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diff --git a/37876-h/37876-h.htm b/37876-h/37876-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7ca433d --- /dev/null +++ b/37876-h/37876-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,12585 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> +<!-- $Id: header.txt 236 2009-12-07 18:57:00Z vlsimpson $ --> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of Teutonic Mythology Gods and Goddesses of the Northland Volume 1, by Viktor Rydberg, Ph.D.,. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> + +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; +} + +p { + margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; +} + +hr { + width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; +} + +table { + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; +} + +table.parallel {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; border-spacing: .25em;} +table.parallel td {width: 50%; vertical-align: top; padding-right: 1em;} +table.parallel p {text-align: left; text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em;} +table.parallel p.sig {text-align: right; margin-right: 5%;} + +.pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; +} /* page numbers */ + +.blockquot { + margin-left: 5%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + +.bl {border-left: solid 2px;} + +.center {text-align: center;} + +.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + +.u {text-decoration: underline;} + +.caption {font-weight: bold;} + +/* Images */ +.figcenter { + margin: auto; + text-align: center; +} + +/* Footnotes */ +.footnotes {border: dashed 1px;} + +.footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + +.footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + +.fnanchor { + vertical-align: super; + font-size: .8em; + text-decoration: + none; +} + +/* Poetry */ +.poem { + margin-left:10%; + margin-right:10%; + text-align: left; +} + +.poem br {display: none;} + +.poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + +.poem span.i0 { + display: block; + margin-left: 0em; + padding-left: 3em; + text-indent: -3em; +} + +.poem span.i2 { + display: block; + margin-left: 2em; + padding-left: 3em; + text-indent: -3em; +} + +.poem span.i4 { + display: block; + margin-left: 4em; + padding-left: 3em; + text-indent: -3em; +} + + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Teutonic Mythology, Vol. 1 of 3, by +Viktor Rydberg, Ph.D. + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Teutonic Mythology, Vol. 1 of 3 + Gods and Goddesses of the Northland + +Author: Viktor Rydberg, Ph.D. + +Translator: Rasmus B. Anderson, LL.D. + +Release Date: October 29, 2011 [EBook #37876] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY, VOL. 1 OF 3 *** + + + + +Produced by Charlene Taylor, Katie Hernandez and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + +</pre> + + + + + +<h1>Teutonic Mythology</h1> + +<h3>Gods and Goddesses +of the Northland</h3> + +<h5>IN</h5> +<h4>THREE VOLUMES</h4> + +<h2>By VIKTOR RYDBERG, Ph.D.,</h2> +<p class="center">MEMBER OF THE SWEDISH ACADEMY; AUTHOR OF THE "THE LAST ATHENIAN" +AND OTHER WORKS.</p> + +<p class="center"><i>AUTHORISED TRANSLATION FROM THE SWEDISH</i></p> +<br /> +<p class="center">BY</p> +<p class="center">RASMUS B. ANDERSON, LL.D., +EX-UNITED STATES MINISTER TO DENMARK; AUTHOR OF "NORSE +MYTHOLOGY," "VIKING TALES," ETC.</p> +<br/> +<p class="center">HON. RASMUS B. ANDERSON, LL.D., Ph.D., +EDITOR IN CHIEF. +J. W. BUEL, Ph.D., +MANAGING EDITOR.</p> + +<p class="center">VOL. I.</p> + +<p class="center">PUBLISHED BY THE +NORRœNA SOCIETY, +LONDON COPENHAGEN STOCKHOLM BERLIN NEW YORK +1906 +</p> + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 382px;"> +<img src="images/image003.jpg" width="382" height="600" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p class="center">OF THE +Viking Edition</p> + +<p class="center"><i>There are but six hundred and fifty sets made for the world, +of which this is</i></p> + +<p class="center"><i>No.</i> 99</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image005.jpg" width="600" height="169" alt="NORRœNA" title="" /> +</div> + +<p class="center"> +COPYRIGHT,<br /> +T. H. SMART,<br /> +1905.<br /> +</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><a name="frontispiece" id="frontispiece"></a> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image008.jpg" width="600" height="410" alt="IDUN, HEIMDAL, LOKE, AND BRAGE." title="IDUN, HEIMDAL, LOKE, AND BRAGE." /> +<span class="caption">IDUN, HEIMDAL, LOKE, AND BRAGE. <br /> +<br /> +<i>(From an etching by Lorenz Frölich.)</i><br /> + +Idun was the beautiful goddess who in Asgard was keeper<br /> +of the apples which the gods ate to preserve eternal youth.<br /> +She is most generally regarded as the wife of Brage.<br /> +<br /> +Heimdal, the son of nine mothers, was guardian against the<br /> +giants of the bridge of the gods, Bifröst. With a trumpet he<br /> +summoned all the gods together at Ragnarok when he and Loke<br /> +slew each other. He was the god of light.<br /> +<br /> +Loke though beautiful in form was like Lucifer in character<br /> +and was hence called the god of destruction. By the giantess<br /> +Angerboda he had three offspring, viz: the Midgard serpent,<br /> +the Fenris-wolf, and Hela, the latter becoming goddess of Hel.<br /> +<br /> +Brage was the son of Odin and being represented as the chief +skald in Valhalla he is called the god of poetry.</span> +</div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY.</h2> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<h3>TABLE OF CONTENTS.</h3> +<h3>VOLUME ONE.</h3> + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="left"> </td><td align="right">Page</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center" colspan="3">PART I.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="left">Introduction—The Ancient Aryans</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">(a)</td><td align="left">The Aryan Family of Languages</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_3">3</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="left">Hypothesis of Asiatic Origin of the Aryans</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_5">5</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="left">Hypothesis of European Origin of the Aryans</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_15">15</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="left">The Aryan Land of Europe</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_20">20</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">(b)</td><td align="left">Ancient Teutondom</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_26">26</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="center" colspan="3">PART II.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">(a)</td><td align="left">Medićval Migration Sagas</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_32">32</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="left">The Troy Saga and Prose Edda</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_44">44</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="left">Saxo's Relation to the Story of Troy</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_47">47</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="left">Older Periods of the Troy Saga</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_50">50</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="left">Story of the Origin of Trojan Descent of the Franks</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_60">60</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="left">Odin as Leader of the Trojan Emigration</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_67">67</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="left">Materials of the Icelandic Troy Saga</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_83">83</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="left">Result of Foregoing Investigations</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_96">96</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">(b)</td><td align="left">Popular Traditions of the Middle Ages</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_99">99</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="left">Saxon and Swabian Migration Saga</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_107">107</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="left">The Frankish Migration Saga</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_111">111</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="left">Migration Saga of the Burgundians</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_113">113</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="left">Teutonic Emigration Saga</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_119">119</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="center" colspan="3">PART III.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="left">Myths Concerning the Creation of Man</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_126">126</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="left">Scef, the Original Patriarch</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_135">135</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="left">Borgar-Skjold, the Second Patriarch</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_143">143</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="left">Halfdan, the Third Patriarch</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_147">147</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="left">Halfdan's Enmity with Orvandel and Svipdag</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_151">151</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="left">Halfdan's Identity with Mannus</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_153">153</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="left">Sacred Runes Learned from Heimdal</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_159">159</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="left">Sorcery, the Reverse of Sacred Runes</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_165">165</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="left">Heimdal and the Sun Goddess</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_167">167</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="left">Loke Causes Enmity Between Gods and Creators</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_171">171</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="left">Halfdan Identical with Helge</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_180">180</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="left">The End of the Age of Peace</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_185">185</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="left">War with the Heroes from Svarin's Mound</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_194">194</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="left">Review of the Svipdag Myth</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_200">200</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="left">The World-War and its Causes</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_204">204</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="left">Myth Concerning the Sword Guardian</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_213">213</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="left">Breach Between Asas Vans. Siege of Asgard</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_235">235</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="left">Significance of the World-War</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_252">252</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="left">The War in Midgard. Hadding's Adventures</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_255">255</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="left">Position of the Divine Clans to the Warriors</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_262">262</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="left">Hadding's Defeat</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_268">268</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="left">Loke's Punishment</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_273">273</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="left">Original Model of the Bravalla Battle</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_281">281</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="left">The Dieterich Saga</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_285">285</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="center" colspan="3">PART IV.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="left">Myth in Regard to the Lower World</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_306">306</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="left">Gudmund, King of the Glittering Plains</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_309">309</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="left">Ruler of the Lower World</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_312">312</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="left">Fjallerus and Hadingus in the Low World</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_317">317</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="left">A Frisian Saga, Adam of Bremen</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_319">319</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="left">Odainsaker and the Glittering Plains</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_321">321</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="left">Identification of Odainsaker</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_336">336</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="left">Gudmund's Identity with Mimer</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_339">339</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="left">Mimer's Grove</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_341">341</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>LIST OF PHOTOGRAVURES.</h2> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="right">Page.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center" colspan="3">VOL. I.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Idun, Heimdal, Loke, and Brage.</td><td align="right"><a href="#frontispiece">Frontispiece</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Thor the Thunder God</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_122">122</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Giant Thjasse in the Guise of an Eagle Carries off Loke</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_174">174</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Odin Punishes the Monstrous Progeny of Loke</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_301">301</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<p><span class="smcap">Stockholm, November 20, 1887.</span></p><br /> +<br /> +<p><span class="smcap">Hon. Rasmus B. Anderson</span>,<br /> +United States Minister,<br /> +Copenhagen, Denmark.</p><br /> +<br /> +<p><span class="smcap">Dear Sir</span>, +</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p class="center"> +Yours faithfully,<br /> +<br /> +VIKTOR RYDBERG.<br /> +</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>I.</h2> + +<p class="center">INTRODUCTION.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p class="center">A. THE ANCIENT ARYANS.</p> + +<p class="center">1.</p> + +<p class="center">THE WORDS GERMAN AND GERMANIC.</p> + +<p>Already at the beginning of the Christian era the +name Germans was applied by the Romans and Gauls +to the many clans of people whose main habitation was +the extensive territory east of the Rhine, and north of +the forest-clad Hercynian Mountains. That these clans +constituted one race was evident to the Romans, 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 resembled 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 Romans.</p> + +<p>Even the saga-men, from whom the Roman historian +Tacitus gathered the facts for his <i>Germania</i>—an invaluable +work for the history of civilisation—knew that in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span> +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., <i>Germ.</i>, +44). This northern sea-girt portion of Germany is called +Scandinavia—Scandeia by other writers of the Roman +Empire; and there can be no doubt that this name referred +to the peninsula 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 (<i>tyske</i>) peoples. Science +needs a sharply-defined 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 <i>German</i> and <i>Deutsch</i> as synonymous. +This is doubtless the reason why Danish authors have +adopted the word "Goths" to describe the Germanic +nation. But there is an important objection to this in the +fact that the name <i>Goths</i> 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 Germany<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span> +itself, for the German scholars also feel the weight of +the demand which science makes on a precise and rational +terminology.<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></p> + + +<p class="center">2.</p> + +<p class="center">THE ARYAN FAMILY OF LANGUAGES.</p> + +<p>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 thousands 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</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span></p> +<p>Semitic languages are separated therefrom by a chasm so +broad and deep that it is hardly possible to bridge it.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Certain it is that these sister-languages have had a common +mother, the ancient Aryan speech, and that this has +had a geographical 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.</p> + +<p>In the most ancient historical times Aryan-speaking +people were found only in Asia and Europe. In seeking<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> +for the centre and the earliest conquests of the ancient +Aryan language, the scholar may therefore keep within the +limits of these two continents, 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.</p> + + +<p class="center">3.</p> + +<p class="center">THE HYPOTHESIS CONCERNING THE ASIATIC ORIGIN OF +THE ARYANS.</p> + + +<p>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.<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> 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 Mongo<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span>lian, +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 European peoples in regard to an +immigration from the East supported 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. And when the startling discovery was +made that the sacred books of the Iranians and Hindoos +were written in languages related to 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 preserved in the original home; +the farther the streams of emigration 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.</p> + +<p>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,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> +on the <i>Language and Wisdom of the Hindoos</i>, 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 prehistoric ages to other parts of Asia and to Europe; +nay, even missionaries 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-Duperron, Herder, and Heeren, and +found a place in the historical text-books used in the +schools from 1820 to 1840.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>On the other hand, the Hindooic writings were found +to contain evidence that, during the centuries in which +the most of the Rigveda songs were produced, the Hindooic +Aryans were possessors only of Kabulistan and +Pendschab, whence, either expelling or subjugating an<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> +older black population, they had advanced toward the +Ganges. Their social condition was still semi-nomadic, +at least in the sense that their chief property consisted in +herds, and the feuds 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 Aryan family of languages, must now, since we have +learned to regard them as sister-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-Iranian +cradle was situated, the answer was thought to be found +in a chapter of Avesta, to which the German scholar +Rhode 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 Mainyu), 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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> +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. Rhode'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 Persia, Baktria +and Sogdiana, up to the first region created by Ormuzd, +which, accordingly, must have been situated in the interior +highlands 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.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> +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 immigrated 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 Rhode, 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 Hindoos, or migrated to +Europe and became Celts, Greco-Italians, Teutons, and +Slavs. Jacob Grimm, whose name will always be men<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span>tioned +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 Russia, and so on to the more +inviting regions of Western Europe. The sun rises in +the east, <i>ex oriente lux</i>; the highly-gifted race, which was +to found the European nations, has, under the guidance +of Providence, 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 prehistoric 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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> +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 our 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."</p> + +<p>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 geographical relations to each other as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> +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. For this view Pictet gives +a number of reasons. According 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.</p> + +<p>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 +Müller. Schleicher's theory, briefly stated, is 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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> +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 Müller holds the common view in regard to the +Asiatic origin of the Aryans. The main difference +between him and Schleicher is that Müller 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 developed 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-Iranian, Greco-Italic, and +Celtic on the other.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> +cradled in Asia seemed to be established as an historical +fact, supported by a mass of ethnographical, linguistic, +and historical arguments, and vindicated by a host of +brilliant scientific names.</p> + + +<p class="center">4.</p> + +<p class="center">THE HYPOTHESIS CONCERNING THE EUROPEAN ORIGIN OF +THE ARYANS.</p> + +<p>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 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 Russian colonisation from +Europe; the southern branch, that is, the Iranian-Hindooic, +is, on the other hand, prehistoric, but was still +growing in the dawn of history, and the branch was then<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> +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 unchallenged 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.</p> + +<p>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 European origin of the +Aryans—is more plausible, at least from the standpoint +of methodology.</p> + +<p>This objection on the part of an English scholar did not +even produce an echo for many years, and it seemed to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> +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 who +had given the first impetus to this illusion in his great +work <i>Origines indo-européennes</i>. 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 Rhode, 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 lands 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 geographical mythological +sketch is a mere conjecture, and yet it was made<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> +the very basis of the hypothesis so confidently built upon +for years about Central Asia as the starting-point of +the Aryans.</p> + +<p>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 immemorial 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 (<i>lis</i>, <i>leon</i>) from a Semitic language.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> +(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.</p> + +<p>Since the presentation of this argument, several defenders +of the European hypothesis have come forward, among +them Geiger, Cuno, Friedr. Müller, Spiegel, Pösche, and +more recently Schrader and Penka. Schrader's work, +<i>Sprachvergleichung und Urgeschichte</i>, 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 European 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. Schrader +himself, through his linguistic and historical investigations, +has been led to believe that the Aryans, while they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> +still were one people, belonged to the stone age, and had +not yet become acquainted with the use of metals.</p> + + +<p class="center">5.</p> + +<p class="center">THE ARYAN LAND OF EUROPE.</p> + +<p>On <i>one</i> 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 +gradually 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 <i>a European-Aryan country</i>. 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 <i>original +home of the Teutons</i>, since the ancestors of the Teutons +must have inhabited this ancient European-Aryan country.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span></p> + +<p>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 +conclusions from the words that remain, but take care not +to draw conclusions from what is wanting.</p> + +<p>The view gained in this manner is, briefly stated, as +follows:</p> + +<p>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 comparatively 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.</p> + +<p>Many words for mountains, valley, streams, and brooks +common 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 <i>bhaga</i>, +which means a tree with eatable fruit. From this word +<i>bhaga</i> is derived the Greek <i>phegos</i>, the Latin <i>fagus</i>, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> +German <i>Buche</i>, and the Swedish <i>bok</i>. But it is a remarkable +fact that the Greeks did not call the beech but the +oak <i>phegos</i>, while the Romans called the beech <i>fagus</i>. +From this we conclude that the European Aryans applied +the word <i>bhaga</i> 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 +approaches the north. On the European continent it is +not found east of a line drawn from Königsberg across +Poland and Podolia to 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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>mar</i>, the Old High German <i>mari</i>, the Latin <i>mare</i>. +The names of certain sea-animals are also common to +various Aryan languages. The Swedish <i>hummer</i> (lobster) +corresponds to the Greek <i>kamaros</i>, and the Swedish +<i>säl</i> (seal) to the Greek <i>selachos</i>.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> +milk. On the other hand, the ass was not known, its +domain being particularly the plains of Central Asia.</p> + +<p>The bear, wolf, otter, and beaver certainly belonged to +the fauna of Aryan Europe.</p> + +<p>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 <i>linon</i> (linen), the Latin +<i>linum</i>, and in other languages.</p> + +<p>The Aryans knew the art of brewing mead from honey. +That they 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 <i>madhu</i>, the Welchman has known it as +<i>medu</i>, the Lithuanian as <i>medus</i>; and when the Greek +Aryans came to Southern Europe and became acquainted +with wine, they gave it the name of mead (<i>methu</i>).</p> + +<p>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 or 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 <i>aes</i> (copper), in the Gothic +<i>aiz</i>, and in the Hindooic <i>áyas</i>. As is known, the Latin +<i>aes</i>, like the Gothic <i>aiz</i>, means both copper and bronze. +That the word originally meant copper, and afterwards +came to signify bronze, which is an alloy of copper and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> +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 and 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 it astonish us, that +in respect to weapons the dissimilarity of names is so +complete in the Greek and Roman 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.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> +Basques, and Basques dwell there at present: If, as the +linguistic monuments 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 facts 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 +penetrating the north of Europe from the west.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span></p> + +<p>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 Russia. South of +this line, but still in Central Europe, there must have +dwelt another body of Aryans, the ancestors of the Greeks +and Romans, 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.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>B. ANCIENT TEUTONDOM (GERMANIEN).</h2> + + +<p class="center">6.</p> + +<p class="center">THE GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION OF ANCIENT TEUTONDOM.</p> + +<p class="center">THE STONE AGE OF PREHISTORIC TEUTONDOM.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> +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, fair hair. Anthropological science has given them +one more mark—they are dolicocephalous, that is, having +skulls whose anterior-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:</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left">Swedes and Hollanders,</td><td align="left">75—71</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Icelanders and Danes,</td><td align="left">76—71</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Englishmen,</td><td align="left">76—73</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Holsteinians,</td><td align="left">77—71</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Hanoverians, The vicinity of Jena, Bonn, and Cologne,</td><td align="left">77—72</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Hessians,</td><td align="left">79—72</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Swabians,</td><td align="left">79—73</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Bavarians,</td><td align="left">80—74</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>Thus the dolicocephalous form passes in Middle and +Southern Germany into the brachycephalous. The inves<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span>tigations +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:</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left">Germany,</td><td align="left">31.80% blonde, 14.05% brunette, 54.15% mixed.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Austria,</td><td align="left">19.79% blonde, 23.17% brunette, 57.04% mixed.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Switzerland,</td><td align="left">11.10% blonde, 25.70% brunette, 61.40% mixed.</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>Thus the blonde type has by far a greater number of +representatives 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%.</p> + +<p>If we now, following the strict rules of methodology +which 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. Roman 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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> +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. Düben, Gustaf Retzius, +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 +consideration 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, etc., and occupied separate territories, +and the fact that the Teutons, so far back as conclusions +may be drawn from historical knowledge have occupied<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> +a more northern domain than their kinsmen. Thus all +tends to show that when the Scandinavian peninsula was +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.</p> + +<p>For the history of civilisation, and particularly for +mythology, these results are important. It is a problem +to be solved by comparative 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 Rigveda) 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 geographical distance. With +all the certainty which it is possible for research to arrive +at in this field, we may assume that these common groups<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> +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 painstaking +and penetrating archćological 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.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>II.</h2> + +<p class="center">A. MEDIĆVAL MIGRATION SAGAS.</p> + +<p class="center">THE LEARNED SAGA IN REGARD TO THE EMIGRATION FROM +TROY-ASGARD.</p> + + +<p class="center">7.</p> + +<p class="center">THE SAGA IN HEIMSKRINGLA AND THE PROSE EDDA.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>The subject which I am now about to discuss requires +an investigation 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 immigrated in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> +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 again.</p> + +<p>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 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,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> +sang magic songs over it, so that it could talk to him and +tell him many strange things.</p> + +<p>Asaland, where Odin ruled is separated by a great +mountain 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, +Russia. 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,<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> 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,</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span></p> +<p>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, +Himminbjorg 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 +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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> +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 +Heimskringla.</p> + +<p>We now pass to the Younger Edda,<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> which in its Foreword +gives us in the style of that time a general survey +of history and religion.</p> + +<p>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. Before +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</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span></p> +<p>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 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 +received 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.</p> + +<p>Jupiter had many sons. From one of them, Dardanus, +descended 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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> +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 descended, "whom we call +Odin," a very wise and well-informed man, who married +Frigida, "whom we call Frigg."</p> + +<p>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 that a 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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> +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 Reidgothaland, 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.</p> + +<p>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 Sćming 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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> +possession, and their descendants, who preserved the language +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.</p> + +<p>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,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> +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 Jafnhar; and +that the one who sat on the highest throne was named +Thride (<i>thridi</i>). 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 +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 Svit<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span>hiod +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 themselves 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.</p> + +<p>Gylfaginning is followed by another part of the Prose +Edda called <i>Bragaroedur</i> (Brage's Talk), which is presented +in a similar form. On Lessö, so it is said, dwelt +formerly a man by name <i>Ćgir</i>. 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, Nanna, &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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> +and <i>Ćgir</i>. 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 thinks, 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 Pyrrhus, son +of Achilles, who slew Priam (Odin); and Vidar, who +survives Ragnarok, is Ćneas.</p> + + +<p class="center">8.</p> + +<p class="center">THE TROY SAGA IN HEIMSKRINGLA AND THE PROSE EDDA<br /></p> +<p class="center">(<i>continued</i>).</p> + +<p>The sources of the traditions concerning the Asiatic +immigration to the North belong to the Icelandic literature, +and to it alone. Saxo's <i>Historia Danica</i>, 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:</p> + +<p>Among the tribes who after the Babylonian confusion +of tongues emigrated to various countries, there was a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> +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 celebrated prophetess, +and married her. One of the parties of Trojan +emigrants embarked under the leadership of Ćneas for +Italy, and founded Rome. The other party, accompanied +by Thor's 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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span>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 endowed 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 Asia 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. Everywhere this great multitude +of migrators was well received by the inhabitants. Odin's +superior wisdom and his marvellous skill in sorcery,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> +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 Mćlar 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.</p> + + +<p class="center">9.</p> + +<p class="center">SAXO'S RELATION OF THE STORY OF TROY.</p> + +<p>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 immigration of Odin and the +Asas. Somewhat older than these works is <i>Historia +Danica</i>, 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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> +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 Icelanders 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 +hypothesis makes him rule in Asgard, Saxo locates his +residence in Byzantium, on the Bosphorus; but this is +not far from the ancient Troy, where the Prose Edda +locates his ancestors. From Byzantium, 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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> +Odin by magic arts imparted 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 (<i>Hist. Dan.</i>, pp. 42-44; <i>vid.</i> 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-commanding +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.</p> + +<p>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.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span></p> + + +<p class="center">10.</p> + +<p class="center">THE OLDER PERIODS OF THE TROY SAGA.</p> + +<p>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 themselves, and containing as kernel +"a faint reminiscence of an immigration 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.</p> + +<p>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 +Romans, that they had like the Romans emigrated from +Troy, and that they had the same share as the Romans 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 (<i>Hist. Franc.</i>, 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 Alexander and others, whose +works he studied to find information in regard to the early<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> +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 contains 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 information. 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 the 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 Friga. Under 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,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> +and intended to 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.</p> + +<p>About seventy years later another Frankish chronicle +saw the light of day—the <i>Gesta regum Francorum</i>. In +it we learn more of the emigration of the Franks from +Troy. <i>Gesta regum Francorum</i> (i) tells the following +story: In Asia lies the city of the Trojans called Ilium, +where king Ćneas 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 Ćneas, king +of the Trojans. There were great battles and much +bloodshed, and the greater part of the Trojans fell. +Ćneas 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 Ćneas went 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 ships and came +to the banks of the river Tanais. They sailed farther and +came within the borders of Pannonia, near the Mœotian +marshes (<i>navigantes pervenerunt intra terminos Pannoniarum +juxta Mœotidas paludes</i>), where they founded a +city, which they called Sicambria, and here they remained<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> +many years and became a mighty people. Then came a +time when the Roman emperor Valentinianus 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 Mœotian marshes. Then said +the emperor, "If anyone dares to enter those marshes and +drive away 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 <i>Franks</i>, which, the +chronicle adds, in the Attic tongue means the <i>savage</i> +(<i>feri</i>), "for the Trojans had a defiant and indomitable +character."</p> + +<p>For ten years afterwards the Trojans or Franks lived +undisturbed by Roman tax-collectors; but after that the +Roman emperor demanded that they should pay tribute. +This they refused, and slew the tax-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.</p> + +<p>About fifty years after its appearance—that is, in the +time of Charlemagne, and, to be more accurate, about the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> +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 generation. 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 Ćneas, 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 <i>Chronicle</i> and <i>Gesta regum +Francorum</i>. 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.)</p> + +<p>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 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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> +at that time regarded as Hellenicised Trojans. In this +connection I call the reader's attention to Fredegar's <i>Chronicle</i> +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 (<i>Excursus ad Sibyllina</i>, +p. 298), and in it Britain is said to be an island inhabited +by the survivors of the Trojans (<i>insulam reliquiis Trojanorum +inhabitatam</i>). 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 Frederick Barbarossa (<i>Excurs. ad Sib.</i>, 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).<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span></p> + +<p>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" 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 996, Dudo relates (<i>De moribus +et gestis</i>, &c., lib. i.) that the Norman men regarded +themselves as Danai, for Danes (the Scandinavians in +general) and Dania 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; and when Robert Wace wrote his rhymed +chronicle, <i>Roman de Rou</i>, 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:</p> + +<p> +"When the walls of Troy in ashes were laid,<br /> +And the Greeks exceedingly glad were made,<br /> +Then fled from flames on the Trojan strand<br /> +The race that settled old Denmark's land;<br /> +And in honour of the old Trojan reigns,<br /> +The people called themselves the Danes."<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span></p> + +<p>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, Sćmund, 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, <i>quanquam Dudo, rerum Aquitanicarum +scriptor, Danos a Danais ortos nuncupatosque recenseat</i>. +The Icelanders on the other hand, accepted and continued +to develop the belief, resting 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 Asgard form the natural +denouement 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.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> +and Epirus through the Trojan emigrant Helenus; Illyria +and Venetia through the Trojan emigrant Antenor; Rhetia +and Vindelicia through the Amazons, allies of the +Trojans, from whom the inhabitants of these provinces +were said to be descended (<i>Servius ad Virg.</i>, i. 248); +Etruria through Dardanus, who was said to have emigrated +from there to Troy; Latium and Campania through +the Ćneids; Sicily, the very home of the Ćnean 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 Ćneas 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 adventures (Tac., <i>Germ.</i>). Every educated Greek +and Roman person's fancy was filled from his earliest +school-days with Troy, and traces of Dardanians and +Danaians 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.</p> + +<p>In the same degree as Christianity, Church learning, +and Latin manuscripts were spread among the Teutonic +tribes, there were disseminated among them knowledge +of and an interest in the great Trojan stories. The +native stories telling of Teutonic gods and heroes received<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> +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 from Latin +literature, telling of Ilium, of the conflicts between Trojans +and Greeks, of migrations, of the 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 need +only call attention to Virgil and his commentator Servius, +which became a mine of learning for the whole middle +age, and among pseudo-classical works to Dares Phrygius' +<i>Historia de Excidio Trojć</i> (which was believed to +have been written by a Trojan and translated by Cornelius +Nepos!), to Dictys Cretensis' <i>Ephemeris belli Trojani</i> +(the original of which was said to have been Phœnician, +and found in Dictys' alleged grave after an earthquake in +the time of Nero!), and to "Pindari Thebani," <i>Epitome +Iliados Homeri</i>.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> +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 <i>Getć</i>, 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).</p> + + +<p class="center">11.</p> + +<p class="center">THE ORIGIN OF THE STORY IN REGARD TO THE TROJAN +DESCENT OF THE FRANKS.</p> + +<p>We must now return to the Frankish chronicles, to +Fredegar's and <i>Gesta regum Francorum</i>, 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 to 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 +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.