continued to do until the following midnight. Then they asked if he had not got enough, but he commanded them to continue grinding, and so they did until the ship shortly afterwards sank. In this manner the tradition explained how the mill came to stand on the bottom of the sea, and there the mill that had belonged to Frode acquired the qualities which originally had belonged to the vast Grotte-mill of the mythology. Skaldskaparmal, which relates this tradition as well as the song, without taking any notice of the discrepancies between them, adds that after Frode's mill had sunk, "there was produced a whirlpool in the sea, caused by the waters running through the hole in the mill-stone, and from that time the sea is salt ". 80. The World-mill (continued). With distinct consciousness of its symbolic signification, the greater mill is mentioned in a strophe by the skald ■nsebjora (Skaldskap., ch. 25). The strophe appears to have belonged to a poem describing a voyage. "It is said," we read in this strophe, "that Eyluffr's nine women violently turn the Grotte of the skerry dangerous to man out near the edtre of the earth, and that these women lorn; ground Amlode'fl licf-i>t: megir that Odin's suns each allir mil siiman. mid all drink ale. Loke. Str. 46 pec/i pit, Beyggvir I Be silent, Bygver! pu Ltiiinir aldregi Ne'er were yon able deila mejj monnom mot. food to divide among men. Beyla, too, gets her share of Loke's abuse. The least disgraceful thine,- he says of her is that she is a deigia (a slave, who lias to work at the mill and in the kitchen), and that she is covered with traces of her occupation in dust and dirt. As we see, Loke characterises Bygver as a servant taking charge of the mill under Frey, and Bygver characterises himself as one who grinds, and is able to crush an " evil crow" limb by limb with his mill-stones. As the one who witli his mill makes vegetation, and so also bread and malt, possible, he boasts of it as his honour that the gods are able to drink ale at a banquet Loke blames him because he is not able to divide the food among men. The reproach implies that the distribution of food is in his hands. The mould which comes from the great mill gives different degrees of fertility to different fields, and rewards abundantly or niggardly the toil of the tanner. Loke doubtless alludes to this unequal distribution, else it would be impossible to find any sense in his words. In the poetic Edda we still have another reminiscence of the great mill which is located under the sea, and at the same time in the lower world (see below), and which " grinds mould into food ". It is in a poem, whose skald says that he has seen it on his journey in the lower world. In his description of the "home of torture " in Hades, Solarljod's Christian author has taken all his materials from the heathen mythological conceptions of the worlds of punish- ment, though the author treats these materials in accordance with the Christian purpose of his song. When the skald dies, he 394 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. enters the Hades gate, crosses bloody streams, sits for nine clays & noma stdli, is thereupon seated on a horse, and is permitted to make a journey through Mimer's domain, first to the regions of the happy and then to those of the damned. In Mimer's realm he sees the " stag of the sun" and Nide's (Mimer's) sons, who " quaff the pure mead from Baugregin's well". When he approached the borders of the world of the damned, he heard a terrible din, which silenced the winds and stopped the flow of the waters. The mighty din came from a mill. Its stones were wet with blood, but the grist produced was mould, which was to be food. Fickle- wise (s/-ii>cisar, heathen) women of dark complexion turned the mill. Their bloody and tortured hearts hung outside of their breasts. The mould which they ground was to feed their husbands. This mill, situated at the entrance of hell, is here represented as one of the agents of torture in the lower world. To a certain extent this is correct even from a heathen standpoint. It was the lot of slave-women to turn the hand-mill. In the heroic poem the giant-maids Fenja and Menja, taken prisoners and made slaves, have to turn Frode's Grotte. In the mythology "Eylud's nine women," thurse-maids, were compelled to keep this vast mechanism in motion, and that this was regarded as a heavy and compulsory task may be assumed without the risk of being mistaken. According to Solarljod, the mill-stones are stained with blood. In the mythology they crush the bodies of the first giants and revolve in Ymer's blood. It is also in perfect harmony with the mythology that the meal becomes mould, and that the mould serves as food. But the cosmic signification is obliterated in Solar- ljod, and it seems to be the author's idea that men who have died in their heathen belief are to eat the mould which women who have died in heathendom industriously grind as food for them. The myth about the greater Grotte, as already indicated, has also been connected with the Hvergelmer myth. Solarljod has correctly stated the location of the mill on the border of the realm of torture. The mythology has located Hvergelmer's fountain there (see No. 59) ; and as this vast fountain is the mother of the ocean and of all waters, and the ever open connection between the waters of heaven, of the earth, and of the lower world, then this furnishes the explanation of the apparently conflicting statements, that the mill is situated both in the lower world and at the same TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 395 time on the bottom of the sea Of the mill it Lb said that it is dangerous to men, dangerous to fleets and to crews, and that il causes the maelstrom (svelgr) when the water of the ocean rushes down through the eye of the mill-stone. The same was said of Hvergelmer, that causes ebb and flood and maelstrom, when the water of the world alternately flows into and oul of this great source. To judge from all this, the mill has been conceived a made that its foundation timbers stood on solid ground in the low.-r world, and thence ruse up into the sea, in which the stones vesting on this substructure were located. The revolving " eye" of the mill-stone was directly above Hvergelmer, and served as the channel through which the water flowed I > and from the greal fountain of the world's waters. 81. The Woeld-mill (contimted). The "World-mill makes the Con- stellations Revolve. Mundilfo'ki. But the colossal mill in the ocean has also served other pur- poses than that of grinding the nourishing mould from the limbs of the primeval giants. The Teutons, like all people of antiquity, and like mosl men of the present time, regarded the earth as stationary. And so, too, the lower world (Jormurgrundr — Forspjallsljod) on which the foun- dation- of the earth rested. Stationary was also that heaven in which the Asas had their citadels, surrounded by a common wall, for the Asgard-bridge, Bifrost, had a solid bridge-head on the southern and another on the northern edge of the lower world, and could not change position in its relation to them. All this part of creation was held together by the immovable roots of the world-tree, or rested on its invisible branches. Sol and Mane had their fixed paths, the points of departure and arrival of which were the "horse-doors" (Jddyrr), which were hung on the eastern and western mountain-walls of the lower world. The god Man'' and the goddess Sol were thought to traverse these paths in shining chariots, and their daily journeys across the heavens did not to our ancestors imply that any part of the world-structure itself was in motion. Mane's course lay below Asgard. When Thor in his thunder-chariot descends to Jotunheim the path of Mane thunder.- 396 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. under him (en dirndl Mdna vcgr unci Meila brocfur — Haustl., 1). No definite statement in our mythical records informs us whether the way of the sun was over or under Asgard. But high above Asgard is the s'tarry vault of heaven, and to the Teutons as well as to other people that sky was not only an optical but a real vault, which daily revolved around a stationary point. Sol and Mane might be conceived as traversing their appointed courses independently, and not as coming in contact with vaults, which by their motions from east to west produced the progress of sun and moon. The very circumstance that they continually changed position in their relation to each other and to the stars seemed to prove that they proceeded independently in their own courses. With the countless stars the case was different. They always keep at the same distance and always present the same figures on the canopy of the nocturnal heavens. They looked like glistening heads of nails driven into a movable ceiling. Hence the starlit sky was thought to be in motion. The sailors and shepherds of the Teutons very well knew that this revolving was round a fixed point, the polar star, and it is probable that veraldar narjli, the world-nail, the world-spike, an expression preserved in Eddu- brott, ii., designates the north star. Thus the starry sky was the movable part of the universe. And this motion is not of the same kind as that of the winds, whose coming and direction no man can predict or calculate. The motion of the starry firmament is defined, always the same, always in the same direction, and keeps equal step with the march of time itself. It does not, therefore, depend on the accidental pleasure of gods or other powers. On the other hand, it seems to be caused by a mechanism operating evenly and regularly. The mill was for a long time the only kind of mechanism on a large scale known to the Teutons. Its motion was a rotating one. The movable mill-stone was turned by a handle or sweep which was called mundull. The mill-stones and the mondidl might be conceived as large as you please. Fancy knew no other limits than those of the universe. There was another natural phenomenon, which also was regular, and which was well known to the seamen of the North and to those Teutons who lived on the shores of the North Sea, namely, the rising and falling of the tide. Did one and the same force TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 397 produce both those great phenomenal Did the same cause produce the motion of the starry vault and the ebb and flood of the sea? In regard to the latter phenomenon, we already know the naive explanation given in the myth concerning Evergelmer and the Grotte-mill. And the same explanation Bufficed for the former. There was no need of another mechanism to make the heavens revolve, as there was already one at hand, the influence of which could be traced throughout that ocean in which Midgard was >imply an isle, and which around this island extends its surface even to the brink of heaven (Gylfaginning). The mythology knew a person by name Mundilfdri Vafl hr ., 23 ; Gylfag.). The word mimdill is related to mini lull, and is presum- ably only another form of the same word. The name or epithet Mundilfore refers to a being that has had something to do with a great mythical mondidl and with the movements of the mechanism which this mondull kept in motion. Now the word mondull is never used in the old Norse literature about any other object than the sweep or handle with which the movable mill-stone is turned. (In this sense the word occurs in the Grotte-son<_; and in Helge Hund. ii., 3, 4.) Thus Mundilfore has had some part to play in regard to the great giant-mill of the ocean and of the lower world. Of Mundilfore we learn, on the other hand, that he is the father of the personal Sol and the personal Mane (Vafthr. 23 This, again, shows that the mythology conceived him as intimately associated with the heavens and with the heavenly bodies. Vigfusson (Diet., 437) has, therefore, with good reason remarked that mundill in Mundilfore refers to the veering round or fin revolu- tionof the heavens. As the father of Sol and Mane, Mundilfore was a being of divine rank, and as such belonged to the powers of the lower world, where Sol and Mane have their abodes and resting-places. The latter part of the name,/dro, refers to the verb fcera, to conduct, to move. Thus he is that power who has to take charge of the revolutions of the starry vault of heaven, and these must be produced by the great mondull, the mill-handle or mill- sweep, since he is called Mundilfdri. The regular motion of the starry firmament and of theses is, accordingly, produced by the same vast mechanism, the Grotte- mill, the meginverk of the heathen fancy (< Jrotte-song, 11; cp. Egil Skallagrimson's way of using the word. Arnibj.-Drapa, 2< 39S TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. The handle extends to the edge of the world, and the nine giantesses, who are compelled to turn the mill, pushing the sweep before them, march along the outer edge of the universe. Thus we get an intelligible idea of what Snsebjorn means when he says that Eylud's nine women turn the Grotte " along the edge of the earth " (hrcera Grotta at fijrir jarclar slcauti). Mundilfore and Bygver thus each has his task to perform in connection with the same vast machinery. The one attends to the regular motion of the mondull, the other looks after the mill-stones and the grist. In the name Eylud the first part is ey, and the second part is Ivlftr. The name means the ;< island- mill ". Eylud's nine women are the " nine women of the island-mill ". The mill is in the same strophe called sJccrja Grotti, the Grotte of the skerry. These expressions refer to each other and designate with different words the same idea — the mill that grinds islands and skerries. The fate which, according to the Grotte-song, happened to King Frode's mill has its origin in the myth concerning the greater mill. The stooping position of the starry heavens and the sloping path of the stars in relation to the horizontal line was a problem which in its way the mythology wanted to solve. The phenomenon was put in connection with the mythic traditions in regard to the terrible winter which visited the earth after the gods and the sons of Alvalde (Ivalde) had become enemies. Fenja and Menja were kinswomen of Alvalde's sons. For they were brothers (half-brothers) of those mountain giants who were Fenja's and Menja's fathers (the Grotte-song). Before the feud broke out between their kin and the gods, both the giant-maids had worked in the service of the latter and for the good of the world, grinding the blessings of the golden age on the world-mill. Their activity in connection with the great mechanism, mondul, which they pushed, amid the singing of bliss-bringing songs of sorcery, was a counterpart of the activity of the sons of Alvalde, who made for the gods the treasures of vegetation. When the conflict broke out the giant-maids joined the cause of their kinsmen. They gave the world-mill so rapid a motion that the foundations of the earth trembled, pieces of the mill- stones were broken loose and thrown up into space, and the sub-structure of the mill was damaged. This could not happen without harm to the starry canopy of heaven which rested thereon. TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 399 The memory of this mythic event cornea to the surface in Ettmbegla, which Btatea that toward the close of King Frode's reign there arose a terrible disorder in nature — a storm with mighty thundering passed overthe country, the earth quaked and east up large atones. In the < rrotte-song the same event is mentioned as a "game" played by Fenja and Menja, in which they east up from the deep upon the earth those stones which afterwards became the mill-stones in the Grotte-mill. After that "game" the giant-maids betook them- selves to the earth anil took part in the firsl world-war on the side hostile to Odin (see No. 39). It is worthy of notice that the mythology has connected the Bmbul-winter and the meat emigra- tions from the North with an earthquake and a damage to the world-mill which makes the starry heavens revolve. 82. Tin: World-mill (continual). The Origin of the Sacred Fire through mlndilfoke. heimdal the personification of the Sacred Fire. His Identity with Rigveda's Agni. His Antithesis, Lokk, also a Fibe-being. Among the tasks to be performed by the world-mill there is yel another el' the greatest importance. According to a belief which originated in ancient Aryan times, a fire is to be judged as to purity and holiness by its origin. There are different kinds of fire more or less pure and holy, and a lire which is holy as to its origin may become corrupted by contact with improper elements. The purest tire, that which was originally kindled by the goda and was afterwards given to man as an invaluable blessing, as a bond of union between the higher world and mankind, was a fire which was produced by rubbing two objects together (friction). In hundreds of passages this is corroborated in Rigveda, and the belief still exists among the common people of various Teutonic peoples. The great mill which revolves the starry heavens was also the mighty rubbing machine (friction machine) from which the sacred lire naturally ought to proceed, and really was regarded as bavin- proceeded, as shall be shown below. The werd mondvll, with which the handle of the mill is desig- nated, is found among our ancient Aryan ancestors. It can be traced back to the ancient Teutonic manthtda, a swing-tree (Kick, 400 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. Worterb d. ind.-germ. Spr., iii. 232), related to Sanscr. Manthati, to swing, twist, bore, from the root manlh, which occurs in nume- rous passages in Rigveda, and in its direct application always refers to the production of fire by friction (Bergaigne, Bel. ved,, iii. 7). In Rigveda, the sacred fire is personified by the " pure," " upright," " benevolent " god Agni, whose very name, related to the Latin ignis, designates the god of fire. According to Rigveda, there was a time when Agni lived concealed from both gods and men, as the element of light and warmth found in all beings and things. Then there was a time when he dwelt in person among the "ods, but not yet among men ; and, finally, there was a time when Mdtarigvan, a sacred being and Agni's father in a literal or symbolic sense, brought it about that Agni came to our fathers (Rigv., i. 60, 1). The generation of men then living was the race of Bhriguians, so-called after an ancient patriarch Bhrigu. This Bhrigu, and with him Manu (Manus), was the first person who, in his sacrifices to the gods, used the fire obtained through Agni (Rigv., i. 31, 17, and other passages). When, at the instigation of Mataricvan, Agni arrived among mankind, he came from a far-off region (Rigv., i. 128, 2). The Bhriguians who did not yet possess the fire, but were longing for it and were seeking for it (Rigv., x. 40, 2), found the newly- arrived Agni " at the confluence of the waters ". In a direct sense, " the confluence of the waters " cannot mean anything else than the ocean, into which all waters flow. Thus Agni came from the distance across a sea to the coast of the country where that people dwelt who were named after the patriarch Bhrigu. When they met this messenger of the gods (Rigv., viii. 19, 21), they adopted him and cared for him at "the place of the water" (Rigv., ii. 4, 2). Mdtarigvan, by whose directions Agni, " the one born on the other side of the atmosphere" (x. 187, 5) was brought to mankind, becomes in the classical Sanscrit language a designation for the wind. Thus everything tends to show that Agni has traversed a wide ocean, and has been brought by the wind when he arrives at the coast where the Bhriguians dwell. He is very young, and hence bears the epithet yavishtha. We are now to see why the gods sent him to men, and what he does among them. He remains among those who care for him, and dwells among them " an immortal among mortals " (Rigv., viii. TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 401 60, 11; iii. 5, 3), a guest among men, a companion of mortals (iv. 1, 9). He who came with the inestimable gift of fire long remains personally among' men, in order thai "a wise one among the ignorant" may educate them. He who "knows all wisdom and all sciences" (Rigv., iii. 1, 17; x. 21, 5) "came to be asked questions" (i. 60, 20) by men ; he teaches them and "they Listen to him as to a father" (i. 68, 9). He becomes their first patriarch (ii. 10, 1) and their first priest (v. 9, 4; x. 80,4). Before that time they had lived a nomadic life, but he taught them to establish fixed homes around the hearths, on which the fire he had brought now was burning (iii. 1, 17). He visited them in these fixed dwellings (iv. 1, 19), where the Bhriguians now let the fire blaze (x. 122, 5); he became "the husband of wives" (i. 66, 4) and the progenitor of human descendants (i. 96, 2), through whom he is the founder of the classes or "races" of men (vi. 48, 8). He established order in all human affairs (iv. 1, 2), taught religion, instructed men in praying and sacrificing (vi. 1, 1, and many other passages), initiated them in the art of poetry and gave them inspira- tion (iii. 10, 5 ; x. 11, 6). This is related of Agni when he came to the earth and dwelt among men. As to his divine nature, he is the pure, white god (iv. 1, 7 : iii. 7, 1), young, strong, and shining with golden teeth (v. 2, 2), and searching eyes (iv. 2, 12) which can see far (vii. 1, 1), penetrate the darkness of night (i. 94, 7), and watch the acts of demons (x. 87, 12). He, the guard of order (i. 11, 8), is always attentive (i. 31, 12), and protects the world by day and by night from dangers (i. 98, 1). On a circular path he observes all beings (vii. 13, 3), and sees and knows them all (x. 187, 4). He per- ceives everything, being able to penetrate the herbs, and diffuse himself into plants and animals (vii. 9, 3; viii. 43, 9; x. 1, 2). He hears all who pray to him, and can make himself heard as if he had the voice of thunder, so that both the halves of the world re- echo his voice (x. 8, 1). His horses are like himself white (vi. 6, 4). His symbol among the animals is the bull (i. 31, 5 ; i. 146, 2). In regard to Agni's birth, it is characteristic of him that he is said to have several mothers, although their number varies accord- ing to the point from which the process of birth is regarded. When it is only to be a figurative expression for the origin of the 26 402 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. friction-tire, the singer of the hymn can say that Agni had ten mothers or two mothers. In the case of the former, it is the ten fingers of the person producing the friction-fire that are meant. Sometimes this is stated outright (Eigveda, iii. 23, 3) ; then again the fingers are paraphrased by "the twice five sisters dwelling together " (iv. 6, 8), " the work-master's ten untiring maids " (i. y5, 1). In the case of the latter — that is, when two mothers are mentioned — the two pieces of wood rubbed together are meant (viii. 49, 15). In a more real sense he is said to have three places of nativity : one in the atmospheric sea, one in heaven, and one in the waters (i. 95, 3), and that his "great, wise, divine nature proceeded from the laps of many active mothers" (i. 95, 4), such as the waters, the stones, the trees, the herbs (ii. 1, 1). In Eig- veda (x. 45, 2) nine maternal wombs or births are indicated ; his " triple powers were sown in triplets in heaven, among us, and in the waters ". In Eigveda (i. 141, 2) three places of nativity and three births are ascribed to him, and in such a way that he had seven mothers in his second birth. In Eigveda (x. 20, 7) he is called the son of the rock. It scarcely needs to be pointed out that all that is here told about Agni corresponds point by point with the Teutonic myth about Heimdal. Here, as in many other instances, we find a similarity between the Teutonic and the Aryan-Asiatic myths, which is surprising, when we consider that the difference between the Eigveda and Zend languages on the one hand, and the oldest Teutonic linguistic monuments on the other, appear in connection with other circumstances to indicate that the old Aryan unity of language and religion lies ages back in antiquity. Agni's birth " beyond the atmosphere," his journey across the sea to original man in the savage state, his vocation as the sower of the blessings of culture among men, his appearance as the teacher of wisdom and " the sciences," his visit to the farms established by him, where he becomes " the husband of wives," father of human sons, and the founder of " the races " (the classes among the Teutons), — all this we rediscover completely in the Heimdal myth, as if it were a copy of the Aryan-Asiatic saga concerning the divine founder of culture ; a copy fresh from the master's brush without the effects of time, and without any retouchings. The very names of the ancient Aryan patriarchs, Bhrigu and Manu are recognisable in the Teutonic TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 403 patriarch names Berchter and Mann (Mannus-Halfdan). In the case of Mann ami Mann no explanation is necessary. Here the identity of sound agrees with the identity of origin. The descen- dants of Bhrigu and of his contemporary Bhriguians, are called Bhargavans, which corroborates the conclusion that lihrigu is derived from bharg ''to shine," whence is derived the ancienl Teutonic bcrhta, "bright," "clear," "light," the old Saxon berht, the Anglo-Saxon beorM, which reoccurs in the Teutonic patriarch Berchter, which again is actually (not linguistically) identical with the Nurse Borgarr. By Bhrign's side stands .Mann, just as Mann (Halfdan) is co-ordinate with Borgar. Point by point the descriptions of Agni and Heimdal also correspond in regard to their divine natures and attributes. Agni is the great holy white god ; Heimdal is mikill and heilagr, and is called hvitl dss (Younger Edda) or "the whitest of the Asas" (Thrymskv., 15). While Agni as the fire-god has golden teeth, Heimdal certainly for the same reason bears the epithet gullintanni, " the one with the golden teeth ". Agni has white horses. In Ulf Uggeson's poem about the work of art in Hjardarholt, Heimdal rides his horse Gulltoppr, whose name reflects its splendour. While xVgni's searching eyes can see in the distance and can penetrate the gloom of night, it is said of Heimdal that hann se'rjafnt ndtt scm dag hundraff rasta frd sir. While Agni perceives everything, even the inaudible motions in the growing of herbs and animals ; while he penetrates and diffuses himself in plants and animals, it is said of Heimdal that he heyrir ok pat, cr gras vex tijorffu e&a idl d saudwm . While Agni — it is not stated by what means — is able to produce a noise like thunder which re-echoes through both the world-halves, Heimdal has the horn, whose sound all the world shall hear, when Eagnarok is at hand. On a "circular path," Agni observes the beings in the world. Heimdal looks out upon the world from Bifrost. Agni keeps his eye on the deeds of the demons, is per- petually on the look-out, and protects the world by day and by night from dangers; Heimdal is the watchman of the gods vorfo goda (Grimnersmal), needs in his vocation as watchman less sleep than a bird, and faithfully guards the Asa-bridge against the giants. Agni is born of several mothers ; Heimdal has mothers nine. Agni is " the fast traveller," who, in the human abodes he visits, opens a way for prayer and sacrifice (Iiigv., vii. 13, 3) ; in Rigsmal, Heimdal 401 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. has the same epithet, " the fast traveller," roskr Stigandi, as he woes from house to house and teaches men the " runes of eternity " and " the runes of time ". The only discrepancy is in the animal symbols by which Agni and Heimdal are designated. The bull is Agni's symbol, the ram is Heimdal's. Both symbols are chosen from the domestic animals armed with horns, and the difference is linguistically of such a kind, that it to some extent may be said to corroborate the evidence in regard to Agni's and Heimdals identity. In the old Norse poetry, Veffr (wether, ram), Heimdali and the Heimdal epithet Hallinsld&i, are synonymous. The word vedr, according to Fick (Wortcrb., iii. 307), can be traced to an ancient Teutonic vethm, the real meaning of which is " yearling," a young domestic animal in general, and it is related to the Latin vituhcs and the Sanscrit vatsala, " calf". If this is correct, then we also see the lines along which one originally common symbol of a domestic animal developed into two and among the Eigveda Aryans settled on the " yearling " of the cow, and among the Teutons on that of the sheep. It should here be remarked that according to Ammianus Marcellinus (xix. 1) the tiara of the Persian kings was ornamented with a golden ram's- head. That Agni's span of horses were transformed into Heimdal's riding horse was also a result of time and circumstances. In Eigveda, riding and cavalry are unknown ; there the horses of the gods draw the divine chariots. In the Teutonic mythology the draught horses are changed into riding horses, and chariots occur only exceptionally. We have reason to be surprised at finding that the Aryan-Asiatic myths and the Teutonic have so broad surfaces of contact, on which not only the main outlines but even the details completely resemble each other. But the fact is not inexplicable. The hymns, the songs of the divine worship and of the sacrifices of the Eigveda Aryans, have been preserved, but the epic-mythological poems are lost, so that there remains the difficult task of reconstructing out of the former a clear and concise mythology, freed from "dissolving views" in which their mythic characters now blend into each other. The Teutonic mythology has had an opposite fate : here the genuine religious songs, the hymns of divine worship and of sacrifices, are lost, and there remain fragments of the mighty divine epic of the Teutons. But thus we have also been robbed of the opportunity TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. -iOo of studying those very songs which in a higher degree than the epic are able to preserve through countless centuries ancienl mythical traits; for the hymns belong to the divine worship, popular customs are long-lived, and the sacred customs are more conservative and more enduring than all others, if they are not disturbed by revolutions in the domain of faith. If an epithet of a god, c.//., " the fast traveller," lias once become fixed by hymns and been repeated in the divine service year after Near, then, in spite of the gradual transformation of the languages and the types of the race, it may be preserved through hundreds and thousands of years. Details of this kind may in this manner survive the ravages of time just as well as the great outlines of the mythology, and if there be a gradual change as to signification, then this is caused by the change of language, which may make an old expression unintelligible or give it another meaning based on the association of ideas. From all this I am forced to draw the conclusion that Heimdal, like several other Teutonic gods — for example, Odin (Wodan, Rig- Veda's Vata) — belongs to the ancient Aryan age, and retained, even to the decay of the Teutonic heathendom his ancient character as the personal representative of the sacred fire, the fire produced by friction, and, in this connection, as the representative of the oldest culture connected with the introduction of fire. This also explains Heimdal's epithet Vindler, in Cod. lieg. of the Younger Edda (i. 206, 60S). The name is a subform of vindill and comes from vinda, to twist or turn, wind, to turn anything around rapidly. As the epithet " the turner " is given to that god who brought friction-tire (bore-fire) to man, and who is himself the personification of this lire, then it must be synonymous with " the borer". A synonym of Heimdal's epithet Stigandi, " the traveller," is Rati, "the traveller," from rata, "to travel," "to move about". Very strangely, this verb (originally vrata, Goth, vrdton, to travel, make a journey) can be traced to an ancient Germanic word which meant to turn or twist, or something of the sort (Fick, Worterb., iii. 294). And, so far as the noun Rati is concerned, this signification has continued to flourish in the domain of mythology after it long seems to have been extinct in the domain of language, Havanuil (106), Grimnersmal (32), and Bragarse&ur testify each 406 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. in its own way that the mythical name Rati was connected with a boring activity. In Havamal " Eate's mouth " gnaws the tunnel through which Odin, in the guise of an eagle, flies away with the mead-treasure concealed in the " deep dales " at Fjalar's under the roots of the world-tree. In the allegorical Grimnersmal strophe it is " Eate's tooth " (Ratatoskr) who lets the mead-drinking foe of the gods near the root of the world-tree find out what the eagle in the top of the world-tree (Odin) resolves and carries out in regard to the same treasure. In BragaraeSur the name is given to the gimlet itself which produced the connection between Odin's world and Fjalar's halls. The gimlet has here received the name of the boring " traveller," of him who is furnished with " golden teeth ". Hence there are good reasons for assuming that in the epic of the myth it was Heimdal-Gullintanne himself whose fire-gimlet helped Odin to fly away with his precious booty. In Eigveda Agni plays the same part. The " tongue of Agni " has the same task there as " Eate's mouth " in our Norse records. The sacred mead of the liquids of nourishment was concealed in the womb of the mountain with the Dasyus, hostile to the world ; but Agni split the mountain open with his tongue, his ray of light penetrated into the darkness where the liquids of nourishment were preserved, and through him they were brought to the light of day, after Trita (in some passages of Eigveda identical with Vata) had slain a giant monster and found the " cows of the son of the work-master " (cp. Eigveda, v. 14, 4; viii. Gl, 4-8; x. 8, 6-9). "The cows of the son of the work-master " is a paraphrase for the saps of nourishment. In the Teutonic mythology there is also " a son of the work-master," who is robbed of the mead. Fjalar is a son of Surt, whose character as an ancient artist is evident from what is stated in Nos. 53 and 89. By friction Matari^van brought Agni out of the maternal wombs in which he was concealed as an embryo of light and warmth. Heimdal was born to life in a similar manner. His very place of nativity indicates this. His mothers have their abodes vicT jarcJar prawn (HyndL, 35) near the edge of the earth, on the outer rim of the earth, and that is where they gave him life (bdru frann mem vicT jarcJar frraum). His mothers are giantesses (iotna meyjav), and nine in number. We have already found giantesses, nine in number, mentioned as having their activity on the outer edge of the earth — namely, those, who with the mondull, TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 407 the handle, turn the vast Motion-mechanism, the world-mill of Mundilfure. They are the n/Cu br&dir of Eyludr, "the [ale- grinder," mentioned by Snsebjorn (see above). These nine giant- maids, who along the outer zone of the earth (fyrir jvrSar skauti) push the mill's Bweep before themselves and grind the coasts of the islands, are the same nine giant-maids who on the outer zone of the earth gave birth to Heimdal, the god of the friction-fire. Hence one of Heimdal's mothers is in Hyndluljod called Angeyja, "she who makes the islands closer," and another one is called Eyrgjafa, "she who gives sandbanks". Mundilfori, who is the lather of Sol and Mane, and has the care of the motions of the starry heavens is accordingly also, though in another sense, the father of Heimdal the pure, holy fire to whom the glittering objects in the skies must naturallv be regarded as akin. In Hyndluljod (37) Heimdal's nine giant-mothers are named: Gji'dj), Greip, Eistla, Eyrgjafa, Ulfrun, Angeyja, Tmdr, Atla,Jdrn- *" "'. The first two are daughters of the lire-giant Geirrod (Younger Edda, i. 288). To fire refers also Tmdr, from im, embers. Two of the names, Angeyja and Eyrgjafa, as already shown, indicate the occupation of these giantesses in connection with the world-mill. This is presumably also the case with Jdrnsaxa, "she who crushes the iron". The iron which our heathen fathers worked was pro- duced from the sea- and swamp-iron mixed with sand and clay, and could therefore properly be regarded as a grist of the world-mill. Heimdal's antithesis in all respects, and therefore also his con- stant opponent in the mythological epic, is Loke, he too a fire-being, but representing another side of this element. Natural agents such as fire, water, wind, cold, heat, and thunder have in the Teutonic mythology a double aspect. When they work in harmony, each within the limits which are fixed by the welfare of the world and the happiness of man, then they are sacred forces and are re- presented by the gods. But when these limits are transgressed, giants are at work, and the turbulent elements are represented by beings of giant-race. This is also true of thunder, although it is the common view among mythologists that it was regarded exclu- sively as a product of Thor's activity. The genuine mythical con- ception was, however, that the thunder which purifies the atmo- sphere and fertilises the thirsty earth with showers of rain, or strikes down the foes of Midgard, came from Tlior : while that 408 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. which splinters the sacred trees, sets fire to the woods and houses, and kills men that have not offended the gods, came from the foes of the world. The blaze-element (see No. 35) was not only in the possession of the gods, but also in that of the giants (Skirnersmal), and the lightning did not proceed alone from Mjolner, but was also found in Hrungner's hcin and in Geirrod's glowing javelin. The conflicts between Thor and the giants were not only on terra firma, as when Thor made an expedition on foot to Jotunheim, but also in the air. There were giant-horses that were able to wade with force and speed through the atmosphere, as, for instance, Hrungner's Gull- Younger Edda, i. 270), and these giant-horses with their shining manes, doubtless, were expected to carry their riders to the lightning- conflict in space against the lightning-hurler, Thor. The thunder- storm was frequently a vig primu, a conflict between thundering- beings, in which the lightnings hurled by the ward of Midgard, the son of Hlodyn, crossed the lightnings hurled by the foes of Midgard. Loke and his brothers Helblindi and Byl-eistr are the children of a giant of this kind, of a giant representing the hurricane and thunder. The .jain-torrents and waterspouts of the hurricane, which directly*5r indirectly became wedded to the sea through the swollen streams, gave birth to Helblinde, who, accordingly, received Ban as his " maid " (Yngl., 51). The whirlwind in the hurricane received as his ward Byleistr, whose name is composed of bylr, " whirlwind," and eistr, " the one dwelling in the east " (the north), a paraphrase for " giant ". A thunderbolt from the hurricane gave birth to Loke. His father is called F&rbauti, " the one inflicting harm," and his mother is Lcmfey, " the leaf-isle," a paraphrase for the tree-crown (Younger Edda, 104, 268). Thus Loke is the son of the burning and destructive lightning, the son of him who particularly inflicts damaging blows on the sacred oaks (see No. 36) and sets fire to the groves. But the violence of the father does not appear externally in the son's character. He long prepares the conflagration of the world in secret, and not until he is put in chains does he exhibit, by the earthquakes he produces, the wild passion of his giant nature. As a fire-being, he was conceived as handsome and youthful. From an ethical point of view, the impurity of the flame which he represents is manifested by his unrestrained sensuousness. After he had been for ever exiled from the society of the gods and had been fettered in his cave of torture, TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 409 his exterior, which was in the beginning beautiful, became trans- formed into an expression of his intrinsic wickedness, and his hair grew out in the ham of horny spears (see ahove). In this too he reveals himself as a counterpart of Heimdal, whose helmet is ornamented with a glittering ram's-horn. 83. Muxpilfore's Identity with Lodub. The position which we have found Mundilfore to occupy indicates that, although not belonging to the powers dwelling hi Asgard, he is one of the chief gods of the Teutonic mythology. All natural phenomena, which appear to depend on a fixed mechanical law and not on the initiative of any mighty will momentarily influencing the events of the world, seem to have been referred to hi- care. The mythology of the Teutons, like that of the Rigveda- Aryans, lias had gods of both kinds — gods who particularly represent that order in the physical and moral world which became fixed in creation, and which, under normal conditions, remain entirely uniform, and gods who particularly represent the powerful temporary interference for the purpose of restoring this order when it has been disturbed, and for the purpose of giving protection and defence to their worshippers in times of trouble and danger. The latter are in their very nature war-gods always ready for battle, such as Vita and India in Rigveda, Odin and Thor-Indride in the Eddas ; and they have their proper abode in a group of fortified celestial citadels like Asgard, whence they have their out-look upon the world they have to protect — the atmosphere and Midgard. The former, on the other hand, have their natural abode in Jormungrund's outer /one and in the lower world, whence tin; world-tret' grew, and where the fountains are found whose liquids penetrate creation, and where that wisdom had its source of which Odin only, by self- sacrifice, secured a part. Down there dwell, accordingly, Urd and Mhner, .>at and Dag, Mundilfore with the dises of the sun and the moon, Delling, the genius of the glow of dawn, and Billing, the genius of the blushing sunset. There dwell the smiths of antiquity who made the chariots of the sun and moon and smithied the treasures of vegetation. There dwell the niSjar who represent the 41 0 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. ni( khi's waxing and waning; there the seven sons of Mimer who represent the changing seasons (see No. 87). Mundilfore is the lord of the regular revolutions of the starry firmament, and of the regular rising and sinking of the sea in its ebb and flood. He is the father of the dises of the sun and moon, who make their celestial journeys according to established laws ; and, finally, he is the origin of the holy fire ; he is father of Heimdal, who introduced among men a systematic life in homes fixed and governed by laws. As the father of Heimdal, the Vana-god, Mundilfore is himself a Vana-god, belonging to the oldest branch of this race, and in all probability one of those " wise rulers " who, according to Vafthrud- nersmal, " created Njord in Vanaheim and sent him as a hostage to the gods (the Asas) ". Whence came the clans of the Vans and the Elves ? It should not have escaped the notice of the mythologists that the Teutonic theogony, as far as it is known, mentions only two progenitors of the mythological races — Ymer and Burc. From Ymer develop the two very different races of giants, the offspring of his arms and that of his feet (see No. 86) — in other words, the noble race to which the norns Mimer and Beistla belong, and the ignoble, which begins with Thrudgelmer. Bure gives birth to Burr (Bor), and the latter has three sous — Odinn, Vei (Fie), and Vili (Vilir). Unless Bure had more sons, the Van- and Elf-clans have no other theogonic source than the same as the Asa-clan, namely, Burr. That the hierologists of the Teutonic mythology did not leave the origin of these clans unexplained we are assured by the very existence of a Teutonic theogony, together with the circumstance that the more thoroughly our mythology is studied the more clearly we see that this mythology has desired to answer every question which could reasonably be asked of it, and in the course of ages it developed into a systematic and epic whole with clear outlines sharply drawn in all details. To this must be added the important observation that Vei and Vili, though brothers of Odin, are never counted among the Asas proper, and had no abode in Asgard. It is mani- fest that Odin himself with his sons founds the Asa-race, that, in other words, he is a clan-founder in which this race has its chieftain, and that his brothers, for this very reason, could not be included in his clan. There is every reason to assume that they, like him, were clan-founders ; and as we find besides the Asa-clan TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 41 1 two other races of gods, this of itself makes it probable thai Odin's two brothers were their progenitors and clan-chieftains. Odin's brothers, like himself, had many names. When Voluspa says that Odin, in the creation of man, was assisted by Homr ami Loder, and when the Younger Edda i. 52) says that, on this occasion, he was attended by his brothers, who just before (i. 46) are called Ve and Vile, then these are only different names of the same powers. Honer and Loder are Ye and Yile. It is a mistake to believe that Odin's brothers were mythical ghosts without characteristic qualities, and without prominent parts in the mytho- logical events after the creation of the world and of man, in which we know they took an active part (Voluspa, 4, III, 17). The assumption that this was the case depends simply upon the fad that tiny have not been found mentioned anion- the Asas, and that our records, when not investigated with proper thoroughness, and when the mythological synonymies have not been carefully exa- mined, seem to have so little to say concerning them. Danish genealogies, Saxo's included, which desire to go further back in the genealogy of the Skioldungs than to Skjold, the eponym of the race, mention before him a King Lotherus. There is no doubt that Lotherus, like his descendants, Skjold, Halfdan, and Hadding, is taken from the mythology. Hut in our mythic records there is only one name of which Lotherus can be a Latinised form, and this name is, as Miiller (Notes ulterior ad Saxonis Hist.) has already pointed out, Lo&urr. It has above been demonstrated (see Xos. 20, 21, 22) that the anthropomorphous Yana-god Heimdal was by Vana-gods sent as a child to the primeval Teutonic country, to give to the descendants of Ask and Embla the holy fire, tools, and implements, the rune-. the laws of society, and the rules for religious worship. It has been demonstrated that, as an anthropomorphous god and first patriarch, he is identical with Scef-Rig, the Scyld of the Beowulf poem, that he becomes the father of the other original patriarch Skjold, and the grandfather of Halfdan. It has likewise been demonstrated (No. 82) that Heimdal, the personified sacred fire, is the son of the fire-producer (by friction) Mundilfore, in the same manner as Agni is the son of Mataricvau. From all this it follows that when the authors of mythic genealogies related as history wish to get further back in the Skjoldung genealogy than to the 412 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. Beowulf Skjold, that is to say, further back than to the original patriarch Heimdal, then they must go to that mythic person who Is Beimdal'a father, that is to say, to Mundilfore, the fire-producer. Mundilfore is the one who appears in the Latinised name Lotherus. In other words, Mundilfore, the fire-producer, is Lo&wrr. For the name Locfurr there is no other rational explanation than that which Jacob Grimm, without knowing his position in the epic of mythology, has given, comparing the name with the verb lodem, "to blaze". LocSwrr is active in its signification, "he who causes or produces the blaze," and thus refers to the origin of fire, particu- larly of the friction-fire and of the bore-fire. Further on (Nos. 90, 91, 92, 121, 123) I shall give an account of the ward of the atmosphere, Gevarr (Nokkvi, Kcefr), and demon- strate that he is identical with Mundilfore, the revolver of the starry firmament. All that Saxo tells about Lotherus is explained by the character of the latter as the chieftain of a V ana-clan, and by his identity with Mundilfori-Gevarr. As a chieftain of the Vans he was their leader when the war broke out between the Asas on the one side, and the Vans and Elves on the other. The banishment of Odin and the Asas by the Vans causes Saxo to say that Lotherus banished from the realm persons who were his equals in noble birth (nobilitate pares), and whom he regarded as com- petitors in regard to the government. It is also stated that he took the power from an elder brother, but spared his life, although he robbed him of the sceptre. The brother here referred to is not, however, Odin, but Hccnir ( Vei). The character of the one deposed is gentle and without any greed for rule like that by which Honer is known. Saxo says of him that he so patiently bore the injustice done him that he seemed to be pleased therewith as with a kindness received (cetervm injurice turn patiens fait, ut lionoris damno tanguam bcncficio gratulari crcdcrctur). The reason why Honer, at the outbreak of the war with the Asas, is deposed from his dignity as the ruler of Vanaheim and is succeeded by Loder, is explained by the fact that he, like Mimer, remained devoted to the cause of Odin. In spite of the confused manner in which the troubles between the Asas and Vans are presented in Heims- kringla, it still appears that, before the war between the Asas and Vans, Honer was the chief of the latter on account of an old agreement between the two god-clans ; that he then always sub- TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 413 mitted to the counsels of the wise Mimer, Odin's friend; that Mimer lost his life in the service of Odin, and thai the Vans senl his head to Odin; and, finally, that, at the outbreak of the feud with the Asas and after the death of Mimer, they looked upon Honev as unqualified to be their judge and Leader. Thus Lodei becomes after Honei the ruler of Vanaheim and the chieftain of the Vans, while the Vana Njord, Frey, and the Elf I'll, who had already been adopted in Asgard, administer the affairs of the r ' of the world. To the mythical circumstance, that Honer lost his throne and his power points also VSluspa, the | m restoring to the gentle and patient Vana-god, after the regeneration, the rights of which he had been robbed, ]»'i lend Kcenir hlautvid l-josa (str. GO). "Then Honer becomes able to choose the lot-wood," that is to say, he is permitted to determine and indicate the fortunes of those con- sulting the oracle ; in other words, then he is again aide to exercise the rights of a god. In the Eddas, Honer appears as Odin's com- panion on excursions from Asgard. Skaldskaparmal, which does not seem to be aware that Honer was Odin's brother, still is con- scious that he was intimately connected with him and calls him his sessi, sinni, and mdli (Younger Edda, i. 266). During the war between Asas and Vans, Frigg espoused the cause of the Vans (see No. 36) ; hence Loke's insulting words to her (Lokasenna, 26), and the tradition in Heimskringla (Yngl., 3), that Vilir and Vei took Frigg to themselves once when Odin was far away from Asgard. Saxo makes Lotherus fall at the hands of conspirators. The explanation of this statement is to be sought in Mundilfori-Gevarr's fate, of which, see Xos. 91, 123. Mundilfore's character seems at least in one respect to be the opposite of Honer's. Gylfaginning speaks of his ofdrambi, his pride, founded, according to this record, on the beauty of his children. Saxo mentions the insolcntia of Lotherus, and one of his surnames was Dulsi, the proud. See No. 89, where a strophe is quoted, in which the founder of the Swedish Skilfing race it lie Ynglings) is called Dulsa l:onr, Dulse's descendant. As was shown above in the account of the myth about Scef, the Skjoldungs, too, are Skilfings. Both these branches of the race have a common origin ; and as the genealogy of the Skjoldungs can lie traced back to Heim- dal, and beyond him to Mundilfore, it must be this personality who is mentioned for his ofdrambi, that bears the surname Dulsi 414 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. With Odin, Vci-Honcr and ViLi-Lodurr-Mundilfori have par- ticipated in the shaping of the world as well as in the creation of man. Of the part they took in the latter act, and of the import- ance they thereby acquired in the mythical anthropology, and especially in the conceptions concerning the continued creation of man by generation and birth, see No. 95. 84 Nat, the Mother of the Gods. It has already been shown above that Nat, the mother of the «ods has her hall in the northern part of Mimer's realm, below the southern slopes of the Nida mountains. There has been, and still is, an interpretation of the myths as symbols. Light is regarded as the symbol of moral goodness, and darkness as that of moral evil. That there is something psycholo- gically correct in this cannot be denied ; but in regard to the Aryan religions the assumption would lead to a great error, if, as we might be tempted to do, we should make night identical with darkness, and should refer her to the world of evil. In the mythologies of the Eigveda -Aryans and of the Teutons, Nat is an awe-inspiring, ador- able, noble, and beneficent being. Night is said in Eigveda " to have a fair face, to increase riches, and to be one of the mothers of order ". None of the phenomena of nature seemed to the Teutons evil per se ; only when they transgressed what was thought to be their lawful limits, and thus produced injury and harm, were giant-powers believed to be active therein. Although the Teutonic gods are in a constant, more or less violent conflict with the powers of frost, still wrinter, when it observes its limits of time, is not an evil but a good divinity, and the cold liquids of Hvergelmer mixed with those of Urd's and Mimer's fountains are necessary to the world-tree. Still less could night be referred to the domain of demons. Mother Nat never transgresses the borders of her power; she never defies the sacred laws, which are established for the order of the universe. According to the seasons of the year, she divides in an unvarying manner the twenty-four hours between herself and day. Work and rest must alternate with each other. Eich in blessing, night conies with solace to the weary, and seeks if possible to sooth the sufferer with a potion of slumber. Though sombre in TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 415 appearance (Gylfy., 10), still she is the friend of light She decorates herself with lunar effulgence and with starry splendour, with winning twilight in midsummer, and with the light of snow and of northern aurora in the winter. The following lines in Sigrdrifumal (str., 3 4) sound like a reverberation from the lost liturgic hymns of our heathendom. m 1 1! Dagr, Hail I lag, la- Hi r Dags synir, Hail Dag's sons, /nil Nott ok Nipt ! Hail Nat and Nipt ! Orcijnnn augom Look down upon us litij) OCT /'in/''/ With benevolent eyes oc gefit sitiondom rbgr ! And give victory to the sitting ! Heilir a sir, Hail Asas, heilar asynjor, Hail Asynjes, /nil sia in f winy ta fold ! Hail bounteous earth ! Of the Germans in the first century after Christ, Tacitus writes (Germ., 3): "They do not, as we, compute time by days but by nights, night seems to lead the day" (nee dierum numerum, nl nos, sed nodi inn computant: nox duccrc diem videtwr). This was appli- cable to the .Scandinavians as far down as a thousand years later. Time was computed by nights not by days, and in the phrases from heathen times, nott ok dagr, nott meff degi, beeffi inn ncetr <6 . j . . v.V<(n, is torn into pieces by Narfi ; Gylfaghaiiing : Nari-Narfi is torn into pieces by J'ali. The discrepancy shows that the author of these statements did not have any mythic song or mythic tradition as the source of all these names of Loke's sons. The matter becomes even more suspicious when we find — That the variations Xare and Narve, both of which belong to one of the foremost and noblest of mythic beings, namely, to 422 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. Mimer, are here applied in such a manner that they either are given to two sons of Loke or are attributed to one and the same Loke-son, while in the latter case it happens — That the names Vale and Ale, which both belong to the same Asa-god and son of Odin who avenged the death of his brother Balder, are loth attributed to the other son of Loke. Compare Gylfaginning, ch. 30 : Vali effa AH hcitir einn (Assin) sonr Odins ok Rindar. How shall we explain this ? Such an application of these names must necessarily produce the suspicion of some serious mistake ; but we cannot assume that it was made wilfully. The cause must be found somewhere. It has already been demonstrated that, in the mythology, Urd, the dis of fate, was also the dis of death and the ruler of the lower world, and that the functions belonging to her in this capacity were, in Christian times, transferred to Loke's daughter, who, together with her functions, usurped her name Hel. Loke's daughter and Hel became to the Christian mythographers identical. An inevitable result was that such expressions as nipt Nara, jddis Narfa, nipt Njorva, had to change meaning. The nipt Njorva, whom the aged Egil saw standing near the grave-mound on Digraness, and whose arrival he awaited " with gladness and good- will," was no longer the death-dis Urd, but became to the Christian interpreters the abominable daughter of Loke who came to fetch the old heathen. The nipt Nara, whose horse trampled on the battle- field where Erik Blood-axe defeated the Scots, was no longer Urd's sister, the valkyrie Skuld, but became Loke's daughter, although, even according toVhe Christian mythographers, the latter had nothing to do on a battle-field. The jddis Narfa, who chose King Dygve, was confounded with Loka mwr, who had him leikinn (see No. 67), but who, according to the heathen conception, was a maid- servant of fate, without the right of choosing. To the heathens nipt Nam, nipt Njorva, jddis Narfa, meant " Nare-Mimer's kins- woman Urd ". To the mythographers of the thirteenth century it must, for the reason stated, have meant the Loke-daughter as sister of a certain N"are or Narve. It follows that this Nare or Narve ought to be a son of Loke, since his sister was Loke's daughter. It was known that Loke, besides Fenrer and the Midgard-serpent, TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 423 had two other sons, of which the one in the guise of a wolf tore the other into pieces. Iu Nare, Narve, the name of one or the names of both these Loke-sons were thought to have been found. The latter assumption was made by the author of the prose in Lokasenna. He conceived Nare to be the one brother and Narve the other. The author of Gylfaginning, on the other hand, rightly regarded Nare and Narve as simply variations of the same name, and accordingly let them designate the same son of Loke. When be wrote chapter 33, he did not know what name to give to the other, and consequently omitted him entirely. But when he got to the 50th chapter, a light had risen for him in regard to the name of the other. And the light doubtless came from the following half strophe in Voluspa : Jjci kna vala vigbond snua, hclldi writ har&gior hoft or pormvm. This half strophe says that those were strong chains (for Loke) that were made of entrails, and these fetters were " twisted " from " Vale's vigbond ". Vig as a legal term means a murder, slaughter. Vala vig was interpreted as a murder committed by Vale; and Vala vigbond as the bonds or fetters obtained by the slaughter com- mitted by Vale. It was known that Loke was chained with the entrails of his son, and here it was thought to appear that this son was slain by a certain Vale. And as he was slain by a brother according to the myth, then Vale must be the brother of the slain son of Loke. Accordingly chapter 50 of Gylfaginning could tell us what chapter 33 did not yet know, namely, that the two sons of Loke were named Vale and Nare or Narve, and that Vale changed to a wolf, tore the brother " Nare or Narve " into pieces. The next step was taken by Skaldskaparmal, or more probably by one of the transcribers of Skaldskaparmal. As Vale and Ale in the mythology designated the same person (viz., Balder's avenger, the son of Odin), the son of Loke, changed into a wolf, "Vale" received as a gift the name "Ale". It is by no means impos- sible that the transcriber regarded Balder's avenger, Vale, and the son of Loke as identical. The oldest manuscript wo have of Skaldskaparmal is the Upsala Codex, which is no older than the 424 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. beginning of the fourteenth century. The mythic traditions were then in the continuation of that rapid decay which had begun in the eleventh century, and not long thereafter the Icelandic saga writings saw Valhal peopled by giants and all sorts of monsters, which were called einherjes, and Thor himself transferred to the places of torture where he drank venom from " the auroch's horn," presented to him by the daughter of Loke. In the interpretation of the above-cited half strophe of Voluspa, we must therefore leave out the supposed son of Loke, Vale. The Teutonic mythology, like the other Aryan mythologies, applied many names and epithets to the same person, but it seldom gave two or more persons one and the same name, unless the latter was a patronymic or, in other respects, of a general character. There was not more than one Odin, one Thor, one Njord, one Heimdal, one Loke, and there is no reason for assuming that there was more than one Vale, namely, the divine son of this name. Of Balder's brother Vale we know that he was born to avenge the slaying of Balder. His impatience to do that which he was called to perform is expressed in the mythology by the statement, that he liberated himself from the womb of his mother before the usual time (Baldrs bro&ir var af borinn snemma — Voluspa), and only one night old he went to slay Ho&r. The bonds which confine the impatient one in his mother's womb were his vigbond, the bonds which hindered him from combat, and these bonds were in the most literal sense of the word or Jjormum. As Loke's bonds are made of the same material and destined to hinder him from combat with the gods until Eagnarok, and as his prison is in the womb of the earth, as Vale's was in that of the earth-goddess Kind's, then Veda vigbond, as a designation of Loke's chains is both logically and poetically a satisfactory paraphrase, and the more in order as it occurs in connection with the description of the impending Eagnarok, when Loke by an earthquake is to sever his fetters and hasten to the conflict. 86 The Two Giant Clans descended from Ymek. In Havamal (140, ff.), Odin says that he in his youth obtained nine fimbul-songs and a drink of the precious mead dipped out of Odrerer from Beyzla's father, Bolporrts famous son : TEUTONIC MTTHOLOOy. t26 Fimlmllidft nio nam cc af enom fregia tywi Bauljjorns Beydv. faudur oc cc dryc of gat ens dyra miadar ausinn Ocfr< ri. The mythologists have assumed, for reasons that cannot be doubted, that Bolthorn's famous son, Beistla's brother, is identical with Mimer. No one else than he presided at that time over the drink dipped out of Odrerer, the fountain which conceals " wisdom and man's sense," and Sigrdrifumal (13, 14) corroborates that it was from Mimer, and through a drink from " Hodrofuer's horn," that Odin obtained wonderful runes and "true sayings". Accordingly Mimer had a sister by name Beyda (variations : Bcst/a, Besla, J!>'J>>). A strophe by Einar Skalaglam (Skaldska- parnial, ch. 2 ; cp. Gylfag., ch. 6) informs us that Beistla is Odin's mother. Mimcr's disciple, the clan-chieftain of the gods, is accordingly his sister's son. Herein we have one more reason for the faithful friendship which Mimer always showed to Odin. The Mimer epithet Narfi, Narve, means, as shown above, " the one who binds". His daughter Nat is called draumnjonni, the dream-binder (Alvism., 31). His kinswomen, the norns, spin and bind the threads and bonds, which, extended throughout the world, weave together the web of events. Such threads and bonds are called drlogjxiettir (Helge Hund., i. 3), and UriTar lokiir (Grogaldr., 7). As the nearest kinswomen of Beistla all have epithets or tasks which refer to the idea of binding, and when we add to this that Beistla's sons and descendants as gods have the epithet hupt and bon d, her own name might most properly be referred to the old word beizl, beisl (cp. bctscl, bridle), which has a similar meaning. As Mimer and Beistla are of giant descent, and in the theogouy belong to the same stage of development as Bur (Burr), < 'din's father, then, as the mythologists also have assumed, Bolthorn can be none else than Ymer. Mimer, Beistla, the norns, and Nat thus form a group of kin- dred beings, which belong to the oldest giant race, but still they are most definitely separated from the other descendants of Ymei, as a higher race of giants from a lower, a noble giant race friendly 426 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. to the gods and fostering the gods, from that race of deformed beings which bear children in the strangest manner, which are hostile to the gods and to the world, and which are represented by the rimtlmrses Thrudgelmer and Bergelmer and their offspring. It now lies near at hand to inquire whether the mythology which attributed the same father to Mimer and Thrudgelmer was unable to conceive in this connection the idea of a nobler origin for the former than the latter. The remedy nearest at hand would have been to have given them mothers of different characters. But the mythology did not resort to this expedient. It is expressly stated that Ymer bore children without the pleasure of woman (gygiar gaman — Vafthrudnersmal, 32 ; cp. No. 60). Neither Mimer nor Thrudgelmer had a mother. Under such circumstances there is another expedient to which the sister of the Teutonic mythology, the Rigveda mythology, has resorted, and which is explained in the 90th hymn of book x. of Eigveda. The hymn informs us in regard to a primeval giant Parusha, and this myth is so similar to the Teutonic in regard to Ymer that it must here be considered. The primeval being Parusha was a giant monster as large as the whole world, and even larger (lines 1-5). The gods resolved to sacrifice him, that is to say, to slay him for sacred purposes (1. 