TeutonicMythology 10012405

m x rA x "
[D N DO N COFE NHAGE N
'
ST OCKHOL MW
B E RLIN NE YO RK
MWM
M
E
MM
W
M
M
M
B
W
(
Gods
o
mic
f the
T H RE E
an
B y V I K T O R RYD B E RG , P h D ,
d
M
Godde sses
Northland
IN
V OL U
ytho
E R O F T H E S E D I S H A CA D E Y : AU T H O R O F T H E L A S T A T H E N I A N ”
AN D OT HE R OR K S .
E S
. .
MM
A U T HORIS E D T RAN SLA TION FRO T HE S E D IS H
W
B Y
RAS US B . AN D E RSON , LL D . .
,
E ! -
U NI TE D
‘
ST AT E S I N I STE R T o D E N A R K ; AU T H O R OF N OB S E
M
“
YTH O L OG Y .
”
V I K IN G T A L E S
”
E TC , .
HON . RAS US B . AN D E R SO N L L D , . Ph D .
E D IT O R I N CH IEF .
J B U E L , Ph D
MW
. . . .
AN A G I N G E D I TO R .
V OL . IL
U B L I SH E D B Y T H E
E NA
N ORRC S O CI E T Y .
LO N D O N CO P E N HAGE N ST O CKH O L B E RLIN NE YO RK

1 9 0 6
M
M
MMW
M
T E U T ON I C Y T H OL O G Y .
M
T AB LE O F CO N T E NT S .
W
V O LU E T O
yth i n R egard to the Lower Wor l d

yt h Conce rning im e r s Grov e’
i mer s Grov e and R egen e ra tion of the Wor l d

’
Gylfag i nni ng s Co smography

’
T he Word H el i n Lingu i s ti c Usage

B order ou nt a i n B et ween H el and N i felhel
D escr i p ti on o f N i fe lhe l
ho the I nhabi tan t s o f H el are
T he C l a sses o f B ei ngs i n H el
T he Ki ngdom o f D e a t h
Va l kyr i es Psycho messenge r s o f D i sea se s
,
-
T he Way o f Th ose who F a ll by the Sword

Ri sti ng wit h the Sp e ar p oi nt
-
Lok e s D au gh t e r H el
’
,
Way to Hades Common to the D ead

T he D oom o f the D ead
The Look s of the Th ingst e ad
T he Hade s D r i n k
T he Had e s H or n Embe lli sh e d wit h Se rp en ts
M
MM
T he Lot of the B l essed
M
Arr iva l a t the N a ga t es
-
The P l aces o f Pu n i shmen t

T he Hall i n N astrands
M
L ok e s C ave o f Pu n i sh ment
’
T he Grea t Wor l d i ll
M
-
M
T he World -
i ll makes the Const ell a ti ons Revo l ve
M
.
O r i gi n o f th e Sa cre d Fi r e
M
M
un di lf ore s I d entit y wit h L od u r
’
N at,
o th e r o f the Gods
Na N a t s Fath e r
’
rfi ,
Gi an t C l an s D escend ed from Yme r

I d entit y of i me r and N i dhad
R ev i ew o f imer s N ames an d Ep ith et s
’
T he e ad yt h
T he oon and the ead
y ths o f the oon God -
L I ST O F P H O T O G RA V U R E S .
VOL . II .
F ron t i sp i ece—Va l kyr i e s Br i ngi ng the Body of a Sl a i n
Warr i or to Va l ha ll a .
Thor D es t roys the Gi an t Thrym

T hePu n i shment of L ok e
Gefion and Ki ng Gylphi
MWW
W
M
T HE YT H I N R E G A R D T O T H E
M
M M
LO E R O RL D .
M
M
WW
( P ar t I V . Con ti nu ed from Volu me
M
AT H AT TI E D ID LI F A N D LE I FT H RASE R GE T T H E IR
R E FU GE I N
’
P LA CE OF I E R s GROV E ? T H E AS E GI R
M
.
I P O SI T I O N I N NU I NA
’
ERS YT H O LO GY . T HE OF
T H E LO ER O RLD .
It is ne c essary to begin this investigation by pointing

out the fac t that there are two versions of the last line of
strophe 4 5 in V afthru dnersmal T he version of th i s line
quoted above was—m m thadcm of aldi r alaz : Thence
.
( from L i f and Lei fthraser i n i mer s grove ) races are ’
C odex U psalensi s has ins t ead—oh thar u m alldr

”
born .
aloe : And they ( L i f and Lei fthraser ) h ave ther e ( in

”
i mer s grove ) thei r abi d i ng place through ag es
’
Of .
cou rse only the one of these versions can from a text ,
histor i cal standpoint be the original one But this does

, .
not h i nder both from being equally legitimate from a

mythol og i cal standpoint provid i ng both date from a time
,
when the main features of the myth about L if and L ei f

thraser were still remembered Ex amples of versions .
equally j u stifiable from a mythological standpoint can be

cited from other literatures than the N orse If we in
.
.
the choice between the two versions pay regard only to

3 53
M
T E U T ON IC MY TH OL OGY
the ageof the m anuscripts then the one in Cod ex U p ,
salensi s whi c h is c op i e d a bo u t the year

,
has the
preferen c e It would however hardly be pruden t to
.
, ,
pu t t he ch i ef emphasi s on th i s fact W it hout drawing .
any c on c lu s i ons I simply po i nt ou t the fact that the oldest

,
vers i on we possess of t he passage says that Li f and L eif

thrase r li v e through ages in i mer s grove N or i s the ’
.
other vers i on m u ch you nger so far as the manuscript in ,
which it i s fou nd is concerned and from a mythological

'
,
s tandpo i nt that too is beyond dou bt correct

, , .
In two pla ce s in the poet i c Edda ( V egtamskv 7 and , ,
Fj olsv i nnsm 3 3 ) occu rs the word denLeg i t

.
, Both times /
.
it is used in such a manner that we perceive that i t is a

mythological termi nus techni cu s having a definite limited ,
application What th i s appl i cation was is not kno wn

. .
It is necessary to make a most thorou gh analysis of the

passages in order to find the sign ification o f this word
agai n since it is of importance to the subj e c t wh i ch we
,
are discussing I shall begin with the passage in Fj ols

.
v i nns mal .
The you ng Svi pdag the hero in Gr ogalder and i n ,
Fj olsv i nnsmal is in the latter poem represented as stand

,
i ng before the gate of a c itadel wh i ch he never saw be

fore bu t w i thin the walls o f which the ma i d whom fate
,
has d estin ed to be his w i fe resides Outs i de of the gate .
is a person who is or pre t ends to be the gate keeper and -

,
c alls himself F olsv i nn He and Svi pdag enter i nto con

j .
versation The conversat i on turns chiefly upon the re

.
markable obj ects whi ch Sv i pdag has before his eyes .
‘
8 B gg. S m nd E dd
u xxvi Th l Jé n E dd S
e, ee u . St vii i
a, . or . ns s o
’
s a, norra .
3 54
T E U T ON I C MY T H OLOGY
Svi pdag asks questions abo ut them and Fj olsvi nn gives ,
h i m in format i on But be fore Sv i pdag came to the cas .
tle wi t h i n wh i ch hi s chosen one a wa i ts hi m he has made

, ,
a remarkable j ourney ( allu ded to in Grogalder) and he ,
has seen strange things ( t h u s in str 9 1 1 3 3 ) which he .

, ,
compares with those wh i ch he now sees and in regard t o ,
which he also desires i nformat i on from Fj olsv i nn When .
the questions c oncern obj ec t s wh i ch are before h i m at the

time of speak i ng he employs as the logic of langu age re , ,
qu ires the pre s ent tense of the verb ( as in strophe 3 5

,
s eg an mer he a t tha t bj arg he i ti r er e l a s é brndi d )

’
.
,
When h e S peaks of what he has se en be fore and el se

where he employs the past tense of the verb In strophe
,
.
3 3 he says
Se g d u m e t h a t Fj Ols i d r , v r,
e r e k t h ik fr e g n a m u n
0 k k v i lj a vit a ; e
hv e t hat g O di rr r
W
,
e r e k fy g a d ak r r s
inn an esmag a ? .
T ell me that which I ask you and which I wish to ,
know Fj olsv i nn : Who made that wh i ch I saw within

,
the cas t le wall of the

L ki g imp l y “ t th f m th t ph m y l b t
'
oo n s a e or l t d i n th e s ro e a a so e r ans a e e
f ll wi g m T ll m F j l i wh t I d wh t I
,
o o n an ne r : e k f y
e, o s v nn , a as o ou , an a
wi h t k w
s o h f th
no d m gi m d wh t I
o o e w wi t h i ths etl r a e a sa n e c as e
w ll ? Ag i t t h i m l p ib ili ty th h w v v l bj
.
”
a f a ns s or a os s e re ar e , o e e r, se era o ec
ti on s f f t S i p d g w l d th b
o ac s v ki g F j l i
a ou wh h d m d en e as n o s v nn o a a e
th t wh i h h p th d w it h i t l w ll with t i f m
.
a ic th e on c e n e as a se e n n a c as e a ou n or
i g Fj l i
n i
o s v nn g d t wh i h p t i l
n re ar t l w ll h h
o c f ar c u ar c as e a e as re e r e n c e
It l p pp t h t S i p d g k w t h t t h d m g t h d m d th
.
a so re s u os es a v a ne a e a e r a a e e
th i g i q t i wh i h w with i th
n s n u es on c t l w ll d th t h
ere ly n e c as e a an a e on
wi h d t m pl t h i k wl d g b y fi d i g t wh i h
,
s e o co e e s no e e f th n n ou c on e or o ne s o e
d gi
s nze i t w th t h d m d th m A d fi ll y it w l d f ll w f m
r as a a a e e n na ou o o ro
th t th d w f h t
.
,
Fj l i w m
’
o sv nn s an s er a e f A ar s Th e e nu e ra e s a re s on s o s as e
m l p i b ility p i t d t h l m l p b b ili t y g i t it
.
f or a oss o n e f ou as a so a or a ro a a a ns
pl d m g h t igh b
.
Th ge en it a a e. as as
g d t h s dn e a re s ne ou r ar no o e r r, an
l d th f v th g h b th t h
. .
d t g d
,
s h ou b f
e r e or e e t t k
re e rr e o ar nerr , no o e en ou o e
t l ti
r an s a g v on s q ll y t i f t y m i g
a e an e ua f th f
s a s a c or t ,
e an n so ar as e ac s
l td
re a e c n n d ; b t th t i
ar e o c er t th
e u a s no e c as e .
3 55
TE U TON IC MY THOL OGY
Fj olsv i nn answers ( str . 34)
U ni 0 k I ri ,
B ari ok O ri ,
V arr 0 k V e g d rasi l,
D o ri o k U ri ;
D e lli n g r 0 k v ar d ar
li th s c i alf r, l oki .
Une and Ire Bare and O re Var and V egdrasi l D ore

, , ,
and Ure D elling the c u nning elf i s watchman at t he

, , ,
Thus Svi pdag seen a pla c e where beings called

has
ds meg i r dwell I t i s well enclos ed and guarded by the
.
elf D elling The myth must have la i d great stress on

.
the fact that the citadel was well gu a rded since D elling , ,
whose cunning i s especially emphasised has been en ,
tru sted with this task The c itadel m u st also have been .
distinguished for it s magnificen c e and for other qualities ,
since what Sv i pdag has seen w i thin its gates has awak
ened hi s astonishment and admira t ion and caused h i m to ,
ask Fj olsv i nn abou t the name of its bu i lder Fj olsv i nn .
en u merates not les s than eight arch it e cts At least three

of these are kno wn by name in other source s —namely
.
“ ”
the dwarfs Var ( Sn Edda ii 4 7 0 D ore and .
,
.
, ,
O re Both the last nam ed are also found in the l i st of

.
-
d warfs incorporated in V oluspa Both are said to be .
d warfs in D vali n s gro u p of attendants or servants ( i

’
D v ahns lldi —V Olu spa

'
‘
I ll ow th e te xt i n most of th e manu s c r i pts of wh i ch B u gge h as
fo
gi ve n var i ou s ve rs i on s On e m anu sc ip t h as i n t h e t e xt an oth e r i n t h e
,
r
m ar g i n L i d s ci a lfr wr itte n i n on e wor d ( i n st e ad of li ths ci a lfr ) Of th i s
.
,
M u n c h m ad e L i d s k i a lfr T h e d at ive l oki f rom lo k a g at e ( c p lu k a lo k a

.
, ,
t o c l os e e n c l o e ) h a s be e n i nt e rp re te d as L ok i a nd th us m ad e t h e c on
.
.
, ,
s
t u s i on c ompl ete
, ,
3 56
TE U T ON IC MY THOLOGY
T he problem to the solut i on of which I am struggling

on—namely to find the explana ti on of what beings those
are whi ch are called dsmeg zr—d emands first of all that
,
’
we shou ld find ou t where the myth located their dwelling

seen by Svi pdag a fact which is of mythologi cal impor
,
tance i n other respects This res u lt can be gain ed pro

.
,
v i di ng D vali n s and D e lli ng s real home and the scene

’ ’
M
of thei r act i vity can be determ i ned Th is is parti cularly .
important i n respect to D ell i ng since his office as gate
M
,
keeper at the c as t le of the ds me gzr d emands that he must

'
have his home where his duties are required To some .
extent this i s also true of D vali n sin c e the field of his ,
operat i ons cannot have been u tterly foreign to the c i tadel
M
on whose wonders h i s su b art i sts laboured -
.
The author of the dwarf list in V Olu spa makes all holy -
powers assemble to consult as to who shall create the

”
dwarfs the art i st clan of the mythology The word
,
-
.
ing o f strophe 1 0 indi cates that on a being by name od
MM
s og nlr ,
otsogni r was bestowed the dignity of chief
,
*
of the proposed artist clan and that he with the assist

-
, ,
ance of D u r i n carried out the resol u tion of the

gods and c reated dwarfs resembling men The author
, .
of the d warf l i st must have ass u med

That odsogner was one of the older beings of the
world for the assembly of gods here in question took
,
place in the morning of time before the creation was com

pleted .
That od sogne r possessed a promethean power of

creat i n g .
‘T h ar ( i n th e as s e m bl y of th e g o ds ) v ar ods og m r mws tr u m ord mn

d verg a allra .
3 57
,
since he carried out the resolve of the gods

M
M
T hat he either belonged to t he circle of holy powers
himself or stood in a close and friendly relation to them
Accord i ngly we shou ld take o dsogner to be one of

,
.
,
M
the more remarkable cha racters of the mythology But .
either he is not mentioned anywhere else than in th i s

—
place we loo k i n vain for the name o dsog ner else
M
wher e —o r th i s name i s merely a skald i c ep i thet which ,
has taken the place of a more common name and whi ch ,
by reference to a famil i ar nota c harac teri s tlca indicates

a mythic person well known and mentioned elsewhere .
It cannot be d i sputed that the word loo ks l i ke an ep i thet .
E g i lsson ( L ex Poet ) defines it as the mead dri nker

. .
-
.
I f the defin iti on is correct then the epithet were badly

,
M
c hosen i f it d i d not refer to i mer who originally was ,
the sole po ss essor o f the mythic mead and who da i ly

—
,
drank of it ( V Olu spa 2 9 dreckr n néd i mi r margi n

'
hv erj an ) . Still nothing can be bu ilt simply on the defi

n i ti on of a na m e even i f it i s correct beyond a doubt
, .
All the indices whi c h are c alculated to sh ed l i ght on a

qu est i on shou ld be collected and examined O nly when .
they all po i nt in the sam e direct i on and give evidence in

,
favou r of one and the same solu tion of the problem the ,
l atter can be regarded as settled .
”
Several of the d warfs c reated by odsog ner are
named in Volu s pa 1 1 1 3 Among them are D vali n

,
-
. .
In the opinion of the a u thor of the l i st of dwarfs D v ali n ,
m u st have occupied a conspicu o u s place among the be

ings to whom he be longs for he i s the only one of th em
,
all who is mentioned as having a number of his own

3 58
M
M
M M
M
M
MM
TE UTON I C MY THOLOGY
kind as subj ects ( Voluspa The problem as to ,
whether o dsogner is identi c al with i m e r should

therefore be dec i ded by the answers to the following
questions : I s that which is narrated about od sogner
MM
also narrated of i mer ? D o the statemen ts which we
have about D v ali n sh ow that he was particularly con
nected with i me r and with the lower world the realm ,
of i mer ?
Of o dsog ner it i s said ( Voluspa
. 1 2 ) that he was ,
maes tr ordi nn dv ergo allm : he became the chief of all

d warfs or in other words the foremost among all ar
, , ,
ti sts
. Have we any s i m i lar repo rt of i mer ?
”
T he German middle age poem B i terolf rel ates that
-
M
, ,
i ts hero possessed a sword made by i mer the Old

, ,
i me der alte who was the most excellent smith in the

,
world To be compared with him was not even Wie

.
land ( V olund Wayland ) still less anyone else with

, , ,
the one exception of H ertri ch who was i mer s co la ,

’
-
bou rer and assisted him in making all the treasures he

,
p roduced
Z uo s nei r (imer s ) m e i sters c hefte
’
i c h n i e m an k an g e li e h e n
i n all e n f ii rs te n ri c h e n
an e i n e n de n i c h n en n e
, ,
d a m an i n d ar b i e rk e nn e
z
D e r war H e rtri c h g e nan t

-
.
D u rc h ir i
s nn e c af r t
so h ae t e n si e g e s e lle s c h af t
an w e rk e u n d an a ll e n d i n g e n .
(B i te rolf ,
V i lki nasaga , which is based on both G erman and N orse
3 59
M
M
TE U T ON I C MY T HOLOGY
M
sou rces states that i mer was an ar ti s t in whose work
, ,
shop the sons of pri nces and the most fa mou s smiths
M
learned the trade of the sm i th Among h i s appren t ices .
are mentioned V eli nt ( Vol u nd ) S i gu rd Sven and Ecki ,

-
,
M
h ard .
MM
Th ese e choes reverberating far do wn i n C hristian
ti mes of the myth abo u t i mer as ch i ef o f sm i ths we , ,
also perceive i n Saxo It sho u ld be remembered what he .
relates about the incomparable trea su res whi ch are pre

served i n Gu dmu nd i mer s do ma i n among wh i ch in -
’
,
add iti on to those already named o c cur arma hu manom m

corporu m habi tu g randi ora ( i p and a bo u t i mi n
M
.
. .
,
gus who pos sesses the sword of v i ctory and an arm

, ,
ring wh i ch prod u ces wealth ( i 1 1 3 If we consult .

,
the poetic Edda we find ,

i mer mentioned as H odd
i mer Tr eas u re i mer ( V afthr as nad og bfng r ’ ’
-
.
,
j o t u nn the
,
g i ant celebrated for his weapons ( Gr o g alde r ,
1 4 ) as H oddrofni r or H odd dropni r the treas u re drop

'
- -
, ,
ping one ( Si grdr 1 3 ) as B angreg i nn the king of the

.
, ,
gold rings ( Solarlj

-
And as shall be shown here
.
,
a fter the ch i ef smiths are in the poe t ic Edda pu t i n con

,
n ecti on with i mer as the one on whose fields they dwell ,
or in whose sm it hy they work .
In the myt hology artistic and creative powers are ,
closely rela t ed to each o t her The great sm i ths of the .
Rigveda hymns the R ibhu s make horses for Indra

, , ,
create a cow and her calf make from a single goblet three ,
equ ally goo d di ffuse veget ation over the fields and make
, ,
brooks flow in the valleys ( Rigveda iv 3 4 9 ; iv 3 8 8 ; , .

, .
,
i 2 0 6 1 1 0 3 and elsewhere ) This they do although

.
, , , , .
360
TE U T ON IC MY TH OLOGY
M
they are mort als who by their merits acquire i mmor
,
tal i ty In the T eu ton i c mythology Si ndre and Brok

.
forge from a pig sk i n Frey s steed which looks l i ke a

-
’
boar and the sons of Ivalde forge from gold locks that
,
grow l i ke other hair The ring D ranpni r which the .

,
”
dw arfs Si ndre and Brok made poss esses itsel f creative ,
pow e r an d produc es ev ery n i nth n i ght eight gold r i ngs

of eq ual weight with i tsel f ( Skaldsk T he .
,
“ ”
mead dr i nker is the chief and master of all these ar
-
ti sts
. And on a closer examination it appears that i
mer s mead well i s the source of all these po wers wh i ch
’
-
,
in the my t hology are represented as creating forming , ,
and ordaining with wisdom .
In H av amal ( 1 3 8 1 41 ) O din relates that there was a

-
ti me when he had not yet a cquired strength and wisdom

B u t by sel f—
.
sacri fice he was able to prevail on the cele
bra i ed B olthorn s son who dwells in the deep and has

’
charge of the mea d fountain there and of the mighty-
M
ru nes to give h i m ( O din ) a drink from the precious
,
me ad drawn from Odrwr i i “

,
T ha n am cc f rova z T hen I b e g an to b l o om
0 c f r o dr v era an d to b e wi s e ,
oc vax a 0 c vel h afaz ; an d t o g row and t hrive ;

o rd mer af o r di wo r d c am e to m e
o rz le i tadi , f ro m w o r d ,
v e rc me r af v e rki d e e d c am e to m e
v e rc s le i tadi . fr om d e e d .
It is evident that Odin here means to say th at the fi rs t

drink which he rece i ved from i mer s fountain was t he ’
turning point in hi s li fe ; that before th at time he had not

-
3 61
M
TE U TON I C MY T H OLOGY
blossom ed had m ade no progress i n wi sdom had pos

, ,
sessed no eloquen c e nor a bi l i ty t o do great deeds but that ,
he acqu i red all this fro m the power of the m ead This .
is precisely the same i dea as we constantly meet with in

R igveda in regard to the soma mead as the liqu id from
M
-
,
wh i ch the gods got creative po wer w isdom and desire , ,
to accompl i sh great deeds Od i n s greatest and most

.
’
celebrated achievement was that he w it h hi s brothers , ,
M
created i dgard Wo u ld it then be reas onable to su p
.
pose t hat he performed t his greatest and w i sest of hi s

works be fore he began to develop fru i t and before he got ,
wisdom and the power of a ct i vity ? It must be ev i dent
MM
to everybody that th i s wo u ld be unreasonable It is .
equally man i fest that among the w orks which he con

s i de re d himself able to perform after the drink from i
mer s fountain had given him strength we must place in
’
,
the front rank those for whi ch he is mo st celebrated : the

slaying of the chaos giant Ymer the raising of the crust
-
,
M
of t he earth and the creation of i dgard Thi s could
,
.
not be said more clearly than it is stated in the above

strophe of H avamal u n less O d i n should have spec i fically
,
mentioned the works he performed af t er receiving the

drink From i mer s fountain and from i mer s hand
.
’ ’
O din has ther efore received h i s creative power and his

, ,
wisdom We are thu s able to understand why O din re

.
garded this first drink from O draerer so immensely i m

po rtant that he could resolve to subj ect himself to the
s u ff erings which a re men ti oned in strophes 1 3 8 and 1 3 9 .
B u t when O din by a single drink from i mer s foun ’
tain is endowed with creative po wer and wisdom how ,
3 62
M
M
TE U T ON IC MY THOLOG Y
M
c an the conclusion be evaded that the myth regarded ,
i mer as end owed with Promethean po wer s i n c e it ,
makes him the possessor of the precious fountain makes
M
,
hi m drink therefrom every day and places him nearer ,
to the deepes t source and oldest activity of these forces

in the universe th an O din hims elf ? T he g iven and
more instantaneous power thanks to which O din was
,
made able to for m the upper world came from the lower ,
world and from i mer The world tree has als o grown
.
.
-
out of the lower world and i s i mer s tree and receives ’

,
from his hands its value Thus the creative po wer with
.
M
which the dwarf list in V Olu spa endowed the
-
mead
”
dr i nker is rediscovered in i mer It is therefore per .
, ,
MM
f ectly logical when the mythology makes him its first
sm i th and chief artist and keepe r of treasures and the
,
ruler of a group of d warfs underground arti sts for

, ,
M
originally these were and remain ed creative forces per
soni fied j ust as R igveda s Ru bhu s who smithied flo w
’
, ,
e rs and grass and animals and opened the veins of the

, ,
e arth for fertilising streams while they at the s ame time

,
made implements and weapons .
That i mer was the profound co unsellor and faithful

friend of the As as has already been shown T hus we .
d iscover in i mer gover ning position ’

odsogner s
among the artists his creative activity and his friendly

, ,
relation to the gods .
D v ali n created by
,
od sogner is in the N orse s agas ,
o f the middle ages remember ed as an extraor d inary ar

ti st
. He is there said to have assiste d in the fashioning
of the swor d T yrfing ( Fornald S aga i o f Freyj a s
.
, .
’
3 63
TE U TON IC MY THOLOGY
splend i d orn ament B risingamen celebr ate d also in A ngl o
M
,
Saxon poetry ( Fornald Saga i . In the Sno f ri d

, .
song which is attribu ted to Harald Fai rhai r the drapa

, ,
i s l i kened unto a work of art which rings forth from ,
beneath the fingers o f D vali n ( hrynr from ear D ooli n s ’
M
g r e i p—F o rnm Saga x 2 0 8 ; Flat
.
,
. i T his beau .
, .
t i ful po et i cal figu re is all the more appropriately applied ,
since D vali n was not only the pr oducer o f the beautifu l

works of the smith but also s age and skald He was
,
.
one o f the f ew chosen ones who in time s morn i ng were ’
M
permitte d to taste of i mer s mead which therefore is
’
called his d rink ( D vali n s drykkr—Y ounger Edda

,
’
,
i
B ut in the earliest antiquity no one partook of th i s
drink who did not get it from i mer himself .
D vali n is one of the most anci ent rune master s one -

,
of those who brought the knowledge of runes to those
M
beings of creation who were end owed with reason ( Hav
am a ,
l But all knowledge o f runes came origin
ally from i mer As skald and runic scholar D vali n
.
, ,
therefore stoo d in the relation of disciple u nder the ruler

,
o f the lower world .
The myth in regard to the runes ( cp N o 2 6 ) men . .
ti one d three apprentices who aft erwards spread the

,
knowledge of runes each among his own class o f be

ings Od in who in the beginning was igno rant Of the
.
,
mighty and benefic ent ru ne songs ( Havamal 1 3 8 -

,
was by birth i mer s chief discipl e and taught the

’
,
knowledge of runes among hi s kinsmen the A sas ( Hav ,
amé l , and among men hi s p rot é gés ( Si gdri fm

,
.
,
3 64
M
MM
TE UTON IC MY TH OLOGY
T he other d isciples were D ain ( D amn ) and D va

lin ( D vali nn ) D ain like D vali n i s an artist c reated
.
, ,
M
by odsogn er ( V Olu spa 1 1 H au ks Cod ex ) He i s , , .
mentioned side by side with D vali n and like him he has

tasted the mead o f poesy ( mnnnwgg D di ns—Fornm
,
'
Saga v , . D ain and D vali n taught the runes to

their clans that i s to elves and dwarfs ( Hav amal
, , ,
M
M
N or were the giants neglected They learned the runes .
from A dr Since the other teachers of ru nes belong
M
.
to the clans to wh i ch they teach the knowledge o f ru nes

,
O din among Asas D ain among elves D v ali n among

dw arfs —there can be no danger of m aking a mist ake
, ,
”
,
i f we assume that Arr/1dr was a giant An d as i me r
M
.
himself is a giant and as the name Aw ide ( =Asv i nr )

—
,
mean s Asa fri end and as no one particularly no one

-
among the giant s —

,
has so much right as i mer to this

epi thet wh i ch has its cou nterpa rt in Odin s epithet
,
’
,
i ni s vi m ( i mer s fri end ) then caution dict ates that

’
we k eep open the highly probable possibility that i mer

’
himsel f is meant by Asvi ar '

.
All that has here been stated about D vali n shows that
the mythology has referr ed him to a place within the do
main o i i mer s activ i ty We have still to point out
’
.
two statements in regard to him Sol is said to have .
bee n his lei ka ( Fornald i 47 5 ; Allv i sm 1 7 ; Y ounger .

, .
,
Edda i 4 7 2
, . Lei ka as a femi nine word and re
, ,
~
ferring to a personal obj ect mean s a you ng girl a mai , ,
den whom one keeps at his side and in w hose am u se

, ,
ment one t akes part at least as a spectator The exam .
ples which we have of the use of the word indicate that

3 65
the lei lea hersel f and the person whose lei ka she is are
, ,
presupposed to have the same home Sisters are called .
lei knr s i nce they live together

,
P a rents can call a fos .
ter daughter th eir lei ka In the neuter gen der lei ka mean s
- .
a plaything a doll or toy and even in this sen se it can

, ,
rhetor i cally be applied to a person .
In the same manner as Sol is called D vali n s lei ka so ’
M
,
the son o f N at and D elling D ag i s called lei kr D vali ns , , ,
the lad or yo u th with whom D vali n amused himself

( F pj l 2 4 )
M
o rn s a .
,
We have here found two points of contact between the

mythic characters D vali n and D elling D ag who is .
,
M
D vali n s lei kr is B ell i ng s son D elling is the watch
’ ’
.
,
man of the castle of the ds megi r which D vali n s artists ,

’
decorated .
Thus the whole gr oup of pe rsons am ong whom D vali n

i s placed— i mer who is his teacher ; Sol who is his
, ,
lei ka; D ag who is hi s lei ht ; N at who is the mother o f

h i s lei hr; D elling who i s the father of hi s lei ht —have
, ,
their d wellings in i mer s domain and belong to the ’

,
subterr anean cl ass o f the nnmi na of T eutonic mythol

ogy .
From regions situated below i dga rd s horizon N at ’
, ,
Sol and D ag draw their chariots upon the he avens O n

, .
the eastern border of the lower wor ld i s the point of de

parture for their regular j ou rneys over the heavens of
the u pper worl d ( the uppe r heavens npphi mi nn—
“
,
a
V Olu spa 3 ; V afthr

,
20 and elsewhere ; npphei mr
.
, ,
Alvm .
, N at has her home and as sh all be shown ,
her eafter her birthplace in dales beneath the ash Yg dra

,
3 66
TE U T ON I C MY T H OLOGY
si l
. There she takes her rest a fter the circu it of her
j ourney has been completed In the lower world So ] .
and N at s son D ag also have their halls where they

’
, ,
take thei r rest B u t where D elli ng s wife and son have

.
’
thei r dwell i ngs there we shou ld also look for D elli ng s ’
own abode As the husband of N at and the father of

.
D ag D ell i ng occupies the same place among the d i vini

,
M
ties of nat u re as the dawn and the glow of sunrise amon g
the phenomena o f nature And outside the doors of .
D elling the king of dawn mythology has also locat ed

, ,
“
the d warf thj odreyri r ( he who moves the people who
’
sings songs of awakening and blessing upon the worl d :

“p wer to the Asas success to the elves wisdom to
o , ,
”
H roptatyr ( afl as om enn alfnm fra/ma hyggi o H rop
taty—Ha y am
, ,
.
,
Unl i ke his k i nsmen N at D ag and Sol D elling has no
M
, , , ,
d u ty which requires him to be absen t from home a part o f

the day The dawn is merely a reflection of i dgard s
.
’
eastern horizon from D elli ng s s u bterranean dwelling ’

;
It can be seen only when N at leaves the upper heaven and

before D ag and Sol have come forward and i t makes no ,
j o u rney aro u nd the world F rom a mythological stand .
point i t would therefore be possible to entrust the keeping

O f the castle of the dsmeg i r to the elf of dawn T he s u n .
set glow has another genius Billing and he too is a crea

-
, , , ,
tion of odsogner i f the dwarf l i st i s correct ( V Olu spa

,
-
,
Sol who on her way i s pursued by two giant mon

,
ste rs in wol f guise is secure when she comes to her forest

-
,
of the Varns behind the western horizon ( ti l varna vi dar

Gri mn .
,
There in western h alls ( V egtamskv 1 1 ) .
,
3 67
MM
TE U TON I C MY THOLOGY
—
d wells B illing the ch i ef of the Varns ( B i lli ng aeold Ver
,
M
nnm Cod Ex on
. .
,T here rests his daughter Rind
bright as the su n on her bed and hi s body guard kee ps
,
-
watch with kind led lights and burning torches ( Havam .

,
Thus B i ll i ng is the watchman of the weste rn

bo undary o f i mer s domain D elling of the eastern
’
, .
From this it follows

T h at the citadel of the demeg i r is situated in i mer s ’
lower world and there in the regions of the elf of da wn

, .
T hat Svi pdag who has seen the citadel of the dsmegi r
,
‘
has made a j ourney in the lower world be fore he found

eng lad and secured her as hi s wi fe .
The conclusi on to wh i ch we have a rr ived in regard to

the subterranean situation of the citadel is entirely con
firmed by the other passage i n t he po et i c Edda where the ,
dsmegi r are mentioned by this name Here we have an .
opportunity of taking a loo k within thei r castle and of ,
see i ng the h all decorated with l avish splendour for the re

cepti on of an expec ted guest .
V egtamskv i da tells us that O din being ala rmed in re ,
gard to the fate of his son Balder made a j ourney to the ,
lower world for the purpose of learning from a vala what

foreboded his favourite son When O din had rode .
through N i felhel and come to green pastures ( foldveg r ) ,
he fo u nd there below a hall decorated for festivity and ,
he asks the prophetess

hv ae i m e ru b e kki r
b ang u m s ani r ,
fl ee t f ag rli g
fl oth g u lli ?
3 68
TE U T ON I C MY TH OL OGY
For whom are the ben ches strewn with rings and the
”
g old beauti fully scattered through the rooms ?
And the v ala answer s

H er en dr
s ta B alldri
of b ru g g i n m i o dr,
sk i rar v ae i g ar,
li g g r s k i o lldr yfi r
aen as m e g i r
i of vaeni .
Here stands for Balder mead prepared pure drink ; ,
shields are overspread and the dsmegi r are wa i ting i m

,
”
patiently .
Thus there stands i n the lower world a hall splen d idly

decorated awaiting Balder s arrival A s at oth e r great
’
.
feasts the benches are str ewn ( cp brei da bekki s tra

, .
,
bekki bna bekki ) with costly things and the pure won
, ,
de rfu l me ad of the lower world is already served as an

o ff ering to the god O nly the shields whi ch cover the
.
mead vessel nee d to be lifted o ff and all is ready for the

-
feast Who or what persons have in so good season

.
, ,
made these preparati ons ? The vala explains when she

men t ions the dsmegi r and speaks of thei r longing for Bal
der It is this longing which has found u tterance in the
.
preparations already completed for his reception T hu s .

,
when B alder gets to the lower world he is to enter the ,
citadel of the dsmegi r and there be welcomed by a sacri

fice c onsisting of the nob lest l i quid of creation the
, ,
strength giving s oma madhn of T eutonic mythology In

- -
.
the old N orse heathen liter ature there is only one more
place where we find the word dsmegi r and that is in O laf ,
3 69
T rygveson s s aga ch 1 6 ( H ei msk ri ngla ) For the sake

’
, . .
of completeness this passage should also be considered ,
and when analysed it too shed s much and impo rtant

, ,
light on the subj ect .
We read in this sa ga that Jarl H akon proclaimed

throughout his k i ngdom that the inhabit ants should look
a fter thei r temples and sacrific es and so was done Jarl , .
Hakon s hird skald named E i nar Skalaglam who in the

’
-
, ,
“ ”
poem V ellekla celebrated his d eeds and exploits men ,
t i ons hi s interest in the heathen worship and the good re ,
su lts this was supposed to have produced for the j ar ]
himself and for the welfare of his land Einar says : .
O k h e rth arfir hv e rfa

h lakk ar m éts ti l b léta,
rau db r i k ar f re m s t rac ki r
r i k r, as m e g i r, s li k u .
N u g ra r j Ord s e m ad an & c , .
in p rose : 0 h hertharfir ds megi r hverfa ti l blota;

’
P ut
'
hlakkar mots rau dbri kar ri hr rceki r f ms t

re s li ku . Nu
j brdm dd
'
reer an
g se .
T ranslation : “And the dsmegi r req uired in war , t u rn

themselves to the sacrifici al feasts The mighty pro .
moter of the meeting of the red target of the goddess of

war has honour and advantage thereof N ow grows the .
”
earth green as heretofore .
There can be no doubt that the dsmeg i r required in

”
war refer to the men in the territory ruled by Hakon ,
“
and th at the mighty promoter of the meeting of the red
”
target o f the goddess of war refers to the w arlike Hakon
himself and hence the meaning of the passage in i ts pla i n
,
3 7O
TE U T ON I C M YT H OLOGY
prose form is s i mply t h i s : Hakon s men aga i n devote ’
themselves to t he d i v i ne sa c r i fi ces Th i s i s bo t h an hon

.
our and an advantage to Hakon and the earth again ,

”
yields bountiful harvests .
T o these thoughts the sk ald has given a garb c ommon

in poetry o f art by adapt i ng them to a mythological ba c k
,
groun d T he persons i n this ba ckground are the deme g i r

.
“
and a mythical be i ng called the promoter of the red tar
”
get rand bri kar maki r The persons in the foreground
, .
are the men in Hakon s realm and Hakon h i msel f The

’
.
persons in the foregrou nd are permitted to borrow the

names of the corresponding persons in the background ,
bu t on the condition that the borro wed names are fur

ni shed w i th adject i ves wh i c h emphasise the specifi c d i f
feren c e between the or i g i nal myth i c lenders and the real

bo rrowers Thus Hakon s subj ects are allowed to bor
.
’
row the appellation dsmeg i r bu t this is then furnished

, .
with the adj ective hertharfir ( required in war ) whereby

.
they are spe cifically dist i nguished from t he ds megi r of the

mythical background and Hakon on h i s part is allowed
,
to borrow the appellation rau dbri kar re ki r ( the promoter

of the red target ) bu t this appe llation is then fu rnished
,
with the adj ective phrase hlaklear mo ts ( of the meeting

’
of the goddess of war ) whereby Hakon is spec i fically d i s

,
ti ngu i shed from the rau dbri kar m ki r of the mythical

backgro u nd .
The rule also requires that at least on that point of ,
whi ch the skald happens to be treating the persons in the ,
mytholog i cal background should hold a rel ation to each

other which resemble s and can be compared with the re
, ,
37 I
lation between the pe rsons in the foreground H akon s ’

.
men stand in a subordinate relation to Hakon hims elf ;

and so m u st the ds meg i r stand in a s u bordinate relation
to th at being whi ch is call ed rau d bri kar rceki r providing ,
the skald in this strophe as in the others has produced a

tenable parallel H ak on is for his subj ects one who ex
.
, ,
horts them to piety and fea r of the gods Randbri kar .
re hi r his counterpart in the m yt hological background

, ,
m u st have been the same for his dsmegn Hakon s su b '

.
’
j ects o ff er sacrifices and this is an advantage

, and an hon
o u r to Hakon and the earth grows green a gain
,
In the .
mythology the drmegi r must have held some sacrific i al

feast and raud bri kar raaki r must have had advantage an d
,
honour and the earth must have regained its fertility

, .
O nly on these conditions is the figure o f comparison to

the point and of such a character that it could be pre
,
sented un challenged to heathen ears familiar with the

myths It should be added that Einar s greatness as a ’
.
skald i s not least sh own by hi s ab i li t y to carry ou t logi

cally such figures of comparison We sh all later on give .
other examples of this .
Who is then this raudbri kar rceki r the promoter of

, , ,
”
the red target ?
In the mythological language raudbri k ( red target )
c an mean no other object than the su n C ompare rbdnll
'
.
,
wh i ch is frequently u sed to designate the su n I f this .
needed confirmation then we have it immediately at han d

,
in the manner in which the word is appl i ed in the continu

ation of the paraphra se adapted to Hakon A common .
paraphr ase for the shield i s the sun with suitable adj ec
37 2
ti y es and thus randbri k i s applied here The adj ective

, .
“
phr ase i s here hlakkar wri ts of the meeting of the war
,
”
goddess ( that i s q ualifying the red target ) whe reby
, ,
the re d target su n ) which i s an att ri bute of the

,
mythic ra ki t of the backg round is changed to a shield , ,
which becomes an attribute of the historical rceki r of the

foregrou nd n amely Hakon j arl the mighty w ar rior
, , .
A c cordingly raudbri kar reeki e of the myth ology must be

,
a m asculine d ivinity st an d ing in some relation to the

su n
.
T his su n go d must also have been upon the whole a

-
god of pe ace Had he not been so but like Hakon a
M
.
,
war loving shield be arer then the paraphrase hlakkazr

- -
,
mats rau dbri kar ra ki r would e qually well designate him

as Hakon and thus it could not be used to designate Ha
,
kon alone as it then would contain neither a nota char ac

,
teri s ti ca for him nor a di fi erenti a speci fied to distinguish

'
h i m from the myth i c person whose epithet rau dbri kar ,
re hi r he has been allowed to bo rrow .
This peaceful su n god must have descended to the

-
lower world and there stood i n the most intimate relation

with the dsmeg i r referred to the domain of i mer for he ,
i s here represented as their chief and l eader in the path

o f piety and the fear of the gods T he myth must have .
ment i oned a sacrificial feast or sacrific ial feasts celebrated

by the armegi r From this or these sacrificial feasts the
.
pea c efu l sun god must have de rived advantage and hon
-
ou r and thereupon the earth must have rega i ned a fer

,
ti li ty which before that had been more or less denied it

, .
From all this it follows w i th cert ainty that rau dbri kar
3 73
TE U T ON I C MY T HOL OGY
re ki rof the mythology i s Balder T he fact suggested .
by the V ellekla strophe above analysed namely that Bal , ,
der physically interp reted is a solar divinity the mytho

, , ,
l ogical scholars are almost a unit in assuming to be the

ca se on a ccount o f the gen e ral chara cter of the Balde r
myth Though Balder was celebrated for hero i c deeds
.
he is substantially a god o f peace and after h i s descent to ,
the lower world he is no longer connected w it h the feud s

and d i ssensions o f the upper world We have alr eady .
seen that he was received i n the lo wer world w ith great

po mp by the dsmeg i r who impatiently awaited his arri,
val and that they sacrifice to him that bright mead of

,
the lower world whose wonderfully beneficial and brac

.
ing influence shall be discussed below Soon aft erwards .
he i s visited by Hermod Already before B alder s ’
M
.
funeral pyre Hermod upon the fastest o f all steeds has

,
tened to find him in the lower world ( Gylfag 5 1 .

, ,
and Hermod returns from him and N anna w i th the ring

D ranpni r for O din and w it h a veil for the god dess of
,
earth Fjorgyn F rigg T he ring from which other rings

,
-
.
drop and the veil wh i ch is to beautify the goddess o f

,
earth are symbols of fe rtil it y Balder the sun god had

, .
,
-
,
for a long time be fore h i s death been languish i ng N ow .
in the lower world he is strengthened with the bracing

m ead of i mer s doma i n by the dsmeg i r who gladly give
’
o ff erings and the earth regains her green fields

, .
Hakon s men are des i gnated in the strophe as hertharfir

’
ds meg i r When they are permitted to borrow the name

.
O f the a rmeg i r then the adj ec t ive hertharfir

,
i f chosen ,
with the proper care is to cont ain a specific d i stinct i on be

,
3 74
tw een them and the mythological beings whose name they

have borrowed In other words i f the real arme gi r
.
,
were o f such a nature that they could be called he rtharfir ,
M
then that adj ective would not serve to distin guish H a
kon s men from them Th e word hertharfir means
’
.
” “
those who are needed in war those who are to be used ,
in war Consequently the deme g i r are be i ngs who are ,
not to be used in war beings whose dwelling environ , ,
ment and purpose suggest a realm of peace from which

, ,
the u se of weapons is banished .
A ccordingly the parallel pr esented in Einar s st rophe

’
, ,
which we have now discussed is as follows ,

:
yth ology H i s tory .
l b e i n g s o f th e l o w e r
P e ac e f u W ar lik e i nhab it an t s of th e
w or l d ( as m e g i ) r . e ar th ( h e rtharfi r as m e
g i r) .
at th e i ns tig ati on of the ir at th e in s tig ati on of t he i r

c h e f,i i
c h e f,
th e s u n g o d -
B al d e r ( rau dbri th e sh e i l d s B al d e r
’
, H ak o n
k ar raek i r ) .
( hlakk ar méts rau db ri
k ar ek i r
ra ) ,
g o to r
ri fi c e s
o ff e s ac .
g o to o ff e r i fic es
s ac r .
T h e p e ac e f u l B al d e r i s t h e r e T h e s h i e l d s B al d e r i s t h e r e b y
’
by b e ne fi t d e . ben fit e d e .
T h e e art h g r ows g r e en ag ai n . T h e e ar t h g rows g r e e n a g ai n
ok ésm e g i r, ok h e rtharfir ésm e g i r

hv e rf a ti l blOta ; h v e rfa ti l b léta
rau db ri k ar r i k r r aek i r hlak k ar m Ots rau dbri k ar ri k r
rmk i r
f r em st s lik u . f re m s t s li k u .
N u g raer 56rd s em ad an . Nu greer j Ord s em ad an .
In the ba ckground which Einar has given to his poeti

cal paraphrase we thus have the myth tell i ng how the
,
3 75
U T ON I C MY T HOLOGY
'
TE
su n—
god Balder on h i s descen t to the lower world was
, ,
strengthened by the soma sacri fice brough t h i m by the -
armeg i r and how he sent back w i th Herm od the treas

,
u res of fert i l i ty wh i ch had gone w it h h i m and N anna to
the lo wer world and wh i ch restored the fert i lity of the

,
ear t h.
To what category of be ings do the drme gi r t hen be

long ? We have seen the word appli ed as a technical
term in a restr i c t ed sen se The pos si bi l i t i es of appli c a
.
" -
t i on wh i ch the word w i th referen c e t o its defin i t i on sup

pl i es are
( 1 ) The word may be u sed in t he p u rely phys i cal
sense of Asa — son s Asa descendants In th i s c ase the
,
-
.
s u bterranean dsmegi r would be by their very descent

members of that god c lan that res i des in Asgard and
-
,
whose father and clan patriarch is O din -

.
( 2 ) The word c an be appl i ed to men They are the .
children of the Asa father in a double sense : the first

-
h u man pa i r was created by O d i n and h i s brothers

( V Olu sp 1 6.
, ,
Gylfag and the i r o ffspr i ng are
.
,
also i n a moral sense O d i n s ch i ldren as they are su b ’
j c et to h i s g uidance and c are He is Alfather and t he .

,
father of the suc ceed i ng generat i ons ( allfad i r aldafadi r ) , .
A word resembling asmegi r in character i s dsasyni r and ,
this is used in Allv i smal 1 6 in a manner wh i ch shows

, ,
that it does not refer to any of t hose categories of beings

that are called gods ( see fu rther N o The concep ,
.
‘
Sol h ei ti r m ed m on nom,
e n n s u n na m e d g od a m ,
ka l la d v e rg ar D u a i n
’
l s lei ka
e yg lo i otnar,
a l far fag ra h/ve l
a ls ci r as a s yni r .
3 76
TE U TON I C MY T H OLOGY
tion o f men as sons of the g ods is al so implied in the all

m ankind embracing phrase megi r H ei ma allar ( V 61u sp ,
’
/ .
,
with which the account of Rig Heimdal s j ourney on -

’
the earth and visit to the patriarchs of the var i ous classes
is connected *
.
T he t ru e meaning of the word i n th i s case i s deter
M
mined by the fact that the dsmeg i r belong to the d w ellers
in the lower world already before the death of Balder ,
and that Balder is the first one of the Asas and sons of
O din who becomes a dweller in the l o we r world To .
this must be added th at i f dsmegi r meant Asa s Eina r

, ,
would never have called the inhabitants of N orw ay the ,
subj ects of j arl Hak on he rtharfir dsme gi r for hertha/rfir

, ,
the Asa s are themselves and that in the highest degree

, .
They constitute a body of more or less warl i ke persons
M
‘
“ ”
who all have be en needed in confl i ct in the wars around
Asgard and i dgard and they all B alder included are
, , ,
gods of war and victory It would also have be en .
malapropos to c ompare men with Asas on an oc c as i on

when the former w ere represented as bringing sacr i fices
to the gods ; that is as pe rson s subor dinate to them and
,
in need of their assistan c e .
The armeg i r are therefore human beings excluded

, ,
from the surface of the ear t h from the mankind wh i ch ,
dwell in i dgard and are i nhabi tants of the lower world

, ,
where they reside in a splendid castle kept by the elf of

dawn D elling and enjoy the soc i ety of Balder who de
, , ,
scended to Hades To subterranean human beings re

.
‘
. l
Cp a so Gylf ag , 9 , i n r e g ar
. d
to O i n : oh d fyri r
'
th v i m a h ann h ei ta
Allfod r, at h an n e r fadi r alr a g od ann a ok mann a
‘
oh alts th es e, e r o f h on om
oh h ans k r ap ti var f u llgj r
i rt .
3 77
M
TE U T ON I C MY TH OLOGY
fers also Gri mni smal 2 1 wh i ch says that men ( mennzki r

, ,
meme) dwell under the roots of Y gdrasil ; and Allv i smal ,
1 6 ( to be compared wi t h 1 8 2 0 and other passages )

, , ,
and Ski rnersmal 3 4 whi c h calls them ds li thar a word

, , ,
wh i ch Gu dbrand V i gfu sson has ri ghtly assumed to be

identi cal with dsmeg i r .
Thu s it is also demonstrated t hat the drmeg i r are i den

t i cal with the subterranean human persons L if and L eif
thrase r and the i r des cendants in i mer s grove The ’
.
care with which the mythology represen ts the c it adel o f

the ds meg i r kept shown by the fact that the elf D elling
, ,
the co u nterpart of Heimdal in the lower world has been ,
entrusted w i th its keeping is intell i gible and proper when

,
we know that it i s of the greatest importance to shi e ld

L i f and Lei fthraser s d welling from all ills sickness age
’
, , ,
and moral evil ( see above ) It i s also a beautiful poetic

thought that it is the elf of the morning dawn—he out
.
side o f whos e d oo r the s ong of awaken ing and bliss i s

sung to the world—who has been appointed to watch
M
those who in the dawn of a new world shall people the
ea rth with virt u ou s and happy races That the ds meg i r .
in the lower world are permitt ed to enj oy the so ciety o f

B alder is explained by the fact that Li f an d Le i fthrase r
and their offspring are after Ragnarok to accompany Bal
der to dwell under his sceptre and l i ve a blameless life,
corresponding to his wishes They are to be his disci

.
ples knowing their master s commandm ents and having

,
’
them written in the i r hearts .
We have now seen that the ds meg i r already before

B alder s death d well in
’
i mer s grove We have also ’
.
3 78
seen t hat Sv i pdag on his j ou rney in the lower world had

observed a c astle wh i ch he knew belonged to the dsnzegi r
, .
T he mythology knows two fimbu l winters : the former -
rag ed in time s morning the other i s to preced e Rag

’
,
narok The former oc cu rred when F reyja the goddess

.
,
of fert i lity was treacherously delivered into the pow er of

,
the frost giants and all the a i r was blended with corrup
-
tion ( V Olu sp when there came f rom the E li vog s

.
,
sting i ng ice cold arrows o f frost whi ch pu t m en to death
M
-
, ,
and destroyed t he greenness o f the ea rth ( Fornspj allsl

j od ) ; when K ing Snow ru led and there came in the ,
northern lands a famine which compelled the people to

emigrate to the Sou t h ( Saxo i Sv i pdag made his ,
.
j ourney in the lower world during the time preceding the

first fimbu l w i n t er Th i s follo ws from the fact that it
-
.
was he who l i berated F reyj a the sister of the god of the ,
harves t s from the po wer of the frost giants ( see N os

, ,
-
.
96 Li f and Le i fthraser were a ccord i ngly already

at that ti me transferred to i mer s grove This ought to ’
.
have o c cu rred before the earth and her inhabitants were
M
aflli cte d by physical and moral evil wh i le there st i ll could
‘
M
,
’
be fo u nd u ndefiled men to be saved for the world to come ;
and we here find that the myt hology so far as the records ,
make it poss i ble for u s to investigate the matte r has log ,
i cally met this claim o f poe tic justic e .
54 .
I RAN I AN M YT H N CE R N I N G ’
T HE CO I E R s GR O VE .
In connecti on w ith the eff orts to d eterm ine the age

of t he Teuton i c myths and their kinship with the other
,
3 79
TE U T ON I C MY THOLOGY
—
Ary an ( Indo Eu ropean ) mytholog i es the fact deserves-
,
attent i on that the myth i n regard to a s u bterranean grove
and the h u man be i ngs there preserved f or a fut u re regen

c rat e d world i s also fo u nd among the I ran i ans an As i atic ,
race akin to the Tento ns The s i m i larity between the

-
.
Te u ton i c and Iran i an trad i t i ons i s so c onsp i cuo u s t hat the

question is i rres i st i ble—Wh ether it is not o riginally from ,
the standpoint of h i st o ri c al d escent one and the sa m e

,
myth which but l i ttle a ff ected by ti m e has been preserved

, , ,
by the T eut onic Aryans a ro u nd the B alti c and by the ,
Iranian Aryans in B aktri a and Pers i a ? But t he ans wer

to the question requ ires the greatest caution The psy .
chologi c al sim i lar it y of ra c es may on a cc ou nt of the li m

,
i tati on s of the h u man fancy and i n the m i dst of s i milar

,
c ondit i ons and envi ronments c reate myth s whi c h resem

,
ble ea ch other alth ough they were prod u ced spontaneously

,
by d i fferent races i n di ff erent parts of the earth Th i s .
may happen in the same manner as p ri mi t i ve implemen t s ,
tools and d wellings which resemble ea ch other may have

,
be en invented and used by ra c es far sepa rated from ea c h

other not by the one learning from the other how these
,
things were to be made nor on account of a c ommon

,
descent in antiquity The si m i la ri ty i s the result o f

.
similar ci rcumstan ces It was the same want wh i ch was

.
to be sat i sfied ; the same human logi c fou nd the manner

of satisfying the want the same materials o ff ered t hem
:
selves for the accompl i shment of the end and the same ,
unive rsal conceptio ns of form w ere a ctive in the develop

ment of the problems C omparative myth ology w i ll
.
never becom e a science in t he str i ct sense of this w ord

3 80
be fore it ceases to bu ild hypothes es on a solitary s i milarity ,
or even on several or many resem blances be t w een mytho
logical system s geograph i cally separated unless thes e ,
resemblances unite themselves and fo rm a whole a myth ,
ical unity and unless it appears that this mythi c al unity

,
in turn enter s as an element into a greater complexity ,
which is similar in fundamental stru ct u re and simila r i n

its characteristic details Es pec i ally sh ou ld this rule be
.
strictly observed when we c ompare the myths o f peoples

who neither by r ace nor language can be traced back to
a prehistoric unity But it i s be st not to relax the severity
.
of the r u les even when we compare the myths of peo ples

who l i ke the Teu ton s the I ranians and the R igved a
, , ,
Aryans have the same ori gi n and same language ; who

,
through centuries and ev en l ong a fter their separation

, ,
h ave handed down from generation to gen e ration simila r

mythol ogical conc epti on s and mythical traditi ons I trust .
th at as this work o f mine gradually pr ogresses a su f

, ,
fici ent material o f evidence for the soluti on of the above

problem will be placed in the h an ds of my readers I now .
make a begi nning of this by presenting the Iranian myth

conce rning Ji ma s grove and the s u bterranea n hum an
’
beings t ransferred to it .
In the ancient I ranian religious doc uments Jim a i s a

holy and mighty ancient bei ng who however doe s not , , ,
belong to the n u mber of celestial divin i ti es which surro und

the highest god Ahuramazda bu t must be counted am ong
, ,
“ ”
the mortals to the oldest see rs and prophets o f antiq
,
u i ty
. A hymn of sacrifice dedicate d to the sacred mead
, ,
the liqui d of inspi ration ( homa th e s oma and s oma~mad hu

,
3 81
of the R igved a Aryans the last word being the same as

-
,
our word mead ) relates that J i m a and his father wer e

,
the fi rst to prepare the mead of insp i rat i on for the mate ri al
world ; th at he Jima was the richest in hono u r of all who
, ,
had bee n bo rn and th at he of all mortals most resembled

,
the su n In hi s kingdom there was ne i ther cold nor heat

.
,
neither frost nor drought neither agi ng nor d eath A , .
father by the side of his son resembled like the son a , ,
youth o f fifteen years The evil created by the dem ons

.
did not cros s the boundaries of Ji ma s w orld ( T he ’
Y o u nger Jas na ch , .
J i ma was the favourite of Ahuram azda the highest ,
g od. Still he had a will of his own T he first mortal .
w ith whom Ahuramazda talked was Jima and he taught ,
him the true faith and des i red that Jim a should spread
,
it among the mortals B u t J i ma answered : I am not “

.
sui t ed to be the bearer and apostle o f the faith nor am ,
”
I believ ed to be so ( Vendi dad ) [In this manner it is .
explained why the t rue d octrine did not become known

among men before the reformer Z arath u stra came and ,
why Jima the possessor of t he mead of inspiration never ,
theless was in possession of the true wisdom ]

,
It is mention e d ( i n Gosh Jasht and Rdm Jas ht) that

Jima held two be i ngs in hon our which di d not bel ong to ,
Ahura m azda s celestial c i rcle bu t were rega rded as

’
,
worthy of worsh i p These two were .
1 The cow ( Gos h ) that lived in the be ginning o f time

.
, ,
and whose blood when she was slain fertilised the earth
, ,
with the seed of li fe .
2 Vaj ns h the heavenly breeze

.
,
He is identical wi t h .
3 82
the ruler of the a i r and wind in Rigveda the mighty god ,
Vdyn t -
a .
In regard to the origin and purpos e of the kingdom

ruled by J i m a in whi c h neither fros t nor drought nor
, ,
aging nor death nor m oral evil can en te r Vendi dad re , ,
lates the following : *
A ves ta Z en a
’
.
21 . A m ee ti n g w as h e l d A m ee ti n g w as h e l d wit h
w it h th e h o ly an g e l s o f Ah u th e b e s t m e n o f Ji m a th e ki n g , ,
r am az da, th e c r e at o r To . th e one r chi in floc ks . T o
t hi s m e e ti n g c am e w it h , th e t hi s m e tin g am e
e c th e
, w it h
b e s t m e n Ji m a th e ki n g , , r chi h o ly an g e l s A h u r am a d a t h e
,
z ,
i n fl oc k s . c r e at o r .
22 . i d A hu ram a d a
T he n sa z I n th e m at e ri al w o r l d t h e r e
“
to Ji m a : H appy Ji m a V ivan s h all c om an e vil
e w in t r e ,
g h an a ! I n th e m at e ri al w o l d r c o n s e q u n tly e mu ch n ow s
t h r e s h all c o m e an e vil wi n
e s h all f all o n th e h ig h e s t m o n u
t r an d c o n s e q u e n tly a h ar d
e , , t ai ns on th e tom o f th e
,
killin g fro t s .
”
ro c k s .
2 3 Fr om t hr e e pl ac e s
. 0 , Fro m t h r e e pl ac e s 0 Ji ma , ,
Ji m a th e c o w s s h o l d b e
, u th e c o ws s h o u l d b e d r iv e n
d r iv e n to we ll e n c l o s e d s h e l -
to w e ll e n c l o s e d
-
s h e lt e r s ;
t e rs ; w h e t he r t h e y a e i n th e r w h e t h e r t h y are i n th e w i l
e
w il d e n e s s e s o r i n th e h e ig h t s
r , d e rn e s s o r o n th e h eig ht s o f
,
o f th e m o u n t ai n s o r i n th e , th e m ou n t ai n s or i n th e
,
d e pt h s o f th e v all e y s . d e pt h s o f th e vall e y s .
2 4 B e f o e th e wi n t e r t hi s
. r
l an d h ad m e ad o ws B e fore .
t h at tim e th e wat e r ( th e rain)

w as w o n t to fl o w o v r i t an d e ,
th e s n ow to m e lt ; an d t h e r e
was f o u n d 0 Ji m a i n th e , ,
Th’
tli ef th
ou t nt ne s o e c on e s are gi vn
e h ere f rom th e i n e r re a i on t p tt
f nd i H g W t Sac re d L ang u age of th e P ars i s ( Lon
’
ou n E any th-
es s s s a s on e
d on,
3 83
m at e ri al wor l d
pl ac e s
th e fo o
,
in
tp rin t s of the c attl e
an d t h e i r o ff s p r i n g
TE U TON IC
wat er-so ak e d
,
w hi c h w e r e vi s ib l e
.
M Y TH OL OGY
2 5 N ow giv e t hi s c u e l o N ow giv e th e l
en c osu e the r
“
.
s ure ( abov e th e , w e ll e n -
l ength o f o ne o n e ach o f
c l o s e d s h e lt e r s o n e ac h o f i ts f ou r s i d e s as a d we lli ng for
i ts f ou r s i d e s the l e n gt h o f m en an d giv e the s am e l e n gt h
,
o ne an d b ri n g t hit h e r t o e ac h o f th e f o u r s i d es as a
th e s ee d o f y ou r c attl e of , fi e l d f o r the c ows .
o x e n o f m e n o f d o g s an d o f
, , ,
b i r d s and r e d b l a i n g fi r e s
,
z .
2 6 Gat he r wat e r t h er e i n a
.
c an al the l e n gt h o f o n e h é
,
t hra P l ac e the l and m ark s

.
t he re on a g o l d c o l oure d s p o t
-
,
f u rni s h e d wit h i m p er i s hab l e

n ou ri shm ent P u t u p a ho u s e
.
th e r e o f mat s and p o l e s w it h ,
roof and wall s .
27 . B ri ng t hit her see d o f all
me n an d w om e n, who are th e
l ar g e s t b e s t and m os t fai r o n
, ,
t hi s e art h B ri ng t hit her s e e d

.
o f all d o m e s ti c ani m al s t h at
are th e l ar g e s t b e s t an d f ai r
'
, ,
e s t o n t h i s e ar t h .
2 8 B ri n g t hit h e r s ee d o f all
.
pl ant s w hi c h are the h igh e s t

an d m o s t f rag ran t on t hi s
e art h B ri n g t h ith e r s e e d o f
.
all ar ti c l e s o f f oo d w hi c h are
th e b e s t t as tin g and m o s t
f rag ran t o n t hi s e ar t h An d .
m ak e p ai r s o f t he m u nc e as
i n g ly i n o r d e r t h at t he se b e
,
i ng s may h av e t he ir exi s t enc e

i n the e nc l osur e s .
3 84
M
29 . T h er e ll b e no pr i d e
sh a ,
no d es p o n d e n c y n o s l u ggi s h ,
n e ss , n o p ov e r ty n o d ec e it , ,
n o d war f g r ow t h s -
no b l e m ,
i sh n o r au g h t e l s e o f t h o s e
s ig n s w h i c h are An g rO mai n -
y u s h s c u r s e s p u t on m e n
’
.
30 . ak e i n th e u pp e rm os t
,
p ar t of t hat t errit ory ni n e ,
b r i d g e s ; i n the m i dd l e s i x ; i n ,
t h e l o w e s t p ar t t hr e e T o th e
, .
b ri d g es o f th e u pp e r p art yo u
m u s t b r i n g s e e d o f a t h o u s an d
m e n an d w om e n to t h os e o f ,
th e m i dd l e th e s e e d o f s i x
h un d re d to t ho s e o f the
,
l o w e r o f t hr e e h u n d r e d
,
And m ak e a d oor i n th e e n
c l os u r e an d a s e l f l um i nou s
,
-
w i n d ow o n the i ns i d e .
3 3 T h e n Ji m a m ad e the
.
e nc l o su r e .
39 . W hi c h are
th ou j u s t A hu ra
giv e ligh t i n th
W
m ad e b y Ji ma ?
40 . Ahu ram az d
O nc e ( a y ear ) t
m oo n an d th e s
s ee n to ri se an d
41 . An d t h e y
it hi n Ji m a s ’
t hi nk t hat one ye
E v e r y f or ti e t h y
s on s are b o rn
s on s . T he se pe
th e gr e at es t bli s
c l o s u r e s m ad e by
TE U TONIC MY TH OL OGY
th e
42
m ad e ?
.
Ju st r t r!
e n c l osu r e s
c ea o ho
p r e ac h e d th e p u r e f ait h i n
w hi c h Ji ma
A h u rama d a nu
z
s we re d : T h e b i r d K ars hi p ta
W .
m d ccordingly bee n formed in connec

’
Ji a s gar en has a
ti on with a terrible winter which in the first pe ri od of , ,
t i me vis i ted the earth and it was planned to preserve

, ,
th at which is n obl est and fai rest and mos t useful within
the kingdoms of organic be ings That the garden i s .
s i tuated in the low er w orld is not expressly stated i n the

above quoted pass ages from Vendidad ; though this seem s
-
to be presupposed by what is st ated ; for the sta rs su n and , ,
mo on do not show themselves in Ji ma s garden ex c epting ’
a fter long defined int erval s at thei r ri si ng and s e tti ng ;

,
—
and as the surface of the earth is devastated by the
unparalleled frost and as the valleys are no more pro
,
tecte d therefrom than the mounta i ns we cannot without ,
grave d oubts conce i ve the garden as situated in the upper

.
world That it is s u bte rranean i s however expressly

.
, ,
st ated in B u ndehesh ch 3 0 1 0 where it is located und er

,
.
, ,
the m ountai n D amkan ; and that it in the oldest pe ri od of ,
the myth was looked upo n as subterranean follo ws from

,
the fa c t that the Jima of the an cient Iranian rec ords is

identi cal with Rigveda s Jama wh ose dom ai n and the ’
scene of whose activities is the l ower world the kingdom ,
of death .
As Ji ma s enclos ed garden was establish ed on account

’
of the fimbu l winter which oc curred in time s m orning

-
,
’
,
it c ontinues to exist a fter the clos e of the winter and pre ,
3 86
i s m ent i oned i n
TE
M
,
U TON I C MY T H OLOG Y
serves through all the h i sto rical age s those treasures o f

un c orr u pt e d men an i mals and plants wh i ch in the begin
ning of time were collected there The purpos e of thi s
legend s and morals of the Avesta rel i g i on There it i s

sa i d that a fter the con flagrati on of the world and in the
be gi nning of the regenerat i on the garden wh i ch Jima
mad e shall ope n its gate and then c e men an i mals and
plants shall on c e more fill the devas t at e d earth
,
,
i nokhi rd a sor t of c atec hism of the,
,
.
,
,
The lower world where J i ma a cco rd i ng to the anc i ent

, ,
Iranian records founded th i s remarkable c it adel is
M
, , ,
ac cording t o R i gveda Jama s k i ngdom and als o the k i ng

,
’
,
dom of death of wh i ch Jama is k i ng ( Ri gv x 1 6 9 ; cp

, .
, .
, .
i 3 5 6 and othe r passages ) It is a glor i ou s co u ntry

.
, , .
,
MMM
with inexha u st i ble fou nta i ns and ther e i s the hom e of the ,
im peri shable light ( Ri gv ix 7 ix 1 1 3 Jam a
M
. .
,
.
,
“
dwells under a tree with br oad leaves There he .
gathers a round the goblet of m ead the fathers of antiquity ,
and there he drinks with the god s ( Ri g v x 1 35 .

,
.
,
R oth and after hi m Abel B e rgai gne ( Religion Ved

, .
,
i 88
. regard Jam and ann ment i o ned in R i g veda , ,
as identical .T here are strong reas on s f or the assumption ,
so far as certain passages of R i gveda are c on cerned ;

while other passages p art i cu larly those wh i ch m en t ion
,
a nu by the side of B hri ga refer to an an c i ent pa t r i arch

,
of h u man desce nt If the derivation of the word i mer

.
,
i mi po i nted ou t by several l i nguists last by

, ii llenho ff ,
( D e utsche Alt vol v 1 0 5

, i s c orrec t then it i s
. .
, ,
ori ginally the same name as ann and l i ke it i s to be ,
referred to the idea of think i ng r em embering ,

.
3 87
M TE U T ON I C MY T HOL OGY
Wh at the Ary an Asi at i c myth here given has in com

-
mon w it h the Te u ton i c one c onc ern i ng the s u bter ranean

persons in i mer s grove can be su mmar i sed i n the fol
’
W
low i ng w ords
The lower world has a ruler who does not belong to the
,
group of i mmortal celestial be i ngs bu t enj oys the m ost

,
friendly relat i ons with the godhead and is the p ossessor ,
of great wisdom In his kingdom flow i nexhaustible

.
founta ins and a tree grown out of i ts so i l spreads its

,
foliage over his dwelling where he s erves the mead of

,
insp i rati on wh i c h the gods are fond of and wh i ch he was

,
the first to prepare A terrible wi nter threatened to des

.
troy eve rything ou the surface of the earth Then the .
rul er of the lower o rld built on his domain a well forti -
fied citadel within wh i ch neither destru c t i ve storms nor

'
, ,
physical ills nor moral evil nor s i c kn ess nor aging nor
, , , ,
d eath can come T hither he transferred the best and

.
fairest human beings to be found on eart h and deco rated ,
the enclosed garden with the most beau tiful and usefu l
trees and plants T he purpose of this gard en is not si m
.
ply to protect the beings c ollec t ed there du ri ng the great

winter ; they are to remain there throu gh all histor i cal
ages When these come to an end there comes a great
.
,
c onflagrati on and then a reg enerat i on o f the w o rld The .
rene wed earth is to be filled with the beings who have been
protected by the subt er ranean cit adel The people who .
live there have an instructor in the pure worship of the

gods and 1 n the precepts Of morali ty and in ac cordance ,
with these precepts they are to live for ever a j ust and
h appy li fe .
3 88
MM M ,
TE U TON I C MY TH OL OG Y
It should be added th at the two beings wh om the

I ranian r u ler of the lower w o rld is said to have honoured
are found or have equ i valen ts i n the Teut oni c mythlogy
Both a re there pu t i n theogonic connection with i me r

T he one is the celestial lord of the wind V ayu sh Rig
.
veda s V ayu Vata V ata i s thought to be the same name

’
-
.
as Wod an O dinn ( Z immer Haupt s Z e i tschr 1 87 5 ; cp

a nnhardt and Kaegi ) At all events V ata s tasks are
the sa m e as O din s The other is the primeval cow
’
.
.
,
’
,
,
’
,
,
.
whos e N orse name or epithet Au dhu mla is prese rve d i n
M
,
MM
M
Gylfag 6 . A u dhu mla libe rates from the fros t stones in
, .
-
C haos B u re the progen i tor of the Asa race and his son
, ,
Bor is marr i ed to i mer s sister B estla and with her ’

,
becomes the father of Od in ( Ha y am 1 40 ; Gylfag .

, .
,
55 .
M
IN R E GE N E RAT I O N
’
T HE PU R P O SE OF I E R s GR O V E T HE
OF T H E W ORLD .
We now know the purpose of Odai ns akr i mer s l an d ,

’
and i mer s grove in the world plan of our mythology

’
-
.
We know who the i nh abitants of the grove are and why ,
they thou gh dwellers in the lower world must be li vi ng

, ,
pe rs ons wh o did,
not come there thr ou gh the g ate of d eath .
They must be living pers ons of fl esh and blood sin c e the ,
human race of the regenerated ea rth must be the same .
Still the purpose of i mer s land is not lim i ted tO ’
being through this epoc h of the world a protecti on for

, ,
the fathers of the future w orld against moral and physical

corruption and a semina ry where Balder educates them in
,
3 89
TE U TON IC MY THOL OG Y
vi rtue and piety T he grove protects as we h ave seen

.
,
the asmegi r d u ring Ragnarok whose flames do not pene ,
trate thither Th u s the grove and the land in wh i ch it

.
,
is s i tuat ed exist after the fl ames of R agnarok are exti n

,
g u i sh ed
. Was i t tho u ght that the grove after the regen
c rati on was to c ontin u e in the l o wer wor ld and the re stand
u ninha bited abandon ed

,
desol ate and with out a purp ose
, ,
in the future existence of gods men and things ? ,
. T he last moments o f the existen c e of the c rust O f the

Old ea rth are describe d as a c ha ot i c c ond i t i on in which
all elements are con fu sed with eac h othe r The sea r i ses .
,
ove rflows the ea rth sinking beneath its b i llows and t he

.
,
crests O f its waves aspire to heaven itself ( cp V Olu sp

5 4 2 —Si gr fold i mar with H yndlu lj 4 2 1 3 —H af
.
,
.
-
.
, , , ,
g gen r h ri d nm a i d hi m i nn s i alfann li dr lond yfir ) The , .
atmosphere usurped by the sea disappears as it were

—
, , ,
( flo t bi k er H yndlu lj 42 .
,
Its snow and w inds
,
( H yn dlu lj 42 5 6 ) are blended with w ater and fi re

.
, ,
-
,
and form with them heated vapours which pl ay against “ ”

,
the vault O f heav e n ( V Olu sp 5 4 7 O ne of the

.
, ,
reas ons why the fan cy has made all the forces and
elements of nature th u s cont end and blend was doubtless
to furn i sh a s u fficiently good cause for the diss oluti on
and disappearance of the burnt crust of the earth At all .
events the ea rth is gone when the rage of the elem ents
,
i s subdued and th u s it is no impe diment to th e ac t of

,
regeneration which takes its beginning be neath the waves .
This act of regeneration cons i sts in the rising from the

depths of the sea a new earth whi ch on its ve ry rising ,
pos sesses living bei ngs and i s cl othe d in green The fact .
39 0
th at it while yet below t he sea could be a home for beings

, ,
which need a i r i n order to breathe and exis t i s not ,
n ecessar i ly to be regarded as a m i racle in mythology .
O u r an c estors only needed to have seen an ai r bubble rise -
to the surface of the water i n order to draw the c onclusion

that air can be found u nder the water withou t mixing with
it but with the power of pushing water away wh i le it
,
rises t o the surface The earth rising from the sea has
. ,
like the old earth the n ec es sary atm osphere around it

,
.
Under all c ircumstan c es the seeress in V Olu spa sees afte r

,
R agnarok
u pp k om a
au dr o s i nn i
i ord o r ae g i
i thi a g ree n a ( s tr
.
The earth risen from the deep has mount ai ns and cas
cades wh i ch from the i r fountains in the fells hasten to
, , ,
the sea The waterfalls contain fishes and above them

.
,
soars the eagle seek i ng i ts prey ( V Olu sp 5 6 5 The
M
.
, ,
eagle cannot be a surv i vor of the be ings of the old earth .
It c annot have end u red i n an atm osphere fu ll of fire and

steam nor is there any reason why the mythology should
,
spare the eagle amo ng all the creatures of the old earth .
It i s therefore of the same orig i n as the mountains the

, , ,
cascades and the imperishable vegeta t ion wh i ch suddenly

,
came to the s u rface .
The earth risen from the sea also contains human

be ings namely L if and Le i fthrase r and thei r o ff spring
, , ,
.
ythol ogy di d not need to have recourse to any hoc us

poc u s to get them there T he earth risen from the sea .
39 I
M
T E U T ON I C MY T HOLOGY
had been the lower world befor e it came ou t of the deep ,
and a parad i se— region in the lower world had for centuries
be en the abod e of Li f and Lei fthraser It is m ore than .
unnecessary to imagine that the lower world with th i s

P arad i se was d u pl i cated by another w ith a similar Para
d i se and th at the living creat u res on the former were
,
by some magic man i pulation transferred to t he latter .
y thol ogy has its mira c les but it also has its logic As
, .
i ts Obj ect is to be trusted i t tri es to be as probable and

,
consistent w i t h its premises as possible It resorts to .
m i ra c les and magi c only when it is nec essary not o t her
M
,
wise
M
.
Among the m ountains wh i ch r i se on the n ew earth are

fou nd thos e wh i ch are called N i da fj oll ( V Olu sp
' '
.
,
N i de s mo u n t ains The very name N i de s u gges t s t he

’
.
”
lower w orld It means the low er one
. Among t he .
abod es of Hades mention ed in V Olu spa t here i s also a

, ,
hall of gold on N i de s plains ( a N i tha v ollnm—str

’
and fr om Solarlj od ( str 5 6 ) we learn—a sta t ement con

.
W
firm ed by m u ch older records —that N i de is identi cal with
.
i mer ( see N O . Thus N i de s mountains are ,

’
situated on i m er s fields V ol u spa s s eeress d i scovers

’
.
’
on the rej uvenated earth N i dhog t he c o rps e eat i ng dem on ,

-
of the lower world flying with dead bod i es u nder his

, ,
wings away from the roc ks where he fro m t i me i mme

, ,
-
mor i al had had h i s abo de and from wh i ch he c arr i ed

,
his prey to N astrands ( V Olu sp There are no m ore .