</p> + +<p>As above stated, Fredegar admits that Virgil is the +earliest authority for the claim that the Franks are +descended from Troy. Fredegar's predecessor, Gregor<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span>ius +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 Fredegar'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 circumstances connected +with the subject leads to the conclusion that the passage +is in <i>Ćneis</i>, lib. i., 242ff.:</p> + +<p> +"Antenor potuit, mediis elapsus Achivis,<br /> +Illyricos penetrare sinus atque intima tutus<br /> +Regna Liburnorum, et fontem superare Timavi:<br /> +Unde per ora novem vasto cum murmere montis<br /> +It mare proruptum, et pelago premit arva sonanti.<br /> +Hic tamen ille urbem Patavi sedesque locavit<br /> +Teucrorum."<br /> +</p> + +<p>"Antenor having 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 months, with loud echoing from the +mountain, it bursts away, a sea impetuous, and sweeps the +fields with a roaring deluge. Yet there he built the city +of Padua and established a Trojan settlement."</p> + +<p>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:</p> + +<p>Gregorius of Tours had found in the history of Sulpicius +Alexander accounts of violent conflicts, on the west<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> +bank of the Rhine, between the Romans and Franks, the +latter led by the chiefs Markomir and Sunno (Greg., +<i>Hist.</i>, ii. 9).</p> + +<p>From Gregorius, <i>Gesta regum Francorum</i> has taken +both these names. According to <i>Gesta</i>, the Franks, under +the command of Markomir and Sunno, emigrate from +Pannonia, near the Mœotian marshes, and settle on the +Rhine. The supposition that they had lived in Pannonia +before their coming to the Rhine, the author of <i>Gesta</i> had +learned from Gregorius. In <i>Gesta</i>, Markomir is made a +son of the Trojan Priam, and Sunno <i>a son of the Trojan +Antenor</i>.</p> + +<p>From this point of view, Virgil's account of Antenor's +and his Trojans' journey to Europe from fallen Troy +refers to the emigration of the father of the Frankish +chief Sunno at the head of a tribe of Franks. And as +<i>Gesta's</i> predecessor, the so-called Fredegar, appeals to +Virgil as his authority for this Frankish emigration, and +as 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.</p> + +<p>But how did it come to be regarded as an evidence?</p> + +<p>Virgil says that Antenor, when he had escaped the +Achivians, succeeded in penetrating <i>Illyricos sinus</i>, 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 Hćmus (cp.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> +<i>Marquardt Röm. Staatsverwalt</i>, 295). To Illyricum +belonged the Roman provinces Dalmatia, Pannonia, and +Mœsia, 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.</p> + +<p>Virgil also says that Antenor extended his journeys to +the Liburnian kingdoms (<i>regna Liburnorum</i>). From +Servius' commentary on this passage, the middle age +knew that the Liburnian kingdoms were Rhetia and Vindelicia +(<i>Rhetia Vindelici ipsi sunt Liburni</i>). 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 Rhine.</p> + +<p>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 sea, forming before it +reaches the sea a delta, the plains of which are deluged +by the billows, and finally emptying itself by many outlets +into the ocean. Virgil says <i>nine</i>; but Servius interprets +this as meaning <i>many</i>: "<i>finitus est numerus pro infinito</i>."</p> + +<p>We must pardon the Frankish 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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> +the Rhine, on whose banks the ancestors of the Franks for +the first time appear in history.</p> + +<p>Again, Virgil tells us that Antenor settled near this +river and founded a colony—Patavium—on the low plains +of the delta. The Salian Franks acquired possession of +the low and flat regions around the outlets of the Rhine +(<i>Insula Batavorum</i>) about the year 287, and also of the +land to the south as far as to the Scheldt; and after protracted +wars the Romans had to leave them in 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 <i>Patavi</i> and <i>Batavi</i>, 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 <i>B</i> and <i>P</i> have been interchanged +by the Germans. In the conquered territory the +Franks founded a city (Ammian. Marc., xvii. 2, 5).</p> + +<p>Thus it appears that the Franks were supposed to have +migrated to the Rhine under the leadership of Antenor. +The first Frankish chiefs recorded, after their appearance +there, are Markomir and Sunno. From this the conclusion +was drawn that Sunno was Antenor's son; and as Markomir +ought to be the son of some celebrated Trojan chief, +he was made the son of Priam. Thus we have explained +Fredegar's statement that Virgil is his authority for the +Trojan descent of these Franks. This seemed to be +established for all time.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span></p> + +<p>The wars fought around the Mœotian marshes between +the emperor Valentinianus, the Alamanni, and the Franks, +of which <i>Gesta</i> 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 these battles was not the Mœotian +marshes and Pannonia, as <i>Gesta</i> supposes, but the regions +on the Rhine.</p> + +<p>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 <i>Sicambra +cohors</i>, 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. <i>Gesta</i> +makes Pannonia extend from the Mœotian 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: <i>Postquam res Asić Priamique evertere gentem</i>, +&c., (<i>Ćneid</i>, iii. 1).</p> + +<p>Thus we have exhibited the seed out of which the fable +about the Trojan descent of the Franks 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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> +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 Ćneas, and migrated from +Alba Longa to Ireland.</p> + +<p>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 +they too were Trojans. This view, encouraged +by Roman politics, gradually found its way to the Gauls +on the other side of the Rhine; and even before Cćsar's +time the Roman senate had in its letters to the Ćduans, +often called them the "brothers and kinsmen" of the +Romans (<i>fratres consanguineique</i>—Cćsar, <i>De Bell. Gall.</i>, +i. 33, 2). Of the Avernians Lucanus sings (i. 427): +<i>Averni ... ausi Latio se fingere fratres, sanguine ab +Iliaco populi</i>.</p> + +<p>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 centuries previously had been the scene. +After the Frankish conquest 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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> +were represented as having been one people in the time +of the Trojan war. After 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 <i>ex Antenore +progenitos</i>, descendants of Antenor. This is sufficient +proof that they had borrowed from the Franks the tradition +in regard to their Trojan descent.</p> + + +<p class="center">12.</p> + +<p class="center">WHY ODIN WAS GIVEN ANTENOR'S PLACE AS LEADER OF +THE TROJAN EMIGRATION.</p> + +<p>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 naturally present itself that the leader of the great<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> +immigration was a person of general Teutonic importance. +There was no lack of names to choose from. +Most conspicuous was the mythical Teutonic patriarch, +whom Tacitus speaks of and calls <i>Mannus</i> (<i>Germania</i>, 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 century in Heinrich Frauenlob +as Mennor, the patriarch of the German people and German +tongue.<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> But Mannus had to yield to another +universal Teutonic mythic character, Odin, and for +reasons which we shall now present.</p> + +<p>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 knowledge, made +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span>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.</p> + +<p>Thus it followed of necessity that Odin, the chief of the +Teutonic 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 investigation +in reference to this matter. One source was the treasure +of mythic songs and traditions of their own race. But +what might be history in these seemed to the students so +involved in superstition and fancy, that not much information +seemed obtainable 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.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span></p> + +<p>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 had parchment and papyrus to write on, and had +kept systematic annals extending centuries back. Consequently +this source <i>must</i> 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.</p> + +<p>The evidence of the correctness of identifying Odin +with Mercury 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.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> +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 first 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, 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; Tuesday, 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 Roman +Empire, Germania superior and inferior, where the +Romanising of the people, with Cologne (<i>Civitas Ubiorum</i>) +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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> +Romans, were to be found in various parts of the independent +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 discrimination 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, Wednesday. The day +of the lightning-armed Jupiter became the day of the +thundering Thor, Thursday. The day of the goddess +of love Venus became that of the goddess of love Freyja, +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 +Chaldćans, the lord of the seventh day. Among the +North Teutons, or at least, among a part of them, his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> +day got its name from laug,<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> 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.</p> + +<p>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 Romans worshipped by the name Mercury.</p> + +<p>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 contemplative, 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 Romans +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 represented 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 <i>vis numinis</i>—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 +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span>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 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 games and combats, but the war-god's +occupation he had left to Tyr. In all important +respects Mercury and Odin, therefore, resembled each +other.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> +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 consulted 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 +produced 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.</p> + +<p>The story telling how these books came into the possession +of 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 +Cumćan, a prophetess from Cumć in southern Italy. +Both versions could easily be harmonised, for Cumć was +a Greek colony from Asia Minor; and we read in Ser<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span>vius' +commentaries on Virgil's poems that the Erythreian +Sibylla was by many regarded as identical with the +Cumćan. From Asia Minor she was supposed to have +come to Cumć.</p> + +<p>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 Cumćan, the Hellespontian 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.</p> + +<p>But the scholars of the middle ages also knew from +Servius that the Cumćan 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 concerning Trojan events, of lives +of the Trojan kings, &c., 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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> +and falsified it, and published it in his own name in the +form of heroic poems concerning Troy.</p> + +<p>This seemed to establish the fact that those books, +which the woman from Cumć had sold to the Roman +king Tarquin, were written by a Sibylla who was born +in the Trojan country, and that the books which Trojan +bought off 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 +inspirations, she proclaimed heathen and idolatrous +doctrines.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> +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 Marpessus the collection came to the neighbouring +city Gergis, and was preserved in the Apollo +temple there; from Gergis it came to Cumć, and from +Cumć to Rome in the time of the kings. How it came +there is not known. The story about the Cumćan +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 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 propitiation 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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> +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 Greek 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 gathering +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 Erythrć, +and in Ilium, the ancient Troy.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> +the image was placed a table and a meal, which as a sacrifice +was offered to the god. About one hundreds years +before that time, Hermes-Mercury had received his first +temple in Rome.</p> + +<p>Hermes-Mercury seemed, therefore, like Apollo, +Venus, Esculapius, and others, to have been a god originally +unknown to the Romans, the worship of whom +the Trojan Sibylla had recommended to the Romans.</p> + +<p>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 Romans worshipped 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 Rome 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.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span></p> + +<p>Now, as the ancestors of the Romans were supposed +to have emigrated from Troy to Italy under the leadership +of Ćneas, 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.</p> + +<p>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. Consequently, 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 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 divis<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span>ions—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 Mœotian +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 Mœotian 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.</p> + +<p>I 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 Foreword +of the Younger Edda. According to the Frankish +chronicle, <i>Gesta regum Francorum</i>, 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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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. Dardanus, +the founder of Troy, was regarded as the leader of an +emigration from Etruria to Asia (<i>Ćneid</i>, iii. 165 ff., +Serv. Comm.). As a rule the European peoples regarded +themselves in antiquity as autochthones if they did +not look upon themselves as immigrants from regions +within Europe to the territories they inhabited in historic +times.</p> + + + +<p class="center">13.</p> + +<p class="center">THE MATERIALS OF THE ICELANDIC TROY SAGA.</p> + + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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 (Plinius, <i>Hist. Nat.</i>, +xxx. 2); and as astrology particularly was supposed to +have had its centre and base in Babylon, it was natural +to assume that Babel had been the scene of Zoroaster's +activity. The Greek-Roman chronicler Ammianus Marcellinus, +who lived in the fourth century after Christ, still +knows that Zoroaster was a man from Bactria, not from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> +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 he already connects Zoroaster with the history +of Nineveh and Babylon, and makes Ninus make war +against him and conquer him. Orosius speaks of him +as the inventor of sorcery and the magic arts. Gregorius +of Tours 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.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> +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 everywhere during the +middle ages. In the earlier Anglo-Saxon literature there +is a very naďve 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 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 +contemporary, Henricus Cornelius Agrippa, who, in his +work <i>De occulta Philosophia</i>, 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 syn<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span>agogue, +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 Russian chronicle +knows the tradition. It continued to enjoy a certain +authority in the seventeenth century. An edition of Sulpicius +Severus' <i>Opera Omnia</i>, printed in 1647, still considers +it necessary to point out that a certain commentator +had doubted whether the number 72 was entirely +exact. Among the doubters we find Rudbeck in his <i>Atlantica</i>.</p> + +<p>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—<i>aurea +secula, aurea regna</i>. Among the Romans Saturnus was +the guardian of treasures, and the treasury of the Romans +was in the temple of Saturnus in the Forum.</p> + +<p>The genealogy found in the Edda, according to which +the Trojan king Priam, supposed to be the oldest and the +proper Odin, was descended in the sixth generation from +Jupiter, is taken from Latin chronicles. Herikon of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> +Edda, grandson of Jupiter, is the Roman-Greek Erichtonius; +the Edda's Lamedon is Laomedon. Then the +Edda has the difficult task of continuing the genealogy +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 Vingthor, and that he had two sons, Mode and +Magne; but 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, Vingthor 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, Bjćf, Jat, Gudolf, Fjarlaf or Fridleif, 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, Veggdegg, and another +from Odin's son, Beldegg or Balder. The one branch +has the names Veggdegg, Vitrgils, Ritta, 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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> +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 Ritta. +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.</p> + +<p>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 (<i>Falr</i>, see No. +92), with its variation Fol. In an age when it was believed +that Sweden got its name from a king Sven, +Götaland from a king Göt, Danmark from a king Dan, +Angeln from a king Angul, the Franks from a duke +Francio, it might be expected that Falen (East- and +West-Phalia) had been named after a king Fal. That +this name was recognised as belonging to Balder not +only in Germany, but also in Scandinavia, I shall give +further proof of in No. 92.</p> + +<p>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 Cumćan 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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> +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 +<i>Sibba</i>, the Old English <i>Sib</i>, the Old Saxon <i>Sibbia</i>, and the +Old High German <i>Sibba</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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 (Volundarkv. 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.</p> + +<p>A legend, the origin of which may be traced to Italy, +tells that when the queen 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 queen 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 be made into a cross on which the Saviour of the +world was to suffer.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span></p> + +<p>The legend came also to Germany, but here it appears +with the 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 Germans came to represent her +with this blemish, foreign to the Italian legend, has not +heretofore been explained, although the influence of the +Greek-Roman mythology on the legends of the Romance +peoples, and that of the Teutonic mythology on the Teutonic +legends, has been traced in numerous instances.</p> + +<p>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 <i>Regina Seba</i>, 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. And having +come to the conclusion that Thor was a Trojan, his +wife Sif also ought to be a Trojan woman. And as it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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 +found 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 commentator, +Servius, remarks that ancient kings very frequently +assumed names which by right belonged only to +the gods, and he blames 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,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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 heads<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> +and give them <i>bjannak</i>." Bjannak is not a Norse word, +not even Teutonic, and there has been uncertainty in regard +to its significance. The well-known Icelandic philologist, +Vigfusson, has, as I believe, given the correct definition +of the word, having referred it to the Scottish +word <i>bannock</i> and the Gaelic <i>banagh</i>, which means bread. +Presumably the author of Heimskringla has chosen this +foreign word in order not to wound the religious feelings +of readers with a native term, for if <i>bjannak</i> 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 +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 same time the +complete harmony between what Tertulianus tells about +Mithra and Heimskringla about Odin is manifest.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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-Trismegistus +became known through Latin authors even +to the scholars in the middle age convents, and, as a mat<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span>ter +of course, those who believed that Odin was identical +with Hermes also regarded him as identical with Hermes-Trismegistus. +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 <i>one</i> 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 doorkeeper, is named <i>Hár</i>, the +second, <i>Jafnhár</i>, and the one on the highest throne is +<i>Thridi</i>. It seems to me probable that what gave 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 <i>Third</i> and <i>High</i> seem to point to +the phrase "the thrice-highest." 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.</p> + +<p>The rest that Heimskringla and the Younger Edda +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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> +by a giant around the heavenly Asgard (Völusp., 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. Gylfe himself 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 <i>Fornjótr</i>, who, with his sons, <i>Hlér</i>, <i>Logi</i>, +and <i>Kári</i>, and his descendants, <i>Jökull</i>, <i>Snćr</i>, <i>Geitir</i>, &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).</p> + + +<p class="center">14.</p> + +<p class="center">THE RESULT OF THE FOREGOING INVESTIGATIONS.</p> + +<p>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 Asiamen to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> +Saxland, Denmark, and the Scandinavian 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 +Heimskringla 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 altogether 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.</p> + +<p>As a rule, all the old migration sagas, no matter from +what race they spring, should be treated with the utmost<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> +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 moving of their boundaries, +and there need not have been very remarkable or memorable +events in connection therewith. Such an expansion +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 extend the boundaries of +a race has no influence on the imagination, 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 progress. A people's spreading over new territory +may be compared with the movement of the hour-hand +on a clock. It is not perceptible to the eye, and is +only realized by continued observation.</p> + +<p>In many instances, however, immigrations have taken +place in large 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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> +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 discover in mythology those heroes under whose leadership +the Longobardians and Goths believed they had +emigrated from their original Teutonic homes.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>B. REMINISCENCES IN THE POPULAR TRADITIONS +OF THE MIDDLE AGES OF THE +HEATHEN MIGRATION SAGA.</h2> + + +<p class="center">15.</p> + +<p class="center">THE LONGOBARDIAN MIGRATION SAGA.</p> + +<p>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 traditions 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.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> +part of Germany, on the lower Elbe, probably in +Luneburg. Five hundred years later we find them as +rulers in Pannonia, whence they invade Italy. They had +then been converted to Christianity. A hundred years +after they had become settled in North Italy, one of their +Latin scholars wrote a little treatise, <i>De Origine Longobardorum</i>, +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 Ajo. 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 addressed 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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> +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 accordance 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."</p> + +<p>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 +Scandinavia, 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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> +shallow water. Then he continues: "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 manhood and were distinguished +above the rest. Then they bade farewell 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 neighbours of the Scandinavians, the +Scritobinians (the Skee<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> Finns), and a cave in a rock +where seven men in Roman 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 them.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span></p> +<p>The story is then told how this occurred, and how the +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 Longobardians +emigrated from Scandinavia, but much earlier. According +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 adventures +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,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> +and Hengist, under whom the Saxons landed in Britain.</p> + +<p>It is proper to show what form the story about the +Longobardian 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 Snö, +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 (Möre) 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 got the name Longobardians. From Gutland they +sailed to Rugen, and thence to the German continent, and +thus after many adventures they at length became masters +of a large part of Italy.</p> + +<p>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 Longobardians, but as mythic charac<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span>ters, +who are actors in the great winter which Saxo +speaks of.</p> + +<p>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 circumstance, that +although the Longobardians had been Christians for +nearly 200 years when the little book <i>De Origine Longobardorum</i> +appeared, still the long-banished divinities, +Odin and Frigg, reappear 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 +(Völusp., 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 "Grimnismŕl," 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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> +Geirrod. Frigg, on the other hand, protects Geirrod's +brother Agnar. The man and wife find fault with each +other's protégés. 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 Snö 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 <i>Grimnismŕl</i> 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 Jökull, Snćr, &c., into historical kings +of Norway.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span></p> + +<p>The absolutely positive result of the Longobardian +narratives 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.</p> + + +<p class="center">16.</p> + +<p class="center">THE SAXON AND SWABIAN MIGRATION SAGA.</p> + +<p>From the Longobardians I now pass to the great Teutonic +group of peoples comprised in the term the <i>Saxons</i>. +Their historian, Widukind, who wrote his chronicle in +the tenth century, 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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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 embarked, +and they had not sailed far before they were attacked +by a violent storm, which carried them to a Danish<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> +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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> +answered that he was perishing from hunger, and was +seeking a purchaser of his gold ornaments. "How much +do you ask?" inquired 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 +filled 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 large an +area that it gave the Saxons a fortified camp. The Thuringians +sent messengers and complained of this, but the +Saxons answered that hitherto they had faithfully observed +the treaty, and that they had not taken more territory +than they had purchased with their gold. Thus +the Saxons got a firm foothold in the land.</p> + +<p>Thus we find that the sagas of the Saxons and the +Swabians agree with those of the Longobardians in this, +that their ancestors were supposed to have come from a +northern country beyond the Baltic. The Swabian version +identifies this country distinctly enough with the +Scandinavian peninsula. Of an immigration from the +East the traditions of these tribes have not a word to +say.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span></p> + + +<p class="center">17.</p> + +<p class="center">THE FRANKISH MIGRATION SAGA.</p> + +<p>We have already stated that the Frankish chronicles, +unlike those of the other Teutonic tribes, wholly ignore +the traditions of the Franks, and instead present the scholastic +doctrine concerning the descent of the Franks from +Troy and the Mœotian marshes. But I did not mean +to say that we are wholly without evidence that another +theory existed among the Franks, for they, too, had traditions +in harmony with those of the other Teutonic tribes. +There lived in the time of Charlemagne and after him a +Frankish man whose name is written on the pages of history +as a person of noble character and as a great educator +in his day, the abbot in Fulda, later archbishop in +Mayence, Hrabanus Maurus, a scholar of the distinguished +Alcuin, the founder of the first library and of +the first large convent school in Germany. The fact +that he was particularly a theologian and Latinist did not +prevent his honouring and loving the tongue of his fathers +and of his race. He encouraged its study and use, +and he succeeded in bringing about that sermons were +preached in the churches in the Teutonic dialect of the +church-goers. That a Latin scholar with so wide a horizon +as his also was able to comprehend what the majority +of his colleagues failed to understand—viz., that some +value should be attached to the customs of the fathers and +to the old memories from heathen times—should not surprise +us. One of the proofs of his interest in this matter +he has given us in his treatise <i>De invocatione lin</i><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span><i>guarum</i>, +in which he has recorded a Runic alphabet, and +added the information that it is the alphabet used by the +Northmen and by other heathen tribes, and that songs +and formulas for 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 Rhine. +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 Frank<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span>ish +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 Ravenna +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 originally emigrated under the +same chief as the Saxons. The character and position +of Ansgisel in the heathen myth will be explained in +No. 123.</p> + + +<p class="center">18.</p> + +<p class="center">JORDANES ON THE EMIGRATION OF THE GOTHS, GEPIDĆ, +AND HERULIANS. THE MIGRATION SAGA OF THE +BURGUNDIANS. TRACES OF AN ALAMANNIC MIGRATION +SAGA.</p> + +<p>The most populous and mighty of all the Teutonic +tribes was during a long period the <i>Gothic</i>, 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,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> +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 over 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 Vamod 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 Roman 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 <i>Historia Gothorum</i> by Cassiodorus—things which +either Jordanes himself or Cassiodorus 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, Ostrogothć, Finnaithć (inhabi<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span>tants +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 connection +with the Thuringians 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 <i>ditissime</i>. +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 <i>officina gentium</i>, <i>vagina +nationum</i>—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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> +named Berig, and he thinks he knows where they landed +when they left their ships, and that they, like the Longobardians, +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.</p> + +<p>The saga current among the Goths, that they had emigrated +from Scandinavia, ascribed the same origin to the +Gepidć. The Gepidć 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 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 Gepidć. That the interpretation is taken from +Gothic traditions is self-evident.</p> + +<p>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 islands, 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.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> +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 circumstances 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 adventurers, +in ships which the Danes must have placed at +their disposal, sailed over the sea to the island "Thule," +and remained there. Procopius, the East Roman historian +who records this (<i>De Bello Goth.</i>, 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. Ex<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span>cepting +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 Götar). The Herulians went to the Gauts +and were received by them.</p> + +<p>Some decades later it came to pass that the Herulians +remaining 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.</p> + +<p>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, <i>Vita Sigismundi</i>, 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).</p> + +<p>Reminiscences of an Alamannic migration saga can be +traced in the traditions found around the Vierwaldstädter<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> +Lake. The inhabitants of the Canton Schwitz have believed +that they originally 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, the possibility lies near at hand, that he +originally was no stranger to the Alamannic migration +saga.</p> + + +<p class="center">19.</p> + +<p class="center">THE TEUTONIC EMIGRATION SAGA FOUND IN TACITUS.</p> + +<p>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, Gepidć, Burgundians, Herulians, +Franks, Saxons, 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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>The statements made by Tacitus in his masterly work +concerning 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 adventures 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 disagreement 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 Tacitus describes, and in which he +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> +embraces that large island in the North Sea where the +seafaring and warlike Sviones 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 non-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 that 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 (<i>Germ.</i>, 2): <i>Germanos indigenas</i><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> +<i>crediderim minimeque aliarum gentium adventibus et +hospitiis mixtos, quia nec terra olim sed classibus advehebantur +qui mutare sedes qućrebant, et immensus ultra +atque ut sic dixerim adversus Oceanus raris ab orbe nostro +navibus aditur.</i> "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 not only in men +and arms, but also in <i>fleets</i> (<i>prćter viros armaque classibus +valent</i>), and having a stronger and better organization +than the other Teutons. These people formed several +communities (<i>civitates</i>). 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 continental +Teutons already in the first century after Christ.</p> + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 440px;"> +<img src="images/image139.jpg" width="440" height="600" alt="THOR, THE THUNDER GOD." title="THOR, THE THUNDER GOD." /> +<span class="caption">THOR, THE THUNDER GOD.<br /> +<br /> +<i>(From the painting by M. E. Winge.)</i><br /> +<br /> +Thor was reputed to be the son of Odin, surnamed the All-father,<br /> +and Jorth, the earth. He was the source of wisdom,<br /> +patron of culture and of heroes, friend of mankind and<br /> +slayer of giants. He always carried a heavy hammer, called<br /> +The Crusher, with which he fought, assisted by thunder and<br /> +lightning. From Thor is derived the middle English words<br /> +Thursday (Thorsday) and Thunder.</span> +</div> + +<p>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 Rhine, +Asciburgium (<i>Germ.</i>, 3), his reporter had heard that it +was founded by an ancient hero who had come with his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> +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-Roman +traditions (the Romans 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 Rhine. In weighing this +account of Tacitus we must put aside the Roman-Gallic +conjecture concerning Ulysses' visit to the Rhine, and +confine our attention to the fact on which this conjecture +is based. The fact is that around Asciburgium 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 +Rhine, 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.</p> + +<p>It lies outside the limits of the present work to inves<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span>tigate +whether these traditions contain any historical +facts. There is need of caution in this respect, since facts +of history are, as a rule, short-lived among a people that +do not keep written annals. The historical songs and +traditions of the past which the Scandinavians recorded +in the twelfth century do not go further back in time than +to the middle of the ninth century, and the oldest were +already mixed with stories of the imagination. The +Hellenic historical records from a pre-literary time were +no older; nor were those of the Romans. The question +how far historically important emigrations from the +Scandinavian peninsula and Denmark to Germany have +taken place should in my opinion be considered entirely +independent of the old migration traditions if it is to be +based on a solid foundation. If it can be answered in the +affirmative, then those immigrations must have been partial +returns of an Aryan race which, prior to all records, +have spread from the South to the Scandinavian countries. +But the migration traditions themselves clearly +have their firmest root in myths, and not in historical +memories; and at all events are so closely united with +the myths, and have been so transformed by song and +fancy, that they have become useless for historical purposes. +The fact that the sagas preserved to our time +make nearly all the most important and most numerous +Teutonic tribes which played a part in the destiny of +Southern Europe during the Empire emigrants from +Scandinavia is calculated to awaken suspicion.</p> + +<p>The wide diffusion this belief has had among the Teutons +is sufficiently explained by their common mythology<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span>—particularly +by the myth concerning the earliest age of +man or of the Teutonic race. As this work of mine advances, +I shall find opportunity of presenting the results +of my investigations in regard to this myth. The fragments +of it must, so to speak, be exhumed from various +mounds, and the proofs that these fragments belong together, +and once formed a unit, can only be presented as +the investigation progresses. In the division "The +Myth concerning the Earliest Period and the Emigrations +from the North," I give the preparatory explanation +and the general <i>résumé</i> (Nos. 20-43). For the +points which cannot there be demonstrated without too +long digressions the proofs will be presented in the division +"The Myth concerning the Race of Ivalde" (Nos. +96-123).<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>III.</h2> + +<p class="center">THE MYTH CONCERNING THE EARLIEST +PERIOD AND THE EMIGRATIONS +FROM THE NORTH.</p> + + +<p class="center">20.</p> + +<p class="center">THE CREATION OF MAN. THE PRIMEVAL COUNTRY. +SCEF THE BRINGER OF CULTURE.</p> + +<p>The human race, or at least the Teutonic race, springs, +according to the myth, from a single pair, and <i>has accordingly +had a centre from which their descendants have +spread over that world which was embraced by the Teutonic +horizon</i>. The story of the creation of this pair has +its root in a myth of ancient Aryan origin, according to +which the first parents were plants before they became +human beings. The Iranian version of the story is preserved +in Bundehesh, chap. 15. There it is stated that +the first human pair grew at the time of the autumnal +equinox in the form of a <i>rheum ribes</i> with a single stalk. +After the lapse of fifteen years the bush had put forth +fifteen leaves. The man and woman who developed in +and with it were closely united, forming one body, so +that it could not be seen which one was the man and which +one was the woman, and they held their hands close to +their ears. Nothing revealed whether the splendour of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> +Ahuramazda—that is to say, the soul—was yet in them +or not. Then said Ahuramazda to Mashia (the man) +and to Mashiana (the woman): "Be human beings; +become the parents of the world!" And from being +plants they got the form of human beings, and Ahuramazda +urged them to think good thoughts, speak good +words and do good deeds. Still, they soon thought an +evil thought and became sinners. The <i>rheum ribes</i> from +which they sprang had its own origin in seed from a +primeval being in human form, Gaya Maretan (Gayo-mert), +which was created from perspiration (cp. +Vafthrudnersmal, xxxiii. 1-4), but was slain by the evil +Angra Mainyu. Bundehesh then gives an account of +the first generations following Mashia and Mashiana, +and explains how they spread over the earth and became +the first parents of the human race.</p> + +<p>The Hellenic Aryans have known the myth concerning +the origin of man from plants. According to Hesiodus, +the men of the third age of the world grew from the +ash tree (<i>ek meleon</i>); compare the <i>Odyssey</i>, xix, 163.</p> + +<p>From this same tree came the first man according to +the Teutonic myth. Three asas, mighty and worthy of +worship, came to Midgard (at <i>húsi</i>, Völusp., 16; compare +Völusp., 4, where Midgard is referred to by the word +<i>salr</i>) and found <i>á landi</i> Ask and Embla. These beings +were then "of little might" (<i>litt megandi</i>) and "without +destiny" (<i>örlögslausir</i>); they lacked <i>önd</i>, they lacked +<i>ódr</i>, they had no <i>lá or lćti or litr goda</i>, but Odin gave +them <i>önd</i>, Honor gave them <i>ódr</i>, Loder gave them <i>lá</i> and +<i>litr goda</i>. In reference to the meaning of these words I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span> +refer my readers to No. 95, simply noting here that <i>litr +goda</i>, hitherto defined as "good colour" (<i>godr litr</i>), signifies +"the appearance (image) of gods." From looking +like trees Ask and Embla got the appearance which before +them none but the gods had assumed. The Teutons, like +the Greeks and Romans, conceived the gods in the image +of men.</p> + +<p>Odin's words in Havamál, 43, refer to the same myth.</p> + +<p>The passage explains that when the Asa-god saw the +modesty of the new-made human pair he gave them his +own divine garments to cover them. When they found +themselves so beautifully adorned it seems to indicate the +awakening sense of pride in the first human pair. The +words are: "In the field (<i>velli at</i>) I gave my clothes +to the two wooden men (<i>tveim tremönnum</i>). Heroes +they seemed to themselves when they got clothes. The +naked man is embarrassed."</p> + +<p>But the expressions <i>á landi</i> and <i>velli at</i> should be observed. +That the trees grew on the ground, and that the +acts of creating and clothing took place there is so self-evident +that these words would be meaningless if they +were not called for by the fact that the authors of these +passages in Havamál and Völuspâ had in their minds the +ground <i>along the sea</i>, that is, a sea-beach. This is also +clear from a tradition given in Gylfaginning, chapter 9, +according to which the three asas were walking along +the sea-beach (<i>med sćvarströndu</i>) when they found Ask +and Embla, and created of them the first human pair.</p> + +<p>Thus the first human pair were created on the beach +of an ocean. To which sea can the myth refer? The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> +question does not concern the ancient Aryan time, but +the Teutonic antiquity, not Asia, but Europe; and if we +furthermore limit it to the Christian era there can be but +one answer. Germany was bounded in the days of Tacitus, +and long before his time, by Gaul, Rhœtia, and Pannonia +on the west and south, by the extensive territories +of the Sarmatians and Dacians on the east, and by the +ocean on the north. The so-called German Ocean, the +North Sea and the Baltic, was then the only body of water +within the horizon of the Teutons, the only one which in +the days of Jordanes, after the Goths long had ruled north +of the Black Sea, was thought to wash the primeval Teutonic +strands. The myth must therefore refer to the +German Ocean. It is certain that the borders of this +ocean where the myth has located the creation of the first +human pair, or the first Teutonic pair, was regarded as +the centre from which their descendants spread over more +and more territory. Where near the North Sea or the +Baltic was this centre located?