6), and from his limbs was created the present world. From his navel was made the atmosphere, from his head the canopy of heaven, from his two feet the earth, from his heart the moon, from his eye the sun, from his breath the wind, &c. His mouth became the brahma (the priest), his arms became the rajanya (the warrior), his thighs became the vaisya (the third free caste), and from his feet arose the suclra (the thrall, line 12). The two fundamental ideas of the myth concerning Parusha are : (1) There was a primeval being who was not divine. The gods slew him and created the material world out of his limbs. (2) This primeval being gave rise to other beings of different ranks, and their rank corresponded with the position of the giant's limbs from which they were created. Both these fundamental ideas reappear in the Teutonic myth concerning Ymer. In regard to the former idea we need only to quote what Vafthrudnersmal says in strophe 21 : TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 42*4 Or Ymis holdi Of Ymer's ilesh rar wr&um scaupud", the world was shapen, en or beinom bforg, from his bones tlie rocks, himiiia or hausi the heavens from the head mm h/rimkalda iotuns, of the ice-cold giant, 071.71 or sveita nor. from hia blood the sea. In regard to the second fundamental idea, it is evident from the Rigveda account that it is not there found in its oldest form, but that, after the rise of four castes among the Rigveda Aryans, it was changed, in order to furnish an explanation of the origin of these castes and make them at least as old as the present mate- rial world. Far more original, and perfectly free from the influence of social ideas, it appears in the Teutonic mythology, where the 33rd strophe of Yafthrudnersmal testifies concerning its character: Undir Kcndi vaxa A son and a daughter quapo hrimpursi are said to have been born toge- ther mey oc many saman ; under the rimthurse's arm ; fotr vicf foil gat foot begat with foot ins fro&a iotuns the strange-headed son scrhaufd'ajjan son. of the wise giant. In perfect harmony with this Gylfaginning narrates : " Under Ymer's left arm grew forth a man and a woman, and his one foot begat with the other a son. Thence come (different) races." The different races have this in common, that they are giant races, since they spring from Ymer ; but these giant races must at the same time have been widely different intellectually and physi- cally, since the mythology gives them different origins from different limbs of the progenitor. And here, as in Rigveda, it is clear that the lowest race was conceived as proceeding from the feet of the primeval giant. This is stated with sufficient distinctness in Yafthrudnersmal, where we read that a "strangely-headed" mon- ster (Thrudgelmer — see No. 60) was born by them, while "man and maid" were born under the arm of the giant. "The man" and "the maid" must therefore represent a noble race sprung from Ymer, and they can only be Mimer and his sister, Odin's mother. Mimer and his clan constitute a group of ancient powers, who watch over the fountains of the life of the world and care foi 428 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. the perpetuation of the world -tree. From them proceeded the oldest, fairest, and most enduring parts of the creation. For the lower world was put in order and had its sacred fountains and guardians before Bur's sons created Midgard and Asgard. Among them the world-tree grew up from its roots, whose source no one knows (Havamal, 138). Among them those forces are active which make the starry firmament revolve on its axis, and from them come the seasons and the divisions of time, for Nat and nidjnr, Mane and Sol, belong to Mimer's clan, and were in the morning of creation named by the oldest " high holy gods," and endowed with the vocation drom at telja (Voluspa). From Mimer comes the first culture, for in his fountain inspiration, spiritual power, man's wit and wisdom, have their source, and around him as chief stand gathered the artists of antiquity by whose hands all things can be smithied into living and wonderful things. Such a giant clan demands another origin than that of the frost-giants and their offspring. As we learn from Vafthrudnersmal that two giant races proceeded from Ymer, the one from a part of his body which in a symbolic sense is more noble than that from which the other race sprang, and that the race born of his feet was the ignoble one hostile to the gods, then the conclusion follows of necessity that " the man and maid " who were born as twins under Ymer's arm became the founders of that noble group of giants who are friendly to the gods, and which confront us in the mythology of our fathers. It has already been shown above (see No. 54) that Jima (Yama) in the Asiatic-Aryan mythology corresponds to Mimer in the Teutonic. Jima is an epithet which means twin. The one with whom Jima was born together was a maid, Yami. The words in the quoted Vafthrudnersmal strophe, undir hcndi hrimpursi vaxa 'nicy ok many saman, are evidence that the Germans also consi- dered Mimer and his sister as twins. 87. The Identity of Mimer and Nidhad of the Volunb Saga. The condition in which the traditions of the great Volund (Way land) have come down to our time is one of the many exam- ples illustrating how, under the influences of a change of faith, a myth disrobes itself of its purely mythical character and becomes a TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 429 heroic saga. The nature of the mythic traditions and songs is not at once obliterated in the time of transition \ there remain marks of their original nature in some or other of the details as proof of what they have been. Thus that fragment of a Volund saga, turned into an epic, which the Old Norse literature has preserved for us in Volundarkvida, shows us that the artist who is the hero of the song was originally conceived not as a son of man, but a- a member of the mythic race of elves which in Voluspa is mentioned in connection with the Asas (Jwat er me&asom, hoot er med alfom ' — str. 49). Volund is an elf-prince ((((fa risi, a If a Ijofci — Volund., str. 10, 13), and, as shall be shown below, when we come to con- sider the Volund myth exhaustively, he and his brothers ami their mistresses have played parts of the very greatest importance in the epic of Teutonic mythology. Under such circumstances it follows that the other persons appearing in Volundarkvida also were originally mythical characters. One of these is called Ni&adr (ffiidudr), king of Njares, aud 1 am now to investigate who this NicFacFr was in the mythology. When Volund for the first time appears by this name in the Elder Edda, he is sojourning in a distant country, to which it is impossible to come without traversing the Myrkwood forest famous in the mythology (see No. 78). It is a snow-clad country, tin- home of bears and wolves. Volund gets his subsistence by hunt- ing on skees. The Old English poem, " Deor the Scald's Complaint," confirms that this region was regarded as very cold (cp. vinter~ ccaldc vnvcc). In Volundarkvida it is called Wolfdales. Volund stays here many years in company with his two brothers and with three swan-maids, their mistresses or wives, but finally alone. Volund passes the time in smithying, until he is suddenly attacked by Ni fft i&r (Mtfutfr), "the Xjara-king" (Volun- darkv., 6), who puts him in chains and robs him of two extra- ordinary treasures — a sword and an arm-ring. Seven hundred arm-rings hung in a string in Volund's hall; but this one alone seemed to be worth more than all the rest, and it alone was desired by MdaSr (str. 7, 8, 17). Before Volund went to the Wolfdales, he had lived with his people a happy life in a land abounding in gold (str. 1-1). Not voluntarily, but from dire necessity he had exchanged his home for the distant wilderness of the Wolfdales. " Deor the Scald's Com- 430 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. plaint" says he was an exile (Vcland him he vurman vreces cannaffe). A German saga of the middle ages, "Anhang des Helden- bnchs," confirms this statement. Wieland (Volund), it is there said, " was a duke who was banished by two giants, who took his land from him," whereupon " he was stricken with poverty," and " became a smith ". The Volundarkvida does not have much to say about the reason for his sojourn in the Wolfdales, but strophe 28 informs us that, previous to his arrival there, he had suffered an injustice, of which he speaks as the worst and the most revenge- demanding which he, the unhappy and revengeful man, ever experienced. But he has had no opportunity of demanding satis- faction, when he finally succeeds in getting free from NicfacFr's chains. Who those mythic persons are that have so cruelly insulted him and filled his heart with unquenchable thirst for revenge is not mentioned ; but in the very nature of the case those persons from whose persecutions he has fled must have been mightier than he, and as he himself is a chief in the godlike clan of elves, his foes are naturally to be looked for among the more powerful races of gods. And as Volundarkvida pictures him as boundlessly and reck- lessly revengeful, and makes him resort to his extraordinary skill as a smith — a skill famous among all Teutonic tribes — in the satis- faction which he demands of Nidudr, there is no room for doubt that, during the many years he spent in Wolfdales, he brooded on plans of revenge against those who had most deeply insulted him, and that he made use of his art to secure instruments for the carrying out of these plans. Of the glittering sword of which Ni&a&r robbed him, Volund says (str. 18) that he had applied his greatest skill in making it hard and keen. The sword must, therefore, have been one of the most excellent ones mentioned in the songs of Teutonic heathendom. Far down in the middle ages, the songs and sagas were fond of attributing the best and most famous swords wielded by their heroes to the skill of Volund. Tn the myths turned by Saxo into history, there has been mentioned a sword of a most remarkable kind, of untold value (ingens prccmium), and attended by success in battle (belli fortuna comitarctur). A hero whose name Saxo Latinised into Hotherus (see Hist. Dan., p. 110) got into enmity with the Asa-gods, and the only means with which he can hope to cope with them is the TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY, 4.". 1 possession of this sword. He also knows when to secure it, and with its aid he succeeds in putting Thor himself and other goda to Bight In order to get possession of this sword, Eotherna had to make a journey which reminds us of the adventurous expeditions already described to Gudmund-Mimer's domain, but with this difference* that he does not need to go by sea along tin1 coast of Norway in order to get there, which circumstance ia sufficiently explained by the fact that, according to Saxo, Hotherus has his home in Sweden. The regions which Hotherus has to traverse are pathless, full of obstacles, and for the greater part continually in the cold embrace of the severest frost. They are traversed by mountain-ridges on which the cold is terrible, and therefore they must be crossed as rapidly as possible with the aid of "yoke-stags". The sword is kept concealed in a specus, a subterranean cave, and " mortals " can scarcely cross its threshold (haud facile mortalibus jmhrr pass, . The being which is the ward of the sword in this cave is by Saxo called MimingU8. The question now is, whether the sword smithied by Volund and the one fetched by Hotherus are identical or not. The former is smithied in a winter-cold country beyond Myrkwood, where the mythic NiSwfir suddenly appears, takes possession of it, and the purpose for which it was made, judging from all circumstances, was that Volund with its aid was to conquer the hated powera which, stronger than he, the chief of elves, had compelled him to take refuge to the Wolfdales. If these powers were Asas or Vans, then it follows that Volund must have thought himself able to give to hifl -word qualities that could render it dangerous to the world of Bods, although the latter had Thor's hammer and other subterranean weapons at their disposal. The sword captured by Hotherus is said to possess those very qualities which we might look for in the Volund weapon, and the regions he lias to traverse in order to get possession of it refer, by their cold and remoteness, to a land similar to that where Ni&a&r Burprisea Volund, and takes from him the dangerous sword. As already stated, Nidad at the same time captured an arm- ring of an extraordinary kind. If the saga about Volund and his sword was connected with the saga-fragment turned into history by Saxo concerning Hotherus and the sword, whose owner he 432 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. becomes, then we might reasonably expect that the precious arm- ring, too, should appear in the latter saga. And we do find it there. Mimingus, who guards the sword of victory, also guards a wonderful arm-ring, and through Saxo we learn what quality makes this particular arm-ring so precious, that Nidad does not seem to care about the other seven hundred which he finds in Volund's workshop. Saxo says : Eidem (Mimingo) quoque armillam esse mira quaclam arcanaque virtute possessor is opes augere solitam. " In the arm- ring there dwells a wonderful and mysterious power, which increases the wealth of its possessor." In other words, it is a smith's work, the rival of the ring Draupner, from which eight similar rings drop every ninth night. This explains why Volund's smithy contains so many rings, that Nidad expresses his suspicious wonderment (str. 13). There are therefore strong reasons for assuming that the sword and the ring, which Hotherus takes from Mimingus, are the same sword and ring as Nidad before took from Volund, and that the saga, having deprived Volund of the opportunity of testing the quality of the weapon himself in conflict with the gods, wanted to indicate what it really amounted to in a contest with Thor and his hammer by letting the sword come into the hands of Hotherus, another foe of the Asas. As we now find such articles as those captured by Nidad reappearing in the hands of a certain Mimingus, the question arises whether Mimingus is Nidad himself or some one of Nidad's subjects ; for that they either are identical, or are in some way connected with each other, seems to follow from the fact that the one is said to possess what the other is said to have captured. Mimingus is a Latinising of Mimingr, Mimungr, son or descendant of Mimer. Ni&adr, Ni&u&r (both variations are found in Volundarkvida), has, on the other hand, his counterpart in the Anglo-Saxon Nidhad. The king who in "Deor the Scald's Complaint" fetters Volund bears this name, and his daughter is called Beadohild, in Volundar- kvida Bodvild. Previous investigators have already remarked that Beadohild is a more original form than Bodvild, and Nidhad than NichtcTr, Ni&a&r. The name Nidhad is composed of niff (neuter gender), the lower world, Hades, and had, a being, person, forma, species. Nidhad literally means the lower world being, the Hades being. Herewith we also have his mythical character TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 433 determined. A mythical king, who is characterised aa //>• being of the lower world, must be a subterranean king. The mythic records extant speak of the subterranean king Mimer (the middle-age saga's Gudmund, king of the Glittering Fields ; see Nos. 45, 4(1), who rules over the realm of the well of wisdom and has the dis of fate as his kinswoman, the princess of the realm of Urd's fountain and of the whole realm of death. While we thus find, on the one hand, that it is a subterranean king who captures Volund's sword and arm-ring, we find, on the other hand, that when Hotherus is about to secure the irresistible sword and the wealth-producing ring, he has to betake himself to the same winter-cold country, where all the traditions here discussed (see Xos. 45-49) locate the descent to Mimei's realm, and that he, through an entrance "scarcely ap- proachable for mortals," must proceed into the bosom of the earth after he has subdued a Mimingus, a son of Mimer. Mimer bein- the one who took possession of the treasure, it is perfectly natural that his son should be its keeper. This also explains why NicFacJr in Volundarkvida is called the king of the Njares. A people called Njares existed in the mytho- logy, but not in reality. The only explanation of the word is to be found in the Mimer epithet, which we discovered in the varia- tions Narve, Njorve, Nare, Nere, which means " he who binds ". They are called Njares, because they belong to the clan of Njorvi-Nare. Volundarkvida (str. 19, with the following prose addition) makes Xidad's queen command Volund's knee-sinews to be cut. Of such a cruelty the older poem, '• Deor the Scald's Complaint;' knows nothing. This poem relates, on the other hand, that Nidad bound Volund with a fetter nio.de from a strong sinew : sifijja7i hinnc N iff had on nede legde sveoncre seono-omde. Though Volund is in the highest degree skilful, he is aol able to free himself from these bonds. They are of magic kind, and resemble those orlogjxvttir which are tied by Mimer's kinswoman Urd. Nidad accordingly here appears in Mimer-Njorve's chara as "binder". With this fetter of sinew we must compare the one with which Loke was bound, and that tough and elastic "lie which 28 434 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. was made in the lower world and which holds Fenrer bound until Ragnarok. And as Volund— a circumstance already made probable, and one that shall be fully proved below— actually regards himself as insulted by the gods, and has planned a terrible revenge against them, then it is an enemy of Odin that Nidhad here binds, and the Above-cited paraphrase for the death-dis, Urd, employed by Egil Skallagrimson, " the kinswoman of the binder (Njorva) of Odin's foes" (see No. 85), also becomes applicable here. The tradition concerning Mdhad's original identity with Mimer flourished for a long time in the German middle-age sagas, and passed thence into the Vilkinasaga, where the banished Volund became Mimer's smith. The author of Vilkinasaga, compiling both from German and from Norse sources, saw Volund in the German records as a smith in Mimer's employ, and in the Norse sagas he found him as Nidhad's smith, and from the two synonyms he made two persons. The Norse form of the name most nearly corresponding to the Old English Nidhad is Ni&i, " the subterranean," and that Mimer also among the Norsemen was known by this epithet is plain both from the Sol-song and from Voluspa. The skald of the Sol-song sees in the lower world " Nide's sons, seven together, drinking the clear mead from the well of ring-Begin ". The well of the lower world with the "clear mead " is Mimer's fountain, and the paraphrase ring- liegin is well suited to Mimer, who possessed among other treasures the wonderful ring of Hotherus. Voluspa speaks of Nide's moun- tain, the Hvergelmer mountain, from which the subterranean dragon Nidhog flies (see No. 75), and of Nide's plains where Sindre's race have their golden hall. Sindre is, as we know, one of the most celebrated primeval smiths of mythology, and he smithied Thor's lightning hammer, Frey's golden boar, and Odin's spear Gungner (Gylfaginning). Dwelling with his kinsmen in Mimer's realm, he is one of the artists whom the ruler of the lower world kept around him (cp. No. 53). Several of the wronderful things made by these artists, as for instance the harvest-god's Skidbladner, and golden boar, and Sif's golden locks, are manifestly symbols of growth or vegetation. The same is therefore true of the original Teutonic primeval smiths as of the Bibhuians, the ancient smiths of Eigveda, that they make not only implements and weapons, but also grass and herbs. Out of the lower world grows the world-tree, TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. and is kept continually fresh by the liquids of the sacred fountains. In the abyss of the lower world and in the Bea is ground that mould which makes the fertility of Midgard possible (see No. 80); in the lower world "are smithied" those flowers and those harvests which grow out of this mould, and from the manes of the BUbterranean horses, and from their foaming bridles, tails on the fields and meadows that honey-dew "which gives harvests t" men". Finally, it must be pointed out that when Nidhad hinds Volund, the foe of the gods, this is in harmony with Mimer'a activity throughout the epic of the myths as the friend of the Asa-gods, and as the helper of Odin, his sister's son, in word and deed. Further evidences of Mimer's identity with Nidhad are to be found in the Svipdag myth, which 1 shall discuss further on. Vafthrudnersmal states in strophe 25 that " beneficent regin (makers) created Ny and Xedan to count times for men," this being said in connection with what it states about Narve, Nat. and Dae. In the Voluspa dwarf-list we find that the chief of these regin was Modsogner, whose identity with Mimer has been shown (see Xo. 53). Modsogner-Mimer created among other "dwarfs" also Ny and Xedan (Voluspa, 11). These are, therefore, his sons at least in .the sense that they are indebted to him for their origin. The expressions to create and to beget are very closely related in the mythology. Of Xjord Vafthriulner also says (str. 39) that " wise regin created him" in Vanaheim. As sons of Xide-Mimer the changes of the moon have been called after his name Niffi, and collectively they have been called by the plural Nidjar, in a later time Niffar. And as Nat's brothers they are enumerated along with her as a stereotyped alliteration. In Vafthrudnersmal Odin asks the wise giant whether he knows whence Xat and Xidjar (Nott mo'T XiJ><>n>) came, and Voluspa (6) relates that in the dawn of time the high holy gods [regin) seated themselves on their judgment-seats and gave names to Xat and Xidjar {Nott oh Nipiom). 'Hie giving of a name was in heathen times a sacred act, which implied an adop- tion in the name-giver's family or circle of friends. Xicfjar also appears to have had his signification of lnoon- ehang's in regard to the changes of months. According to Saxo (see No. 46), King Gorm saw in the lower world twelve sons of 436 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. Gudmnnd-Mimer, all "of noble appearance". Again, Solarljod's skald says that the sons of Nide, whom he saw in the lower world, were " seven together ". From the standpoint of a nature-symbol the difference in these statements is explained by the fact that the months of the year were counted as twelve, but in regard to seasons and occupations there were seven divisions : gor-mdnudr, frer-m., hrut-m., cin-m,, sol-m., sel-m., Jcornskurffar-mdnudr. Seven is the epic-mythological number of these Ni&jar. To the saga in regard to these I shall return in No. 94. 88. A General Review of Mimer's Names and Epithets. The names, epithets, and paraphrases with which the king of the lower world, the ward of the fountain of wisdom, was designated, according to the statements hitherto made, are the following : (1) Mimir {Hodd-mimir, Mimr, Mimi, Mime der cdtc). (2) Narfi (Narvi, Njorvi, Norr, Nari, Neri). (3) Ni&i (Nidhad, Ni&a&r, Ni&udr, Nidungr). These three names, which mean the Thinker, the Binder, the Subterranean, are presumably all ancient. (4) Modsognir, " the mead-drinker ". (5) Hoddrofnir, presumably " the one bounteous in treasures ". (6) Gavta sjy'alli, " the one with whom Gaute (Odin) counsels "• (7) Bang-regin, Ring-regin. (8) Go&mundr, the name by which Mimer appears in Christian middle-age sagas of Norse origin. To these names may still be added : (9) Fimfadfrvlr, "the great teacher" (the lecturer). Havamal (str. 142 ; cp. str. 80) says that Fimbulfiuh drew (faffi) the runes, that ginn-rcgin "made" (gor&o) them, that is to say, in the older sense of the word, prepared them for use, and that Odin (hroptr rev una) carved (reist) them. In the strophes immediately pre- ceding, it is said that Odin, by self-sacrifice, begot runes out of the deep and fimbul-songs from Beistla's brother. These statements, joined with those which mention how the runes given by Mimer were spread over the world, and were taught by various clan-chiefs to different clans (see No. 53), make it evident that a perfect myth had been developed in regard to the origin of the runes and the TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 437 spreading of runic knowledge. Mimer, as tlie possessor of the well of wisdom, was the inventor or source of the runes. When Sigr- drifuinal (str. 13) says that they dropped out of Hoddrofher's hum, this is, figuratively speaking, the same as Ilavamal tells, when it states that Finibulthul carved them. The oldest powers (). Besides these we must imagine that SuUung-Fjalar's own nearest kith and kin are present. The mythology speaks of a separate clan entirely 440 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. distinct from the rimthurses, known as Suttungs synir (Alvismal, Skirnersmal; see No. 78), whose chief must be Suttung-Fjalar, as his very name indicates. The Suttung kin and the rimthurses are accordingly gathered at the banquet on the day in question. An honoured guest is expected, and a golden high-seat prepared for him awaits his arrival. From the continuation of the story we learn that the expected guest is the wooer or betrothed of Suttung- Fjalar's daughter, Gunlad. On that night the wedding of the giant's daughter is to be celebrated. Odin arrives, but in disguise. He is received as the guest of honour, and is conducted to the golden high-seat. It follows of necessity that the guise assumed by Odin, when he descends to the mortal foes of the gods and of himself, is that of the ex- pected lover. Who the latter was Havamal does not state, unless strophe 110, 5, like so many other passages, is pur- posely ambiguous and contains his name, a question which I shall consider later. After the adventure has ended happily, Odin looks back with pleasure upon the success with which he assumed the guise of the stranger and played his part (str. 107). Vel keyptz litar hefi ec vel notip : " From the well changed exterior I reaped great advantage". In regard to the mythological meaning of litr, see No. 95. The expression kcyptrlitr, which literally means "purchased appearance," may seem strange, but kaupa means not only to " buy," but also to " change," " exchange " ; kaupa klcedum vi& einn means " to change clothes with some one ". Of a queen who exchanged her son with a slave woman, it is said that she hcyptr urn some vi& ambdtt. But the cause of Odin's joy is not that he successfully carried out a cunning trick, but that he in this way accomplished a deed of inestimable value for Asgard and for man (str. 107, 4-6), and he is sorry that poor Gunlad's trust in him was betrayed (str. 105). This is a characterisation of Odin's personality. Nor does Havamal tell us what hinders the real lover from putting in his appearance and thwarting Odin's plan, while the latter is acting his part ; but of this we learn something from an- other source, which we shall consider below. The adventure undertaken by Odin is extremely dangerous, and he ran the risk of losing his head (str. 106, 6). For this reason he has, before entering Suttung-Fjalar's halls, secured an egress, through TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 441 which he must be able to fly, and, if possible, with the skaldie mead as his booty. There is no admittance for everybody to the rocky abode where the mead-treasure so much desired by all powers is kept. The dwelling is, as Eyvind tells us, situated in an abyss, and the door is, as another record tells us, watched. I'm < Min lias let Rate bore (" gnaw ") a tunnel through the mountain large enough to give him room to retire secretly (str. 106). In regard to Kate. see No. 82. When the pretended lover has seated himself in the golden high-seat, a conversation begins around the banquet table. It is necessary for Odin to guard well his words, for he represents another person, well known there, and if he is not cautious he may be discovered. It is also necessary to be eloquent and winning, so that he may charm Gunlad and secure her devotion, for without her knowledge he cannot gain his end, that of carrying away the supply of inspiration-mead kept at Suttung's. Odin also boasts (str. 103, 104) that on this occasion he proved himself Ttlvnnigr and mdlugr and margfrodr and eloquent for the realisation of his plan. During the progress of the feast the guest had his glass filled to his honour with the precious mead he desired to obtain. " Gunlad gave me on the golden seat the drink of the precious mead " (str. 105). Then the marriage ceremony was performed, and on the holy ring Gunlad took to Odin the oath of faithfulness (str. 110). It would have been best for the Asa-father if the banquet had ended here, and the bridegroom and the bride had been permitted to betake themselves to the bridal chamber. But the jolly feast is continued and the horns are frequently filled and emptied. llavamal does not state that the part played by < >din required him to be continually drinking; but we shall show that Gunlad's wooer was the champion drinker of all mythology, and in the sagas he has many epithets referring to this quality. Odin became on his own confession " drunk, very drunk, at Fjalar's ". " The hern of Pi >rget ful- ness which steals one's wit and understanding hovers over his drink " (str. 13, 15). In this condition he let drop words which were not those of caution — words which sowed the seed of suspicion in the minds of some of his hearers who were less drunk. He dropped words which 44:2 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. were not spelt with letters of intelligence unci good sense — words which did not suit the purt he was playing. At last the banquet conies to an end, and the bridegroom is permitted to be alone with the bride in that rocky hall which is their bed-chamber. There is no doubt that Odin won Gunlad's heart, " the heart of that good woman whom I took in my embrace " (str. 108). With her help he sees his purpose attained and the mead in his possession. But the suspicions which his reckless words had sown bear fruit in the night, and things happen which Havamal does not give a full account of, but of a kind which would have prevented Odin from getting out of the giant-gard, had he not had Gunlad's assistance (str. 108). Odin was obliged to fight and rob Gunlad of a kinsman (str. 110 — hann let grcctta Gunnloffu; see Eich., p. 17). Taking the supply of mead with him, he takes flight by the way Bate had opened for him — a dangerous way, for " above and below me were the paths of the giants" (str. 106). It seems to have been the custom that the wedding guests on the morning of the next day went to the door of the bridal- chamber to hear how the newly-married man was getting on in his new capacity of husband. According to Havamal, Suttung's Guests, the rimthurses, observe this custom ; but the events of the night change their inquiries into the question whether Odin had succeeded in escaping to the gods or had been slain by Suttung (str. 109, 110). Thus far Havamal. We must now examine Grinmersmal (150) and Ynglingatal (15), whose connection with the myth concerning Odin's exploit in the home of Suttung-Fjalar has not hitherto been noticed. Odin says in Grimnersmal : Sviparr oc Sviprir er ec lut at Sauccmimis oc dulpa ec pann inn aldna iotun, J?a er ec Mipvifcnis varc ins nicer a burar ordinn einbani. "Svidur and Svidrir 1 was called at Sokmimer's, and I presented myself to the ancient giant, at the time when I alone became the slayer of Mi&vitnir's famous son." TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. -1 13 Yuglingatal (15) reads : En Dagshjarr Dumis nidja salvorSu&r Svegffi velti, pa i r i stt in In' 1 1, i stdrgedi Diihn konr i jit dvergi JUjdp, ok sal hjurtr peirra Sokkmimis jotunbyggSr vid jofri gein. "The day-shy hall-guard of Duniir's descendants deceived Svegffir when he, the dauntless son of Dulsi, ran after the dwarf into the rock, and when the shining giant-inhabited hall of Sokkmimir's kinsmen yawned against the chief." (In regard to Dulsi, see No. 83.) What attracts attention in a comparison of these two strophes is that the epithet Sokkmimir is common to both of them, while this name does not occur elsewhere in the whole Old Norse literature. In both the strophes Sokkmimir is a giant. Grimnersmal calls him inn aldna iotun, " the ancient giant," with which we may compare Odin's words in Havamal (104): enn aldna iotn./i ec sotta, "the ancient giant I sought," when he visited that giant-chief, to whose clan Suttung-Fjalar, the possessor of the skald-mead, be- longed. In both the strophes the giant Sokkmimir is the lord and chief of those giants to whom, according to Grimnersmal, Odin comes, and outside of whose hall-door, according to Yuglingatal, a certain Svegffir is deceived by the ward of the hall. This position of Sokk- mimir in relation to his surroundings already appears, so far as Grimnersmal is concerned, from the expression at Saitccmimis, which means not only "with Sokmimer," but also "at Sok- mimer's," that is to say, with that group of kinsmen and in that abode where Sokmimer is chief and ruler. It is with this giant- chief, and in his rocky hall, that Midvitnir and his son sojourns when Odin visits him, presents himself to him, and by the name 444 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. Srlcfur (Sviffrir) acts the part of another person, and in this con- nection causes Midvitner's death. The same quality of Sokmimer as clan- chief and lord appears in the Ynglingatal strophe, in the form that the hall, outside of whose door Svegder was deceived, is ficirra Sokkmimis, that is to say, is the abode of Sokmimer's kinsmen and household, "is their giant-home". Thus all the "iants who dwell there take their clan-name from Sokmimer. The appellation Sokkmimir is manifestly not a name in the strictest sense, but one of the epithets by which this ancient giant- chief could be recognised in connection with mythological circum- stances. We shall point out these mythological circumstances further on. The Ynglingatal strophe gives us, in fact, another epithet for the same mythic person. What the latter half of the strophe calls the hall of Sokmimer's kinsmen and household, the former half of the same strophe calls the hall of Durnir s descendants. Thus Sokmimer and Durnir are the same person. Durnir, on the other hand, is a variation of Durinn (cp. the parallel variations Dvalnir and Dvalinn). Of Durinn we already know (see No. 53) that he is one of the ancient beings of mytho- logy who in time's morning, together with Mo&sognir-Mxmev and in accordance with the resolve of the high-holy powers, created clans of artists. One of the artists created by Durin, and whose father he in this sense became, is, according to Voluspa (11), Mjodvitnir. Eask and Egilsson have for philological reasons assumed that Mi&vitnir and Mjocfvitnir are variations of the same name, and designate the same person (mjocTr, in the dative miffi). It here appears that the facts confirm this assumption. Durinn and Mjocfvitnir in Voluspa correspond to Durnir and Mi&vitnir in the strophes concerning Sokkmimir. Mjofroitnir means the mead-wolf, he who captured the mead celebrated in mythology. As Odin, having assumed the name of another, visits the abode of the descendants of Durner-Sokmiiner, he accordingly visits that rocky home, where that giant dwells who has secured and possesses the mead desired by Odin. Ynglingatal reports, as we have seen, that a certain Sveg&ir was deceived, when he was outside of the door of the hall of the kinsmen of Durner-Sokmimer. He who deceived him was the doorkeeper of the hall. The door appeared to be already open, TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. H" and the "giant-inhabited" hall "yawned" festively illuminated {hj(irtr) toward Svegder. If we may believe XnglingataTs com- mentary on the strophe, the hall-ward had called to him and said that Odin was inside. The strophe represents Svegder as running after the hall-ward, that is to say, toward the door in the rock, eager to get in. What afterwards happened Ynglingatal does not state; but that Svegder did not gain the point he desired, but t.ll into some snare laid by the doorkeeper, follows from the expres- sion that he was deceived by him, and that this caused his death follows from the fact that the purpose of the Strophe is to tell bow his life ended. Ynglingasaga Bays that he got into the rock, 'out never out of it. The rest that this saga has to say of Svegder — that he was on a journey to the old Asgard in "Tyrkland" to find "Odin the old," Gylfaginning's King Priam — has nothing to do with the mythology and with Ynglingatal, but is of course im- portant in regard to the Euhemeristic hypothesis in regard to the descent of the Asas from Tyrkland (Troy), on which the author of Ynglingatal, like that of Gylfaginning, bases his work. The variations Svegffir, Svigdvr, and Sveigffir are used inter- changeably in regard to the same person (cp. Ynglingatal, 14. 15 ; Fornald., ii. 2 ; Fornm., i. 29 ; and Egilsson, 790, 801). Svigffir seems to be the oldest of these forms. The words means tin- great drinker (Egilsson, 801). Svigffir was one of the most popular heroes of mythology (see the treatise on the "Ivalde race"), and was already in heathen times regarded as a race-hero of the Swedes. In Ynglingatal (14) Svithiod is called geiri Svigffis, "Svigder's domain". At the same time, Svegffir is an epithet of Odin. But it should be borne in mind that several of the names by which Odin is designated belong to him only in a secondary and transferred sense, and he has assumed them on occasions when he did not want to be recognised, and wanted to represent some one else (cp. Grimnersm., 49) whose name he then assumed. When I >d in visits the abode of Divrinn-Sokkmimir, where the precious mead is preserved, he calls himself, according to Grim- nersmal, Svidurr, Svi&rir. Now it is the case with this name as with Scigffir, that it was connected with Svithiod. Skaldaka- parmal (Qo) says that Scifiiu]> dales"). "When Odin had come safely out of Fjalar-Suttung's deep rocky halls, and, on eagle-pinions, was living with tin- precious mead to Asgard, it was accordingly that deep, in which Swrtr dwells, which he left below him, and tin; giant race who had hem drinking the mead before that time, while it was still in Suttung's possession, was Suit's race. From this it follows that "the ancient giant," 448 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. whom Odin visited for the purpose of robbing his circle of kinsmen of the skaldic mead, is none other than that being so well known in the mythology, Surtr, and that Surtr is identical with Durinn (Duriiir), and Sokhmimir. This also explains the epithet Sokhmimir, " the Mimer of the deep". Sokk- in Sokk-Mimir refers to Sokk in Sokkdalir, Surt's domain, and that Surt could be associated with Mimer is, from the standpoint of Old Norse poetics, perfectly justifiable from the fact that he appears in time's morning as a co-worker with Mimer, and operating with him as one of the forces of creation in the service of the oldest high-holy powers (see No. 53). Consequently Mimer and Sokmimer {Surtr -Durinn) created the clans of artists. Surtr, Durinn, Durnir, Sokkmimir, are, therefore, synonyms, and designate the same person. He has a son who is designated by the synonyms Suttungr, Fjalarr, Mjo&vitnir (Midvitnir). Suttung has a son slain by Odin, when the latter robs him of the mead of inspiration, and a daughter, G-unlad. The giant maid, deceived and deplored by Odin, is consequently the daughter of Surt's son. Light is thus shed on the myth concerning the giant who reappears in Eagnarok, and there wields the sword which fells Frey and hurls the flames which consume the world. It is found to be connected with the myth concerning the oldest events of mytho- logy. In time's morning we find the fire-being Surt — the re- presentative of subterranean fire — as a creative force by the side of Mimer, who is a friend of the gods, and whose kinsman he must be as a descendant of Ynier. Both work together in peace for similar purposes and under the direction of the gods (Voluspa, 9, 10). But then something occurs which interrupts the amicable relations. Mimer and Surt no longer work together. The fountain of creative force, the mead of wisdom and inspiration, is in the exclusive possession of Mimer, and he and Urd are together the ruling powers in the lower world. The fire-giant, the primeval artist, is then with his race relegated to the " deep dales," situated to the southward (Voluspa, 52), difficult of access, and dangerous for the gods to visit, and presumably conceived as located deeper down than the lower world governed by Mimer and Urd. That he tried to get possession of a part of " OcFrcerir " follows from the position he afterwards occupies in the myth concerning the mead. When daylight again falls on him from the mythic fragments TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 1 1 9 extant, his son has captured and is in possession of B BUpply o\ mead, which must originally have come from Mimer's fountain, and been chiefly composed of its liquid, for it is skaldic mead, it too and can also be designated as Odrasrir (Havamal, 107), while the son is called "the mead-wolf," the onewho has robbed and conceals the precious drink. Odin captures his mead by cunning, the grand- son of the fire-giant is slain, the devoted love of the son's daughter is betrayed, and the husband selected for her is deceived ami removed. All this, though done for purposes to benefit gods and men, de- mands and receives in the mythology its terrible retribution. It is a trait peculiar to the whole Teutonic mythology that evil d ;-. with a good purpose, even when the object is attained, produce evil results, which develop and finally smother the fruits of the! good purpose. Thus Surt has a reason for appearing in Ragnarok as the annihilator of the world of the Asas, when the latter is to make room for a realm of justice. The flames of revenge are hurled upon creation. I have already above (No. 87) had occasion to speak of the choicest sword of mythology, the one which Volund smithied and Mitner captured, and which was fetched from the lower world by a hero whose name Saxo Latinised into Hotherus. In my treatise on " the Ivalde race " it shall be demonstrated who this Hotherus was in mythology, and that the sword was delivered by him to Frey. Lokasenna (42; cp. Gylfag., 37), informs us that the love- sick Prey gave the sword to the giant Gymer for his bride. After coming into the hands of the giants it is preserved and watched over until Ragnarok by Eggfier (an epithet meaning sword-watcher), who in the Ironwood is the shepherd of the monster herd of Loke's progeny, which in the last days shall harry the world and fight in Ragnarok (Voluspa, 39-41). When Ragnarok is at hand a giant comes to this sword-watcher in the guise of the red cock, the symbol of the destructive fire. This giant is Fjalar (VSluspa, 41), and that the purpose of his visit is to secure the sword follows from the fact that the best sword of mythology is shortly after- Wards in the hands of his father Surt (Voluspa, 50) when the latter comes from the south with his band (the sons of Suttung, not of Muspel) to take part in the last conflict and destroy with lire that part of the world that can be destroyed. Frey is slain by the Bword which was once his own. 29 450 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. In this manner the myth about the mead and that about the Volund sword are knit together. Thor, too, ventured to visit Fjalar's abode. In regard to this visit we have a few words in strophe 26 of Harbardsljod. Harbar&r accuses Thor, no doubt unjustly, of having exhibited fear. Of this matter we have no reliable details in the records from heathendom, but a comparison of the above strophe of Harbardsljod with Gylfaginning shows that the account compiled in Gylfaginning from various mythic fragments concerning Thor's journey to Utgarda-Loke and his adventures there contains reminiscences of what the original myths have had to say about his experiences on his expedition to Fjalar's. The fire-giant natures of Snrt and of his son Fjalar gleam forth in the narrative : the ruler of Utgard can produce earthquakes, and Loge (the flame) is his servant. It is also doubtlessly correct, from a mythical standpoint, that he is represented as exceedingly skilful in " deluding," in giving things the appearance of something else than they really are (see No. 39). When Odin assumed the guise of Fjalar's son-in-law, he defeated Surfs race with their own weapons. Eyvind Skaldaspiller states, as we have seen, that Surfs abode is in dales down in the deep. From an expression in Ynglinga- saga's strophe we must draw the conclusion that its author, in harmony herewith, conceived the abyss where Surt's race dwelt as regions to which the light of day never comes. Sokmimer's door- keeper, one of whose tasks it was to take notice of the wayfarers who approached, is a day-shy dwarf {dagskjarr salvorffudr; in regard to dwarfs that shun the light of day, see Alvissmal). Darkness therefore broods over this region, but in the abode of the fire-giant it is light (the hall is bjartr). I now return to the episodes in the mead-myth under discus- sion to recapitulate in brief the proofs and results. If we for a moment should assume that the main source, namely, the Havamal strophes, together with Eyviud's half strophe, were lost, and that the only remaining evidences were Grimnersmal (50) and Yng- lingatal (15), together with the prose text in Ynglingasaga, then an analysis of these would lead to the following result : (1) Grimnersmal (50) and Ynglingatal (15) should be compared with each other. The reasons for assuming them to be intrinsi- cally connected are the following : ISOTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 451 (a) Both contain the epithet Sokkmimir, which occurs nowhere else. (b) Both describe a primeval giant, who is designated by this epithet as chief and lord of a giant race gathered around him. (<•) Both refer the events described to the Bame locality : the one tells what occurred in the halls of Xdkl-inimir ; the other nar- rates an episode which occurred outside of the door of Sokmimer's giant abode. ((/) The one shows that Sokmimer is identical with Thurrwr (Durin) ; the other mentions Midvttnir as one of Sokmimer's subjects. Midvttnir (Mjddvttnir), according to Vdluspa, was created by Din-inn. (c) Both describe events occurring while Odin is inside at Sokmimer's. (/) The one mentions Svidwrr, the other Svegffir. Mythologi- cally, the two names refer to each other. (2) To the giant group which Odin visits in the abode of Sokh- ml mir belongs the giant who captured the famous mead which Odin is anxious to secure. This appears from the epithet which the author of the Grimnersmal strophe chose in order to designate him in such a manner that he could be recognised, namely, Midvttnir, "the mead-wolf," an epithet which explains why the mead-thirsty Odin made his journey to this race hostile to the gods. (3) That Odin did not venture, or did not think it desirable in connection with the purpose of his visit, to appear in his own name and in a guise easily recognised, is evident from the fact that he "disguised" himself, "acted the hypocrite" (duhl«), in the presence of the giant, and appeared as another mythic person, Smdurr. This mythic person has been handed down in the traditions as the one who gave the name to Svithiod, and as a race-hero of the Swedes. Strtjridd var hulled af nafni Sciffurs. (•1) While ( )din, in the guise of this race-hero, plays his part in the mountain in the abode of Sokmimer, a person arrives at the entrance of the halls of this giant. This person, Svegdtr S is in the sagas called the race-hero of the Swedes, and after hint they have called Svithiod gt iri Svig&U. Odin, who acted 8v part, has also been called Svigffir, SvegSir. 432 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. Svigffir is an epithet, and means "the champion drinker" (Anglo-Saxon swig: to drink deep draughts). "The champion drinker" is accordingly on his way to the "Mead-wolf," while Odin is in his abode. All goes to show that the event belongs to the domain of the mead-myth. Accordingly, the situation is this : A pretended race-hero and namer of Svithiod is in the abode of Sokmimer, while a person who, from a mythological standpoint, is the real race-hero and namer of Svithiod is on his way to Sokmimer's abode and about to enter. The myth could not have conceived the matter in this way, unless the pretended race-hero was believed to act the part of the real one. The arrival of the real one makes Odin's position, which was already full of peril, still more dangerous, and threatens him with discovery and its consequences. (5) If Odin appeared in the part of a " champion drinker," he was compelled to drink much in Sokmimer's halls in order to maintain his part, and this, too, must have added to the danger of his position. (6) Still the prudent Asa-father seems to have observed some degree of caution, in order that his plans might not be frustrated by the real Svig&ir. That which happens gives the strongest support to this supposition, which in itself is very probable. Sokmimer's doorkeeper keeps watch in the darkness outside. When he discovers the approach of Svig&ir, he goes to meet him and informs him that Odin is inside. Consequently the door- keeper knows that Svi&urr is Odin, who is unknown to all those within excepting to Odin himself. This and what follows seems to show positively that the wise Odin and the cunning dwarf act upon a settled plan. It may be delusion or reality, but Svig&ir sees the mountain door open to the illuminated giant-hall, and the informa- tion that Odin is within (the dwarf may or may not have added that Odin pretends to be Svig&ir) causes him, the " proud one," " of noble race," the kinsman of Dulsi (epithet of Mundilfore, see No. 83), to rush with all his might after the dwarf against the real or apparent door, and the result is that the dwarf succeeded in " deceiving " him (he velti Svegder), so that he never more was seen. This is what we learn from the strophes in Grimnersmal and Ynglingatal, with the prose text of the latter. If we now compare TEUTONIC MYTHOLncv. 453 this with what Havamal and Eyvind relate, we get the following parallels : Havamdl and Eyvind. Odin visits inn aldna iotun (Surtr and his race). Odin's purpose is to deceive the old giant In his abode is found a kinsman, who is in pos- session of the skaldic mead {Suttung-Fjular). Odin appears in the guise of Gunlad's wooer, who, if he is named, is called Sumbl (sumbl = a drink, a feast). Odin became drunk. A catastrophe occurs causing Gunnibff to bewail the death of a kinsman. The strophes <tit Sokkmimir. Odin visits inn V 6k Nonwu Nefiddttur). Gylfaginning, 49: "His (Haider's) wife Nanna, daughter of Nef " (Kona hans Nanna Nefsddttir). (3) Saxo, Hist. Dan., iii. : " Gevarr' 8 daughter Nanna " (Gevari film Nanna). That Saxo means the mythological Nanna follows from the fact that Balder appears in the story as her wooer. That the Norse form of the name, which Saxo Latinised into (levaru-, was Gevarr, not Gefr, as a prominent linguist has assumed, follows from the rules adopted by Saxo in Latinising Norse names. Notf. — Names of the class to which Gefr would belong, provid- 456 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. ing such a name existed, would be Latinised in the following manner : (a) AsJcr Ascerus, Baldr Balderus, Gcldr Gelderus, Glaumr Glomerus, ffoffr, ffaffr, Offr, Hotherus, Hatherus, Hotherus, Svipdagr Svipdagerus, Vllr Ollerus, Yggr Uggerus, Vigr Vigerus. (b) Asmundr Asmundus, Amundr Amundus, Arngrimr Arn- grimus, Bildr Bildus, Knutr Canutus, Fridleifr Fridlevus, Gautrekr Gotricus, Go&mundr Guthmundus, Haddingr Hadingus, Haraldr Haraldus. Names ending in -arr are Latinised in the following manner : (a) Borgarr Borcarus, Binarr Enarus, Gunnarr Gunnarus, Hjorvarr Hjartvarus, Ingimarr Ingimarus, Ingvarr Ingvarus, Ismarr Ismarus, Ivarr I varus, Ottarr Otharns, Rostarr Eostarus, Sigarr Sigarus, Sivarr Sivarus, Valdimarr Valdemarus. (b) Agnarr Agnerus, Ragnarr Begnerus. With the ending -arus occurs also in a single instance a Norse name in -i, namely, Bylimi Olimarus. Herewith we might perhaps include Liotarus, the Norse form of which Saxo may have had in Ljoti from Ljotr. Otherwise Ljotr is a single exception from the rules followed by Saxo, and methodology forbids our building any- thing on a single exception, which moreover is uncertain. Some monosyllabic names ending in -r are sometimes unlatin- ised, as Alf, Ulf, Sten, Ring, Bolf, and sometimes Latinised with -o, as Alvo, Ulvo, Steno, Bingo, Bolvo. Alfr is also found Latinised as Alverus. From the above lists of names it follows that Saxo's rules for Latinising Norse names ending with the nominative -r after a consonant were these : (1) Monosyllabic names (seldom a dissyllabic one, as Svipdagr) are Latinised with the ending -ems or the ending -o. (2) Names of two or more syllables which do not end in -arr (rarely a name of one syllable, as Bildr) are Latinised with the ending -us. (3) Names ending in -arr are Latinised with -arus ; in a few cases (and then on account of the Danish pronunciation) with -erus. From the above rules it follows (1) that Gcfr, if such a name existed, would have been Latinised by Saxo either into Geverus, Gefcrus, or into Gevo, Gefo ; (2) that Gevarr is the regular Norse for Gevarus. TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 457 The only possible meaning of the nana' Qeoarr, considered aa a common noun is " the ward of the atmosphere" from ge {ga ; Bee Founger Edda, ii. 480, and Egilsson, 227) and -varr. I cite this definition not for the purpose of drawing any conclusions therefrom, but simply because it agrees with the result reached in another way. The other name of Nanna's father is, aa we have Been, Kdkhvi Nokkver. This word means the ship-owner, Bhip-captain. If we compare these two names, Gevarr and Nokkver, with each other, then it follows from the comparison that Nanna's father was a mythic person who operated in the atmosphere or had some con- nection with certain phenomena in the air, and particularly in connection with a phenomenon there of such a kind that the mythic fancy could imagine a ship. The result of the comparison should be examined in connection with a strophe by Thorbjorn Hornklofve, which I shall now consider. Thorbjorn was the court-skald of Harald Fairfax, and he de- scribed many of the king's deeds and adventures. Harald had at one time caused to be built for himself and his body-guard a large and stately ship, with a beautiful figure-head in the form of a ser- pent. On board this ship he was overtaken by a severe gale, which Hornklofve (Harald Harfager's saga, ch. 0) describes in the following words : Ut a mar nwetir mannskcedr lagar tanna rcesinadr til rausnar rak mbrautar Nokkva. In prose order: Lagar tanna mannskce&r masbir at a mar rak rausnar rcesinadr til Nokkva vebrautar (" The assailants of the skerry (the teeth of the sea), dangerous to man, flung out upon the sea the splendid serpent of the vessel's stein to the holy path of Xokve"). All interpreters agree that by "the skerry's assailants, dan- gerous to man," is meant the waves which are produced by the storm and rush against the skerries in breakers dangerous to men. It is also evident that Hornklofve wanted to depict the violence of the sea when he says that the billows which rise to assail the skerry tosses the ship, so that the figure-head of the stem reaches "the holy path of Xokve". Poems of different 458 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. literatures resemble each other in their descriptions of a storm raging at sea. They make the billows rise to " the clouds," to " the stars," or to " the moon ". Quanti monies volvuntur aquarum ! Jam, jam tacturos sidcra summaputes, Ovid sings (Trist., i. 18, 19) ; and Virgil has it : Procella jiuctus ad sidcra tollit (sEu., i. 107). One of their brother skalds in the North, quoted in Skaldskaparmal (ch. 61), depicts a storm with the following words : Hraud' i himin vpp glu&um liafs, gekh sccr af afii, bar hygg eh at sky shor&i, skaut Pulnar vegr mdna. The skald makes the phosphorescence of the sea splash against heaven ; he makes the ship split the clouds, and the way of Ban, the giantess of the sea, cut the path of the moon. The question now is, whether Hornklofve by "Nokve's holy path " did not mean the path of the moon in space, and whether it is not to this path the figure-head of the ship seems to pitch when it is lifted on high by the towering billows. It is certain that this holy way toward which the heaven-high billows lift the ship is situated in the atmosphere above the sea, and that Nokve has been conceived as travelling this way in a ship, since Nokve means the ship-captain. From this it follows that Nokve's craft must have been a phenomenon in space resembling a ship which was supposed to have its course marked out there. We must therefore choose between the sun, the moon, and the stars ; and as it is the moon which, when it is not full, has the form of a ship sailing in space, it is more probable that by Nokve's ship is meant the moon than that any other celestial body is referred to. This probability becomes a certainty by the following proofs. In Sonatorrek (str. 2, 3) Egil Skallagrimson sings that when heavy sorrow oppresses him (who has lost his favourite son) then the song does not easily well forth from his breast : pagna fundr priggia niffja tir borinn or Jottinhcimum, lastalauss TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. cr lij'n- it Nokkvers mill- re Bragi. The skaldic song is here compared with a fountain which does no! easily gush forth from a sorrowful heart, and the liquid of the fountain is compared with the "Thrigge's kinsmen's find, tl oe kept secret, which in times past was carried from Jotunheim into Nokve's ship, where Brage, unharmed, refreshed himself (secured the vigour of life) ". It is plain that Egil here refers to a mythic event thai formed an episode in the myth concerning the skaldic mead. Somewhere in Jotunheim a fountain containing the same precious liquid as that in Mimer's well has burst forth. The vein of the fountain was discovered by kinsmen of Thrigge, but the precious find eagerly desired by all powers is kept secret, presumably in order that they who made the discovery might enjoy it undivided and in safety. But something happens which causes the treasure which the foun- tain gave its discoverers to be carried from Jotunheim to Xokve's ship, and there the drink is accessible to the gods. It is especially mentioned that Brage, the god of poetry, is there permitted \>> partake of it and thus refresh his powers. Thus the ship of Nanna's father here reappears, and we learn that on its holy way in space in bygone times it bore a supply of skaldic mead, of which Brage in the days of his innocence drank the strength of life. With this we must compare a mythic fragment preserved in Gylfaginning (ch. 11). There a fountain called Byrgir is men- tioned. Two children, a lass by name Bil and a lad by name ffjuki, whose father was named VvSjmnr} had conic with a pail to this fountain to fetch water. The allegory in which the tradition is incorporated calls the pail Scegr, "the one seething over its brinks," and calls the pole on which the pail is carried Simul (according to one manuscript SinnvJ; cp. Suml, brewing, ale, mead. Bil, one of the two children is put in connection with the drink of poetry. The skalds pray that she maybe gracious to them. /.' unna itr vildi Bil skdldi, "if the noble Bil will favour the skald," is a wish expressed in a strophe in the Younger Edda, ii. Byrgir is manifestly a fountain of the same kind as the one referred to by Egil, and containing the skaldic mead. Byrgir'a fountain 460 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. must have been kept secret, it must have been a " concealed find," for it is in the night, while the moon is up, that Vidfin's children are engaged in filling their pail from it. This is evident from the fact that Maui sees the children. When they have filled the pail they are about to depart, presumably to their home, and to ther lather Vidfin. But they do not get home. While they carry the pail with the pole on their shoulders Mdni takes them unto himself, and they remain with him, together with their precious burden. From other mythic traditions which I shall consider later (see the treatise on the Ivalde race), we learn that the moon-god adopts them as his children, and Bil afterwards appears as an asynje (Younger Edda, i. 118, 556). If we now compare Egil's statements with the mythic fragment about Bil and Hjuke, we find in both a fountain mentioned which contains the liquid of inspiration found in Mimer's fountain, without being Mimer's well-guarded or unapproachable " well ". In Egil the find is "kept secret". In Gylfaginning the children visit it in the night. Egil says the liquid was carried from Jotunheim; Gylfaginning says that Bil and Hjuke carried it in a pail. Egil makes the liquid transferred from Jotunheim to Nokve's ship ; Gylfaginning makes the liquid and its bearers be taken aloft by the moon-god to the moon, where we still, says Gylfaginning, can see Bil and Hjuke (in the moon-spots). There can therefore be no doubt that Nokve's ship is the silvery craft of the moon, sailing in space over sea and land on a course marked out for it, and that Nokve is the moon-god. As in Eigveda, so in the Teutonic mythology, the ship of the moon was for a time the place where the liquid of inspiration, the life- and strength-giving mead, was concealed. The myth has ancient Aryan roots. On the myth concerning the mead-carrying ship, to which the Asas come to drink, rests the paraphrase for composing, for making a song, which Einar Skalaglam once used (Skaldskaparmal, 1). To make songs he calls " to dip liquid out of Her-Tyr's wind-ship " (ansa Hertys vingnoffar austr ; see further No. 121, about Odin's visit in Xokve's ship). The name Nefr (variation Ncpr), the third name of Xanna's father mentioned above, occurs nowhere in the Norse sources ex- cepting in the Younger Edda. It is, however, undoubtedly correct that Nokve-Gevar was also called Nef. TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 4G1 Among all the Teutonic myths there is scarcely one other with which sii many heroic songs composed in heathen times have been connected as with the myth concerning the moon-god and his descen- dants. As shall be shown further on, the Niflungs arc descendants of Nef's adopted son Hjuke, and they arc originally named alter their adopted race-progenitor Nefr. A more correct and an older form is perhaps Hncfr and Hniflungar, and the latter form is also found in the Icelandic literature. In Old English the moon-god appears changed into a prehistoric king, Hnaf also called Hoce (see Beowulf, 2142, and Gleeman's Tale). Here is the same name as the Xorse I [julri. Thus while Hnaf and Hoce are identical in the Old English poem "Beowulf," we find in the Xorse source that the lad taken aloft by Mane is called by one of the names of his foster-father. In the Xorse account the moon-god Nefr) captures, as we have seen, the children of one Vifffinnr, and at the same time he robs Viffjinnr of the priceless mead of inspiration found in the fountain Byrgir. In the Old English saga Hnaf has a son-in- law and vassal, whose name is Finn {Fin Folcvalding), who be- comes his bitterest foe, contends with him, is conquered and pardoned, but attacks him again, and, in company with one Guffere (Gunnr), burns him. According to Saxo, Nanna's father <:, varr has the same fate. He is attacked by a vassal and burnt. The vassal is called Gunno {Gunnr, Guffere). Thus we have in the Old English tradition the names Hnaf, [[ore, Flu, and Guffere ; and in the Xorse tradition the corresponding names Nefr, Hjuki, Viffjinnr, and Gunnr (Gunnarr). The relation of the moon-god (Nefr) to Viffjinnr is the mythological basis of Fin's enmity to Hnaf. The burning is common to both the Old English and the Norse sources. Later in this work 1 shall consider these circum- stances more minutely. What I have stated is sufficient to show that the Old English tradition is in this point connected with the Xorse in a manner, which confirms Nefr-Gevarr'a identity with Md who takes aloft Hjuki and robs Viffjinnr of the skaldic mead. The tradition of Gevarr-Nefr's identity with Mdni reappears in Iceland once more as late as in Hromund Greipson's saga. There a person called Mdni Karl shows where the hero of the saga is to find the sword Mistcltcinn. In Saxo, Nanna's father Gevarr shows the before-mentioned Hotherus where he is to find the weapon which is to slav Balder. Thus Mdni in Hromund's saga assumes 462 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. the same position as Gevarr, Nanna's father, occupies in Saxo's narrative. All these circumstances form together a positive proof of the moon-god's identity with Nanna's father. Further on, when the investigation has progressed to the proper point, we shall give reasons for assuming that Vidfinnr of the Edda, the Fin of the English heroic poem, is the same person whom we have heretofore mentioned by the name Sumbl Finndkonungr and Svig&ir, and that the myth concerning the taking of the mead aloft to the moon accordingly has an epic connection with the myth concerning Odin's visit to the giant Fjalar, and concerning the fate which then befel Nokve's slayer. 