,
dead b odies to be had for h i m and his task is done ,

.
h ether the last line of V Olu spa has referen c e to N i dhog

“
or not when it speaks of some one who must sink can ”
, ,
39 2
M TE U TON IC MY TH OLOGY
M
not be dete rmined i i llenhoff ( D eu tsche Alt ) assume s
. .
this to be the case and he is probably right ; but as the text

,
has hon ( she ) not han ( he ) [nn mnn hon s eyqnas ] and ,
as I in this work do not base an ything ev en on the most

, ,
probable text emendation this question i s set aside and

, ,
the more so s i nce V Olu spa s des cr i p ti on o f the regenerated

,
’
earth under all circumstances shows that N i dhog has

naught there to do but to fly thence and disappear The .
existence of N ide s mou ntains on the new earth confirms

’
the fact that it is identical with i mer s former lower ’
w orld and that Li f and Lei fthraser d i d not need to m ov e

,
from on e w orld to an other in ord er to get to the dayl i gh t

of their final destin ation .
M
V Olu spa gives one more proof of this .
In their youth free from care the Asas pl ay ed with

, ,
strange tablets But they had the tablets only i arla

.
dag a i n the earliest time ( V Olu sp 8

,
A ft erwards
.
, , ,
they must in som e way or other have los t them T he .
Icelandic sagas of the middle ages have remembered thi s
M
game of t ablets and there we learn partly that i ts strange
, ,
cha racter consisted in the fa ct that it could itsel f take

part in the game and move the p i ec es and partly t hat it ,
was preserved in the l ower world and that Gu dmu nd ,
i mer was in the habit of playing with tablets ( Fornalder

Sagas i , .iii 3 9 1 3 9 2 ; ii i 62 6 &c In the last pas
.
-
.
,
.
sages the game i s mention ed i n conne ction with the other

subterranean treasure the horn ) I f now the mythology
, .
, ,
had no special reason for bringing the tablets from the

lower world befor e Ragnarok then they n aturally shou ld
,
be found on the risen earth if the latter was i mer s ’
39 3
TE U TON IC MY THOL OG Y
M
domain be fore Voluspa ( str
. . 5 8) also relates that they
we re found in its grass :
r
T h a m u no e p ti r
M
u n dr s am li g ar
g u lln ar tav lo r
i gr as i fi naz .
M
The re were the wonderful tablets found left in the
grass ( hh os epti r ) .
Thus the tablet game was refound in the gr ass in

,
-
,
the meadows of the renewed ea rth having from the ,
e arliest time been preserved in i mer s r ealm L if and ’

.
Le i fthraser are found a fter R agnarok on the earth o f the

regenerated world having had thei r abod e there for a
,
long time in i mer s domain N ide s mountains and

’
.
’
N i dhog with them have been raised out of the sea ,
together with the rej uvenated earth since these m ountains ,
are loc ated in i mer s realm The earth of the new era
’
—the era of virtue and bliss—have though concealed

.
, ,
existed through thousan d s of yea rs below the si n stained -
earth as the kern el within the shell

, .
Remark—V Olu spa ( str 5 6 ) calls the earth rising f rom

.
the sea i dj agrcena

Se h on u p p k oma
r
and r o s i nn i
i o r d o r ae g i
i thi a g ree na .
T he common interpretation is i thia gra nd the ever ,
” “ ”
green or ve ry green and this harmonises well with the
,
idea preserv ed in the sagas mentioned above where it ,
was state d that the winter was not able to d ev as tate G ud
3 94
-
MM
M TE U T ON IC MY TH OLO G Y
mund imer s domain Thus the idea contained in the

’
.
expression Haddi ng j aland s os ku m a ax ( see N os 7 2 7 3 )

recurs in V olusp a s statement that the fields unso wn
yield harvests in the new earth
’
eanwhile the com

position i dj a grcena has a perfectly abn ormal appearance
-
and awakens su spi c 1 0 n

.
i illenho ff ( D e u tsche Alt )

.
.
,
'
.
v
“ ”
reads i dj a grcena and translates the fresh the green
, , ,
.
As a conj ectu re and without basing anyth i ng on the

,
ass u mption ; I may be pe rmitte d to present the poss i bility
M
that i dj a i s an old genitive plural of i da an eddying body ,
of water I da has ori gi nally had a j in the stem ( i t is

.
related to i d and i di ) and th i s i must als o have been

,
heard in the inflections From various metaphors i n the

.
old skalds we learn that they con c eiv ed the fou ntains of
the lower world as roa ring and in c ommot ion ( e g Odre . .
,
s alda thytr in E i nar Skalaglam and B odmrr bdra ter

'
v axa in the same skald ) If the conj ecture is as correct
M
.
as i t seems probable then the new earth is characterised

,
as
“ the green ea rth of the eddying fountains and the ”
,
fountains are those famous three whi ch w ater the roots

o f the world tree -
.
56 .
C OSM OGRAP H Y
’
T HE . CR I T I CI S ON GYL FAGI N N I N G S
C OSM OGRAP H Y .
In regard to the position of Y gdrasil and its root s in

the universe there are st atements both in Gylfagi nni ng
‘
and in the ancien t heathen rec or ds T o get a clear i d ea .

,
freed from conj ectures and based in all respects on

39 5
TE U T ON IC M Y TH OLO G Y
e viden ce of how the mythology conceived the world —

,
tree
and it s roots is of i nterest not on
, ly in rega rd t o t he
cosmography o f the mythology to which Y gd ras i l su p
,
pl i es the tr u nk and the ma i n outlines but espe c i ally i n

,
rega rd to the myth i c c on cep ti on of the lower world an d

the whole es chatol o gy for i t appears t hat each one of the
Ygdrasil roo ts stands not alone ab ove i ts part i c u lar foun
tain i n the l owe r w orld but also over its pecul i ar l ower
W orl d doma i n wh i ch aga i n has i ts pecu l i ar c osmol ogi cal
,
chara c ter and its pe c ul i ar es chatological end .
The first c ond it ion h owever for a fru i tful invest i gat i on
, ,
is that we consider the hea t hen or heathen — appeari ng

records by themselves withou t m i x i ng the i r statements
with those of Gylfagi nni ng We m u st bear in mind that
.
the a u th or o f Gylfagi nni ng lived and wr ot e i n t he 1 3 th

century more t han 2 0 0 years after the i ntrod u ction o f
,
Christianity in I c eland and that hi s statements ac cord

,
i ngly are to be made a link i n that chain of doc u ments

whi c h exist for the scholar who tries to follow t he fate
,
o f the myths d u ring a Christian period and to study

thei r gr adual c orruption and c on fus i on .
This c aution is the mor e i mpo rtant for the reason that
an examination of Gylfag i nni ng ve ry soon sh o ws th at the
W hole cosm ographi cal and eschatolog i c al stru c t u re wh i ch

'
it has bu ilt ou t of fragm entary mythi c trad i tions is based

on a conception wholly foreign to Teuton ic myth ology ,
that is on the concepti on fram ed by the s cholars in

,
Frankish cloisters and then handed down from chronicle

,
to chroni c le that the Teuton s were des cended from the

,
T roj ans and that their god s were ori ginally Trojan chiefs
,
39 6
T E U T ONI C MY TH OLO GY
and mag i cians This lea rned conception fou nd i ts way

.
to the N orth and finally devel oped its m ost luxuri ous and
abundant blossom s in the Y ounger Edda pr eface and in
c erta i n other parts of that work .
Permit me to present in brief a sketch of how the cos

mog raphy and eschat ology of Gylfag i nni ng developed
themselves out of this assumption — T he Asas were
or i g i nally men and dwelt in the Troy wh i ch was sit u ated
,
on the c entre of the earth and wh i ch was ident i cal w i th

,
Asgard ( thar mws t g erdu thei r ser borg 2 mi dj u m k ei mt

' '
e r kallat er Asg ar dr ; tha t kbll u m v er T ro

'
j ;
n thar b
yg du
'
u di n o h wtti r the i r m0 k j rdu s t thad an a m or i

'
f di d
'
g g b g t n z
0 k g rei ni r bcedi d ford ok (i lopti — eh

-
.
The first mythic trad i tion whi ch supplies material for

the st ru c ture W hi ch Gylfag i nni ng bu i lds on this fou nda
tion is the bridge Bifr ost The myth had said that this
.
br i dge united the celestial abodes with a part of the uni

verse situated s omewhere below Gylfag i nni ng wh i ch .
,
mak e s the Asas dwell i n Troy therefore makes the god s

,
undertake an enterprise of the greatest boldness that of ,
bu ildin g a bridge from T roy to the heavens B u t they .
are extraordinary arc h i tec ts and succ eed ( Gu di n g j brdu

'
brti ti l hi mi ns af fordu —c h .
The second mythic t radition employed is Urd s foun ’
tain T he myth had stated that the gods daily rod e from
.
thei r celesti al abo d es on the bridge Bi frost to Urd s ( su b ’

~
terranean ) fou ntain Thence Gylfagi nni ng draws the

.
c o rrec t conclusion that Asgard was suppos ed to be situate d

at one end of the bridge an d Urd s fountain near the
’
other . But from Gylfagi nni ng s premises it follows that

’
39 7
TEU T ONI C MY TH OLO G Y
if As gard T roy i s situated on the surface of the ea rth

-
Urd s foun ta i n must be s i tuated in the heavens an d th at

’
the Asas accord i ngly when they ride to Urd s fou nta i n ’
m u st ride u pward not downward The c onclus i on i s

, .
“
drawn with absolute consistency ( H z/em dog ri do res i n
thang at t w p u m B i fr os t
”
—c h
'
The third myt hi c tradition used as mate ri al is the

world tree which went ( dow n i n the l ower world ) to
-
,
Urd s fountain A ccord i ng to V olus pa

’
. this fou n
tain i s situated beneath the ash Y gdrasil The conclusi on .
d rawn by Gylfagi nni ng by the aid of its T roj an premises

is that since Urd s foun tain is situated in the heavens
’
,
and still under one of Y gd rasil s roots this root must be ’

,
located still fu rther up in the heavens The placing of .
the root is also don e with cons i stency so that we get the
following series o f wrong loc ali sati ons z—D own on the
,
earth Asgard T roy ; thence up to the he avens the bridge

,
-
B i frost above Bifros t Urd s f ountain ; high above Urd s

,
’ ’
fountain one of Y gdrasil s three roots ( which in the

,
’
mythology are all in the l ow er wor ld ) .
Since one of Y gdrasil s r oots thus had received its pl ace

’
far up in the heavens it became nec essary to place a

.
second root on a l evel with the earth an d the third one ,
was all owed to retain its pos i tion in the lower world .
T hus was p rod uced a j ust distribution of the roots among

the three regi ons which in the conception of the mi ddle
ages constitute d the universe namely the heav en s the , , ,
e arth and hell

, .
In this manne r two myths were m ad e to do service in

r egard to one of the remaining Y g d rasil roots The one .
39 8
MM
M
TE U T ONI C M Y TH OL OG Y
M
myth was t aken f rom V oluspa where it was learned that ,
i mer s fountain i s sit u ated below the s acred world tree ;

’
-
the other was Gri mni smal where we are told that
fr ost gi ants dwell u nde r on e of the three roo ts At the
-
.
time when Gylfag i nni ng was written an d still later popu , ,
lar traditions told that Gu dmu nd i mer was of giant -
descent ( see the middle age sagas n arrated above ) From -

.
this Gylfagi nni ng draws the conclusi on that i mer was

a frost — gian t and it identifies the ro ot which extends to
,
the fr os t giants with the root that exten ds to i mer s

-
’
fountain Thus this fount ai n of creat i ve power of w orl d
M
.
,
preservation of w i sdom an d of poe try receives from

, ,
Gylfagi nni ng its place in the abode of the po wers of frost ,
hostile to god s and to men in the land of the frost gi ants ,

-
,
which Gylfagi nni ng regards as being J otunheim bord er ,
ing on the earth .
In this way Gylfagi nni ng with the T roj an hypothesis ,
as its starting point has gotten so far that it has separate d

-
,
from the low er wor ld with its three realms and th ree
fountains Urd s r ealm and fountain they be ing tran sferr ed
’
to the heavens and i mer s realm and fou nta i n they

,
’
,
being tran sferred to J otunh eim In the myth ol ogy these .
two realms were the s u bterranean regions of bliss and the ,
third N i felhel with the region s subj ect to it was the

, , ,
abo de of the damned After these sepa rati ons were .
made Gylfagi nni ng to be logical had to as sume that

, , ,
the lower world of the heathens was exclusively a r ealm

of misery and to rture a sort of c ounterpa rt of the hell of
,
the Chu rch T his conclusion is also drawn with d ue con

.
sistency and Y gdrasil s th i rd roo t which in the mytho

,
’
3 99
T EU T ONI C M Y TH OL OGY
logy descended to the well H vergelmer and to the l owe r

world of the frost giants N i felhel N i felhei m extends
-
, , ,
over the whole lower world the latter be i ng regarded as
M
,
identical w it h N i felhei m and the places o f pun i shmen t

therewith con nected .
Th i s res u lt carries with it an other The goddes s o f the .
lower world and part i cularly of i ts domain o f bl i ss was

, ,
in the mythology as shall be shown be l ow the goddess

, ,
of fate and death Urd also called Hel when named after
, .
,
the c o u ntry over which she ruled In a loc al sense the .

,
name H el could be appl i ed partly to the wh ole lower

wo rld whi ch rarely happened pa rtly to Urd s and
; ,
’
i mer s realms of bliss which was more c ommon and

’
, ,
Hel was then the opposite of N i felhel whi ch was s olely ,
the home of mise ry and torture Proo fs o f this shall be .
g i ven below But when the l ower wor ld had bee n

.
c hanged to a sort of hell the name Hel both in its local

, ,
and in its personal sense must u ndergo a sim i lar change

, ,
and sin c e Urd ( the rea l H el ) was transferred to the

heavens there was n oth i ng to hinder Gylfag i nni ng from
,
s u bstit u ting for the queen of the l ower w orld L oke s ’
da u ghter cast down into N i felhel and giving b er the name _
H el and the sceptre over the whole lower w orld .
This meth od is also pu rsued by Gylfagi nni ng s author ’
w it hout he s i tat i on althou gh he had the be st of reasons

,
for suspe c ting its c o rrectness A c ertain hesitancy might .
here ha v e been in o rder Acc ording to the mythology

.
,
the pure an d pious Asa god Balder comes to Hel that i s

-
,
to say to the l ower w orld an d to one o f its realms of

, ,
bliss But after the transfo rmati on to which the lower

.
M
T EU T ONI C M Y THOL OG Y
w orl d had been subj ected in Gylfagi nni ng s system the ’

,
descent of Balder to Hel must have meant a descent to

and a remaining i n the wor ld of misery and t o rture and ,
a relation of subj ect to the daughter of L oke T his .
should have awakene d doubts in the mind o f the autho r

of Gylfagi nni ng But even here he had the courage to
.
be tru e to h i s premises and withou t even thinking of the

,
absurdity in wh i c h he involves h i msel f he goe s on and ,
endows the sister of the i dgard serpent and of the

-
Fenri s w ol f with that pe rfectpower whi ch be fore be longed

-
to D estiny personified so that the sam e god s who before

,
had cast the h orr ible child Loke down into the ninth
region of N i felhel a re now com pelled to s end a min i ster
plenipotentiary to her maj esty to treat with her and pray

for Balder s l i beration
’
.
B u t finally there comes a point wh e re the cou rage of

,
consistency fails Gylfagi nni ng T he manner in which it

.
has placed the roots o f the world tree makes us first of all
-
c onceive Y gdrasil as lying horizon tal in sp ace An .
attempt to make this matter intelligible can produce no

other picture of Y gdrasil in accord with the statements
,
of Gylfagi nni ng than the f oll owin g :

,
40 1
M
T EU T ONI C M Y THO L O G Y
T he r oot o ve r h e av en
an d o v e r U r d s f o u n
’
t ai n .
T he r oo t ov er Jo t u n
h e i m and ov e r i
m e r s w e ll
’
.
T he roo t o v er th e Yg d ras il
’
s t ru nk
l ow e r w or l d an d
.
o v er H v e rg e lm e r s
’
f ou n t ai n .
B ut is not d ispo sed to d raw this con

Gylfagi nni ng
M
clu si on O n the cont ra ry it insists th at Y gdrasil stands
.
,
erect on i ts three roots How we then are to conceive

.
, ,
its roots as united on e with the other and with the trun k
of this it very p rudently leav es us in ign orance for this ,
is beyon d th e range of human im agination .
T he contrast between the mythologi cal doctrine in

re gar d to the three Y gd rasil roo ts and Gylfagi nni ng s ,
’
v i ew of the subj ect may easi ly be dem onstrated by the

foll owin g parallels :
l e y th ology .
1 . Yg d rasil has t hre e root s . 1 . Yg d ras il h as t hr e e root s .
2 . A ll three roo t s are s ubter 2 O ne

. i s i n th e l o w e r
rane an. wo r l d ; a s e con d s t an d s o v e r
Jo t u nh e i m o n a l e v e l with th e
e ar t h ; a t h i r d s t an d s o v e r th e
h e av e n s .
TE U T ON IC M Y THO L O G Y
3 . T t c orrespond s
o e ach roo 3 . T o root c orre
e ac h
a f o u n t ai n an d a r e al m i n th e s p o n ds a f o u n t ai n an d a
l ow e r worl d T he l owe r worl d . re al m ; th e r e al m s are th e
M
c o n s i s t s o f t h r e e r e al m s e ac h h e av e ns Jo t u nh e i m an d th e
M
, , ,
w it h i ts f ou n t ai n and e ac h l owe r worl d whi c h are lo ,
M
wit h i ts r oo t . c ate d e ac h u nd er i ts r oo t .
4 U n d e r o n e o f th e s u bte r
. 4 U n d e r on e o f th e r oo t s
.
,
ran e an r o o t s d we ll s th e g o d t hat i s th e one wh i c h s t an d s

d e s s o f d e at h an d f at e U d , r , o v e r h e av e n d we ll s U rd th e
,
wh o i s al so c all e d H e l an d i n , g o dd e ss o f f at e an d t h e r e i s ,
he r r e al m i s U r d s f ou n t ai n U r d s f ou n t ai n
’ ’
. .
5 U n d e r the o t h e r ( su b ter
.
r an e an ) roo t d we ll s im e r .
I n hi s r e al m i s im e r s f ou n ’
t ai n an d i m e r s g ro v e ’
,
wh e r e a su b t e rr an e an rac e o f
M
m e n ar e p r es e rv e d fo r th e f u
t u r e w or l d T hi s r o o t m ay
.
,
t he r e for e b e sai d to s t an d
,
o v e r m e nn ski r m e nn ( Gri m
n ersm al ) .
It i s i d t hat one of th e
sa
r oo t s s t an d s o ver m e n n sk i r
m e nn ( Gri m n e r sm al) B y t hi s .
i s m e an t ac c or d i n g to Gyl
,
f ag i n n i n g n o t t h e r o o t o v e r
,
ime r s we ll b u t the r oo t
’
,
over U rd s f o u n t ai n n e ar
’
,
w h i c h th e A s as h o l d t h e i r
as s e mb li e s f o th e A s as ar e
, r
i n r e ality m e n wh o d w e lt o n
e ar t h i n th e c ity o f T r o y .
6 . U nd e r the t hi r d ( subter 6 U nd er
. the thir d ( an d
r an e an ) t d we ll fr os t
r oo o nly s u b t e rr ane an ) r o o t d w e ll
gi an t s . U n d e r t hi s roo t i s th e t h e s o u l s o f s i nn e r s and t h os e
w e ll H v erg e lm er an d th e , who h av e d i e d fro m s i c k n e s s
r e al m o f th e f ros t gi ant s i s -
an d ag e U n d e r t h i s r oot i s
.
MM
TE U T ONI C M Y TH O L OGY
N i f e lhe l ( N i fe lh e i m ) U nd e . r the well H verg e lmer an d
N i f e lh e l are n i ne re gi o ns o f th e w ho l e l owe r wo rl d . T he
t ort u r e . l o we r w or l d i s ca ll e d N i fe lhe l
or N i f e lh e i m , an d t i
c on a ns
i
n ne pl ac e s o f t o rt ure .
7 . i t r of th e i d
T he s s e 7 T h e s i s t e r o f th e
. id
M
g ar d s e rp e nt an d o f th e Fe n
-
g ard s e rp e n t an d o f th e Fe n
-
i wo l f w as c as t b y the g o d s
r s- r i s wo l f w as c as t by th e g o d s
-
i n t o th e re gi on s o f t or t u re in t o the e gi ons o f t ort u re

r
u n d e r N i f e lh e l an d r e c e iv e d
, u n d e r N i f e lh e l an d r e c e iv e d
,
t h e r u l e o v e r th e pl ac e s w h e r e th e r u l e o v e r th e w ho l e l o w e r
th e d amn e d are p u n i s h e d . wo ld w h i c h c o n s i s t s o f N i f e l
r ,
h e l wit h th e n i ne e gi o ns o f r
t or t u r e .
8 . T he n am e H e l c an b e ap 8 As H e l m e ans the l ow e r
.
pli e d to th e w h o l e l ow e r wo r l d an d as th e s i s t e r o f th e
,
w o rl d b u t m e ans p ar ti c u l ar ly
, i d g ar d s erp e n t g ov ern s th
-
e
t h at r e gi o n o f b li s s wh er e wh o l e l o we r w o r l d sh e is ,
U r d s f o u n t ai n i s s it u at e d f o r m e an t by th e p e r s onal H e l
’
.
,
U rd i s th e p e rs o n al H e l T h e .
L o k e d au g h t e r i n N i f lh e l i s
-
e
h er s l av e and m u s t o b e y h e r
co mm an d s .
Gylfag i nni ng doe s not stop with the above results It .
continues the chain o f its conclusi ons After Hv ergelmer .
has been sele cted by Gylfag i nni ng as the on ly f ountain i n

the lower world it should s i nce the l ower world has been
, ,
made i nt o a s ort of hell he a founta i n of hell and in this , ,
r e spect easily recognised by the C hrist i an conc ept i on of the

m i ddle ages In th i s new c haracter H v ergelmer becomes
.
the c entre and the worst pla c e in Gylfagi nni ng s descri p ’
tion o f the heathen Gehen na N o do u bt be ca u se the old .
dragon wh i ch is hurled down into the a byss ( Revelat i on

, ,
c hap is to be found in the hell founta i n of the middle

.
-
40 4
T EU T ONI C MY TH OLO G Y
a ges Gylfagi nni ng thr ows N i dhog down into Hvergel

,
mer wh i ch it also fills w i th serpents and dead bod i es

,
fou nd in Gri mni smal ( Str 3 4 wher e they have no

.
,
connection with H v ergelmer Accord i ng to Voluspa it .
is in N astrands that N i dhog sucks and the wolf tears the

dead bod ies ( ndi r ) Gylfagi nni ng foll ows V ol u spa i n
.
speaking of the other terrors in N astrands but reje cts ,
V ol u spa s statements abou t N i dhog and the wolf an d

’
casts both these beasts down into the H v ergelmer foun

tai n As shall be shown be low the H v ergelmer of the
.
,
mythology is the mother fou ntain of all waters and is

-
,
s it u ated on a high plain i n the lower world Thence i ts .
waters flow pa rtly northward to N i felhe i m partly so u th ,
to the elysian fields of heathendom and the waves sent ,
in the latter dire ction are shin i ng clear and holy , , .
It was an old c ust om at least in I c eland that booths for

, ,
the accomm odation of the visitors were built around a

rem ote thing stead or pla c e f or hold i ng the parliament
-
,
.
Gylfag i nni ng makes i ts Troj an Asas follow the example of

the Icelanders and pu t up h ouses aro u nd the thing stea d
,
-
,
which they sele c t ed near Urd s fou nta i n a fte r they had ’
s u cceeded in sec uring by B i frost a c on nection between

Troy and heaven Th i s don e Gylfagi nni ng d i stributes
.
,
as best i t can the div i ne halls and abodes of bliss m en

ti one d in the mythology be t ween Troy on the earth and
the thing stead i n heaven
-
.
This may be su ffi cient to show that Gylfag i nni ng s pre ’
tended a cc oun t of the old mythological cosmography is ,
on ac c ount of its making Troy the starting po i nt and -

,
d oubtless also to some extent as a result of the Christian
40 5
M
TE U T ON I C M Y TH O L O GY
method s of thought with which the auth or interprete d

,
the heathen myths accessible to him i s s i mply a mon ,
st rous c aricat u re of the mythology a ca ricature which i s ,
c ontinued not with complacen cy and ass u rance but i n

, ,
a confused and c ont radictory manner in the esch at ol ogy .
of Gylfag i nni ng .
y chief task will now be to review and ex amine all

the passages i n the Elder Ed da s mythological songs ’
,
wherein the wo rds He] and N i felhel oc cur in o rder to
W
fi nd out in this manner in w
,
hi ch sense or senses these

words are there employed and to note at the same time all
,
the passages which may come in my way and which are

o f imp ort ance to the myth conce rnin g the l owe r w orl d
W
.
57 .
T HE ORD H E L I N L I N GU I ST I C U SA GE .
T he N orse Hel is the s ame w ord as the G othic H ai fa ,
the O ld High G erm an H e lla the Angl o Saxon H e lli a -
W
, ,
and the English Hell O n accou nt of its occu rren ce with

.
simil ar signification in di fferent Teut onic tongues in thei r

oldest linguistic mon uments schol ars have been able to
,
d raw the conclusion that the o rd points to a pri mitive

T eutonic H alj a meaning lower world l ower world d i vin
, ,
ity It is believed to be related to the Latin oc cu l ere

.
- -
,
c el are clam and to me an the one

-
“
ho hi d es
” “
con
, , ,
” “
c eals , preserves .
When the boo ks of the N ew Testam ent were for the

fi rst time translated into a Teuton ic tongue into a Gothi c ,
dialect the tr anslator U lfilas had to find some way of

, , ,
40 6
TE UTON IC M YTH OL OGY
d istinguishing with s u itable words be twe en the two realm s

of the lower w orld m en t ioned i n the N ew Testament ,
Hades and Ge henna ( geen a ) .
Hades the middle c ond i t i on and the l oc ali t y corr es

, ,
pond i ng to th i s conditi on which contains both fields of

,
bl i ss and reg i ons of torture he translated w i th H alj a , ,
do u btless because the significat i on of t h i s w o rd corres

p onded most fai t hfu lly with the meaning of the word
Hades For Gehenna hell he used the borrowed word
.
, ,
g ai ai nna .
The O ld H i gh German translat i on also reproduces

Hades with the word Hella For Gehenna it uses two .
e xpression s c ompounded w i th Hella On e o f these Hel .

,
lawi si belongs to the form which a fterwards pre domi

,
n ate d in Scandin avia Both the compounds bea r testi

.
m ony that the place of punishm ent in the lower world

could not be expressed with Hella but it was necessa ry ,
to add a word wh i ch showed that a s u bterranean place of

,
puni s hme nt was meant The same word for Gehen na

.
M
is fo u nd among the Chr i stian T eutons in England ,
namely H ellewi te that is to say the H elli a that parto f the

, , ,
lower world wh e re it is nec essa ry to do penance ( vi te )

for one s sins F rom England the express i on do u btless
’
.
came to Scandinavia where we find i n the Iceland i c Hel

,
mti in the S wedish H ci lv e te and in the D anish H elve de

’ '
, , .
In the Icel and i c literature it is fou nd for the first time

in H allfre d the same skald who with great hes i tation
,
permitted himself to be persuaded by O la f T ryg veson to

a bandon the faith of his fathers .
a ny centuries before Scandinavia was conve rte d to

40 7
TE U T ON IC MY TH OLO GY
Christianity the R oman C hurch had very nearly oblite

,
rated the bo undary l i ne bet ween the subterranean Hades
and G ehenna o f the N ew Tes t am en t T he lo wer world .
had as a whole become a realm of t orture though with

, , ,
v ar i o u s grada ti ons R e gions of bliss w e re no longer to be

.
fou nd there and for Hel in the sense i n whi ch U lfilas u sed
,
H alj a and the O ld High Ge rman translation Hella there

, ,
was no longer r oom in the Christian con ception In the .
N orth Hel was therefore permitted to remai n a heathen

,
word and to reta i n its heathen signification as long as the

,
Chr i stian generations were able or ca red to prese rve i t .
It is natural th at the memory of this s i gnificat i on sh ou ld

g rad u ally fade and that the idea of the Chr i stian hell
,
should gradually be transferred to the heathen He l This .
change can be pretty accurately tra c ed in the O ld N orse

lite rat u re It c ame sl owly for the d octrine in regard to
.
,
the lower world in the Teuton i c rel i gion addressed itsel f

powerfully to the imag i nation and as appears from a , ,
careful exam i nation far from being indefinite in its ou t

,
lines it was on the contrary described w i th the clearest

, , ,
lines and mos t vivid colou rs even d own to the minutest ,
details N ot until the thi rteenth c ent u ry could s u ch a

.
descript i on of the h eathen Hel as Gylfagi nni ng s be possi ’
ble and find readers who woul d accept it B u t not even .
then were the m emories ( preserved in fra gments from the

h eathen days ) in regard to t he lower w orld doctrine so
con fused but that it was pos sible to present a far mor e
,
faithfu l ( or rather not so utterly false ) des c ription there

o f Gylfagi nni ng s representat i on of the heathen Hades
.
’
i s based less on the then ex i sting confusion of the tradi
40 8
false premises .
TE U TON IC MYT HOLOGK
tions th an on the conclusions drawn fr om the author s own
In determ i ning the question how fa r Hel among the

,
’
heathen S c and i navians has had a meaning identical with

or sim i lar t o that whi c h H alj a and Hella ha d among their
G oth i c and G erm an k i nsmen —that is to say the si gni fica
-
,
tion of a death kingdom of such a nature t hat i t cou l d not

-
with linguistic pr opriety be used i n translating Gehenna

—we must first consult that which really is the oldest
source the usage of the spoken language in express i ons
,
where H el is found S u ch express i ons show by t he very

.
presen c e of Hel that they have be en han ded down from

heathendom or have be en form ed in analogy with old
,
heathen phrases One of these modes of speech still

.
exists : i ki ii l ( sla i hj al svalta i hj al frysa i hj al

'
, , ,
wh ich is the Old N orse i He l We do not use thi s .
expression in the sense that a pe rson k i lled by a weapon ,
famine or frost i s relegated to the abyss of tort u re S ti ll

, .
less could the heathens have used it i n that sense The .
phrase would never have been c reated i f t he word Hel

had espec i ally conveyed the noti on of a pl ace of punish
ment Already in a very remote age i He l had a cqu i red
.
the abstract mean i ng to death but in such a manner that

,
the phrase eas i ly s u ggested the c on crete i dea—the realm

of death ( an example of this will be given bel ow ) What ,
there i s to be said about i He l als o applies to such phrases

as bi da He lj ar to await Hel ( death ) had s h ti l Helj ar to
, ,
become equ i pp e d for the j ou rney to H el ( to be shrouded )

li ggj a mi lli hei ms 0 12 Helj ar to li e between this w orld an d
,
Hel ( be twee n life and death ) li ggj a d He lj a/r thremi to ,
40 9
TE UT ON I C MY THOLO GY
lie on Hel s th reshold A funeral could be calle d a Helfor

’
. ,
( a Hel j o urney
-
) fatal illness H e ls dtt ( Hel s i c kness ) the -
deceased could be c alled Helg eh gh i r ( thos e gone to Hel )

O f friends it i s said that H el ( death ) alon e could separate
them ( Foru m vii , .
Thus it is evident that Hel in the more general local
M
,
sense of the word referred to a pl ace c ommon for all the

,
dead and that the word was used withou t any additional
,
suggestion of damnation and tortu re in the minds of th ose

employing it .
T HE W O RD H E L IN VE GT A SK V I D A AN D I N VAFT H RU D
N E RS AL .
When Od in acco rding to V egtamskv i da res olved to get

, ,
reliable information i n the l ow e r world in regard to the

fate whch threatened Balder he saddled his Sleipner and ,
rode thither O n the way he took he c ame first to

.
N i felhel While he was still in N i felhel he met on his

.
,
way a dog bloo dy abou t the brea st which came from ,
the directi on where th at division of the lowe r w o rld is

s i tuated which is called Hel T hus the rider and the
, .
dog came from opposite directions and the former con ,
tinned his course in the directi on whence the latter came .
The dog turn ed and lon g pursued O din with hi s barking

,
.
Then the ri d er reached a foldvegr th at is to say a roa d , ,
along grass grown plains T he way res ounded un d er the

-
.
hoofs of the stee d T hen Od in fin ally came to a high

.
d welling which is called Helj arrami or Helfor man T he .
41 0
TE U T ON IC M Y TH O LO G Y
name of the dwelling sh ows th at i t was situ ated in Hel ,
not in N i felhel This latter realm o f the lowe r world

.
O d i n now had had behind him ever since he reached the

green fields and since the dog evidently a watch of the
, ,
borders between N i felhel and Hel had left him i n p eace ,

.
T he h i gh dwelling was decorated as for a feast and mea d ,
was se rved It was O din learned the abode where the

.
, ,
ds meg i r l ongingly waited for the ar rival of B ald er T hus .
V egt amskv i da
2 . Rae i d hann ( O d i n ) h idr thathan

N i flhae lj ar til,
m aatti h an n hv ae lp i
t heim ae r 0 r h ae li u k om .
3 . Sa v ar b lodu g r
u m b r i o s t i r am an
0 k g alldrs f fi du r
g o l u m laen g i .
4 . Framm ras id O d i nn,

f o ldv ae g r d undi ,
h an k o m at h af u
H ae li ar r ann i .
7 . H er s tandr B alldri
of b ru g g i n n m i fi d r .
O k aSm e g i r
i o fvae no .
V egtamskv i da distinguishes d istinctly betw een N i felhel

an d Hel . In Hel is the dwelling which aw aits the son of
the gods , the noblest and most pious of all the Asas The .
dwell i ng , wh i ch reveals a lavish splendour is descr i bed as ,
the very antithesis of that awful abode whi c h accordin g ,
41 1
TE U T ON IC M Y TH O L O G Y
to Gylfagi nni ng , belongs to the qu een of the lower worl d .
In V afthru dnersmal ( 43 ) th e o ld g i ant says

Fr a i o tn a ru n o m Of t h e ru n e s o f gi ant s
0 c allra go da an d o f all go d s
th e
cc k an n s eg i a s a tt , I c an s p e ak t r u ly ;
t hv i at hv e rn h e fi ec f o I h av e b e e n
r
he m i um k om it : i n e v ery w o l d r .
ni o k om c c h e im a I n n i n e w o r l d s I c am e
f yr N i flh e l ne d an , b e l o w N i f e lh e l ,
H e li o h ali r
“
t hit he r di e hali f m
hi ni g d eyj a 0 r . r ro H el .
L ike V egtamskv i da , so V afthru dnersmal also distin

gu i shes dist i nctly be tween Hel and N i felhel , particularly
in thos e most remarkable words that th i ther i e to N i fcl ,
. .
,
“ ”
hel and the regi on s s u bj ec t to it di e halir from Hel .
,
Hali r means men human b eings ; applied to be i ngs in the

,
lower wor ld hali r means dead men the sp i r i ts of deceased ,
human be ings ( cp Allv i sm 1 8 6 ; 2 0 6 ; 2 6 6 ; 3 2 6 ; 3 4

. .
, , , , , ,
6 with 2 8
,
A ccor d i ngly noth i ng less is here sa i d than
, ,
that de c eased pers ons who have c ome to the realm called
H e] may there be s u bj ec t to a second death and that
, ,
throu gh th i s second dea t h they come to N i felhel Th u s .
the same sharp d i stin c t i on is here made between li fe in

Hel and in N i felhel as between l i fe on earth and that in
H el These two s u bterranean realms m u st t herefore
.
rep resen t very d iff erent c ond i ti ons What these d i fferent .
c ond i t i ons are V af thru dnersmal does not inform u s nor

, ,
will I anti cipate the investigation on this po int ; still less

will I appeal to Gylfag i nni ng s assurance that the realms ’
of torture l i e under N i felhel and that it is w i cked men ,
( vandi r mean ) who are obliged to cross the bor der from
41 2
TE UTON IC MY TH OLO G Y
Hel to N i felhel So far i t must be borne in min d th at it

.
was i n N i felhel O d i n met the bl oo dy dog demon who -

,
barked at the Asa maj esty t hough he could not hinde r

-
,
the father of the m i ghty and prote ct i ng sorc eries from

con tinuing h i s j ourney ; wh i le it was i n Hel on the other ,
hand that O d i n saw the splend i d abod e where the dsmegi r

,
had already serv e d the pre c i o u s s u bt erranean m ead for h i s

son the just Balder
,
Th i s argu es that they who through
.
a sec ond death get over the border from Hel to N i felhel ,
do not by th i s tra n s fer get a bett er fate than that to

wh i ch Hel i nv it es those who have d i ed the first death .
Balder in the one realm the blood stai ned kinsman of ,

-
C erbe ru s i n t he o t her—th i s i s for the pres en t the only

, , ,
bu t not un i mportan t weight i n the balan c e wh i ch is to

determine the qu est i on whether that border line wh i c h a -
sec o n d death d raws between Hel and N i f elhel i s the bou nd

ary bet ween a real m of bl i ss and a real m of su ff ering and ,
in th i s c ase whether Hel or N i felhel i s the realm of bliss

, .
This expression i n V afth ru dne rsmal hi h i g deyj a or ,
H e li o hali r also forces to the front ano t her q u estion

, ,
wh i c h as long as it rema i ns unans wered makes the f o rme r ,
que stion more compl i c at e d I f Hel is a realm of bliss

.
,
and i f N i felhel wi t h the reg ion s subj e ct thereto i s a realm

of u nhappiness then why do not the so u ls o f t he damned
,
go at on c e to their final des ti nation bu t are taken first ,
t o the realm of bliss then to the realm o f angu i sh and

,
pain that is after they hav e died the se cond death on

, ,
the boundary line between the two ? And i f on the con

-
,
trary Hel were the realm of unhappiness and N i f elhel

,
o ffered a better lot then why should they who are d estined
,
‘
41 3
TE U TON I C MY TH OLO GY
WMMM
for a be tter fate first be brought to it through the worl d
,
of t o rture and then be sepa rated from the lat t er by a

,
W
second death be fore they c ould ga i n the more happy goa l ?
These q uestions cannot be answered unt i l l ate r on .
’
THE O RD H E L I N GRI N E RS AL H VE ROE L. E R S FOU N
T A I N AN D I T S D E FE N D E R S T H E B O RD E R
. OU N T AI N
B ET EEN HE L AN D N I FE LH E L . THE W O RD HE L
B LOT I N N 1 N T H O RSD RA P A .
In Gri mnersmal the word Hel occurs twice ( str 2 8 .

,
and this poem i s ( together with Gylfagi nni ng ) the

only a n cient recor d whi ch gives us any information about
the well H v ergelmer u nder th i s name ( str 2 6 ff ) .
,
.
F r om what i s related i t appears that t he myth olo gy

,
con c eived H vergelmer a s a vast reservo i r the mother ,
fountain of all the waters o f the world ( thardan ei g o v otn

au ll v eg a ) In the front rank are men t ioned a number
.
of s u bterranean rivers which r i se in H v ergelmer and seek ,
the i r c ours e s then ce i n various dire cti ons But the waters .
of earth and h e aven also c ome from this i m mense foun

tain an d after c ompleting the i r c irc uits t hey return
,
thither The liqu ids or saps which r i se in the world

.
tree s stem to it s branches and leaves arou nd H e rfather s

’ ’
hall ( V alhal) return in the form of rain to H v ergelme r

( Gri mne rsmal ,
Forty rivers r i sing there are named ( Whether they .
were all fo u nd in the ori gi nal text may be a subj ect of

doubt Inte rpolators may have added from their own
.
41 4
TE U TON IC M Y TH O L O GY
knowledge ) Thre e of them are menti oned i n othe r

records—namely Sli dr in V Olu spa 3 6 Gfi ll in th at
.
, , ,
account of Herm o d s j ourney to H el s realm which in its

’ ’
ma i n ou tl i nes was rescu ed by the au thor of Gylfag i nni ng

G
( y g lfa c h .
,
and Le
. i ptr in Helge H u nd i i 3 1 — and .
, .
all three are referred to in su ch a way as to prove that they

are subterranean r i vers Slid fl ows to t he realms of tor .
t u re and whirls weapons i n its edd i es presumably to hin

, ,
der 0 r fr i ghten anybody fro m attemp ti ng to cross O ver .
Gj bll there i s a bridge of gold to Balder s s u bterranean

'
’
“ ”
abo de Lei ptr ( which name means t he sh i ning one ) has
.
clear waters wh i c h are holy and by wh i ch s olemn oa t hs ,
are s worn as by Styx O f these last two rivers flow i ng

,
.
out of H v ergelmer it i s said t hat they flow down to Hel

(f al la til H e lj ar s tr Thus these are all su bte r
ra mean The next strophe ( 2 9 ) adds fou r rivers—K drm t

.
,
and Ormt an d the two K erlOg ar o f which it is said

'
i
, ,
that it is over these Thor must wade every day when he

h s
a to go to the j u dgment —seats of the gods near t he ash
Y gdras i l For he does not ride l i ke the other god s when
.
they j ou rney down over Bi frost to the thingstea d near

Urd s fou ntain The h o rses wh i ch t hey u se are named
’
.
in strophe 3 0 and are ten i n n u mber l i ke the asas when

, , ,
we s u bt ra ct Thor who walks and Balder and H5 dr who ,
d well in Hel N or must Thor on these j ou rneys in case

.
,
he wished to take the rou t e by way of B i fros t use the ,
thunder— c hariot f or the flames issuing from it might set

,
fire to the Asa — bridge and make the holy waters glow
( str . That the th u nder chariot also is dangerous -
for h i gher regions when i t is set i n m otion t hereof T t ,
41 5
dolf g i ves u s a br i ll i an t descrip t ion in the poe m Haust

laung Thor be i ng for th i s r eas on obl i ged to wade a c ros s
. .
four r i vers be fore he ge ts to Urd s fountain the beds of ’
these r i vers m u s t have bee n c on c e i ved as cr ossing the paths

travelled by the god j ou rney i ng to the th i ngstead .
A cc ord i ngly they must have the i r c ou rses som e where in

Urd s realm or o n the way thi t her and consequ ently they
’
, .
,
too belong to the low er world .
Ot her rivers c oming fr om H v ergelmer are said to tu rn

their c o u rse around a pla c e c alled H odd g oda ( str 2 7 -
.
ther hv erfa u m H odd g oda ) — Thi s g i rdle of rivers

.
,
which the myth ol ogy un i tes around a single pla c e seems ,
to indicate that this i s a realm from which it i s i mportant

to shut ou t everything that does not bel ong there T he .
name itself H odd g oda points i n the same d i rection

,
-
,
.
The word hod d m eans that whi c h is concealed ( the treas

ure ) and at the same t i me a prot ected sacred place In
,
.
the G er man po em Heli cmd the word hard c orrespon ding ,
to ho dd i s u sed abou t the hol i est of holies in the Jeru sa

,
lem temple As we alre ady kn ow there is in the lower

.
,
world a place to wh i c h these references apply namely the , ,
citadel guarded by D elling the elf of dawn and dec orated

by the famous a rtists of the lower w orld—a citadel in
, ,
w hich the dsmegi r and Balder—and probably H 0 dr too ,
since he is transferred to the lower worl d and with Balde r ,
is to return thenc e await the end of the histor i cal time

and the regeneration T he w o rd g oda i n H odd god a
.
-
shows that the pla c e is possessed by or en trusted to , ,
beings of divine rank .
F rom what has here be en stated in regard to H vergel

41 6
TE UTON I C M YTH OLO G Y
M
mer it follows th at the mighty well was conc eive d as
situated on a high wa ter shed far up in a s u bterranean

’
-
,
mountain range whence those r i vers of whi ch it i s the

,
source flow down in di fferent direction s to di ff erent realms

of Hades O f several of these rivers it is said that they
.
in th ei r u pper courses befor e they reach Hel flow in the

vi c inity of mankind ( gmh h om fi Q f —Stl 2 8
, ,
which ’
.
,
naturally can h ave no other meaning than th at the high
MMM
land thr ough which they flow aft er leaving H vergelmer
has been c onceived as lying not very de ep bel ow the crust
of i dgard ( the earth ) H vergelmer and this high land
.
a re not to be refer red to th at division of the lower world

which i n Gri mnersmal i s called Hel for not until a fter ,
the rivers have flowed through the mou ntain landsc ape ,
where thei r sou rce is are they said to falla ti l Helj ar

, .
Thus ( 1 ) there is in the lower world a mountain ridge ,
a h i gh land where is found Hv ergelmer the source of all

, ,
waters ; ( 2 ) this mountain which we for the present may

,
call ount H v ergelmer is the watershed of the lowe r

,
world from which rivers flow in di fferent directi ons ; and

,
( 3 ) that divisi on of the lower world which is cal led Hel .
lies bel ow one side of o unt Hvergelmer and thence ,
receives many rivers What th at division of the l ow er

.
world which lies below the other side of o unt H v ergel

mer is called is not stated i n Gri mnersmal But from
’
V afthru dnersmal and V egtamskv i da we alrea d y know that

Hel is bou nded by N i felhel In V egtamskvi da O din rides
.
th rough N i felhel to He] ; in V afthru dnersmal hali r d ie

from Hel to N i felhel Hel and N i felhel thus appear to
.
be each othe r s opposites and to complem ent each othe r

’
, ,
41 7
TE U T ON IC M YTH O L O GY
and combined they form the whole lo wer world Hence

it follow
.
M
s that the land on the other s i de o f the H v ergel
mer mountain is N i felhel .
It also seems necessary that both these Hades realm s

sho u ld in the myth ol ogy be separated from each other
not only by an abstract bou ndary lin e but also by a
natu ral bou ndary—a mou ntain or a body of water—wh i ch
,
might proh i b i t the c ros sing of the bou ndary by person s
W
who ne i ther had a right nor were obl i ged to c ross The .
t radition on whi c h Sax o s acc oun t of Gorm s journ ey to

’ ’
the lower world i s bas e d makes Gorm and his men when ,
from Gu dmu nd i mer s realm they wish to visit the

-
’
.
abodes of the damned first c ro ss a river and then come

,
to a bou ndary whi ch c annot be cr ossed ex c epting by scald , ,
steps on the moun t ain wall or ladders above which the

, ,
“
gates are placed that open to a c ity resem bl i ng most a
—
,
”
c loud o f vapou r ( p
v a om n ti maxi ni e nu bi s i mi le i .
T h i s is Sax o s ay of translating the name N i fel

’
hel j ust as he in the st ory about H addi ng s j ou rney to

’
the lower world translated Glazs isv elli r ( the G l i tte ring
‘
Fields ) with low apri ca .
In regard to the topography and eschatology of the

T eutonic lower world it is now of importance to find out
,
on wh i ch opposite sides of the Hv ergelmer mou ntain Hel

and N i felhel were c on c eived to be situated .
N i fl an an cient w ord related to ne bu la and nephele

‘
, ,
means fog mist clo u d darkness N i felhel means tha t

, , ,
.
Hel which is enveloped in fog and twil i ght The name .
H el alone has evidently had partly a m o re general appli

cation to a terr i tory embraci ng the who 1 e kingdom of -
TE U TON IC M Y TH O L O G Y
death—else it could not be use d as a pa rt of the com

pound word f N i e lhe l— partly a more limit ed meaning i n ,
which H el as in V afthru dnersmal and V egtamskv i da

, ,
forms a sh arp contrast to N i felhel and from the latte r ,
point of view it is that divisi on of the l ower world which

is not enveloped in mist and fog .
Acc ording to the c os mography of the mythol ogy there

“
was before the time when Y mer lived
”
N i felhei m a .
, , ,
world of fog darkness and c old north of Gi nu ngagap

, , , ,
and an opposite world that of fire and heat south of the

, ,
empty abyss Unfortunately it i s only Gylfagi nni ng th at

.
has preserved for our time these cos m ograph i cal outl i nes ,
bu t there is no suspi c ion that the author of Gylfag i nni ng

invented them T he fact that his cosmog raphic desc ri p
.
tion also mentions the ancient cow Audhuml a which i s ,
nowhere else named in ou r mythic r ecords but is not ,
utterly for gotten in our popular tradition s and which is a ,
genuine Aryan conception this is the strongest argument

,
in favour o f his h aving had genuine authorities for his

theo— cosmogony at hand th ough he used them in an ,
arbitrary manner The Teut ons may also be said to have

.
been compelled to constru ct a cos m ogony i n harmony with

thei r conception of that world with which they were be st
acquainted their own home betwee n the cold N orth and
,
the warmer South .
N i felhel in the lower w orld has its counte rpart in

N i felhei m in chaos Gylfagi nni ng identifies the two ( ch
. .
6 and Forspj allslj od doe s the same and locates
—
,
N i felhei m far to the north in the lower world ( nordr at

N i felhei m str behind Y g d rasil s fa rthest root ’
.
,
41 9
TE UT ON IC MY TH OLO GY
under which the p oem makes the goddess of night a fter ,
complet i ng her jo u rney aro u nd the heavens rest for a ,
ne w journ ey When N i ght has completed su ch a j ourney
M
.
an d c om e to the lo wer w orld she goes northward in the ,
direct i on towards N i felhe i m to rema i n i n her hall un ti l

'
, ,
D ag w i th his chariot gets down to the western hor i zon

“ ”
and in his turn rides through the horse doors of Hades
into the lower wor ld .
From thi s it foll ows that N i felhel is to be referred to

the north of the mountain H v ergelmer Hel to the s outh ,
of it Thus this mou ntain i s the wall separat i ng Hel

.
from N i felhel On that mou nta i n in the gate or gates

.
, ,
whi c h in the G orm story separates Gu dmu nd i mer s -

’
abode from those dwell i ngs wh i ch resemble a clou d of

”
v apou r and up there i s the death bounda ry at whi c h
, ,
“h alir” d i e f or the se c ond t i me when they are transferred

,
from Hel to N i felhel .
T he immense water reservoi r on the bro w of the m oun

- -
tain which stands u nder Y gdras i l s nor thern root sends

,
’
, ,
as already stated rivers down to both s i des—to N i fe lhel

,
in the N orth and to Hel in the Sou th O f the most of .
these rivers we now know only the names But th ose o f .
which we do know more are charac terised in suc h a

manner that we find that it is a sacred land to wh i c h
th ose flow i ng to the Sou th towards Hel hasten their
c o u rse and that it is an u nh o ly land wh i ch is sought by
,
th o se which send their streams to the nort h down into

N i felhel The r i vers Gj bll and Lei ptr fall down into
'
H el and Gj ii ll is as already indicated characterised by

, , ,
a bridge o f gold Le i ptr by a shining clear and most h oly

, , ,
42 0
.
M ,
’
TE UTON I C MY TH OLO GY
water D own there in the South are found the mystic

H odd god a s u rrounded by other Hel rivers ; Balder s
and the ci smegi r s cit adel ( perhaps ident i cal with H odd
goda )
’
i mer s fountain seven times overlaid with gold

,
the founta i n of inspiration and of the c reative force over

“ ”
wh i c h t he overshado wing holy tree spreads its branches
( V Olu spa ) and aro u nd wh ose reed wreathed edge the
,
s e ed of poetry grows ( E i lif Gu dru nson ) ; t he Gl i t t ering

Fi elds w i th flowers which never fade and w it h harvests
,
-
-
,
’
wh i c h never are gathere d ; Urd s fountain over which ’
Y gdrasil stands for ever green ( V Olu spa) and in whos e ,
silver wh i te waters swans sw i m ; and the sa c red th i ng

-
stead of the Asas to which they da i ly r i de down over

,
B i frost N orth of the m ounta i n roa rs the weapo n hurling

.
-
Sl i d and d oubtless i s the same r i ver as that in wh ose

,
“heavy stre ms ” the sou ls o f n i th i ngs m u st wade In the

a .
N orth s olti fj arri stands also at N astrands that h all the

, , ,
walls of which are braided o f serpents ( V Olu spa) Thus .
Hel is described as an Elys i u m N i felhel wit h its subj ect

,
reg i ons as a realm of unhappiness .
Y et a few words abou t H ve rge lmer from and to which ,
all waters find the i r way Th i s statem ent i n Gri mners

.
mal is of co u rse tr u e of the greatest of all waters the ,
ocean The myth about H v erg elmer and i t s su bter

.
ranean connection w i th the oc ean gave ou r an c est o rs the
e xplanati on of ebb and flood tide High up in the -

.
nor t hern c hannels the bo ttom of the oc ean opened itself

“
in a hollow t u nnel whi c h led down to the ket t le roarer
,
-
,
“the one r oaring in h i s basin ” this seems to be the

(
meaning of H v ergelmi r : hv err kettle ; galm Angl o z L
-
42 1
TE U T ON I C MY TH OLO GY
Saxon g ealm a ro ar i ng ) When the waters of the ocean

,
.
pou red throu gh th i s t u nnel do wn i n t o the Hades well -
there was ebb t i de when i t ret u rned wa t er from i ts s u per

-
abundance there was fl oo d— t i de ( see N os 7 9 80 .

'
, ,
Adam of Bremen had heard this t u nnel ment i oned i n

connection with the s t ory about t he F risian noblem en who
went by sea to the fu rthest nor t h came to the land of ,
s u bterranean giants and pl u ndered their treas u res ( see ,
No . On the way up som e of the ships of the

Fr i s i ans got into the eddy caused by the t u nnel and were
M
,
s u cked with terrible viol ence down int o the l ower w orld *
.
Charlem agn e s c on t em porary Pa u l V arnef ri d ( D ia c o

’
,
nus ) relates in his h i story of the L ongobard i an s t hat he

,
had talked w i th men who had be en i n Scand i n avia .
Among remarkable reports which they gave h i m of the

reg i ons of the far north wa s als o that of a maels t rom ,
which swallows sh i ps and som et i mes even casts them u p ,
again ( see N os 1 5 7 9 80 .
,
’
, ,
Bet w een the death k i ngd om and the ocea n there was -
,
therefore one conne ct i ng link perhaps s everal

,
o st , .
of the people who drowned did not remai n w it h Ran .
ZE gi r s wi fe received them hospitably according to the

’
,
Iceland i c sagas of the middle age She had a hall in t he .
bottom of the sea where they were welcomed and o ffered
M
,
s ess oh re kkj i i ( seat and bed ) Her realm was on ly an .
ante chamber to the realms of dea th ( K ormak Sona

-
,
torrek ) .
“E t ‘
i n t b i li O
e c ce i E ip
s a ad i i t i q a d m f nt i
s c e an l ur u s, n a u e a o arc an a
s su
i f li
rec u r r e n s , n e t j m d p t 1 mm d m t l g i t t
c es n au as a es e r a os , o e or e s o a co an e s ,
v e h e m e nt i s s i m o t r axi t ad Ch aos
i rr p e tu Han c d i c u nt e ss e v or ag i ne m
p d i
.
ab y s s i i llu d r of u n um , i n q u o f am a e s t om n e s m ar s rec u r s u s q u i d e c re s
vi q d di l t
, ,
ab s or b e r i e t d e n u o re m o
”
c e re v i d e nt u r , uo fl u c tu ati o c i so e ( D e s i tu
p
,
D an i a! , e d . ad .
, .
42 2
M
TE U TON I C MY TH OLO G Y
T he demon N i dhog wh i ch by Gylfag i nni ng is thrown

,
i nto H vergelmer i s accor d i ng to t he ancient recor d s a

, ,
winged dragon flying about one of several similar mon ,
sters which have their abode in N i felhel and those l ower
regions and whi ch seek to injure that root of the wor ld
M
,
tree which is nearest to them that is the northern on e ,

!
,
which stands over N i felhel and str etc hes its rootlets sou th
w ard over o unt H verg elmer and down into its great
water reservoi r ( Gri mnersmal 3 4
-
L ike all the
, ,
A ryan mythologies the Teuton i c als o kn e w th i s sort of

,
“ ”
monsters and did so l ong before the word dragon
,
( d rak e ) was borrowed from souther n kinsme n as a name
M M
for them N i dhog ab i des no w on N astrands, where by
.
,
the side of a wol f demon it tortures ndi r ( corpses ) now

-
, ,
on the N i da o untains whence the vala in V Olu spa sees

,
him flying away w ith ndi r under h i s wings N owhere .
( except i n Gylfagi nni ng ) is it said that he lives in the well

H v erge lmer though i t i s p ossible that he i n spite of his
, ,
wings was con ceived as an amphibious be i ng which also

,
could s u bsist in the water Tradit i on tells of dragons

.
who dwell in marshes and swamps .
The other two s u bterranean fountains Urd s and ,

’
i mer s and the roots of Y gdrasil stand i ng over them

’
, ,
are well protected against the influen c e of the foes o f
creation and have thei r separate guardians

,
i mer w i th .
,
his sons and the beings s u bject to him protects and guards ,
hi s root of the tree Urd and her sisters hers and to the
, ,
latter all the vi c tor i ou s god s of Asgard come every day

to hold c ou nsel Was the northern root of Y gdrasil
.
,
whi c h s preads over the real m s of the fr o st giants of the -

,
42 3
demons and of the damned and was Hvergelme r which

, , ,
waters th i s root an d recei ved so important a position i n

the econ omy of the w o rld tree left in the mythology -
,
with out pr otection and with ou t a guardian ? H vergel

mer we know is situated on the watershed where we have ,
the death borders between Hel and N i felhel fortified wit h

-
abysses and gates and i s consequ ently s i tuated in the

,
i mmediate vicinity of beings host i le to gods and men .
Here i f anywhere there was need of valiant and vigilant

, ,
wat chers Ygdrasil needs its nor thern roo t as well as the
.
others and i f H v ergelmer was not allowed und i sturbe d to

,
cond u ct the circuitou s flow of all w aters the w orld wou ld ,
be either dried up or dro wned .
M
Already l ong before the creation of the wor ld ther e
, ,
flowed from H ve rgelmer that broad river called E li vdg ar ,
wh i ch in its extreme north fr oze into that ice which when , ,
it melted formed out of its dropping venom the primeval

,
giant Y mer ( V afthr 3 1 ; Gylfag After creat i on

.
, .
,
th i s river l i ke H vergelmer whence it rises and N i felhel , ,
into which it empt i es become integral parts of the ,
no rthern region s of the lower world E li vdgar also .

,
called Hroann H ronn sends in its upper course where it , ,
r u ns near the c rust of the earth a porti on of its water s ,
up to it and forms bet ween,

i dgard and the uppe r
Jot u nheim proper the river V i mu r whi ch is als o c alled
, ,
E li v dg ar and Hran nn like the parent stream ( cp Hymer

, .
s kv . 5 3 8 ; Gri mnersm 2 8 ; Skaldskaparm ch 3 1 6

, , , .
, .
, ,
1 8 1 9 and H elg H j
, , E li v a
.
g ar sep ar
. ates
,
the rea l m .
“
of the gi ants and frost g i ants fro m the other worlds -
”
.
“
So u th of E li v agar the gods have an ou tgard a ,
42 4
TE U T ON I C MY TH O LO GY
s aether wh i c h is inhab i ted by valiant watchers—snotri r

vi ki ng ar they are called in T ho d apa 8— who are bo u nd
M
rs r ,
by oaths to serve the gods T heir c hief is Eg i l the mos t

.
,
famous archer i n the mythology ( T hor sdrapa 1 8 ; cp , , .
Hymi skv 7 3 8 ; Skaldskap ch

.
, ,
As such he is also , .
called Or vandel ( the one busy with the arrow ) This .
Egi l i s the gu ard i an entr u sted wi t h the c are of H v erg el

mer and E li v agar Perhaps i t is for th i s reason that he
.
has a brother and fellow warr i or who i s c alled Ide ( I di

-
“
from i da a fountain w i th eddy i ng waters ) The s ae t er ”
.
,
“ ”
i s c alled Ides s aeter ( T h orsdrapa The services ,
which h e as watcher on t H v ergelmer and on the El i v a .
gar ren ders to the reg i ons of bl i ss i n the lower world are
M
so great that al t ho u gh he doe s n ot belon g to t he race of
,
the gods by b i rth or by adopt i on he st i ll enj oys am ong ,
the inhab i tants of H el so great honour and gratitude that

“
they con fer d i vine honou rs on him He is the on e wor .
shipped i n Hel who s c atters the clou ds whi ch rise s t orm

”
thre aten ing over the mou ntain of the lower world hel ,
bloti nn hnei tr a ndi r fj dlfrs bli len ( T h0 rs dr

-
T he .
,
storm clo u ds which Are H rcesve lgr and othe r sto rm

-
, ,
dem ons of N i felhe i m send to the elys i an fields of the

death kingdom m u st in order to get there surmount t
-
, , , .
H ve rgelmer but there they are scattered by the faithfu l

,
watchman N ow in company with Thor and now alone

.
, ,
Eg i l O r andel has made many remarkable j o u rneys to

- v
Jotunheim N e xt after Thor he was the most fo rmi d

.
,
‘
able foe o f the giants and in connect i on w i th Heimdal he

,
z ealously watched thei r every movem ent The myth in .
regard to him is fully d i scu ssed in the treat i se on the

42 5
TE UTON I C MY TH OLO G Y
I valde-son swh i c h fo rms a pa rt of this w ork and there ,
the proofs will be presented for the identity o f Orvandel

and E gi l I simply desire to poi nt ou t here in o rder to
.
,
present complete evidence later that Y gdrasil s n orthern ,

’
root and the correspon d ing part o f the lower wor ld also
had thei r defenders and watchmen and I als o wished to
WM
,
call attention to the manner in which the name H el is

empl oyed in the word H elbloti nn We find it to be in
’
harmony with the use of the same word in th ose gassages

of the poetic Edda which we have hitherto examin ed .
T HE O RD HE L IN SK I RN E RS AL . D E SCRI P T I O N OF
N I FE LH E L . T HE M YT H I C E AN I N G O F N AR, N AI R .
T HE H AD E S- D I V I SI O N OF T H E FROST -GI AN T S AN D
SP I R I T S O F D I SE A SE .
In Ski rnersmal ( strophe 2 1 ) occurs the expr ession

h orfa ole snu gg a H elj ar ti l It is o f impo rtanc e to our
.
theme to investigate an d explain the c on nect i on in which

it is found .
T he poem tells that Frey sat alone silent and longing , ,
ev er S ince he had seen the giant Gymer s wonderfully ’
bea u ti ful daughter Gerd He wasted with love for her ;

.
bu t he said nothing S ince he was convinced in a d vance

,
that neithe r Asas nor Elves would ever consent to a

union between him and her B u t W hen the friend of his.
you th who re sided in Asgar d and in the poe m i s called

, ,
Sk i rne r succeeded in getting him to c onfess the cause of

,
his longing it was in Asgard found necessary to do

, , ,
42 6
TE UTON IC M YTH OLO GY
something to relieve it and so Sk i rner was sent to the ,
home of the g i ant to ask for t he hand o f Gerd on Frey s ’
behalf As br i dal gi fts he took with him eleven golden

.
apples and the r i ng D ranpni r H e re ce i ved one of the .
best horses of Asgard to ride and for his defence Frey s ,

’
“
magn ific i ent s word which fights of i t sel f against the race
,
”
of giants In the poem this swor d receives the epithets
.
T ams U Ondr ( str 2 6 ) and Gamban tei nn ( str

-
. T ani s .
v bndr means the staff that subd u es Gamban tei rm

’
“
means the rod of revenge ( see N os 1 0 5 B oth .
,
epithets are formed in acc or dance wi t h the com m on poe ti c

usage of descr i b i ng swords by c ompound words of wh i ch
the latter part is v bndr or tei nn We find as names for
’
.
,
swords benv ondr blodv ondr hj altv ond r hri dv ondr hvi t
, , , , ,
v ondr, mordv ondr , sarv on dr, bentei nn, eg g tei nn, he r/a
tei nn, hj or tei nn, hrce tei nn, s ar tei nn, valtei nn, mi s te ltei nn .
rides over damp fells and the fields of giants

Sk i rner ,
leaps a fter a quarrel with the watchman of Gymer s

,
’
citadel over the fence com es in to G erd is welc omed

, , ,
with anci ent mead and presents hi s errand of c ou rtship

, ,
supported by the eleven golden apples Ge rd refuses .
both the apples and the obj ec t of the errand Ski rner .
then o ffers her the mos t preciou s treasure the ring B raup ,
-
n i r bu t in vain
,
Then he resor ts to threats He exh i bits
.
,
the sword so dangerous to her kinsmen ; w i th it he will cut

o ff her head i f she refuses her c onsent G er d answers .
that She is not to be frightened and that she has a father ,
who i s not a fraid to fight On c e more Ski rner S hows her .
the sword wh i c h also may fell her fathe r ( s er thn thenna

,
mcelei mey,
and he threatens to strike her w ith the
,
42 7
‘
subduin g st aff so th at her h eart sh all soften but too
, ,
late for her happiness for a blow f rom the staff will
,
remove her thith er whe re sons of men never mor e shall

,
see her .
T am sv en di cc t hi e dre p ,
e nn c c t h i e t e mi a m n
u ,
mer ! at mi n om m u nom
t har Sk altu g ang a
e r t h i e g u m n a Sy n i r
s it h an ev a s e ( s tr .
Th is i s the former threat of d e ath rep eat ed in another

f orm T he former d i d not frighten her But that wh i c h
. .
now overwhelms her with dismay is the descripti on Skir
ner gives her of the lot that awaits her in the realm of
death whither S he i s destined—She the giant maid if
, , ,
she dies by the aven ging wrath of the gods ( g amban
—
r ei di ) She sh all then c ome to that region wh i ch is
.
M
situated bel ow the N a gates ( fyr ndgri ndr ne than str
-
.
and which is inhabited by frost giants who as we -

,
S hall find do not dese rve the name mannas yni r even
, ,
thou gh the word me nn be taken in its m ost common s ense ,
and made to embrace gi ants of the masc u line kind .
T his phrase fyr ndgri ndr nethan must have been a

stereotyped eschatological term applied to a particular
d i vision a parti c ular realm in the low er w orld In L oka
, .
senna ( str T h or says to Loke a fter the latter has

.
,
emptied his phials of rash in sults upon the gods that if ,
he d oes not hold his tongue the hammer j olner shall

send hi m to Hel fyr ndgri ndr h othan Hel i s here used .
in i ts wi d est sense and this i s limited by the ad diti on of

,
42 8
t he words below the N a-gates

so as to refer to a parti c ,
u la r division of the lower world AS we find by the .
application of the phrase to L oke this division is of such ,
a characte r that it i s intended to receive the foes o f the

Asas and the insulters of the gods .
T he word N agri nd which is always used in the pl u ral
W
, ,
and accordingly refers to more than one gate of the k i nd ,
has as its first part ndr ( pl ndi r ) which means corpse .

, ,
dead body T hus N a gates means Corpse gates

.
- -
.
The name must seem strange for it i s not dead bodies , ,
but sou ls released from their bod i es left on earth wh i ch

, ,
descend to the k i ngdom of death and get thei r various

abodes there H O far ou r heathen ancestors had a
.
more or less ma teri al concept i on of the sou l is a q u estion

wh i ch it is not necessary to discuss here ( see on th i s point
No . Howsoe ver they may have regarded it the ,
very existence of a Hades in their my t holo gy demon

strates that they believed that a c ons c io u s and sen ti ent
element in man was in death separated from the body
w i th which it had been united in life and went down to ,
the lower world T hat the body from whi c h this con
.
scious sentient element fled was not removed to H ade s bu t

, ,
wen t in this u pper ea rth to its disintegration whether it ,
was burnt or buried in a mound or s u nk to the bottom o f

the sea this our heathen an cestors knew j ust as well as
,
we know i t T he pe ople of the stone age already knew

.
-
this .
The phrase N a gates d oes not st and alone in our mytho

-
logical eschatology One of the abodes of torture lying

.
within the N a gate is called N astrands ( N ds trandi r ) and

-
,
42 9
TE U TON IC M YTH O LO GY
is described in V oluspa as filled w i th terrors And the .
vict i m s wh i c h N i dhog the winged demon of the l ower

, ,
“
world there su cks a re called ndi r framg eng a the corpses
, , ,
”
o f thos e departed .
It is man i fest that the word ndr thus u sed cannot h ave
its comm on meaning but must be used i n a special mytho
,
logi cal sense wh i ch had i t s j u st i ficat i on and its explana

,
tion in the heathen doctrine in regard to the lower world .
It not unfrequen tly happen s that law books preserv e -
anc i ent si gn i ficati ons of words not found elsewhere i n

literature The Icelandic law boo k G r agas ( ii 1 85 )
.
-
.
enumerates fou r c ategories w i thin which the word ndr is

applicable to a person yet living ; G allows nor can be -
,
called even while living the pe rson who is h u ng ; gra v e

, ,
ndr the person pla c e d i n a grave ; skerry ndr o r roc k ndr

,
- -
may whi le yet alive he be called who has been expo sed
, ,
to die on a skerry or rock Here the word ndr i s accord

.
i ng ly appli e d to persons who are conscious and capabl e o f

su ff ering but on the supposition that they are su ch per
,
sons as h ave been condemned to a punishment which i s not

to cease so long as they are sensitive to it .
And this is the idea on the bas i s of which the word

ndi r is mythologic ally appl i ed to the damned and t ort u red
be i ngs in the lo w er w orld .
I f we now take into account that ou r ancestors bel i eved

in a second death in a slay i ng of souls in Hades th en we
, ,
find that this same use of the word i n question which at ,
first sight could not but seem strange is a c onsistent ,
development of the idea that those banished from Hel s ’ ‘
realms of bl i ss die a second time wh en they are t rans ,
4 30
ferred acros s the border to N i felhel and the world of

torture When they are overtaken by this sec ond death
.
they are for the sec ond time ndi r And as this oc curs at .
,
the gates of N i felhel it was pe rfec tly prope r to call the

,
gates ndgri ndr .
We may imagine that it is terror despair or rage , ,
w h i ch at the s i ght o f the N a gates severs the bo nd

,
-
,
bet we en the damned spirit and hi s Hades body and that -

,
the former is anx i o u s to soar away from its terrible

dest i na t ion B u t howev e r th i s may be the avenging
.
,
powers have runes which capture the fugit i ve put chains

, ,
on his Hades body and force him to f e el w i th it The

-
,
.
Su n son g a Christian song standing on the scarcely

-
,
crosse d border of h eathendom speaks of d amned ones ,
whose breasts were ri sted ( carved ) with bloody runes ,
and H avamal of runes which restor e con sci ousness to

ndi r S u ch runes are kn own by O din I f he s ees in a
. .
tree a gallows ndr ( vi rgi l ndr ) th en he can rist runes so

- -
,
that the bod y comes down to him and t alks with him ( see
No .
E f
'
cc se a tre u ppi
vafa v i rg i ln a ,
sv a c c ri s t
oc i ru nom fire ,
at s a g eng r gum i
0 c m ae li r vit h m i c ( H av am al ,
Some of the subterranean now have the power of

“
motion and are doomed to w ade in heavy streams ”
, .
Among them are perj u rers murderers and ad u lterers , ,
( V Olu spa Am ong these streams is V adgelme r i n

, ,
43 I
which they who h ave sl andered others fin d thei r far reach -
ing retribution ( Si gu rdarkv ii Other ndi r h ave the

.
, .
peculia rity which their appellation suggests and recei ve ,
q uiet and imm ovable stretched on iron benches their

, ,
punishment ( see below ) Saxo who had m ore elabo rate

.
,
descriptions of the Hades of heath endom than those which

h ave been handed down to our t i me translated or repro ,
du ced in hi s accounts of H addi ng s and Gorm s j ourneys

’ ’
in the lower world the word ndi r with exsangu i a si mu lacra

( p .
M
That place after death with which Ski rner threaten s the
stubborn G er d is als o situated within the N a gates but -
,
still it has another chara cter than N astrands and the other
abodes of tortu re wh i ch are situated bel o w N i felhel It .
wo u ld also have been unreasonable to threaten a person

who rej ects a marriage proposal w i th those punishments
wh i ch overtake criminals and nithings The Hades .
division which Ski rner describes as awaiting the giant

,
daughter is a s u bterranean Jotunheim inhabited by

, ,
d eceased ancestors and kinsmen of Ge rd

'
yth ology has given to the giants as well as to men a

li fe hereafter As a m atter of fact myth ol ogy never
.
,
destroys li fe T he h orse wh i ch was cremated with its

.
master on his funeral pyre and was b u ried with him in

,
his grave mound afterwards brings the hero down to

-
,
Hel When the giant who built the Asgard wall got
.
into conflict with the god s T ho r s hammer sent hi m ’
—
,
“down below N i felhel i

( h dr a ndi r N i flhel Gylfag .
,
ch . K ing Gorm saw in the lower world the giant

Gei rrod and both his daughters According to Gri mners
.
43 2
mal ( str frost g i ants dwell under one of Y gdrasil s

-
’
roots—c onsequen t ly i n the low e r world ; and Forspj alls

.
lj od sa y s that hags ( giantesses ) and thu rses ( giants ) ,
ndi r d warfs and swa rthy elves go to sleep under the

, ,
world tree s farthest root on the north bo rder of Jormu n

-
’
grund * ( the lower world ) when D ag on a chariot spark ,
M
ling with precious ston es leaves the lo wer world and when ,
N at after her j ourne y on the h eavens has ret u rned to her

home ( str 2 4 . It i s therefore qui t e in order if we
, ,
in Ski rner s des c r i ption of the realm which after deat h

’
awaits the giant da u ghter Offend i ng the gods rediscover

-
,
that pa rt of the lower world to wh i ch the dr owned prime

val an c estors o f the giant ma i d were relegated when Bor s -
’
sons opened the veins of Ymer s throat ( Sonato rr str ’

.
, .
3 ) and then let the billo ws of t he ocean wash clea n the

rocky ground of earth before they ra i sed the lat t er fro m ,
the sea and there c reated the inhab i table i dgard .
T he frost giants ( ri methu rses ) are the primeval giants

-
( g i gantes ) of the Teu t on i c mythology so called because ,
they sprang fro m t he fros t being Ymer whos e feet by -

,
conta c t w ith each other begat their progenitor the ,
“strange headed ” monster T hru d elm r V afthr 2 9

-
g e ( .
,
The i r ori gi nal home i n c haos was N i felhei m From the .
H v e rgelmer foun ta i n there the E li v agar rivers flowed to

the n o rt h and beca m e hoar frost and i ce which melted -
, ,
by warm t h fro m the sou th were c hanged into drops of ,
venom whi ch again became Ymer called by the g i ants

, ,
Au rgelmer ( V afthr 3 1 ; Gylfag T hru dgelm er

.
,
.
,
‘
W ith th i m f th l w w l d mp G dm d M im
s na e o b d
e o er or co are u un -
’
er s a o e
a Gr a n d ( s e e N O a nd H e lli gru nd ( H e li an d 4 4, an d n e owla g ru nd
( Caed mon 2 6 7 , 1
. .
,
, , 27 0,
433
TE U T ON I C M Y TH OLO GY
be gat B ergelmer c ountless winters be fore t he earth was

made ( V afthr 2 9 ; Gylf ch .
, Those m em bers of the
.
, .
giant race l i v i ng in Jo t u nhei m on t he s u rfa c e of t he earth ,
whose memory goes fa rthes t bac k in time can re m ember ,
B ergelmer when he a war lndr u ni lagi dr At least V afth .
ru dmer is able t o do th i s ( V afth r .