</p> + +<p>Even this question can be answered, thanks to the +mythic fragments preserved. A feature common to all +well-developed mythological systems is the view that the +human race in its infancy was under the special protection +of friendly divinities, and received from them the +doctrines, arts, and trades without which all culture is +impossible. The same view is strongly developed among +the Teutons. Anglo-Saxon documents have rescued the +story telling how Ask's and Embla's descendants received +the first blessings of culture from the benign gods. The +story has come to us through Christian hands, which,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> +however, have allowed enough of the original to remain +to show that its main purpose was to tell us how the great +gifts of culture came to the human race. The saga names +the land where this took place. The country was the +most southern part of the Scandinavian peninsula, and +especially the part of it bordering on the western sea. +Had these statements come to us only from northern +sources, there would be good reason for doubting their +originality and general application to the Teutonic tribes. +The Icelandic-Norwegian middle-age literature abounds +in evidence of a disposition to locate the events of a myth +and the exploits of mythic persons in the author's own +land and town. But in this instance there is no room for +the suspicion that patriotism has given to the southern-most +part of the Scandinavian peninsula a so conspicuous +prominence in the earliest history of the myth. The +chief evidence is found in the traditions of the Saxons +in England, and this gives us the best clue to the unanimity +with which the sagas of the Teutonic continent, from +a time prior to the birth of Christ far down in the middle +ages, point out the great peninsula in the northern sea as +the land of the oldest ancestors, in conflict with the +scholastic opinion in regard to an emigration from Troy. +The region where the myth located the first dawn of human +culture was certainly also the place which was regarded +as the cradle and centre of the race.</p> + +<p>The non-Scandinavian sources in question are: Beowulf's +poem, Ethelwerdus, Willielmus Malmesburiensis, +Simeon Dunelmensis, and Matthćus Monasteriensis. A +closer examination of them reveals the fact that they have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> +their information from three different sources, which +again have a common origin in a heathen myth. If we +bring together what they have preserved of the story we +get the following result:<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a></p> + +<p>One day it came to pass that a ship was seen sailing near +the coast of Scedeland or Scani,<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> and it approached the +land without being propelled either by oars or sails. The +ship came to the sea-beach, and there was seen lying in +it a little boy, who was sleeping with his head on a sheaf +of grain, surrounded by treasures and tools, by glaives +and coats of mail. The boat itself was steady and beautifully +decorated. Who he was and whence he came +nobody had any idea, but the little boy was received as if +he had been a kinsman, and he received the most constant +and tender care. As he came with a sheaf of grain to their +country the people called him Scef, Sceaf.<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> (The Beowulf +poem calls him Scyld, son of Sceaf, and gives Scyld +the son Beowulf, which originally was another name of +Scyld.) Scef grew up among this people, became their +benefactor and king, and ruled most honourably for many +years. He died far advanced in age. In accordance +with his own directions, his body was borne down to the +strand where he had landed as a child. There in a little +harbour lay the same boat in which he had come. Glittering +from hoar-frost and ice, and eager to return to the +sea, the boat was waiting to receive the dead king, and +around him the grateful and sorrowing people laid no +fewer treasures than those with which Scef had come. +And when all was finished the boat went out upon the sea, +and no one knows where it landed. He left a son Scyld +(according to the Beowulf poem, Beowulf son of Scyld), +who ruled after him. Grandson of the boy who came +with the sheaf was Healfdene—Halfdan, king of the +Danes (that is, according to the Beowulf poem).</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span></p> +<p>The myth gives the oldest Teutonic patriarchs a very +long life, in the same manner as the Bible in the case of +Adam and his descendants. They lived for centuries (see +below). The story could therefore make the culture introduced +by Scef spread far and wide during his own +reign, and it could make his realm increase with the culture. +According to scattered statements traceable to the +Scef-saga, Denmark, Angeln, and at least the northern +part of Saxland, have been populated by people who +obeyed his sceptre. In the North Götaland and Svealand +were subject to him.</p> + +<p>The proof of this, so far as Denmark is concerned, is +that, according to the Beowulf poem, its first royal family +was descended from Scef through his son Scyld (Skjold). +In accordance herewith, Danish and Icelandic genealogies +make Skjold the progenitor of the first dynasty in Denmark, +and also make him the ruler of the land to which +his father came, that is, Skane. His origin as a divinely-born +patriarch, as a hero receiving divine worship, and as +the ruler of the original Teutonic country, appears also in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> +<i>Fornmannasögur</i>, v. 239, where he is styled <i>Skáninga +god</i>, the god of the Scanians.</p> + +<p>Matthćus Westmonast. informs us that Scef ruled in +Angeln.</p> + +<p>According to the Anglo-Saxon chronicle, the dynasty +of Wessex came from Saxland, and its progenitor was +Scef.</p> + +<p>If we examine the northern sources we discover that the +Scef myth still may be found in passages which have been +unnoticed, and that the tribes of the far North saw in +the boy who came with the sheaf and the tools the divine +progenitor of their celebrated dynasty in Upsala. This +can be found in spite of the younger saga-geological layer +which the hypothesis of Odin's and his Trojan Asas' +immigration has spread over it since the introduction of +Christianity. Scef's personality comes to the surface, +we shall see, as Skefill and Skelfir.</p> + +<p>In the Fornalder-sagas, ii. 9, and in Flateyarbók, i. 24, +Skelfir is mentioned as family patriarch and as Skjold's +father, the progenitor of the Skjoldungs. There can, +therefore, be no doubt that Scef, Scyld's father, and +through him the progenitor of the Skjoldungs, originally +is the same as Skelfir, Skjold's father, and progenitor of +the Skjoldungs in these Icelandic works.</p> + +<p>But he is not only the progenitor of the Skjoldungs, +but also of the Ynglings. The genealogy beginning with +him is called in the Flateryarbók, <i>Skilfinga ćtt edr skjoldunga +ćtt</i>. The Younger Edda also (i. 522) knows +Skelfir, and says he was a famous king whose genealogy +<i>er köllut skilvinga ćtt</i>. Now the Skilfing race in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> +oldest sources is precisely the same as the Yngling race +both from an Anglo-Saxon and from a heathen Norse +standpoint. The Beowulf poem calls the Swedish kings +<i>scilfingas</i>, and according to Thjodulf, a kinsman of the +Ynglings and a kinsman of the Skilfing, <i>Skilfinga nidr</i>, +are identical (Ynglingatal, 30). Even the Younger +Edda seems to be aware of this. It says in the passage +quoted above that the Skilfing race <i>er i Austrvegum</i>. In +the Thjodulf strophes <i>Austrvegar</i> means simply Svealand, +and <i>Austrkonungur</i> means Swedish king.</p> + +<p>Thus it follows that the Scef who is identical with +Skelfir was in the heathen saga of the North the common +progenitor of the Ynglinga and of the Skjoldunga race. +From his dignity as original patriarch of the royal families +of Sweden, Denmark, Angeln, Saxland, and England, +he was displaced by the scholastic fiction of the middle +ages concerning the immigration of Trojan Asiatics under +the leadership of Odin, who as the leader of the immigration +also had to be the progenitor of the most distinguished +families of the immigrants. This view seems +first to have been established in England after this country +had been converted to Christianity and conquered by +the Trojan immigration hypothesis. Wodan is there +placed at the head of the royal genealogies of the chronicles, +excepting in Wessex, where Scef is allowed to retain +his old position, and where Odin must content himself +with a secondary place in the genealogy. But in the +Beowulf poem Scef still retains his dignity as ancient +patriarch of the kings of Denmark.</p> + +<p>From England this same distortion of the myth comes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> +to the North in connection with the hypothesis concerning +the immigration of the "Asiamen," and is there finally +accepted in the most unconcerned manner, without the +least regard to the mythic records which were still well +known. Skjold, Scef's son, is without any hesitation +changed into a son of Odin (Ynglingasaga, 5; Foreword +to Gylfag., 11). Yngve, who as the progenitor of the +Ynglings is identical with Scef, and whose very name, +perhaps, is or has been conceived as an epithet indicating +Scef's tender age when he came to the coast of Scandia—Yngve-Scef +is confounded with Frey, is styled Yngve-Frey +after the appellation of the Vana-god Ingunar Frey, +and he, too, is called a son of Odin (Foreword to Gylfag., +c. 13), although Frey in the myth is a son of Njord and +belongs to another race of gods than Odin. The epithet +with which Are Frode in his <i>Schedć</i> characterises Yngve, +viz., <i>Tyrkiakonungr</i>, Trojan king, proves that the lad who +came with the sheaf of grain to Skane is already in Are +changed into a Trojan.</p> + + +<p class="center">21.</p> + +<p class="center">SCEF THE AUTHOR OF CULTURE IDENTICAL WITH HEIMDAL-RIG, +THE ORIGINAL PATRIARCH.</p> + +<p>But in one respect Are Frode or his authority has paid +attention to the genuine mythic tradition, and that is by +making the Vana-gods the kinsmen of the descendants +of Yngve. This is correct in the sense that Scef-Yngve, +the son of a deity transformed into a man, was in the myth +a Vana-god. Accordingly every member of the Yngling<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> +race and every descendant of Scef may be styled a <i>son of +Frey</i> (<i>Freys áttungr</i>), epithets applied by Thjodulf in +Ynglingatal in regard to the Upsala kings. They are +gifts from the Vana-gods—the implements which point +to the opulent Njord, and the grain sheaf which is Frey's +symbol—which Scef-Yngve brings with him to the ancient +people of Scandia, and his rule is peaceful and rich +in blessings.</p> + +<p>Scef-Yngve comes across the ocean. Vanaheim was +thought to be situated on the other side of it, in the same +direction as Ćgir's palace in the great western ocean and +in the outermost domain of Jormumgrund (see 93). +This is indicated in Lokasenna, 34, where Loke in Ćgir's +hall says to the Van Njord: "You were sent from here +to the East as a hostage to the gods (<i>thu vart austr hedan +gisl um sendr at godum</i>)". Thus Njord's castle Noatun +is situated in the West, on a strand outside of which the +swans sing (Gylfag., 23). In the faded memory of +Scef, preserved in the saga of the Lower Rhine and of +the Netherlands, there comes to a poverty-stricken people +a boat in which there lies a sleeping youth. The boat is, +like Scef's, without sails or oars, but is drawn over the +billows by a swan. From Gylfaginning, 16, we learn +that there are myths telling of the origin of the swans. +They are all descended from that pair of swans which +swim in the sacred waters of Urd's fountain. Thus the +descendants of these swans that sing outside of the Vanapalace +Noatun and their arrival to the shores of Midgard +seems to have some connection with the coming of the +Van Scef and of culture.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span></p> + +<p>The Vans most prominent in the myths are Njord, +Frey, and Heimdal. Though an Asa-god by adoption, +Heimdal is like Njord and Frey a Vana-god by birth and +birthplace, and is accordingly called both <i>áss</i> and <i>vanr</i> +(Thrymskv., 15). Meanwhile these three divinities, definitely +named Vans, are only a few out of many. The +Vans have constituted a numerous clan, strong enough +to wage a victorious war against the Asas (Völusp.). +Who among them was Scef-Yngve? The question can +be answered as follows:</p> + +<p>(1) Of Heimdal, and of him alone among the gods, +it is related that he lived for a time among men as a man, +and that he performed that which is attributed to Scef—that +is, organised and elevated human society and became +the progenitor of sacred families in Midgard.</p> + +<p>(2) Rigsthula relates that the god Heimdal, having +assumed the name Rig, begot with an earthly woman the +son Jarl-Rig, who in turn became the father of Konr-Rig. +Konr-Rig is, as the very name indicates and as Vigfusson +already has pointed out, the first who bore the kingly +name. In Rigsthula the Jarl begets the king, as in Ynglingasaga +the judge (Dómarr) begets the first king. Rig +is, according to Ynglingasaga, ch. 20, grandfather to +Dan, who is a Skjoldung. Heimdal-Rig is thus the +father of the progenitor of the Skjoldungs, and it is the +story of the divine origin of the Skjoldungs Rigsthula +gives us when it sings of Heimdal as Jarl's father and the +first king's grandfather. But the progenitor of the +Skjoldungs is, according to both Anglo-Saxon and the +northern sources above quoted, Scef. Thus Heimdal and +Scef are identical.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span></p> + +<p>These proofs are sufficient. More can be presented, +and the identity will be established by the whole investigation.</p> + +<p>As a tender boy, Heimdal was sent by the Vans to the +southern shores of Scandinavia with the gifts of culture. +Hyndla's lay tells how these friendly powers prepared the +child for its important mission, after it was born in the +outermost borders of the earth (<i>vid jardar thraum</i>), in a +wonderful manner, by nine sisters (Hyndla's Lay, 35; +Heimdallar Galdr., in the Younger Edda; compare No. +82, where the ancient Aryan root of the myth concerning +Heimdal's nine mothers is pointed out).</p> + +<p>For its mission the child had to be equipped with +strength, endurance, and wisdom. It was given to drink +<i>jardar magn svalkaldr sćr</i> and <i>Sonar dreyri</i>. It is necessary +to compare these expressions with <i>Urdar magn</i>, +<i>svalkaldr sćr</i> and <i>Sónar dreyri</i> in Gudrunarkivda, ii. 21, +a song written in Christian times, where this reminiscence +of a triple heathen-mythic drink reappears as a potion of +forgetfulness allaying sorrow. The expression <i>Sónar +dreyri</i> shows that the child had tasted liquids from the +subterranean fountains which water Yggdrasil and sustain +the spiritual and physical life of the universe (cp. +Nos. 63 and 93). <i>Són</i> contains the mead of inspiration +and wisdom. In Gylfaginning, which quotes a satire of +late origin, this name is given to a jar in which Suttung +preserves this valuable liquor, but to the heathen skalds +<i>Són</i> is the name of Mimer's fountain, which contains the +highest spiritual gifts, and around whose rush-bordered +edge the reeds of poetry grow (Eilif Gudrunson, Skáld<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span>skaparmál). +The child Heimdal has, therefore, drunk +from Mimer's fountain. <i>Jardar magn</i> (the earth's +strength) is in reality the same as <i>Urdar magn</i>, the +strength of the water in Urd's fountain, which keeps the +world-tree ever green and sustains the physical life of +creation (Völusp.). The third subterranean fountain is +Hvergelmer, with hardening liquids. From Hvergelmer +comes the river Sval, and the venom-cold Elivogs +(Grimner's Lay, Gylfaginning). <i>Svalkaldar sćr</i>, cool +sea, is an appropriate designation of this fountain.</p> + +<p>When the child has been strengthened in this manner +for its great mission, it is laid sleeping in the decorated +ship, gets the grain-sheaf for its pillow, and numerous +treasures are placed around it. It is certain that there +were not only weapons and ornaments, but also workmen's +tools among the treasures. It should be borne in +mind that the gods made on the plains of Ida not only +ornaments, but also tools (<i>tangir skópu ok tol gördu</i>). +Evidence is presented in No. 82 that Scef-Heimdal +brought the fire-auger to primeval man who until that +time had lived without the blessings produced by the +sacred fire.</p> + +<p>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 <i>Rigr</i>—it is true +of him as of nearly all mythological persons, that he has<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> +several names—but the introduction to the poem informs +us that the person so called is the god Heimdal (<i>einhverr +af asum sá er Heimdallr het</i>). The country is here also +described as situated near the sea. Heimdal journeys +<i>framm med sjofarströndu</i>. Culture is in complete operation. +The people are settled, they spin and weave, perform +handiwork, and are smiths, they plough and bake, +and Heimdal has instructed them in runes. Different +homes show different customs and various degrees of +wealth, but happiness prevails everywhere. Heimdal +visits Ai's and Edda's unpretentious home, is hospitably +received, and remains three days. Nine months thereafter +the son Träl (thrall) is born to this family. Heimdal +then visits Ave's and Amma's well-kept and cleanly +house, and nine months thereafter the son Karl (churl) +is born in this household. Thence Rig betakes himself +to <i>Fadir's</i> and <i>Modir's</i> elegant home. There is born, +nine months later, the son Jarl. Thus the three Teutonic +classes—the thralls, the freemen, and the nobility—have +received their divine sanction from Heimdal-Rig, and all +three have been honoured with divine birth.</p> + +<p>In the account of Rig's visit to the three different homes +lies the mythic idea of a common fatherhood, an idea +which must not be left out of sight when human heroes +are described as sons of gods in the mythological and +heroic sagas. They are sons of the gods and, at the same +time, from a genealogical standpoint, men. Their pedigree, +starting with Ask and Embla, is not interrupted by +the intervention of the visiting god, nor is there developed +by this intervention a half-divine, half-human<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> +middle class or bastard clan. The Teutonic patriarch +Mannus is, according to Tacitus, the son of a god and the +grandson of the goddess Earth. Nevertheless he is, as +his name indicates, in the full physical sense of the word, +a man, and besides his divine father he has had a human +father. They are the descendants of Ask and Embla, +men of all classes and conditions, whom Völuspa's skald +gathered around the seeress when she was to present to +them a view of the world's development and commanded +silence with the formula: "Give ear, all ye divine races, +great and small, sons of Heimdal." The idea of a common +fatherhood we find again in the question of <i>Fadir's</i> +grandson, as we shall show below. Through him the +families of chiefs get the right of precedence before both +the other classes. Thor becomes their progenitor. +While all classes trace their descent from Heimdal, the +nobility trace theirs also from Thor, and through him +from Odin.</p> + +<p>Heimdal-Rig's and <i>Fadir's</i> son, begotten with <i>Módir</i>, +inherits in Rigsthula the name of the divine co-father, +and is called Rig Jarl. Jarl's son, Kon, gets the same +name after he has given proof of his knowledge in the +runes introduced among the children of men by Heimdal, +and has even shown himself superior to his father +in this respect. This view that the younger generation +surpasses the older points to the idea of a progress in +culture among men, during a time when they live in peace +and happiness protected by Heimdal's fostering care and +sceptre, but must not be construed into the theory of a +continued progress based on the law and nature of things,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> +a theory alike strange to the Teutons and to the other +peoples of antiquity. Heimdal-Rig's reign must be regarded +as the happy ancient age, of which nearly all +mythologies have dreamed. Already in the next age +following, that is, that of the second patriarch, we read +of men of violence who visit the peaceful, and under the +third patriarch begins the "knife-age, and axe-age with +cloven shields," which continues through history and receives +its most terrible development before Ragnarok.</p> + +<p>The more common mythical names of the persons appearing +in Rigsthula are not mentioned in the song, not +even Heimdal's. In strophe 48, the last of the fragment, +we find for the first time words which have the character +of names—<i>Danr</i> and <i>Danpr</i>. A crow sings from the tree +to Jarl's son, the grandson of Heimdal, Kon, saying that +peaceful amusement (<i>kyrra fugla</i>) does not become him +longer, but that he should rather mount his steed and fight +against men; and the crow seeks to awaken his ambition +or jealousy by saying that "Dan and Danp, skilled in +navigating ships and wielding swords, have more precious +halls and a better freehold than you." The circumstance +that these names are mentioned makes it possible, as shall +be shown below, to establish in a more satisfactory manner +the connection between Rigsthula and other accounts +which are found in fragments concerning the Teutonic +patriarch period.</p> + +<p>The oldest history of man did not among the Teutons +begin with a paradisian condition. Some time has +elapsed between the creation of Ask and Embla, and +Heimdal's coming among men. As culture begins with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> +Heimdal, a condition of barbarism must have preceded +his arrival. At all events the first generations after Ask +and Embla have been looked upon as lacking fire; consequently +they have been without the art of the smith, without +metal implements, and without knowledge of agriculture. +Hence it is that the Vana-child comes across the +western sea with fire, with implements, and with the +sheaf of grain. But the barbarous condition may have +been attended with innocence and goodness of heart. The +manner in which the strange child was received by the inhabitants +of Scandia's coast, and the tenderness with +which it was cared for (<i>diligenti animo</i>, says Ethelwerd) +seem to indicate this.</p> + +<p>When Scef-Heimdal had performed his mission, and +when the beautiful boat in which he came had disappeared +beyond the western horizon, then the second mythic patriarch-age +begins.</p> + + +<p class="center">22.</p> + +<p class="center">HEIMDAL'S SON BORGAR-SKJOLD, THE SECOND PATRIARCH.</p> + +<p>Ynglingasaga, ch. 20, contains a passage which is +clearly connected with Rigsthula or with some kindred +source. The passage mentions three persons who appear +in Rigsthula, viz., Rig, Danp, and Dan, and it is +there stated that the ruler who first possessed the kingly +title in Svithiod was the son of a chief, whose name was +Judge (<i>Dómarr</i>), and Judge was married to Drott +(<i>Drótt</i>), the daughter of Danp.</p> + +<p>That Domar and his royal son, the latter with the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> +epithet <i>Dyggvi</i>, "the worthy," "the noble," were afterwards +woven into the royal pedigree in Ynglingasaga, +is a matter which we cannot at present consider. Vigfusson +(<i>Corpus Poet. Bor.</i>) has already shown the mythic +symbolism and unhistorical character of this royal pedigree's +<i>Visburr</i>, the priest, son of a god; of <i>Dómaldr-Dómvaldr</i>, +the legislator; of <i>Dómarr</i>, the judge; and of +<i>Dyggvi</i>, the first king. These are not historical Upsala +kings, but personified myths, symbolising the development +of human society on a religious basis into a political condition +of law culminating in royal power. It is in short +the same chain of ideas as we find in Rigsthula, where +Heimdal, the son of a god and the founder of culture, becomes +the father of the Jarl-judge, whose son is the first +king. <i>Dómarr</i>, in the one version of the chain of ideas, +corresponds to Rig Jarl in the other, and <i>Dyggvi</i> corresponds +to Kon. Heimdal is the first patriarch, the Jarl-judge +is the second, and the oldest of kings is the third.</p> + +<p>Some person, through whose hands Ynglingasaga has +passed before it got its present form in Heimskringla, +has understood this correspondence between <i>Dómarr</i> and +Rig-Jarl, and has given to the former the wife which +originally belonged to the latter. Rigsthula has been +rescued in a single manuscript. This manuscript was +owned by Arngrim Jonsson, the author of <i>Supplementum +Historić Norvegić</i>, and was perhaps in his time, as +Bugge (<i>Norr. Fornkv.</i>) conjectures, less fragmentary +than it now is. Arngrim relates that Rig Jarl was +married to a daughter of Danp, lord of Danpsted. Thus +the representative of the Jarl's dignity, like the representative<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span> +of the Judge's dignity in Ynglingasaga, is here married +to Danp's daughter.</p> + +<p>In Saxo, a man by name Borgar (<i>Borcarus</i>—<i>Hist. +Dan.</i> 336-354) occupies an important position. He is a +South Scandinavian chief, leader of Skane's warriors +(<i>Borcarus cum Scanico equitatu</i>, p. 350), but instead of +a king's title, he holds a position answering to that of +the Jarl. Meanwhile he, like Skjold, becomes the founder +of a Danish royal dynasty. Like Skjold he fights beasts +and robbers, and like him he wins his bride, sword in +hand. Borgar's wife is Drott (<i>Drotta</i>, <i>Drota</i>), the same +name as Danp's daughter. Skjold's son Gram and Borgar's +son Halfdan are found on close examination (see +below) to be identical with each other, and with king +Halfdan Berggram in whom the names of both are united. +Thus we find:</p> + +<p>(1) That Borgar appears as a chief in Skane, which +in the myth is the cradle of the human race, or of the +Teutonic race. As such he is also mentioned in <i>Script. +rer. Dan.</i> (pp. 16-19, 154), where he is called Burgarus +and Borgardus.</p> + +<p>(2) That he has performed similar exploits to those +of Skjold, the son of Scef-Heimdal.</p> + +<p>(3) That he is not clothed with kingly dignity, but +has a son who founds a royal dynasty in Denmark. This +corresponds to Heimdal's son Rig Jarl, who is not himself +styled king, but whose son becomes a Danish king +and the progenitor of the Skjoldungs.</p> + +<p>(4) That he is married to Drott, who, according to +Ynglingasaga, is Danp's daughter. This corresponds<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> +to Heimdal's son Rig Jarl, who takes a daughter of Danp +as his wife.</p> + +<p>(5) That his son is identical with the son of Skjold, +the progenitor of the Skjoldungs.</p> + +<p>(6) That this son of his is called Halfdan, while in +the Anglo-Saxon sources Scef, through his son Scyld +(Skjold), is the progenitor of Denmark's king Healfdene.</p> + +<p>These testimonies contain incontestible evidence that +Skjold, Borgar, and Rig Jarl are names of the same +mythic person, the son of the ancient patriarch Heimdal, +and himself the second patriarch, who, after Heimdal, +determines the destiny of his race. The name <i>Borgarr</i> +is a synonym of <i>Skjöldr</i>. The word <i>Skjöldr</i> has from +the beginning had, or has in the lapse of past ages acquired, +the meaning "the protecting one," "the shielding +one," and as such it was applied to the common defensive +armour, the shield. <i>Borgarr</i> is derived from <i>bjarga</i> +(past. part. <i>borginn</i>; cp. <i>borg</i>), and thus has the same +meaning, that is, "the defending or protecting one." +From Norse poetry a multitude of examples can be given +of the paraphrasing of a name with another, or even several +others, of similar meaning.</p> + +<p>The second patriarch, Heimdal's son, thus has the +names Skjold, Borgar, and Rig Jarl in the heathen traditions, +and those derived therefrom.</p> + +<p>In German poems of the middle age ("Wolfdieterich," +"König Ruther," and others) Borgar is remembered by +the name Berchtung, Berker, and Berther. His mythic +character as ancient patriarch is there well preserved.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> +He is <i>der grise mann</i>, a Teutonic Nestor, wears a beard +reaching to the belt, and becomes 250 years old. He +was fostered by a king Anzius, the progenitor of the +Amelungs (the Amalians). The name Anzius points to +the Gothic <i>ansi</i> (Asa-god). Borgar's fostering by "the +white Asa-god" has accordingly not been forgotten. +Among the exercises taught him by Anzius are <i>daz werfen +mit dem messer und schissen zu dem zil</i> (compare Rig +Jarl's exercises, Rigsthula, 35). Like Borgar, Berchtung +is not a king, but a very noble and greatly-trusted +chief, wise and kind, the foster-father and counsellor of +heroes and kings. The Norse saga places Borgar, and +the German saga places Berchtung, in close relation to +heroes who belong to the race of Hildings. Borgar is, +according to Saxo, the stepfather of Hildeger; Berchtung +is, according to "Wolfdieterich," Hildebrand's ancestor. +Of Hildeger Saxo relates in part the same as the German +poem tells of Hildebrand. Berchtung becomes the +foster-father of an Amalian prince; with Borgar's son +grows up as foster-brother Hamal (Helge Hund., 2; see +Nos. 29, 42), whose name points to the Amalian race. +The very name <i>Borgarr</i>, which, as indicated, in this form +refers to <i>bjarga</i>, may in an older form have been related +to the name Berchter, Berchtung.</p> + + + +<p class="center">23.</p> + +<p class="center">BORGAR-SKJOLD'S SON HALFDAN, THE THIRD PATRIARCH.</p> + +<p class="center"><i>The Identity of Gram, Halfdan Berggram, and Halfdan +Borgarson.</i></p> + + +<p>In the time of Borgar and his son, the third patriarch,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> +many of the most important events of the myth take +place. Before I present these, the chain of evidence requires +that I establish clearly the names applied to Borgar +in our literary sources. Danish scholars have already +discovered what I pointed out above, that the kings Gram +Skjoldson, Halfdan Berggram, and Halfdan Borgarson +mentioned by Saxo, and referred to different generations, +are identical with each other and with Halfdan the Skjoldung +and Halfdan the Old of the Icelandic documents.</p> + +<p>The correctness of this view will appear from the following +parallels:<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a></p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span></p> +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">{Saxo: Gram slays king Sictrugus, and marries Signe,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">{ daughter of Sumblus, king of the Finns.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">{Hyndluljod: Halfdan Skjoldung slays king Sigtrygg, and</span><br /> +1. { marries Almveig with the consent of Eymund.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">{Prose Edda: Halfdan the Old slays king Sigtrygg, and</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">{ marries Alveig, daughter of Eyvind.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">{Fornald. S.: Halfdan the Old slays king Sigtrygg, and</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">{ marries Alfny, daughter of Eymund.</span><br /> +</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">{Saxo: Gram, son of Skjold, is the progenitor of the Skjoldungs.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">{Hyndluljod: Halfdan Skjoldung, son or descendant of</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">{ Skjold, is the progenitor of the Skjoldungs, Ynglings,</span><br /> +2. { Odlungs, &c.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">{Prose Edda: Halfdan the Old is the progenitor of the</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">{ Hildings, Ynglings, Odlungs, &c.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">{Saxo: Halfdan Bogarson is the progenitor of a royal</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">{ family of Denmark.</span><br /> +</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">{Saxo: Gram uses a club as a weapon. He kills seven</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">{ brothers and nine of their half-brothers.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">{Saxo: Halfdan Berggram uses an oak as a weapon. He</span><br /> +3. { kills seven brothers.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">{Saxo: Halfdan Borgarson uses an oak as a weapon. He</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">{ kills twelve brothers.</span><br /> +</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span></p><p> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">{Saxo: Gram secures Groa and slays Henricus on his wedding-day.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">{Saxo: Halfdan Berggram marries Sigrutha, after having</span><br /> +4. { slain Ebbo on his wedding-day.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">{Saxo: Halfdan Borgarson marries Guritha, after having</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">{ killed Sivarus on his wedding-day.</span><br /> +</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">{Saxo: Gram, who slew a Swedish king, is attacked in war</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">{ by Svipdag.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">{Saxo: Halfdan Berggram, who slew a Swedish king, is</span><br /> +5. { attacked by Ericus.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">{Combined sources: Svipdag is the slain Swedish king's</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">{ grandson (daughter's son).</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">{Saxo: Ericus is the son of the daughter of the slain Swedish</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">{ king.</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>These parallels are sufficient to show the identity of +Gram Skjoldson, Halfdan Berggram, and Halfdan Borgarson. +A closer analysis of these sagas, the synthesis +possible on the basis of such an analysis, and the position +the saga (restored in this manner) concerning the +third patriarch, the son of Skjold-Borgar, and the grandson +of Heimdal, assumes in the chain of mythic events, +gives complete proof of this identity.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span></p> + +<p class="center">24.</p> + +<p class="center">HALFDAN'S ENMITY WITH ORVANDEL AND SVIPDAG (cp. No. 33).</p> + +<p>Saxo relates in regard to Gram that he carried away +the royal daughter Groa, though she was already bound +to another man, and that he slew her father, whereupon +he got into a feud with Svipdag, an irreconcilably bitter +foe, who fought against him with varying success of arms, +and gave himself no rest until he had taken Gram's life +and realm. Gram left two sons, whom Svipdag treated +in a very different manner. The one named Guthormus +(<i>Gudhormr</i>), who was a son of Groa, he received into his +good graces. To the other, named Hadingus, or Hadding, +and who was a son of Signe, he transferred the +deadly hate he had cherished towards the father. The +cause of the hatred of Svipdag against Gram, and which +could not be extinguished in his blood, Saxo does not +mention, but this point is cleared up by a comparison with +other sources. Nor does Saxo mention who the person +was from whom Gram robbed Groa, but this, too, we learn +in another place.</p> + +<p>The Groa of the myth is mentioned in two other places: +in Groagalder and in Gylfaginning. Both sources agree in +representing her as skilled in good, healing, harm-averting +songs; both also in describing her as a tender person +devoted to the members of her family. In Gylfaginning +she is the loving wife who forgets everything in her joy +that her husband, the brave archer Orvandel, has been +saved by Thor from a dangerous adventure. In Groa<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span>galder +she is the mother whose love to her son conquers +death and speaks consoling and protecting words from +the grave. Her husband is, as stated, Orvandel; her son +is Svipdag.</p> + +<p>If we compare the statements in Saxo with those in +Groagalder and Gylfaginning we get the following result:</p> + +<blockquote><p> +Saxo: King Sigtrygg has a daughter Groa.<br /> +Gylfaginning: Groa is married to the brave Orvandel.<br /> +Groagalder: Groa has a son Svipdag.<br /> +Saxo: Groa is robbed by Gram-Halfdan.<br /> +Saxo: } Hostilities on account of the robbing of<br /> +Hyndluljod: } the woman. Gram-Halfdan kills<br /> +Skaldskap.mal:} Groa's father Sigtrygg.<br /> +Saxo: With Gram-Halfdan Groa has the son Gudhorm.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.75em;">Gram-Halfdan is separated from Groa. He courts</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.75em;">Signe (Almveig in Hyndluljod; Alveig in Skaldskaparmál),</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.75em;">daughter of Sumbel, king of the Finns.</span><br /> +Groagalder: Groa with her son Svipdag is once more with<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.75em;">her first husband. Groa dies. Svipdag's father Orvandel</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.75em;">marries a second time. Before her death Groa</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.75em;">has told Svipdag that he, if need requires her help,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.75em;">must go to her grave and wake her out of the sleep</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.75em;">of death.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The stepmother gives Svipdag a task which he thinks surpasses</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.75em;">his strength. He then goes to his mother's</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.75em;">grave. From the grave Groa sings protecting incantations</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.75em;">over her son.</span><br /> +Saxo: Svipdag attacks Gram-Halfdan. After several conflicts<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.75em;">he succeeds in conquering him and gives him a</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.75em;">deadly wound.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Svidpdag pardons the son Gram-Halfdan has had with</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.75em;">Groa, but persecutes his son with Signe (Alveig).</span><br /> +</p></blockquote> + +<p>In this connection we find the key to Svipdag's irreconcilable +conflict with Gram-Halfdan. He must revenge<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> +himself on him on his father's and mother's account. He +must avenge his mother's disgrace, his grandfather Sigtrygg's +death, and, as a further investigation shows, the +murder also of his father Orvandel. We also find why +he pardons Gudhorm: he is his own half-brother and +Groa's son.</p> + +<p>Sigtrygg, Groa, Orvandel, and Svipdag have in the +myth belonged to the pedigree of the Ynglings, and hence +Saxo calls Sigtrygg king in Svithiod. Concerning the +Ynglings, Ynglingasaga remarks that Yngve was the +name of everyone who in that time was the head of the +family (Yngl., p. 20). Svipdag, the favourite hero of +the Teutonic mythology, is accordingly celebrated in song +under the name Yngve, and also under other names to +which I shall refer later, when I am to give a full account +of the myth concerning him.</p> + + +<p class="center">25.</p> + +<p class="center">HALFDAN'S IDENTITY WITH MANNUS IN "GERMANIA."</p> + +<p>With Gram-Halfdan the Teutonic patriarch period +ends. The human race had its golden age under Heimdal, +its copper age under Skjold-Borgar, and the beginning +of its iron age under Halfdan. The Skilfinga-Ynglinga +race has been named after Heimdal-Skelfir himself, +and he has been regarded as its progenitor. His son +Skjold-Borgar has been considered the founder of the +Skjoldungs. With Halfdan the pedigree is divided into +three through his stepson Yngve-Svipdag, the latter's +half-brother Gudhorm, and Gudhorm's half-brother Had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span>ing +or Hadding. The war between these three—a continuation +of the feud between Halfdan and Svipdag—was +the subject of a cycle of songs sung throughout Teutondom, +songs which continued to live though greatly +changed with the lapse of time, on the lips of Germans +throughout the middle ages (see Nos. 36-43).</p> + +<p>Like his father, Halfdan was the fruit of a double +fatherhood, a divine and a human. Saxo was aware of +this double fatherhood, and relates of his Halfdan Berggram +that he, although the son of a human prince, was +respected as a son of Thor, and honoured as a god among +that people who longest remained heathen; that is to say, +the Swedes (<i>Igitur apud Sveones tantus haberi cćpit, +ut magni Thor filius existimatus, divinis a populo honoribus +donaretur ac publico dignus libamine censeretur</i>). +In his saga, as told by Saxo, Thor holds his protecting +hand over Halfdan like a father over his son.</p> + +<p>It is possible that both the older patriarchs originally +were regarded rather as the founders and chiefs of the +whole human race than of the Teutons alone. Certain +it is that the appellation Teutonic patriarch belonged more +particularly to the third of the series. We have a reminiscence +of this in Hyndluljod, 14-16. To the question, +"Whence came the Skjoldungs, Skilfings, Andlungs, and +Ylfings, and all the free-born and gentle-born?" the song +answers by pointing to "the foremost among the Skjoldungs"—Sigtrygg's +slayer Halfdan—a statement which, +after the memory of the myths had faded and become +confused, was magnified in the Younger Edda into the +report that he was the father of eighteen sons, nine of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> +which were the founders of the heroic families whose +names were at that time rediscovered in the heathen-heroic +songs then extant.</p> + +<p>According to what we have now stated in regard to +Halfdan's genealogical position there can no longer be +any doubt that he is the same patriarch as the Mannus +mentioned by Tacitus in <i>Germania</i>, ch. 2, where it is said +of the Germans: "In old songs they celebrate <i>Tuisco</i>, a +god born of Earth (<i>Terra</i>; compare the goddess <i>Terra +Mater</i>, ch. 40), and his son Mannus as the source and +founder of the race. Mannus is said to have had three sons, +after whose names those who dwell nearest the ocean are +called Ingćvonians (<i>Ingćvones</i>), those who dwell in the +centre Hermionians (<i>Hermiones</i>, <i>Herminones</i>), and the +rest Istćvonians (<i>Istćvones</i>)." Tacitus adds that there +were other Teutonic tribes, such as the Marsians, the +Gambrivians, the Svevians, and the Vandals, whose names +were derived from other heroes of divine birth.</p> + +<p>Thus Mannus, though human, and the source and +founder of the Teutonic race, is also the son of a god. +The mother of his divine father is the goddess Earth, +mother Earth. In our native myths we rediscover this +goddess—polyonomous like nearly all mythic beings—in +Odin's wife Frigg, also called <i>Fjorgyn</i> and <i>Hlodyn</i>. As +sons of her and Odin only Thor (Völusp.) and Balder +(Lokasenna) are definitely mentioned.</p> + +<p>In regard to the goddess Earth (Jord), Tacitus states +(ch. 40), as a characteristic trait that she is believed +to take a lively interest and active part in the affairs of +men and nations (<i>eam intervenire rebus hominum, invehi</i><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> +<i>populis arbitrantur</i>), and he informs us that she is especially +worshipped by the Longobardians and some of their +neighbours near the sea. This statement, compared with +the emigration saga of the Longobardians (No. 15), confirms +the theory that the goddess Jord, who, in the days +of Tacitus, was celebrated in song as the mother of Mannus' +divine father, is identical with Frigg. In their emigration +saga the Longobardians have great faith in Frigg, +and trust in her desire and ability to intervene when the +fate of a nation is to be decided by arms. Nor are they +deceived in their trust in her; she is able to bring about +that Odin, without considering the consequences, gives +the Longobardians a new name; and as a christening +present was in order, and as the Longobardians stood arrayed +against the Vandals at the moment when they received +their new name, the gift could be no other than +victory over their foes. Tacitus' statement, that the +Longobardians were one of the races who particularly +paid worship to the goddess Jord, is found to be intimately +connected with, and to be explained by, this tradition, +which continued to be remembered among the +Longobardians long after they became converted to Christianity, +down to the time when <i>Origo Longobardorum</i> +was written.</p> + +<p>Tacitus calls the goddess Jord Nerthus. Vigfusson +(and before him J. Grimm) and others have seen in this +name a feminine version of <i>Njördr</i>. Nor does any other +explanation seem possible. The existence of such a form +is not more surprising than that we have in Freyja a feminine +form of Frey, and in Fjorgyn-Frigg a feminine form<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> +of Fjörgynr. In our mythic documents neither Frigg +nor Njord are of Asa race. Njord is, as we know, a +Van. Frigg's father is <i>Fjörgynr</i> (perhaps the same as +<i>Parganya</i> in the Vedic songs), also called <i>Annarr</i>, <i>Ánarr</i>, +and <i>Ónarr</i>, and her mother is Narve's daughter Night. +Frigg's high position as Odin's real and lawful wife, as +the queen of the Asa world, and as mother of the chief +gods Thor and Balder, presupposes her to be of the noblest +birth which the myth could bestow on a being born outside +of the Asa clan, and as the Vans come next after the +Asas in the mythology, and were united with them from +the beginning of time, as hostages, by treaty, by marriage, +and by adoption, probability, if no other proof +could be found, would favour the theory that Frigg is a +goddess of the race of Vans, and that her father <i>Fjörgyn</i> +is a clan-chief among the Vans. This view is corroborated +in two ways. The cosmogony makes Earth and Sea +sister and brother. The same divine mother Night +(Nat), who bears the goddess Jord, also bears a son +<i>Udr</i>, <i>Unnr</i>, the ruler of the sea, also called <i>Audr</i> (Rich), +the personification of wealth. Both these names are applied +among the gods to Njord alone as the god of navigation, +commerce, and wealth. (In reference to wealth +compare the phrase <i>audigr sem Njördr</i>—rich as Njord.) +Thus Frigg is Njord's sister. This explains the attitude +given to Frigg in the war between the Asas and Vans by +Völuspa, Saxo, and the author of Ynglingasaga, where +the tradition is related as history. In the form given to +this tradition in Christian times and in Saxo's hands, it +is disparaging to Frigg as Odin's wife; but the pith of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> +Saxo's narrative is, that Frigg in the feud between the +Asas and Vans did not side with Odin but with the Vans, +and contributed towards making the latter lords of Asgard. +When the purely heathen documents (Völusp., +Vafthr., Lokas.) describe her as a tender wife and mother, +Frigg's taking part with the Vans against her own husband +can scarcely be explained otherwise than by the Teutonic +principle, that the duties of the daughter and sister +are above the wife's, a view plainly presented in Saxo +(p. 353), and illustrated by Gudrun's conduct toward +Atle.</p> + +<p>Thus it is proved that the god who is the father of the +Teutonic patriarch Mannus is himself the son of Frigg, +the goddess of earth, and must, according to the mythic +records at hand, be either Thor or Balder. The name +given him by Tacitus, <i>Tuisco</i>, does not determine which +of the two. <i>Tuisco</i> has the form of a patronymic adjective, +and reappears in the Norse <i>Tívi</i>, an old name of +Odin, related to <i>Dios divus</i>, and <i>devas</i>, from which all +the sons of Odin and gods of Asgard received the epithet +<i>tívar</i>. But in the songs learned by Saxo in regard to the +northern race-patriarch and his divine father, his place +is occupied by Thor, not by Balder, and "Jord's son" is +in Norse poetry an epithet particularly applied to Thor.