91. The Myth Concerning the Moon-god {continued). The moon-god, like Nat, Dag, and Sol, is by birth and abode a lower-world divinity. As such, he too had his importance in the Teutonic eschatology. The god who on his journeys on " Nokve's holy way " serves auldom at drtali (Vafthrudnersmal, 23) by measuring out to men time in phases of the moon, in months, and in years has, in the mythology also, received a certain influence in inflicting suffering and punishment on sinners. He is lord of the heiptir, the Teutonic Erinnyes (see No. 75), and keeps those limar (bundles of thorns) with which the former are armed, and in this capacity he has borne the epithet Eylimi, which reappears in the heroic songs in a manner which removes all doubt that Nanna's father was originally meant. (See in Saxo and in Helge Hjorvardson's saga. To the latter I shall return in the second part of this work, and I shall there present evidence that the saga is based on episodes taken from the Balder myth, and that Helge Hjorvardson is himself an imitation of Balder). In his capacity of lord of the Heiptir the moon-god is the power to whom prayers are to be addressed by those who desire to be spared from those sufferings which the Heiptir represent {Hip" torn seal mana qvedja — Havamal, 137). His quality as the one who keeps the thorn-rods of the Jieijotir still survives in a great part of the Teutonic world in the scattered traditions about " the man in the moon," who carries bundles of thorns on his back (J. Grimm, Myth., 680 ; see No. 123). TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 463 92 The Moon-dis Nanna. The Meeseburg Formula. Balder's Name Falr. Thus Nanna is the daughter of the ruler of the moon, of " the ward of the atmosphere". This alone indicates that she herself was mythologically connected with the phenomena which pertain to her father's domain of activity, and in all probability was a moon-dis (goddess). This assumption is fully confirmed by a con- tribution to Teutonic mythology rescued in Germany, the so-called Merseburg formula, which begins as follows : Phol ende Uudan Fair and Odin vuoroii zi holza went to the wood, dil vart demo Balderes then was the foot sprained volon sin vous bircuhtf on Balder's foal. /hi biguolon Sinhtgunt. Then sang over him Sinhtgunt, Sim mi era svister, Suuna her sister, th (X biguolni Friia, then sang over him Frigg, Volla era svister Fulla her sister; thu biguolcn Uodan then sang over him Odin so he wola conda. as best he could. Of the names occurring in this strophe Uodan-Odin, Balder, Snnna (synonym of Sol — Alvissm., 17; Younger Edda, i. 472, 593), Friia-Frigg, and Volla-Fulla are well known in the Icelandic mythic records. Only Phol and Sinhtgunt are strangers to our mycologists, though Vhol-Fclr surely ought not to be so. In regard to the German form Phol, we find that it has by its side the form Fal in German names of places connected with fountains. Jacob Grimm has pointed out a " Pholes " fountain in Thuringia, a " Fals " fountain in the Frankish Steigerwald, and in this connection a "Balder" well in Bheinphaltz. In the Danish popular traditions Balder's horse had the ability to produce fountains by tramping on the ground, and Balder's fountain in Seeland is said to have originated in this manner (cp. P. E. Miiller on Saxo, Hist., 120). In Saxo, too, Balder gives rise to wells {Victor Baldcrus, id ajflictum siti militem <>j>/>ky. Here is also the Hel-gate through which all the dead must pass in the lower world (No. G8). There are many proofs that the giant settlement with the [ron- wood or Myrkwood was conceived as extending from the north over large portions of the east (Voluspa, 39, 48, &c). These regions of Alfheim constitute the southern coasts of the Elivagar, and are the scenes of important events in the epic of the mythology (see the treatise on the Ivalde i 47-A TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. Vanaheimr is situated in the western half of the zone. At the banquet in JEgirs hall, described in Lokasenna, Loke says to Njord : Jnc vast austr he&an gisl um sendr goffum — " From here you were sent out east as a hostage to the gods ". iEgir's hall is far out in the depths of the sea. The ocean known by the Teutons was the North Sea. The author has mani- festly conceived iEgir's hall as situated in the same direction from Asgard as Vanaheim, and not far from the native home of the Vans. This lies in the word hecfan (from here). According to Vafthrudnersmal (str. 39), Njord was " created in Vanaheim by wise ret/in ". When he was sent as a hostage to the gods to Asgard he had to journey eastward (austr). The western location of Vanaheim is thereby demonstrated. In the "western halls" of Vanaheim dwells Billing, Rind's father, the father of the Asa-god, Vale's mother (Rindr berr Vala i vcestrsolum — Vegt., 11). His name has been preserved in both the German and the Anglo-Saxon mythic records. An Old German document mentions together Billunc and Nidunc, that is, Billing and Mimer (see No. 87). In the mythology Mimer's domain is bounded on the west by Billing's realm, and on the east by Del- ling's. Delling is Mimer's son-in-law. According to Voluspa, 13 (Codex Hauk.), Billing is a being which in time's morning, on the resolve of the gods, was created by Mocfsognir-MimeT and Durinn. Mimer's neighbours in the east and in the west were therefore intimately connected with him. An Anglo-Saxon record (Codex Exoniensis, 320, 7) makes Billing the race-hero of the kinsmen and neighbours of the Angles, the Varnians (Billing veold Vemum). This too has a mythological foundation, as appears in Grimnersmal (39) and in the saga of Helge Hjorvardson, which, as before stated, is composed of mythic fragments. When Sol and Mane leave Del- ling's domain and begin their march across the heavens, their journey is not without danger. From the Iron wood (cp. Voluspa, 39) come the wolf-giants Skoll and Hate and pursue them. SMI does not desist from the pursuit before the car of the bright-faced goddess has descended toward the western halls and reached Varna viffr (Scaull heitir ulfr, er fylgir eno scirleita goffi til Varna TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. ITT. vidar — Grinmersmal, 39). Varna vidr is the forest of the mythic Varniana or Varinians. Varnians, Varinians, means "defenders," and the protection here referred to can be none other than that given to the journeying divinities of light when they have reached the western horizon. According to Helge Bjorvardson's Baga, Hate, who pursues the moon, is slain near Yarin's Bay. Varvnn, the "defender," "protector," is the singular form of the same word as reappears in the genitive plural Varna. These expressions — Billing veold Vernum, Varna riO'r, and Varins uik — are to be con- sidered as belonging together. So also the local names borrowed from the mythology, VaHnsfjorffr and Varinsey, in Helge Hjorvard- son's saga, where several names reappear, e.g.s Svarinn, M6inn, Alfr, and Tngvi, which in connection with that of Billing occur in the list of the beings created by Mimer and Durinn. It is manifest that Varna vuTr, where the wolf Skoll is obliged to turn back from his pursuit of Sol, and that Varins uik, where the moon's pursuer II ate is conquered, were conceived in the mythology as situated in the western horizon, since the sun and the moon making their journey from east to west on the heavens are pursued and are nut safe before they reach the western halls. And now as Billing dwells in the western halls and is remembered in the Anglo-Saxon mythic frag- ments as the prince of the Varnians or Varinians, ami as, further- more, Varinsfjur&r and Varinsey are connected with adventures in which there occur several names of mythic persons belonging i" Billing's clan, then this proves absolutely an original mythic con- nection between Billing and his western halls and those western halls in whose regions Varna vidr and Varinsvik are situated, and where the divinities of light, their journey athwart the sky accom- plished, find defenders and can take their rest. Ami when we add to this that Delling, Mimer's kinsman and eastern neighbour, is the lord of morning and the rosy dawn, and that Billing is Mimer's kinsman and western neighbour, then it follows that Billing, from the standpoint of a symbol of nature, represents the evening and the glow of twilight, and that in the epic he is ruler of those regions of the world where the divinities of light find rest and peace. The description which the Havamal strophes (97-101) give us of life in Billing's halls corresponds most perfectly with this view. Through the epic presentation there gleams, as it seems, a conscious symbolis- ing of nature, which paints to the fancy the play of colours in the 47 G TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. west when the sun is set. When eventide comes Billing's lass, " the sun-glittering one," sleeps on her bed {Billings mey ec fann hcSjurn a solhvita sofa — str. 97). In his halls Billing has a body-guard of warriors, his saldrott, vigdrott (str. 100, 101), in whom we must recognise those Varnians who protect the divinities of light that come to his dwelling, and these warriors watch far into the night, "with burning lights and with torches in their hands," over the slumbering " sun- white " maiden. But when day breaks their services are no longer necessary. Then they in their turn go to sleep (Oc nccr morni . . . fid var saldrott um sofin — str. 101). When the Asas — all on horseback excepting Thor — on their daily journey to the thingstead near TJrd's fountain, have reached the southern rune-risted bridge-head of Bifrost, they turn to the north and ride through a southern Hel-gate into the lower world proper. Here, in the south, and far below Jormungrund's southern zone, we must conceive those " deep dales " where the fire-giant Surt dwells with his race, Suttung's sons (not Muspel's sons). The idea presented in Gylfaginning's cosmogony, according to which there was a world of fire in the south and a world of cold in the north of that < linungagap in which the world was formed, is certainly a genuine myth, resting on a view of nature which the very geographical position forced upon the Teutons. Both these border realms after- wards find their representatives in the organised world: the fire- world in Surfs Sokkdalir, and the frost-world in the Nifelhel incor- porated with the eschatological places ; and as the latter constitutes the northern part of the realm of death, we may in analogy here- with refer the dales of Surt and Suttung's sons to the south, and we may do this without fear of error, for Voluspa (50) states posi- tively that Surt and his descendants come from the south to the Eagnarok conflict (Sartr fer sunan mcft sviga heft). While the northern bridge-head of Bifrost is threatened by the rimthurses, the southern is exposed to attacks from Suttung's sons. In Eagnarok the gods have to meet storms from both quarters, and we must con- ceive the conflict as extending along Jormungrund's outer zone and especially near both ends of the Bifrost bridge. The plain around the south end of Bifrost where the gods are to "mix the liquor of the sword with Surt" is called OsJedpnir in a part of a heathen poem incorporated with Fafnersmal. Here Prey with his hosts of TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 477 einherjes meets Surt and Suttung's Bons, and falls by the Bword which once was his, after the arch of Bifrost on this Bide is already broken under the weight of the hosts of riders Fafnersmal, 14, 15 ; Voluspa, 51). Osktipnir'a plain must therefore be referred to the south end of Bifrost and outside of the southern Eel-gate of the lower world. The plain is also called Vigridr (VafthrudDersmal, 1S>, and is said to be one hundred rasts long each way. As the gods who here appear in the conflict are called in svaso go9t " the sweet," and as Frey falls in the battle, those who here go to meet Surt and his people seem to be particularly Vana-goda and Vans, while those who contend with the giants and with Loke's progeny are chiefly Asas. When the gods have ridden through the southern Hel-gate, there lie before them magnificent regions over which Urd in particular rules, and which together with Mimer's domain con- stitute the realms of bliss in the lower world with abodes for departed children and women, and for men who were not chosen on the field of battle. Rivers flowing from Hvergelmer flow through Urd's domain after they have traversed Mimer's realm. The way leads the gods to the fountain of the norns, which waters the southern root of the world-tree, and over which Ygdrasil's lower branches spread their ever-green leaves, shading the gold-clad fountain, where swans swim and whose waters give the whitest colour to everything that comes in contact therewith. In the vicinity of this fountain are the thingstead with judgment-seats, a tribunal, and benches for the hosts of people who daily arrive to be blessed or damned. These hosts enter through the Hel-gate of the east. They traverse deep and dark valleys, and come to a thorn-grown plain against whose pricks Hel-shoes protect those who were merciful in their life on earth, and thence to the river mixed with blood, which in its eddies whirls weapons and must be waded over by the wicked, but can be crossed by the good on the drift-wood which floats on the river. When this river is crossed the way of the dead lead- southward to the thingstead of the gods. Further up there is a golden bridge across the river to the glurious realm where Mimer's holt and the glittering hall- situated, in which Balder and the dsmegir await the regeneration. Many streams come from Hvergelmer, among them /.■ iptr, on whose 478 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. waters holy oaths are taken, and cast their coils around these protected places, whence sorrow, aging, and death are banished. The halls are situated in the eastern part of Mimer's realm in the domain of the elf of the rosy dawn, for he is their watchman. Further down in Mimer's land and under the middle root of the world-tree is the well of creative force and of inspiration, and near it are Mimer's own golden halls. Through this middle part of the lower world goes from west to east the road which Nat, Dag, Sol, and Mane travel from Billing's domain to Delling's. When the mother Nat whose car is drawn by Hrimfaxi makes her entrance through the western Hel-gate, dark- ness is diffused along her course over the regions of bliss and accompanies her chariot to the north, where the hall of Sindre, the o-reat artist, is located, and toward the Nida mountains, at whose southern loot Nat takes her rest in her own home. Then those who dwell in the northern regions of Jormungrund retire to rest (Forspjallsljod, 25) ; but on the outer rim of Midgard there is life and activity, for there Dag's and Sol's cars then diffuse light and splendour on land and sea. The hall of Sindre's race has a special peculiarity. It is, as shall be shown below, the prototype of " the sleeping castle " mentioned in the sagas of the middle ages. Over the Nida mountains and the lands beyond them we find Y^drasil's third root, watered by the Hvergelmer fountain, the mother of all waters. The Nida mountains constitute Jormun- grund's great watershed, from which rivers rush down to the south and to the north. In Hvergelmer's fountain and above it the world-mill is built through whose mill-stone eye water rushes up and down, causing the maelstrom and ebb and flood tide, and scattering the meal of the mill over the bottom of the sea. Nine giantesses march along the outer edge of the world pushing the mill-handle before them, while the mill and the starry heavens at the same time are revolved. Where the Elivagar rivers rise out of Hvergelmer, and on the southern strand of the mythic Gandvik, is found a region which, after one of its inhabitants, is called Ides pasture (setr — Younger Edda, i. 292). Here dwell warriors of mixed elf and giant blood (see the treatise on the Ivalde race), who received from the gods the task of being a guard of protection against the neighbouring giant-world. TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 17') Farther toward the north rise the Nida mountains and form the steep wall which constitutes Nifelhel's southern boundary. In this wall are the Na-gates, through which the damned when they have died their second death are brought into the realm of torture, whose ruler is Leikian. Nifelheim is inhabited by the spirits of the primeval giants, by the spirits of disease, and by giants who have fallen in conflict with the gods. Under Nifelhel extend the enormous caves in which the various kinds of criminals are tortured. In one of these caves is the torture hall of the Na- strands. Outside of its northern door is a grotto guarded ' ly swarthy elves. The door opens to Armsvartner's sea, over which eternal darkness broods. In this sea lies the Lyngve-holm, within whose jurisdiction Loke, Fenrer, and " Muspel's sons" are fettered Somewhere in the same region Bifrost descends to its well fortified northern bridge-head. The citadel is called ERmiiibjorg, "tin* de- fence or rampart of heaven ". Its chieftain is Heimdal. While Bifrost's arch stands in a direction from north to south, the way on which Mane and Sol travel across the heavens goes from east to west. Mane's way is below Asgard. The movable starry heaven is not the only, nor is it the highest, canopy stretched over all that has been mentioned above. One can go so far to the north that even the horizon of the starry heavens is left in the rear. Outside, the heavens Andldnger and Vi&blainn support their edges against Jormungrund (Gylfag., 17). All this creation is supported by the world-tree, on whose topmost bou"h the cock Vidofner glitters. 94. The Seven Sleepers. Voluspa gives an account of the events which forebode and lead up to Bagnarok. Among these we also find that leika Mims synir, that is, that the sons of Mimer "spring up," "fly up," into lively motion". But the meaning of this has hitherto been an unsolved problem. In the strophe immediately preceding (the 44th) Voluspa de- scribes how it looks on the surface of Mid-aid when the end of the world is at hand. Brothers and near kinsmen slay each other. 480 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. The sacred bonds of morality are broken. It is the storm-age and the wolf- age. Men no longer spare or pity one another. Knives and axes rage. Yolnnd's world -destroying sword of revenge has already been fetched by Fjalar in the guise of the red cock (str. 41), and from the Ironwood, where it hitherto had been concealed by Angerboda and guarded by Egther ; the wolf-giant Hate with his companions have invaded the world, which it was the duty of the gods to protect. The storms are attended by eclipses of the sun (str. 40). Then suddenly the Hjallar-horn sounds, announcing that the destruction of the world is now to be fulfilled, and just as the first notes of this trumpet penetrate the world, Mimer's sons spring up. " The old tree," the world-tree, groans and trembles. When Mimer's sons " spring up " Odin is engaged in conversation with the head of their father, his faithful adviser, in regard to the im- pending conflict, which is the last one in which the gods are to take a hand. I shall here give reasons for the assumption that the blast from the Hjallar-horn wakes Mimer's sons from a sleep that has lasted through centuries, and that the Christian legend concerning the seven sleepers has its chief, if not its only, root in a Teutonic myth which in the second half of the fifth or in the first half of the sixth century was changed into a legend. At that time large portions of the Teutonic race had already been converted to Christianity: the Goths, Vandals, Gepidians, Bugians, Bur- gundians, and Swabians were Christians. Considerable parts of the Eoman empire were settled by the Teutons or governed by their swords. The Franks were on the point of entering the Christian Church, and behind them the Alamannians and Longo- bardians. Their myths and sagas were reconstructed so far as they could be adapted to the new'Wms and ideas, and if they, more or less transformed, assumed the garb of a Christian legend, then this guise enabled them to travel to the utmost limits of Christendom; and if they also contained, as in the case here in question, ideas that were not entirely foreign to the Greek- Boman world, then they might the more easily acquire the right of Eoman nativity. In its oldest form the legend of " the seven sleepers " has the following outlines (Miraeulorum Liber, vii., i. 92) : TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 481 "Seven brothers"* have their place of rest near the city of Ephesus, and the story of them is as follows : In the time of the Emperor Decius, while the persecution of the Christians took place, seven men were captured and brought before the ruler. Their names were Maximianus, Malchus, Martinianus, Constantius, ] >ionv- sius, Joannes, and Serapion. All sorts of persuasion was attempted, but they would not yield. The emperor, who was pleased with their courteous manners, gave them time for reflection, bo that they should not at once fall under the sentence of death. But they concealed themselves in a cave and remained there many days. Still, one of them went out to get provisions and attend to other necessary matters. But when the emperor returned to the same city, these men prayed to God, asking Him in His mercy to save them out of this danger, and when, lying on the ground, they had finished their prayers, they fell asleep. When the emperor learned that they were in the above-mentioned cave, he, under divine influ- ence, commanded that the entrance of the cave should be closed with large stones, " for," said he, " as they are unwilling to offer sacrifices to our gods, they must perish there ". While this trans- pired a Christian man had engraved the names of the seven men on a leaden tablet, and also their testimony in regard to their belief, and he had secretly laid the tablet in the entrance of the cave before the latter was closed. After many years, the congrega- tions having secured peace and the Christian Theodosius having gained the imperial dignity, the false doctrine of the Sadducees, who denied resurrection, was spread among the people. At this time it happens that a citizen of Ephesus is about to make an enclosure for his sheep on the mountain in question, and for this purpose he loosens the stones at the entrance of the cave, so that the cave was opened, but without his becoming aware of what was concealed within. But the Lord sent a breath of life into the seven men and they arose. Thinking they had slept only one night, they sent one of their number, a youth, to buy food. When he came to the city gate he was astonished, for he saw the glorious sign of the Cross, and he heard people aver by the name <>f Christ * For "brothers" the text, perhaps purposely, used the ambiguous word germani. This would, then, not be the only instance whore the word 18 used in both senses at the .same time. Cp. Quintil., 8, X, -'.>. 31 482 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. But when he produced his money, which was from the time of Decius, he was seized by the vendor, who insisted that he must have found secreted treasures from former times, and who, as the youth made a stout denial, brought him before the bishop and the judge. Pressed by them, he was forced to reveal his secret, and he conducted them to the cave where the men were. At the entrance the bishop then finds the leaden tablet, on which all that concerned their case was noted down, and when he had talked with the men a messenger was despatched to the Emperor Theo- dosius. He came and kneeled on the ground and worshipped them, and they said to the ruler : " Most august Augustus ! there has sprung up a false doctrine which tries to turn the Christian people from the promises of God, claiming that there is no resur- rection of the dead. In order that you may know that we are all to appear before the judgment-seat of Christ according to the words of the Apostle Paul, the Lord God has raised us from the dead and commanded us to make this statement to you. See to it that you are not deceived and excluded from the kingdom of God." When the Emperor Theodosius heard this he praised the Lord for not per- mitting His people to perish. But the men again lay down on the ground and fell asleep. The Emperor Theodosius wanted to make graves of gold for them, but in a vision he was prohibited from doing this. And until this very clay these men rest in the same place, wrapped in fine linen mantles. At the first glance there is nothing which betrays the Teutonic origin of this legend. It may seemingly have had an independent origin anywhere in the Christian world, and particularly in the vicinity of Ephesus. Meanwhile the historian of the Franks, Bishop Gregorius of Tours (born 538 or 539), is the first one who presented in writing the legend regarding the seven sleepers. In the form given above it appears through him for the first time within the borders of the christianised western Europe (see Gregorius' Miracidorum Liber, i., ch. 92). After him it reappears in Greek records, and thence it travels on and finally gets to Arabia and Abyssinia. His account is not written before the year 571 or 572. As the legend itself claims in its preserved form not to be older than the first years of the reign of Theodosius, it must have originated between the years 379-572. TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. The next time we learn anything about the seven sleepers in occidental literature is in the Longobardian historian Paulus Diaconus (born about 723). Whal he relates has greatly surprised investigators; for although he certainly was acquainted with the christian version in regard to the seven men who sleep for genera- tions in a cave, and although he entertained no doubl as to its truth, he nevertheless relates another — and that a Teutonic — seven sleepers' legend, the scene of which is the remotest part of Teuton- dom. He narrates (i. 4) : " As my pen is still occupied with Germany, I deem it proper, in connection with some other miracles, to mention one which there is on the lips of everybody. In the remotest western boundaries of Germany is to be seen near the sea-strand under a high rock a cave where seven men have been sleeping no one knows how long. They are in the deepest sleep and uninfluenced by time, not only as to their bodies but also as to their garments, so that they are held in great honour by the savage and ignorant people, since time for so many years has left no trace either on their bodies or on their clothes. To judge from their dress they must lie Romans. When a man from curiosity tried to undress one of them, it is said that his arm at once withered, and this punishment spread such a terror that nobody has since then dared to touch them. Doubtless it will some day be apparent why Divine Providence has so long preserved them. Perhaps by their preaching — for they are believed to be none other than Christians — this people shall once more be called to salvation. In the vicinity of this place dwell the race of the Skritobinians (' the Skridfinns ')." In chapter 6 Paulus makes the following additions, which will be found to be of importance to our theme : " Not far from thai strand which I mentioned as lying far to the west (in the most remote Germany), where the boundless ocean extends, is found the unf'athoniably deep eddy which we traditionally call the navel ..1 the sea. Twice a-day it swallows the waves, and twice it vomits them forth again. Often, we are assured, ships are drawn into this eddy so violently that they look like arrows Hying through the air, and frequently they perish in this abyss. But sometimes, when they are on the point of being swallowed up, they are driven hack with the same terrible swiftness." From what Paulus Diaconus here relates we learn that in the 484 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. eighth century the common belief prevailed among the heathen Teutons that in the neighbourhood of that ocean-maelstrom, caused by Hvergelmer ("the roaring kettle"), seven men slept from time immemorial under a rock. How far the heathen Teutons be- lieved that these men were Eomans and Christians, or whether this feature is to be attributed to a conjecture by Christian Teutons, and came through influence from the Christian version of the legend of the seven sleepers, is a question which it is not necessary to discuss at present. That they are some day to awake to preach Christianity to " the stubborn," still heathen Teutonic tribes is manifestly a supposition on the part of Paulus himself, and he does not present it as anything else. It has nothing to do with the saga in its heathen form. The first question now is : Has the heathen tradition in regard to the seven sleepers, which, according to the testimony of the Longobardian historian, was common among the heathen Teutons of the eighth century, since then disappeared without leaving any traces in our mythic records ? The answer is : Traces of it reappear in Saxo, in Adam of Bremen, in Norse and German popular belief, and in Voluspa. When compared with one another these traces are sufficient to determine the character and original place of the tradition in the epic of the Teutonic mythology. I have already given above (No. 46) the main features of Saxo's account of King Gorm's and Thorkil's journey to and in the lower world. With their companions they are permitted to visit the abodes of torture of the damned and the fields of bliss, together with the gold-clad world-fountains, and to see the treasures pre- served in their vicinity. In the same realm where these fountains are found there is, says Saxo, a tabcrnacuhim within which still more precious treasures are preserved. It is an uberioris thesauri secrctarium. The Danish adventurers also entered here. The treasury was also an armoury, and contained weapons suited to be borne by warriors of superhuman size. The owners and makers of these arms were also there, but they were perfectly quiet and as immovable as lifeless figures. Still they were not dead, but made the impression of being half -dead (scmineces). By the enticing- beauty and value of the treasures, and partly, too, by the dormant condition of the owners, the Danes were betrayed into an attempt TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 485 to secure some of these precious things. Even the usually cautious Thorkil set a bad example and put his hand on a garment (amictUo minium inaerens). We are not told by Saxo whether the garment covered anyone of those sleeping in the treasury, nor is it directly stated that the touching with the hand produced any disagreeable consequences for Thorkil. But further ou Saxo relates thai Thorkil became unrecognisable, because a withering or emaciation (marcor) had changed his body and the features of his face. With this account in Saxo we must compare what we read in Adam of Bremen about the Frisian adventurers who tried to plunder trea- sures belonging to giants who in the middle of the day lay con- cealed in subterranean caves (meridiano tempore latitantes antris stLbterraneis). This account must also have conceived the owners of the treasures as sleeping while the plundering took place, for not before they were on their wTay back were the Frisians pursued by the plundered party or by other lower-world beings. Still, all but one succeeded in getting back to their ships. Adam asserts that they were such beings quos nostri cyclopes appellant ("which among us are called cyclops"), that they, in other words, were gigantic smiths, who accordingly themselves had made tin.' untold amount of golden treasures which the Frisians there saw. These northern cyclops, he says, dwelt within solid walls, surrounded by a water, to which, according to Adam of Bremen, one first comes alter traversing the land of frost (provincia frigoris), and after passing that JSuripus, "in which the water of the ocean flows back to its mysterious fountain" {ad initio, quadam fontis mi arcani recurrens), "this deep subterranean abyss wherein theebbing streams of the sea, according to report, were swallowed up to return," and which "with most violent force drew the unfortunate seamen down into the lower world" (infelices navtos vehementissimo imp' in traxii ad Chaos). It is evident that what Paulus Diaconus, Adam of Bremen, and Saxo here relate must be referred to the same tradition. All three refer the scene of these strange things and events to the "most remote part of Germany" (cp. Nos. 45, 46, 48, 49). According to all three reports the boundless ocean washes the shores of thi> saga-land which has to be traversed in order to get to " the sleepers," to "the men half-dead and resembling lifeless im. to "those concealed in the middle of the day in subterranean 486 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. caves ". Paulus assures us that they are in a cave under a rock in the neighbourhood cf the famous maelstrom which sucks the billows of the sea into itself and spews them out again. Adam makes his Frisian adventurers come near being swallowed up by this maelstrom before they reach the caves of treasures where the cyclops in question dwell ; and Saxo locates their tabernacle, filled with weapons and treasures, to a region which we have already recognised (see Nos. 45-51) as belonging to Mimer's lower-world realm, and situated in the neighbourhood of the sacred subterranean fountains. In the northern part of Mimer's domain, consequently in the vicinity of the Hvergelmer fountain (see Nos. 59, 93), from and to which all waters find their way, and which is the source of the famous maelstrom (see Nos. 79, 80, 81), there stands, according to Voluspa, a golden hall in which Sindre's kinsmen have their home. Sindre is, as we know, like his brother Brok and others of his kins- men, an artist of antiquity, a cyclops, to use the language of Adam of Bremen. The Northern records and the Latin chronicles thus correspond in the statement that in the neighbourhood of the mael- strom or of its subterranean fountain, beneath a rock and in a golden hall, or in subterranean caves filled with gold, certain men who are subterranean artisans dwell. Paulus Diaconus makes a " curious " person who had penetrated into this abode disrobe one of the sleepers clad in " Eoman " clothes, and for this he is punished with a withered arm. Saxo makes Thorkil put his hand on a splendid garment which he sees there, and Thorkil returns from his journey with an emaciated body, and is so lean and lank as not to be recognised. There are reasons for assuming that the ancient artisan Sindre is identical with Dvalinn, the ancient artisan created by Mimer. I base this assumption on the following circumstances : Dvalinn is mentioned by the side of Ddinn both in Havamal (43) and in Grimnersmal (33) ; also in the sagas, where they make treasures in company. Both the names are clearly epithets which point to the mythic destiny of the ancient artists in question. Ddinn means " the dead one," and in analogy herewith we must interpret Dvalinn as " the dormant one," " the one slumbering " (cp. the Old Swedish dvale, sleep, unconscious condition). Their fates have made them the representatives of death and sleep, a sort of equiva- TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. lents of Thanatoa and Hypnos. Aa such they appeal in the alle- gorical strophes incorporated in Grimnersmal, which, describing how the world-tree suffers and grows old, make Ddinn and Dvalinn, " death " and "slumber," get their food from its branches, while Nidhog and other serpents wound its roots. In Hyndluljod (ti) the artists who made Prey's golden boar are called Ddinn and Nabbi In the Younger Edda (i. :54()-:>4i!) they are called Brokkr and Sindri Strange to say, on account of mythological circumstances not known to us, the skalds have been able to use Ddinn as a paraphrase for a rooting four-footed animal, and Brokkr too has a similar signification (cp. tin- Younger Edda, ii. 490, and Vigfusson, Diet,, under Brokkr). This points to an original identity of these epithets. Thus we arrive at the fol- lowing parallels : Jt'ii, in (-Brokkr) and Dvalinn made treasures together ; {Ddinn-) Brokkr and Sindri made Frey's golden boar ; Ddinn and Nabbi made Frey's golden boar; and the conclusion we draw herefrom is that in our mythology, in which there is such a plurality of names, Dvalinn, Sindri, and Nabbi are the same person, ami that Ddinn and Brokkr are identical. I may have an opportunity later to present further evidence of this identity. The primeval artist Sindre, who with his kinsmen inhabit- a golden hall in Mimer's realm under the Hvergelmer mountains, near the subterranean fountain of the maelstrom, has therefore borne the epithet Dvalinn, "tlie one wrapped in slumber". " The slumberer" thus rests with his kinsmen, where Paulas Diaconus has heard that seven men sleep from time out of mind, and where Adam of Bremen makes smithying giants, rich in treasures, keep themselves concealed in lower-world caves within walls sur- rounded by water. It has already been demonstrated that Bra linn is a son of Mimer (see No. 53). Sindre-Dvalin and his kinsmen are therefore Mimer's offspring (Minis synir). The golden citadel situated near the foun- tain of the maelstrom is therefore inhabited by the sons "f Mimer. It has also been shown that, according t» Solarljod, the of Mimer-Niffi come from this region (from the north in Mimer's domain), and that they are in all seven : 488 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. Nor&an sd ek viffa Nidja sonu oh vdru sjau saman ; that is to say, that they are the same number as the " economical months," or the changes of the year (see No. 87). In the same region Mimer's daughter Nat has her hall, where she .takes her rest after her journey across the heavens is accom- plished (see No. 93). The "chateau dormant" of Teutonic mytho- logy is therefore situated in Nat's udal territory, and Dvalin, " the slumberer," is Nat's brother. Perhaps her citadel is identical with the one in which Dvalin and his brothers sleep. According to Saxo, voices of women are heard in the tabernaculum belonging to the sleeping men, and glittering with weapons and treasures, when Thorkil and his men come to plunder the treasures there. Nat has her court and her attendant sisters in the Teutonic mythology, as in Eigveda (Ushas). Sinmara (see Nos. 97, 98) is one of the dises of the night. According to the middle-age sagas, these dises and C O DO' daughters of Mimer are said to be twelve in number (see Nos. 45, 4G). Mimer, as we know, was the ward of the middle root of the world-tree. His seven sons, representing the changes experienced by the world-tree and nature annually, have with him guarded and tended the holy tree and watered its root with aurgom ford from the subterranean horn, " Valfather's pledge ". When the god-clans became foes, and the Vans seized weapons against the Asas, Mimer was slain, and the world-tree, losing its wise guardian, became subject to the influence of time. It suffers in crown and root (Grimnersmal), and as it is ideally identical with creation itself, both the natural and the moral, so toward the close of the period of this world it will betray the same dilapidated condition as nature and the moral world then are to reveal. Logic demanded that when the world-tree lost its chief ward, the lord of the well of wisdom, it should also lose that care which under his direction was bestowed upon it by his seven sons. These, voluntarily or involuntarily, retired, and the story of the seven men who sleep in the citadel full of treasures informs us how they thenceforth spend their time until Eagnarok. The details of the myth telling how they entered into this condition TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. cannot now be found; but it may be in order to point out, as ji possible connection with this matter, that one of the older Vana« gods, Njord's father, and possibly the same as Mundilfore, bad the epithet Svafr, Svafrporinn (Fjolsvinnsmal). Soafr means sopiior, the sleeper, and Svafrporinn seems to refer to Bve/njfom, "sleep- thorn". According to the traditions, a person could be put to sleep by laying a " sleep-thorn" in his ear, and he then Blepl until it was taken out or fell out. Popular traditions scattered over Sweden, Denmark, and Ger- many have to this very day been preserved, on the lips of the common people, of the men sleeping among weapons ami treasures in underground chambers or in rocky halls. A Swedish tradition makes them equipped not only with weapons, but also with borsee which in their stalls abide the day when their masters are to awake and sally forth. Common to the most of these traditions, both the Xorthern and the German, is the feature that this is to happen when the greatest distress is at hand, or when the end of the world approaches and the day of judgment comes. With regard to the German sagas on this point I refer to Jacob Grimm's Mythology. I simply wish to point out here certain features which are of special importance to the subject under discussion, and which the popular memory in certain parts of Germany has preserved from the heathen myths. When the heroes who have slept through centuries sally forth, the trumpets of the last day sound, a greal battle with the powers of evil (Antichrist) is to be fought, mi immensely old tree, which has withered, is to grow "■ lit IrugdUl — Have you changed your litr? (Fornald., L 426). To translate this with Have you changed colour \ is absurd. The questioner sees the change of colour, ami does Dot Deed to ask tin- other one, who cannot see it. < )n account of its mythological signification and application, it is very natural that the word liir should in every-day life acquire on the one hand the meaning of complexion in general, and on the other hand the signification of ha/mr, guise, an earthly garb which persons skilled in magic could put on and oil". Skipta litum, ri /■/// litum, have in Christian times been used as synonymous with skipta homum, vixla homum. In physical death the coarser elements of an earthly person's nature are separated from the other constituent parts. The taber- nacle formed of earth and the vegetative material united therewith are eliminated like the animal element and remain on earth. But this does not imply that the deceased descend without form to Hades. The form in which they travel in "deep dales," traverse the thorn- fields, wade across the subterranean rivers, or ride over the gold- clad Gjallar-bridge, is not a new creation, but was worn by them in their earthly career. It can be none other than their litr, their wmbra et imago. It also shows distinctly what the dead man has been in his earthly life, and what care has been bestowed on his dust. The washing, combing, dressing, ornamenting, and supplying with Hel-shoes of the dead body has influence upon one's looks in Hades, on one's looks when he is to appear before his judge. Separated from the earthly element, from the vegetative material, and from the blood, the lit is almost imponderable, and does not possess the qualities for an intensive life, eithei in bliss or in torture. Five fylkes of dead men who rode over the Gjallar-bridge produced no greater din than Hermod alone riding on Sleipner; and the woman watching the bridge saw that Her- mod's exterior was not that of one separated from the earthly element, It was not litr daudra manna (Gylfagmning). But the litr of the dead is compensated for what it has lost. Those who in the judgment on dauSan hvem are pronounced worthy of bliss are permitted to drink from the horn decorated with the serpent- symbol of eternity, the liquids of the three world-fountains which give life to all the world, and thereby their liir gets a higher grade 500 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. of body and nobler blood (see Nos. 72, 73). Those sentenced to torture must also drink, but it is a drink eitri blandinn miolc, " much mixed with venom," and it is illu heilli, that is, a warning of evil. This drink also restores their bodies, but only to make them feel the burden of torture. The liquid of life which they imbibe in this drink is the same as that which was thought to flow in the veins of the demons of torture. When Hadding with his sword wounds the demon-hand which grasps after Hardgrep and tears her into pieces (see No. 41), there flows from the wound " more venom than blood " (plus tabi quam cruoris — Saxo, Hist., 40). When Loder had given Ask and Embla litr gocFa, an inner body formed in the image of the gods, a body which gives to their earthly tabernacle a human-divine type, they received from Honer the gift which is called 6&r. In signification this word corresponds most closely to the Latin mens, the Greek vovs (cp. Vigfusson's Lexicon), and means that material which forms the kernel of a human per- sonality, its ego, and whose manifestations are understanding, memory, fancy, and will. Vigfusson has called attention to the fact that the epithet langifdtr and aurkonungr, "Longleg" and "Mireking," applied to Honer, is applicable to the stork, and that this cannot be an acci- dent, as the very name Hcenir suggests a bird, and is related to the Greek kvkvos and the Sanscrit safamas (Corpus Poet. Bor., i. p. cii.).* It should be borne in mind in this connection that the stork even to * There is a story of the creation of man by three wandering gods, who become in mediaeval stories Jesns and SS. Peter and Paul walking among men, as in Chanipfleury's pretty apologue of the bonhomme mise're, so beautifully illustrated by Legros. In the ecldic legend one of these gods is called Ha-ne ; he is the speech-giver of Wolospa, and is described in praises taken from lost poems as "the long-legged one" [langifvtr], "the lord of the ooze" [aur- konungr]. Strange epithets, but easily explainable when one gets at the etymology of Hame = hohni = Sansc. sakunas = Gr. k6kvos = the white bird, swan, or stork, that stalks along in the mud, lord of the marsh ; and it is now easy to see that this bird is the Creator walking in chaos, brooding over the primitive mish-mash or tohu-bohu, and finally hatching the egg of the world. Hohni is also, one would fancy, to be identified with Heimdal, the walker, who is also a creator-god, who sleeps more lightly than a bird, who is also the "fair Anse," and the " xohitest of the Anses," the " waker of the gods," a celestial chan- ticleer as it were (Vigfusson, Corpus Poeticum Boreale, vol. i., Introduction, p. cii., quoted by the translator). TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 501 this day is regarded as a sacred and protected bird, and that among Scandinavians and Germans there still exists a nursery tale telling how the stork takes from some saga-pond the little fruits of mail and brings them to their mothers. The tale which now belongs to the nursery has its root in the myth, where Efoner gives our first parents that very gift which in a spiritual sense makes them human beings and contains the personal ego. It is both possible and probable that the conditions essential to the existence of every person were conceived as being analogous with the conditions at- tending the creation of the first human pair, and that the gifts which were then given by the gods to Ask and Embla were thought to be repeated in the case of each one of their descendants — that Boner consequently was believed to be continually active in the same man- ner as when the first human pair was created, giving to the mother- fruit the ey,o that is to be. The fruit itself out of which the child is developed was conceived as grown on the world-tree, which there- fore is called manna mjotuSr (Fjolsvinnsmal, 22). Every fruit of this kind (((/din) that matured (and fell from the branches of the world-tree into the mythic pond [?]) is fetched by the winged servants of the gods, and is born & eld into the maternal lap, after being mentally fructified by Honer. Ut af ham (Mimameio's) aldni skal d eld bera fyr kelisf&kar konur; utar hverfa paz ])(( /• innar skyli, sd er harm meff monnum mjotuffr. Above, in Xo. 83, it has been shown that Loffurr is identical with Mtmdilfori, the one producing fire by friction, and that Hcenir and LoSwrr are Odin's brothers, also called Vei and Ydi. With regard to the last name it should be remarked thai its meaning of "will" developed out of the meaning "desire," "longing," and that the word preserved this older meaning also in the s. ndary sense of cupido, libido, sexual desire. This epithet of Lofftirr corresponds both with the nature of the gifts lie bestows on the human child which is to be— that is, the blood and the human, originally divine, form — and also with his quality of tire-producer, 502 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. if, as is probable, the friction-fire had the same symbolic meaning in the Teutonic mythology as in the Rigveda. Like Honer, Loder causes the knitting together of the human generations. While the former fructifies the embryo developing on the world-tree with o&r, it receives from Loder the warmth of the blood and human organism. The expression Vilja byrdr, " Vili's burden," " that which Vili has produced," is from this point of view a well-chosen and at the same time an ambiguous paraphrase for a human body. The paraphrase occurs in Ynglingatal (Ynglingasaga, 17). When Visbur loses his life in the flames it is there said of him that the fire consumed his Vilja byrfti, his corporal life. To Loder's and Honer's gifts the highest Asa-god adds the best element in human nature, and, spirit, that by which a human being becomes participator in the divine also in an inner sense, and not only as to form. The divine must here, of course, be understood in the sense (far different from the ecclesiastical) in which it was used by our heathen ancestors, to whom the divine, as it can reveal itself in men, chiefly consisted in power of thought, courage, honesty, veracity, and mercy, but who knew no other humility than that of patiently bearing such misfortunes as cannot be averted by human ingenuity. These six elements, united into one in human nature, were of course constantly in reciprocal activity. The personal kernel 6&r is on the one hand influenced by ond, the spirit, and on the other hand by the animal, vegetative, and corporal elements, and the personality being endowed with will, it is responsible for the result of this reciprocal activity. If the spirit becomes superior to the other elements then it penetrates and sanctifies not only the per- sonal kernel, but also the animal, vegetative, and corporal elements. Then human nature becomes a being that may be called divine, and deserves divine honour. When such a person dies the lower elements which are abandoned and consigned to the grave have been permeated by, and have become participators in, the personality which they have served, and may thereafter in a wonderful manner diffuse happiness and blessings around them. When Halfdan the Black died different places competed for the keeping of his remains, and the dispute was settled by dividing the corpse between Hadaland, Kingerike, and Vestfold (Fagerskinna, Heimskringla). The vegeta- tive force in the remains of certain persons might also manifest TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 503 itself in a strange manner. Thorgrim'a grave-mound in Gtisle's saga was always green on one side, and Laugarbrekku-Einar's grave-monnd was entirely green both winter and summer (Landn ii. 7). The elements of the dead buried in the grave continued for more or less time their reciprocal activity, and formed a sort of unity which, if permeated by his 6, kveddridtor, tunri&ur, who " U/Uea d lopti," do their mischief in the air (cp. Havamal, 155). The hall in which Menglad lives, and that part of the wall-8UT- rounded domain which belongs to her, seems to be situated directlj in front of the gate, for Svipdag, standing before it, asks who is the ruler of the domain which he sees before him, and Fjlilsvin answers that it is Menglad who there holds sway, owns the land. and is mistress of the treasure-chambers. The poem tells us in the most unmistakable manner that Men- glad is an asynje, and that one of the very noblest ones. " What are the names," asks Svipdag, "of the young women who pleasantly together at Menglad's feet?" Fjolsvin answers by naming nine, among whom are the goddess of healing, Eir t Ti ■..->• Edda, i. 114), and the dises Hlif, "the protectress," Bjdrt, "the shining," Bliff, "the blithe," and Fr%6, "the fair". Their place at Menglad's feet indicates that they are subordinate to her and belong to her attendants. Nevertheless they arc, Fjolsvin assures us, higher beings, who have sanctuaries and altars (str. 40), and have both power and inclination quickly to help men who offer sacrifices to them. Nay, "no so severe evil can happen to the sons of men that these maids are not able to help them out of their distress". It follows with certainty that their mistress Menglad, " the one fond of ornaments," must be one of the highesl and most worshipped goddesses in the mythology. And to nunc of the asynjes is the epithet " fond of ornaments" (Menglad) more applicable than to the fair owner of the first among female orna- tments, Brisingamen — to Freyja, whose daughters Hnoss and ,•$> hvedr engi madr. But Urd's resolve alone cannot be a sufficient reason in the epic for Svipdag's adoption in Asgard, and for his gaining, though he is not of Asa-birth, the extraordinary honour and good luck of becoming the husband of the fairest of the asynjes and of one of the foremost of the goddesses. Urd must have arranged the chain of events in such a manner that Menglad desires to possess him, that Svipdag has deserved her love, and that the Asa-gods deem it best for themselves to secure this opponent of theirs by bonds of kinship. 98. Svipdag Brings to Asgard the Sword of Rbvkngb Fori by Volund. The most important question put to Fjolsvin by Svipdag i-, of course, the one whether a stranger ran enter. Fjolsvin's answer is 516 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. to the effect that this is, and remains, impossible, unless the stranger brings with him a certain sword. The wall repels an uninvited comer ; the gate holds him fast if he ventures to lay hands on it ; of the two wolf-dogs one is always watching while the other sleeps, and no one can pass them without permission. To this assurance on the part of Fjolsvin are added a series of questions and answers, which the author of the poem has planned with uncommon acumen. Svipdag asks if it is not, after all, possible to get past the watching dogs. There must be something in the world delicate enough to satisfy their appetite and thus turn away their attention. Fjolsvin admits that there are two delicacies that might produce this effect, but they are pieces of flesh that lie in the limbs of the cock Vidofner (str. 17, 18). He who can procure these can steal past the dogs. But the cock Vidofner sits high in the top of the world-tree and seems to be inaccessible. Is there, then, asks Svipdag, any weapon that can bring him down dead ? Yes, says Fjolsvin, there is such a weapon. It was made outside of Na-gate {nagrindr). The smith was one Loptr. He was robbed (rtiinn) of this weapon so dangerous to the gold-glittering cock, and now it is in the possession of Sinmara, who has laid it in a chest of tough iron beneath nine njarcf-locks (str. 25, 26). It must have been most difficult and dangerous to go to the place where Sinmara has her abode and try to secure the weapon so well kept. Svipdag asks if anyone who is willing to attempt it has any hope of returning. Fjolsvin answers that in Vidofner's ankle-bones (volum) lies a bright, hook-shaped bone. If one can secure this, bring it to Lu&r (the place of the lower-world mill), and give it to Sinmara, then she can be induced to part with the weapon in question (str. 27-30). It appears from this that the condition on which Svipdag can get into the castle where Menglad dwells is that he shall be in possession of a weapon which was smithied by an enemy of the gods, here called Loptr, and thus to be compared with Loke, who actually bears this epithet. If he does not possess this weapon, which doubt- less is fraught with danger to the gods, and is the only one that can kill the gold-glittering cock of the world-tree, then the gate of the citadel is not opened to him, and the watching wolf-dogs will not let him pass through it. But Fjolsvin also indicates that under ordinary circumstances, TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 517 and for one who is not particularly chosen for this purpose by Fate, it is utterly impossible to secure possession of the sword in ques- tion. Before Sinmara can be induced to lend it, it ie accessary to bring Vidofner dead down from the branches of the world-tree. But to kill the cock that very weapon la needed which Sinmara cannot otherwise be induced to part with. Meanwhile the continuation of the poem Bhowa that wlut was impossible for everybody else has already been accomplished by Svipdag. When he stands at the gate of the castle in conversation with Fjolsvin he has the sword by his Bide, and knows perfectly well that the gate is to be opened so soon as it pleases him to put an end to the talk with Fjolsvin and pronounce his own name. The very moment he does this the -ate swings on its hinges, the mighty wolf-dogs welcome (fagna) him, and Men-lad, Informed 1>\ Fjolsvin of his arrival, hastens eagerly to meet him (str. 42, &&), Fjolsvinnsmal, so far as acumen in plot and in execution is con- cerned, is the linest old poem that has been handed down to our time, but it would be reduced to the most absurd nonsense if the Bword were not in Svipdag's possession, as the gate is never to be opened to anyone else than to him who brings to Menglad's castle the sword in question. So far as the sword is concerned we have now learned : That it was made by an artist who must have been a foe of the gods, for Fjolsvin designates him by the Loke-epithet /.<!' the shining arm-ring" (cp. Bugge Edda, p. 348). In Volundarkvida the daughter of Mimer-iVt'dadV receives Volund's incomparable arm-ring to wear. According to Fjolsvinnsmal "the airy one " makes his weapon fyr ndgrindr ncdan. The meaning of this expression has already been discussed in No. 60. The smith has his abode in the frost- cold and foggy Nifelheim, while he is at work on the sword. Nifelheim, the land fyr ndgrindr neffan, as we already know, is the northern subterranean border-land of Mimer's domain. The two realms are separated by Mount Hvergelmer, on which the Na-gates are set, and where the world-mill, called EyltiSr ami Lu&r have their foundation-structure (see Nos. 59, 60, 79, 80). In its vicinity below the southern slope of the Hvergelmer mountain Nat has her hall (Nos. 84, 93). According to Fjols- vinnsmal Sinmara also dwells here. For Fjolsvin says thai if Svipdag is to borrow the sword which she keeps, he must carry the above-mentioned hooked bone ''to Ludr and give it to Sinmara" (ljuscm Ijd skaltit i Ludr bcra Sinmara "t sdja — str. 30). Luffr, the subterranean world-mill, which stand- oo the Nida mountain above Nat's hall, has given its name to the region where it stands. In Volundarkvida Mimer- Xicfadr suddenly appears with his wife and daughter and armed Xjarians in the remote cold Wolfdales, where Volund thinks himself secure, and no one knows whence these foes of his come. The explanation is that the "Wolfdales" of the heroic saga were in the mythology situated in Nifelheim, the border-land of Mimer's realm. Like "the any one," Volund made his sword fyr ndgrindr nedan; the latter, like the former, was robbed of the weapon as soon as it was finished by a lower-world ruler, whose kinswomen are dises of the night ; ami 520 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. in the saga of the one, as of the other, one of these night dises has caused a maiming by injuring the sinews. Thus we can also understand why Svipdag must traverse Nifelheim, " meet Nat on Nifelway," visit the world-mill, wade across Hel-rivers, and encounter Mimer himself, " the weapon- honoured ". If Svipdag wants the sword made by Loptr, he must risk these adventures, since the sword is kept in the lower world by a kinswoman of Mimer. The heroic saga about Volund is therefore identical with the myth concerning the maker of the sword which opens Asgard for Svipdag. The former, produced in Christian times, is only a new version of the latter. Volund is a foe of the gods, an elf-prince who was deeply insulted by beings more powerful than himself (No. 87). " The airy one " must likewise be a foe of the gods, since the weapon he has made is dangerous to the golden cock of the world-tree, and is bought by " the eleven wards " with the opening of Asgard's gate and the giving of Menglad as wife to Svipdag. Its danger to Asgard must also be suggested by Fjolsvin's statement, that the splendid hall, called Hfjrr, "the gladdener," "the soul-stirring," that hall which is situated within the castle wall, which is encircled by vaferflames, and which from time out of mind has been celebrated among men — that this hall has already long trembled d brodds oddi, "on the point of the sword" (str. 32). No other weapon can here be meant than one which was fraught with the greatest danger to the safety of the gods, and which filled them with anxiety; and unless we wish to deny that there is sense and connection in the poem, this sword can be no other than that which Svipdag now has with him, and which, having been brought to Asgard, relieves the gods of their anxiety. And to repeat the points of similarity, Volund, like " Loptr," makes his weapon in the northern border- land of Mimer's domain ; and when the sword is finished he is surprised by subterranean powers. In Loptr's saga, as in Volund's, a magnificent arm-ring is mentioned, and in both a dis of night received this ring to wear. In Loptr's saga, as in Volund's, a night-dis is mentioned who injures sinews. And Volund him- self calls himself Byrr, "the wind," which is a synonym of Loptr. Thus Svipdag has made a journey to the lower world to get possession of the sword of Volund, and he has been successful. TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 521 99. Svipdag's Father Orvandel, the Star-hero. Explanation of his Epithet Solbjartr. The conversation between Fjolsvin and Svipdag ends when the latter gives his name, and requests the former to ask Menglad ii slie wishes to possess his love. Menglad then hastens to I t him, but before she shows what she feels for him, he must eon- firm with his own name and that of his father's that he really is the one he pretends to be — the one she has Long been longing for. The young hero then says : Svipdagr ek Jteiiir, Sdlbjartr h<:> in i nit fadir (str. 47). When Fjolsvin asked Svipdag what the name of his Father was, he answered: Springeold, Vdrkcddr (str. G) ; and 1 have already stated the reason why he was so called. Now he gives another name of his father — Sdlbfartr — which also is a mere epithet, but still, as Svipdag must here speak plainly, it has to lie such a name as can refer to his father in a distinct and definite manner. Svipdag's mother, Groa, was married to OrvandiU hi mi frcekni (Younger Edda, 276-278). The epithet Sdlbfartr, " he who has a brightness like that of the sun," if it really refers to Orvandel, must be justified and explained by something that the mythology had to report of him. Of Orvandel, we know from the Younger Edda that he and Groa had at least for a time been good friends of Thor ; that on one of his expeditions in Jotunheim, north of the Elivagar rivers, the latter had met Orvandel and had carried him in his provi- sion-basket across the water to his home; that < )rvandel there froze his toe; that Thor broke this off, and, in honour of Orvandel, threw it up into the heavens, where it became that star which is called Orvandd'8 toe. Of ancient Teutonic star-names but very few have been handed down to our time, and it is natural that those now extant must be those of constellations or separate stars, which attracted attention on account of their appearance, or particularly on account of the strength of their light. <>ih' "!' them W8S "Orvandel's toe". By the name Orvandel {Earendd) a atar was also known among the Teutons in Greal Britain. After being converted to Christianity they regarded the Earendel star as a symbol of Christ. The Church had already Banctified 522 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. such a view by applying to Christ the second epistle of Peter i. 19 : " We have also a more sure word of prophecy ; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day-star arise in your hearts ". The morning star became, as we read in a Latin hymn, "typus Christi". But it would be a too hasty conclusion to assume that Orvan- del's star and the morning star were identical in heathen times. All that we can assert with certainty is that the former must have been one of the brightest, for the very name Earendel gradually became in the Old English an abstract word meaning " splendour ". Codex Exoniensis has preserved a hymn to Christ, the intro- ductory stanzas of which appear to be borrowed from the memory of a heathen hymn to Orvandel, and to have been adapted to Christ with a slight change : Eala Earendel 0 Orvandel, engla beorhtast, brightest shining of angels, ofer Middangeard thou who over Midgard monnum sended art sent to men, and sodfasta thou true sunnan leoma, beam of the sun tohrt ofcr tunglas shining above pit tida gehvanc the lights of heaven, of sylfum J?e thou who always symle inlihtes. of thyself givest light. .From this Old English song it appears as if the Orvandel epi- thet Solbjartr was in vogue among the Saxon tribes in England. We there find an apparent interpretation of the epithet in the phrases adapted to Earendel, " brightest {beorhtast) of angels " and " true beam of the sun ". That Svipdag's name was well known in England, and that a Saxon royal dynasty counted him among their mythical forefathers, can be demonstrated by the genealogy of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. That Svipdag with sufficient distinctness might characterise his father as Solbjartr is accordingly explained by the fact that Orvandel is a star-hero, and that the star bearing his name was one of the " brightest " in the heavens, and in bril- liancy was like " a beam from the sun". TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 523 100. (Svipdag Rescued Fbeyja from the Sands of the Giants. Saxo ox Otiiarus and Strttha. Svipdaq [dentical WITH Otiiarus. When Menglad requests Svipdag to name his race and his name, she does so because she wants jartegn (legal evidence ; coin- bare the expression me& vitnum ok jartegnum) that he is the one Is whose wife she had been designated by the norns (ef ek var }» r kci't a of hoedin — str. 40), and that her eyes had not deceived her. She also wishes to know something about his past life that may confirm that he is Svipdag. When Svipdag had given as a jartegn his own name and an epithet of his father, he makes only a brief statement in regard to his past life, but to Menglad it is an entirely sufficient proof of his identity with her intended husband. He says that the winds drove him on cold paths from his Father's house to frosty regions of the world (str. 47). The word used by him, "drove" (reka), implies that he did not spontaneously leave his home, a fact which we also learn in Grogalder. On the com- mand of his stepmother, and contrary to his own will, he departs to find Menglads, "the women fond of ornaments". His answer further shows that after he had left his father's house he had made journeys in frost-cold regions of the world. Such regions are Ibtunheim and Xifelheim, which was in fact regarded as a subter- ranean part of Jotunheim (see Nos. 59, 63). .Menglad has eagerly longed for the day when Svipdag sin add come. Her mood, when Svipdag sees her within the castle wall sitting on " the joyous mount" surrounded by asynjes and dis< described in the poem by the veil) fcruma, "to lie sunk into ;i lethargic, dreamy condition ". When Fjolsvin approaches her and bids her "look at a stranger who may be Svipdag" (str. 43), she awakes in great agony, and for a moment she can scarcely control hei - self. When she is persuaded that she has not been deceived either by Fjolsvin's words or by her own eyes, she at once seals the arrival of the youth with a kiss. The words which the poem makes her lips utter testify, like her conduct, that it is not the first time she and Svipdag have met, but that it is a " meeting again," and that she long ere this knew that she possessed Svipdag's love. She 524 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. speaks not only of her own longing for him, but also of his longing and love for her (str. 48-50), and is happy that " he has come again to her halls" (at fiu est aptr homin, mogr, til mimut sala — str. 49). This " again " (back), which indicates a previous meeting between Menglad and Svipdag, is found in all the manuscripts of Fjolsvinns- mal, and that it has not been added by any "betterer" trying to mend the metres of the text is demonstrated by the fact that the metre would be improved by the absence of the word aptr. Meanwhile it appears with certainty from Fjolsvinnsmal that Svipdag never before had seen the castle within whose walls Men- glad has riki, cign oh attcfsdhtm (str. 7, 8). He stands before its gate as a wondering stranger, and puts question after question to Fjolsvin in regard to the remarkable sights before his eyes. It follows that Menglad did not have her halls within this citadel, but dwelt somewhere else, at the time when she on a previous occa- sion met Svipdag and became assured that he loved her. In this other place she must have resided when Svipdag's step- mother commanded him to find Mengloffum, that is to say, Menglad, but also some one else to whom the epithet " ornament-glad " might apply. This is confirmed by the fact that this other person to whom Grogalder's words refer is not at all mentioned in Fjolsvinns- mal. It is manifest that many things had happened, and that Svipdag had encountered many adventures, between the episode described in Grogalder, when he had just been commanded by his stepmother to find " those loving ornaments," and the episode in Fjolsvinnsmal, when he seeks Menglad again in Asgard itself. Where can he have met her before ? Was there any time when Freyja did not dwell in Asgard ? Voluspa answers this question, as we know, in the affirmative. The event threatening to the gods and to the existence of the world once happened that the goddess of fertility and love came into the power of the giants. Then all the high-holy powers assembled to consider " who had mixed the air with corruption and given Od's maid to the race of giants ". But none of our Icelandic mythic records mentions how and by whom Freyja was liberated from the hands of the powers of frost. Under the name Svipdag our hero is mentioned only in Grogalder and Fjolsvinnsmal; all we learn of him under the name Off/' and Ottarr is that he was Freyja's lover and husband (Voluspa, Hyndluljod) ; that he went far, far away ; that Freyja TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 525 then wept for him, that her tears became gold, thai Bhe sought him among unknown peoples, and that she in her Search assumed many names: Mardoll, Horn, Gefn, Syr (Younger Edda, 114). To get further contributions to the Svipdag myth we must turn to Saxo, where the name Svipdag should be found as Svip- dagerus, Ottar as Otharus or Hotharus, and 6&r as Otherus or Hotherus.* There cannot be the least doubt that Saxo's I Itharua is a Bgure borrowed from the mythology and from the heroic sagas therewith connected, since in the first eight books of his History not a Bingle person can be shown who is not originally found in the mytho- logy. But the mythic records that have come down to our time know only one Ottarr, and he is the one who wins Freyja's heart This alone makes it the duty of the mythologist to follow this hint here given and see whether that which Saxo relates about his Otharus confirms his identity with Svipdag-Ottar. The Danish king Syvaldus had, says Saxo, an uncommonly beautiful daughter, Syritha, who fell into the hands of a giant. The way this happened was as follows: A woman who had a secret understanding with the giant succeeded in nestling herself in Syritha's confidence, in being adopted as her maidservant, and in enticing her to a place where the giant lay in ambush. The latter hastened away with Syritha and concealed her in a wild mountain district. When Otharus learned this he started out in search of the young maiden. He visited every recess in the mountains, found the maiden and slew the giant. Syritha was in a strange condition when Otharus liberated her. The giant had twisted and pressed her locks together so that they formed on her head one hard mass which hardly could be combed out excepl with the aid of an iron tool. Her eyes stared in an apathetic manner, and she never raised them to look at her liberator. It was Otharus' determination to bring a pure virgin back to her kinsmen. But the coldness and indifference she seemed to mani- fest toward him was more than he could endure, and so he aban- doned her on the way. While she now wandered alone through * In Saxo, as in other sources of 'about the same time, aspirated nami not usually occur wi tli aspiration. I have already referred to the examples Handuuanus, Andvani, Helias, Elias, Hit.