,
When the o riginal giants had to aband on the fields

populated by Bor s sons ( V Oluspa ’
they rec eived an ,
abode c 0 rrespondi ng as nearly as poss i ble to the i r first

-
home and as it s eems identical with i t ex c ept i ng that

, , , ,
N i felhei m now instead of being a part of chao s is an

, ,
integral part o f the cos mic un i verse and the ex t reme nort h ,
of i ts Hades AS a Hades realm i t is also c all ed N i f elhe l

.
-
.
In the subter ranean land with whi ch Ski rner t hreaten s

Gerd and wh i ch he paints fo r her i n appall i ng colo u rs
, ,
he mentions three kinds of beings frost gi ants the -

,
ancient race of giants ; ( 2 ) demons ; ( 3 ) giants of the

late r race .
The frost giants oc cupy together one abode whi ch

-
, ,
judging from its epithet hall is the largest an d

,
most important there ; while t hose members of the yo u nger

g i ant clan who are there dwell in S ingle scattered ,
abodes ,
c alled gards G erd is also there to have a separate

* .
abode ( str .
T wo frost gi ants are mentioned by name which show s

-
,
that they are repres entatives of their c lan O ne is named

Ri mgri mner ( H ri ni gri rnni r—str
.
the other Ri mner

’
—
.
( H ri ni ni r str .
Gri mner is one of O din s many s u rnames ( Gri mners

’
C mp
*
o th
are ph i te g th m i ( t 3 0 3 ) wi th t l h i mth
r ase o na au r u s r
’
t r urs a
ll
.
,
ha ar ( 3 0 ,
43 4
M
mal ,
and several other places ; cp E g i lsson s L ex .
’
.
P oe t ) Ri m g ri mner means t he same as i f O d i n had sai d

.
Ri m O d i n for O d i n s many ep it he t s could w i thout hes i ta

‘
’
-
,
tion be used by the poe t s i n paraphrases even when thes e ,
re ferred to a giant But the name O d i n was too sacred

.
for such a p u rpose Upon the W h ole the skalds seem.
p i ously to have abstained from u sing that name in para

phrases even when the latter r e ferred to c elebrated pr i nces
,
and heroes G lu m Gei rason i s the first kn own ex c ept i on to

.
the rule He c alls a k i ng

. dlm Odi nn The abov e -
.
epithet places Ri mgri mner in the same relat i on to the

frost giants as O din Gr i mmer s u sta i ns to the asas ; it
- -
chara c terises him as t he race ch i ef and clan head of the - -
former and i n th i s respect gives h i m the same place a s

,
T hru dgelmer occupi e s in V afthru dne rsmal Y mer can .
not be regarded as the special clan chief of the frost -
giants s i n c e he is also the progen i tor of other classes of

,
beings ( see V afthr 3 3 and V Olu spa 9 ; cp Gylfag ch

.
, , , . .
,
.
B u t they have other points of resemblance T hru d .
“
gelmer i s strange headed in V afthru dnersmal; R im
-
“ ”
g ri mne r is three h eaded in Sk i rnersmal ( str 3 1 ; c p
-
. .
“
with str . Thus we have in one poem a s t range
”
hea ded T hru dgelmer as progenitor of the frost giants ; -
“ ”
in the other poem a three headed Ri mgri mner as pro -
“ ”
genitor of the same frost giants The strange headed -
.
-
g ant of the former poem whi c h is a somewhat indefin i te

i ,
“ ”
or obscure phrase th u s finds in three hea ded of the
,
-
latter poem its fur ther defin iti on T o this i s to be added .
a p ower which is possessed both by T hru dgelmer and

Ri mgri mner and also a weaknes s for which both Thru d
,
43 5
TE U T ON I C MY TH OLO G Y
gelmer and Ri mgri mne r are blamed T hru dgelmer s .

’
father begat ch i ldre n w it h ou t pos ses si ng gygj ar gama/n

( V afthr .
, That T hru dgelmer i nher i ted this pow er
from hi s strange origin and handed it down to the clan
of frost giants and that he also inherited the inability to
-
,
provide for the perpet u ati on of the rac e in any other way ,
is evident fr om Allv i smal str 2 I f we make a careful , . .
examination we find that Ski rnersmal pre s u pposes this

,
same pos it i ve and negative quality i n Ri mgri mner and ,
con sequ ently T hru dgelmer and Ri mg ri mner must be

i dentical .
G erd who tries to rej ect the love of the fair and
,
blithe V ana god will according to Sk i rner s threats be

-
, ,
’
punished therefor i n the lower world with the complete

loss of all that is c alled love tenderness and sympathy , , .
Ski rne r says that she e ither m u st l i ve alone and W ith out a
husband in the lower world or else vegetate i n a useless ,
-
c ohabitation ( m m ) w ith the three headed gi ant ( str -

.
T he threat i s gradually emphasised to the e ffect that she

s hall be possessed by Ri mgri mner and this threat is made ,
immediately after the sole mn conj u rati on ( str 3 4 ) in .
w hich Ski rner invokes the inhabitants of N i felhel and also

o f the region s of bliss as witnesses that she shall never , ,
gladden or be gla d dene d by a man in the physical sense

of t his word .
H e ar ye gi ant s
, H e yr i i o tnar
, ,
H e ar fro s t gi an t s
,
-
b e y i hri m th u rs ar
, r ,
Y e s on s o f Su ttu ng s y n i r Su ttu n g a ,
N ay t h o u r ac e o f th e Asa g o d ! *
, Sj alfi r a s li thar -
Wi th
‘
f th
r aceA g d d zi d
o th
e h
s a- d l y b m t th
o a ar ere c an ar e e an o e rs
t h t h m g i g t h d i th l w w l d
an e
’
as e r a e re d B ld
n T h i i th
e o er or a r ou n a e r. s s e
only pl ace wh e re th e word as li dar oc c u rs .
43 6
M
TE U TON IC M Y THO L O G Y
h ow I fo bi d , r hv e cc fyr hyd,
h ow I b ani s h hv e cc f yri r b anna
m an s gl ad n e s s fr om th e m ai d m anna gl au m m an i
’ '
m an s e nj o y m e n t from th e m ai d ! m anna nyt m an i

’
.
Ri m g ri m n e r i s th e gi an t s nam e H ri m g ri mn e r h e it e r t hu rs
’
,
w ho s h all p os s e s s t h e e er th i c h afa s ca l
b e l ow th e N a-g at e s . fy r n ag ri n dr n e d an .
o re pl ainly it see ms to me Ski rner in speaking to G erd

, ,
could not have expressed the negative qu al i ty of R im !
g ri mn er in q u e stion Thor also expresses hims elf cl early

.
on the same subj ect when he meets the dwarf Alvis carry
ing home a maid ov er whom Thor has the right of mar
ri ag e
. Thor says scornfully that he thinks he discov ers
in Alvi s someth i ng whi ch reminds him of the nature of
thu rs es although Alvis i s a dwarf and the thu rses are
,
gi ants and he further defines wherei n this S imi larity con

,
sists : thu rsa li ci thi cci me r d the r v era; erat thn ti ll brud ar
’
bori nn :
“ Thurs likeness you see m to me to have ; you
’
”
were not born to have a bride So far as the pos i t i ve .
qual i ty is conc erned it i s evident from the fact that R i m

g r i m n er is the pr ogenitor o f the frost giants -
.
D es cended to N i felhel G erd must not cou nt on a ,
S hadow of friendship and sympathy from her kinsmen

there It wou ld be best for her to confine hersel f in the
.
solitary abo de whi ch there awaits her for i f she but ,
looks ou t of the gate staring gazes shall meet her from

,
R im mer and all the others down there ; an d she shall there
be l ooked upon with more hatred than Heimdal the ,
watchman of the gods who is the wise always vigilant

, ,
foe of the rime thu rse s and giants

-
But whether S he is at .
home or abroad demons and tormenting spirits shall

,
43 7
M
by tramar ( evil witches )
TE U TON IC M Y TH OL O G Y
never leave her in pe ace She sh all be bowed to the earth

.
or n ( a Teutoni c Eumenides
.
the agony of the soul person i fi ed ) S hall fill her with h i s

being The sp i rits of s i ckness—such also dwell there ;
.
they on c e too k an oath not to harm Balder ( Gylf ch

'
5 0 ) —S hall in c rease her woe and the flood of her tears

.
,
,
M
.
Tope ( insan i ty ) Ope ( hysteria ) T j au su l and O thale

, ,
( c onstant restlessness ) shall not leave her in peace

, .
T h e se sp i rits are also counted as belong i ng to t he race of

thu rse s and hen c e it is sa i d in the r u ne s ong that thu rs
,
-
“ ”
v e ldr hv enna kv i lln thurs ca u s es S ickn ess of w omen
M
.
,
In this connec tion it S hould be remembered that the

daughter of Loke the r u ler o f N i felhel is also the qu ee n
, ,
of d i seases Gerd s food shall be more loathsom e to her

.
’
M
than the poisonous serpent is to man and her dr i nk shall ,
be the m ost d i sgu sting i serable she shall crawl among

.
the homes of the Hades giants and u p t o a m ou ntain top , ,
where Are a s u bterranean eagle demon has hi s perch

,
-
( doubtless the same Are w h i c h a cco rding to V OIu spa ,
i s to j oin with his screeches in Rymer s sh i eld song

’
-
,
when the i dgard serpent writhes in giant rage and the

- -
,
shi p of death N aglfar gets l oo se ) Up there she S hall

, ,
.
s i t early i n t he morning and c ons tantly turn her fa c e in

,
t he same direction—i n the d i rection where Hel is situated ,
that i s s outh over t Hv ergelmer to ward the su bter

, .
,
ranean re gi on s of bliss T oward Hel she S hall long to

.
come in vain :
Ar a t h u i o a
s c altu ar Si t a
j
h o rf a 0 k sh u gg a H e lj ar ti l .
43 8
TE U TON I C M Y TH O L O G Y
On Are s perch thou shalt early sit turn toward Hel

’
, ,
”
and lon g to get to Hel .
By the phrase s nu ggd H elj ar ti l the skald has meant ,
“
something far more con c rete than to l ong for death ”
.
Gerd i s here suppo sed to be dead and within the N a gates ,

-
.
“
To long for death she does not n eed to crawl up to Are s
,
’
pe rch ”
She m u st subj ec t h erself to thes e nightly exer
.
tions so that when it dawns in the fog gy N i felhel she

, ,
may get a glim pse of that land of bliss to which S he may

never come ; she who rej ected a h i gh e r happiness—th at
o f bei ng with t he go ds and po ssess ing Fr ey s love ’
.
I have bee n som ewhat elaborate in th e presentation o f

this description in Ski rnersmal which has not hitherto ,
been understood I have done so because it i s the only

.
,
M
evidence left to us of how li fe was conc e i ved in the fore
court of the r egions of t orture N i felhel the land situated
M
, ,
below Ygd rasil s northern root beyond and be low the

’
,
‘
m ountain where th e root is watered by H v ergelme r It
, .
is plai n that the author of Ski rnersmal like that of V afth ,
ru dnersmal Gri mnersmal V egtamskv i da and Th o rs

, , ,
drapa ( as we have already seen ) has used the word Hel ,
in the sense of a place of bliss in the lower wor ld It is .
also ev i dent that with the r oot unde r which the f rost
g i ant dwells th at one referre d to by Gylfagi nni ng can

, ,
impos sibly be meant under which i mer S glo rious foun ’
tain and i mer s gr ove and all hi s t reasures st ore d for

,
’
,
a futu re w orl d are situ ate d

, .
439
T HE WW O RD HE L IN
TE U T ON IC M Y TH O L O GY
V OLU SPA
We now pass to V oluspa 40 ( Hank s Codex ) where

the word H elvegi r occ u rs .
.
H E L A RE
,
HO T HE
’
I N H A B IT A N T S 0
,
F
On e of the S i gns that Ragnarok and the fall of the

world are at hand i s that the mighty ash Y gdrasil
,
trembles and that a fettered giant mon ster thereby gets

,
-
loo se from its chains Which this monster is whether

.
,
it is Garm bound above the Gni pa cave or some other

, , ,
we will not now discuss T he astonishment and con .
fusion caused by these events among all the beings of the

world are described in the po em wi th but few words
, ,
but they are su ffi cient for the pu rpos e and well calculated
to make a dee p impression up on the hearers T error is .
the predominating feeling in t hose beings which are not

chosen to take part in t he i mpend i ng conflict T hey on .
,
the other hand for whom the qu aki ng of Y gdrasil i s the

'
S ignal of battle for l i fe or death either arm themselve s ,
ami d a terrible war cry for the battle ( the gi ants str
-
, .
or they assemble to hold the last council ( the Asas ) and ,
then rush to arms .
T wo classes of beings are mention ed as seized by terror

—the dwarfs who stood breathless ou tside of thei r stone
,
doors and those beings whi ch are d H e lveg nni

,
H elvegi r '
.
.
may mean the paths or ways in Hel there are many paths ,
j ust as there are many gates and many rivers H elv egi r .
may als o mean the regi ons d i stricts in Hel ( cp Au s tr ,

.
negr Su drv egr N orv eg r ; and Allv i sm

, ,
1 0 according to .
, ,
44 0
TE U T ON I C M Y TH OL OG Y
which the Vans c all the earth v egi r w ays ) T he author z

,
.
may have used the word in either of these senses or in

both for in this case it am ounts to the same At all
,
.
events it i s stated that the inhabitants in Hel are terrified

when Y gd rasil quakes an d the unnamed giant monste r -
gets loose .
M
Sk elfr Ygg drasi ls k Yg d r asil
’
Q u a es s
as kr s tan d an di , As h t d in g
s an ,
ym r h i d alldn a tr e T h e o ld t r e e t r e m b l e s ,
e nn i otu nn los nar ; T h e gi an t g e t s l oo s e ;

h rae daz alli r A ll are frig h t e n e d
H e lv e g u m O n th e H e lway s ( i n H e l s r e gi on s )
’
a
t hann e re Su r t s s pi rit ( o r ki n sm an )
’
adr Su rtar
se vi of g leyp i r . s wall ows h i m ( n am e ly th e gi an t ) , .
M
M
Surt s spirit or k i nsm an ( s evi seh may mean either )
’
, , ,
is as has also hitherto be en suppo sed the fire T he final

, , .
episode in the conflict on V i grid s plain is that the u spel

’
fl ames destroy the last remnant of the contend i ng giants .
The terror which when the world tree qu aked and the
,
-
unnamed gi ant got loose took pos sess i on of the inhabit

,
ants of Hel contin u es so lon g as the conflict is undecided .
V alfather falls Frey and Th or likew ise ; no one can know

,
who is to be victoriou s But the ter ro r c eases when on

.
the one hand the l i bera t ed giant monster I S destroyed and

-
,
on the othe r hand Vidar and V ale ode and a gne , ,
survive the con fl i ct and survive the flames which do not ,
penetrate to Ba lder and H ddr and their protegés in Hel .
The w ord thann ( him ) whi ch occu rs in the seventh line

,
of the strophe ( in the last of the translation ) can i mpossi

bly refer to any other th an the giant men tione d in the
44 1
fou rth line ( i otu nn ) There are in the s t rophe only two
.
masculine words to wh i ch the mas cu line thann can be

referred— i o tu nn and Ygg dras i ls as kr I o tnnn which .
-
,
stands nea rest to thann thus has t he preference ; and as we

,
have seen that the w o rld tree falls by nei t her fire nor edge
-
( Fj olsv . and as it in fact survives the con flagrati on

, , ,
of S u rt the n thann must natu rally be referred to the

,
Here Voluspa has furnished us with evidence in regard

to the pos iti on of Hel s inhabitants towards the c ontending
’
parties in Ragnarok They who are frightened when a

giant m onster—a most dangerous one as it h i the rto had
.
-
,
been ch ained—gets free from its fetters and they whose ,
fright is allayed when t he m onster is destr oyed in the con

flag rati on of the world s u ch beings can impossibly
,
follow this m onster and i ts fellow warriors with thei r

good wishes T he i r hea rts are on the side of the good
.
powers which are friendly to mankind But they do not

,
.
take an a ctive part in thei r behalf ; they take no part what

ever i n the conflict T h i s i s manifest from the fact that
.
their fright does not cease before the conflict is ended .
N ow we know that among the inhabitants in Hel are the

dsmegi r L i f and Lei fth raser and thei r o ff spring and that ,
they are not her tharfir ; they are not to be e m ployed in

war sin c e their very destiny forbids their taking an active
,
part in the events o f this pe riod of the world ( see N o 5 3 ) .
B u t the text does not permit us to think of them alone

when we are to determine who the beings d H elv eg mn are .
For the t ext says that all who are d H elveg nm are , ,
alarmed until the c onflict is happily ended What the .
44 2
i nte rpret ersof this much abused passage h ave failed to

see the seeress in Voluspa has not forgotten that namely
, , , ,
du ring the lapse of cou ntless thousands o f years i nnu mer ,
able children and women and men who never wield e d

,
the sword have descended to the k i ngdom of death and

received d well i ngs in Hel and that H el—i n the limited
,
local sen se whi c h the word hitherto has appeared to have

i n the songs of the gods — doe s not c ontain warl i ke i nhabi
tants Thos e W ho have fallen on the battle field come
.
-
,
ind eed as shall be shown later to Hel but not to remain

, , ,
there ; they continue thei r j ourney to As gard for O din ,
choo ses one half of those S lain on t he battlefield for his

dwelling and Freyja the other half ( Gri mnersmal
, ,
T he ch osen accordingly have Asgard as their pla c e of

dest i nation whi ch they r each in case they are not found
,
guil t y by a sentence which neutralises the force and

eff ect of the previous cho i ce ( see below ) and sen ds them ,
to die the sec ond death on cros sing the boundary to

N i felhel Warriors who have not fallen on the battle
.
field are as m u c h entitled to Asgard as thos e fallen by the

sword provided they as heroe s have a cquired fame and
,
honour It m i ght of co u rse happen to the greatest

.
, ,
general and t he most d i st i nguished hero the conqu eror in ,
hundreds of battles that he might die from sickness or an

,
accident wh i le on the other hand it might be that a man

, , ,
who never wielded a sword i n earn est might fall on the

field of battle before he had given a blow That the .
mythology sho u ld make the latter entitled to Asgard but ,
not the former i s an absurdity as void of support in the
records—
,
o n the cont ra ry these give the opposite test i

,
7
44 3
—
mony as it is of sou nd sense The electi on contained .
f or the chosen on es no exclus i ve priv i lege It did not .
e ven imply additi on al favour to one who independently ,
of the election could c ount on a pla c e amon g the ei nherj es

,
.
The election made the person go i ng to bat t le fei gr wh i ch ,
was not a favour nor c ould it be con s i dered the oppos ite
, .
It m i ght play a r oyal crown from the hea d of the chosen

one to that of h i s enem y and this cou ld not well be ,
reg arded as a kindness B u t for the elect i ng powers of

.
Asgard themselves the election implied a priv i lege The .
dis pensation of life and dea t h re g ularly belonged to the

norns ; but the ele ct i on partly supplied the gods with an
ex ception to th i s rule and partly it l eft to O din the right
,
to determine the f ortunes an d iss u es of battles The .
qu esti on of the relat i on between the power of the god s and

—
that of fate a question which seem ed to t he G reeks and
R om ans dangero u s to meddle with and well n i gh i mpos si -
—
ble to dispos e o was partly s olved by the Teu tonic
f
mythol o gy by the nai ve and Si mple means of divid i ng
t he dispe nsation of life and death be tween the d i vini t y
and fate which of c ou rse d i d not h i nder that fate al ways
, , ,
stood as the dark ins c r u table power in the background of

,
all even ts .
( O n elec t ion see fu rther N o , .
It follows that in Hel s region s of bliss there remained

’
non e that were warr i ors by profess i on Those among .
them who were not gu i lty o f any of the sins which the
Asa doctrine stamped as sins unto death passed through
-
Hel to As gard the others throu gh Hel to N i felhel All

,
.
the inhabitants on Hel s elysian fields a ccord i ngly are t he

’
dsrneg i r and the women children and the agen t s of the

, , ,
444
TE U TONIC M Y TH O L O G Y
pe ac eful arts who h ave died d urin g countle ss centu ries ,
and who unused to the sword have no place in the ranks ,
of the ei nherj es and therefore with the anxiety of those

,
wait i ng abide the issue of the con fl i ct Such is the back .
M
ground and conten ts of the V Olu spa str ophe T hi s would .
long since h ave be en u nderstood had not the doc trine ,
con st ru cte d by Gylfagi nni ng in regard to the lower world ,
with T roy as the start i ng point bewild ered the ju d gm en t

-
,
.
T HE W O RD H E L I N ALLV I S AL . THE C LA SSE S OF B E I N GS

IN H E L .
In Allvi smal occu rs the ph rases : those i heli o and hali r .
T he prem i se of the poem i s that such obj ects as earth ,
heaven moo n su n night W ind fire &c are expres sed in

, , , , , , .
,
s i x di fferent ways an d that ea ch one of these ways o f

,
expression is with the exclusion of the others applicable

, ,
within one or two of the c lasses of beings found in the

world For example Heaven is c alled
.
,
H i m i n n among m en ,
L ym e r am o n g g o d s ,
V i n do f n e r am on g V an s,
U pp h e i m am o n g gi an t s .
E lv e s say Fage r tak ( Fai ry ro of )

- -
,
d warfs D ryp sal ( d ro ppi n g h all ) ( str - .
In this m anner thi rteen obj ects are mentione d each one ,
with i ts si x names In all of the thirteen cases man has

.
a way of his own of nam i ng the obj ects L ik ewise the .
giants N o other class of beings has any of the thi rteen

.
44 5
appellat i ons in common wi t h them O n the other h and .

,
the Asas and V ans have the sam e name for two obj ects
( moon and sun ) elves and dwarfs have names in c ommo n
for no less than six obj ects ( c loud wind fire tree s eed , , , , ,
mead ) the dwarfs and the inh abitants o f the l ower

w o rld for three ( he aven sea and calm ) N ine times i t
, , .
i s stated how th ose i n the l ower world express themselves .
In S ix of these nine cases Allvi smal refers to the i nhabi

tants of the lower w orld by the gen eral expression those“
“
in Hel ; in three cases the po em lets th ose in Hel be ”
M
represented by s ome one of those classes of beings that
res i de in Hel These three are npregi/n ( str
. .
ni r ( str . and hali r ( str .
The very name u pr eg i n suggests that it refers to beings

of a ce rta in divine rank ( the Vans a re in Allv i smal called
i nnreg i n str 2 0 3 0 ) that have their sphere of activity
g , .
,
in the upper wor ld AS they n one the less dwell in the

.
lower world the appellation must have reference to beings

,
which have their homes and abid i ng places in Hel when

they are not occupied w ith their a ffairs in the world
abo ve Th ese beings a re N at D ag
. a ne S ol , , , .
Agas yni r has the same signifi c ation as dsni eg i r As .
this is the c ase and as the dsni egi r dwell in the lower
,
w orld and the dsas yni r likewise then they must be i denti ,
c al unle ss we should be cred u lou s eno u gh to assume that

,
t h e re were in the l ower world two categories of beings ,
both c alled sons of Asas .
H ali r when the question is about the l ower w orld

, ,
means the souls of the dead ( V afthr 4 3 ; see above ) .

,
.
Fro m thi s we find that Allv i smal employs the word

446
M
M
Hel in such
N at and D ag
’
a
t he damned whi c h are fou nd in the abodes of torture

,
manner that it embraces th ose regi ons where

a ne and Sol the l i vi ng human i nhab i tants
,
of i mer s grove and the souls of departed h u ma n beings

,
dwell Among the last nam ed are in c luded als o souls of

.
below N i felhel and it is w i t hin the l i mits of po ss i bil i ty

,
that the author o f the poe m also had them in m i nd

-
,
though there is not muc h probab i l i ty t hat he S hould con

c e i v e them as having a n om enclat u re in comm on w i th
gods ds rnegi r and the happy dep arted At all even t s

— —
.
, , ,
he has parti cularly a d probably ex lusively had in his

n c
W
mind the regions of bliss when he used the wor d H el i n ,
which case he has con formed in the use of the word to

V Olu spa , V afthru dnersmal , Gri mnersmal, Ski rnersmal ,
V egtamsk vi da ,
and T hor sdrapa .
O RD H E L I N OT HE R PA SSA GE S . T HE R E SU LT OF T H E
I N VE ST I GA T I ON FOR T H E C O SM OGRAP H Y A N D FOR T H E

M E A N I N G O F T H E W O RD H E L H E L I N A LO C A L .
SE N SE T H E KI N GD O M O F D E A T H PA R T I CU LA R LY I T S ,
R E A L M S O F B LI SS H E L I N A P E R SON A L SE N SE I D E N
.
T I C A L WI T H T H E GODD E SS O F FAT E AN D D E A T H , T H AT
I S, U RD .
While a terribl e winter i s r aging the god s accor ding , ,
t o Forspj allslj od sen d m essenge rs with Heimdal as

*
, ,
chief down to a lower w o rld goddess ( di s ) who is

,
-
,
‘
0 1? th e ag e and g e nu i n e ne ss of F ors pj alls lj od I p rop ose to p u b l is h a
se p arate t re ati se .
447
TE UT ON I C M YT HOLOGY .
d esignated as Gj bll s ( the lower world r i ver s ) Snnna ’ ’

’
( Sol su,
n ) and as the d i stribu tor of the d i vine l i qu i ds
( str 9 1 1 ) to besee ch her to expla i n to t hem the mystery
.
,
of c rea ti on t he beg i n ni ng of heaven of H el and of the

, , ,
world l i fe and death i f she i s able ( hlyrni s heli ar hei ms

, , , ,
of v iss i drti th wfi aldr ti la )

, The messengers get only
, , .
tears as an answer The poem d i vides the un i verse into .
three great d i visi ons : heaven Hel and the part lying , ,
between Hel and heaven the world i nhabited by mort als ,

.
Thus Hel i s here u sed i n i ts general sense and refers to ,

.
the whole lower world B u t here as wherever Hel has th i s
M
.
,
general sign i fi cation it appe ars that the idea o f regions of ,
p u n i shment is not thought of bu t i s kept in the bac k ,
ground by the defin it e ant it hesis i n which the word Hel ,
used i n i ts more c ommon and spec i al sense of the su bter

ranean reg i ons o f bliss stands to N i f elhel and the region s ,
s u bj ect t o I t It must be adm i t t ed t hat what the anx i ous

.
gods wish to learn from the w i se goddess of the lower

world m u st so far as the i r desire to know and their fears
,
concern the fate of Hel refer part i cularly to the region s ,
where Urd s and i mer s h oly wells are situated for i f the
’ ’
latter wh i c h water the world tree pass away it would

,
-
, ,
mean n othing less than the end of the w orld That the .
author S hould make the go d s anxiou s conc erning L oke s ’
dau ghter whom th ey had hurled into the deep abysses o f

,
N i felhel and that he S hould make the w i se goddes s by

,
Gj oll w eep bitter tears over the future o f the S ister of the
'
F en ris wol f is pos sible in the sense that it cannot be

-
,
refu t ed by any defini t e word s of the old re cords ; but we

may be permitt e d to regard i t as h i ghly improbable .
448
Among the p as sages in which the word Hel oc curs in

the poe tic Edda s mythological songs we have yet to men
’
t i on H arbardslj od ( str where the expressiondrepa i

.
H el is employe d in the sam e abstract manne r as the
M
“ ”
Swed es use the expression at 5 1 5 ihj al whi ch means ,
”
simply to kill ( it is Thor who threat ens to kill the i n
su lti ng Harbard ) ; and also V Olu spa ( str Fj OllS .
v i nns mal ( str

. and Gri mnersmal ( str .
V Olu spa ( str. speaks of Goldcomb the cock which , ,
with its crowing wakes those who S leep in Herfather s

,
’
abode and of a sooty red cock wh i ch c rows under the

,
-
ea rth near Hel s halls In Fj Ollsvi nnsmal ( str

’
. .
Sv i pdag asks with what weapon one might be able to

bri ng down to Hel s home ( d H elj ar s t) that golden
’
cock V i dofner which sits i n i me r s tr ee ( the worl d tree )

,
’
-
an d doubtless is identic al with Goldcomb T hat V i dof .
ner has done noth ing for which he deserves to be punished

in the home of L oke s daughter may be regarded as prob
’
able H el is here used to d esign ate the kingdom of death

.
in general and all that Spi vdag s eem s to mean i s that Vid
,
o fner in case s u ch a weapo n co u ld be fou nd might be

, ,
trans fer red to his kinsman the soo ty red cock which crows
,
-
below the earth Saxo als o spe aks of a cock wh ich i s

.
found in Hades and is with the goddess who has the

,
cowbane stalks when she S hows Hadding the flower

meadows of the lower world the Elysian fields of those ,
fallen by the sw or d and the cit adel within which death

,
does not s eem able to enter ( see N o Thu s there is .
at least one coc k in the lower world s realm of bliss ’

.
Th at there should be one also in N i felhel and in the abode

44 9
of Loke s daughter is nowhere mentioned and is h ardly

’
cred i ble s i n ce the co ck a ccord i ng t o an anc i ent and w i de

, ,
spread Aryan bel i ef is a sac red bird wh i ch i s the S pe c ial

, ,
foe o f demons and the power s of darkness A ccord i ng .
to Swed i sh popu lar bel i ef even of the present t i m e the

'
, ,
crowing of the c ock pu ts ghosts and sp i r it s to fl i ght ; and

a Si milar idea i s fo u nd in Avesta ( Vend i dad where , ,
in str 1 5 Ahuramazda h i msel f transla t es the m o rn i ng

.
,
song of the co c k w i th the following words “Rise ye ,
men and pra i se the j u s ti ce wh i ch is t he most perfec t !

,
M
Behold the demons are pu t to flight ! Avesta is na i vely
out of patience w i th tho u gh t less persons who call th i s
sacred b i rd ( P ar odarsch ) by the so l i ttle respec t insp i ring -
“ ”
name C o ckadoodledoo ( K ahrkatds ) The idea of the .
sacredness of the c o c k and i t s host i l i ty to demons was als o

found a mong the Aryans of South Eu rope and surv i ved
the introdu ction of C hr i st i anity Au reli u s Pr u d ent iu s
.
wrote a H ymnu s ad g alli cantmn and the co ck has as a ,
token of C hristian vig i lan ce received the same place o n

the church S pires as formerly on the world tree N or -
.
have the ay po les forgotten h i m But in the N orth

-
.
the poets and the pop u lar language have made the red
cock a symbol of fire Fire has two c haracters—i t i s
.
sacred puri fying and be neficent when it is handled car e

, , ,
f u lly and for la w fu l purposes In t he oppos i te case it i s

.
destructive W i th the exception of this spe cial instance

.
,
nothing but good is reported of the cocks o f mythology

and poe try .
Gri mnersmal ( str 3 1 ) is r emarkable from two po i n t s

—
.
o f view It cont ins information brief and scant it is

. a ,
4 50
true bu t neve rtheless valuable i n regard to Ygdrasil s

,
— ’
M
three roo ts and it spe aks of Hel in an unmistakable di s
, ,
ti nctly personal sense
M
.
M
In regard to the roots of the world tree and thei r po -
si ti on our invest i gation so far regardless of Gri mners

, ,
mal ( str .has prod u ced the following result :

Ygdrasil has a northern roo t This stands over the .
vast rese rvoir H v ergelmer and S pr eads over N i felhel ,
situ ated nor t h of H verg elmer and inhabited by frost

giants There nine reg i ons o f p u nishmen t are S ituated
.
,
among them N astrands .
Y gdrasil s sec ond root is watered by i mer s fou ntain

’ ’
M
and S prea ds ove r the land where i mer s fountain and ’
gr ove are l ocated In i mer S grove dwe ll thos e livin g

.
’
( not dead ) beings called Asme gi r and As as yni r L if an d ,
Lei fthraser and their o ff spring whose d estiny it is to peo

,
ple the regenerated earth .
Y gdrasil s third root stands over Urd s fountain and

’ ’
the subte rranean thingstead of the gods .
The lower world consists of two chief divisions N i fel

hel ( with the regions thereto belonging ) and Hel ,
N i felhel situated north of the H vergelmer mountain an d ,
Hel south of it A ccordingly both the land where i

.
~
’
mer s well and grove are S ituated and the l and where
Urd s fountain is found are within the domain Hel
’
.
In regard to the zones or climates in which the roots ,
are lo cated they have bee n conceived as h aving a south

,
ern and northern We have already shown that the root

.
over H verg elmer is the northern one That the root over .
’
Urd s fountain has been conceived as the southern one
45 1
is m ani fest from the following circumstances Eilif G ud

—
.
n
ru so n who was c onverted to C hristianity the same
skald who wrote the purely heathen T horsdrapa—says
,
in one of hi s poems w ritten af t er his c onversion tha t

, ,
C hrist S its snnnr at U rdarbrnnni in the s outh n ear Urd s

’
fountain an expression which he co u ld not have used o n

,
less his hearers had retained from the faith of the i r child
hood the idea that Urd s fountain was sit u ated south of
’
the oth e r fountains F orspj allslj od pu ts u pon Urd s fou n

.
’
M
tain the task of protecting the world tree aga i nst the de -
vastati ng cold d u ring the terrible winter which the poem
describes Othhrceri r s kyldi U rthar g eyma moettk at o eri a

mes tnm thorra — Urd s O dre i rer
.
M
( mead fountain )
’
-
.
proved not to retain strength enough to protect against

”
the terrible cold T his id ea shows that the sap whi ch
.
Y gdrasil s southern root drew from Urd s fountain was

’ ’
thought to be warmer than the saps of the other wells .
AS ac c ordingly the root over Urd s well was the sou th

’
, ,
ern and that over H v erg elmer and the fros t g i ants the
,
-
northern it follows that i mer s well was con c eived as

,
’
situated between those two T he memory of this fact .
Gylfag i nni ng has in its fashion preserved where in chap ,
ter 1 5 it s ays that i mer s fountain is situated wh ere

’
Gi nu ngagap formerly was—that is between the northern ,
N i fe lhei m and the sou thern warmer region ( Gylfag i n

n i ng s
’
Gr i mnersmal ( str . 31 ) says

T h ri rres t r standa Th re e root s s t an d
a th ri a v e g a on t hr e e w ay s
u n d an as c i Ygg dras i ls b e l ow Y g d ras il s as h

’
452
M M
TE U TON I C MY TH OL OGY
H e l byr u n d e i n ni , H e l d we ll s un d er o ne ,
ann ari h ri m th u rs ar, un d er an o t he r fro s t gian t s -

,
th ri di o m ennz k i r m e nn . u nd e r a t hir d hu m an
The root under whi ch the frost g i ants dwell we al read y -
know as the r oot over H vergelmer and the N i felhel i n

habited by fros t —giants .
The root u nder which hum an beings living persons , ,
menns ki r menn dwell we also know as the one over

,
i
mer s well and i mer s grove where the h u man beings
’ ’
,
L if and Lei fthraser and their o ffspring have thei r abode ,
where ford li fanda manna i s situated

'
There remains one root : the one under which the god
dess of fate Urd has her dwelling O f this Gri mne rs
, ,
.
mal says that S he who dwells there is nam ed Hel .
Hence it follows of necess i ty that the goddess of fate ,
Urd i s identical with the personal Hel the queen o f the

, ,
realm of death parti cularly of its regions of bliss We

, .
have seen that Hel in its local sense has the gener al si gni fi
cation the realm o f death and the special bu t mo st f re
, ,
qu ent signification the elysium of the kingdom of d eath

,
.
AS a pe rson the meaning of the word Hel must be analo

,
gous to its signification as a place It is the s ame i d ea .
having a personal as well as a local form .
The conclusion that Urd i s Hel is i nevitable unless we ,
assume that Urd though queen of her fountain is not

, ,
the regent of the land where her fountain is situated .
O ne might th en assume Hel to be one of Urd s sisters

’
,
but these have no prominence as compared with hersel f .
O ne o f them Skuld who is the more known of the two

, , ,
is at the s ame time one of Urd s maid se rvants a valkyrie

’
-
, ,
453
who on the battlefield doe s her errands a fem i nin e psycho ,
messenger who shows the fallen the way to H el t he realm ,
of her s i sters where they are to report themselve s ere

,
they get to their destination O f V erdandi the r e cords

.
tell us noth i ng bu t the name wh i ch seems t o preclude the

,
idea that she shou ld be the personal Hel .
Th i s res u lt that Urd is iden ti cal w it h Hel ; that she

,
who d i spenses life also d i spenses dea t h ; t hat she who with
her serving sisters is the ruler of the past t he present and , ,
the future also governs and gathers in her ki ngdom all

,
gener ati ons o f the past presen t and fu ture this res u l t —
M
, ,
may seem unexpected to those who on t he au thor it y of ,
Gylfagi nni ng have assu m ed that th e daughter of L oke

,
cast into the abyss of N i felhel is the qu een of the king
M
dom of death ; that she whose threshold is called Precipice
( Gylfag 3 4 ) was t he one who condu cted Balder over
.
,
the threshold to the s u bterranean c itadel glittering with

gold ; that she whose table is called Hunger and whose
knife is called Famine was the one who ordered the clear ,
invigorating mead to be placed before h i m ; that the s i s

ter of those foes of the gods and of the world the i d ,
gard serpent and the F enris wolf was entrusted with the
- -
,
care of at least one o f Y gdrasil s roots ; and that she whose

’
bed is called Sickness j ointly w i th Urd and i mer has

, ,
the task of c ari ng for the world tree and seeing that it is
-
kept green and get s t he l i qu i ds from thei r fo u ntains .
C olossal as this absurdity is it has been believed for

'
centuries And in deal i ng w i th an absurdity wh i ch i s

.
cen turies old we mu st consid e r that it is a force which

,
does not yield to obj ections simply stated bu t m u st be ,
4 54
W
W
conque re d by clear and convincing arguments Without .
the necessity o f travelling the pat h by which I have

rea ched the resu lt indi cated scholars w ould long since
,
have come to the conv i cti on that Urd and the pers onal Hel
a re identic al i f Gylfagi nni ng and the text books bas ed
,
-
thereon had not con founde d the jud gm ent and that for ,
the following reasons :

T he name U rdr c orresponds to the Old English Vard ,
Vyrd Vi rd to the O ld L ow German

, ,
u rth, and to the
O ld High G erm an a rt The fact that the word i s

.
found in the d i alects of several Teutonic branches indi

c ates o r i s thought by the linguists to indi cate that it
, ,
belongs to the most an c ient T eutonic times when it prob ,
ably had the form V or thi
W
.
There can be no do u bt that Urd also among other T eu
WW
tonic branches than the Scandinavian has had the mean
ing of goddess of fate Expre ssions handed down from
.
the heathen time and preserved in Old English docu

ments charact erise V yrd as tying the threads or weaving
the web of fate ( Cod E x 3 5 5 Beowulf
. .
,
and as ,
the one ho writes that which i s to happen ( B eowulf ,
Her e the plural form is also employed Vyr de , ,
the urds the norns which demonstrates that she in

, ,
England as in the N orth wa s con c eived as having sisters

, ,
“
or assistants In the Old Low Ge rman poem Heliand,
.
”
u rth s personality is equally plain

’
.
But at the same time as Vyrd u rth was the goddess , ,
of fate she was also that of death In Beowulf ( 483 1

, .
,
44 5 3 ) we find the parallel expressions
455
W
W
M
hi m v as Vy r d u n g em e te n e ah : U rd w as e x c e e d i ngly n e ar
to h i m ;
v as d ead u ng e m e te n e ah : d e at h was e xc e e d i n gly n e ar .
A nd in Heliand 1 4 6 2 ; 9 2 2 , , ,
Th i u W u th r is at h an d u n : U r d i s n e ar ;
D Od i s at h en d i : d e at h is n ea r .
And there are als o other expressions as T hi n u rth ,
ndhi aa thus : Urd ( death ) th en approached ; ur th i na

’
bena m: Urd ( death ) took him away ( cp J G rimm . .

,
D eu ts che y th i .
,
.
Th u s Urd the god dess of fate was among the Teu

, , ,
ton i c br anches i n G ermany and England identical w i th ,
death conceived as a queen So also in the N orth The

, . .
norns made laws and chose life and Orlii g ( fate ) for the
childr en o f time ( V oluspa ) The word Orldg ( N om Pl ; . . .
the original mean i ng seems to be nrlag arne that is the , ,
original laws ) frequ ently has a decided l eaning to the

idea of death ( cp V Olu spa : E h sé B aldri orlOg fri lgi n )
'
. .
Hakon Jarl s Orldg was that K ark cu t h i s throat ( N j

’
.
,
“ ”
To rec eive the j udgment of the norns was iden
tical with be i ng doomed to die ( Yng H ei msk ri ng la ch .
, ,
.
Fate and death were in the i dea and in usage so

closely related that they were blended into one person
,
al i ty in the mythology The ru ler of death was that one

.
who could resolve death ; bu t the one who could deter

mine the length o i life and so also could resolve death , ,
and the kind of death was o f course the god dess of fate
, , ,
.
Th ey must blend into one .
In the ancient N orse documents we also find the name

456
TE U T ON I C MY T H OL OGY
Urd u sed to des i gna t e death j ust as in Helian d and B eo ,
w u lf and this too in s u ch a manner that Urd s personal

, , ,
’
character i s not emphas i sed Yngli ngatal ( H ei msk r . .

,
ch 44 ) calls Ingj ald s manner of death hi s U rdr and to

.
’
determi ne death for anyone was to draga U rdr at him .
Far down in the C hr i stian centuries the memory su r

v i ve d that Urd was the god dess of the realm of death
and of death When a bri ght S pot which was called

.
,
Urd s moon appeared on the wall it meant the break i ng

’
, ,
out of an epidem i c ( E yrbyggi a Saga Even as ,
late as the year 1 2 3 7 Urd is supposed to have revealed

herself the night before C hristmas to Snobj orn to pre
, ,
dict a bloody confl i ct and She then sang a song in whi ch

,
M
she said that she went mournfully to the contest to choose
a man for death Saxo transl ates U rdr or H el with

. .
“P roserpin a H i s t i
( , .
64 .
U RD S M A I D-SE RV A N T S : ( 1 ) M A I D-SE RVA N T S O F LI FE

’
N OR N S D I SE S O F B I RT H H A I N GJE S GI P T E S
—
, , , ,
FYLGI E S; ( )2 M A I D SE RV A N T S O F D E A T H —V AL
K Y RI E S T H E P sy c H o M E SSE N GE R S 0 E D I SE A SE S A N D
,
-
A CC ID E N T S .
As those beings for whom Urd deter mines birth posi ,
tion in l i fe and death are countless so her servants who

, , , ,
per form the tasks commanded by her as queen must also ,
be i nnumerable They belong to two large classes : the

.
one class is active in her servi ce in regard to l i fe the other ,
in regard to death .
457
M TE U TON I C MY T HOLOGY
M
o st intim ately associ ated with her are her two si s
ters With her they have the authority of j udges Com
. .
pare V Olu spa 1 9 2 0 and the expressions n orna ddmr

, , , ,
norna kvi dr And they dwell w i th her under the world

.
tree which stands for eve r green ove r her gold cl ad foun
,
-
t ain
.
As m aid serv ants unde r Urd there are countless

-
hami ngj es ( fylgj es ) and g i ptes ( also called ga i es ,
a u dnes heilles )
, The hami ngj e s are fostered among be
.
ings o f g i ant race ( who hardly can be others than the

-
norns and i mer ) Three m i ghty rivers fall down into

.
the world in whi ch t hey have their origin and they come
, ,
w i se in the i r hearts soaring over the waters to our upper

,
world ( V afthr 48 .
,
There every ch i ld of man i s to
,
have a hami ng j e as a compan i on and gua rdi an S pirit .
The testimon y of the Icel andic sagas of the m i ddle ages i n

th i s regard are c onfirmed by phrases and forms o f speech
wh i ch have their roo t in heathen dom The hami ngj es .
belong to that large circle of fe m i n ine beings wh i ch are

c alled dises and they seem to have been espec ially so
,
j
styled What Urd i s on a grand s cale as the guardian

.
of the mighty Ygdras i l this the hami ngj e is on a smaller

,
s cale when she prot ects the separate fruit produ c ed on

the world tree and placed i n her care She does not ap
-
.
pe a r to her favourite ex cept i ng perhaps in dreams or

shortly be fore his death ( t he la t ter according to H elg akv .
H j Orv the prose ; N j al 62 ; Hallf ch 1 1 ; proofs from

.
, , .
p u rely hea t hen records are wanting ) In strophes whi c h .
occu r in G i sle Su rson s saga and wh i ch are attributed

’
( though on do u btful grounds ) to this heathen skald the ,
458
TE U T ON I C MY T H OLOG Y
hero o f the s aga bu t the origin of which ( from a time

,
when t he deta i ls of the myth were st i ll remembered ) is

fully c onfirmed by a carefu l criticism it is mentioned how ,
he stood betwe en good and ev i l i nspira ti ons and how the ,
dramn kona ( dream woman ) of the good inspiration s said

s
to him in sleep :
“Be not the first c ause o f a mu rder ! ex
c it e not peaceful men aga i nst yo u rself —promise me th i s ,
thou c haritable man ! Aid the blind s c orn not the lame , ,
”
and insu lt not a Tyr robbed of h i s hand ! T hese are
noble counsels and that the hami ngj es were noble beings
,
was a be l i ef preserved throu gh the C hristian c entur i e s

in I celand where accord i ng to V i g fusson the word
, , ,
hami ngj a 1 8 st i ll used in the sense of Providen c e Th ey .
did not us u ally leave their favourite before death But .
there are c e rta i n phrases preserved in the spok en lan guage

wh i ch show that th ey could leave him before death He .
who was aband oned by hi s hami ngj e and g i pte was a lost
man If the favou rite bec ame a hideou s and bad man then
.
,
his hami ng j a and g ipta mi ght even tu rn her benevolence

int o wra t h and c a u se h i s well deserved r u in U var ro
,
-
.
’
di si r angry at you are the dises ! cries O din to the royal

,
ni t hing Gei rrod and immediately thereu pon the latter

,
stumbles and falls pierced by hi s own sword That the .
invisible hami ngj e c ould cause one to stumble and fall is

s hown in Foru m 111 , .
The g i ptes seem to have carried out such of Urd s re ’
s olves on account of which the favourite received an u m

,
expected as it wer e accidental good fo rtune

, , .
N ot only for separate individuals but also for fam i lies

,
and clans there were guardian spirits ( laynfylgj nr azttar

, ,
fyzgi ” )
g 459
Ano t her division of this c lass of ma i d servants under -
Urd are those who a t ten d the en t rance of the ch i ld i nto

the world and who have to weave the threads of the new
,
born babe into the web of the fam i l i es and events Li ke .
Urd and her sisters they too are c alled norns If it i s a

, .
ch i ld who i s to be a great and famou s man Urd herself ,
and her sisters may be present for the abo ve pu rpose ( see
N o 3 0 in regard to Halfdan s birth )
’
. .
A few strophes incorporated in Fafnersmal fro m a

heathen didactic poem now lost ( Fafn 1 2 S peak of
,
.
,
norms whos e task it i s to determine and assist the arr i val
of the c hild into th i s world N orni r er naudganng lar ro

.
,
’
oc ki osa mcedr frd mang mn The expression ki os a mcedr

’
“ ”
f r a ma u g u m t o c hoose
,
mothers from descendants ,
seems obscure and can u nder all circumstances not mean

,
“
s i mply to deliver mothers o f ch i ldren ”
The word .
ki os a i s never u s ed in any other sense than to choose

’
elect se lect Here it must then m ean to choose elect

, .
,
“
as mothers ; and the expressio n fro m descendants is ”
incomprehensible i f we do not on the one hand concei ve

,
a crowd o f ev entual descendants who at the threshold ,
of life are waiting for mothers in order to become born

into this world and on the other hand wo m en who are to
,
be mothers but in reference to whom it has not yet be en

,
determ ined which descendant each one is to call hers

among the great waiting crowd until those norns which ,
we are here discu ss i ng resolve on that point and from ,
the indefin ite crowd of waiting megi r choose mothers for

those children which are especially destined for them .
T hese norns are acco rding to Fafn 1 3 of di fferent

, .
, ,
460
T E U T ON I C MY TH OL OGY .
birth Some are Asa kinswomen othe rs of elf race and

.
-
,
-
,
again others are daughters of D vali n In regard to the .
last named it should be remembered that D vali n their

-
,
father thro u gh art i sts of his circle decorated the citadel

, , ,
within which a fut u re generation of men await the regen

e rati on of the world and that the mythology has asso
,
ci ated him intimately with the elf of the m orning dawn ,
D elling who guards the c itadel of the ra c e of regenera

,
tion against all that is evil and all that ought not to enter
( see N o There are reasons ( see N o 9 5 ) for as
. .
su mi ng that these d i ses of b i rth were Honer s maid se r

’
-
vants at the same time as they were Urd s just as the ’
valkyries a re Urd s and Odin s maid servants at the same

’ ’
-
time ( see below ) .
To the other c lass of Urd s maid— serv ants belong those

’
lowe r world beings whi ch execu te her resolves of death

-
,
and conduct the souls of the dead to the lower world .
Foremost among the psycho messengers ( psycho -
pomps ) the atten dants of the dead we note that gro u p

, ,
of shield — ma ids call ed valkyries As O din and F r eyj a .
got the right of choosing on the battlefield the valkyr i es ,
have received Asgard as their abode There they bring .
the mead— horns to the Asas and ei nherj es when they do ,
not ride on V alfather s errands ( V Olu spa 3 1 ; Gri mners

’
,
mal 3 6 ; E i ri k sm 1 ; Ulf U gges Skaldsk

, .
,
But .
,
the third of the norns Skuld is the chief one in this

, ,
grou p ( V Olu spa , and as shall be sho wn belo w they

, ,
for ever remain in the most intimate association with Urd

and the lower world .
46 1
ON T H E C OSM OGRA P H Y T H E
T H E SW O RD T O VALH AL
W O RLD.
TE U TON IC MY TH OLOGY
T he modern conception of the removal of those fallen

WAY O F T H OSE F LLE N B Y
IS T H ROU G H T HE
A
L OW ER
by the sword to Asga rd i s that the valkyries carried them

immediately through blue space to the halls above The .
M
heathens did not conceive the matter in th i s manner .
It i s true that the mytholog i cal horses might carry

thei r riders through the ai r with out pr ess i ng a firm foun
dation with their hoofs But such a mode of t ravel was
"
M
not the rule even among the gods and when it d i d hap
, , ,
pen i t attracted attention even among them Compare

,
.
Gylfag i nni ng i 1 1 8 which q uotes stroph es from a

, .
,
heathen so urce The bridge Bi frost would not have been

.
bu i lt or established for the daily connection between As

gard and Urd s s u bterranean realm i f it had been u nnec
’
ess ary in the mythological world of fancy a ne s way .

’
in space wou ld not have bee n regarded as a road in the

concrete sense that quakes and rattles when Thor s thun
,
’
der chariot passes over it ( H au stl Skaldsk ch

- .
, .
, .
had it not been thought that a ne was safer on a firm

road than without one of that sort T o every child that .
grew up in the homes of our heathen fathers the qu estion

m u st haVe lain near at hand what su ch roads and bridges
,
were for i f the gods had no advantage from them The

, .
m ythol ogy had to be prepared for su ch qu est i ons and in ,
t h i s as in others cases it had ans wers wherewith to sat

, ,
i sfy that claim on causality and consist ency wh i c h even
462
the most nai ve view of the world presents T he answer .
was : I f the Bi frost br i dge breaks under its riders as is ,
to happen I n course o f time then the i r horses would have

,
to swi m in the sea of air ( B i lrans t brotnar er thei r a bru

—
,
f o ra
,
o c s vi ma i m od o ma ri r F afn 1 5 c ompare a
.
,
.
s t rophe of K ormak K ormak s Saga p 2 5 9 where the

,
’
, .
,
atmosphere is c alled the fj ord o f the gods D i a fj brdr )

'
.
,
A horse does not sw i m as fast and eas i ly as it ru ns The .
di fferent po ss i b i lities of travel are asso c iated with di ff erent

kinds of exertion and s w i ftness The one method i s .
more adequate to the purpose than the other The solid .
connections whi ch were used by the gods and whi ch t he

mythology bu i lt in space are a ccordingly obj ects of ad
, ,
vantage and conven i en c e The valkyries ridin g at the

.
,
hea d o f their c hosen heroes as well as the god s have

, ,
fou nd solid roads advantageous and the course they took

,
wi th the i r favou rites was not the one presented in our

mythologi cal text— books Gri mnersmal ( str 2 1 ; see N o
. . .
9 3 ) informs us that the breadth of the atm o spher ic sea

i s too great and i ts currents too strong for those riding on
their horses from the battlefield to wade across .
In the 4 5 th chapter of Eg i l Skallagri mson s s aga we ’
read how Egil saved himself from men whom King ,
Erik Blood axe sent i n pursuit of him to Saud Isle

-
.
While they were sear ching for h i m there he had stolen to ,
the vi c in i ty of the place where the boat lay in which those

in p u rsuit had rowed a c ross Three warriors guarded
.
the boat Egil su cceeded in surprising them and in giv

.
,
ing one of them his death wo u nd ere the latter was able
-
to defend himsel f The second fell in a duel on the

.
463
TE U T ON I C MY T H OL OGY
strand The third who sprang into the boat to m ake it

.
,
loose fell there after an exchange of blows The saga

,
.
has preserved a strophe I n whi ch Egil mentions this ex

loi t to his brother T horolf and h i s friend Ari nbj orn
p ,
whom he met after his flight from Saud Isle T here he .
says
at thrym r e yni s thj o nar
th ri r n Okk u rri r H lak k ar ,
ti l h as alar H e lj ar
h elg eng ni r, f Or dv e lj a .
Three of those who serve the tester of the v alkyrie

din ( the warlike Er i k Blood axe ) will late return ; they
-
”
have gone to the lower world to Hel s high h all ,
’
.
The fallen ones were k i ng s men and warriors T hey

’
.
were slain by weapons and fell at their posts of duty one ,
from a sudden unexpected wound the others in open con

, ,
fl i ct
. According to the c on c ep t ion of the mythological
text books these sword —
-
,
sla i n men should have beee n con
ducted by valkyries through the air to V alhal B u t the .
skald Egil who as a heathen born about the year 9 0 4

, ,
and who as a contempo rary of the sons o f Harald Fair

ha i r must have known the mythological v i ews of his fel
low heathen believers bett er than the people of our time
-
,
a ss u res u s positively that the se m en from K ing Erik s ’
body guard instead of going im m ediately to V alhal went

-
, ,
to the lo wer world and to Hel s h i gh hall there He cer

’
.
tai nly would not have said anything of the sort i f those ,
for whom he compos ed the st rophe had not regarded

this idea as both possible and correct .
The question now i s : D oes th i s E g i l s statem ent stand ’
464
a lone and is it in conflict with those other statements

to u ching the same po i nt which the an c i en t hea t hen records
have preserved for us ? The answer is that in these ,
ancient records there is not foun d a single passage in c on

fl i ct with E g i l s i dea but that they all on the c ontrary
’
, , ,
fully agree with his words and that this harmony con ,
ti nu es in the reports of the first Christian cent u ri es in

regard to th i s subj ect .
All the dead and also those fallen by the sword c ome
first to Hel Thence the sword S lain come to Asgard i f
.
-
,
they have d eserved this destiny .
In G i sle Su rson s saga ( ch 2 4 ) is mentioned the cus

’
.
tom o f binding Hel shoes on the feet of the d ead

-
War .
riors in regard to whom there was no dou bt that V alhal

was their final dest i ny re c eived Hel — shoes like all others ,
tha t er ti ds ka at bi nda monh am hels leé ,

s em menn ,
s ku lo
d g ang a ti ll Valhallar It w ould be impossible to ex

.
pla i n this cu stom i i it had not been believed that those

who were chosen for the j oys of V alhal were obliged ,
like all others to travel d H elv egu m Wher e ver th i s

,
.
c u s t om preva i led E gi l s view in regard to the fate which

,
’
immed i ately awaited sword fallen men was gene ral -

.
When Hermod betook himsel f to the lower world to

find Balder he came as w e know to the golden bridge
, ,
a cross the river Gj bll Urd s maid servant who watches ’

'
-
.
,
the bridge mentioned to him that the day before five

,
fy of dead men had rode ac ro ss the same bridge C on

l k i .
seq u ently all these dead are on horseback and they do not
come separately or a few at a time bu t in large troops ,
called fylki an expression which in the Icelandic litera

, ,
465
ture denotes larger or smaller d i vis i ons of an army

,
leg i ons cohor t s maniples or c ompanies in bat tle array ;

, ,
and with fylki the ver b fylkj a to form an army or a di

,
vision of an army in l i ne of battle is mos t i ntimately,
c onnected Th is ind i c ates with su ffi ci ent c l earness that

.
’
the dead here i n quest i on are men who have fallen on the
field of battle and are on their way to Hel each one ,
rid i ng in comp any with his fallen brothers in arms with

, ,
those who belonged to his own fylki The account pre .
s u pposes that men fallen by the sword wh os e final des ,
ti nati on is Asgard first have to ride down to the lower

,
world Else we would not find these fylkes on a Hel

.
way ga 1 10 ping across a subterranean bridge i nto the same ,
realm as had received Balder and N anna after death .
It has already been pointed ou t that Bi frost is the only

connecting link between Asgard and the lower regions
M
of the universe The air was regarded as an ether sea
.
which the bridge spanned an d although the horses of

,
mythology were able to swim in thi s sea the solid con ,
necti on was of the greatest importance The gods used .
the bridge every day ( Gri mni smal Gylfagi nni ng ) , .
F rost giants and mounta i n giants are anxio u s to get pos

-
session of it for it is the key to Asgard It therefore has

, .
its special watchman in the keen eyed and vigilant Heim

-
dal When in R agnarok the gods ride to the last con

.
fl i ct they pass over Bi frost ( Fafnersmal) The bridge .
doe s not lead to i dgard Its lower ends were not con
.
cei v e d as S ituated among mortal men It stood outside.
and below the edge of the earth s crust both in the nor t h
’
and in the south In the south it descended to Urd s

.
’
466
TE U TON I C MY THOL OGY
fountain and to the thingstea d of the g od s in the lower

world ( see the accompanying draw i ng intended to make ,
these facts intelli gi bl e ) From this mythological topo

.
g raphical arrangem ent it follows of necessity that the
valkyries at the head of the chosen slain must t ake their

course th rough the lower world by the way of Urd s ,
’
fountai n and the thingstea d of the gods i f they are t o ,
ride on B i frost bridge to Asgard an d not be oblig ed to ,
betake themselves thither on swimming ho rses .
A ug u d
.40 1 5 “
m."
'
vz
g u o f h Su v t s Ou r Dell s
'
T here are still two poems e xt ant fro m the heathen -
time wh i ch describe the rec eption of swo rd fallen kings

,
-
in V alhal T he one descr i bes the reception of E rik

.
Blood axe the other that of Hakon the Good

-
, .
When King Erik with five other kings and their at

,
tendants of fallen warriors come r i ding up thither the , ,
gods hear on their approach a mighty din as i f the foun ,
dations of A sgard trembled All the benches of V alhal .
quake and tremble What single probabi lity can we now

.
conceive as to what the skald presupposed ? D i d he su p~

pose that the chos en heroes came on horses that swim in
467
M
the air and that the movements of the horses in this

,
element produced a noise that made V alhal tremble ?

O r that it i s Bifrost wh i c h thunders under the hoofs of
h u ndreds of hors es and quakes beneath the i r we i ght ?
,
There i s scarcely need of an answer to this alternat i ve

: .
eanwhile the skald himself gives the answer For the .
skald makes B rage say that from the din and quaking
i t might be presu med that it was Balder who was return
ing to the halls of the gods Balder dwells in the lower
.
world ; the connection between Asgard and the lower

world is Bi frost : this connection is of s u ch a nature that
it qu akes and trembles beneath the weight of horses and
riders and it is pred i cted in regard to Bi frost that in
,
Ragnarok it S hall break under the we i ght o f the host of

r i ders Thus Brage s words S how that it is Bifrost from
.
’
which the noise is heard when Erik and his men r i de up
M
to V alhal B u t to get to the sou thern end of B i frost
.
,
Erik and hi s riders must have j ourneyed in Hel across ,
Gj oll and past the thingstead o f the gods near Urd s

’
well Thu s it is by this road that the psychopomps of

.
the heroes cond u ct their favourites to their final destina

tion.
In hi s grand poem H akonarmal Eyvind Skaldaspi l ,
ler makes O din sen d the valkyries Gand u l and Skagu l to

c hoose among the kings of Yng v e s ra c e some who are
’
”
t o come to O din and abide in V alhal It is not said by
.
which roa d the two valkyries betake themselves to i d

gard bu t when th ey have arriv ed there th ey find that a
,
battle i s imminent bet ween the Yn g ve des cendants Hakon ,
the Goo d and the sons of Erik Hakon is j u st putting

,
.
468
TE UTON I C MY TH OLOGY
on his co at-o i m ail and imme d iately th er eu pon begin s

-
,
the brilliantly descri bed battle The sons of Er i k are put

-
.
to flight but the v i ctor Hakon is wounded by an arrow

, ,
and a fter the end of the battle he sits on the battlefield ,
“
surro u nded by his heroes with shields cut by swords
,
”
and w i th byrnies pierced by arrows G andu l and Ska .
“
gul maids on hor seback with wisdom in their cou nte
, ,
nances wi th helmet s on their heads and with shields be

, ,
fore them are near the k i ng T he latter hears that

, .
WM
G andul leaning on her spear says to Skagul that the
, ,
wound is to cause the king s d eath and now a conversa ’

,
tion be gins between Hakon and Skagu l who confirm s ,
what G andul has said and does so with the follo wing
,
wo rd s
Ri d a v i t nu sk ulu m ,
k v ad h i n r ik a Sk ag u l,
g rmn a h e m a i go d a
i
O d u at s e g j a,
at u n m un allv aldr k om a
a hann si al i an at s ja .
e two Skagu l) sh all now, q u oth the

( Gan dul and
mighty Skagu l ri de o er g reen realms ( or worlds ) of

,
’
the g ods in order to say to O din that now a great king i s

”
coming to see him .
H ere we get definite information in regar d to which

way the valkyries journey bet w een Asgard and i dgard .
T he fields through whi ch the r oad goes and whi ch are ,
beaten by the hoofs of their horses are g reen realms of the ,
g ods ( worlds hei mar )

, .
With these green realms Eyvind has not meant the

469
W
M
blue ether .
TE UTON IC MY THOLOGY
He distingu i shes between blue and green

T he sea he calls blu e ( bldmwr—see H e i mskri ngla )
h at he expre ssly states and to which we mu st co nfine
,
ourselves i s that accord i ng to his cosmological concep

, ,
tion and that of h i s heathen fello w believers there were -
realms clothed i n green and inha bi t ed by d i v i nities on the

route the valkyries had to take when they from a battle
field i n i dgard betook themselves back to V alhal and
Asgard But as valkyri es and the elect r i de on Bifrost
.
,
.
up to V alhal Bi frost which goes down to Urd s well

, ,
’
must be the connect i ng link between the realms decked

with green and Asgard The grcenar hei mar through
.
w hich the valkyries have to pass are therefore the realms

o f the lower world .
Among the realms or worlds which constituted the

.
mythological u niver se the realms of bliss in the lower

,
world were those whi c h might particularly be character

ised as the gre en Their gr oves and blooming meadows
.
and fields of waving grain were never touched by decay

or frost and as s u ch they were cherished by the popu lar
,
fancy for centuries after the introduction o f C hristianity .
The L ow Ger man lan guage has also rescu ed the memory
thereof in the expression grani g odes wang ( Hel 9 4 ’
, ,
T hat the green realms of the lower world are called

realms of the gods i s also proper for they have contained ,
and do contain man y beings of a higher or lower divine

rank There d wells the divine mother N at worshipped
.
,
by the T eutons ; the re T hor s mother and her brother and

’
sister N jord an d Fulla are fo ster ed ; there Balder N anna ,
and H Odr are to d well until R agn arok ; there D elling ,
47 o
Billing R ind D ag
,
artists gathered around

a ne and Sol and all the clan o f
,
,
i mer they who smithy liv

ing beings vegetat i on and ornaments have the i r halls ;
there was born O din s son Vale O f the myth ological
divinities only a small number were fostered in Asgard
,
When Gandu l and Sk agu l at the head of sword -fallen

,
”
M
M
TE U TON I C MY TH OLOGY
’
,
,
.
,
“ ”
men ri de o er the green worlds of th e gods th i s agrees
’
w i th the statement i n the myth about Hermo d s j ourney to ’
“ ”
Hel that fylk es of dead r id ers gallop over the su b
,
terranean gol d bridge on the other S ide of which glori

-
,
ous regions are S ituat ed and with the statement in Veg ,
tamskv i da that O d i n when he had left N i felhel behind ,
him came to a foldvegr a way over green pl ains by

, , ,
whi c h he reaches the hall that awaits Balder .
In the hero i c songs of the Elder Edda and in other ,
poems from the centuries immediately succeeding the i n

trodu cti on o f C hristianity the memory survives that the ,
heroes j ourney to the lower world Sigurd F a fners .
bane comes to Hel O f one of Atle s brothers who fell .