</p> + +<p>Mannus has three sons. So has Halfdan. While +Mannus has a son <i>Ingćvo</i>, Halfdan has a stepson Yngve, +Inge (Svipdag). The second son of Mannus is named +Hermio. Halfdan's son with Groa is called <i>Gudhormr</i>. +The second part of this name has, as Jessen has already +pointed out, nothing to do with <i>ormr</i>. It may be that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span> +the name should be divided <i>Gudhormr</i>, and that <i>hormr</i> +should be referred to <i>Hermio</i>. Mannus' third son is +<i>Istćvo</i>. The Celtic scholar Zeuss has connected this +name with that of the Gothic (more properly Vandal) +heroic race Azdingi, and Grimm has again connected Azdigni +with Hazdiggo (<i>Haddingr</i>). Halfdan's third son +is in Saxo called Hadingus. Whether the comparisons +made by Zeuss and Grimm are to the point or not (see +further, No. 43) makes but little difference here. It +nevertheless remains as a result of the investigation that +all 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:</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;"><b><i>Tacitus.</i></b> <b><i>Norse documents.</i></b></span><br /> +<br /> +Tivi and the goddess Jord. Tivi=Odin and the goddess<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">| Jord.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">| |</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Tivi's son (Tiusco). Tivi's son Thor.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">| |</span><br /> +Mannus, progenitor of the Halfdan, progenitor of the<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Teutonic tribes. royal families.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">+————+————+ +————-+————-+</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">| | | | | |</span><br /> +Ingćvo. Hermio. Istćvo. Yngve. Gudhormr. Hadding.<br /> +</p> + + +<p class="center">26.</p> + +<p class="center">THE SACRED RUNES LEARNED FROM HEIMDAL.</p> + +<p>The mythic ancient history of the human race and of +the Teutons may, in accordance with the analysis above<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span> +given, be divided into the following epochs:—(1) From +Ask and Ernbla's creation until Heimdal's arrival; (2) +from Heimdal's arrival until his departure; (3) the age +of Skjold-Borgar; (4) Halfdan's time; (5) The time of +Halfdan's sons.</p> + +<p>And now we will discuss the events of the last three +epochs.</p> + +<p>In the days of Borgar the moral condition of men +grows worse, and an event in nature takes place threatening +at least the northern part of the Teutonic world with +destruction. The myth gives the causes of both these +phenomena.</p> + +<p>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 art, 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).</p> + +<p>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. 63)—a fountain whose veins, together with the +deepest root of the world-tree, extends to a depth which +not even Odin's thought can penerate (Havam., 138). +By self-sacrifice in his youth Odin received from Bestla's +brother (Mimer; see No. 88) a drink from the precious<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span> +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).</p> + +<p>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 <i>runes of victory</i>; and it is of +no little interest that we, in Havamál, 156, find what Tacitus +tells about the <i>barditus</i> 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 Teutons predicted the result of the battle from +the impression the song as a whole made upon themselves: +it might sound 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. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> +above-mentioned strophe of Havamál gives us an explanation +of this: the warriors were roused to confidence if +they, in the harmony of the subdued song increasing in +volume, seemed to perceive Valfather's voice blended with +their own. The strophe makes Odin say: <i>Ef ec scal til +orrostu leitha langvini, undir randir ec gel, en their meth +ríki fara heilir hildar til, heilir hildi frá</i>—"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." Völuspa +also refers to the shield-song in 47, where it makes the +storm-giant, <i>Hrymr</i>, advancing against the gods, "lift +his shield before him" (<i>hefiz lind fyrir</i>), an expression +which certainly has another significance than that of unnecessarily +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 safe against ambush (Havam., 148, 150). +Certain kinds of runes were regarded as producing victory +and were carved on the hilt and on the blade of the +sword, and while they were carved Tyr's name was +twice named (Sigrdr., 6).</p> + +<p>Another class of runes (<i>brimrúnar</i>, Sigrdr., 10; +Havam., 150) controlled the elements, purified the air +from evil beings (Havm., 155), gave power over wind +and waves for good purposes—as, for instance, when +sailors in distress were to be rescued—or power over the +flames when they threatened to destroy human dwellings +(Havam., 152). A third kind of runes (<i>málrúnar</i>) +gave speech to the mute and speechless, even to those<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> +whose lips were sealed in death (see No. 70). A fourth +kind of runes could free the limbs from bonds (Havam., +149). A fifth kind of runes protected against witchcraft +(Havam., 151). A sixth kind of runes (<i>ölrúnar</i>) +takes the strength from the love-potion prepared by another +man's wife, and from every treachery mingled +therein (Sigrdr., 7, 8). A seventh kind (<i>bjargrúnar</i> +and <i>limrúnar</i>) helps in childbirth and heals wounds. An +eighth kind gives wisdom and knowledge (<i>hugrúnar</i>, +Sigrdr., 13; cp. Havam., 159). A ninth kind extinguishes +enmity and hate, and produces friendship and +love (Havam., 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).</p> + +<p>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; Dáinn taught +them to the Elves; Dvalinn among the dwarfs; Ásvinr +(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,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> +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 <i>bjargrúnar</i>, and employ them +in the service of man (Fafnism., 13).</p> + +<p>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. +Rigsthula expressly presents Heimdal as teaching 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:</p> + +<table class="parallel" border="0" +cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" summary=""> +<tr><td><p>En Konr ungr<br /> +kunni runar,<br /> +ćfinrunar<br /> +ok alldrrunar.<br /> +Meir kunni hann<br /> +monnum bjarga,<br /> +eggjar deyfa,<br /> +ćgi legia,<br /> +klok nam fugla,<br /> +kyrra ellda,<br /> +sćva ok svefia,<br /> +sorgir lćgia.<br /> +</p> +</td> +<td> +<p>But Kon the young<br /> +taught himself runes,<br /> +runes of eternity<br /> +and runes of earthly life.<br /> +Then he taught himself<br /> +men to save,<br /> +the sword-edge to deaden,<br /> +the sea to quiet,<br /> +bird-song to interpret,<br /> +fires to extinguish,<br /> +to soothe and comfort,<br /> +sorrows to allay.</p> +</td></tr></table> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> +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 runes intended to serve +the cause of sympathy and mercy.</p> + + +<p class="center">27.</p> + +<p class="center">SORCERY THE REVERSE OF THE SACRED RUNES. GULLVEIG-HEIDR, +THE SOURCE OF SORCERY. THE MORAL +DETERIORATION OF THE ORIGINAL MAN.</p> + +<p>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 <i>Hrimnir</i> (Hyndlulj., +32), known among the gods as Gulveig and by other +names (see Nos. 34, 35), but on her wanderings on earth +called <i>Heidr</i>. "Heid they called her (Gulveig) when +she came to the children of men, the crafty, prophesying +vala, who practised sorcery (<i>vitti ganda</i>), practised the +evil art, caused by witchcraft misfortunes, sickness, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span> +death (<i>leikin</i>, see No. 67), and was always sought by bad +women." Thus Völuspa describes her. The important +position Heid occupies in regard to the corruption of +ancient man, and the consequences of her appearance for +the gods, for man, and for nature (see below), have led +Völuspa'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.</p> + +<p>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—personifications +of the same kind as Rigveda's Ribhus, 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. 111 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 <i>Thorri</i> (Black Frost), <i>Jökull</i> (the +Glacier), &c., extend their sceptres over Scandia.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span></p> + +<p>Already during Heimdal's reign, after his protégé +Borgar had grown up, something happens which forebodes +these terrible times, but still has a happy issue.</p> + + +<p class="center">28A.</p> + +<p class="center">HEIMDAL AND THE SUN-DIS (Dis-goddess).</p> + +<p>In Saxo's time there was still extant a myth telling how +Heimdal, as the ruler of the earliest generation, got himself +a wife. The myth is found related as history in +<i>Historia Danica</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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 king must +be Heimdal, Borgar's co-father, his ruler and fosterer, +otherwise 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 (<i>cujus etiam</i><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> +<i>insignem candore cćsariem tantus comć decor asperierat, +ut argenteo crine nitere putaretur</i>). 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 <i>hvíti áss</i> +(Gylfag., 27) and <i>hvítastr ása</i> (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 Alfsol, Hild, Alfhild Solglands, Svanhild +Guldfjćder, to that class of names by which the sundises, +mother and daughter, were transferred 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.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> +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 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 Völuspa strophe, examined +with so great acumen by Julius Hoffory, which speaks of +a bewilderment 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. Skaldskaparmal quotes a +strophe from Skule Thorsteinson where Sol<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> is called +<i>Glenr's</i> wife. That he whom the skald characterises by +this epithet is a god is a matter of course. <i>Glenr</i> signifies +"the shining one," and this epithet was badly chosen</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span></p> +<p>if it did not refer to "the most shining of the Asas," +<i>hvítastr ása</i>—that is, Heimdal.</p> + +<p>The fundamental traits of "King Ruther" 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 <i>Vidolfr</i>—accompanies Ruther 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 Ruther" originally flowed +from the same mythic source. It can also be demonstrated +that the very name Ruther is one of those epithets +which belong to Heimdal. The Norse <i>Hrútr</i> is, according +to the Younger Edda (i. 588, 589), a synonym of +<i>Heimdali</i>, and <i>Heimdali</i> is another form of <i>Heimdall</i> +(Isl., i. 231). As <i>Hrútr</i> means a ram, and as <i>Heimdali</i> +is an epithet of a ram (see Younger Edda, i. 589), light +is thrown upon the bold metaphors, according to which +"head," "Heimdal's head," and "Heimdal's sword" are +synonyms (Younger Edda, i. 100, 264; ii. 499). The +ram's head carries and is the ram'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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> +been conceived as decorated with ram's horns.<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> A +strophe quoted in the Younger Edda (i. 608) mentions +Heimdal's helmet, and calls the sword the <i>fyllr</i> of Heimdal's +helmet, an ambiguous expression, which may be interpreted +as that which fills Heimdal's helmet; that is to +say, Heimdal's head, but also as that which has its place +on the helmet. Compare the expression <i>fyllr hilmis stóls</i> +as a metaphor for the power of the ruler.</p> + + +<p class="center">28<span class="smcap">B</span>.</p> + +<p class="center">LOKE CAUSES ENMITY BETWEEN THE GODS AND THE +ORIGINAL ARTISTS (THE CREATORS OF ALL THINGS +GROWING). THE CONSEQUENCE IS THE FIMBUL-WINTER +AND EMIGRATIONS.</p> + +<p>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 (<i>pugiles</i> and <i>piratć</i>), +and among them the prototype of pirates—that terrible +character, remembered also in Icelandic poetry, called +<i>Rodi</i> (Saxo, <i>Hist.</i>, 23, 345). The moderate laws given +by Heimdal had to be made more severe by Borgar +(<i>Hist.</i>, 24, 25).</p> + +<p>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</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span></p> +<p>intended to bring about the ruin of both the gods and man. +His purpose is to cause enmity between the original artists +themselves and between them and the gods.</p> + +<p>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 +<i>Gungnir</i>, 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.</p> + +<table class="parallel" border="0" +cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" summary=""> +<tr><td><p>Ivalda synir<br /> +gengu i ardaga<br /> +Scidbladni at skapa,<br /> +scipa bezt,<br /> +scirom Frey,<br /> +nytom Njardar bur. +</p></td> +<td><p>The sons of Ivalde<br /> +went in ancient times<br /> +to make Skidbladner,<br /> +among ships the best,<br /> +for the shining Frey,<br /> +Njord's useful son. +</p></td> +</tr><tr> +<td><p> +(Grimnismal.)<br /> +</p></td> +<td> </td></tr> +</table> + +<p>Another group of original artists were Sindre and his +kinsmen, who dwelt on Nida's plains in the happy domain +of the lower world (Völusp., 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 cun<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span>ningly +gets the gods to assemble for the purpose of deciding +whether or not he has forfeited 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.</p> + +<p>Gylfaginning does not inform us whether the sons of +Ivalde 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 judgment 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 defeated, +and nature is afflicted with great suffering. That the +Teutonic mythology has described similar results of the +decision shall be demonstrated in this work.</p> + +<p>Just as in the names <i>Alveig</i> and <i>Almveig</i>, <i>Bil-röst</i> and +<i>Bifröst</i>, <i>Arinbjörn</i> and <i>Grjótbjorn</i>, so also in the name +<i>Ivaldi</i> or <i>Ivaldr</i>, the latter part of the word forms the +permanent part, corresponding to the Old English Valdere, +the German Walther, the Latinised Waltharius.<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a></p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span></p> +<p>The former part of the word may change without any +change as to the person indicated: <i>Ívaldi</i>, <i>Allvaldi</i>, +<i>Ölvaldi</i>, <i>Audvaldi</i>, may be names of one and the same +person. Of these variations <i>Ívaldi</i> and <i>Allvaldi</i> are +in their sense most closely related, for the prefix +Í (<i>Id</i>) and <i>All</i> may interchange in the language without +the least change in the meaning. Compare <i>all-líkr</i>, <i>ílikr</i>, +and <i>idglíkr</i>; <i>all-lítill</i> and <i>ilítill</i>; <i>all-nóg</i>, <i>ígnog</i> +and <i>idgnog</i>. On the other hand, the prefixes in <i>Ölvaldi</i> +and <i>Audvaldi</i> produce different meanings of the compound +word. But the records give most satisfactory evidence +that <i>Ölvaldi</i> and <i>Audvaldi</i> nevertheless are the same +person as <i>Allvaldi</i> (Ivaldi). Thjasse's father is called +in Harbardsljod (19) <i>Allvaldi</i>; in the Younger Edda +(i. 214) <i>Ölvaldi</i> and <i>Audvaldi</i>. 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" (<i>Ivalda synir</i>). 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.</p> + +<p>Nor is it long before it becomes apparent what the +consequences are of the decision pronounced by the Asas +on Loke's advice upon the treasures presented to the +gods. The sons of 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 Thjodolf's poem "Haustlaung," +and to regain his liberty he is obliged to assist +him (Thjasse) in carrying Idun away from Asgard.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image197.jpg" width="600" height="411" alt="GIANT THJASSE, IN THE GUISE OF AN EAGLE, +CARRIES OFF LOKE." title="GIANT THJASSE, IN THE GUISE OF AN EAGLE, +CARRIES OFF LOKE." /> +<span class="caption">GIANT THJASSE, IN THE GUISE OF AN EAGLE, +CARRIES OFF LOKE.<br /> +<br /> +<i>(From an etching by Lorenz Frölich.)</i><br /> +<br /> +Thjasse was known as the storm-giant who having been<br /> +born in deformity was ever seeking golden apples from<br /> +Idun to cure his ugliness. Upon one occasion assuming the<br /> +form of an eagle he interrupted a feast of Odin, Honer and<br /> +Loke and when the latter attempted to strike the voracious bird<br /> +with a stake found himself fastened to both stake and eagle<br /> +and was borne away shrieking for mercy. Thjasse promised<br /> +to release Loke if he would bring to him Idun and her golden<br /> +apples. Loke in fulfillment of his promise beguiled Idun out of<br /> +Asgard whereupon Thjasse in the form of an eagle seized the<br /> +goddess in his talons and bore her away to his castle, Thrymheim.<br /> +He was soon afterwards killed by the gods, and Idun was<br /> +released.</span> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span></p> +<p>Idun, 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 inaccessible 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," <i>dolg ballastan vallar</i> (Haustl., +6), and has wholly assumed the nature of a giant.</p> + +<p>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 prototype of the mill of the Grotte-song composed in +Christian times; that the world-mill has a <i>möndull</i>, 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 constellations +were also disturbed. The ancient terrible winter<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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 Skilfings or Ynglings, ruled. This +kinsman of Heimdal has an important part in the mythology, +and thereof we shall give an account in Nos. 89, 91, +110, 113-115, and 123. It is there found that he is the +same as Ivalde, who, with a giantess, begot the illegitimate +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 +fimbul-winter, a migration southward, the work at the +same time of the Skilfings and the primeval artists. The +list of dwarfs in Völuspa has preserved the record of this +in the strophe about the artist migration from the rocks +of the hall (<i>Salar steinar</i>) and from Svarin's mound situated +in the north (the Völuspa strophe quoted in the +Younger Edda; cp. Saxo., <i>Hist.</i>, 32, 33, and Helg. Hund., +i. 31, ii. to str. 14). The attack is directed against <i>aurvanga +sjöt</i>, the land of the clayey plains, and the assailants +do not stop before they reach <i>Jöruvalla</i> the Jara +plains, which name is still applied to the south coast of +Scandinavia (see No. 32). In the pedigree of these emigrants<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span>—</p> + +<p> +their er sóttu<br /> +frŕ Salar steina (or Svarins haugi)<br /> +aurvanga sjot<br /> +til Jöruvalla—<br /> +</p> + +<p>occur the names <i>Álfr</i> and <i>Yngvi</i>, who have Skilfing names; +<i>Fjalarr</i>, who is Ivalde's ally and Odin's enemy (see No. +89); <i>Finnr</i>, which is one of the several names of Ivalde +himself (see No. 123); <i>Frosti</i>, who symbolises cold; +<i>Skirfir</i>, a name which points to the Skilfings; and <i>Virfir</i>, +whom Saxo (<i>Hist. Dan.</i>, 178, 179) speaks of as <i>Huyrvillus</i>, +and the Icelandic records as <i>Virvill</i> and <i>Vifill</i> +(Fornalders. ii. 8; Younger Edda, i. 548). In Fornalders. +Vifill is an emigration leader who married to +Loge's daughter <i>Eymyrja</i> (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 <i>Holandić princeps</i>. At the same +time a brother-in-law of Virfir takes possession of Bornholm, +and Gotland is colonised by Thjelvar (<i>Thjálfi</i> of +the myth), who is the son of Thjasse's brother (see Nos. +113, 114, 115). <i>Virfir</i> is allied with the sons of <i>Finnr</i> +(<i>Fyn</i>—Saxo, <i>Hist.</i>, 178). The saga concerning the +emigration of the Longobardians is also connected with +the myth about Thjasse and his kinsmen (see Nos. 112-115).</p> + +<p>From all this it appears that a series of emigration and +colonisation 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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> +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 Scandinavia under the leadership of Berig. (<i>Ex hac +igitur Scandza insula quasi officina gentium aut certe velut +vagina nationum cum rege suo Berig Gothi quondam +memorantur egressi—De Goth. Orig., c. 4. Meminisse debes, +me de Scandzć insulć gremio Gothos dixisse egressos cum +Berich suo rege</i>—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 +<i>Borgarr</i>. 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 Scandinavian 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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> +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 +inhabitants 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 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 <i>omnem Alamannorum gentem tributaria +ditione perdomuit</i>; that is, "he made the whole race +of Alamanni 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.</p> + +<p>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,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> +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 fimbul-winter which was the result.</p> + +<p>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 fimbul-winter Mimer opens in his subterranean +grove of immortality an asylum, closed against all physical +and spiritual evil, for the two children of men, Lif and +Lifthrasir (Vafthr., 45), who are to be the parents of a +new race of men (see Nos. 52, 53).</p> + +<p>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).</p> + + +<p class="center">29.</p> + +<p class="center">EVIDENCE THAT HALFDAN IS IDENTICAL WITH HELGE +HUNDINGSBANE.</p> + +<p>The main outlines of Halfdan's saga reappears related +as history, and more or less blended with foreign +elements, in Saxo's accounts 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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span> +the songs about Helge Hundingsbane, with which Saxo's +story of Helgo Hundingicida (<i>Hist.</i>, 80-110) and Volsungasaga's +about Helge Sigmundson are to be compared. +The Grotte-song also (str. 22) identifies Helge +Hundingsbane with Halfdan.</p> + +<p>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, concerning Halfdan and the heroic +poems concerning Helge Hundingsbane, fixed on a firm +foundation. The following parallels suffice to show that +this Helge is a later time's reproduction of the mythic +Halfdan:</p> + +<table class="parallel" border="0" +cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" summary=""> +<tr><td><p>Halfdan-Gram, sent on a<br /> +warlike expedition, meets<br /> +Groa, who is mounted on<br /> +horseback and accompanied<br /> +by other women on horseback<br /> +(Saxo, 26, 27).</p></td> +<td><p>Helge Hundingsbane, sent<br /> +on a warlike expedition,<br /> +meets Sigrun, who is mounted<br /> +on horseback and is accompanied<br /> +by other women<br /> +on horseback (Helge Hund.,<br /> +i. 16; Volsungasaga, c. 9).</p> +</td> +</tr><tr> +<td> +<p>The meeting takes place in<br /> +a forest (Saxo, 26).</p> + +<p>Halfdan-Gram is on the<br /> +occasion completely wrapped<br /> +in the skin of a wild beast, so<br /> +that even his face is concealed<br /> +(Saxo, 26).</p> +</td> +<td> +<p>The meeting takes place in<br /> +a forest (Vols., c. 9).</p> + +<p>Helge is on the occasion<br /> +disguised. He speaks frá<br /> +úlfidi "from a wolf guise"<br /> +(Helge Hund., i. 16), which<br /> +expression finds its interpretation<br /> +in Saxo, where Halfdan<br /> +appears wrapped in the<br /> +skin of a wild beast.</p> +</td> +</tr><tr> +<td> +<p>Conversation is begun between<br /> +Halfdan-Gram and<br /> +Groa. Halfdan pretends to be<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span>a person who is his brother-at-arms +<br />(Saxo, 27).</p> +</td> +<td> +Conversation is begun between<br /> +Helge and Sigrun.<br /> +Helge pretends to be a person<br /> +who is his foster-brother<br /> +(Helge Hund., ii. 6). +</td> +</tr><tr> +<td> +<p>Groa asks Halfdan-Gram:<br /> +Quis, rogo, vestrum<br /> +dirigit agmen,<br /> +quo duce signa<br /> +bellica fertis?<br /> +(Saxo, 27.)</p> +</td> +<td> +<p>Sigrun asks Helge:<br /> +Hverir lata fljota<br /> +fley vid backa,<br /> +hvar hermegir<br /> +heima eigud?<br /> +(Helge Hund., ii. 5.)</p> +</td> +</tr><tr> +<td> +<p>Halfdan-Gram invites Groa<br /> +to accompany him. At first<br /> +the invitation is refused<br /> +(Saxo, 27).</p> +</td> +<td> +<p>Helge invites Sigrun to accompany<br /> +him. At first the invitation<br /> +is rebuked (Helge<br /> +Hund., i. 16, 17).</p> +</td> +</tr><tr> +<td> +<p>Groa's father had already<br /> +given her hand to another<br /> +(Saxo, 26).</p> +</td> +<td> +<p>Sigrun's father had already<br /> +promised her to another<br /> +(Helge Hund., i. 18).</p> +</td> +</tr><tr> +<td> +<p>Halfdan-Gram explains<br /> +that this rival ought not to<br /> +cause them to fear (Saxo, 28).</p> +</td> +<td> +<p>Helge explains that this<br /> +rival should not cause them to<br /> +fear (Helge Hund., i., ii.).</p> +</td> +</tr><tr> +<td> +<p>Halfdan-Gram makes war<br /> +on Groa's father, on his rival,<br /> +and on the kinsmen of the latter<br /> +(Saxo, 32).</p> +</td> +<td> +<p>Helge makes war on Sigrun's<br /> +father, on his rival, and<br /> +on the kinsmen of the latter<br /> +(Helge Hund., i., ii.).</p> +</td> +</tr><tr> +<td> +<p>Halfdan-Gram slays Groa's<br /> +father and betrothed, and<br /> +many heroes who belonged to<br /> +his circle of kinsmen or were<br /> +subject to him (Saxo, 32).</p> +</td> +<td> +<p>Helge kills Sigrun's father<br /> +and suitors, and many heroes<br /> +who were the brothers or<br /> +allies of his rival (Helge<br /> +Hund., ii.).</p> +</td> +</tr><tr> +<td> +<p>Halfdan-Gram marries Groa<br /> +(Saxo, 33).</p> +</td> +<td> +<p>Helge marries Sigrun (Helge<br /> +Hund., i. 56).</p> +</td> +</tr><tr> +<td> +<p>Halfdan-Gram conquers a<br /> +king Ring (Saxo, 32).</p> +</td> +<td> +<p>Helge conquers Ring's sons<br /> +(Helge Hund., i. 52).</p> +</td> +</tr><tr> +<td> +<p>Borgar's son has defeated<br /> +and slain king Hunding<br /> +(Saxo, 362; cp. Saxo, 337).</p> +</td> +<td> +<p>Helge has slain king Hunding,<br /> +and thus gotten the<br /> +name Hundingsbane (Helge<br /> +Hund., i. 10).<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr><tr> +<td> +<p>Halfdan-Gram has felled<br /> +Svarin and many of his brothers.<br /> +Svarin was viceroy under<br /> +Groa's father (Saxo, 32).</p> +</td> +<td> +<p>Helge's rival and the many<br /> +brothers of the latter dwell<br /> +around Svarin's grave-mound.<br /> +They are allies or subjects of<br /> +Sigrun's father.</p> +</td> +</tr><tr> +<td> +<p>Halfdan-Gram is slain by<br /> +Svipdag, who is armed with<br /> +an Asgard weapon (Saxo, 34,<br /> +to be compared with other<br /> +sources. See Nos. 33, 98, 101,<br /> +103).</p> +</td> +<td> +<p>Helge is slain by Dag, who<br /> +is armed with an Asgard<br /> +weapon (Helge Hund., ii.).</p> +</td> +</tr><tr> +<td> +<p>Halfdan-Berggram's father<br /> +is slain by his brother Frode,<br /> +who took his kingdom (Saxo,<br /> +320).</p> +</td> +<td> +<p>Helge's father was slain by<br /> +his brother Frode, who took<br /> +his kingdom (Rolf Krake's<br /> +saga).</p> +</td> +</tr><tr> +<td> +<p>Halfdan Berggram and his<br /> +brother were in their childhood<br /> +protected by Regno<br /> +(Saxo, 320).</p> +</td> +<td> +<p>Helge and his brother were<br /> +in their childhood protected<br /> +by Regin (Rolf Krake's saga).</p> +</td> +</tr><tr> +<td> +<p>Halfdan Berggram and his<br /> +brother burnt Frode to death<br /> +in his house (Saxo, 323).</p> +</td> +<td> +<p>Helge and his brothers<br /> +burnt Frode to death in his<br /> +house (Rolf Krake's saga).</p> +</td> +</tr><tr> +<td> +<p>Halfdan Berggram as a<br /> +youth left the kingdom to his<br /> +brother and went warfaring<br /> +(Saxo, 320 ff).</p> +</td> +<td> +<p>Helge Hundingsbane as a<br /> +youth left the kingdom to his<br /> +brother and went warfaring<br /> +(Saxo, 80).</p> +</td> +</tr><tr> +<td> +<p>During Halfdan's absence<br /> +Denmark is attacked by an<br /> +enemy, who conquers his<br /> +brother in three battles and<br /> +slays him in a fourth (Saxo,<br /> +325).</p> +</td> +<td> +<p>During Helge Hundingsbane's<br /> +absence Denmark is attacked<br /> +by an enemy, who conquers<br /> +his brother in three<br /> +battles and slays him in a<br /> +fourth (Saxo, 82).</p> +</td> +</tr><tr> +<td> +<p>Halfdan, the descendant of<br /> +Scef and Scyld, becomes the<br /> +father of Rolf (Beowulf<br /> +poem).</p> +</td> +<td> +<p>Helge Hundingsbane became<br /> +the father of Rolf<br /> +(Saxo, 83; compare Rolf<br /> +Krake's saga).<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr><tr> +<td> +<p>Halfdan had a son with his<br /> +own sister Yrsa (Grotte-song,<br /> +22; mon Yrsu sonr vid Half-dana<br /> +hefna Froda; sa mun<br /> +hennar heitinn vertha börr oc<br /> +bróthir).</p> +</td> +<td> +<p>Helge Hundingsbane had a<br /> +son with his own sister Ursa<br /> +(Saxo, 82). The son was Rolf<br /> +(compare Rolf Krake's saga).</p> +</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p>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 Borgarson. 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 continues to be the saga of this patriarch, while the +other utilises the history of his youth and transforms it +into a new saga, that of Helge Hundingsbane. In Saxo's +time, and long before him, this division into two branches +had already taken place. How this younger branch, +Helge Hundingsbane's saga, was afterwards partly appropriated +by the all-absorbing Sigurdsaga and became connected +with it in an external and purely genealogical +manner, and partly did itself appropriate (as in Saxo) +the old Danish local tradition about Rolf, 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 +discuss fully in a second part of this work, and in a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span> +separate treatise on the heroic sagas. For the present, +my task is to show what influence this knowledge of Halfdan +and Helge Hundingsbane's identity has upon the +interpretation of the myth concerning the antiquity of the +Teutons.</p> + + +<p class="center">30.</p> + +<p class="center">HALFDAN'S BIRTH AND THE END OF THE AGE OF PEACE. +THE FAMILY NAMES YLFING, HILDING, BUDLUNG.</p> + +<p>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 Hundingsbane song has incorporated them into his +poem. They describe Halfdan's ("Helge Hundingsbane's") +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.</p> + +<table class="parallel" border="0" +cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" summary=""> +<tr><td><p>Ar var alda;<br /> +that er arar gullo,<br /> +hnigo heilog votn<br /> +af himinfjollum;<br /> +thá hafthi Helga<br /> +inn hugom stora<br /> +Borghildr borit<br /> +i Bralundi.</p> +</td><td> +<p>It was time's morning,<br /> +eagles screeched,<br /> +holy waters fell<br /> +from the heavenly mountains.<br /> +Then was the mighty<br /> +Helge born<br /> +by Borghild<br /> +in Bralund.</p> +</td> +</tr><tr> +<td> +<p>Nott varth i bœ,<br /> +nornir qvomo,<br /> +ther er authlingi<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span>aldr urn scopo; +<br />thann batho fylci<br /> +frćgstan vertha<br /> +oc buthlunga<br /> +beztan ticcia.</p> +</td> +<td> +<p>It was night,<br /> +norns came,<br /> +they who did shape<br /> +the fate of the nobleman;<br /> +they proclaimed him<br /> +best among Budlungs,<br /> +and most famed<br /> +among princes.</p> +</td> +</tr><tr> +<td> +<p>Snero ther af afli<br /> +aurlaugthátto,<br /> +tha er Borgarr braut<br /> +i Brálundi;<br /> +ther um greiddo<br /> +gullin simo<br /> +oc und manasal<br /> +mithian festo.</p> +</td> +<td> +<p>With all their might the threads<br /> +of fate they twisted,<br /> +when Borgar settled<br /> +in Bralund;<br /> +of gold they made<br /> +the warp of the web,<br /> +and fastened it directly<br /> +'neath the halls of the moon.</p> +</td> +</tr><tr> +<td> +<p>ther austr oc vestr<br /> +enda fálo:<br /> +thar átti lofdungr<br /> +land a milli;<br /> +brá nipt Nera<br /> +a nordrevega<br /> +einni festi<br /> +ey bath hon halda.</p> +</td> +<td> +<p>In the east and west<br /> +they hid the ends:<br /> +there between<br /> +the chief should rule;<br /> +Nere's<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> kinswoman<br /> +northward sent<br /> +one thread and bade it<br /> +hold for ever.</p> +</td> +</tr><tr> +<td> +<p>Eitt var at angri<br /> +Ylfinga nith<br /> +oc theirre meyio<br /> +er nunuth fćddi;<br /> +hrafn gvath at hrafni<br /> +—sat a hám meithi<br /> +andvanr áto:—<br /> +"Ec veit noccoth!</p> +</td> +<td> +<p>One cause there was<br /> +of alarm to the Yngling (Borgar),<br /> +and also for her<br /> +who bore the loved one.<br /> +Hungry cawed<br /> +raven to raven<br /> +in the high tree:<br /> +"Hear what I know!</p> +</td> +</tr><tr> +<td> +<p>"Stendr i brynio<br /> +burr Sigmundar,<br /> +dœgrs eins gamall,<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span> +nu er dagr kominn;<br /> +hversir augo<br /> +sem hildingar,<br /> +sa er varga vinr,<br /> +vith scolom teitir."</p> +</td> +<td> +<p>"In coat of mail<br /> +stands Sigmund's son,<br /> +one day old,<br /> +now the day is come;<br /> +sharp eyes of the Hildings<br /> +has he, and the wolves'<br /> +friend he becomes,<br /> +We shall thrive."</p> +</td> +</tr><tr> +<td> +<p>Drótt thotti sa<br /> +dauglingr vera<br /> +quado meth gumnom<br /> +god-ár kominn;<br /> +sialfr gecc visi<br /> +or vig thrimo<br /> +ungum fćra<br /> +itrlauc grami.</p> +</td> +<td> +<p>Drott, it is said, saw<br /> +In him a dayling,<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a><br /> +saying, "Now are good seasons<br /> +come among men;"<br /> +to the young lord<br /> +from thunder-strife<br /> +came the chief himself<br /> +with a glorious flower.</p> +</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p>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 beginning 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 wellspread +table, is yet suffering from hunger (<i>andvanr átu</i>); 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 newcomer, 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."</p> + +<p>The parents of the child heard and understood what</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span></p> +<p>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 (<i>Konr +ungr klök nam fugla</i>—Rigsthula, 43, 44). The raven's +appearance in the song of Helge Hundingsbane is to be +compared with its relative the crow in Rigsthula; 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 peaceful 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 connection +which makes Borgars' 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 <i>Saturnia regna</i>, and looked forward to a +regeneration which is to restore the reign of peace. Borgar, +in the myth, established the community, was the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span> +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 +opportunity 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 (<i>Hist.</i>, 23) has preserved +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.</p> + +<p>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 viking, +giant, or dwarf, 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 Hephćstos, or Hephćstos Dćdalos. +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, Budlung, and Lofdung are copiously<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span> +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 Berchtung (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"—<i>von dem selbe geslehte sint uns die wilfinge kumen</i> +(v. 223).</p> + +<p>Saxo mentions the Hilding Hildeger as Halfdan's half-brother, +and the traditions on which the saga of Asmund +Kćmpebane 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 +genćlogies precisely the same place as the Norse Borgar.</p> + +<p>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 dayling (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 <i>vig thrimo</i>, 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.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span></p> + + +<p class="center">31.</p> + +<p class="center">HALFDAN'S CHARACTER. THE WEAPON-MYTH.</p> + +<p>The myths and heroic poems are not wanting in ideal +heroes, who are models of goodness of heart, justice, and +the most sensitive 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 demoralisation +of the world has begun along with disturbances +in nature and when the words already are applicable, +"<i>hart er i heimi</i>" (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 (Rigsth.), great skaldic gifts (Saxo, <i>Hist.</i>, +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 (<i>Hist.</i>, 30), and which is also evident from the fact +that the Teutonic myth makes him, as the Greek myth<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span> +makes Achilleus, 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 +circumstances (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).</p> + +<p>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 important of all sword-smiths +was, according to the myth, Thjasse,<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> who accordingly +is called <i>fadir mörna</i>, 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 comes into the possession 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.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span></p> +<p>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, +<i>Hist.</i>, 351, 355, 356, with Asmund Kćmpebane's saga). +Cursed swords are several times mentioned in the sagas.</p> + +<p>Halfdan's weapon, which he wields successfully in +advantageous exploits, is in fact, the club (Saxo, <i>Hist.</i>, +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 stepson Svipdag—see +below), I regard as worthy of notice from the +standpoint 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 <i>hjörr</i> and pierce Fafner's heart (<i>Völuspa</i>). +<i>Hjörr</i> 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 chief weapon +both for foot-soldiers and cavalry in the Teutonic armies, +is wielded by the Asa-father himself, whose Gungner was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span> +forged for him by Ivalde's sons before the dreadful enmity +between the gods and them had begun.</p> + +<p>The hammer is Thor's most sacred weapon. Before +Sindre forged one for him of iron (Gylfaginning), he +wielded a hammer of stone. This is evident from the +very name <i>hamarr</i>, 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 <i>Njördrklauf +Herjan's hurdir</i>, <i>i.e.</i>, "<i>Njord</i> cleaved Odin's gates" (when +the Vans conquered Asgard); in the other the battle-axe +is called <i>Gaut's megin-hurdar galli</i>, <i>i.e.</i>, "the destroyer of +Odin's great gate." The bow is a weapon employed by +the Asa-gods <i>Hödr</i> and <i>Ullr</i>, 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.)</p> + + +<p class="center">32.</p> + +<p class="center">HALFDAN'S CONFLICTS INTERPRETED AS MYTHS OF +NATURE. THE WAR WITH THE HEROES FROM SVARIN'S +MOUND. HALFDAN'S MARRIAGE WITH DISES +OF VEGETATION.</p> + +<p>In regard to the significance of the conflicts awaiting +Halfdan, and occupying his whole life, when interpreted<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> +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 dwelling +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 Völuspa, "from +Svarin's Mound attacked and took (<i>sótti</i>) the clayey +plains as far as Jaravall." But Halfdan represses them. +That the words quoted from Völuspa 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 brothers; in +the saga of "Helge Hundingsbane" it is again Halfdan, +under the name Helge, who attacks tribes dwelling +around Svarin's Mound, and conquers them. To this +may be added, that the compiler of the first song about +Helge Hundingsbane borrowed from the saga-original, +on which the song is based, names which point to the +Völuspa strophe concerning the attack on the south Scandinavian +plains. In the category of names, or the genealogy +of the aggressors, occur, as has been shown already, +the Skilfing names Alf and Yngve. Thus also in the +Helge-song's list of persons with whom the conflict is +waged in the vicinity of Svarin's Mound. In the Vö1<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span>uspa'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 <i>á Móinsheimom</i> +against his brave foes, whom he afterwards +slew in the battle around Svarin's Mound. In the Völuspa's +list is named among the aggressors one <i>Haugspori</i>, "the +one spying from the mound"; in the Helge-song is mentioned +<i>Sporvitnir</i>, 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 +Völuspa list, and whose connection with the myth concerning +the artists, frost-giants, and Skilfings of antiquity +and their attack on the original country, can be shown.</p> + +<p>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 <i>Sumbl</i>, which means +feast, ale, mead, and is a synonym for <i>Ölvaldi</i>, <i>Ölmódr</i>, +names which belonged to the father of the Ivalde sons (see +No. 123).</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span> +group is a goddess of light (see No. 123). With her he +has daughters, who are goddesses of growth, among them +Idun and Signe-Alveig. That Idun is the daughter of +Ivalde is clear from Forspjallsljod (6), <i>álfa ćttar +Ithunni hčto Ivallds ellri ýngsta barna</i>.</p> + +<p>Of the names of their father <i>Sumbl</i>, <i>Ölvaldi</i>, <i>Ölmódr</i>, +it may be said that, as nature-symbols, "öl" (ale) and +"mjöd" (mead), are in the Teutonic mythology identical +with <i>soma</i> and <i>somamadhu</i> in Rigveda and <i>haoma</i> 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 +<i>Ölgefn</i>; in the same poem Groa is called <i>Ölgefion</i>. 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, <i>Idvaldi</i>, <i>Idi</i>, <i>Idunn</i>, and the +group, <i>Ölvaldi</i> (<i>Ölmódr</i>), <i>Ölgefn</i>, and <i>Ölgefion</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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 pro<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span>duces +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 with 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, 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 (<i>Hist.</i>, 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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span> +sceptre of his rule over these latitudes, while in regard to +the northern latitudes, it is said that Nere's kinswoman, +the chief of the norns (see Nos. 57-64, 85), cast a single +thread in this direction and <i>prayed</i> that it might hold for +ever:</p> + +<p> +ther austr oc vestr<br /> +enda fâlo,<br /> +thar átti lofdungr<br /> +land a milli;<br /> +brá nipt Nera<br /> +a nordrvega<br /> +einni festi,<br /> +ey bath hon halda.<br /> +</p> + +<p>The norns' prayer was heard. That the myth 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 inhabitable. 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 Hundingsbane have also +preserved from the myth the idea that Halfdan and his +forces penetrating northward by land and by sea are accompanied +in the air by "valkyries," "goddesses from the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span> +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 very 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; ii., the prose to v. 5, 12, 13, with Helg. Hjörv., 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + + +<p class="center">33.</p> + +<p class="center">REVIEW OF THE SVIPDAG MYTH AND ITS POINTS OF CONNECTION +WITH THE MYTH ABOUT HALFDAN (cp. +No. 24).</p> + +<p>When Halfdan secured Groa, she was already the bride<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span> +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:</p> + +<p>(<i>a</i>) Groa bears with Halfdan the son Guthorm (Saxo, +<i>Hist.</i>, <i>Dan.</i>, 34).</p> + +<p>(<i>b</i>) Groa is rejected by Halfdan (Saxo, <i>Hist. Dan.</i>, +33). She returns to Orvandel, and brings with her her +own and his son Svipdag.</p> + +<p>(<i>c</i>) Halfdan marries Signe-Alveig (Hyndluljod, 15; +Prose Edda, i. 516; Saxo <i>Hist.</i>, 33), and with her +becomes the father of the son Hadding (Saxo, <i>Hist. Dan.</i>, +34).</p> + +<p>(<i>d</i>) Groa dies, and Orvandel marries again (Grógaldr, +3). Before her death Groa has told her son that if he +needs her help he must go to her grave and invoke her +(Grógaldr, 1).</p> + +<p>(<i>e</i>) It is Svipdag's duty to revenge on Halfdan the +disgrace done to his mother and the murder of his +mother's father Sigtrygg. But his stepmother bids Svipdag +seek Menglad, "the one loving ornaments" (Grógaldr, +3).</p> + +<p>(<i>f</i>) Under the weight of these tasks Svipdag goes to +his mother's grave, bids her awake from her sleep of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span> +death, and from her he receives protecting incantations +(Grógaldr, 1).</p> + +<p>(<i>g</i>) Before Svipdag enters upon the adventurous +expedition to find Menglad, he undertakes, at the head +of the giants, the allies of the Ivaldesons (see Fjölsvinsm, +1, where Svipdag is called <i>thursathjodar sjólr</i>), a war of +revenge against Halfdan (Saxo, 33 ff., 325; cp. Nos. 102, +103). The host of giants is defeated, and Svipdag, who +has entered into a duel with his stepfather, is overcome +by the latter. Halfdan offers to spare his life and adopt +him as his son. But Svipdag refuses to accept life as a +gift from him, and answers a defiant no to the proffered +father-hand. Then Halfdan binds him to a tree and +leaves him to his fate (Saxo, <i>Hist.</i>, 325; cp. No. 103).</p> + +<p>(<i>h</i>) Svipdag is freed from his bonds through one of +the incantations sung over him by his mother (Grógaldr, +10).</p> + +<p>(<i>i</i>) Svipdag wanders about sorrowing in the land of +the giants. Gevarr-Nökkve, god of the moon (see Nos. +90, 91), tells him how he is to find an irresistible sword, +which is always attended by victory (see No. 101). The +Sword is forged by Thjasse, who intended to destroy the +world of the gods with it; but just at the moment when +the smith had finished his weapon he was surprised in his +sleep by Mimer, who put him in chains and took the sword. +The latter is now concealed in the lower world (see Nos. +98, 101, 103).</p> + +<p>(j) Following Gevarr-Nökkve's directions, Svipdag +goes to the northernmost edge of the world, and finds +there a descent to the lower world; he conquers the guard<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span> +of the gates of Hades, sees the wonderful regions down +there, and succeeds in securing the sword of victory (see +Nos. 53, 97, 98, 101, 103, 112).</p> + +<p>(<i>k</i>) Svipdag begins a new war with Halfdan. Thor +fights on his son's side, but the irresistible sword cleaves +the hammer Mjolner; the Asa-god himself must yield. +The war ends with Halfdan's defeat. He dies of the +wounds he has received in the battle (see Nos. 101, 103; +cp. Saxo, <i>Hist.</i>, 34).</p> + +<p>(<i>l</i>) Svipdag seeks and finds Menglad, who is Freyja +who was robbed by the giants. He liberates her and sends +her pure and undefiled to Asgard (see Nos. 96, 98, 100, +102).</p> + +<p>(<i>m</i>) Idun is brought back to Asgard by Loke. +Thjasse, who is freed from his prison at Mimer's, pursues, +in the guise of an eagle, Loke to the walls of Asgard, +where he is slain by the gods (see the Eddas).