-Iutuus, K-l.j..in. H.-vindus, Kvvindr, Horvendillus, Orvandill, Hestia, Estland, Holandia, Oland. 526 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. the wilderness she came to the abode of a giantess. The latter made the maiden tend her goats. Still, Otharus must have regretted that he abandoned Syritha, for he went in search of her and libe- rated her a second time. The mythic poem from which Saxo borrowed his story must have contained a song, reproduced by him in Latin paraphrases, and in which Otharus explained to Syritha his love, and requested her, "whom he had suffered so much in seeking and finding," to give him a look from her eyes as a token that under his protection she was willing to be brought back to her father and mother. But her eyes continually stared on the ground, and apparently she remained as cold and indifferent as before. Otharus then abandoned her for the second time. From the thread of the story it appears that they were then not far from that border which separates Jotunheim from the other realms of the world. Otharus crossed that water, which in the old records is probably called the Elivagar rivers, on the opposite side of which was his father's home. Of Syritha Saxo, on the other hand, says cau- tiously and obscurely that " she in a manner that sometimes hap- pened in antiquity hastened far away down the rocks" — more pristino decursis late scopulis (Hist., 333) — an expression which leads us to suppose that in the mythic account she had flown away in the guise of a bird. Meanwhile fate brought her to the home of Otharus' parents. Here she represented herself to be a poor tra- veller, born of parents who had nothing. But her refined manners contradicted her statement, and the mother of Otharus received her as a noble guest. Otharus himself had already come home. She thought she could remain unknown to him by never raising the veil with which she covered her face. But Otharus well knew who she was. To find out whether she really had so little feeling for him as her manners seemed to indicate, a pretended wedding between Otharus and a young maiden was arranged, whose name and position Saxo does not mention. When Otharus went to the bridal bed, Syritha was probably near him as bridesmaid, and carried the candle. The light or the flame burnt down, so that the fire came in contact with her hand, but she felt no pain, for there was in her heart a still more burning pain. When Otharus then requested her to take care of her hand, she finally raised her gaze from the ground, and their eyes met. Therewith the spell resting on Syritha was broken : it was plain that they loved each other TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. and the pretended wedding was changed into a real one befr Syritha and Otharus. When her father Learned this he became exceedingly wroth ; but alter his daughter had made a full explana- tion to him, his anger was transformed into kindness and gracious- ness, and he himself thereupon married a Bister of < Itharus. In regard to the person who enticed Syritha into the Bnare laid by the giant, Saxo is not quite certain that it was a woman. < tthers think, he says, that it was a man in the guise <>t' ;t woman. It has long since attracted the attention of mycologists that in this narrative there are found two names, Otharus and Syritha, which seem to refer to the myth concerning Freyja. < Itharua is no doubt a Latinised form of Ottar, and, as is well known, the only one who hail this name in the mythology is, as stated, Freyja's lover and husband. Syritha, on the other hand, may he a Latinised form of Freyja's epithet Syr, in which Saxo presumably supposed he had found an abbreviated form of Syri (Siri, Sigrid). In Saxo's narrative Syritha is abducted by a giant (,'jigas), with the aid of an ally whom he had procured among Freyja's attendants. In the mythology Freyja is abducted by a giant, and, as it appears from Yoluspa's words, likewise by the aid of some ally who was in Freyja's service, for it is there said that the gods hold council as to who it could have been who "gave," delivered Freyja to the race of the giants (hverr hr/cfi ait jot tins Offs mey gefna). In Saxo Otharus is of lower descent than Syritha. Saxo has not made him a son of a king, but a youth of humble birth as compared with his bride: and his courage to look up to Syritha, Saxo remarks, only be explained by the great deeds he had performed or by his reliance on his agreeable manners and his eloquence (sine gedarv/m rerum magnitudine sive comitatis et facundia fiduda accensus). In the mythology O&r was of lower birth than Freyja: he did not by birth belong to the number of higher gods ; and Svipdag had, as we know, never seen Asgard before he arrived there under the circum- Btances described in Fjolsvinnsmal. That the most beautiful of all the goddesses, and the one second in rank to Frigg alone, she who is particularly desired by all powers, the sister of the harvest god Frey, the daughter of Njord, the god of wealth, she who with < »diu Bhares the privilege of choosing heroes on the battlefield — that she does not become the wife of an Asa-god, but "is married to the man called Offr," would long since have been selected by the mytholo- 528 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. gists as a question both interesting and worthy of investigation had they cared to devote any attention to epic coherence and to premisses and denouement in the mythology in connection with the speculations on the signification of the myths as symbols of nature or on their ethical meaning. The view would then cer- tainly have been reached that this 0&r in the epic of the mythology must have been the author of exploits which balanced his humbler descent, and the mythologists would thus have been driven to direct the investigation first of all to the question whether Freyja, who we know was for some time in the power of the giants, but was rescued therefrom, did not find as her liberator this very Offr, who afterwards became her husband, and whether O&r did not by this very act gain her love and become entitled to obtain her hand. The adventure which Saxo relates actually dovetails itself into and fills a gap in that chain of events which are the result of the analysis of Grogalder and Fjolsvinnsmal. We understand that the young Svipdag is alarmed, and considers the task imposed on him by the stepmother to find Menglad far too great for his strength, if it is necessary to seek Menglad in Jotunheim and rescue her thence. "We understand why on his arrival at Asgard he is so kindly re- ceived, after he has gone through the formality of giving his name, when we know that he comes not only as the feared possessor of the Volund sword, but also as the one who has restored to Asgard the most lovely and most beautiful asynje. We can then under- stand why the gate, which holds fast every uninvited guest, opens as of itself for him, and why the savage wolf-dogs lick him. That his words : fcaffan (from his paternal home) rdkumk vinda kalda vegu, are to Menglad a sufficient answer to her question in regard to his previous journeys can be understood if Svipdag has, as Ottar, searched through the frost-cold Jotunheim's eastern mountain dis- tricts to find Menglad; and we can then see that Menglad in Fjolsvinnsmal can speak of her meeting with Svipdag at the gate of Asgard as a " meeting again," although Svipdag never before had been in Asgard. And that Menglad receives him as a husband to whom she is already married, with whom she is now to be " united for ever" (Fjolsvinnsmal, 58), is likewise explained;by the improvised wedding which Otharus celebrated writh Syritha before she returns to her father. The identity of Otharus with the Ottarr-Odv-Svipdagr of the TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. mythology further appears from the fact that Saxo gives him ELS father an Ebbo, which a comparative investigation proves to be identical with Svipdag's father Orvandel. Of the name Ebbo and the person to whom it belongs I shall have something to Bay in Nos. 108 and 109. Here it must be remarked that if Otharus Lb identical with Svipdag, then his father Ebbo, like Svipdag's father, should appear in the history of the mythic patriarch Halt'dan and be the enemy of the latter (see Nos. 24, 33). Such is also the case. Saxo produces Ebbo on the scene as an enemy <>f Halfdan Berggram (Hist., 329, 330). A woman, Groa, is the cause of the enmity between Halfdan and Orvandel. A woman, Sygrutha, is the cause of the enmity between Halfdan and Kbbo. In the one passage Halfdan robs Orvandel of his betrothed Groa; in the other passage Halfdan robs Ebbo of his bride Sygrutha. In a third passage in his History (p. 138) Saxo has recorded the tradition that Horvendillus (Orvandel) is slain by a rival, who takes his wife, there called Gerutha. Halfdan kills Ebbo. Thus it is plain that the same story is told about Svipdag's father Orvandel and about Ebbo the father of Otharus, and that Groa, Sygrutha, and Gerutha are different versions of the same dis of vegetation. According to Saxo, Syritha's father was afterwards married to a sister of Otharus. In the mythology Freyja's father Njord marries Skade, who is the foster-sister and xystrwnga (sister's child) of Ottar-Svipdag (see Nos. 108, 113, 114, 115). Freyja's surname Horn (also Horn) may possibly be explained by what Saxo relates about the giant's manner of treating her hair, which he pressed into one snarled, stiff, and hard mass. With the myth concerning Freyja's locks, we must compare that about Sif's hair. The hair of both these goddesses is subject to the violence of the hands of giants, and it may be presumed that both myths symbolised some feature of nature. Loke's act of violence on Sif's hair is made good by the skill and good-will of the ancient artists Sindre and Brok (Younger Edda, i. 340). In regard to Freyj locks, the skill of a "dwarf" may have been resorted to, Bince Saxo relates that an iron instrument was necessary to separate and comb out the horn-hard braids. In Volnepa's list of ancient artists there is a smith by name Hornbori, which possibly has some reference to this. Eeasons have already been given in No. 35 for the theory that 34 530 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. it was Gulveig-Heid who betrayed Freyja and delivered her into the hands of the giants. When Saxo says that this treachery was committed by a woman, but also suggests the possibility that it was a man in the guise of a woman, then this too is explained by the mythology, in which Gulveig-Heid, like her fellow culprit, has an androgynous nature. Loke becomes " the possessor of the evil woman " (hvi&ugr af konu illri). In Fjolsvinnsmal we meet again with Gulveig-Heid, born again and called AurboSa, as one of Freyja's attendants, into whose graces she is nestled for a second time. 101. Svipdag in Saxo's Account of Hotherus. From the parallel name Otharus, we must turn to the other parallel name Hotherus. It has already been shown that if the Svipdag synonym O&r occurs in Saxo, it must have been Latinised into Otherus or Hotherus. The latter form is actually found, but under circumstances making an elaborate investigation necessary, for in what Saxo narrates concerning this Hotherus, he has to the best of his ability united sketches and episodes of two different mythic persons, and it is therefore necessary to separate these different elements borrowed from different sources. One of these mythic persons is Ho&r the Asa-god, and the other is Ocfr-Svipdag. The investigation will therefore at the same time contain a con- tribution to the researches concerning the original records of the myth of Balder. Saxo's account of Hotherus {Hist., 110, &c), is as follows : " Hotherus, son of Hothbrodus (Hodbrodd), was fostered in the home of Nanna's father, King Gevarus (Gevarr ; see Nos. 90-92), and he grew up to be a stately youth, distinguished as a man of accomplishments among the contemporaries of his age. He could swim, was an excellent archer and boxer, and his skill on various musical instruments was so great that he had the human passions under his control, and could produce at pleasure, gladness, sorrow, sympathy, or hate. Nanna, the daughter of Gevarus, fell in love with the highly gifted youth and he with her. Meanwhile, fate brought it to come to pass that Balder, the son of the idol Odin, also fell in love with Nanna. He had once seen TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. .".:', 1 her bathing, and had been dazzled by the splendour of her limbs. In order to remove the most dangerous obstacle between himself and her, he resolved to slay Hotherus. As Hotherus on a foggy day was hunting in the woods hi lost and came to a house, where there sat three wood-nymphs. They greeted him byname, and in answer to his question they Bald they were the maids who determine the events of the battle, and give defeat or success in war. Invisible they come to the battlefield, and secretly give help to those whom they wish to favour. From them Hotherus learned thai Balder was in Love with Nanna, but they advised him not to resort to weapons againsl him, for be was a demigod born of supernatural seed. When they had said this, they and the house in which 1 1< .tlo-i u- had found them disappeared, and to his joy he found himself standing on a field under the open sky. When he arrived home, he mentioned to Gevarus what he had seen and heard, and at once demanded the hand of his daughter. Gevarus answered that it would have been a pleasure to him to see Hotherus and Nanna united, but Balder bad already made a similar request, and he did not dare to draw the wrath of the latter down upon himself, since not even iron could barm the conjured body of the demigod. But Gevarus said he knew of a sword with which Balder could be slain, but it lies locked up behind the strongest bars, and the place where it is found is scarcely accessible to mortals. The way thither — if we may use the expression where no road lias been made — is filled with obstacles, and leads for the greater part through exceedingly cold regions. But behind a span of swift stags one ought to be able to get safe across the icy mountain ridges. He wdio keeps the sword is the forest-being Mimingus, who also has a wonderful wealth-producing arm-ring. It Eotherus gets there, he should place his tent in such a manner that its shadow does not fall into the cave where Mimingus dwells, for at the sight of this strange eclipse the latter would withdraw farthei into the mountain. Observing these rules of caution, the BWOrd and arm-ring might possibly be secured. The sword is of -tub a kind that victory never fails to attend it, and its value is quite inestimable. Hotherus, who carefully followed the advice of Gevarus, 532 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. ceeded in securing the sword and the ring, which Mimingus, sur- prised and bound by Hotherus, delivered as a ransom for his life. When Gelder, the king of Saxony, learned that the treasure of Mimingus had been robbed, he resolved to make war against Hotherus. The foreknowing Gevarus saw this in advance, and advised Hotherus to receive the rain of javelins from the enemy patiently in the battle, and not to throw his own javelins before the enemy's supply of weapons was exhausted. Gelder was con- quered, and had to pray for peace. Hotherus received him in the most friendly manner, and now he conquered him with his kind- ness as he had before done with his cunning as a warrior. Hotherus also had a friend in Helgo, the king of Halogaland. The chieftain of the Finns and of the Bjarmians, Cuso (Guse), was the father of Thora, whose hand Helgo sought through messengers. But Helgo had so ugly a blemish on his mouth that he was ashamed to converse, not only with strangers, but also with his own household and friends. Cuso had already refused his offer of marriage, but as he now addressed himself to Hotherus asking for assistance, the latter was able to secure a hearing from the Finnish chieftain, so that Helgo secured the wife he so greatly desired. While this happened in Halogaland, Balder had invaded the territory of Gevarus with an armed force, to demand Nanna's hand. Gevarus referred him to his daughter, who was herself permitted to determine her fate. Nanna answered that she was of too humble birth to be the wife of a husband of divine descent. Gevarus informed Hotherus of what had happened, and the latter took counsel with Helgo as to what was now to be done. After having considered various things, they finally resolved on making war. And it was a war in which one should think men fought with gods. For Odin, Thor, and the hosts sanctified by the gods fought on Balder's side. Thor had a heavy club, with which he smashed shields and coats-of-mail, and slew all before him. Hotherus would have seen his retreating army defeated had he not himself succeeded in checking Thor's progress. Clad in an impenetrable coat-of-mail, he went against Thor, and with a blow of his sword he severed the handle from Thor's club and made it unfit for use. Then the gods fled. Thereupon the warriors of Hotherus rushed TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 533 upon P.alder's fleet and destroyed and sank it. In the same war Gelder fell. On a funeral pile kindled on ( folder's ship bis body was burnt on a heap of fallen warriors, and Hotherus buried with great solemnity his ashes in a large and magnificent grave-mound Then Hotherus returned to Gevarus, celebrated his wedding with Nanna, and made great presents to Helgo and Thora. But Balder had no peace. Another war was declared, and tins time Balder was the victor. The defeated Eotherua took refuge with Gevarus. In this war a water-famine occurred in Balder's army, but the latter dug deep wells and opened oew fountains for his thirsty men. Meanwhile Balder was afflicted in his dreams by ghosts which had assumed Nanna'a form. His Love and Loneina so consumed him that he at last was unable to walk, but had bo ride in a chariot on his journeys. Hotherus had fled to Sweden, where he retained the royal authority ; but Balder took possession of Seeland, and soon acquired the devotion of the Danes, for he was regarded as having martial merits, and was a man of great dignity. Hotherus again declared war against Balder, but was defeated in Jutland, and was obliged to return to Sweden alone and abandoned. Despondent on account of his defeats, weary of life and the light of day, he went into the wilderness and traversed most desolate forests, where the fall of mortal feet is seldom heard. Then he came to a cave in which Bat three strange women. From such women he had once received the impenetrable coat-of-mail, and he recognised them as those wry persons. They asked him why he had come to these regions, and he told them how unsuccessful he had been in his last battle. He reproached them, saying that they had deceived him, for they had promised him victory, but he had had a totally different Fate. The women responded that he nevertheless had done hia enemies j harm, and assured him that victory would yel perch on hia ban- ners if he should succeed in finding the wonderful nouriahment which was invented for the increasing of Balder's strength. This was sufficient to encourage him to make another war, although there were those among his friends who dissuaded him therefrom. From different sides men were gathered, and a bloody battle was fought, which was not decided at the fall of night. The oneasi ess of Hotherus hindered him from sleeping, and he went out in the darkness of the night to reconnoitre the condition and position of 534 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. the enemy. When he had reached the camp of the enemy he per- ceived that three dises, who were wont to prepare Balder's mys- terious food, had just left. He followed their footprints in the bedewed grass and reached their abode. Asked by them who he was, he said he was a player on the cithern. One of them then handed him a cithern, and he played for them magnificently. They had three serpents, with whose venom Balder's food was mixed. They were now engaged in preparing this food. One of them had the goodness to offer Hotherus some of the food ; but the eldest said : " It would be treason to Balder to increase the strength of his foe". The stranger said that he was one of the men of Hotherus, and not Hotherus himself. He was then permitted to taste the food.* The women also presented him with a beautiful girdle of victory. On his way home Hotherus met his foe and thrust a weapon into his side, so that he fell half-dead to the ground. This pro- duced joy in the camp of Hotherus, but sorrow in the Danish camp. Balder, who knew that he was going to die, but was unwilling to abide death in his tent, renewed the battle the following day, and had himself carried on a stretcher into the thickest of the fight. The following night Proserpina (the goddess of death) came to him and announced to him that he should be her guest the next day. He died from his wound at the time predicted, and was buried in a mound with royal splendour. Hotherus took the sceptre in Den- mark after Balder. Meanwhile it had happened that King Gevarus had been at- tacked and burned in his house by a jarl under him, by name Gunno. Hotherus avenged the death of Gevarus, and burnt Gunno alive on a funeral pyre as a punishment for his crime. Panda and Odin had a son by name Bous. The latter, to avenge the death of his brother Balder, attacked Hotherus, who fell in the conflict. But Bous himself was severely wounded and died the following day from his wounds. Hotherus was followed on the Danish throne by his son Eoricus. In the examination of this narrative in Saxo there is no hope of arriving at absolutely positive results unless the student lays aside all current presuppositions and, in fact, all notions concerning the * According to Gheysmer's synopsis, Saxo himself says nothing of the kind. The present reading of the passage in Saxo is distinctly mutilated. TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 535 origin and age of the Balder-myth, concerning a special Danish myth in opposition to a special Norse-Icelandic, &c. If the latter conjecture based on Saxo is correct, thou this la to appear result of the investigation; but the conjecture 18 not to be used as a presupposition. That which first strikes the reader is thai the story U homogeneous. It is composed of elements that could not bo blended into one harmonious whole. It Buffers from intrinsic contradictions. The origin of these contradictions must In all be explained. The most persistent contradiction concerns the sword of victory of which Hotherus secured possession.* We are assured that it is of immense value (ingens prcemium), and is attended with the success of victory (belli fortuna comitaretur), and Botherus is, in fact, able with the help of this sword to accomplish a greal exploit : put Thor and other gods to flight. But then Hotherus is conquered again and again by Balder, and finally also defeated by Bous and slain, in spite of the fact that Gevarus had assured him that this sword should always be victorious. To be sure, Hotherus succeeds after several defeats in giving Balder his death-wound, but this is not done in a battle, and can hardly be counted as a victory ; and Hotherus is not able to commit this secret murder by aid of this sword alone, but is obliged to own a belt of victory and to eat a wonderful food, which t Hoder's father, should make him a son of Oder's, has actually been done, whence there can be no doubt that Hoder and Oder were united into one in Saxo's Hotherus. With this point perfectly established, it is possible to analyse Saxo's narrative point by point, resolve it into its constituent parts, and refer them to the one of the two myths concerning Hoder and Oder to which they belong.* It has already been noted that Saxo was unable to unite organically with Ins narration of Hoder's adventure the episode concerning the sword of victory taken from Mimingus, The introduction of this episode has made the story of Hotherus a chain of contradictions. On the other hand, the same episode naturally adapts itself to the Svipdag-4 >dei story, which we already know. We have seen that Svipdag de- * This analysis will be given in the sen. ml part of this work in the trea- tise on the Balder-myth. 538 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. scends to the lower "world and there gets into possession of the Volund sword. Hence it is Svipdag-Oder, not Hoder, who is instructed by the moon-god Gevar as to where the sword is to be found. It is he who crosses the frost-mountains, penetrates into the specus guarded by Mimingus, and there captures the Arolund sword and the Volund ring. It is Svipdag, not Hoder, who, thanks to this sword, is able as fiursar fijdffar sjoli to conquer the other- wise indomitable Halfdan — nay, even more, compel Halfdan's co-father and protector, the Asa-god Thor, to yield. Thus Saxo's accounts about Otharus and Hotherus fill two important gaps in the records preserved to our time in the Ice- landic sources concerning the Svipdag-myth. To this is also to be added what Saxo tells us about Svipdag under this very name (see Nos. 24, 33) : that he carries on an implacable war with Halfdan after the latter had first secured and then rejected Groa ; that after various fortunes of war he conquers him and gives him a mortal wound; that he takes Halfdan's and Groa's son Gudhorm into his good graces and gives him a kingdom, but that he pursues and wars against Halfdan's and Alveig-Signe's son Hadding, and finally falls by his hand. Hotherus-Svipdag's perilous journey across the frosty moun- tains, mentioned by Saxo, is predicted by Groa in her seventh incantation of protection over her son : Jjann gel ck per in sjaunda, ef pik scekja kemr frost & fjalli hci hdvetrar Jeuldi megit pinu holdi far a, ok haldisk ce lik at liftum. 102. Svipdag's Synonym Eirekr. Ericus Disertus in Saxo. We have not yet exhausted Saxo's contributions to the myth concerning Svipdag. In two other passages in his Historia Danica Svipdag reappears, namely, in the accounts of the reigns of Frode III. and of Halfdan Beiggram, in both under the name Ericus TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. (Mrekr), a name applied to Svipdag in the mythology also No. 108). The first reference showing that Svipdag and Erik are identical appears in the following analogies: Halfdan (Gram), who kills a Swedish king, is attacked in war by Svipdag. Halfdau (Berggram), who kills a Swedish king, i> attacked in war by Erik. Svipdag is the son of the slain Swedish king's daughter. Erik is the son of the slain Swedish king's daughter. Saxo's account of King Frode is for the greater part the myth about Frey told as history. We might theo expect to find that Svipdag, who becomes Frey's brother-in-law, should appear in some rule in Frode's history. The question, then, is whether any brother-in-law of Frode plays a part therein. This is actually the case. Frode's brother-in-law is a young hero who is his general and factotum, and is called Ericus, with the surname Disertus, the eloquent. The Ericus who appears as Halfdan's enemy accordingly resembles Svipdag, Halfdan's enemy, in the fact that he is a son of the daughter of the Swedish king slain by Halfdan. The Ericus who is Frode-Frey's general, again, resembles Svipdag in the fo I that he marries Frode-Frey's sister. This ig another indication that Erik and Svipdag were identical in Saxo's mythic sources. Let us now pursue these indications and see whether they are confirmed by the stories which Saxo tells of Halfdan's enemy Erik and Frode-Frey's brother-in-law, Erik the eloquent Saxo first brings us to the paternal home of Erik the eloquent. In the beginning of the narrative Erik's mother is already 'had and his father is married a second time | ///''/■ inn sitta cf Jji'i, d 8J6 kemr mcira en main viti : l>t in ok logr gangi per i Mj&r soman ok Ijdi fcer cc fri^drf&grar farar. When Erik and Boiler, defying the storms, had crossed thi and conquered the magic power which hindered the approach t<> the country, they entered a harbour, near which Frode and Gun- vara are to be sought. On the strand they meet people wh<> belong to the attendants of the brother and sister. Among them are three brothers, all named Grep, and of whom one is Gnnvara's pressing and persistent suitor. This Grep, who is a poet and orator of the sort to be found in that land, at once enters into a discussion with Erik. At the end of the discussion Grep retires defeated and angry. Then Erik and Holler proceed up to the abode where they are to find those whom they seek. Frode and Gunvara are met amid attendants who treat them as princely per- sons, and look upon themselves as their court-circle. But the i household is of a very strange kind, and receives visitors with great hooting, barking of dogs, and insulting manners. Frode occupies the high-seat in the hall, where a great fire is burning as a protec- tion against the bitter cold. It is manifest from Saxo's description that Frode and Gunvara, possibly by virtue of the sorcery of the giants, are in a spiritual condition in which they have almost forgotten the past, but without being happy in their present circum- stances. Frode feels unhappy and degraded. Gunvara loathes hei suitor Grep. The days here spent by Erik and Holler, before they get an opportunity to take flight with Gunvara, form B of drinking-bouts, vulgar songs, assaults, fights, and murders. The jealous Grep tries to assassinate Erik, but in this attempt he is slain by Roller's sword. Frode cannot be persuaded to accompany Erik, Roller, and Gunvara on this ilight. He feels that hi- life i- stained with a spot that cannot be removed, and he is onwilli] appear with it among other men. In the mythology it is left to Njord himself to liberate his son. In another passage (//7s/ ., 266, 0-42 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 267) Saxo says that King Fridlevus (Njord) liberated a princely youth who had been robbed by a giant. In the mythology this youth can hardly be anyone else than the young Frey, the son of the liberator. Erik afterwards marries Gunvara. Among the poetical paraphrases from heathen times are found some which refer to Frey's and Freyja's captivity among the giants. In a song of the skald Kormak the mead of poetry is called gast- rin fontanna Syrar Gfreppa, "the seething flood of the sea ranks (of the skerry) of Syr (of Freyja) of the Greps ". This paraphrase evidently owes its existence to an association of ideas based on the same myth as Saxo has told in his way. Sljr, as we know, is one of Freyja's surnames, and as to its meaning, one which she must have acquired during her sojourn in Jotunheim, for it is scarcely applicable to her outside of Jotunheim. Greppr, the poet there, as we have already seen, is Freyja's suitor. He has had brothers also called Greppr, whence the plural expression Syrs Greppa (" Syr's Greps "), wherein Freyja's surname is joined with more than one Grep, receives its mythological explanation. The giant abode where Frode and Gunvara sojourn, is according to Saxo, situated not far from the harbour where Erik and Roller entered {portum a quo Frotho non longe deversabatur — Hist., 198). The expression " the Greps of Syr's skerries " thus agrees with Saxo. A northern land uninhabited by man is by Eyvind Skaldaspiller called utrost Belja dolgs, "the most remotely situated abode of Bele's enemy (Frey) ". This paraphrase is also explained by the myth concerning Frey's and Freyja's visit in Jotunheim. Belt is a giant-name, and means " the howler ". Erik and Boiler, ac- cording to Saxo, are received with a horrible howl by the giants who attend Frey. " They produced horrible sounds like those of howling animals " (ululantium more horrisonas dcdere voces). To the myth about how Frey fell into the power of the giants I shall come later (see Nos. 109, 111, 112). Erik is in Saxo called disertus, the eloquent. The Svipdag epi- thet Offr originally had a meaning very near to this. The imper- sonal odr means partly the reflecting element in man, partly song and poetry, the ability of expressing one's self skilfully and of joining the words in an agreeable and persuasive manner (cp. the Gothic iveit-wodan, to convince). Erik demonstrates the propriety of his name. Saxo makes him speak in proverbs and sentences, TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 543 certainly for the reason that his Northern source has put them on the lips of the young hero. The same quality characterises Svipdag. In Grogalder his mother sings over him : " Eloquence and social talents be abundantly bestowed upon you"j and the description of him in Fjolsvinnsmal places before our eyesa nimble and vivacious youth who well understands the watchman's veiled words, and OH whose lips the speech develops into proverbs which fasten themselves on the mind. Compare augna go/mans, &c. (str. 5), and the often quoted Ur(J. Ottarr (Otharus), and Eirekr (Ericus). It is remarkable, but, as we shall find later, easy to explain, that this saga-hero, whom the mythology made Freyja's husband, and whose career was adorned with Bueh Btrange adventures, was not before the ninth century, and that in Sweden, accorded tin- same rank as the Asa-gods, and this in spite of the fact that he was adopted in Asgard, and despite the fact that his half-brother Ull was clothed with the same dignity as that of the A There is no trace to show that he who is Freyja's husband and Frey's brother-in-law was generally honoured with a divine title, with a temple, and with sacrifices. He remained to the devotees of the mythology what he was— a brilliani hero, but nothing more; and while the saga on the remote antiquity of the Teutons made him a ruler of North Teutonic tribes, whose leader he is in the war against Halfdan and Hadding (see Nos. 33, 38), he was honoured as one of the oldest kings of the Scandinavian peoples, but was not worshipped as a god. As an ancient king he baa received his place in the middle-age chronicles and genealogies of rulers now under the name Svipdag, now under the name Erik. But, at the same time, his position in the epic was such that, if the Teutonic Olympus was ever to be increased with B divinity of Asa-rank, no one would have a greater right than he to be clothed with this dignity. From this point of view light is shed on a passage in eh. 26 of Vita Ansgarii. It is there related, that before Ansgarius arrived in Birka, where his impend- ing arrival was not unknown, there came thither a man (doubtless a heathen priest or skald) who insisted that he had a mission from the gods to the king and the people. According to the man's statement, the gods had held a meeting, at which he himself had been present, and in which they unanimously had resolved to adopt in their council that King Erik who in antiquity had ruled over the Swedes, so that he henceforth should be one of the gods [Ericwm, quondam regem vestrum, nos unanimes in collegiam nostrum ascisimus, ut sit units dc numero deorum)] this was done because they had perceived that the Swedes were about to increase the number of their present gods by adopting a stranger (Christ) whose doctrine could not be reconciled with theirs, and who accordingly did not deserve to be worshipped [f the Swedes 548 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. wished to add another god to the old ones, under whose pro- tection the country had so long enjoyed happiness, peace, and plenty, they ought to accord to Erik, and not to the strange god, that honour which belongs to the divinities of the land. What the man who came to Birka with this mission reported was made public, and created much stir and agitation. When Ansgarius landed, a temple had already been built to Erik, in which sup- plications and sacrifices were offered to him. This event took place at a time foreboding a crisis for the ancient Odinic religion. Its last bulwarks on the Teutonic continent had recently been levelled with the ground by Charlemagne's victory over the Saxons. The report of the cruelties practised by the advocates of the doctrine, which invaded the country from the south and the west, for the purpose of breaking the faith of the Saxon Odin worshippers towards their religion, had certainly found its way to Scandinavia, and doubtless had its influence in encouraging that mighty effort made by the northern peoples in the ninth century to visit and conquer on their own territory their Teutonic kinsmen who hud been converted to Christianity. It is of no slight mythological interest to learn that zealous men among the Swedes hoped to be able to inspire the old doctrine with new life by adopting among the gods Freyja's husband, the most brilliant of the ancient mythic heroes and the one most celebrated by the skalds. I do not deem it impossible that this very attempt made Erik's name hated among some of the Christians, and was the reason why " Old Erik " became a name of the devil. Vita Ansgarii says that it was the devil's own work that Erik was adopted among the gods. The Svipdag synonym Erik reappears in the Christian saga about Erik Vidforle (the far-travelled), who succeeded in finding and entering Odainsakr (see No. 44). This is a reminiscence of Svipdag's visit in Mimer's realm. The surname Vidforli has become connected with two names of Svipdag : we have Eirikr hinn vidforli and O&r (Oddr) hinn vidforli in the later Icelandic sagas. 104. The Later Fortunes of the Volund Sword. I have now given a review of the manner in which I have TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. found the fragments of the myth concerning Svipdag ap to the point where he obtains Freyja as his wife. The fragments dove- tail into each other and form a consecutive whole. Now, a few words in regard to the part afterwards played by the Volund sword, secured by Svipdag iii the lower world, in the mythology, and in the saga. The sword, as we have seen, is the prize for which Asgard opens its gate and receives Svipdag afi Freyja'a husband We subsequently find it in Frey's possession. Once more the sword becomes the price of a bride, and passes into the hands of the giant Gymer and his wife. It has already been demonstrated that Gymer's wife is the same Angerboda who, in historical times and until Ragnarok, dwells in the Ironwood (see No. 35). Ber shepherd, who in the woods watches her monster links, also keeps the sword until the fire-giant Fjalar shall appear in his abode in the guise of the red cock and bring it to his own father Suit, in whose hand it shall cause Frey's death, and contribute to the destruction of the world of gods. A historian, Priscus, who was Attila's contemporary, relates that the Hun king got possession of a divine sword that a shepherd had dug out of the ground and presented to him as a gift. Tin- king of the Huns, it is added, rejoiced in the find; for, as the possessor of the sword that had belonged to the god "Mars," he considered himself as armed with authority to undertake and carry on successfully any war he pleased (see Jordanes, who quotes Priscus). On the Teutonic peoples the report of this pretended event must have made a mighty impression. It may 1"' that the story was invented for this purpose; for their myths told of a -word of victory which was owned by that god who, since the death of Balder, and since Tyr became one-handed, was, together with Thor, looked upon as the bravest of the warlike gods, which sword had been carried away from Asgard to the unknown wilderni of the East, where it had been buried, not to be produced again before the approach of Ragnarok, when it was to be exhumed and delivered by a shepherd to a foe of mankind. Already, before this time, the Teutons had connected the appearance of the Buns with this myth. According to Jordanes, they believed that evil troll- women, whom the Gothic king Filimer had banished from his people, had taken refuge in the wildernesses of tl ind there 550 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. given birth to children with forest giants (" satyres "), which children became the progenitors of the Huns. This is to say, in other words, that they believed the Huns were descended from Angerboda's progeny in the Ironwood, which, in the fulness of time, were to break into Midgard with the monster Hate as their leader. The sword which the god Frey had possessed, and which was concealed in the Ironwood, becomes in Jordanes a sword which the god " Mars " had owned, and which, thereafter, had been con- cealed in the earth. Out of Angerboda's shepherd, who again brings the sword into daylight and gives it to the world-hostile Fjalar, becomes a shepherd who exhumes the sword and gives it to Attila, the foe of the Teutonic race. The memory of the sword survived the victory of Christianity, and was handed down through the centuries in many variations. That Surt at the end of the world was to possess the sword of course fell away, and instead now one and then another was selected as the hero who was to find and take it ; that it was watched by a woman and by a man (in the mythology Angerbocla and Eggther) ; and that the woman was an even more disgusting being than the man, were features that the saga retained both on the Continent and in England. The Beowulf poem makes a monster, by name Grendel (" the destroyer"), dwell with his mother below a marsh in a forest, which, though referred to Denmark and to the vicinity of the splendid castle of a Danish king, is described in a manner which makes it highly probable that the prototype used by the Christian poet was a heathen skald's description of the Ironwood. There is, says he, the mysterious land in which the wolf conceals himself, full of narrow valleys, precipices, and abysses, full of dark and deep forests, marshes shrouded in gloom, lakes shaded with trees, nesses lashed by the sea, mountain torrents and bogs, which in the night shine as of fire, and shelter demoniac beings and dragons in their turbid waves. The hunted game prefers being torn into pieces by dogs to seeking its refuge on this unholy ground, from which raging storms chase black clouds until the heavens are darkened and the rain pours down in torrents. The English poet may honestly have located the mythological Ironwood in Denmark. The same old border-land, which to this very day is called " Danische wold," was still in the thirteenth century called by the li i TONIC MYTHOLOGY. ""1 Danes Jarnwith, the Ironwood. From hisabode in this wilderness Grendel makes nightly excursions to the Danish royal castle, breaks in there, kills Bleeping champions with his iron hands, sacks out their blood, and carries their corpses to the enchanted marsh in order to eat them there. The hero, Beowulf, who has heard of this, proceeds to Denmark, penetrates into the awful forest, dive-, armed with Denmark's best sword, down into the magic marsh to Grendel's and his mother's hall, and kills them after a eonflicl in which the above-mentioned sword was found useless. But down there he finds another which Grendel and his mother kept con- cealed, gets possession of it, and conquers with its aid. Of this remarkable sword it is said that it was "rich in victory," that it hailed from the past, that "it was a good and excellent work of a smith," and that the golden hilt was the work of the "wonder-smith". On the blade was listed (engraved) "that ancient war" when "the billows of the raging sea washed over the race of giants," and on a plate made of the purest gold was written in runes "the name of him for whom this weapon was first made". The Christian poet found it most convenient for his purpose not to name this name for his readers or hearers. But all that is here stated is applicable to the mythological sword of victory. " The Wonder-smith" in the Old English tale is Volund (Weland). The coat of mail borne by Beowulf is " Welandes geweorc ". " Deor the Scald's Complaint" sings of Weland, and King Alfred in his translation of Boethius speaks of " the wise Weland, the goldsmith, who, in ancient times, was the most celebrated". That the Weland sword was "the work of a giant" corresponds with the Volund myth (see below) ; and as we here learn that the blade was engraved with pictures representing the destructions of the ancient giant-artists in the waves of the sea (the blood of the primeval giant Ymer), then this illustrates a passage in Skirnersmal, where it is likewise stated that the sword was listed with images and "that it fights of itself against the giant race " (Skirnersmal, 8, 23, 25; see No. 60). This expression is purposely ambiguous. One meaning is emphasised by Frey's words in Skirnersmal, that it fights of itself " if it is a wise man who owns it " (efa& w hor kefir). The other meaning of the expression appears from the Beowulf poem. The sword itself fights against the giant race in the sense that the "wonder smith " (Weland), by the aid of pictures 552 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. on the blade of the sword itself, represented that battle which Odin and his brothers fought against the primeval giants, when the former drowned the latter in the blood of their progenitor, the giant Ymer. Grendel is the son of the troll-woman living in the marsh, just as Hate is Angerboda's. The author identifies Grendel with Cain banished from the sight of his Creator, and makes giants, thurses, and " elves " the progeny of the banished one. Grendel's mother is a " she-wolf of the deep " and a mermaid (merewif). Angerboda is the mother of the wolf progeny in the Ironwood and " drives the ships into yEgir's jaws ". What " Beowulf " tells about Grendel reminds us in some of the details so strongly of Voluspa's words concerning Hate that the question may be raised whether the English author did not have in mind a strophe resembling the one in Voluspa which treats of him. Voluspa's Hate fyllisk fjorvi fcigra manna, " satiates himself with the vital force of men selected for death". Beowulf's Grendel sucks the blood of his chosen victims until life ebbs out of them. Voluspa's Hate rySr ragna ■y'ot raucfum drcyra, " colours the princely abode with red blood from the wounds ". Grendel steals into the royal castle and stains it with blood. The expression here reappears almost literally. Voluspa's ragna sjot and dreyri correspond perfectly to "Beowulf's" driht-scle and dreor In Vilkinasaga we read that Nagelring, the best sword in the world, was concealed in a forest, and was there watched by a woman and a man. The man had the strength of twelve men, but the woman was still stronger. King Thidrek and his friend Hildebrand succeeded after a terrible combat in slaying the monster. The woman had to be slain thrice in order that she should not come to life again. This feature is also borrowed from the myth about Angerboda, the thrice slain. Historia Pontificum (from the middle of the twelfth century) informs us that Duke Wilhelm of Angouleme (second half of the tenth century) possessed an extraordinary sword made by Volund. But this was not the real sword of victory. From Jordanes' his- tory it was known in the middle age that this sword had fallen into Attila's hands, and the question was naturally asked what after- wards became of it. Sagas answered the question. The sword remained with the descendants of the Huns, the Hungarians. The TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. mother of the Hungarian king Solomon gave it to one Otto of Bavaria. He lent it to the margrave of Lausitz, Dedi the younger. After the murder of Dedi it came into the hands of Emperor Henry IV., who gave it to his favourite, Leopold of Merseburg. By a fall from his horse Leopold was wounded by the point of the sword, and died from the wound. Even in later times the sword was believed to exist, and there were those who believed that the Duke of Alba bore it at his side. 105. The Svipdag Epithet Skibner. The Volund Sword's Name Gambantein. After Svipdag's marriage with Freyja the Baga of his life may be divided into two parts — the time before his visit in Asgard as Freyja's happy husband and Frey's best friend, and the time of his absence from Asgard and his change and destruction. To the former of these divisions belongs his journey, celebrated in song, to the abode of the giant Gymer, whither he proceeds to ask, on Frey's behalf, for the hand of Gerd, (lymer's and Aurboda's fair daughter. It has already been pointed out that after his mar- riage with Gunvara-Freyja, Erik-Svipdag appears in Saxo as Frotho- Frey's right hand, ready to help and a trusted man in all things. Among other things the task is also imposed on him to ask, on behalf of Protho, for the hand of a young maiden whose father in the mythology doubtless was a giant He is described as a deceit- ful, treacherous being, hostile to the gods, as a person who had laid a plan with his daughter as a bait to deceive Frotho and win Gun- vara for himself. The plan is frustrated by Svipdag (Ericuf (Rollerus), and Thor (Bracus), the last of whom here appears in lii> usual role as the conqueror of giants. At the very poinl when Frotho's intended father-in-law thinks he has won the game Thor rushes into his halls, and the schemer is compelled t<» save himself by flight (Hist., 221, &c). In the excellent poem Skirnersmal, the Icelandic mythic fragments have preserved tin- memory "i Frey's courtship to a giant-maid, daughter of Aurboda's terrible husband, the giant-chief Gymer. Here, as in Saxo, the Van does not himself go to do the courting, but send- ;i messenger, who 554 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. in the poem is named by the epithet Skirner. All that is there told about this Skirner finds its explanation in Svipdag's saga. The very epithet Skirnir, "the shining one," is justified by the fact that Solbjart-Orvandel, the star-hero, is his father. Skirner dwells in Asgard, but is not one of the ruling gods. The one of the gods with whom he is most intimately united is Frey. Thus his position in Asgard is the same as Svipdag's. Skirner's influ- ence with Freyja's brother is so great that when neither Njord nor Shade ca.i induce the son to reveal the cause of the sorrow which afflicts him, they hope that Skirner may be able to do so. Who, if not Svipdag, who tried to rescue Frey from the power of the giants, and who is his brother-in-law, and in Saxo his all in all, would be the one to possess such influence over him ? Skirner also appeals to the fact that Frey and he have in days past had adventures together of such a kind that they ought to have faith in each other, and that Frey ought not to have any secret which he may not safely confide to so faithful a friend (str. 5). Skirner is wise and poetic, and has proverbs on his lips like Svipdag-Erik (cp. str. 13 in Skirners- mal with str. 47 in Fjolsvinnsmal). But the conclusive proof of their identity is the fact that Skirner, like Svipdag, had made a journey to the lower world, had been in Mimer's realm at the root of Ygdrasil, and there had fetched a sword called Gambantein, which is the same sword as the one Frey lays in his hand when he is to go on his errand of courtship — the same sword as Frey afterwards parts with as the price paid to Gymer and Aurboda for the bride. When Gerd refuses to accept the courtship-presents that Skirner brings with him, he draws his sword, shows its blade to Gerd, threatens to send her with its edge to Nifelhel, the region below the Na-gates, the Hades-dwelling of Hrimner, Hrimgrimner, and of other giants of antiquity, the abode of the furies of physical sick- nesses (see No. 60), and tells her how this terrible weapon originally came into his possession : Til holtz ec gecc oc til hrds vi&ar gambantein at geta, gambantein ec gat. " I went to Holt And to the juicy tree TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. ( rambantein to get, ( rambantein 1 got" The word teinn.a branch, a twig, has the meaning of.sword in all the compounds where it occurs: benteinn, bifteinn, eggteinar, h U in a (7iomateinn),hjdrtein%, hrceU inn, a&rti inn, valteinn. Misti lit inn has also become the name of a sword (Younger Edda, i. 564; Fornald., i. 416, 515; ii. :'>71 ; cp. No. 1<»1 , and the Bame weapon as is here called gambanteinn is called hccvateinn, homateinn further No. 116) in FjolsvinnsmaL In the mythology there is only one single place which is railed Holt. It is Mimis holt, Hoddmimis holt, the subterrane d grove, where the children who are to be the parents of the future race of man have their secure abode until the regeneration of the world (see Nos. 52, 53), living on the morning-dew which falls from the world-tree, hrdr vidr, "the tree rich in sap" (see No. Mimer-Nidhad also comes from Holt when he imprisons Volund (Volund., 14). It has already been proved above that, on bis journey in the lower world, Svipdag also came to Mimis hoU, and saw the citadel within which the dsmegir have their asylum. Saxo has known either the above-cited strophe or another resembling it, and, when his Krik-Svipdag speaks of his journey in ambiguous words (ubscv.ro umbage), Saxo makes him say: Ad torv/nca sylvarum robora penetravi . . . ibi cuspis a robori excussaest (Hist., 206). With the expression ad robora sylvarum penetravi we must compare til holtz ecgecc The words robwr refer to the tree of the lower world king. Mimer, Mimameitir, the world-tree. Erik-Svipdag's purpose with his journey to this ti to secure a weapon. Saxo calls this weapon cuspis. Fjdlsvinnsmal calls it, with a paraphrase, broddr. Cuspis is a translation of broddr. Thus there can be no doubt concerning the identity of Skirnei with Svipdag. 106. SviPliAG'S LATER FOBTUNES. His TRANSFORMATION ANI> DEATH. FEEYJA GOES IN SEABOfl OF KIM. FbRYJA'8 EPITHET M\l;- doll. The Sea-kidney, Bbisingamen. Svipdao's Epithet Hermo*5r When the war between the Asas and the Vans had broken 00b TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. out, Svipdag, as we have learned, espouses the cause of the Vans (see Xos. 33, 38), to whom he naturally belongs as the husband of the Vana-dis Freyja and Frey's most intimate friend. The happy issue of the war for the Vans gives Svipdag free hands in regard to Halfdan's hated son Hadding, the son of the woman for whose sake Svipdag's mother Groa was rejected. Meanwhile Svipdag offers Hadding reconciliation, peace, and a throne among the Teutons (see No. 38). When Hadding refuses to accept gifts of mercy from the slayer of his father, Svipdag persecutes him with irreconcilable hate. This hatred finally produces a turning-point in Svipdag's fortunes and darkens the career of the brilliant hero. After the Asas and Vans had become reconciled again, one of their first thoughts must have been to put an end to the feud between the Teutonic tribes, since a continuation of the latter was not in harmony with the peace restored among the gods (see No. 41). Nevertheless the war was continued in Midgard (see No. 41), and the cause is Svipdag. He has become a rebel against both Asas and Vans, and herein we must look for the reason why, as we read in the Younger Edda, he disappeared from Asgard (Younger Edda, 114). But he disappears not only from the world of the gods, but finally also from the terrestrial seat of war, and that god or those gods who were to blame for this conceal his unhappy and humiliating fate from Freyja. It is at this time that the faithful and devoted Vana-dis goes forth to seek her lover in all worlds meff uhannum Jjjddum. Saxo gives us two accounts of Svipdag's death — the one clearly converted into history, the other corresponding faithfully with the mythology. The former reports that Hadding conquered and slew Svipdag in a naval battle {Hist., 42). The latter gives us the following account (Hist., 48) : While Hadding lived in exile in a northern wilderness, after his great defeat in conflict with the Swedes, it happened, on a sunny, warm day, that he went to the sea to bathe. While he was washing himself in the cold water he saw an animal of a most peculiar kind (bcllua inaucliti generis), and came into combat with it. Hadding slew it with quick blows and dragged it on shore. But while he rejoiced over this deed a woman put herself in his way and sang a song, in which she let him know that the deed he had now perpetrated should bring fearful consequences until he sue- TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 557 ceded in reconciling the divine wrath which this murder had called down upon his head. All the forces of nature, wind and wave, heaven and earth, were t<> !><• his enemies mil'-— he Could propitiate the angry gods, for the being whose lit'' he had taken was a celestial being concealed in the guise of an animal, one "I' the super-terrestrial : Quippe ii it n 111 i- swperia alieno corpore tectum & Mega necuere manus: sic numinis almi Ltd rfector ades. It appears, however, from the continuation of the narrative, that Eadding was unwilling to repent what he had done, although he was told that the one he had slain was a supernatural being, and that he long refused to propitiate those gods whose sorrow and wrath he had awakened by the murder. Not until tin- predictions of the woman were confirmed by terrible visitations does Eadding make ii]i his mind to reconcile the powers in question. And this he does by instituting the sacrificial feast, which is called 1 offering, and thenceforth was celebrated in honour of Frej deo rem divinam furvis hostiis fecit). Hadding's refusal to repent what he had done, and the defii he showed the divine powers, whom he had insulted by the murdei he had committed, can only be explained by the fact thai these ] towers were the Vana-gods who long gave succour to his enemies (see No. 39), and that the supernatural being itself, which, con- cealed in the guise of an animal, was slain by him, was some one whose defeat gave him pleasure, and whose death he considered himself bound and entitled to cause. This explanation is fully corroborated by the fact that when he learns that Odin and the Asas, whose favourite he was, no longer hold their protecting hand- over him, and that the propitiation advised by the prophetess becomes a necessity to him, he institutes the great annual offering to Frey, Svipdag's brother-in-law. That this god especially must be propitiated can, again, have no other reason than the fact that Frey was a nearer kinsman than any of tin- Asa-gods to the super- natural being, from whose slayer he (Frey) demanded a ransom. And as Saxo has already informed us that Svipdag perished in a naval engagement with Hadding, all point- to the conclusion thai 558 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. in the celestial person who was concealed in the guise of an animal and was slain in the water we must discover Svipdag Freyja's husband. Saxo does not tell us what animal guise it was. It must certainly have been a purely fabulous kind, since Saxo designates it as bcllua inauditi generis. An Anglo-Saxon record, which is to be cited below, designates it as uyrm and draca. That Svipdag, sentenced to wear this guise, kept himself in the water near the shore of a sea, follows from the fact that Haddiog meets and kills him in the sea where he goes to bathe. Freyja, who sought her lost lover everywhere, also went in search for him to the realms of JEgir and Bdn. There are reasons for assuming that she found him again, and, in spite of his transformation and the repulsive exterior he thereby got, she remained with him and sought to soothe his misery with her faithful love. One of Freyja's surnames shows that she at one time dwelt in the bosom of the sea. The name is Mardoll. Another proof of this is the fragment preserved to our time of the myth concerning the conflict between Heimdal and Loke in regard to Brisingamen. This neck- and breast-orna- ment, celebrated iu song both among the Teutonic tribes of England and those of Scandinavia, one of the most splendid works of the ancient artists, belonged to Freyja (Thrymskvida, Younger Edda). She wore it when she was seeking Svipdag and found him beneath the waves of the sea ; and the splendour which her Brisingamen diffused from the deep over the surface of the sea is the epic interpretation of the name Mardoll from onarr, " sea," and doll, feminine of dcdlr (old English deall, " glittering " (compare the names Heimdallr and Delling). Mardoll thus means "the one diffusing a glimmering in the sea". The fact that Brisingamen, together with its possessor, actually was for a time in JEger's realm is proved by its epithet fagrt hafnyra, " the fair kidney of the sea," which occurs in a strophe of Ulf Uggeson (Younger Edda, 268). There was also a skerry, Vagasker, Singasteinn, on which Brisin- gamen lay and glittered, when Loke, clad in the guise of a seal, tried to steal it. But before he accomplished his purpose, there crept upon the skerry another seal, in whose looks — persons in disguise were not able to change their eyes — the evil and cunning descendant of Farbaute must quickly have recognised his old opponent Heimdal. A conflict arose in regard to the possession TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. of the ornament, and the brave son of the nine mothers became the victor and preserved the treasure for Asgard. To the Svipdag synonyms OSr (Hotharus), dttar (Otharus), Eirekr (Ericus), and Skirnir, we must finally add one more, which is, perhaps, of Anglo-Saxon origin : // rmo6 , //■ n nod. From the Norse mythic records we learn the following in regard to Hermod : He dwelt in Asgard, but did not belong to the number of the ruling gods. He is called Odin's sveinn (Younger Edda, 17; and he was the Asa-father's favourite, and received from him helmet and cuirass (Hyndluljod, 2). (b) He is called cnn hvati (Younger Edda, 1 74 , the rapid. When Frigg asks if anyone desires to earn her favour and gratitude by riding to the realm of death and offering Hel a ransom for Balder, Herniod offers to take upon himself this task. II. ■ gets Odin's horse Sleipner to ride, proceeds on his way to Hul, comes safely to that citadel in the lower world, where Balder and Xanna abidi regeneration of the earth, spurs Sleipner over the castle wall, and returns to Asgard with Hel's answer, and with the ring Draupner, and with presents from Xanna to Frigg and Fulla (Younger Edda, 180). From this it appears that Hermod has a position in Asgard resembling Skirner's ; that he, like Skirner, is employed by the gods as a messenger when important or venturesome errands are to be undertaken ; and that he, like Skirner, then gets that Bteed to ride, which is able to leap over vaferflaines and castle - walls. We should also bear in mind that Skirner-Svipdag had made celebrated journeys in the same world to which Hermod is now sent to find Balder. As we know, Svipdag had before his arrival in Asgard travelled all over the lower world, and had there fetched the Bword of victory. After his adoption in Asgard, he is sent by tl the lower world to get the chain Gleipner. (r) In historical times Hermod dwells in Valhal, and i- one ol the chief einherjes there. When Hakon the Good was on the way to the hall of the Asa-father, the latter sent Brage .Mid II meet him : Hcrmod'r ok Bragi hoaS Hroptattyr gangit i cod c— str. 1800-1802). (c) He performed great exploits (str. 1804). (d) He was endowed with powers beyond all other men (str. 3438-39). (e) God gave him a higher position of power than that accorded to mortals (str. 3436, &c). (/) But although he was reared at the court of the Danish king, this did not turn out to the advantage of the Skjoldungs, but was a damage to them (str. 3422, &c), for there grew a bloodthirsty heart in his breast. (g) When the Danish king died (the poem does not say how) he left young sons. (h) Hermod, betrayed by evil passions that got the better of him, was the cause of the ruin of the Skjoldungs, and of a terrible plague among the Danes, whose fallen warriors for his sake covered the battlefields. His table-companions at the Danish court he consigned to death in a fit of anger (str. 3426, &c). TEUTONIC MYTHO] 56] (/) The war continues a very long time (str. I 3447). (/,) At last there came a change, which was unfavourabli HeriiKitl, whose superiority in martial power d& I • r. L806). (/) Then he quite unexpectedly disappeared (str. 3432 from the sight of men. (m) This happened against his will. He had suddenly been banished and delivered to the world of giants, where "waves of sorrow " long oppressed him (str. 1809, &c.). (n) He had become changed to a dragon ( wyrm, draea . (o) The dragon dwelt near a rocky island in tin- sea nmhy harne stan (beneath a grey rock). (p) There he slew a hero of the Volsung race (in the Beowulf poem Sigemund — str. 1747, &c). All these points harmonise completely with Svipd i, as we have found it in other sources. Svipdag is the stepson of Half- dan the Skjoldung, and has been reared in his halls, and dwells there until his mother Groa is turned out and returns to Orvandel. He sets out like Hermod on long journeys, and is doubtless the most famous traveller mentioned in the mythology; witness his journey across the Elivagar, and his visit to Jotunheim while seeking Frey and Freyja; his journey across the frosty mountains, and his descent to the lower world, where he traverses Nifelheim, sees the Eylud mill, comes into Mimer's realm, procures the sword of victory, and sees the glorious castle of the dsmegir ; witness his journey over Bifrost to Asgard, and his warlike expedition to the remote East (see also Younger Edda, i. 108, where Skirner is to Svartalfaheim to fetch the chain Glitner). He is, like Hermod, endowed with extraordinary strength, partly on account of his own inherited character, partly on account of the songs of incantation sung over him by Groa, on account of the nourishment of wisdom obtained from his stepmother, and finally on account of the pos- session of the indomitable sword of victory. By being adopted in Asgard as Freyja's husband, he is, like Hermod, elevated to a position of power greater than that which mortal- may expect But all this does not turn out to be a blessing to the Skjoldi but is a misfortune to them. The hatred he had cherished toward the Skjoldung Halfdan is transferred to the son of the latter, Hadding, and he persecutes him and all those who are faithful to 3G 562 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. Hadding, makes war against him, and is unwilling to end the long war, although the gods demand it. Then he suddenly disappears, the divine wrath having clothed him with the guise of a strange animal, and relegated him to the world of water-giants, where he is slain by Hadding (who in the Norse heroic saga becomes a Volsung, after Halfdan, under the name Helge Hundingsbane, was made a son of the Volsung Sigmund). Hermod is killed on a rocky island under harne stan. Svipdag is killed in the water, probably in the vicinity of the V&gasker and the Singasteinn, where the Brisingamen ornament of his faithful Mardol is discovered by Loke and Heimdal. Freyja's love and sorrow may in the mythology have caused the gods to look upon Svipdag's last sad fate and death as a propi- tiation of his faults. The tears which the Yana-dis wept over her lover were transformed, according to the mythology, into gold, and this gold, the gold of a woman's faithfulness, may have been regarded as a sufficient compensation for the sins of her dear one, and doubtless opened to Svipdag the same Asgard-gate which he had seen opened to him during his life. This explains that Hermod is in Asgard in the historical time, and that, according to a revela- tion to the Swedes in the ninth century, the ancient King Erik was unanimously elevated by the gods as a member of their council. Finally, it should be pointed out that the Svipdag synonym Oclr has the same meaning as mod in Heremod, and as fcrlid in SvioTerhS, the epithet with which Hermod is designated in the Beowulf strophe 1820. OSr means "the one endowed with spirit," Heremod " the one endowed with martial spirit," Svi&hcrh& " the one endowed with mighty spirit ". Heimdal's and Loke's conflict in regard to Brisingamen has undoubtedly been an episode in the mythic account of Svipdag's last fortunes and Freyja's abode with him in the sea. There are many reasons for this assumption. We should bear in mind that Svipdag's closing career constituted a part of the great epic of the first world war, and that both Heimdal and Loke take part in this war, the former on Hadding's, the latter on Gudhorm-Jormunrek's and Svipdag's side (see Nos. 38, 39, 40). It should further be remembered that, according to Saxo, at the time when he slays the monster, Hadding is wandering about as an exile in the wilder- nesses, and that it is about this time that Odin rives him a com- TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. panion and protector in Liserus-Heimdal (see No. 40). The unnamed woman, who after the murder had taken place puts herself in Hadding's way, informs him whom he has slain, and calls the wrath of the gods and the elements down upon him, must be Freyja herself, since she witnessed the deed and knew who was concealed in the guise of the dragon. So lung as the latter lived Brisingamen surely had a faithful watcher, for it is the nature of a dragon to brood over the treasures he finds. After being slain and dragged on shore by Hadding, his " bed," the gold, lies exposed to view on Vagasker, and the glimmer of Brisingamen reaches Loke's eyes. While the woman, in despair on account of Svipdag's death, stands before Hadding and Bpeaks to him, the ornament has no guardian, and Loke finds the occasion convenient for stealing it. But Heimdal, Hadding's protector, who in the mythology always keeps his eye on the acts of Loke and on his kinsmen hostile to the gods, is also present, and he too has seen Brisingamen. Loke has assumed the guise of a seal, while the ornament lies on a rock in the sea, Vdgasker, and it can cause no sus- picion that a seal tries to find a resting-place there. Heimdal assumes the same guise, the seals fight on the rock, and Loke must retire with his errand unperformed. The rock is also called Singastein (Younger Edda, i. 264, 268), a name in which I see the Anglo- Saxon Sincastdn, "the ornament rock". An echo of the combat about Brisingamen reappears in the Beowulf poem, where Heimdal (not Hamdir) appears under the name Hama, and where it is said that "Hama has brought to the weapon-glittering citadel (A Bi'odivjaiaciie" which was "the best ornament under heaven"; whereupon it is said that Hama fell "into Eormenric's snares," with which we should compare Saxo's account of the snare- laid by Loke, Jormenrek's adviser, for Liserus-Heimdal and Hadding.