’
by G udru n s sword it is said i H e lj n hon thana hafdi

’
( Atlam .
,
In the same po em st rophe 5 4 one of , ,
the N i flu ng s says of a swor d fallen foe th at they had -
hi m lamdcm ti l H elj ar .
T he mythic tradition is supported by linguisti c us age ,
which in su c h phrases as berj a i H el dreta i H el drepa

, , ,
ti l H elj ar fa r a ti l H e lj a/r indicated that those fallen by

,
!
,
the s wor d also had to descend to the realm of d eath .
T he memory of valkyries subordinate to the goddess ,
o f fate and d eath and belongin g with her to the class of

,
n orns continued to flourish in Christian ti mes bot h among

,
47 1
W
'
Anglo-S axons and S c and i n avians A mon g the former .
va lcyrg e v dlcyrre ( valkyrie ) c ou ld be u sed to ex press

'
the Latin f ar m and i n Be ow u lf oc c u r phrases in whi ch

,
H i ld and Gad ( the valkyries H i ldr and Gnnnr ) perform

the tasks of Vyrd In Atlamal . the valkyries are
“ ”
Changed into dead women inhabitants of the lower ,
world who came to choose the hero and invite him to

,
their halls The bas i s of the transformation i s the recol

.
lection that the valkyries were not only i n O d i n s ser v i ce ’
but also in that of the lower world goddess Urd ( com

pare Atlamal 1 6 h ere they are called norns ) and that
, , ,
they as psychopomps c onducted the chosen Heroes to Hel

on their way to Asgard .
THE CH OOSI N G . T HE M I DDLE -

AGE E AB LE A B OU T RI ST
”
ING WI T H T HE S E P A R P OI N T
-
.
If death on the battle field or as the result of wounds

-
,
received on the field of battle had been regarded as an ,
inevitable condition for the admittance of the dead into

Asgard and for the honou r of sitting at O din s table
,
’
then the choosing wo u ld under all circumstances have

been regarded as a favour from Odin But this was by .
no mea ns the case nor could it be So wh en regarded from

,
a p sy cholog i cal point of V iew ( see above N o The , .
poems menti on ed above E “ i ri k a”

sm l and
“H akonarmal
” '
, ,
give u s examples of choosing from a standpoint quite

di ff erent from that of favour When one of the ein .
47 2
herj es, Sig mund learns from Odin that Erik Bloo d axe
,
-
has fallen and is expe cted i n V alhal he asks why O din ,
robbed Er i k of v i ctory and life althou g h he Erik pos , , ,
sessed O din s fr i endsh i p F rom O d i n s answer to the

’
.
’
qu estion we learn that the skald did not w i sh to make

S i gmund express any surpr i se that a k i ng whom O d i n ,
loves above other kings and heroes has d i ed in a lost ,
instead of a won battle What S i gmu nd emphas i ses is

.
,
that O din did not rather take unto himself a less loved
king than the so highly appreciated Erik and permit the ,
latter to conqu er and live O din s answer is that he i s

.
’
hou rly expe cting R agn arok and that he therefore made
,
haste to secu re as soon as possible so valiant a hero as

Erik among his e i nherj es But O din does not say that
.
he feared that he might have to rel i nquish the hero for

eve r in case the latter not being chosen on this battle
, ,
field should be snatched away by some other d eath th an

,
that by the s word .
H akonarmal gives us an example of a king who i s

chosen in a battle in which he is the vi ctor AS con .
qu e ror the wounded Hakon remained on the battlefield ;

still he looks upo n the choosing as a disfavour When .
he had learned from Gandu l s words to Skagu l that the

’
number of the ei nherj es is to be increased with him he ,
blames the valkyries for dispensing to h i m this fate and ,
says he had deserved a better lot from the gods ( vdru n

tho ve rdi r g ag ns frd g odu m ) When he enter s V alhal
.
he has a keen er reproach on his l i ps to the welcoming

O din : i lli i di g r mi dh thykki r oss Odi nn vera sfdm oer ,
hans of hu g i.
47 3
TE U T ON I C M YT HOLOGY
D oubtless it was for ou r ancestors a gloriou s prospect

to be permitted to come to O d i n after death and a person ,
who saw i nevitable death be fore h i s eyes m i ght comfort

“
himself with the tho u ght of soon seeing the benches
M
”
of Balder s father d ecked for the feast ( Ragnar s death
’ ’
song ) But it i s no less c ertain from all the evidences

.
we have from the heathen time that honourable l i fe was

,
preferred to honourable death although between the

,
wars there was a chance of death from S i ckness Under .
these circu m stances the mythical eschatology co u ld not

,
have made death from disease an ins u rmo untable obstacle

for warriors and heroes on their way to V alhal In the .
ancient records there i s not the fa i ntest allusion to such an

idea It is too absurd to have existed It would have
. .
robbed V alhal of many of i dgard s most brilliant he

’
roes and it would have demanded from faithful be

,
li ev ers that they should prefer death even with defeat to

victory and l i fe since the latter lot was coupled with the
,
po ssib i lity o f death from disease With such a view no

.
army goes to battle and no warl i ke race endowed with

,
normal instincts has ever entertained it and given it ex

pression in thei r doctrine in regard to future li fe .
T he absurdity of the theory is so manifest th at the

myth ologists who have enter tained i t h ave found it nec
essary to find some way of making it less inadmissible
than it really i s They have suggested that Odin did not
.
necessarily fail to get those heroes whom S ickness and

age threatened w ith a straw death nor di d they n eed to
-
,
relinquish the joys o f V alhal for there remain ed to them

'
an expedient to which they under such circumstances re
474
sorted : they ri sted ( marked scratched ) themselves with

,
the S pear point ( marka s i k g ei rs oddi )

- -
.
If there was s u ch a cus t om we may con c eive it as

,
springing from a sacredness attend i ng a v oluntary death

as a sacrifice—a sacrednes s wh i ch in all ages has been
more or less allu ring to rel i gious minds But all the .
descriptions we have from L at i n records in regard to

Teutonic customs all our own ancient records from
,
heathen times all N orthern and German hero i c songs

, ,
are unanimou sly and s t u bbornly silent abo u t the ex i sten ce

“ —
o f the s u ppos ed custom of ri sti ng with the spear point ”
,
although if i t ever ex i sted i t w o u ld have been j u st such

, ,
a thing as would on the one hand be noticed by strangers ,
and on the other hand be remembered at least f or a time , ,
by the generations converted to C hristianity But the .
well in formed persons i nterv i ew ed by Ta c itus they who

-
,
presented so many character i stic traits o f the Teu tons,

knew nothing of such a practi c e ; otherwise they c ertainly
wou ld have ment i oned it as someth i ng very remarkable
and pecu liar to the Teu tons N one of the later c lassi cal
.
L atin or middle age L atin records wh i ch have made con

tri bu ti ons to ou r knowledge of the Te u tons have a single
word to say abo u t it ; nor the he roic poems The Scan .
di nav i an re c ords and the more or less historical sagas

, ,
tell of many heathen kings chiefs an d warri ors who

, ,
h ave died on a bed o f straw but not of a single one who

,
—
ri ste d himself w ith the spear point
”
T he fable about
.
“ ”
this ri sti ng with the spea r poi nt h as its origin in Y ng
-
li ngasaga ch 1 0 where O d i n changed to a king in

,
.
, ,
Sv i thi od i s said when death was approaching to h ave

, , ,
47 5
l et mar ka si k g ei rs oddi Ou t of this statem ent has been

-
.
constructed a custom among kings and heroe s o f ant i c

“
i pati ng a straw death by ri sti ng with the spear point
-
”
-
,
and th i s for the purpose of getting admitt ance to V alhal .
V i g fu sson ( D i c tionary ) has already pointed out the fa c t

that the auth or of Yngli ngasaga had no other authority
for his statement than the passage in Hav amal where ,
O di n relates that he wounded with a S pear h u ngering ,
and thirsting volu ntarily inflicted on himself pain which

, ,
moved B estla s brother to give him runes and a drink

’
from the fountain of wisdom T he fable abou t the spear .
point ri sti ng and its purpose is therefore qu ite u nl i ke

, ,
the source from which through ignorance and r andom

-
,
writing it sprang
, .
67 .
T H E P SY CH O-M E SSE N GE R S O F T H OSE N OT FA LLE N B Y T H E

SW ORD LO K E S D A U G H T E R ( P SE U D O H E L I N GYL
’
-
.
FAGI N N I N G ) I D E N T I CAL WI T H LE I K I N
-
.
T he psy ch opomps of those fallen by the sword are as ,

‘
we have seen stately dises S itting high in the saddle

, , ,
with helmet shield an d spear T o those not destined

, ,
.
to fall by the sword Urd sends other maid servants who -

, ,
like the former may come on hor seback and who as it

, , ,
appears are o f very d i fferent appearance varying in

, ,
accord ance with the manner of death of those persons
whose depart u re they attend She who comes to those

.
.
who sink be neath the weight of years has been conceived

as a very benev olent di s to judge from the solita ry pass
,
~
47 6
age where she i s characterised that is in Yngli ngatal and ,
in Yng li ngasaga ch 49 where it i s said of the aged and

,
.
,
just king Halfdan Whiteleg that he was taken hence by ,
the woman who is helpfu l to those bowed and stoop i ng

,
-
( hallw rps hli finau ma) The burden whi c h Elli ( age ) . ,
Utgard L ok e s fos ter mother ( Gylfag

-
’
- puts on .
,
men and which grad u ally gets too heavy for them to
,
bear is removed by this kind hearted di s

,
-
.
O tner ps ychopomps are of a terrible kind T he mos t .
o f them belong to the S pi r i ts of d i sease dwell i ng in N i fel

'
hel ( see N o Ki ng V anlande i s tortured to death

.
‘
by a being whose epithet vi tta ve ttr and trollku nd , ,
S hows that she belongs to the same group as H ei dr the ,
prototype of witches and who i s contrasted with the ,
valkyrie H i ld by the appellation lj ona li ds bdg a Gri m

’
hi ldr ( Yu gl ch The same vi tta v cettr came to

.
, .
Kin g Adi ls when his horse fell and he himsel f struck his
head against a stone ( Yngl ch T wo kings who .
, .
,
die on a be d of st raw are mentioned in Yngli ngasaga s ’

'
T hj odolf strophes ( ch 2 0 and 5 2 ) as visited by a being

-
.
called in the one instance L oke s kinswoman ( Loka ’
i nter ) and in the other H v edru ng s kinswoman ( H ved

,
’
ru ng s me r ) T hat this L oke s ki nswoman has no au ’ ’
tho ri ty to determine life and death bu t only carries out ,
the dispensations o f the norns is definitely stated in the ,
T hj odolf strophe ( ch
-
and also that her activity
.
,
as one who brings the invitation to the real m of death ,
d oe s not imply that the person invited is to be c ounted

'
among the damned altho u gh she herself the kinswoman

, ,
o f L oke the daughter of L oke surely doe s not belong to

, ,
the regions of bliss .
47 7
O k ti l t h i n g s
th ri dj a i Ofri
h v e dru ng s m ae r
or h e i m i b au d ,
tha e r H al f d an,
sa er a H o lti bi o
r
n o na d om s
u m n oti t haf d i .
As all the d ead wh ethe r th ey

, d esti ned for V alhal are
or for Hel ( in the sense of the s u bterranean realms of

bliss ) or for N i felhel m u st first report themselves i n
, ,
Hel their psychopomps whether they dwell i n V alhal

, , ,
Hel or N i felhel must do the s ame T h i s arrangement

, , .
is necessary also from the point of view that the u n

”
happy who die from Hel i nto N i felhel ( Gri mnersmal)
must h ave attendants who cond u ct them from the realms
of bliss to the N a gates and thence to the realms of tor
-
,
t u re Thos e dead from dis ease who have the su bte r

.
,
ranean kinswoman o f Lo ke as a guide may be destined
for the realms of bl i ss—then she delivers them there ; or

,
be destined for N i felhel—then they d i e under her care

and are brou ght by her throu gh the N a gates to the -
worlds of torture in N i felhel .
Far down in Chris tian times the participle lei ki nn was

used in a manner which points to som ething mythical a s
the or i ginal reason for its application In B i sku pas . .
( i 464 ) it is said of a man that he was lei ki nn by some

.
magic being ( flag d ) O f another person who sought

.
sol i tude and talked with himself it is said in E yrbygg j a ,
( 2 7 0 ) that he was believed to be lei lei nn Yngli ngatal .
gives us the mythical explan ation o f this word .
47 8
In i ts strophe abo u t King Dyggve who died fro m ,
disease this poem says ( Yng li ng ch 2 0 ) that as the

, , .
,
lower world di s had chosen hi m L oke s kinswoman came ,

’
and made him lei ki nn ( Allvald Yng v a thj odar Loka mcer
u m lei ki nn hefir ) The person who became lei lei nn i s

.
accordingly visited by Loke s kinswoman or i f others ’
, ,
have had the same task to perform by some being who ,
resembled her and who brou ght psych i cal or physical

,
disease .
In our mythical re cords there is mention made of a

giantess whose very name Le i ki n Lei hu is immediately , ,
c onnecte d with that activity which L oke s kinswoman
and she too i s a giantess—exercises when S he makes a

p erson lei ki nn O f this personal
. Lei ki n we get the fol
lowing information in our old reco rds
1 She i s as stated o f gi ant race ( Y ounge r Ed da
.
, , ,
L
2 She has once fared badly at T hor s h and s He ’
broke her leg ( Leggi brauz t thu Lei knar—Skaldsk ch

. .
.
, .
4 after a song by V etrli di )

,
.
3 .She is kv eldri da The original and mythological

.
mean ing of kveldri da is a horsewom an of tortu re or death

( from kveli a to torture to kill )
,
The meaning a horse
,
.
,
woman o f the night i s a misund erstanding Compare

,
‘
“ ”
V i g fu sson s D ict su b v oce K v eld
’
. .
,
4 .T he horse which this woman of torture and death

rides is black u ntamed diffi cult to manage ( s tygg r ) and
, , ,
ugly grown -
It drinks human blood and
'
i s accompanied by other horses belon gi ng to Lei ki n black ,
and blood thirsty like it ( All this i s st ated by H allfred

.
4 79
Perhaps these loose horses are i n

tended for those persons who m the hor sewomen of t or
ture ca u ses to d i e from d i sease and whom S he is to con ,
d u ct to the lower world .
P op u lar trad i tions have preserved for our times the

“ ”
remembran c e of the ugly grown horse that i s of a -
t hree—
, ,
legged ho rse whi ch on its appe arance brings s i ck

,
M
ness epid emics and plagues The D anish popular be
, ,
.
l i ef ( Thiel e L 1 3 7 1 3 8 ) knows th i s monster and the

,
word Hel horse has been preserved i n the vocabu lary of

-
the D anish langu age The diseases brought by the Hel

.
horse are ex tremely dangerous but not always fatal , .
When they are not fatal the convalescent is regard ed as

hav i ng ran somed hi s life with t hat tribu te of loss of
strength and of t ortur e wh i ch the d i sease c a u sed him and ,
“
in a sy mbol i c s ense he has then given death a bu shel of
”
oats ( that is to ,
its h o rse ) According to po pular belief
.
in Slesv i k ( Arnki el i 5 5 ; cp J Grimm D eu ts che yth

,
. . .
, ,
Hel rides in the time of a plagu e on a thr ee legged -
horse and k i lls p eople Thus the u gly grown horse is

.
-
not forgotten in traditions from the heathen time .
V Olu spa inform us that in the primal age of man the ,
sorceress Heid went from house to hou se and was a wel

c ome guest with evil women sin c e she s ei d L ei ki n ( s i da ,
“
means to p ractise sorcery ) N ow as Le i ki n i s the horse.
,
wo man of torture and death and rides the Hel horse

”
,
-
,
then the expression si da Lei ki n can mean n othing else
T i d h bg gv i t lét ti g gi
‘
V i n h rbdtgr g af v i d a
‘ '
‘
T ry g g v ar s ou r fyri r s tygg van v i s it m ar g r a F

ri s a
L ei k n ar h os t 6 le i tt b lék k u b r un t at d
or k h a
lj otv ami nn h r ae San a
’
b lOd k ve llr td u s tod i

'
.
.
480
than by sorcery to send Lei ki n the messenger of disease ,
and d eath to those persons who are the v i ctims of the

,
ev i l w i shes 0 f ev i l women or more abstractly to bring , ,
by s orc ery dangerous diseases to men *

.
From all this follows that Lei ki n is either a S ide figu re -
to the daughter of L oke and like her in all respects or , ,
she and the L oke daughter are one and the sam e pe r -
son To determine the qu est i on whether they are iden

.
tical we m u st observe 1 ) the definitely representative

,
manner in wh i ch V Olu spa by the use o f the name Lei k i n , ,
makes the pos sessor of this name a myth i c person who ,
visits men with diseases and death ; ( 2 ) the manner in

which Yngli ngatal characterises the activity of L oke s ’
daughter with a person doomed to die from disease ; she

m akes him lei lei nn an expression whi ch without do u bt i s
, , ,
in its sense con ne cted with the femi n i ne name Lei kn and ,
which was preserved in the vernacular far down in C hris

tian times and there d esignated a s u pernatural vis i tation
,
bringing the symptoms of mental or physical illness ; ( 3 )

‘
V Olu sp a 2 3 , Cod . R eg , s ays of He i d
s ei d h on ku n i
‘
d
,
s ei h on L ei k i n .
T he e l tt
er u i s i n t i
h s m anu s c r i u se f or pt
o h i t and 1; ( com are d b t p
B u g g e , Saamu nd E dd , P re f ac e x , ! L) , and h e n ce k u m may b e r e a o h
’
d b t
k l tt di k l i l d t iv
.
h u nt a n d yu t T h e a e r r e a n g m a e s o g c a s e ns e E yn i i s a e of
t i t i p t l
. .
k yn, a n e u e r n o u n , m e a n n g s om e h ng s or c e r ou s , s u e r n a u r a , a m on
t
s er K ynj am e i n and k ynj as ott m e an
' ‘
s e as e s r ou g h di
on b y s or c e r y S ei d b t
bt b v li p tt v b it
. .
in o h th e a o e ne s i s as e n s e of t h e er s i d a, an d n ot i n e h e r on e
of t
h e m th e n ou n s ei d r
d l di
.
T h ere was a s ac re s or c e ry an d an u nh o y on e , a c c or ng to th e p u r
p os e f or wh c h i it p ti d
was rac se , an d ac c or n g to th e a e n n g c e re mon e s di tt di i
b t l b i b t t i d it
.
T h e o j e c o f th e h o y s or c e r y was to r n g a ou som e h n g g oo e h er
t
f or th e s or ce rer o r f or o h e r s , or t o fi n d ou t t h e w of t h e g o s a n d f u u r e ill d t
t i
h ngs p ti d
T h e s orc e ry r ac se b y H e i d r i s t h e u nh o y one , h a e b y th e l td
i i bi dd l t i ki d
.
d
g o s , an d a g a n an d a g a n f or e n i n th e aws , an d h s n o f so rce r y
is d td
e s i g na e l p t
i n V o u s a b y th e e r m s i d a yu t Of a h n g r ac se w h k t i p t i d it
p p it id t t
.
i m r o e r m e an s i s sa h a i t i s n ot Icyn j a- lau ss, k yn -f r ee

di k k
.
T h e r e a n g i n God H au“ , s e i d h on h v ars h on u nni , s aid h on

vi d t l d t t k xi t
. .
ome e m e n a or
”
h u g lei k i n, e en y h a s s to h an f or i ts e s en c e wh o
d id d t d
n ot u n e r s anp th e a s s ag e an d w s h e to s u s i
u e s ome h n g e as y d b t it t t i il
d t d
u n e r s oo b li
f or th e o sc u re ne s h e h ou g h h e h ad f ou nd t t .
481
the C hr i stian popular trad i tion in which the deformed

and disease bringing horse wh i ch Le iki n rides i n the
-
,
“ ”
myth is represented as the steed of death or Hel ; “ ”
,
( )
4 that change of me aning by whi c h the name Hel ,
which i n the mythical po ems of the Elder Edda de si g

nates the whole heathen realm of death and espec i ally ,
its regions o f bliss or their queen got to m ean the abode

of torture and mis ery and i ts ruler—a transmu tat i on by
, ,
which the nam e Hel as i n Gylfagi nni ng and in the Slesvik

,
tr aditions was t ransfer red from Urd to Loke s dau gh

,
’
ter .
Finally it should be observed that it is told of Le i k i n

, ,
as of L oke s daughter that S he once fared badly at the

’
,
h ands of the gods who did not however take her l i fe

, , .
L oke s daughter i s not slain but is cast into N i felhel

’
G
( y glf a i nni ng ch From th at time she is g nuplei t
—that i s to say S he has a stooping form as i f her bones
.
,
, ,
had been broken and were un able to keep her in an u p

right pos ition Leik i n i s not sl ain but get s her legs
W
.
,
broken .
All that we lea rn of Lei ki n thu s po ints to the Loke

mai d the Hel not of the myth but of Christian tradi
, , ,
tion .
T HE AY T O H AD E S C O M M O N T O T HE D EA D .
It has alread y been demonstrated that all the dead must

go to Hel—not only they whose destination is the real m
o f bliss but also those who are to dwell in A sgard or in
,
482
the regions of torture in N i felhei m T hus the dead .
tread at the outset the same road One and the same .
route is pres cr i bed to them all and the same H elg ate ,
daily open s for hosts o f souls dest i ned for di fferent lots .
Women and children men and the aged they who have
, ,
practised the arts o f pea c e and they who have sta i ned
the weapons with blood those who have lived in accord
,
ance with the sacred comman dments of the norns and

gods and they who have broken them—all have to j ou r
ney the same way as Balder went be fore them down to ,
the fields o f the fountain s of the world They com e o n

foot and on horseback—nay even in chariots i f we may
.
, ,
believe H elrei d B rynhi ldar a very unreliable source ,
guided by various psychopomps : the beautifully equ ipped

valkyries the blue white dau ghter of L oke the sombre
,
-
,
S pirits of disease and the gentle maid servant of old age

,
-
.
Poss i bly the souls of children had thei r special psych o

pomps Traditions o f mythic origin seem to suggest this ;
.
but the fra gments of the myths themselves preserved to

ou r ti me gi ve u s no info rmati on on this s u bj ec t .
The Hel — gate here in qu estion was sit u ated below the
eastern horizon of the earth When Thor threat ens to .
kill L oke he says ( Lokas 5 9 ) that he will s end hi m d

.
,
aus trveg a When the author of the Sol song sees the
.
-
sunset for the last time he hears in the opposite d i r c e

tion—that i s in the east—the H el gate grating dismally
,
~
,
on its hinges ( str T he. gate has a watchman and

a key T he key is called g i lli ng r gylli ng r ( Younger
.
,
Edda 1 1 4 9 4 ) and hence a skald who celebrates his an

, .
c estors in hi s songs and thus rec alls to those living the

,
483
shades of those in Hades may say that he brings to the ,
l i ght of day the tr i bu te pai d to Gill i ng ( yppa gi lli ng s

j m See E strophe Y ounger Edda i
’
ld i d
’
g b u .
yv n s 2 48 , , . .
M M
The paraphrase has h i thert o been mis u nderstood on ac ,
cou nt of the pseudo myth B rag arcedu r about the mead )

-
.
F rom the gate the h i ghway of the dead went below the
earth in a westerly d i rection through deep and dark dales
( y g
G lfa ch and it required several days — for Her
mod nine days and n i ghts—before they came to l i ght re
.
.
,
M
gions and to the golden bridge across the river Gj oll flow ,
ing from north to south ( see N o O n the other .
S ide of the river the roads forked O ne road went di .
rectly north T his led to Balder s abod e ( Gylfag ch ’

. .
, .
5 2 ) in other words to i mer s realm to i mer s grove ’ ’
, , ,
and to the sacred citadel of the ds me g i r where death and ,
decay cannot enter ( see N o T his northern road .
was not therefore the road c ommon to all the dead An

, ,
.
other roa d went to the s ou th AS Urd s realm is situated .

’
.
sou th of i mer s ( see N os 5 9’

this s econ d road .
,
must have led to Urd s fountain and to the thingstead of

’
the gods there From the Sun song we learn that the
.
-
depart ed had to continue their journey by that road The .
d ec e ased skald o f the Su n song came to the norns that -

‘
is to say to Urd and her sisters a fter he had left this

, ,
road behi nd him and he sat for nine days and nights
!
,
anorna s toli before he was pe rmitted to continue his jour

ney ( str . Here then is the end of the road com
, ,
mon to all and right here at Urd s fo u ntain and at the

, ,
’
thingstead of the gods something must happe n on which ,
account the dead are divided into di fferent grou ps s ome ,
484
dest i ned for A sgard others for the subt errane an regions
,
of bl i ss and a th i rd lot for N i felhel s regions of torture

,
’
.
We shall now see whether the mythic fragments pre s
served to ou r time contain any suggestions as to what

occu rs i n th i s c onnection It must be adm itted th at this
.
dividing must take place somewhere in the lower world ,
that it was done on the basis of the laws which in mytho
W
logical ethics distinguish between right and wrong i n ,
nocence and guilt that which is par d onable and that

,
whi ch is unpardonable and that the happiness an d unh ap

,
pi nes s o f the dea d i s d etermined by this division
T HE T O T H I N GST E AD S O F T H EA SA S T H E . E ! T EN T OF
T HE A U T H ORI T Y OF T H E A SAS AN D O F T HE D I S OF
A
F TE . T H E DO OM OF T H E D E A D .
The A s as have two thi ng steads : the one in Asgard the ,
other in the lower world .
In the fo rmer a cou ncil is held and resolut i ons passed

in s u ch matters as pertain more particu larly to the clan
o f the Asas and to their relation to othe r divine clans and
other powers When Balder is visited by ugly d reams
.
,
V alfather assembles the gods to hold coun sel and all the ,
Asas assemble d thi ngi and all the asynj es d mdli ( Veg
,
tamskv 1 ; Balder s D r In a ssemblies here the

’
.
, .
,
gods reso lved to exact an oath from all things for Bal
der s safety and to send a messenger to the low er world
’
,
to get knowledge partly about Balder partly about fu ,
tu re event s On this thingstead e ff orts are made o f

.
485
reconcil i ation between the Asas and the Vans after Gu l ,
v ei g had been slain in O d i n s ha ll ( V 0 1 u spa

’
23 , ,
H i ther ( a t h i ng goda ) comes Thor w it h the kettle c ap

tu red fro m Hymer and i ntended for the feasts of the
,
gods ( H ymerskv 3 9 ) and here the Asas hold th e i r last

.
,
del i berat i ons when Ragnarok is at hand ( V Olu Spa 49

, ,
E s i r ro a thi ng i ) N o matters are ment i on ed as di s

’
.
c ussed in th i s th i ngstead in wh i c h any pe rson i s int e r
e sted who does not dwell in Asgard or wh i ch are not of

,
s u ch a nature that t hey have reference to how the gods

them selves are to act u nder par t i cu lar c i r cumstan ces .
T hat the thingstead where s u c h qu est i ons are d i s cu ss e d

m u st be s i tuated in Asgard i tself is a matter of conv en
i ence and i s suggested by the very nat u re of the case
,
.
It follows that the gods assemble in the Asgard t h i ng

.
stead more for t he p u rpose of d i scu ssing t he i r own i n

terests than for t hat of j u dg i ng in the a ff airs of others .
They also gather there to amuse themselves and to exe r

cise the m selves in arms ( Gylfag i nni ng ,
O f the other th i ngs t ead of the Asas of the one in the

,
lower world it is on the o t her hand expressly stated that

,
they go th i ther to S it in j u dgment to act as j udges ; and

,
there is no reason for taki ng th i s w ord dwma when as ,
here it means a ctivity at a thingstead in any other than

,
i ts j u d i c i al and common sense.
What matters are set t led there ? We might take this to

be the proper place for exerc i sing O din s privilege o f ’
c hoos ing heroes to be slain by the s word sin c e this r i ght is
c o—
,
ordinate with that of the norms to de t ermine life and

dispen se fate whence it might se em that the d omain of the
,
486
a uthority of the gods and that o f the no rns here ap

roache d each other su ffi ci ently to require deliberati ons
p
and decisions in common Still it is not on the thing
.
s te ad at Urd s fou ntain that O din elects pe rsons for death

’
by the sword It i s expressly stated that it is in his own

.
home in V alhal that O din exercises hi s right of elect i ng

( G ri mne rsmal and ,
th i s right he holds so i ndepe nd
ently and so absolutely that he does not need to ask for
the opinion of the norns O n the other hand the gods
.
,
have no a u thori ty to determ i ne the life and death of the

other mortals Th i s belongs exclusively to the norns
. .
T he norns elect for every other death but that by weap
M
ons and their decision in this doma i n i s never called a
,
decision by the gods but norna domr norna kvi dr frei g

, , ,
d ar ord, D au da ord .
If Asas and norns did have a common voice in deciding

certain questions which c ou ld be settled in Asgard then ,
it wo u ld not be i n a ccordance with the high rank g i ven

to the Asas in mythology to have them go to the norns
for the de cision of s u c h questions O n the contrary .
,
the norns wo u ld have to come to th em Urd and her .
S isters are beings of high rank but n evertheless they are,
of giant descen t like i mer The power they have i s

, .
immense ; and on a closer investigation we find how the

mythology i n more than one way has sought to ma i ntain
in the fancy of i ts beli evers the independence ( at least ap
parent and well defined within c ertain limits ) of the
—
,
gods an independence united with the high rank which

they have It may have been for t his very reason that
.
the youngest of the di scs of fate Sku ld was selected as , ,
487
M
a valkyrie and as a maid servant both of Odin and o f
,
-
her s i ster Urd .
The questions in wh i ch the Asas are judges near Urd s ’
fountain m u st be such as cannot be set t led in Asgard as ,
the lower world is thei r proper foru m W here both the ,
parties concerned and the witnesses are to be found .
The questions are of great import ance This is ev i dent .
already from the fa ct t hat the j ourney t o the thingstead

is a troublesome one for the gods at least for Thor who , , ,
to get thither must wade a c ros s four r i vers

, o re .
over the qu est i ons are of such a character th at they occu r

,
every day ( Gri mnersmal 2 9 , ,
At this po i nt of the investigation the results h i therto

gained from the various p remises unite themselves in the
following manner
The Asas daily go to the th i ngs t ead near Urd s foun ’
tain At the thingstead near Urd s fountain there dai ly

.
’
a rri ve hosts of the dead .
The task of the Asas near Urd s fountain is to judge ’
in questions of which the lower world i s the proper fo

rum When the dead arrive at Urd s fountain their final
.
’
doom is not yet sealed They have not yet been sepa
.
rat ed into the grou ps which are to be divided between

Asgard Hel and N i felhel
, ,
.
The qu estion now i s Can we conceive that the daily

,
journey of the A sas to Urd s fount ain and the daily ar

’
rival there o f the dead h ave no connection with each

other ?—That the judgments daily pronounce d by the
Asas at this thingstead and that the daily event in ac
,
cordance with which the d e a d at this thingstead are di

488
vi d edbetwee n the realms o f bl i ss and those of torture

have no t hing in comm on ?
That these mythological facts should h ave no connec
tion with each other is hard to con ceive for anyone who ,
in doubtfu l qu estions c lings to that wh i ch is probable

,
rather than to the oppos i te The probability becomes a

.
certainty by the following circu m stances

O f the kings V anlande and Halfdan Yngli ngatal says ,
that after death they met O din Accord i ng to the com .
mon view presented in ou r mytholog ical text books th i s -

,
should not have happened to e it her of them since both of ,
them d i ed from d i sease O ne of them was visited and

.
fet ched by that choking spirit of disease called v i tta v a ttr ,
“ ”
and in this way he was pe rm i tted to m eet O din ( kom
a v i t Vi lj a brodu r ) The other was visited by H vedru ng s
“
mcer the daugh t er o f L oke who called him from th i s
‘
, ,
wo rld to Od in s T hing
’
.
O k ti l t hi n g s
thr i dj a j Ofr i
H v e dr u n g s m ae r
o r h e i m i b au d .
T hi ng bod means
-
a legal su mmons to appe ar at a Thing ,
at the seat of j u dgment B j oda ti l thi ngs is to pe rform

.
this legal summons Here it is Hv edru ng s kinswoman

.
’
who comes with sickness and death and thi ng bod to King -
Halfdan and s u mmons him to appear before the j u dg

,
ment seat of O d i n AS acc ording to mythology all the

-
.
, ,
dead and as according to the mythological text bo oks

, ,
-
,
at l east all those who have died from disease m u st go to

He] then certainly King Halfdan who die d from dis
, ,
489
ease must descend to the lower world ; an d as there is a

,
T h i ng at wh i ch O d i n and the Asas daily si t in j ud gment ,
it must have been this to wh i ch Halfdan was summoned .
O therwise we would be obliged to assume that Hv ed

rung s kinswoman L oke s daughter is a messenger not
’
,
’
, ,
from the lower world and Urd but from Asgard al , ,
though the strophe fu rther on expressly states that S he

“
comes to Halfdan on accou nt of the doom of the norns
and furthermore we would be obliged to ass ume that the
king who had died from sickness a fter arriving in the
, ,
lower world did not present himsel f at O din s court

,
’
there but continued his journey to Asgard to appear at

, ,
some of the accidental deliberations which are held at
M
the thingstead there The passage proves that at least
.
those who have died from S i ckness have to appear at the
M
court which i s held by O din in the lower world .
T HE D OO M OF T H E D EA D ( c onti nu ed ) . SP E ECH R U N E S
-
0 RD S T IR R N A E LI .
Si grdri fu mal ( str 1 2 ) . we read

alr un ar Sk altu k u n na,
vilt ar m agn i t h e r
-
h e i p tom g j aldi h arm ;

t hee r u m v i n dr,
t hee r rn v e fr
u ,
t hee r u m s e tr all ar sa man

a t hvi t h i n g i ,
e r thj o thi s c ol o
r
i f u ll a d oma fara .
49 0
TE U T ON IC MY TH OLOG Y
Speech runes you must know i f you do not wish that

-
,
the strong one with cons u ming woe shall requite you for
the injury you have caused All those runes you must .
wind weave and place together in that T hing where the

, ,
”
host of people go into the fu ll judgments .
In order to make the significance of this passage clear ,
it is necessary to explain the meaning of speech runes or -
mal r u nes
-
.
Several k i nds of run es are m entioned in Si grdri fu mal ,
all of a magic and wonderful kind Among them are .
mal ru nes ( speech runes ) They h ave their name from

- -
.
t he fact that they are able to restore to a tongu e mute or

Si lenced in death the po wer to mcela ( speak ) O din em .
ploys mal runes when he rists i ru nom so that a corpse

-
,
from the gallow s comes and ma li r with him ( Hav am .

,
Accordi ng to Saxo ( i Hadd i ng places a .
piece of wood ri sted with runes under the tongue of a

dead man The latter then recovers consciousness and
.
t he po wer of speech an d S ings a terrible song This is

, .
a reference to mal runes In Gu dru narkv i da ( i ) it is

-
. .
mentioned how Gudrun mute and almost lifeless ( hon ,
di e at deyj a) sat near Si gu rd s dead body

’
g or , One .
of the kinswomen present lifts the napkin off from Si

g u rd s head By the sight of the feat u res o f the loved
’
.
one Gudrun awakens again to life bu rsts into tears and , ,
is able to S pe ak T he evil B rynhild then curses the being

.
”
( ve ttr ) whi ch gave mal runes to Gud run that is to -
,
sa ,y freed her tongue until then se aled as in death

, .
Those who are able to apply these mighty runes are

very few Odin boasts that he knows them Si grdri fva
.
.
,
49 1
who also is S killed in them is a dis not a d aughter of

, ,
man The ru nes which Hadd i ng appl i ed were ri sted by

.
H ardg rep a giantess who prote cted h i m

,
But within .
the court here i n qu estion men co m e in great n u mbers

and amon g them there m u st be but a small nu m
ber who have pen etrated so deep ly into the secret knowl
edge o f r u nes For those who have done so it is o f i m
.
po rtance and advant age For by them they are able to

.
defend themselves against c ompla i nts t he pu rpose of ,

“
wh i ch i s to requ ite wi t h consum i ng woe the harm they
”
have done In the court they are able to mcela ( speak )
.
'
in thei r own defence .
Thus it fol lows that those hosts o f people who enter

this thingstead stand there w i th speechless tongues They .
are and remain mute before their j u dges u nless t hey

know the mal runes whi ch are able to loosen the fet t ers
-
of their tongues O f the dead man s tongu e it is sa i d

.
’
in Solarlj od ( 44 ) that i t is ti l tres me ti n oh kolnat alt fyr

’
u tan .
T he sorrow or harm On e has caused is requ i ted in this

Th i ng by he i pti r unless the ac cu sed is able—thanks to
the mal r u nes—to speak and give reasons in h i s defen ce
,
-
.
In H avamal ( 1 5 1 ) the w ord hei pti r has the meaning of

something supe rnat ural and magical It has a sim i lar .
meaning here as V i g fu sson has already pointed out

,
.
The ma g ical mal ru n es wo u nd woven and pla ced to

-
, , ,
gether form as it were a garb of protection around t he

,
defendant against the magic he i pti r In the H av amal .
strophe mentioned the skald m akes O din paraphrase or ,
at least partly explain the word hei pti r with mei n which
‘
, ,
49 2
eat the i r victims It is in the nature of t he myth t o

.
regard s u ch for c es as personal beings We have already .
seen the spirits of disease appear in th i s manner ( see

No . The hei pti r w ere also personified They were .
t he E r i nnyes of the Teutonic mythology armed with ,
scourges of thorns ( see below ) .
He who at the Thing particularly dispenses the law of

requ ital is called mag ni The word has a double mean
.
ing which appears in the verb mag na wh i ch means both

, ,
to make strong and to operate with supernatural m eans .
From all this it must be su fli ci ently plain that the Thing

here referred to is not the Althing in Iceland or the G ula
thing in N orway or any other Thing held on the surface
,
of the earth The thingstead here discussed must be si t

.
u ated in one of the myt h i cal real m s between which the

,
earth was established And it mu st be superh u man be

.
ings o f h i gher or lower rank who there occupy the jud g

ment seats and requite the sins of men with hei pti r
-
.
But in Asgard men do not enter with their tongu es seal e d

in death For the ei nherj es who are invited to the joys
.
of V alhal there are no he i pti r prepared Inasmuch as the .
mythology gives us information about only two thing

steads where s u perhu man beings deliberate and judg e
namely the Thing in Asgard and the Thing near Urd s ’
fountain—and i nasmuch as it is in fa ct only in the latter

,
, ,
that the gods act as j u dges we are driven by all the e vi

,
dences to the conclusion that Si grdri fu mal has described

to us that very thingstead at whi ch Hvedru ng s kins ’
woman summoned K ing Halfdan t o appear after death .
Si g rdri fu mal using the expression d thvi sharply dis

, ,
49 3
th i s th i ngstead or cou rt from all others T he

ti ng u i she d .
poem declares that it means that Thing where hosts of

people go into fu ll judgments “ ”
Full are those judg .
men ts against which no formal or real protests can be

made—decisions which are i rrevocably valid T he only .
kind of j udgments of wh i ch the mythology speaks in this

manner that i s characterises as j u dgments th at never “
, ,
” “
d i e are those over each one dead
”
.
,
This brings to the well known and fre qu ently -
q uoted strophes in H avamal °
Str 7 6
. . D eyr fae,
d e yj a f rae n dr,
d ey r S i alfr it sa ma ;
e n n o rz ti rr
d eyr aldre g i
hv e i m e r ser go d an g e t t .
Str 7 7
. . D ey r fae ,
d e yj a f rae ndr,
d ey r Si alfr it sa ma ;
ec v e it e i nn
at aldri d e yr
d om r u m d au d an hvern .
You r c attle shall die ; your kind red shall die ;

you yoursel f shall die ; but the fair fame of him who has
”
earned it never dies .
“
(77 ) Your cattle shall d ie ; your kindred shall die
you yourself S h all die ; one thing I know which never
dies : the judgment on each one dead .
Hitherto these passages have been interpret ed as i f

O din or H avamal s skald meant to say—What you h ave
’
o f earthly po ssessions is perish able ; your kin d re d and
494
yourself shall die But I know one thing that never

.
d i es : the reputation you acquired among men the posthu ,
mous fame pronou nced on your character and on your

deeds : that reputation i s immortal that fame is imperish
,
able .
B u t can this h ave been the meaning intended to be con

veyed by the skald ? And could these strophes which , ,
as it seems were widely known in the heathendom of the

,
N orth have been th u s u nderstood by their hearers and

,
readers ? D i d not H avamal s author and the many who

’
,
listened to and tr easured in thei r memories these words
W
of hi s know as well as all other persons who have some
,
age an d experi ence that in the great maj ority of cases

,
the fame acquired by a person scarcely survives a gen

c ration and passes away togethe r with the very memory
,
of the d eceased ?
Could it have escaped the attention of the H av amal
skald and hi s hearers that the number of mort als is so large
and increases so immensely with the l apse of centuries that
the capacity of the survivor s to remembe r them is utterly
insu ffi ci ent ?
as it not a well est ablish ed fact es pe cially am ong the
-
,
G ermans before they got a written literature that the

, ,
skaldic art w aged so to S peak a desperate conflict w i th

, ,
the power of oblivi on in o rder to re sc u e at l east the names

,
of the mos t d i st inguished heroes and kings bu t that ,
nevertheless thousand s of chiefs an d war riors were after

the lapse of a few generation s entirely fo rgotten ?
D i d not Hav amal s author know that million s of men
’
h ave in the course of thousan d s of year s left this w orld

, ,
49 5
W ,
TE
’
U T ON I C MY THOL OGY
i thout leaving so deep footpri nts i n the s ands o f time

that they could last even through one generation ?
Every person of s ome age and experience has kn own
th i s and H av amal s author too The l o fty strains above
.
qu oted do not see m to be written by a pe rson wholly

des tit ute of worldly experience .
The assumption that H avamal with th at j udgment on

each one dead which is said to be imperishable had refer
, ,
ence to the opin i on of the survivors in regard to the

deceased attains its clim ax of absurdity when we consider
that the poem expressly states that it means the j udgment
a d person
“domr u m dau dan hvern
”
In the
on ev ery de -
.
cottage lying far far in the de ep forest dies a c hild hardly

, ,
kno wn by o t hers than by its parents who too are soon , , ,
to be harvested by death But the j u dgment of the su r

.
v i v ors in regard to this ch i ld s cha racter and deeds is to

’
be impe rishable and the good fame it acquired d u ring i ts

,
br i ef l i fe is to live for ever on the l i ps o f po steri ty !

Perhaps it is the sense of the absurd i ty to which the cu r
rent assumption leads on this point that has ind u ced some
of the transl ators to conceal the word hvern ( every ) and
l ed them to t ranslate the words domr u m dau d an ko eru i n
“ ”
an arb i tra ry manner with judgment on the dead man .
I f we now add that the judgment of posterity on one

deceased pa rti cu larly i f he was a person of grea t
,
influence very seldom is so unanimous reliable well

, , ,
con s i dered and free from prejud i ce that in thes e respe cts
,
it ought to be entitled to permanent val i dity then we fin d ,
that the words of the H av amal stroph es attributed to

O d i n s lips when interpreted as hith erto are not wo rds of
’
, ,
49 6
TE U T ON IC MY THOL OGY
wisdom bu t the mos t stupid twaddle ever heard decla i med

,
in a solemn manner
T here are two reasons for the misun d erst and i ng—the
.
one is formal and is found in the word ouds —

,
ti rr ( str 7 6 ) .
'
the other reason is that Gylfagi nni ng which too long has ,
had the repu tation of being a reliable and exha u stive

codific ation of the scattered statements of the mythic
sourc es has nothing to say abo u t a cou rt for the dead
,
.
It knows that according to the doctrine of the heathen

,
fathe rs go od people come to regions of bliss the wi cked

, ,
to N i felhel; bu t who he or they were who determ i ned how

far a dead person was worthy of the one fate or the other ,
on this po i nt Gylfagi nni ng has not a word to say From .
the silence of this authority the con c lusi on has been

,
drawn that a court s u mmoning the dea d within its forum

was not to be found in Teuton i c mythology although ,
other Aryan and non Aryan mythologies have presented

-
s u ch a j udgment seat and that the Teuton i c fancy though

-
, ,
al ways m u c h oc cupied with the a ffairs of the lower world

and with the cond it ions o f the dead in the various realms
of death never felt the necessity of c on c eiving for itself
,
clear and concrete ideas of how and through whom the

deceased were determined for bliss or misery T he .
e cclesiastical concep tion which postpones the j u dgment

,
to the last day of time and permits the souls of the dead
to be transferred without any special act of j udgment to
, ,
heaven to pu rgatory or to hell has to som e extent contri

, , ,
b u ted to making us familiar with this idea whi ch was

foreign to the heathens From this it followed tha t
.
s cholars have been blind to the passages in ou r m thi cal

'
y
49 7
records which speak of a court in the lower world an d ,
they have either read them withou t su fficien t attent i on ( as ,
f or instance the above quoted statements of Yngli ngatal

,
-
,
whi ch it i s i mpos sible to harmon i se with the cu rrent con

c epti on ) or interpreted them in an u t terly abs urd manner
,
( w hich is the case with Si gr dri f u mal str or they , .
have interpolated assumpti ons wh i ch on a c loser i nspec , ,
tion are reduced to non sense ( as is the case with the

,
H av amal strophes ) or given them a poss i ble bu t i mprob

, ,
able in t erpretation ( thus Sonato rrek

,
The com ,
pound ords ti rr i s composed of ord g en or ds and ti rr , , , .
The composition is of so loose a character that t he two

parts are not blen ded into a new word The si gn of the .
gen s is retained and shows that ords ti rr like lofs ti rr is

.
-
, , ,
not in i ts sen se an d in its origin a co mpound but is wr i t ,
ten as one word probably on account of the laws o f accen

,
tu ati on T he more original meaning of ords ti rr is there

.
,
fore to be found in the sense of ords ti rr

, .
T i rr means reputation in a good sense but still not i n ,
a sense so decidedly good but that a qualifying word ,
which makes the good meaning absolute i s so metimes ,
added Thus in lofs ti rr laudatory reputation ; g Odr ti rr

.
-
, ,
good reputation In the H avamal strophe 7 6 above quo

.
'
,
-
ted the pos sibi lity o f an ords ti rr which is not goo d is

,
.
pres u pposed See the l ast line of the str ophe

. .
So far as the mean ing of and is c oncerned we m u st ,
le ave its rel atively more m odern and gramm atical sense
( word ) entirely out of the question Its older Si gnifica .
tion is an utterance ( one whi ch may consist of many

“ ”
wor d s in a grammatic al sens e) a command a result a , , ,
49 8
j udgment ; and t hese older si gn i ficati ons have long had a

c ons c i o u s ex i sten ce in the langu age Compare F orn .
“
manna i i 2 3 7 : The first word : All sh all be Ch rist i ans ;
.
,
the second word : All heathen temples and idols S h all be

”
unholy &c , .
In Volus pa ( str 2 7 ) ord is employed in the sense of an

.
est ablished law or j udgment among the divine powers ,
a g eng oz ei dar ord or : s a ri where the treaties betwee n

, ,
the Asa s and gods sol emnised by oaths were broken

, , .
When ord occurs in pu rely myth i cal sources it is mos t ,
frequently c onnected w it h j u dgments pronounced in the

lower world and sent from Urd s fou ntain to thei r desti
,
’
nati on U rdar ord is Urd s j udgment which must com e

.
’
to pass ( Fj Olsvi nn sm str no matter whether it con

.
,
.
cerns life or death Fei g dar ord a j udgment determining

.
,
“
death c omes to Fj olner and is f u lfilled where Frode .
,
dwelt ( Yng tal H ei mskr

.
-
,
D au da or d the j udg ,
ment of death awaited D ag the Wise when he came to

, ,
V orva ( Yng tal H ei msk r .

-
, To a subterranean .
,
j udgment refers also the expressi on band or d which f re -

,
quently oc u rs .
V i g fu sson ( D ict 4 66 ) points out the possibility o f an

.
,
etym ological connection between or d and U rdr He com .
pares word ( ord ) and wurdr ( u rdr ) word and wei rd ,
( fate goddess of fate ) D oubtless there was i n the most

, .
,
ancient time a mythical idea assoc i at i on be tween them

,
-
.
T hese circumstances are t o be rem embered in conn ection

with the interpretation of ords ti rr or ds ti rr in H av amal ,
-
,
’
76 . T he real meaning of the phrase to be ; reputation
based on a decision on an utterance of authori ty , .
49 9
TE U T ON I C MY T HOLOG Y
When ords ti rr had blended into a compou n d word ,
there arose b y the s i de of it s l i teral m eaning another in ,
whi c h the accent fell so heav i ly on ti rr that ord is super

fl u ou s and gives no additional m ean i ng of a j udgment on
which this ti rr i s based Already in H ofu dlau sn ( str 2 6 )
. .
ords ti rr is used as a compou nd mean i ng S i mply hon our ,
able reputation hono u r There i s mention of a v i ctory

,
.
wh i ch Erik Bloo d axe won and it is s aid that he thereby

-
,
gained ords ti rr ( renown ) .
In interpret i ng H av amal ( 7 6 ) it w oul d therefore seem

that we must choose bet ween the proper and figurative
sense o f ords tir r The age of the H av amal strophe i s not
.
known I f it was from it Eyvind Skaldaspi ller drew hi s

.
d eyr fé deyj a fra ndr which he incorporated in h i s drapa

, ,
on Hakon the Goo d who d i ed in 9 60 then the H avamal

, ,
s trophe cou ld not be composed later than the middle o f the
ten t h century H ofu dlau sn was composed by Egil Skal

.
lag ri m son in the year 9 3 6 or thereabou t F rom a chrono .

.
logi c al po i nt of view there i s therefore noth i ng to h i nde r

o u r aplyi ng the less strict sen s e
“ honou rable reputation , ,
”
honour to the passage in question
, .
But there are other h i ndran ces If the H avamal skal d .
“
with ords ti rr meant hono u rable reputation h onour he
-
”
, ,
c ould not as he has done have added the condition which

, , ,
he makes in the last line o f the strophe : kvei m er s er g odan

et r for the idea “go d ”
wo ld then already be contained
g , o u
in ordsti rr If in spi t e of this we w ould take the les s strict

.
sense we must subtract from ords ti rr the meaning of

,
h onou rable reputation honour and conceive the expres

, ,
sion to mean simply reputation in general a meaning ,
which the word never had .
50 0
TE U T ON I C MY THOLOG Y
We are therefore forced to t he conclusi on th at t he

meaning of court decision j udgment which ord has not
-
, ,
only i n Yngli ngatal and Fj Olsv i nnsmal but also in l i n ,
g u i sti c usage was cle

,a r to the author o f the H av amal
s trophe and that he applied ords ti rr i n its origin al sense
,
and was speaking of imperishable judgments .
It should also have be en regarded as a matter of course

th at the j udgm ent which ac c ording to the H avamal
,
strophe is passed on everyone dead and which itself ,
never d i es must have bee n prepared by a court whose

,
decision could not be q uestioned or set aside and that the ,
j udgment must have been one wh ose influence i s eternal ,
for the infin it y of the j udgment itself can only d epend on

'
the infinity of its operation T hat the more or less va gue

.
opinions soone r or later committed to oblivion in regard

to a dec eased person sho u ld be supposed to contain such
a judgm ent and to have been meant by the immortal doom
,
over the dead I vent u re to in cl u de a m ong the most ext ra

,
ord i nary interpretations ever pr oduced .
Both the strophes are as is evident from the first glance

, ,
m ost intimately c onnec ted with ea ch other Both begin .
deyr fa deyj a fra ndr

, 0 rd in the one strophe corre
.
Spo nds to domr in the other The latt er strophe declares

.
that the j u dgment on ev ery dead person is imperishable ,
and thus c ompletes the more l i mited statement of the

foregoing str ophe that the judgment which gives a good
,
renown i s everlasting The former strophe speaks of only

.
one category of men who have been s u bj ected to an
ever valid j u dgment namely of that c ategory to wh ose

-
,
honour the eternal judgment is pronounced T he second .
50 1
TE U T ON I C MY T H OLOGY .
strophe speaks of both the categories and assures us that ,
the j u dgment on the one as on the o t her category i s

everlasting .
T he strophes are by the skald attr i bu ted to O din s lips ’

.
O din pronounces j udgment every day near Urd s founta i n

’
at the court to which K i ng Halfdan was summoned and ,
where hosts o f people with fettered tongues awa i t the i r

final destiny ( see above ) T he assurances in regard to
.
the val i d i ty o f the j u dgmen t on everyone dead are thus

given by a being who really may be said to know what he
talks about ( e c v ei t ,
namely by the j udge hi mself
, .
In the poem Sonatorrek the old Egil Skallagri mson

laments the loss of sons and kindred and hi s th ough t s are ,
occu pied with the fate of his children a fter death Whe n .
he S peaks of his son G unnar who in his tender years was

,
snatched away by a s i ckness he says ( str 1 9 )

, .
So n m i nn
s Ottar b ri m i
h e i p tu li g r
6r h e i m i na m
,
t hann ec ve it
at v ar n adi
ya mm a V 3 7 ?.
v i d namze li .
A fatal fi re of disease ( fever ? ) sn atche d fr om thi s

world a son of mine of whom I know that he careful as
, ,
he was in regard to S inful deeds took c are of himself for

,
”
ndmceli .
To u nderstand this strophe correctly we must know ,
that the skald in the pre c eding 1 7 th as in the succeed ing ,
2 oth strophe speaks of Gu nnar s fate in the lower world

’
.
, ,
50 2
The word ndmaeli occurs nowhere else and its meaning ,
is not known It i s of importance to our s u bject to fin d

.
i t out .
In those compounds of which the first part is nd nd
W
may be the adverbi al prefix which means near by by the ,
.
si de of or it may be the substantive ndr which means a

, ,
corpse dead body and in a mythical sense one damned

, , ,
one who d i es for the second time and comes to N i felhel

( see N o The
. q u estion i s now to begin w i th , ,
whethe r it is the adverbial p re fix or the subst antive nd

which we have in ndmceli .
Compounds which have the adverbi al nd as the fi rst

part of the o rd are very common In all of them the .
prefix nd implies nearness in space or in kinship or it has ,
the signi fi cation o f some thing co rrect or exact .
( 1 ) In regard to space : ndbi ld ndbui ndbyli ndgran na , , , ,
evce ma, nd
ndgranni , ndgrennd, ndg renni , ndkommi n, ndl
kv cemd, ndkva mr, ndlei d, ndlwg d, nala g as t, j ndlceg r,

’
ndmu nda, nds ess i , nds eta, nds e ttr, nds wti , ndo era, ndv eru
k ona ,
ndv erandi , ndvi s t, ndvi s tarkona, ndvi s tarmadr,
vi s tarvi tni .
( 2 ) In regard to friendship : ndbori nn, nd rcendi , nd f

fraand kona ndmagr nds kyldr nds tcedr ndongr
, , , , .
( 3 ) In re gard to cor rectn ess ex actness : ndkva mi ,

'
ndkv cemli ga, ndkv a mr .
T he idea of correctness com es from the combinat i on of

nd and kvwmi kv wmli a kv cemr T he exact meaning
g
—
.
, ,
is that whi ch comes near to and which in that sense is ,
precise exact t o the point

, , .
T hese three cases exhaust the meanings o f the adve r

50 3
bial pre fix nd I sho u ld consider it perilous and as the ,
abandon i ng of sol i d gro u nd u nder the feet i f we w i thout , ,
MM
evidence fr om the language tr i ed as has bee n done to , ,
g i ve i t an other hitherto unknown sign i fication .
B u t n one of these meanings c an be appl i ed to ndma li .
In analogy with the words under ( 1 ) it can indeed mean

“An oration held n ear by but this signification prod u ces
no sense in the above pass age the only place where it i s ,
found
M
.
In another group of words the prefix nd i s the nou n

ndr H ere belong ndbj arg i r ndblei kr ndgri ndr ndg bll
'
.
, , , ,
ndrei d nds trandi r and other words

, ,
.
celi means a declamation an oration an utter ance a , , ,
read i ng or the proclamation of a law

,
re la m a landi .
, ,
f o r m w lan di for m a li
,
ny m c
e li are u sed in legal langu age
, , .
Forme landi is a defendant in c ourt Formceli is hi s .
spe ech or plea N ymceli i s a law read or published for the

.
first time .
celi c an take either a subs t antive or adj ective as pre
fix Examples : Gu dmceli fullma li N d from ndr c an be

.
,
.
u sed as a prefix both to a noun and to an adjec tive .
Examples : ndgri ndr ndblei kr ,

.
N dmceli S ho u ld acordi ngly be an orati on a decl arati on , ,
a p ro c lamation in regard to ndr , From the context we .
find that ndma li is something dangero u s so m eth i ng to ,
look ou t for G unnar is d ead an d is gone to t he lo wer

.
world which contains not only happiness bu t also terrors ;

,
but his aged fa t her who in another s t rophe of t he poe m

,
gives to u nderstand that he had adhered fa i th fu lly t o t he

religiou s doctrines o f his fathers i s convinced that his son ,
50 4
M
has voi d ed the dangers I mplied in ndma li as he had

a ,
no sinful deed to blame himself for In the follow i ng .
strophe ( 2 0 ) he expressed h i s c onfidence that the dec eased

had been adopted by Gau ta spyalli a fr i end of O din in the
'
lower world and had landed in the realm of happiness

,
.
( In reg ard to Ga u ta spj alli see further on T he expres .
sion is appli cable both to i mer and Honer ) .
N dmceli must therefore mean a de c larat i on ( 1 ) that is

, ,
dangerous ; ( 2 ) wh i ch does not a ffec t a person who has

lived a blameless life ; ( 3 ) wh i ch refers to the dead an d
a ffects those who have not bee n vamma v ari r on the loo k ,
out against blameworthy and c r i m inal deeds .
T he passage furnishes addit i onal ev i den c e that the dead

i n the lower world make their appea ran c e in order to be
j udged and it enriches our kn owledge of the my t hological
,
eschatology w i th a t echnical term ( ndmceli ) for that j u dg

ment wh i ch sends sinners to travel through the N a gates -
to N i felhel T he oppos i te of ndmceli is or ds ti rr that

.
,
j udgment which gives the dea d fair renown and both ,
kinds of judgm ents are embra c ed in the phrase domr u m

’
N dma li is a pro c lamation for ndi r j u st as
M
dau dan .
,
ndgri ndr are gates and nds trand i r are strands for ndi r .
71 .
T HE DOOM OF T H E D E AD ( c onti nu ed ) T H E LOOK S or

.
T H E T H I N GST E A D . T H E D U T Y O F T A KI N G C A R E O F
T H E A SH E S O F T H E D E A D T H E H A I N GJE AT T H E
.
J U D GM E N T SI N S 0 F W E A K N E SS SI N S U N T o D E A T H
. . .
T h ose hosts which are cond u cted by their psychopomps

50 5
TE UTON I C MY TH OLOG Y
to the T hing n ea r Urd s fountain proc eed noiselessly It

’
.
is a s i lent j ou rney The bridge over Gi bll s c arcely

’
r esounds under the feet of the death horses and of the -
dead ( Gylfagi nni ng ) T he tongues of the shades are

.
sealed ( see N o .
Th i s thingstead has like all others had its j udgment

, ,
seats Here are seats ( in V Olu spa called rOks télar ) for
.
the holy powers acting as j udges There i s als o a rostrum .
( d thu lars téli at U rdar bru nni H av am 1 1 1 ) and -

.
,
benches or chairs fon the d ead ( compare the phrase falla

—
,
d H elpalla Fornald i 3 9 7 and the sitting of the dead

one d nornas téli —
. .
, ,
, Solarlj Silent they must

.
,
receive their doom unless they possess mal run es ( see -
No .
The dead sh oul d come well cla d and ornamented .
MM
Warri ors bring thei r weapons of attack and defence The .
wom en an d children bring o rnaments that they were fon d

of in life Hades pictures of thos e things which kinsmen
.
-
and frien ds placed in the grave mou nds accom pany the -
dead ( Hakonarm Gylfag i nni ng 5 2 ) as evi d ence to

, ,
the j u dge that they enjoyed the devotion and respect of

their s u rviv ors T he appearance presented by the shades
.
assembled in the Th ing indicates to what extent the

survivors heed the law which commands respect for the
,
dead and care for the ashes of the departed .
any die under circumstances which make it i mposs i
ble for the i r kinsmen to observe these duties Then .
strangers shou ld take the place of kindred T he conditi on .
in whi ch these shades come to the T hing shows best

whether piety prevails in i dgar d ; for noble min d s take
50 6
34 :
“
to he art the advices fo u nd as follows in Si grdri fumal 3 3

R ender the las t serv i ce to the corpses you find on
the ground whether from s i ckness they have died or
,
a re drowned or are from w eapon s dead

,
th ose who are dead wash thei r hands and thei r head
them and pray for thei r happy sleep

,
,
a ke a bath for
c omb them an d wi pe them dry ere in the c offin you lay

”
It was however not necessary to wipe the blood o ff

, ,
from t he byrnie of one fallen by the s word It was not

,
.
. M .
,
,
,
i mproper for the ele c t to make their entrance in V alhal

'
in a bloo dy coat of ma i l Eyv i n d Skaldaspi ller makes

.
K i ng Hakon come all stained wit h blood ( allr i dreyra

dri flnn ) into the presence of O din .
Wh en the gods have arrived f rom Asgard dism ounted ,
fro m the i r horses ( Gylfag ) and taken thei r j u dges seats ’

,
the proceedings begin for the dead are then in their pla c es
, ,
M
and we may be sure that their psych opomps have no t been
slo w on t heir T hing jou rney Somewhere on the way
-
.
the Hel shoes must have be en t r i ed ; thos e who ride to

-
V alhal m u st then have been obl i ged to d i smount The .
popu lar tradit i on first pointed ou t by Wal t er Sc ott and

J Grimm abo u t the need of such shoes for the dead and
.
about a thorn grown heath whi c h they have to c ross is

-
, ,
not o f Christ i an bu t of heathen or i gin Those who have .
show n mercy to fellowmen that in this life in a fi gurat i ve ,
sense had to travel thorny paths do not nee d to fea r torn

, ,
shoe s and bloody feet ( W Scott i ns trelsy and

.
, ,
when they are seated on Urd s benches the i r very shoes ’

,
are by their conditi on a c onspicuo u s proo f i n the eyes of

, ,
the co u rt that t hey who have exer cised mer cy are worthy
o f mercy .
59 7
.
1 1
1 1 4 ; J G rimm
iv.
.
Altn L e b 4 9 4
.
Simroc k
.
y
,
th
yh
t
iii 6
v
.9 7,; n
M
M
M
TE
,
M
c h
U T ON I C MY T H OLOGY
T he N orse trad i t i on preserved i n Gi s le Su rson s saga i n

regard to the i mport an c e for t he dead to be provided wit h
shoes reappears a s a popular t rad i t i on first i n England
and then several places ( ii llenhoff D eu ts che Alt v 1
tr 3 4 9,
a nnhardt in z ei tschr f deu tsch yth

; Weinhold
Vi si o Godeschalci
describe s a j ou rney wh i ch the piou s H olstein peasant
Godes kalk belonging to the generat i on i mmedia t ely pre
,
,
.
.
,
.
,
.
,
.
’
.
,
.
,
ced i ng that wh i c h by V i celi n was converted to C hri s

ti ani ty be lieved he had made in the lo w er w orld There i s
,
.
ment i oned an immen sely large and bea u t i fu l l i nden tree -
hanging full of shoes which wer e handed down to s u ch

,
dea d travellers as had exe rcised mercy dur i ng their l i ves .
When the dead had pa s sed this tree they had to cros s a
heath two m i les w i de thickly grown with thorns and , ,
then they came to a r i ver full of irons wi t h sha rp edges .
The unjust had to wade throu gh this river and su ffered ,
i m m ensely They were cut and mangled i n every l i mb ;

.
bu t when they reached the other st rand their bod i es were ,
the same as they had be en when they be gan crossing the

river Com pa re with th i s statement Solarlj od 4 2 where
.
, ,
the dying skald hea rs the roaring of subterranean streams

m i xed with m u ch blood — Gylfar s trau mar g re nj u du ,
bland ni r mj bk v ed blod The j u st are able to c ross t he

' ’
river by pu t t ing their feet on boa rds a foot w i de and

,
fo u rteen feet lon g, which floated on th e wa t er This i s .
the first day s journey O n the second day t hey c ome t o

’
a po i nt where the road forked int o t hree ways—o n e to

.
heaven one to hell and one between these realms ( compare

, ,
50 8
M TE UTON I C MY T H OLOGY
M
u llenhoff , D Alt ,
v 113 . T hese are all mythi c
.
,
trad i t i ons but l i ttle corrupted by tim e and change of

,
rel i g i on That in the low er w orld itself Hel shoes were

.
-
to be had for those who were no t s u pplied with them ,
but still dese rved them i s probably a gen uine mythologi

,
c al i dea .
P roofs and witnes ses are n ecessary before the above

named tr i bu nal for O d i n is far from omn i sc i ent He i s
,
.
not e v en the one who knows the m ost among the beings
of mythology Urd and .i mer know more than he .
W i th j udges on the on e hand who in spite of all their ,
loftiness and with all their supe rhu man keenn ess never
, ,
thele ss are not infall i ble and w i th defendants on the other

,
hand whose tongues refuse to s erve them it might happen , ,
i f there were no proo fs and w it nes ses that a j udgmen t , ,
everlasting in its operations not fou nded on exhaustive ,
knowledge and on well considered prem ises might be -

,
proclaimed But the j u dgment on huma n sou ls pro

.
claimed by their final i rr evoc able fate c ould not in the sight
of the pious an d believing bear the stam p of unc ertain
j u stice There must be no d oubt that the judicial pro
.
ce e di ng s in the cou rt of death wer e so ma naged that the
wisdom and just i c e of the di cta were ra i sed high above

every s u spi c ion o f bei ng mistaken .
T he heathen fancy shrank from the idea of a kn owledge

able o f itsel f to embrace all the gr eatest and the least , ,
that which has been i s doing and shall be in the world

, ,
o f thoughts purposes an d deeds It hesitated at all

, , .
events to en d ow its gods made in the image of man with

omnisci ence It was easier to conceive a divine insight
.
50 9
M
which was S ecured by a net of messenger s and sp i es

stretche d throughout the world Such a net was cas t .
over the human race by Urd and it i s doubtless for th i s

,
reason that the subterranean Thing of the gods was

located near her fou ntain and not near i mer s Urd ’
.
has given to every human soul already before the hOu r of

,
birth a maid servant a hami ngj e a norm of lower rank

,
-
, , ,
to watch over and protect i ts ea rthly life And so there .
was a wide spr ead organization of watching and protect

-
i ng spirits eac h one of whom knew the motives and deeds

,
of a S pecial individual AS such an organisation was at

.
the service of the court there was no danger that the

,
j udgm ent over each one dead wou ld not be as j ust as i t

was una ppealable and everlasting .
The hami ngj e hears of it before anyone else when her

mistress has annou n c ed dau da ord—the doo m o f death ,
against her favourite She ( and the g i pte hei lle see N o
.
, ,
.
64 ) leaves him then She i s horfin gone which can be

.
, ,
pe rceived in dreams ( Balder s D ream 4 ) or by revelation s

’
i n othe r ways and th i s is an u nm i stakable S ign of death

,
.
But i f the death doomed pers on is not a nithing whom

-
,
she in sor row and wrath has left then S he by no means ,
abandons him They are like members of the same body

.
,
which can only be separated by m o rtal sins ( see be l ow)

The hami ngj e goes t o the low e r world the home of her ,
nativity ( see N o to prepare an abo de there for her

.
favourite whi c h also is to belon g to her ( Gisle Su rson s

,
’
saga ) It is as i f a spirit u al m arriage was ente red int o

.
bet ween her and the h u man sou l .
But on the dictum of the court o f death i t depends

51 0
where the dead person i s to find his h aven T he j udg .
ment although not pr onou nced on the hami ngj e touches

, ,
her m ost closely When the most important of all ques

.
tions that of eternal happiness or unhappiness i s to be

, ,
determ i ne d i n regard to her favourite she must be there

—
,
where her d uty and inclin ation b i d her be with h i m

whose gu ardian spirit she is T he great question for her
-
.
i s whether S he is to c ontinue to share h i s fate or not .
D uri ng his earthly life she has always defended him It .
is o f pa ramount importance that S he S hould do so now .
His lips are sealed but S he is able to speak and is his

, ,
other ego And S he is not only a witness friendly to him

.
,
bu t fro m the standp oint of the court she i s a m ore reliable

,
-
,
on e th an he wou ld be himself .
In Atlamal ( str 2 8 ) there occurs a phr ase which has

.
its ori gi n in heathendom where it has been employe d in

,
a cl ea rer and more lim i ted sense than in the Chr i s t ian
poem The phrase is c o qu ed afli ma or dnar ther di si r
.
,
and it means as Atlamal u ses it that he to wh om the

, ,
dises ( the hami ngj e and gi pte ) have become afli ma is

destined in spite of all warnings to go to hi s ruin In
, , .
i ts very nature the phrase suggests th at there can occur

between the hami ngj e and the human sou l another sepa ra !
tion than the accidental and t ransient one which is

expressed by saying that the hami ngj e is horfin Afli ma .
“
means amputated separated by a S harp inst rument from
,
the bo d y of which one has been a member T he pers on .
fr om whom his dises h ave been cut off has no l onger any
close relati on with them H e i s for eve r sepa rated from
.
them and his fate is no longer thei rs Hence there are

, .
51 1
per so ns doomed to die and person s dead who do not have

hami ngj es by t hem They are thos e whom the hami ng j e s
.
in sorr o w and wrath hav e abandoned an d with whom ,
they are unable to dwell in the lower world as they a re ,
n i th i ngs and are awaited in N i felhel .
The fact that a dead man sat d nornas toli or d H elpalli

’
without having a hami ngj e to defend h i m dou btless was

rega rded by the gods as a con clusive proof th at he had
been a c riminal .
I f we may j udge from a heathen expression preserved

in strophe 1 6 of Atlak v i da and there us ed i n an arb i trary
“ ”
manne r then the hami ngj es who were cut o ff from
,
their unworthy favou rite continue to feel sorrow and

sympathy for them to the last The expression is nor ni r .
i
“the n rns m bew il the ”
If
g r d ta nd , o ( ha i ngj )
es a ndi r .
the ndmceli the na dictum the sentence to N i felhel which

,
-
,
turns dea d criminals into nai r in the eschatological sense

,
o f the wor d has been ann ounced the j udgment is attended

, ,
with tears on the part of the former gu ardian spi ri ts of -
the convicts T his corresponds at all events with the

.
, ,
character of the hami ngj es .
Thos e fallen on the battlefield are not brou ght to the

fountain o f Urd while the Thing is in session T his .
follows f rom the fact that O din is in V alhal when they

ride across Bifrost and sends Asas or ei nherj es to meet
,
them with the goblet of mead at Asgard s gate ( E i riksm

.
’
.
,
H akonarmal) But on the way there has bee n a sepa ra

.
tion of the goo d and bad elem ents am ong them Those .
who have no hami ngj es must d nornatstoli wait for the

’
, ,
next T hin g day and their j ud gm ent T he Christi an age

-
.
5 1 2
TE UTON IC MY THOL OGY
well remembered th at brave w arriors who had committed

nithing acts d i d not come to V alhal ( see Hakon Jarl s ’
word in N j ala ) The heathen re cords confirm that men

.
sla i n by the sword who had l i ved a w i cked life were sent
to the w orld of torture ( see Harald H arfage r s saga ch ’
2 7 —the verses about the viking T horer Wood be ard who

.
,
-
,
fell in a naval battle with E i nar Ragnvaldson an d who ,
had been s courge to the O rkneyi ngs ) .
The high court must have j u dged very lenien tly in

regard to c ertain human faults and fra i lties S i tt i ng long .
by and looking dil i gently into the drinking horn c ertainly -
d i d not lead to any pun i shment wor t h ment i oning The .
same was the case with fondness for female beauty i f ,
care was taken not to meddle with the sacred ties of

matrimony W it h a pleasing frankness and with much
.
,
h u mour the Asa father has told to the children of men

,
-
adventures wh i ch he h i mself has had in that lin e H e .
wa rns against too mu ch dr i nk i ng but admits with out ,
reservation and hypoc risy tha t he himsel f onc e was drunk ,
nay ve ry drunk at Fj alar s and what he had to s u ff er

, ,
’
,
on account of his uncontrollable longing for Billing s ’
m aid should be to men a hint not to judge each other too

,
severely in such matters ( see H avamal ) All the less he .
will do so as j u dge Those who are su mmoned to the T hi ng

.
and against whom there are no other charges may surely ,
count on a go od ords ti rr i f they in other respects h ave

,
conducted themselves in accordance with the wishes of

O d i n and his assoc iate j udges : i f they have lived lives free
from deceit honourable helpfu l and without fear of
, , ,
death T his in connection with respect for the gods

.
, ,
51 3
for the temples for t heir dut i es to kindred and to the

,
dead i s the alpha and the omega of the heathen T euton i c

,
m oral code and the sure way to Hel s regi ons of bl i ss and
,
’
to V alhal He who has observed these v i rtues may as the

.
,
“
old skald S ings of himself glad with ser enity and with
, ,
”
ou t discou ragement w ai t for Hel , .
Sk al ek tho g ladr
med g o d an vi l aj
'
0 k i I h ry g g r
H e lj ar b i d a ( Sonato rr e k ,
M
If the j u d gment on the dead is lenien t i n these r espects ,
it i s inex orably severe in other matters L ies uttered to .
i nj ure others perj ury murder ( secret murder assassina

, , ,
t i on not j ustified as blood revenge ) adultery the profan

,
-
, ,
i ng of temples the open ing o f grave m ounds t reas on

,
-
, ,
cannot escape thei r awful punishment Unutterable .
terrors await those who are guilty of these sins Th ose .
psychopomps that be long to N i felhel await the a d j ourn
—
ment of the T hing in order to take them to the wor ld of
tor ture and Urd has ch ains ( H e lj ar rei p Solarlj od 2 7
D es T odes Sei l—
, ,
J G rimm D .
yi h 80 5 ) which m ake
, .
,
eve ry escape impos sible .
T HE H A D ES D R I N K
-
.
B efor e the dead leave the thingstea d near U rd s foun ’
tain something which obliterated the marks of earthly

,
d eath has h appened to th ose who are jud ge d happy .
5 1 4
P ale
,
cold m u te
disease th ey left
,
and,
with the marks of
,
M
the spirits
i dgard and start ed on the Hel way
They leave the death Th i ng full of t he w armth of life
-
with health with speech and more rob u st than they were
,
on earth The shades have be c ome corporal When

.
,
thos e S lain by the sw o rd ride over the Gj oll to Urd s

fountain scarcely a sound is heard under the hoofs of thei r
,
o f
.
-
’
.
horses ; when they ride aw ay from the fo u ntain over

B i fros t the bridge resou nds under the trampling h orses
,
.
The sagas of the middle ages have preserved but at the ,
sa m e time demonised the mem o ry of how Hel s i nhabi

,
’
tants were endowed with more than human stren gth

( Gretla 1 3 4 and se veral other pa ssage s )
, ,
.
The life of bliss pr esupposes health bu t als o forgetfu l ,
ness of the earthly sor rows and cares The hero i c po ems .
and the sagas of the middle ages have known that there
was a Hades potion which brings freedom fro m sorrow
-
and care witho u t obliterating dear memories or making

,
one forget that whi c h can be remembered without longin g
or worry i ng In the mytholog y this drink was as S hall

.
,
be S hown one that prod uced at the same time vigo u r of

,
life and the forget fu lness of sorrows .
In Saxo and in the heroic poems of the Elder Edda

, ,
which belon g to t he G j u kung grou p of songs there ,
reappea r many mythi c al details though th ey are some ,
times taken out of their tru e c onnection and put in a

light which d oe s not or i ginally belong to them Among .
the mythical reminiscen ces is the Hades poti on -

.
In his account of K i ng Gorm s and T hor kil s j ou rn ey to’ ’
the lower wo rld Saxo ( see N o 4 6 ) makes T horki l warn

,
51 5
his travellin g compani ons from tasting the drinks o ff ered

them by the prin c e of the lower w orld for the reason ,
that they prod uce forget fu lness and make one desire to
remain in Gu dmu nd s real m ( H i s t D an i 4 24 —
,
ami s sa
’
, , .
memoria p ocali s abs ti ne ndu m e docu i t) .
The G udrun son g ( ii 2 1 ) places the drinking ho rn of

.
-
the lowe r world in G rimhild s hands In connectionwith ’

.
later addition s the description of this h orn and its con tents
,
contains purely mythical and very instr u ct i ve d eta i ls in

rega rd to the pharmakon nepenthes of the T eutonic lower
world .
Str 2 1
. . Faer di m e r G r i m i ldr
f u ll at d re c k a
s v alt 0 c s arli c t,
ne ec s ac a r m u n dac ;
t har v ar u m au ki t
U r d ar m ag n i ,
s v alc au ldo m sa
e
oc Sona r dre y ra .
Str 2 2 V o ro i h orn i
. .
hv e rsk yn s s tafi r
r i s tn i r 0 c ro d ni r,
ra th a c c ne m att ae ,
lyn gfi s c r l an gr
l an d s H addi n g j a ,
ax o s c o ri t,
i nnle i d d y ra .
G rimhild handed me in a filled horn to drink a cool ,
b i tter drink in order that I might forget my past affli c

,
tions Th i s drink was prepared from U rd s s treng th ’
c ool—
.
,
”
c old s ea and the li qu or of Son
,
.
“On the hor n were all kinds of staves engraved and
51 6
M
painted which I could not inte rpre t : the H ad di ng land s -
’
—
,
long hea h fish u nharves ted ears of g rai n and ani mals
’
t , ,
e ntranc es .
The Hadding land is as Sv E gi lsson has al ready

-
, .
pointed out a paraphrase of the lower world The para

,
.
phrase i s based on the myth i c acc ount known and men

ti on ed by Saxo in rega rd to H addi ng s j ou rney in Hel s
’ ’
realm ( see N o .
Heath fish is a paraphrase of the usual sor t for serpent

-
,
dragon Hence a lower world dragon was en graved on

.
-
the horn ore than one of the kind has been m entioned
.
already : N i dhog who has his abode in N i felhel and the

,
dragon which accord i ng to E rik V i dforle s saga

, , ,
obstructs the way to Odai n s acre The dragon engrav ed ’

-
.
on the horn i s that of the Ha d din g land H addin g -

.
M
l and on the other hand doe s not mean the whole low er
, ,
world but the regions of bl i ss visited by Hadding Thus

, .
the dragon i s su ch an one as E rik V i dforle s saga had in ’
mind T hat the author did not himself invent his dragon
.
,
but found it in mythic r ecords extant at the time is demon ,
s trate d by Solarlj od where it is sa i d that immense

s u bterranena dragons com e flying from the west— the
o pp o site direction of that the shades have to take when
—
they descend into the lower wor ld and obstruct the “
”
street of the prince of splendour ( g lwv alds g otu ) The
'
ruler of splen dou r i s i me r the prince of the Glittering ,
Fields ( see N os 45 .
The Hadding land s unh arvested ears of grain

-
’
belong to the flora inaccessible to the devastations of frost ,
the flowers seen by Hadding in the blooming mea d ows o f

5 1 7
the world below ( see N o The expressi on refers to .
the fact that t he Hadd i ng land has not only i m per i shable -
flowers and fru i ts bu t also fields of gra i n wh i ch do not

,
requ i re harvest i ng C ompare herew i th what V Olu spa

.
says about the Odai n s a c re wh i ch in the regenerat i on of

’
-
“
the earth rises fro m the lap of the sea : unsown the fields
”
yield the grain .
B eside the heath — fish and the u nharves t ed ears of grain ,
there were also see n on the Hadd i ng land horn dyra -
“ ”
i nnlei d Some interpreters assume that animals entrails
.
are meant by this expression ; others have t ranslated it

“
with an i mal gaps ”
There i s no authority that i nnlei d
.
ever meant entrails nor c ould it be so u sed in a rhetori cal

,
poe t i cal sense exc ept by a very poo r poet Where we

,
.
mee t with the word it means a way a way in i n contrast , ,
AS both Go r m s saga and that of
M
with utlei d a way ou t
,
.
E fi k V i dforle u se it in regard to an i mals wat ch i ng

entrances in the lower worl d this gives the expression its ,
M
nat u ral interpretation .
So m u ch for the staves ri sted on the horn They all .
refer to the l ower world N ow as to the drink wh i ch is .
mixed i n this H ad es horn It consists of three liquids :

-
.
d ar U rd tr e ng t h
’
U r ag n, s s ,
s v alk aldr s ee r , c ool c ol d s ea

-
,
Son a r dre yr i . Son s li q u i d

’
.
Son has alread y been mentione d above ( N o 2 1 ) as one .
of the names of i mer s fountain the well of creat i ve ’
power and of poetry O f Son E i li f Gu dru nson sings t hat

.
5 1 8
TE U TON I C MY T HOL OGY
it is enw reathed by bulrushes and i s surrounded by a

border of meadow on wh i ch grows t he seed of poe try .
As Urd s strength is a liqu id mixed in the horn nothing

’
else c an be meant thereby than the li quid in Urd s foun ’
tain which gi ves the warmth of l i fe to the world tree and

,
-
,
gives it strength to resist the cold ( see N o .
From th is i t is c ertain that at least two of the three

s u bterranean f ountains made the i r contributions to the
drink There r emains the well H v ergelme r and the ques
.
,
tion now i s whether it and the l i qu i d i t c ontains c an be

,
recognised as the cool cold sea Hv ergelmer is as we

-
.
,
know t he m other fou nta i n of all waters even o f the o cean

,
-
,
( see N o . That this i m mense c i stern is c alled a se a
i s n ot strange Si nce also Urd s fo u ntain is so styled ( in

’
V OIu spa Cod Re g

,
. H verg elm e r i s situated under
,
the n or t hern root of the world tree near the borders of -
t he s u bterranean realm of the rime thu rses—that i s the -

,
powers of fros t ; and the E li vagar rivers flowing thence

formed the i ce i n N i felhei m Cool is the name
.
of one of the rivers wh i ch have their source in H v e rgel
me r ( Gri mnersm al) Cool cold sea is therefore t he most

.
-
su itable word with whi c h to designate H verge lmer when
i ts own name i s not to be used .
All those fountains wh ose l i quids are sucked up by the

roots of the world tree and in i ts stem blend into the sap
-
,
wh i c h g i ves the tree imperishable strength of l i fe are ,
accordingly m i xed in the lo wer world ho rn ( cp N o -

. .
That Gr i mh i ld a human being dwelling on earth

, ,
should have access to and free c ontrol of these fountains

i s of cou rse from a mythological standpo int an absu r
, , ,
5 1 9
dity From the standpo i nt of the C hristi an time the

.
absurdity be c omes probable The sacred things and .
forces of the lower world are then chan ged into devilt ry
M
and arts of ma gi c which are at the s ervice of witches
, .
So the a u thor o f Gu dru narkv i da ( i i ) has regarded the .
matter B u t in h i s time there was still extant a tradition

.
,
or a heath en s ong wh i ch spoke of the elem ents of the

,
d rink which gave to the dea d who had descen ded to Hel ,
and were destined for ha pp i ness a higher and more endur ,
ing po wer of l i fe and also soothed the longing and sorr ow
M
,
whi c h ac companied the rec ollection of the life on earth ,
’
and this trad i t i on was u sed i n the descripti on of G rimhild s
drink of forget fulnes s .
ag n is the nam e of the liquid from Urd s fou ntain

’
,
since i t mag na/r gives str ength The word mag na has
,
.
preserved from the days of heathendom the s ense of

stren gt hen ing in a supernat u ral manner by magical or
superhuman means V i g fu sson ( D ict 40 8 ) gives a
. .
,
numbe r o f examples of this meaning In H ei msk ri ngla .
“ ”
( ch 8 ) O din magns i mer s head which is c hopped
’
.
,
o ff i n su c h a manner that it recovers the power of S peech

,
.
In Si grdri fu mal ( str 1 2 ) O d i n himself is as we have

.
,
“
seen called magni the one magning as the highest
, , ,
j udge of the lo wer world who gives magn to the dead

,
from the Hades horn-

.
The author of the second s ong about Helge H u ndi ngs

bane has known of dyrar v ei lgar precious l i qu i ds of wh i c h
-
,
th ose who have gone to Hel pa rtake The dead Helge .
says that when h i s beloved Si g run is to share th em with

him then it i s of no conseq uence that they have l os t
,
5 0
2
ea rthly j oy and kingdoms and th at no one must l ament ,
that his breast was tortured w i th w ounds ( Helge Hun d ,
ii
. The touching finale of this song though pre ,
se rved on ly i n fra gmen ts and no doubt borrowed from a

,
heathen sourc e shows that the power of the subterran ean

,
poti on to allay longing and sor row had i ts l i mits The .
survivors should mou rn over departed loved ones with

moderation and not forget that they are to meet again
, ,
for too bi tter tears of sorrow fall as a c old dew on t he

'
br east of the d ead one and penet rate it with pain ( str .
T HE —
H A D E S D RI N K ( c onti nu ed ) ,
T HE H AD E S H OR N
-
E M B E LLI SH E D W IT H SE R PE N T S .
I n Sonatorrek( the skald ( E gil Skallagri mson )

str
. 1 8)
con c eives himself w i th the cla i ms of a father to keep h i s
childr en oppo sed to a stronger power which has also made
a cla i m on them This power i s firm in its resolutions
.
against Egil ( s tendr d fOs tu m tho 12k d hendi mer ) but -

,
at the same t i me it is lenient t oward his c hildren and

, ,
bestows on them the lot of happiness The mythic person .
who possesses th i s p ower is by t he skald called Fdns hros ta

“
hi lmi r the lord of Fdnn s brewing
” ’
, .
Fdnn i s a mythical serpen t and dragon n ame ( Y ounger -
Ed d a ii 4 87
, . T he serpent or dragon whi c h
,
possessed this name in the myths or sagas m u st have been

one which was engraved or painted som ewher e T his is .
52 1
evident from the word itself which is a c on t raction o f ,
engraved painted ( E i l L ex oet and ’
f di,
nn c
,p g sson s P . . .
,
V i g f u sson s D ict su b o oce ) Its characte r as such d oes

’
. .
,
not h i nder it fr om be ing endowed with a magic life ( see
below ) . T he obj ect on which it was engraved or painted

must have been a drinking horn whose contents ( brew -
,
ing ) is called by Egil Fdnn s either be cause the se rpent ’
en c ir c led the horn which contained the drink or because ,
the hor n on which it was engraved was n amed after it

, , .
In no other way can the expressi on Fdnn s brewing be ,

’
explained for an artific i al serpent or dragon is n either the

,
one who brews the drink nor the malt from which it is
bre wed .
The possessor of the ho rn embellished with Fdnn s ,

’
image is the mythical pe rson who to E gi l s vex ation has

, ,
’
,
in sisted on the c laim of the l ower world to his sons I f .
the skald has paraphrased correctly that i s to say i f he , ,
has produced a paraphrase wh i ch refers to the cha racter

here in quest i on of the pe rson ind i cated by the paraph rase ,
“ ”
then it follows that Fdnn s brewing and Fdnn himself ’
,
l i ke thei r possessor must have been in some way connected

,
with the l ower wor ld .
F rom the mythic trad i tion in Gu dru narkv i da we

al ready know that a serpent a long heath fis is ,
-
engraved and painted on the subt erranean horn wh ose ,
sorrow allaying mead is composed of the li q uid of the

-
three Hades fountains -

.
When King G orm ( H i s t D an 4 2 7 ; cp N o 46 ) , . .
made h i s j ou rn ey of discovery in the lower world he saw ,
a vast ox horn ( i ng ens bu bali c ornu ) ther e It lay near

-
.
5 2 2
the gold clad mea d c i sterns the fountains o f the lowe r

- -
,
world Its purpo se of being filled w i th their l i quids i s

.
su fli c i ently clea r from its locati on We a re also told that .
it was carved with fi g u res ( nec ca latu rce arti fici o

v ac uu m ) like the subterranean ho rn in Gu dru narkv i da
,
.
On e of Go rm s men is anxious to se cu re the treasure

’
.
Then the horn lengthens into a dragon who kills the

would be robbe r ( cornu i n drac bnem extrac tu m su i spi ri t
-
u m latori s e ri pu i t ) Li ke Sli dru gt anne and other su bte r

.
ran ean treas u res the serpent or dragon on the drink i ng

,
horn o f the lower world is endowed with li fe when

ne c essary or the ho rn itself acqu i res life in the form of a
,
d ragon and pun i shes w i th death h i m who has no right to

,
tou ch it The horn itself is a ccordingly a Fdnn an artifi

.
,
c i al s erpen t or dragon an d i ts cont en ts i s Fdnn s hr os ti

’
( Fdnn s brewing )
’
.
T he Icelandic middle age s agas have handed down the -
m emory of an au roc ks horn ( urarhorn ) which was fo u nd -
in the lower world and was there used to drink from ,
( Forn ald i i i .
, .
Thus it follows that the hi lmi r Fdn s hros ta the lor d ’

,
of F an s brewing men tioned by E gi l is the master of

’
, ,
the Hades horn he who determines to whom i t is to be

-
,
handed in order that they may imb i be vigour and forget

,
“
fu lness of sorrow from Urd s strength cool sea and ’
, ,
”
Son s liqu id And thus the meaning of the strophe here
’
.
discussed ( Sonatorrek 1 8 ) is made pe rfectly clea r E gll s ,

.
’
dec eased sons have d runk from this hor n and thus they ,
have been initiated as dwe llers for ever in the lo wer world .
Hence the skald can say that H i lmi r Fdn s hros ta was ’
12 5 3
2
MM
inexorably firm against h i m their father who des i red to , ,
keep h i s sons w i th
From V Olu spa ( str 2 8 and from Gylfagi nni ng .
,
( ch .it appears that the m ytho logy knew of a dr i nk
ing horn which belonged at the same t i m e so to spe ak
M
, ,
both to Asgard and to the lower w orld O d i n i s i ts pos se s .
sor ,
i mer i ts keeper A c ompact i s made between t he .
Asas dwelling in heaven and the pow ers dwell i ng in the

lower world and a sec u ri t y ( v ed ) is g iven for the keep i ng
,
of t he agreemen t On the part of the Asas and the i r c la n

'
patriarch O d i n the secu r i ty g iven i s a drinking horn ,

-
.
“
From this V alfather s pledge ”
i mer every morn i n g ’
drinks mead fro m hi s fo u nta i n of wisdom ( V Olu spa -

,
and from the same horn he waters t he root o f the world

tree ( V Olu spa AS ii llenh off has alrea dy pointed
,
out ( D Alterth V 1 0 0 this dri nking—horn is not to

'
. .
,
be confou nded wi t h H e i m dal s war — tru mpet t he Gj allar ’
horn though Gylfagi nni ng is als o gu i lty of t h i s m i stake

,
.
1"
interp ret at i on of th e p ass ag e wh i ch h as h i th erto p revai l ed b eg i ns
T he
wit h a te xt e m n d at i n F d n n i s c h an g d t o Fi n n F i
, ,
e o r m i s th n am e o f a e e
“
d warf Fi nns h ros tt i s th e d wa f s d in k an d th e d warf s d i n k i s on
“
. . .
’ ” ’ ”
r r r
th e au th or i ty of th e Y ou n g e r E dd a s yn onym ou s w i th p oe try T h e p os s e s s or
.
, ,
of F i n ns h r os ti i s O d i n th e l or d o f p oe tr y W ith te xt emen d at ions of th i s

.
,
s ort ( t h e y a re n m e ou s a e b as e d o n f a l se n ot i on s i n r e g ar d t o th e ad ap t a
.
,
u r r
b i li ty o f th e I c e l an d i c Ch r is t i an p oe t i c s to th e h e ath e n p o e t y an d u s a ll y
,
r u
q u ote G ylf agi nn i n g a s au th or i ty ) we c an p od u ce anyth i n g we l ik e f rom r
th e s ta te m e nt th e an c i e nt r e cor d s O d i n s c h a ac te r as th e L o r d o f
’
of s r
p oetry h as n ot th e f a i nt e st i d e a i n c ommon wi th th e c onte nts of t h e s troph e
.
H i s c h a a t e r a s j u d g e at t h e c ou rt n e ar U r d s f ou nt a i n an d a t h e o n e
.
’
r c s
wh o as th e j u d g e of th e d e ad h as au th or i ty ove r th e liq u o i n th e s u b
,
r
t ane an h orn i s on th e oth e r h an d c l os e l y conne cte d with th e c onte nts
, ,
err
of th e s t rop h e an d i s alon e ab l e t o m ak e i t c on i s t e nt and i nte lli g i b l e
,
s
F u rth e r on i n th e p oe m E g il s p e ak s of O d i n as th e l ord of p o try O d in
.
,
e
h e s ay s h as n t on l y b e en s eve r e a g a i n s t h i m ( i n th e c ap ac i t y o f h tlm i r
, .
,
o
F ans h r os ta ) b u t h e h as al s o b e e n ki n d i n b e st wi ng th e g i f t of p oetry
,
o
and th e re w ith c on so l at i on i n T h e p ar ap h r as e h e re u e d
, ,
orr ow ( bdlv a b m tr ) s s
b y E g il f o O d i n s n ame i s M i ni s vtnr ( M im e r s f r i e n d ) F rom M im e r O d i n
.
’ ’
r
r ec e ive d t h e d r i n k o f i n pi at i on a n d th u s th e p ar ap h r ase i s i n h armony
.
s r
wi th th e s e n s e As h i lm F ans h ros ta O d i n h as wou nd e d E g i l s h e art ; a
,
‘
’
ir s
( M i m e r s f r i e n d ) h e h as g ive n h i m b a l s am f or th e wou n d s
.
M i rna p i n -
’
r
i nfl i c te d T h i s two s i d e d conce p t i on of Od in s re l at i on to th e p oe t pe rme ate s
- ’
th e wh ol e p oem
.
5 4
2
M T E U T ON I C
T h u s the drink i ng horn given t o i mer by V alfather

-
represen t s a treaty between the po wers of heaven and of

MY TH OL OGY .
M
the lower world Can it be any other than the Hades
.
horn wh i ch at the th i ngs t ead near Urd s fou ntain is ’
employed in the service bo t h of the Asa—

, , ,
god s and of the

lowe r wor ld ? The Asas determ i ne the happiness or
unhappiness of the dead and con sequ ently dec ide what ,
person s are to taste the strength giving mead of the horn -

.
B u t the horn has its pla c e in the lower w orld is kept there
—there performs a task of the greatest impor t ance and
,
gets i ts liqu id from the fou ntains of the lower world .
What i mer gave O d i n i n exchange is that dr i nk of

wisdom without wh i ch he would not have been able to
,
act as j udge in matters concerning eternity bu t after ,
rec eiving the whi c h he was able to find and proc lai m the
M
right dec is i ons ( ord ) ( ord mér af or di ordz lei tadi —Hav .
,
Both the things ex changed are therefore u sed at , ,
the Th i ng near Urd s fou ntain The treaty c on cerned

’
.
the low er world and se cured to the Asas the power

,
necessa ry in connection with the i r c on tro l of mankind

,
and w i th th ei r claim to be wor sh i pped to d i spe nse happi ,
ness and unhapp i ness in a cc ordan ce with the la ws of

rel i gion and moral it y Withou t th i s p ower the Asas
.
wou ld have been of but lit t le s i gnificance Urd and .
i mer would have been s u prem e .