</p> + +<p>(<i>n</i>) Svipdag, armed with the sword of victory, goes +to Asgard, is received joyfully by Freyja, becomes her +husband, and presents his sword of victory to Frey. +Reconciliation between the gods and the Ivalde race. +Njord marries Thjasse's daughter Skade. Orvandel's +second son Ull, Svipdag's half-brother (see No. 102), is +adopted in Valhal. A sister of Svipdag is married to +Forsete (Hyndluljod, 20). The gods honour the memory +of Thjasse by connecting his name with certain stars +(Harbardsljod, 19). A similar honour had already been +paid to his brother Orvandel (Prose Edda).</p> + +<p>From this series of events we find that, although the +Teutonic patriarch finally succumbs in the war which he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> +waged against the Thjasse-race and the frost-powers led +by Thjasse's kinsmen, still the results of his work are +permanent. When the crisis had reached its culminating +point; when the giant hosts of the fimbul-winter had +received as their leader the son of Orvandel, armed with +the irresistible sword; when Halfdan's fate is settled; +when Thor himself, <i>Midgard's veorr</i> (Völusp.), the +mighty protector of earth and the human race, must +retreat with his lightning hammer broken into pieces, then +the power of love suddenly prevails and saves the world. +Svipdag, who, under the spell of his deceased mother's +incantations from the grave, obeyed the command of his +stepmother to find and rescue Freyja from the power +of the giants, thereby wins her heart and earns the gratitude +of the gods. He has himself learned to love her, +and is at last compelled by his longing to seek her in +Asgard. The end of the power of the fimbul-winter is +marked by Freyja's and Idun's return to the gods, by +Thjasse's death, by the presentation of the invincible +sword to the god of harvests (Frey), by the adoption of +Thjasse's kinsmen, Svipdag, Ull, and Skade in Asgard, +and by several marriage ties celebrated in commemoration +of the reconciliation between Asgard's gods and the kinsmen +of the great artist of antiquity.</p> + + +<p class="center">34.</p> + +<p class="center">THE WORLD WAR. ITS CAUSE. THE MURDER OF GULLVEIG-HEIDR. +THE VOICE OE COUNSEL BETWEEN THE +ASAS AND THE VANS.</p> + + +<p>Thus the peace of the world and the order of nature<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span> +might seem secured. But it is not long before a new war +breaks out, to which the former may be regarded as +simply the prelude. The feud, which had its origin in +the judgment passed by the gods on Thjasse's gifts, +and which ended in the marriage of Svipdag and Freyja, +was waged for the purpose of securing again for settlement +and culture the ancient domain and Svithiod, where +Heimdal had founded the first community. It was confined +within the limits of the North Teutonic peninsula, +and in it the united powers of Asgard supported the other +Teutonic tribes fighting under Halfdan. But the new +conflict rages at the same time in heaven and in earth, +between the divine clans of the Asas and the Vans, and +between all the Teutonic tribes led into war with each +other by Halfdan's sons. From the standpoint of Teutonic +mythology it is a world war; and Völuspa calls it +<i>the first great war in the world—folcvig fyrst i heimi</i> (str. +21, 25).</p> + +<p>Loke was the cause of the former prelusive war. His +feminine counterpart and ally <i>Gullveig-Heidr</i>, who gradually +is blended, so to speak, into one with him, causes the +other. This is apparent from the following Völuspa +strophes:</p> + +<p> +Str. 21. That man hon folcvig<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">fyrst i heimi</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">er Gullveig</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">geirum studdu</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">oc i haull Hárs</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">hana brendo.</span><br /> +<br /> +Str. 22. Thrysvar brendo<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">thrysvar borna</span><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span><span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">opt osialdan</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">tho hon en lifir.</span><br /> +<br /> +Str. 23. Heida hana heto<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">hvars til husa com</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">vólo velspá</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">vitti hon ganda</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">seid hon kuni</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">seid hon Leikin,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">e var hon angan</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">illrar brudar.</span><br /> +<br /> +Str. 24. Thá gengo regin oll<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">a raukstola</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">ginheilog god</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">oc um that gettuz</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">hvart scyldo esir</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">afrad gialda</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">etha scyldo godin aull</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">gildi eiga.</span><br /> +<br /> +Str. 25. Fleygde Odin<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">oc i folc um scáut</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">that var en folcvig</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">fyrst i heimi.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">Brotin var bordvegr</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">borgar asa</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">knatto vanir vigspa</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">vollo sporna.</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>The first thing to be established in the interpretation of +these strophes is the fact that they, in the order in which +they are found in Codex Regius, and in which I have +given them, all belong together and refer to the same +mythic event—that is, to the origin of the great world +war. This is evident from a comparison of strophe 21 +with 25, the first and last of those quoted. Both speak of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> +the war, which is called <i>fólkvig fyrst i heimi</i>. The former +strophe informs us that it occurred as a result of, and in +connection with, the murder of Gulveig, a murder committed +in Valhal itself, in the hall of the Asa-father, +beneath the roof where the gods of the Asa-clan are +gathered around their father. The latter strophe tells +that the first great war in the world produced a separation +between the two god-clans, the Asas and Vans, a division +caused by the fact that Odin, hurling his spear, interrupted +a discussion between them; and the strophe also +explains the result of the war: the bulwark around Asgard +was broken, and the Vans got possession of the power +of the Asas. The discussion or council is explained in +strophe 24. It is there expressly emphasised that all +the gods, the Asas and Vans, <i>regin oll, godin aull</i>, +solemnly assemble and seat themselves on their <i>raukstola</i> +to counsel together concerning the murder of <i>Gullveig-Heidr</i>. +Strophe 23 has already described who Gulveig +is, and thus given at least one reason for the hatred of the +Asas towards her, and for the treatment she receives in +Odin's hall. It is evident that she was in Asgard under +the name Gulveig, since Gulveig was killed and burnt in +Valhal; but Midgard, the abode of man, has also been the +scene of her activity. There she has roamed about under +the name Heidr, practising the evil arts of black sorcery +(see No. 27) and encouraging the evil passions of mankind: +<i>ć var hon angan illrar brudar</i>. Hence Gulveig +suffers the punishment which from time immemorial was +established among the Aryans for the practice of the black +art: she was burnt. And her mysteriously terrible and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> +magic nature is revealed by the fact that the flames, +though kindled by divine hands, do not have the power +over her that they have over other agents of sorcery. The +gods burn her thrice; they pierce the body of the witch +with their spears, and hold her over the flames of the +fire. All is in vain. They cannot prevent her return +and regeneration. Thrice burned and thrice born, she +still lives.</p> + +<p>After Völuspa has given an account of the vala who in +Asgard was called <i>Gullveig</i> and on earth <i>Heidr</i>, the +poem speaks, in strophe 24, of the dispute which arose +among the gods on account of her murder. The gods +assembled on and around the judgment-seats are divided +into two parties, of which the Asas constitute the one. +The fact that the treatment received by Gulveig can +become a question of dispute which ends in enmity +between the gods is a proof that only one of the god-clans +has committed the murder; and since this took place, not +in Njord's, or Frey's, or Freyja's halls, but in Valhal, +where Odin rules and is surrounded by his sons, it follows +that the Asas must have committed the murder. Of +course, Vans who were guests in Odin's hall <i>might</i> have +been the perpetrators of the murder; but, on the one +hand, the poem would scarcely have indicated Odin's +hall as the place where Gulveig was to be punished, unless +it wished thereby to point out the Asas as the doers of the +deed, and, on the other hand, we cannot conceive the +murder as possible, as described in Völuspa, if the Vans +were the ones who committed it, and the Asas were +Gulveig's protectors; for then the latter, who were the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> +lords in Valhal, would certainly not have permitted the +Vans quietly and peaceably to subject Gulveig to the long +torture there described, in which she is spitted on spears +and held over the flames to be burnt to ashes.</p> + +<p>That the Asas committed the murder is also corroborated +by Völuspa's account of the question in dispute. One +of the views prevailing in the consultation and discussion +in regard to the matter is that the Asas ought to <i>afrád +gjalda</i> in reference to the murder committed. In this +<i>afrád gjalda</i> we meet with a phrase which is echoed in the +laws of Iceland, and in the old codes of Norway and +Sweden. There can be no doubt that the phrase has +found its way into the language of the law from the +popular vernacular, and that its legal significance was +simply more definite and precise than its use in the vernacular. +The common popular meaning of the phrase is +<i>to pay compensation</i>. The compensation may be of any +kind whatsoever. It may be rent for the use of another's +field, or it may be taxes for the enjoyment of social rights, +or it may be death and wounds for having waged war. +In the present instance, it must mean compensation to be +paid by the Asas for the slaying of <i>Gullveig-Heidr</i>. As +such a demand could not be made by the Asas themselves, +it must have been made by the Vans and their supporters +in the discussion. Against this demand we have the proposition +from the Asas that all the gods should <i>gildi eiga</i>. +In regard to this disputed phrase at least so much is clear, +that it must contain either an absolute or a partial counter-proposition +to the demand of the Vans, and its purpose +must be that the Asas ought not—at least, not alone—to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span> +pay the compensation for the murder, but that the crime +should be regarded as one in reference to which all the +gods, the Asas and the Vans, were alike guilty, and as +one for which they all together should assume the responsibility.</p> + +<p>The discussion does not lead to a friendly settlement. +Something must have been said at which Odin has +become deeply offended, for the Asa-father, distinguished +for his wisdom and calmness, hurls his spear into the +midst of those deliberating—a token that the contest of +reason against reason is at an end, and that it is to be +followed by a contest with weapons.</p> + +<p>The myth concerning this deliberation between Asas +and Vans was well known to Saxo, and what he has +to say about it (<i>Hist.</i>, 126 ff.), turning myth as usual +into history, should be compared with Völuspa's account, +for both these sources complement each other.</p> + +<p>The first thing that strikes us in Saxo's narrative is +that sorcery, the black art, plays, as in Völuspa, the chief +part in the chain of events. His account is taken from a +mythic circumstance, mentioned by the heathen skald +Kormak (<i>seid Y ggr til Rindar</i>—Younger Edda, i. 236), +according to which Odin, forced by extreme need, sought +the favour of Rind, and gained his point by sorcery and +witchcraft, as he could not gain it otherwise. According +to Saxo, Odin touched Rind with a piece of bark on which +he had inscribed magic songs, and the result was that +she became insane (<i>Rinda ... quam Othinus cortice +carminibus adnotato contingens lymphanti similem reddidit</i>). +In immediate connection herewith it is related<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span> +that the gods held a council, in which it was claimed that +Odin had stained his divine honour, and ought to be +deposed from his royal dignity (<i>dii ... Othinum variis +majestatis detrimentis divinitatis gloriam maculasse cernentes, +collegio suo submovendum duxerunt—Hist.</i>, 129). +Among the deeds of which his opponents in this council +accused him was, as it appears from Saxo, at least one +of which he ought to take the consequences, but for which +all the gods ought not to be held responsible ( ... <i>ne vel +ipsi, alieno crimine implicati, insontes nocentis crimine +punirentur—Hist., 129; in omnium caput unius culpam +recidere putares, Hist.</i>, 130). The result of the deliberation +of the gods is, in Saxo as in Völuspa, 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 (<i>Hist.</i>, 44).</p> + +<p>Thus the chain of events in Saxo both begins and ends +with sorcery. It is the background on which both in +Saxo and in Völuspa 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 question turns +on a deed done by Odin, for which certain gods do not +wish to take the responsibility. Saxo indicates this by +the words: <i>Ne vel ipsi, alieno crimine implicati innocentes +nocentis crimine punirentur.</i> Völuspa indicates it by letting +the Vans present, against the proposition that <i>godin</i><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> +<i>öll skyldu gildi eiga</i>, the claim that Odin's own clan, and +it alone, should <i>afrád gjalda</i>. And while Völuspa 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 witchcraft. 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 Völuspa's and Saxo's +accounts supplement and illustrate each other.</p> + +<p><i>One</i> dark point remains, however. Why have the Vans +objected 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 compensation +for her death. In this regard Saxo has in +perfect faithfulness toward his mythic source represented +Odin on the one hand, 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 practise of sorcery, is nevertheless the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span> +declared enemy of witchcraft, and Saxo makes him take +pains to forbid and persecute it. The Vans likewise look +upon it with horror, and it is this horror which adds +strength to their words when they attack and depose +Odin, because he has himself practised that for which he +has punished Gulveig.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + + +<p class="center">35.</p> + +<p class="center">GULVEIG-HEIDR. HER IDENTITY WITH AURBODA, ANGRBODA, +HYRROKIN. THE MYTH CONCERNING THE +SWORD GUARDIAN AND FJALAR.</p> + + +<p>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 by the Vana-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:</p> + +<p> +Freyr atti Gerdi,<br /> +Hon vor Gymis dottir,<br /> +iotna ćttar<br /> +ok Aurbodu.<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span></p> + +<p>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 Ironwood;" +(b) evidence that Gulveig-Heid-Angerboda is identical +with Aurboda, Gerd's mother.</p> + +<p>(a) Gulveid-Heid identical with Angerboda.</p> + +<p>Hyndluljod, 40, 41, says:</p> + +<p> +Ol ulf Loki<br /> +vid Angrbodu,<br /> +(enn Sleipni gat<br /> +vid Svadilfara);<br /> +eitt thotti skars<br /> +allra feiknazst<br /> +that var brodur fra<br /> +Byleistz komit.<br /> +<br /> +Loki af hiarta<br /> +lindi brendu,<br /> +fann hann haalfsuidinn<br /> +hugstein konu;<br /> +vard Loptr kvidugr<br /> +af konu illri;<br /> +thadan er aa folldu<br /> +flagd hvert komit.<br /> +</p> + +<p>From the account we see that an evil female being +(<i>ill kona</i>) 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 (<i>hálfsvidinn hugsteinn</i>), 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.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span></p> + +<p>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 <i>hjarta</i> used entirely in the sense +of soul, as in the expression <i>hold ok hjarta</i>, 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 and powerful. In +such cases it was regarded as important to pierce the +heart of the dead with a pointed spear (cp. Saxo, <i>Hist.</i>, +43, and No. 95).</p> + +<p>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 +(<i>Loki lindi af brendu hjarta</i>). It fertilised him with the +evil purposes which the heart contained. Loke became +the possessor of the evil woman (<i>kvidugr af konu illri</i>), +and became the father of the children from which the +trolls (<i>flagd</i>) are come which are found in the world. +First among the children is mentioned the wolf, which is +called <i>Fenrir</i>, and which in Ragnarok shall cause the +death of the Asa-father. To this event point Njord's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span> +words about Loke, in Lokasenna, str. 33: <i>ass ragr er hefir +born of borit</i>. The woman possessing the half-burnt +heart, who is the mother or rather the father of the wolf, +is called Angerboda (<i>ól ulf Loki vid Angrbodu</i>). N. M. +Peterson and other mythologists have rightly seen that she +is the same as "the old one," who in historical times and +until Ragnarok dwells in the Ironwood, and "there fosters +Fenrer's kinsmen" (Völuspa, 39), her own offspring, +which at the close of this period are to issue from the +Ironwood, and break into Midgard and dye its citadels +with blood (Völuspa, 30).</p> + +<p>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:</p> + +<p> +Unsuccessful burning of an evil woman.<br /> +Her regeneration after the cremation.<br /> +</p> + +<p>These points apply equally to Gulveig-Heid and to Angerboda, +"the old one in the Ironwood."</p> + +<p>The myth about Gulveig-Heid-Angerboda, as it was +remembered in the first period after the introduction of +Christianity, we find in part recapitulated in Helgakvida +Hundingsbane, i. 37-40, where Sinfjotle compares his +opponent Gudmund with the evil female principle in the +heathen mythology, the vala in question, and where<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span> +Gudmund in return compares Sinfjotle with its evil masculine +principle, Loke.</p> + +<p>Sinfjotle says:</p> + +<p> +Thu vart vaulva<br /> +i Varinseyio,<br /> +scollvis kona<br /> +bartu scrauc saman;<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Thu vart, en scetha,<br /> +scass valkyria,<br /> +autul, amátlig<br /> +at Alfaudar;<br /> +mundo einherjar<br /> +allir beriaz,<br /> +svevis kona,<br /> +um sakar thinar.<br /> +Nio attu vith<br /> +a neri Sagu<br /> +ulfa alna<br /> +ec var einn fathir theirra.<br /> +</p> + +<p>Gudmund's answer begins:</p> + +<p> +Fadir varattu<br /> +fenrisulfa....<br /> +</p> + +<p>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.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span></p> + +<p>The vala must therefore be Gulveig-Heid of the myth, +on whose account the war between the Asas and Vans +broke out, according to Völuspa. 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, produces +other wolves which are called by Fenrer's name +(<i>Fenris kindir</i>—Völuspa). Thus the identity of Gulveig-Heid +and Angerboda is still further established by the fact +that both the one and the other is called the mother of the +Fenris family.</p> + +<p>The passage quoted is not the only one which has +preserved the memory of Gulveig-Heid as mother of the +were-wolves. Volsungasaga (c. ii. 8) relates that a +giantess, <i>Hrímnir's</i> 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 infested 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 <i>Hrímnir</i>.</p> + +<p>The myth, as it has come down to our days, knows +only one daughter of this giant, and she is the same as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span> +Gulveig-Heid. Hyndluljod states that <i>Heidr</i> is <i>Hrímnir's</i> +daughter, and mentions no sister of hers, but, on the +other hand, a brother <i>Hrossthiofr</i> (<i>Heidr ok Hrorsthiofr +Hrimnis kindar</i>—Hyndl., 30). In allusion to the cremation +of Gulveig-Heid fire is called in Thorsdrapa <i>Hrimnis +drósar lyptisylgr</i>, "the lifting drink of Hrimner's daughter," +the drink which Heid lifted up on spears had to +drink. Nowhere is any other daughter of Hrimner mentioned. +And while it is stated in the above-cited strophe +that the giantess who caused the war in Asgard and +became the mother of fenris-wolves was a vala on Varin's +Isle (<i>vaulva i Varinseyio</i>), 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 wife of a king and to have given birth to +were-wolves.</p> + +<p>Thus we have found that the three characteristic +points—</p> + +<p> +unsuccessful cremation of an evil giantess,<br /> +her regeneration after the cremation,<br /> +the same woman as mother of the Fenrer race—<br /> +</p> + +<p>are common to Gulveig-Heid and Angerboda.</p> + +<p>Their identity is apparent from various other circumstances, +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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span> +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 interrupted 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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span> +death of Frey, the lord of harvests (see Nos. 89, 98, 101, +103).</p> + +<p>That the woman who in antiquity, in various guises, +visited Asgard and Midgard was believed to have had +her home in the Ironwood<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> of the East during the historical +age down to Ragnarok 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 Ironwood, and of the Loke progeny which +she there fosters, has been turned into history by Jordanes +in his <i>De Goth. Origine</i>, ch. 24, where it is stated that +a Gothic king compelled the suspected valas (<i>haliorunas</i>) +found among his people to take their refuge to the deserts +in the East beyond the Mœotian 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</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span></p> +<p>barbarous manners seemed to them to prove an other than +purely human origin. The vala Gulveig-Heid and her +like become in Jordanes these <i>haliorunć</i>; 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.</p> + +<p>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 Gulveid-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 that 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 conclusively +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 of 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.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span></p> + +<p>(b) Gulveig-Heid-Angerboda identical with Aurboda.</p> + +<p>In the Ironwood dwells Angerboda, together with a +giant, who is <i>gygjar hirdir</i>, 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 (<i>Egtherr</i>—Völuspa), +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. <i>Hist.</i>, +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 <i>Isarnvidr</i>, <i>Isarnho</i>, the Ironwood. In the +Vilkinasaga 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 particularly; +and as <i>Hrimnir's</i> 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 (<i>Hist.</i>, 323, 324). The +statement in Vilkinasaga compared with that in Hynd<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span>luljod +seems therefore to point to a near kinship between +Angerboda and her sword-guard. She appears to be the +daughter of his brother.</p> + +<p>In Völuspa's description of the approach of Ragnarok, +Egther Angerboda's shepherd, is represented as sitting +on a mound—like Aurboda's shepherd in <i>Skirnisför</i>—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 by a being in the guise of the red cock. The cock, +says Völuspa, is <i>Fjalarr</i> (str. 44).</p> + +<p>What the heathen records tell us about Fjalar is the +following:<a name="FNanchor_19_19" id="FNanchor_19_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a></p> + +<p>(a) He is the same giant as the Younger Edda (i. 144 +ff.) calls Utgard-Loke. The latter is a fire-giant, <i>Loge's</i>, +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.</p> + +<p>(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 Havamál sometimes Fjalar and sometimes +Suttung (cp. strs. 13, 14, 104, 105).</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span></p> +<p>(c) Fjalar is the son of the chief of the fire-giants, +<i>Surtr</i>, and dwells in the subterranean dales of the latter. +A full account of this in No. 89. Here it will suffice to +point out that when Odin flies out of Fjalar's dwelling +with the skaldic mead, it is "from Surt's deep dales" that +he "flying bears" the precious drink (<i>hinn er Surts or +sökkdölum farmagnudr fljúgandi bar</i>, a strophe by +Eyvind, quoted in the Younger Edda, p. 242), and that +this drink while it remained with Fjalar was "the drink +of Surt's race" (<i>Sylgr Surts ćttar</i>, Fornms., iii. 3).</p> + +<p>(d) Fjalar, with Froste, takes part in the attack of +Thjasse's kinsmen and the Skilfings from Svarin's Mound +against "the land of the clayey plains, to Jaravall" (Völuspa, +14, 15; see Nos. 28, 32). Thus he is allied with the +powers of frost, who are foes of the gods, and who seek +to conquer the Teutonic domain. The approach of the +fimbul-winter was also attended by an earthquake (see +Nos. 28, 81).</p> + +<p>When, therefore, Völuspa makes Fjalar on his visit to +the sword-guardian in the Ironwood appear in the guise +of the red cock, then this is in harmony with Fjalar's +nature as a fire-giant and as a son of Surt.</p> + +<p> +Sat thar a haugi<br /> +oc sló haurpo<br /> +gygjar hirthir<br /> +gladr Egther.<br /> +Gol um hanom<br /> +i galgvithi<br /> +fagrraudr hani<br /> +sa er Fjalar heitir (Völusp., 41).<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span></p> + +<p>The red cock has from time immemorial been the +symbol of fire as a destructive power.</p> + +<p>That what Odin does against Fjalar—when he robs +him of the mead, which in the myth is the most precious +of all drinks, and when he deceived his daughter—is +calculated to awaken Fjalar's thirst for revenge and to +bring about a satisfaction sooner or later, lies in the very +spirit of Teutonic poetry and ethics, especially since, +Odin's act, though done from a good motive, was morally +reprehensible. What Fjalar's errand to Angerboda's +sword-guard was appears from the fact that when the +last war between the gods and their enemies is fought a +short time afterwards, Fjalar's father, the chief of the +fire-giants, Surt, is armed with the best of the mythical +weapons, the sword which had belonged to a <i>valtivi</i>, one +of the gods of Asgard (Völusp., 50), and which casts the +splendour of the sun upon the world. The famous sword +of the myth, that which Thjasse finished with a purpose +hostile to the gods (see No. 87 and elsewhere), the +sword concealed by Mimer (see Nos. 87, 98, 101), the +sword found by Svipdag (see Nos. 89, 101, 103), the +sword secured through him by Frey, the one given by Frey +to Gymer and Aurboda in exchange for Gerd,—this +sword is found again in the Ragnarok conflict, wielded by +Surt, and causes Frey's death (Völuspa), it having been +secured by Surt's son, Fjalar, in the Ironwood from Angerboda's +sword-guard.</p> + +<p> +Gulli keypta<br /> +leztu Gymis dottur<br /> +oc seldir thitt sva sverth;<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span>Enn er Muspells synir<br /> +rida myrcvith yfir<br /> +veizta thu tha, vesall, hve thu vegr (Lokas., 42).<br /> +</p> + +<p>This passage not only tells us that Frey gave his sword +in exchange for Gerd to the parents of the giantess, +Gymer and Aurboda, but also gives us to understand that +this bargain shall cause his death in Ragnarok. This +bride-purchase is fully described in Skirnismal, in which +poem we learn that the gods most unwillingly part with +the safety which the incomparable sword secured to +Asgard. They yield in order to save the life of the +harvest-god, who was wasting away with longing and +anxiety, but not until the giants had refused to accept +other Asgard treasures, among them the precious ring +Draupner, which the Asa-father once laid on the pulseless +breast of his favourite son Balder. At the approach of +Ragnarok, Surt's son, Fjalar, goes to the Ironwood to +fetch for his father the sword by which Frey, its former +possessor, is to fall. The sword is then guarded by +Angerboda's shepherd, and consequently belongs to her. +In other words, the sword which Aurboda enticed Frey +to give her is now found in the possession of Angerboda. +This circumstance of itself is a very strong reason for +their identity. If there were no other evidence of their +identity than this, a sound application of methodology +would still bid us accept this identity rather than explain +the matter by inventing a new, nowhere-supported myth, +and thus making the sword pass from Aurboda to another +giantess.</p> + +<p>When we now add the important fact in the disposition<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span> +of this matter, that Aurboda's son-in-law, Frey, demands, +in behalf of a near kinsman, satisfaction from the Asas +when they had killed and burnt Gulveig-Heid-Angerboda, +then it seems to me that there can be no doubt in regard +to the identity of Aurboda and Angerboda, the less so, +since all that our mythic fragments have to tell us about +Gymer's wife confirms the theory that she is the same +person. Aurboda has, like Gulveig-Heid-Angerboda, +practised the arts of sorcery: she is one of the valas of the +evil giant world. This is told to us in a strophe by +the skald <i>Refr</i>, who calls her "Gymer's primeval cold +vala" (<i>ursvöl Gymis völva</i>—Younger Edda, i. 326, 496). +She might be called "primeval cold" (<i>ursvöl</i>) from the +fact that the fire was not able to pierce her heart and +change it to ashes, in spite of a threefold burning. Under +all circumstances, the passage quoted informs us that +she is a vala.</p> + +<p>But have our mythic fragments preserved any allusion +to show that Aurboda, like Gulveig-Heid-Angerboda, ever +dwelt among the gods in Asgard? Asgard is a place +where giants are refused admittance. Exceptions from +this prohibition must have been very few, and the myths +must have given good reasons for them. We know in +regard to Loke's appearance in Asgard, that it is based +on a promise given him by the Asa-father in time's morning; +and the promise was sealed with blood (Lokasenna, +9). If, now, this Aurboda, who, like Angerboda, is a +vala of giant race, and like Angerboda, is the owner of +Frey's sword, and, like Angerboda, is a kinswoman of the +Vans—if now this same Aurboda, in further likeness with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span> +Angerboda, was one of the certainly very few of the giant +class who was permitted to enter within the gates of +Asgard, then it must be admitted that this fact absolutely +confirms their identity.</p> + +<p>Aurboda did actually dwell in Asgard. Of this we are +assured by the poem "Fjölsvinsmal." There it is related +that when Svipdag came to the gates of Asgard to seek +and find Menglad-Freyja, who was destined to be his +wife (see Nos. 96, 97), he sees Menglad sitting on a +hill surrounded by goddesses, whose very names <i>Eir</i>, +<i>Björt</i>, <i>Blid</i>, and <i>Frid</i>, tell us that they are goddesses of +lower or higher rank. <i>Eir</i> is an asynja of the healing art +(Younger Edda, i. 114). <i>Björt</i>, <i>Blid</i>, and <i>Frid</i> are the +dises of splendour, benevolence, and beauty. They are +mighty beings, and can give aid in distress to all who +worship them (Fjolsv., 40). But in the midst of this +circle of dises, who surround Menglad, Svipdag also sees +Aurboda (Fjolsv., 38).</p> + +<p>Above them Svipdag sees Mimer's tree—the world-tree +(see No. 97), spreading its all-embracing branches, on +which grow fruits which soothe <i>kelisjukar konur</i> and +lighten the entrance upon terrestrial life for the children +of men (Fjolsv., 22). Menglad-Freyja is, as we know, +the goddess of love and fertility, and it is Frigg's and her +vocation to dispose of these fruits for the purposes for +which they are intended.</p> + +<p>The Volsungasaga has preserved a record concerning +these fruits, and concerning the giant-daughter who was +admitted to Asgard as a maid-servant of the goddesses. +A king and queen had long been married without getting<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span> +any children. They beseeched the gods for an heir. +Frigg heard their prayers and sent them in the guise of a +crow the daughter of the giant Hrimner, a giantess who +had been adopted in Asgard as Odin's "wish-may." +Hrimner's daughter took an apple with her, and when the +queen had eaten it, it was not long before she perceived +that her wish would come to pass (Volsungasaga, pp. 1, +2). Hrimner's daughter is, as we know, Gulveig-Heid.</p> + +<p>Thus the question whether Aurboda ever dwelt in +Asgard is answered in the affirmative. We have discovered +her, though she is the daughter of a giant, in the +circle around Menglad-Freyja, where she has occupied a +subordinate position as maid-servant. At the same time +we have found that Gulveig-Heid has for some time +had an occupation in Asgard of precisely the same kind +as that which belongs to a dis serving under the goddess +of fertility. Thus the similarity between Aurboda and +Gulveig-Heid is not confined to the fact that they, +although giantesses, dwelt in Asgard, but they were +employed there in the same manner.</p> + +<p>The demonstration that Gulveig-Heid-Angerboda is +identical with Aurboda may now be regarded as complete. +Of the one as of the other it is related that she +was a vala of giant-race, that she nevertheless dwelt for +some time in Asgard, and was there employed by Frigg or +Freyja in the service of fertility, and that she possessed +the sword, which had formerly belonged to Frey, and by +which Frey is to fall. Aurboda is Frey's mother-in-law, +consequently closely related to him; and it must have +been in behalf of a near relation that Frey and Njord<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span> +demanded satisfaction from the Asas when the latter slew +Gulveig-Heid. Under such circumstances it is utterly +impossible from a methodological standpoint to regard +them otherwise than identical. We must consider that +nearly all mythic characters are polyonomous, and that the +Teutonic mythology, particularly, on account of its +poetics, is burdened with a highly-developed polyonomy.</p> + +<p>But of Gulveig-Heid's and Aurboda's identity there are +also other proofs which, for the sake of completeness, we +will not omit.</p> + +<p>So far as the very names Gulveig and Aurboda are +concerned the one can serve as a paraphrase of the other. +The first part of the name <i>Aurboda</i>, the <i>aur</i> of many +significations may be referred to <i>eyrir</i>, pl. <i>aurar</i>, which +means precious metal, and is thought to be borrowed from +the Latin <i>aurum</i> (gold). Thus <i>Gull</i> and <i>Aur</i> correspond. +In the same manner <i>veig</i> in Gulveig can correspond +to <i>boda</i> in <i>Aurboda</i>. <i>Veig</i> means a fermenting +liquid. <i>Boda</i> has two significations. It can be the feminine +form of <i>bodi</i>, meaning fermenting water, froth, +foam. No other names compounded with <i>boda</i> occur in +Norse literature than <i>Aurboda</i> and <i>Angrboda</i>.</p> + +<p>Ynglingasaga<a name="FNanchor_20_20" id="FNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> (ch. 4) relates a tradition that <i>Freyja +kendi fyrst med Ásum seid</i>, that Freyja was the first to +practise sorcery in Asgard. There is no doubt that the +statement is correct. For we have seen that Gulveig-Heid, +the sorceress and spreader of sorcery in antiquity, +succeeded in getting admission to Asgard, and that Aurboda</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span></p> +<p>is mentioned as particularly belonging to the circle +of serving dises who attended Freyja. As this giantess +was so zealous in spreading her evil arts among the inhabitants +of Midgard, it would be strange if the myth did +not make her, after she had gained Freyja's confidence, try +to betray her into practising the same arts. Doubtless +Völuspa and Saxo have reference to Gulveig-Heid-Aurboda +when they say that Freyja, through some treacherous +person among her attendants, was delivered into the hands +of the giants.</p> + +<p>In his historical account relating how Freyja (<i>Syritha</i>) +was robbed from Asgard and came to the giants but was +afterwards saved from their power, Saxo (<i>Hist.</i>, 331; +cp. No. 100) tells that a woman, who was secretly allied +with a giant, had succeeded in ingratiating herself in her +favour, and for some time performed the duties of a +maid-servant at her home; but this she did in order to +entice her in a cunning manner away from her safe home +to a place where the giant lay in ambush and carried her +away to the recesses of his mountain country. (<i>Gigas +fćminam subornat, quć cum obtenta virginis familiaritate, +ejus aliquamdiu pedissequam egisset, hanc tandem a +paternis procul penatibus, qućsita callidius digressione, +reduxit; quam ipse mox irruens in arctiora montanć crepidinis +septa devexit.</i>) Thus Saxo informs us that it +was a woman among Freyja's attendants who betrayed +her, and that this woman was allied with the giant world, +which is hostile to the gods, while she held a trusted +servant's place with the goddess. Aurboda is the only +woman connected with the giants in regard to whom our<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span> +mythic records inform us that she occupied such a position +with Freyja; and as Aurboda's character and part, played +in the epic of the myth, correspond with such an act of +treason, there is no reason for assuming the mere possibility, +that the betrayer of Freyja may have been some one +else, who is neither mentioned nor known.</p> + +<p>With this it is important to compare Völuspa, 26, 27, +which not only mentions the fact that Freyja came into +the power of the giants through treachery, but also +informs us how the treason was punished:</p> + +<p> +Tha gengo regin oll<br /> +A ráukstola,<br /> +ginheilog god<br /> +oc um that gettuz<br /> +hverir hefdi lopt alt<br /> +levi blandit<br /> +etha ett iotuns<br /> +Oths mey gefna<br /> +thorr ein thar va<br /> +thrungin modi,<br /> +hann sialdan sitr<br /> +er hann slict um fregn.<br /> +</p> + +<p>These Völuspa lines stand in Codex Regius in immediate +connection with the above-quoted strophes which +speak of Gulveig-Heid and of the war caused by her +between the Asas and Vans. They inform us that the +gods assembled to hold a solemn counsel to find out "who +had filled all the air with evil," or "who had delivered +Freyja to the race of giants;" and that the person found +guilty was at once slain by Thor, who grew most angry.</p> + +<p>Now if this person is Gulveig-Aurboda, then it follows<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span> +that she received her death-blow from Thor's hammer, +before the Asas made in common the unsuccessful attempt +to change her body into ashes. We also find elsewhere +in our mythic records that an exceedingly dangerous +woman met with precisely this fate. There she is called +<i>Hyrrokin</i>. A strophe by Thorbjorn Disarskald preserved +in the Younger Edda, states that <i>Hyrrokin</i> was +one of the giantesses slain by Thor. But the very appellation +<i>Hyrrokin</i>, which must be an epithet of a giantess +known by some other more common name indicates that +some effort worthy of being remembered in the myth had +been made to burn her, but that the effort resulted in her +being smoked (<i>rökt</i>) rather than that she was burnt; for +the epithet <i>Hyrrokin</i> means the "fire-smoked." For +those familiar with the contents of the myth, this epithet +was regarded as plain enough to indicate who was meant. +If it is not, therefore, to be looked upon as an unhappy +and misleading epithet, it must refer to the thrice in vain +burnt Gulveig. All that we learn about <i>Hyrrokin</i> confirms +her identity with Aurboda. In the symbolic-allegorical +work of art, which toward the close of the tenth +century decorated a hall at Hjardarholt, and of which I +shall give a fuller account elsewhere, the storm which +from the land side carried Balder's ship out on the sea +is represented by the giantess Hyrrokin. In the same +capacity of storm-giantess carrying sailors out upon the +ocean appears Gymer's wife, Aurboda, in a poem by <i>Refr</i>;</p> + +<p> +Fćrir björn, thar er bára<br /> +brestr, undinna festa,<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span></p> + +<p> +Opt i Ćgis kjopta<br /> +úrsvöl Gymis völva.<br /> +</p> + +<p>"Gymer's ancient-cold vala often carries the ship amid +breaking billows into the jaws of Ćgir." Gymer, Aurboda's +husband, represents in the physical interpretation +of the myth the east wind coming from the Ironwood. +From the other side of Eystrasalt (the Baltic) Gymer +sings his song (Ynglingasaga, 36); and the same gale +belongs to Aurboda, for Ćgir, into whose jaws she drives +the ships, is the great open western ocean. That Aurboda +represents the gale from the east finds its natural explanation +in her identity with Angerboda "the old," who dwells +in the Ironwood in the uttermost east, "<i>Austr byr hin alldna +i iarnvithi</i> (Völusp.).</p> + +<p>The result of the investigation is that <i>Gullveig-Heidr</i>, +<i>Aurboda</i>, and <i>Angrboda</i> are different names for the different +hypostases of the thrice-born and thrice-burnt one, +and that <i>Hyrrokin</i>, "the fire-smoked," is an epithet common +to all these hypostases.</p> + + +<p class="center">36.</p> + +<p class="center">THE WORLD WAR (<i>continued</i>). THE BREACH OF PEACE +BETWEEN ASAS AND VANS. FRIGG, SKADE, AND ULL +IN THE CONFLICT. THE SIEGE OF ASGARD. THE +VAFERFLAMES. THE DEFENCE AND SURROUNDINGS +OF ASGARD. THE VICTORY OF THE VANS.</p> + + +<p>When the Asas had refused to give satisfaction for the +murder of Gulveig, and when Odin, by hurling his spear, +had indicated that the treaty of peace between him and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span> +Vans was broken, the latter leave the assembly hall and +Asgard. This is evident from the fact that they afterwards +return to Asgard and attack the citadel of the Asa +clan. The gods are now divided into two hostile camps: +on the one side Odin and his allies, among whom are +Heimdal (see Nos. 38, 39, 40), and Skade; on the other +Njord, Frigg (Saxo, <i>Hist.</i>, 42-44), Frey, Ull (Saxo, +<i>Hist</i>., 130, 131), and Freyja and her husband Svipdag, +besides all that clan of divinities who were not adopted in +Asgard, but belong to the race of Vans and dwell in +Vanaheim.</p> + +<p>So far as Skade is concerned the breach between the +gods seems to have furnished her an opportunity of getting +a divorce from Njord, with whom she did not live +on good terms. According to statements found in the +myths, Thjasse's daughter and he were altogether too different +in disposition to dwell in peace together. Saxo +(<i>Hist.</i>, 53 ff.) and the Younger Edda (p. 94) have both +preserved the record of a song which describes their different +tastes as to home and surroundings. Skade loved +Thrymheim, the rocky home of her father Thjasse, on +whose snow-clad plains she was fond of running on skees +and of felling wild beasts with her arrows; but when +Njord had remained nine days and nine nights among +the mountains he was weary of the rocks and of the howling +of wolves, and longed for the song of swans on the +sea-strand. But when Skade accompanied him thither +she could not long endure to be awakened every morning +by the shrieking of sea-fowls. In Grimnismal, 11, it is +said that Skade "now" occupies her father's "ancient<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span> +home" in Thrymheim, but Njord is not named there. +In a strophe by Thord Sjarekson (Younger Edda, 262) +we read that Skade never became devoted to the Vana-god +(<i>nama snotr una godbrúdr Vani</i>), and Eyvind Skalda-spiller +relates in <i>Haleygjatal</i> that there was a time when +Odin dwelt <i>í Manheimum</i> together with Skade, and begat +with her many sons. With <i>Manheimar</i> is meant that part +of the world which is inhabited by man; that is to say, +Midgard and the lower world, where are also found a +race of <i>menskir menn</i> (see Nos. 52, 53, 59, 63), and the +topographical counterpart of the word is <i>Ásgardr</i>. Thus +it must have been after his banishment from Asgard, +while he was separated from Frigg and found refuge +somewhere in <i>Manheimar</i>, that Odin had Skade for his +wife. Her epithet in Grimnismal, <i>skír brúdr goda</i>, also +seems to indicate that she had conjugal relations with more +than one of the gods.</p> + +<p>While Odin was absent and deposed as ruler of the +world, Ull has occupied so important a position among +the ruling Vans that, according to the tradition preserved +in Saxo, they bestowed upon him the task and honour +which until that time had belonged to Odin (<i>Dii ... +Ollerum quendam non solum in regni, sed etiam in divinitatis +infulas subrogavere</i>—<i>Hist.</i>, 130). This is explained +by the fact that Njord and Frey, though <i>valtívar</i> and +brave warriors when they are invoked, are in their very +nature gods of peace and promoters of wealth and agriculture, +while Ull is by nature a warrior. He is a skilful +archer, excellent in a duel, and <i>hefir hermanns atgervi</i> +(Younger Edda, i. 102). Also after the reconciliation<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span> +between the Asas and Vans, Thor's stepson Ull has held +a high position in Asgard, as is apparently corroborated +by Odin's words in Grimnismal, 41 (<i>Ullar hylli ok allra +góda</i>).</p> + +<p>From the mythic accounts in regard to the situation +and environment of Asgard we may conclude that the +siege by the Vans was no easy task. The home of the +Asas is surrounded by the atmospheric ocean, whose +strong currents make it difficult for the mythic horses to +swim to it (see Nos. 65, 93). The bridge Bifrost is not +therefore superfluous, but it is that connection between the +lower worlds and Asgard which the gods daily use, and +which must be captured by the enemy before the great +cordon which encloses the shining halls of the gods can +be attacked. The wall is built of "the limbs of Lerbrimer" +(Fjolsv., 1), and constructed by its architect in +such a manner that it is a safe protection against mountain-giants +and frost-giants (Younger Edda, 134). In +the wall is a gate wondrously made by the artist-brothers +who are sons of "Solblinde" (<i>Valgrind</i>—Grimnism., 22; +<i>thrymgjöll</i>—Fjölsvimsm., 10). Few there are who +understand the lock of that gate, and if anybody brings it +out of its proper place in the wall-opening where it blocks +the way for those who have no right to enter, then the +gate itself becomes a chain for him who has attempted +such a thing (<i>Forn er su grind, enn that fáir vito, hor +hve er i lás um lokin</i>—Grimn., 22. <i>Fjöturr fastr verdr +vid faranda hvern er hana hefr frá hlidi</i>—Fjölsv., 10).