* 107. Reminiscences of the Svipdag-myth. The mythic story about Svipdag and Freyja has 1 n handed down in popular tales and songs, even to our time, of course •As Jordanee confounded the mythological Gudhom-Jormunrek with the historical Ermanarek, and connected with the history <»f the latter the heroic saga of Ammius-Hamdir, it lay close at hand to confound Hamdii with Heimdal, who, like Hamdir. ifl the foe of the I 564 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. in an ever varying and corrupted form. Among the popular tales there is one about Mcvrpull, put in writing by Konrad Maurer, and published in Modern Icelandic Popidar Tales. The wondrous fair heroine in this tale bears Freyja's well-known surname, Mardol, but little changed. And as she, like Freyja, weeps tears that change into gold, it is plain that she is originally identical with the Vana-dis, a fact which Maurer also points out. Like Freyja, she is destined by the norn to be the wife of a princely youth. But when he courted her difficulties arose which remind us of what Saxo relates about Otharus and Syritha. As Saxo represents her, Syritha is bound as it were by an en- chantment, not daring to look up at her lover or to answer his declarations of love. She flies over the mountains more pristmo, " in the manner usual in antiquity," consequently in all proba- bility in the guise of a bird. In the Icelandic popular tale Marthol shudders at the approaching wedding night, since she is then des- tined to be changed into a sparrow. She is about to renounce the embrace of her lover, so that he may not know anything about the enchantment in which she is fettered. In Saxo the spell resting on Syritha is broken when the candle of the wedding night burns her hand. In the popular tale Marthol is to wear the sparrow guise for ever if it is not burnt on the wedding- night or on one of the two following nights. Both in Saxo and in the popular tale another maiden takes Mar- dol's place in the bridal bed on the wedding night. But the spell is broken by fire, after which both the lovers actually get each other. The original identity of the mythological Freyja-Mardol, Saxo's Syritha, and the Mccrpoll of the Icelandic popular tale is therefore evident. In Danish and Swedish versions of a ballad fin Syv, ISTyerup, Arwidsson, Geijer and Afzelius, Grundtvig, Dybeck, Hofberg ; compare Bugge's Edda, p. 352, &c.) a young Sveidal (Svedal, Svendal, Svedendal, Silfverdal) is celebrated, who is none other than Svipdag of the mythology. Svend Grundtvig and Bugge have called attention to the conspicuous similarity between this ballad on the one hand, and Grogalder and Fjolsvinnsmal on the other. From the various versions of the ballad it is necessary to mention here only those features which best preserve the most strik- ing resemblance to the mythic prototype. Sveidal is commanded PEDTONIO MYTHOL by his Btepmother to find a maiden "whose sad heart had long been longing". He then goes first to the grave of his de- mother to get advice from her. The mother speaks to him from the grave and promises him a horse, which can bear him over sea and land, and a sword hardened in the hi 1 of a Fjolsvin ; the linden-tree with the golden leaves to Mimameidr and to the golden grove growing inAsgard. One of the versions makes two y< seeks the one he is destined to marry. 566 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. In Germany, too, we have fragments preserved of the myth about Svipdag and Freyja. These remnants are, we admit, parts of a structure built, so to speak, in the style of the monks, but they nevertheless show in the most positive manner that they are borrowed from the fallen and crumbled arcades of the heathen mythology. We rediscover in them the old medieval poem about " Christ's unsewed grey coat ". The hero in the poem is Svipdag, here called by his father's name Orendel, Orentel — that is, Orvandel. The father himself, who is said to be a king in Trier, has received another name, which already in the most ancient heathen times was a synonym of Orvandel, and which I shall consider below. This in connection with the circumstance that the younger Orentel's (Svipdag's) patron saint is called " the holy Wieland," and thus has the name of a person who, in the mythology, as shall be shown below, was Svipdag's uncle (father's brother) and helper, and whose sword is Svipdag's protection and pledge of victory, proves that at least in solitary instances not only the events of the myth but also its names and family relations have been preserved in a most remark- able and faithful manner through centuries in the minds of the German people. In the very nature of things it cannot in the monkish poem be the task of the young Svipdag-Orentel to go in search of the heathen goddess Freyja and rescue her from the power of the giants. In her stead appears a " Frau Breyde," who is the fairest of all women, and the only one worthy to be the young Orentel's wife. In the heathen poem the goddess of fate Urd, in the German medieval poem God Himself, resolves that Orentel is to have the fairest woman as his bride. In the heathen poem Freyja is in the power of giants, and concealed somewhere in Jotunheim at the time when Svipdag is commanded to find her, and it is of the greatest moment for the preservation of the world that the goddess of love and fertility should be freed from the hands of the powers of frost. In the German poem, written under the in- fluence of the efforts of the Christian world to reconquer the Holy Land, Frau Breyde is a princess who is for the time being in Jerusalem, surrounded and watched by giants, heathens, and knights templar, the last of whom, at the time when the poem received its present form, were looked upon as worshippers of the TBI TONIC MTTHOl devil, and as persons to be shunned by the faithful. To Svip task of liberating the goddess of Love corresponds, in the monkish poem, Orentel's task of liberating Frau Breyde from her Burround- ing of giants, heathens, and knights templar, and restorin Christendom the holy grave in Jerusalem nivnt.-l proceeds thither with a licet. But although the journey accordingly is southward, the mythic saga, which makes Svipdag journey across the frost-cold Elivagar, asserts itself; and as his fleet could not well be hindered by pieces of ice on the coast of the Holy Land, it is made to stick fast in "dense water," and remain there for three years, until, on the supplication of the Virgin Mary, it is Liberated therefrom by a storm. The Virgin Mary's prayers have assumed the same place in the Christian poems as G-roa's incantations in the heathen. The fleet, made free from the " dense water," sails to a land which is governed by one Belian, who is conquered by < ». in a naval engagement. This Belian is the mythological Bdi, one of those " howlers " who -surrounded Frey and Freyja during their sojourn in Jotunheim and threatened Svipdag's Life. In the Christian poem Bele was made a king in Great Babylonia, doubt- less for the reason that his name suggested the biblical " Bel in CO Babel". Saxb also speaks of a naval battle in which Svipdag- Ericus conquers the mythic person, doubtless a Btorm-giant, who by means of witchcraft prepares the ruin of sailors approaching the land where Frotho and Gunvara are concealed. After various other adventures Orentel arrives in the Holy Land, and the Gabriel shows him the way to Frau Breyde, just as " the Beven angels of God" in one of the Scandinavian ballads guide Sveidal to the castle where his chosen bride abides. Lady Breyde is found to be surrounded by none but foes of Christianity — knights tem- plar, heathens, and giants — who, like Gunvara's giant surroundings in Saxo, spend their time in fighting, but still wait upon the tan- lady as their princess. The giants and knights templar Strive to take Orentel's life, and, like Svipdag, he must constantly be prepared to defend it. One of the giant- slain by Orentel "banner-bearer ". One of the giants, who in the mythology ti take Svipdag's life, is Grep, who, according to Saxo, inert- him in derision with a banner on the top of whose stall i- fixed the head of an ox. Meanwhile Lady Breyde is attentive to Orentel. As Menglad 568 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. receives Svipdag, so Lady Breyde receives Orentel with a kiss and a greeting, knowing that he is destined to be her husband. When Orentel has conquered the giants he celebrates a sort of wedding with Lady Breyde, but between them lies a two-edged sword, and they sleep as brother and sister by each other's side. A wedding of a similar kind was mentioned in the mythology in regard to Svipdag and Menglad before they met in Asgard and were finally united. The chaste chivalry with which Freyja is met in the mythology by her rescuer is emphasised by Saxo both in his account of Ericus-Svipdag and Gunvara and in his story about Otharus and Syritha. He makes Ericus say of Gunvara to Frotho : Intacta Mi puclicitia manct {Hist., 126). And of Otharus he declares : Ncque puellam stupro violare sustinuit, ncc splcndido loco natam obscuro concubitus genere macularet {Hist., 331). The first wedding of Orentel and Breyde is therefore as if it had not been, and the German narrative makes Orentel, after completing other warlike adventures, sue for the hand of Breyde for the second time. In the mythology the second and real wedding between Svipdag and Freyja must certainly have taken place, inasmuch as he became reunited with her in Asgard. The sword which plays so conspicuous a part in Svipdag's fortunes has not been forgotten in the German medieval tale. It is mentioned as being concealed deep down in the earth, and as a sword that is always attended by victory. On one occasion Lady Breyde appears, weapon in hand, and fights by the side of Orentel, under circumstances which remind us of the above-cited story from Saxo (see No. 102), when Ericus- Svipdag, Gunvara-Freyja, and Bollerus-Ull are in the abode of a treacherous giant, who tries to persuade Svipdag to deliver Gunvara to him, and when Bracus-Thor breaks into the giant abode, and either slays the inmates or puts them to flight. Gunvara then fights by the side of Ericus-Svipdag, muliebri corporc virilem animum wquans {Hist., 222). In the German Orentel saga appears a "fisherman," who is called master Yse. Orentel has at one time been wrecked, and comes floating on a plank to his island, where Yse picks him up. Yse is not a common fisherman. He has a castle with seven towers, and eight hundred fishermen serve under him. There is TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. good reason for assuming thai this mighty chieftain of fishermen originally was the Asa-god Thor, who in the northern ocean once had the Midgard-serpent on his hook, and that the episode of the picking up of the wrecked Orentel by See has its roo! in a tradition concerning the mythical adventure, when the real Orvan- del, Svipdag's father, feeble and cold, was met by Thor and carried by him across the Elivagar. In the mythology, as shall be shown hereafter, Orvandel the brave was Tina's - Bworn " man, and fought with him against giants before the hostility sprang up 1"-: Ivalde's sons and the Asa-gods. In the Orentel Baga Yse also regards Orentel as his "thrall". The latter emancipates himself from his thraldom with gold. Perhaps this ransom is b refer ace to the gold which Freyja's tears gave as a ransom for Svipdag. Orentel's father is called Eigel, king in Trier. In Vilkinaa we find the archer Egil, Volund's brother, mentioned by the name- variation Eigill. The German Orentel's patron saint is Wieland, that is, Volund. Thus in the Orentel saga as in the Volundar- kvida and in Vilkinasa.ua we. find both these nanus Egil and Volund combined, and we have all the more reason for regarding King Eigel in Trier as identical with the mythological Egil, sine.' the latter, like Orvandel, is a famous archer. Below, I shall demon that the archer Orvandel and the archer Egil actually were identical in the mythology. But first it may be in order to point out the following circum- stanccs. Tacitus tells us in his Gerrnania (3): " Some people think, however, that Ulysses, too, on his long adventurous journeys was carried into this ocean (the Germanic), and visited the countries ot Germany, and that he founded and gave name to Asciburgium, which is situated on the Rhine, and is still an inhabited city ; nay, an altar consecrated to Ulysses, with the name of his father I. added, is said to have been found there". To determine the precise location of this Asciburgium is nol possible. Ptolemy (iL 11, 28), and after him Marcianua Eeracleota (Peripl., 2, inform us that an Askiburgon was situated on the Rhine, south of and above the delta of the riv.r. Tabula Peutingeriana I Asceburgia between Gelduba (Gelb) and Vetera (Xanten). But from the history of Tacitus it appears iv. 33) that Asciburgium was situated between Neuss and Main/. Mayence . Read the passage : Alii* a Novossio, aliis >> Mogontia 570 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. venisse crcdcntibus. The passage refers to the Roman troops sent to Asciburgium and there attacked — those troops which expect to be relieved from the nearest Roman quarters in the north or south. Its location should accordingly be looked for either on or near that part of the Rhine, which on the east bordered the old archbishopric Trier. Thus the German Orentel saga locates King Eigel's realm and Orentel's native country in the same regions, where, according to Tacitus' reporter, Ulysses was said to have settled for some time and to have founded a citadel. As is well known, the Romans believed they found traces of the wandering Ulysses in well-nigh all lands, and it was only necessary to hear a strange people mention a far- travelled mythic hero, and he was at once identified either as Ulysses or Hercules. The Teutonic mythology had a hero a la Ulysses in the younger Orentel, Odr-Svipdag-Heremod, whom the Beowulf poem calls " incomparably the most celebrated traveller among mankind " (wreccena wide mcerost ofer wer-pedde). Mann- hardt has already pointed out an episode (Orentel's shipwreck and arrival in Yse's land) which calls to mind the shipwreck of Odysseus and his arrival in the land of the Pheaces. Within the limits which the Svipdag-myth, according to my own investigations, proves itself to have had, other and more conspicuous features common to both, but certainly not borrowed from either, can be pointed out, for instance Svipdag's and Odysseus' descent to the lower world, and the combat in the guise of seals between Heimdal and Loke, which reminds us of the conflict of Menelaos clad in seal-skin with the seal-watcher Proteus {Odyss., iv. 404, &c). Just as there are words in the Aryan languages that in their very form point to a common origin, but not to a borrowing, so there are also myths in the Aryan religions which in their very form reveal their growth from an ancient common Aryan root, but produce no suspicion of their being borrowed. Among these are to be classed those features of the Odysseus and Svipdag myths which resemble each other. It has already been demonstrated above, that Germanias Mannus is identical with Halfdan of the Norse sources, and that Yngve-Svipdag has his counterpart in Ingrevo (see No. 24). That informer of Tacitus who was able to interpret Teutonic songs about Mannus and his sons, the three original race heroes of the Teutons, TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. "71 must also in those very songa have heard accounts of Orvandel'a and Svipdag's exploits and adventures, Bince Orvandel and Svi] play a most decisive part iii the fortunes of Mannus-Halfdan. If the myth about Svipdag was composed in a later time, then Mannus-Halfdan's saga must have undergone a change equal to a complete transformation after the day of Tacitus, and for auch an assumption there is not the Blightest reason. Orvandel is not a mythic character of later make. Aa already pointed out, and as shall he demonstrated below, he has ancient Aryan an centuries between Tacitus and Paulus Diaconu8 are unfortunately almost wholly lacking in evidence concerning the condition of the Teutonic myths and sagas; but where, as in Jordanes, proofs Btill gleam forth from the prevailing darkness, we find mention of A rim nicda , AmcUa, Fridigernus, Vidigoia (Jord.,v.). Jordane that in the most ancient times they were celebrated in Bong and described as heroes who scarcely had their equals quales viz /< fuis& miranda jactat antiquitas). Previous investigatora have already recognised in Arpantala Orvandel, in Amala Eamal, in Vidigoia Wittiche, Wieland's son (Vidga Volundson), who in the mythology are cousins of Svipdag 9ee No. L08). Fridigernus, / gjarn, means "he who strives to get the beautiful one," an epithet to which Svipdag has the first claim among ancient Teutonic b as Freyja herself has the first claim to the name /' fl beautiful . In Fjolsvinnsmal it belongs to a dis, who sits at Freyja's feet, and belongs to her royal household. This is in analogy with thi that the name Hlin belongs at the same time to Frigg i. (Ydluspa), and to a goddess belonging t<> her royal household (Younger Edda, i. 19G). What Tacitus tells about the stone found at Asciburgium, with the names of Ulysses and Laertea inscribed thereon, cm of course be nothing but a conjecture, based mi the idea that the famous Teutonic traveller was identical with Odysseus. Doubtless thi has been strengthened by the similarity between the name Goth. Vods, and Odysseus, and by the fact that the nan. (ace. Laerten) has sounds in common with the name of Svip father. If, as TaciUis seems to indicate. Asciburgium was named after its founder, we would find in Asc- an epithet of Orvandel'a sou, common in the first century after Christ and later. In that case it lies nearest at hand to think of a Fick, iii. 5 . the 572 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. English "ask," the Anglo-Saxon ascian, the Swedish aska, "to seek," " search for," " to try to secure," which easily adapted itself to Svipdag, who goes on long and perilous journeys to look for Freyja and the sword of victory. I call attention to these possibili- ties because they appear to suggest an ancient connection, but not for the purpose of building hypotheses thereon. Under all circum- stances it is of interest to note that the Christian medieval Orentel saga locates the Teutonic migration hero's home to the same part of Germany where Tacitus in his time assumed that he had founded a citadel. The tradition, as heard by Tacitus, did not however make the regions about the Rhine the native land of the celebrated traveller. He came thither, it is said in Germania, from the North after having navigated in the Northern Ocean. And this corresponds with the mythology, which makes Svipdag an Ingueeon, and Svion, a member of the race of the Skilfing-Ynglings, makes him in the beginning fight on the side of the powers of frost against Halfdan, and afterwards lead not only the north Teutonic (Ingufeonian) but also the west Teutonic tribes (the Hermiones) against the east Teutonic war forces of Hadding (see Nos. 38-40). Memories of the Svipdag-myth have also been preserved in the story about Hamlet, Saxo's Anilethus (Snaebjorn's Amlo&i), son of Horvendillus (Orvandel). In the medieval story Hamlet's father, like Svipdag's father in the mythology, was slain by the same man, who marries the wife of the slain man, and, like Svipdag in the myth, Hamlet of the medieval saga becomes the avenger of his father Horvendillus and the slayer of his stepfather. On more than one occasion the idea occurs in the Norse sagas that a lad whose stepfather had slain his father broods over his duty of avenging the latter, and then plays insane or half idiot to avoid the suspicion that he may become dangerous to the murderer. Svipdag, Orvanclel's son, is reared in his stepfather's house amid all the circumstances that might justify or explain such a hypocrisy. Therefore he has as a lad received the epithet Amlo&i, the meaning of which is "insane," and the myth having at the same time described him as highly-gifted, cLever, and sharp-witted, we have in the words which the mythology has attributed to his lips the key to the ambiguous words which make the cleverness, which is veiled under a stupid exterior, gleam forth. These features of the mythic account of Svipdag have been transferred to the middle-age saga TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. anent Hamlet — a saga which already in Saxo's time bad beea developed into an independent narrative. I shall return bo this theme in a treatise on the heroic sagas. Othei reminisoenoi the Svipdag-myth reappear in Danish, Swedish, and Norwegian ballads. The Danish ballads, which, with surprising fidelity, have preserved certain fundamental traits and details of the Svipdag- myth even down to our days, I have already discussed The Norwegian ballad about "Hermod the Xbung" (Landstad .\ riser, p. 28), and its Swedish version, M Bergtrollet," which corresponds still more faithfully with the myth (Arvidson, i. L23 have this peculiar interest in reference to mythological Bynonymics and the connection of the mythic fragments preserved, that Svipdag appears in the former as in the Beowulf i m and in the Xoungei Edda under the name Hermod, and that both versions have fur their theme a story, which Saxo tells about his ( Itharus when lie describes the flight of the latter through Jotunheim with the rediscovered Syritha. It has already been stated above (No. LOO) that after Otharus had found Syritha and slain a giant in whose power shi he was separated from her on their way home, but found her once more and liberated her from a captivity into which she had fallen in the abode of a giantess. This is the episode which tonus the theme of the ballad about "Hermod the Young," and of the Swedish version of it. Brought together, the two ballads give as the following contents : The young Hermod secured as his wife a beautiful maiden whom he liberated from the hands of a giantess. She had fallen into the hands of giants through a witch, " gigarc," originally a troll-woman, Aurboda, who in a great crowd of people had stolen her out of a church (the divine citadel Asgard is changed into a " house of God"). Hermod hastens on skees " through woods and caverns and recesses," comes to " the wild sea-strand " (Elivagar and to the "mountain the blue," where the giantess resides who conceals the young maiden in her abode. It is Christmas I Hermod asks for lodgings for the night in the mountain dwelling of the giantess and gets it. Resorting to cunning, he persuades the giantess the following morning to visit her neighbours, lib. the fair maiden during her absence, and Hies on In- skees wit] "over the high mountains and down the Low ones". When the old giantess on her return home finds that they have 574 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. hastens (according to the Norwegian version accompanied by eighteen giants) after those who have taken flight through dark forests with a speed which makes every tree bend itself to the ground. When Hermod with his young maiden had come to the salt fjord (Elivagar) the giantess is quite near them, but in the decisive moment she is changed to a stone, according to the Norse version, by the influence of the sun, which just at that time rose ; according to the Swedish version, by the influence of a cross which stood near the fjord and its " long bridge ". The Swedish version states, in addition to this, that Hermod had a brother ; in the mythology, Ull the skilful skee-runner. In both the versions, Hermod is himself an excellent skee-man. The refrains in both read : " He could so well on the skees run ". Below, I shall prove that Orvandel, Svipdag's and Ull's father, is identical with Egil, the foremost skee-runner in the mythology, and that Svipdag is a cousin of Skade, " the dis of the skees ". Svip- dag-Hermod belongs to the celebrated skee-race of the mythology, and in this respect, too, these ballads have preserved a genuine trait of the mythology. In their way, these ballads, therefore, give evidence of Svipdag's identity with Hermod, and of the latter's identity with Saxo's Otherus. Finally, a few words about the Svipdag synonyms. Of these, Ocfr and Hermo&r (and in the Beowulf poem Svidferhd) form a group, which, as has already been pointed out above, refer to the qualities of his mind. Svipdag (" the glimmering day ") and Skirner (" the shining one ") form another group, which refers to his birth as the son of the star-hero Orvandel, who is " the brightest of stars," and "a true beam from the sun" (see above). Again, anent the synonym Eirchr, we should bear in mind that Svipdag's half-brother Gudhorm had the epithet Jormunrehr, and the half- brother of the latter, Hadding, the epithet Jy'dcfrekr. They are the three half-brothers who, after the patriarch Mannus-Halfdan, assume the government of the Teutons ; and as each one of them has large domains, and rules over many Teutonic tribes, they are, in contradistinction to the princes of the separate tribes, great kings or emperors. It is the dignity of a great king which is indicated, each in its own way, by all these parallel names — Eirehr, Jormunrehr, and pjo&rch\ TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 575 L08. Syipdag's Fathee Obvandel. Evidence that he [a identical with Volund's Bbotheb Egil. The Obvandel Syh Ebbo (Ebur, Iboh). Svipdag*a father, Orvandel, must have been a mortal enemy of Half dan, who abducted his wife Groa Bui hitherto it is in Svipdag whom we have seen cany out the feud of revenge against Halfdan. Still, it must seem incredible thai tin- brave archer bin should remain inactive ami leave it to his young untried son to fighl against Thor's favourite, the mighty son of Borgar. The epic con- nection demands that Orvandel also should take part in this war, and it is necessary to investigate whether our mythic records have preserved traces of the satisfaction of this demand in regard to the mythological epic. As his name indicates, Orvandel was a celebrated archer. That Or- in Orvandel, in heathen times, was conceived to be the word or, "arrow" — though this meaning does not therefore need to be the most original one — is made perfectly certain by Saxo, accord- ing to whom Orvandill's father was named QeirvandiU Ger- vandillus, Hist., 135). Thus the father is the one "busy with the spear," the son " the one busy with the arrow ". Taking this as the starting point, we must at the very threshold of our investigation present the question : Is there among Halfdan'a enemies mentioned by Saxo anyone who bears the name of a well- known archer ? This is actually the fact. Halfdan Berggram has to contend with two mythic persons, Toko and Anundus, who with united forces appear against him {Hist, 325). Toko, Toki, is the well- known name of an archer. In another passage in Saxo ill ! &c.) one Anundus, with the help of Avo (or Ano) Sagittarius, I against one Halfdan. Thus we have the parallels : The archer Orvandel is an enemy of Halfdan. The man called archer Toko ami Anundus are enemies of Halfdan. The archer Avo and Anundus are enemies of Halfdan. What at once strikes us is the fact that both the one called Toko (an archer's name) and the archer Avo have as comiftdi 576 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. Anundus in the war against Halfdan. Whence did Saxo get this Anundus ? "We are now in the domain of mythology related as history, and the name Anund must have been borrowed thence. Can any other source throw light on any mythic person by this name ? There was actually an Anund who held a conspicuous place in mythology, and he is none other than Volund. Volundarkvida informs us that Volund was also called Anund. When the three swan-maids came to the Wolf dales, where the three brothers, Volund, Egil, and Slagfin, had their abode, one of them presses Egil " in her white embrace," the other is Slagfin's beloved, and the third " lays her arms around Anund's white neck ". enn in fcrifcia fieirra systir varpi livitan hah Onondar. Volund is the only person by name Anund found in our mythic records. If we now eliminate — of course only for the present and with the expectation of confirmatory evidence — the name Anund and substitute Volund, we get the following parallels : Volund and Toko (the name of an archer) are enemies of Halfdan. Volund and the archer named Avo are enemies of Halfdan. The archer Orvandel is an enemy of Halfdan. From this it would appear that Volund was very intimately associated with one of the archers of the mythology, and that both had some reason for being enemies of Halfdan. Can this be cor- roborated by any other source ? Volund's brothers are called Egill and Slagfiffr (Slagfinnr) in Volundarkvida. The Icelandic - Norwegian poems from heathen times contain paraphrases which prove that the mytho- logical Egil was famous as an archer and skee-runner. The bow is " Egil's weapon," the arrows are " Egil's weapon-hail " (Younger Edda, 422), and "the swift herring of Egil's hands" {Har. Gr., p. 18). A ship is called Egil's skees, originally because he could use his skees also on the water. In Volundarkvida he makes hunting expeditions with his brothers on skees. Vilkinasaga also (29, 30) knows Egil as Volund's brother, and speaks of him as a wonderfully skilful archer. TEUTONIC MYTIIw; The same Volund, who in Saxo under the name Anund Toko (the name of an archer) or the archer A.vo by his Bide in the conflict with Halfdan, also baa the archer Egil as a brother in other sources. Of an archer Toko, who is mentioned in // tells the same exploil aa Vilkinasaga attributes to Vblund's brother Egil. In Saxo it is Toko who performs the celebrated masterpiece win eh was afterwards attributed to William TelL In Vilkin. it is Egil. The one like the other, amid similar secondary circum* stances, shoots an apple from his sun's head. Egil's skill as a &kee- runner and the serviceableness of bis Bkees on the water bave not been forgotten in Saxo's account of Toko. Be run- down the mountain, sloping precipitously down to the sea, Kullen in Scania, and is said to have saved himself on board a ship. Sfl was therefore without doubt identical with Volund's brother Egil, and Saxo's Anund is the same Volund of whom the Volundarkvida testifies that he also had this name in the mythology. Thus we have demonstrated the fact that Volund and Egil appeared in the saga of the Teutonic patriarch Halfdan as the enemies of the latter, and that the famous archer Egil occupied tin- position in which we would expect to find the celebrated archer Orvandel, Svipdag's father. Orvandel is therefore either idei with Egil, and then it is easy to understand why the latter enemy of Halfdan, who we know had robbed his wife Gtoa; ot he is not identical with Egil, and then we know no motive for the appearance of the latter on the same side as Svipdag, and we, moreover, are confronted by the improbability that Orvandel does nothing to avenge the insult done to him. Orvandel's identity with Egil is completely confirmed by the following circumstances. Orvandel has the Elivagar and the coasts of Jotunheim as the scene of his exploits during the time in which he is the friend "t" the gods and the opponent of the giants. To this time we moat refer Horvendillus' victories over Collerus (Kollr) and his Sela (cp. the name of a monster Seikolla — Bisk S., i. 605 men- tioned by Saxo (Hist., 135-138). His surname inn fnekni, the brave, alone is proof that the myth refers to important exploits | carried out by him, and that these were performed against the powers of frost in particular— that is to say, in the f the 37 578 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. gods and for the good of Midgard — is plain from the narrative in the Younger Edda (276, 277). This shows, as is also demanded by the epic connection, that the Asa-god Thor and the archer Orvandel were at least for a time confidential friends, and that they had met each other on their expeditions for similar purposes in Jotun- heim. When Thor, wounded in his forehead, returns from his combat with the giant Hrungnir to his home, firudvdngr (fimff- v&ngar, prudheimr), Orvandel's wife Groa was there and tried to help him with healing sorcery, wherein she would also have suc- ceeded if Thor could have made himself hold his tongue for a while concerning a report he brought with him about her husband, and which he expected would please her. And Groa did become so glad that she forgot to continue the magic song and was unable to complete the healing. The report was, as we know, that, on the expedition to Jotunheim from which he had now come home, Thor had met Orvandel, carried him in his basket across the Elivagar, and thrown a toe which the intrepid adventurer had frozen up to heaven and made a star thereof. Thor added that before long Orvandel would come " home " ; that is to say, doubtless, " home to Thor," to fetch his wife Groa. It follows that, when he had carried Orvandel across the Elivagar, Thor had parted with him somewhere on the way, in all probability in Orvandel's own home, and that while Orvandel wandered about in Jotunheim, Groa, the dis of growth, had a safe place of refuge in the Asa-god's own citadel. A close relation between Thor and Orvandel also appears from the fact that Thor afterwards marries Orvandel's second wife Sif, and adopts his son Ull, Svipdag's half-brother (see No. 102), in Asgard. Consequently Orvandel's abode was situated south of the Elivagar (Thor carried him norffan or Jotunhcimum — Younger Edda, 276), in the direction Thor had to travel when going to and from the land of the giants, and presumably quite near or on the strand of that mythic water-course over which Thor on this occasion carried him. When Thor goes from Asgard to visit the giants he rides the most of the way in his chariot drawn by the two goats Tanngnjostr and Tanngrisnir. In the poem Haustlaung there is a particularly vivid description of his journey in Ins thunder chariot through space when he proceeded to the meeting agreed upon with the giant Hrungner, on the return from which TEUTONIC MYTHmi he met and helped Orvandel across Elivagar I Tbunger Bdda, But across this water and through Jotunheim itself Thor i travels in liis car. He wades across the Blivagar, he travels oi in the wildernesses of the giants, and encounters his foe l face, breast to breast, instead ef striking him from above with lightning. In this all accounts of Thor's journeys to Jotunheim agree. Hence south of the EHivagar and somewhere aear them there must have been a place where Thor left his chariot and his goats in safety before he proceeded farther on Ins journey. And as we already know that the archer Orvandel, Thor's friend, and like him hostile to the giants, dwelt on the road travelled by the Asa-god, and south of the Elivagar, it lies nearesl at hand t<> assume that Orvandel's castle was the stopping-place on his journey, and the place where he left his goats and ear. Now in Hymerskvida (7, 37, 38) we actually read that Thor, on his way to Jotunheim, had a stopping-place, where hi- precious car and goats were housed and taken rare of by the host, who accordingly had a very important task, and must have been a friend of Thor and the Asa-gods in the mythology. The host bears the archer name Egil. From Asgard to Egil's abode, says Hymerskvida, it is about one day's journey for Thor when he rides behind his goats on his way to Jotunheim. After this day's journey he | the draught-animals, decorated with horns, with Egil, who takes care of them, and the god continues his journey on t""t. Thor and Tyr being about to visit the giant Hymer — Foro drivgom dag J"' mi /'/" ni Asgardifra, nil: til EgUs guomo ; hirdi hann hafra horngaufgasta fiurfo <<' haullo i r If ii mir "'/>. ("Nearly all the day they proceeded their way from A* until they came to Egil's. He give the horn-strong goats They (Thor and Tyr) continued to the great hall which Bymei owned.") Erom Egil's abode both the gods accordingly g< i on foot. !•>. an 580 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. what is afterwards stated about adventures on their way home, it appears that there is a long distance between Egil's house and Hymer's (cp. str. 35 — foro lengi, affr, &c.). It is necessary to journey across the Elivagar first — lyr fyr austan, Elivdga hund- viss Hymir (str. 5), In the Elivagar Hyraer has his fishing- grounds, and there he is wont to catch whales on hooks (cp. str. 17 — a vdg roa) ; but still he does not venture far out upon the water (see str. 20), presumably because he has enemies on the southern strand where Egil dwells. Between the Elivagar and Hymer's abode there is a considerable distance through woody mountain recesses (Jwltrid — str. 27) and past rocks in whose caverns dwell monsters belonging to Hymer's giant-clan (str. 35). Thor resorts to cunning in order to secure a safe retreat. After he has been out fishing with the giant, instead of making his boat fast in its proper place on the strand, as Hymer requests him to do, he carries the boat with its belongings all the difficult way up to Hymer's hall. He is also attacked on his way home by Hymer and all his giant-clan, and, in order to be able to wield Mjolner freely, he must put down the precious kettle which he has captured from the frost-giant and was carrying on his broad shoulders (str. 35, 36). But the undisturbed retreat across the Elivagar he has secured by the above-mentioned cunning. Egil is called hraunbt'd (str. 38), an epithet the ambiguous meaning of which should not be unobserved. It is usually trans- lated with rock-dweller, but it here means "he who lives near or at Hraunn" (Hronn). Hraunn is one of the names of the Elivagar (see Nos. 59, 93 ; cp. Younger Edda, 258, with Grimnersmal, 38). After their return to Egil's, Thor and Tyr again seat themselves in the thunder-chariot and proceed to Asgard with the captured kettle. But they had not driven far before the strength of one of the horn-decorated draught animals failed, and it was found that the goat was lame (str. 37). A misfortune had happened to it while in Egil's keeping, and this had been caused by the cunning Loke (str. 37). The poem does not state the kind of misfortune — the Younger Edda gives us information on this point — but if it was Loke's purpose to make enmity between Thor and his friend Egil he did not succeed this time. Thor, to be sure, demanded a ransom for what had happened, and the ransom was, as Hymerskvida informs us, two children who were reared in Esil's house. But Thor became TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. their excellent foster-father and protector, and the punishment was therefore of such a kind that it was calculated then the bond of friendship instead of breaking it. Gylfaginning also (Younger Edda, i. L42, Ac.) has preserved traditions showing that when Thor is to make a journey from Asgard to Jotunheim it requires more than one day, mid that he therefore puts up in an inn at the end of the firsl day's fo where he eats his supper and stops over night There he 1' his goats and travels the next day eastward (north), "across the deep sea" (hafit fiat hit dfti/pa), on whose other side hi- foes have their abode. The sea in question is the Elivagar, and the tradition correctly states that the inn is situated od its southern (western) side. But Gylfaginning lias forgotten the name of the host in this inn. Instead of giving his name it simply calls him a buandi hut it knows and states on the other hand the Dames of the two children there reared, Thjalfe and Roskva; and it relates how it happened that one of Thor's goats became lame, but without giving Loke the blame for the misfortune. According to I rylfaginning tin- event occurred when Thor was on his way to (Jtgarde-Loke. In Gvlfaginning, too, Thor takes the two children as a ransom, and makes Thjalfe (frj&lfi) a hero, who takes an honourable part in the exploits of the god. As shall be shown below, this inn on the road from Asgard to Jotunheim is presupposed as well known in Eilif Gudrunson's Thorsdrapa, which describes the adventures Thor met with on his journey to the giant Geirrod. Thorsdrapa gives facts of mythological importance in regard to the inhabitants of the place They are the "sworn" helpers of the Asa-gods, and when it is necessary Thor can thence secure brave warriors, who accompany him across Elivagar into Jotunheim. Anion- them an archer playa the chief part in connection with Thjalfe (see No. 1 14). On the north side of Elivagar dwell accordingly giants hostile to gods and men ; on the south side, on the other hand, beings friendly to the gods and bound in their friendship by oath-. The circum- stance that they are bound by oaths to the gods (seeThorsd implies that a treaty has been made with them and that they owe obedience. Manifestly the uttermost jacket guard to the north against the frost-giants is entrusted to them. 582 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. This also gives us an explanation of the position of the star- hero Orvandel, the great archer, in the mythological epic. We can understand why he is engaged to the dis of growth, Groa, as it is his duty to defend Midgard against the destructions of frost ; and why he fights on the Elivagar and in Jotunheim against the same enemies as Thor ; and why the mythology has made him and the lord of thunder friends who visit each other. With the tenderness of a father, and with the devotion of a fellow- warrior, the mighty son of Odin bears on his shoulders the weary and cold star-hero over the foggy Elivagar, filled with magic terrors, to place him safe by his own hearth south of this sea after he has honoured him with a token which shall for ever shine on the heavens as a monument of Orvandel's exploits and Thor's friendship for him. In the meantime Groa, Orvandel's wife, stays in Thor's halls. But we discover the same bond of hospitality between Thor and Egil. According to Hymerskvida it is in Egil's house, according to Gylfaginning in the house in which Thjalfe is fostered, where the accident to one of Thor's goats happens. In one of the sources the youth whom Thor takes as a ransom is called simply Egil's child; in the other he is called Thjalfe. Two different mythic sources show that Thjalfe was a waif, adopted in Egil's house, and consecpuently not a real brother but a foster-brother of Svipdag and Ull. One source is Eornaldersaga (iii. 241), where it is stated that Groa in a flcc&armdl found a little boy and reared him together with her own son. Flcc&armdl is a place which a part of the time is flooded with water and a part of the time lies dry. The other source is the Longobard saga, in which the mythological Egil reappears as Agelmund, the first king of the Longobardians who emigrated from Scandinavia {Origo Longob., Paulus Diac., 14, 15 ; cp. No. 112). Agelmund, it is said, had a foster-son, Lamicho {Origo Longob.), or Lamissio (Paulus Diac), whom he found in a dam and took home out of pity. Thus in the one place it is a woman who bears the name of the archer Orvandel's wife, in the other it is the archer Egil himself, who adopts as foster-son a child found in a dam or in a place filled with water. Paulus Diaconus says that the lad received the name Lamissio to com- memorate this circumstance, " since he was fished up out of a dam or dyke," which in their (the Longobardian) language is called lama (cp. lehm, mud). The name Thjalfe {frjalfi) thus TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. suggests a similar idea. As Vigfusson has already pointed out, it is connected with the English delve, a dyke; with tin- Anglo- Saxon del/an ; the Dutch ,1.1m,, t,, work the ground with a spade, to dig. The circumstances undei which the Lad was found pre- saged his future. In the mythology he fells the clay-gianti Mokkr-kalfi (Younger Edda, i. 272-274). In the migration he is the discoverer of Land and circumnavigates islands ( Korm., 1 9, ;-! ; Younger Edda, i. 496), and there he conquers giants (Harbards- ljod, 39) in order to make the lands inhabitable foi immigrants. In the appendix to the Gotland law he appears as Thjelvar, who lands in Gotland, liberates the island from trolls by carrying tire, colonises it and becomes the progenitor of a hosl of emigrants, who settle in southern countries. In Paulus Diaconus he grows up to be a powerful hero; in the mythology he develops into the Asa-god Thor's brave helper, win. participates in Ins and the great archer's adventures on the Elivagarand in Jotunheim. Paulus (ch. 15) says that when Agelmund once came with his Longobar- dians to a river, "amazons" wanted to hinder him from crossing it. Then Lamissio fought, swimming in the river, with the bravest one of the amazons, and killed her. In the mythology Egil himself fights with the giantess Sela, mentioned in Saxo as an amazon: '., rebus ac bellici perita muneris [Hist., 138), while Thjalfe combats with giantesses on Hleesey (Harbardslj., 39), and at (In- side of Thor and the archer he fights his way through the river waves, in which giantesses try to drown him (Thoradrapa . I evident that Paulus .Diaconus' accounts of Agelmund and Lai:. are nothing but echoes related as history of the myths concerning Egil and Thjalfe, of which the Norse records fortunately have pn - served valuable fragments. Thus Thjalfe is the archer Egil's and Groa's foster-son, 8 apparent from a bringing together of the sources cited. I other sources we have found that Groa is the archer Orvandel's wife. Orvandel dwells near the Elivagar and Thor is hi- friend, and visits him on his way to and from Jotunheim I the evidences of Orvandel's and Egil's identity which he nearest at hand. It has already been pointed out that Svipdag's father < Irvandel appears in Saxo by the name Ebbo (see Noa 23, LOO . Otharus-Svipdag's father whom he calls Ebbo [B. 584 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. Halfdan slays Orvandel-Ebbo, while the latter celebrates his wed- ding with a princess Sygrutha (see No. 23). In the mythology Egil had the same fate: an enemy and rival kills him for the sake of a woman. " Franks Casket," an old work of sculpture now preserved in England, and reproduced in George Stephens' great work on the runes,* represents Egil defending his house against a host of assailants who storm it. Within the house a woman is seen, and she is the cause of the conflict. Like Saxo's Halfdan, one of the assailants carries a tree or a branched club as his weapon. Egil has already hastened out, bow in hand, and his three famous arrows have been shot. Above him is written in runes his name, wherefore there can be no doubt about his identity. The attack, according to Saxo, took place, in the night (noctuque nuptiis super- veniens — Hist., p. 330). In a similar manner, Paulus Diaconus relates the story con- cerning Egil-Agelmund's death (ch. 16). He is attacked, so it is stated, in the night time by Bulgarians, who slew him and carried away his only daughter. During a part of their history the Longobardians had the Bulgarians as neighbours, with whom they were on a war-footing. In the mythology it was " Borgarians," that is to say, Borgar's son Halfdan and his men, who slew Orvandel. In history the "Borgarians" have been changed into Bulgarians for the natural reason that accounts of wars fought with Bulgarians were preserved in the tradititions of the Longobardians. The very name Ebbo reappears also in the saga of the Longo- bardians. The brothers, under whose leadership the Longobardians are said to have emigrated from Scandinavia, are in Saxo (Hist., 418) called Aggo and Ebbo; in Origo Longobardorum, Ajo and Ybor ; in Paulus (ch. 7), Ajo and Ibor. Thus the name Ebbo is another form for Ibor, the German Ebur, the Norse Jofurr, " a wild boar ". The Ibor of the Longobard saga, the emigration leader, and Agelmund, the first king of the emigrants, in the mythology, and also in Saxo's authorities, are one and the same person. The Longobardian emigration story, narrated in the form of history, thus has its root in the universal Teutonic emigration myth, which was connected with the enmity caused by Loke between the gods and the primeval artists — an enmity in which the latter allied * Runic Monuments, by George Stephens. TEUTONIC BIYTHOD : v", themselves with the powers of frost, and, at the head of the bkilhng-Yngling tribes, gave the impetus to thai migration southward which resulted in the populating of the Teutonic continent with tribes from South Scandia and Denmark 28, 32). Nor is the mythic hero Ibor forgotten in the German sagaa. II is mentioned in Notker (about the .war 1000 and in the Vilkina- Baga. Notker simply mentions him in passing as b saga-hero well known at that time. He distinguishes between the real wild boar (Eber) roaming in the woods, and the Ebei | Ebur) who " wears the swan-ring". This is all he has to say of him. But, ac Volundarkvida, the mythological Ebur-Egil is married to a Bwan- maid, and, like his brother Volund, he wore a ring. The signification of the swan-rings was originally the same as that of Draupner: they were symbols of fertility, and were made and owned for this reason by the primeval artists of mythology, who, as we have Been, were the personified forces of growth in nature, and by their beloved or wives, the swan-maids, who represented the saps of vegetation, the bestowers of the mythic "mead" or "ale". The Bwan-maid who loves Egil is, therefore, in Volundarkvida called Olrun, a parallel to the name Olgefion, as Groa, Orvandel's wife, is called in Eaust- laung (Younger Edda, i. 282). Saxo, too, has heard of the Bwan- rings, and says that from three swans singing in the air fell a rimjulum inscribed with names down to King Fridlevus Njord • which informed him where he was to find a youth who had been robbed by a giant, and whose liberation was a matter of great im- portance to Fridlevus. The context shows that the unnamed youth was in the mythology Fridlevus-Njord'a own Bon Prey, the lord of harvests, who had been robbed by the powers of frost Accordingly, a swan-ring has co-operated in the mythology in restoring the fertility of the earth. In Vilkinasaga appears Villifer. The author of the - himself that this name is identical with Wild-Ebur, wild boar. Villifer, a splendid and noble-minded youth, wears on hi- aim a gold ring, and is the elder friend, protector, ami Baviour "t Vidga Volundson. Of his family relations Vilkinasaga gives n information, but the part it gives him to play finds it< explanation in the myth, where Ebur is Volund's brother Egil, and hence the uncle of his favourite Vidga. 586 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. If we now take into consideration that in the German Orentel saga, which is based on the Svipdag-myth, the father of the hero is called Eigel (Egil), and his patron saint Wieland (Volund), and that in the archer, who in Saxo fights by the side of Anund- Volund against Halfdan, we have re-discovered Egil where we ex- pected Orvandel ; then we here find a whole chain of evidence that Ebur, Egil, and Orvandel are identical, and at the same time the links in this chain of evidence, taken as they are from the Icelandic poetry, and from Saxo, from England, Germany, and Italy, have demonstrated how widely spread among the Teutonic peoples was the myth about Orvandel-Egil, his famous brother Volund, and his no less celebrated son Svipdag. The result gained by the investigation is of the greatest importance for the restora- tion of the epic connection of the mythology. Hitherto the Volundarkvida with its hero has stood in the gallery of myths as an isolated torso with no trace of connection with the other myths and mythic sagas. Now, on the other hand, it appears, and as the investigation progresses it shall become more and more evident, that the Volund-myth belongs to the central timbers of the great epic of Teutonic mythology, and extends branches through it in all directions. In regard to Svipdag's saga, the first result gained is that the mythology was not inclined to allow Volund's sword, concealed in the lower world, to fall into the hands of a hero who was a stranger to the great artist and his plans. If Volund forged the sword for a purpose hostile to the gods, in order to avenge a wrong- done him, or to elevate himself and his circle of kinsmen among the elves at the expense of the ruling gods, then his work was not done in vain. If Volund and his brothers are those Ivalde sons who, after having given the gods beautiful treasures, became offended on account of the decision which placed Sindre's work, particularly Mjolner, higher than their own, then the mythology has also completely indemnified them in regard to this insult. Mjolner is broken by the sword of victory wielded by Volund's nephew; Asgard trembles before the young elf, after he had received the incomparable weapon of his uncle ; its gate is opened for him and other kinsmen of Volund, and the most beautiful woman of the world of gods becomes his wife. TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. :'s7 109. Fkkv Fostered in the Home of Orvandel-Egil and Volund. Orvandel's Epithet Isolfr. Volund's Epithet Aggo. The mythology has handed down several names of the coast region near the Elivagar, where Orvandel-Egil and his kinsmen dwelt, while they still were the friends of the gods, and were an outpost active in the service against the frost-powers. That this coast region was a part of Alfheim, and the most northern part of this mythic land, appears already from the fact that Volund and his brothers are in Volundarkvida elf-princes, sons of a mythic "king". The rule of the elf-princes must be referred to Alfheim for the same reason as we refer that of the Vans to Vanaheim, and that of the Asa-gods to Asgard. The part of Alfheim here in ques- tion, where Orvandel-Egil's citadel was situated, was in the my- thology called fdalir, Tsetr (Grimnersmal, 5; Olaf Trygvason's saga, ch. 21). This is also suggested by the fact that Ullr, elevated to the dignity of an Asa-god, he who is the son of Orvandel-Egil, and Svipdag's brother (see No. 102), according to Grimnersmal, has his halls built in TdcUir. Divine beings who did not originally belong to Asgard, but were adopted in Odin's clan, and thus became full citizens within the bulwarks of the Asa-citadel, still retain possession of the land, realm, and halls, which is their udal and where they were reared. After he became a denizen in Asgard, Njord continued to own and to reside occasionally in the Yana- citadel Notatun beyond the western ocean (see Xos. 20, 93). Skade, as an asynje, continues to inhabit her father Thjasse's halls in Thrymheim (Grimnersmal, 11). Vidar's grass and brush-grown realm is not a part of Asgard, but is the large plain on which, in Eagnarok, Odin is to fall in combat with Fenrer (Grimnersmal, 17 ; see No. 39). When Ull is said to have his halls in Ydaler, this must be based on a similar reason, and Ydaler must be the land where he was reared and which he inherited after his father, the great archer. When Grimnersmal enumerates the homes of the gods, the series of them begins with Tlmulheim, Trior's realm, and next thereafter, and in connection with Alfheim, is mentioned Ydaler, presumably for the reason that Thor's land and Orvandel- Egil's were, as we have seen, most intimately conuected in mythology. 588 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. Land er heilact, er ec liggia se asom oc olfom ncer ; en i firucflieimi seal Jyorr vera, unz urn rivfaz regin. Ydalir licit a. par er Ullr liefir ser um gorva sail ; Alfheim Frey gafo i drclaga tivar at tannfec. Ydalir means the " dales of the bow " or " of the bows ". Ysetr is " the chalet of the bow " or " of the bows ". That the first part of these compound words is yr, " a bow," is proved by the way in which the local name Ysetr can be applied in poetical para- phrases, where the bow-holding hand is called Ysetr. The names refer to the mythical rulers of the region, namely, the archer Ull and his father the archer Orvandel-Egil. The place has also been called GeirvaSills setr, Geirvcmdills setr, which is explained by the fact that Orvandel's father bore the epithet Geirvandel (Saxo, Hist, 135). Hakon Jarl, the ruler of northern Norway, is called (Fagrsk., 37, 4) Geirva&ills setrs Ullr, "the Ull of Geirvandel's chalet, a paraphrase in which we find the mythological association of Ull with the chalet which was owned by his father Orvandel and his grandfather Geirvandel. The Ydales were described as rich in gold. Ysetrs eldr is a paraphrase for gold. With this we must compare what Volund says (Volunclarkvida, 14) of the wealth of gold in his and his kinsmen's home. (See further, in regard to the same passage, Nos. 114 and 115.) In connection with its mention of the Ydales, Grimnersmal states that the gods gave Frey Alfheim as a tooth-gift. Tannfe (tooth-gift) was the name of a gift which was given (and in Iceland is still given) to a child when it gets its first tooth. The tender Frey is thus appointed by the gods as king over Alfheim, and chief of the elf-princes there, among whom Volund and Orvandel-Egil, judging from the mythic events themselves, must have been the foremost and most celebrated. It is also logically correct, from the TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 589 standpoint of nature symbolism, that the god of growth and harvests receives the government of elves and primeval artists, the personified powers of culture. Through this arrangement of the gods, Volund and Orvandel become vassals under Njord and his son. In two passages in Saxo we read mythic accounts told as history, from which it appears that Njord selected a foster-father for his son, or let him be reared in a home under the care of two fosterers. In the one passage (Hist., 272) it is Fridlevus-Njord who selects Avo the archer as his son's foster-father ; in the other passage (Hist., 181) it is the tender Frotho, son of Frid- levus and future brother-in-law of Ericus-Svipdag, who receives Isulfus and Aggo as guardians. So far as the archer Avo is concerned, w^e have already met him above (see No. 108) in combat by the side of Anundus-Volund against one Halfdan. He is a parallel figure to the archer Toko, who likewise fights by the side of Anundus-Volund against Halfdan, and, as has already been shown, he is identical with the archer Orvandel-lv'il. The name Aggo is borne by one of the leaders of the emigration of the Longobardians, brother of Ebbo-Ibor, in whom wre have already discovered Orvandel -Egil. The name Isolfr, in the Old Norse poetic language, designates the bear (Younger Edda, i. 589 ; ii. 48-4). Vilkinasaga makes Ebbo (Wild-Ebur) appear in the guise of a bear when he is about to rescue Volund's son Vidga from the captivity into which he had fallen. In his shield Ebbo has images of a wild boar and of a bear. As the wild boar refers to one of his names (Ebur), the image of the bear should refer to another (Isolfr). Under such circumstances there can be no doubt that Orvandel-Egil and one of his brothers, the one designated by the name Aggo (Ajo), be this Volund or Slagfin, were entrusted in the mythology with the duty of fostering the young Frey. Orvandel also assumes, as vassal under Njord, the place which foster-fathers held in relation to the natural fathers of their proteges. Frey, accordingly, is reared in Alfheim, and in the Ydalee he is fostered by elf-princes belonging to a circle of brothers, among whom one, namely, Volund, is the most famous artist of 590 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. mythology. His masterpiece, the sword of victory, in time proves to be superior to Sindre's chief work, the hammer Mjolner. And as it is always Volund whom Saxo mentions by Orvandel-Egil's side among his brothers (see No. 108), it is most reasonable to suppose that it is Volund, not Slagfiu, who appears here under the name Aggo along with the great archer, and, like the latter, is entrusted with the fostering of Frey. It follows that Svipdag and Ull were Frey's foster-brothers. Thus it is the duty of a foster-brother they perform when they go to rescue Frey from the power of giants, and when they, later, in the war between the Asas and Vans, take Frey's side. This also throws additional light on Svipdag-Skirner's words to Frey in Skirnersmal, 5 : ungir soman varom % drdaga, vel maitim tvcvir truasc. 110. Svipdag's Grandfather is Ivalde. Orvandel, Volund; an Slagfin therefore identical with Ivalde's Sons. : In the mythology we read that elves smithied splendid treasures for Frey (Grimnersmal, 42 ; Younger Edda, i. 140, 340). Among these treasures were the remarkable ship SMdblaffnir and the gold-glittering boar Sli&rugtamii, also called Gullinoursti (Younger Edda, i. 176, 264, 340-344), both clearly symbols of vegetation. The elves that smithied these treasures are called Ivalde's sons, and constitute the same group of brothers whose gifts to the gods, at the instigation of Loke, are subjected to a public examination by the Asas and by them found wanting as compared with Sindre's products. It would be most surprising, nay, quite incredible, if, when other artists made useful presents to Frey, the elf-prince Volund and his brothers did not do likewise, inasmuch as he is the chief smith of them all, and inasmuch as he, with his brother Orvandel-Egil, has taken upon himself the duties of a foster-father toward the young harvest-god, among which duties one was certainly to care for his good and enable him to perform the important task devolving on him in the administration of the world. TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 59] From this standpoint already it is more than probable that the same artist who in the heroic saga of the Teutonic tribes, under the name Volnnd, Wieland, Weland, by the aide of Mimer, playa the part of the foremost smith that antiquity knew is the aam le as in the mythology was the most excellent amith; that is, the most skilful one anion-' [valde's Bons. This view i> perfectly confirmed as to its correctness by the proofs which I Bhall now present. Of Ivalde, Fornspjallsljod says that he had two groups of children, and that Idnn, the goddess of vegetation, belonged to one of these groups : Alfa attar IJmnni heto TvaUds ellri yngsta la rim. Idim is, therefore, a sister of the celebrated artists, the Bona of Ivalde. In Volundarkvida, Volund and Slagfin are brothi half-brothers of the dises of vegetation, who are together with them In the Wolfdales (see str. 2). According to Fornspjallsljod, [dun was for a time absent from Asgard, and Btayed in a winter-cold land near Narfe-Mimer's daughter Nat, and in company with persons whose names and epithets indicate that they were smiths, primeval artists [Rognir and Regin; see Nos. 113, 115, and the epithet viggiar, a synonym of mdfiar — Younger Edda, i. Thus we read precisely the same of Idun as of the -wan-maid- and vegetation-dises who dwelt for a time in the Wolfdalea with Volund and his brothers. Further on it shall be demonstrated that the name of Volund's father in the introduction of Vblun- darkvida and the name given to the father of Volund's and Blagfin's swan-maids are synonyms, and refer to one and the same person. But if we for the present leave this proof out. and confine ourselves to the evidences already presented, then the question con- cerning the identity of the Ivalde sons with the group of brothers Volund, Egil, and Slagfin assumes the lull.. win- form : 1. (a) There is in the mythology a group of brothers, the Ivalde sons, from whose hands the most wonderful works pro- ceeded, works which were presented to the gods, and by the latter were compared with those of the primeval artist 3indre. 592 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. (b) In the heroic saga there is a group of brothers, to whom Volume! belongs, the most celebrated of the smiths handed down from the mythology. 2. (a) Ivalde is an elf and his sons elves. (b) Volund, Egil, and Slagfin are elves (Volundarkvida, 32). 3. (a) Ivalde's sons are brothers or half-brothers of the goddess of vegetation, Idun. (b) Volund, Egil, and Slagfin are brothers or half-brothers of swan-maids and dises of vegetation. 4. («) Of Idun, the sister of Ivalde's sons, it is stated that she was for a time absent from the gods, and dwelt with the primeval artists in a winter-cold land, near Nat, the daughter of Narfi- Mimer. (b) Volund and his brothers' swan-maids dwell for a time in a winter-cold land, which, as my researches have already shown, is situated fyr ndgrindr nc&an, consequently in the lower world, near the realm of Nat. 5. (a) Ivalde's sons were intimately associated with Frey and gave him precious treasures. {b) Volund and Egil were intimately associated with Frey, and were his fosterers and wards. 6. (a) Ivalde's sons were most deeply insulted by the gods. (b) Volund has been most deeply insulted by the Asas. He and Egil become their foes, and ally themselves with the powers of frost. 7. (a) The insult given to Ivalde's sons consisted in the fact that their works were judged inferior as compared with the hammer Mjolner made by Sindre. (b) The best smith-work produced by Volund is a sword of such a quality that it is to prove itself superior to Mjolner in battle. These circumstances alone force us to assume the identity of Ivalde's sons with Volund and his brothers. We must either admit the identity, or we are obliged to assume that the epic of the mythology contained two such groups of brothers, and made them identical in descent, functions, and fortunes. Besides, it must then have made the one group avenge not an insult offered to itself, but an insult to the other. I have abstained from the latter assumption, because it is in conflict with the best rules for a TEUTONIC MYTHO] logical investigation — caiiscc non sunt prater tueeuitatem multi- plicands. And the identity gains confirmation from all the investigation progresses. 111. The Results of the Judgment passed on the Works oi .