.
With the dyrar v ei gar ( pre c i ous liquids ) of wh i ch the ,
dea d Helge speaks we must compa re the 5 1227 0 77 v ei g ar

,
( clear liqu ids ) which ac c ording to V egtam skv i da

, , ,
awaited the dead Balder in the lower world After tas t .
ing of it the god who had descended to Hades regained

,
52 5
TE U TON IC MY T HOLOGY
his broken strength and t he earth aga i n grew green ( see

,
No .
In dyrar v ei g ar the plural form must not

,
s ki rar v ei g ao,
'
be passed over without not i c e The c on t ents of one and .
the same drink are refe rred to by the plural 72d

H er s te n dr B alldri H e r e s t an d s f o r B al d e r
of b r u g g i nn m i oedr m e ad b r e w e d
kirat l r “ ei ”
s v e i g ar c ea v g ar (V eg t .
, 7)
which can only be expla i ned as refe rring to a dr i nk pre

pared by a mixing of several l i quids each on e of wh i ch ,
i s a agi g O riginally v ei g ar seems always to h ave de si gn

ated a drink o f the dead allaying t heir sorrow
.
s and giving
,
them ne w l i fe In H yndlu lj od ( 5 0 ) dyrar v ei gar has the

.
mean i ng of a potion o f bliss which O ttar beloved by ,
Freyja is to dr i nk In strophe 4 8 Freyj a threaten s the

, .
,
sorceress H yndla with a fire wh i ch is to take her hen c e ,
for ever In str ophe 4 9 H yndla answers the threat with

.
,
a similar and worse one She says she alrea dy sees the .
c onflag rati o n of the wor ld ; there shall nearly all be i ngs

“su ffer the loss of life ” verda es ti r ci rlau s t la
( fl fj n ho )
'
Freyj a and her O ttar of c ourse in c luded and thei r fin al ,
destiny accord i ng to Hyndla s wish i s ind i c ated by

,
’
Fr eyj a s handing Ot tar a pain forebod i ng venom ous

’
-
,
drink H yndla inv okes on F reyj a and Ottar the flames of

.
R agnar ok and damnation Freyj a answers by including .
O ttar in the protection of the gods and foretelling that he ,
i s to dr i nk dyrar vei gwr .
Besides in these passages v ei g ar occurs in a strophe /
c ompo sed by R ef Gestson q uoted in Skaldskaparmal ch , , .
52 6
2 . O nly half of the strophe is quoted so that it i s ,
imposs i ble to determine definitely the meaning of the

v e i g ar referred to by the skald We on ly see that they
”
are given by O din and that ,
we must be grateful to
h i m for them The half strophe I S possibly a pa rt of a
.
death song which Ref Gestson is known to have com

-
posed on hi s foster father Gi ssu r

-
,
.
Vei g in the singular means not on ly drink but also ,
power stren gth P erhaps B u gge i s right in claim i ng that

,
.
this was the ori gi nal mean i ng o f the word The plural .
v ei g ar ac c ordingly means stren gths

r Th at this expression .
“stren t hs ” should com e to designate in a rational manner

.
g
“
a special drink must be explained by the fact that the
stren gt hs was the cu rr ent expression for the liquids of
which the invigorating my t hical dr i nk was compos ed .
The thr ee fountains of the lower world are the strength

g iver s of the u niverse and as we have already seen it is
, ,
the li qu ids o f these wells that are mixed into the wonder
ful brewi ng in the s u bterranean horn .
When E i li f Gu dru nson the skald converted to Chris

,
ti ani ty makes C hrist who g ives the water of eternal li fe

, , ,
sit near Urd s fountain then thi s is a Christianised

’
heathen idea and refers to the power of this fou ntain s

,
’
water to give throu gh the j udge o f the w orld to the pious

, ,
a less troublesome li fe than that on earth The water .
which giv es warmth to the world tree and heals its wou nds -
is to be foun d in the immediate vi c inity of the thingstead ,
an d has also served to stren gthen and heal the sou ls of
the dead .
T o j udge from Hyndlu lj od th ose doom ed to

52 7
TE UTON I C MY TH OLOG Y
u nhappiness must als o partake of some drink It is .
“mu h mixed with ven om ” ei m l

( m i m i ) and
'
c b c d nn c k .
,
es them evil ( i llu k ei lli ) T hey must therefore

f b d -
or e o .
, ,
be c ompelled to drink it before they enter the world of

mi sery and acc ordingly no do u bt wh i le they s i t d nom a
, , ,
s toli on the ve ry thingstead The Iceland i c sagas of the

.
middle ages know the venom drink as a po t ion of misery .
It appears that this potion o f unhapp i ness d i d not loosen

the speechless tongu es of the damn ed E i tr means the .
lowest degree of c old an d poison at the same ti m e and ,
would not therefore be serviceable for that purpose s i nce

, , ,
the ton gues were made spee chl ess with cold In Saxo s .
’
descri pt i on s of the regions o f misery in the lower world ,
i t i s only the torturing dem ons that speak The dea d .
are speechless and suffer thei r agonies withou t uttering a

,
sound ; but when the spirits of torture so des i re and

, ,
force and egg them on they can produ c e a h owl ( mu g

i tas ) There broods a sort of mut eness ov er the fore cou rt
.
of the domain of torture the N i felhei m inhab i ted by the

,
frost giants acordi ng to Ski rne rsmal s des c rip t ion thereof
-
,
’
( see N o . S ki rner threat ens G erd that she among ,
her kindred there shall be more widely hated than Heim

,
dal himself ; but the manner in which they express t his

hate is with staring eyes not with words ( a thi c H ri mmr
'
mm a thi o hotve ma s tar i —s t r

,
.
,
A FT E R THE J U DG M E N T . T HE LOT or T H E B LE SSE D .
When a de c eased who has re ce i ved a good and: ti rr
28
5
leaves t he Thing he i s awa i ted in a home which his ham

,
“
i ngj e has arr ang e d for her favo u r i te som ewhere in the
MM
green worlds of the gods B u t what he first has to do i s to
.
lei ta kynni s that i s v i sit k i nsmen and fr i ends who have

, ,
gone be fore him to thei r final destination ( Sonatorr .

,
Here he finds not only those w i th wh om he became per

sonally acquainted on earth bu t he may also vis i t and
,
con verse with ances t ors from the be g i nn i ng of t i me and ,
he may hear the h i stor y of h i s race nay the h i story of

all past generations told by pers ons who were eye—
, ,
,
wit
nesses T he ways he travels are mu nw gar ( Son atorr
M
,
.
.
paths of pleas u re where the wonderful regi ons o f

Urd s and i mer s real m
,
’
s lie open be fore h i s eyes
’
.
T hose who have d i ed in their tender years are received
M
.
by a being friendly to c h i ldren wh i c h Egil Skallag ri mson ,
M
( S o na torr e k 2 0 ) calls
,
G a u ta spj all i T he expre ssion .
“ ” “
means the one w it h whom O din c ounsels Od in s ,
’
fr i end . As the same poe m ( str 2 2 ) calls O din i mer s .

’
friend and as i n the next place Gama spfallz is c harac

'
teri se d as a r u ler in Godhei m ( compare g rcenar hei mar
g o da — H ak onarmal he must ,
e it her be i mer w h o ,
is O d i n s fr i end and adv i ser from h i s you th u nt i l hi s dea t h

’
,
or he must be Hon er who also is styled O d i n s friend

’
, ,
his s essi and mdli That i mer was regarded as the

.
friend of dead ch i ldren cor responds with his vocat i on as

the ke eper in hi s grove of i mmortal i ty i mi sholt of the ,
Asa children the ds megi r who are to be the mankind of

-
, ,
the regenera t ed world B u t H oner too has an i mportan t

.
call i ng i n regard to c h i ldren ( see N o and i t m u st .
therefore be left u ndecided wh i ch one of the two i s here

meant .
52 9
TE U T ON I C MY THOLO GY
Eg i l i s c onv i nc e d that h i s dro wn ed son B odvar fo u nd

a harbou r i n the s b t erran n r g i on s of bl i ss
u ea e *
The .
“
land to wh i ch B odv ar c om es i s called by E g i l the h ome
”
of the bee sh i p ( bf/ski ps ba r ) The p o e ti cal figure i s
-
.
taken from t he experi ence of seam en that b i rds who have ,
grown tired on thei r way acros s the sea al i ght on sh i ps to

recupe rate their strength In E gi l s pa raphrase the bee .
’
correspon ds to the bird and the honey blos s om where the ,

-
be e alights c orresponds to the ship The fields of bliss .
are the haven of the ship laden with hon ey The figu re .
may be crit i c ised on the po i nt of poet i c l og i c bu t is of a ,
c ha rm i ng kind on t he l i ps of the hardy old v i king and it ,
i s at the same time very appropriate in regard to a charac

teri sti c qual i ty as c ribed to the fields of bliss For they .
are the prope r h ome of the hon ey dew which falls early -
in the m orn i ng fr om the world tree into the dales n ear -
Urd s fountain ( Vol u spa )

’
L i f and Le i fthraser live .
through ages on this dew ( see N os 5 2 and dou bt .

,
less this sa m e Teutonic ambrosia is the food of the happy

dead The dales of the ea rth als o unqu estionably get
.
the i r share of the honey dew whi ch was regarded as the -

,
fertilising and nou ri sh i ng elemen t of the grou nd B ut .
the earth gets her share directly from Ri mfax e the st e ed ,
of the Hades goddess N at This steed satiated w i th t he

-
.
,
grass of the su bterranean meadows prod u ces wi t h his

mouth a froth whi ch is hon ey—
,
dew and from h i s bridle the ,
“ ”
dew drops in the dales in the morning ( V afthr .
,
.The same is true of the horses of the valkyries coming

L ik wi
’
th w e lik k l d K m k i
se e ar t i th t h w l d h v m
e s a or a s cer a n a e ou a e co e
t V lh l i
o a ha h d b
n d w d
c as e e da i m t
e en d ib d ro ne un er c rc u s a nc e s escr e in
hi s sa
g w k wh i h i
a, a h w v
or v y c li b l
s, o e e r, er u n re a e .
53 0
M
from the lower world From their manes when they
.
,
”
shake t hem falls dew in d eep dales and thence come
, ,
harvests among the pe oples ( Helge Hj orv .

,
A FT E R T H E JU D G E NT ( c on ti nu e d ) . T HE A
F TE OF T H E
DA M N E D . T HE IR PAT H . ARRI VAL AT T H E N A- G T E S A .
When the na dictu m ( the judgment of th ose who have

-
committed sins unto death ) has been proclaimed they ,
must take thei r departure for the i r terrible destinat i on .
T hey cann ot take fl i ght The loc ks and fetter s of the

.
norms ( U rdar lok ur H elj ar rei p) hol d them p risoners

, ,
M
and ami d the tears of their former h ami ngj es ( n or mr
'
d m i l) they re driven al ong thei r pa th by hei ti r

’
g r ta a p ,
armed with rod s of thor ns who withou t mercy beat thei r ,
lazy heels The te chn i cal term for these inst ruments of
.
torture is li mo/r whi ch seems to have becom e a word for

,
esch atologi cal p u nishment in general In Si grdri fu mal .
it i s said that horrible li mor shall fall heavy on those
M
/
who have broken oaths and promises or betrayed con ,
fidence . In S i gu rd Fafne sb ( ii 3 ) it is stated that . .
everyone who has lied about anothe r sh all long be

tortured with li mar Both the expression s troll om tu i :
. .
5 hwla the i m and troll vi si ydr ti l mm have their roo t in

the recollec tion of the myth c on c ern i ng the ma rch of the
damned under the rod of the Eumen i des to N i felhel ( see
fu rthe r on this point N os 9 1 and .
T heir way from Urd s well goe s to the n orth ( see N o

’
.
63 ) through i mer s domain It is ordained that before

’
.
S3 I
f ei ted
.
their arrival at the home of torture they are to see the

r egion s of bliss Thu s they k now what they have for
.
Then their c ourse is past i m er s founta i n the

splend i d dwellings of B alder and the ds meg i r the golden
hall of Si ndre s ra c e ( see N os 9 3
’
and to th ose
regi ons where mother N at rests in a hall bu i lt on the
sou thern spur of the N ida mountains ( Forspj allslj od )
The procession proceeds u p this mountain r egion throu gh
.
M ,
’
,
,
valleys and gorges in which the r i vers flowing from H v er

gelmer find their way to the sou th The da mned leave .
H v ergelmer in their rear and cross the border rivers

H ramm ( the s u bterran ean E li vagar rivers see N o , .
on the other side of whi ch rise N i felhel s black pe rpe ndi c ’
u lar m ountain walls (-

Saxo H i s t D om ; see N o, ,
r .
L adders or stairways lea d across giddying precipices to

the N a gates Ho wls and barking from the monstrous
-
.
N i felhei m d ogs wat ching the ga t es ( see N os 46 5 8 ) an .

,
nou n c e t he arrival of the damned Then hasten i n compact .

,
winged flocks monsters N i felhei m s b i rds of prey N i d

, ,
’
hog Are H rwsv elg er and their l i ke to the sou t h and

, , , ,
alight on the rocks around the N a gates ( see below ) -

.
When the latter are op ened on c reaking hinges the ,
damned have died thei r secon d death To that event .

,
“
wh i ch is called the se cond death and to what this con ,
s i sts of I shall return below ( see N o

, .
Those who have thus marched to a terrible fate are

sinners of v ariou s classes Bel ow N i felhei m there are
.
nine regions of punishment T hat these co rrespond to .
nine kinds of unpa rdonable sins is in itself probable and is ,
to some extent c onfirmed by Solarlj od i f this poem stand , ,
53 2
i ng almost on the border line between heathend om and

-
Chri stian i ty may be taken as a w i tness

, Solarlj od enum .
e rates nine or ten kinds of p u nishments for as many diff er
ent kinds of sins From the pu rely heathen records we

.
know that enemies of the gods ( L oke ) perjurers mu r , ,
derers ad u lterers ( see V oluspa ) th ose who have v i olated

, ,
fa i th and the laws and those who have lie d about others
, ,
are doomed to Ni felhel for ever or at least for a v e ry lon g

t i me ( oflengi —S i g Fafn i i
,
. . O f the unmerciful we
,
.
kn ow that they h ave al ready suffered grea t agony on

their way to Urd s fountain B oth in reference to the m
’
.
and to others it do u b t less depended on the invest i gati on

,
at the Thing whether they cou l d be ransome d or not .
The sacredness of the bon d of k i nship was strongly

emphasise d in the eschatolog i cal c on c eption s N i flg odr
’
.
,
“good for the real mo f damnation ” i s he who slays kins

,
men and sells the dead body of his brother for r i ngs ( Son
ato rre k , but he who in all respects has conducted
hims e lf in a blameless manner toward his kinsmen and
i s slo w to take revenge i f they have wr onged him shall ,
reap adv ant age therefrom after deat h ( Si grdr .

,
When t he damned come within the N a gates the -

,
winged dem ons rush at the victims designated for th e m ,
press them under their wi ngs and fly w i th them throu gh

,
N i felhei m s foggy s pa c e t o the d epart ments of tort u re

’
appointed for them T he seeress in v olus pa ( str 62 ) sees

. .
N i dhog loaded with ndi r under his wings s oar away

, ,
from the N id a mountains Whi t her he was accust omed

.
to fly with them appe ars from strophe 3 8 where he in ,
N astrands i s sucki ng h i s prey When King G orm bey ond

.
,
53 3
'
0
the above mentioned bou ndary river and by the N ida

-
,
.
mountains ladders had rea ched the N a gates opened for

’
,
-
him he sees dismal monsters ( larv ae atrce; cp V oluspa s

, .
’
i n di mmi d reki ) in dense crowds and hears the air filled

-
,
with thei r horrible scree ches ( cp V olu spa s Ari hlaccar .

’
,
s li tr nai ne fi au lr When Solarlj od s skald enters

,
’
“
the realm of torture he sees scorc hed bi rds wh i ch are
”
“ ”
not bi rds but souls ( sdli r ) flying n u merous as gnats
, .
'
76 .
THE PLA CE S O F P U N I S H M E N T .
T he region s over which the flocks of demon s fly are the

s ame as th ose wh i ch the author of Ski rnersmal has in
view wh en Sk i rne r threatens Gerd with sending her to
M
the realms of death It is the home of the frost gi ants
.
-
,
of the subte rranean giants and of the spirits of disease, .
Here live the off spr i ng of Ymer s feet the primeval giants ’
strangely born and strangely bear i ng who are wait i ng ,
for the q u aking of Y gdras i l and for the liberation of thei r

c hained leader in order that they may take revenge on the
,
god s in R agnar ok and who i n the meantime contriv e

,
fu t i le pl ans of attack on H vergelmer s fount ain or on the ’
north end o f the Bifrost bridge Here the demons of .
restless une asiness o f mental agon y of convulsive weep

, ,
ing and of insanity ( Othale

, o rn Ope and Tope ) hav e,
.
,
th eir home ; and her e d wells als o their quee n Loke s ,

’
da u ghter Lei k i n whose threshold is precipice and whose

, ,
bed is disease Ac c ord i ng to the a u thor i ty used by Sax o

.
in the description of Gorm s j ourney the cou ntry is ’

,
53 4
thickly populated Saxo calls it m os oppi du m ( cp Skir

.
, .
ni smal s words abo ut the giant homes among which G erd

’
-
,
i s to drag herself hopeless from house to house ) T he .
ground i s a marsh with putrid water ( pu tidi lm c aaml m) ,
which di ffuses a horrible sten ch T he river Sl i d fl owin g

. .
north out o f H v ergelmer there seeks its way in a muddy

stream to the abys s which leads down to the nine pla c es
of punishment O ver all hovers N i felhei m s dismal sky
.
’
.
The mortals who like Gorm and his men h ave been
, ,
perm i tted to see these regions and who have c onceived

,
the idea of descen ding into thos e worlds which li e below

N i felhe i m or the most of them are vast mountain caves
, , ,
abyss in question and have cast a glance d own int o it .
T he place is narrow but ther e is eno u gh daylight for its

,
bottom to be seen and the sight thereo f is terrible Still

,
.
,
there m u st have been a path down to i t for when Gorm ,
and h i s men had recovered from the first impress i on they ,
cont i nue d their journey to thei r destinat i on ( Gei rrod s ’
pla c e of p u n i shment ) although the m ost terr i ble vap ou r

,
( teterri mu s v apor ) bl ew int o the i r fac es The rest that .
Saxo relates i s u nfort u nately want i ng both i n s u ffi c ient

c learness and i n co m pleteness W i thout the risk of mak
.
ing a mistake we m ay h ow ever c ons i der i t as myth i c ally

, , ,
correct that some of t he nine worlds of punishment be low

N i felhe i m, or the most o f them are vast mountain caves
, ,
mu t u ally united by openings broken thr ou gh the mou ntain

walls and closed with gates which do not however , ,
obstr u ct t he course of Sli d to t he N astrands and to the Sea

outside S axo speaks of a perfmc tam s copu li partem
.
'
“ ”
.
a p i erced part of the mounta i n thr ou gh wh i ch travel
,
53 5
lers come fro m one o f the su bt e rran ea n c aves to ano t h e r ,
an d between the caves stand gatekeepers ( j ani tores ) .
“ m ”
Thus t here m u st be gates At least two of these ho es
.
h ave been nam ed after the most notor i ous s i nner found
wi t h i n them Saxo speaks of one called the giant Geir
.
rod s and an Iceland i c document of one called the g i ant

’
Gei ti r s
’
T he te chni cal ter m for s u ch a c ave of tort u re
.
was g u ys ku ti ( clamou r grotto )

'
Saxo transla t es s ki i ti
-
.
“
wi th c ond or/e s axei i m To thru st anyon e b e fore Ge i ti r s ’
— r e ka ai nn fyri r Gei ti s g u ys ku to —
”
c la mour grot t o - .
was a -
phrase syn onym ous with damning a person to death and

hell
The gates between the clamou r —
.
grottoe s are wat ched by

various kinds of dem ons Before ea ch gate stand several
.
who in looks and c on d u c t seem to symbol i se the sins ove r

whose perpetrators they keep gu ard O u ts i de of one o f .
the caves o f tortu re Gorm s men saw club bearers who

'
’
-
tr i ed their weapon s on one another O utside o f another .
gate the keepers amused th emselves with a monstrou s

“
game in which they m u tually gave the i r ram backs a -
”
curved motion It i s to be presumed that some sort of
.
perpetrat o rs of vi olence were tortu red within the th resh

old which was guarded by the cl u b—
,
bearers and that ,
the ram shape d demons amused themselves o u t side of the

-
tort u re cave of debau chees It is also probable that the

-
.
latter is identi c al with the on e c alled Ge i ti r s T he name ’

.
Gei ti r comes from g ei t goat Saxo who Lat i nised Gei ti r

,
.
,
into Gotharu s tells advent u res of his wh i ch show that

,
th i s giant had tried to get possession o f Freyj a and that ,
he i s identical with Gymer G erd s father Accord i ng to ,

’
.
53 6
TE U T ON I C MY T HOLOG Y
Ski rne rsmal there are fo u nd i n N i felhel goats that ,
is to say trolls in goat gu i se probably of the same k i nd as

,
-
,
those above ment i oned and it may be with an allusion to

-
,
the fate wh i ch awa it s Cymer in the lower world or with ,
a reference to his epithet Gei ti r that Ski rner threatens ,
Gerd with the disgusting drink ( g ei ta hlcmd ) wh i ch w i ll

“ ”
there be given her by the sons of m i sery ( v élmegi r ) .
O ne of the lo wer world demons who a s his name ind i

-
,
“
c ates was closely c onn e cted with Ge i ti r 1 8 called
’
,
Ge i ti r s ,
”
Howl foot ( Gei ti s Gu yfe ti ) an d the expression to
-
’ “
”
thrust anyone before Ge i ti r s H owl foot th u s has the ’
-
same mean i ng as to send h i m to damna ti on .
Contin u ing their jo u rney G orm an d h i s men c ame t o ,
Gei rro d s s ki i ti ( see N o

’
.
We learn from Saxo s descripti on that in the worlds of

’
t orture there are seen not only terrors bu t als o delusions ,
which t empt the ey es of the greedy Gorm s prudent c ap .

’
tain T horki l ( see N o 4 6 ) ea rn estly warns hi s compan i ons

.
not to touch these things for h ands that come in contact ,
wi th them are fastened and are held as by invisible bonds .
The illu sions are characteri sed by Saxo as cedi s s u pelle c

ti lis an express i on which is amb i guous bu t may be an
, ,
all u sion that th e y r epresented things pertaining to tem
ples T he statement deserves to be c ompar e d with Solarl

.
j od s strophe 65 where the skald sees in the lower world

’
person s damned whose hands are riveted together wit h

,
burning st ones T hey are the moc kers at rel i gi ous r i tes
.
( they who mi m t vi ldu ho lda helg a dag a) who are th u s

punished In the mythology it was probably profaners
.
of temples who su ffered th i s pu nishment .
53 7
T he N astrands and t he ha ll there are thus descr i bed

V oluspa :
Sal s é h o n s tan da
s ol u fj arri
N as tron d u a
n o r dr h o rf a dyrr ;
f e llu e i tr d ro p ar
i nn um lj ora ,
Sé e r
. u n di nn s alr
o rm a h ryg g j u m .
s é h on th ar v ad a
th u n g a s trau m a
m e nn m e i n sv ara
o k m o rdv ar g a
ok th an n s an nars g le p r
'
e yrar i i n a ;
t har s au g N i dho g g r
n ai f ram g e n g n a,
s le i t v arg r v e ra
.
A hall she saw stand far from the sun on the N as

trands ; the d oors opened to the north Venom drops .
-
fell through the roof holes Braided is that hall of ser

-
.
pent backs
-
.
“There she saw perj urers murderers and they who

, ,
betrayed the wife of another ( adulterers ) wade through

heavy streams There N i dhog s u cked the ndi r of the
.
”
d ead And the wolf tore men into pieces
. .
Gylfagi nni ng ( ch 5 2 ) assumes that the se rpents who s e

.
,
bac ks wattled t ogether form the hall turn the i r heads

, , ,
into the hall and that they especially through the open
, ,
ings in the roof ( according to C odex Ups and Codex .
v omit fo rth their flood s of venom T he .
.
538
latter assumption i s well founded D oubtful see ms on .

,
the other hand Gylfagi nni ng s assumption that the “ ’
heavy streams which the damned in N astrands have to

,
wade through flow out over the floor o f the hall As

, .
the very name N astrands indicates that the hall is situated

near a water then this water whether it be t he river Sli dr
, ,
with i ts eddies filled with weapons or some othe r river , ,
may send breakers on shore and thus pr oduce the heavy

streams wh i ch V oluspa mentions N evertheless Gylfa .
ginning s view may be correct The hall of N astrands

’
.
,
like its cou nterpart V alhal has certainly been regar d ed

,
as immensely large The serpent venom raining down

.
-
must h ave fallen on the floor of the hall and there is

nothing to hinder the venom —
,
rain from being thought

“ ”
su fficiently abund ant to fo rm heavy stre am s th e reon
( see below )
Saxo s description of the h all in N astrands—by him
.
adapted to the realm of torture i n general— is as follows :

“T he doo rs are covered with the soot of ages the walls
;
are bespa t tered with filth ; the roof is closely covered with
barbs ; the floor is strewn with serpents and be spawled
with all kinds of uncleanliness The last statement c on .
fi rm s Gylfagi nni ng s view As this bespawli ng continues

’
.
without ceasing through ages the matter thus prod u c ed ,
must grow i nto abundance and have an outlet Remark .
able is also Saxo s statement that the doors are c overed

’
with the soot of ages Thus fires m u st be kindled near

.
these doo rs O f th i s more later

. .
539
M
77 .
T HE P LA C E S 0 F P U N I S H M E N T ( c on ti nu ed) . T HE H A LL
IN N A ST RAN D S .
W i th out all ow i ng mysel f to propose any ch ange of text

in the Voluspa strophes above qu oted and in pu rsuance ,
of the princ i ple which I have adopted in this work not t o ,
base any con clusions on so called text-emendat i ons wh i ch-

.
invariably are text — debasi ngs I have applied these strophes ,
as they are found in the texts we have Like ii llenho fl ’

.
( D A. lter th v 1 2
. 1 )
,
and other
. scholars I am ho w ever , , ,
convinced that the strophe which begins s ci hon thar vad a ,
&c has been corr u pted

.
,
Several reas ons wh i ch I shall
.
,
present elsewhere in a spec i al treatise on v ol u spa make ,
this probable ; but s i mply the circ u mstance that the strophe
has ten lines i s su fficien t to awaken su sp i cions i n anyone s ’
mind who holds the view that V oluspa ori ginally co n

sist ed of ex clusively eight lined strophes—a view which -
c an n ot seri ously be do u bted As we now hav e the poem it .

,
consists of for ty s even strophes of eight lines each one

- i
,
of four l i nes two o f s i x l i nes each five of ten l i nes ea c h

, , ,
four of twelve lines each and two o f fo u rteen l i nes each

—i n all fou rteen not eight lined strophes against forty
,
seven eight lined ones ; and while all the eight l i ned ones
-
,
-
are int rinsically and logically well constructed it may .
be said of the others that have more than eight lines

,
each partly th at we can cancel the s u perfl u ou s lines with

,
out i njury to the sense and partly that they look l i ke

,
loosely j oined conglomerat i on s of scattered fragmen t s of

-
strophes and of inte rpol ations The most recent e ffort .
54o
has be en made by M
M
TE UTON IC MY TH OL OGY
to restore perfectly the poem to its ight line d str ophes

ii lle nhoif ( D Alterth
al though this e ffor t may n eed revision in some special
po i nts it has upon the whole given the poe m a c learness
,
a logical sequen c e and symmetry whi c h of themselves
make it evident that u llenhoff s premises are correct ’

and
In the treatise on V oluspa whi ch I shall p u blish later

,
.
e -
.
,
.
,
this subj ect will be thoroughly dis c ussed Here I may .
be permitted to say that in my own eff orts to r estore

,
V oluspa to eight lined strophes I came to a po i nt where

-
,
I had got the most of the m aterials arranged on this

principle but the re rem ain ed the foll ow i n g f ragment
,
(1 ) A i e llr au s an t ( 1 ) Fall s river f rom the e ast

a
u m e i trdala aro u n d v e n o m d al e s
s ox u m ok s v e r d u m . w it h d agg e rs and s p e ars ,
Sli dr h e i ti r su . Sli d i t i s c all e d .
( 2 ) $5 hon t har vad a ( 2 ) T h er e sa w s he wad e

th u n g a s trau m a t h ro u g h h e avy s t r e am s
m e nn m e i ns v ara p e rj u r e r s
0 k m o rdv ar g a m u rd e re r s
ok th ann s ann ars an d hi m wh o se d uc es
g lep r eyrarunu . ano t her s ’
wi fe .
T h ese f ragments m ake united ten line s The fou rth .
line of the fragm ent ( 1 ) Sli dr hei ti r 5 n has the appear

ance of being a mythog raphi c add i ti on by the transcr iber
of the po em Several similar interpolations which con

.
t ain info rmation of mythological interest but which nei ,
ther have the slightest connection with the context nor ,
are of the least impo rtan ce in referen c e to the subj ec t

t reate d in Voluspa occur in ou r present text e d itions of
,
-
this poem T he dwarf list is a colossal interpol ation of

.
-
th i s kin d I f we hypo thetically omit this line for the

.
present and also the one immediately preceding ( 9 5m

, .
0 k w erdu m ) then there remains as many lin es as are

,
req uired in a regular eight line strophe -

.
It is further to be rem arked that among all the eight

lined l uspa strophes there is not one so badly con
st ructe d that a verb in the fi rst half strophe has a direct
- '
obj ect in the first line of the second h alf strophe as i s the -
,
case in that of the present text :

8 21 h on t ha r vad a
th u n g a s trau m a
0 k m o rdv arg a
’
ok th ann s ann at s g le p r
'
e y rarti nu ;
and, upon the whole such a construction can ha rd ly

,
ever have occur red in a tolerably pass able poem If these .
eight lines actually belonged to one and the same strophe .
the latter would have to be restored according to the fol

lowin g scheme
( 1 ) 5 5 hon t har v ad a
( 2 ) thung a s trau ma
( 3 ) m e nn m e i ns v ara
( 4) ok m o rdv arg a ;
(5)
( 6)
( 7 ) t h an h s ann at s g le p r
’
( 8) e yrarun u .
and in one of the d otted lines the verb must have bee n
found which governed the a c cusa ti ve obj ect thann .
542
TE U TON IC MY TH OL OGY
The l i nes which shou ld take the place of the dots have ,
in their present form the following appe arance

,
a f e llr au s t an
u m e i trdala .
T he verb which governed thann must then be dfellr ,
that i s to say the ver b fellr united w i th the preposition 6

, .
But in that case ( i is not the substant i ve d a r i ver a run , ,
n i ng water and thu s the r i ver wh i ch falls from the east

,
arou nd venom dales has its sou rce in an error .
Thu s we have under this s u ppos i tion found th at there

, ,
is something that fellr 6 falls on streams down upon

, , ,
him who seduces the w i fe o f another This someth i ng .
must be expressed by a substantive which is now con ,
c ealed behind the adverb ans tcm and must have resem ,
bled it s u fficiently in sound to be transformed into it .
Such a substantive and the only one o f the kind i s

, ,
ans tr
. This means som eth i ng that can fe lla d stream ,
down upon ; for aus tr i s bai l water ( from ansa to bail )

-
, ,
w aste wate r water flowing out o f a gutter or shoo t

-
, .
A test as to whether there orig i nally stood ans i r or not

is to be found in the following s u bstantive which now ,
has the appearance of ei trdala For i f there was written

.
ans tr then there must in the original text have follow ed

, , ,
a substantive ( 1 ) wh i ch explained the kind of waste
w ater meant ( 2 ) which had su fficient resemblance to

,
ei trdala to become corrupted into it .
T he sea faring N orsman distinguishe d between two

-
kinds of ans tr : byttn aus tr and dwln ans tr The bail

- -
.
water in a ship could be rem oved ei t her by bail i ng it out

543
T E U T ON I C MY THOL OGY
w i th S coops d irectly over the r ailin g or it could be ,
scooped into a dcela a shoo t or trou gh laid over the rail

,
ing The latter was the more convenient method The

. .
d i fference between these two k i nds of am tr bec ame a

popul ar phrase ; compare the expression thd var byttu z
aus tr e i g i dwln am tr
,
The w ord dwla was also used
-
.
figuratively ; co mpare lci ta dwlu na g ang a to let the shoots ,
( troughs ) run ( Gre tla a proverb by which men in

,
animated conversation are l i kened unto de lu r troughs , ,
which are opened for flowing conver sation .
Under such circumstances we might here expect after

the word aus tr the word dwla and as venom here i s in , ,
question ei tr dwla
,
-
.
E i tr dwla satisfies both the demands above made

-
It .
explains what sort of waste water is meant and it re -

,
sembles ei tr dala su fli c i ently to be corrupted into it

-
.
“
T hus we get 6 fellr aus tr ei trdwla : On ( him who
seduces another man s wi fe ) falls the waste water of the
’
-
”
venom troughs
-
Whi c h these v e n om trou ghs are the
.
-
,
strophe in its entirety o u ght to define This constitutes .
the second test o f the corre ctness of the reading .
It must be admitted that i f d fellr aus tr ei trdcela is the

ori gi nal reading then a corruption into (i fellr au s tan
,
e i trdal a had almo st of nec essity to follow S ince the prepo ,
s i ti on d was taken to be the subs tan tive 6 river a running , ,
stream How n ear at hand such a con fo u nding of these

.
words li es i s d emonstrated by another Voluspa strophe

where the preposition d in d s er hon aus az au rg om fon t
was l ong interp reted as the s u bs tantive d .
We sh all now see whether the expression 6 fellr aus tr

544
e i trd wla
makes sense when it is introd u ce d in lieu of the
dotted lines above
5 51 h on th at v ad a
th u n g a s trau ma
0 k m ordvarg a ;
( en ) a f e llr au s tr
e i tr da
e la
than n
’
s an nars g le p r
e y rarfi n a .
T here saw she heavy streams ( of venom) flow upon

( or through ) p e rj urers and m u rderers The waste wa .
-
ter of the v enom troughs ( that is the waste-water of the

-
,
perjurers and murderers after the v enom streams had ~
rushed over them ) falls upon him who seduces the wife
”
of another man .
Thus we get not only a connected idea bu t a very re ,
markable and instructive passage .
T he verb vad a is not u sed only about persons who wade

throu gh a water The water itself is also able to vada
—
.
( p
c . e i s andi u d r v e dr u nd an Ra i ns S to say .
nothing of arrows that wade i folk (Havam and .

,
o f banners which wade in the throng of warrio rs Here .
the venom wades throu gh the cro wds of perj u rers and
murderers The verb vada has so often been used in this
.
s ense that it has also acquired the meani n g of ru s hi ng

, ,
ru nn i ng ,rus hi ng throu g h Hea vy venom streams ru n

.
-
through the perjurers and murderers before they fall on

the adulterers The former are the venom troughs
.
-
,
which pour their waste water upon the latter

-
.
We now return to Saxo s de scr i ption of the hall of’
545
N astrands, to see whether the V oluspa strophe thus hypo

thetically res t ored corresponds w i th or i s contrad i cted by , ,
it D isagreeable as the p i ctu res are which we m eet with

.
in this comparison we are nevertheless compe lled to take

,
them i nto consideration .
Saxo says that the wall of the hall i s bespatter ed with

liqu id filth ( pari es obdu ctus i llu me ) T he Latin word
'
z .
,
and the one used by Saxo for venom is v ene nu m not , ,
i llu vi es which means filth that has been po ured or bespat

,
tered on so mething Hen ce Saxo does not mean venom

.
streams o f the kind which according to Voluspa are , ,
vomited by the serpents down through the roof O penings -

,
but the reference i s to something else which still must ,
have an u pper source sin c e it is bespattered on the wall

,
of the hall .
Saxo fu rther says that the floor is bespawled with all

sorts o f i mpu r i ty : pavi mentu m omni s ordi u m g enera
respersu m .The expression confirms the idea that u n ,
mixed veno m is not meant here but everything else of ,
the most disg u sting kind .
Fur thermore Saxo relates that groups o f damn ed are

,
found th ere within which gro u ps he calls c ons essus

,
.
“
Cons essus means a sitting together and in a second , ,
ary sense persons S itting together The word si t may “ ”

.
,
here be taken in a more or less literal s ense Cons essor .

,
”
the one who sits together with might be applied to ,
every participator in a Roman dinner though the R omans ,
did not actually sit but reclined at the table

, .
As stated se veral s u ch c ons essus persons sitt i ng or

, ,
lying together are foun d in the hall T he benches u pon

,
.
546
TE U T ON I C MY T H OLOG Y
whi ch they si t or l i e are of iron Every consessu s has .
a locu s in the hall ; and as both these terms c ons essu s and ,
locu s in Saxo united in the expression c onsessu u m loca

, ,
together mean rows of benches in a theatre or in a public

place where the seats rise in rows one above the other
, ,
we must assume that these rows of the damned sitting or

lying together are found in d i ff erent elevations between
the floor and ceiling T his assumption is corroborated
.
by what S axo tells viz that th ei r loca are separated by

,
.
,
leaden hurdles ( plu mbece crates ) Th at they are sepa .
rated by hurdles must have some practical r eason and ,
this can be none other than that something flowing down

may have an unobstruct ed passage from one consessu s to
the other That which flows down finally reaches the
.
floor and is then omne s ordi u ni g enus all kinds of i m

, ,
purity It must finally be added that according to Saxo

.
, ,
the stench in this room of tortu re is well nigh intolerabl e -
( su per omnia perpetu i fa tori s asperi tas tri s tes lacessebat

olfac tus ) .
Who is not able to see th at V oluspa s and S axo s de ’ ’
scri pti ons of the hall in N astrands confirm explain and , ,
complement each other ? From V olu sp a s words we con ’

,
elude that the venom stream s come from the openings in

-
the roo f not from the walls The wall cons i sts in its
, .
,
ent i rety of the bac ks of serpents wattled t ogether ( s ci er

,
u ndi nn s alr orma hryg j om ) T he heads belonging to

g .
these serpents are abo ve the roof and vomit their venom
down through the roof Ope nings— the lj ors ( fellu
,
“ -
”
ei trdropar i nn u m l ora B elow these and b tween

j )
’
. e ,
them and the floor there are as we have seen in Sa xo

, , ,
547
rows of iron seats the one row below the other all fur
, ,
n i shed with leaden hurdles and on the iron seats s i t o r

,
'
lie perj urers and mu rde rers forc ed to dr i nk the venom

,
“ ”
ra i n i ng down in heavy streams Every such row of
.
”
sinners becomes a trou gh of venom for the row i m
med i ately below it u ntil the disgust i ng liquid thus pro
,
du ced falls on those who have sed u ced the dearest and
most confidential friends of others These sed u cers either
.
constit u te the lowest row of the s eated delinqu ents or ,
they wade on the floor in that filth and venom whi ch there
flows Over the hall broods eternal n i ght ( it is s olu
’
fj a rr i
.
) What there is of l i ght illuminating
,
the terrors ,
comes from fires ( see belo w ) k i ndled at the doors wh i ch

open to the no rth ( nordr horfa dyrr ) The smoke from
’
.
the fires comes into the hall and covers the door posts -
“ ”
with the soot of ages ( pas tes lonn a fu li gi ne i lli tw) .
With this must be compared what Tacitu s relates con

cerning the views and customs of the Ge rmans in regar d
to c rime and punishment He says : .
“
T he n ature o f the crime determines the punishment .
Traitors and deserters they hang on trees Cowards and .
those given to disgraceful debauchery they smother in

filthy pools and m arshes c asting a hu rdle ( crates ) over
,
them T he dissimilarity in these pu nishments ind i cates

.
a belief that crime should be p u nished in su c h a way that

the penalty is visible while scandalous conduct should be
,
punished in s u ch a way that the debauchee i s removed

”
from the light of day ( Germani a ,
This passage in Germani c is a commentary on Saxo s ’
descriptions an d on the V olu spa strophe in the form re

,
548
su lti ng fro m my investig ation Wh at might n atu rally

.
.
see m probable is corroborated by Germani a s words : that ’
the same V iew of justice and moral i ty which obtained in

,
the camp of the Germans found its expression but i n

, ,
gigant i c exagge ration in their doctrines concernin g escha

,
tolog i cal re wards and punishments It should perhaps

.
, ,
also be remarked that a similar pa rticula rism preva i led

through centuries The hu rdle ( crates ) wh i c h Saxo
.
mentions as be i ng placed over the venom and filth drink -
ing c riminals in the hall of N astrands has i t s earthly coun

te rpart in the hurdle ( al so called crates ) which accord , ,
ing to the custom of the age of T acitus was thrown over ,
victims smothered in the c esspools and marshes ( i g nav os

e t i mbelles e t corpore i nfame s c oeno ac palu de i nj ecta i n
su per crate me rg u nt) Those who were sentenced to

.
this death were according to Tacitus cowards and de

, ,
bau chees . Among those who received a sim i lar punish

ment in the Teutonic Gehenna were partly those who in
a sec ret manner had committed m u rder and tried to con
c eal their crime ( such were called ni ordw rg r ) partly de ,
bau chees who had violated the sacredness of matrimony .
The descriptions in the V oluspa strophe and in Saxo show

that also in the hall o f the N astrands the punishment is
in accordance with the nature of the crime All are pun .
i shed terr i bly ; but there is a distinction between those who

had to drink the serpen t venom unmixed and those who
rece i ve the mixed potion and finally those who get the
,
awfu l liqu id over themselves and doubtless within them

selves .
In closing this c hapter I will quote a number of Voluspa

549
strophes which refe r to Teutonic esch atology In par

,
.
allel columns I print the strophes as they appear in Codex

R egi us and in the form they have ass u med as the result
,
o f an invest i gation of which I shall give a full account i n

the future I trust it will be found that the restoration
.
of d fellr aus tan u m ei trdala into d fellr aus tr ei trda la ,
an d the introducing of these words before thanas annars

l
g p y
e r e ra run a not only restores to the strophe in wh i ch
these words occur a regular structure and a sense which is
corroborated by Saxo s eschatological sources and by the
’
Germani a o f T acitus but also supplies the basis and c ond i

,
tions on which other strophes may get a regul ar st ructure

and int ell i gibl e cont ent s .
Cod ex B eg i n s . R ev i s e d T ex t .
A f ellr t
au s an
u m e i tr dala
s au x o m o c sv erth o m
s li th r h e i ti r su .
St o d fyr n o d an r St od fyr nor d an

a mit h a v o ll o m a N ida v oll um
s alr o r g u lli s alr o r g u lli
s i n dra e ttar . Si ndra e ttar ;
a
e nn an n ar s o t d e nn ann at s ot d
a o k o lni a Ok élni ,
b i or sa t l i otu n s bj ors als j ot u ns ,
en sa bri mi r h e i ti r . en 5 5. B ri mi r h e i ti r
.
Sal sé
h on s tan da Sal s é h on s t au d a
so l o fié rri s ol u fj arri
n a s tr o n du a N as trdn du a ,
n orthr h orf a dyrr n ordr h orfa dyrr ;
550
TE UT ON IC MY TH OLOGY
f e ll o e i tr drO p ar f e llu e i trdro p ar
i nn u m li ora i nn u m lj ora ,
sa e r un d i na s alr s a e r u n di nn s alr
o rm a h ryg g i om . o rm a hryg g j u m .
Sa hon thar vad a Sa h on t har vad a

th u ng a s traum a th u n g a s trau m a
m e nn me i n sv ara m e nn m e i n sv ara
o c m or dv arg ar . o c m o rdv arg a ;
oc thann annat s g le pr en it f e ll aus tr
e yra ru n o e i trdae la
th ar s u g n i thhau g g r thanns annars g le pr

na i fram g e g na eyrarunu
s le i t v arg r v e ra
v i toth e r e n e t ha hv at .
H apt sa hon li g g i a H apt sé

hon li g gi a
nu dit hv era l un d i u n di r hv eralu n di
le g i arn li c i lae g j arnli k i

l o c a athec k i an . L ok a ath ek kj an ;
t har s it t Sigyn r
t ha s au g N i dhdg g r
they g i u m s i nom nai f ram g e ngn a,
ver v e lg lyi o d s le i t v arg r v e ra .
v i to th e r e n e t ha hv at
. V i tu d ér e nn e da hv at ?
T ha r k na V al a
'
v i g b on d su ti a,
h e l d r v arn hardg o r
hop t or
thorm u m ;
t har Sigy n
s i tr
th e yg i u m s i nu m
v e r v e l g lyg u d .
V i tu d ér e nn e da hvat?
'
55 1
M
TE U TON IC MY THOL OGY .
( conti nu ed )
’
T HE A CES
PL 0 F P U N I SH M E N T . . LO K E S
C A VE P U N I SH M E N T ’
0 F . GYLFAGI N N I N G S CO N
FOU N DI N G 0 F U SP E L S SON S
’
WI T H T HE SO N S or
SU T T U N G .
Saxo ( H i s t D an 4 2 9 ff ) rel ates that the experienced

.
,
.
Captain T horki l m ade at the comm and of K i ng Gorm

, ,
a second j ourney to the uttermost N o rth in order to com ,
plete the knowledge which was gained on the first j our

ney That part of the lower world where L oke ( by
.
Saxo called U garti locu s ) dwells had not then been seen .
!This now rem ained to be done Li ke the first time .

,
T horki l sailed into that s ea on which su n and stars never

shine and he kept cru is i ng so long in its darkness that his
,
supply of fuel gave ou t T he expedition was as a con

.
sequ ence on the point of failing when a fire was suddenly ,
seen in the distance T horki l then entered a boat with a

.
few of his men and rowed thither In order to find h i s .
way ba c k to his ship in the darkness he had placed in the ,
mast top a self lu minous precious stone which he had

- -
,
taken with h i m on the j ou rney Gu i ded by the light .

,
T hork i l c ame to a strand rock in whi c h there were nar

-
,
“ ”
row gaps ( fauc es ) ou t of whi ch the light came
, .
There was also a door and T horki l entered after request

, ,
ing hi s men to rema i n ou tside .
T horki l fou nd a gro tt o At the fire which was kindled

.
stoo d two uncommonly tall men who kept mending the ,
fire The grotto had an inner door or gate and that

.
,
552
TE UTON I C MY THOL OGY
which was seen inside that gate is d esc ribed by Saxo in

almost the s ame words as those of his former description
o f the hall at the N astrands ( obsoleti pos tes ater s i tu ,
i d i d m t f i b pavi men
M
p a r es s o,
r u t ec u rn re qu e ns a ng u us ,
tu m) . T horkil in reality see s the same hall again ; he

had simply come to it from another side from the north , ,
where the hall has its door open i ng toward the strand
—
MM
( nor d r h or f y
a d r r Vol u spa ) the pillars of which a c , ,
cording to Saxo s previou s descript i on are covered with

’
the soot of ages The soot is now explained by the fire

.
which is k i ndled in the grotto outs i de the hall the grotto ,
form i ng as it were a vestibu le The two g i gantic per .
sons who mend the fire are called by Saxo aqu i li .
In a rc i anus C apella who is Saxo s model in regard ,

’
to s t yle and vocabulary persons of semi divine rank ,

-
( he m i th ei ) are mentioned who are called a q li and who

u i ,
inhabit the same regions as the souls of the dead ( lares

and larv ae— a rc C ap i ii Compare P E . .
, ii ller
.
,
. , . .
,
not H i s t D an pp 68
.
,
. .
,
Aqu i lu s also has the s i g
.
,
ni ficati on dark swar thy Icel d dkkr

, , , . .
In the northern my t hology a particular kind of elves

n —
are me tioned black or s warthy elves d olekdlfar They ,
' '
dwell under the farthest root of the world tree near the -
,
northern gate of the lower world ( i ormu ngru ndar i i odyr

nyrdra) and have as their neighbours the T hu rses and
the unhappy dead ( ndi r—ForSpj allslj od
,
Gyl ta ,
ginning als o ( ch knows of the swa rthy elves at le ast

.
,
“
,
”
that they dwell down in the earth ( bi i a ni dri i j brdu )
’
As to mythic rank colour and abode they therefore cor

, , ,
respond with the R oman aqu i li and Saxo has forcibly ,
553
and very correctly employed this L atin word in or d er to

characterise them in an intelli gi ble manner .
The two sw arthy elves k eeping watch outside of the

hall of Nastrands ought nat u rally to have been aston
i shed at seeing a living hum an being entering their grotto .
Saxo makes them receive the unexpected guest in a

friendly manner T hey greet him and when they h ave
.
, ,
learned the purpose of h i s visit one of them reproaches

,
him for the rash boldness o f his u nde rtaking but gives ,
h i m information in regard to the way to L oke and g i ves ,
him fire an d fuel after he had tested T hork i l s u nder ’
standing and found him to be a wise man The j our

,
.
ney says the swarthy el f can be pe rformed in four days

, ,
’
fast sailing As appears from the c ontext the j ourney

.
,
i s to the east The traveller then comes to a place where

.
not a blade of grass grows and over which an even denser

,
darkness broo ds The place inclu des several terrible

.
rocky halls and in one of them L oke dwells

, .
O n the fourth day T horki l favo u red by a goo d wind

, ,
comes to the goal of his jou rney Through the darkness .
a mass of rock rising from the sea ( s copu lu m i nus i tatce

moli s ) is w i th d i fficu lty discerned and T hork i l lays to by
,
this rocky i sland He and his men put on clothes of S kin

.
of a kind that protects against venom and then walk along ,
the beach at the foo t of the rock until they find an en

trance Then they kindle a fire with flint stones this
.
,
being an excellent protection against demons ; they light

torches and crawl in through the narrow opening U m .
fortunately Saxo gives but a scanty account of wh at they

saw there .First they came to a cave of to rtu re which ,
554
resemble d the hall on the N astrands at least in this par , ,
ti cu lar th at there were many serpents and many iron seats

,
or iron benches of the kind des c ribed above A brook .
of sluggish water is crossed by wading Another grotto .
which is not described was passed through whereupon ,
they en t ered Loke s awful pr i son He lay there bo u nd

’
.
hands and feet with immense chains H i s hair and beard .
resembled spe ars of horn and had a terrible odour ,

.
T hork i l j erked ou t a h air of hi s beard to take with hi m

a s ev i dence o f what he had seen As he did this t here .
,
was d i ff used in the cave a pestilential stench ; an d af t er

T hork i l s arrival home it appeared that the beard ha i r
’
-
,
he had taken home was d angerous to li fe on acco u nt of

its odour ( H is t D an . When T horki l and his
.
,
men had passed out of the interior jurisdiction of the rock ,
they were dis covered by flying se rpents which had their

home on the island ( cp V ol u spa—thar sau g N i dhogg r
.
,
&c N o
.
, The skin clothes protected them against
.
the venom vomited forth B u t one of the men who bared .
his eyes became bl i nd Another whose hand came out

.
,
side o f the protecting garments got it cut off ; and a ,
t h i rd who ventu red to un c over his head got the latter

, ,
s eparated from his neck by the po ison as by a sharp steel

instr u ment .
The poem or saga which was S axo s authority for this ’
story must have described the rocky island where Loke

was put in cha i ns as inhabited by many condemned be
ings T here are at least three c aves o f torture and in
.
,
one of them there are many iron benches T his is con .
fi rmed as we shall see by l uspa

, ,
.
555
S axo also says that there was a h arbour From Vol .
u spa we learn that when Y gdrasil trembles at the ap
proach o f R agnarok the ship of the dead N ag elfar lies

, , ,
so that the liberated Lo ke can go aboard it That it has .
long lain moo red in its harbour i s ev i dent from the fact
“
t hat according to Volu spa it then beco m es loose
, , Un .
known hands are its bu i lders The material ou t of wh i ch

.
M
it i s constru cted i s the nail parings of dead men ( Gylfag
-
5 1 —probably accord i ng to some pop u lar trad iti on )

.
,
The .
l e ss regard for religion the less respect for the dead B u t

, .
fro m each person who is lef t unbu ried or is put int o ,
his grave without being when possible washed combed

, , , ,
c leaned as to hands and feet and so c ared for that his ap

,
pearance may be a favourable ev i dence to the judges at

the Thing o f the dead in regard to h i s su rvivors—from
each such person comes building material for the death
ship whi ch is to carry the hosts of world destroyers to
,
-
the great conflict u c h building material is accu mu
—
.
“ ”
lated in the last d ays i n the dagger and axe age - -
,
“
MM
”
when men no longer respe ct each other ( l u spa ) .
N age lfar is the largest of all ship s larger than Skid ,
bladner ( Ski dbladni r er bez tr s ki panna e n N ag lfari
er mes t s ki p —
Gylfag This very fa c t shows that
.
,
it i s to have a large number of persons on board when it

departs from Loke s rocky island Voluspa says
’
.
. . r
Str 4 7 , 8 N agl fa lo snar, N ag elfar b ecom e s l oo se ,
Str 48 K i oll f e
. . rr
au s t an , a sh ip co m e s from th e e as t ,
k om a m u n o u sp ellz th e h o s s o ft u sp el
u m l au g ly d i r me m ai n
’
,
co o er th e ,
e n L o ki s ty ri r ; Lo ke is pil o t ;
f ara Fi fl s m e g i r d e s c e n d ant s
’
all Fi te l s
556
TE
M
UTON IC MY TH OLOGY
M
m e d Frek a alli r , co m e wit h Frek e ,
t h e im e r b ro di r B y le i pt
’
s b r o t h er
M
B yle i p ts i f or. is w h it t hem on th e j ou rn ey .
M
Her e it is expressly st ate d that the hosts of u spel
are on board the sh i p N agelfar gu ided by Loke after it
, , ,
“ ”
has been freed from its moo rings and had set sa i l from
the island whe re Loke and other damned ones were i m
prisoned .
H ow can this be h armonised with the doctrine based

on the a u thority of Gylfag i nni ng that the sons of u spel
,
are inhabitants of the so u thernmost region of l i ght and

wa rmth Gylfagi nni ng s so called
,
’
u spelheim ? or wi th
-
the doctrine that Surt is the protector of the borders of

thi s realm ? or that u spe l s sons proceed under h i s
’
c ommand to the R agnarok conflict and that they conse ,
quen tly must come from the South which V oluspa also ,
seem s to corroborate with the wor d s Su rtr ferr su nnan
The answer is th at the one statem ent cannot be har

moni sed with the other and the q uestion then arises as to
,
whi ch of the two authorities i s the authentic one the ,
heathen poem V oluspa or Gylfag i nni ng produced in the ,
t hirteenth c en tury by a man who had a vagu e conception

of the mythology o f our ancestors Even the most u n .
critical part i san o f Gylfagi nni ng would certainly unhes

i tati ngly de c ide in favour of Voluspa provided we had ,
this poem handed down in its pure form from the heathen
days But this is clearly not the case We therefore
. .
need a third witness to d ecide between the two Such .
an one i s als o actu ally to be found .
557
M
MMM
In the N orse heathen recor d s the wor d muspell oc

curs only twice viz in the above mentioned V oluspa
, .
,
-
strophe and in Lokasenna 42 where F rey who has su r
M
, , ,
rendered his sword o f victory is threatened by Loke with

—
,
the prospect of defeat and death e r as pells syni r ri da
M
”
i fi wh n so s ride over w
’
y
'
rc v th y r ,
e u spe l s n D ark o od .
T he yrkwood is mentioned in V olu ndark vi da ( 1 ) as a

forest through which the swan maids coming from the
,
-
Sou th flew i nto the wintry U lfdales where one chases ,
bears on skees ( snow shoes ) to get food This is evi

-
.
dently not a forest situated near the primeval fountains

of heat and fire The very arbitrary manner in which
.
the names of the mythical geography is used in the heroic

poems where yrkwood comes to the su rface does not
, ,
indicate that this forest was conceived as situated south

o f i dgard and there is as shall be shown below r eason
, , ,
for assuming that D arkwood i s another name for the

Ironwoo d famous in mythology ; the woo d which accord ,
ing to Voluspa is situated i n the East and in which

, ,
Angerboda fosters the children o f L oke and Fenrer .
O ne of these and one of the worst is the monster

, ,
Hate the enemy of the moon ment i oned in V o luspa as

,
tang ls ti u g ari that makes ex cursions from the I ronwood

,
“
and stains the citadels of ru lers with blood In the .
Ragnarok conflict Hat e takes part and conten ds with T yr

-
and do u btless not only be bu t also the whole

, , ,
o ff spring o f the Fenris wolf fostered in the Ironwood

-
,
a re on the ba ttle fi eld in that d ivision which is commanded
by L oke their clan chief T his is also doubtless the

- .
, ,
m eaning of the followin g wor d s in the Voluspa strophe
5 58
M
M
’
qu oted above : F i fel s d escen dants all come with F reke
( the wolf ) and in company w it h t hem i s B yle i pt s ( or
’
,
”
B ylei st s ) brother
’
As Loke B yle i pt and H elbli nde
.
, ,
M
are mentioned as brother s ( Gylfag no one else can .
,
“ ”
be meant with B ylei pt s brother than Loke h i mself or ’
H elbli nde and more probably the latter since it has al

, ,
M
ready been stated that Loke is there as the commander
,
of the for ces Thu s it i s u spel s sons and Loke s kins

.
’ ’
M
men i n the Ironwood who are gathered around him when
the great conflict i s at hand u spe l s sons accompany .
’
the l i berated Lo ke from h i s rocky i sle and are with him ,
M M
on board N ag elfar Loke s first destination is the Iron
.
’
wood whither he goes to fetch Angerbo da s children and

,
’
,
“
MM
”
thence the j ou rney proceeds over y kwoo d
r to the
plain of Vigrid The statements of V élu spa and L oka
.
senn a illustrate and cor ro bo rate each other and it fol ,
lows that Voluspa s statem ent clai ming that ’

u spel s ,
’
sons come from the East is original and correct , .
Gylfagi nni ng treats u spel as a place a realm the , ,
o riginal home of fire and heat ( Gylfag Still there .

, ,
is a lack of posit i ven ess for the land in question is in the

,
same work called uspells hei mr ( ch 5 ) and uspells .
hei mr ( ch .whence we may presume that the author

regarded uspell as m eaning both the land of the fi re
and the fire itself T he true etymology o f uspell was
.
probably as little kn o wn in the thi rteenth century when ,
Gylfag i nni ng was written as it is now I shall not speak ,

.
o f the several attempts made at conj ecturing the defini

tion of the word They may all be regarded as abortive
.
,
mainly d oubtless for the reason that Gylfagi nni ng s

, ,
’
559
M
statements have credulously be en assume d as the basis
of the i nvest i gation As a word inher i ted from heathen
.
times i t occurs under the forms mu tspelli and muspi lli

,
i n the Old Saxon poem Heliand and in an Old High Ge r

man poem on the final j u dgment and t here i t has the ,
meaning of the L ord s day the doom of cond emnation

’
, ,
or the condem nat i on C oncerning the meaning which

.
t he word had among the heathens of the N orth before ,
M
the ti m e o f the authors of l uspa and Lokasenn a all ,
that can be sai d w ith certainty i s that the word in the ,
expression “ u spe l s sons

”
has had a spe c i al re feren c e to
’
M
myth i c al beings who are to appear in Ragnarok fight i ng
there as L oke s allies that i s on the side of the ev i l
’
, ,
against the good ; that these beings were Loke s fellow ’
prisoners on the roc ky isle where he was chained ; and

that they accompan i ed h i m from there on bo ard N agelfar
to war against the gods As Gylfag i nni ng makes them
.
accompany Surt com i ng from the South this must be ,
“ ”
the res u lt of a confou nding of u spe l s sons with ’
“Surt s sons ”
)
’
( S
’
u ttu n g s .
A closer exam i nation ought to have shown that Gyl

“ ”
fag i nni ng s con c eption of u spel s sons is immensely
’ ’
at variance with the mythical Under the influence of .
C hristian ideas they are transformed into a sort of angels

o f light who appear in Ragnarok to contend u nder the
,
“ ”
c ommand o f Surt
"
to conquer all the idols ( s i g ra 0 ll
g o di n— G lf
y g a 4 ). and carry o u t the punishment of the
world While Voluspa makes them co m e with Loke i n
.
the ship N ag elfar that i s from the terrible rocky isle

, ,
in the sea over which eternal darkness broods and while ,
560
M
Lokasenna makes them come across the D arkwood whose ,
M
n ame does not suggest any reg i on in the realm of light ,
M
Gylfag i nni ng tells u s that they are celest i al beings Idols .
and gi ants conten d with ea ch other on V i gr i d s plains ; ’
then the heav ens are suddenly rent in twain and ou t of it ,

“ s l ”
ride i n shin i ng squadrons u pe s sons and S u r t w i th
’
,
his flaming sword at the he ad of the fylk i ng s Gylfagi n~

,
.
n i ng is careful to keep these noble riders far away from

every conta ct with that mob wh i ch L oke leads to the field
of battle It therefore expressly states that they form a
M
.
fylki ng by themselves ( I thessu m g u y K lofnar hi mi ni nn ,
ol e ri du thad an us pe lls syni r ; Su rtr ri dr fyrs tr &c ,

.
us pells syn i r hafa e i ni r ser fylki ng er s é bj br t

’
e nn
mj ble—eh
,
Thus they do not come to as sist L oke

'
.
,
bu t to pu t an end to both the idols and the mob o f giants .
The old giant S u rt who according to a heathen skald

, , , ,
Eyvind Skaldaspi ller dwells in sbkkdali r in mo u ntain

'
, ,
grottoe s deep under the earth ( see abou t hi m No is , .
in Gylfagi nni ng first made the keepe r of the bo rders of

“ ”
u spelhe i m and then the chief of celestial hosts B u t
, .
th i s is not the end o f his promotion In the text found .
in the Upsala C odex Gylfag i nni ng makes him lord in

,
Gi mle and likewise the king of eternal bliss

,
After .
“
R agnarok it is s aid there are many good abo d es and
,
many bad bes t i t i s to be i n Gi mle wi th Su rt ( marg ar

er o v i s tar
g othar og marg ar i llar beat
,
er at m ma Gi mle
medr )
su rtr The name Surt means black We find that
. .
hi s d ark looks did not prev ent his promotion and this has ,
been carried to s u ch a point that a mythologist who hon

estly be lieved in Gylfa i nni n saw in him the Almighty
g g
561
M
M
who is to come after the regenerat i on to equalise and bar

m oni se all discord and to found holy laws to prevail for
,
ever .
Under such circumstances it may be sugges t ed as a ,
r u le of critical ca u tion not t o ac cept uncondit i onally Gyl
M
f ag i nni ng s statement that the world of ligh t and heat
’ '
wh i ch existed before the creation of the world was called

u spe l or u spelheim In all probabil i ty this is a.
,
M
res u lt of the author s own reflections At all events it is
’
.
,
M
c ertain that no other record has any kno wledge of that
name But that the mythology presumed the existence of

.
s u ch a world follows already from the fact that Urd s ’
M
fountain whi ch gives the w armth of li fe to the world
,
tree must have had its deepest fountain there j ust as

, ,
H v erg elmer has its in the world o f primeval c old and ,
i mer has his fountain in that wisdom which un i tes the

opposites and makes them work together in a cosm i c
world .
Accordingly we must distinguish between

,
uspells
meg i r uspells syni r from Surt s clan men who are
’
-
, , ,
called Su rts cett syni r Su ttu ng a Su ttu ngs syni r ( Ski rni s
, ,
mal 3 4 ; Alv i ssm

,
We sho u ld also remember that
.
,
uspell in connection with the words syni r and megi r

hardly can mean a land a realm a region T he figure , , .
by wh i ch the inhabitants of a country are call ed its sons or

des cendant s never occurs so far as I know in the oldest , ,
N orse literature .
In regard to the n ames of the points of the compass

in the po etic Edda nordan and aus tan it must not be for
, ,
gotten that the same northern regions in the mythical

562
geography to wh i ch var i ous events are referred mu st

have been regarded by the Icelanders as ly i ng to the east
from their own northern isle The B formi a u lteri or in .
,
whose night shrou ded waters myth i cal adventurers so u ght

-
the gates to the lower world lay in the u ttermost N or t h , ,
and might st i ll from an Icelandic and also from a N or

,
weg i an standpoint be des i gnated as a land in the East

,
.
According to the sagas preserved by Saxo these adven ,
tu re rs sailed into the Arctic Ocean p ast the N orweg i an ,
coast and east ward to a mythical B j armi a more d i stan t

, ,
than the real B j armaland They cou ld thu s c ome to the.
coast where a gate to the lower world was to be fou nd ,
and to the N astrands and i f they contin u ed thi s same

,
course to the East they could finally get to the rocky

,
i sle where L oke lay chain ed .
We have see n that L oke is not alone with Sigyn on

that isle where in chains he ab i des Ragnarok There .
were unhappy beings in large n u mbers with h i m As .
already stated Saxo speaks o f three connected caves of

,
tort u re there and the innermost one is L oke s O f the

,
’
.
one nearest to it Saxo tells nothing else than th at one has

,
to wade across a brook or river in order to get there .
O f the bound Fenre r L oke s son it is said that from his

’
, ,
mouth runs froth which forms the river V on ( Gylfag .