</p> + +<p>Outside of the very high Asgard cordon and around it +there flows a rapid river (see below), the moat of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span> +citadel. Over the eddies of the stream floats a dark, shining +ignitible mist. If it is kindled it explodes in flames, +whose bickering tongues strike their victims with unerring +certainty. It is the <i>vaferloge</i>, "the bickering flame," "the +quick fire," celebrated in ancient songs—<i>vafrlogi</i>, <i>vafreydi</i>, +<i>skjót-brinni</i>. It was this fire which the gods kindled +around Asgard when they saw Thjasse approaching in +eagle guise. In it their irreconcilable foe burnt his +pinions, and fell to the ground. "Haustlaung," Thjodolf's +poem, says that when Thjasse approached the +citadel of the gods "the gods raised the quick fire and +sharpened their javelins"—<i>Hófu skjót; en skófu sköpt; +ginnregin brinna</i>. The "quick fire," <i>skjót-brinni</i>, is the +<i>vaferloge</i>.<a name="FNanchor_21_21" id="FNanchor_21_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a></p> + +<p>The material of which the ignitible mist consists is +called "black terror-gleam." It is <i>or odauccom</i>; that is to +say, <i>ofdauccom ognar ljoma</i> (Fafn., 40) (<i>cp. myrckvan +vafrloga</i>—Skirn., 8, 9; Fjolsv., 31). It is said to be +"wise," which implies that it consciously aims at him for +whose destruction it is kindled.</p> + +<p>How a water could be conceived that evaporates a dark, +ignitible mist we find explained in Thorsdrapa. The +thunder-storm is the "storm of the vaferfire," and Thor +is the "ruler of the chariot of the vaferfire-storm" (<i>vafreyda +hreggs húfstjóri</i>). Thus the thunder-cloud contains +the water that evaporates a dark material for lightning. +The dark metallic colour which is peculiar to the +thunder-cloud was regarded as coming from that very +.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span> +material which is the "black terror-gleam" of which lightning +is formed. When Thor splits the cloud he separates +the two component parts, the water and the vafermist; the +former falls down as rain, the latter is ignited and rushes +away in quick, bickering, zigzag flames—the vaferfires. +That these are "wise" was a common Aryan belief. They +do not proceed blindly, but know their mark and never +miss it.</p> + +<p>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 Hvergelmer. +Thence they come and thither they return (Grimn., +26; see Nos. 59, 63, 33). Hvergelmer's waters are +sucked up by the northern root of the world-tree; they +rise through its trunk, spread into its branches and +leaves, and evaporate from its crown into a water-tank +situated on the top of Asgard, <i>Eikthyrnir</i>, in Grimnismal, +str. 26, symbolised as a "stag"<a name="FNanchor_22_22" id="FNanchor_22_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a> who stands on the roof +of Odin's hall and out of whose horns the waters stream +down into Hvergelmer. <i>Eikthyrnir</i> is the great celestial +water-tank which gathers and lets out the thunder-cloud. +In this tank the Asgard river has its source, and hence +it consists not only of foaming water but also of ignitible</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span></p> +<p>vafermists. In its capacity of discharger of the thunder-cloud, +the tank is called <i>Eikthyrnir</i>, the oak-stinger. +Oaks struck by lightning is no unusual occurrence. The +oak is, according to popular belief based on observation, +that tree which the lightning most frequently strikes.</p> + +<p>But Asgard is not the only citadel which is surrounded +by vafermists. These are also found enveloping the home +where dwelt the storm-giant Gymer and the storm-giantess +Aurboda, the sorceress who knows all of Asgard's secrets, +at the time when Frey sent Skirner to ask for the hand +of their daughter Gerd. Epics which in their present +form date from Christian times make vaferflames burn +around castles, where goddesses, pricked by sleep-thorns, +are slumbering. This is a belief of a later age.</p> + +<p>To get over or through the vaferflame is, according to +the myth, impossible for anyone who has not got a certain +mythical horse to ride—probably Sleipner, the eight-footed +steed of the Asa-father, which is the best of all +horses (Grimn., 44). The quality of this steed, which +enables it to bear its rider unscathed through the vaferflame, +makes it indespensable when this obstacle is to be +overcome. When Skirner is to go on Frey's journey +of courtship to Gerd, he asks for that purpose <i>mar thann +er mic um myrckvan beri visan vafrloga</i>, and is allowed +to ride it on and for the journey (Skirn., 8, 9). This +horse must accordingly have been in the possession of the +Vans when they conquered Asgard, an assumption confirmed +by what is to be stated below. (In the great epic +Sigurd's horse Grane is made to inherit the qualities of +this divine horse.)<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span></p> + +<p>On the outer side of the Asgard river, and directly +opposite the Asgard gate, lie projecting ramparts (<i>forgardir</i>) +to protect the drawbridge, which from the opening +in the wall can be dropped down across the river (see +below). When Svipdag proceeded toward Menglad's +abode in Asgard, he first came to this <i>forgardir</i> (Fjöls., i. +3). There he is hailed by the watch of the citadel, and +thence he gets a glimpse over the gate of all the glorious +things which are hid behind the high walls of the citadel.</p> + +<p>Outside the river Asgard has fields with groves and +woods (Younger Edda, 136, 210).</p> + +<p>Of the events of the wars waged around Asgard, the +mythic fragments, which the Icelandic records have preserved, +give us but very little information, though they +must have been favourite themes for the heathen skaldic +art, which here had an opportunity of describing in a +characteristic manner all the gods involved, and of picturing +not only their various characters, but also their +various weapons, equipments, and horses. In regard to +the weapons of attack we must remember that Thor at +the outbreak of the conflict is deprived of the assistance +of his splendid hammer: it has been broken by Svipdag's +sword of victory (see Nos. 101, 103)—a point which it +was necessary for the myth to assume, otherwise the +Vans could hardly he represented as conquerors. Nor do +the Vans have the above-mentioned sword at their disposal: +it is already in the power of Gymer and Aurboda. +The irresistible weapons which in a purely mechanical +manner would have decided the issue of the war, were +disposed of in advance in order that the persons them<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span>selves, +with their varied warlike qualities, might get to the +foreground and decide the fate of the conflict by heroism +or prudence, by prescient wisdom or by blind daring. In +this war the Vans have particularly distinguished themselves +by wise and well calculated strategies. This we +learn from Völuspa, where it makes the final victors conquer +Asgard through <i>vígspá</i>, that is, foreknowledge applied +to warlike ends (str. 26). The Asas, as we might +expect from Odin's brave sons, have especially distinguished +themselves by their strength and courage. A record +of this is found in the words of Thorbjorn Disarskald +(Younger Edda, 256).</p> + +<p> +Thórr hefir Yggs med árum<br /> +Ásgard of threk vardan.<br /> +</p> + +<p>"Thor with Odin's clan-men defended Asgard with +indomitable courage."</p> + +<p>But in number they must have been far inferior to +their foes. Simply the circumstance that Odin and his +men had to confine themselves to the defence of Asgard +shows that nearly all other divinities of various ranks +had allied themselves with his enemies. The ruler of +the lower world (Mimer) and Honer are the only ones +of whom it can be said that they remained faithful to +Odin; and if we can trust the Heimskringla tradition, +which is related as history and greatly corrupted, then +Mimer lost his life in an effort at mediation between the +contending gods, while he and Honer were held as hostages +among the Vans (Ynglingas., ch. 4).<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span> +Asgard was at length conquered. Völuspa, str. 25, +relates the final catastrophe:</p> + +<table class="parallel" border="0" +cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" summary=""> +<tr> +<td> +<p>brotin var bordvegr<br /> +borgar asa<br /> +knatto vanir vigspa<br /> +vollo sporna.</p> +</td> +<td> +<p>Broken was the bulwark<br /> +of the asaburg;<br /> +Through warlike prudence were the Vans able<br /> +its fields to tread.</p> +</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p>Völuspa's words seem to indicate that the Vans took +Asgard by strategy; and this is confirmed by a source +which shall be quoted below. But to carry out the plan +which chiefly involved the finding of means for crossing +the vaferflames kindled around the citadel and for opening +the gates of Asgard, not only cunning but also +courage was required. The myth has given the honour +of this undertaking to Njord, the clan-chief of the Vans +and the commander of their forces. This is clear from +the above-quoted passage: <i>Njordr klauf Herjans hurdir</i>—"Njord +broke Odin's doors open," which should be +compared with the poetical paraphrase for battle-axe: +<i>Gauts megin-hurdar galli</i>—"the destroyer of Odin's +great gate,"—a paraphrase that indicates that Njord +burst the Asgard gate open with the battle-axe. The conclusion +which must be drawn from these utterances is confirmed +by an account with which the sixth book of Saxo +begins, and which doubtless is a fragment of the myth +concerning the conquest of Asgard by the Vans corrupted +and told as history.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span></p> + +<p>The event is transferred by Saxo to the reign of King +Fridlevus II. It should here be remarked that every +important statement made by Saxo about this Fridlevus, +on a closer examination, is found to be taken from the +myth concerning Njord.</p> + +<p>There were at that time twelve brothers, says Saxo, +distinguished for courage, strength, and fine physical +appearance. They were "widely celebrated for gigantic +triumphs." To their trophies and riches many peoples +had paid tribute. But the source from which Saxo +received information in regard to Fridlevus' conflict with +them did not mention more than seven of these twelve, +and of these seven Saxo gives the names. They are called +Bjorn, Asbjorn, Gunbjorn, &c. In all the names is found +the epithet of the Asa-god Bjorn.</p> + +<p>The brothers had had allies, says Saxo further, but at +the point when the story begins they had been abandoned +by them, and on this account they had been obliged to confine +themselves on an island surrounded by a most violent +stream which fell from the brow of a very high rock, and +the whole surface of which glittered with raging foam. +The island was fortified by a very high wall (<i>prćaltum +vallum</i>), in which was built a remarkable gate. It was +so built that the hinges were placed near the ground +between the sides of the opening in the wall, so that the +gate turning thereon could, by a movement regulated +by chains, be lowered and form a bridge across the +stream.</p> + +<p>Thus the gate is, at the same time, a drawbridge of that +kind with which the Germans became acquainted during the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span> +war with the Romans already before the time of Tacitus +(cp. <i>Annal.</i>, iv. 51, with iv. 47). Within the fortification +there was a most strange horse, and also a remarkably +strong dog, which formerly had watched the herds of +the giant Offotes. The horse was celebrated for his size +and speed, and it was the only steed with which it was +possible for a rider to cross the raging stream around the +island fortress.</p> + +<p>King Fridlevus now surrounds this citadel with his +forces. These are arrayed at some distance from the +citadel, and in the beginning nothing else is gained by the +siege than that the besieged are hindered from making +sallies into the surrounding territory. The citadel cannot +be taken unless the above-mentioned horse gets into the +power of Fridlevus. Bjorn, the owner of the horse, +makes sorties from the citadel, and in so doing he did +not always take sufficient care, for on one occasion when +he was on the outer side of the stream, and had gone +some distance away from his horse, he fell into an +ambush laid by Fridlevus. He saved himself by rushing +headlong over the bridge, which was drawn up behind +him, but the precious horse became Fridlevus' booty. +This was of course a severe loss to the besieged, and must +have diminished considerably their sense of security. +Meanwhile, Fridlevus was able to manage the matter in +such a way that the accident served rather to lull them into +increased safety. During the following night the brothers +found their horse, safe and sound, back on the island. +Hence it must have swum back across the stream. And +when it was afterwards found that the dead body of a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span> +man, clad in the shining robes of Fridlevus, floated on the +eddies of the stream, they took it for granted that Fridlevus +himself had perished in the stream.</p> + +<p>But the real facts were as follows: Fridlevus, attended +by a single companion, had in the night ridden from his +camp to the river. There his companion's life had to be +sacrificed, in order that the king's plan might be carried +out. Fridlevus exchanged clothes with the dead man, +who, in the king's splendid robes, was cast into the +stream. Then Fridlevus gave spur to the steed which +he had captured, and rode through the eddies of the +stream. Having passed this obstacle safely, he set the +horse at liberty, climbed on a ladder over the wall, stole +into the hall where the brothers were wont to assemble, +hid himself under a projection over the hall door, listened +to their conversation, saw them go out to reconnoitre the +island, and saw them return, secure in the conviction that +there was no danger at hand. Then he went to the +gate and let it fall across the stream. His forces had, +during the night, advanced toward the citadel, and when +they saw the drawbridge down and the way open, they +stormed the fortress and captured it.</p> + +<p>The fact that we here have a transformation of the +myth, telling how Njord at the head of the Vans conquered +Asgard, is evident from the following circumstances:</p> + +<p>(<i>a</i>) The conqueror is Fridlevus. The most of what +Saxo relates about this Fridlevus is, as stated, taken from +the myth about Njord, and told as history.</p> + +<p>(<i>b</i>) The brothers were, according to Saxo, originally +twelve, which is the well-established number of Odin's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span> +clansmen: his sons, and the adopted Asa-gods. But +when the siege in question takes place, Saxo finds in his +source only seven of the twelve mentioned as enclosed +in the citadel beseiged by Fridlevus. The reason for +the diminishing of the number is to be found in the fact +that the adopted gods—Njord, Frey, and Ull—had left +Asgard, and are in fact identical with the leaders of the +besiegers. If we also deduct Balder and Hödr, who, at +the time of the event, are dead and removed to the lower +world, then we have left the number seven given. The +name Bjorn, which they all bear, is an Asa epithet +(Younger Edda, i. 553). The brothers have formerly +had allies, but these have abandoned them (<i>deficientibus +a se sociis</i>), and it is on this account that they must confine +themselves within their citadel. The Asas have had +the Vans and other divine powers as allies, but these abandon +them, and the Asas must defend themselves on their +own fortified ground.</p> + +<p>(<i>c</i>) Before this the brothers have made themselves +celebrated for extraordinary exploits, and have enjoyed +a no less extraordinary power. They shone on account +of their <i>giganteis triumphis</i>—an ambiguous expression +which alludes to the mythic sagas concerning the victories +of the Asas over Jotunheim's giants (<i>gigantes</i>), and +nations have submitted to them as victors, and enriched +them with treasures (<i>trophćis gentium celebres, spoliis +locupletes</i>).</p> + +<p>(<i>d</i>) The island on which they are confined is fortified, +like the Asa citadel, by an immensely high wall (<i>prćaltum +vallum</i>), and is surrounded by a stream which is impass<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span>able +unless one possesses a horse which is found among +the brothers. Asgard is surrounded by a river belt +covered with vaferflames, which cannot be crossed unless +one has that single steed which <i>um myrckvan beri visan +vafrloga</i>, and this belongs to the Asas.</p> + +<p>(<i>e</i>) The stream which roars around the fortress of the +brothers comes <i>ex summis montium cacuminibus</i>. The +Asgard stream comes from the collector of the thunder-cloud, +<i>Eikthynir</i>, who stands on the summit of the world +of the gods. The kindled vaferflames, which did not suit +an historical narration, are explained by Saxo to be a +<i>spumeus candor</i>, a foaming whiteness, a shining froth, +which in uniform, eddying billows everywhere whirl on +the surface of the stream, (<i>tota alvei tractu undis uniformiter +turbidatis spumeus ubique candor exuberat</i>).</p> + +<p>(<i>f</i>) The only horse which was 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 reminiscence of +<i>Fenrir</i> which was kept for some time in Asgard, or of +Odin's wolf-dog <i>Freki</i>, or of some other saga-animal of +that sort, we will not now decide.</p> + +<p>(<i>g</i>) 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 drawbridge, 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 Fjölsvinnsmal +about the gate to that citadel, within which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span> +Freyja-Menglad dwells: <i>Fjöturr fastr verdr vid faranda +hvern, er hana hefr frá hlidi</i>.</p> + +<p>(<i>h</i>) 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.</p> + +<p>(<i>i</i>) In Saxo's narration occurs an improbability, which +is explained 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 <i>prćaltum</i>? 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" character 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, leaps over the wall to Balder's high +hall in the lower world (Younger Edda, 178). 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,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span> +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 flames as breaking against the very +foot of the wall?</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 impossible. 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 up their throne of power, and the Vans now assume +the rule of the world.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span></p> + + +<p class="center">37.</p> + +<p class="center">THE WORLD WAR (<i>continued</i>). THE SIGNIFICANCE OF +THE CONFLICT FROM A RELIGIOUS-RITUAL STANDPOINT.</p> + + +<p>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 surrender 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. +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 (<i>Hist.</i>, 130). The ancient +faith was to be maintained, and the shift involved nothing +but the person; there was no change of religion. But in +connection 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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span> +angry deities, but that to each one of the gods should be +given a separate sacrificial service (Saxo, <i>Hist.</i>, 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 sacrifices among +their Aryan-Asiatic kinsmen. The correctness of Saxo's +statement is fully confirmed by strophe 145 in Havamál, +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."</p> + +<p> +Betra er obethit<br /> +en se ofblothit<br /> +ey ser til gildis giof;<br /> +betra er osennt<br /> +enn se ofsóit.<br /> +Sva thundr um reist<br /> +fyr thiotha rauc,<br /> +thar hann up um reis<br /> +er hann aptr of kom.<br /> +</p> + +<p>The expression, <i>thar hann up um reis, er hann apter of +kom</i>, 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 proclaimed to the people the +view in regard to the real value of prayers and sacrifices +which is laid down in the strophe. Hence 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.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span> +It is difficult to repress the question whether an historical +reminiscence is not concealed in these statements. May it +not be the record of conflicting views within the Teutonic +religion—views represented 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 selfishness, not by piety.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span></p> + + +<p class="center">38.</p> + +<p class="center">THE WORLD WAR (<i>continued</i>). THE WAR IN MIDGARD +BETWEEN HALFDAN'S SONS. GROA'S SONS AGAINST +ALVEIG'S. LOKE'S APPEARANCE ON THE STAGE. +HADDING'S YOUTHFUL ADVENTURES.</p> + + +<p>The conflict between the gods has its counterpart in, +and is connected with, a war between all the Teutonic +races, and the latter 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 Gudhorm's half-brother.</p> + +<p>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 human 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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span> +other hand, that favour Svipdag are, in Hadding's eyes, +foes, and Hadding long refuses to propitiate Frey by a +demanded sacrifice (Saxo, <i>Hist.</i>, 49, 50).</p> + +<p>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 Völuspa 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—</p> + +<table class="parallel" border="0" +cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" summary=""> +<tr><td><p>sa hon valkyrior<br /> +vitt um komnar<br /> +gaurvar at rida<br /> +til Godthjodar</p> +</td> +<td> +<p>saw she valkyries<br /> +far travelled<br /> +equipped to ride<br /> +to Goththjod.</p> +</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p>Goththjod is the Teutonic people and the Teutonic +country.</p> + +<p>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 +Hafle's rocky gard and Hadding in Vagnhofde's. In +Saxo, who relates this story, the Asa-god Thor appears +partly as <i>Thor deus</i> and <i>Thoro pugil</i>, Halfdan's protector, +whom Saxo himself identifies as the god Thor (<i>Hist.</i>, +324), and partly as <i>Brac</i> and <i>Brache</i>, which name Saxo +formed from Thor's epithet, <i>Asa-Bragr</i>. It is by the name +Brache that Thor appears as the protector of Halfdan's +sons. The giants Hafle and Vagnhofde dwell, according +to Saxo, in "Svetia" probably, since Jotunheim, the north<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span>ernmost +Sweden, and the most distant east were called +<i>Svithiod hinn kalda</i>.<a name="FNanchor_23_23" id="FNanchor_23_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a></p> + +<p>Svipdag waged war against Halfdan, since it was his +duty to avenge 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 Orvandel (see Nos. 108, 109). +The revenge for bloodshed was sacred 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 <i>his</i> bounden duty to bring 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.</p> + +<p>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 sends answer +that he prefers to avenge his father's death to accepting +favours from an enemy (Saxo, <i>Hist.</i>, 35, 36).</p> + +<p>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</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span></p> +<p>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 about the efforts of the one camp to capture +him and about contrivances of the other to frustrate these +efforts. Saxo has preserved a partial record thereof. +Among those who plot against Hadding is also Loke +(<i>Lokerus</i>—Saxo, <i>Hist.</i>, 40, 41),<a name="FNanchor_24_24" id="FNanchor_24_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a> the banished ally of +Aurboda. 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 (<i>grandćvus quidam +altero orbus oculo</i>). 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 opportunity 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.</p> + +<p>The rider, the one-eyed old man, is Odin, and the horse +is Sleipner, rescued from the captured Asgard. The</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span></p> +<p>place to which the lad is carried by Odin is the place of +refuge secured by the Asas during their exile <i>i Manheimum</i>. +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 +simultaneous with Hadding's great victory over his +enemies (<i>Hist.</i>, 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 +(<i>Hist.</i>, 51).</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>The one-eyed old man is endowed with wonderful powers. +When he landed with the lad at his home, he sang over +him prophetic incantations to protect him (<i>Hist.</i>, 40), +and gave him a drink of the "most splendid sort," which +produced in Hadding enormous physical strength, and +particularly made him able to free himself from bonds +and chains. (Compare Havamál, 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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span> +something which is called "Leifner's flames," and that +he who has been permitted to drink it, and over whom +freeing incantations have simultaneously been sung, is +able with his warm breath to free himself from every +fetter which has been put on his enchanted limbs (see +Nos. 43, 96, 103).</p> + +<p>The old man predicts that Hadding will soon have an +opportunity 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.)</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span> +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 eyes fixed chiefly on Denmark. Over the +Scandian tribes and the 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 lowlands, +on one occasion were the allies of Svipdag (<i>Hist.</i>, +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 Vans 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 continent +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 hereafter.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span></p> + + +<p class="center">39.</p> + +<p class="center">THE WORLD WAR (<i>continued</i>). THE POSITION OF THE +DIVINE CLANS TO THE WARRIORS.</p> + +<p>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 recognize in them their divine friends and opponents +(<i>Hist.</i>, 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 (<i>Hist.</i>, 53). +In these cloud-masses we must recognize the presence of +the thundering Thor, the son of the one-eyed old man.</p> + +<p>Giants also take part in the conflict. Vagnhofde and +Hardgrep, the latter in a man's attire, contend on the +side of the foster-son and the beloved Hadding (<i>Hist.</i>, +45, 38). From Icelandic records we learn that Hafle +and the giantesses Fenja and Menja fight under Gudhorm's +banners. In the Grotte-song (14, 15) these +maids sing:</p> + +<p> +En vit sithan<br /> +a Svidiothu<br /> +framvisar tvœr<br /> +i folk stigum;<br /> +beiddum biornu,<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span>en brutum skioldu<br /> +gengum igegnum<br /> +graserkiat lit.<br /> +Steyptom stilli,<br /> +studdum annan,<br /> +veittum gothum<br /> +Guthormi lid.<br /> +</p> + +<p>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 <i>fangvinr Hafla</i>, "he who wrestled with +Hafle." 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 protégé Hadding and Hafle's foster-son +Gudhorm. And as Hadding'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.</p> + +<p>When Svipdag learns that Hadding has suddenly made +his appearance in the East, and gathered its tribes around +him for a war with Gudhorm, 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.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span> +The friends of both parties among the gods, men and +giants, hasten to attach themselves to the cause which +they have espoused as their own, and Vagnhofde among +the rest abandons his rocky home to fight by the side of +his foster-son and daughter.</p> + +<p>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 <i>I</i> there is added the following +lines:</p> + +<table class="parallel" border="0" +cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" summary=""> +<tr> +<td> +<p> +Ing väs œrest mid Eástdenum<br /> +geseven secgum od he siddan eást<br /> +ofer vćg gevât. Vćn ćfter ran;<br /> +thus Heardingas thone häle nemdon.</p> +</td> +<td> +<p>"Yngve (Inge) was first seen among the East-Danemen.<br /> +Then he betook himself eastward over the sea.<br /> +Vagn hastened to follow:<br /> +Thus the Heardings called this hero."</p> +</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p>The Heardings are the Haddings—that is to say, Hadding +himself, the kinsmen and friends who embraced his +cause, and the Teutonic tribes who recognised him as +their chief. The Norse <i>Haddingr</i> is to the Anglo-Saxon +<i>Hearding</i> as the Norse <i>haddr</i> to the Anglo-Saxon <i>heard</i>. +Vigfusson, and before him J. Grimm, have already identified +these forms.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span> +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. Odin did +not want this monstrous ship to reach its destination, but +sank it, so it is said, in the Lessö 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, <i>Hist.</i>, 44). According +to Saxo, 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 meant in Grimnersmal (49), where we +learn that Odin, concealing himself under the name Jalk, +once visited Asmund.</p> + +<p>The hero Vagn, whom "the Haddings so called," is +Hadding's foster-father, Vagnhofde. As the word +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span><i>höfdi</i> 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 <i>Svarthöfdi</i> is +identical with <i>Svartr</i>, <i>Surtr</i>. In Hyndluljod, 33, all the +mythical sorcerers (<i>seidberendr</i>) are said to be sprung +from <i>Svarthöfdi</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 <i>Surtr</i> (see No. 89). Thus +the greatest agent of sorcery is descended from <i>Surtr</i>, +<i>Svartr</i>, and, as Hyndluljod states that all magicians of +mythology have come of some <i>Svarthöfdi</i>, <i>Svartr</i> and +<i>Svarthöfdi</i> must be identical. And so it is with Vagn +and <i>Vagnhöfdi</i>; they are different names for the same +person.</p> + +<p>When the Anglo-Saxon rune-strophe says that Vang +"made haste to follow" after Ing had gone across the +sea, then this is to be compared with Saxo's statement +(<i>Hist.</i>, 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 landing of Vagnhofde, who came +to the battle-field and placed himself at his side. +The Scandian fylkings 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 back, and with both his +hands on the hilt of a sword which felled all before it.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span> +Then Hadding invoked the gods who were the friends +of himself and his race (<i>Hadingo familiarium sibi numinum +prćsidia postulante subito Vagnophtus partibus ejus +propugnaturus advehitur</i>), and then Vagnhofde is +brought (<i>advehitur</i>) by some one of these gods to the +battle-field and suddenly stands by Hadding's side, +swinging a crooked sword<a name="FNanchor_25_25" id="FNanchor_25_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a> 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 <i>Heardingas</i> against <i>Ing</i>, 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 <i>Kjalki</i>" (<i>mic heto Jalc at Asmundar, +enn tha Kialar, er ec Kialka dró</i>). The word +and name <i>Kjálki</i>, as also <i>Sledi</i>, is used as a paraphrase +of the word and name <i>Vagn</i>.<a name="FNanchor_26_26" id="FNanchor_26_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a> 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</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span></p><p>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 <i>dii ex machina</i>, +when they appear in person on the battle-field with +their superhuman 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.</p> + + +<p class="center">40.</p> + +<p class="center">THE WORLD WAR (<i>continued</i>). HADDING'S DEFEAT. +LOKE IN THE COUNCIL AND ON THE BATTLE-FIELD. +HEIMDAL THE PROTECTOR OF HIS DESCENDANT HADDING.</p> + +<p>The first great conflict in which the warriors of North +and West Teutondom fight with the East Teutons ends +with the complete 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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>In the later Icelandic traditions he reveals himself as +the evil counsellor of princes in the forms of Blind ille, +Blind bölvise (in Saxo Bolvisus); <i>Bikki</i>; in the German +and Old English traditions as Sibich, Sifeca, Sifka. +<i>Bikki</i> is a name-form borrowed from Germany. The +original Norse Loke-epithet is <i>Bekki</i>, 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's race. He has wormed himself into the favour +of both the contending parties—as Blind ille with +King Hadding—whereof Hromund Greipson's saga has<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span> +preserved a distorted record—as Bikke, Sibeke, with +King Gudhorm (whose identity with Jormunrek shall +be established below). As Blind bölvise he lies in waiting +for and seeks to capture the young "Helge Hundingsbane," +that is to say, Halfdan, Hadding's father (Helge +Hund., 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 +<i>sagna hrœrir</i> and <i>sagna sviptir</i>, the leader of the warriors +forward and the leader of the warriors back—epithets +which otherwise would be both unfounded and incomprehensible, +but they are found both in Thjodolf's 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 protégé +are to be arranged, 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.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span></p> + +<p>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 yet 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 done. A following night, when +Hadding and Hardgrep had sought shelter in a bower +of twigs and branches 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 her giant strength, seized the mysterious +hand, and bade Hadding cut it off 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, <i>Hist.</i>, +36 ff.).</p> + +<p>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.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span> +He sent him a faithful helper, by name <i>Liserus</i> (Saxo, +<i>Hist.</i>, 40). Who was <i>Liserus</i> in our mythology?</p> + +<p>First, as to the name itself: in the very nature of the +case it must be the Latinising of some one of the mythological +names or epithets that Saxo found in the Norse +records. But as no such root as <i>lis</i> or <i>lís</i> is to be found +in the old Norse language, and as Saxo interchanges +the vowels <i>i</i> and <i>y</i>,<a name="FNanchor_27_27" id="FNanchor_27_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a> we must regard <i>Liserus</i> as a Latinising +of <i>Lýsir</i>, "the shining one," "the one giving light," +"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 <i>hinn hvíti áss, hvítastr +ása</i> (Heimdal). In Saxo's account, this shining messenger +is particularly to oppose Loke (<i>Hist.</i>, 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 +Ragnarok the two opponents kill each other. Hadding'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 protection +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 <i>Liserus</i> +and Heimdal as identical (see further, No. 82).</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span></p> + +<p class="center">41.</p> + +<p class="center">THE WORLD WAR (<i>continued</i>). 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. LOKE'S PUNISHMENT.</p> + +<p>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 <i>Hist.</i>, 42)—this +under circumstances 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 grandson +(son's son) of Svipdag, that is, a son of Asmund, +who was Svipdag's son (Saxo, <i>Hist.</i>, 46). Hadding +was a mere boy when 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 considerable +time in the place of refuge which Odin opened for +him, and under the protection of that subject of Odin, +called by Saxo <i>Liserus</i>.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span></p> + +<p>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 +administration 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 +centuries in the traditions concerning the great Hun war. +Saxo (<i>Hist.</i>, 231 ff.) refers this to <i>Frotho</i> III.'s reign. +What he relates about this <i>Frotho</i>, son of <i>Fridlevus</i> +(Njord), is for the greatest part a historicised version +of the myth about the Vana-god Frey (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 <i>Uggerus</i>, "whose age was unknown, +but exceeded every measure of human life," lived in +exile, and belonged to the number of Frotho's enemies. +<i>Uggerus</i> is a Latinised form of Odin's name <i>Yggr</i>, and +is the same mythic character as Saxo before introduced +on the scene as "the old one-eyed man," Hadding's protector. +Although he had been Frotho's enemy, the aged<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span> +<i>Yggr</i> comes to him and informs him what the "Huns" +are plotting, and thus Frotho is enabled to resist their +assault.<a name="FNanchor_28_28" id="FNanchor_28_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a></p> + +<p>When Odin, out of consideration for the common welfare +of mankind and the gods, renders the Vans, who had +banished him, this service, and as the latter are in the +greatest need of the assistance of the mighty Asa-father +and his powerful sons in the conflict with the giant world, +then these facts explain sufficiently the reconciliation 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 paraphrase, by +which Thor is described in Thorsdrapa as "<i>gulli Ullar</i>," +he who with persuasive words makes Ull friendly. Odin +was invited to occupy again the high-seat in Asgard, +with all the prerogatives of a paterfamilias and ruler +(Saxo, <i>Hist.</i>, 44). But the dispute which caused the +conflict between him and the Vans was at the same time +manifestly settled to the advantage of the Vans. They +do not assume in common the responsibility for the murder +of Gulveig Angerboda. She is banished to the Ironwood, +but remains there unharmed until Ragnarok, and +when the destruction of the world approaches, then Njord +shall leave the Asas threatened with the ruin they have +themselves caused and return to the "wise Vans" (<i>i aldar +rauc hann mun aptr coma heim med visom vaunom</i>—Vafthr., +39).</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span></p> + +<p>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 Jotunheim as occurred in +antiquity, and at that time threatened Asgard itself with +destruction? The "Hun war" was in the myth characterized +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 (<i>Hist.</i>, 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 formerly, 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" 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 <i>micil mundi ett iotna, +ef allir lifdi, vetr mundi manna undir Mithgarthi</i>.</p> + +<p>Hadding's rising star of success must be put in connection +with the reconciliation between the Asas and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span> +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 (Svipdag) 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 death, is unable +to survive him and takes his own life. And when +Hadding learns this, he does not care to live any longer +either, but meets death voluntarily (Saxo, <i>Hist.</i>, 59, 60).</p> + +<p>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 <i>Mitothin</i>. In regard to this name, we may, +without entering upon difficult conjectures 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, <i>Mitothin</i> is a thoroughly evil being, who,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span> +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 less harm after than before his +death. It therefore became necessary to open his grave, +cut his head off, and pierce his breast with a sharp stick +(<i>Hist.</i>, 43).</p> + +<p>These statements in regard to <i>Mitothin's</i> 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 narrative has been influenced by the medićval +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, +is 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, +when all the dead in the lower world shall return, has +been a sufficient reason for Saxo to represent him as dead +and buried. That he after death causes a pest corresponds +with Saxo's account of <i>Ugarthilocus</i>, who has +his prison in a cave under a rock situated in a +sea, over which darkness broods for ever (the island +<i>Lyngvi</i> in Amsvartner's sea, where Loke's prison is—see +No. 78). The hardy sea-captain, Thorkil, seeks +and finds him in his cave of torture, pulls a hair from the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span> +beard on his chin, and brings it with him to Denmark. +When this hair afterwards is exposed and exhibited, the +awful exhalation from it causes the death of several persons +standing near (<i>Hist.</i>, 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 +(<i>pic a hiorvi scola binda god</i>—Lakas., 49). That Mitothin +takes flight and conceals himself from the gods corresponds +with the myth about Loke. But that which +finally and conclusively confirms 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 (<i>cćlesti beneficio +vegetatus</i>). Among male beings of his character this +applies to Loke alone.</p> + +<p>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 pe<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span>culiar +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 Ragnarok, 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 he 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 (<i>Loki á orustu vid Heimdall, ok verdr +hvârr annars bani</i>—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 (<i>svâ er +sagt, at hann var lostinn manns höfdi i gögnum</i>—Younger +Edda, 264; <i>hann var lostinn i hel med manns höfdi</i>—Younger +Edda, 100, ed. Res). When Heimdal and +Loke mutually cause each other's death, this must mean +that Loke's head is that with which Heimdal is pierced +after the latter has cut it off with his sword and become +the bane (death) of his foe. Light is thrown on this +episode by what Saxo tells about Loke's head. While +the demon in chains awaits Ragnarok, his hair and beard +grow in such a manner that "they in size and stiffness +resemble horn-spears" (<i>Ugarthilocus ... cujus olentes +pili tam magnitudine quam rigore corneas ćquaverant +hastas</i>—<i>Hist.</i>, 431, 432). And thus it is explained how +the myth could make his head act the part of a weapon. +That amputated limbs continue to live and fight is a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span> +peculiarity mentioned in other mythic sagas, and should +not surprise us in regard to Loke, the dragon-demon, the +father of the Midgard-serpent (see further, No. 82).</p> + + +<p class="center">42.</p> + +<p class="center">HALFDAN AND HAMAL FOSTER-BROTHERS. THE AMALIANS +FIGHT IN BEHALF OF HALFDAN'S SON HADDING. +HAMAL AND THE WEDGE-FORMED BATTLE-ARRAY. THE +ORIGINAL MODEL OF THE BRAVALLA BATTLE.</p> + +<p>The mythic progenitor of the Amalians, <i>Hamall</i>, has +already been mentioned above as the foster-brother of +the Teutonic patriarch, Halfdan (Helge Hundingsbane). +According to Norse tradition, Hamal's father, <i>Hagall</i>, +had been Halfdan's foster-father (Helge Hund., ii.), and +thus the devoted friend of Borgar. There being so close +a relation between the progenitors of these great hero-families +of Teutonic mythology, it is highly improbable +that the Amalians did not also act an important part in +the first great world war, since all the Teutonic tribes, +and consequently surely their first families of mythic origin, +took part in it. In the ancient records of the North, +we discover a trace which indicates that the Amalians +actually did fight on that side where we should expect +to find them, that is, on Hadding's, and that Hamal himself +was the field-commander of his foster-brother. The +trace is found in the phrase <i>fylkja Hamalt</i>, occurring in +several places (Sig. Faf., ii. 23; Har. Hardr., ch. 2; Fornalds. +Saga, ii. 40; Fornm., xi. 304). The phrase can +only be explained in one way, "arranged the battle-array<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span> +as <i>Hamall</i> first did it." To Hamal has also been ascribed +the origin of the custom of fastening the shields +close together along the ship's railing, which appears +from the following lines in Harald Hardrade's Saga, 63:</p> + +<p> +Hamalt syndiz mčr hömlur<br /> +hildings vinir skilda.<br /> +</p> + +<p>We also learn in our Norse records that <i>fylkja Hamalt</i>, +"to draw up in line of battle as Hamal did," means the +same as <i>svinfylkja</i>, that is, to arrange the battalions in the +form of a wedge.<a name="FNanchor_29_29" id="FNanchor_29_29"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a> Now Saxo relates (<i>Hist.</i>, 52) that +Hadding's army was the first to draw the forces up in +this manner, and that an old man (Odin) whom he has +taken on board on a sea-journey had taught and advised +him to do this.<a name="FNanchor_30_30" id="FNanchor_30_30"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a> Several centuries later Odin, according +to Saxo, taught this art to Harald Hildetand. But +the mythology has not made Odin teach it twice. The +repetition has its reason in the fact that Harald Hildetand, +in one of the records accessible to Saxo, was a son +of Halfdan Borgarson (<i>Hist.</i>, 361; according to other +records a son of Borgar himself—<i>Hist.</i>, 337), and consequently +a son of Hadding's father, the consequence of +which is that features of Hadding's saga have been incorporated +into the saga produced in a later time concerning +the saga-hero Harald Hildetand. Thereby the Bravalla +battle has obtained so universal and gigantic a character. +It has been turned into an arbitrarily written version<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span> +of the battle which ended in Hadding's defeat. +Swedes, Goths, Norsemen, Curians, and Esthonians here +fight on that side which, in the original model of the +battle, was represented by the hosts of Svipdag and Gudhorm; +Danes (few in number, according to Saxo), Saxons +(according to Saxo, the main part of the army), +Livonians, and Slavs fight on the other side. The fleets +and armies are immense on both sides. Shield-maids +(amazons) occupy the position which in the original +was held by the giantesses Hardgrep, Fenja, and Menja. +In the saga description produced in Christian times the +Bravalla battle is a ghost of the myth concerning the first +great war. Therefore the names of several of the heroes +who take part in the battle are an echo from the myth +concerning the Teutonic patriarchs and the great war. +There appear <i>Borgar</i> and <i>Behrgar</i> the wise (Borgar), +<i>Haddir</i> (Hadding), <i>Ruthar</i> (<i>Hrútr</i>-Heimdal, see No. +28<i>a</i>), <i>Od</i> (<i>Odr</i>, a surname of Freyja's, husband, Svipdag, +see Nos. 96-98, 100, 101), <i>Brahi</i> (<i>Brache</i>, <i>Asa-Bragr</i>, +see No. 102), <i>Gram</i> (Halfdan), and <i>Ingi</i> +(Yngve), all of which names we recognise from the patriarch +saga, but which, in the manner in which they are +presented in the new saga, show how arbitrarily the +mythic records were treated at that time.