\ produced by the ivalde sons. parallel mvtiis in rlgveda. In the Younger Edda, which speaks of the judgmenl passed by the gods on tlie artworks of the [valde 30ns (p. 340, ftc. , there is nothing said about the consequences of the judgmenl : and the mycologists seem therefore to have assumed that no results followed, although it was prepared by the " father of misfortunes," the far-calculating and evil-scheming Loke. The judgment would in that case be an isolated event, without any influence on the future, and without any connection with the other mythic eventa On the other hand, no possible explanation was found of Volund's words (Volundarkvida, 28), which he utters after he has taken his terrible vengeance on Nidad and is prepared to fly away in eagle guise from his prison: Nit hefi cc hefnt harma mvnna cUlra Unna wi}>gjamra — "Now I have avenged all the wrongs dune to me, excepting one, which demands a more terrible vengeance". The wrong here referred to by him is not done to him by Nidad, and did not happen to him while he lived as an exile in the wilderness of the Wolfdales, but belongs to an earlier time, when he and his brothers and their kinsmen dwelt in the realm rich in gold, where, according to Volundarkvida (14), they lived a happy life. This wrons was not avenged when he and his brothers left their home abounding in gold, in order that far from his enemies he might (perfect his plan of revenge by making the sword of victory. jVolund's words refer to the judgment passed on the art work of jthe Ivalde sons, and thus the mythic events unite themselves into a continuous chain. This judgment was in its consequences too important not t" De referred to in Voluspa, which makes all the danger-boding events of the mythology pass one by one before our eyes in the )rder in which they happened, in order to show how this world :rom an innocent and happy beginning sank deeper and di nto the misery which attains its maturitv in Ragnarok. That is 38 594 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. the plan and purpose of the poem. As I shall show fully and in detail in another part of this work, its purpose is not to speak of Valfather's " art work," but of the treacherous deeds of Loke, " the father of evil " ( Vafodrs ml — Cod. Hauk.) ; not to speak of " the traditions of the past," but of " the past events full of danger " (forn spjoll fira). The happy time during which the Asas tcflclu i tuni and teitir vdru passes away for ever, and is followed by an epoch in which three dangerous thurs-maidens came from Jotunheim. These thurs-maidens are not the norns, as has usually been assumed. Of the relation of the norns to the gods I have given a full account already. The three thurs-maids are the one who in her unity is triple and is thrice born of different parents. Her name is Heid-Gulveig- Angerboda, and, in connection with Loke, she constitutes the evil principle of Teutonic mythology, like Angra Mainyu, and Jahi in the Iranian mythology (Bundehesh, 3). The misfortune-boding event which happens after the first hypostasis of " the three times born " came from Jotunheim is mentioned in connection with its consequences in Voluspa (str. 8). The Asas had not hitherto suffered from want of works of gold, but now came a time when such as might be of use or pleasure to the gods were no longer to be had. Of the gold-metal itself the gods have never been in want. Their halls glitter with this metal, and it grows in the bright wood Glasir, outside of Valhal (Younger Edda, i. 340). The poem, as the very words show, means golden works of art, things made of gold, such as Gungnir, Draupnir, Sif 's hair, Brisingamen, and Slidrugtanni, things the possession of which increased the power of the gods and the wealth of Midgard. Such ceased to flow into the hands of the gods. The epoch in which Sindre's and the Ivalde son's gifts increased Asgard's collection of world-protecting weapons and fertility-producing ornaments was at an end, when Loke, through Heid's arrival, found his other ego and when the evil principle, hitherto barren, could as man and woman give birth to evil deeds. The consequence of the first deceitful act was, as we see, that hands skilful in art — hands which hitherto had made and given such treasures — refused to serve the gods any longer. The arrangement whereby Loke gained this end Voluspa does not mention, but it can be no other than the judgment brought about by him, which insulted the sons of Ivalde, and, at the same TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. time, cheated the victorious Sindie out of the pri I on, Loke's head. Both the groups of artists must have Left the divine court angry at the gods. When we remember that the prim artists are the creative forces of vegetation personified, then we also understand the significance of the conflict between then the gods, whom they hitherto had served. The fir I part of Voluspa is interpolated partly with strophes from an old BOng of creation of great mythological importance, partly with lists of names for the use of young poets. If we remove th< polations, there remains a chain of primeval mythological miaha] 5, the first link of which is the event which marks the cud of the first epoch during which the primeval ;i rt i -t -, amicably united with the gods, made splendid weapons, means » . i" locomotion, and ornaments for the latter. On this conflict followed tin- blending of the air with harmful elements — in other words, it was the lie-inning of the great winter. Freyja was betrayed into the hands of the giants ; the black art, sown by Heid, was disseminated among mankind ; the murder was committed against the one thrice born contrary to promise and oath; then' is war between the Asas and Vans ; the first great war in the world breaks oat, when Asgard is stormed and Midgard is covered with battlefields, on which brothers slay each other; Balder is killed by the mistle- toe; the host of monsters are born who, in the Eronwood, await Ragnarok; on account of the sins of men, it became necessary to make places of torture in the lower world. All these terrible events, which happened in time's morning, are the cunning work of the father of misfortunes and of his feminine counterpart The seeress in Voluspa relates all these events and do show the necessity of the coming destruction and regeneration of the world. Above (see No. 54), it has already been shown that the fragments of old Aryan mythology, which Avesta, Zend, Bundehesh have preserved, speak of a terrible winter, which visited the world. To rescue that which is noblest and best among plants, animals, and men from the coming destruction, Jima arranged a the lower world a separate enclosed domain, within which Bel organisms live an uncontaminated life undisturbed by the events of this world, so that they may people a more beautiful and a happier earth in the regenerated world. I have shown that the 596 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. same myth in all important details reappears in the Teutonic doctrine anent Mimer's grove and the dsmegir living there. In the Iranian records, we read that the great winter was the work of the evil spirit, but they do not tell the details or the epic causes of the destruction by the cold. Of these causes we get information in Eigveda, the Indian sister of the Iranian mythology. Clothed with divine rank, there lives among Rigveda's gods an extraordinary artist, Tvashtar (Tvashtri), often mentioned and addressed in Eigveda's hymns. The word means " the master- workman," " the handi-workman " (Bergaigne, Relig. Ved., iii. 45 ; Darmesteter, Ormazd, 63, 100). He is the one who forms the organisms in the maternal wombs, the one who prepares and first possesses as his secret the strength- and inspiration-giving soma- drink (Eigv., ii. 53, &c.) ; it is he that supports the races of men (Eigv., iii. 55, 19). Among the wonderful things made by his hands are mentioned a goblet, which the gods drink from, and which fills itself with blessings (Eigv., iii. 55, 20 ; x. 53, 9), and Indra's, the Hindooic Thor's, thunderbolt, corresponding to Thor's Mjolner. But among mortals brothers have been reared, themselves mortals, and not of divine rank, but who have educated themselves into artists, whose skill fills the world with astonishment. They are three in number, usually called the Eibhus, but also Anus and Ayus, names which possibly may have some original connection with the Volund names Anund and Ajo. Most clever and enter- prising in successful artistic efforts is the youngest of the three (Eigv., iv. 34). They are also soma-brewers, skalds, and heroes (Eigv., iv. 36, 5, 7), and one of them, like Volund's brother Orvan- del-Egil, is an unsurpassed archer (Eigv., iv. 36, 6). On account of their handiwork, these mortal artists come in contact with the gods (Eigv., iv. 35), and as Volund and Orvandel-Egil become Thor's friends, allies, war-comrades, and servants, so the Eibhus become Indra's (Eigv., i. 51, 2 ; vii. 37, 7) ; " with Indra, the helpful, allied themselves the helpers ; with Indra, the nimble, the Eibhus". They make weapons, coats-of-mail, and means of locomotion, and make wonderful treasures for the gods. On earth they produce vegetation in the deserts, and hew out ways for the fertilising streams (Eigv., v. 42, 12 ; iv. 33, 7). With Ivalde's sons, they, therefore, share the qualities of being at the same time TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. creators of vegetation, and smiths at the hearth, and beetowi precious treasures to the gods. But some evil tongue persuaded the gods that the Ribhus had said something derogatory of the goblel made by Tvaahtar. This made Tvaahtar angry, and he demanded their death. The gods then sent the fire-god Agni to the Ribhua The Ribhus aaked: ■ Why has the most excellent, the most youthful one C to On what errand does he come?" Agni told them thai it un- reported that they had found fault with Tvashtar's goblet ; they declared that they had not said anything derogatory, but only talked about the material of which it was made. Agni meanwhile stated the resolution of the gods, to the effect that they were to make from Tvashtar's goblet four others of the Bame kind, [f they were unable to do this, then the gods would doubtless Batisfy Tvashtar's request and take their lives; but if they were able to make the goblets, then they should share with the gods the right to receive offerings. Moreover, they were to give the following proof of mastership. They were to smithy a living horse, a living chariot, a living cow, and they were to create a means of rejuvena- tion and demonstrate its efficacy on two aged and enfeebled beinga The Ribhus informed the gods that they would do whal was demanded of them. So they made the wonderful chariot or the chariot-ship, which they gave to the Asvinians — the beautiful twin-gods — on which they ride through the air and on th< (cp. Skidbladner, Frey's ship, and Hringhorne, Balder's, and pro- bably also Hoder's means of locomotion through the air and on the sea). Of one horse they made two, and presented them to Indra, Out of an empty cow's hide they smithied a cov Sindre's work of art when he made the boar Slidringtanne out of an empty pig's skin). They made the remedy of rejuvenation, and tested it successfully on their aged parents. Finally, they do the great master-work of producing four goblets of equal excellence from Tvashtar's. Thereupon they appear before the goda who, "with insight," test their works. Tvaahtar himself could not help being astounded when he saw the goblets. Bui the result of the test by the gods, and the judgment passed on the art-works of the Ribhus, were fraughl with danger for the future. Both Tvashtar and the Ribhus be.ame dissatisfied Tvaahtar abandoned the <'ods and betook himself to the mountains with the dises of 598 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. vegetation, in whose company he is often mentioned. The Eibhus refused to accept from the gods the proffered share in morning and noon sacrifices, and went away cursing their adversaries. They proceeded on long journeys, and the gods knew not where to find them (Eigv., i. 161, 1-13 ; iv. 33, 1-11, &c). The result of this trouble between the primeval artists them- selves, and between them and the gods, becomes clear from the significance which Tvashtar, he who nourishes the world, and the Eibhus, they who deck the deserts with vegetation, and irrigate the valleys, have as symbols of nature. The beneficent powers of nature, who hitherto had operated in the service of the gods, abandon their work, and over the world are spread that winter of which the Iranian mythology speaks, that darkness, and that reign of giant-monsters which, according to Eigveda, once prevailed, and during which time Indra, at the head of the gods, fought valiantly to restore order and to bring back the sun. Here we find remarkable points of contact, or rather contact surfaces, between the Asiatic-Aryan groups of myths and the . Teutonic. The question is not as to similarity in special details, j That kind of similarities may be pointed out in nearly all mythic : groups in the world, and, as a rule, altogether too bold hypotheses are built on the feeble foundations they offer. The question here : is in regard to identity in great, central, connected collections of ; myths. Such are : The myths concerning an original harmony i between a divine clan on the one hand, and artists subordinate to, and in the service of, the divine clan on the other hand. Artists who produce fertility, ornaments, and weapons for the gods, know how to brew the strength- and inspiration-giving mead, and are closely connected with dises of vegetation, who, as we I shall show, appear as swan-maids, not only in the Teutonic mythology but also in the Hindooic ; the myths telling how this harmony was frustrated by a judgment in a competition, the contending parties being on the one hand he who in the Hindooic mythology made Indra's thunderbolt, and in the Teutonic Thor's thundering Mjolner ; and on the other hand three brothers, of I whom one is an excellent archer ; the myths concerning the con- sequences of the judgment, the destruction of nature by frost- powers and giant -monsters ; the myths (in the Iranian and Teu- • tonic records of antiquity) concerning the subterranean paradise, TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 599 in which a selection of the best beings of creation are protected against annihilation, and continue to live nncorrupted through centuries ; the myths (in the Iranian and Teutonic records of antiquity) of the destiny of these beings, connected with the myths likewise common to the Iranian and Teutonic mythologies con- cerning the destruction and regeneration of the world. Common to the Hindooic and Teutonic mythology is also the idea that a fanning, spying being, in Rigveda Dadhyak (Dadhyank), in the Icelandic sources Loke, has lost his head to an artist who smithied the bolt for Indra and the hammer for Thor, but saves his wager through cunning. An important observation should here be pointed out. A comparison between different passages in Rigveda shows, that of all the remarkable works of art which were exhibited to the gods fov their examination, there was originally not one of metal. Tvashtar's goblet was not made of gold, but of fire and water and a third element. Indra's thunderbolt was made of the bones of the head of Dadhyak's horse, and it is in a later tradition that it becomes bronze. Common to the Aryan-Asiatic and the Teutonic Lythology is the ability of the primeval artists to make animals from empty skins of beasts, and of making from one work of art several similar ones (the goblet of the Eibhus, Sindre's Draupner). In the Teutonic mythology, Trior's hammer was not originally of metal, but of stone, and the other works produced by Sindre and Ivalde's sons may in the course of centuries have undergone similar changes. It should also be noted that not a trace is to be found in the Asiatic groups of myths of a single one to be compared with that concerning Svipdag and the sword of victory. In the Teutonic heroic saga, Geirvandel, the spear-hero, is the father of Orvandel, the archer, and of him is born Svipdag, the sword-hero (cp. No. 123). The myth concerning the sword of victory seems to be purely Teutonic, and to have sprung into existence during one of the bronze or iron ages, while the myths concerning the judgment passed on the primeval artists, and concerning the fimbul-winter following, must hail from a time when metals were not yet used by the Aryans. In the other event it would be most incredible to suppose that the judgment should concern works of art, of which not a single one originally suggested a product of metal. 600 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 112. The Consequences of the Judgment Passed on the Ivalde Sons {continued). Njord's Efforts to being about a Recon- ciliation. It has already been stated that Fridlevus-Njord rescues a princely youth from the power of the giants. According to Saxo, the event was an episode in the feud between Fridlevus-Njord and Anundus (Volund), and Avo, the archer (Orvandel-Egil). This corroborates the theory that the rescued youth was Frey, Volund's and Egil's foster-son. The first one of the gods to be seized by fears on account of the judgment passed on Ivalde's sons ought, naturally, to be Njord, whose son Frey was at that time in the care and power of Volund and Egil (see No. 109). We also learn from Saxo that Fridlevus took measures to propitiate the two brothers. He first sends messengers, who on his behalf woo the daughter of Anund- Volund, but the messengers do not return. Anund had slain them. Thereupon Fridlevus goes himself, accompanied by others, and among the latter was a " mediator ". The name of the mediator was Bjorno, and he was one of those champions who constituted the defence of that citadel, which Fridlevus afterwards captured, and which we have recognised as Asgard (see No. 36). Thus Bjorno is one of the Asas, and there are reasons, which I shall discuss later, for assuming him to be Balder's brother Ho&r. The context shows that Fridlevus' journey to Ivalde's sons and meeting with them takes place while there was yet hope of reconciliation, and before the latter arrived in the inaccessible Wolfdales, which are situated below the Na-gates in the subterranean Jotunheim. On the way thither they must have been overtaken by Fridlevus, and doubtless the event occurred there which Saxo relates, and of which an account in historical form is preserved in the Longobardian migration saga. The meeting did not lead to reconciliation, but to war. Avo, the archer (Orvandel-Egil ; see Nos. 108, 109) appeared on the one side and challenged Fridlevus-Njord to a duel. Bjorno became angry that a person of so humble descent as this Avo dared to challenge the noble-born Fridlevus, and in his wrath he drew his bow to fell "the plebeian" with an arrow. Thus Bjorno also was an archer. TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 601 But Avo anticipated him, and an arrow from him severed Bjorno'a bow-string from the bow. While Bjorno was tying the string again, there came from Avo a second arrow, which passed between his fingers without hurting him, and then there came a third arrow, which shot away Bjorno's arrow just as he was placing it on the string. Then the Ivalde sons continued their departure. Bjorno let loose a molossus he had with him to pursue them, probably the same giant-dog or giant wolf-dog which Saxo describes in a preceding chapter (Hist., 2G0) as being in Bjorno's possession, and which before had guarded the giant Offote's herds. But this molossus was not able to prevent those fleeing from reaching their destination in safety. In all probability Frey had already been delivered by his wards to the giants when this happened. This must have occurred on the way between the abode abounding in gold, where Ivalde's sons had formerly lived in happiness, and the Wolfdales, and so within Jotunheim, where the gods were surrounded by foes. The story of this adventure on the journey of the emigrating Ivalde sons reappears in a form easily recognised in Paulus Diaconus, where he tells of the emigration of the Longobardians under Ibor (Orvandel-Egil ; see Xo. 108) and Ajo (Volund). In Saxo Avo-Egil, who belongs to the race of elves, becomes a low- born champion, while the Van a -god Xjord becomes King Fridlevus. In Paulus the saga is not content with making the great archer of the emigrants a plebeian, but he is made a thrall who challenges a chosen free-born warrior among the foes of the Longobavdians. In the mythology and in Saxo the duel was fought with bows and arrows, and the plebeian was found to be far superior to his opponent. Paulus does not name the kind of weapons used, but when it had ended with the victory of " the thrall," an oath was taken "ii an arrow that the thralls were to be freed from their chains by the Longobardians. Consequently the arrow must have been the thrall's weapon of victory. In the mythology, the journey of the Ivalde sons to the Wolfdales was down to the lower world Jotunheim and northward through Nifelhel, inhabited by thurses and monsters. Both in Saxo and Paulas this sort of beings take part in the adventures described. In Saxo, Fridlevus' war-comrade Bjorno sends a monster in the guise of a dog against the sons of Ivalde. In Paulus, according to the belief 602 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. of their enemies, the emigrants had as their allies "men with . dog-heads ". Bjorno is an Asa-god ; and he is described as an archer who had : confidence in his weapon, though he proved to be inferior | to Avo in the use of it. Among the gods of Asgard only two archers are mentioned — HocJr and Ullr. At the time when this j event occurred Ull had not yet been adopted in Asgard. As has i been shown above (see No. 102), he is the son of Orvandel-Egil and Sif. His abode is still with his parents when Svipdag, his half- brother, receives instructions from Sif to seek Frey and Freyja in i Jotunheim (see No. 102), and he faithfully accompanies Svipdag through his adventures on this journey. Thus Ull is out of the ! question — the more so as he would in that case be opposing his own father. Hoder (Hoffr) is mentioned as an archer both in the i Beowulf poem, where he, under the name Hsedcyn, shoots Balder- Herebeald accidentally with his " horn-bow," and in Saxo (circus peritict pollebat — Hist., Ill), and in Christian tales based on myths, where he appears by the name HecJinn. That Bjorno, mentioned by Saxo as a beautiful youth, is Hoder is confirmed by another circumstance. He is said to be sequestris ordinis vir (Hist, 270), an expression so difficult to interpret that scholars have proposed to change it into scquioris or equestris ordinis vir. The word shows ; that Bjorno in Saxo's mythological authorities belonged to a group ; of persons whose functions were such that they together might be i designated as a sequestris orclo. Sequester means a mediator in i general, and in the law language of Eome it meant an impartial arbitrator to whom a dispute might be referred. The Norse word \ which Saxo, accordingly, translated with sequestris ordo, " the mediators," " the arbitrators," can have been none other than the ! plural Ijonar, a mythological word, and also an old legal term, of which it is said in the Younger Edda : Ljonar heita Jyeir menu, er I ganga urn scettir manna, " Ijdnar are called those men whose l business it is to settle disputes ". That this word Ijonar originally designated a certain group of Asa-gods whose special duty it was to act as arbitrators is manifest from the phrase Ijona kindir, " the children of the peacemakers," an expression inherited from' heathendom and applied to mankind far down in Christian times; it is an expression to be compared with the phrase megir Heimdallar, " Heimdal's sons," which also was used to designate mankind. In> ! TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 603 Christian times the phrase " children of men" was translated with Be heathen expression Ij&na kindir ; and when the recollection of the original meaning of Ijdnar was obliterated, the word, on account of this usage, came to mean men in general (riri, homines), a signification which it never had in the days of heathendom. Three Asa-gods are mentioned in our mythological records as peacemakers — Haider, Hoder, and Haider's son, Forsete. Balder is mentioned as judge in the Younger Edda (90). As such he is mksamastr — that is, "the most influential peacemaker". Of Forsete, who inherits his father's qualities as judge, it is said in Grimnersmal (15) that he svefer allar sacir, "settles all disputes". Hoder, who both in name and character appears to be a most violent and thoughtless person, seems to be the one least qualified for this calling. Nevertheless he performed the duties of an arbitrator by the side of Balder and probably under his influence. Saxo (Hist., 122) speaks of him as a judge to whom men referred their disputes — mnsueverat consulcnti yopxdo phbiscita depromere — and describes him as gifted with great talents of persuasion. He had doriucnticc suavitatcm, and was able to subdue stubborn minds with benignissimo mrmone (Hist, 116, 117). In Voluspa (60) the human race which peoples the renewed earth is called burir bro&ra tvegia, " the sons of the two brothers," and the two brothers mentioned in the preceding strophe are Balder and Hoder. Herewith is to be fcmpared Ijdna kindir in Voluspa (14). In Harbardsljod (42) the insolent mocker of the gods, Harbard, refers to the miserable issue of an effort made by jafnendr, "the arbitrator," to reconcile gods with certain ones of their foes. I think it both possible and probable that the passage refers to the mythic event above described, and that it contains an allusion to the fact that the effort to make peace concerned the recovery of Frey and Freyja, who were, delivered as "brides" to naughty giants, and for which " brides " the peacemakers received arrows and blows as compensation. Compare the expression becta mundi bavgi and Thor's astonishment, expressed in the next strophe, at the insulting words, the worst of the kind he ever heard. Saxo describes the giant in whose power Frey is, when he is rescued by his father, as a cowardly and enervated monster whose enormous body is a moles destituta rubore (Hist., 268). In this manner ended the effort of the gods to make peace. The three sons of Ivalde continue their journey to the 604 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. "Wolfdales, inaccessible to the gods, in order that they thence might send ruin upon the world. 113. Proofs that Ivalde's Sons are Identical with Olvalde's. Observations made in the course of my investigations anent Ivalde and his sons have time and again led me to the unexpected result that Ivalde's sons, Slagfin, Egil, and Volund, are identical with Olvalde-Alvalde's sons, who, in the Grotte-song, are called l&i, Urnir or Aumir (Ornir), and Jj jazi, and in the Younger Edda (p. 214) fy'azi, I&i, and Gdngr. This result was unexpected and, as it seemed to me in the beginning, improbable, for the reason that where Thjasse is mentioned in the Elder Edda, he is usually styled a giant, while Volund is called a prince or chief of elves in Volun- darkvida. In Grimnersmal (11) Thjasse is designated as inn amdthi iotunn; in Harbardsljod (19) as enn pru&mopgi iotunn ; in Hyndlu- ljod (30) as a kinsman of Gymer and Aurboda. The Grotte-song (9) says that Thjasse, Ide, and Aurnir were brothers of those mountain giants who were the fathers of Menja and Fenja. In the Younger Edda he is also called a jotunn. In the beginning of my researches, and before Volund's position in the mythology was clear to me, it appeared to me highly improbable that a prince among the elves and one of the chief artists in the mythology could be characterised as a giant. Indeed I was already then aware that the clan-names occurring in the mythology — dss, vanr, dlfr, dvergr, and jotunn — did not exclusively designate the descent of the beings, but could also be applied to them on account of qualities developed or positions acquired, regardless of the clan to which they actually belonged by their birth. In Thrymskvida (15), so to speak in the same breath, Heimdal is called both dss and vanr — "J?d quaj? J?at Heim- dallr, hvitastr dsa, vissi han vel fram sem vanir djnrir ". And Loke is designated both as dss and jotunn, although the Asas and giants represent the two extremes. Neither Heimdal nor Loke are of the Asa-clan by birth ; but they are adopted in Asgard, that is, they are adopted Asas, and this explains the appellation. Elves and dwarfs are doubtless by descent different classes of beings, but the word dwarf, which in the earliest Christian times became the synonym of a being of diminutive stature, TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 605 also meant an artist, a smith, whence both Vans and elves, nay, even Fjalar, could be incorporated in the Vbluspa dwarf- list. When, during the progress of my investigations, it appeared that Volund and his brothers in the epic of the mythology were the most dangerous foes of the gods and led the powers of frost in their efforts to destroy the world, it could no longer surprise me that Volund, though an elf prince, was characterised as inn dmdtki iotunn, enn firucFmofigi iotunn. But there was another difficulty in the way : according to Hyndluljod and the Grotte- song, Thjasse and his brothers were kinsmen of giants, and must therefore undoubtedly have had giant-blood in their veins. But there are kinsmen of the giants among the Asas too ; and when in the progress of the investigation it appears that Thjasse's mother is a giantess, but his father a ha/A, a god of lower rank, then his maternal descent, and his position as an ally and chief of the giants, and as the most powerful foe of Asgard and Midgard, are sufficient to explain the apparent contradiction that he is at the same time a giant and a kinsman of the giants, and still identical with the elf-prince, Volund. It should also be observed that, as shall be shown below, the tradition has preserved the memory of the fact that Volund too was called a giant and had kinsmen among the giants. The reasons which, taken collectively, prove conclusively, at least to me, that Ivalde's sons and Olvalde's are identical are the following : (1) In regard to the names themselves, we note in the first place that, as has already been pointed out, the name of the father of Ide, of Aurnir-Gang, and of Thjasse appears with the variations Allvaldi, Olvaldi, and Au&valdi. To persons speaking a language in which the prefixes /-, Iff-, and All- are equivalents and are substituted for one another, and accustomed to poetics, in which it was the most common thing to substitute equivalent nouns and names (for example, Grjothjom for Arinbjom, Fjattgyldir for Asd/fr, &c), it was impossible to see in Ivaldi and Allvaldi any- thing but names designating the same person. (2) Anent the variation Olvalde we have already seen that its equivalents Olmodr and Sumbl (Finnakonungr, phdnnorum rex) allude to Slagfin's, Orvandel-Egil's, and Volund's father, while Ol- valde himself is said to be the father of Ide, Aurnir, and Thjasse. 606 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. (3) Ajo's and Ibor's mother is called Gambara in Origo Longobardorum and in Paulus Diaconus. Aggo's and Ebbo's mother is called Gambarue in Saxo. In Ibor-Ebbo and Ajo-Aggo we have re-discovered Egil and Volund. The Teutonic stem of which the Latinised Gambara was formed is in all probability gambr, gammr, a synonym of gripr (Younger Edda, ii. 572), the German Greif. According to the Younger Edda (i. 314), Thjasse's mother is the giantess Greip, daughter of Geirrodr. The forms grip, neuter, and greip, feminine, are synonyms in the Old Norse language, and they surely grew out of the same root. While Gambara thus is Volund's mother, Thjasse's mother bears a name to which Gambara alludes. (4) The variation Auffvaldi means " the one presiding over riches," and the epithet finds its explanation in the Younger Edda's account of the gold treasure left by Thjasse's father, and of its division among his sons (p. 214). It is there stated that Thjasse's father was mjok gullauftigr. Ivalde's sons, who gave the gods golden treasures, were likewise rich in gold, and in Volun- darkvida Volund speaks of his and his kinsmen's golden wealth in their common home. (5) Of the manner in which Thjasse and his brothers divided the golden treasure the Younger Edda contains, in the above passage, the following statement : " When Olvalde died and his sons were to divide the inheritance, they agreed in the division to measure the gold by taking their mouths full of gold an equal number of times. Hence gold is called in poetry the words or speech of these giants." It is both possible and assumable that in the mythology the brothers divided the gold in silence and in harmony. But that it should have been done in the manner here related may be doubted. There is reason to suspect that the story of the division of the gold in the manner above described was invented in Christian times in order to furnish an explanation of the phrase pingskil Jy'aza in Bjarkamal, of Idja glysmdl in the same source, and of idja ord, quoted in Malskritdsfrcedi. More than one pseudo-mythic story, created in the same manner and stamped by the same taste, is to be found in the Younger Edda. It should not be forgotten that all these phrases have one thing in common, and that is, a public deliberation, a judicial act. Mdl and ord do not TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 607 necessary imply such an allusion, for in addition to the legal meaning, they have the more common one of speech and verbal statements in general ; but to get at their actual significance in the paraphrases quoted we must compare them with JtvngsMl, since in these paraphrases all the expressions, pmgskU, glysmdl, and or&, must be founded on one and the same mythic event. With pingskU is meant that which can be produced before a court by the defendant in a dispute to clear up his case; and as gold orna- ments are called Thjasse's ft ingskil in Bjarkamal, it should follow thai some judicial act was mentioned in the mythology, in which gold treasures made or possessed by Thjasse were produced to clear up a dispute which, in some way or other, touched him. From the same point of view Ide's glysmdl and Ide's ord are to be interpreted. Ide's glysmdl are Ide's "glittering pleadings"; hi3 or& are the evidence or explanation presented in court by the ornaments made by or belonging to him. Now, we know from the mythology a court act in which precious works of the smiths, " glittering pleadings," were produced in reference to the decision of a case. The case or dispute was the one caused by Loke, and the question was whether he had forfeited his head to Sindre or not. As we know, the decision of the dispute depended on a comparison between Brok's and Sindre's works on the one hand, and those of the Ivalde sons on the other. Brok had appeared before the high tribunal, and was able to plead his and his brother's cause. Ivalde's sons, on the other hand, were not present, but the works done by them had to speak in their behalf, or rather for themselves. From this we have, as it seems to me, a simple and striking explanation of the paraphrases pjaza pingslil, Idja glysmdl, Icfja orff. Their works of art were the glittering but mute pleadings which were presented, on their part, for the decision of the case. That gold carried in the mouth and never laid before the tribunal should be called JnngskU I regard as highly improbable. From heathen poems we cannot produce a single positive proof that a paraphrase of so distorted and inadequate a character was ever used. (6) Saxo relates that the same Fridlevus-Njord who fought with Anund-Volund and Avo-Egil wooed Anund's daughter and was refused, but was married to her after Anund's death. Thus it would seem that Njord married a daughter of Volund. In the 608 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. mythology he marries Thjasse's daughter Skade. Thus Volund and Thjasse act the same part as father-in-law of Njord. (7) Saxo further relates that Freyja-Syritha's father was married to the soror of Svipdag-Otharus. Soror means sister, but also foster-sister and playmate. If the word is to be taken in its strictest sense, Njord marries a daughter of Volund's brother ; if in its modified sense, Volund's daughter. (8) In a third passage (Hist, 50, 53), Skade's father appears under the name Haquinus. The same name belongs to a champion (Hist., 323) who assists Svipdag-Ericus in his combat with the Asa-cod Thor and his favourite Halfdan, and is the cause that Thor's and Halfdan's weapons prove themselves worthless against the Volund sword wielded by Svipdag-Ericus. There is, therefore, every reason for regarding Haquinus as one of Saxo's epithets for Volund. The name Halcon, of which Haquinus has been supposed to be the Latinised form, never occurs in the Norse mythic records, but Haquinus is in this case to be explained as a Latinisation with the aspirate usual in Saxo of the Old German Aki, the Middle German Ecke, which occurs in the compositions Eckenbrecht, Ecke- hard, and Eckesachs. In " Roseugarten," Eckenbrecht is a cele- brated weapon-smith. In Vilkinasaga, Eckehard is, like Volund, a smith who works for Mimer ; and Eckesachs is a sword made by the three dwarfs, of which in part the same story is told as of Volund's sword of victory. Thus while Haquinus and what is narrated of Haquinus refers to the smith Volund, a person who in Saxo is called Haquinus assumes the place which belongs to Thjasse in his capacity of Skade's father. (9) In Lokasenna (17), Loke reproaches Idun that she has em- braced the slayer of her own brother : J?ic quefi ec allra quenna vergjarnasta vera, sitztu arma fiina lagdir itrfivegna um Jjinn hropurhana. Idun is a daughter of Ivalde (Forspjallsljod), and hence a sister or half-sister of the famous smiths, Ivalde's sons. From the passage it thus appears that one of Ivalde's sons was slain, and TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGV. 609 Loke insists that Idun had given herself to the man who was the cause of his death. There is not the slightest reason to doubt that in this instance, as in so many other cases, Loke boasts of the evil deeds he has committed, and of the successes he has had among the asynjes, according to his own assurances. With the reproches cast on Idun we should compare what he affirms in regard to Freyja, in regard to Tyr's wife, in regard to Skade and Sif, in reference to all of whom he claims that they have secretly been his mistresses. Against Idun he could more easily and more truthfully bring this charge, for the reason that she was at one time wholly in his power, namely, when he stole into Thjasse's halls and carried her away thence to Asgard (Younger Edda, i. 210-214). Under such circum- stances, that slayer of Idun's brother, whom she is charged with embracing, can be none other than Loke himself. As a further allusion to this, the author of the poem makes Loke speak of a circumstance connected with the adventure — namely, that Idun, to ■weeten the pleasure of the critical hour, washed her arms shining white — a circumstance of which none other than herself and her secret lover could know. Thus Loke is the cause of the slaying of one of the famous artists, Ivalde's sons. The murders of which Loke boasts in the poem are two only, that of Balder and that of Thjasse. He says that he advised the killing of Balder, and that he was the first and foremost in the killing of Thjasse {fyrstr oc ofstr). Balder was not Idun's brother. So far as we can make out from the mythic records extant, the Ivalde son slain must have been identical with Thjasse, the son of Alvalde. There is no other choice. (10) It has already been shown above that Volund and the swan-maid who came to him in the Wolfdales were either brother and sister or half-brother and half-sister. From what has been stated above, it follows that Thjasse and Idun were related to each other in the same manner. (11) Thjasse's house is called Brunn-akr (Younger Edda, i. 312). In Volundarkvida (9) Volund is called Brunni. (12) Idun has the epithet Sn6t (Younger Edda, 306), "the wise one," "the intelligent one". Volund's swan-maid has the epithet Alvitr, "the much-knowing one," "the very intelligent one " (Volundarkvida, 1). Volund has the epithet Asulfr (Hynd- 39 610 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. luljod ; cp. No. 109). Thjasse has the epithet Fjallgylder (Younger Edda, 308), which is a paraphrase of Asdlfr (dss =fjoll, olfr = gyldir). (13) One of Volund's brothers, namely Orvandel-Egil, had the epithet "Wild boar" (Ibor, Ebur). One of Thjasse's brothers is called Urnir, Aurnir. This name means " wild boar ". Compare the Swedish and Norwegian peasant word orne, and the Icelandic word runt (a boar), in which the letters are transposed. (14) At least one of Alvalde's sons was a star-hero, viz., Thjasse, whose eyes Odin and Thor fastened on the heavens (Harbardsljod, 18; Younger Edda, i. 318, 214). At least one of Ivalde's sons was a star-hero, viz., Orvandel-Egil (Younger Edda, i. 276, &c). No star-hero is mentioned who is not called a son of Alvalde or is a son of Ivalde, and not a single name of a star or of a group of stars can with certainty be pointed out which does not refer to Alvalde's or Ivalde's sons. From the Norse sources we have the names Orvandilstd pjaza augic Loka- brenna and Beicf Bognis. Lokabrenna, the Icelandic name of Sirius, can only refer to the brenna (fire) caused by Loke when Thjasse fell into the vaferflames kindled around Asgard. In Bei& Bognis, Eogner's car, Eogner is, as shall be shown below, the epithet of a mythic person, in whom we rediscover both Volund and Thjasse. In Old English writings the Milky Way is called Vsetlingastraet, Watlingestrset. The Watlings or Vastlings can only be explained as a patronymic meaning Vate's sons. Vate is one of the names of the father of Volund and his brothers (see No. 110). Another old English name of a star-group is Eburjmmg, Eburpring. Here Egil's surname Ebur, "wild boar," reappears. The name Ide, borne by a brother of Thjasse, also seems to have designated a star-hero in England. At least two of these figures and names are very old and of ancient Aryan origin. I do not know the reasons why Vigfusson assumes that Orvandel is identical with Orion, but the assumption is corroborated by mythological facts. Orion is the most celebrated archer and hunter of Greek mythology, just as Orvandel is that of the Teutonic. Like Orvandel-Egil, he has two brothers of whom the one Lykos (wolf) has a Telchin name, and doubtless was originally identical with the Telchin Lykos, who, like Volund, is a «reat artist and is also endowed with powers to influence the TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. Gil weather. Orion could, so it is said, walk on the sea as well as on the land. I )rvandel-Egil has skees, with which he travels on the sea as well as on the snow-fields, whence small ships are called EgiVs andrar, Egil's skees (Kormak, 5). Orion woos a daughter of Oinopion. The first part of the word is oivo? (wine) ; and as ( Mnopion is the son of Bacchus, there is no room for doubt that he originally had a place in the Aryan myth in regard to the mead. Orvandel-Egil woos a daughter of Sumbl (Olvalde), the king of the Finns, who in the Teutonic mythology is Oinopion's counterpart. Orion is described as a giant, a tall and exceedingly handsome man, and is said to be a brother of the Titans. His first wife, the beautiful Sida, he soon lost by death ; just as Orvandel lost Groa. Sida, al8a, with its Dorian variation Rhoa, poa, means fruit. The name Groa refers, like Sida, Rhoa, to vegetation, growth. After Sida's decease, Orion woos Oinopion's daughter, just as Orvandel-Egil woos the daughter of the Finnish king Sumbl after Groa's death. He has a third erotic alliance with Eos. According to one record he is said to have been killed because, in his love of the chase, he had said that he would exterminate all game on earth. This statement may have its origin in the myth preserved by the Teutons about Volund's and Orvandel-Egil's effort to destroy all life on the earth by the aid of the powers of frost. Hesiod says that the Pleiades (which set when Orion rises above the horizon) save them- selves from Orion in the stream of the ocean. The above- mentioned Old English name of a constellation Eburbrung may refer to the Pleiades, since the part jfrrung, ffryng, refers to a dense cluster of stars. The first part of the word, Ebur, as already stated, is a surname of Orvandel-Egil. It should be added that the points of similarity between the Orion and Orvandel myths are of such a nature that they exclude all idea of being borrowed one from the other. Like the most of the Greek myths in the form in which they have been handed down to us, the Orion myth is without any organic connection with any epic whole. The Orvandel myth, on the other hand, dovetails itself as a part into a mythological epic which, in grand and original outlines, represents the struggle between gods, patriarchs, ancient artists, and frost-giants for the control of the world. The name Thjasse, fijazi, in an older and uncorrupted form jnxi, I regard to be most ancient like the person that bears it. According 612 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. to my opinion, Thjasse is identical with the star-hero mentioned in Rigveda, Tishya, the Tistrya of the Iranians, who in Eigveda (x. 64, 8) is worshipped together with an archer, who presumably was his brother. The German middle-age poetry has preserved the name Thjasse in the form Desen (which is related to J?iazi as Delven is to pialft). In " Dieterichs Flucht " Desen is a king, whose daughter marries Dieterich-Hadding's father. In the Norse sources a sister of Thjasse (Alveig-Signe, daughter of Sumbl, the king of the Finns) marries Hadding's father, Halfdan. Common to the German and Norse traditions is, therefore, that Hadding's father marries a near kinswoman of Thjasse. (1 5) In the poem Haustlaung Thjasse's adventure is mentioned, when he captured Loke with the magic rail. Here we get remarkable, hitherto misunderstood, facts in regard to Thjasse's personality. That they have been misunderstood is not owing to lack of attention or acumen on the part of the interpreters. On the contrary, acumen has been lavished thereon.* In some cases the scholars have resorted to text-changes in order to make the con- tents intelligible, and this was necessary on account of the form in which our mythology hitherto has been presented, and that for good reasons, since important studies of another kind, especially of accurate editions of the Teutonic mythological texts, have claimed the time of scholars and compelled them to neglect the study of the epic connection of the myths and of their exceedingly rich and abundant synonymies. As a matter of course, an examination of the synonymies and of the epic connection could not fail to shed another light than that which could be gained without this study upon a number of passages in the old mythological poems, and upon the paraphrases based on the myths and occurring in the historical songs. In Haustlaung Thjasse is called fa&ir morna, " the father of the swords ". Without the least reason it has been doubted that a mythic person, that is so frequently called a giant, and whose con- nection with the giant world and whose giant nature are so distinctly held forth in our mythic sources, could be an artist and a maker of swords. Consequently the text has been changed to facfir * See for example Th. Wisen's investigations and Finnur Jonsson's Krit. Stud. (Copenhagen, 1884). TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 613 mornar or faffir morna, the father of consumption or of the strength-consuming diseases, or of the feminine thurses representing these diseases. But so far as our mythic records give us any information, Thjasse had no other daughter than Skade, described as a proud, bold, powerful maid, devoted to achievements, who was elevated to the rank of an asynje, became the wife of the god of wealth, the tender stepmother of the lord of harvests (Skirnersmal), Frigg's clja, and in this capacity the progenitress of northern rulers, who boasted their descent from her. That Thjasse had more daughters is indeed possible, but they are not mentioned, aud it must remain a conjecture on which nothing can be built ; and even if such were the case, it must be admitted that as Skade was the foremost and most celebrated among them, she is the first one to be thought of when there is mention of a daughter or of daughters of Thjasse. But that Skade should be spoken of as a mom, a consumption-witch, and that Hakon Jarl should be regarded as descended from a demon of consumption, and be celebrated in song as the scion of such a person, I do not deem possible. The text, as we have it, tells us that Thjasse was the father of swords (mornir = sword ; see Younger Edda, i. 5G7 ; ii. 560, 620). We must confine ourselves to this reading and remember that this is not the only passage which we have hitherto met with where his name is put in connection with works of a smith. Such a passage we have already met with in pjaza pijigskil. (16) In the same poem, Haustlaung, Thjasse is called liapta snijtrlr, "the one who decorated the gods," furnished them with treasures. This epithet, too, appeared unintelligible, so long as none of the artists of anticpuity was recognised in Thjasse ; hence text-changes were also resorted to in this case in order to make sense out of the passage. The situation described is as follows: Odin and Hcenir, accom- panied by Loke are out on a journey. They have traversed mountains and wildernesses (Bragarredur, 2), aud are now in a region which, to judge from the context, is situated within Thjasse's domain, Thrymheim. The latter, who is margspakr and XbmhugaSr (Haustl., 3, 12), has planned an ambush for Loke in the very place which they have now reached : a valley (Bragarredur, 2) overgrown with oak-trees (Haustl., 6), and the more inviting as a place of re- 614 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. freshment aud rest, inasmuch as the Asas are hungry after their long journey (Bragarsedur, 21), and see a herd of "yoke-bears" pasturing in the grass near by. Thjasse has calculated on this and makes one of the bears act the part of a decoy (tdlhreinn = a decoy reindeer — Haustlaung, 3 ; see Vigfusson's Diet., 626), which permits itself to be caught by the travellers. That the animal belongs to Thjasse's herds follows from the fact that it (str. 6) is said to belong to the "dis of the bow-string," Skade, his daughter. The animal is slaughtered and a fire is kindled, over which it is to be roasted. Near the place selected for the eating of the meal there lies, as it were accidentally, a rail or stake. It resembles a common rail, but is in fact one of Thjasse's smith-works, having magic qualities. When the animal is to be carved, it appears that the " decoy rein- deer was quite hard between the bones for the gods to cut " (tdl- hreinn var meffal beina tormidladr tifum — str. 3). At the same time the Asas had seen a great eagle flying toward them (str. 2), and alighting near the place where they prepared their feast (str. 3). From the context it follows that they took it for granted that the eagle guise concealed Thjasse, the ruler of the region. The animal being found to be so hard to carve, the Asas at once guess that Thjasse, skilled in magic arts, is the cause, and they im- mediately turn to him with a question, which at the same time tells him that they know who he is : Hvat, quojjo, hapta smjtrir hjdlmfaldinn, fivi valda ? " They (the gods) said (guopo) : Why cause this (hvat pvi valda) thou ornament-giver of the gods (hjdlmfaldinn hapta snytrir), con- cealed in a guise (eagle guise)?" He at once answers that he desires his share of the sacred meal of the gods, and to this Odin gives his consent. Nothing indicates that Odin sees a foe in Thjasse. There is then no difficulty in regard to the roast ; and when it is ready and divided into four parts Thjasse flies down, but, to plague Loke, he takes so much that the latter, angry, and doubtless also depending on Odin's protection if needed, seizes the rail lying near at hand and strikes the eagle a blow across the back. But Loke could not let go his hold of the rail ; his hand stuck fast to one end while the other end clung to the eagle, and Thjasse flew with him and did not let go of him before he TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. G15 had forced him to swear an oath that he would bring Idun into Thjasse's hands. So long as it was impossible to assume that Thjasse had been the friend of the gods before this event happened, and in the capacity of ancient artist had given them valuable products of his skill, and thus become a hapta snytrir, it was also impossible to see in him, though he was concealed in the guise of an eagle, the hjdl mfal 'Jinn here in question, since hjdlmfaldiim manifestly is in apposition to hapta snytrir, " the decorator of the gods ". (The common meaning of hjdlmr, as is well known, is a covering, a garb, of which hjdlmr in the sense of a helmet is a specification.) It therefore became necessary to assume that Odin was meant by hjdl mfaldinn and luipta snytrir. This led to the changing of guo]}0 to qua&, and to the insertion in the manuscripts of a mun not found there, and to the exclusion of a fivi found there. The result was, moreover, that no notice was taken of the use made of the expressions hjdl mfaldinn and snytrir in a poem closely related to Haustlaung, and evidently referring to its description of Thjasse. This poem is Einar Skalaglam's " Vellekla," which celebrates Hakon Jarl, the Great. Hakon Jail regarded himself as de- scended from Thjasse through the hitter's daughter, Skade (Haley- gjatal), and on this account Vellekla contains a number of allusions to the mythic progenitor. The task (from a poetic and rhetorical point of view) which Einar has undertaken is in fact that of taking, so far as possible, the kernel of those paraphrases with which he celebrates Hakon Jarl (see below) from the myth concerning Thjasse, and the task is performed with force and acumen. In the execu- tion of his poem Einar has had before him that part of Thjodulf's Haustlaung which concerned Thjasse. In str. 6 he calls Thjasse's descendant fijdd'ar snytrir, taking his cue from Haustlaung, which calls Thjasse hapta snytrir. In str. 8 he gives Hakon the epithet hjdl mi faldinn, having reference to Haustlaung, which makes Thjasse appear hjdl m-f aid inn. In str. 10 Hakon is a garff-Rognir, just as Thjasse is a ving-Rognir in Haustlaung. In str. 11 Hakon is a midjungr, just as Thjasse is a miSjungr in Haustlaung. In str. 16 an allusion is made in the phrase vildi Tggs ni&r friffar biOj" to Haustlaung's mdlunautr hvdts mdtti fricTar Liffja. In str. 21 Hakon is called hlym-Narji, just as Thjasse in Haustlaung is called ijrjdt Nifta&r (Narji and Niftafir are epithets of Mimer ; see 616 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. Nos. 85, 87). In str. 22 Hakon is called fangscdl, and Thjasse has the same epithet in Haustlaung. Some of the paraphrases iu Vellekla, to which the myth about Thjasse furnishes the kernel, I shall discuss below. There can, therefore, be no doubt whatever that Einar in Haustlaung's hjalmfaldinn and hapta snytrir saw epithets of Thjasse, and we arrive at the same result if we interpret the text in its original reading and make no emendations. Thus we have already found three paraphrases which inform us that Thjasse was an ancient artist, one of the great smiths of mythology : (1) Jjiaza fiingskil, golden treasures produced as evidence in court owned or made by Thjasse ; (2) hapta snytrir, he who gave ornaments to the gods ; (3) facfir tnorna, the father of the swords. Thjasse's claim to become a table-companion of the gods and to eat with them, of helgu skutli, points in all probability to an ancient mythological fact of which we find a counterpart in the Iranian records. This fact is that, as a compensation for the services he had rendered the gods, Thjasse was anxious to be elevated to their rank and to receive sacrifices from their worshippers. This demand from the Teutonic star-hero Thjasse is also made by the Iranian star-hero Tistrya, Eigveda's Tishya. Tistrya complains in Avesta that he has not sufficient strength to oppose the foe of growth, Apaosha, since men do not worship him, Tistrya, do not offer sacrifices to him. If they did so, it is said, then he would be strong enough to conquer. Tishya-Tistrya does not appear to have obtained complete rank as a god; but still he is wor- shipped in Eigveda, though very seldom, and in cases of severe dry weather the Iranians were commanded to offer sacrifices to him. (17) In Haustlaung Thjasse is called ving-Rognir vagna, "the Eogner of the winged cars," and fjarcfarblafts leik- Begin, "the Eegin of the motion of the feather-leaf (the wing) ". In the mythology Thjasse, like Volund, wears an eagle guise. In an eagle guise Volund flies away from his prison at Mimev-Nid'acfr's. When Thjasse, through Loke's deceit, is robbed of Idun, he hastens in wild despair, with the aid of his eagle guise, after the robber, gets his wings burned in the vaferflames kindled around Asgard, falls pierced by the javelins of the gods, and is slain by Thor. The original meaning of Begin is maker, creator, arranger, worker. TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. G17 [The meaning has been preserved through the ages, so that the [word regin, though applied to all the creative powers (Vfiluspa), still retained even in Christian times the signification of artist, smith, and reappears in the heroic traditions in the name of the i smith Reginn. When, therefore, Thjasse is called "the Regin of the motion of the feather-leaf," there is no reason to doubt that I the phrase alludes not only to the fact that he possessed a feather guise, but also to the idea that he was its "smith"; the less so as we have already seen him characterised as an ancient artist in the phrases Jriaza bingskil, hapta sngtrir, and fadir morna. Thus we here have a fourth proof of the same kind. The phrase "the iognir of the winged cars" connects him not only with a single | vehicle, but with several. "Wing-car" is a paraphrase for a guise furnished with wings, and enabling its owner to fly through the air. The expression " wing-car " may be applied to several of the strange means used by the powers for locomotion through the air and over the sea, as, for instance, the cars of Thor and Frey, ■alder's ship Ringhorn, Frey's ship Skidbladner, and the feather garbs of the swan-maids. The mythology which knew from whose hands Skidbladner proceeded certainly also had something to say of the masters who produced Ringhorn and the above-mentioned cars and feather garbs. That they were made by ancient artists and not by the highest gods is an idea of ancient Aryan birth. In Rigveda it was the Ribhus, the counterparts of the Ivalde sons, who smithied the wonderful car-ship of the Asvinians and Indra's horses. The appellations Rognir and Regin also occur outside of Haustlaung in connection with each other, and this even as late as in the Ski&a-Rima, composed between 1400 and 1450, where JRegin is represented as a smith {Rognir kallar Regin til sin: \rammliga skaltu smi&a — str. 102). In Forspjallsljod (10) we read : Gxl'h- g6lo, gaundom rifio Rognir ok Regin at ranni heimix — I" Roguer and Regin sang magic songs at the edge of the earth and constructed magic implements". They who do this are artists, smiths. In strophe 8 they are called viggiar, and viggi is a synonym of smi&r (Younger Edda, i. 587). While they do this Hun is absent from Asgard (Forspjallsljod, str. G), and a terrible cold threatens to destroy the earth. The words in Voluspa, with 'which the terrible fimbul-winter of antiquity is characterised, 618 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. loptr Icevi blandinn, are adopted by Forspjallsljod (str. 6 — lopti meet Icevi), thus showing that the same mythic event is there described. The existence of the order of the world is threatened, the earth and the source of light are attacked by evil influences, the life of nature is dying, from the north (east), from the Elivagar rivers come piercing, rime-cold arrows of frost, which kill men aud destroy the vegetation of the earth. The southern source of the lower world, whose function it is to furnish warming saps to the world-tree, was not able to prevent the devastations of the frost. " It was so ordained," it is said in Forspjallsljod, str. 2, " that Urd's O&rcvrir (Urd's fountain) did not have sufficient power to supply protection against the terrible cold." * The destruction is caused by Eogner and Eegin. Their magic songs are heard even in Asgard. Odin listens in Lidskjalf and perceives that the song comes from the uttermost end of the world. The gods are seized by the thought that the end of the world is approaching, and send their messengers to the lower world in order to obtain there from the wise norn a solution of the problem of the world and to get the impending fate of the world proclaimed. In the dictionaries and in the mythological text-books Rognir is said to be one of Odin's epithets. In his excellent commentary on Vellekla, Freudenthal has expressed a doubt as to the correctness of this view. I have myself made a list of all the passages in the Old Norse literature where the name occurs, and I have thereby reached the conclusion that the statement in the dictionaries and in the text-books has no other foundation than the name-list in Eddiibrott and the above-cited Skidarima, composed in the fifteenth century. The conceptions of the latter in regard to heathen mythology are of such a nature that it should never in earnest be regarded as an authority anent this question. In the Old Norse records there cannot be found a single passage where Rognir is used as an epithet of Odin. It is everywhere used in reference to a mythic being who was a smith and a singer of magic songs, and regularly, and without exception, refers to Thjasse. While Thjodolf designates Thjasse as the Eogner of the wing-cars, * The editions have changed UrtSar to Ur&r, and thereby converted the above-cited passage into nonsense, for which in turn the author of Forspjalls- ljod was blamed, and it was presented as an argument to prove that the poem is spurious. TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 619 his descendant Hakon Jarl gets the same epithet in Einar Skalaglam's paraphrases. He is hjors brak-Rognir, " the Rogner of the sword-din," and gcirrdsar-yarcf-Rognir, " the Rogner of the wall of the sword-flight (the shield) ". The Thjasse descendant, Sigurd Hladejarl, is, in harmony herewith, called fens furs Rognir. brym-Rognir (Eg., 58) alludes to Thjasse as ruler in Thrymheim. A parallel phrase to prym-Rognir is prym-Regin (Younger Edda, i. 436). Thus, while Thjasse is characterised as Rognir, Saxo has preserved the fact that Volund's brother, Orvandel-Egil, bore the epithet Regin. Saxo Latinises Regin into Regnerus, and gives this name to Ericus-Svipdag's father (Hist., 192). The epithet Rognir confines itself exclusively to a certain group — to Thjasse and his supposed descendants. Among them it is, as it were, an inheritance. The paraphrases in Vellekla are of great mythological import- ance. While other mythic records relate that Thjasse carried away Idun, the goddess of vegetation, the goddess who controls the regenerating forces in nature, and that he thus assisted in bringing about the great winter of antiquity, we learn from Vellekla that it was he who directly, and by separate magic acts, produced this winter, and that he, accordingly, acted the same part in this respect as Rogner and Regin do in Eornspjallsljod. Thus, for example, the poem on Hakon Jarl, when the latter fought against the sons of Gunhild, says: Hjors brak-Rognir skdk bogna liagl or Hlakka r seglum , " the Rogner of the sword-din shook the hail of the bows from the sails of the valkyrie". The mythic kernel of the paraphrase is : Rognir skok liagl ur seglum, " Rogner shook hails from the sails". The idea is still to be found in the sagas that men endowed with magic powers could produce a hailstorm by shaking napkins or bags, filling the air with ashes, or by untying knots. And in Christian records it is particularly stated of Hakon Jarl that he held in honour two mythic beings— Thorgerd and Irpa— who, when requested, could produce storms, rain, and hail. No doubt this tradition is connected with Hakon's supposed descent from Thjasse, the cause of hailstorms and of the fimbul- winter. By making Rogner the "Rogner of the sword-din," and the hail sent by him " the hail of the bows," and the sails or napkins shook by him "the sails of the valkyrie "—that is to say, the shields — the skald makes the mythological kernel 620 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. pointed out develop into figures applicable to the warrior and to the battle. In other paraphrases Vellekla says that the descendant of Thjasse, Hakon, made " the death-cold sword-storm grow against the life of udal men in Odin's storm," and that he was " an elf of the earth of the wood-land " coming from the north, who, with " murder-frost," received the warriors of the south (Emperor Otto's army) at Dannevirke. Upon the whole Vellekla chooses the figures used in describing the achievements of Hakon from the domain of cold and storm, and there can be no doubt that it does so in imitation of the Thjasse-myth. In another poem to Hakon Jarl, of which poem there is only a fragment extant, the skald Einar speaks of Hakon's generosity, and says : Verh Rognis mer hogna, " Eogner's works please me ". We know that Hakon Jarl once gave Einar two gilt silver goblets, to which belonged two scales in the form of statuettes, the one of gold, the other of silver, which scales were thought to possess magic qualities, and that Hakon on another occasion gave him an exceedingly precious engraved shield, inlaid between the engraved parts with gold and studded with precious stones. It was customary for the skalds to make songs on such gifts. It follows, therefore, that the " works of Rogner," with which Einar says he was pleased, are the presents which Hakon, the supposed descendant of Eogner- Thjasse, gave him ; and I find this interpretation the more neces- sary for the reason that we have already found several unanimous ! evidences of Thjasse's position in the mythology as an artist of the olden time. Forspjallsljod's Rogner " sings magic songs " and " concocts witchcraft " in order to encourage and strengthen by these means of magic the attack of the powers of frost on the world protected by the gods. Haustlaung calls Thjasse ramman reimuff ' Jotunheima, "the powerful reim\i& oi Jotunheim". The word reimu& occurs nowhere else. It is thought to be connected with reimt and reim- leikar, words which in the writings of Christian times refer to ghosts, supernatural phenomena, and reimucfr Jotunheima has therefore been interpreted as " the one who made Jotunheim the scene of his magic arts and ghost-like appearances ". From what has been stated above, it is manifest that this interpretation is correct. TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 021 A passage in Thorsdrapa (str. 3), to which I shall recur below, informs us that at the time when Thor made his famous journey to the fire-giant Geirrod, Rogner had not yet come to an agreement with Loke in regard to the plan of bringing ruin on the gods. Rogner was, therefore, during a certain period of his life, the foe of the gods, but during a preceding period he was not an enemy. The same is true of Thjasse. He was for a time hapta snytrir, " the one giving the gods treasures ". At another time he carried away Idun, and appeared as one changed into ddlgr hallastr vallar, " the most powerful foe of the earth " (Haustl., 6), an expression which characterises him as the cause of the flmbul-winter. There still remain one or two important passages in regard to the correct interpretation of the epithet Rogner. In Atlakvida (33) it is said of Gudrun when she goes to meet her husband Atle, who has returned home, carrying in her hand a golden goblet, that she goes to reifa gjold Rognis, " to present that requital or that revenge which Rogner gave ". To avenge her brothers, Gudrun slew in Atle's absence the two young sons she had with him and made goblets of their skulls. Into one of these she poured the drink of welcome for Atle. A similar revenge is told about Volund. The latter secretly kills NidacTrs two young sons and makes goblets out of their skulls for their father. In the passage it is stated that the revenge of Gudrun against Atle was of the same kind as Rogner's revenge against some one whom he owed a grudge. So far as our records contain any information, Volund is the only one to whom the epithet Rogner is applicable in this case. Of no one else is it reported that he took a revenge of such a kind that Gudrun's could be compared therewith. In all other passages the epithet Rogner refers to " the father of the swords," to the ancient artist Thjasse, the son of Alvalde. Here it refers to the father of the most excellent sword, to the ancient artist Volund, the son of Ivalde. The strophe in Vellekla, which compares the Thjasse de- scendant Hakon Jarl