,
In Lokasenna ( 3 4 ) F rey says to the abu sive Loke

A wol f ( that i s Fenrer) I see lying at the mouth of the
’
,
river until the for ces of the world come in conflict ; i f

you do not hold your tongu e you v i llain w i ll be chained
—
, , ,
”
next to hi m ( th vi n e s t an expression which here should
be taken in a local sense as a defin i te place is mentioned

,
563
in the preced i ng sentence ) An d as we learn fr om .
Voluspa that F reke ( the wolf ) is with Loke on board

,
N ag elfar then these evidences go to show that Loke and

,
his son are cha i ned in the same place T he i sle where .
Fenrer was chained is called in Gylfag i nni ng Lyngw and

'
the body of water in which the isle is s i tuated is called

Amw ar tni r a s u itable name of t he sea over which eternal
, ,
darkness broo ds On the isle the probably Icelandic au

.
,
thor of l u spa ( or i ts translator or compiler ) has i m
M
ag i ned a
“ ”
grove whose trees consist of j ets of wate r
,
S prin gi ng from hot fou ntains ( hv era lu ndr ) T he isle .
is gua rded by Garmr a giant d og who is to bark with all

,
-
,
M
its might when the chains of L oke and Fenrer th reaten
to burst asunder
r r
G e yr G a m m j ok
f y r Gn i p ah e lli
F e s tr m an s li tn a,
en Freki renna .
According to Gri mnersmal Garm is the fo remost of ,
all dogs The d ogs which guard the be autiful englad s

.
’
citadel are also called G arms ( Fj olsv i nnsmal) In Gyl .
fag i nni ng the word is also u sed in regar d to a wolf H ate

, ,
anegarm Gni pahelli r means the cave of the prec i pi

.
tou s rock The adventurers which T horki l and his men

.
encountered with the flying serpents in connection w i th ,
the watching Hel dog S how that Lyngv e is the scen e o f

-
,
d emons of the same kin d as th os e which are foun d aroun d

the N a gates of N i felhei m
-
.
Bound hands and feet with the ent rails of a frost

”
c old son ( Lok asenna which after being ,
pl aced on ,
564
his limbs are transformed into iron chains ( Gylfag

—
.
, ,
E ok e lies on a weapon ( a hi orvi Lokasenna and ,
under him are three flat stones placed on edge one under ,
h i s shoulders one under hi s loins and one under hi s hams

, ,
( Gylfag . O ver him Skade who is to take revenge

, ,
for the murder of her father suspends a serpent in such a ,
manner that the venom drops in the face of the nith i ng .
Sigyn fa i th ful to her wi cked husband sits sorrowing by

, ,
his side ( Voluspa ) and protects him as well as she is able

against the venom of the serpent ( Postscript to Loka
senna Gylfag
,
Fenrer is fettered by the soft silk
.
, ,
l i ke chain Glei pner made by the subterranean artist and, ,
brought from the lower world by Herm od It is the .
only ch ain that can hold him and th at cannot be broken ,
be fore R agnarok His j aws are kept wide open with a.
sword ( Gylfag .
,
'
79 .
T H E GR E AT W ORLD M I LL -
. IT S M I ST A K E N I DE N T I T Y WI T H
T HE FRO D E M I LL
-
.
We h ave yet to mention a place in the lower wo rld

which is o f importance to the n ai ve bu t at the same time
'
, ,
perspicuous and imaginative cosmology of Teutonic

heathendom The myth in regard to the place in q u es
.
tion is l ost but i t has left scattered traces and marks

, ,
with the ai d of which it i s possible to resto re i ts chief

‘
outlines .
Poems from the heathen time speak of two wonderful

, ,
“ ”
mills a l arge r and a smalle r G rotte mill -
.
,
565
T he larger one is Si mply immense T he storms and .
shower s which lash the S ides of the mountains and c au se

their d i sintegration ; the breakers o f the sea wh i ch attack
the rocks on the strands make them hollow and cast the
, ,
s u bstance thus scooped ou t along t he coast in the form

of sand banks the W hirlpools and cu rrents of the ocean
-
,
and the still more powerful forces that wer e fancied by

antiqu i ty and which smouldered the more brittle layers
,
o f the earth s solid cr u st an d scattered them as sand and

’
,
“ ”
mould over the stones of the hall in o rder that the
grou nd might be overgrown with green herbs —
,
“ ”
all this
was symbolised by the larger G rotte— mill And as all .
symbols in the same manner as the lightning which be

,
comes T hor s hammer in the mythology become ep i c

’
pragmatic realities so this symbol becomes to the imagin

,
M
ation a real mill which operates deep down in the sea and
,
cau ses the phenomena which it symbol i ses .
Th i s greater mill was also called Gra di r since its g ist ,

r
i s the mou ld in which vegetation grows This n ame was .
gradually trans ferred by the po ets of the C hristi an age

from the mill which was grinding beneath the sea to
, ,
the sea itsel f

The lesser Girotte—
.
m i ll is like the greate r one of heathen

origin—Egil Skallagri mson mentions i t—but it plays a
more accidental part and really belongs to the heroic
,
po ems connected with the mythology e anwhile it is

.
,
akin to the greater Its stones come from the lower

.
world an d were cast up thence for amu sement by young

,
gi ant m aids to the surface o f the earth A be ing called

-
.
H eng i kj bptr ( the feminine H eng i kepta i s the n ame of a

’
566
M
—
g i antess Sn Ed d a i
.
, ) m akes mill stones
. 551 ; 11 . 47 1 -
ou t of thes e subterranean rocks and presents the mill to ,
K ing Frode F ri dlei fson Fate brings about that the same
.
young giantesses having gone to Svi thi od to help the

,
k i ng warring there Gu thorm ( see N os 3 8

,
are taken .
,
prisoners and sold as slaves to Ki ng Frode who makes ,
them turn h i s G rotte m i ll the stones of which they re cog

-
,
nise from the i r childhood The giantesses whose names .

,
are Fenj a and e nj a grind on the mill gold and safety

,
for King F r ode and good will among men for h i s king
,
-
d om. B ut when Frode hardened by greed for gold re , ,
f u ses them the necessary rest from their toils they grind ,
fire and death u pon him and give the mill so great speed,
that the mill stone breaks into pieces and the foundation
-
,
is c rushed under its weight .
After the introduction of C hristianity the det ails of ,
the myth concerning the greater the cosmological mill , ,
were forgotten and there remained only the memory of

,
the existence of such a m i ll on the bottom of the sea .
The recollection of the lesser G rotte mill was on the -

,
other hand at least in part preserved as to its details in a

,
song which continued to flourish and which was re ,
corded in Skaldskaparmal .
Both mills were now regarded as identical and there ,
s prang up a tradition which e xplained how they could
be so .
C ontr ary to the st atements o f the song the tradition ,
narrates that the mill did not break into piec es but stood ,
whole and per fect when the curse of the giant mai d s on
,
-
Frod e was ful fille d T he night followin g the day when

'
567
a sea k i ng
-
ys,
i nMM TE UTON IC MY THOLOGY
they had begun to grind m i sfortu ne on F rode there c ame

g and slew F rode and took among
,
other booty also the Gro tte m i ll and both the female
,
,
slaves and carri ed th em on board his ship

c ommanded them to gr i nd salt
-
y ng
s i
and th i s they contin u e d
t o do until the following midnight Then t hey asked i f
he had not got enough but he c ommanded them to con
,
,
.
,
,
.
,
ti nu e grinding and so they did until the sh i p shortly af

,
terwards sank In th i s manner the trad i tion e xplained

.
how the mill came to stand on the bottom of the sea and ,
there the mill that had belonged to F rode acquired the

q ualities which originally had belong ed to the vast G rotte
mill o f the mythology Skaldskaparmal which relates
.
,
this tradition as well as the song w i thout taking any ,
notice of the discrepancies between them adds that a fter ,
Frode s mill had sunk

’ “ there was produce d a whirlpool
,
in the sea caused by the waters running th rough the hole

,
”
in the mill -stone and from th at time the sea i s s alt
, .
T HE W O RLD-M I LL ( c onti nue d ) .
With distinct c onscio u sness of its symbolic si gni fi

cation the greater m i ll is mentioned i n a strophe by the
,
skald Snaebj orn ( Skaldskap ch The strophe ap

,
.
pear s to have bel on g ed to a poem d escribing a voyage .
“It is said ” we read in this st rophe “that E lu dr s nine ’

, y ,
women violently turn the G rotte of the skerry dangerous

to man out near the edge of the earth and th at these
women long ground Amlode s li d grist ’
-
.
568
H vat kv e d a hraera Gro tt a

h e rg ri m m as tan Sk e r a j
ut fy r i r j ardar sk au ti
E ylu drs ni u b rfi di r :

th ee e rr f yri r l au n g a
li d- m e ld
A m l o d a m ol u .
T o the epith et E yludr and to the eanin g of li d i n

,
m -
li d grist I shall return below

-
, The strophe says that the
.
m i ll i s in motion out on the edge of the earth that n i ne ,
g i ant maids turn it ( for the lesser G rotte mill two were
- -
more than su fficient ) that they had long ground with i t

, ,
that it belongs to a s kerry ve ry dangerous to seafaring

men and that it produces a peculiar grist
,
.
The same mill is s u ggested by an episode in Saxo ,
where he relates the saga abo u t the D anish prince ,
Amlethu s who on account of circu mstances in his home

,
was compelled to pretend to be insane Y oung courtiers .

,
who accompanied him on a walk along the sea strand -

,
showed him a sand bank and said that it was meal The
-
.
prince said he knew this to be so : he said it was meal

”
from the m i ll of the sto rms ( H is t D an . .
,
The myth concern ing the c osmic G rotte mill was i n -
ti mately connected partly with the myth concerning the

fate o f Ymer and the other primeval giants and partly ,
with that concerning Hv ergelme r s fountain V afthru d ’

.
ne rsmal ( 2 1 ) and Gri mnersmal ( 40 ) tell us that the earth
was ma d e out of Ymer s flesh the rocks out of his bones

’
, ,
an d the sea from his blood With earth is here meant

. ,
as d istin guished fr om rocks the m oul d the san d wh i c h

, , ,
569
c over the solid ground
Au rg elmi r Clayg elmer or
,
s u ggests that his

“ ”
.
M
V afthru dnersmal
ll Ymer
oldg e lme r ; and Fj dlsv i nns
mal gi ves him the ep i thet Lei rbri mi r Claybri mer which
flesh was c hanged into the loose earth
while hi s bones became rocks Ymer s descen dants the
primeval giants T h ru dgelmer and B erg elmer pe rished
“
,
”
with him and the flesh of their bodies cast into the
,
.
,
’
ca s
,
,
primeval sea also became mou ld O f th i s we are as .
s u red so far as B ergelmer is c on c erned by strophe 3 5 in

, ,
V afthru dnersmal which also informs us that B e rgelmer

,
was lai d u nd er the mi ll s tone T he m i ll which gro u nd

-
.
“ ”
hi s flesh into mould can be none oth e r than the one
grind i ng under the sea that i s the cosmic G rotte mill
, ,
-
.
When O d i n asks the wise giant V afthru dner how far

back he can remember and which is the oldest event of
,
whi ch he has any knowledge from personal expe rience ,
“
the gi ant answers : Countless ages ere the earth was
shapen B ergelmer was born The first thing I remem .
be r is w hen he 6 v ar ludr u m lag i dr .
This expression was misunderstood by the author of

Gylfagi nni ng himsel f and the m i s u nderstanding has con
,
ti nu ed to develop into the theory that B erg elme r was

changed into a sort of N oah who with his household ,
saved hi m sel f in an ark wh en Bur s sons drowned the ’
primeval gi ants in the blood of thei r progenitor O f .
s u ch a counterpa rt to the Biblical account of N oah and

hi s ark ou r T eutonic mythical fr agment s have no knowl
edge whatever .
The word ludr ( with ra d ical r ) has two meanings

( 1 ) a win d inst rument a loor a war t rumpet ; ( 2 ) the
-
, ,
-
570
tier of beam s the un d erlying timbers of a mill and in

, , ,
a wider sense the mill itself

,
.
The first mean i ng that of war trumpet is not found

,
-
,
in the songs of the Elder Edda and upo n the whole does ,
not occur in the O ld N orse poetry Heimdal s war .

’
trum pe t is not called ludr but horn or hlj od Ludr in

,
.
th i s sense makes its first appearan c e in the sagas of C hris

tian times but is never used by the skalds In spite of
,
.
t his fact the significat i on may date back to heathen t i mes .
B u t however this may be ludr in V afthru dnersmal does

,
n ot mean a war tr u mpe t The poem can never have

-
.
m eant t hat B erg elmer was la i d on a mus i cal instrument .
The other mean i ng remains to be discussed Ludr .

,
partly in its more l i m i ted sense of the timbers or beams

u nder the mill p artly in the sen se of the subterranea n
,
m i ll in its ent i rety and the place where it is found oc curs

, ,
several t ime s in the pOems : in the G rotte song in Helge -
and in t he above—
,
H u nd ( ii
. . quoted strophe by Sn ee
bj orn and also in Grogalder and in Fj dlsv i nnsmal I f
,
.
th i s sign i fication is applied to the passage in V afthru d

n ersmal : d v ar ludr u m lag i dr we get the meaning that ,
“ ”
B erg elme r was laid on a mill an d in fact no other,
meaning of the passage is possible unless an entirely new ,
signification is to be arbitrarily invented .
B u t however conspicuous this signification is and how ,
ever clear it is that it is the only one applicable in this

poem still it has be en overlooked or thrust aside by the
,
mythologists and for this Gylfag i nni ng i s to blame So

,
.
fas as I know V i g fu sson is the only one who ( in his

,
D iction ary p 3 9 9 ) m akes the pass age 6 ludr lagi dr mean

, .
S7 I
what it actually means and he remarks that the words

,
“
m u st refer to som e an cient lost m yth ”
.
The con fu sion begins as stated i n Gylfagi nni ng Its

, , .
a u thor has had no other a u thor i ty for hi s statement t han

t he V afthru dnersmal strophe in q uest i on which he als o ,
c i tes to corroborate his own words ; an d we have here one
of the many examples fo u n d in Gylfag i nni ng S howing

that its a u thor has neglected to pay m u ch atten ti on to
what the passages qu oted contain When Gylfagi nni ng .
has stated that the frost giants were drowned in Ymer s

-
’
bloo d then c omes its interpretation of the V afthru dners

,
mal strophe whi ch i s as follows :

, O ne escaped wi t h
hi s ho u sehold : hi m the giants call B erg elmer He w i th .
his wife be t ook h i mself upon his ludr an d remained ther e ,
”
and from them the races of giants are descended ( nema
e i nn k ams t u nd an me d s i nu hys ki : thann kalla j otnar
'
B erg elmi ; hann for u pp d ludr si nn 0 k k ona hans ole

’
4
helz t thar oh eru af thei m k omh ar ) &c

, , .
What Gylfag i nni ng s au thor has conceived by the ludr

’
which he mentions it is di fficult to say That he d i d not .
have a boat in mind is in the meantime evident from the

expression : hann for u pp d ludr s i nn It is more reason
’
able to suppose that hi s idea was th at B ergelmer h i m ,
self owned an immense mill upon whose high t i mbers ,
he and his household climbed to save themselves from

the flood That the orig i nal text s ays that B ergelme r was
.
lai d on the timbers of the mill Gylfag i nni ng pays no at

tenti on to To go u pon something and to be laid on so m e
.
thing are however very di fferent notions

, ,
.
An a rgument in favour of the w rong interpretat i on

57 2
was furnished by the Reseni an edition of the Yo u nger

Edda ( Cope nhagen 1 665 ) There we find the ex pres ,
”
s i on for u pp d lu dr si nn amended to for d bdt si nn .
Thus B ergelmer h ad secured a boat to sail in ; and al

though more r eliable editions of the You nger Edda
h ave been published s i nce fro m which the boat -
disappe ared still the mythol ogists h ave not had the
,
heart to take the boat away from B ergelmer On the .
M
contrary they have allowed the boat to grow int o a ship
, ,
an ark .
As already pointed out V afthru dnersmal tells us ex ,
pressly that B ergelmer Au rgelmer s grandson wa s laid“ ’

, ,
” “
on a mill or on the supporting timbers of a mill .
We may be sure that the myth woul d not have laid Ber
“
gelmer on a mill i f the i ntention was not that he was to
be grou nd The kind o f meal thus produced has already
'
be en explained It i s the mould and sand which the sea

.
since time s earl i est dawn has cast upon the shores o f
’
i dgard and w i th which the bays and strands have been

,
filled to become sooner or later green fields From

, .
Ymer s flesh the gods created t he oldest layer o f soil th at

’
,
which covered the earth the first time the su n shone .
thereon and in which the first herbs grew Eve r since

, .
the same activity which then took place still continues .
After the great mill of the god s transformed the ol d est

frost giant into the dust of earth it has continue d to
-
,
grind the bodies of his descendants between the same

stones into the same kin d of mould Th is i s the meaning .
of V afthru dner s words when he s ays th at his memory

’
r eaches back to the time when B e r elmer was l ai d on

g
57 3
M
the mill to be groun d Ymer he does not remember nor

.
,
T hru dgelmer nor the days when these were changed to

,
ea rth O f them he knows only by hearsay But he re

. .
members when the turn came from B ergelmer s limbs to ’
be subj ected to the same fate .
“The glorious i dgard could not be created before

i ts foundations raised by the gods out of the sea were
c hanged to bj od ( Voluspa ) This is the word ( origin
’
ally bj odr ) w ith wh i ch the autho r of V OlU Spa chose to

’
express the qu al i ty of the fields and the fields themselves ,
wh i ch were raised ou t of the sea by Bor s sons when the ’

,
“ ”
great mill had c hanged the flesh of Ymer into mould .
B j od does not mean a bare field or gro u nd but one that ,
can supply food Thu s it is used in H au stlau ng ( af

brei du bj odi the pla c e for a spread feast—Skaldskapar
.
mal ch
,
. and i t s other meanings ( perhaps the more
origin al ones ) are that of a board and of a table for food
to l i e on When the fields were raised out of Ymer s
.
’
bloo d they were covered with mo u ld so that when they , ,
got light and warmth from the sun then the g ru nd be ,
came g roi n g rwnu m lau ki The very word mould comes

’
from the Teutonic word mala to grind ( cp Eng meal ,

. .
,
L atin molere ) The development of language and the

.
dev elopment of mythology have here as in so many oth ,
e r instances gone hand i n hand

,
.
“ ”
That the flesh of the primeval gi ants could be ground
into fertile mould refers u s to the pri meval cow Aud
hu mbla by whose milk Ymer was nourished and his flesh
formed ( Gylfagi nn i ng ) Thus the cow in the Teu toni c
.
mytholo gy i s the same as she is in the Irani an the pri ,
57 4
meval s ource of fertility The mo u ld out of which the .

,
harvests grow has by tr ansformations develope d out of

,
her nourish i ng l i quids .
Here then we have the explan ation of the li dmeldr

, ,
which the great mill grinds according to Snaebj orn , .
Li dme ldr means l i m b gr i st It is the limbs and j o i nts

-
.
of the primeval gi ants which on Amlod e s mill are trans ,

’
formed into meal .
In its character as an institution for the promotion of

fert i lity and for rendering the fields fit for habitat i on
, ,
the mill is under the care and protect i on of the Vans .
After N jord s son F rey had been fostered in Asgard

’
, ,
and had acqu ired the d i gnity of lord of the ha rvests he ,
was the one who became the master of the great G rotte .
It i s attended on his beh alf by one of his servants who ,
in the mythology i s called B ygg vi r a name related both ,
to byggj a settle cultivate and to bygg barley a kind of

, , , , ,
grain and by his kinswoman and helpmate Beyla So

, .
important is the calling of B yg ver and Beyla that they

are permitted to attend the feasts of the gods with thei r
master ( Frey ) Con sequently they are present at the
.
banquet to which n i r accord i ng to Lokasenna in , ,

.
v i te d the gods When L oke uninvited m ade his appear

.
ance there to mi x harm in the mead of the gods and to ,
embitter their pleasure and when be there taunts Frey , ,
’
B ygv er becomes w roth on his master s beh al f and s ays
Str 43 V e i z tu ,
. . c i e c o thli e ttac H ad I the anc es t ry
se m I ng u n ar-Fr e y r of I n g u n ar F rey
e li c t s e tr ,
o c sv a s a an d s o h onou r e d a s e at ,
m e r gi s m aer a m au l k now I w ou l d g ri n d y ou
th a ec
575
tha m e i n c rac o fin e r t han m arrow yo u , e vil

c ro w ,
0 c le m tha a ll a i lit h o . r
an d c u s h y o u li mb by limb .
Lo k e r
an s w e s
Str 44
. . H v at er t hat i th litl a W h at littl e b oy i s t h at
er ec that lau g g ra s e c w h o m I s e e w ag hi s t ail
oc s n ap v i s t s n ap i r ; an d e at lik e a p aras it e ?
att e yro m F re y s N ea r Fr e y s e ars ’
m un d u as v e ra al way s y o u are
k v e rn o m kl ak a an d c l att e r ne at h th e mill t
’
u nd
'
oc .
-
s one .
B yg v e r .
Str 45 B
. . e yg g v i r cc he iti , B ygv e r i s m y nam e ,
e nn m i c b rath an kv e d a A ll g
o d s an d m e n
g o d au ll o c g u m ar : c all m e th e n i mb l e ,
t hvi e m c c h e r hro du g r , an d h e re i t i s m y p ri d e ,
at dr e c c a H ro p tz m e g i r t hat O d in
’
s s on s e ac h
alli r au l s am an . an d all d ri n k ale .
Lo ke .
Str 4 6 th e g i thu
. . B e yg g v i r ! B e il e nt B ygv e r !
s ,
th u k u nn i r N e e r w er e yo u ab l e
’
aldre g i
d e il a m e th m dnno m f oo d to d iv i d e am o n g me n .
m at .
B eyl a too gets her sh are of L oke s abuse T he least

, ,
’
.
disgraceful thi ng he says of her is that S he i s a dei gi a

( a slave who has to work at the m i ll and in the kitchen )
, ,
and that she is covered with traces of her occupation in

dust and dirt .
As we see L oke characterises B ygver as a servant

,
t aking ch arge of the mill under Frey an d B yg v er char ,
acter i ses himself as one who grinds and is able to crus h ,
an
“ ”
evil crow limb by limb with hi s mill stones As -
.
57 6
TE U TON I C MY T HOLOGY
the one who with his mill m akes vegetation and so als o ,
bread and malt possible he boasts of it as his honour

, ,
that the gods are able to drink ale at a banquet L oke .
blames hi m becau se he is not able to divide the food

among men . T he reproach implies that the distribution
of food i s in his hands The mould which comes from .
the great mill gives di ff er ent degrees of fertility to di ff er

ent fields and rewards abundantly or niggardly the toil
,
o f the farmer L oke do u btless alludes to this unequal

.
d istrib u t i on else it would be impossible to fin d any sense

,
in his words .
In the poet i c Ed da we still have another reminiscence

of the great mill wh i ch is l oc ated under the sea and at ,
the same time in the l ower world ( see below ) and which ,
“grinds mould into food ” It is in a poe m whose skal d
MM
.
,
s ays that he has seen it on his journ ey in the lower world .
“
In his description of the home of torture in Hades ”
,
Solarlj od s Christian author has taken all his materials

’
from the heathen mythological conceptions of the worlds

o f punishment though the a u thor treats these materials
,
in accordance with the Christian purpose of his song .
When the skald dies he enters the Hades gates crosses

, ,
bloody streams sits for nine days d norna s toli is there

, ,
upon seated on a horse and i s permitted to make a jour

,
ney through i mer s domain first to the regions o f the

’
happy and then to those of the damne d In i mer s .

’
“ ”
realm he sees the stag of the su n and N ide s ( i mer s ) ’ ’
“ ”
sons who qua ff the pure mead f rom B au gregi n s well
,
’
.
When he approached the borders o f the world o f the

d amned he hear d a terrible din which silence d the win d s
, ,
S7 7
and stoppe d the flow of the waters The m i ghty d i n .
came fro m a m i ll I ts ston e s were wet with blood bu t

.
,
M
the gr ist produ c ed was mou ld wh i ch was to be food , .
Fi ckle wise ( s vi pvi sar heathen ) wom en of dark complex

-
,
ion t u rned the m i ll The i r blood y and tortured hearts

.
hung o u tside of the i r breasts The mould which they .
grou nd was to feed their husbands .
This mill sit u ated at the entrance of hell is here rep

, ,
resented as one of the agents of to rture in the lowe r

world To a certain extent this is co rrect even from a
.
heathen standpoint It was the lot o f slave w omen to

.
-
t u rn the hand m i ll In the heroic poem the giant ma i ds

-
.
-
Fenj a and e nj a taken prisoners and made slaves have

, ,
’ “
to t u rn E rode s Grotte In the mythol ogy E ylu d s n i ne .
’
women thurse maids were compelled to keep this vast

,
-
,
me chanis m in motion and that this was rega rded as a ,
heavy and compulsory task may be assumed without the

risk of being mistaken .
Accord i ng to Solarlj od the mill stones are stained ,

-
with blood In the myth ology they crush the b od i es of

.
the first gi ants and revolve in Ymer s blood It i s also in ’

.
pe rfect harmony with the mythology that the meal be

co m es mou ld and that the mou ld S erves as food But
,
.
the cosmic si gnification is obl i terated i n Solarlj od and i t ,
seems to be the author s idea that men who have died ’
in their heathen belief are to eat the mou ld which women

who have died in heathendom ind u striously grind as food
for them .
T he myth about the greater G rotte as alre ady indi ,
cated ,
has also bee n conne cted with the H vergelmer
57 8
myth correc tly st ated the location of the

SOlarlj od has
m
.
i ll on the bo rder of the realm of torture The mytho .
logy has located H v erg elmer s fountain there ( see N o ’

.
5 9 ) and as th i s vast founta i n is the mother of the ocea n

and of all waters and the ever open conne ction between
,
the waters of heaven of the earth and of the lower

, ,
world then this fu rnishes the explanation of the appar

,
ently confli cting statement s that the m i ll i s situated

,
both in the lower world and at the same t i me on the bot

tom o f the sea O f the mill it is said that i t is danger
.
ous to men dangero u s to fleets and to crews and t hat i t

, ,
ca u ses the maelstrom ( sv elg r ) when the water of the

ocean r u shes down throu gh the eye o f the m i ll stone -
.
T he same was said of H v e rg elmer that causes ebb and ,
flood and maelstrom when the water of the world al

,
ternately flows into and ou t of this great source To .
j udge from all th i s the mill has be en conceived as so

,
made th at i ts foundation timber s stood on solid ground in

the l ower world and thence rose up into the sea i n which
, ,
the stones resting on this substructure were located The .
“ ”
revolving eye o f the mill stone was directly above -
M
H v erg elmer and served as the channel through which
,
the water flo wed to and from the great fountain of the

world s waters
’
.
81 .
T HE W ORLD M I LL ( conti nue d ) T H E W O R LD- M I LL M A K E S

-
.
T H E C O N ST E LLA T I O N S R E V OLV E U N D I LFoRI . .
B ut the colossal mill in the ocean has also served other

57 9
pu rposes th an that of grinding the nourishing moul d

from t he limbs of the primeval g i ants .
The Teutons like all people of antiquity and like most

, ,
M
men of the present time regarded the earth as stationary
And so too the lower world ( j ormu rg ru ndr—For
, .
, ,
spj allslj od ) on which the foundations of the earth rested .
S t ationary was also that heaven in wh i ch the Asas had
M M
the i r citadels surrounded by a common wall for the As
, ,
gard bridge Bifrost had a sol i d bridge head on the

-
, ,
-
s outhern and another on the northern edge of the lowe r
M
world and could not change po sition in its relation to
,
them All this p art of creation was held together by the

.
immov able roots of the world tree or rested on its i nvi s

'
-
,
ible branches S0 1 and a ne had their fixed paths the
M
.
,
points of departu re and arrival of which were the horse“

”
doors ( j édyrr ) wh i ch were h u ng on the eastern and
,
western mountain w alls o f the lower world The god

-
.
a ne and the goddess Sol were thought to traverse these

paths in shining chariots and their daily j ourneys across
,
the heavens did not to our ancestors imply that any part
of the world structure itself was in m otion
-
a ne s .
’
course lay below Asga rd When Thor in his thunder .
chariot d escends to Jotu nh eim the path o f a ne thun

ders under him ( en du ndi dna vegr and ei la brodu r
’
—Hau stl . N o definite statement in our mythical

,
records in forms us whether the way of the su n was over

or under As gar d .
B u t high above As gard i s the st arry v ault o f heaven ,
and to the T eutons as well as to other people th at sky was

not only an optical but a real vault which d aily revolved ,
58o
,
aro u nd a station ary point Sol and ane mi ght be con

.
cei v ed as traversing their appointed courses i ndepend
ently and not as coming in contact with vaults whi ch b y

their motions from east to west produced the progress o f
su n and moon T he very circumstan ce th at they con
.
ti nu ally changed position in their relation to each other

M ,
and to the stars seemed to prove that they proceeded i n

dependently i n their own courses With the countless .
stars the case was d i ff erent T hey always keep at the

.
same d i stance and always present the sa me figures on

the canopy of the noctu rnal heavens Th ey looked like .
glisten ing heads of nails driven into a movable ceiling .
Hence the starlit sky was thought to be in motion The .
sailors and shepherds of the Teutons very well knew th at

this revolvi ng was roun d a fixe d point the polar st ar and , ,
it is probable that veraldar nag li the world nail the world

,
-
,
spike an expres sion preserved in E ddu brott ii designates

, , .
,
the north star .
Thus the starry sky was the movable part of the uni
vers e And this motion i s not of the same kind as that
.
of the winds whose coming and direction no man can

,
predict or calculate The motion of the st arry firmament

.
i s defin ed always the same always in the same di rection

, , ,
and k eeps equal step with the march of time itself It .
does not therefore d epen d on the acci d ental pleasure of

, ,
gods or other powers On the other hand it seems to be

.
,
ca u sed by a mechanism operating evenly and regularly .
T he mill was for a long time the only kind o f mechan

i sm on a large scale kn own to the Teuton s Its motion .
was a r otat i ng one T he movable mill stone was turn ed

.
-
5 81
by a handle or sweep wh i ch was called mondu ll The .
mill stones and the mondull might be c once i ved as large

'
as you please Fancy knew no other lim i ts than those of

.
the u n i verse .
There was another natural phenomenon which al so ,
was regular and wh i c h was well known to the seamen

,
of the N orth and to those Teu tons who lived on the
M
sho res of the N orth S ea namely the rising and falling
, ,
of the tide D i d one and the same force prod u ce both

.
these great phenomena ? D i d the same cause prod u ce

the motion o f the starry vault and the ebb and flood o f
the sea ? In regard to the latter phenomenon we al
M
,
ready kn ow the nai ve explanation given in the myth con

cerning Hverg elmer and the G rotte mill And the same -
.
explanation s u ffi ced for the former T here was no need
M
.
of another mechanism to make the heavens revolve as ,
there was already one at hand the influen c e of whi ch ,
could be traced throughout that ocean in which i dgard

was simply an isle and wh i ch a round th i s island ex
,
tends its surface even to the brink of h eaven ( Gylfag i n

ning ) .
The mythology knew a person by name u ndi lfo ri
( V af thr 2 3 ; .
,
The wor d ma ndi ll is related to
mbndu ll and is presumably only another form of the
'
same word The name or ep i thet u ndi lfore refers to

.
a being that has had some t hing to do with a great myth

i cal mondnll and with the movements o f the mech anism
'
which th i s mondull kept in motion N ow the word .
mbndnll i s never u sed in the old N orse liter ature abou t

'
any other obj ect th an the sweep or h an d le with which
582
MM M
W
the movable mill stone is turned ( In th i s sense the
-
.
word occurs in the Grotte song and in Helge Hund
M
-
.
ii 3 Thus u ndi lfore has had some part to play
M
,
.
,
in regard to the great g i ant mill of the ocean an d of the
M
-
lower world .
Of u ndi lfore we learn on the other hand that he , ,
i s the father of t he personal S0 1 and the personal a ne

( V alfthr Th i s again shows that the mythology
.
, ,
conceived him as intimately associated with the heavens

and i t h the heavenly bod i es V i g fu sson ( D ict 4 3 7 ) . .
,
M
has t herefore w it h goo d reason remarked that mnndi ll
, ,
i n u ndi lfore refers to the v eeri ng rou nd or the rev olu

ti on of the heavens As the fa t her of Sol and a ne .
,
u n di lfore was a being of d i vine rank and as such be ,
longed to the powers of the low er world where Sol and ,
a ne have the i r abodes and resting places T he latter -

. .
part of the name fori refers to the verb fa ra to co nduct

'
, , , ,
to move Thus he is that power who has to take charge

.
o f the revolutions of the starry vault of heaven and these ,
must be produced by the great mondu ll the mill handle

'
-
,
or mill sweep since he is called u ndi lfori

'
-
.
,
The re gular motion of the starry firmament and of the

s e a i s a ccordingly produced by the same vast mechan
, ,
ism the Grotte mill the meg i nverk of the heathen fan cy
,
-
,
( Grotte song 1 1 ; cp Egi l Skallagri mson s way o f u s

’
-
.
,
ing the word Arni bj D rapa ,

T he handle extends .
-
,
to the edge o f the world and the nine giantesses who are , ,
c ompelled to turn the mill pushing the s weep before ,
them march along the ou ter e dge of the u niverse Thus

‘
, .
we get an intelligible idea of wh at Snaebj orn means when
583
M TE U T ON I C MY T H OLOGY
he says that E ylu d s n i ne women t u rn the Grotte along

”
’
the edge of the earth ( hrcera Grotta at fyri r j ardar

s kau ti ).
u ndi lfore and B ygv er thus each has his t ask to per
form i n connection with t he sa m e vast mach i nery The

one attends to the regular mot i on o f the mowlu ll the
other looks a ft er the m i ll stones and the grist
part is ludr The name means the island m i ll

.
-
In the na m e E ylu d the first part i s ey and the second

E ylu d s
,
-
.
.
'
.
“ ”
nine women are the nine women of t he island mill -
.
The mill is in the same strophe called s herj a Grotti the ,
Grotte of the skerry These ex pressions refer to each

.
other and designate with di ff erent words the same i dea
MM
the mill th at grinds islands and skerries .
The fate which according to the G rotte song hap

,
-
,
pened to K ing Frode s m i ll has its orig i n in the myth

’
conce rning the greater mill The stooping position o f .
the starry heavens and the S loping path of the stars in

relation to the horizontal line was a problem which in
its way the mythology wanted to solve Th e phenome .
non was put in connection with the mythic traditions i n

regard to the terrible winter whi ch vis i ted the earth after
the gods and the sons of Alvalde ( Iv alde ) had become
enemies Fenj a and
. enja were kinswomen of Al
valde s sons For they were brothers ( half brothers ) of
’
.
-
those mou ntain giants who were Fenj a s and e nj a s

’ ’
fathers ( the G rotte song ) Before the feud broke out

-
.
betwe en their kin and the gods both the giant maids had ,
-
worked in the service of the latter and for the good o f

the world grinding the blessin gs of the golden age on
,
584
the world — mill Their act i vity in connection with the

.
great mechanism mondul which they pushed amid the

, , ,
Si nging o f bliss bringing songs of sorcery was a counter

-
,
part o i the activity of the sons of Alvalde who made for ,
the gods the treasures of vege t ation Wh en the con .
fli ct broke out the giant ma i ds joined the cause o f the i r

-
kinsmen They gave the world m i ll so rapid a mo ti on

.
-
t hat the foundations of the earth trembled pieces o f the ,
M
m ill stones were broken loose and thrown u p into space
-
,
and the su b— s t ru ct u re of the m i ll was damaged Th i s .
c ould not happen w i thout harm to the starry canopy of
heaven whi ch rested thereon The memory of th i s

.
mythic event come s to the s u rface in Ri mbegla wh i c h ,
states that toward the close of K ing Frode s reign ther e ’
a rose a terrible disorder in natu re—a storm w i th mighty

t h u ndering passed over the cou ntry the earth quaked
and cast up large stones In the Grotte—
,
song t he sa m e
”
event is mentioned as a game played by Fenj a and
e nja in wh i ch they cast up from the de ep upon the
,
earth those stones which afterwards beca m e the m i ll

“
stones in the G rotte mill After that game the giant
-
”
.
ma i ds betook themselves to the earth and too k par t i n

t he first world war on the side host i le to O din ( see N o
-
.
It is worthy of noti c e that the mythology has con

n ecte d the fimbu l— winter and the great emigrations from
the N orth with an earthquake and a damage to the world
mill which makes the starry heavens revolve .
585
M
T HE W R L M I LL
O D -
( conti nu ed ) . T HE ORI GI N OF T HE
S A C R E D FIR E T H ROU G H U N D I LFO RE H E I M D AL .
T H E P E R SO N I FI C A T I O N O F T H E SA CR E D FI R E HIS .
I DE N T I T Y WI T H R I GV E D A S A GN I H I S A N T IT H E SI S
’ ‘
.
,
L O K E AL SO A FI R E B E I N G
,
-
.
Among the tasks to be performed by the world mill -
the re i s yet another of the greatest i mpo rtance Ac .
cording to a belief whi ch origin ated in anc i ent Aryan

times a fire i s to be j u dged as to purity and holiness by
,
i ts origin There a re di ff erent kinds of fire more or less

.
pure and holy and a fire which i s holy as to its origin

,
may be come corrupted by cont act with improper ele

ments T he purest fire th at wh i ch was originally kin
.
,
dled by the gods and was afterwards given to man as an

invalu able blessing as a bond of union between the h i gher
,
world and mankind was a fire which was produced by

,
rubbing two obj ects together ( frict i on ) In hundreds
W
.
of passages this i s c orroborated in R i gveda and the be ,
lief still exists among the common people o i various Teu

tonic peoples T he great mi ll which revolves the starry
.
heavens was also the m i ghty r u bbing machine ( fr i ct i on

machine ) from which the sacred fire natu rally ought to
proceed and really was regarded as havin g proceeded
, ,
as shall be shown below .
T he word mOnd ull with which the h andle of the m i ll

,
is designated i s found among our ancient Aryan anec s

,
tors It can be tra ced back to the anc rent Teuton i c man
.
thu la a swing tree ( Fick Orterb d i nd g erm Spr

’
- -
. . .
, , ,
586
i ii
p
.
assages
,
in
M
related to Sanscr
Ri gveda and in its

antha ti
bore from the root manth whi ch occurs in numerous

direct
to swing twist
application always ,
,
.
, , ,
M
refers to the production of fi re by friction ( B ergai gne ,
R el ved i ii
. .
,
.
In Rigveda the sacred fi re is personified by the pure

, ,
u pr i ght
” “ ”
benevolent god Ag ni whose very name
, , ,
related to the L at i n i g nis des i gnates the god of fire Ac ,

.
M
MM
cord i ng to Rigveda there was a t i me when Agni lived ,
c oncealed from both gods and men as the element of ,
light and warmth fou nd in all beings and things Th en .
there was a time W hen he dwel t in pe rson among the

gods bu t not yet among men ; and finally there was a
, , ,
time when dtari cvan a sacred being and Agni s father ,

’
in a literal or symbolic sense bro u ght it abo u t that Agni ,
c ame to our fathers ( Ri g v i 60 The generation .

, .
,
o f men then living was the race of B hri gu i ans so called ,

-
after an ancient patri arch B hri gu This B hri gu and Wi th .

,
h i m a nu ( a nus ) was the first person who in hi s sac , ,
r i fices to the gods used the fire obtained through Agni ,
( Ri gv i 3 1 1 7 and other passages )

.
, .
, , .
When at the instigation of atari cvan A gn i arrived

, ,
among mankind he came from a far o ff region ‘( Ri gv ,

-
.
,
i 1 28
. The B hri gu i ans who d i d not yet possess the
,
fire but were longing for it and were seeking for it

,
“
( Ri g v x 40 . found the newly arrived Agn i at
, .
,
-
,
”
the confl u ence of the waters In a direct sense the .
,
”
confl u ence o f the waters cannot mean anything else than
the ocean into whi ch all waters flow T hus Agn i came
, .
from the dist ance across a sea to the coast of the count ry
587
M
where th at p eople dwelt who were named after the pa

tr i ar ch B hri gu When they met th i s messeng e r of the
.
gods ( Ri g v viii 1 9
.
, . they adopted him an d cared
,
“
for hi m at the place of the water ( Ri gv i i 4 ”
.
,
.
,
“
dtar i cvan by whos e direct i ons Agni
,
t he one born on ,
”
the other side of the atmos phere ( x 1 87 5 ) was brought .
,
to mankind becomes in the class i cal S ans c rit lan g uage

,
a designation for the wind Thu s everything tends t o .
show that Agn i has traver sed a w i de o c ean and has been ,
bro u ght by the wind when he arrives at the coast where

the B hri gu i ans d well He i s very young and hence bears
.
,
the ep i thet yavi shtha .
We are now to s ee why the gods sent him to men and ,
what he doe s among them He remains among those .
“
who care for him and dwells among them an i mmortal
,
”
amon g mortals R
( gi v i v i i i 6 0 1 1 ; i i,
i 5 . a gues
,
t .
,
among men a companion o f mortals ( iv 1

, He who .
,
came w i th the inestimable gift o f fire long remains pe r

sonally among men
“
in order that a wise one among
,
”
the ignorant may educate them He who knows all “ .
”
wisdom and all scien ces ( Ri gv iii 1 x 21 5) .
,
.
, .
,
“came to be asked qu estions ” i 60 2 0 by men he

( ) ; .
,
”
tea ches them and they listen to him as to a father ( i .
68 ,
He becomes their first patriarch ( ii 1 0 1 ) and .
,
their first priest ( v 9 4 ; x 80 .

,
Before that time
.
,
they had lived a nomadic life bu t he taught them to es ,
tabli sh fix ed homes around the hearths on which the ,
fire he ha d brought now was bu rn i ng ( i i i 1 He .

,
visited them in these fixed dwellings ( iv 1 where .

,
the B hri gu i ans now let the fire blaze ( x 1 22 be .

,
588
became the h u sband of wives ( i 66 4 ) and the pro .

,
gen i tor of human descendants ( i 9 6 through whom .
”
he is the founder of the c lasses or races of men ( vi .
48 , He established order in all hu man aff airs ( iv .
1,
taught religion instructed men in praying and sac ,
r i fic i n
g ( vi 1 1 and many other passages ) initiated
.
, , ,
t hem in the art of poetry and gav e them inspiration ( ii i .
1 0 5; x 1 1
, .
,
This i s related of Agni when he came to the earth and

dwelt among men As to h i s d i v i ne nature he is the
.
,
p u re white god ( iv 1 7 iii 7

,
you ng strong and
.
,
’
.
, , ,
shining with golden teeth ( v 2 and searching eyes .

,
( iv 2 1 2 ) which can see far ( vii 1

.
,
penetrate the .
,
darkness of night ( i 9 4 and watch the act s of de

.
,
mons ( x . He the guard o f order ( i 1 1 is ,

.
,
always attentive ( i 3 1 and protects the world by

.
,
day and by night from dangers ( i 9 8 O n a circular .

,
path he observes all th i ngs ( vii 1 3 and sees and .

,
knows them all ( x ; 1 87 He perceives ev erything , ,
being able to penetrate the herbs and d i ff u se himsel f into ,
plants and animals ( vii 9 3 ; viii 4 3 9 ; x 1 He .

, .
,
.
,
hears all who pray to him an d can make himself heard ,
as i f he had the voice of th u nder so that both the halves ,
o f the world re echo his voice ( x 8-

H i s horses .
,
are like himself white vi His symbol among

( 6 .
,
the animals is the bull ( i 3 1 5 ; i 1 4 6 .

, .
,
In regard to Agni s birth it i s characteristic o f him ’
that he is said to have several mothers although their ,
numbe r varies according to the point from which the

process of birth is regar d ed When it is only to be a .
589
figurative express i on for t he orig i n of the frict i on fire -

,
th e singer of the hymn can say t hat Agni had ten moth
ers or two mothers In the case of the fo rmer it is the
.
,
ten fingers of the person producing the friction fire that -
are meant Sometimes this is stated outr i ght ( R i gveda

.
,
i ii 2 3
.
,
then aga i n the fingers are paraphrased by
“the twice five sisters dwell i ng t ogether ” iv 6 t he
(
—
.
,
”
work master s ten u nt i ring maids ( i 9 5
’
In the
case o f the latter—that is when two mothers are men
.
,
ti oned—the two p i eces of wood rubbed together are

,
meant ( v i ii 4 9 . In a more real sen se he is sa i d

,
to have three places o f nativity : one in the atmospher i c

se a one in heaven and one in the water s ( i 9 5
, ,
and .
,
“
that h i s g re at wise div i ne nature proc eeded from the
"
, ,
”
laps of many active mothers ( i 9 5 such as the .
,
waters the stones the trees the herbs ( 1 1 1

, ,
In ,
.
,
Ri g veda ( x 4 5 2 ) nine maternal wombs or births are

.
,
“
indicated ; his triple powers were sown in triplets in
”
heaven among u s and in the w aters
,
In R igved a ( i
,
. .
1 41 2 ) three places of nativity and three births are as

,
cri be d to him and in such a way that he had seven

,
mothers in his second birth In R igveda ( x 2 0 7 ) he . .

,
'
i s called the son of the rock .
It scarcely needs to be pointed out th at all th at is her e

told abo u t Agni corresponds point by point with the T eu
toni c myth about Heimd al Here as in many othe r i n .
,
s t ances we find a sim i l arit

, y be tween the T eutonic and
the Aryan Asiatic myths which i s surprising when we
-
, ,
c onside r that the d i fference be tween the R i veda and

g
l end langu ages on the one h and and the oldest T eu ,
59 0
ton i c lin guistic monuments on the other appear in con ,
necti on with other c ircu mstances to indicate that the old
Aryan unity of l anguage and rel i gion lies ages back in

“ ”
antiqu ity Agni s birth beyond the atmos phere his
.
’
j ourney across the sea to original man in the savage

state his vocation as the s ower of the bless i ngs of cul
,
ture among men his appearance as the teacher of wisdom
M
,
“
M
M
”
and the sciences his visit to the farms established by
,
M
”
him where he becomes the husband o f wives father
, ,
“
o f human sons and the founder of the races ( the
—
,
classes among the Teutons ) all this we rediscover com ,
pletely in the Heimdal my t h as i f it were a copy of the ,
Aryan Asiatic saga concerning the divine founder o f

-
cu lture ; a c opy fr esh from the master s bru sh without ’
the eff ects of time and without any retouching T he

, .
very names of the anc i ent Aryan patriarchs B hri gu and ,
ann are recognisable in the T eutonic patriarch names
B erchter and a nn ( a nn u s Halfdan ) In the case -

.
MM
of a nu and a nn no explanation is necessary Here .
the identity of sound agrees with the identity of origin .
The descendants of B hri gu and of his con tempo ra ry

B hri gu i ans are called B hargav an s which corrobor ates
, ,
the conclusion that B hri gu is derived from bharg to “

”
shine when ce i s derived the ancient Teu ton i c berhta
, ,
“
bright ” “ clear ” “ ”
light the Old Saxon berht the
, , , ,
Anglo-Saxon beorht which reoccu rs in the Teutonic

,
patr i ar ch B erchter which again is actually ( not li ngu i s

,
tically ) identical with the N orse B orgarr By B hri gu s .

’
side stands a nu just as a nn ( Halfdan ) is co-or d i

,
nate with B orgar .
SQ I
Point by point the d esc ripti ons of Agni and Heimd al

also correspond in regard to their divine natures and at
t ributes Agni is the great holy whi te god ; Heimdal
.
is mi ki ll and hei lagr and is called hvi ti dss ( Younger

,
“
Ed d a ) or the wh i test of the Asas ( T hrymsk v .
,
While Agni as the fire god has gold en teeth Heimdal

-
,
ce rtainly for the same reason bears the epithet g u lli n

“
tanni,
the one with the golden teeth Agn i has white .
horses In Ulf U gg eso n s po em about the work of art

.
’
in Hj ardarholt Heimdal rides hi s horse Gu lltoppr whose

, ,
n ame refl ects its splendour While Agni s searching

.
’
eyes can see in the di stance and can penetrate the gloom of
night it is said of Heimd al that har ms er j afnt nott s em
’ ’
dag hu ndrad ras ta frd s er While Agni perceives every

’
thing even the inaudible motions in the growing of herbs

,
and an i mals ; while he penetrates and d i ff uses himself in

plants and animals it is said of He i mdal that he heyri r
,
ol e that er g ras v ex a fordu e da u ll a s au du m Wh i le

Agni—i t is not stated by what means—i s able to produce
.
,
a noise like thunder which re e choes through both the -
world halves Hei mdal has the horn whose sound all
-
, ,
the world shall hear when R agnarok is at hand O n a

, .
“circul ar path Agni observes the beings in the world

, .
Heimdal lo oks out upon the world from Bi frost Agni .
keeps h i s eye on the deeds of the demons is perpetually ,
on the look -out and protects the world by day and by

,
n i ght from dangers ; Heimdal is the watchman of the

god s v Ordr g oda ( Gri mnersmal) needs in his vocation
'
as watchman less slee p th an a bird and faithfully gu ards ,
the Asa bri d ge against the gi ants

-
A gni i s born of sev.
59 2
e ral mothers Heimdal has mothers nine Agni i s the

“
.
fast traveller who in the human abodes he visits opens

, , ,
a way for prayer and sacr i fice ( Ri gv vii 1 3 in .

,
.
,
R igsmal Heimdal has the same ep i thet the fast trav “

, ,
”
e ller
,
ros kr Sti g andi as he goes from house to house
,
and teaches men the

“ ” “
runes of ete rnity and the runes
W
”
o f time .
T he only discrepancy is in the anim al symbols by which

Angi and Heimdal are designated The bull i s Agni s .
’
s ymbol the ram i s Heimdal s Both symbols are chosen ’

.
,
from the domestic an i mals armed with horns and the dif ,
f ernce is lingu i stically of such a kind that it to some ex ,
tent may be said to corroborate the evidence in regard to

Agni s and Heimdals identity In the old N orse poetry
’
.
,
V edr ( wether ram ) H ei md ali and the Heimdal epithet

, ,
M
H alli ns ki di are synonymous
,
The wor d v edr accord .
,
ing to Fi ck ( ii r terb iii can be traced to an an

.
,
.
c i ent Teutonic ve tluru the real meaning of which i s ,
“ ”
yearl i ng a yo u ng domestic animal in general and it
, ,
i s related to the L atin vi tu lus and the Sans c rit vats ala ,
“ ”
calf . I f this is correct then we also see the lines along ,
which one or i ginally common symbol of a domest i c animal

developed into two and among the R i gveda Aryans set
tle d on the
“ ”
yearling o f the cow and among the Teu ,
tons on that of the sheep It should here be remarke d .
that accord i ng to Amm ianus a r c ellinus ( xix 1 ) the .
tiara of the Persian kings was ornamented with a golden

ram s head That Agni s span of horses were trans
’
-
.
’
f ormed into Heimdal s riding horse was also a result of

’
t ime an d circumstances In R i gve d a riding and cav .

,
59 3
alry are unknown ; there the horses of the gods d raw the
d i v i ne c har i ots In the Teu ton i c mythology the draught
.
horses are c hanged int o rid i ng horses and cha riots occu r ,
only exceptionally .
We have reason to be surprised at finding th at the

Aryan Asiatic myths and the Teuton i c have so broad su r
-
faces of contact on wh i ch not only the ma i n outlines but

,
even the details completely resemble each other B u t .
the fact i s not inexpli cable The hymns the songs o f

.
,
the divine worship and of the sacrifices of the Rigved a

Aryans have been preserved but the epic mythological
, ,
-
poems are lost so that there rem ains the di fficult task of
,
reconstructing out of the former a clear and concise my

thology freed from
“ ”
dissolving views in which their
,
myth i c cha racters now blend into each other The Teu .
ton i c mytholo gy has had an opposite fate : here the gen

u i ne religious songs the hymns of d i vine worship and o f
,
sacrifices are lost and there remain fragments of the

, ,
mighty divine epic of the T eutons But th u s we have .
also been robbed of the Oppo rtunity o f s tudying those very

songs which in a higher degree than the epic are able to
preserve through cou ntless centuries ancient myth i cal
traits ; for the hymns belong to the divine worship pop ,
ular customs are long lived and the sacred cu stoms are
-
,
more conservative and more enduring than all others i f ,
they are not disturbe d by revol u tions in the do main of

.
“
faith I f an epithet of a god e g the fast traveller .
”
.
, , ,
has once become fixed by hymns and been repeated in the

divine service year after year then in spite of the grad
, ,
u al t ransform ation o f the l an guages and the types of
59 4
the race it may be preserved thro u gh hundreds and thou

,
sands of years D etails of t his k i nd may in this manner

.
survive the ravages of time j u st as well as the great out

lines oi the mythology and i f there be a gradu al change
,
as to signification then this i s caused by the change of

,
l angu age which may make an old expression u ni ntelli g i

,
ble or give it another meaning based on the association

o f ideas .
From all this I am forced to draw the conclusion that

Heimdal like s everal other Te u tonic gods— for example
Od i n ( Wodan Rigveda s Vata ) —
, ,
'
,
belongs to the ancient
’
Aryan age and re t ained even to the decay of the Teu

, ,
t onic heathendom his an c ient character as the personal

r epresentative of the sa c red fire the fire prod u ced by fric ,
tion and in th i s connection as the representative of the

, , ,
oldest culture connected w it h the i ntrodu ction of fire .
T h i s also explains Heimdal s epithet Vi ndler in C od ’

, .
R eg o f the Yo u nger Edda ( i 2 66

. T he name i s .
,
a subform of v i nd ill and c omes from v i nda to twist or
W
,
tu rn wind to turn anyth i ng aro u nd rapidly

, ,
As the .
“ ”
epithet the turner i s given to that god who bro u ght
fri ct i on fire ( bore fire ) to mafi and who i s h i mself t he
- -
,
personification of this fi re then it must be synonymou s ,
“
wi t h the borer .
A synonym of Heimdal s epithet Sti g andi the trav ’
” “ ” “
eller i s Rati t he traveller from rata to travel ” “
to
, , , , ,
”
move about Very strangely this verb ( originally vrata
.
, ,
Goth vrdton to travel make a jou rney ) can be traced to

.
, ,
an anci ent Teu tonic word which meant to t u rn or t wist ,
or something of the sort

( Fick 5 rterb iii ,
.
,
.
59 5
And so far as the noun Rati is concerned t his si gni fica

, ,
t i on has cont i nued to flouri sh in the doma i n of mythology

after it long seems to have been extin ct i n the domain of
language H avamal
. Gri mnersmal an d
B ragaraedu r test i fy each in its own way that the mythical
name Rati was connected with a boring activ i ty In .
“ ”
H avamal R ate s mo u t h gnaws the tunnel through
’
which O din in the gu i se of an eagle fl i es away with the

, ,
“ ”
mead treasure concealed in the dee p dales at Fj alar s
-
’
u nder the roots of the world tree In the allegoric al -

.
“
Gri mnersmal strophe it i s Rate s tooth ( Ratatos kr ) ’
who lets the mead drinking foe of the god s near the root
-
o f the world tree find ou t what the eagle i n the top of the
-
world tree ( O d i n ) resolves and carries ou t in regard to

-
the same treas u re In B ragaraedu r the name rs g i ven

.
to the g i mlet i tself which prod u c ed the connection be

tween O d i n s world and Fj alar s halls The g i mlet has
’ ’
.
“ ”
here re ceived the name o f the boring traveller of h i m ,
“
who is fu rnished w i th golden teeth Hen c e there are .
good rea s ons for ass u ming that in the epic of the my t h
it was He i mdal Gu lli ntanne h i msel f whose fire—
-
gimlet
helped O din to fly away with his precio u s boo ty In .
“
Ri gveda Agni plays the sa m e part The tongue o f .
” “ ”
Agni has the same task there as Rate s mo u th in our ’
N orse records The sacred mead of the l i qu ids of nou r

.
i shment was concealed i n the womb of the mountain with

the D asyu s ho st i le to the world ; bu t Agni split the moun
, ‘
tain open wi t h h i s tongue his ray of l i ght penetrated into

,
the darkness where the liqu ids of no u rishmen t were pre

served and throu gh him they were bro u ght to the l i ght
,
59 6
M
of day after T rit a ( in some passages of Ri gveda iden
,
tical with Vata ) had slain a giant monster and found

”
the cows of the son of the work master ( cp Rigveda
'
-
.
,
“
v 1 4 4 ; viii 61
.
,
4 8; x 8 6
.
,
The cows of the son .
,
of the work master is a p araphrase for the saps of nour

-
“
i shment In the Teutonic mythology there i s also a son
.
”
of the work master who is robbed of the mead F j ala r
-
,
.
is a son of S u rt whose chara cter as an anci ent artis t is

, ,
evident from what is stated in N os 5 3 and 89 . .
By friction atari cvan brought Agn i out of the mater

nal wombs in which he was concealed as an embryo o f
M
light and warmth He i mdal was bornto life in a S imila r
.
manner His very pla ce o f nativ i ty indicates this His

. .
mothers have their abodes vi d fardar thrau m ( H yndl .

,
3 5 ) near the edge of the earth on the o u ter ri m of the ,
earth and that i s where they gave him li fe bdru thann

,
man vi d fardar thrau m ) His mothers are giantesses .
( otna meg/j ar ) and nine in number We have already

i , .
f ound giantesses nine in number mentioned as having

—
, ,
t heir activity on the outer edge of the earth namely ,
t hose who with the mondu ll the handle t u rn the vast

'
‘
, ,
frict i on mechanism the world7 rfi i ll of u ndi lfore They

-
,
.
“ ”
are the ni u brudi r of E ylu dr the I sle g ri nder mentioned ,
by Snaebj orn ( see above ) These nine giant ma i ds who .

-
,
along the o u ter zone of the earth ( fyri r j ordar s hanti )

push the mill s sweep before themselves and grind the
’
coasts of the islands are the s ame n i ne giant maids who

,
-
on the ou ter zone of the earth gave birth to Heimdal the ,
god of t he fr i ct i on fire Hen c e one o f He i mdal s moth

-
.
’
“
ers is in Hyndlu lj o d called Ang eyj a she who makes the ,
59 7
who g i ves sand banks M
M ”
TE
u ndi lfbri
of Sol and a ne and has t he care of the motions of the

,
U T ON I C M YT H OLOGY
islands closer and another one i s called E yrgj afa she

,
who i s the fa t her
starry heavens is a c cord i ngly also thou gh in another

sense the fa t her of He i m dal the p u re holy fire to who m
,
the glittering obj ects i n the sk i es m u st naturally be re

garded as aki n .
.
'
,
,
,
,
In Hyn dlu lj od ( 3 7 ) Heimdal s n i ne giant mothers are ’

-
named : j i lp Grei p E i s tla E yrgj afa U lfrnn Ang eyj a

, , , , , ,
I mdr Atla Jdrns aa a The first two are daughters of the

, ,
'
.
fire giant Ge i rrod ( Y ounger Edda i

-
To fire refers , .
also I mdr from i m embers T wo of the names Ang eyj a

, ,
.
,
and E yrgj afa as already sho wn indi cate the occupation

, ,
of these g i antesses in c onnection with the world mill -

.
“
Th i s is presumably also the c ase with Jdrns axa she who ~
cru shes the iron The iron which our heathen fathers
.
worked was produ ced from the sea and swamp iron “
-
mixed with sand and c lay and co u ld therefore properly ,
be regard ed as a gr i st of the world m i ll -

.
Heimdal s antithesis in all respe cts and therefore also

’
,
his constant opponent in the my t hological ep i c is Lo ke , ,
he too a fi re— being but representing another side of this

,
element N at u ral agents such as fire water wind cold

.
, , , ,
heat and thunder have i n the Teu ton i c mythology a

,
do u ble aspe ct When they work in harmony ea ch w i thin

.
,
the l i m i ts wh i c h are fixed by the welfare of the world and

t he happiness of man then they are sacred forces and ,
are represented by the gods B u t when these limits are .
transgressed giants are at work and the turbu l ent ele

, ,
ments are represented by be i ngs of giant race This i s -

.
59 8
M
also true of thunder although it is the common view

,
among mythologists that it was regarded exclusively as
M
a prod u ct of Thor s activity The genuine mythical con
’
.
c epti on was however that the thunder which purifies the

, ,
atmosphere and fertilises the thirsty earth with showers

o f ra i n or strikes down the foes o f i dgard came from
, ,
Thor ; wh i le that wh i ch splin t ers the sacred trees sets ,
fire to the woods and hou ses and k ills men that have not ,
o ffended the gods came from the foes o f the world The
, .
blaze element ( see N o 3 5 ) was not only in the posses

-
.
sion of the gods but also in that of the g i ants ( Ski rners
,
mal ) and the lightn i ng d id not proceed alone from

,
j olner bu t was also found in H ru ngner s hei n and in

’
,
Ge i rrod s glowing javelin The conflicts between T hor

’
.
MM
and the g iants were not only on terra drma as when Thor ,
made an expedition on foot to Jotunheim but also in ,
the air There were giant horses that were able to wade
.
-
with force and spe ed through the atmosphere as for i n , ,
stance H ru ngner s Gu llfaxi ( Younger Edda i

,
’
, .
and these giant horses with their shining manes doubt

-
,
less were expected to carry

, riders to the lightning
confli ct i n space against the ing hurler Th or T he -
, .
thu nder sto rm was frequ ently a v ig thri mu a conflict be

-
,
t ween thundering beings i n which the lightnings hurled

,
by the ward of i dga rd the son of H lodyn crosse d the

, ,
lightnings hurled by the foes of i dgard .
L oke an d his brothers H elbli ndi and B yl ei s tr are the

'
children of a gi ant of this kind o f a gi ant rep resenting ,
the hurricane and thun d er T h e rain to rrents and wa .

-
terspou ts o f the hu rricane whi ch d irectly or i n d i rectly

,
59 9
bec ame wedded to the sea through the swollen s t reams ,
gave birth to H elbli nde who ac cord i ngly received Rdn

, , ,
“ ”
maid ( Yngl T he whirlwind in the hur
as hi s .
,
ricane received as his ward B ylei s tr whose name is com ,
“ ” “
po sed o f bylr whirlwind and ei s tr the one dwell i ng
, , ,
i n the east
” “ ”
( the north ) a paraphrase for giant , A .
th u nderbolt from the hurricane gave birth to Lo ke His .
“
father i s called Fdrbau ti the one infl i cting harm and
, ,
“ ”
his mother is Lau fey the leaf isle a paraphras e for the -
, ,
tree crown ( Y ounger Ed da 1 0 4

-
Th u s L oke i s
, ,
the son of the bu rn i ng and des t ructive l i ghtning the son ,
o f him who part i cularly infl i cts damaging blows on the

sacred oaks ( see N o 3 6 ) and sets fire to the groves
. .
But the violence of the father does not appear externally

i n the son s character He long prepares the conflag ra
’
.
t ion o f the world in secret and not until he is put in cha i n s

,
does he exhibi t ,by the earthquak es he prod u ces the wild ,
passion of his giant natu re As a fire be ing he was con .

-
,
c ei v ed as handsome and youthfu l F rom an ethical po i nt .
of v i ew the impurity of the flame wh i ch he represents

,
i s mani fested by his unrestrained sensuousness After .
he had been for ever exiled from the society o f the gods
and had be en fettered in his cave of torture his exterior , ,
wh i ch was in the beginning beautiful became trans ,
formed into an expression of his intrinsic wickedness ,
and hi s hai r grew ou t in the form of horny spea rs ( see

abo ve ) In thi s too he reveals himsel f as a counterpart
.
o f Heimdal whose helmet is ornamented with a glitter

,
ing ram s horn

’
.
cu py indicates that
M TE U T ON IC MY TH OL OGY
U N D I LE ORE S
The po sition which we have found u ndilfore to oc

although not belonging to the pow
,
’
ers dwelling in Asgard he is one of the chief gods of the

Teutoni c mythology All natural phenomena which ap
.
pear to depend on a fi xed mechani cal law and not on the

initi ative of any mighty will momentarily infl u encing the
,
ID E N T I T Y WI T H
M LO D UR
,
.
events of the world seem to h ave been referred to h i s

,
care The mythology of the Teu tons like that of the

R igv eda Aryans has had gods of both kinds—gods who
.
,
-
,
particularly represent that order in the physical and moral

world which became fixed in creation and which under , ,
normal conditions remain entirely uniform and gods who
M
, ,
particularly represent the po werfu l tempo rary i nterfe r '
ence for the purpose of restoring this order when it has

been dist u rbed and for the purpose of gi ving protection
,
and defence to thei r worshippers in times of tro u ble and

danger The latte r are in their very nature war gods
.
-
/
alw ays ready for battle such/as V i ta and Ind ra in R i g ,
veda O din and Thor Indri déi n the Eddas ; and they have
,
-
thei r proper abode in a gro u p of fort i fied celest i al cita

dels like Asgard whence they have their out look upon -
the world they have to protect—the atmosphere and i d

,
gard The former on the other hand have their natural

.
, ,
abode in Jormu ng ru nd s outer zone and in the lo wer ’
worl d whence the world tree grew and where the foun
,
-
,
tains are fo u nd whose liqu ids penetrate creation and ,
where th at wisdom had its source of which O din only ,
60 1
MM
M
by self -
secured a part D own there dwell ac
sacri fice, .
,
c ordi ng ly Urd an d ,
i mer N at and D ag u ndilfore
, ,
with the di scs of the su n and the moon D elling the , ,
genius of the glow of dawn and B i lling the geni u s of , ,
the blushing s u nset There dwell the s m it hs of an t iqu i ty

.
who made the chariots of the su n and moon and smi t h i ed

the treasures of vegetation There dwell the ni dj ar who
.
M
represent the moon s waxing and wan i ng ; there the seven
’
s ons of i mer who represent the changing seasons ( see

No . u ndi lfore i s the lord of the regular rev olu
tions of the star ry firmament and of the regular risi ng ,
and sinking of the sea in i ts ebb and flood He is the .
father of the d i ses of the su n and moon who make the i r ,
celest i al j ourneys a c cording to established laws ; and ,
finally he is the or i gin of the holy fire ; he is father of

,
Heimdal who introd u ced among men a systematic life

,
in homes fixed and governed by laws As the father o f .
Heimdal the Vana god

,
u ndi lfore is himself a Vana
-
,
god belonging to the oldest bran ch of this race and i n ,
“
,
M
all probabili t y one of those wise rulers ”who accord ,
“
ing to V afthru dnersmal created N jord in Vanahe i m
,
and sent him as a hostage to the gods ( the

Whence came the clans of the Vans and the Elves ?
It should not have escaped the notice o f the mythologists
that the Teutonic theogony as far as it is known men , ,
t i ons only two progenitors of the mythological races

Ymer and B ure From Ymer develop the two very dif
.
f erent races of gi ants the o ff spring o f his arms and that

of his feet ( see N o 86 ) —i n other words the noble race
,
.
,
to which the norns i mer and B ei stla belong and the ,
60 2
i gnoble, which beg i ns with T hru dg elmer B u re gives

birth to B urr ( B O1 ) and the latter has three sons —Odi nn
.
, ,
V ei ( V and Vi li ( Vi li r ) Unless B nre had more sons

.
,
the Van and Elf clans have no o t he r theogon i c source

-
than the same as the Asa clan namely B u rr That the -

, ,
.
hierologists of the Teu tonic mythology d i d not leave the

origin o f th ese clans unexplained we are assured by the
very existence of a Teutonic theogony t ogether with the ,
circumstance th at the more thoroughly our mythology

i s studied the more clearly we see that this mythology has
desired to answer every question which could reasonably
be asked of it and in the course of ages it develope d
,
into a systematic and epic whole with clear outlines

sharply drawn i n all details T o thi s must be added the .
important observation that Vci an d Vi li though brothers ,
of O din are never counted among the Asas proper and

, ,
had no abode in Asgard It i s m anifest that O din him

.
s elf with his sons founds the Asa race that in other -
, ,
words he is a clan founder in wh i ch t h i s race has its

,
-
Chieftain and that hi s brothe s for this very reason

,
p , ,
could not be in cluded in h i s clan There i s every rea son .
to assume that they like him were clan founders ; and as

, ,
-
we find besides the Asa clan two other races of god s this
-
,
o f itself makes it probable that O d i n s two brothe rs were ’
t he i r progenitors and clan Ch i eftains -

.
O din s brothers l i ke h i m sel f had many names When

’
.
, ,
V Olu spa says that O din in the cre ation o f man was as
, ,
sisted by Honer and L oder and when the Younger ,
E dda ( i 5 2 ) says that on this occasi on he was attended

.
, ,
by his brothers who just be fore ( i 46 ) are called V e

, .
17 60 3
and V i le then these are o nly d i ffer ent names of the sam e
,
powers Honer and L oder are V e and Vile It is a

. .
mis t ake to bel i eve that O d i n s br others were my t hical ’
ghosts without cha racter istic qu al i t i es and without promi ,
nen t p arts in the mythological events after t he creati on

of the world and of man in which we know they took ,
an active part ( V Olu spa 4 1 6 The ass u mption

, , ,
that this was the case depends simply upon the fact that
they have not bee n found ment i on e d among the Asas and ,
that ou r records when not investigated w i th prope r thor

,
M
ou g hness and wh en the mytholo gi cal synonymi c s have
,
not been carefu lly examined seem to h ave so little to say ,
c oncern ing them .
D an i sh genealogies Saxo s incl u ded which desire to

’
, ,
go further ba ck in the geneal ogy of the Skj oldu ng s than

to Skj old the epo nym of the race mention before him a
, ,
King Lotheru s There is no doubt that Lotheru s like

.
,
hi s desc endants Skj old Halfdan and Hadding is taken

, , , ,
from the mythology But in our mythic records there is

.
only one nam e of which Lotheru s can be a L atin i sed form ,
and this name i s as ii ller ( N ote u lteri or ad Saxoni s

,
H i st ) has already pointed out Lodu rr

.
, .
It has above been demonstrated ( see N os 2 0 2 1 22 )

that the anthropomorphous Vana —
.
, ,
god Heimdal was by

V ana gods sent as a child to the primeval Te u tonic c oun
-
'
try to give to the descen dants of Ask and Embla the holy
,
fire tools and implements the runes the laws of soc iety
, , , , ,
and the ru les for religious worship It has been demon .
s trate d th at as an anthropomorphous god and first pa

triarch he I S i d entical with Scef R ig the Scyld of th e
,
-
,
60 4
M
Beowulf poem th at he becomes the father of the othe r

,
M
or i ginal patriarch Skj old and t he grandfather of Half
,
MM
dan It has l i kew i se been demonstrated ( N O 82 ) that
. .
H eimdal the personified sacred fire is the son of the

, ,
fire prod u cer ( by fri ction )

-
u n di lfo re in the sa me man ,
ner as Agni is the son of atari cvan From all th i s it .
follows that when the authors of mythic genealogies re

lated as history w i sh to get fu rther back in the Skj oldu ng
genealogy than to the Beo wu lf Skj old that is to say fur , ,
ther back than to the or i g i nal patriarch Heimdal then ,
they m u st go to that my t hic person who i s He i mdal s ’
father that i s to say to u ndilfore the fire producer

, , ,
-
.
u ndi lfore is the one who appears in the L atinised name
Lotheru s In other words

. u ndi lfore the fire pro
, ,
-
M
du cer i s Lodu rr
,
For the name L odu rr there is no other
.
rational explanation than that whi ch Jacob Grimm with ,
ou t knowing his position in the epic of mythology has ,
given c omparing the name with the verb lodern to

, ,
“
M
”
blaze Lodu rr is a ctive in its significat i on
. he who ,
”
c auses or prod u ces the bl aze and thus refers to the ori
,
gin of fire particularly of the ! ri cti on fire and of the bore

,
-
fire.
Further on ( N os 9 0 9 1 9 2 1 2 1 1 2 3 ) I shall give an

.
, , , ,
account of the ward of the atmosphere Gevarr ( N Okkv i , ,
N a i r ) and demonstr ate that he is identical with

,
u ndil
fore the revolver o f the starry firmament All that
,
.
Saxo tells about Lotheru s is explained by the character

of the latt er as the chieftain of a V ana cl an and by his -
,
identity with und i lfOri Gev arr As a chieftain o f the

-
. .
V ans he was their leader when the war broke out between
60 5
the As as on the one s i de and the Vans and Elves on the

,
other T he ban i shment of Odin and the A s as by the

.
V ans causes S axo to say that Lotheru s banished from

the realm persons who were his equals in noble birth
( no bi li tate pares ) and whom b e regarded as competit ors
,
in rega rd to the government It i s als o stated that he took

.
the po wer from an elder brother but spared his life al -

, ,
though he robbed h i m o f the sceptre T he brother here .
M
referred to is not however O din but H ceni r ( Vei ) The
, , , .
chara cter of the one depo sed is gen tle and without any
greed for rule l i ke that by wh i c h Honer is known Saxo .
says of him that he so patiently bore the injustice done

him that he seemed to be pleased therewith as with a
kindness received ( ce teru m i nj u ri ce tam pati ens fu i t u t ,
h onori s damno tanquam benefici o g ratu lari crederetur ) .
MM
T he reason why Honer at the outbreak of the war with
M
,
the As as is depo sed fr om his dignity as the ru ler of V ana

,
heim and is succeeded by Lo der is expla i ned by the fact ,

.
that he like
, i mer remained d evoted to the c au se of
,
O din . In spite of the confused manner in whi ch the

troubles between the Asas and Vans are presented in
H ei msk ri ngla it still appears that before the war be
, ,
tween the Asas and Vans Honer was the chief of the lat
,
ter on account of an old agreement between the two god

clans ; that he then always su bmitted to the counsels of
the wise i mer O din s friend ; that i mer lost his li fe
,
’
in the service of O din and that the Vans sent his head
,
to O din ; and finally that at the ou tbreak of the feu d

, , ,
with the Asas and after the death of i mer they looked ,
upon Honer as un qu alifie d to be their judge and leader .
6o6
Thus Lo der becomes after Honer the ruler of Vanaheim

an d the ch i eftain of the Vans wh i le the Vans N j ord , ,
Frey an d the Elf Ull who had already been ad opted in

, ,
Asgard adm inister the a ff airs of the rest of the world

, .
To the mythical c i rcumstance that Honer lost hi s throne ,
an d his power po ints also Volu spa the poem restoring ,
to the gentle an d patient Vana god after the regenera -

,
t ion the r ights of which he had been robbe d thd lend

, ,
“
H a ni r hlau tv i d kj osa ( str Then Honer be comes
.
”
able to choo se the lot wo od that is to say he is pe rmi t ted
-
, ,
to determ i ne and indicate the fort u nes of those con

su lti n
g the oracle ; in other words then he i s again able ,
to exercise the right s of a god In the Eddas Honer .