</p> + +<p>The myth has rightly described the wedge-shaped arrangement +of the troops as an ancient custom among +the Teutons. Tacitus (<i>Germ.</i>, 6) says that the Teutons +arranged their forces in the form of a wedge (<i>acies per +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span>cuneos componitur</i>), and Cćsar suggests the same (<i>De</i> +<i>Bell. Gall.</i>, i. 52: <i>Germani celeriter ex consuetudine sua +phalange facta</i>...). Thus our knowledge of this custom +as Teutonic extends back to the time before the birth +of Christ. Possibly it was then already centuries old. +The Aryan-Asiatic kinsmen of the Teutons had knowledge +of it, and the Hindooic law-book, called Manus', +ascribes to it divine sanctity and divine origin. On the +geographical line which unites Teutondom with Asia it +was also in vogue. According to Ćlianus (<i>De instr. ac.</i>, +18), the wedge-shaped array of battle was known to the +Scythians and Thracians.</p> + +<p>The statement that Harald Hildetand, son of Halfdan +Borgarson, learned this arrangement of the forces from +Odin many centuries after he had taught the art to Hadding, +does not disprove, but on the contrary confirms, +the theory that Hadding, son of Halfdan Borgarson, was +not only the first but also the only one who received this +instruction from the Asa-father. And as we now have +side by side the two statements, that Odin gave Hadding +this means of victory, and that Hamal was the first one +who arranged his forces in the shape of a wedge, then it +is all the more necessary to assume that these statements +belong together, and that Hamal was Hadding's general, +especially as we have already seen that Hadding's and +Hamal's families were united by the sacred ties which +connect foster-father with foster-son and foster-brother +with foster-brother.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span></p> + + +<p class="center">43.</p> + +<p class="center">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.</p> + +<p>The appearance of Hamal and the Amalians on Hadding's +side in the great world war becomes a certainty +from the fact that we discover among the descendants of +the continental Teutons a great cycle of sagas, all of +whose events are more or less intimately connected with +the mythic kernel: that Amalian heroes with unflinching +fidelity supported a prince who already in the tender years +of his youth had been deprived of his share of his father's +kingdom, and was obliged to take flight from the +persecution of a kinsman and his assistants to the far +East, where he remained a long time, until after various +fortunes of war he was able to return, conquer, and take +possession of his paternal inheritance. And for this he +was indebted to the assistance of the brave Amalians. +These are the chief points in the saga cycle about Dieterich +of Bern (<i>thjódrekr</i>, <i>Thidrek</i>, <i>Theodericus</i>), and the +fortunes of the young prince are, as we have thus seen, +substantially the same as Hadding's.</p> + +<p>When we compare sagas preserved by the descendants +of the Teutons of the Continent with sagas handed down +to us from Scandinavian sources, we must constantly bear +in mind that the great revolution which the victory of +Christianity over Odinism produced in the Teutonic world +of thought, inasmuch as it tore down the ancient mythical<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span> +structure and applied the fragments that were fit for use +as material for a new saga structure—that this revolution +required a period of more than eight hundred years +before it had conquered the last fastnesses of the Odinic +doctrine. On the one side of the slowly advancing borders +between the two religions there developed and continued +a changing and transformation of the old sagas, +the main purpose of which was to obliterate all that contained +too much flavour of heathendom and was incompatible +with Christianity; while, on the other side of the +borders of faith, the old mythic songs, but little affected +by the tooth of time, still continued to live in their original +form. Thus one might, to choose the nearest example at +hand, sing on the northern side of this faith-border, where +heathendom still prevailed, about how Hadding, when +the persecutions of Svipdag and his half-brother Gudhorm +compelled him to fly to the far East, there was protected +by Odin, and how he through him received the +assistance of <i>Hrútr-Heimdall</i>; while the Christians, on +the south side of this border, sang of how Dieterich, persecuted +by a brother and the protectors of the latter, was +forced to take flight to the far East, and how he was there +received by a mighty king, who, as he could no longer be +Odin, must be the mightiest king in the East ever heard +of—that is, Attila—and how Attila gave him as protector +a certain Rüdiger, whose very name contains an echo +of Ruther (Heimdal), who could not, however, be the +white Asa-god, Odin's faithful servant, but must be +changed into a faithful vassal and "markgrave" under +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span>Attila. The Saxons were converted to Christianity by +fire and sword in the latter part of the eighth century. +In the deep forests of Sweden heathendom did not yield +completely to Christianity before the twelfth century. +In the time of Saxo's father there were still heathen communities +in Smaland on the Danish border. It follows +that Saxo must have received the songs concerning the +ancient Teutonic heroes in a far more original form than +that in which the same songs could be found in Germany.</p> + +<p>Hadding means "the hairy one," "the fair-haired;" +Dieterich (<i>thjódrekr</i>) means "the ruler of the people," +"the great ruler." Both epithets belong to one and the +same saga character. Hadding is the epithet which belongs +to him as a youth, before he possessed a kingdom; +Dieterich is the epithet which represents him as the king +of many Teutonic tribes. The Vilkinsaga says of him +that he had an abundant and beautiful growth of hair, +but that he never got a beard. This is sufficient to explain +the name Hadding, by which he was presumably +celebrated in song among all Teutonic tribes; for we have +already seen that Hadding is known in Anglo-Saxon +poetry as Hearding, and, as we shall see, the continental +Teutons knew him not only as Dieterich, but also as Hartung. +It is also possible that the name "the hairy" has +in the myth had the same purport as the epithet "the +fair-haired" has in the Norse account of Harald, Norway's +first ruler, and that Hadding of the myth was the +prototype of Harald, when the latter made the vow to +let his hair grow until he was king of all Norway (Harald +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span>Harfager's Saga, 4). The custom of not cutting +hair or beard before an exploit resolved upon was carried +out was an ancient one among the Teutons, and so common +and so sacred that it must have had foothold and +prototype in the hero-saga. Tacitus mentions it (<i>Germania</i>, +31); so does Paulus Diaconus (<i>Hist.</i>, iii. 7) and +Gregorius of Tours (v. 15).</p> + +<p>Although it had nearly ceased to be heard in the German +saga cycle, still the name Hartung has there left +traces of its existence. "Anhang des Heldenbuchs" mentions +King Hartung <i>aus Reüssenlant</i>; that is to say, a +King Hartung who came from some land in the East. +The poem "Rosengarten" (variant D; cp. W. Grimm, +<i>D. Heldensage</i>, 139, 253) also mentions Hartunc, king +<i>von Riuzen</i>. A comparison of the different versions of +"Rosengarten" with the poem "Dieterichs Flucht" shows +that the name Hartung <i>von Riuzen</i> in the course of time +becomes Hartnit <i>von Riuzen</i> and Hertnit <i>von Riuzen</i>, +by which form of the name the hero reappears in Vilkinasaga +as a king in Russia. If we unite the scattered features +contained in these sources about Hartung we get +the following main outlines of his saga:</p> + +<p>(<i>a</i>) Hartung is a king and dwells in an eastern country +(all the records).</p> + +<p>(<i>b</i>) He is not, however, an independent ruler there, +at least not in the beginning, but is subject to Attila (who +in the Dieterich's saga has supplanted Odin as chief ruler +in the East). He is Attila's man ("Dieterichs Flucht").</p> + +<p>(<i>c</i>) A Swedish king has robbed him of his land and +driven him into exile.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span>(<i>d</i>) The Swedish king is of the race of elves, and +the chief of the same race as the celebrated Velint—that is +to say, Volund (Wayland)—belonged to (Vilkinasaga). +As shall be shown later (see Nos. 108, 109), Svipdag, +the banisher of Hadding, belongs to the same race. He +is Volund's nephew (brother's son).</p> + +<p>(<i>e</i>) Hartung recovers, after the death of the Swedish +conqueror, his own kingdom, and also conquers that of +the Swedish king (Vilkinasaga).</p> + +<p>All these features are found in the saga of Hadding. +Thus the original identity of Hadding and Hartung is +beyond doubt. We also find that Hartung, like Dieterich, +is banished from his country; that he fled, like him, +to the East; that he got, like him, Attila the king of the +East as his protector; that he thereupon returned, conquered +his enemies, and recovered his kingdom. Hadding's, +Hartung's and Dieterich's sagas are, therefore, +one and the same in root and in general outline. Below +it shall also be shown that the most remarkable details +are common to them all.</p> + +<p>I have above (No. 42) given reasons why Hamal +(Amala), the foster-brother of Halfdan Borgarson, was +Hadding's assistant and general in the war against his +foes. The hero, who in the German saga has the same +place under Dieterich, is the aged "master" Hildebrand, +Dieterich's faithful companion, teacher, and commander +of his troops. Can it be demonstrated that what the +German saga tells about Hildebrand reveals threads that +connect him with the saga of the original patriarchs, and +that not only his position as Dieterich's aged friend and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span>general, but also his genealogy, refer to this saga? And +can a satisfactory explanation be given of the reason why +Hildebrand obtained in the German Dieterich saga the +same place as Hamal had in the old myth?</p> + +<p>Hildebrand is, as his very name shows, a Hilding,<a name="FNanchor_31_31" id="FNanchor_31_31"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a> +like Hildeger who appears in the patriarch saga (Saxo, +<i>Hist.</i>, 356-359). Hildeger was, according to the tradition +in Saxo, the half-brother of Halfdan Borgarson. +They had the same mother <i>Drot</i>, but not the same father; +Hildeger counted himself a Swede on his father's side; +Halfdan, Borgar's son, considered himself as belonging +to the South Scandinavians and Danes, and hence the +dying Hildeger sings to Halfdan (<i>Hist.</i>, 357):</p> + +<p> +Danica te tellus, me Sveticus edidit orbis.<br /> +Drot tibi maternum, quondam distenderat uber;<br /> +Hac genitrici tibi pariter collacteus exto.<a name="FNanchor_32_32" id="FNanchor_32_32"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a><br /> +</p> + +<p>In the German tradition Hildebrand is the son of Herbrand. +The Old High German fragment of the song,</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span></p><p>about Hildebrand's meeting with his son Hadubrand, +calls him <i>Heribrantes sunu</i>. Herbrand again is, according +to the poem "Wolfdieterich," Berchtung's son (concerning +Berchtung, see No. 6). In a Norse tradition +preserved by Saxo we find a Hilding (Hildeger) who is +Borgar's stepson; in the German tradition we find a +Hilding (Herbrand) who is Borgar-Berchtung's son. +This already shows that the German saga about Hildebrand +was originally connected with the patriarch saga +about Borgar, Halfdan, and Halfdan's sons, and that the +Hildings from the beginning were akin to the Teutonic +patriarchs. Borgar's transformation from stepfather to +the father of a Hilding shall be explained below.</p> + +<p>Hildeger's saga and Hildebrand's are also related in +subject matter. The fortunes of both the kinsmen are +at the same time like each other and the antithesis of each +other. Hildeger's character is profoundly tragic; Hildebrand +is happy and secure. Hildeger complains in his +death-song in Saxo (cp. Asmund Kćmpebane's saga) +that he has fought with and slain his own beloved son. +In the Old High German song-fragment Hildebrand +seeks, after his return from the East, his son Hadubrand, +who believed that his father was dead and calls Hildebrand +a deceiver, who has taken the dead man's name, +and forces him to fight a duel. The fragment ends before +we learn the issue of the duel; but Vilkinasaga and a +ballad about Hildebrand have preserved the tradition in +regard to it. When the old "master" has demonstrated +that his Hadubrand is not yet equal to him in arms, +father and son ride side by side in peace and happiness to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span> +their home. Both the conflicts between father and son, +within the Hilding family, are pendants and each other's +antithesis. Hildeger, who passionately loves war and +combat, inflicts in his eagerness for strife a deep wound +in his own heart when he kills his own son. Hildebrand +acts wisely, prudently, and seeks to ward off and allay +the son's love of combat before the duel begins, and he is +able to end it by pressing his young opponent to his paternal +bosom. On the other hand, Hildeger's conduct +toward his half-brother Halfdan, the ideal of a noble and +generous enemy, and his last words to his brother, who, +ignorant of the kinship, has given him the fatal wound, +and whose mantle the dying one wishes to wrap himself +in (Asmund Kćmpebane's saga), is one of the touching +scenes in the grand poems about our earliest ancestors. +It seems to have proclaimed that blood revenge was inadmissible, +when a kinsman, without being aware of +the kinship, slays a kinsman, and when the latter before +he died declared his devotion to his slayer. At all events +we rediscover the aged Hildebrand as the teacher and +protector of the son of the same Halfdan who slew Hildeger, +and not a word is said about blood revenge between +Halfdan's and Hildeger's descendants.</p> + +<p>The kinship pointed out between the Teutonic patriarchs +and the Hildings has not, however, excluded a relation +of subordination of the latter to the former. In +"Wolfdieterich" Hildebrand's father receives land and +fief from Dieterich's grandfather and carries his banner +in war. Hildebrand himself performs toward Dieterich +those duties which are due from a foster-father, which,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span> +as a rule, show a relation of subordination to the real +father of the foster-son. Among the kindred families to +which Dieterich and Hildebrand belong there was the +same difference of rank as between those to which Hadding +and Hamal belong. Hamal's father Hagal was +Halfdan's foster-father, and, to judge from this, occupied +the position of a subordinate friend toward Halfdan's +father Borgar. Thus Halfdan and Hamal were +foster-brothers, and from this it follows that Hamal, if +he survived Halfdan, was bound to assume a foster-father's +duties towards the latter's son Hadding, who +was not yet of age. Hamal's relation to Hadding is +therefore entirely analagous to Hildebrand's relation to +Dieterich.</p> + +<p>The pith of that army which attached itself to Dieterich +are Amelungs, Amalians (see "Biterolf"); that is to +say, members of Hamal's race. The oldest and most important +hero, the pith of the pith, is old master Hildebrand +himself, Dieterich's foster-father and general. Persons +who in the German poems have names which refer to +their Amalian birth are by Hildebrand treated as members +of a clan are treated by a clan-chief. Thus Hildebrand +brings from Sweden a princess, Amalgart, and gives her +as wife to a son of Amelolt serving among Dieterich's +Amelungs, and to Amelolt Hildebrand has already given +his sister for a wife.</p> + +<p>The question as to whether we find threads which connect +the Hildebrand of the German poem with the saga +of the mythic patriarchs, and especially with the Hamal +(Amala) who appears in this saga, has now been an<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span>swered. +Master Hildebrand has in the German saga-cycle +received the position and the tasks which originally +belonged to Hamal, the progenitor of the Amalians.</p> + +<p>The relation between the kindred families—the patriarch +family, the Hilding family, and the Amal family—has +certainly been just as distinctly pointed out in the +German saga-cycle as in the Norse before the German +met with a crisis, which to some extent confused the old +connection. This crisis came when Hadding-<i>thjódrekr</i> +of the ancient myth was confounded with the historical +king of the East Goths, Theoderich. The East Goth Theoderich +counted himself as belonging to the Amal family, +which had grown out of the soil of the myth. He was, +according to Jordanes (<i>De Goth. Orig.</i>, 14), a son of +Thiudemer, who traced his ancestry to Amal (Hamal), +son of Augis (Hagal).<a name="FNanchor_33_33" id="FNanchor_33_33"></a><a href="#Footnote_33_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a> The result of the confusion +was:</p> + +<p>(<i>a</i>) That Hadding-<i>thjódrekr</i> became the son of +Thiudemer, and that his descent from the Teuton patriarchs +was cut off.</p> + +<p>(<i>b</i>) That Hadding-<i>thjódrekr</i> himself became a descendant +of Hamal, whereby the distinction between this +race of rulers—the line of Teutonic patriarchs begun with +Ruther Heimdal—together with the Amal family, friendly +but subject to the Hadding family, and the Hilding +family was partly obscured and partly abolished. Dieterich +himself became an "Amelung" like several of his +heroes.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span></p> +<p>(<i>c</i>) That when Hamal thus was changed from an +elder contemporary of Hadding-<i>thjódrekr</i> into his earliest +progenitor, separated from him by several generations of +time, he could no longer serve as Dieterich's foster-father +and general; but this vocation had to be transferred +to master Hildebrand, who also in the myth must have +been closely connected with Hadding, and, together with +Hamal, one of his chief and constant helpers.</p> + +<p>(<i>d</i>) That Borgar-Berchtung, who in the myth is the +grandfather of Hadding-<i>thjódrekr</i>, must, as he was not +an Amal, resign this dignity and confine himself to being +the progenitor of the Hildings. As we have seen, he is +in Saxo the progenitor of the Hilding Hildeger.</p> + +<p>Another result of Hadding-<i>thjódrekr's</i> confusion with +the historical Theoderich was that Dieterich's kingdom, +and the scene of various of his exploits, was transferred +to Italy: to Verona (Bern), Ravenna (Raben), &c. Still +the strong stream of the ancient myths became master +of the confused historical increments, so that the Dieterich +of the saga has but little in common with the historical +Theoderich.</p> + +<p>After the dissemination of Christianity, the hero saga +of the Teutonic myths was cut off from its roots in the +mythology, and hence this confusion was natural and necessary. +Popular tradition, in which traces were found +of the historical Theoderich-Dieterich, was no longer +able to distinguish the one Dieterich from the other. A +writer acquainted with the chronicle of Jordanes took +the last step and made Theoderich's father Thiudemer +the father of the mythic Hadding-<i>thjódrekr</i>.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span></p> + +<p>Nor did the similarity of names alone encourage this +blending of the persons. There was also another reason. +The historical Theoderich had fought against +Odoacer. The mythic Hadding-<i>thjódrekr</i> had warred +with Svipdag, the husband of Freyja, who also bore the +name <i>Ódr</i> and <i>Ottar</i> (see Nos. 96-100). The latter +name-form corresponds to the English and German <i>Otter</i>, +the Old High German <i>Otar</i>, a name which suggested the +historical <i>Otacher</i> (Odoacer). The Dieterich and Otacher +of historical traditions became identified with +<i>thjódrekr</i> and <i>Ottar</i> of mythical traditions.</p> + +<p>As the Hadding-<i>thjódrekr</i> of mythology was in his +tender youth exposed to the persecutions of Ottar, and +had to take flight from them to the far East, so the Dieterich +of the historical saga also had to suffer persecutions +in his tender youth from Otacher, and take flight, accompanied +by his faithful Amalians, to a kingdom in the +East. Accordingly, Hadubrand says of his father Hildebrand, +that, when he betook himself to the East with +Dieterich, <i>floh her Otachres nîd</i>, "he fled from Otacher's +hate." Therefore, Otacher soon disappears from the +German saga-cycle, for Svipdag-Ottar perishes and disappears +in the myth, long before Hadding's victory and +restoration to his father's power (see No. 106).</p> + +<p>Odin and Heimdal, who then, according to the myth, +dwelt in the East and there became the protectors of +Hadding, must, as heathen deities, be removed from the +Christian saga, and be replaced as best they could by +others. The famous ruler in the East, Attila, was +better suited than anyone else to take Odin's place,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span> +though Attila was dead before Theoderich was born. +Ruther-Heimdal was, as we have already seen, changed +into Rüdiger.</p> + +<p>The myth made Hadding dwell in the East for many +years (see above). The ten-year rule of the Vans in +Asgard must end, and many other events must occur before +the epic connection of the myths permitted Hadding +to return as a victor. As a result of this, the saga of +"Dieterich of Bern" also lets him remain a long time +with Attila. An old English song preserved in the Exeter +manuscript, makes <i>Theodric</i> remain <i>thrittig wintra</i> +in exile at Mćringaburg. The song about Hildebrand +and Hadubrand make him remain in exile <i>sumarô enti +wintro sehstic</i>, and Vilkinasaga makes him sojourn in +the East thirty-two years.</p> + +<p>Mćringaburg of the Anglo-Saxon poem is the refuge +which Odin opened for his favourite, and where the former +dwelt during his exile in the East. Mćringaburg +means a citadel inhabited by noble, honoured, and splendid +persons: compare the Old Norse <i>mćringr</i>. But the +original meaning of <i>mćrr</i>, Old German <i>mâra</i>, is "glittering," +"shining," "pure," and it is possible that, before +<i>mćringr</i> received its general signification of a famous, +honoured, noble man, it was used in the more special +sense of a man descended from "the shining one," that +is to say, from Heimdal through Borgar. However +this may be, these "mćringar" have, in the Anglo-Saxon +version of the Hadding saga, had their antitheses in the +"baningar," that is, the men of Loke-Bicke (Bekki). +This appears from the expression <i>Bekka veóld Baningum</i>,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span> +in Codex Exoniensis. The Banings are no more than +the Mćrings, an historical name. The interpretation of +the word is to be sought in the Anglo-Saxon <i>bana</i>, the +English <i>bane</i>. The Banings means "the destroyers," +"the corrupters," a suitable appellation of those who follow +the source of pest, the all-corrupting Loke. In the +German poems, Mćringaburg is changed to Meran, and +Borgar-Berchtung (Hadding's grandfather in the myth) +is Duke of Meran. It is his fathers who have gone to +the gods that Hadding finds again with Odin and Heimdal +in the East.</p> + +<p>Despite the confusion of the historical Theoderich with +the mythic Hadding-<i>thjódrekr</i>, a tradition has been +handed down within the German saga-cycle to the effect +that "Dieterich of Bern" belonged to a genealogy which +Christianity had anathematised. Two of the German +Dieterich poems, "Nibelunge Noth" and "Klage," refrain +from mentioning the ancestors of their hero. Wilhelm +Grimm suspects that the reason for this is that the +authors of these poems knew something about Dieterich's +descent, which they could not relate without wounding +Christian ears; and he reminds us that, when the Vilkinasaga +Thidrek (Dieterich) teases Högne (Hagen) by +calling him the son of an elf, Högne answers that Thidrek +has a still worse descent, as he is the son of the devil himself. +The matter, which in Grimm's eyes is mystical, +is explained by the fact that Hadding-<i>thjódrekr's</i> father +in the myth, Halfdan Borgarson, was supposed to be +descended from Thor, and in his capacity of a Teutonic +patriarch he had received divine worship (see Nos. 23<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span> +and 30). <i>Anhang des Heldenbuchs</i> says that Dieterich +was the son of a "böser geyst."</p> + +<p>It has already been stated (No. 38) that Hadding +from Odin received a drink which exercised a wonderful +influence upon his physical nature. It made him <i>recreatum +vegetiori corporis firmitate</i>, and, thanks to it and to +the incantation sung over him by Odin, he was able to +free himself from the chains afterwards put on him by +Loke. It has also been pointed out that this drink contained +something called Leifner's or Leifin's flames. +There is every reason for assuming that these "flames" +had the effect of enabling the person who had partaken of +the potion of Leifner's flames to free himself from his +chains with his own breath. Groa (Groagalder, 10) gives +her son Svipdag "Leifner's fires" in order that if he is +chained, his enchanted limbs may be liberated (<i>ek lćt ther +Leifnis elda fyr kvedinn legg</i>). The record of the giving +of this gift to Hadding meets us in the German saga, +in the form that Dieterich was able with his breath to +burn the fetters laid upon him (see "Laurin"), nay, +when he became angry, he could breathe fire and make +the cuirass of his opponent red-hot. The tradition that +Hadding by eating, on the advice of Odin, the heart of a +wild beast (Saxo says of a lion) gained extraordinary +strength, is also preserved in the form, that when Dieterich +was in distress, God sent him <i>eines löwen krafft von +herczenlichen zoren</i> ("Ecken Ausfarth").</p> + +<p>Saxo relates that Hadding on one occasion was invited +to descend into the lower world and see its strange things +(see No. 47). The heathen lower world, with its fields<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span> +of bliss and places of torture, became in the Christian +mind synonymous with hell. Hadding's descent to the +lower world, together with the mythic account of his +journey through the air on Odin's horse Sleipner, were +remembered in Christian times in the form that he once +on a black diabolical horse rode to hell. This explains +the remarkable <i>dénouement</i> of the Dieterich saga; +namely, that he, the magnanimous and celebrated hero, +was captured by the devil. Otto of Friesingen (first half +of the twelfth century) states that <i>Theodoricus vivus +equo sedens ad inferos descendit</i>. The Kaiser chronicle +says that "many saw that the devils took Dieterich and +carried him into the mountain to Vulcan."</p> + +<p>In Saxo we read that Hadding once while bathing had +an adventure which threatened him with the most direful +revenge from the gods (see No. 106). Manuscripts of +the Vilkinasaga speak of a fateful bath which Thidrek +took, and connects it with his journey to hell. While +the hero was bathing there came a black horse, the largest +and stateliest ever seen. The king wrapped himself +in his bath towel and mounted the horse. He found, too +late, that the steed was the devil, and he disappeared for +ever.</p> + +<p>Saxo tells that Hadding made war on a King Handuanus, +who had concealed his treasures in the bottom of +a lake, and who was obliged to ransom his life with a +golden treasure of the same weight as his body (<i>Hist.</i>. +41, 42, 67). Handuanus is a Latinised form of the dwarf +name <i>Andvanr, Andvani</i>. The Sigurd saga has a record +of this event, and calls the dwarf <i>Andvari</i> (Sig. Fafn., +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span> +ii.). The German saga is also able to tell of a war +which Dieterich waged against a dwarf king. The war +has furnished the materials for the saga of "Laurin." +Here, too, the conquered dwarf-king's life is spared, and +Dieterich gets possession of many of his treasures.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image327.jpg" width="600" height="410" alt="ODIN PUNISHES THE MONSTROUS PROGENY +OF LOKE." title="ODIN PUNISHES THE MONSTROUS PROGENY +OF LOKE." /> +<span class="caption">ODIN PUNISHES THE MONSTROUS PROGENY +OF LOKE.<br /> +<br /> +<i>(From an etching by Lorenz Frölich Frölloh.)</i><br /> +<br /> +Loke was at one time the comrade of Odin but by his mismating<br /> +with a giantess, Angerboda, he became the father<br /> +of three monsters, the Fenris Wolf, the Midgard Serpent and<br /> +the terrible Hel, at the sight of which latter living creatures<br /> +were immediately stricken dead. Odin was so enraged by these<br /> +issues of Loke's commerce with a giantess, that he had the<br /> +brood brought before him in Asgard, and seizing Hel and the<br /> +snake in his powerful arms he flung them far out into space.<br /> +Hel fell for nine days until she reached Helheim, far beneath<br /> +the earth, where she became ruler over the dead. The snake<br /> +dropped into the ocean that surrounds Midgard, where it was<br /> +to remain growing until its coils should envelop the earth and<br /> +in the end should help to bring about the destruction of the<br /> +world. The Wolf was borne away by Tyr and placed in chains,<br /> +but escaping later at Ragnarok he devoured Odin.</span> +</div> + +<p>In the German as in the Norse saga, Hadding-<i>thjódrekr's</i> +rival to secure the crown was his brother, +supported by <i>Otacher-Ottar</i> (Svipdag). The tradition +in regard to this, which agrees with the myth, was known +to the author of <i>Anhang des Heldenbuchs</i>. But already +in an early day the brother was changed into uncle on +account of the intermixing of historical reminiscences.</p> + +<p>The brother's name in the Norse tradition is <i>Gudhormr</i>, +in the German <i>Ermenrich</i> (<i>Ermanaricus</i>). <i>Ermenrich +Jörmunrekr</i> means, like <i>thjódrekr</i>, a ruler over +many people, a great king. Jordanes already has confounded +the mythic <i>Jörmunrekr-Gudhormr</i> with the historical +Gothic King <i>Hermanaricus</i>, whose kingdom was +destroyed by the Huns, and has applied to him the saga +of Svanhild and her brothers <i>Sarus</i> (<i>Sörli</i>) and <i>Ammius</i> +(<i>Hamdir</i>), a saga which originally was connected with +that of the mythic <i>Jörmunrek</i>. The Sigurd epic, which +expanded with plunder from all sources, has added to +the confusion by annexing this saga.</p> + +<p>In the Roman authors the form <i>Herminones</i> is found +by the side of <i>Hermiones</i> as the name of one of the three +Teutonic tribes which descended from Mannus. It is +possible, as already indicated, that <i>-horm</i> in <i>Gudhorm</i> is +connected with the form <i>Hermio</i>, and it is probable, as +already pointed out by several linguists, that the Teu<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span>tonic +<i>irmin</i> (<i>jörmun</i>, Goth. <i>airmana</i>) is linguistically connected +with the word <i>Hermino</i>. In that case, the very +names <i>Gudhormr</i> and <i>Jörmunrekr</i> already point as such +to the mythic progenitor of the Hermiones, Herminones, +just as Yngve-Svipdag's name points to the progenitor +of the <i>Ingvćones</i> (Ingćvones), and possibly also Hadding's +to that of the Istćvones (see No. 25). To the +name Hadding corresponds, as already shown, the Anglo-Saxon +Hearding, the old German Hartung. The <i>Hasdingi</i> +(<i>Asdingi</i>) mentioned by Jordanes were the chief +warriors of the Vandals (<i>Goth. Orig.</i>, 22), and there +may be a mythic reason for rediscovering this family +name among an East Teutonic tribe (the Vandals), since +Hadding, according to the myth, had his support among +the East Teutonic tribes. To the form <i>Hasdingi</i> (Goth. +<i>Hazdiggós</i>) the words <i>istćvones</i>, <i>istvćones</i>, might readily +enough correspond, provided the vowel <i>i</i> in the Latin +form can be harmonised with <i>a</i> in the Teutonic. That +the vowel <i>i</i> was an uncertain element may be seen from +the genealogy in Codex La Cava, which calls Istćvo +<i>Ostius</i>, <i>Hostius</i>.</p> + +<p>As to geography, both the Roman and Teutonic records +agree that the northern Teutonic tribes were Ingćvones. +In the myths they are Scandinavians and neighbours to +the Ingćvones. In the Beowulf poem the king of the +Danes is called <i>eodor Inguina</i>, the protection of the Ingćvones, +and <i>freâ Inguina</i>, the lord of the Ingćvones. +Tacitus says that they live nearest to the ocean (<i>Germ.</i>, +2); Pliny says that Cimbrians, Teutons, and Chaucians +were Ingćvones (<i>Hist. Nat.</i>, iv. 28). Pomponius Mela<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span> +says that the land of the Cimbrians and Teutons was +washed by the Codan bay (iii. 3). As to the Hermiones +and Istćvones, the former dwelt along the middle Rhine, +and of the latter, who are the East Teutons of mythology, +several tribes had already before the time of Pliny +pressed forward south of the Hermiones to this river.</p> + +<p>The German saga-cycle has preserved the tradition +that in the first great battle in which Hadding-<i>thjódrekr</i> +measured his strength with the North and West Teutons +he suffered a great defeat. This is openly avowed in +the Dieterich poem "die Klage." Those poems, on the +other hand, which out of sympathy for their hero give +him victory in this battle ("the Raben battle") nevertheless +in fact acknowledge that such was not the case, for +they make him return to the East after the battle and +remain there many years, robbed of his crown, before he +makes his second and successful attempt to regain his +kingdom. Thus the "Raben battle" corresponds to the +mythic battle in which Hadding is defeated by Ingćvones +and Hermiones. Besides the "Raben battle" has from +a Teutonic standpoint a trait of universality, and the +German tradition has upon the whole faithfully, and in +harmony with the myth, grouped the allies and heroes +of the hostile brothers. Dieterich is supported by East +Teutonic warriors, and by non-Teutonic people from the +East—from Poland, Wallachia, Russia, Greece, &c.; Ermenrich, +on the other hand, by chiefs from Thuringia, +Swabia, Hessen, Saxony, the Netherlands, England, and +the North, and, above all, by the Burgundians, who in the +genealogy in the St. Gaelen Codex are counted among the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</a></span> +Hermiones, and in the genealogy in the La Cava Codex +are counted with the Ingćvones. For the mythic descent +of the Burgundian dynasty from an uncle of Svipdag +I shall present evidence in my chapters on the Ivalde +race.</p> + +<p>The original identity of Hadding's and Dieterich's +sagas, and their descent from the myth concerning the +earliest antiquity and the patriarchs, I now regard as +demonstrated and established. The war between Hadding-Dieterich +and Gudhorm-Ermenrich is identical +with the conflict begun by Yngve-Svipdag between the +tribes of the Ingćvones, Hermiones, and Istćvones. It +has also been demonstrated that Halfdan, Gudhorm's, +and Hadding's father, and Yngve-Svipdag's stepfather, +is identical with Mannus. One of the results of this investigation +is, therefore, that <i>the songs about Mannus +and his sons, ancient already in the days of Tacitus, have, +more or less influenced by the centuries, continued to +live far down in the middle ages, and that, not the songs +themselves, but the main features of their contents, have +been preserved to our time</i>, and should again be incorporated +in our mythology together with the myth in regard +to the primeval time, the main outline of which has +been restored, and the final episode of which is the first +great war in the world.</p> + +<p>The Norse-Icelandic school, which accepted and developed +the learned hypothesis of the middle age in regard +to the immigration of Odin and his Asiamen, is to +blame that the myth, in many respects important, in regard +to the olden time and its events in the world of gods<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span> +and men—among Aryan myths one of the most important, +either from a scientific or poetic point of view, that +could be handed down to our time—was thrust aside and +forgotten. The learned hypothesis and the ancient myth +could not be harmonised. For that reason the latter had +to yield. Nor was there anything in this myth that particularly +appealed to the Norse national feeling, and so +could claim mercy. Norway is not at all named in it. +Scania, Denmark, Svithiod (Sweden), and continental +Teutondom are the scene of the mythic events. Among +the many causes co-operating in Christian times, in giving +what is now called "Norse mythology" its present character, +there is not one which has contributed so much as +the rejection of this myth toward giving "Norse mythology" +the stamp which it hitherto has borne of a narrow, +illiberal town mythology, which, built chiefly on the foundation +of the Younger Edda, is, as shall be shown in the +present work, in many respects a caricature of the real +Norse, and at the same time in its main outlines Teutonic, +mythology.</p> + +<p>In regard to the ancient Aryan elements in the myth +here presented, see Nos. 82 and 111.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>IV.</h2> + +<p class="center">THE MYTH IN REGARD TO THE +LOWER WORLD.</p> + + +<p class="center">44.</p> + +<p class="center">MIDDLE AGE SAGAS WITH ROOTS IN THE MYTH CONCERNING +THE LOWER WORLD. ERIK VIDFORLE'S SAGA.</p> + +<p>Far down in Christian times there prevailed among the +Scandinavians the idea that their heathen ancestors had +believed in the existence of a place of joy, from which +sorrow, pain, blemishes, age, sickness, and death were +excluded. This place of joy was called <i>Ódáinsakr</i>, the-acre-of-the-not-dead, +<i>Jörd lifanda manna</i>, the earth of +living men. It was situated not in heaven but below, +either on the surface of the earth or in the lower world, +but it was separated from the lands inhabited by men +in such a manner that it was not impossible, but nevertheless +exceeding perilous, to get there.</p> + +<p>A saga from the fourteenth century incorporated in +Flateybook, and with a few textual modifications in Fornald. +Saga, iii., tells the following:</p> + +<p>Erik, the son of a petty Norse king, one Christmas +Eve, made the vow to seek out Odainsaker, and the fame +of it spread over all Norway. In company with a Danish +prince, who also was named Erik, he betook himself<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</a></span> +first to Miklagard (Constantinople), where the king engaged +the young men in his service, and was greatly benefited +by their warlike skill. One day the king talked with +the Norwegian Erik about religion, and the result was +that the latter surrendered the faith of his ancestors and +accepted baptism. He told his royal teacher of the vow +he had taken to find Odainsaker,—"<i>frá honum heyrdi včr +sagt a voru landi</i>,"—and asked him if he knew where it +was situated. The king believed that Odainsaker 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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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 that 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 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,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</a></span> +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 +<i>jörd lifanda manna</i>, where he now was, was not the same +place as Paradise, for to the latter only spirits could come, +and the land of 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 permitted 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 <i>vid-förli</i>, the far-travelled.</p> + +<p>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 Thjasse'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).</p> + + +<p class="center">45.</p> + +<p class="center">MIDDLE AGE SAGAS (<i>continued</i>). ICELANDIC SOURCES IN +REGARD TO GUDMUND, KING ON THE GLITTERING +PLAINS.</p> + +<p>In the saga of Hervor, Odainsaker is mentioned, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</a></span> +there without any visible addition of Christian elements. +Gudmund (<i>Godmundr</i>) was the name of a king in Jotunheim. +His home was called <i>Grund</i>, but the district in +which it was situated was called the Glittering Plains +(<i>Glćsisvellir</i>). 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 +continues, the 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."</p> + +<p>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 sacrifices to him.</p> + +<p>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 Bjarmaland, just as in +Thorstein Bćarmagn's saga, in which king Gudmund's +kingdom, Glittering Plains, is a country tributary to +Jotunheim, whose ruler is Geirrod.</p> + +<p>In the history of Olaf Trygveson, as it is given in +Flateybook, 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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</a></span> +Ingeborg, 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 next 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, and +with him two strangers, who handed Olaf two gold-plated +horns. They said they were gifts from Gudmund on +the Glittering Plains. Olaf filled the horns with good +drink and handed them to the messengers. Meanwhile +he had commanded the bishop who was present to bless +the drink. The result was that the heathen beings, who +were Gudmund's messengers, cast the horns away, and +at the same time there was great noise and confusion in +the hall. The fire was 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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</a></span> +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.</p> + + +<p class="center">46.</p> + +<p class="center">MIDDLE AGE SAGAS (<i>continued</i>). SAXO CONCERNING +THIS SAME GUDMUND, RULER OF THE LOWER WORLD.</p> + +<p>Saxo, the Danish historian, also knows Gudmund. He +relates (<i>Hist. Dan.</i>, 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 Geruthus, 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 <i>sub Chao</i>, 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 Denmark with three ships and a numerous +company, sailed past Halogaland, and came, after strange +adventures on his way, to Bjarmaland, situated beyond +the known land of the same name, and anchored near its<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</a></span> +coast. In this <i>Bjarmia ulterior</i> 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 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 mor<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</a></span>tals.<a name="FNanchor_34_34" id="FNanchor_34_34"></a><a href="#Footnote_34_34" class="fnanchor">[34]</a> +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.</p> + +<p>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 for +ever 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.</p> + +<p>One more trial awaited them. Guthmundus 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 +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</a></span> +the domain of Geruthus, he accompanied them all to the +river, conducted them across it, and promised to wait there +until they returned.</p> + +<p>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 was 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 +foulness. 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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>When the travellers left these places of punishment +they came to a place where they saw cisterns of mead +(<i>dolia</i>) in great numbers. These were plated with seven +sheets of gold, and above them hung objects of silver, +round as to form, from which shot numerous 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 Gorm's men laid +greedy hands on these works of art. But the greed got +its reward. The arm-ring changed into a venomous 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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</a></span> +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.</p> + + +<p class="center">47.</p> + +<p class="center">MIDDLE AGE SAGAS (<i>continued</i>). FJALLERUS AND HADINGUS +(HADDING) IN THE LOWER WORLD.</p> + +<p>Two other Danish princes have, according to Saxo, +been permitted to see a subterranean world, or Odainsaker. +Saxo calls the one Fjallerus, and makes him a +sub-regent in Scania. The question 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 Horvendillus, +and so retired to Undensakre (Odainsaker), "a +place which is unknown to our people" (<i>Hist. Dan.</i> iv.).</p> + +<p>The other of these two is King Hadingus (<i>Hist. Dan.</i>,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</a></span> +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 reaching this river Hadding had seen from the +path he travelled a region in which "a few" or "certain" +(<i>quidam</i>), but very noble beings (<i>proceres</i>) were walking, +dressed in beautiful frocks and purple mantles. +Thence the woman brought him to a plain which glittered +as in sunshine (<i>loca aprica</i>, 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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</a></span> +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 experiment +that the walled place had a strange nature. She +jerked the 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."</p> + + +<p class="center">48.</p> + +<p class="center">MIDDLE AGE SAGAS (<i>continued</i>). A FRISIAN SAGA IN +ADAM OF BREMEN.</p> + +<p>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 concerned, 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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>We must still add to this series of documents one which +is to carry it back another century, and even more. This +document is a saga told by Adam of Bremen in <i>De Situ +Danić</i>. 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. Nevertheless, 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 saga, its point of departure has +been located in Friesland, not in Denmark. Frisian noblemen +make a voyage past Norway up to the farthest +limits of the Arctic Ocean, get into a darkness which the +eyes scarcely can penetrate, are exposed to a maelstrom +which threatens to drag them down <i>ad Chaos</i>, 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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</a></span> +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.</p> + + +<p class="center">49.</p> + +<p class="center">ANALYSIS OF THE SAGAS MENTIONED IN NOS. 44-48.</p> + +<p>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 instructs 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.</p> + +<p>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 Gudmund's kingdom, the Glittering +Plains. The reason is: "Gudmund and his men be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</a></span>came +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."</p> + +<p>The man who compiled the legend about Helge Thoreson +connects it with the history of King Olaf Trygveson, +and pits this first king of Norway, who laboured for the +introduction of Christianity, as a representative of the +new and true doctrine against King Gudmund of the +Glittering Plains as the representative of the heathen doctrine. +The author would not have done this if he had +not believed that the ruler of the Glittering Plains had +his ancestors in heathendom.