with the hail-producing Rogner, also alludes to another point in the myth concerning him by a paraphrase the kernel of which is: Varat svanglyjadi at fryja ojbyrjar nr drifu, " it was impossible to defy the swan-pleaser in the matter of storm and bad weather ". The paraphrase is made applicable to Hakon by making the "swan-pleaser" into the " pleaser of the 622 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. swan of the sword's high-billowing fjord " — that is to say, the one ' who pleases the bird of the battlefield, that is, the raven. The storm is changed into " the storm of arrows," and the bad weather into the " bad weather of the goddess of the battle". The mytho- logical kernel of this paraphrase, and that which sheds light on our theme, is the fact that Eogner in the mythology was "one who pleased the swans". In the heroic poem three swan-maids are devoted in their love to Volund and his brothers. Volundarkvida says that the third one lays her arms around Volund-Anund's white neck. We will now combine the results of this investigation concern- ing Eogner, and in so doing we will first consider what is said of him when the name occurs independently, and not connected with paraphrases, and then what is said of him in paraphrases in which his name constitutes the kernel. Eorspjallsljod describes Eogner as dwelling on the northern- most edge of the earth at the time when Idun was absent from Asgard. There he sings magic songs and concocts witchcraft, by which means he sends a destructive winter out upon the world. He is a " smith," and in his company is found one or more than one mythic person called Eegin. (Eegin may be singular or plural.) Einar Skalaglam, who received costly treasures from Hakon Jarl, speaks in his song of praise to the latter of the "works of Eogner," which please him, and which must be the treasures he received from the Jarl. In Thorsdrapa, Eilif Gudrunson relates that Eogner had not yet "associated himself" with Loke when Thor made his expedition to Geirrod. Atlakvida states that he revenged himself on some one, with which revenge the song compares Gudrun's when she hands to Atle the goblets made of the skulls of the two young sons of the latter. All the facts presented in these passages are rediscovered in the myth concerning Ivalde's sons — Volund, Egil, and Slagfin. There was a time when they were the friends of the gods and smithied for them costly treasures, and there was another time when they had the same plans as Loke tried to carry out in a secret manner — that is, to dethrone the gods and destroy what they had created. They deliver their foster-son Erey, the young god of TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 623 harvests, to the giants (see Xos. 109, 112) — an event which, like Idun's disappearance from Asgard, refers to the coming of the fimbul-winter — and they depart to the most northern edge of the lower world where they dwell with swan-maids, dises of growth, who, like Idun in Forspjallsljod (str. 8), must have changed character and joined the world-hostile plots of their lovers. (Of Idun it is said, in the strophe mentioned, that she clothed herself in a wolf-skin given her by the smiths, and hjndi hreytti, lek at Uevisi, litom skipti.) The revenge which Volund, during his imprisonment by Nidad, takes against the latter explains why Atlakvida characterises Gudrun's terrible deed as " Rogner's revenge". In regard to the witchcraft (gand) concocted by Rogner and Regin, it is to be said that the sword of victory made by Volund is a gandr in the original sense of this word — an implement endowed with magic powers, and it was made during his sojourn in the Wolfdales. One passage in Volundarkvida (str. 5), which hitherto has defied every effort at interpretation, shows that his skill was occupied with other magic things while he dwelt there. The passsage reads: I/wfii hann alia lindbauga vel. The " lind "-rings in question, smithied of "red gold" (see the preceding lines in strophe 5), are, according to the prefix, lind, linnr, serpent-formed rings, which again are gand- (witchcraft) rings on account of the mysterious qualities ascribed to the serpent. Lindbaugi is another form for linnbaugi, just as lindbdl is another form for linnbdl. The part played by the serpent in the magic arts made it, when under the influence or in the possession of the magician, a gand, whence linnr, a serpent, could be used as a paraphrase of gandr, and gandr could in turn, in the compound Jormungandr, be used as an epithet for the Midgard-serpent. The rings which Volund " closed well together "J are gand-rings. The very rope (bast, bostr — Volun- darkvida, 7, 12) on which he hangs the seven hundred gand-rings he has finished seems to be a gand, an object of witchcraft, with which Volund can bind and from which he can release the wind. When Nidad's men surprised Volund in his sleep and bound him with this rope, he asks ambiguously who " had bound the wind " with it (str. 12). In two passages in Volundarkvida (str. 4, 8) he is called ve&reygr, " the storm-observer," or " the storm-terrible ". The word may have either meaning. That Volund for his purposes, like 624 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. Eogner, made use of magic songs is manifest from Saxo (Hist., 323, 324). According to Saxo it was by means of Voluud- Haquinus' magic song that the Volund-sword, wielded by Svipdag- Ericus, was able to conquer Thor's hammer and Halfdan's club. Passing now to the passages where the name Eogner occurs in paraphrases, I would particularly emphasise what I have already demonstrated : that Haustlaung with this name refers to Thjasse ; that poems of a more recent date than Haustlaung, and connected with the same celebrated song, apply it to the supposed descendants of Thjasse, Hakon Jarl and his kinsmen ; that all of these paraphrases represent Eogner as a producer of storm, snow, and hail ; and that Eogner made " wind-cars," was a " Eegin of the motion of the feather-leaf " (the wing), and " one who pleased the swans ". Therefore (a) Eogner is an epithet of Thjasse, and at the same time it designates Volund ; (b) all that is said of Eogner, when the name in the paraphrases is a Thjasse-epithet, applies to Volund ; (c) all that is said of Eogner, independently of para- phrases, applies to Volund. (18) A usage in the Old Norse poetry is to designate a person by the name of his opponent, when, by means of an additional characterisation, it can be made evident that the former and not the latter is meant. Thus, a giant can be called ~berg-£>6rr or grjot-Mo&i, because he once had Thor or Thor's son Mode as an opponent, and these epithets particularly apply to giants who actually fought with Thor or Mode in the mythology. In contrast with their successors in Christian times, the heathen skalds took great pains to give their paraphrases special justification and support in some mythological event. For the same reason that a giant who had fought with Mode could be called grjot-Moffi, Volund, as Nidad's foe, could be called grjot-Ni&u&r. This epithet also occurs a single time in the Old Norse poetry, namely, in Haustlaung, and there it is applied to Thjasse. The paraphrase shows that the skald had in his mind a corresponding (antithetic) circumstance between Thjasse and NicTadr (Nicfucfr). What we are able to gather from our sources is, that Volund and Ni&a&r had had an encounter, and that one of so decisive a character, that the epithet grjot- Nidu&r naturally would make the hearers think of Volund. (19) When Loke had struck Thjasse, who was in eagle guise, with the magic pole, Thjasse flew up ; and as Loke's hand was glued fast TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 625 to one end of the pole and the eagle held fast to the other end, Loke had to accompany the eagle on its flight. Haustlaung says that Thjasse, pleased with his prey, bore him a long distance (of veg Idngan) through the air. He directed his course in such a manner that Loke's body fared badly, probably being dragged over trees and rocks (svd at slitna sundr ulfsfo&or mundi.) Then follows in the poem the lines given below, which I quote from Codex Eegius, with the exception of a single word (midjicngs, instead of mildings), which I cite from Codex Wormianus. Here, as else- where, I base nothing on text emendations, because even such, for which the best of reasons may be given, do not furnish suffi- cient foundation for mythological investigation, when the changes are not supported by some mauuscript, or are in and of themselves absolutely necessary. J?a varcf pars ofrunni, Jydngr var Lo\jtr, of sjjrunginn ; mdlunautr hvats mdtti midjungs fricfar bicfja. The contents of these lines, in the light of what has now beeu stated, are as follows : Thjasse's pleasure in dragging Loke with him, and making his limbs come in disagreeable contact with objects on their way, was so great that he did not abstain therefrom, before he felt that he had over-exerted himself. Strong as he was, this could not but happen, for he had been flying with his burden very far from the place where he captured Loke in the ambush he had laid ; and, besides, Loke was heavy. The badly-hurt Loke had during the whole time desired to beg for mercy, but during the flight he was unable to do so. When Thjasse finally sank to the ground, Loke obtained a breathing space, so that he could sue for mercy. In the four lines there are four paraphrases. Thjasse is called J?6rs ofrunnni or fidrs ofnlni, " he who made Thor run," or " he who was Thor's friend," and miffjimgr, a word the meaning of which it is of no importance to investigate in connection with the question under consideration. Loke is called Loptr, a surname which is applied to him many times, and mdlunautr hvats mtbjungs, " he who had journeyed with the female companion of the powerful 40 62(3 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. Midjung (Thjasse) ". The female companion (mdla) of Thjasse is Idun, and the paraphrase refers to the myth telling how Loke carried Idun away from Thjasse's halls, and flew with her to Asgard. With these preparatory remarks I am ready to present a literal translation of the passage: (Thjasse flew a long way with Loke, so that the latter came near being torn into pieces), "... thereupon (Jjd = deinde) became he who caused Thor to run (var& fiors of runni)— or who became Thor's friend (fiors of runi)— tired out (ofsprtinginn), [for] Lopt was heavy {Jy&ngr var Loptr). He (Loke) who had made a journey with the powerful Midjung's (Thjasse's) female companion (mdlu- nautr Jivats midjungs) could (now finally) sue for peace {mdtti fridar bicF/'a)." In the lines — J?d var& fiors of runni pungr var Loptr, ofsprtinginn — pungr var Loptr clearly stands as an intermediate sentence, which, in connection with what has been stated above, namely, that Thjasse had been flying a long way with his burden, will justify and explain why Thjasse, though exceedingly strong, stronger than Hrungnir (the Grotte-song), still was at the point of succumbing from over-exertion. The skald has thus given the reason why Thjasse, " rejoicing in what he had caught," sank to the earth with his victim, before Loke became more used up than was the case. To understand the connection, the word mdtti in the third line is of importance. Hitherto the words m&lunautr hvats mdtti micf- jungs fri&ar bi&ja have been interpreted as if they meant that Loke " was compelled " to ask Thjasse for peace. Mdtti has been understood to mean coactus est. Finnur Jonsson {Krit. Stud., p. 48) has pointed out that not a single passage can with certainty or probability be found where the verb mega, mdtti, means " to be compelled ". Everywhere it can be translated " to be able ". Thus the words mdtti fricfar U&ja mean that Loke could, was able to, ask Thjasse for peace. The reason why he was able is stated above, where it is said that Thjasse got tired of flying with his heavy burden. Before that, and during the flight and the disagreeable collisions between Loke's body and objects with TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. oL'7 which he came in contact, he was not able to treat with his captnrer; but when the latter had settled on the ground, Loke got a breathing space, and could beg to be spared. The hull strophe thus interpreted gives the most logical connection, and gives three causes and three results: (1) Loke was able to use his eloquent tongue on speaking to Thjasse, since the latter ceased to fly before Loke was torn into pieces; (2) Thor's ofrunni or ofrtiwi ended liis air-journey, because he, though a very powerful person, felt that he had over-exerted himself; (3) he fell wearied because Loke, with whom he had been flying, was heavy. But from this it follows with absolute certainty that the skald, with Thor's ofrunni or ofruni, meant Thjasse and not Loke, as has hitherto been supposed. The epithet Thor's ofrunni, " he who made Thor run," must accordingly be explained by some mythic event, which shows that Thor at one time had to take flight on account of Thjasse. A single circumstance has come to our knowledge, where Thor retreats before an opponent, and it is hardly credible that the mythology should allow its favourite to retreat conquered more than once. On that occasion it is Volund's sword, wielded by Svipdag, which cleaves Thor's hammer and compels him to retire. Thus Volund was at one time Thor's ofrunni. In Hanstlaung it is Thjasse. Here, too, we therefore meet the fact which has so frequently come to the surface in these investigations, namely, that the same thing is told of Volund and of Thjasse. But by the side of ofrunni we have another reading which must be considered. Codex Wormianus has ofruni instead of ofrunni, and, as Wisen has pointed out, this runi must, for the sake of the metre, be read mini. According to this reading Thjasse must at some time have been Thor's ofruni, that is, Thor's con- fidential friend. This reading also finds its support in the mythology, as shall be demonstrated further on. I may here be allowed to repeat what I have remarked before, that of two read- ings only the one can be the original, while both may be justified by the mythology. (20) In the mythology are found characters that form a group by themselves, and whose characteristic peculiarity is that they practise skee-running in connection with the use of the bow and arrow. This group consists of the brothers Volund, Egil, Slagfin, Egil's son Ull, and Thjasse's daughter Skade. In the introduction 628 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. to Volundarkvida it is said of the three brothers that they ran on skees in the Wolfdales and hunted. We have already referred to Egil's wonderful skees, that could be used on the water as well as on the snow. Of Ull we read in Gylfaginning (Younger Edda, i. 102) : " He is so excellent an archer and skee-runner that no one is his equal " ; and Saxo tells about his Ollerus that he could enchant a bone (the ice-shoe formed of a bone, the pendant of the skee), so that it became changed into a ship. Ull's skees accord- ingly have the same qualities as those of his father Egil, namely, that they can also be used on the sea. Ull's skees seem furthermore to have had another very remarkable character, namely, that when their possessor did not need them for locomotion on land or on sea, they could be transformed into a shield and be used in war. In this way we explain that the skalds could employ skip Ullar, Hilar far, knorr Orva dss, as paraphrases for shields, and that, according to one statement in the Edda Lovasina, Ullr dtti skip pat, er Skjoldr hSt. So far as his accomplishments are concerned, Ull is in fact the counterpart of his father Egil, and the same may be said of Skade. While Ull is called "the god of the skees," Skacle is called " the goddess of the skees," " the dis of the skees," and " the dis of the sea-bone," saivar beins dis, a paraphrase which manifestly has the same origin as Saxo's account of the bone enchanted by Ull. Thus Thjasse's daughter has an attribute be- longing to the circle of Volund's kinsmen. The names also connect those whom we find to be kins- men of Voluncl with Thjasse's. Alvalde is Thjasse's father ; Ivalcle is Volund's. Ivaldi is another form for I&valdi. The long prefixed / in Ivaldi is explained by the disappearance of & from I&valdi. I& reappears in the name of Tvalde's daughter Idunn and Thjasse's brother I&i, and these are the only mytho- logical names in which 2cT appears. Furthermore, it has already been pointed out, that of Alvalde's (Olvaldi's) three sons there is one who has the epithet Wildboar (Aumir, TJrnir) ; and that among Ivalde's three sons there is one — namely, Orvandel-Egil — who has the same epithet (Ibor, Ebur, Ebbo) ; and that among Alvalde's sons one — namely, Thjasse — has the epithet Fjallgyldir, "mountain-wolf" (Haustlaung) ; while among Ivalde-Olmod's sons there is one — namely, Volund — who has the epithet Asolfr, which also means " mountain-wolf ". TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 629 In this connection it must not be forgotten that tradition has attached the qualities of giants, not only to Thjasse, but also to Volund. That this does not appear in the Elder Edda depends simply on the fact that Volund is not mentioned by this name in the genuine mythic songs, but only in the heroic fragment which we have in Volundarkvida. The memory that Volund, though an elf-prince in the mythology, and certainly not a full-blooded giant on his father's side, was regarded and celebrated in Bong as an lot nan, — the memory of this not only survives in Vilkinasaga, but appears there in an exaggeration fostered by later traditions, to the effect that his father Vade (see No. 110) is there called a giant, while his father's mother is said to have been a mermaid. En another respect, too, there survives in Vilkinasaga the memory of a rela- tionship between Volund and the most famous giant-being. He and the giants Etgeir (Eggjjcr) and Vidolf are cousins, accord in- to chapter 175. If we examine the Norse sources, we find Vidolf mentioned in Hyndluljod (53) as progenitor of all the mytho- logical valas, and Aurboda, the most notorious of the valas of mythology, mentioned in strophe 30 as a kinswoman of Thjasse. Thus while Hyndluljod makes Thjasse, the Vilkinasaga makes Volund, a kinsman of the giant Vidolf. Though in a form greatly changed, the Vilkinasaga has also preserved the memory of the manner in which Volund's father closed his career. With some smiths (" dwarfs ") who lived in a remote mountain, Vade had made an agreement, according to which, in return for a certain compensation, his son Volund should learn their wonderful art as smiths. When, toward the close of the time agreed upon, Vade appeared outside of the mountain, he was, before entering, killed by an avalanche in accordance with a treacherous arrangement of these smiths. In the mythology Thjasse's father is the great drink-champion who, among his many names and epithets, as we have seen, also has some that refer to his position in the mythology in regard to fermented beverage: Svig&ir (the great drinker) OlvcUdi, Olmd&r, Small FinnakoiiwKjr. In regard to Svig&ir's death, it has already been shown (see No. 89) that, on his complete disappearance from the mythology, he is outside of a mountain in which Suttung and Suttung's sons, descendants of Surt-Durinn, with Mimer the most ancient smith (see No. 89), have their halls; that on his 630 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. arrival a treacherous dwarf, the doorkeeper of Suttung's sons, goes to meet him, and that he is " betrayed " by the dwarf, never enters the rocky halls, and consequently must have died outside. Vilkinasaga's very late statements (probably taken from German traditions), in regard to the death of Volund's father, thus corre- spond in the main features with what is related in the Norse records as to how Thjasse's father disappeared from the scene of mythology. In regard to the birth and rank of Thjasse's father among the mythic powers, the following statements in poems from the heathen time are to be observed. When Haustlaung tells how Thjasse falls into the vaferflames kindled around Asgard, it makes use of the words Grcipar bi&ils son svi&nar, "the son of Greip's wooer is scorched". Thus Thjasse's mother is the giantess Greip, who, according to a stanza cited in the Younger Edda, i. 288, is a daughter of the giant Geirro&r and a sister of Gjalp. One of these sisters, and, so far as we can see, Greip, is, in Thorsdrapa, called meinsvarans hapts arma farmr, " the embrace of the arms of the perjurous hapt". Hopt, sing, hapt, is, like bond, meaning the same, an appellation of lower and higher powers, numinct of various ranks. If by the perjurous mistress of the hapt Greip, and not the sister Gjalp, is meant, then Thjasse's father is a being who belonged to the number of the numina of the mythology, and who, with a giantess whose biffill he had been, begat the son Thjasse, and probably also the latter's brothers I&i and G&ngr (Aurnir). What rank this perjurous hapt held among the powers is indicated in Vellekla, strophe 9, which, like the foregoing strophe 8, and the succeeding strophes 10, 11, treats of Hakon Jaii's conflicts at Dannevirke, whither he was summoned, in the capacity of a vassal under the Danish king, Harald Blue-tooth, to defend the heathen North against Emperor Otto II.'s effort to convert Denmark to Chris- tianity by arms. The strophe, which here, too, in its paraphrases presents parallels between Hakon Jarl and his mythic progenitor Thjasse, says that the Danish king (femildr konungr) desired that the Morkwood's Hlodyn's (Mork-wood's earth's, that is to say, the woody Norway's) elf, he who came from the North (myrkmarkar Hlodynjar alfs, fiess er kom nor&ari), was to be tested in " murder- frost," that is to say, in war (vid morff-frost freista), when he (Denmark's king) angrily bade the cold-hard storm-watcher (stirffan TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 631 vedrliirdi, Hakon Jarl) of the Hordalaiid dwellers (of the Norsemen) defend Dannevirke {Virki varffa) against the southland Njords of the shield-din (fi/r serkja-hlym-val-Njoalum, "the princes of the southland warriors "). Here, too, the myth about Thjasse and of the 6 mbul- winter forms the kernel out of which the paraphrases adapted to HakoD Jarl have grown. Hakon is clothed with the mask of the cold-hard storm-watcher who comes from the North and can let loose the winter-winds. Emperor Otto and the chiefs who led the southern troops under him are compared with Njord and his kinsmen, who, in the mythology, fought with Volund and the powers of frost, and the battle between the warriors of the South and the North is compared with a "murder-frost," in which Hakon coming from the North meets the Christian continental Teutons at Dannevirke. Thus the mythical kernel of the strophe is as follows : The elf of the Morkwood of Hlodyn, the cold-hard storm-watcher, tested his power with frost-weather when he fought with Njord and his kinsmen. The Hlodyn of the Morkwood — that is to say, the goddess of the Jotunheim woods — is in this connection Thjasse's daughter Skade, who, in Haleygjatal, is called Jdmvidja of Jd/mvi&r, the Ironwood, which is identical with the Morkwood (Darkwood). Thjasse himself, whose father is called "a perjurous hupt" in Thorsdrapa, is here called an elf. Alone, this passage would not be sufficient to decide the question as to which class of mythical beings Thjasse and his father belonged, the less so as dl/r, applied in a paraphrase, might allude to any sort of being according to the characterisation added. But "perjurous Jiapt" cannot possibly be a paraphrase for a giant. Every divinity that has violated its oath is " a perjurous hapt," and the mythology speaks of such perjuries. If a god has committed perjury, this is no reason why he should be called a giant. If a giant has committed perjury ? this is no reason why he should be called a hapt, for it is nothing specially characteristic of the giant nature that it commits perjury or violates its oath. In fact, it seems to me that there should be the gravest doubts about Thjasse's being a giant in the strictest and completest sense of the word, from the circumstauces that he is a star-hero ; that distinguished persons considered it an honour to be descended from him ; that Hakon Jail's skalds never tired of 632 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. clothing him with the appearance of his supposed progenitor, and of comparing the historical achievements of the one with the mythical exploits of the other; and that he, Thjasse, not only- robbed Idun, which indeed a genuine giant might do, but that he also lived with her many long years, and, so far as we can see, begat with her the daughter Skade. It should be remembered, from the foregoing pages, what pains the mythology takes to get the other asynje, Freyja, who had fallen into the hands of giants, back pure and undefiled to Asgard, and it is therefore difficult to believe that Idun should be humiliated and made to live for many years in intimacy with a real giant. It follows from this that when Thjasse, in the above-cited mythological kernel of the strophe of Vellekla, is called an dlfr, and when his father in Thorsdrapa is called a hapt, a being of higher or lower divine rank, then dlfr is a further definition of the idea hapt, and informs us to which class of numina Thjasse belonged — namely, the lower class of gods called elves. Thus, on his father's side, Thjasse is an elf. So is Volund. In Volundarkvida he is called a prince of elves. Furthermore, it should be observed that, in the strophe-kernel presented above, Thjasse is represented as one who has fought with Njord and his allies. In Saxo it is Anund- Volund and his brother the archer who fight with Njord-Fridlevus and his companions; and as Njord in Saxo marries Anund- Volund's daughter, while in the mythology he marries Thjasse's daughter, then this is another recurrence of the fact which continually comes to the surface in this investigation, namely, that whatever is told of Volund is also told of Thjasse. 114 Proofs that Ivalde's Sons aee Olvalde's {continued). A Review of Thorsdrapa. (21) We now come to a mythic record in which Thjasse's brothers Icfi and Gdngr, and he too, in a paraphrase, are mentioned under circumstances well suited to throw light on the subject before us, which is very important in regard to the epic connection of the mythology. Of Thor's expedition to Geirrod, we have two very different TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 033 accounts. One is recorded by the author of Skaldakaparma] ; to- other is found in Eilif Gudrunson's Thorsdrapa. In Skaldskaparmal (Younger Edda, i. 284) we read : Only for pleasure Loke made an expedition in Frevja's feather guise, and was led by his curiosity to seat himself in an opening in the wall of Geirrod's house and peep in. There he was captured by one of Geirrod's servants, and the giant, who noticed from his eyes that it was not a real falcon, did not release him before he had agreed so to arrange matters that Thor should come t" Geirrod's hall without bringing with him his hammer and belt of strength. This Loke was able to bring about. Thor went to ' Geirrod without taking any of these implements — not even his steel | gloves — with him. Loke accompanied him. On the way thither [Loke visited the giantess whose name was Griff r, and who was Yidar the Silent's mother. From her Thor learned the tacts about Geirrod — namely, that the latter was a cunning giant and difficult to get on with. She lent Thor her own belt of strength, her own iron gloves, and her staff, Gh'iffarrolr. Then Thor proceeded to the river which is called Yimur, and which is the greatest of all rivers. There he buckled on his belt of strength, and supported himself in the stream on the Oriffarvolr. Loke held himself fast to the belt of strength. When Thor reached the middle of the stream, the water rose to his shoulders. Thor then perceived that up in a mountain chasm below which the river flowed stood Gjalp, Geirrod's daughter, with one foot on each side of the river, and it was she who caused the rising of the tide. Then Thor picked up a stone and threw it at the giantess, saying : " At its mouth the river is to be stopped ". He did not miss his mark. Having reached the other bank of the river, he took hold of a rowan, and thus gained the land. Hence the proverb: " Thor's salvation, the rowan". And when Thor came to Geirrod a goat-house was first given to him and Loke (according to Codex Eegius ; according to the Upsala Codex a guest-house) as their lodgings. Then are related the adveutures Thor had with Geirrod's daughters Gjalp and Greip, and how he, invited to perform games in Geirrod's hall, was met by a glowing iron which Geirrod threw against him with a pair of tongs, but which he caught with the iron gloves and threw back with so great force that the iron passed through a post, behind which Geirrod had concealed himself, and through 634 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. Geirrod himself and his house wall, and then penetrated into the earth. This narrative, composed freely from mythical and pseudo- mythical elements, is related to Thorsdrapa, composed in heathen times, about in the same manner as Bragarasdur's account of Odin and Suttung is related to that of Havamal. Just as in Bragaradur punctum saliens lies in the coarse jest about how poor poetry originated, so here a crude anecdote built on the proverb, " A stream is to be stemmed at its mouth," seems to be the basis of the story. In Christian times the mythology had to furnish the theme not only for ancient history, heroic poems, and popular traditions, but also for comic songs Now, a few words in regard to Thorsdrapa. This song, excellent from the standpoint of poetry and important from a mythological point of view, has, in my opinion, hitherto been entirely mis- understood, not so much on account of the difficulties found in the text — for these disappear, when they are considered without any preconceived opinion in regard to the contents — as on account of the undeserved faith in Skaldskaparmal's account of Thor's visit to Geirrod, and on account of the efforts made under the influence of this misleading authority to rediscover the statements of the latter in the heathen poem. In these efforts the poetics of the Christian period in Iceland have been applied to the poem, and in this way all mythological names, whose real meaning was forgotten in later times, have received a general faded signification, which on a more careful examination is proved to be incorrect. With a collection of names as an armoury, in which the names of real or supposed " dwarfs," " giants," " sea-kings," &c, are brought together and arranged as synonyms, this system of poetics teaches that from such lists we may take whatever dwarf name, giant name, &c, we please to designate which ever " dwarf," " giant," &c, we please. If, therefore, Thorsdrapa mentions " Icfi's chalet" and " Gdngr s war-vans," then, according to this system of poetics, Idi and Gdngr — though they in heathen times designated particular mythic persons who had their own history, their own personal careers- have no other meaning than the general one of " a giant," for the reason that I6i and Gdngr are incorporated in the above-named lists of giant names. Such a system of poetics could not arise before the most of the mythological names had become mere TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. G35 empty sounds, the personalities to whom they belonged being forgotten. The fact that they have been adapted, and still con- tinue to be adapted, to the poems of the heathen skalds, is one of the reasons why the important contributions which names and paraphrases in the heathen poetry are able to furnish in mytho- logical investigations have remained an unused treasure. While Skaldskaparmal makes Loke and no one else accompany Thor to Geirrod, and represents the whole matter as a visit to the giant by Thor, we learn from Thorsdrapa that this journey to Jotunheim is an expedition of war, which Thor makes at the head of his warriors against the much-dreaded chief of giants, and that on the way thither he had to fight a real battle with Geirrod's giants before he is able to penetrate to the destination of his expedition, Geirrod's hall, where the giants put to flight in the battle just mentioned gather, and where another battle is fought. Thorsdrapa does not mention with a single word that Loke accompanied Thor on this warlike expedition. Instead of this, we learn that he had a secret understanding with one of Geirrod's daughters, that he encouraged Thor to go, and gave him untruthful accounts of the character of the road, so that, if not Thor himself, then at least the allies who went with him, might perish by the ambush laid in wait for them. That Loke, under such circum- stances, should accompany Thor is highly incredible, since his misrepresentations in regard to the character of the way would be discovered on the journey, and reveal him as a traitor. But since ►Skaldskaparmal states that Loke was Thor's companion, the inter- preters of Thorsdrapa have allowed him so to remain, and have attributed to him — the traitor and secret ally of the giants — and to Thjalfe (who is not mentioned in the Skaldskaparmal account) the exploits which Thor's companions perform against the giants. That the poem, for instance, in the expression Jyjdlfi med ' yta sinni, "Thjalfe with his companions," in the most distinct manner emphasises the fact that a whole host of warriors had Thor as their leader on this expedition, was passed over as one of the obscure passages in which the poem was supposed to abound, and the obscurity of which simply consists in their contradicting the story in Skaldskaparmal. Thorsdrapa does not mention with a single word that Thor, on his journey to Geirrod, stopped at the home of a giantess Gri&r, and borrowed from her a staff, a belt of 636 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. strength, and iron gloves ; and I regard it as probable that this whole episode in Skaldskaparmal has no other foundation than that the staff which Thor uses as his support on wading across the rapid stream is in Thorsdrapa now called gridarvolr, "the safety staff," and again, brautar lid's tollr, " the way-helping tree ". The name gri&arvolr, and such proverbs as at 6si shall a stcmma and reynir er bjorg J?ors, appear to be the staple wares by the aid of which the story in Skaldskaparmal was framed. The explanation given in Skaldskaparmal of the proverb reynir er bjorg pors, that, by seizing hold of a rowan growing on the river bank, Thor succeeded in getting out of the river, is, no doubt, an inven- tion by the author of the story. The statement cannot possibly have had any support in the mythology. In it Thor is endowed with ability to grow equal to any stream he may have to cross. The rowan mentioned in the proverb is probably none other than the " way-helping tree," the " safety staff," on which he supports himself while wading, and which, according to Thorsdrapa (19), is a brotningr shogar, a tree broken or pulled up in the woods. I now pass to the consideration of the contents of Thorsdrapa : Strophe 1. The deceitful Loke encourages Thor to go from home and visit Geirrod, " the master of the temple of the steep altars ". The great liar assures him that green paths would take him to Geirrod's halls, that is to say, they were accessible to travellers on foot, and not obstructed by rivers. .Note. — For Thor himself the condition of the roads might be of less importance. He who wades across the Elivagar rivers and subterranean streams did not need to be very anxious about finding water-courses crossing his paths. But from the continuation of the poem we learn that this expedition to Jotunheim was not a visit as a guest, or a meeting to fight a duel, as when Thor went to find Hrungner, but this time he is to press into Jotunheim with a whole army, and thus the character of the road he was to travel was of some importance. The ambush laid in his way does not concern Thor himself, but the giant-foes who constitute his army. If the latter perish in the ambush, then Geirrrod and his giants will have Thor alone to fight against, and may then have some hope of victory. Strophe 2. Thor did not require much urging to undertake the expedition. He leaves Asgard to visit Jotunheim. Of what TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 637 happened on the way between Asgard and the Elivagar rivers, before Thor penetrated into Jotunheim, the strophe says : %& er gjar&vmjoSr When the belt-wearer (Thor, the possessor of the belt of strength) endr {«*iterum, rursus) now, as on former occasions, rikri Idja Gandvikr-setrs skotum strengthened by the men of Ide's chalet situated near Gandvik, wordistfrd pridia til Ymsakin- was on his way from Odin to dar, Ymse's (Ymer's) race, fystust freir (Cod. Worm.) it was to them (to Thor and to fyrstuz fieir (Cod. Eeg.) the men of Ide's chalet) a joy (or they rushed thither) at fbrysta fiorns niffjum to conquer Thorn's (Bolthorn- Ymer's) kinsmen. Note. — The common understanding of this passage is (1) that mdr has nothing to do with the contents, but is a complementary word which may be translated with " once upon a time," a part which endr has to play only too often in the interpretation of the old poems ; (2) that Ide is merely a general giant name, applicable, like every other giant name, in a paraphrase Idja sctr, which is supposed to mean Jotunheim ; (3) that rikri Idja setrs skotum or fihri Gandvikr skotum was to give the hearers or readers of Thors- drapa the (utterly unnecessary) information that Thor was stronger than the giants ; and (4) that they who longed to subdue Ymer's kinsmen were Thor and Loke — the same Loke who, in secret understanding with the giant-chief and with one of his daughters (see below), has the purpose of enticing Thor and his companions in arms into a trap ! Rikri . . . skotum is to be regarded as an elliptical sentence in which the instrumental preposition, as is often the case, is to be understood. When Thor came from Asgard to the chalet of Ide, situated near Gandvik, he there gets companions in arms, and through them he becomes rikri, through them he gets an addition to his own powers in the impending conflicts. The fact that when Thor invades Jotunheim he is at the head of an army is perfectly evident from certain expressions in the poem, and from the poem as a whole. Whence could all these warriors come all of a sudden ? They are not dwellers in Asgard, and he has not 638 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. brought them with him in his lightning chariot. They live near Gandvik, which means " the magic bay," the Elivagar. Gandvik was a purely mythological-geographical name before it became the name of the White Sea in a late Christian time, when the sea between Greenland and America got the mythic name Ginungagap. Their being the inhabitants on the coast of a bay gives the author of Thorsdrapa an occasion further on to designate them as vikings, hayings. We have already seen that it is a day's journey between Asgard and the Elivagar (see No. 108), and that on the southern coast Thor has an inn, where he stops, and where his precious team and chariot are taken care of while he makes expedi- tions into Jotunheim. The continuation of the poem shows that this time, too, he stopped at this inn, and that he got his warriors there. Now, as always before, he proceeds on foot, after having reached Jotunheim. Strophe 3 first makes a mythic chronological statement, namely, that the daughter of Geirrod, " skilled in magic," had come to an understanding with Loke, before Rogner became the ally of the latter. This mythic chronological statement shows (1) that there was a time when Rogner did not share Loke's plans, which were inimical to the gods ; (2) that the events recounted in Thorsdrapa took place before Rogner became a foe of the gods. Why Thors- drapa thinks it necessary to give this information becomes apparent already in the fourth strophe. Then the departure from Ide's chalet is mentioned. The host hostile to the giants proceeds to Jotunheim, but before it gets thither it must traverse an intermediate region which is called Endil's meadow. We might expect that instead of speaking of a meadow as the boundary territory which had to be traversed before getting into Jotunheim, the poem would have spoken of the body of water behind which Jotunheim lies, and mentioned it by one of its names— Elivagar, Gandvik, or Hraun. But on a more careful examination it appears that Endil's meadow is only a paraphrase for a body of water. The proof of this is found in the fact that " Endil's skees," Endils andrar, Endils itrskicf, is a common para- phrase for ship. So is Endils eijkr, " Endil's horse ". The meadow which Endil crosses on such skees and on such a horse must there- fore be a body of water. And no other water can be meant than TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 039 that which lies between Endil's chalet and Jotunheim, that is, Elivagar, Gandvik. The name Endill may be the same as Vendill, Vandill (Younger Edda, i. 548), and abbreviation of Orvandill. The initial V was originally a semi- vowel, and as such it alliterated with other semi-vowels and with vowels (compare the rhymes on an Oland runic stone, Vandi/s jormungrundar urgrandari). This easily- disappearing semi-vowel may have been thrown out in later times where it seemed to obscure the alliteration, and thus the form Endil may have arisen from Vendil, Vandil. " Orvandel's meadow " is accordingly in poetic language synonymous with Elivagar, and the paraphrase is a fitting one, since Orvandel-Egil had skees which bore him over land and sea, and since Elivagar was the scene of his adventures. Strophe 4 tells that after crossing " Endil's meadow " the host of warriors invaded Jotunheim on foot, and that information about their invasion into the land of the giants came to the witches there. Two important facts are here given in regard to these warriors : they are called Gdngs gunn-vanir and Vargs fri&ar, " Gang's warrior-vans," and " Varg's defenders of the land ". Thus, in the first strophes of Thorsdrapa, we meet with the names of Olvalde's three sons : Bognir (Thjasse), I&i, and Gdngr. The poem mentions Eogner's name in stating that the expedition occurred before Rogner became the foe of the gods ; it names Ide's name when it tells that it was at his (Ide's) chalet near Gandvik that Thor gathered these warriors around him ; and it names G amir's name, and in connection therewith Vargr's name, when it is to state who the leaders were of those champions who accompanied Thor against Geirrod. Under such circumstances it is manifest that Thorsdrapa relates an episode in which Ide, Gang, and Thjasse appear as friends of Thor and foes of the giants, and that the poem locates their original country in the regions on the south coast of Elivagar, and makes ISja setr to be situated near the same strand, and play in Thor's expeditions the same part as Orvandel- Egil's abode near the Elivagar, which is also called chalet, GciruandiVs setr, and Ysetr. The Vargr who is mentioned is, therefore, so far as can be seen, Eogner-Thjasse himself, who in Haustlaung, as we know, is called fjallgyldir, that is to say, wolf. 640 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. All the warriors accompanying Thor were eager to fight Ymer's descendants, as we have seen in the second strophe. But the last lines" of strophe 4 represent one in particular as lonoino- to contend with one of the warlike and terrible giantesses of giant-land. This champion is not mentioned by name, but he is characterised as oragdmild'r, " quick to conceive and quick to move"; ^ as brce&ivcendr, " he who is wont to offer food to eat " ; and as bolkveitir or bolkvetir Loka, " he who compensated Loke's evil deed ". The characterisations fit Orvandel-Egil, the nimble archer and skee-runner, who, at his chalet, receives Thor as his guest, when the latter is on his way to Jotunheim, and who gave Thor Thjalfe and Koskva as a compensation, when Loke had deceit- fully induced Thjalfe to break a bone belonging to one of Thor's slaughtered goats for the purpose of getting at the marrow. If Thorsdrapa had added that the champion thus designated also was the best archer of mythology, there could be no doubt that Egil was meant. This addition is made further on in the poem, and of itself confirms the fact that Egil took part in the expedition. Strophe 5, compared with strophes 6 and 7, informs us that Thor, with his troop of champions, in the course of his march came into one of the wild mountain-regions of Jotunheim. The weather is bad and hail-showers fall. And here Thor finds out that Loke has deceived him in the most insolent manner. By his directions Thor has led his forces to the place where they now are, and here rushes forth from between the mountains a river into which great streams, swelling with hail-showers, roll down from the mountains with seething ice-water. To find in such a river a, ford by which his companions can cross was for Thor a difficult matter. Strophe 6. Meanwhile the men from Ide's chalet had con- fidently descended into the river. A comparison with strophes 7 and 8 shows that they cautiously kept near Thor, and waded a little farther up the river than he. They used their spears as staffs, which they put down into the stony bottom of the river. The din of the spears, when their metallic points came in contact with the stones of the bottom, blended with the noise of the eddies roaring around the rocks of the river (Kn&tti hreggi hoggvinn hlym- J?el vi$ mol glymja, enn fjalla fellihryn paut me& Fe&ju stedja). Strophe 7. In the meantime the river constantly rises and increases in violence, and its ocean-like billows are already break- TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 041 ing against Thor's powerful shoulders. If this is to continue, Thor will have to resort to the power inherent in him of rising equally with the increase of the waves. Note. — But the warriors from Ide's s?eter, who do not possess this power, what are they to do? The plan laid between Loke and the witches of Jotunheim is manifestly to drown them. And the succeeding strophes show that they are in the most imminent danger. Strophes 8 and 9. These bold warriors waded with linn steps; but the billowing masses of water increased in swiftness every moment. While Thor's powerful hands hold fast to the staff of safety, the current is altogether too strong for the spears, which the Gandvik champions have to support themselves on. On the mountains stood giantesses increasing the strength of the current. Then it happened that " the god of the bow, driven by the violence of the billows, rushed upon Thor's shoulder (kykva nauffar dss, blasinn lurdnnjar&aT skafis hvetvicfri, JmrcTi haucfrs rutin of herdi), while Thjalfe with his comrades came, as if they had been auto- matically lifted up, and seized hold of the belt of the celestial prince " (Thor) (unnz fijdlji mecT yta sinni horn sjdljlopta d Mmmsjdla skaunarseil). Note. — Thus the plan laid by Loke and the giantesses to drown the men hostile to the giants, the men dwelling on the south coast of the Elivagar, came near succeeding. They were saved by their prudence in wading higher up the stream than Thor, so that, if they lost their foothold, they could be hurled by the eddies against him. One of the Gandvik champions, and, as the continuation of the poems shows, the foremost one among them, here characterised as " the god of the bow," is tossed by a storm- billow against Thor's shoulders, and there saves himself. Thjalfe and the whole remaining host of the warriors of Ide's saeter have at the same time been carried by the waves down against Hlocfyns powerful son, and save themselves by seizing hold of his belt of strength. With "the god of the bow" on his shoulders, and with a whole host of warriors clinging to his waist, Thor continues his wading across the stream. In strophe 8, the Gandvik champions are designated by two paraphrases. We have already seen them described as " Gang's warrior- vans" and as "Varg's land-defenders". Here they are called 41 642 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. " the clever warriors of the viking-sreter" (vikinga setrs snotrir gun- nar runnar) and " Odin's land-defenders, bound by oaths " (Gauta cidsvara fricfar). That Ide's sseter is called " the vikings' sseter " is explained by the fact that it is situated near Gfan&vik, and that these hayings had the Elivagar as the scene of their conflicts with the powers of frost. That they are Odin's land-defenders, bound by oaths, means that they are mythical beings, who in rank are lower than the Asas, and are pledged by oaths to serve Odin and defend his territory against the giants. Their sseter (chalet) near Gandvik is therefore an outpost against the powers of frost. It follows that Ide, Gang, and Thjasse originally are numina, though of a lower, serving rank ; that their relation to the higher world of gods was of such a character that they could not by their very nature be regarded as foes of the giants, but are bound to the cause of the gods by oaths; but on the other hand they could not be full-blooded giants of the race produced from Ymer's feet (see No. 86). Their original home is not Jotunhe.im itself, but a land bordering on the home of the giants, and this mytho-geographical locality must correspond with their mytho-genealogical position. The last strophe in Thorsdrapa calls the giants slain by the Gandvik champions "Alfheini's calves," Alfheim's cattle to be slaughtered, and this seems to indicate that these champions belong to the third and lowest of those clans into which the divinities of the Teutonic mythology are divided, that is, the elves. The Gandvik champion who rescues himself on Trior's shoulders, while the rest of them hold fast to his girdle, is a celebrated archer, and so well known to the hearers of Thorsdrapa, that it was not necessary to mention him by name in order to make it clear who he was. In fact, the epithet applied to him, "the god of the bow " (dss kykva naucfar, and in strophe 18, tvivi&ar Tyr), is quite sufficient to designate him as the foremost archer of mythology, that is, Orvandel-Egil, who is here carried on Thor's shoulders through the raging waves, just as on another occasion he was carried by Thor in his basket across the Elivagar. Already in strophe 4 he is referred to as the hero nimble in thought and body, who is known for his hospitality, and who made compensa- tion for Loke's evil deed. The foremost one next after him among the Gandvik champions is Thjalfe, Egil's foster-son. The others are designated as Thjalfe's flta sinni, his body of men. TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 643 Thus we find that the two foremost among " Gang's warrior- vans," who with Thor marched forth from " Ide's saiter," before Rogner (Thjasse) became Loke's ally, are Volund's and Slagfin's brother Egil and Egil's foster-son Thjalfe. We find that Egil and Thjalfe belong to the inhabitants of [de's Meter, where Thor on this occasion had stopped, and where he had left his chariot and goats, for now, as on other occasions, he goes on foot to Jotunheim. And as in other sources Egil is mentioned as the one who on such occasions gives lodgings to Thor and his goats, and as Thorsdrapa also indicates that he is the hospitable host who had received Thor in his house, and had paid him a ransom for the damage caused by Loke to one of his goats, then this must be a most sat i tory proof that Ide's soeter is the same place as the Gcirvoffils setr inhabited by Egil and his brothers, and that Orvandel- Egil is identical either with Ide or with Gang, from which it follows, again, that Alvalde's (Olvalde's) sons, Ide, Gang, and Thjasse, are identical with Ivalde's sons, Slagfin, Egil, and Yolund. That Egil is identical with Gang and not with Ide is apparent from a comparison with the Grotte-song. There Olvalde's sons are called Iffi, Aumir, and Jy'azi, while in the Younger Edda they are called Icfi, Gdngr, and Jy'azi. Thus Aurnir is identical with G&ngrt and as Aurnir means "wild boar," and as "wild boar" (Ebur, Ibor, Ebbo) is an epithet of Egil, Orvandel-Egil must be identical with Gang. In regard to the rest of Thorsdrapa I may be brief, since it is of less interest to the subject under discussion. Strophe 10. In spite of the perilous adventure described above, the hearts of Thjalfe and the Gandvik champions were no more terrified than Thor's. Here they are designated as riffs fiarffar, " the men pledged by oath," with which is to be compared eiffsvara friffar in strophe 8. Strophes 11, 12, show that Thor landed safely with his burden. Scarcely had he and his companions got a firm foothold on the other strand before Geirrod's giant-clan, " the world-tree-destroying folk of the sea-belt," came to the spot, and a conflict arose, in which the attacks of the giants were firmly repulsed, and the latter were finally forced to retreat. Strophe 13. After the victory Thor's terrible hosts pressed 644 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. farther into Jotunheim to open Geirrod's hall, and they arrived there amid the din and noise of cave-dwellers. The following strophes mention that Thor broke the backs of Geirrod's daughters, and pressed with his warriors into Geirrod's hall, where he was received with a piece of red-hot iron hurled by the latter, which, hurled back by Thor, caused the death of the giant-chief. Thor had given the glowing javelin such a force that some one who stood near him, probably Egil, " drank so that he reeled in the air-current of the piece of iron the air-drink of Hrimner's daughter " (svalg hrapmnnum d siu lopti Hrimnis drosar lyptisylg). Hrimner's daughter is Gulveig-Heid (Hyndluljod, 32), and her " air-drink " is the fire, over which the gods held her lifted on their spears (Voluspa, 21). As we see from the context, Geirrod's halls were filled with the men who had fled from the battle near the river, and within the mountain there arose another conflict, which is described in the last three strophes of the poem. Geirrod's hall shook with the din of battle. Thor swung his bloody hammer. " The staff of safety," "the help-tree of the way," the staff on which Thor supported himself in crossing the river, fell into Egil's hands (kom at tvivi&ar Tyvi brautar lids tollr), who did not here have room to use his bow, but who, with this "convenient tree jerked (or broken) from the forest," gave death-blows to " the calves of Alfheim ". The arrows from his quiver could not be used in this crowded place against the men of the mountain-chief. The fact that the giants in Thorsdrapa use the sling is of interest to the question concerning the position of the various weapons of mythology. Geirrod is called vcgtaugar Jyrjotr, "the industrious applier of the sling" (str. 17), and dlmtaugar JZgir, " the iEgir of the sling made of elm-bast ". In the last strophe Egil is said to be helblotinn and hneitir, undirfjdlfs blihu, expressions to which I shall recur further on. Like the relation between Volund and his swan-maids in Volundarkvida, the relation between Eogner-Thjasse and Idun in Forspjallsljod is not that of the robber to his unwilling victim, but one of mutual harmony. This is confirmed by a poem which I shall analyse when the investigation reaches a point that demands it, and according to which Idun was from her child- hood tied by bonds of love and by oath to the highly-gifted but TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 645 unhappy son of Ivalde, to the great artist who, by his irrecon- cilable thirst for revenge, became the Lucifer of Teutonic mytho- logy, while Loke is its Mefisto. I presume that the means of rejuvenation, the divine remedy against age (eUUyf daa — Hau-t- laung), which Idun alone in Asgard knows and possesses, was a product of Thjasse-Volund's art. The middle! age also remembered Volund (Wieland) as a physician, and this trait seems to be from the oldest time, for in Rigveda, too, the counterparts of the Ivalde sons, that is, the Eibhus, at the request of the gods, invent means of rejuvenation. It may be presumed that the mythology described his exterior personality in a clear manner. From his mother he must have inherited his giant strength, which, according to the Grotte-song, surpassed Hrungner's and that of the father of the latter (Har&r var Hrungnir ok Turns faffir, ]»'> var ]>jazi fieim aufigari — str. 9). With his strength beauty was doubtless united. Otherwise, Volundarkvida's author would scarcely have said that his swan-maid laid her arms around Anund's (Volund's) " white " neck. That his eyes were conceived as glittering may be con- cluded from the fact that they distinguish him on the starry canopy as a star-hero, and that in Volundarkvida Nidhad's queen speaks of the threatening glow in the gaze of the fettered artist {anion cro auguormi ficim cnom frdna — str. 17). Ivalde's sons — Thjasse- Volund, Aurnir-Egil, and Ide-Slagfin — are, as we have seen, bastards of an elf and a giantess (Greip, Gamhara). Ivalde's daughters, on the other hand (see No. 113), have as mother a sun-dis, daughter of the ruler of the atmosphere, Xokver. In other sources the statement in Forspjallsljod (6) is confirmed, that Ivalde had two groups of children, and that she who " among the races of elves was called Idun " belonged to one of them. Thus, while Idun and her sisters are half-sisters to Ivalde's sons, these are in turn half-brothers to pure giants, sons of Greip, and these giants are, according to the Grotte-song (str. 9), the fathers of Fenja and Menja. The relationship of the Ivalde sons to the gods on the one hand and to the giants on the other may be illustrated by the following scheme : Ivalde begets (1) with a sun-dis (2) with the giantess Greip— Greip boars with a giant I "I I' Idun and her sisters. Thjasse-Volund and his giant giant brothers. _ ' . ,, ' • Fenja. Menja. 646 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 115. Eeview of the Proofs of Volund's Identity with Thjasse. The circumstances which first drew my attention to the necessity of investigating whether Thjasse and Volund were not different names of the same mythic personality, which the mytho- logy particularly called Thjasse, and which the heroic saga springing from the mythology in Christian times particularly called Volund, were the following : (1) In the study of Saxo I found in no less than three passages that Njord, under different historical masks, marries a daughter of Volund, while in the mythology he marries a daughter of Thjasse. (2) In investi- gating the statements anent Volund's father in Volundarkvida's text and prose appendix I found that these led to the result that Volund was a son of Sumbl, the Finn king — that is to say, of Olvalde, Thjasse's father. (3) My researches in regard to the myth about the mead produced the result that Svigder- Olvalde perished by the treachery of a dwarf outside of a mountain, where one of the smith-races of the mythology, Suttung's sons, had their abode. In Vilkinasaga's account of the death of Volund's father I discovered the main outlines of the same mythic episode. The correspondence of so different sources in so unexpected a matter was altogether too remarkable to permit it to be overlooked in my mythological researches. The fact that the name-variation itself, Alvalde (for Olvalde), as Thjasse's father is called in Harbardsljod, was in meaning and form a complete synonym of Ivalde I had already observed, but without attaching any im- portance thereto. The next step was to examine whether a similar proof of the identity of Thjasse's and Volund's mother was to be found. In one Norse mythological source Thjasse's mother is called Greip. Volund's and Egil's (Ayo's and Ibor's, Aggo's and Ebbo's) mother is in Paulus Diaconus and in Origo Longobardorum called Gam- bara, in Saxo Gambaruc. The Norse stem in the Latinised name Gambara is Garnmr, which is a synonym of Greip, the name of Thjasse's mother. Thus I found a reference to the identity of Thjasse's mother and Volund's mother. TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 647 From the parents I went to the brothers. One of Vohmd's brothers bore the epithet Aurnir, "wild boar". Aurnir's wife M remembered in the Christian traditions as one who forebodes the future. Ebur's wife is a mythological seeress. One of Thjasse's brothers Ide, is the only one in the mythology whose name points to an original connection with Ivalde (Idvalde), Volund'a father, and with Idun, Volund's half-sister. Volund himself bears the epithet Brunne and Thjasse's home is Brunnsacre. One of Thjasse's sons is slain at the instigation of Loke, and Loke, who in Lokasenna takes pleasure in stating this, boasts in the same poem that In- has caused the slaying of Thjasse. In regard to bonds of relationship in general, I found that on the one side Volund, like Thjasse, was regarded as a giant, and had relations among the giants, among whom Vidolf is mentioned both as Volund's and Thjasse's relative, and that on the other hand Volund is called an elf-prince, and that Thjasse's father belonged to the clan of elves, and that Thjasse's daughter is characterised, like Volund and his nearest relatives, as a skee-runner and hunter, and in this respect has the same epithet as Volund's nephew Ull. I found, furthermore, that so far as tradition has preserved the memory of star-heroes, every mythic person who belonged to their number was called a son of Ivalde or a son of Olvalde. Orvandel- Egil is a star-hero and a son of Ivalde. The Watlings, after whom the Milky Way is named, are descendants of Vate-Vade, Volund s father Thjasse is a star-hero and the son of Olvalde. Ide, too, Thjasse's brother, "the torch-bearer," may have been a star-hero, and as we shall show later, the memory of Volund's brother Slagfin was partly connected with the Milky Way and partly with the spots on the moon ; while, according to another tradi- tion, it is Volund's father whose image is seen m these spots (see' Nos. 121, 123). . I found that Kogner is a Thjasse-epithet, and that all hat is stated of Rogner is" also told of Volund. Kogner was like the latter, first the friend of the gods and then their foe. He was a "swan-gladdener," and Volund the lover of a swan-maid. Lite Volund he fought against Njord. Like Volund he proceed to the northernmost edge of the world, and there he work,d With magic implements through the powers of frost for the destruction of the gods and of the world. And from some one he has taken 648 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. the same ransom as Volund did, when the latter killed Nidhad's young sons and made goblets of their skulls. I found that while Olvalde's sons, Ide, Aurner (Gang), and Thjasse, still were friends of the gods, they had their abode on the south coast of the Elivagar, where Ivalde had his home, called after him Geirva&ils setr, and where his son Orvandel-Egil afterwards dwelt ; that Thor on his way to Jotunheim visits Ide's setr, and that he is a guest in Egil's dwelling; that the mythological warriors who dwell around Ide's setr are called "warrior-vans," and that these "Gang's warrior- vans " have these very persons, Egil and his foster-son Thjalfe, as their leaders when they accompany Thor to fight the giants, wherefore the setr of the Olvalde sons Ide and Gang must be identical with that of the Ivalde sons, and Ide, Gang, and Thjasse identical with Slagfin, Egil, and Volund. On these foundations the identity of Olvalde's sons with Ivalde's sons is sufficiently supported, even though our mythic records had preserved no evidence that Thjasse, like Volund, was the most celebrated artist of mythology. But such evidence is not wanting. As the real meaning of Begin is " shaper," " workman," and as this has been retained as a smith-name in Christian times, there is every reason to assume that Thjasse, who is called fjad'rar-bla&s leih-Regin and vingvagna Bognir, did himself make, like Volund, the eagle guise which he, like Volund, wears. The son of Ivalde, Volund, made the most precious treasures for the gods while he still was their friend, and the Olvalde son Thjasse is called hapta snytrir, " the decorator of the gods," doubtless for the reason that he had smithied treasures for the gods during a time when he was their friend and Thor's ofri'mi (Thor's confidential friend). Volund is the most famous and, so far as we can see, also the first sword-smith, which seems to appear from the fact that his father Ivalde, though a valiant champion, does not use the sword but the spear as a weapon, and is therefore called Geirvan- dill. Thjasse was the first sword-smith, otherwise he would not have been called fadir mdrna, " the father of the swords". Splendid implements are called verk Bognis and fy'aza J?ingskil, I&ja ghjsmdl, Idja orcF — expressions which do not find their adequate explanation in the Younger Edda's account of the division of Olvalde's estate, but in the myth about the judgment which the gods once pro- TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 649 planned in the contest concerning the skill of Sindrc and the sons of Ivalde, when the treasures of the latter presented in court had to plead their own cause. 