,
appears as O d i n s companion on exc u rsions from Asgard

’
.
Skaldskaparmal wh i c h does not seem to be aware that

,
M
Honer was O d i n s brother st i ll i s conscious that he was
’
,
intimately connected w i th him and c alls him hi s s ess i ,
s i nni ,
and mdli ( Younger Edda i D uring the , .
war between Asas and Vans Frigg espo u sed the ca u se ,
of the Vans ( see N o 3 6 ) hen ce L oke s insulting words

.
’
to her ( Lokasenna the trad i tion in Hei m

,
sk ri ngla ( Yngl that

.
,
and Vei took Frigg to
themselves once when O din was far away from Asgard .
Saxo makes Lothe ru s fall at the hands o f consp i ra

t ors T he explanation of this stat ement is to be so u ght
in u ndi lfbri —
.
Gevarr s fate of which see N os 9 1 1 2 3

’
'
'
, , .
, .
u ndi lfore s character seems at least in one respe c t

’
to be the oppo site of Honer s Gylfag i nni ng speaks of ’

.
his ofdrambi his pride fou nded according to th i s record

, , , ,
on the be a u ty of his children Saxo mentions the i h .
60 7
MM
TE UTON IC MY T HOLOGY
of Lotheru s and one of hi s surnames was D u lsi

s olenti a , ,
the proud See N o 89 where a strophe is qu oted in

. .
, ,
wh i ch the founder of the Swed i sh Sk i lfing race ( the

Yngli ng s ) i s called D u ls a knor D u lse s descen dant As
’
.
,
was shown above in the ac c o u nt of the myth abou t Scef ,
the Skj oldi ng s too are Sk i lfings Both these branches

, ,
.
of the race have a common origin ; and as the genealogy

of the Skj oldu ngs can be traced back to Hei m dal and be ,
yond him to u ndi lfore it must be th i s pe rsonal i ty who ,
is mention ed for his ofdrambi that be ars the surname ,
D u lsi .
With O din Vei H oner and Vi li Lodu rr u ndil

,
- - -
fori have participat ed in the shaping of the world as well
M
as in the creation of man O f the part they took in the .
latter act and of the importance they thereby acqu ired in

,
the mythical anthropology and especi ally in the concep ,
tions concern ing the continued creation of man by gener

ati on and bi rth see N o 9 5 ,
. .
N AT , T H E M OT H E R O F T H E GO S D .
It has alre ady been shown above that N at the mother ,
of the gods has her hall in the northern part of i mer s

,
’
realm below the southern slopes of the N ida mountains

,
.
There has been and still i s an interpretation of the

, ,
m yths as symbols L ight is regarded as the symbol of

.
m oral goodness and darkne ss as th at o f mo ral evil

,
That .
t her e is something psych ologically correct in this cannot

b e deni ed ; but in r egard to the A ryan reli gi ons the as
60 8
TE UTON IC MY TH OLOG Y
sump ti on would lead to a great error i f as we might , ,
be te mpted to do we should make night identical wi t h

,
darkness and shou ld refer her to the world of evil In

,
.
the mythologies of the R i gveda Aryans and of the T eu -
tons N at is an awe inspiring adorable noble and bene

,
-
, , ,
“
M
heent be i ng N i ght is said in Rigveda to have a fa i r
.
face t o increase ri c hes and to be one of the mo t hers of

, ,
”
o rder . N one o f the phenemena o f nat u re seemed to the
T eutons ev i l per s e ; only when th ey transgressed what
was thought to be their lawful limits and thus produced ,
inj ury and harm were giant powers believed to be active

,
-
therein A lthough the Teuton i c gods are in a co nstant

.
,
more o r less violent confli c t w i th the powers of frost ,
still winter when it observes its limits of time is not an

, ,
evil but a go od divinity and the cold liqu ids of H ve rgel,
mer mixed with those of Urd s and i mer s fountains ’ ’
are necessary to the world tree Still less could night be -

.
refer red to the domain of demons o ther N at never .
transgress es the borders Of her power ; she never defies

the sacred l aws which are established for the order of
,
the u niver se According to

. S of the yea r she ,
divides in an unvary i ng the tw enty four hours -
bet ween herself and day Work and rest must alternate .
with e ach other R ich in blessing night comes with

.
,
s olace to the weary an d s eeks i f possible to sooth the

,
s u ff erer with a potion of slumber Though sombre in .
a ppea rance ( Gylfy still she is the friend O f light

.
, .
She decorates herself with lun ar eff ulgence and with

starry splendour with winning twilight in midsumme r
, ,
and with the light o f snow and of no rthern au ror a in the
60 9 .
winter T he following lines in Si g rdri fumal ( str 3 4 )

. .
, ,
sound like a reverberation f rom the lost liturgic hymns

of ou r heathendom .
H e i ll D agr , H ail D ag ,
b e ili t D a g s s y ni r H ail D ag s s ons

’
, ,
h e il N o tt 0 k N i p t l H ail N at an d N i p t !
O re i th o m ang om L o o k d own u p on u s
li ti th o cr th i n i g W it h b en e vol e nt e yes
oc g efi t s i ti o n do m égr l
r An d giv e vi c t ory to th e s itting !
H e i li r ae s ir , H ail A s as ,
b e flar as ynj or, H ail Asynj e s,

h e il s i a i n fi o lnyta f o l d ! H ail b ou n t e o u s e ar t h !
Of the G ermans in the first century after Christ T ac

'
i tu s writes ( Gernu
“ They do not as we compu te
, , ,
”
time by days but by nights night seems to lead the day ,
( nec di eru m num eram, u t nos s ed noc ti u m compu tant ,

-
no 1: duc ere di em vi detu r ) T his was applicable to the

'
‘
. .
Scand i navians as far down as a thousand years later .
T ime was computed by nights not by days and in the ,
phrases from heathen times nott oh dagr nott med deg i

’ ’
M
, ,
bcedi u m nce tr ole u m dag a night i s n ame d before day ,

.
L inguistic us age and mythology are here intimately as

s oci ated with each other According to V afthru dners.
mal ( 2 5 ) and Gylfagi nni ng N at bore with D elling

the son D ag with whom S he divid ed the administration
,
o f the twenty four hours D elling is the elf of the morn

-
.
.
ing red ( see N o T he symbolism of nature is he re

.
distinct as in all theogonies .
T hrough other divinities N ag lfari and O narr ( Anarr , ,
Hu narr ) N at is the mother with the former of U nnr

,
-
( U d r ) also
,
called u dr with the latte r of the go dd
,
ess
61 0
O din
s wi fe U me ns w ter Andr means rich
’
Jord, nn r a a .
,
.
It has above been shown that U nu r Andr is identical with -
N j ord the lord of w ealth and commerce who in the lat

, ,
ter capacity be came the protector of n avigators and to ,
whom sacrifices were o ffered for a prosperous voyage

Gods of all cl ans—Asas Vans and Elves—
.
are thus akin , ,
to N at and are d es cende d f rom her

, .
AT A R, I D E N T I C A L WI T H M I ME R A
’
N ARFI , N S F T HE .
P SE U D O N ARFI I N T H E
-
Y OU N GER ED D A .
hersel f
N at is the d aughter of a being who se name has
many fo rm s .
N aurr, N orr ( dativ e N au rvi , N orvi , N ott var N au rvi

bori n —V afthru dnersmal, 2 5 N ott N au rvi
—Al i m
.
—Egil S
kenda v s .
,
N arti , N arvi ( ni derfi N arfa kallagr .

, 5 6, 2 ; Gyl
fag .
,
N orvi ,
N orvi ( Gylfag 1 0 ; .
, j
sp allsl ,
N j brfi, N j orvi ( Gylfag 1 0 ni pt

‘ ’
.
, j orva
N ori ( Gylfag .
,
( H6fu dl .
,
( Helge Hund .
,
All th ese v ari ations are d erive d from the sam e o ri gin al
appell ation rel ate d to the O ld N orse verb nj brva the
’
, ,
“ ” “
O ld English ne arwi an me aning the one th at bin d s the ,
”
one who puts on tight fitti ng bon d s -
.
61 1
Simply the circumst ance that N arvi i s N at s father ’
proves that he must have occupied one of the most con

s pi cu ou s pos itions in the Te u ton i c c os mogony In all .
cos mogonies and theogonies night is one of the oldest

be i ngs older than light withou t which it cannot be con
, ,
ce i v e d. Li ght is kindled in the darkness thus forebod ,
ing an impo rtant epo ch in the development of the world

out o f chaos T he bei ng which is night s father must
.
’
therefore be counted among the oldest in the cosmogony .
M
The personified representatives of water and ea rth like ,
the day are the ch i ldren of his daughter

, .
What Gylfagi nni ng tells o f N arve is that he was o f

giant birth and the first one who inhabited Jotunheim
,
é i otu nhei ma
( i d fi h j b d fy J
'
N orv e a N ar t Otu n er yg r s t ,
Gylfag .
,
In regard to this we m u st remember that ,
M
in Gylfagi nni ng and in the trad i tions o f the Icelandic
sagas the lower world is embraced i nthe term Jotunheim
, ,
and this for myth i cal reasons since N i felhei m is i nhab ,
i ted by ri mthu rse s and giants ( see N o and since .
the r egi ons of bl i ss are governed by i mer and by the

norns who also are of giant descent As the father of
, .
the lower world dis N at N arv e himsel f belongs to that

-
, ,
group of powe rs with which the mythology peopled

,
the lowe r world T he upper Jothu nhei m did not exist

.
before in a later epo c h of the cosmog onic development .
It was created simultaneously with i dgard by O din and

his brothers ( Gylfag i nni ng ) .
In a strophe by Egil Skallagri mson ( ch poet ry .

,
o r the sou rce of poetry is calle d ni derfi N arfa the inhe t

, ,
”
i tance left by N arve to his descendants As i s well .
61 2
known ,
M ’
expression indicates that the first inhabitant of the lower

world N arv e also pres i ded over the precious fountain
,
his descendants as an inher i tance

,
of wisdom and inspiration and that he died and left it to
Finally we learn that N arv e was a near kinsman to

,
i mer s fount ain is the source of poetry T he
.
.
Urd and her siste rs This appears fro m the following .
passages
( )
a Helge H u ndi ng sb ane ( 1 3 i f ) When Helge , , .
was bo rn norns came i n the night to the abo de of h i s

p ar ents twisted the threads o f his fate stretched them
, ,
from east to west and fasten e d them be neath the hall o f ,
the moon O ne of the threads ni pt N era cast to the north

.
and bade it hold for ever It is m an i fest that by N ere s .

’
( N a r v e s )
’
kinswoman i s me ant one o f the norns present .
( b ) Sonatorr ( str The skald Egil Skalla

. .
gr i mson weary of life closes hi s poem by saying that he

, ,
sees the di s o f death stand i ng on the ness ( D i graness )

near the grave mound which conceals the dust of hi s
-
father and o f his sons and is soon to rec eive him ,
T vegg a j ba ga Th ki nswom an o f N j orv e ( the

b i n d e r) ,
O d in s ( T v e g g e s ) fo e s
’ ’
N j Orv a ni pt of
a n es i s t e n dr . t ds
s an on th e n e s s .
Sk al ek th o g ladr T hen sha ll

gl ad
I be ,
m ed g édan vil a j w it h a g oo d w ill ,
ok uh ryg g r an d wit h o u t r e m o r s e ,
H elj ar b i d a . w ait f o r H e l .
It goe s w i thout sayi ng that the skald means a dis o f

death Urd or one of her messengers with the words
, , ,
” ’
T he kinswoman of N j orv e ( the binder ) of O din s foes ,
61 3
TE UTONIC MY TH OLOGY
whom he with the eye of presentiment sees st anding on .
the fam i ly grave mound on D i g raness She is not to

-
.
stop there bu t she i s to continue her way to his hall to

, ,
bring him to the grave mou nd He awaits her coming -

.
wi t h gladness and as the last line shows she whose ar

, ,
rival he awaits i s Hel the goddess o f death or fate It , .
has already been dem onst rated that Hel in the heathen
records is always identical with Urd .
N j orve is her e used both as a pr oper and a comm on

noun “The kinswoman o f the N j orv e of O d i n s foes
.
” ’
means the kinswoman of the binder of O din s foe s ’

.
Od in s foe Fenrer was bou nd with an excellent cha i n

’
smithied in the lower world ( dwarfs in Sva/rtalfhei mr

Gylfag and as shall be shown later ther e are more
.
, ,
than one o f O din s foes who are bound with N arve s

.
’ ’
chains ( see N O .
( )
c H of u dl au s n ( str Egil Sk allag ri m son cele .
brates i n song a vi ctory won by Er i k Blood axe and says -

,
of the battle field that there trad ni pt N ara ndttverd ara

-
N are s k inswoman tra mpled upon the suppe r of the

’
”
eagles that is to say upon the dead bodies o f the fall
, ,
en ) The psychopomps of disease of age and of mis

.
, ,
fortunes have noth i ng to do on a battle field T h i ther -

.
c ome v alkyries to fetch the elect N i pt N ara must there .
fore be a valkyrie whose horse tramples upon the heaps ,
of dead bod i es ; and as E gi l names only one shield maid of -
that kind he doubtless has had the most representat i ve

, ,
the most important one in mind T hat one is Sku ld

‘
.
,
Urd s sister and thus a h i pt N ar a like Urd herself

’
,
.
( )
d Y n l
g gi n a tal Y
( g gasaga ch
n li n O f King ,
.
61 4
TE UTON I C MY T HOLOGY
D ygve ,
who died from disease it is sai d that j odi s N arva ,
(j ci d i s N ar a ) cho se him The right to choose those who .
d i e fro m disease bel ongs to the norns alone ( see N o

‘
.
Jédi s a word doubtless produced by a vowel change

,
from the Old G ermanic i di s has already in olde n times ,
been interpreted partly as horse dis ( from j or horse )

’
-
, ,
pa rtly as the di s of one s k i n ( from j od ch i ld o ff spring )

’
, , .
In this case the skald has taken adv ant age o f both si gni
ficati ons . H e calls the death dis u lfs oh N arva j odi s -
,
the wolf s horse dis N arv e s kin di s In regard to the

’
-
,
’
-
.
f ormer sign ification it should be remembered that the

,
wolf is horse for all giantesses the honoured norn s not ,
except ed Cp g rey norna as a paraphrase for wolf

. . .
Thus what our myth i c records tell us ab out N a ty e is

( a ) H e is one of the oldest beings o f theog ony ,
older than the uppe r part of the world constructed by

Bur s so ns
’
.
( )
b He is of gi ant descent .
( c ) He is father o f N at father i n law of N agelfar ,

- -
,
O nar and of D ell i ng the elf of the rosy dawn ; and he is

, ,
/
the father of D ag s mother 0 1 U nnr and of the goddess
’
, ,
Jord who becomes O din s wife and Thor s mother

’ ’
.
,
Bonds of kinship thus connect h i m with the Asas and

w ith god s of other ranks .
( d ) He i s near ak i n to the dis of fate and death ,
Urd and her sisters The word h i pt with which Urd s

.
,
’
relation to him is indicated may mean S ister daughter , , ,
an d sister s daughter and consequently does not state

’
which particular one of these it is It seems upon the .
whole to have been appli ed wel l nigh exclusively in regard -
61 5
to mythic persons and part i cu larly in regard to Urd and

,
her sisters ( cp above : N j brva h i pt ni pt N ara ni pt

'
.
, ,
N era) so that it almost acqu ired t he meaning of dis or

,
norn This is evident from Skaldsk aparmal ch 7 5

.
, .
N orni r he i ta thcer er naud s kapa; N i pt oh D is nu ern
taldar, and from the expr ess i on H ei l N ott ole N i pt in the

’
M
above cited strophe from Si g rdri fu mal There is every
-
.
reason for assuming that the N i pt whi ch i s here used as
M
,
a proper noun in this sense means the d i s o f fate and as

,
an appellation o f kinship a kinswoman of N at The com

, .
“
mon interpretation of hei l N o tt ole N i pt is hail N at and
’ ‘
”
her daughter and by her daughter is th en meant the
,
M
goddess Jord ; but this interpretat i on i s as Bugge has ,
shown less probable for the goddess Jord immediately

, ,
below get s her special greeting in the wor ds : hei l s i a i n

“
fiolnyta Fold ! ( hail the bounteou s earth l )
- ”
( ) AS the father of N at living in i mer s re alm ’

e , ,
and kinsman of Urd who wi t h i mer divides the domin

,
ion over the lower w orld N arv e is himself a being of the
M
,
M
lower world and the oldest s u bterranean being ; the first
,
one who inhabited Jotunheim .
He presided over the subter ranean fou nt ain of

wisdom and inspirati on that is to say i mer s foun tain
, ,
’
.
( g ) He was O d i n s friend and the binde r of O d i n s

’ ’
foes .
( h ) He died and left his fountain as a heritage to

his descendants .
As our investigation prog resses it will be fo u nd that

all these facts concerning N arve apply to i mer that ,
“ ” “ ”
he who thinks ( i mer ) and he who binds ( N arve )
61 6
M
M
are the same person Already the circums tances that

.
N arv e was an ancient bei ng of gi ant descent that he dwelt ,
in the lower world and was the possessor of the foun

tain of wisdom there that he was O di n s friend and that
,
’
he di ed and left h i s fountain as an inheritan c e ( cp i ms .
syn i r ) point definitely to N arv e s and i mer s i dent i ty

,
’ ’
.
Thus the Teutonic theogony has made Thou ght the older
kinsman of Fate who thro u gh N at bears D ag to the
,
world T he people of ant i quity made t heir first step s

.
M
toward a ph i losophic al view of the world in the i r the
ogony .
The Old English l anguage has preserv ed and trans

ferred to the C hristian Paradise 3 name which originally
belonged to the s u bterranean region of bliss o f heath en
dom—N e orxenavang Vang means a mead ow plain
'
.
, ,
field The mysteriou s N eorxena looks l i ke a genitive

.
plural G re i n in his Anglo Saxon D ictionary and be

.
,
-
,
fore him Wei nhold refers neorxena to N arve N are and

, , ,
M
th i s without a suspicion that N orv e was an epithet of
i mer and referred to the f ing of the heathen regions
O f bl i ss I consider this an evidence that G rein s assu mp
.
l ’
tion i s as correct as it is ne c essary if upon the whole we ,
are to look for an etymological explanation of the word .
T he plural gen i tive then means those who inhab i t

, ,
N arve s regions of bliss and r eceive their appe llation from

’
this circ umstance The opposite Old N orse appe lla ti on

.
i s nj ari r a word which I shall discuss below

, .
T o judge from certain passages in Christian writings

o f the thirteenth c entu ry i mer was not alone about the
,
n ame N arve N are One or two of L oke s sons are su p

, .
’
61 7
TE UT ON I C MY T H OLOG Y
M
p ose d to h ave had the same n a me T he statements . in
th i s regard demand investigation and as I think this , , ,
will furnish another instructive contribution to the chap

ter on the confusion of the mythic traditions and on the ,
M
pa rt that the Younger Edda plays in this respect The .
passages are :
T i erword He
( )
a he p ro s a c a f t to L o k as en n a :
( L oke ) was bo u nd w i th the entrails o f his so n N a ri bu t ,

”
his son N arfi was turned i nto a wolf .
( )
b G yf g
l a i nn i n g ch ,
3 3 .
( )
1 . os t of the
“
c odi ces : His ( L oke s ) wi fe i s hight Sygi n ; their son is
’
N ari or N arvi .
( 2 ) Codex H ypnonesi ens i s : His ( L oke s ) wife is ’
M
”
hight Syg i n his sons are h i ght N ari or N arvi and Vali .
( c ) Gylfagi nni ng ch 5 0 , ( 1
.
) . o s t of th e c o d i ces
WM
Then w ere taken Loke s sons Vali and N ari or N arfi
’
.
The Asas changed Vali into a wolf and the latter tore ,
into pieces h i s brother N arh Then the Asas took his .
”
entrails and there with bo und L oke .
( 2 ) Codex U psalens i s : Then were taken Loke s ’
sons Vali an d N ari The Asas changed Vali i nto a wolf

.
,
”
and the latter tore into pie c es his brothe r N ari .
“
( d ) Skalds kaparmal ch 1 6 ,
1 )
. Loke is the
.
f ather of the wolf Fenrer the i d gar d serpent and Hel -

, ,
‘
and also of N ari and Ali .
( 2 ) Codex ormi anus and Codex H ypno nesi ens i s ,
3 : L oke is father of the Fenri s wolf of t he i dgard -

,
serpent and of Hel and also of N ari and Vali

, ,
‘
.
’
T he mythology has stated that Lo ke was bound with

chains which w ere originally entrails and that he who ,
61 8
contribu ted the m ateri als of these ch ains was his own
son ,
who was torn into pieces by his brother in wolf
guise It is possible that there i s something symbolic
in thi s myth—that it originated in the thought that the
.
for c es created by evil contend with each other and destroy
M
their own parent There i s at least no reason for dou bt
.
ing that this account i s a genuine myth that is to say , ,
that it comes fro m a heathen source and from some

heathen poem .
But in regard to the names of Loke s two sons here

,
’ ‘
i n question we have a perfect right to doubt

,
.
We discover at once the contradi ctions betrayed by the

records in regard to them T he d i screpancy of the state .
ments can best be shown by the following comparisons .
Besides F e u rer the i dgard serpent and Hel L oke has

,
-
, , ,
according to
G ylf g i ni ng 3 3
a n th
, N t l ll d N fl N th
e s on i m d
ar , a so c a e ar oo e r son s na e
dd e d to
i
T h e P rose a
L ok asen n a th 9 s on N a” , and th e son N arfi
i th e s on N ar i , l
a so c ll e d N arvi . an d th e s on V ali ;
G ylf ag i nn i n g , ch . 50 th e s on N ar i , a l so c ll e d N ar fi and th e s on V ali

S k ai ls ap arm al’
cl ff e i th e son N art, and th e s on A li
dd e d to t t pi
l
T h e P ros e a
N art, is or n in o ec e s by
L ok as e nn a
G ylf ag i nni ng N ar i -N arn is t orn t pi

in o ec e s by
The d iscrepancy shows that the author of these st ate

ments did not have any mythic song or mythic tradition
as the sou rce of all these names of L oke s sons
’
.
The m atte r becomes even mo re suspicious when we

find
That the vari ations N are and N arve, both of which
61 9
i ngs namely to
, ,
M
belong t o one of the foremost and noblest of myth i c be

i mer are here applied in s u ch a man
,
ner that they either are given to two sons of L oke or are
attributed to one and the same Lo ke son while in the lat
ter case it happens
That the names Vale and Ale which both belong to
the same Asa god and son of O d i n who avenged t he dea t h
-
,
-
,
of his brother Balder are both attribu ted to the other son
,
of L oke C ompare Gylfagi nni ng ch 3 0 : Vali eda Ali

.
’
,
.
he i ti r ei nn ( Ass i n) s onr O di ns ole Ri ndar .
H ow shall we expla i n this ? Su ch an applicat i on o f

these names must necess ar i ly prod u ce the s u spicion of
some ser i ou s mistake ; but we cannot ass u me that i t was
made w i lfu lly The ca u se m u st be fou nd somewhere
. .
It has already been demonstrated that in the mytholo gy , ,
Urd the dis of fate was also the di s of death and the r u ler
, ,
o f the lower world and that the fu nctions belonging to

,
her in this capacity were in C hr i st i an t i mes transferred

, ,
to L oke s da u ghter who together with her funct i ons

’
, , ,
usurped her name Hel L oke s dau ghter and Hel be .

’
came to the C hristian mythographers identical .
An inevitable result was that such expressions as ni pt

N ara j édi s N arfa h i pt N fi rm had to change mean
, , ,
ing T he h i pt N j brva whom the aged Egil saw stand

'
.
,
i ng near the grave moun d on D i g raness and whose ar

-
,
“ ”
rival he awaited with gladness and good will was no -
,
longer the death dis Urd but became to the Christ i an

-
,
interpreter s the abomin able dau ghter of Loke who came

to fetch the old heathen The h i pt N ara whose horse .
,
trampled on the battl e fi eld where Erik B lood axe defeated -
62 0
M
the Scots was no longer Urd s sister the v alky ri e Sk u ld

,
’
, ,
bu t became Loke s da u ghter although even acco rding

’
, ,
to the C hristian mythographers the latter ha d nothing ,
t o do on a battle field The j odi s N arfa who chose King

’
-
.
,
M
D yg ve was confou nded wi t h Loka mcer who had him
, ,
lei ki nn ( see N o but who according to the heathen

.
,
conception was a maid servant of fate w ithout the righ t

,
-
,
of choosing To the heathens ni pt N ara ni pt N j brv a

’
.
, ,
“ ”
d i s N arfa meant N are i mer s kinswoman Urd
’
-
.
,
T o the mythographers of the th i rteenth century it must ,
for the reason stated h ave meant the L oke daughter as

,
-
sister of a certain N are or N arv e It follows that this .
N are or N arv e o u ght to be a son o f Loke since his s i s ,
ter was L oke s daughter It was known th at L oke be

’
i dgard —
.
sides Fenrer and the serpent had two other ,
sons o f which the one in the gu ise of a wolf tore the

,
other into pieces In N are N arv e the name o f one or

.
, ,
the names of both these Loke sons were thought to have

.
-
been found
The latter assumption was ma f
.
'
i e by the auth or of the

prose in Lokasenna He conce i ved N are to be the one
.
brother and N arv e the other The author of Gylfag i n .
ning on the other hand rightly regarded N are and N arve

, ,
as simply variations of the s ame name and accordingly ,
l et them designate the s ame son of L oke When he .
wrote chapter 3 3 he did not know what name to give

,
to the other and conseq uently omitted him entirely But

, .
when he got to the 5oth chapter a light had risen for ,
him in regard to the name of the other And the light .
doubtless came from the following strophe in V Olu spa

62 1
tha k na v al a
v i g b o n d s h u a,
h e lldi v or u h ardg i or
hof t or tho rmu m .
This h alf strophe says that those were strong ch ains

( for L oke ) that were made of entrails and these fetters ,
“ ” “ ”
were t wis t ed from Vale s v i g bbnd V i g as a legal
’ '
t erm m eans a m u rder slaughter Vala vi g was i nter

,
.
p r e ted as a murder c ommi t ted by Vale ; and V ala vi g bond

as the bonds or fetters obta i ned by the slaugh t er com
mi tted by Vale It was kno wn that L oke was chained
.
w i th the entrails of his son and here it was thou ght to

,
appear that this son was slain by a certa i n Vale And .
as he was slain by a brother a ccord i ng to the myth then ,
Vale must be the brother of the slain son o f L oke Ac .
co rdi ng ly chapter 5 0 o f Gylfag i nni ng cou ld tell u s what
chapter 3 3 d i d not yet kn ow namely that the two sons , ,
of L oke were named Vale and N are or N arv e and that ,

“
Vale changed to a wolf tore the brother N are or N arv e ”
,
into pie c es.
The next step was taken by Skaldskaparmal or more ,
pro bably by one of the transcribers of Sk aldsk aparmal .
As Vale and Ale in the my t hology designated the same

person ( viz Bald er s avenger the son of O din ) the son
.
,
’
, ,
“ ”
o f Loke changed into a wol f Vale received as a gift
, ,
the name
“Ale ”
It i s by no means impossible that the
.
t ranscriber regarded Balder s avenger Vale and the son

’
, ,
of L oke as identical The oldest manuscript we have o f

.
Skaldskaparmal is the Upsala C odex which is no older ,
t h an the beginning of the fourteenth century The .
62 2
mythic traditions were then in the continu ation of that

rap i d decay wh i ch had begun i n the eleven t h c entu ry and ,
not lo ng thereafter the Iceland i c saga writ i ngs saw Val

hal peopled by gi ants and all sorts of monsters which ,
were called e i nherj es and Thor h i msel f transfe rred to

,
the places of torture where he drank venom from the

”
auroch s ho rn presented to him by the daughter O f
’
Lo ke .
In the interpretation of the above cited half strophe -
o f Voluspa we m u st therefore leave ou t the s u ppo sed son

,
of L oke Vale The Teu toni c mythol ogy like the other
,
.
,
[
Aryan mytholog i es applied many names and epithets to

,
the same person bu t it seldom gave two or more persons

,
one and the same name unless the latter was a patrony
,
mic or in other resp ects of a general character There

, ,
.
was not more than one O d i n one Thor one N j ord one , , ,
.
He i mdal one L oke and there is no reason for assum i ng

, ,
that there was more than one ale namely the divine , ,
son of this name O f Balder brother Vale we know

.
t hat he was born to avenge the slay i ng of Balder His .
impatien ce to do that which he was c alled to perform is

expressed in the mythology by the statement that he lib ,
e rate d himself from the womb of his mother before the
usual time ( B aldrs brodi r var af bori nn s nemma

V Olu spa ) and only one night old he went to slay H bdr
'
.
,
The bonds which confine the impatient one in his moth

er s womb were his vi g bond the bonds which h i ndered
’
him from combat and these bonds were in the most literal
,
sen se of the wor d Or thbrmu m AS L oke s bonds are ’

‘
made o f the same material and d estined to hinder hi m

62 3
from c ombat with the gods until R agnarok and as his ,
prison is in the womb o f the earth as Vale s was in that ,

’
of the ear t h god dess R ind s then Vala v ig bond as a desi g

-
’
nation o f Loke s c h ains i s both logically and poetically

’
W
a satisfactory paraphrase and the more in orde r as it ,
occu rs in connection with the description Of the impending

R agnarok when L oke by an earthquake is to sever h i s
,
fetters and hasten to the conflict .
T HE T O GI A N T C LA N S D E SCE N DE D FRO M YME R .
In H avamal ( 1 4 0 ff ) Odin says that he in his youth

, ,
obtained nine fimbu l songs and a drink of the preciou s

-
M
m ead d i pped ou t of O drerer from B eyz la s father B OI
’
,
thorn s famous son

’
Fi m b u llro d ni o
r e gi a
’
n am cc af e n o m f s yni
M
B au lth o rn s B e y z lu f au du r
oc cc d ry e of g at
e ns d yr a m i adar
au s i nn O dre ri .
The mythologists have assumed for reasons th at can ,
not be doubted tha t B olthorn s famous son B e i stla s

,
’
,
’
brother is identi cal w i th i mer N o one else than he

,
.
pres i ded at that time over the drink d i pped out of Odre re r ,
”
t he fou ntain which conceals w i sdom and man s sense ’
,
and Si grdri fu mal ( 1 3 1 4 ) corroborates that it was from

,
“
i mer and through a drink from H odro fner s horn ” ’
, ,
“
that O din obtained wonderful runes and true sayings .
62 4
MM
MM
TE U T ON I C MY THOLOG Y
Accord i ngly i mer had a siste r by n ame B eyzla

( variations : B es tla B es la B ez la) A str ophe by Einar
, , .
Skalaglam ( Skaldsk aparmal ch 2 ; cp Gylfag ch 6 ) , . . .

, .
informs us that B e i stla is O din s mother i mer s dis ’

.
’
c i ple ,
the clan — chieftai n of the gods is accord i ngly his ,
s i ster s son Herein we have one more reason for the

’
.
fa i thfu l frien d ship which i m er always showed to O din .
The i m er epithet N arfi N arv e m eans as shown , , ,
“
above t he on e who binds
,
His daughter N at i s called .
drau mnj bru n the dream binder ( Alv i sm His

'
-
,
.
,
k i nswomen the norns sp i n and bind the threads an d ,
M
bonds which extended thro u ghout the world weave to
, , ,
gether the web of events S u ch threads and bonds are .
c alled Orlog tha tti r ( Helge Hun d i and U rdar loku r .

,
.
-
( Grogaldr As the neares t kinswomen of B e i stla

.
,
-
all have epithets or tasks whi c h refer to the ide a of
M
bi ndi ng and when we add to this that B e i stla s sons and
’
,
des c endants as gods have the ep i thet hOpt and bond her
(
'
o wn name might most properly be referred to the old word
bei s l bei s l ( cp be ts el bridle ) which has a simila r mean

,
.
, ,
ing .
As i mer and B ei stla are of giant descent and in the ,
theogony be long to the same stage of developmen t as

B u r ( B u rr ) O din s father then as the mytholog i sts also
’
, , ,
have assumed B olthorn can be none else than Y mer

, .
i mer B ei stla the norns and N at thus form a group

, , ,
of kindred beings which belong to the oldest giant race

, ,
but still they are most definitely separated from the other
descendants of Ymer as a higher race of giants from a ,
lower a noble giant race friendly to the gods and foster

,
62 5
M
ing the gods fro m that ra ce of deformed bei ngs which

,
bear c h i ldren in t he strangest manner wh i ch are hos ti le ,
to the gods and to the world and wh i c h are represented

,
by the ri mthu rses T hru dgelmer and B erg elmer and their
O ffspr i n g
M
.
It now lies near at h and to in quire whether the my

tholog y whi c h attribu t ed the same father to
. i mer and
T hru dg elmer was unable to con c eive in th i s c onnect i on
the idea of a nobler or i gin for the former than the lat t er .
The remedy nearest at hand would have been to have

g i ven them mothers of diff erent chara cters But t he .
my t hology did not resort to this expedient It is ex .
pressly stated that Ym er bore Ch i ldren withou t the pleas

u re of woman ( gyg i ar gam an—V afthru dnersmal 3 2 ; cp ,
.
No . N either i mer nor T h ru dgelmer had a mother .
Under such c ir cu mstan ces there is another exped i ent

to whi ch the s i ster of the Teuton i c mythology the Rig ,
ved a mytholo gy has resorted and which is e xplained i n

, ,
t he 9 0 th hymn of book x o f Rigveda . The hymn i n .
forms us in regard to a primeval giant P aru sha and th i s ,
myth i s so similar to the Teu tonic in regard to Ymer

that it m u st here be cons i dered .
The pr i meval be i ng P aru sha was a giant monster as

large as the whole world and even larger ( lines 1 5 )
,
-
The g ods resolved to sa c rifice him that is to say to slay , ,
h i m for sa c red purposes ( 1 and from his l i mbs was

.
c r eated the present world From his navel was made the
.
atmosphere from his head the canopy of h eaven from

, ,
h i s two feet the ear t h fro m his heart the moon from hi s
, ,
eye the su n from hi s breath the wind &c H i s mon th

, , .
62 6
became the brahma ( the priest ) hi s arms became the ,
raj anyo ( the warr i or ) hi s thi g hs became the v ai s ya ( the

,
third free caste ) and from hi s fee t arose the su dra ( the
,
thrall line
,
T he two fundam e ntal ideas of the myth con c erning

B arush a are
( 1 ) There was a primeval being who was not d i
vine T he gods slew h i m and created the material world
.
out of his l i mbs .
( 2 ) Th i s primeval bei ng gave rise to other beings

of d i fferent ranks and the i r rank correspond ed with t he
,
pos i t i on of th e giant s limbs fro m wh i ch they were

’
created .
Both these fundamen tal ideas reappear in the Teu ton i c

myth con c er ning Ymer In regard to the former idea .
we need only to quote what V af thru dnersmal says in

strophe 2 1
O r Ymi s hol d i \ f Yme r s fl esh
O
’
v ar fo rd u m s c au p u d, th e w o r ld w as s h ap e n,
e n or b e i n o m bj o r g , f r om h i s b o n e s th e r oc k s,
hi mi nn o r h au s i th e h e av e n s fr o m t h e h e ad
i ns h r i mk alda i o tu ns, o f th e i c e - c ol d gi an t
,
e nn o r sv ei ta s o i r . f rom hi s bl ood the s e a .
In regard to the secon d fun d am ent al idea it is evident ,
from the R igveda account that it i s not there found in

its oldest form but that a fter the ri se of four castes
, ,
among the R igveda A ry ans it was changed in order , ,
to furnish an explanation of the origin of these castes

and make them at least as old as the present material
wo rld Far more original and perfectly free from the

.
,
62 7
influence of social ideas it appears in the Teutonic my

,
thology where the 3 3 rd strophe of V afthrudnersmal tes

,
tifie s concerning i ts char acter
U n di r h e n d i v axa A son and a d au g ht e r

q u ath o h ri mth u rs i are s ai d to h av e b e e n b orn to
g e t he r
m ey oc m au g s am an ; u n d e r th e ri m thu rs e s arm ;
’
fOtr i d f oti g at
v f o o t be g at wit h f o o t
i n s f o d a i o tu ns
r th e s t r an g e h e ad e d so n -
s erhau fdath an s on o f th e wi s e gi an t
. .
In perfect h armony with this Gylfagi nni ng n arr ates

Under Ymer s left arm grew forth a man and a woman
’
,
and his one foot begat with the othe r a son T hence .
c ome ( di ff erent ) races

'
The di ff erent rac es have this in common that they are ,
gi ant races since they spring from Ymer ; but these giant
,
races must at the same time have be en widely di ff er ent
M
i ntellect u ally and physically since the mythology giv es
,
M
them diff erent orig i ns from di ff eren t limbs of the pro
genitor And here as in R igveda it is clear that the
.
‘
, ,
lowest r ace was conceived as proc eeding from the feet

of the primeval giant This is stat ed with s u ffi c ient
.
distinctness in V afthru dnersmal where we read that a

strangely headed monster ( T hru dgelmer—see N o 60 )
,
“ -
”
.
“ ”
was bo rn by them while man and maid were born u n
,
der the arm of the giant “ ” “

T he man and the maid ”
.
must therefore represent a noble race sprung from

Ymer and they can only be i mer and hi s sister Odin s ’ ‘
, ,
mother . i mer and his clan constitute a group of an

cie nt powers who watch over the fountains of the life of
,
the world an d care for the perpetuation of the wo rl d
62 8
M TE UTON I C MY TH OLOGY
MM
M
tree From them proceeded the oldest fairest an d most
.
, ,
e nduring parts of the creation F or the lower world .
was put in orde r and had i ts sacred fountains and guar

d i a n s before B u r s sons created
’
i dgard and A sgard .
Among the m the world tree grew up from i ts roots

-
,
whose source no one knows ( H avamal Among ,
them those forces are active which make the starry

firm ament revolve on i ts ax i s and from them come the ,
seasons and the divisions of time for N at and nidj ar , ,
a ne and S0 1 belong to i mer s clan and were in the

,
’
“
morn i ng of cr eation named by the oldest high holy
”
god s and endowed wi t h the voc ation drom at telj a
,
( V Olu spa ) F rom

. i mer comes the first culture for ,
in his fo u ntain inspiration spir i tual power m an s wi t

, ,
’
and wisd om have their source and a round him as chief

, ,
stand gathered the artists of antiquity by whose hands all

th i ngs can be smithied into living and wonderful things
S u ch a giant clan demands \ another ori gi n than that o f
.
the frost giants and their o ffspring As we lea rn fro m

-
.
~
V afthru dnersmal th at two giant r aces proceed ed from

Y mer the one f rom a part of his body which in a sym
,
boli c sense is more noble than that from whi ch the other
race sprang and that the race born of his fee t was the
,
ign oble one hostile to the gods then the conclusion fol ,
“ ”
lows of nec essity that the man and maid who were
born as twin s u nder Ymer s arm became the fou nders
’
of that noble group of giants who are friendly to the gods ,
and which confr ont u s i n the mytholo y of our fathers

g .
It has already been sh own above ( see N o 5 4 ) that Ji ma .
( Yam a) in the A si atic A ryan mytholo gy correspon d s to

-
62 9
M
M
.
s aman
.
a maid Y am i ,
i mer in the Teutonic Jima i s an epithet which mean s

.
twin The one with whom Jim a was bo rn together was

The words in the qu oted V afthru dners
.
mal stroph e u ndi r hendi hri mthu rsi v axa mey oh mau g
,
are evidence th at the Germans also considere d

,
i mer and hi s sister as twins .
T HE ID E N T I T Y 0 F MIME R A N D N I D H AD O F T H E V OLU N D
A
S GA .
The condition in which the traditions o f the great

V olu nd ( Wayland ) have c om e down to ou r time is one
of the many exa mples illustrating how under the i n ,
fl u ences of a change of faith a myt h disrobes itself of ,
i ts purely mythical characte r and bec omes a heroi c saga .
The nature of the mythic traditions and songs is not

at once obliterated in the t i me of transition ; there remain
marks of their original nature in some or other of the
details as proof of what they have been Thus that frag .
ment of a Volund saga turned into an epic which the

, ,
Old N orse literature has prese rved for us in V olu ndar

ky ida shows us that the a rtist who i s the hero of the song
,
was ori gi nally conceived not as a son of man but as a ,
member of the mythic r ace of elves which in VOlu spa

is mentioned in connection with the A sas ( kvat er me d
as om k vat er med alfom ?— str V olund is an elf
—
.
,
prin ce ( alfa v i si alfa lj othi Volund str 1 0

,
and .
,
.
, ,
as sh all be shown below when we come to consider the

,
V ol u nd myth exhaustively he and hi s brothers and thei r

,
63 0
mi stresses have played p arts of the very gre atest i m

po r t an ce i n the ep i c of Teu ton i c mythology Under s u c h
M
.
c i r cumstances it follows that the o t her person s appearing
in V olu ndarkv i da also were originally myth i cal char

ac ters .
O ne of these is called N i dadr ( N i dudr ) king of N j are s, ,
and I am now to investigate who th i s N i dadr was in the

m y t hology .
When Volund for the first ti m e appears by this name

in the Elder Edda he i s soj o u rn i ng in a d i stant co u ntry
, ,
to wh i ch it i s impo ss ible to c om e w i tho u t travers i ng the

y r k wo od fore s t famo u s in the mythology ( see N o 7 8 ) .
I t i s a snow c lad cou ntry t he home of bears and wolves

-
,
.
Vol u nd gets hi s subs i stence by h u nting on skees The .
“
O ld Engl i sh poe m D eor the Scald s Co mpla i nt
’
,
con ,
firms that th i s region was regarded as very c old ( cp .
v i nterce alde vr e ce ) In Vol ndarkvi da it is called Wol f

dales .
W
Vol u nd stays here many years in c om pany with his
two bro t her s and w it h three s wan ma i ds their mis -
,
tre s ses or w i ves bu t finally alone Vol u nd passes the

,
.
t i m e in smithy i ng unt i l he is s u ddenly at t a cked by

,
N i dadr ( N i du dr )
“ ”
the N jara king ( V olu ndarkv
-
.
, ,
who p u ts him in c ha i ns and robs h i m of two extraordi

nary treas u res—a s word and an arm ring Seven hun -
.
dred arm — rings h u ng in a string in Volund s hall ; but ’
th i s one alone seemed to be wor th more than all the rest ,
and i t alone was des i red by N i dadr ( str 7 8 .

, ,
Be fore Vol u nd went to the olfdales he had lived ,
with his people a happy life in a lan d abounding in gold

63 1
W TE U T ON I C MY TH OLO GY
W
( str
. N ot vol u ntarily bu t from d i re ne c es s i ty he
,
had ex changed h i s home for t he d i stant wilderness o f

olf dales
“D eor the Scald s C omplaint
”’
says he
the .
was an ex i le ( Ve lcmd hi m be w rman w ec es canmad e ) .
“
A Germ an saga of the m i ddle ages Anhang des Held e n ,
”
bu chs ,
confirm s this statem ent W i eland ( Vol u nd )
.
,
“
i t is there sa i d was a d u ke who was ban i shed by two
,
”
giants who took h i s land from him whereu po n he “
, ,
“ ”
was s t r i cken with poverty and became a s m i t h
, The .
V olu n dark v i da d oes not have m u ch to say abo u t t he rea

son for his soj o u rn in the o lf dale s bu t s t r ophe 2 8 i n
,
fo rms u s that previous to his arrival there he had su f

, ,
f ere d an inj u sti c e of wh i c h he speaks a s the worst and

,
the most revenge — demanding wh i ch he the unhappy and ,
revengeful man ever experien c ed B u t he has had no

,
.
O pport u nity of demand i ng satis faction when he finally ,
s u c ceeds i n getting free from N i dadr s chains Who

'
th o se m ythic persons are that have so cru elly i nsu lted h i m

and filed his heart with unqu en chable th i rst for rev enge
'
W
i s not mentioned ; but in t he very nature of the case th ose
persons from whose persecu t i ons he has fled m u st have
been might i er than he and as he himself is a ch i ef in the
,
god l i ke c lan of elves hi s foes are nat u rally to be looked

,
for among the more powerfu l races of gods .
And as V olu ndarkvi da pi ctures h i m as bo u ndlessly and

reckles sly revengefu l and makes him resort to his extra
ord i nary sk i ll as a smith—a skill famou s amon g all Teu
,
tonic tribes—i n the satis faction wh i ch he demands of

N i dadr there is no room for do u bt that the many years
,
he spent in olfdales he brooded on plans of revenge

,
63 2
aga i nst those who had most deeply insulted him and that ,
he made u se of his art to se cu re instruments for the car

ryi ng ou t o f the s e plans O f the glittering sword of
.
wh i ch N i dadr rob be d him Vol u nd says ( str 1 8 ) that he

,
.
had appli ed hi s greatest skill in making it hard and keen .
The sword must therefore have been one of the mos t

, ,
ex c ellent ones m enti oned in the songs of T eu tonic heath

endom Far down i n the m i ddle ages the songs and
.
,
Sagas w e re fond of attributing the b est and most famous

s words wielded by the i r heroe s to the sk i ll of Volund .
In the myths turned by Saxo into h i story there has ,
been m ent i oned a sword of a most remarkable kind of ,
M
u ntold value ( i n em pr e mi u m ) and attended by s u ccess
g ,
i n battle ( belli fortu na comi tar e tu r ) A hero whose

z .
name Saxo Latinised int o H otheru s ( see H i s t D e m p .

, .
1 1 0 ) got into enm i ty with Asa gods and the only -

,
means with whi ch he can h to cope wi th them is the

possess ion of this sword He also knows where to se
.
cu re i t and with its aid he succe eds in putt i ng T hor him

,
self and other gods to fl i ght .
In order to get pos session o f this sword H otheru s ,
had to make a j ourney which rem i nds us of the adv en

tu rou s expeditions already descr i bed to Gu dmu n d i -
mer s domain bu t with this di ff erence that he does not

’
, ,
need to go by sea along the coast of N or way in order to

g et there which circumstance is s u fficiently expla i ned by
,
the fact that according to Saxo H otheru s has hi s home

, ,
i n Sweden T he regions which H otheru s has to traverse

.
are pathless fu ll o f obstacles and for the greater part

, ,
continually in the cold embrace of the s everest frost .
63 3
M
MW
They are t raversed by mounta i n ridge s on wh i ch the -
cold is terrible and therefore they must be crossed as

,
“ ”
r ap i dly as poss i ble w i th the ai d of yoke stags The -
.
s word is kept concealed in a spew s a s u b t erranean cave , ,

“
and mortals c an s car c ely c ross it s threshold ( hau d ac i le
f
mor tali bus patere posse ) The be ing wh i ch is the ward
.
o f the sword in th i s cave is by Sax o cal led i mi ngu s .
The qu estion now is whether the s word smi t h i ed by

,
Vol u nd and the one fet ched by H otheru s are iden ti cal
or not The former is sm i th i ed in a winter c old cou ntry
.
-
beyond yrk wood where the mythic N i dad r suddenly

,
appears takes po ssess i on of it and the purpose for wh i ch

, ,
i t was made j u dg i ng from all c ircumstances was that

, ,
Volund wi t h its aid was to conquer the hated powers

which stronger than he the c hief o f elves had com
, , ,
pelled him to take refu ge to the o lf dales I f these .
po wers were Asas or Vans then it follows that Volu nd ,
m u st have tho u gh t himself able to give to his sword

qual i ties that could render it dangero u s t o the world of
gods alth ough the latter had Tho r s ha mmer and other
,
’
subterranean weapons at thei r di sposal The sword cap .
f ured by H otheru s i s said to pos sess those very qu alit i es

wh i ch we might look for i n the Vol u nd weapon and the ,
.
regions he has to traverse in order to get p ossession of it

r e fer by their cold and remoteness to a land sim i lar to
, ,
that where N i dadr surprises Volund an d takes from him ,
the dangerous sword .
As already stated N i dad at the same tim e captured

,
an a rm ring of an extraordinary kind If the saga abo u t

- .
V olund and his swo rd was connected with the saga frag -
M
M
men t t u rned into history by Saxo c oncerning H otherus
and the s word whose owner he becomes then we might
, ,
reasonably expect that t he prec ious arm ring too should -

, ,
appear in the latter saga And we do find it there . .
i mi ngu s, who g u ards the sword of victory also guards ,
a wonderful arm ring and through Saxo we learn what

-
,
q ual i ty makes this parti cular arm ring so precious that -

,
N idad does not seem to care abou t the other seven hun
dred whi c h he finds i n V olund s w orkshop Saxo says ’
.
E i dem ( i mi ng o ) qu oqu e armi llam esse mi ra qu ad am

“
M
arcanaqu e mr tu te poss ess ori s apes au g ere s oli tam In
'
'
.
the arm ring there dwells a wonderful an d mysteri ous

-
”
power whi c h increases the wealth of i ts possesso r
,
In .
other words it is a sm i th s work the rival of the ring

,
’
D rau pne r from wh i c h eight sim i lar rings drop every

,
nin t h n i ght This explains wh Vol u nd s smithy c ontains

.
’
s o many rings that N i dad exp r ,

esses hi s suspicious won
derm ent ( str .
There are therefore strong reasons for assuming that
MM
the sword and the ring which H othe ru s takes fro m ,
i mi ngu s are the same sword and ring as N i dad be

,
fore took from Vol u nd and that the saga having de , ,
p r i v e d Vol u nd of the opport unity of testing the qual i ty of

the weapon himself in conflict with the gods wanted to ,
i nd i c ate what i t really amounted to in a contes t w i th

Thor and hi s hammer by l etting the sword came into the
hands of H otheru s another foe of the Asas As we
,
.
now find s u c h arti c les as those captured by N i dad re
appearing in the hands of a certain i mi ngu s the ques ,
tion arises whether i mi ngu s is N i dad himself or some

63 5
M
MMM,
L atinising of i mi ngr
i mer .
’
TE
cal or are in some way connected with ea ch other see m s

to follow from the fact tha t t he one is sa i d t o possess
what the other is sa i d t o have captured
U T ON I C MY TH OLO GY
one of N i dad s s u bj e ct s ; for that they e i ther are i denti
i mi ngu s is a
i mu ng r son or descendant o f
N i dadr N idad r ( both variations are fou nd in Volu m

,
darkv i da ) has on the other hand his counterpart in the

,
Anglo Saxon N i dhad The king who in D eor t he

-
,
“ .
, ,
,
.
,
”
Scald s C omplaint fetters Vol u nd bears this name and
’
his daughter is called B eadohi ld in V olu ndarkvi da Bod
M
,
v i ld Previ ous investigat ors have already remarked that

.
B eadohi ld i s a more original for m than B odvi ld and ,
N i dhad than N i dad r N i dadr The name N i dhad is , .
c ompo sed of md ( neuter gender ) the lower world Hades

'
, , ,
and had a being pe rson forma speci es N i dhad literally

, , , ,
.
means the lo wer world b eing the Hades being Here ,

.
w it h we also have his mythical character determined A .
m ythical king who is c haracter i sed as the bei ng of the

,
lower world m u st be a s u bter ranean king

,
The my t h i c .
records extant speak of the s u bterra n ean king i mer

( the middle age saga s Gu dmu nd king of the G l itt er i ng
’
-
,
Fields ; see N os 45 who r u les over the realm of

.
,
t he well of wisdom and has the di s of fate as his kins '
w oman the pr i ncess o f the realm of Ur d s fo u ntain and

’
of the whole realm of death Wh i le we thus find on .

,
t he one hand that it i s a s u bter ranean king who cap

,
t u res Vol u nd s sword and arm ring we find on the oth e r

’
-
, ,
hand that when H otheru s is abou t to se cu re the i rresi sti

,
ble swor d and the w ealth producing ring he has to be -

,
~
63 6
M
MMM
TE U TON IC M YTH O L O G Y
take h i mself to the same winter cold count ry whe re all -

,
M
the traditions here d i scu ssed ( see N os 4 5 4 9 ) locate the .
-
descent to i mer s realm and that he through an eu

’
, ,
“ ”
tran c e scarcely approac hable for m ortals must pro ,
ce ed into the bosom of the earth after he has subd u ed a
i mi ngu s a son of
, i mer i mer being the one who
.
took possess i o n of the treasure it i s perfectly n atural ,
that his son should be i ts keeper .
This also expla i ns why N id adr in V olu ndarkvi da is

called the king of the N j ares A pe ople call ed N j ares .
existed in the mythology but not in reality T he only,

.
explan ation of the word is to be fou nd in the i mer

epithet which we disc overed in the variations N arv e
, ,
“
N j orv e N ar e N ere whi c h means he who binds
”
, , ,
They .
are called N j ares because the bel on g to the clan of

K
,
N j orv i N are
-
.
V olu ndarkv i da ( str 1 9 with the following pr ose addi

.
,
tion ) makes N i dad s qu een command V olund s knee

’ ’
s i new s to be cut O f such a cr u elty the older poem

.
,
M
“D eor the Sk ald s Compl aint ’
knows nothing T his .
,
poem relates on the other hand that N i dad bound V olund

, ,
with a fette r m ade from a strong sinew

s i thth an h i nne N i dh ad on
ne d e l e gd e
sv eonc re s e on o- b e n de .
T h ou gh V olun d is in the hi gh est d egree skilful he is ,
not able to free himself from these bon ds T hey are of .
magic kind and resemble t hose 6rl0 g thcetti r whi c h are

,
tied by i mer s kinsw oman Urd N i dad accor d ingly

’
.
63 7
M
h ere appears in
i mer N j orve s charac t er as binder

-
W i th th i s fetter of s i new we m u st c ompare the one with

wh i ch L oke was bound and that tough and elast i c one
,
whi c h was made in the lo wer world and wh i c h holds

And as Vol u nd—a cir
’
.
.
M
Fenrer bound unt i l Ragnarok .
c u mstance already made probable and one that shall be
fu lly proved below—a ct u ally regards himself as i ns u lted

,
M
by t he god s and has planned a terrible revenge against
,
them then it is an enemy of O din that N i dhad here b i nds

, ,
and the above c i ted paraphrase for the death d i s Urd
M
- -
, ,
“
employed by E gil Skallagri mson the kinswoman of the ,
b i nder ( N j orv a ) of O d i n s foe s ( see N o

’
als o .
bec om es appl i cable here .
The tradition concerning N i dhad s original identity ’
wi t h i m er fl ourished for a long t i me in the G erma n
MM
middle— age sagas and passed thence into the V i lk i nasaga
, ,
where the banished V olund became i mer s smi t h The ’

.
a u thor of V i lki nasaga c omp i l i ng both from German and

,
from N orse sou r c es saw Volund in the G erman re c ords

,
as a smi t h in i mer s employ and in the N orse sagas he

’
f ound h i m as N i dhad s smi t h and from the two synonyms

’
he made two persons .
The N orse form of the name most nearly correspond

ing to the Old English N i dhad is N i di the su bter “
,
ranean ,
and th at i mer als o amon g the N orse men was
known by this ep i thet is plain both from the Sol son g -
and from V oluspa T he skald of the Sol song sees in

.
-
“
the lower world N ide s sons seven together drinking
’
, ,
”
the c lear mead from the well of ring Reg i n The w ell -
.
“
of t he lower world with the clear mead is ”
i mer s ’
63 8
M T E U T ON I C M Y TH O L OG Y
M
fountain and the p araphrase r i ng R e gin is well suited
,
-
t o i mer who possessed amon g o t her treasures the won

,
de r fu l rin g of H otheru s V o lu spa speaks of N ide s

' '
’
.
mou ntain the H vergelmer mounta i n from which the

, ,
s u bterranean dragon N i dhog flies ( see N o and of .
N i de s plains where Si ndre s race have their golden hall

’ ’
.
Si ndre is as we know one of t he most celebrated prime

, ,
val smiths o f mythology and he smithi ed T hor s ligh t n i ng ,

’
hammer Frey s golden bo ar and O din s spear Gu ngne r

,
’
,
’
( Gylfag i nni ng ) D welling with his k i nsmen i n i mer s

’
.
realm he is one of the art i sts whom the ruler of the lo wer
,
world kept around him ( cp N o Several of the . .
M
wonderful things made by these a rti sts as for instan c e ,
the harvest god s Ski dbladner and golden boar and

-
’
, ,
Sif s golden loc ks are mani festly symbols o f grow t h or

’
,
vegetation The same is the . e t rue of the o rigin al

Te u ton i c primeval sm i ths as o Ri bhu i an s the an c ient ,
s m iths of Rigveda that they make not only imple m ents ,
and weapons but also grass and herbs O u t of the lowe r

, .
world gro ws the world tree and is kept continually fresh -

,
by the liquids of the sacred fountains In the abyss .
of the lower world and in the sea is ground that mo u ld

wh ich makes the fertility of i dgard possible ( see N o .
”
80 ) in the lower world are smithied those flowers and
those harvests which grow ou t of this mould and fr om t he ,
manes of the subterranean hor ses and from thei r foam i ng ,
bridles falls on the fields and meadows th at honey dew

,
-
”
which gives ha rvests to men .
F inally it m u st be pointed out that when N i dhad b i nds

,
V olu nd the f oe of the god s this is in harmo ny with

, ,
63 9
MM T E U T ONI C M Y TH OL OG Y
M
i mer s activity throughout th e epic of the myths as the
’
M
fr i end of the Asa gods and as the helpe r of Od in his
-
, ,
M
M
s i s t er s son in word and deed
’
,
.
F u rther ev i dences of i mer s iden tity with N i dhad ’
are to be fo u nd in the Svi pdag myth which I shall dis ,
cuss further on .
V af thru dnersmal states in strophe 2 5 that beneficent

r egi n ( makers ) created N y and N edan to c ou nt t i mes for
”
men this being said in c onnec tion with what it states
,
M
about N arv e N at and D ag In the Voluspa d warf l i st
, , .
-
we find that the chief of these reg i n was odsogner ,
whos e identity with i mer has been sh own ( see N o .
“
i mer c reated among other d warfs also ”
od so gner
'
N y and N edan ( V ol u spa These are therefore his

, , ,
sons at least in the sense that they are indebted to him

for their origin T he expressions to c reate and to be get
.
are very closely related in the mythol ogy Of N j ord .
“
V afth ru dner also says ( str 3 9 ) that wise reg i n created
.
”
h i m in Vanaheim .
As son s of N i de i mer the chan ges of the m oon have

-
be en called after his name N i di and c ollectively th ey have ,
been called by the plural N i dgar in a later time N i da/r r

, .
An d as N at s brothers they are enumerated al ong with her

’
as a stereotype d alliteration In V afthru dnersmal O din .
asks the wise giant whether he kn ows whence N at and

N i dj ar ( N ott med N i thom) cam e and V oluspa
'
‘
relates that in the d awn of time the high h oly god s ( reg i n)
se ate d themselves on thei r judgment — seats an d gave
names to N at an d N i dj ar ( N ott 0 k The
giving o f a n ame was in heathen times a s acre d act ,
64o
M
w hich implied an adoption in the name —

g i ver s family ’
or
circle of friends .
N i dj a/r also appe ars to have had his significati on of

moon changes in regard to the changes of m onths
-
.
According to Saxo ( see N o K i ng G orm saw i n the .
lower world twelv e sons of Gu dmu nd i mer all of “ -

,
”
noble appearance Again Solarlj od s skald says that
.
,
’
the sons of N ide whom he saw in the lower world were

, ,
“ ”
seven together From the standp oint of a nature
.
symbol the di fference i n these statements is explained by

the fact that the months of the year were cou nted as
twelve but in regard to seasons an d occupations the re
W
,
M
M
were seven divis i ons : g ar mdh udr free ma he a t m - - -
kmns km dar—
, , ,
e i n m s ol m s el m
-
.
,
-
,
mdnu dr -
Seven is the
.
, .
M
MMM
ep i c mythog i cal number of these N i dj ar T o the saga
-
m
.
in regard to these I sh all re rn in N o 9 4 . .
88 .
A GE N E RAL R E V I E OF I E R s N A ME S AN D E
’
P IT H E T S .
The names epithets and paraphrases with which the

, ,
king of the low er world the ward of the fountain of ,
w i sdom was designated according to the st at em ents

, ,
hi t herto made are the following : ,
( )
1 i mi r ( H odd mi mi r i mr i mi i me der-
, , ,
alte ) -
.
( 2 ) N arfi ( N arv i N j orm N orr N ari N ew)

’
.
, , , ,
( 3 ) N i di ( N i dhad N i dadr N i dadr N idu ngr ) , , , .
These three names which means the T hinker the , ,
Binde r the Subte rranean are p resum ably all ancient

, , .
64 1
M
M
TE U T ON IC M YTH O L OG Y
(4) ods og h i r, the mead — drinker .
H
“
pres u mably the one bou nteou s i n
( )
5 od dr of ,
ni r
”
treas u res .
G the one with whom Gaute ( O d i n )

'
( )
6 a u ta s pj alh ,
counsels .
Ring regin
'
B au g - reg i n, -
.
( 8 ) Godmu h dr the name by whi c h ,

i mer appears
in Christian middle age sagas of N orse or i gin T o -
.
MM
these names may still be added
“ ”
( )
9 F i m bu lthu lr the great teacher
, ( the lecturer ) .
H av amal ( str 1 42 ; cp str 80 ) says that Fi mbu lthu lr

. . .
“ ”
drew ( fadi ) the r u nes that gi nn r eg i n made ( g ordo )
,
-
them that is to say in the older sense o f the word pre

, , ,
pared them for u se and that O din ( hr optr rau gna ) carved
,
( rei s t) them In the strophes immediately preceding

.
,
it i s said that O din by self sac rifice be got runes ou t of

,
-
,
the deep and fimbu l songs from B e i stla s brother These

-
’
.
statements j oined with th ose whi c h mention how the

,
runes given by i mer were sprea d over the world and ,
were taught by various c lan chiefs to di ffer ent c lans ( see -
No . make it evident that a pe rfect myth had been

developed in rega rd to the origin of the runes and the
spreading o f runi c knowledge i mer as the possessor .
,
of the well o f wisd om was the invent or or s ource of the

,
runes When Si grdri fu mal ( str 1 3 ) says that they

. .
dropped ou t of H oddro fner s ho rn thi s is figuratively ’

, ,
speaking the same as Hav amal tells when it st ates that

, ,
Fi mbu lthu l carved them The oldest po wers ( gi nn .
reg i n ) and O din afte rwards developed and sprea d them .
At the time of T acitus and p robably one or two cen ,
642
tu ri es earlie r the art of wr i t i ng was known among th e

,
Teutons The run i c i nscr i pt i on s that have come dow n

.
to our time bear ev i dence of a Greek Roman origin -

.
By this we do not mean to deny th at there were runes

—at least non phoneti c on es—before them The many
,
-
.
kinds of magic runes of wh i ch our mythic rec ords speak

are perhaps reminiscences of them At all even ts we .
must distinguish the latter from the common runes for

writing and also from the many k i nds of c ypher runes
,
-
the keys of which are to be sought in the c omm on pho

netic rune row -
.
( )
1 0 B i mi B y the side of the golden hall of Si ndre
MM
r r .
,
“ ”
Vol u spa ( str 3 6 ) mentions the gi ants B ri mer s bj ér
.
’
hall which is in Okélmr B j orr i s a synonym for mead

'
’
.
,
“
and ale ( Alv i sm Okélmr means the place where
'
.
,
cold is not fou n d The re ference is to a g i ant d welling

.
in the lower world who presides over mead and whos e ,
h all i s situated in a doma i n to wh ic h c old cann ot pen e

[
trate T he myth has put th i s g i ant in c onnec ti o n with

.
Y mer who in relative opposition to him i s called Lei r
M
,
bri mi r clay Brimer ( Fj ollsv i nnsmal)

,
- These c irc um .
stances refer to i mer So also Si grdri fu mal ( str . .
“
where it is sa i d that O din st ood on the m ountain w ith
B ri mer s s w ord m gg r ) when i mer s head
’
( i i i
’
B r s e a/
,
for the first time talked with him The expression .
“B ri mer s sword ” is ambiguous

’
As a head was on c e .
used as a weapon against H eimdal a s word and a head ,
can according to Skaldskaparmal be employed as para

, ,
“
phrases for ea ch other whence B ri mer s sword may be ” ’
,
“ ”
the same as i mer s head ( Skaldskaparmal 6 9 Cod
’
,
.
643
M
M
H .
; cp . Skaldskaparmal 8
and Gylfag , Si grdri
, .
,
M
f u mal certa i nly also em ploys the phrase in its literal sense
o f a fam ous m ytholog i c al sword for in the case i n ques , ,
ti on it represents O din as fully armed w i th helmet on

, ,
hi s hea d ; an d the most excellent mythologi c al s w ord ,
a cc ording to an added l i ne in strophe 2 4 o f Gri mnersmal

( Cod bo re B ri mer s n ame j u st as the same s word
.
’
in the Ge rman saga has the name i mi nc ( B i te rolf v .
1 7 6 in V i lk i nasaga changed to
,
i mmu ng ) dou b t less ,
beca u se it at one t i me was in i me r N i dhad s po ssess i on ; -

’
for the Ge rman saga ( B i terolf 1 5 7 ; cp V i lki nasaga ch , .

, .
2 3 ) remembers that a sword called by i mer s name was ’
the same celebrated wea pon as that made by Vol u nd

( Weiland in B i terolf ; V eli nt in V i lk i nasaga) and h ence ,
the same work of art as that which according to V i lk i na ,
saga N i dhad captured from him during hi s stay in Wolf

,
d ales .
T HE M E A D M YT H .
We have seen ( N os 7 2 7 3 ) that the mea d which was

.
'
,
’
brewe d from the three subterranean l i quids destroys the

e ffects of death and gives new vitality to the departed and ,
that the same liquid is absor bed by the roots of the world
tree and in its trunk is distilled into that sap which gives
,
the tree eternal life From the stem the mead rises into
.
the foliage of the crown whose leaves n ouri sh the fai r ,

”
give r of the sparkling drink in Gri mnersmal sym ,
boli sed as Heidrun from the streams of whos e teats the

,
644
MM
TE UTON I C MY TH O L O GY
mead — horns in Asgard are filled for the e i nherj es T he .
morn in g dew wh i ch fall s from Y gdrasil d own into the

dales of the lower w orld c ontains the same elements .
F rom the bri dle of Ri m faxe and from the horses of the
valkyries some of the same dew also falls in the valleys
of i dgard ( see N o The flowers receive i t in thei r
.
I
chali c e s where the bees extract it and thus is produced
, ,
the earthly honey which man uses and from which he ,
bre ws hi s mead ( cp Gylfag ch . Thus the latte r .

, .
too contains some of the strength of i mer s and Urd s ’ ’
fo u nta i ns ( v ei gar—see N os 7 2
/ and thus it happens .
,
that i t is able to stimulate the m i nd and insp i re poe try and

s ong—nay used w i th prudence it may sugges t excellent
, ,
exped i ents in impo rtant emergencies ( cp Tacitus Ger .

,
‘
mani a) .
Thus the world tree i w ong the Teu tons as it is

-
,
among their k i nsm en the Iranians ( see below ) a mead ,
tre e . And so it was called by the latter possibly also by ,
the former T he n ame mi otvidr with wh i ch the world

.
,
M
tree is mentioned in V oluspa ( 2 ) and whose origin and
m eaning have been so much discussed is from a mytho ,
logical standpoint satisfactorily explained i f we assume

that an older word mi bdwdr the mead tree passed int o
’ '
-
, , ,
the wor d simil ar in sound mi btmdr the tree of fate ( from

’ '
, ,
mi bt measure ; cp mj ci tu dr in the sen se of fate the power

' '
, .
,
whi c h gives measure and the Angl o Saxon m e te d O ld

,
-
,
Sa xon metod the gi ver of measure fate providence )

, , ,
.
The sap of the world tree and the vei gar o f the horn
-
of the lower world are not however precisely the same , ,
mead as the pu re and u ndefiled li quid from i mer s ’
é4s
founta i n that which O d i n i n h i s you t h thro u gh self

, ,
sacrifice was pe rm i tted to taste nor i s i t prec i sely the

, ,
same as that c on c ern i ng the possessi on o f whi ch the

p owers o f mythology lon g contended before i t finally , ,
through O d i n s advent u res at Su ttu ng s came to Asgard

’ ’
,
.
The ep i sodes of this confl i ct c once rning the mea d w i ll

be given as my invest i gation progresses so far as they ,
can be d i scovered Here we mus t first exa m ine what the

.
heathen records have preserved in regard t o the c losing

episod e in wh i ch the confli ct was ended i n favo u r o f
Asgard What the Younger Edda ( B ragarmdu r ) tells
.
abo u t it I mus t for the presen t leave entirely unnoti c ed ,
lest the investigat i on shou ld go a stray and become

entirely abo rtive .
The chief sources are the H avamal strophes 1 0 4 1 1 0 -

,
and st rophes 1 3 and 1 4 S u bo rdinate sources are G ri m

.
ne rsmal ( 5 0 ) and Y ng li ng atal To th i s m u st be
M
added half a strophe by Eyvind Skaldaspi ller ( Skaldska
p a rm,al c h 2 ) .
The statements of the chief source have strange to say ; ,
been almost wholly unobserved wh i le the myth olog i sts ,
have confined their atenti on to the later presen tation in

B ragaraedu r wh i c h cannot be reconciled w it h the earlier
,
accou nts and wh i ch from a mythological standp oint i s

,
worse than worthless In 1 87 7 just i c e was for t he first

.
t i m e don e to H av amal i n the excellent analysis o f the

strophes in qu estion made by Prof B Richert in his . . .
,
“
Attempts at explaining the obs cu re passages not hitherto
”
u nders t oo d in the poetic Edda .
F rom H av amal alone we get directly or i ndirectly the

following : 6 6 4
The g i ant Su ttu ng also c alled Fj alar has acqu i red

, ,
po ssess i on of the precious m ead for which O din longs .
The Asa father resolves to capt u re it by c u nning

-
.
There i s a feast at Fj alar s Guests bel onging to the

’
.
clan of ri mthu rses are gathered i n his halls ( H av amal ,
B esides these we must imagi ne that Su ttu ng

Fj alar s own nearest kith and kin are present The
’
.
mytholo gy speaks of a separate c lan ent i rely d i stinct from

the ri mthu rses known as Su ttu ngs symr ( Alvi smal Skir
'
, ,
n er smal; s ee N o who se c h i ef must be Su ttu ng

.
F j al ar as hi s very name ind i cates The Su ttu ng k i n and

,
.
the ri mthu rses are accordingly gathered at the banquet

on the day in qu est i on .
An hon oured guest i s expected and a golden high seat ,

-
prepared for him awaits his arrival F rom the continu a .
tion of the story we le arn that the expe cted guest is

the woo er or betrothed of Su ttu ng Fj alar s da u ghter -
’
Gu nlad On that night the wedding of the giant s dau gh

’
.
ter is t o be celebrated .
O d i n arrives but in disguise

,
He is received as the
.
guest of honou r and is c ondu c ted to the gold e n h i gh seat

,
-
.
It follows of necessity that the gu i se assumed by O din ,
when he des c ends to the mortal foes of the gods and of

himsel f i s that of the expec ted lover Who the latter
, .
was H av amal doe s not state u nless s t rophe 1 1 0 5 like

, , ,
s o many other passages is purpo sely amb i gu ou s and con

,
tains his n ame a qu estion whi ch I shall consider later

, .
After the adven t ure has ended happ i ly O din looks ,
back with pleasure upon the success with wh i ch he

assumed the guise of the stranger and played his part
647
( str . e l k eyp tz li tur h eh e c v e l no ti th : F rom

”
the well ch anged exterior I reaped great advantage .
In regard to the mythological meaning of li i r see N o 9 5 ,

.
T he expressi on keyptr li tr which literally means pu r “

,
”
c hased appearance may seem strange bu t kau pa mean s
, ,
“ “ ” “
not only to buy bu t also to c hange , exchange ,
kaupa klwdu/m vi d ei nn m eans to change clothes with

r
”
some one O f a q u een who exchanged her son with a
.
slave wom an it i s said that she keyptr u m s ome vi d c m

'
bdtt But the cause of O d i n s j oy i s not t hat he s u cce ss

.
’
fully carried ou t a cunning trick but that he in this way ,
accomplished a deed of inest i mable v al u e for Asgard and

for man ( str 1 0 7 4 .and he i s sorry that poo r Gun
, ,
lad s tru st in him was betrayed ( str This i s a

’
.
c h aracter isation of O din s pe rson ality

’
.
N o r doe s Hav amal tell us what hinders the real lover

from putting in his appearance and th warting O d i n s ’
plan wh i le the latter is a cting hi s part ; bu t of th i s we

'
learn something from anothe r source which we shall ,
consider below .
T he adventure undertaken by O din is extr emely dan

g e r ou s and he ran
,
the risk of los i ng his head ( str 1 0 6 .
,
F or this reason he has before entering Su ttu ng ,
Fj alar s halls secured an egress throu gh whi c h he m u st

’
, ,
be able to fly and i f poss i ble with the skaldi c mead as hi s

’
, ,
bo oty There is no admittance for everybody to t he

.
rocky abode where the mead— treasure so much desired by

all pow e rs i s kept The dwell i ng is as Eyvind tells u s
.
, ,
sit u ated in an abyss and the doo r is as another record , ,
tells us wat ched B u t O d i n has let Rate bore

, .
648
TE U T ON IC M Y TH OLO G Y
a tunnel thro u gh the m ountain large enough to give him

r oom to ret i re secretly ( str In regard to R ate
.
,
see No . 82 .
When the pretended love r has seated h i msel f in the

golden high seat a conversation begins around the ban
”
-
,
q u et table It is necessary for O din to guard well his

.
words for he represents another person well kn own

, ,
there and if he is not ca u tious he may be discovered It

, .
is also necessary to be el oqu ent and winning so that he ,
may c harm Gu mlad and se cure her devotion for w i thout ,
her knowledge he cannot gain h i s end that of carrying ,
away the s u pply of inspiration mea d kept at Su ttu ng s

-
’
.
O din also boasts ( str 1 0 3 1 0 4 ) that on this occasion he

.
,
proved h i mself mmmgr and mdlu gr and margfrodr and

eloquent for the real i sation of his plan .
D uring the progress of the fea st the guest had his

glass filled to hi s hono u r with the precious mead h e
“
desired to obtain Gu mlad gave me on the golden seat
.
”
the drink of the preciou s mead ( str .
Then the marriage ceremony was performed and on ,
the holy ri ng Gu nlad took to O d i n the oath of faith

‘
fulness ( str .
It wou ld have been best for the Asa father i f the ban -
quet had ended here and the bridegroom and the br i de

,
ha d been permitted to be take the m selves to the bridal

c hamber But the j olly feast is c on tinued and the h o rns
.
are frequ ently filled and emptied H avam al does not .
state th at the part played by O din requ i red him to be

c ontinually drinking ; but we shall show that Gu nlad s
’
wooe r was the champion dr i nker of all mythology and in ,
649
TE UTON IC M Y TH O L OGY
the sagas he has many epithets referring to this quality .
“
O d i n became on h i s own c onfess i on drunk very dr u nk , ,
” “
at Fj alar s The hem of forgetfu lness which steals
’
.
”
one s wit and underst and i ng hovers over his drink ( str
’
.
1 3,
In this c ondition he let dr op words which were not
t h ose of caution—words which s owed the seed of su spi
cion in the minds of some of his hearers who were less
drunk He dropped words which were not spelt with
letters of intell i gen c e and good sense—words which di d
.
not su i t the part he was playing .
At last the banquet comes to an end and the bride ,
groo m is permitted to be alone with the br i de in that

rocky hall wh i ch is their bed chamber There is no doubt
-
.
“
that O din won Gu nlad s hea rt the heart of that good
’
,
”
woman wh om I took in my embrace ( str W i th .
her help he sees his purpose atta i ned and the mea d in his
possess i on But the suspicions whi c h his reckless w ords
.
had sown bear fruit in the night and things happen which ,
H av amal does not give a full acc ount of but of a k i nd ,
which would have prevented O din from getting ou t of -
the giant gard had he not had Gu nlad s assistance ( str

-
,
’
.
O din was obl i ged to fight and rob Gu mlad o f a

kinsman ( str 1 1 0 —ha1m let grcetta Gu mzlbdu ; see Ri ch
’
.
.
,
p T aking the supply of mead with him he takes

fl i ght by the way Rate had O pened for him—a dangerous
.
,
“
way for above and below me were the paths of the
,
”
giants ( str .
It seems to have been the custom that the w edding

gu ests on the morning of the next day went to the door
650
TE U T ON IC MY TH OLO G Y
of the brid al ch ambe r to hear how the newly m ar ri ed man

- -
was getting on i n hi s new capacity of husband Accord .
ing to Havamal Su ttu ng s gu ests the ri mthu rses observe

,
’
, ,
th i s custom ; but the events of the n i ght change thei r

inq u ires into the questi on whether Od in had s u cceeded in
escap i ng to the gods or had been slain by Su ttu ng ( str .
Thus far Havamzi l We must now examine Gri mners

'
M
.
mal ( 1 5 0 ) and Yngli ngatal whos e c onnecti on with

the myth concerning O din s exploit in the hom e of Sut
’
tung Fj alar has not hitherto been n oticed
M
- .
O din s ays in Gri mnersmal
Sv i th arr Svi thri r

oc
e r c c b e t at Sau c c m i m i s
o c d u lth a c c t h ann i nn aldna i otun,
th a e r e c i thv i thni s v arc

i n s m ae ra b u rar
o rdi n n e i nb ani .
Se i dur I was called at Sokmi mer s and

Svi dmr
'
and
’
,
presented myself to the ancient giant at the time when ,
”
alone became the slayer of i dvi tmr s fam ous son
'
’
.
Yngli ngatal ( )
1 5 reads
E n D ag skj arr
D u rn i s n i di a
s a v ordu dr
l
Sv e g di v e lti ,
th a e r i s t e i n
hi nn s térg e di
D u ls a k onr
e pt dv erg i hlj op ,
65 1
TE U T ON I C MY TH O L O GY
0 k bj artr
s al
th e i rra Sb k k m i m i s
j o t u n b yg g d r
v i d j o ft i g e i n .
’
T he day shy h all gu ard of D urni r s descen d ants d eceived
- -
Sveg di r when he the dauntless son of D u ls i ran after t he

, ,
dwarf into the roc k and wh en the sh i ning giant inhabit ed

,
-
h all of Sfikkmi mi r s kinsmen yawned against the ch i ef

’
.
( In regard to D u l
s i see N o , .
What attracts attention in a compa ri s on of these two

strophes is that the epithet Sbkkmi mi r i s common to both
’
of them while this name does not occu r elsewhere in

,
the wh ole O ld N orse literature .
In both the strophes Sékkmi mi r is a gi ant Crim mers .
“
mal calls him i nn d i dna i otnn the ancient giant wi t h ”
, ,
which we may compare O din s words in H avamal ( 1 0 4 ) ’
e nn aldna i o tnn e c s otta

“the anci ent gi ant I sought
, ,
when he visited that giant chief to whos e clan Su ttu ng -

,
Fj alar the pos sessor of the skald mead be longed

,
-
, .
In both the strophes the gi ant Sokkmi mi r is the lord

and ch i ef of those giants to whom according to G rim ,
nersmal Od in comes
,
and outside of whose hall doo r
,
-
,
according to Yngli ngatal a certain Sv eg di r is dec eived

,
by the wa rd of the hall This pos i tion of Sokkmi mi r

.
in rel ati on to his surroundings already appears so fa r as ,
Gri mnersmal is concerned from the expression at Sau cc ,
“
mi mi s which m eans not only with Sokmi mer but also
”
, ,
“at okmi mer s ” that i s

S to say with that group of kins
’
, ,
men and in that abode where Sokmi mer is chief and

rule r
. It i s with this giant chief and in his rocky h all -
, ,
652
th at
( S v i
M
M
d ri r ) the
TE UTONIC MY TH OLO GY
i dvi tni r and hi s son soj ou rns when O din visits

him presents h i mself to him and by the n ame 5 7213e
,
acts part o f another

connection causes i dv i tner s death The same quality
of Sokmi mer as clan chief and lord appears in the Y ng
-
li ngatal str ophe in the form that the hall outside of

,
person
’
,
and in this
.
,
whose door Sv eg der was de ceived i s the i rra Sékkmi mi s , ,
that i s to say is the abod e of Sokmi mer s kinsmen and

,
’
“
househ old i s their g i ant home ”
-
Thus all the giants
.
,
who dwell there take their c lan name from Sokmi mer -
.
The appellation Sékkmi mi r is manifestly not a name in

the strictest sense but one of the epithets by whi ch th i s
,
ancient giant -ch i ef could be recognised in connection wi t h
W
mythologi cal circums tances We shall point out these .
mythological circumstances further on .
M
T h e Yngli ngatal strophe gives us in fact another
M
, ,
epithet for the same mythic person What the latter h alf .
of the str ophe calls the hall of Sokmi mer s kinsmen and ’
household the former half of the same strophe calls the

,
M
hall of D nrni r s descen dants T hus Sokmi mer and D
’
.
ni r are the same person .
D nrni r on the other hand is a va riation of D nri nn

, ,
( p
c . the parallel variati o ns D v aln i r and D v ali nn ) Of .
D uri nn we alrea dy know ( see N o 5 3 ) that he is one of .
the an cient beings of mythology who in time s m orning ’

,
together with ods ogni r i m er and in a cc ordance w it h

-
the resolve o f the high holy powers created clans of

-
,
artists One of the artists created by D urin and whose

.
,
father he in this sense became is according to Voluspa , ,
j d vi tni r R ask and E i l have f philo

’
b .
g ss on or
653
MM
M
M
M
TE U TON IC MY THOLO GY
logical re asons assumed th at i dvi tni r and

'
I ddvi tni r
are va riat i ons of the same name and des i gnate the same ,
person ( mj edr in the dative mi di ) It here appears that

’
.
,
the facts c on firm this assumption D nri nn an d j ii dvi t .
ni r in v olus pa correspon d to D nrni r and

, i dvi tni r i n
t he str ophes concerning Sékkmi mi r .
j bdv i tni r m eans the mead wolf he who captured the

’
-
,
mead celebrated in mythology As O d i n having assum ed .