</p> + +<p>The saga of Thorstein Bćarmagn puts Gudmund and +the Glittering Plains in a tributary relation to Jotunheim +and to Geirrod, the giant, well known in the mythology.</p> + +<p>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 Snö (Snow) and the emigration of +the Longobardians. Hadding's descent to the lower +world occurred, according to Saxo, in an antiquity many +centuries before King Snow. Hadding is, in Saxo, one +of the first kings of Denmark, the grandson of Skjold, +progenitor of the Skjoldungs.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[Pg 323]</a></span> +are visible all day long. On the other side of Odainsaker, +and bordering on it, lies the land of the happy +spirits, Paradise.</p> + +<p>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 +Bose's saga states that they are situated in the vicinity +of Bjarmaland. The saga of Thorstein Bćarmagn says +that they are a kingdom subject to Geirrod in Jotunheim. +Gorm's saga in Saxo says it is necessary to sail past Halogaland +north to a <i>Bjarmia ulterior</i> 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 a voyage to +Finmarken. Hadding's saga in Saxo makes the Danish +king pay a visit to the unknown but wintry cold land of +the "Nitherians," 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 hearsay.</p> + +<p>Those of the sagas which give us more definite local +descriptions in addition to this geographical information<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[Pg 324]</a></span> +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. Gorm's saga in Saxo makes the +Danish adventurers leave sun and stars behind to continue +the journey <i>sub Chao</i>. Darkness, fogs, and mists envelop +Hadding before he gets sight of the splendidly-clad +<i>proceres</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[Pg 325]</a></span></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 found only on the farther +side of the river.</p> + +<p>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 Gudmund, with his sons and +daughters. There are also the Glittering Plains, since +these, according to Hervor's, Herrod's, Thorstein +Bćarmagn's, and Helge Thoreson's sagas, are ruled by +Gudmund.</p> + +<p>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 mention 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 +inhabited by man by the uttermost sea or the Elivogs +(Gylfaginning, 8). The other Jotunheim is subterranean. +According to Vafthrudnismal (31), one of the +roots of the world-tree extends down "to the frost<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[Pg 326]</a></span>-giants." +Urd and her sisters, who guard one of the fountains +of Ygdrasil's roots, are giantesses. Mimer, 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 Jotunheim. 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>In Völuspa (str. 24) we read that when the first "folk"-war +broke out in the world, the citadel of Odin and his +clan was stormed by the Vans, who broke through its +bulwark and captured Asgard. In harmony with this, +Saxo (<i>Hist.</i>, i.) relates that at the time when King Hadding +reigned Odin was banished from his power and lived +for some time in exile (see Nos. 36-41).</p> + +<p>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 <i>first</i> great "folk"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[Pg 327]</a></span>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 breaking 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 <i>during</i> 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, <i>in case</i> they chose einherjes, which is probable, +for the reason that the Vanadis Freyja gets, after the +reconciliation 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.</p> + +<p>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 comes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[Pg 328]</a></span> +to the river <i>Gjöll</i>, over which there is the golden bridge +called the Gjallar bridge. On the other side of <i>Gjöll</i> +is the Helgate, 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.</p> + +<p>A subterranean river hurling weapons in its eddies is +mentioned in Völuspa, 33. In Hadding's saga we also +read of a weapon-hurling river which forms the boundary +of the Elysium of those slain by the sword.</p> + +<p>In Vegtamskvida is mentioned an underground dog, +bloody about the breast, coming from Nifelhel, the +proper place of punishment. In Gorm's saga the bulwark +around the city of the damned is guarded by great +dogs. The word "nifel" (<i>nifl</i>, the German <i>Nebel</i>), +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 (<i>vaporanti maxime nubi simile</i>).</p> + +<p>Saxo's description of that house of torture, which is +found within the city, is not unlike Völuspa'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 Völuspa 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; +Völuspa of <i>ljórar</i>, air- and smoke-openings in the roof +(see further Nos. 77 and 78).</p> + +<p>Saxo himself points out that the Geruthus (<i>Geirrödr</i>) +mentioned by him, and his famous daughters, belong to +the myth about the Asa-god Thor. That Geirrod after<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[Pg 329]</a></span> +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 <i>nidr undir Niflhel</i> (see further, No. 60).</p> + +<p>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 Christian times which +have been cited above and found to have roots in the +myths.</p> + +<p>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 <i>dolium</i>. 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 also reported as having happened. +That the word <i>dolium</i> still in Saxo's time had a similar +meaning appears from a letter quoted by Du Cange, +written by Saxo's younger contemporary, Bishop Gebhard. +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 sub<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[Pg 330]</a></span>terranean +<i>dolia</i> in question are objects in regard to which +our earliest mythic records have left us in ignorance.</p> + +<p>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 <i>Odrćrir</i>, <i>Bodn</i>, and <i>Son</i> applied. +In Havamál (107) Odin expresses his joy that +<i>Odrćrir</i> 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 Havamál is called <i>Odrćrir</i>. In Havamál +(140) Odin relates how he, through self-sacrifice and suffering, +succeeded in getting runic songs up from the deep, +and also a drink dipped out of <i>Odrćrir</i>. 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 Odrćrer 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 Odrćrer (<i>Odhrćrir Urdar</i>). +Paraphrases for the liquor of poetry, such as "Bodn's +growing billow" (Einar Skalaglam) and "Son's reed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[Pg 331]</a></span>grown +grass edge" (Eilif Gudrunson), 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 contents of which the Younger Edda has preserved, +calls the vessels which Odin empties at the giant's +<i>Odhrćrir</i>, <i>Bodn</i>, and <i>Són</i> (Brogarćdur, 6). Saxo, who +reveals a familiarity with the genuine heathen, or supposed +heathen, poems handed down to his time, may +thus have seen the epithets <i>Odrćrir</i>, <i>Bodn</i>, and <i>Són</i> applied +both to the subterranean mead-wells and to a giant's +mead-vessels. The greater reason he would have for +selecting the Latin <i>dolium</i> to express an idea that can +be accommodated to both these objects.</p> + +<p>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.<a name="FNanchor_35_35" id="FNanchor_35_35"></a><a href="#Footnote_35_35" class="fnanchor">[35]</a></p> + +<p>Over Mimer's and Urd's 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 (16), "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 +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[Pg 332]</a></span> +membrane between the egg and the egg-shell." Also the +root over Mimer's fountain is sprinkled with its water +(Völusp., 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 <i>hvítr aurr</i> (Völusp., 18) +and the former runs in <i>aurgum forsi</i> upon its root of the +world-tree (Völusp., 28). The adjective <i>aurigr</i>, which +describes a quality of the water in Mimer's fountain, is +formed from the noun <i>aurr</i>, 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 +get to them, thus have a colour like that of "the membrane +between the egg and the egg-shell," and consequently +recall both as to position, 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.</p> + +<p>Mimer's fountain contains, as we know, the purest +mead—the liquid of inspiration, of poetry, of wisdom, of +understanding.</p> + +<p>Near by Ygdrasil, according to Völuspa (27), Heimdal's +horn is concealed. The seeress in Völuspa knows +that it is hid "beneath the hedge-o'ershadowing holy +tree."</p> + +<p> +Veit hon Heimdallar<br /> +hljod um fólgit<br /> +undir heidvönum<br /> +helgum badmi.<br /> +</p> + +<p>Near one of the mead-cisterns in the lower world<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[Pg 333]</a></span> +Gorm's men see a horn ornamented with pictures and +flashing with precious stones.</p> + +<p>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).</p> + +<p>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.<a name="FNanchor_36_36" id="FNanchor_36_36"></a><a href="#Footnote_36_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a> 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 <i>Hoddmimir</i>, +<i>Hoddropnir</i>, <i>Baugregin</i>.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 authority +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 Glittering Plains are situated in +the lower world, he must be a lower world ruler.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[Pg 334]</a></span></p> +<p>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 therefore natural that the +latter cannot be presented in the most favourable light. +Olaf destroys with his prayers the happiness of Gudmund's +daughter. He compels her to abandon her lover, +and Gudmund, 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 saga-men, 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 towards Olaf Trygveson, was a man +in whose home one might fare well and be happy.</p> + +<p>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 conscious 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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[Pg 335]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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 fimbul-songs, runes, +and incantations.</p> + +<p>The change for the worse which Gudmund's character +seems in part to have suffered is confirmed by a change +connected with, and running parallel to it, in the conception +of the forces in those things which belonged to the +lower world of the Teutonic heathendom 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.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[Pg 336]</a></span> +21, 22), and elsewhere, we meet with the same idea. I +shall return to this subject (see No. 50).</p> + + +<p class="center">50.</p> + +<p class="center">ANALYSIS OF THE SAGAS MENTIONED IN NOS. 44-48. THE +QUESTION IN REGARD TO THE IDENTIFICATION OF +ODAINSAKER.</p> + +<p>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?</p> + +<p>The latter form an exceedingly strange <i>ensemble</i>, and +can therefore easily be recognized. Ruler 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 mysterious 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.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[Pg 337]</a></span></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Odainsaker is not made identical with the Glittering +Plains, but is a separate place on them, or at all events +within Gudmund's 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 +Gudmund does not consider himself authorized 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 +Hades, shows him both the Glittering Fields (<i>loca aprica</i>) +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 be enough to keep +death at bay (see No. 47).</p> + +<p>All the sagas are silent in regard to who those beings +are for whom this wonderful enclosed place is intended. +Its very name, <i>Acre-of-the-not-dead</i> (<i>Odainsakr</i>), and +<i>The field-of-the-living</i> (<i>Jörd lifanda manna</i>), however, +makes it clear that it is not intended for the souls of the +dead. This Erik Vidforle's saga is also able to state, +inasmuch as it makes a definite distinction between<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[Pg 338]</a></span> +<i>Odainsaker</i> and the land of the spirits, between <i>Odainsaker</i> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>The purpose of Odainsaker is not mentioned in Erik +Vidforle's saga. There is no intelligible connection between +it and the Christian environment given to it by +the saga. The ecclesiastical belief knows an earthly +Paradise, that which existed in the beginning and 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 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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[Pg 339]</a></span> +the ideas of the heathen eschatology? The above-quoted +sagas say nothing about the purposes of Odainsaker. +Here is therefore a question of importance to our subject, +and one that demands an answer.</p> + + +<p class="center">51.</p> + +<p class="center">GUDMUND'S IDENTITY WITH MIMER.</p> + +<p>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 anyone 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 subject himself to great sufferings and sacrifices +(Völuspa, Cod. Reg., 28, 29; Havamál, 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 (Havamál, 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 recognize as inviolable. The domain of his rule +belongs to the lower world; it is situated under one of +the roots of the world-tree (Völuspa, 28, 29; Gylfag., +15), and when Odin, from the world-tree, asks for the +precious mead of the fountain, he peers <i>downward</i> into +the deep, and thence brings up the runes (<i>nysta ec nithr</i>,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[Pg 340]</a></span> +<i>nam ec up rúnar</i>—Havamál, 139). Saxo's account of +the adventure of Hotherus (<i>Hist</i>., pp. 113-115, Müller's +ed.) shows that there was thought to be a descent to +Mimer's land in the form of a mountain cave (<i>specus</i>), +and that this descent was, like the one to Gudmund's domain, +to be found in the uttermost North, where terrible +cold reigns.</p> + +<p>Though a giant, Mimer is the friend of the order of +the world and of the gods. He, like Urd, guards the +sacred ash, the world-tree (Völuspa, 28), which accordingly +also bears his name and is called Mimer's tree +(<i>Mimameidr</i>—Fjolsvinsm, 20; <i>meidr Mima</i>—Fjolsv., +24). The intercourse between the Asa-father and him +has been of such a nature that the expression "Mimer's +friend" (<i>Mimsvinr</i>—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. Völuspa (str. +45) predicts that Odin, when Ragnarok approaches, shall +converse with Mimer's head; and, according to Gylfaginning +(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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">[Pg 341]</a></span> +was still young and undeveloped (Hav., 141), and continued +until the end of the gods and the world.</p> + +<p>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 wonderful horn (Völuspa, 28), +the sword of victory, and the ring (Saxo, <i>Hist.</i>, 113, +114; cp. Nos. 87, 97, 98, 101, 103).</p> + +<p>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 are banished—a Paradise +of the peculiar kind, that it is not intended for the souls +of the dead, but for certain <i>lifandi menn</i>, yet inaccessible +to people in general. In the myth concerning Mimer we +also find such a grove.</p> + + +<p class="center">52.</p> + +<p class="center">MIMER'S GROVE. LIF AND LEIFTHRASER.</p> + +<p>The grove is called after its ruler and guardian, Mimer's +or Treasure-Mimer's grove (<i>Mimis holt</i>—Younger +Edda, Upsala Codex; Gylfag., 58; <i>Hoddmimis holt</i>—Vafthrudnism, +45; Gylfag., 58).</p> + +<p>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>i Surtarloga</i>) two<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">[Pg 342]</a></span> +persons are concealed in Treasure-Mimer's grove. Their +names are Lif (<i>Lif</i>) and Leifthraser (<i>Leifthrasir</i>), and +they feed on the morning dews. From them come so +great an offspring that all the world is peopled."</p> + +<p>In support of its statement Gylfaginning quotes Vafthrudnersmal. +This poem makes Odin and the giant +Vafthrudner (<i>Vafthrúdnir</i>) put questions to each other, +and among others Odin asks this question:</p> + +<p> +Fiolth ec for,<br /> +fiolth ec freistathac,<br /> +fiolth ec um reynda regin:<br /> +hvat lifir manna,<br /> +tha er inn mćra lithr<br /> +fimbulvetr meth firom?<br /> +</p> + +<p>"Much I have travelled, much I have tried, much I have +tested the powers. What human persons shall still live +when the famous fimbul-winter has been in the world?"</p> + +<p>Vafthrudner answers:</p> + +<p> +Lif oc Leifthrasir,<br /> +enn thau leynaz muno<br /> +i holti Hoddmimis;<br /> +morgindauggvar<br /> +thau ser at mat hafa<br /> +enn thadan af aldir alaz.<br /> +</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>Gylfaginning says that the two human beings, Lif and +Leifthraser, who become the progenitors of the races that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">[Pg 343]</a></span> +are to people the earth after Ragnarok, are concealed +<i>during the conflagration of the world</i> in Hodd-Mimer's +grove. This is, beyond doubt, in accordance 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 traditions in regard to Hodd-Mimer's +grove and the human pair therein concealed. +They have assumed that Lif 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 Surt's +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 Ragnarok, 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.</p> + +<p>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 flames enveloped all creation, and after the sun had +been swallowed by the wolf and the stars had fallen from +the heavens (Gylfag., 55; Völusp., 54)! And with this +terrible catastrophe before their eyes, Lif and Leifthraser<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">[Pg 344]</a></span> +are supposed to sit in perfect unconcern, eating the morning +dews!</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>If sufficient attention had been paid to the above-cited +evidence furnished by Vafthrudnersmal in this question, +the misunderstanding might have been avoided, and the +statement of Gylfaginning would not have been interpreted +to mean that Lif and Leifthraser inhabited Mimer's +grove <i>only</i> during Ragnarok. For Vafthrudnersmal +plainly states that this human pair are in perfect +security in Mimer's grove, <i>while a long and terrible winter, +a fimbul-winter, visits the earth and destroys its inhabitants</i>. +Not until after the end of this winter do +giants and gods collect their forces for a decisive conflict +on Vigrid's plains; and when this conflict is ended, then +comes the conflagration of the world, and after it the regeneration. +Anent the length of the fimbul-winter, Gylfaginning +(ch. 55) claims that it continued for three +years "without any intervening summer."</p> + +<p>Consequently Lif and Leifthraser must have had their +secure place of refuge in Mimer's grove during the fimbul-winter, +which precedes Ragnarok. And, accordingly, +the idea that they were there only during Ragnarok, and +all the strange conjectures based thereon, are unfounded. +They continue to remain there while the winter rages, +and during all the episodes which characterise the progress +of the world towards ruin, and, finally, also, as +Gylfaginning reports, during the conflagration and regeneration +of the world.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">[Pg 345]</a></span></p> + +<p>Thus it is explained why the myth finds it of importance +to inform us how Lif and Leifthraser support themselves +during their stay in Mimer's grove. It would not +have occurred to the myth to present and answer this +question had not the sojourn of the human pair in the +grove continued for some length of time. Their food +is the morning dew. The morning dew from Ygdrasil +was, according to the mythology, a sweet and wonderful +nourishment, and in the popular traditions of the Teutonic +middle age the dew of the morning retained its +reputation for having strange, nourishing qualities. According +to the myth, it evaporates from the world-tree, +which stands, ever green and blooming, over Urd's and +Mimer's sacred fountains, and drops thence "in dales" +(Völuspa, 18, 28; Gylfag., 16). And as the world-tree +is sprinkled and gets its life-giving sap from these fountains, +then it follows that the liquid of its morning dew is +substantially the same as that of the subterranean fountains, +which contain the elixir of life, wisdom, and poesy +(cp. Nos. 72, 82, and elsewhere).</p> + +<p><i>At what time</i> Mimer's grove was opened as an asylum +for Lif and Leifthraser, whether this happened during +or shortly before the fimbul-winter, or perchance long +before it, on this point there is not a word in the passages +quoted from Vafthrudnersmal. But by the following +investigation the problem shall be solved.</p> + +<p>The Teutonic mythology has not looked upon the regeneration +of the world as a new creation. The life +which in time's morning developed out of chaos is not destroyed +by Surt's flames, but rescues itself, purified, for the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">[Pg 346]</a></span> +coming age of the world. The world-tree survives the conflagration, +for it defies both edge and fire (Fjolsvinnsm, +20, 21). The Ida-plains are not annihilated. After +Ragnarok, as in the beginning of time, they are the scene +of the assemblings of the gods (Völuspa, 57; cp. 7). +Vanaheim is not affected by the destruction, for Njord +shall in <i>aldar rauc</i> (Vafthrudnersmal, 39) return thither +"to wise Vans." Odin's dwellings of victory remain, +and are inhabited after regeneration by Balder and <i>Hödr</i> +(Völuspa, 59). The new sun is the daughter of the old +one, and was born before Ragnarok (Vafthr., 47), which +she passes through unscathed. The ocean does not disappear +in Ragnarok, for the present earth sinks beneath +its surface (Völuspa, 54), and the new earth after regeneration +rises from its deep (Völuspa, 55). Gods survive +(Völuspa, 53, 56; Vafthr. 51; Gylfag., 58). Human +beings survive, for Lif and Leifthraser are destined +to become the connecting link between the present human +race and the better race which is to spring therefrom. +Animals and plants survive—though the animals and +plants on the surface of the earth perish; but the earth +risen from the sea was decorated with green, and there +is not the slightest reference to a new act of creation to +produce the green vegetation. Its cascades contain living +beings, and over them flies the eagle in search of his +prey (Völuspa, 56; see further, No. 55). A work of +art from antiquity is also preserved in the new world. +The game of dice, with which the gods played in their +youth while they were yet free from care, is found again +among the flowers on the new earth (Völuspa, 8, 58; see +further, No. 55).<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">[Pg 347]</a></span></p> + +<p>If the regeneration had been conceived as a new creation, +a wholly new beginning of life, then the human race +of the new era would also have started from a new creation +of a human pair. The myth about Lif and Leifthraser +would then have been unnecessary and superfluous. +But the fundamental idea is that the life of the new +era is to be a continuation of the present life purified and +developed to perfection, and from the standpoint of this +fundamental idea Lif and Leifthraser are necessary.</p> + +<p>The idea of improvement and perfection are most +clearly held forth in regard to both the physical and spiritual +condition of the future world. All that is weak +and evil shall be redeemed (<i>bauls mun allz batna</i>—Völuspa, +59). In that perfection of nature the fields +unsown by men shall yield their harvests. To secure the +restored world against relapse into the faults of the former, +the myth applies radical measures—so radical, that +the Asa majesty himself, Valfather, must retire from the +scene, in order that his son, the perfectly blameless Balder, +may be the centre in the assembly of the chosen gods. +But the mythology would fail in its purpose if it did not +apply equally radical measures in the choice and care of +the human beings who are to perpetuate our race after +Ragnarok; for if the progenitors have within them the +seed of corruption, it will be developed in their descendants.</p> + +<p>Has the mythology forgotten to meet this logical +claim? The demand is no greater than that which is +made in reference to every product of the fancy of whatever +age. I do not mean to say that a logical claim<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">[Pg 348]</a></span> +made on the mythology, or that a conclusion which may +logically be drawn from the premises of the mythology, +is to be considered as evidence that the claim has actually +been met by the mythology, and that the mythology itself +has been developed into its logical conclusion. I simply +want to point out what the claim is, and in the next place +I desire to investigate whether there is evidence that the +claim has been honoured.</p> + +<p>From the standpoint that there must be a logical harmony +in the mythological system, it is necessary:</p> + +<p>1. That Lif and Leifthraser when they enter their +asylum, Mimer's grove, are physically and spiritually +uncorrupted persons.</p> + +<p>2. That during their stay in Mimer's grove they are +protected against:</p> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">(<i>a</i>) Spiritual degradation.</span></p> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">(<i>b</i>) Physical degradation.</span></p> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">(<i>c</i>) Against everything threatening their very existence.</span></p> + +<p>So far as the last point (2<i>c</i>) is concerned, we know +already from Vafthrudnersmal that the place of refuge +they received in the vicinity of those fountains, which, +with never-failing veins, nourish the life of the world-tree, +is approached neither by the frost of the fimbul-winter +nor by the flames of Ragnarok. This claim is, +therefore, met completely.</p> + +<p>In regard to the second point (2<i>b</i>), the above-cited +mythic traditions have preserved from the days of heathendom +the memory of a grove in the subterranean domain +of Gudmund-Mimer, set aside for living men, not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">[Pg 349]</a></span> +for the dead, and protected against sickness, aging, and +death. Thus this claim is met also.</p> + +<p>As to the third point (2<i>a</i>), all we know at present is +that there, in the lower world, is found an enclosed place, +the very one which death cannot enter, and from which +even <i>those</i> mortals are banished by divine command who +are admitted to the holy fountains and treasure chambers +of the lower world, and who have been permitted to see +the regions of bliss and places of punishment there. It +would therefore appear that all contact between those +who dwell there and those who take part in the events +of our world is cut off. The realms of Mimer and the +lower world have, according to the sagas—and, as we +shall see later, according to the myths themselves—now +and then been opened to bold adventurers, who have seen +their wonders, looked at their remarkable fountains, their +plains for the amusement of the shades of heroes, and +their places of punishment of the wicked. But there is +one place which has been inaccessible to them, a field proclaimed +inviolable by divine command (Gorm's saga), a +place surrounded by a wall, which can be entered only by +such beings as can pass through the smallest crevices +(Hadding's saga).<a name="FNanchor_37_37" id="FNanchor_37_37"></a><a href="#Footnote_37_37" class="fnanchor">[37]</a> But that this difficulty of entrance +also was meant to exclude the moral evil, by which the +mankind of our age is stained, is not expressly stated.</p> + +<p>Thus we have yet to look and see whether the original +documents from the heathen times contain any statements +which can shed light on this subject. In regard</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">[Pg 350]</a></span></p> +<p>to the point (1), the question it contains as to whether +the mythology conceived Lif and Leifthraser as physically +and morally undefiled at the time when they entered +Mimer's grove, can only be solved if we, in the old +records, can find evidence that a wise, foreseeing power +opened Mimer's grove as asylum for them, at a time +when mankind as a whole had not yet become the prey +of physical and moral misery. But in that very primeval +age in which the most of the events of mythology are +supposed to have happened, creation had already become +the victim of corruption. There was a time when +the life of the gods was happiness and the joy of youthful +activity; the condition of the world did not cause +them anxiety, and, free from care, they amused themselves +with the wonderful dice (Völuspa, 7, 8). But +the golden age ended in physical and moral catastrophies. +The air was mixed with treacherous evil; Freyja, +the goddess of fertility and modesty, was treacherously +delivered into the hands of the frost giants; on the earth +the sorceress Heid (<i>Heid</i>) strutted about teaching the +secrets of black magic, which was hostile to the gods and +hurtful to man. The first great war broke out in the +world (Völuspa, 21, 22, 26). The effects of this are felt +down through the historical ages even to Ragnarok. The +corruption of nature culminates in the fimbul-winter of +the last days; the corruption of mankind has its climax +in "the axe- and knife-ages." The separation of Lif and +Leifthraser from their race and confinement in Mimer's +grove must have occurred before the above catastrophies +in time's beginning, if there is to be a guarantee that the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">[Pg 351]</a></span> +human race of the new world is not to inherit and develop +the defects and weaknesses of the present historical +generations.</p> + +<p class="center">(<i>Continuation of Part IV in Volume II.</i>)</p> + + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> Viktor Rydberg styles his work <i>Researches in Germanic Mythology</i>, +but after consultation with the Publishers, the Translator decided to use the +word <i>Teutonic</i> instead of <i>Germanic</i> both in the title and in the body of the +work. In English, the words German, Germany, and Germanic are ambiguous. +The Scandinavians and Germans have the words <i>Tyskland</i>, <i>tysk</i>, +<i>Deutschland</i>, <i>deutsch</i>, when they wish to refer to the present Germany, +and thus it is easy for them to adopt the words <i>German</i> and <i>Germanisk</i> to +describe the Germanic or Teutonic peoples collectively. The English language +applies the above word <i>Dutch</i> not to Germany, but to Holland, and +it is necessary to use the words <i>German</i> and <i>Germany</i> in translating +<i>deutsch</i>, <i>Deutschland</i>, <i>tysk</i>, and <i>Tyskland</i>. Teutonic has already been +adopted by Max Müller 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 +that 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 Scandinavians, Germans, Anglo-Saxons, &c., collectively, +while German will be used exclusively in regard to Germany proper.—<span class="smcap">Translator.</span></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> Compare O. Schrader, <i>Sprachvergleichung und Urgeschichte</i> (1883).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> As much land as can be ploughed in a day.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> A translation of the Younger or Prose Edda was edited by R. B. Anderson +and published by S. C. Griggs & Co., Chicago, in 1881.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> +</p> +<p><br /> +"Mennor der erste was genant,<br /> +Dem diutische rede got tet bekant."<br /> +</p> +<p> +Later on in this work we shall discuss the traditions of the Mannussaga +found in Scandinavia and Germany.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> Saturday is in the North called Löverdag, Lördag—that is, Laugardag=bathday.—<span class="smcap">Tr.</span></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> The snow-skate, used so extensively in the north of Europe, is called +<i>Ski</i> in the Norse, and I have taken the liberty of introducing this word +here and spelling it phonetically—<i>skee</i>, pl. <i>skees</i>. The words snow-shoes, +snow-skates, hardly describe sufficiently these skees used by the Finns, +Norsemen, and Icelanders. Compare the English word <i>skid</i>, the drag applied +to a coach-wheel.—<i>Tr.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> Geijer has partly indicated its significance in <i>Svea Rikes Häfder</i>, +where he says: "The tradition anent Sceaf is remarkable, as it evidently +has reference to the introduction of agriculture, and shows that it was +first introduced in the most southern part of Scandinavia."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> The Beowulf poem has the name Scedeland (Scandia): compare the +name Skâdan in <i>De origine Longobardorum</i>. Ethelwerd writes: "Ipse Skef +cum uno dromone advectus est in insulam Oceani, quć dicitur Scani, armis +circumdatus," &c.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> Matthćus Westmonast. translates this name with <i>frumenti manipulus</i>, +a sheaf.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> The first nine books of Saxo form a labyrinth constructed out of myths +related as history, but the thread of Ariadne seems to be wanting. On this +account it might be supposed that Saxo had treated the rich mythical +materials at his command in an arbitrary and unmethodical manner; and +we must bear in mind that these mythic materials were far more abundant +in his time than they were in the following centuries, when they were to +be recorded by the Icelandic authors. This supposition is, however, wrong. +Saxo has examined his sources methodically and with scrutiny, and has +handled them with all due reverence, when he assumed the desperate task +of constructing, by the aid of the mythic traditions and heroic poems at +hand, a chronicle spanning several centuries—a chronicle in which fifty to +sixty successive rulers were to be brought upon the stage and off again, +while myths and heroic traditions embrace but few generations, and most +mythic persons continue to exist through all ages. In the very nature of +the case, Saxo was obliged, in order to solve this problem, to put his +material on the rack; but a thorough study of the above-mentioned books +of his history shows that he treated the delinquent with consistency. The +simplest of the rules he followed was to avail himself of the polyonomy +with which the myths and heroic poems are overloaded, and to do so in the +following manner: +</p><p> +Assume that a person in the mythic or heroic poems had three or four +names or epithets (he may have had a score). We will call this person A, +and the different forms of his name A', A'', A'''. Saxo's task of producing +a chain of events running through many centuries forced him to consider +the three names A', A'', and A''' as originally three persons, who had performed +certain similar exploits, and therefore had, in course of time, been +confounded with each other, and blended by the authors of myths and +stories into one person A. As best he can, Saxo tries to resolve this +mythical product, composed, in his opinion, of historical elements, and to +distribute the exploits attributed to A between A', A'', and A'''. It may +also be that one or more of the stories applied to A were found more or +less varied in different sources. In such cases he would report the <i>same</i> +stories with slight variations about A', A'', and A'''. The similarities remaining +form <i>one</i> important group of indications which he has furnished +to guide us, but which can assure us that our investigation is in the right +course only when corroborated by indications belonging to other groups, +or corroborated by statements preserved in other sources. +</p><p> +But in the events which Saxo in this manner relates about A', A'', and +A''', other persons are also mentioned. We will assume that in the myths +and heroic poems these have been named B and C. These, too, have in +the songs of the skalds had several names and epithets. B has also been +called B', B'', B'''. C has also been styled C', C'', C'''. Out of this one +subordinate person B, Saxo, by the aid of the abundance of names, makes +as many subordinate persons—B', B'', and B'''—as he made out of the +original chief person A—that is, the chief persons A', A'', and A'''. Thus +also with C, and in this way we got the following analogies: +</p> +<p><br /> +A' is to B' and C' as<br /> +A'' B'' C'' and as<br /> +A''' B''' C'''.<br /> +</p> +<p> +By comparing all that is related concerning these nine names, we are +enabled gradually to form a more or less correct idea of what the original +myth has contained in regard to A, B, and C. If it then happens—as is +often the case—that two or more of the names A', B', C', &c., are found +in Icelandic or other documents, and there belong to persons whose adventures +are in some respects the same, and in other respects are made +clearer and more complete, by what Saxo tells about A', A'', and A''', &c., +then it is proper to continue the investigation in the direction thus started. +If, then, every new step brings forth new confirmations from various +sources, and if a myth thus restored easily dovetails itself into an epic +cycle of myths, and there forms a necessary link in the chain of events, +then the investigation has produced the desired result. +</p> +<p> +An aid in the investigation is not unfrequently the circumstance that +the names at Saxo's disposal were not sufficient for all points in the above +scheme. We then find analogies which open for us, so to speak, short cuts—for +instance, as follows: +</p> +<p><br /> +A' is to B' and C' as<br /> +A'' B' C'' and as<br /> +A''' B'' C'.<br /> +</p> +<p> +The parallels given in the text above are a concrete example of the above +scheme. For we have seen— +</p> +<p><br /> +A=Halfdan, trebled in A'=Gram, A''=Halfdan Berggram, A'''=Halfdan<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Borgarson.</span><br /> +</p> +<p><br /> +B=Ebbo (Ebur, Ibor, Jöfurr), trebled in B'=Henricus, B''=Ebbo,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">B'''=Sivarus.</span><br /> +</p> +<p><br /> +C doubled in C'=Svipdag, and C''=Ericus.<br /> +</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> Sol is feminine in the Teutonic tongues.—<span class="smcap">Tr.</span></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> That some one of the gods has worn a helmet with such a crown can +be seen on one of the golden horns found near Gallehuus. There twice +occurs a being wearing a helmet furnished with long, curved, 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.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> Elsewhere it shall be shown that the heroes mentioned in the middle +age poetry under the names Valdere, Walther, Waltharius manufortis, and +Valthere of Vaskasten are all variations of the name of the same mythic +type changed into a human hero, and the same, too, as Ivalde of the Norse +documents (see No. 123).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> Urd, the chief goddess of fate. See the treatise "Mythen om Under-jorden."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> <i>Dayling</i> = bright son of day or light.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> Proofs of Thjasse's original identity with Volund are given in Nos. +113-115.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> In Völuspa the wood is called both <i>Jarnvidr, Gaglvidr</i> (Cod. Reg.), +and <i>Galgvidr</i> (Cod. Hauk.). It may be that we here have a fossil word +preserved in Völuspa meaning metal. Perhaps the wood was a copper or +bronze forest before it became an iron wood. Compare <i>ghalgha</i>, <i>ghalghi</i> +(Fick., ii. 578) = metal, which, again, is to be compared with <i>Chalkos.</i> = +copper, bronze.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> In <i>Bragarćdur's</i> pseudo-mythic account of the Skaldic mead (Younger +Edda, 216 ff.) the name <i>Fjalarr</i> also appears. In regard to the value of +this account, see the investigation in No. 89.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> Ynglingasaga is the opening chapters of Snorre Sturlason's Heimskringla.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_21_21" id="Footnote_21_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> The author of <i>Bragarćdur</i> in the Younger Edda has understood this +passage to mean that the Asas, when they saw Thjasse approaching, carried +out a lot of shavings, which were kindled (!)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_22_22" id="Footnote_22_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> In the same poem the elf-artist, Dáinn, and the "dwarf"-artist, +Dvalinn, are symbolised as stags, the wanderer Ratr (see below) as a +squirrel, the wolf-giant <i>Grafvitner's</i> sons as serpents, the bridge Bifrost as +a fish (see No. 93), &c. Fortunately for the comprehension of our mythic +records such symbolising is confined to a few strophes in the poem named, +and these strophes appear to have belonged originally to an independent song +which made a speciality of that sort of symbolism, and to have been incorporated +in Grimnismal in later times.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_23_23" id="Footnote_23_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_23"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> <i>Filii Gram, Guthormus et Hadingus, quorum alterum Gro, alterum +Signe enixa est, Svipdagero Daniam obtinente, per educatorem suum Brache +nave Svetiam deportati, Vagnophto et Haphlio gigantibus non solum alendi, +verum etiam defensandi traduntur</i> (Saxo <i>Hist.</i>, 34).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_24_24" id="Footnote_24_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_24"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> The form <i>Loki</i> is also duplicated by the form <i>Lokr</i>. The latter is +preserved in the sense of "effeminated man," found in myths concerning +Loke. Compare the phrase "<i>veykr Lokr</i>" with "<i>hinn veyki Loki</i>."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_25_25" id="Footnote_25_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_25"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> 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.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_26_26" id="Footnote_26_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_26"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> Compare Fornald., ii. 118, where the hero of the saga cries to <i>Gusi</i>, +who comes running after him with "2 hreina ok <i>vagn</i>"— +</p> +<p><br /> +<i>Skrid thu af kjalka,<br /> +Kyrr thu hreina,<br /> +seggr sidförull<br /> +seg hvattu heitir!</i><br /> +</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_27_27" id="Footnote_27_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_27"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> Compare the double forms <i>Trigo</i>, <i>Thrygir</i>; <i>Ivarus</i>, <i>Yvarus</i>; <i>Sibbo</i>, +<i>Sybbo</i>; <i>Siritha</i>, <i>Syritha</i>; <i>Sivardus</i>, <i>Syvardus</i>; <i>Hibernia</i>, <i>Hybernia</i>; <i>Isora</i>, +<i>Ysora</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_28_28" id="Footnote_28_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_28"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> <i>Deseruit eum</i> (Hun) <i>quoque Uggerus vates, vir ćtatis incognitć et +supra humanum terminum prolixć; qui Frothonem transfugć titulo petens +quidquid ab Hunis parabatur edocuit</i> (<i>Hist.</i>, 238).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_29_29" id="Footnote_29_29"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_29"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> Compare the passage, <i>Eirikr konungr fylkti svá lidi sinu, at rani (the +swine-snout) var á framan á fylkinganni, ok lukt allt útan med skjaldbjorg</i>, +(Fornm., xi. 304), with the passage quoted in this connection: <i>hildingr +fylkti Hamalt lidi miklu</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_30_30" id="Footnote_30_30"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30_30"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> The saga of Sigurd Fafnersbane, which absorbed materials from all +older sagas, has also incorporated this episode. On a sea-journey Sigurd +takes on board a man who calls himself <i>Hnikarr</i> (a name of Odin). He +advises him to "<i>fylkja Hamalt</i>" (Sig. Fafn., ii. 16-23).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_31_31" id="Footnote_31_31"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31_31"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> In nearly all the names of members of this family, Hild- or -brand, +appears as a part of the compound word. All that the names appear to +signify is that their owners belong to the Hilding race. Examples:— +</p></div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image314.jpg" width="600" height="200" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_32_32" id="Footnote_32_32"></a><a href="#FNanchor_32_32"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> Compare in Asmund Kćmpebane's saga the words of the dying hero: +</p> +<p><br /> +<i>thik Drott of bar<br /> +af Danmorku<br /> +en mik sjálfan<br /> +á Svithiodu.</i><br /> +</p> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_33_33" id="Footnote_33_33"></a><a href="#FNanchor_33_33"><span class="label">[33]</span></a> The texts of Jordanes often omit the aspirate and write Eruli for +Heruli, &c. In regard to the name-form Amal, Closs remarks, in his +edition of 1886: <span class="smcap">Amal</span>, <i>sic, Ambr. cum Epit. et Pall, nisi quod hi Hamal +aspirate</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_34_34" id="Footnote_34_34"></a><a href="#FNanchor_34_34"><span class="label">[34]</span></a> Cujus transeundi cupidos revocavit, docens, eo alveo humana a monstrosis +rerum secrevisse naturam, nec mortalibus ultra fas esse vestigiis.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_35_35" id="Footnote_35_35"></a><a href="#FNanchor_35_35"><span class="label">[35]</span></a> Inde digressis dolia septem zonis aureis circumligata panduntur, +quibus pensiles ex argento circuli crebros inseruerant nexus.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_36_36" id="Footnote_36_36"></a><a href="#FNanchor_36_36"><span class="label">[36]</span></a> The word <i>biti</i>= a tooth (cp. bite) becomes in the composition <i>leggbiti</i>, +the name of a sword.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_37_37" id="Footnote_37_37"></a><a href="#FNanchor_37_37"><span class="label">[37]</span></a> <i>Prodcuntibus murus aditu transcensuque difficilis obsistebat, quem +femina</i> (the subterranean goddess who is Hadding's guide) <i>nequicquam +transilire conata cum ne corrugati quidem exilitate proficeret</i> (Saxo, <i>Hist. +Dan.</i>, i. 51).</p></div> + +</div> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Teutonic Mythology, Vol. 1 of 3, by +Viktor Rydberg, Ph.D. + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY, VOL. 1 OF 3 *** + +***** This file should be named 37876-h.htm or 37876-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/7/8/7/37876/ + +Produced by Charlene Taylor, Katie Hernandez and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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