116. A Look at the Myth concerning Thjasse-Volund. His Epithet Hle*baeCb. His Worst Deed of Revenge What our mythic records tell us about the sons of Olvalde and he sons of Ivalde is under such circumstances to be regarded as ragments which come to us from one and the same original myth. Alien combined, the fragments are found to dovetail together ^nd form one whole. Volundarkvida (28) indicates that some- ping terrible, something that in the highest degree aroused his ndignation and awakened his deep and satanic thirst for revenge, ad happened to Volund ere he, accompanied by his brothers, betook himself to the wintry wilderness, where he smithied the word of revenge and the gand rings; and the poem makes Volund add that this injustice remained to be avenged when he left the Wolf- dales. It lies in the nature of the case that the saga about Volund did not end where the fragment of the Volundarkvida which we possess is interrupted. The balance of the saga must have related what Volund did to accomplish the revenge which he still had to take, and how the effort to take vengeance resulted. The con- tinuation probably also had something to say about that swan- maid, that dis of vegetation, who by the name Hervor Alvitr spends nine years with Volund in the Wolfdales, and then, seized by longing, departs with the other swan-maids, but of whose faithful love Volund is perfectly convinced (Volundarkvida, 10). While Volund is Xidhad's prisoner, the hope he has built on the sword of revenge and victory smithied by him seems to be frustrated. The sword is in the power of Mimer-Nidhad, the friend of the gods. But the hope of the plan of revenge must have awakened again when Svipdag, Volund's nephew, succeeded in coming up from the lower w7orld with the weapon in his possession. The conflict between the powers of frost and the kinsmen of Ivalde, who had deserted the gods, on the one side, and the gods and their favourite Halfdan, the Teutonic patriarch, on the other side, was 650 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. kindled anew (see No. 33). Half dan is repulsed, and finally falls in the war in which Volund got satisfaction by the fact that his sword conquered Thor's Mjolner and made Thor retreat. But once more the hope based on the sword of revenge is frustrated, this time by the possessor of the sword itself, Volund's young kinsman, who — victor in the war, but conquered by the love he cherished for Freyja, rescued by him — becomes the husband of the fair asynje and gives the sword of Volund to Frey, the god of the harvests. That, in spite of this crossing of his plan of revenge, Volund still did not give it up may be taken for granted. He is described not only as the most revengeful, but also as the most persistent and patient person (see "Deor the Scald's Complaint"), when pa- tience could promote his plans. To make war on the gods with the aid of the giants, when the sword of victory had fallen into the hands of the latter, could not give him the least hope of success. After the mythology has given Volund satis- faction for the despicable judgment passed on the products of his skill, it unites the chain of events in such a manner that the same weapon which refuted the judgment and was to cause the ruin of the gods became their palladium against its own maker. What was Volund able to do afterwards, and what did he do ? The answer to this question is given in the myth about Thjasse. With Idun — the Hervor Alvitr of the heroic poem — he confined himself in a mountain, whose halls he presumably decorated with all the wonders which the sagas of the middle ages, describing splendid mountain-halls and parks within the mountains, inherited from the mythology. The mountain must have been situated in a region difficult of access to the gods — according to Bragarsedur in Jotunheim. At all events, Thjasse is there secure against every effort to disturb him, forcibly, in his retreat. The means against the depredations of time and years which Idun possesses have their virtue only when in her care. Without this means, even the gods of Asgard are subject to the influence of time, and are to grow old and die. And in the sense of a myth symbolising nature, the same means must have had its share in the rejuvenation of creation through the saps rising every year in trees and herbs. The destruction of the world— the approach of which Volund wished to precipitate with his sword of revenge — must come slowly, but surely, if Idun remains away from Asgard. This TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 651 plan is frustrated by the gods through Loke, as an instrument compelled by necessity — compelled by necessity (Haustlaung, str. 11), although he delighted in the mischief of deceiving even his allies. Near Thjasse's mountain-halls is a body of water, on which he occasionally rows out to fish (Bragara>dur). Once, when he rows out for this purpose, perhaps accompanied by Shade, Idun is at home alone. Loke, who seems to have studied his customs, flies in a borrowed feather guise into the mountain and steals Idun, who, changed into a nut, is carried in his claws through space to Asgard. But the robbing of Idun was not enough for Loke. He enticed Thjasse to pursue. In his incon- siderate zeal, the latter dons his eagle guise and hastens after the robber into Asgard's vaferflames, where he falls by the javelins of the gods and by Thor's hammer. Sindre's work, the one surpassed by Voliind, causes his death, and is avenged. I have already pointed out that this event explains Loke's words to Idun in Lokasenna, where he speaks of the murder of one of the Ivalde sons, and insists that she, Idun, embraced the one who caused his death. The fate of the great artist and his tragical death help to throw light on the character of Loke and on the part he played in the mythology. Ivalde's sons are, in the beginning, the zealous friends of the gods, and the decorators and protectors of their creation. They smithy ornaments, which are the symbols of vegetation ; and at their outpost by the Elivagar they defend the domain of vegeta- tion against Jotunheim's powers of frost. As I have already stated, they are, like the Eibhus, at the same time heroes, promoters of growth, and artists of antiquity. The mythology had also mani- festly endowed the sons of Ivalde with pleasing qualities — profound knowledge of the mysteries of nature, intelligence, strength, beauty, and with faithfulness toward their beloved. We find that, in time of adversity, the brothers were firmly united, and that their swan- maids love them in joy and in distress. For the powers of evil it was, therefore, of the greatest moment to bring about strife between the gods and these their " sworn men ". Loke, who is a geSreyn ir (Thorsdrapa), " a searcher of the qualities of the soul," a " tempter of the character," has discovered in the great artist of antiquity the false but hitherto unawakened qualities of his character — his ambition and irreconcilable thirst for revenge. These qualities, particularly the latter, burst forth fully developed suddenly after 652 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. the injustice which, at Loke's instigation, the gods have done to the sons of Ivalde. The thirst for revenge breaks out in Thjasse- Volund in a despicable misdeed. There is reason for assuming that the terrible vengeance which, according to the heroic saga, he took against Nidhad, and which had its counterpart in the mytho- logy itself, was not the worst crime which the epic of the Teutonic mythology had to blame him for. Harbardsljod (20) alludes to another and worse one. Speaking of Thjasse (str. 19), HarlarcTr- Loke* there boasts that — har&an johm ee liugda Hlcbar& vera, gaf lian mer gambantein, en ec velta hann or viti. Harbard-Loke here speaks of a giant who, in his mind, was a valiant one, but whose " senses he stole," that is, whom he " cunningly deprived of thought and reflection ". There are two circumstances to which these words might apply. The one con- cerns the giant-builder who built the Asgard-wall, and, angry on account of the trick by which Loke cheated him out of the com- pensation agreed on, rushed against the gods and was slain by Thor. The other concerns Thjasse, who, seeing his beloved carried away by Loke and his plan about to be frustrated, recklessly rushed into his certain ruin. The real name of the giant alluded to is not given, but it is indicated by the epithet fflebarffr, which, according to the Younger Edda, (ii. 484), is a synonym of Vargr and Gyldir. It has already been shown above that Vargr in Thors- drapa and Fjallgyldir in Haustlaung are epithets of Thjasse. Loke says that this same giant, whose sense he cunningly robbed, had previously given him a gavibanteinn. This word means a * Holtzmann and Bergmann have long since pointed out that Harbard is identical with Loke. The idea that Harbard, who in every trait is Loke in Lokasenna, and, like him, appears as a mocker of the gods and boasts of his evil deeds and of his success with the fair sex, should be Odin, is one of the proofs showing how an unmethodical symbolic interpretation could go astray. In the second part of this work I shall fully discuss Harbardsljod. Proofs are to be found from the last days of heathendom in Iceland that it was then well known that the Harbard who is mentioned in this poem was a foe of the yods. TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. <>"•'. weapon made by Volund. His sword of revenge and victory is called ganibantcinn in Skirnersmal. But gambanteinn is, at the same time, a synonym of mistelteinn, hence, in an Icelandic saga from the Christian time, Yolnnd's sword of victory also reappeara by the name mistelteinn (see No. 60). Thus the giant Hlebard gave Loke a weapon, which, according to its designation, is either Volund's sword of victory or the mistletoe. It cannot be the sword of victory. "We know the hands to which this sword has gone and is to go: Volund's, Mimer-Nidhad's, the night-dis Sinmara's, Svip- dag's, Frey's, Aurboda's and Eggther's, and finally Fjalar's and Suit's. The weapon which Thjasse's namesake Hlebard gives Loke must, accordingly, have been the mistletoe. In this con- nection we must bear in mind what is said of the mistletoe. Unfortunately, the few words of Voluspa are the only entirely reliable record we have on this subject ; but certain features of Gylfaginning's account (Younger Edda, i. 172-174) may be mytho- logically correct. "Slender and fair" — not dangerous and fair to behold — grew, according to Voluspa, the mistletoe, " higher than the fields " (as a parasite on the trees) ; but from the shrub which seemed innocent became "a dangerous arrow of pain," which Hoffr hurled. According to a poetic fragment united with Vegtams- kvida ("Balder's draumar"), and according to Gylfaginning, the gods had previously exacted an oath from all things not to harm Balder ; but, according to Gylfaginning, they had omitted to exact an oath from one thing, namely, the mistletoe. By cunning Loke found this out. He went and pulled up the mistletoe, which In- waa afterwards able to put into Hoder's hand, while, according to Gylfa- ginning, the gods were amusing themselves by seeing how every weapon aimed at Balder hit him without harming him. But that Loke should hand Hoder this shrub in the form in which it had grown on the tree, and that Hoder should use it in this form to shoot Balder, is as improbable as that Hoder was blind.* We must take * When I come to consider the Balder-myth in the second part of this work, I shall point out the source from which the author of Gylfaginning, nuaunderstandingly, has drawn the conclusion that the man of exploits, the warrior, the archer, and the hunter Hoder was blind. The misunder- standing gave welcome support to the symbolic interpretation, which, in the blind Hoder, found among other things a symbol of night (but night lias " many eyes "). 654 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. Voluspa's words to mean that the shrub became an arrow, and we must conceive that this arrow looked like every other arrow, and for this very reason did not awaken suspicion. Otherwise the suspicion would at once have been awakened, for they who had exacted the oath of things, and Frigg who had sent the messengers to exact the oaths, knew that the mistletoe was the only thing in the whole world that had not been sworn. The heathen songs nowhere betray such inconsistencies and such thoughtlessness as abound in the accounts of the Younger Edda. The former are always well conceived, at times incisive, and they always reveal a keen sense of everything that may give even to the miraculous the appearance of reality and logic. The mistletoe was made into an arrow by some one who knew how to turn it into a " dangerous arrow of pain " in an infallible manner. The unhappy shot depended on the magic qualities that were given to the mistle- toe by the hands that changed it into an arrow. The event be- comes comprehensible, and the statements found in the various sources dovetail together and bear the test of sound criticism, if Loke, availing himself of the only thing which had not been bound by oath not to harm Balder, goes with this shrub, which of itself was innocent and hardly fit for an arrow, to the artist who hated the gods, to the artist who had smithied the sword of revenge, and if the latter, with his magic skill as a smith, makes out of the mistelteinn a new gamhanteinn dangerous to the gods, and gives the weapon to Loke in order that he might accomplish his evil purpose therewith. As Hlebard is a Thjasse-synonym, as this Thjasse-synonym is connected with the weapon-name gamhanteinn, which indicates a Thjasse-work, and as Loke has treated Thjasse as he says he has treated Hlebard — by a cunning act he robbed him of his senses — then all accessible facts go to establish the theory that by Hlebard is meant the celebrated ancient artist deceived by Loke. And as Hlebard has given him a weapon which is designated by the name of the. sword of revenge, but which is not the sword of revenge, while the latter, on the other hand and for corresponding reasons, also gets the name mistelteinn, then all the facts go to show that the weapon which Hlebard gave to Loke was the mistletoe fraught with woe and changed to an arrow. If Gylfaginning's unreliable account, based on fragmentary and partly mis- understood mythic records presented in a disjointed manner, had TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 655 not been found, and if we had been referred exclusively to the few but reliable statements which are to be found in regard to the matter in the poetic songs, then a correct picture of this episode, though not so complete as to details, would have been the result of a compilation of the statements extant. The result would then have been : (1) Balder was slain by an arrow shot by Hoder (Voluspa, Vegtamskvida) ; (2) Hoder was not the real slayer, but Loke (Lokasenna, 28) ; (3) the material of which the arrow was made was a tender or slender (mjor) mistletoe (Voluspa) ; (-f) previously all things had sworn not to harm Balder (" Balder's draumar "), but the mistletoe must, for some reason or other, have been overlooked by the messengers sent out to exact the oaths, since Balder was mortally wounded by it; (5) since it was Loke who arranged (reff) matters so that this happened, it must have been he who had charge of the mistletoe for the carrying out of his evil purpose ; (6) the mistletoe fell into the hands of a giant-smith hostile to the gods, and mentioned under circumstances that refer to Thjasse (Harbardsljod) ; (7) by his skill as a smith he gave such cpialities to the mistletoe as to change it into " a dangerous arrow of pain," and then gave the arrow to Loke (Harbardsljod) ; (8) from Loke's hands it passed into Hoder's, and was shot by the latter (Lokasenna, Voluspa). It is dangerous to employ nature-s3rmbolism as a means of mythological investigation. It is unserviceable for that purpose, so long as it cannot be subjected to the rules of severe methodics. On the other hand, it is admissible and justifiable to consider from a natural symbolic standpoint the results gained in a mythological investigation by the methodological system. If, as already indicated, Hlebard is identical with Thjasse-Volund, then he who was the cause of the fimbul-winter and sent the powers of frost out upon the earth, also had his hand in the death of the sun-god Balder and in his descent to the lower world. There is logic in this. And there is logic in the very fact that the weapon with which the sun-god is slain is made from the mistletoe, which blossoms and produces fruit in the winter, and is a plant which rather shuns than seeks the light of the sun. When we remember how the popular traditions have explained the appearance and qualities of various animals and plants by connecting them with the figures of mythology or of legendary lore, then I suppose it is 656 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. possible that the popular fancy saw in the mistletoe's dread of light the effect of grief and shame at having been an instrument in evil hands for evil purposes. Various things indicate that the mistletoe originally was a sacred plant, not only among the Celts, but also among the Teutons. The Hindooic Aryans also knew sacred parasitical plants. The word gamban which forms a part of gambanteinn means " compensation," " ransom," when used as a noun, and otherwise " retaliating ". In the Anglo-Saxon poetry occurs (see Grein's Dictionary) the phrase gamban gylclan, " to compensate," " to pay dues ". In the Norse sources gamban occurs only in the com- pounds gambanteinn (Skirnersmal, 32 ; Harbardsljod, 20), gamban- reidi (Skirnersmal, 33), and gambansumbl (Lokasenna, 8). In the song of Skirner, the latter threatens Gerd, who refused Frey's offer of marriage, that she shall be struck by gambanrei&i goffa, the avenging wrath of the gods. In Lokasenna, Loke conies unbidden into the banquet of the gods in JEgir's hall to mix bitterness with their gladness, and he demands either a place at the banquet table or to be turned out of doors. Brage answers that the gods never will grant him a seat at a banquet, " since they well know for whom among beings they are to prepare gambansumbl," a banquet of revenge or a drink of revenge. This he manifestly mentions as a threat, referring to the fate which soon afterwards happens to Loke, when he is captured and bound, and when a venom-spitting serpent is fastened above his mouth. For the common assumption that gamban means something " grand," "magnificent," "divine," there is not a single shadow of reason. Gambanteinn is accordingly " the twig of revenge," and thus we have the mythological reason why Thjasse-Volund's sword of revenge and the mistletoe arrow were so called. With them he desires to avenge the insult to which he refers in Volundarkvida, 28 : Nu heft ec hefnt harma minna allra nema einna ivipgjarnra. 117. The Guard at Hvergelmer and the Elivagar. It has already been shown (see Nos. 59, 93) that the Elivagar have their source in the subterranean fountain Hvergelmer, situated TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. t'.f>7 ion a mountain, which separates the subterranean region of bliss l(Hel) from Xifelhel. Here, near the source of the Elivagar, stands the great world-mill, which revolves the starry heavens, causes the !ebb and flood of the ocean and regulates its currents, and grinds •the bodies of the primeval giants into layers of mould on the rocky |substrata (see Nos. 79, 80). From Hvergelmer, the mother of all (waters, the northern root of the world-tree draws saps, which rise into its topmost branches, evaporate into EUcpyrnir above Asgard, and flow thence as vafer-laden clouds (see No. 36), which emit fructifying showers upon Midgard, and through the earth they return to their original source, the fountain Bvergelmer. The iHvergelmer mountain (the Nida-mountains, Nida/j'oU) cannot have [been left without care and protection, as it is of so vast importance in the economy of the world, and this the less since it at the same time forms the boundary between the lower world's realm of bliss and Nifelhel, the subterranean Jotunheim, whose frost- thurses sustain the same relation to the inhabitants on the ever- green fields of bliss as the powers of frost in the upper Jotunheim [sustain to the gods of Asgard and to the inhabitants of Midgard [There is no reason for assuming that the guard of brave sworn warriors of the Asgard gods, those warriors whom we have already seen in array near the Elivagar, should have only a part of this body of water to keep watch over. The clan of the elves, under their chiefs, the three sons of Ivalde, even though direct evi- dence were wanting, must be regarded as having watched over the Elivagar along their whole extent, even to their source, and as having had the same important duty in reference to the giants of the lower world as in reference to those of the upper. As its name indicates, Nifelheim is shrouded in darkness and mist, against which the peaks of the Hvergelmer mountain form the natural rampart as a protection to the smiling fields of bliss. But gales and storms might lift themselves above these peaks and enshroud even Mimer's and Urd's realms in mist. The elves are endowed with power to hinder this. The last strophe in Thorsdrapa, so interesting from a mythological standpoint, confirms this view. Egil is there called hncitir undir-fj&lfs bliku, and is said to be hclbl6tinn. Blika is a name for clouds while they are still near the horizon and appear as pale vapours, which to those skilled in regard to the weather forbode an approaching storm (compare 42 658 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. Vigfusson's Diet., 69). Undir-fjdlfr is thought by Egilson to mean subterranean mountains, by Vigfusson "the deep," abysstts. Hneitir undir-fjalfs bliku is "he who conquers (or resolves, scatters) the clouds rising, storm-foreboding, from the abyss (or over the lower- world mountain) ". As Egil can be thus character- ised, it is easy to explain why he is called helbldtinn, " he who receives sacrifices in the subterranean realm of bliss ". He guards the Teutonic elysian fields against the powers of frost and the mists of Nifelheim, and therefore receives tokens of gratitude from their pious inhabitants. The vocation of the sons of Ivalde, as the keepers of the Hvergeluier fountain and of the Elivagar, has its counterpart in the vocation which, in the Iranian mythology, is attributed to Thjasse's prototype, the star-hero Tistrya (Tishya). The fountain Hver- gelmer, the source of the ocean and of all waters, has in the Iranian mythology its counterpart in the immense body of water Vourukasha. Just as the Teutonic world - tree grows from its northern root out of Hvergelmer, the Iranian world-tree Gaokerena grows out of Vourukasha (Bundehesh, 18). Vourukasha is guarded by Tistrya, assisted by two heroes belonging to the class of mythological beings that are called Yazatas (Izads ; in the Veda literature Yajata), "they who deserve offerings," and in the Iranian mythology they form the third rank of divine beings, and thus correspond to the elves of the Teutonic mythology. Assisted by these two heroes and by the " ferves of the just," Tistrya defends Vourukasha, and occasionally fights against the demon Apaosha, who desires to destroy the world (Bundehesh, 7). Tistrya, as such, appears in three forms : as a youth with bright and glistening eyes, as a wild boar, and as a horse. Can it be an accident that these forms have their counterparts in the Teutonic mythology in the fact that one of Thjasse's brothers (Egil- Orvandel-Ebur) has the epithet "wild boar," and that, as shall be shown below, his other brother (Slagfin) bears the epithet Hengest, and that Thjasse-Volund himself, who for years was possessor of, and presumably invented, the " remedy against aging," which Idun, his beloved, has charge of — that Thjasse-Volund himself was regarded as a youth with a " white neck " (Volundar- kvida, 2) and with glittering eyes (Volundarkvida, 17), which after his death were placed in the heavens as stars ? TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. G59 118. Slagfin. His Identity with Gjuke. Slagfin, Egil, and VOLUND ARE NlFLUNGS. I now come to the third Ivalde son, Slagfin. The name Slagfin (Slagfi&r) occurs nowhere else than in Volundarkvidu, and in the prose introduction to the same. All that we learn of him is that, like Egil, he accompanied his brother Voluud to the Wolf- dales ; that, like them, he runs on skees and is a hunter ; and that, Iwhen the swan-maids, in the ninth year of their abode in the Wolf- ! dales, are overcome by longing and return to the south, he goes away to find his beloved, just as Egil goes to find his. We learn, furthermore, that Slagfin's swan-maid is a sister of Volund's ami a kinswoman of Egil's, and that she, accordingly, is Slagfin's sister | (half-sister). She is called Hla&guffr Svanhvit, likewise a name which occurs nowhere else. Her (and accordingly also that of Volund's swan-maid) mother is called Swan - feather, Svanfjoffr (Slagfin's beloved is Svanfja&rar drds — str. 2). The name Svan- feather reminds us of the Svanhild Gold-feather mentioned in Fornm., ii. 7, wife of one Finalf. If Svanfeather is identical with Svanhild Gold-feather, then Finalf must originally be identical with Ivalde, who also is an elf and bears the name Finnakonungr, Sumblus Phinnorum rex. But this then simply confirms what we already know, namely, that the Ivalde sons and two of the swan-maids are brothers and sisters. It, however, gives us no clue by which we can trace Slagfin in other sources, and rediscover him bearing other names, and restore the myth concerning him which seems to be lost. That he, however, played an important part in the mytho- logy may be assumed already from the fact that his brothers hold places so central in the great epic of the mythology. It is, there- fore, highly probable that he is mentioned in our mythic frag- ments, though concealed under some other name. One of these names, viz., Ide, we have already found (see No. 114); and thereby we have learned that he, with his brother Egil, had a citadel near the Elivagar, and guarded their coasts against the powers of frost. But of his fate in general we are ignorant. No extensive researches are required, however, before we find circum- stances which, compared with each other, give us the result that 660 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. Slagtin is Gjuke, and therewith the way is open for a nearer acquaintance with his position in the heroic saga, and before that in the mythology. His identity with Gjuke is manifest from the following circumstances : The Gjukungs, famous in the heroic saga, are, according to the saga itself, the first ones who bear this name. Their father is Gjuke, from whom this patronymic is derived. Through their father they belong to a race that is called Hniflungs, Niflungs, Nebelungs. The Gjukungs form a branch of the Niflung race, hence all Gjukungs are Niflungs, but not all Niflungs Gjukungs. The Younger Edda says correctly, Af Nifiunga cctt var Gjuki (Younger Edda, i. 522), and Atlakvida (17) shows that the Gjukungs constitute only a part of the Niflungs. The identity of the Gjukungs in this relative sense with the Niflungs is known and pointed out in Atlamal (47, 52, 88), in Brot of Sigardarkvida (16), in Atlakvida (11, 17, 27), and in " Drap Nifiunga ". Who the Niflung race are in the widest sense of the word, or what known heroes the race embraced besides Gjuke and his sons — to this question the saga of Helge Hundingsbane (i. 48) gives important information, inasmuch as the passage informs us that the hostile race which Helge Hundingsbane — that is to say, Halfdan Borgarson (see No. 29) — combats are the Niflungs. Fore- most among the Niflungs Hodbrocl is mentioned in this poem, whose betrothed Helge (Halfdan Borgarson) gets into his power. It has already been shown that, in this heroic poem, Hodbrod is the copy of the mythological Orvandel-Egil (see Nos. 29, 32, 101). It follows that Volund, Orvandel-Egil, and Slagfin are Niflungs, and that Gjuke either is identical with one of them or that he at all events is descended from the same progenitor as they. The great treasure of works smithied from gold and other pre- cious things which the Gjukungs owned, according to the heroic tra- ditions, are designated in the different sources in the same manner as inherited. In Atlakvida (11) the Gjukung treasure is called arf Nifiunga; so also in Atlakvida (27). In Gudrunarkvida (ii. 25) the queen of the deceased Gjuke promises her and Gjuke's daughter, Gudrun, that she is to have the control of all the treasures " after " (at) her dead father (fjold allz fjar at pin fauffur dauffan), and we are told that those treasures, together with the halls in which they were kept and the precious carpets, are an inheritance TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 661 after (at) Hlanffvcr," the fallen prince" (lirinja rau&a Hlauffvcs sali, arsal allan at jofur fallin). From Volundarkvida we gather that Volund's and Slagfin's swan-maids are daughters of Hlaudwr and sisters of their lovers. Thus Hlaudver is identical with [valde, Volund's, Egil's, and Slagfin's father (see No. 123). Ivalde'a splendidly decorated halls, together with at least one son's share of his golden treasures, have thus passed as an inheritance to Gjuke, and from Gjuke to his sons, the Gjukungs. While the first song about Helge Hnndingsbane tells us that Volund, Egil, and Slagfin were, like Gjuke, Niilungs, we here learn that Gjuke was the heir of Volund's, Egil's, and Slagfin's father. And while Thorsdrapa, compared with other sources, has already informed us that Ide- Slagfin and Gang-Egil inhabited that citadel near the Elivagar which is called " Ide's chalet " and Geirvadel's (Geirvandel's) chalet, and while Geirvandel is demonstrably an epithet of Ivalde,* and as Ivalde's citadel accordingly passed into the possession of Slagfin and Egil, Ave here find that Ivalde's citadel was inherited by Gjuke. Finally, we must compare herewith Bragaroedur (ch. 2), where it is said that Ivalde (there called Olvalde) was survived by his sons, who harmoniously divided his great treasures. Thus Gjuke is one of the sons of Ivalde, and inherited halls and treasures after Ivalde ; and as he can be neither Volund nor Egil, whose fates we already know, he must be Slagfin — a result confirmed by the evidence which we shall gradually present below. 119. The Niflung Hoard is the Treasure left by Volund and his Brothers. When Volund and Egil, angry at the gods, abandoned Frey to the power of the giants and set out for the Wolfdales, they were unable to take with them their immense treasures inherited from their father and augmented by themselves. Nor did they need them for their purposes. Volund carried with him a golden fountain in his wealth-bringing arm-ring (see Nos. 87, 98, 101) • In Saxo Gervandillus (Giirvandill) is the lather of Horvandillus (Orvandill). Orvandel has been proved to be identical with Egil. And as Egil is the son of Ivalde, Geirvandel is identical with Ivalde. 662 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. from which the seven hundred rings, that Nidhad to his astonish- ment discovered in his smithy, must have come. But the riches left by the brothers ought not to fall into the hands of the gods, who were their enemies. Consequently they were concealed. Saxo (Hist., 193) says of the father of Svipdag-Ericus, that is to say, of Orvandel-Egil, that he long had had great treasures con- cealed in earth caves (gazce, quas dm clausw telluris antra condi- derant). The same is true of Gjuke-Slagfin, who went with his brothers to the Wolfdales. Vilkinasaga (see below) has rescued an account of a treasure which was preserved in the interior of a mountain, and which he owned. The same is still more and par- ticularly applicable to Volund, as he was the most famous smith of the mythology and of the heroic saga. The popular fancy con- ceived these treasures left and concealed by Volund as being kept in earth caves, or in mountain halls, guarded and brooded over by dragons. Or it conceived them as lying on the bottom of the sea, or in the bottom of deep rivers, guarded by some dwarf inhabiting a rocky island near by. Many of the songs and sagas of heathen- dom and of the older days of Christianity were connected with the refinding and acquisition of the Niblung hoard by some hero or other as the Volsung Sigmund, the Borgar descendant Hadding- Dieterich, and Siegfried-Sigurd-Fafnersbane. The Niflung treasure, hodd Niflunga (Atlakvida, 26), Nibelnnge Hort, is in its more limited sense these Volund treasures, and in its most general signification the golden wealth left by the three brothers. This wealth the saga represents as gathered again largely in the hands of the Gjukungs, after Sigurd, upon the victory over Eafner, has reunited the most important one of Volund's concealed treasures with that of the Gjukung's, and has married the Gjukung sister Gudrun. The German tradition, preserved in middle-age poems, shows that the continental Teutons long remembered that the Nibelunge Hort originally was owned by Volund, Egil, and Slagfin-Gjuke. In Lied von Siegfried the treasure is owned by three brothers who are " Niblungs ". Only one of them is named, and he is called King Euglin, a name which, with its variation Eugel, manifestly is a variation of Eigel, as he is called in the Orentel saga and in Vilkinasaga, and of Egil as he is called in the Norse records. King Euglin is, according to Lied von Siegfried, an interpreter of stars. Siegfried bids him Lasz mieh deyner TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 663 kuiist gcniessen, Astronomcy gcnannt. This peculiar statement is explained by the myth according to which Orvandel-Egil is a star-hero. Egil becomes, like Atlas of the antique mythology, a king versed in astronomy in the historical interpretation of mythology. In Nibclungc Noth the treasure is owned by " the valiant " Niblungs, Schilbunc and Niblunc. Schilbunc is the Norse SlcUfingr, and I have already shown above that Ivalde- Svigder is the progenitor of the Skilfings. The poem Biterolf knows that the treasure originally belonged to Nibelot, dcr machct himele guldi/n ; sclbcr volt er got sin. These remarkable words have their only explanation in the myths concerning the Niflung Volund, who first ornamented Asgard with golden works of art, and subsequently wished to destroy the inhabitants of Asgard in Older to be god himself. The Norse heroic saga makes the treasures brooded over by Fafner to have been previously guarded by the dwarf Andvare, and makes the latter (Sigurdarkvida Fain., ii. 3) refer to the first owner. The saga characterises the treasure guarded by him as pat gull, er Gustr dtti. In the very nature of the case the first maker and possessor of these works must have been one of the most celebrated artists of the mythology; ami as Gustr means "wind," "breath of wind"; as, again, Volund in the mythology is the only artist who is designated by a synonym of Gustr, that is, by Byrr, "wind" (Volundarkvida, 12), and by Loptr, " the airy one " (Fjolsvinnsmal, 26) ; as, furthermore, the soug cycle concerning Sigurd Fafnersbane is connected with the children of Gjuke, Volund's brother, and in several other respects strikes roots down into the myth concerning Ivalde's sons ; and as, finally, the German tradition shows an original connection between Nibclungc Hort and the treasures of the Ivalde sons, then every fact goes to show that in Gustr we have an epithet of Volund, and that the Niflung hoard, both in the Norse and in the German Sigurd-Sieg- fried saga was the inheritance and the works of Volund and his brothers. Vigfusson assumes that the first part of the compound Slagfin is slagr, " a tone," " a melody," played on a stringed instru- ment. The correctness of this opinion is corroborated by the fact that Slagfin-Gjuke's son, Gunnar, is the greatest player on stringed instruments in the heroic literature. In the den of serpents he still plays his harp, so that the crawling venomous creatures are enchanted by the tones. This wonderful art of his is explained 664 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. by the fact that his father is " the stringed instrument's " Finn, that is, Slagfin. The horse Grane, who carries Sigurd and the hoard taken from Fafner, probably at one time bore Volund himself, when he proceeded to the Wolfdales. Grane at all events had a place in the Volund-myth. The way traversed by Volund from his own golden realm to the Wolfdales, and which in part was through the northern regions of the lower world (fyr ndgrindr neffan — Fjolsvinnsmal, 26) is in Volundarkvida (14) called Grant's way. Finally, it must here be stated that Sigurdrifva, to whom Sigurd proceeds after he has gotten possession of Fafner's treasure (Griperssaga, 13-15), is a mythic character transferred to the heroic saga, who, as shall be shown in the second part of this work, held a conspicuous position in the myths concerning the Ivalde sons and their swan-maids. She is, in fact, the heroic copy of Idun, and originally she had nothing to do with Budle's daughter Brynhild. The cycle of the Sigurd songs thus attaches itself as the last ring or circle in the powerful epic to the myth concerning the Ivalde sons. The Sigurd songs arch themselves over the fateful treasures which were smithied and left by the fallen Lucifer of the Teutonic mythology, and which, like his sword of revenge and his arrow of revenge, are filled with curses and coming woe. In the heroic poems the Ivalde sons are their owners. The son's son Svipdag wields the sword of revenge. The son's sons Guunar and Hogne go as the possessors of the Niblung treasure to meet their ruin. The myth concerning their fathers, the Ivalde sons, arches itself over the enmity caused by Loke between the gods on the one hand, and the great artists, the elf-princes, the pro- tectors of growth, the personified forces of the life of nature, on the other hand. In connection herewith the myth about Ivalde himself revolves mainly around "the mead," the soma, the strength-giving saps in nature. He too, like his sons after- wards, gets into conflict with the gods and rebels against them, seeks to deprive them of the soma sap which he had discovered, allies himself with Suttung's sons, in whose keeping the precious liquid is rediscovered, and is slain outside of their door, while Odin is within and carries out the plan by which the mead becomes accessible to gods and to men (see No. 89). This chain of events thus continues through three generations. And interwoven with it is the chain of events opposed to it, which develops through the TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 665 generations of the other great mythic race of heroes: that of the Heimdal son Borgar, of the Borgar son Halfdan, and of the Halfdan sons Hadding and Guthorm (Dieterieh and Ermenrich). Borgar fights and must yield to the assault of Ivalde, and subsequently of his sons from the North in alliance with the powers of frost (sec N< 22, 28). Halfdan contends with [valde's s, 385, 387, 394, 398, 399, 688-642. L68. Frotho, 187, :".">••*, 567, 589. Folia, 819, 166, 468, 559. Funen, 24. G. Gabriel, 567. Gaelic, 63. d, 1 1. Galfrid of Monmouth, 667, 668, 871, 672. Gambara, Gambaruc, 67-70, 606,645, 646. Caniliaiitrin, ;,", 1. ;',,",;,. Gambrivians, 104. Gandians, 151. Gandil, 318-321. Gandvik, 71, 211, 637-639, 641-643. Gang, 117, 133, 604, 605, 630, 632, 634, 639, 641-643, 648, 661. 678. Ganges, 3, 6, 7, 11, 16. Ganglere, 28. Gaokercna, 658. Gardarike, 24, 31. Garm, 299, 384, 385. Gaul, 18, 39, 44, 45, 48, 82, 86. Cauls, 79. Gebhard, Bishop, 224. Gefion, 24. Gehenne, 274, 276. Geiger, 13. C.ij.T, E.G., 87, 564. Geirrod, 70, 71, 211, 219, 223, 364, 365, 407, 408, 581, 621, 622, 633- 636, 638, 639, 643, 611. Geirvandel, 599, 661, 673, 674, >", Geitir, 64. Gelder, 532, 533, 667, 668, 670, K Geldnba, 569. Georgia, 5. Gejiaiita, 78. Gepidians, 77, 78, 80, 480. Gerd, 181, 1 15, 164, 166, 104, 289, 293, 295-298, 861 I, 656. 692 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. Gergis, 52. Germania, 1, 104, 196, 374, 375, 415, 438, 569, 570, 572, 676. Germanic, see Teutonic. German Ocean, 82, 86. Germany, German, &c, 1, 2, 4, 6, 9, 12, 13, 15, 19, 20, 36, 39, 43, 46, 48, 59-61, 66, 70, 71, 74, 75, 78-83, 86, 97, 98, 103, 104, 108, 114, 120, 121, 129, 136, 167, 178, 183, 184, 195- 197, 199-206, 242, 243, 275-277, 282, 309, 310, 319, 322, 337, 373, 374, 381, 415, 428, 430, 434, 438, 463, 464, 466, 467, 474, 483-485, 489, 490, 492, 501, 566, 568-570, 572, 584-586, 606, 608, 612, 630, 662, 663, 665, 667, 676, 677, 682-684. Gernoz, 665. Gerutha, 529. Geruthus, 212-214, 219, 223. Gesta, 42-44. Gevarr, Gevarus, 137, 530-535, 537 538, 669-671, 677, 680-682. Gheysmer, 534. Gilling, 329. Gilzer, 665. Ginungagap, 284, 307, 476, 638. Gisle Surson, 311, 316, 317, 345, 347, 465, 503. Gissur, 358. Gjallar Bridge, 222, 499. Gjalp, 630, 633. Gjoll, 329. Gjuke, 660-663, 665-668, 670-672, 677, 678, 682-684. Gjukungs, 660-662, 665, 670, 677, 678, 682-684. Gleipner, 385, 559. Glittering Plains, 210, 211, 216-221, 226, 228, 229, 284, 286, 352, 433. Glum Geirason, 295. Gnipa Cave, 299. Golaida, 67. Gorm, 212-215, 217, 219-223, 226, 227, 229, 231, 237, 284, 285, 293, 351, 352, 355, 356, 363-366, 376, 435, 484, 491. Got, 59. Goths, Gothic, 2, 16, 17, 40, 50, 51, 60, 66, 76-78, 80, 86, 98, 107, 120, 121, 132, 151, 192, 200, 205, 275- 277, 405, 466, 480, 494, 498, 549, 571, 676. Gotland, 88, 119, 583. Grafvitner, 164. Gram, 96, 98, 99, 101-103, 122. Gram Skjoldson, 101, 124. Grane, 664. Great Britain, 16, 19, 121, 521. Greece, Greeks, &c, 3, 4, 13, 15-18, 30, 35, 38-41, 47-54, 57, 59, 61, 63, 69, 72, 76, 82, 85, 129, 130, 206, 301, 482, 495, 497, 498, 500, 544, 610, 611. Greenland, 638. Gregorius of Tours, 34, 41, 44, 55, 57, 146, 482, 493. Grein, 420, 656. Grendel, 550-552. Greip, 630, 645, 646, 680, 6S2. Grep, Grepp, 541, 542, 567. Grimhild, 351, 353, 354. Grimmer, 92. Grimm, Jacob, 8, 105, 107, 180, 309, 326, 345, 350, 412, 462, 463, 467, 489, 667, 681, 682. Grimm, Wilhelm, 203. Grimner, 295. Grimnismal, 70, 161-164, 171, 181, 182, 255, 270, 273, 274, 281, 283, 286- 288, 294, 295, 298, 301, 303, SOS- SOS, 313, 316, 331, 353, 384, 388, 403, 405, 406, 437, 438, 442, 443, 446, 450-452, 470-473, 475, 486-488, 509, 510, 512, 544, 580, 587, 588, 590, 603, 604, 669, 679. Griperssaga, 664. Groa, 101-103, 107, 122, 123, 133-137, 174, 175, 183, 203, 465, 467, 505, 507-510, 521, 529, 538, 540,544, 556, 561, 567, 575, 577, 578, 582, 583, 585, 611, 677. Groagalder, 102, 203, 239, 243, 389, 425, 505, 507, 515, 523, 524, 528, 539, 540, 543, 546, 564. Gruntvig, 564. Gudheim, 25. Gudhorm, Guthorm, 102, 103, 107, 136, 174, 175, 178, 179, 184, 188, INDEX. 693 192, 195, 205, 207, 386, 53S, 574, 665, 666, 676. Gudmund, 148, 210-212, 217-221, 226- 231, 251, 266, 267, 270, 284, 285, 294, 431, 433, 436, 493. Gudolf, 59. Gudrun, 106, 228, 320, 334, 851, 821- 623, 660, 662. Gudrunarkvida, 92, 354, 355, 660, 677. Gulvcig, 111, 141, 142, 144-152, 157- 160, 187, 330, 491, 506, 530, 594. 8 1 1. Gunger, 131. Gunhild, (519. Gunlad, 153, 440-442, 446-448, 453, 454, 681. Gunnar, 341-343, 498, 663-665, 671. Gunno, 461, 543. Gunvara, 539, 541-543, 553, 567, 568. Guritha, 101. Guthnmndus, 213-215. (Jutland, 69, 70. Gylfaginning, 85, 91, 92, 102, 116, 132, 221-223, 225, 230, 232-235, 254, 263, 268-275, 277, 279-281, 284, 285, 287, 288, 293-295, 297, 302, 307-309. 314, 316, 324, 328-330, 338, 344, 345, 356, 357, 367, 377, 379-385, 389-391,397, 413, 415-418, 420-423, 427, 434, 437, 438, 445, 449, 450, 455, 459, 460, 465-467, 469, 472, 476, 479, 499, 508, 514, 581, 582, 628, 653, 654, 671. Gylfe, 24, 27-29, 31, 62-64. Gymer, 145, 154, 155, 160, 164, 165, 289, 290, 365, 449, 553, 554, 565, 604. H. Hadaland, 502. Hadding, Hading, 101, 103, 107, 130, 137, 174-189, 191-197, 199-207, 216, 219-222, 229, 237, 284, 293, 305, 334, 352, 411, 494, 500, 538, 547, 556- 558, 562, 563, 572, 574, 612, 662, 665, 676, 682. Hadeln, 72. Hades, 82, 138, 229, 230, 255, 266, 276, 277, 283, 285, 286, 291-293, 295, 297, 305, 329, 354, 357, 358, 361, 393, 394, 432, 495, 499, 504, 505, 509, 554, 681. II;l■!. Huyrvillus, 119. Bvedrung, 324, 332, 333, 335. Hvcrg. -lm. i . 92, 163, 164, 271-275, 281- 286, 288, 289, 294, 998, 806, 353, 362, 364, 383, 388, B94, B96, B97, 11 I. 484, 470, 177. 178, 486, 187, 191, 658, 680. Bymer, B80, 679, 580. Bymerakvida, 679, 680, 682. Byndla, 92, 868. Byndlidjod, 99, 100, 102, L04, n I. 122, L87, L88, 1 15, I (6, I 19, 162, i-;. 264, 858, 859, 106, 107, 472, 487, 512, 624, 669, 604, 609, 629, 644, 678, 67'.'. Byrrokin, 159, 160. Iberians, 17. Ibor, 67-70, 79, 601, 606, 673, 683, 684. Iceland, Icelanders, Icelandic, 19, 23, 82, 33, 38, 59, 62, 68, 75, 77, 86, 88, 99, 121, 129, 142, 181, 190, 266, 268, 275, 276, 287, 292, 811, 335, 356, 359, 365, 383, 384, 416, 461, 495, 524, 536, 538, 548, 553, 564, 576, 588,599, 610, 684, 652. Ida, Mount, 51, 52, 93. Ide, 117, 133, 288, 604, 605, 607, 610, 630, 632, 634, 637-643, 645, 648, 659, 661, 672. Idnn, US, 121,133,131, 138, 139,150, 608, 609, 616, 617, 619, 622, 623, 626, 632, 644, 645, 647, 650, 651, 658, 669-671, 680. Ilium, 35, 39, 40, 53. Illyria, 39, 42, 79. Illyrian Gulf, 41. Illyrieum, 42. India, 3, 5-9, 22, 56, 209, 219. Indo-Germanic, see Aryan. India, 248, 409, 596-599, 617. Indride, 59. Indun, 112, 591. 592. Indus 7, 9. [ngawo, Ingrevonians, 104, 205-207, :.70. Ingeborg, 211. Ingiald, 310. 696 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. Inguseon, 572. Iran, 13. Irania, Iranian, 3, 4, 6, 7, 11, 12, 56, 84, 173, 257, 258, 262, 263, 392, 438, 594, 596, 598, 699, 612, 616, 658. Ire, 240. Ireland, 44. Ironwood, 147, 148, 150-155, 160, 187, 380, 381, 449, 474, 480, 549, 550, 595, 631. Irpa, 619. Irung, 665-667, 671, 672. Isodorus of Sevilla, 51. Isolfr, 673. Istaevo, Isttfivonians, 104, 107, 205-207. Isulfus, 589. Isung, 152. Italy, Italians, 4, 7, 9, 17, 26. 31, 35, 36, 47, 48, 51, 54, 60-62, 67, 68, 70, 76, 81, 121, 201, 586. Itroman, 59. Ivalde, 83, 116-119, 131, 133, 134, 137, 138, 150, 206, 244, 289, 398, 446, 449, 460, 473, 478, 510, 546, 569, 586, 590-594, 596, 599-601, 604-610, 617, 621, 622, 628, 643, 645-649, 651, 657-659, 661, 663-665, 667, 670-684: Izads, 658. Jafnhar, 28, 63. Jahi, 594. Jama, 262. Janus, 62. Japhet, 58. Jara Plains, 119. Jaravall, 132. Jarl, 93, 94, 96. Jarl, Judge, 96. Jasna the Younger, 258. Jat, 59. Jaxartes, 7, 9. Jena, 19. Jerusalem, 55, 566, 567. Jessen, 107. Jews, 47. Jima, 258, 259, 261, 262, 428, 595. Joannes, 481. Jokul 64, 71, 112. Jonsson, Arngrin, 96. Jonsson, Finnur, 612, 626. Jord, 419. Jordanes, 40, 76-79, 86, 120, 151, 200, 201, 205, 549, 550, 552, 563, 571. Jormenrek, 563. Jormungi-und, 90, 2C4, 409, 473, 476, 478. 479. Joruvalla, 119, 472. Jotunheim, 64, 134, 152, 169, 174, 175, 188, 210, 211, 219, 221, 270, 271, 273, 288, 289, 293, 294, 408, 416, 417, 419, 459, 521, 523, 526, 528, 542, 544, 561, 573, 577-579, 582, 583, 594, 600-602, 620, 635-644, 648, 651, 657, 680. Jupiter, 26, 30, 32, 48-50, 53, 58, 59. Jutland, 27, 533. Kabulistau, 6, 7. Kari, 64. Kark, 310. Kerlogar, 282. Kiarr, 677. Klaproth, Julius V., 7. Kon, 94-96, 110. Konigsberg, 15. Kormak, 143, 314, 542, 611. Kormt, 282. Kuhn, 12. Kullen, 577. Kvaser, 23. L. Lactanius, 51, 52, 58, 62. Laertes, 569, 571. Lamia, 61. Langarbrekku-Einar, 503. Laomedon, 59. Lamissio, Lamicho, 582, 583. Lassen, 7. Latham, 10-12, 19. Latin, 3, 15-17, 34, 37, 39, 40, 47, 49, 57-59, 61, 63, 66, 67, 74, 157, 223, 225, 276, 320, 322, 323, 372, 404, 464, 465, 486, 493, 500, 501, 508, 526, 678. INDEX. 697 Latium, 3, 39, 55, 62. Latinos Mountains, 493. Latona, 53. Lausitz, 553. Legros, 500. Leifthraser, 121, 232-239, 255, 256, 265-267, 300, 300, 307, 361. Leikin, 326-328, 364. Leopold of Merseburg, 553. Lerbrimer, 162. Lesso, 181. Liburnia, Liburnian, 41-43. Libyan, 51. Lif, 121, 232-239, 255, 256, 265-267, 300, 306, 307, 361. Ling, 681. Link, 5. Lis, ins, 185, 186. Lithuanian, 16. Liutwar, 676, 677, 682. Livonians, 192. Loder, 85, 411-413, 496, 497, 500-502. Lofdung, 129. Loge, 64, 119, 153, 450. Logrin, 24, 27. Lokasenna, 90, 147, 150, 156, 190, 291, 328, 381, 382, 384, 385, 392, 413, 420, 421, 423, 449, 467, 472, 474, 608, 647, 651, 652, 655, 656. Loke, 91, 112, 115-118, 134, 138, 139, 146-148, 150, 151, 153, 156, 176, 177, 181, 183-185, 189-191, 202, 203, 271-274, 291, 297, 304, 305, 324, 325, 327, 328, 332, 333, 363, 364, 376-382, 384, 385, 392, 393, 407, 408, 413. 420-424, 433, 449, 472, 474, 477, 479, 490, 491, 516-518, 529, 530, 555, 562, 563, 570, 580, 581, 584, 590, 593-595, 599, 604, 607-610, 612-614, 616, 621, 622, 624- 627, 633, 635-638, 640-643, 645, 647, 650-656, 664. Longobardians, 66-71, 74, 75, 77-SO, 105, 119, 219, 286, 480, 483, 484, 582-584, 589, 600, 601, 675, 684. Lopta, 520, 626. Loride, 31, 59. Lotbcrus, 411-413. Lucanus, 39, 44. Lucifer, 646, 664. Ltidiger, 682. Luneborg, 66. Lather, Lykoe, 610. Lyngvi, 1 39, Ljteir, 185. M. Macedonia, [ana, 26, 30, 35, 87-89, 72. Mjelar, Lake, 32. Mreringaburg, 202, 203. M.i lings, 202. Magne, 59, 300. Mainz (Mayence), 74, 569. Malcbus, 481. Mane, 303, 314, 320, 395-397, 407, 428, 461, 474, 478, 479. Mannhardt, 345, 570. Mannus, 46, 94, 104-107, 205, 207, 403, 570, 571. Mann, 260, 4<>0, 402, 403. Marcianus Capella, 377. Marcianus Heracleota, 569. Mardol, 562, 564. Markomir, 36, 41-43. Marpessus, 51, 52. Mars, 48. Marsians, 104. Martianus, 481. Mary, 490. Mataricvan, 406, 411. Matthseua Monasteriensis, 87, 88. Mauivr, Konrad, 564. Maxiinianus, 481. Media, 5. Mediterranean Sea, 17, 39, 44. Menelaos, 570. Menglad, 137, 138, 156, 157, 165. 170, 248, 384, 507, 511, 618-515, 523, 524, 543, 567, 568. Menja, 118, 179, 193, 386, 394, 604, 645. Meran, 203. Mercury, 47-50, 53, 54, 61, 63, 69. Merovingians, 4i">7. M. tv, 6. Metz, 36. 698 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. Midgard, 85, 91, 110-112, 115, 134, 141, 147, 149-151, 158, 161, 1S2, 188, 221, 244, 245, 247, 248, 255, 283, 288, 294, 317-319, 322, 345, 350, 380, 391, 397, 407-409, 417, 428, 435, 438, 472, 478, 479, 491, 522, 556, 578, 582, 594, 595, 005, 657, 680. Midgard Serpent, 30, 191, 272, 274, 297, 308, 421, 422, 569, 623. Midvitner, 444. Miklagard, 208-210, 218. Milky Way, 660, 667, 671. Mimer, 23, 92, 108, 121, 134, 137, 138, 154, 156, 166, 221, 223-226, 230--34, 236-239, 242-247, 252, 253, 256, 263, 264, 266, 270-273, 284, 285, 287, 294, 298, 303-308, 311, 320, 329, 331, 343, 346, 347, 352-354, 357, 358, 360, 362, 383, 394, 409, 410, 412-414, 416, 417, 419, 420, 422, 425, 426, 428, 431-439, 448, 449, 459, 460, 470, 473-475, 477-480, 486- 493, 510, 518-520, 548, 554, 561, 591, 592, 596, 608, 615, 616, 629, 649, 653, 657, 671, 680, 681. Mirningus, 243, 431-433, 531, 532, 536, 537, 545. Minokhird, 262. Mitlira, 62-64. Mitotkin, 190. Mjoluer, 138, 291, 408, 492, 545, 546, 580, 586, 590, 592, 596, 598, 649. Mode, 59, 300, 624. MoSir, 93, 94. Mod.sogner, 241, 245, 246, 248, 435. Mceotian Marskes, 35, 41, 43, 44, 55, 74, 151. Mcesia, 42. Moinn, 133. Mongolians, 4, 8, 11, 13. Monte Cassino Convent, 68. Montelius, 20. Moringia, 69. Mullenkotf, 262, 266, 267, 345, 346, 357, 368. Miiller, Friedr., 13. Miiller, Max, 2, 9, 10, 230, 411. Miiller, P. E., 377, 472. Munch, P. A., 240. Mundilfore, 397, 398, 407, 409-413, 452, 470, 489, 501. Munnon, Mennon, 26. Muspel, 379-383, 449, 476, 479. Myrkwood, 380-382, 429, 431, 473, 630, 631. Mysing, 387. N. Nagelfar, 418. Nagelring, 552. Na-gates, 291-293, 296, 298, 325, 344, 362, 363, 385, 479, 505, 516, 519, 554, 600. Nanna, 29, 253, 254, 316, 320, 455, 457, 459, 461-463, 465, 468, 469, 531-533, 537, 559, 668-670, 677-680, 682. Narve, 105, 416-423, 425, 433, 436. Nastrands, 223, 226, 274, 286, 287, 291, 293, 363, 366, 367, 372-374, 377, 378,384, 479. Nat, 247, 248, 294, 303, 306, 319, 361, 362, 409, 414-416, 418-420, 425, 428, 435, 473, 488, 490, 491, 509, 517- 520, 591, 592. Nef, 455, 461, 478. Nennius, 59, 683. Neptunus, 26. Nere, 135, 433. Nero, 40. Nestor, 58. Neuss, 569. Nidad, 431-433, 593, 623, 624. Nida Mountains, 116, 287, 362, 363, 414, 478, 479, 491, 519, 657. Nide, 266, 267, 394, 434, 436. Nidhad, 432, 434, 435, 438, 645, 648, 649, 653, 662, 666. Nidhog, 266, 267, 274, 287, 291, 362, 363, 367, 434, 487. Nidjar, 435. Nifelheim, 184, 190, 271, 274, 275, 284, 285, 289, 294, 307, 328, 353, 359, 362-364, 385, 416, 479, 509, 519, 520, 523, 561, 657, 658. Nifelhel, 223, 226, 249, 271, 274, 275, 278-281, 283-288, 292, 293, 295-298, INDEX. .;:>'. i 301-308, 320, 324, 325, 328, 329, 332, 338, 342, 344, 348, 350, 352, 362, 363, 365, 471-473, 176, 17'.'. 490, 505, 509, 554, 601, 656, 657. Niflnngaland, 665. Niflnnga, Niblungs, 820, 161, 660-666, 668, ti70, 677. Night, 105, 106. Nimrod, 57. Nineveh, 57. Ninas, 57. Nitherians, 220. Nithings, 286. Njares, 429, 433. Njarians, 518, 519. Njord, 23-26, 29, 49, 90, 91, 105, 106, 116, 132, 138, 142, 147, 157, 161, 162, 166, 167, 169-171, 187, 235, 319, 392, 410, 418, H5, 424, 435, 473, 474, 489, 514, 527, 529, 541, 542, 554, 585, 587, 5S9, 600, 601,' 608, 631,632, 646, 647. Njorve, 417, 418, 433. Noah, 25, 57, 58, 389. Noatun, 24, 91. Nokver, 137, 458-460, 462, 645, 669, 678, 679, 682. Norman, Normandy, 37, 38, 45. Norse Mythology, 60. Northmen, 37, 75, 76, S2, 211. North Sea, 15, 17, 20, 22, 72, 81, 86, 474. Norway, Norwegians, Xor.se, &c, 2, 19, 27, 31, 62, 68, 70, 71, 86, 89, 120, 128, 129, 185, 191, 192, 195, 198, 200, 202, 204, 205, 207-210, 212, 217, 219, 238, 243, 245, 249, 263, 275, 277, 310, 335, 345, 370, 380, 383, 384, 389, 397, 403, 404, 406, 416, 420, 429, 431, 434. 436, 443, 448, 455, 460, 461, 464, 467-469, 484, 495, 507, 509, 518, 559, 560, 562, 570, 572-574, 576, 583, 589, 602, 606, 610, 612, 618, 624, 629- 631, 646, 663, 665, 666, 669, 670, 676, 679, 682, 683. Notatun, 587. Notker, 585. Nyerup, 564. o. Ochta, 683. Od, 524. Odin, f, 22-25, 29-88, 4''., 17. II 87, 69-71, 75, B5, 88- 90, 94, 104-106, 108-110, 112, 116, 119, 182, 1 ll-l 15, 151-154, 156, 160- 162,164; 166, 167, L69-174, 176, 177. 181, L82, 1-1-187,189, 192, L98, L95, 196, 202-204, 207, 221,222,224, 232, 235, 244-246,249, 26 278-280, 293, 295, 301, 312, 313, 318- 323, 330-333, 336, 338, 341, 848, 5 16, 346, 348, 349, 354, 356-358, 860, 399, 405, 406,409-114. 117 11.'. 425, 434, 486, 187, 189-455, 162-469, 471-478,480,491, 496,501, "-1", 612, 527, 530. 16,544, 545, 548, 552. j. 582, 587, 010, 618- 615, 618, 620, 684, 687, 642, 652, 664, 671, 675, 680, 681. Odinaaker, 208-211, 215-220, 228-230, 204, Odlongs, 100. Odoacer, 201. < tdrserer, 245. Odyss.us, 570, 571. Odyssey, 85. Offotes, 167, 170, 601. Oinopion, 611. Olaf Crirstadaalf, 500. Olaf Trygveson, 211, 212, 21S, -J-Jf,. 227, 229, 276, 495, 071. Oland, 119, 639. Olleros, 628. Olrun, 585, 677. Olvaldr, 604-606, 611, 646 649, 661, 670, 673. Olympus, 4'.', 62, 517. Onar, 418. Ore, 210, 241. Orion, 544, 610, 611. Ormazd, 596. Ormt, 282. < hmnzd, 6, 7. Orosius, 40, 55, ."7. Orvandel, 102, 103, 130, 134, 136-133, 174, 175, 288, 289, 465, 521. 529, 537, 544, 666-572, 7.7 1. 676, .-'77. 700 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 578, 579, 582-589, 596, 599-602, 605, 610, 611, 619, 628, 639, 640, 642, 643, 647, 648, 658, 660, 662, 663, 667, 670, 673, 674. Ostrogothre, 76, 466. Otacher, 201, 202. Ottar, 358, 529. Otto of Bavaria, 553, 620, 630, 631. Otto of Friesingen, 204. Ovid, 458. Oxford, 37. Oxionians, 676. Oxus, 7, 9. P. Pacific Ocean, 8. Padua, 41. Pannonia, 34, 35, 41, 42, 44, 55, 67, 75, 86. Paradise, 209, 210, 218, 219, 229. Paris, 38. Parusha, 426. Patavium, 43. Paul, 482, 500. Paulus Diaconus, 36, 38, 69, 70, 75, 196,483, 485-487, 571,582-584, 601, 606, 646. Pendschab, 6, 7. Penka, 13. Persia, Persians, 5, 7-9, 51, 56, 57, 62 257, 404. Persis, 6. Peter, 500, 522. Petersen, N. M., 147. Phalia, 27, 60, 466. Pheaces, 570. Phoenician, 40. Phrygian, 51. Pictet, Adolphe, 9, 12. Pindarus Phebanus, 40. Platonian, 63. Pleiades, 611. Plinius, 56. Pliny, 206. Plutus, 26. Podolia, 15. Poland, 15, 206. Pomponius Mela, 76, 206. Pompey, 27, 55. Posche, 13. Priamus, 26, 30, 34-37, 40, 42, 43, 54, 58, 59, 62, 445. Priscus, 549. Procopius, 78. Proserpina, 53, 534. Proteus, 570. Ptolemy, 569. Pyrrhus, 30. R. Raben, 206. Ragnaricii, 77. Ragnarok, 30, 94, 131, 147, 150, 152, 154, 155, 185, 187-191, 231-236, 238, 256, 264, 265, 267, 269, 300, 317, 318, 320, 321, 358, 364, 379-384, 403, 424, 434, 448, 449, 476, 479, 488- 492, 512, 514, 549, 587, 593, 595. Ran, 458, 558. Rani, 77. Eask, 444. Raumaricii, 77. Ravenna, 75, 201. Ref Gestson, 358. Refr, 155, 160. Regin, 616-619, G22-624, 648, 673. Regno, 124. Reidgothaland, 27. Retzius, Gustaf, 20. Rhetia, 39, 42, 86. Rhine, 1, 34-36, 41-44, 48, 75, 82, 91, 206, 569, 570, 572, 665. Rhode, 6, 7, 12. Ribhus, 434, 596-599, 617, 645, 651. Richerts, Prof., M.B., 439, 447. Rig, 91, 93-98. Rigsthula, 91, 93-96, 98, 110, 127, 128. Rigveda, 3, 112, 117, 243-245, 257, 258, 262, 263, 399-402, 404-406, 409, 414, 426, 427, 434, 488, 502, 544, 596, 598, 599, 612, 616, 617, 645. Rirnfaxe, 361, 438. Rimgrimner, 295-297. Rimuer, 295, 297. Rind, 143, 144, 320, 424, 472, 474, 508, 534-536. Ring, 123. Ringerike, 502. INDEX. 7iii Ringhorn, 617. Ritson, 681. Ritta, 59. Rogner, 610, 616-624, 638, 689, 648, 644, 647, 648, 673. Rolf Krake, 124, 126. RoIUtus, 539-544. Romance Peoples, 61. Roman Empire, Romans, Rome, 1,4, 15, 17, 18, 20, 24, 26, 27, 29, 31, 34, 35, 36, 89, 41-45, 47-56, 58, 59, 61, 62, 66, 68, 69, 72, 76-78, 81, 82, 83, 85, 205, 301, 480, 483, 484, 486, 494, 495, 497, 498, 570. Romuml Greipson, 536. Rorieus, 534. Roakva, 581, 640. Rostiophus Phinnicus, 471, 472. Roth, 262. Rndbeck, 58. Riuliger, 195, 202. Rudolph, 72. Rugcn, 70. Rngians, 480. Rusila, Rusla, 675. Russia, Russian, 8, 10, 11, 18, 24, 58, 196, 206. Ruther, 113, 114. Rydberg, Viktor, 2. S. Saba, 60, 61. Sremund, 38, 326. Saming, 536. Samian, 51. Sanscrit, 5, 6, 400, 404, 500. Sardinia, 39. Sarmatians, 86. Saras, 205. Saturnus, 26, 30, 32, 48, 49, 57, 58, 62. Sand Isle, 314, 315. Saxland, 24, 27, 31, 62, 64, 75, 88, 89, 132. Saxons, 19, 36, 37, 59, 60, 66, 69, 71- 75, 79, SO, 86, 96, 110, 120, 178, 192, 195, 381, 403, 439, 522, 548, 666, 675, 683, 684. Saxo Bolvisus, 183, Saxo Grammaticus, 30, 32, 33, 38, 69, 70, 71, 98-104, 106, 107, 118, 114, 119, 121-125, 128-133, 186-187, 1 18, 145, 147, 161, 152, 168, 161, 167, 169-178, 181-192, 195, 197, 198, 201, 204, 212, 216-217, 219, 222-225, 227, 228, 230, 281, 248, 266, 284, 298, 806, 810, 860-862, 869, 862, 864, 366, 367, 872-879, 384, 388, 411-418, 180-482, 446, 449, 455, 456, 461-466, 167, 484, 485, 486, 488, 600, 503, 505, 50S, 625, .r'-J:■>-:>::, 583-586, 588-590, 600- 603, 606-608, 619, 624, 628. 646, 661, 662, 667, 668, 870 674, 675, 678-680, 682. Saxony, 206, 532. Scamandrius, 39. Scandeia, 1. Soandia, 90, 93, 95, 110, 113, 179, 180, 585, 675, 684. dinavia, Scandinavians, 1, 2, 15, 19, 20, 22, 28, 32, 33, 38, 46, 59, 60, 62, 64, 66, 68-71, 74-79, 83, 86, 87, 92, 96, 119, 120, 124, 197, 206, 208, 276, 277, 286, 309, 320, 323, 415, 495, 501, 547, 558, 567, 582, 584, 677. Scania, Scanians, Scandza, 68, 76, 7 7. 87, 88, 120, 121, 207, 215, 577. Scedeland, 87. Scef, Sceaf, 87-89, 90-93, 95, 97, 120, 124,411, 413. Schelling, 8. Scheldt, 43. Schlegel, Fr. v., 5. Schleicher, 9, 10. Schrader, O., 4, 13, 14, 16. Schwitz, 79. Scoriugia, 68. Scott, Walter, 345. Scots, 63, 422. Scritobinians, 68. Scyld,87, B8, 124. Scythia, Scythians, 39, 193. Seeland, 24, 463, 533. 7 7, 588. 70_! TEl TONIC MYTHOLOGY. Seni, 25. Semitic, 3, 13, 47. Serapion, 481. Servius, 40, 42, 43, 51, 58, 62. Sheru, 25, 58. Sib, Sibba, Sibbia, 60, 61. Sibeke, 184. Sibylla, Sibil, 26, 30, 37, 51, 52-54, 60, 61. Sibylline Books, 37, 50, 52, 53. Sicambria, 35, 36. Sicily, 39, 44. Sictrugus, 99. Sida, 611. Siegfried, 662, 663. Sif, 26, 60, 61, 116, 118, 434, 529, 543, 544, 594, 602, 609, 677. Sigge, 27. Signmnd, 125, 127, 321, 362, 662. Signe, 99, 101, 102, 133, 137, 174, 538, 682. Sigrdrifa, 231, 334, 467, 664. Sigrdrifumal, 333-335, 338, 345, 354, 362, 363, 415, 419, 437, 471. Sigrun, 122, 123, 354, 504. Sigrutha, 101. Sigtrygg, 99, 102-104, 135, 137, 677. Sigtuna, 24, 27, 32. Sigurd, 165, 205, 334, 498, 664, 677. Sigurdarkvida, 660, 663. Sigurd Fafnersbane, 130, 149, 177, 192, 320, 362, 363, 662, 663. Sigurd Hladejarl, 619. Sigurd Sven, 243. Sigurd the Crusader, 217. Sigyn, 384, 385. Simeon Dunelmensis, 87. Sindre, 116, 131, 243, 244, 434, 437, 478, 486, 487, 490, 491, 529, 545, 546, 586, 590-592, 594, 595, 597, 599, 607, 648, 651. Sinfjotle, 148. Siuhtgunt, 468, 679. Sinmara, 516, 517, 519, 653. Sirius, 610. Sitones, 676. Sivarus, 100, 101. Skadan, 67. Skade, 138, 139, 161, 210, 385, 529, 554, 574, 587, 606, 609, 613, 614, 627, 628, 631, 632, 651, 671. Skagul, 318-321. Skaldskaparmal, 102, 122, 136, 288, 358, 387, 391, 413, 419, 421, 423, 425, 437, 439, 445, 458, 460, 633- 636. Skane, 90, 96, 97. Skidbladner, 118, 597, 617. Skirtings, 104, 118-120, 131-133, 136, 153, 413, 663. Skirner, 164, 289, 290, 293, 294, 296, 297, 359, 554, 555, 559, 5G1, 574, 656. Skiniersmal, 155, 163, 255, 289, 296, 298, 303, 359, 364, 365, 383, 408, 440, 472, 536, 551, 553, 554, 590, 613, 652, 656. Skjold, 27, 59, 88-90, 96, 97, 100, 103, 107, 120, 121, 124, 219, 411, 412. Skjoldungs, 89, 91, 97, 98, 100, 103, 104, 120, 219, 411,413, 560, 561. Skoll, 474, 475. Skritobinians, 483. Skuld, 308, 313, 331, 418, 422. Skule Thorsteinson, 114. Slagfin, 576, 589-592, 604, 605, 622, 627, 643, 645, 647, 648, 658-668, 671, 672, 675-678, 680, 682-684. Slavs, Slavic, 3, 8-10, 14, 78, 192, 504. Sleipner, 147, 164, 170, 171, 176, 182, 222, 278, 499, 559, 565. Slesvik, 73, 326, 327. Slid River, 364. Slidrugtanne, 492, 597. Smaland, 195, 217. Snajbjorn, Snobjorn, 310, 387, 389, 392, 398, 407, 572. Sneer, 64, 71. Sno, Snow, 69, 71, 112, 219, 256. Snorre Sturlason, 32, 38, 158, 224, 238. Sogdiana, 6. Sokmimer, 442-444, 448, 450-453. Sol, 248, 303, 320, 395-397, 407, 428, 463, 473-475, 478, 479, 679. INDKX. 7":: Solarljod, 31)3, 394, 43G, 487. Solblinde, 162, 512. Solomon, 57, 58, 60, 553. Solon, 52. Sonatonek, 338, 311, 854, 856, 360, 303, 416, 417, 458, 669. Spain, 48. Spiegel, 13. Stephens, George, 584. Suebia, 676. Sughda Sogdiana, 6. Sulpicius Alexander, 34, 41. Sulpiciue Serveroa, 58. Smnbl, Sumblns, Sumbel,99, 102, 133, 174, 612, 646, 673, 678,679. Banna, 468, 678, 679. Sunno, 36, 41-43. Suit, 150, 153, 155, 181, 233, 234, 300, 882, 3S3, 406, 447-450, 453, 473, 476, 477, 491, 549, 550, 629, 681. Buttung, 92, 158, 224, 296, 439-442, 446- 448, 453-455, 476, 477, 629, 630, 634, 646, 664, 681. Svadilfare, 1 17. Sval, 92. Svanhild, 205, 659, 679. Svanhvit, 210, 659, 666. Svariu, 119, 123, 132, 133, 135, 153, 665. Svartalfaheim, 561. Svea, 25. Svealand, 88. Svegder, 445, 446, 451-453, 673, 675. Svehans, 77. Sveidal, 564, 565. Sven, 59. Svethidi, 77, 78. Svevians, 104. Svevian Sea, 1. Svion, 572. Sviones, 1,81,82, 181, 676. Svipdag, 100-103, 106, 124, 181, 136- 139, 154, 156, 161, 165, 174, 175, 177-182, 186, 188, 192, 193, 195, 196, 201-203, 205, 206, 207, 239-241, 248, 256, 305, 435, 465, 494, 505, 507- 517, 520-525, 528-530, 537-540, 542- 549, 553-559, 561-563, 565-575, 578, 582, 583, 586, 590, 599, 600, 608, 619, 624, t>--'7, 649, 658, 662, 664, 665, 674, Svitbidiana, 120. Ehitbiod, 24, -'."., 27, -:-, 81, • 103, lis, L19, 121, L85, L89, 207, I, 886, ii".. 446, 151, 152, Swabia, Swabiana, 19, 7 ^ - 7 ."■ . JO, 20 , 180. Swanfeather, i'>79. Sweden, Swedes, Swedish, 2, 15, 19, 2-, 25, 28, 69, 76-77, 7:'. 39, L04, 119, 120, 186, 1 12, 17:., 180, L92, 196-197, 200, 207, 217, 276, 305, 413, 181, II.".. 151, 186, I-'.', !'.'_'. 497, 504, 533, 539, 645, 647, 566, 562, 564, 672-674, 610, .;:.■.. 681. Switzeri md, L9, 7'.». Sygrutba, 529, 584. Syria. 20'.', 21!', 494. Syritha, 625-628, 543, 564, 56!-. 608. Syv, 5 ill. Syvaldus, 525. Tacitus, 1, 15, 45, 47, 49,66, 80-82,86, 94, 104-108, 131, 167, 180, 193, 196, 206, 207,323, 373-37.".. 115, 187, 569-572, 676. Tadchiks, 7. Tanais, 31, 35, 39, 44, 55, 75. Tanakvial, 28, 28, 81. Tarqnin, 51, 52. T. Italians, 62, 63. Teutons, Teutonic, Teutondom, 2, 3, 8- 10, 14, 15, 17, 18, 20-22, 82-84, 36, 38-40, 44-50, 54-56, 60-62, 64 68-71, 74-88, 93-95, 97, 103, 104, 107-110, 111, 117, 120, 121, 126, 128, 130-l:;2, 184-186, 188, 189, 1 15, 158, 154, 1*7. 172-17.-.. 177-180, 1-::. 184, 188, 190, 191, 193, 194, 196, 198- 200, 17, 224, 228, 280,284, 243, 267, 268, 269, 276, -77. 284, 287, 294, 301, 309, 310, 819, 71. 886, 889, 891, 892, 199, W2-405, 109-411, 111. 03, 124, 1l'7. 128, 484, 187, '7; 704 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. 438, 460-463, 469, 470, 474, 476, 483, 484, 488, 489, 491-493, 495 505, 506, 509, 510, 521, 537, 547 556, 570-572, 574, 577, 584-586, 596, 598, 599, 606, 610-612, 616, 642, 645, 649, 652, 656, 658, 664, 665, 667, 669, 675, 676, 682-684. Theodorich, 17, 200-203. Theodosius, 481, 482, 493, 494. Thidrek, 552. Thiudemer, 35, 200, 201. Thjalfe, 181, 581-583, 635,640-643, Thjasse, 112, 117-121, 131-134, 139, 153, 154, 161, 163, 210, 587, 604-617, 619-621, 624-627, 632, 639, 642-644, 646-648, 650 658,669, 671, 673. Thjelvar, 119. Thjodulf, 89, 90, 118, 163, 184, 615, 618. Thor, 24, 26, 29-31, 37, 49, 59-61 102-106, 116, 129, 131, 132, 138, 153, 159, 162, 163, 165, 174, 175, 179, 181, 187, 188, 214, 223, 282, 289, 291, 293, 305, 314, 319, 325, 328, 330, 386, 407-409, 419, 424, 431, 450, 476, 508, 521, 532, 536, 543-545, 553, 569, 578-583, 596, 599, 603, 608, 610, 616, 617, 622, 624-627, 632-636, 639-644, 649, 651, 652, 675. Thora, 532, 533. Thorbjorn Disarskald, 159, 166. Tkorbjorn Hornklofve, 457, 458. Thord Sjarekson, 161. Thorer Woodbeard, 349. Thorgerd, 619. Thorgrim, 503. Thorkil, Thorkillus, 189, 212-215, 351, 366, 376-378, 484-486, 494. Thorn, 637. Thoro, 545. Thorolf, 315. Thorsdrapa, 149, 163, 184, 187, 289, 298, 303, 307, 581, 583, 622, 630-636, 638-640, 642, 643, 652, 657, 661. 480, 498, 550, 594, 631, 662, 679, 648. 137- 514, 630, 656, 282, , 94, 134, 171, 203, 300, 331, 432, 538, 598, 621, 648, 228, 288, 621, 651, Thorstein Baearmagn, 211, 219, 221. Thracia, Thracians, 26, 44, 193. Thrand, 210. Thride, 28. Thrigge, 459. Thrudgelmer, 294-296, 388, 410, 426, 427,472. Thrudheim, 26, 587. Tlmidvang, 24. Thrymheim, 161, 587, 613, 619. Thryrnskvida, 558, 604. Thule, 78, 79. Thuringia, Thuringians, 73, 74, 77, 206. Thurs, 510, 511. Thurses, 377. Tiberius, 66. Tiburtinian, 51. Timavus, 41, 42. Tistrya, 616, 658. Titans, 611. Toko, 575-577, 589, 673. Tours, 34, 41, 55, 57. Tral, 93. Trier, 566, 569, 570-. Trita, 406. Trojans, 27, 29-32, 34-41, 44, 51-56, 58, 60, 61, 64, 75, 88-90, 174, 269, 270, 275. Tror, 26, 42. Troy, 4, 24, 26-38, 40-42, 51-56, 59, 60, 62, 65, 71, 74, 87, 269, 270, 273, 275, 302, 445. Turchot, 35. Turks, 27, 35. Tvashtar, 596-599. Tyr, 48, 50, 109, 381, 549, 579, 580, 609. Tyrkland, 24, 26, 27, 29, 30, 31. U. Ugarthilocus, 189. TJggerus, 187. Ulfilas, 276, 277, 490, 495, 498. Ulf Uggeson, 403, 558. Ull, 138, 139, 162, 169, 172, 187, 413, 544, 547, 553, 574, 578, 582, 587, 588, 590, 602, 627, 628, 647. Ulysses, Ulixes, 29, 34, 39, 40, 82, 494, 569-571. INDEX. 705 Une, 240. Upsala, 24, 33, 88, 90, 96, 382, G33. Urd, 91, 92, 126, 221, 228-225, 281, 234, 269-275, 282, 287, 304, 806- 314, 316-320,327, 829, B81-888, 885, 339, 841, 344-348, 350, B51, 858, 354, 356-363, 409, 414, 417-419, 122, 433, 434, 438, 448, 171. 176, 177. 508, 515, 566, 618, 657, 680. Ure, 240. Urner, 119, 133, 604. Vade, Vate, 610, 629, 667, 671 . 672, Vadgelmer, 293. Vaffhruduer, 294, 389, 391,435. Vaftl.riKlii.isin.il, 221, 232-236, 247, 279, 280, 283, 284, 288, 296, 298, 303, 311, 361, 388 397, 410, 415, 426-428, 435, 469, 477. Vagaskcr, 563. Vagn, 181. Vagnhofde, 174-177, 178-184. Vagoth, 76. Vale, 300, 320, 423, 424, 474, 508. Vak'iitinius, 35, 36, 43, 55. Valhal, 64, 138, 141, 142, 176, 224, 281, 315-319, 321-325, 345, 349, 367, 424, 470, 559, 594. Valland, 677. Valtarius, 674, 678, 682, 683. Valthari, 675, 677. Vamod, 76. Vanaheim, 90, 161, 235, 410, 412, 435, 474, 587. Yanakvisl, 23. Vandals, 67-69, 77, 104, 105, 107, 480, 494. Vaulande, 324, 332. Vans, 23, 31, 33, 64, 69, 90-92, 106, 110, 132, 139, 141-145, 150-152, 159, 161, 162, 165, 169, 171-175, 178, 186-189, 202, 222, 235, 299, 303, 330, 392, 413, 415, 431, 473, 477, 488, 491, 544, 555-557, 562, 564, 590, 595, 605. Var, 240. 6m. 288, ■_".'l- 390, 462, SSI. 348, 413, 20£ 105, 148, 166, 221, 410- 489, 5*7, Vaig, 639. Varinians, 7s, 17 1 - 1 7 < ". . Vai in's Fjord, 1 19, 17.".. Varin's [ale, 1 is, 1 19. Varnefrid, Paul, 286. yarns, 248. Varro, 51. Vavu-l,. 2 Ve, 28, 24, 81, 55, 110, ill. 118, 501. Veggdegg, 27, 59. raail, 240. Vegtamskvida, 228, 249, 278-280 284, 298, 303, 320, 330, 358, 468, 471, 472, 474, 658, fl Velint, 196, 248. Vellekla, 615, 616, 618-621, 630, 682. Vendidad, 259, 261, 805. Venetia, 89. Venus, 18, 11 Verona, 201. Vestfold, 502. Vestera, 569. Vicelin, Vidar, 30, 181, 300, 587,633. Vidfin, 460, 670, 681. Vidga Volundscra, 585, 665. Vidigoia, 571. Vidofner, 516, 517. Vidolf, 152, 629, 647. Vidolt,114. Vierwaldstadter Lake, 79. Vifil, 119. Vigfusson, Gudbrandr, 63, 91, 96, i 5, 180, 255, 311, 828, 825, 885, 354, 355, 390, 397, 465, 469, 487, 500, 518, 544, 583, 610, 614, 663, 671. Vigrid, 233, 299, 381, 382. Vile, 28, 24, 31, 55, 410, 411, 413, 501. Vilkinaaaga, 152, 195, 196, L98, 202- 204, 248, 184, 438, 552, 569, 576, 677, 585, 589, 608, 629, 680, 646, 662, 665, 666, 668, 671. 674, 675, 678. Villifer, 585. Viiimr, 288, 633. Vindelicia, 89, 12. Viogthor, 69. Yinnilians, 67-69. 45 706 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY Virchow, 19, 20. Virgil, 34, 40-44, 51, 58, 62, 458. Visbur, 96, 502. Visigoths, 17. Vita, 59, 409, 683. Vitrgils, 59. Vodin, 26. Volsungasaga, 149, 156, 157. Volsungs, 561, 562, 662. Volund, Wieland, Wayland, 131, 244, 428-435, 438, 449, 450, 480, 518- 520, 528, 536, 538, 546, 549, 551, 555, 566, 569, 576, 577, 585-593, 596, 600, 601, 604-611, 616, 619, 621-624, 627, 628-632, 643-653, 655, 656, 658-666, 668, 670-677, 680, 682- 684. Volundarkvida, 429, 430, 432, 433, 518, 519, 555, 569, 576, 577, 585-587, 588, 591-593, 604, 606, 609, 622, 623, 628, 629, 632, 644-646, 649, 656, 658, 659, 663, 664, 666, 670, 676, 677, 679. Voluspa, 85, 94, 106, 109, 111, 112, 114, 119, 131-133, 139, 141-144, 148- 150, 152-154, 158-160, 165, 166, 174, 221-223, 225, 230, 231, 233-235, 237, 238, 241, 242, 245-248, 254-256, 264- 267, 270, 274, 281, 285, 286, 287, 291, 293, 295, 297, 298, 300, 302, 303, 305, 310, 311, 313, 326, 327, 330, 339, 344, 352, 357, 361, 363, 366-369, 371-373, 377-382, 384, 385, 391, 411, 413, 423, 424, 428, 429, 434, 435, 437, 438, 444, 448, 449, 451, 468, 472-474, 476, 477, 479, 484, 486, 490, 491, 496, 512, 514, 524, 527, 529, 552, 571, 593-595, 603, 605, 617, 644, 653, 655, 675. Von River, 384. Vorva, 339. Vourakasha, 658. Vulcan, 204. w. Wace, Robert, 38. Wallachia, 206. Walther, Valthari, Valdere, Valtarius, 673, 678. Watlings, 647, 667. Weber, 12. Weinhold, 345. Welcker, 19. Welchmen, 16. Wessex, 88, 120. Westphalia, 27, 59, 466, 467. White Sea, 638. Whitney, 12. Widukind, 37, 71-73, 666. Wilhehn, Duke of Angouleme, 552. Willielmus Malmesburieusis, 87. Willehad, Saint, 218. William Tell, 577, 674. Wilson, Th., 612, 627. Wodan, 89, 263. Wolfdales, 429, 430, 438, 519, 576, 591, 593, 600, 601, 604, 609, 623, 628, 649, 659, 661, 662, 664, 666. Y. Yajata, 658. YTazatas, 658. Ydaler, 587-589. Ygdrasil, 92, 221, 225, 233, 234, 247, 255, 268, 270-272, 282, 285-289, 294, 298-300, 306-308, 311, 364, 379, 438, 470, 477, 478, 489, 554. Ylflngs, 104, 118, 126, 128, 129. Ymer, 245, 288, 294, 364, 388, 390, 391, 394, 410, 425-428, 437, 448, 497, 512, 551, 552, 637, 640, 642. Ynglingasaga, 91, 95-97, 103, 106, 158, 160, 166, 231, 323, 324, 418, 445, 450, 502, 670, 675, 676. Ynglingatal, 338-340, 418, 439, 442- 446, 450, 452, 453, 502. Ynglings, 25, 27, 89, 90, 100, 103, 413, 675. Yngve, 27, 90, 91, 103, 106, 107, 133, 174, 178, 180, 182, 188, 193, 205, 207, 318. Yrsa, 124. Yse, 568-570. z. Zarathustra, 56, 258. Zend, 5, 6, 402, 595. Zeus, 49, 107. Zodiac, 58. Zoroaster, 3, 25, 26, 56-58, 62-64. Date Due MY15'53 JAM J p>J| i f> BL860 .R99 Teutonic mythology, jHim^^H Princeton Theological Seminary-Speer Library 1 1012 00009 5721