,
the name of another visits the abode of the des cendants

of D urner—
,
Sokmi mer he accordingly visits tha t rock y

,
home where that g iant dwells who has secu red and
,
possesses the mend desired by O din .
Yngli ngatal reports as we have seen th at a ce rtai n

, ,
Sveg di/r was d eceived when he wa s ou tside of the doo r

"
of the hall of the kinsmen of D u rner Sokmi mer H e who -

.
deceived him was the doorkeeper of the hall The door .
appeared to be already open and the giant inhabi ted“ ”

-
,
“ ”
hall yawned fes t ively illuminat e d ( bj artr ) toward
Svegder .I f we may believe Yngli ngatal s commentary ’
on the strophe the hall ward had called to him and said
,
-
that O din was inside The strophe represents Svegder

.
as running after the hall ward that is to say toward the

-
d oo r in the rock eager to get in What a fte rw

, ,
,
ards .
happe ned Yngli ngatal does not state ; but that Sveg der
did not gain the point he desir ed but fell into some snare ,
lai d by the d oorkeeper follows from the expressi on that

,
he was dec eived by him and th at this caused his death,
follows from the fact that the pu rpos e of the strophe is

to tell how his li fe ended Yngli ngasaga says that he .
g o t into the rock but never

,
ou t of it T he rest th at this .
654
saga has to say of Svegder—th at he was on a j ou rn ey

“T kl n ” “ ”
to the old Asga rd i n yr a d to find O di n the old
—
, ,
Gy g l f a i nn i ng s K ing
’
Priam has nothing to do with the
my t hology and with Yngli ngatal but is of cou rse import ,
ant in regard to the Euhemerist i c hypothesis in regard to

the des cent o f the Asas from T yrkland ( Troy ) on which ,
the autho r o f Yngli ngatal l i ke that of Gylfagi nni ng bases

, ,
h i s w ork .
The va ri ations Sveg di r Svi dg i r and Sv ei g di r are use d

, ,
inter change ably in regard to the same pers on ( cp Y ng .
li ngatal 1 4 1 5 ; Fornald ii 2 ; Fornm i 2 9 ; and E g i ls

, ,
.
, . .
, .
so n 7 9 6
, , Svi g di r seem s to be the oldest of these
forms The words means the great drinker ( E gi lsson
.
,
Szi gdi r was one of the most popular her oes of

'
“
mythology ( see the treatise on the Ivalde and
was already in hea t hen times reg arded as a race he ro of -
the Swedes In Yngli ngatal ( 1 4 ) Sv i thi od i s called

.
“
g e i r i S vi g di s S v,
i g di r s d omain
’
At the same time .
,
Sv eg di r is an epithet of O d i n But it shou ld be borne

in m i nd that several of the names by w
.
hich Od in is
designated belong to him only in a secon dary and trans
ferred sen se and he has assumed them on occasions when
,
he did not want to be recognised and wanted to represent ,
s ome on e else ( cp Gri mnersm 49 ) wh os e name he then

.
,
ass u med .
When O din visits the abode of D uri nn Sok kmi mi r

'
-
,
where the preci ous mead is preserved he c alls himself , ,
according to Gri mnersmal Svi dwrr Svi dri r N ow it is , ,

.
the case with this name as with Svi g di r that it was c on ,
nec te d with Sv i thi od Skaldskaparmal ( 6 5 ) says that

.
655
Sv i thi od w e kallat af nafni Sv i dnrs , Sv i thi o d was named

”
af t er the name of Svi du r .
Hen c e ( 1 ) the name Sv i dnrr like Sveg di r Sv i g di r ,

-
,
belongs to O din but only in a secondary sense as one

, ,
as sumed or bo rrowed from an ot her pe rson ; ( 2 ) Svi dnrr ,
l i ke Sv eg di r Svi g di r was or i ginally a myth i c person

-
, ,
whom tradit i on c onnected as a race hero with Sv i thi od .
From all this it appears that the names facts and the , ,
chain of events connect partly the strophes of Gri mners

mal and Yngli ngatal with each other and pa rtly both of ,
th es e with H av amal s a c count of O din s adventu re to se

’ ’
c u re the mead and this c onnection fu rnish es ind u bitable

,
evidence that th ey c oncern the s am e episod e in the myth

ol og i c al ep i c .
In the mythic fragme nts hand ed down to ou r t i me are

fo u nd other epithets wh i ch l i ke Svi g di r refer to some
, ,
mythical person who played the part o f a champion

drinker and was connected wi t h the myth co n c erning
,
mead and brewing T h ese epithets are Olvaldi Olmodr

’
.
, ,
and Su mbi finnak on nng r Snmblns phi nnoru m rex in ,
Sax o Su mbi as a c omm on nou n m eans ale fea st In

.
, , , .
“ ”
the F inn king Su mbl t hese i deas are personified just
-
,
as the s oma drink in the Veda songs i s person i fied in Ki ng

-
Soma In my treatise on the Iv alde ra c e I shall revert

.
,
to the pers on who had these epithets in order to m ake his ,
myth olog i cal position clear Here I shall simply po i nt .
o u t the f ollowing : H av ama l ( 1 1 0 ) makes one of the

ri mthu rs es Su ttu ng s guests say
’ :
, ,
B au g e i th O d i nn
hyg g c c at u nn i t h afi ;
656
hv at l
h an s tryg d o m
sca t ru a ?
Su ttu n g s v i k i nn
h an le t s u m b f rali
oc g rae tta Gu nn lau do .
The s t rophe m akes the one who says th i s blame O din

for break i ng the oath he took on the r i ng an d thus show ,
ing h i m self un worthy of being tru sted in the prom i ses

and oat hs he m i ght give in the fu ture whereupon it is ,
stated that he left Su ttu ng deceitfu lly robbed of su mbi

( Su mbl) and Gu nlad in tears over a lost kinsm an
, .
The express i on that Su ttu ng was deceitfu lly robbed of

s nm bl to be intell i g i ble req u ires no other interpretati on
, ,
than the one which lies near at hand that Su ttu ng was ,
treacherou sly deprived of the mead But as the skald .
might have designated the drink los t by Su ttu ng in a m o re
M
defin i te manner than with the word su mbl and as he still ,
chose this word whi c h to his hearers fam i liar with the
, ,
mythology must have called to m i nd the personal Su mbl

,
( O lv aldi Sv i g d i r ) it
,
i s not only poss i ble bu t as it s eems , ,
to me even probable that he purposely chose an a mb i gu

, ,
ous w ord and wanted thereby to refer at the same time to

,
the deceitfully capt u red mead and to the intended son ,
i n law de c e i tf u lly lost ; and this seems to me to be corrob

-
orated by the juxtaposition of Su ttu ng s and Gu nlad s ’ ’
loss The common noun s nmbl s double meaning as

.
’
“ ”
mead and dr i nk feast has also led
-
B Richert ( page . .
1 4 in h i s treatise mentioned abo ve ) to ass u me that the

“
express i on was purposely chosen in s u ch a manner that the
”
mean i ng sho u ld not be entirely l i mited and defini t e and ,
he adds : A s i milar i ndefini teness of statement which ,
657
fou nd in the old son gs
TE
M
may give rise t o abi gu i ty and play of words is frequ en t ly

eanwh i le I do not i nclude th i s
.
probab i l it y i n my ev i den c e and do not present it as t he

basis of any con cl u sions .
T he name Su ttu ng shows in its very form th at it i s a

pa t r onymic and although we can fu rnish no linguist i c
,
ev i dence that the original form was Snrtu ngr and c harac
,
,
,
teri sed i ts poss ess or as son of Snrtr st i ll there are o t her ,
facts which prove that s u ch was act u ally the case The .
very circumstance that the skaldic drink which came in t o

Su ttu ng s pos session is paraphrased w i th the express i on
’
sylg r Su r f s wi tar
“ ”
the drink of Surt s ra c e ( Fo m ’
,
manna iii,
points that way and the ques ti on i s se tt led
.
completely by the hal f strophe quoted in the Y o u nger

-
Edda ( i . and c omposed by E yvind Skaldaspi ller ,
whe re the skald i c potion is c alled

h i nn Su rt s
er
o r s o kk délu m
f arm ag n u dr
flj u g an di b ar .
the drink which ,

O din flyi ng bore fro m Surt
’
s deep
When O d in had c ome safely ou t of Fj alar Su ttu ng s -

’
deep rocky halls and on eagle pinions was flying w it h

, ,
- -
,
t he precious mead to Asgard it was a c cordingly t hat ,
deep in which Surtr d wells which he left below him and

, , ,
the giant race who had be en drinking the mead be fore

that time while it was still in Su ttu ng s pos session was
,
’
“
S u rt s race F rom th i s it foll ows that t he anci ent giant
’
.
”
,
wh om O din visited for the purpose of robbing his circle

658
M M
MM TE U T ON I C MY TH OLO GY
of kinsmen of the skaldic mead is none o t her th an th at ,
M
being so well known in the mythology Su rtr and that , ,
Su rtr is identical with D nri nn ( D nrni r ) and Sokkmi mi r , .
“
T his also explains the ep it het Sékkmi mi r the i me r ,
”
of the deep Sékk in Sbkk i mi r refers to 5 5 k]; in
‘
-
.
Sblzkdali r S u rt s d omain and that Surt c ould be ass o

’
’
, ,
M
c i ated with i mer i s from the standpoint of O ld N or se
M
,
poe t i cs perfectly just i fiable from the fact that he appears

in time s morning as a c o—
,
’
w orker with i me r and ,
operating w i th him as one of the forces of creation in the

s ervice of the oldest h i gh holy powers ( see N o -
.
Consequently i mer and Sokmi mer ( Su rtr D uri nn ) -
created the clans of a rtists .
Snr tr D uri nn D nrni r Sokkmi mi r are therefor e

, , , , , ,
synonyms and des i gnate the same pe rson H e has a son

, .
who is desi gnated by the synonyms Su ttu ng r Fj ala w , ,
j odvi ti i i r ( i dvi tni r ) Su ttu ng has a son slain by

'
O din when the latter robs him of the mead of insp i ration
, ,
M
and a daughter Gu nlad The giant maid de c eived and
, .
,
deplored by Od in i s consequently the daughter of Surt s

,
’
son .
Li ght i s thus shed on the myth concerning the gian t

who reapp ears in Ragnarok and there wields the sword ,
whi ch fells Frey and hurls the flames which consume the
world It is found to be c onne cted with the myth con
.
cerning the oldest events of mytholog y In time s morn ’
ing we find the fire being Surt—the representative o f

.
—
-
s u bterranean fire as a creative force by the side o f

i mer who is a friend of the gods and whos e kinsman
, ,
he must be as a descendant of Ymer Both work .
659
MM
TE UTON IC MY TH OLO GY
together in peace for similar purposes and un d er the d ir ce

tion of the gods ( V élu spa 9 B u t then something
M
, ,
oc curs whi ch interrupts the am i cable relations i me r .
and Surt no longer work together The fountai n of .
c reative f o rce the mead of wisdom and insp i rat i on is in

, ,
the exclusive possessi on of i mer and he and Urd are ,
t ogether the ruling p owers in the lowe r world T he .
fire giant the primeval artist is then with his race
M
-
, ,
“ ”
relegated to the d eep dales situated to the southw ard
,
( V élu spa di ffi cult of access and dangero u s for the

, ,
g ods to visit and pres u mably con ceived as located deeper

,
down than the lower world governed by i me r and Urd .
That he t ried to get possesi on o f a part of Odrwri r “ ”
follows from the position he afterwards oc c upi es in the

myth concerning the m ead When daylight again falls on
.
him from the mythic fragme nts ext ant his son has cap ,
tu re d and is in p ossess i on of a s u pply of mead which ,
m u st originally have c ome from i mer s fountain and ’
been chiefly composed of its liquid for it i s skaldic mead , ,
it too and can als o be designated as Odrceri r ( H avamal

, ,
“
while the son is called the mead wolf the one -
,
who has robbed and con ceals the pre c i ous drink Odin .
c aptures his mea d by cunning the grandson o f the fire ,
gi ant is slain the devoted l ove of the s on s da u ghter is

,
’
be trayed and the husband selected for her i s deceived

,
and removed All this thou gh done for purposes to

'
.
,
b enefit god s and men demands and receives in the mytho

,
l ogy i ts terrible retribution It is a trait peculiar to the

.
whole Teu tonic mythology that evil deeds wi t h a good ,
purpose even when the obj ect is att ained prod uce evil
, ,
660
M
r esults which develop and fin ally sm other the fruits o f

,
the goo d p u rpose Thus Surt has a reason for appearing

.
in Ragnarok as the ann i h i lator of the world of the Asas ,
when the latter is to make room for a realm of j ustice .
The flames of r evenge are hurled upo n creati on .
I have already above ( N o had oc c asion to speak

.
of the choicest sword of mythology the one which ,
V olund smith i ed and i mer captu red and which was ,
fetc hed from the lower world by a hero whose name

Saxo L atinised into H otheru s In my treat i se on the .
“
”
I v alde race it shall be demonstrated who this H otheru s
,
was in myth ology and that the s word was delivered by

,
him to F rey Lokasenna ( 42 ; cp Gylfag

. informs
. .
,
us that the lovesick Frey gave the s word to the giant

Gymer for his bride After coming into the hands of the
.
giants it is preserved and watched over until Ragnarok by

E gg ther ( an epithet meaning sword watcher ) who in -
,
the Ironwood is the shepherd of the monster herd of
M
L oke s progeny wh i ch in the last days shall harry the
’
world and fight in R agnarok ( V élu spa 3 9 When ,
R agnarok i s at hand a giant comes to this sword watcher -
in the gu i se of the red coc k the symbol of the destructive

,
fire Th i s giant i s Fj alar ( V élu spa

. and that the ,
p u rpose of his visi t i s to secure the sword follows from

the fa ct that the best s wor d of mythology is shortly a fter
wards i n t he hand s of his father Surt ( V élu spa 5 0 ) when ,
the latter comes from the sou th with his b and ( the son s
of Su ttu ng not of u spel) to take part in the last con
,
fl i ct and destroy with fire that part of the world that

c an be destroyed F rey is slain by the swo rd which was
.
once his own

6 61
.
In this m anner the myth abou t the mead and that abo u t
the Vol u nd sword are kn i t t ogether .
Thor too ventured to visit Fj alar s abod e In regard

, ,
’
.
to th i s vis i t we have a f ew words i n strophe 2 6 of Har

bardslj o d .H ar bardr a c cuses Thor no dou bt unj u stly , ,
of having exhibited fear O f this matter we have no .
reliable details in the records from heathend om bu t a ,
comparison of the above strophe of H arbardslj od with

Gylfag i nn i ng shows that the account comp i led in Gylf a
ginning from vario u s mythic fragments concerning Thor s ’
jo u rney to U tgarda L oke and his adventures there con

-
tains reminiscences of what the original myths have had

to say about his expe rience on his expedition to F j alar s ’
.
T he fire giant nat u res of Surt and of his son Fj alar gleam
.
-
forth in the narrative : the ruler of Utgard can produce

earthquakes and L oge ( the flame ) is his servant It i s
also dou btless correct fro ma mythical standpoi nt t hat
.
,
, ,
“
he is represented as exceedingly skilfu l in del uding in ,
giving things the appearance of something else than they

really are ( see N o When O din assumed the guise of
.
Fj alar s son i n law he defeated Su rt s race with thei r

’ ’
- -
,
own weapons .
Eyvind Skaldaspiller state s as we h ave seen that , ,
Surt s abo de is in dales d own in the deep F rom an

’
.
expressi on in Yngli ngasaga s strophe we must draw the ’
con cl u sion that i ts author in harmon y herewith c onceived

, ,
the abyss where Surt s race dwelt as regions to which ’
the light of day never c omes Sokmi mer s doo r keeper .

’
-
,
one of whose tasks it was to take n otice o f the wayfarers

who approach ed i s a day shy d w arf ( dagskj cm salvor
,
- '
662
TE U T ON I C M Y TH OLOGY
du dr ; in regard to dw arfs that shun the light of day see ,
Alvi ssmal ) D arkness therefore broods over this regi on

.
,
but in the abode of the fire gi ant it is light ( the hall is

-
bj ar tr ).
I now return to the episodes in the mea d myth under -
disc u ssion to recapitulate in brief the proofs and results .
I f we for a moment shou ld assume that the main source ,
namely the H avamal strophes togethe r w ith E yv i nd s

, ,
’
half strophe were lost and that the only rem a i ning
, ,
ev i den c es were Gri mnersmal ( 5 0 ) and Yngli ngatal

togethe r with the prose text in Yngli ngasaga then an ,
analysis of these would lead to the following result :

( )1 G ri mn e rsm a l ( )5 0 and Y ng li ngatal ( 1 5 ) should
be compared with each other The reasons for assuming .
them t o be intrinsically connect ed are the fol owing :

( 0 ) Both contain the epithet SOkkm
M
i mi r which oc c urs
’
M
nowhere else .
( )b Both describe a primeval giant w h o is designate d

,
by this epithet as c hief and lord of a giant race gathered

arou nd him .
( c ) Both refer the ev en ts d escribe d to the sa me loc al

i ty : the one tells what oc c urred i n the halls of Sbkkmi mi r ;
'
the other narrates a n epis ode whi ch occurred outside of

the door of Sokmi mer s g i ant abode ’
.
( )
d The one sh o ws that S o k m i mer is identical with
D u rni r ( D urin ) the othe r ment i ons i dv i tni r as one of
Sokmi mer s subj ects i dvi tni r ( j odvi tni r ) acc ord
’ ’
.
,
ing to V oluspa was created by D nri nn

,
.
( e ) Both describe events occuring wh i le O din is inside

Sokmi mer s
’
at .
663
M
M
TE U TON I C M Y TH OLO GY
( f) T he on e men ti ons S v i dnrr the othe r Sv eg di r

, .
y tholog i cally the two names refer to ea ch o t her

, .
( 2 ) To the giant gro u p which Od in v i sits in the abode

of SOkkmi mir be lon gs the giant who captured the famou s
mea d which O din is anx i ous to se cu re Th i s appears .
from the epithet which the author of the Grimne rsmal

strophe chose in order to designa t e h i m in s u ch a manner
t hat he could be recogn i sed name ly i dvi tni r the mead
, , ,
”
w ol f an ep i thet which expla i ns why the mead thirsty
,
-
O d i n made his jou rney to t his ra c e h o st i le t o the gods .
( 3 ) That O d i n did not vent u re or d i d not t h i nk i t

,
des i rable in c onnection w i th the purpose of h i s vis i t t o ,
appear in his own na me and in a gu i se easily recognised ,
“ ”
i s ev i dent from the fact that he disgu ised himself ,
“
acted the hypo c rite ( dnlda) i n the presence of the
,
giant and appea red as an other mythi c pe rson Sv i dnrr

, , .
Th i s mythi c per s on has be en handed down in t he tradi

t ions as the one who gave the name to Svi thi od and as ,
a ra c e-hero of the Swedes Svi thi od var kallat af nafni

’
( 4 ) While O din in the gu ise of this m ce hero plays

, ,
his pa rt in the mounta i n in the abod e of Sokmi mer a ,
person arrives at the entran c e of the halls of this giant .
Th i s person Sveg di r ( Svi g di r ) is in the sa gas called t he

'
, ,
ra c e hero of the S wedes and aft e r hi m they have called

-
,
Sv i thi od g ei ri Svi g di s O din who acted Svi dnrr s part

’
.
, ,
has also been called Sv i g di r Sv eg di r , .
“
Sv i g di r is an epithet and means the champi on dr i nker
,
“
( Anglo Saxon
-
sw ig : to drink deep dra u ghts ) The .
”
champion drinker is accordingly on his way to the
664
M .
,
TE U T ON IC MY TH OLO G Y
ead wolf w hile O din i s in his abode All goes to

-
show th at the event belongs to the domain of the mead

myth
Accordingly the situ ation is this : A pretended r ace
,
hero and namer o f Sv i thi od i s i n t he a bod e of Sokmi mer

wh i le a per son who from a my t hological standpoint is the
,
.
,
,
real race hero and namer of Svi thi od is on his way to

-
Sokmi me r s abode and about to enter The myth cou ld

’
.
not have conceived the matter in th i s way unless t he ,
pretended race hero was bel i eved to act t he par t o f the

-
real one The arrival of the real one makes O d i n s

.
’
position whi ch was already fu ll of pe ril st i ll more

, ,
dangerou s and threatens h i m w i th discovery and its con

,
sequences .
( 5 ) I f O d i n appeared in the part of a champ i on

drinker he was c om pelled to drink mu ch in Sokm i mer s
,
’
halls in order to ma i n t ain his part and this too mus t , , ,
have added to the danger of h i s pos it i on .
( ) S ti ll the p rudent Asa father seems to have observed

6 -
some degree of c aut i on in order t hat h i s plans m i ght not

,
be frustrated by the real Svi g di r That which happen s .
gives the stronges t support to t hi s supp osition whi ch i n ,
itsel f i s very probable Sokmi mer s doo rkeeper keep s

.
’
watch in the darkness outside When he d i scovers t he .
approac h of Svi g di r he goes to meet him and infor m s

,
him that O din i s ins i de Consequently the doo rkeep e r

.
knows that Svi dnrr is O din who i s unknown to all thos e

,
within exc ept i ng to O din himself T his and what follo w s .
seems to show p ositively that the wise O d i n and the

c u nning dwarf act u pon a settled plan It may be delu .
665
M
si on or reality but Sv ig di r sees the mount ain door ope n

,
to the i lluminated g i ant hall and the i nformat i on that -

,
O d i n i s w i thin ( the dwarf may or may not have added

“
tha t O d i n pretends to be Svi g di r ) c auses h i m the proud ,
”
one , of noble race the k i nsman of D nlsi ( epithet of
6‘
,
u ndi lf o re see N o ,
to rush with all hi s m i gh t
.
a fter the dwarf against the real or apparent door and the ,
“ ”
res u lt is that the dwarf su c ceed e d i n dec eiving h i m
( he v e lti Sveg der ) so that he never more was seen .
Th i s i s what we learn from the strophes in Grim

nersmal and Yngli ngatal with the p rose text o f the ,
latter I f we now compare this w i th what H av amal and

.
Eyvind relates we get the followin g parallels

,
M
H avamdl and E yvi nd . T he s tr o
p h es a bou t
SOkkmi mi r .
O d in vi sit s i nn aldn a i o tu m O d i n vi s it s i nn aldna i o tu n

( Su r t r an d hi s rac e ) .
( SOkk m i mi r an d hi s rac e ) .
r
O d i n s p u p o s e i s to d e c e iv e
’
O d in s p u rp o s e i s to d e c e iv e
’
t h e o ld gi an t I n hi s ab o d e i s
. th e gi an t I n hi s ab o d e i s
o ld .
f o u n d a ki n s m an, wh o i s i n f o n d a ki n sm an wh o i s i n
u
p o s s e s s i on o f th e s k al d i c p os s e s si on o f th e s k al d i c
M
m e ad ( Su ttu n g -Fj alar) . m e ad ( i dv i tni r) .
r
O d i n app e a s i n th e g u i s e O d in app e ars as Sv i du rr
o f G u n lad s w o o e , wh o i i h e
’
r ,
'
Sv i g di r . Sv i g di r m e an s the
i s n am e d , i s c all e d Su m bl c ha m pi on d ri n k e r
=
.
( m b l a d ri n k, a f e as t )
su .
O d i n b e c am e d ru nk . Od in v e d ru nk
m us t ha
m u c h s i n c e h e app e ars am o n g
,
th e gi an t s as o n e ac ti n g th e
“
p art o f a c ham pi on d ri n k e r .
”
A t t r o p he
c a as oc c u s r c au s A c at as t r o p h e o c c u r s c au s
G u nnlOd to b e wail i ng O d i n to s l ay
’
i ng the i dv i tni s r
d e at h o f a ki ns m an . s on .
To this is finally to be add e d th at E yvi nd s st atement ’

,
that the event occurred in Surt s SOkkdali r helps to thro w

’ ’
light on Surt s ep i thet Sbkkmi mi r and particularly that

’
Y ngli ngatal s a c count of the arrival and fate of the re al

’
Sv eg der fills a g ap in Havam al s narrative and sh ows

’
how O d i n appearing in the g uise of another person who

,
was expe cted could do so with out fe ar of being surprise d

,
by the latter
N OT E —The account in the Y ounger E d d a about O din s
.
’
.
visit to Su ttu ng seems to be based on some satire pro

du ced long after the introd u c tion of C hristianity With .
a free u se of the confused mythi c traditions then extan t ,
and without paying any heed to H av ama l s statement

’
this satire was produced to show in a semi allego rical -
way how go od and bad poet ry originated T he author .
of th i s satire e i ther did not know or d i d not care about the

fact that Havamal identifies Su ttu ng and Fj alar To .
him they are di ff erent persons o f whom the one receives

,
the skaldic mead as a ransom from the oth e r While i n .
H avamal the ri mthu rses give O d i n the name B blv erkr

'
“the evil doe r ” and this very prope rl from their stand
-
, y
point the Y ounger Edda makes O d i n g i ve h i mself this
,
name when he is to appear i nc ogni to thou gh such a name ,
was not calculated to i nspire confidence While in Hava .
mal O din in the guise of another enters Su ttu ng s halls

’
, , ,
i s conducted to a golden high seat and takes a lively part

-
,
in the banquet and in the conversation the Y ounger Edd a ,
makes him st eal into the mountain through a small gimlet

hole and get down into Gu nlad s chamber in this mann er ’
where he remains the whole time without seeing any one
667
else of the peo ple l i ving there and where with Gu nlad s , ,
’
consent he empt i es to t he bottom the g i an t s three m ead

,
’
vessels Odrceri r B odn and Son These three names

, , , .
be l ong as we have seen in the rea l my t h ology t o t he

, ,
t hree s u bterranean fo u ntains wh i c h n ou rish t he roo t s o f

t he w orld tree H av amal c ontents itself with u sing a
-
.
poet ic rhet or i cal phrase and c all i ng the skaldic mead

-
c aptured by O din O dre ri r

“the giver of inspiration
, , ,
“
the inspiring nectar The a u t hor of t he satire av ai ls
.
h i mself of this reason for us i ng the names of the two

‘
other founta i ns B odn and Son and for applying them to

’
“ ”
two other vessels an d kettles in whi ch Su ttu ng is sa i d
to h ave kept the mead That he called on e of the vess els
.
a kettle is expla i ned by the fa c t that the th i rd l owe r

“ ”
world fount ai n is H verg elmi r t he r oaring kettle In , .
or der that O din and Gu nlad may be able to d i s c uss and

resolve i n perfect secre cy in regard to the mead O d i n ,
must com e secretly down into the mou ntain hen c e t he ,
satire makes him use the bo red hole to get i n F rom the .
whole description in H avamal it appea rs on the contrary , , ,
that O din entered the giant s hall i n the usual manner ’
through the door while he avai ls hims elf of the tunnel

,
made by Rate to get ou t Havamal first states that O d i n .
see ks the giant and then tells how he enters int o conversa
,
tion and develops his eloquence in Su ttu ng s halls and ’
how while he sits in the golden high seat ( probably

,
-
oppos ite the h ost as R ichter has assumed ) Gunlad hands

, ,
hi m the preciou s mead Th en is mentioned for the first

.
time the way ma d e for him by Rate and this on the one ,
“
hand in connection with the evil compensation Gu mlad ”
668
TE UTON IC M YTH O L O G Y
received fr om him she the loving an d d evoted w oman

,
wh o m he had embra c ed and on t he other hand in con ,
nec ti on w ith the fact that his fl i ght from the mountai n
was s u ccess ful so that he c ou ld take the mead with hi m

,
though hi s li fe was in danger and there were giants ,

’
ways both above and bel ow that secret path by which he
M MW
e scaped T hat O din took the oath of faithfulness on the
.
holy ring that there was a regular wedding feast wi th the

,
questions on the next morning in regard to the well bein g -
of the newly m arried cou ple—all this the satire doe s not
M
-
mention nor doe s i ts p remises pe rmit it to do so

, .
90 .
T HE M E AD -
YT H( conti nue d ) T H E OON A N D
. T HE
M E AD P ROOFS T H A T N AN N A s FAT HER I S T H E

’
. ARD
OF T H E A T M OSP H E R E AN D GOD O F T H E M OON .
B efor e the sk al d ic mead came into the pos sessi on of

Su ttu ng Fj alar it had passed through var i ous adventures
-
, .
In one of these enters dh i the g od of the moon who by , ,
the names N Okkvi ( variation N Okkver ) N efr ( variation

'
N epr ) and Gevarr ( Gm rr ) occu pies a very con spi cu

,
ous pos ition in our mythology not leas t in the capacity of ,
N anna s fathe r
’
.
I shall here present the proofs which lie near at hand ,
and can be furnished without entering int o too elabor ate
investigations that the moon god and N anna s father are

,
-
’
identical and thi s wi ll gi ve me an oppo rtunity of refer

,
rin g to th at episode of the mead myth in which be ap -

,
pears as one of the act ors .
669
TE UTON IC M Y TH O L OG Y
The i d entity of N older/i N efr and Gevarr appe ars from , ,
the following passages :

( 1 ) H y n dl u l j od 2 0 : N anna was in the next place
, , ,
N bkkvi s daughter
’
( N
’
a n na v ar nces t thor N au chno
d otti r ) .
( )
2 G y lf ag i n n i n g 32 : The son of B alde r and o f
,
”
N anna daughter of N ef was called Forsete
, ( F ors e t
,i
hei ter s onr B aldrs oh N onnn N efsdottnr ) Gylfagi n
’
“
ning 49 : H i s ( Balder s ) wife N anna d aughter of N e f ’ ”
, ,
( K o na ha n s N a n n a N e
f s d é tti r )
“
( )
3 Saxo H i s t D an ,
iii .
,Gevarr s daught e r N anna
’
.
,
.
( Gevari fili a N anna ) Th at Saxo means the mytholog i

.
cal N anna follo ws from the fact that B alder appe ars in
the story as her wooe r That the N orse form of the .
name whi ch Saxo Latinised into Ge v aru s was Ger/arr

, , ,
not Gefr as a prominent l i ngu i st has asssu m e d follo ws

, ,
from the rules adopted by Saxo in Latin i sing N orse

names
N OT E —N ames of the class to which Gefr would
.
bel ong providing su ch a name existed would be Latinis ed

, ,
in the following manner

( )
a A s k r A s cer u s B a ld r B alde ru s,
Ge ldr Ge lde ru s , ,
Glanmr Glomeru s H odr H od r Odr H Othe ru s Hath , , , , ,
crus H other u s So ipdagr Sv i pdageru s U llr Olleru s Yggr

'
, , , ,
U ggeru s Vi g r V i g e ru s ,
'
.
( )
b As m i mdr A sm u ndu s Amnmi r Amu ndu s Arn , ,
g ri mr Arngri mu s, B i ldr B i ldu s K mi tr Canu tu s Fri dlei fr , ,
Fri dlevu s, Gau trekr Gotri cu s ,

GOdm nndr Gu thm u ndu s ,
H addi ngr H adi ngu s H araldr H araldu s ,

.
N ames ending in -a
rr are L atinised in the following
manner 67 0
TE U TON IC MY TH OLO GY
( a) B orgarrE i narr E naru s Gnnnarr Gun

B orcaru s, ,
naru s Hj br varr H j artv aru s 1 ng i marr I ng i maru s I ng v arr

'
'
, , ,
'
I ngv aru s i smarr Ismarus I v arr Iv aru s Ottarr O tharu s

, ,
.
, ,
R os tarr Rostaru s Si g arr Si garu s Si va/rr Si varu s Vaidi

, , ,
marr V aldemaru s .
b A
( ) g rr Agneru s Rag no rr Regneru s
n ar
,
.
With the end i ng arus occ urs als o i n a single instance -
a N orse name in i namely E yli mi Oli maru s Herewith

-
, , .
we might perhaps in cl u de Li otaru s the N orse for m of ,
which Sax o may have had in Lj éti from Lj o tr Other

’
M
w i se Lj otr i s a single ex c eption from th e r u les followed
’
by Saxo an d methodolo gy forbids ou r build i ng anythin

,
g
on a single excep t ion which m o reover i s un c ertain , .
Some monosylla bi c names ending in r are som etlmes -
u nlati ni se d as Alf Ulf Sten R ing R olf and someti m es

, , , , , ,
L atinised with O as Alvo Ulvo St en o R ingo Rolvo

’
-
, , , , , ,
Alfr is also fou n d L atinised as Alv eru s .
From the above lists of names it follows that Sax o s ’
rules f or L atinising N orse names end i ng with the nomina

tive r after a cons onant were these
!
1 ) on osyllab i c names ( seldom a dissyllabic one as ,
Svi pdagr ) are Latinised with the ending erns or the ~
ending 0 -
.
( )
2 N ames of two or more syllables which do not end
in arr ( rarely a name of on e syllable as B i ldr ) are
-
,
Latinised with the ending ns -

.
( 3 ) N ames ending in arr are Lati msed with arm ; in - -
a few cases ( and then on a cc ount of the D anish pronu n
c i ati on ) with erns ~

.
From the above rules it follows ( 1 ) that Gefr i f such a ,
67 1
n ame ex i sted would have be en Lat i nised by Saxo eithe r

,
into Ger/em s Geferu s or into Ger/0 Gefo ; ( 2 ) tha t

, , ,
Ger/arr is the regular N o rse f or Gev aru s .
The only pos si ble mean i ng of the name Gev arr con ,
“ ”
s i de red as a com mon noun is the ward of the atm os phere
from g e ( g ee ; see Y ou nger Edda i i 4 86 and E gi lsson , .
, ,
2 2 7 ) and varr
-
I c it e th i s d efin i t i on not for the p u rpo se
.
.
of drawing any conclus i ons therefrom but simply because ,
it agrees with the res u lt rea ched in another way .
The other name of N anna s father is as we have seen ’
—
, ,
N Okkv i N bkkve r This w o rd means the ship owner

' '
.
, ,
ship-captai n I f we compare these two name s Gevarr

.
,
and N b kkv er w i th each other then it follows from the

'
, ,
comparison that N anna s father was a myth i c pe rson who

’
operated in the atmos phere or had some c onne ction with

ce rt ain phenomena in the air and particularly i n connec ,
tion with a phen omenon ther e O f su ch a kind that the

mythic fancy cou ld imag i ne a ship The result of the .
comparison should be exam i ned in connecti on with a

st rophe by T ho rbj orn Hornklofv e which I shall now con ,
sider .
Thorbjorn was the cou rt skald o f Harald Fairfax and

-
,
he desc ribed many of the king s deeds and adventures ’

.
Ha rald had at one time caused to be built for himself

and his body guard a large and stately ship with a
-
,
beauti ful figu re hea d in the fo rm o f a serpent On boa rd

-
.
this ship he was overtaken by a severe gale which Horn ,
klo fv e ( Harald H arfager s saga ch 9 ) desc ribes in the

’
.
,
f oll owin g wo rd s
67 2
U t :1 m ar m ae ti r
m an n s k ae dr a a l g r t anna
ree s i n adr ti l rau s n ar
r ak v e b rau tar N Ok k v a .
In prose or der : Lagar tanna manns kcedr mceti r zi t d mar

r ak raus nar rcesi nadr ti l N
“ The ass i l
Ole leva ve bran ar (
'
t a
ants the skerry ( the teeth of the sea ) dangerous to

of ,
man flung out u pon the sea the splendid se rpent of the
,
vessel s s t em to the h oly path of

’
All i nterpreters agree that by the skerry s assailants ’

,
”
dangerou s to man i s meant the waves which are pro
,
du c ed by the stor m and rush against the skerries in

breakers dangerou s to seamen It is also evident that .
H ornklo fve wanted to dep i ct the violence of the sea when

he says that the billows wh i ch rise to assail the skerry
tosses the ship so that the figu re head of the stern
,
“
reaches the h oly path of N okv e ”
P oe ms of d i ff erent .
literat u res res emble each other in thei r des c ription s o f a

storm raging at sea They make the billows rise to the
.
“
” “ ” “ ”
clouds to the stars o r to the moon Q u anti montes . /
, ,
v olvn ntnr aquarnm ! Jam j am tac ti lros si dera s nmma

,
j mtes O vi d sings ( T ri s t i 1 8
,
and V irgil has it :
.
, .
,
P rocella fluc tns ad si dera tolli t ( E n i O ne of , .
their brother skalds in the N orth quoted i n Skaldskapar ,
mal ( ch depicts a storm with the following wor ds

.
H rau d i hi m i n u pp g lOdu m
h af s , g e kk s ae af afl i , r
b Or hyg g e k at s k y s kord i ,
s k au t Ran at vegr m ana .
The skald makes the phosphorescence of the s ea splash

67 3
TE U T ON IC M Y TH OL OGY
aga i nst heaven ; he makes the sh i p split the clouds and the ,
way of Ran the giantess of the sea cu t the pa t h of the

, ,
moon .
The qu est i on now is whether H ornklofv e by N okve s

,
’
”
holy path di d not mean the path of the mo on in space ,
and whethe r it is not to this path the figu re head of the -
ship seems to pitch when it i s lifted on h i gh by the

towe ring billows It is cer tain that this holy way toward
.
which the heaven high bi llo w s li ft the ship is situated in

-
the atmosphere above the sea an d that N okv e has bee n ,
conceiv ed as travelling this way in a ship since N ok ve ,
means the shi p c aptain From this it foll ows tha t

-
.
N ok v e s craft must have been a phenomen on in space

’
r esembling a ship which was supposed to have its co u rse
marked out there We must therefore choos e between

.
the su n the moon and the stars ; and as it is the moon

, ,
wh i ch when it is not fu ll has the form of a ship sailing

, ,
in space it i s more probable that by N okv e s ship is

,
’
m eant the moo n tha n that any other celestial bod y i s re

ferred to .
T his probability becomes a cer t ainty by the followin g

proofs In Sonator rek ( str 2 3 ) Egil Skallag ri mson
. .
,
sings that whenhea vy so rrow oppress es him ( who has l os t

his favourite son ) t hen the song doe s not easily well f ort h
from his breast
T hag na f u n dr
th ri g g i a n i d i a
fi r b o ri nn
or JOtu nh e i mu m ,
67 4
TE UTON IC M Y THO L O G Y
las talau s s
er li fn adi
a N Ok k v e rs
n Okk va B ragi .
M
T he skaldic son g is here compare d with a fountam which
doe s not eas i ly gu sh forth from a sorrowfu l heart and the ,
“
liqu id of the founta i n is compared with the T hri gge s ’
kinsmen s find the one kept secret which i n times past

’
w
, ,
was carried f rom Jotunheim into N okve s ship here ’
Brage u nh arme d refreshed himself ( secu red the v i gou r

, ,
Of
.
It is plain that Egil here refers to a mythic event that

formed an episode in the myth concern i ng the skaldic
mead S ome where in J otunheim a fountain containing
.
the same preciou s liqu id as that in i mer s well has bu r st ’
forth The ve i n of the fountain was discovered by kins

.
men o f T hri gge bu t the preci ous find eagerly d esired by

,
all po wers is kept secret pres u mably in order that they

,
who made the discovery might enj oy i t u ndi v i ded and in .
safety B u t something happe ns whi ch causes the treas

.
ure which the fo u ntain gave its discoverers to be carried

from Jotunheim to N okve s ship and there the drink is
’
,
accessible to the god s It is especially mentioned that

.
B rage the god of poe t ry is there permitted to partake of

, ,
it and thus refresh his powers .
T hus the ship of N ann a s father here reappears and

’
,
we learn that on its h oly way in space in bygon e times i t

bo re a supply of skal d ic mead of which B rage in the days
,
o f hi s innoc ence drank the st rength of li fe .
With this we must compare a mythic fragment pre

67 5
TE UTON IC MY TH O L O G Y
se rve d in Gylfag i nni ng ( ch Th ere a fountain .
called B yrgi r is menti oned T wo c h i ldren a lass by .

,
name B i l and a lad by name Hj nki whose father was ,
named Vi dfinnr had c ome w i th a pail to t h i s fountain to

,
fetc h water The allegory in wh i ch the trad i t i on i s

.
in c orporated calls the pa i l Sa g r the one see t h i ng over it s

,
”
br i nks and calls the pole on which the pai l is carr i ed
,
Si mu l ( according to one manus c ript Snmnl; c p Snml .

,
bre wing ale mead ) Bil one o f the two ch i ldren is pu t

,
.
,
-
M M
in c onnection with the drink of poet ry The skalds pray .
that she may be gra c ious to them E f u nna i tr vi ldi B i l

“ ”
Skdldi i f the nobl e Bil will favour the skald is a wish
, ,
expressed in a strophe in the Y ounger Edda ii 3 63 , . .
B yrg i r is mani festly a fountain of the same kin d as the

on e refer re d to by E g il and con taining the skaldic mead .
B yrg i r s founta i n must have been kept sec ret it m u st have

'
,
“
been a concealed find for it is in the night while the
, ,
moon is up that V i dfin s children are engage d in filling

,
’
their pail from it T his is evident from the fact that

.
dni sees the children Wh en t hey have filled the pail

.
,
they are about to depart pres u m ably to their home and

, ,
to their father V i dfin But they do not get home While

. .
they carry the pail with the p ole on their sh oulders dni
takes them unto himsel f and they rema i n with h i m
, ,
together with their preci ous b u rden F rom other mythic .
traditions which I shall con sider later ( see the treatise

on the Ivalde race ) we learn that the moon god ad opts
,
-
them as his children and B i l afterwards appears as an

,
asynj e ( Y ounger Edda i 118 , .

,
If we now compare E gi l s st atement with the mythic

’
67 6
MM
or un approachable well
secret ”
.
“
’
”
TE U T ON IC M Y TH O L O G Y
fragment about Bil and H j u ke we fin d in both a foun tai n

ment i oned which contains the liquid of inspiration found
in i mer s fou ntain without being i me r s well guarded
,
In Egil the find is kept “.
In Gylfagi nni ng the ch i ldren visit it in the

.
night Egil says the liqu id was car ri ed fro m Jotunheim

Gylfagi nni ng says that Bil and H j u ke carri ed it in a pa i l
E g il makes the liquid trans ferred from J otunhei m to
,
’
-
N okv e s ship ; Gylfagi nni ng makes the liquid and its

’
bearers be taken aloft by the moon god to the moon -

,
where we still says Gylfagi nni ng can see Bil and H j u ke

, ,
( in the moon spo ts ) -

.
There can therefore be no d oubt that N okv e s ship i s ’
the silvery craft of the moon sa i ling in space over sea and ,
land on a course marked out for it and that N okve i s ,
the moon god As in Ri g veda so i n the T eutonic mytho

-
.
,
logy the ship O f the moon was for a time the place where
,
the liqu id of inspiration the li fe and strength giving ,

-
mead was concealed T he myth has ancient Arya n roots

,
. .
On the myth con ce rning the mead car rying ship to -

,
wh i ch the Asas come to drink rests the paraphrase for ,
c ompos i ng f o r maki ng a s ong which Einar Skalaglam

, ,
once used ( Skaldskaparmal To make songs he calls ,
“to dip liqui d out o f Her Tyr s wind ship ”

( au sa Hertys
’ ’
- -
vi ng nodar aus tr ; see furthe r N o 1 2 1 about O din s visit

’
- -
.
,
in N okv e s ship ) ’
.
The name N efr ( v ari ation N epr ) the thi rd n ame of ,

’
N ann a s fathe r mentioned above occurs nowhere in the ,
N orse sou rces excepting in the Yo u nger Edda It is .

,
h owever u nd oubte d ly co rrect th at N okve Gevar was also

,
calle d N ef .
TE U TON IC M Y TH OLO GY
Am ong all the Teu t on i c myths there 1 5 scarcely one

other with wh i ch so many her oi c songs c omposed i n
heath en times have been connec t ed as with the myth c on
c ern i ng the moo n god and h i s descendants
-
As shall be .
M
shown further on the N i flu ngs are descendants of N ef s
,
’
adopted son H j u ke and they are o riginally named afte r

,
thei r adopted race progenitor N efr A m ore correct and

-
.
an older form is pe rhaps H nefr and H ni flnngar and the r

,
latter form i s also found i n the Ic elandic literature In .
O ld Engl i sh the moon god appears changed i nt o a pre -
histori c king Hnci f also called Hoce ( see Beowulf 2 1 42

'
, , , ,
and G leeman s Tal e ) Hoce i s the same name as t he

’
.
N or se H j nki Thus while Hnci f and H oce a re iden t i c al

'
“ ”
in the Old English poem Beowulf we find in the N orse ,
source that the lad taken aloft by a ne i s called by one

of the names of his fost er father In the N orse acc ount -
.
the moon god ( N ei r ) captu res as we have seen the

-
, ,
c hildren of one Vi dfinnr and at the sa me time he robs ,
Vi dfinnr of the priceless mead of inspirati on found in the

fountain B yrgi r In the Old English saga a i f has a
.
son i n law and vassal whose name is Fi nn ( Fi n Folcv ald

- -
,
i ng ) who be c omes h i s bitterest foe conten ds with him is

, , ,
c onquered and pardoned but attacks him again and in, , ,
company with one Gadere ( Gu nnr ) burns him Accord , .
i ng to Sax o N ann a s father Gev arr has the same fate

,
’
.
He is atta c ke d by a vassal and bu rnt The vassal i s .
called Gu nno ( Gu nnr Gadere ) Thus we have in the ,

.
O ld English tradition the names H naf H oce Pi n and

'
, , ,
Gu dere ; and in the N orse tradition the cor responding

names N efr Hj u ki Vi dfinnr and Gun nr ( Gnnnarr )
, , ,
.
67 8
M
TE U TON I C M YTH OL OGY
M
T he relation of the m oon god ( N afr ) to Vi dfinnr is the
-
M
mythologi cal b asis of Fi n s enmi ty to Hnci f T he bu rn
’ '
M
ing i s common to both the O ld English and the N orse
s o u rces . L ater in this work I shall consider th ese cir
cu mstanc es more minutely What I have stated is su ffi
.
M
c ient to sho w that the O ld Engl i sh tradition i s in th i s
point connect ed with the N orse i n a manner which con ,
fi rms N efr Gevarr s identity with dni who t akes alo ft

-
’
,
Hj nki and robs V i dfinnr of the skaldic mead .
The traditi on of Gevarr— N efr s identity with dni

’
reappears in Iceland once mo re as late as in H romu nd

Grei pson s saga There a person called dni K arl shows
’
.
where the hero of the saga is to find the sword i s tel

tei nn . In Saxo N ann a s father Ger/arr shows the be fore
,
’
mentioned H otheru s where he is to find th e we apon

whi c h i s to slay Balder Thus ani in H romu nd s sa ga
.
’
a ssumes the same p os ition as Gevarr N anna s father

’
, ,
occ u pies in Saxo s narati ve ’

.
All these circumstan ces form together a p ositive proof

of the moon god s identity with N anna s father Further
-
’ ’
.
on when the investigat i on has prog ressed to the pr oper

,
point we shall give reasons for assu ming that Vi dfinnr

,
of the Edda the P i n of the English heroic poem i s the

, ,
same person whom we have heretofore menti oned by the

name Su mbl Fi nnak onnngr and Svi g di r an d that the ,
myth concerning the taking of the mead aloft to the moon

accordingly has an epic c o nnection with the myth con
cerning O din s visit to the giant Fj alar and concerning

’
the fate which then befell N Okve s slayer ’

.
679
TE U TON IC M Y TH OLO GY
T H E M YT H C ON C E R N I N G THE M OON -
GOD ( con ti nu ed ) .
The moo n god l i ke N at D ag and Sol is by b i rth and

-
, , , ,
abode a lower world d i vinity As s u ch he too had hi s

-
.
,
impo rtance i n the Teutonic eschat ology T he god who .
”
on h i s j ourneys on N okv e s holy way serves anldom at’
drtali ( V afthru dnersmal 2 3 ) by meas u ring out to men

,
time in ph ases of the moo n in m on t hs and in years , ,
has in the mythol ogy also received a certain infl u ence

, ,
in inflicting su ffering and punishment on sinners H e is .
lord of the hei pti r the Teu ton ic E ri nnyes ( see N o

,
.
and keeps thos e li me/r ( bundles of th orns ) w ith whi c h the

forme r are arm ed and in this ca pa city he has borne the
,
epithet E yli mi which r eappears in the her oic songs in a

,
manner wh i ch removes all doubt that N anna s father was ’
originally meant ( See in Saxo and in Helge H j orv ard

.
son s saga To the latter I shall return i n the s econd

’
'
pa rt of th i s work and I shall there presen t evidence that

,
M
the saga is based on ep i sod es taken from the Balder myth ,
and that Helge H j orvardson is himself an im i tation of

B ald er ) In this capacity of lor d o f the H ei pti r the
.
moon god is the power to whom prayers are to be

-
addressed by those who desire to be spared from those

suff erings which the H ei pti r represent ( H ei thtom scal
mdna qvedj a—H avamal His quality as the one
,
who k eeps the thorn rod s of the hei pti r still survives in
-
a great part of the Teut onic world in the scatter ed trad i

“ ”
tion s about the man in the moon who c arries b u ndles ,
of thorns on hi s back ( J G rimm y th 68

. 0 ; see N o , ,
.
680
TE UTON I C M Y TH OL O G Y
92 .
M
T HE M OON -
D IS N AN N A . T HE M E R SE BUR G FOR M U L A .
B ALD E R S
’
N AME A
F LK .
T hus N ann a is the daughte r of the r u ler of the moon ,
“
of the ward of the atmo sphere This alone ind i cate s .
th at she herself was mytholog ically conne cted with t he

ph enomena which perta i n to her father s domain of ’
activity and in all probab i lity was a moo n dis ( god dess )
,
-
.
This assumpt ion i s fully confirmed by a contribution to

T euton i c myt hology res cued in Germany the so— c alled ,
e r seburg for mula which be gins as follow ,

:
P ho l en de U o dan Fa lt an d O din
v u o ro n z i ho lz a w e n t to th e w oo d ,
dfi v at t d em o B alde re s t hen was th e fo o t s p rai n e d
v o l on s i n v ou s b i e nk i t r on B al d e r s’
l foa .
t hir bi g u ole n Si nhtg u nt . T h en s an g o v e r h i m Si nh tg u nt ,
Su nna e ra s v i s t e r, Su nna h r s i s t e r
e ,
thu bi g u ole n Fr i i a, t he n s an g ov e r h i m F igg r ,
V o ll a e ra s v i s t er Fu ll a h e r s i s t e r ;
t hu b i g u o le n U o dan th e n s an g o ve r hi m O d i n
so he wo la c on da . as b e s t h e c o u l d .
Of the names occurring in this strophe U odan O din -
Balder Sunn a ( synonym of Sol—Alv i ssm 1 7 ; Younger

,
, .
,
Edda i 47 2
, . Frii a Frigg and V olla Fulla are well
,
-
,
-
known in the Icelandic myth i c records O nly Phol and .
Si nhtgu nt are strangers to our mytholog ists th ough Phol ,

'
Falr surely ou ght not to be so .
In regard to the G erman form P hol we find that it ,
has by its si d e the fo rm Fal in G erman names of pla c es

connected with fo u ntains Jacob Grimm has p ointed out .
68 1
M
a Pholes fo u nta i n i n Thur i ngia a Fals fountain in

,
the Frankish S t ei gerwald and in th i s connecti on a

,
“Balder ” well i n Rhei n haltz In the D anish popular

p .
traditions Balder s horse had the abil i ty to produce foun

’
tains by tramping on the ground and Balder s fountain ’
M
,
in S eeland is sa i d to h ave originated in this mann er ( cp .
P E . i iller on Saxo Hi s t
.
, . In Saxo too Balder
, , ,
gives rise to wells ( Vi c tor B alderas n t afi li ctnm si ti mi li

,
te m ppor tu ni li gu or is benefici o recrear e t

o nov os hi tmi
lati c es terrai n alti u s ri matns operni t—p
,
T his very cir cu mstan c e seems to indicate th at P hol ,
Fal was a common epithet or surname of Balder in Ger

,
many and it m u st be admit ted that this meaning m u st

,
have appeared to the German mythologists to be con
M
firmed by the e rseburg form u la ; for in this way alone
could it be expla i ned in a s i mple and nat u ral manner ,
that B alder is not named in the first line as O din s com ’
panion although he actually at t ends O d i n and altho u gh

, ,
“ ”
the misfort u ne that befalls Balder s foal is the chief ’
subj ect of the narrative while P hol on the other hand

,
i s not ment i oned aga i n in the whole form u la al t h ough ,
h e is named in the first line as O d i n s companion

’
.
This simple and in c ontrovert i ble con c l u s i on that Phol ,
and Balder in the e rseburg form u la are identical is put

beyond all doubt by a more thoro u gh examinati on of the
N orse records In these it is dem onstrated that the name
.
Falr was also known in the N orth as an epithet of Balder .
The first books of Saxo a re based excl u sively on the

myths concerning gods and heroes T here is not a .
s ingle person not a single name which Saxo d i d not

, ,
682
TE U TON I C M Y TH O L OGY
bo rro w from the mythi c traditions Among them is also .
a c e rta i n Fj alleru s who i s m ention ed in bk i 1 60 In

,
. . .
the qu esti on in regard to the N or se form wh i ch was

L atinised into Fj allerus we must rem ember that Saxo ,
writes H j allu s ( H i s t pp 3 7 1 67 2 ) for H j ali ( cp p , .

, . .
and alternately Colo Collo and Collerus ( H is t , , ,
pp 5 6 1 3 6
.
,
and that he uses the bro ken form
,
-
B j ar bi for B arri ( H i s t p In accordance with , .
this the L atin form Fj alleru s must corresp ond to the N orse
Falr and there i s in fact in the whole O ld N orse litera
, , ,
ture not a single name to be fou nd correspon ding to thi s

,
ex c ept i ng Falr for the name Fj alarr the only other one
, ,
to be th ought of in this con nectio nshould according to ,
the r u les follow ed by Sax o be Latini sed int o Ffallarus or ,
Fj alar u s bu t not into Fj alleru s

,
.
O f t his Fj alleru s Saxo relates that he was banished by

an enem y and the report says that Fj alleru s betoo k him
,
self to the place which i s u nknown to ou r population s ,
an d which i s called Oddi ns akr ( que m ad locu m cu i -

,
U ndens alere nomen es t, nos tri s i g notu m popu li s conc ess
i ss e f es t ama —p .
The mythology mention s only a single person who by

an en emy was t ransferred to Oddi nsakr and that is Bal ’
der ( Of Oddi ns akr and Balder s abod e there see N o s

.
’
, .
44
T he enemy who transfers Falr to the realm of i mmor
tality 1 8 according to Saxo a son o f H orv endi llu s that 1 5
, ,
to say a son of the mythological Orv andi ll G roa s

, ,
’
husband and Sv i pdag s father ( see N os 1 0 8 1 0 9 ) ’

.
,
Svi pdag has already once befor e be en mistak en by S axo

683
22
for H otheru s ( see N o H otherus is agai n the .

, ,
L at i n form for H odr Hen c e it i s Balder s banishment ’

'
by H odr t o the subterran ean realms of immortal it y o f

'
whi ch we here rea d i n Saxo where the latter spe aks of

Fal s banishment to O-ddi ns akr by a son of Orvandel
’
.
When Balder dies by a flang h u rled by H 5 dr he stands

in the midst of a rain of j avel i ns He is the centre of a .
mannhri ng r where all throw or shoot at h i m : s u mi r

,
si ta d hann su mi r hbg gva ti l s u mi r berj a g rj éti

’
, ,
( Gylfag i nni ng ) In th i s lies the myth i cal explanat i on

.
of the paraphrase Fal s rai n which occur s in the last ’
str ophe of a poem attributed to the skald G isle Su rson .
I n Gi sle s saga we read that he was ban i shed on ac c o u nt

’
of manslaughter but by t he aid of his faithfu l w i fe he

,
was able for th i rteen years to end u re a l i fe of persecutions

and confli cts u nt i l he finally was s u rprised and fell by the
,
weapons of his foes S u rro u nded by his assa i lants he

.
,
i s sa i d to have s u ng the strophe in question in whi ch

.
,
“
he says that the belov ed bea u t i ful brave Fu lla of h i s , ,
” “
hall that is to say his w i fe i s to enquire for h i m her
, , , ,
“ ” “
friend for whose sake F al s ra i n now falls t h i ck and ’
,
f ast
” “
while ke en edges b i te him ”
In a foregoing
, .
“
strophe G i sle has been compar ed w i th a Balder of the
”
sh i eld and th i s shield Balder now as in the Balder o f
,
-
,
the myth is the focu s of j avelins and swords while he

, ,
like Balder has a beaut i ful and faithfu l w i fe who l i ke

, , ,
N anna is to take his death to hea rt

,
I f the name N anna .
,
as has been assumed by V i g fu sson and others is co n ,
”
n ecte d with the verb nenna and means the brave on e
‘
, ,
then re kki ldt Fulla

“ ”
t he brave Fulla of Gi sle s hall i s ’
, ,
684
TE U T ON IC M Y TH OLO GY
an all the more appropriate reference to N ann a since Fulla ,
and she are int i mately connected in the mythology and ,
are descri be d as the warmest of friends ( Gylfagi ni ng ) .
B riefly state d : in the poem G isle is compared with Bal

der his w i fe with N anna his d eath w i th Balder s death
’
, , ,
and the ra i n of weapons by wh i ch he falls with Fal s ’
rai n .
In a strophe composed by Refr ( Y ounger Edda i 2 40 ) ,

.
t he skald O ffers thanks to O d i n the giver of the skaldic

T he Asa—
,
art. father is here called Fals hrannvala brau

“
tar fou nar s alar v aldi ( T he rule r of the hall of the drift
o f the way of the billow falcons of -
This long
paraphrase means as has also been assume d by others
, ,
the ruler o f ha ven Thus heaven is d esign ated as the “

.
”
hall of the drift of the way of the billow falcons of Fal -
.
“ ”
T he drift which belongs to heaven and not to the earth ,
i s the cloud
“
T he heavens are the hall of the cloud
. .
“
B ut in order that the word dri ft might be applied in
this manner it had to be unit ed with an appropriate word ,
sh owing that the heavens were meant This i s done by .
“
the adj ective phrase o f the way of the billow falcons of -
Fal ” “
Standing alone the drift of the way o f the bil
.
,
”
low falcon s could not possibly m ean anything else than
-
“
the billow white with foam since billow falcons is a ”
-
,
“
paraphra se for ships and the way of the billow falcons ”
-
,
i s a paraphrase for the sea By adding the name Falr.
“
the meaning is changed from sea to sky ” “ ”
By Fal s ’
.
“billow falcons ” must therefore be meant obj ects whose

-
course is through the air j u st as the course of the ships

,
is on the sea and which traverse the d rift of the sky

, ,
685
TE UTON I C M Y TH OL OG Y
the cloud j ust as the ships plough through t he drift of

,
the sea the white cr ested billow Such a pa raphra se

,
-
.
could not possibly avoid draw i ng the fancy of the hear

e rs and readers to the atmosphere st r ewn with clouds
and penet rated by sunbeams that i s to Odin s hall , ,
’
.
Balder i s a su n god as hi s myth taken as a whole plainly

-
, , ,
shows and as is mani feste d by his epithet : rau dbri kar

,
ri hr rwkz r ( see N o
'
T hus Fal l i ke B alder is a

.
, ,
divini ty of the sun a be ing which sends the sunbeams

,
down through the dri fts of the clouds As he fur ther .

,
more like Balder stoo d in a rain of weapons under cir

, ,
cu mstances su ffici ently familiar f or such a rain to be rec
og ni sed wh en des i g nated as F al s and as he finally like

’
, , ,
Balder was sent by an opponent to the realm of i mmo r

,
t al i ty in the lower world then Fai r and B alde r must be ,
identical .
Their identity is furth ermore con fi rmed by the fact

th at Bald e r in early C hristian times was made a bistori
cal ki ng o f Westphali a The statement concerning this .
,
taken from Anglo Saxon or German sources has entered

-
,
into the foreword to Gylfagi nni ng N ea rly all lands and .
peoples have according to the belief of that ti m e r eceived

, ,
their names from ancient chiefs T he Franks were said

'
.
to be na med after one F rancio the East Go th a fter O stro ,
gotha the Angles after Angul D enmark after D an &c

, , ,
.
The name P halia Westphalia was explained in the s ame

, ,
m an ner and as Balder s name was P hol Fal this name

,
’
, ,
o f his gave rise to the name of the country in question .
For the same reason the German poem B i terolf makes

B alder ( Paltram) into king z e P itlle ( Compare the .
686
TE U TON I C MY TH O L O G Y
local n ame P ol d e whic h according to J G rimm i s found

‘
, , .
,
in old manuscripts written P oli di and P holi di ) In the

‘
one s ource B alder i s made a k i ng in P holi di since P hol is ,
a name of Balder and in the other sou rce he is for the

,
MM
same reason made a king in Westphal i a s i nce P hal is a ,
variation of P hol and lik ewise designated Balder

,
B it .
”
erolf has preserved the record of the fac t that Balder
was not only the statel i est hero to be found but also the ,
most pure in morals and a man much praised Along

, .
with Balder Gylfag i nni ng speaks of another son of O din

, ,
Si ggi who i s sa i d to have become a king in F rankland

,
.
The same reason for whi ch F al Balder was m ade a king -
in Westph alia also made the apocryphal Si ggi in qu est i on -
the progenitor of F ranki an k i ngs The F ranki an branch .
to which the e rovingian kings belonged bore the name

Si g ambri ans and to explain this name the son Si g gi was
-
,
given to O din and he was ma d e the prog enito r an d

,
eponym of the Si gambri ans .
After this investigation which i s to be continued more

elaborately in anothe r volume I now retu rn to the e rse
,
burg fo rmula
Fall and O d i n
W e n t to th e w oo d ,
T he n th e f o o t w as S p ai ne d r
O f B al d er s f oal
’ ”
.
With wh at here i s said about B alder s steed we must ’

,
compare what Saxo relates about B alder himsel f : Ade o

in ad v ersam corpori s v ale tu di nem i nci di t, u t ui p edi bu s
qu i de m i ncedere poss e t ( H i s t ,
1 20 )
T he misfortune which happened first to Balder and then
687
M
to B alder s horse must be counted amon g the warnings

’
which foreboded the death of the son of O din Ther e .
are also other passages which ind i cate that Balder s horse
’
must have had a conspicuous s i gnification in the mythol

ogy and the tradition concerning Balder as rider is pre
,
serv ed not only in n orther n sou rces ( Lokasenna Gyl ,
fag i nni ng ) and in the

,
e rseburg formu la bu t also in the ,
German po etry of the m i ddle ages That there was s ome

.
witchcraft conn ected with this misfortune which hap

pened to Balder s horse i s evident from the fact that the
’
magic songs sung by the godde sses accompanying him

availed nothing A ccording to the N orse ancient re cords
.
,
the women particu larly exercise the healing art o f witch

craft ( compare G roa and Si g rdri fva ) but still O din has ,
the profoundest knowledge of the secrets of this art ; he is

g aldrs fad i r ( Veg And so O din comes in this i n
.
,
stance and is su c cessful after the goddesses have tried

,
in vain We m u st fancy that the goddesses m ake haste

.
t o render assistance in the order in wh i ch they ride in

relation to Balder for the event would lose its serious
,
ness i f we sh ould conceive O din as be ing ve ry near to

B alder from the beg inning but postpon i ng his activity
,
in order to shine afterwards with all the gr eater magi c

power which nobody disputed
,
.
The goddesses constitute two pairs of sisters : Si nht

gunt and her sister Sunna and Frigg and her sister Fu lla
,
.
Ac cording to the N orse sou rces F rigg is Balder s mother

,
’
.
According to the same records Fulla is always near ,
F ri gg enjoys her whole confidence and wears a diadem

, ,
as a tok en of her high rank among the goddesses An .
688
,
’
MM
TE U TON I C MY THOLO GY
explanation of this is fu rn i shed by the e rseburg for

mula which informs us that F ulla is F rigg s sister and
,
s o a sister o f Balder s mother And as O din is Balder s

father we find in the erseburg formula the Balder of
the N orse records surrounded by the kindred assigned
,
to h i m in these record s .
.
’
Under s u ch circumstances it wou ld be strange inde ed , ,
i f Si nhtgu nt and the su n di s S u nna d i d not also belong

-
, ,
to the kin o f the su n god Balder as they not only take
M
-
, ,
part in this excu rsion of the Bal der fam i ly but are also ,
d escribed as those nearest to him and as the fi rst who ,
give him assistance .
The N orse records have g i ven to Balder as wife N anna ,
daughter of that divin i ty which und er O din s supremacy ’
i s the ward O f the atmosphere and the owner of the moon

ship I f the continental Teutons in their mytholog i cal
.
conceptions also gave Balder a wi fe devoted and faithfu l

as N anna then it would be in the h i ghest degree i m
,
probable that the erseburg formu la should not let her

be one of those who as a body guard atten d Bal der on
,
-
,
'
his expedition to the forest Besid e s F rigg and F ulla .

,
there are two goddesses who acco m pany Balder O ne .
o f th em i s a su n dis as is e vident from the name Sunna

-
,
the other Si nhtg unt i s according to B u gg e s di scri mi

, , ,
’ ‘
“
nating interpretation of th i s ep i thet the dis who n i ght ,
”
after night ha s to battle her way A goddess who is .
the sister o f the su n dis but who not in the daytime but
-
,
in the night has to battle on her jou rn ey across the sky ,
must be a goddess of the moon a moon d is T his moon ,

-
.
goddess is the one who is nearest at hand to brin g assist

689
an c e to Balder Hen c e she can be none else than N anna

.
,
who we know is the daugh t er of the owner of t he moon

ship The fact that she has to bat t le her way across the
.
sky i s expla i n e d by the N orse myth i c state m en t a c cord ,
ing to which the wolf giant Hate is greedy to cap t u re the

-
moon and fin ally sec ures it as hi s prey ( V Olu spa Gyl

, ,
fag i nni ng ) In the poem abo u t Helge Hj orvardson

.
,
which i s merely a free reprodu ction of the ma t er i als i n

the Balder myth ( wh i ch shall be demonstrated in t he
-
second part of this work ) t he giant Hate is conqu ered ,
MM
by the hero of the poem a Balder figure whose wife i s a
, ,
“wh it e ” herself ha a shining horse str 2 5

di s who
, ,
s , ( .
,
controls weather and harvests ( str and makes .
“ ”
ni g htly j o u rneys on her stee d and inspects the harbou rs ,
( str .
The name N anna ( from the verb nenna ; cp V i g fu s .
“ ”
son Lex ) means the brave one
,
. With her h u s band .
she has fo u ght the bat tles of light and in t he N orse as , ,
in the Teu tonic mythol ogy she was with all her tender
, ,
M
ness a heroine .
T he e rseburg formula makes the su n dis and the -
moon dis sisters T he N orse variation of the Teutoni c

-
.
myth has done the same V afthru dnersmal and Gyl .
fag i nni ng ( ch 1 1 ) inform us that the divin i ties whi c h

.
govern the chariots of the su n and moon were brother

and sister bu t from the mas cu l i ne form dni Gylfagi n
,
ning has drawn the false conclusion that the one who
govern ed the car of the moon was not a sister bu t a
brother of the su n In the mythology a masculine div i n
.
ity dni was certainly known but he was the father of ,
69 0
M M
M
TE U T ON I C M Y TH OLO G Y
the d i s and moo n di s and identical with Gevarr

su n- -
N bkkvi —
,
N efr the owner of the moon ship The god

'
-
.
,
ani is the father of the su n di s for the same reason as

-
N at is the mother of D ag .
V afthru dnersmal informs u s that the father of the

managers of the su n and moon c ars was called u ndi l -
fori We are al ready familiar with this m yt hic person

'
al i ty ( see N o s 81 83 ) as the one who is appointed to

.
-
superintend the mechanis m of the world by whose on ,
du ll the starry firmament is revolved It is not probable
MM
.
that the power governing the motion of the stars is any

other than the one who under O d i n s s u prem acy i s ruler ’
of the su n and moon and ward o f all the vis i bl e phenom

,
ena in space among which are also the stars As by

,
.
,
compari son of the old records we have thus rea ched the ,
con c lusion that the managers of the sun and moon are
daughters of the ward of the atmospher e and as we ,
have al so learned that they are da u ghters of him who

superintends the motion of the constellations we are ,
unable to see an ything bu t harmony in thes e statem ents .
un di lfbri and Gew /rr N b lekoi N ei r are the s ame pe r

’ '
- -
son .
It shou ld be added that the moon goddess like her -

,
father could be called dni witho u t there being any o b

,
stacle in the masc u line form of the word The name of .
the goddess Shadi is also m asc u line in form and is i n ,
flected as a mascul i ne noun ( obli que case Shado ,
Y oun ger Edda 2 1 2 , ,
69 1
C OSM OGR AP H I C R E VI E W .
M
In the preceding pages vario u s scattered contributions
have been made to Teu ton i c c osmography and partien ,
larly to the topography of t he lo wer world It may not .
be out o f the way to gather and complete these frag

ments .
The world tree s three roots which divide themselve s

-
’
,
in the lower world and pe netrate through the three lower

world foun tains into the foundations o f the world
str u cture and hold it together stand in a direction fr om
nor t h to south—the northernmost ov er the H vergelmer
,
fountain with its cold water s ; the middle one over i

,
mer s well which is the founta i n of spiritual forces ; and

’
the third over Urd s well whose li quids give wa rmth to

’
Ygdrasil ( see N O .
In a north an d south direction stan d s likewise the

bridge B i fros t also called B i lrbs t Asbru ( Gri mnersmal
' ’
, , ,
and in a bold paraphrase hitherto not understood , ,
“ ”
thi odvi tni s fis cr the fish of the folk wolf
,
The pa ra -
.
phr ase oc curs i n Gri mnersmal ( 2 1 ) in its description of

V alhal and other abodes of the god s
thytr t hu n d ,
un ir t hi Odv i tn i s
fi s c r fl Od i i
ars trau m r thi cki r
O fm i c i l
v alg laum i at y at ha .
Thund ( the air river ) roars -

. The fish of the folk
69 2
wol f stands sec u re in the stream T o the noisy crowd of .
s word fallen men the current seems too strong to wade

-
”
through .
It has already be en sho wn ( N o 65 ) that those fallen .
by the sword ride with their psychopomps on Bifrost up

to V alhal and do not p roc eed thither th rough space but
, ,
have a solid fou ndation for the hoofs of thei r steeds .
Here as in Fafnersmal
,
the a i r is com pared with a
river in whi ch the horses are compelled to wade or
,
s wim i f the bridge leading to Asgard i s not used and the ,
c u rrent in this r oaring stream is said to be very strong ;

“ ”
wh i le on the other hand the fish stands safe and i n ~
, ,
v i ti ng therein That the author o f Gri mne rsmal called

.
the bridge a fish must seem strange but has its natu ral ,
explanation in Icelandic usage which called every bridge ,
e nd or bridge head a spordr that is a fish tail

-
Compare
, ,
-
.
Si g rdri fu mal which informs us that runes were

ri ste d on
“ ”
the fish tail o f the great myth i c bridge ( d
-
bru ar spordi ) and the expressi on bruarspordr ( br i dge

,
“ ”
head bridge fish tail ) in N j ala ( 24 6 ) and B i skupa s
- -
.
, ,
(1,
As a bri dg e pier coul d be calle d a fish tail
- -
,
it was perfectly logical for the poem to make the bridge

a fish On the zen i th of the br i dge stands V alhal that
.
,
secu res those fallen in battle and whose entrance i s dec ,
orated w i th images of the wol f and of the eagle ( G rim

ner smal animals that satisfy their hunger on the
,
field of battle This explains why the fish i s called that

.
o f the folk wol f o r great wolf T he meaning of the

-
.
“
paraphras e is simply the V alhal bri dge ”
Th at the .
bow of B ifrost stands no rth and south follows from the
69 3
TE U T ON I C M Y TH OLO G Y
fact that t he gods pass over one en d o f the br i dge on

their way to Urd s fountain sit u ated i n the so u t h of the
’
lower world while the other en d is o u tside of N i e felhel

, ,
s i tuated in the north F rom the so u th the god s come to .
the i r j udgment seats in the realm of the d i s of fate and
M
-
death F rom the north came according to V egtams

.
,
k v i da O din when he rode through N i felhel to that h all

,
which awaited Balder Why the Asa father on t hat oc .

-
c asion chose that rou te V eg tamsk v i da doe s not i nform

.
us . But from Saxo ( H i s t D an who knew an . .

,
old heathen song about O din s visit in the lower world ’
on acco u nt of Balder s death we get light on this point ’
,
.
A ccording to th i s son g it was Rosti ophu s P hi nni cu s

*
who told Od i n that a son of t he latter and Rind was to

avenge Balder s d eath Rosti ophu s i s as P E
’
i lller .
, . .
has already remarked the ri mthu rs H ross thi ofr men

’
ti oned in H yndlu lj od as a son of H ri mni r and brother

of the sorceress H ei dr the vala and witch well known ,
from V Olu spa and other sources N i felhel i s as shown .

,
above ( N o the abode of the ri mthu rses transferred

.
to the lower world Where his father H ri mni r ( Ber .
gelm er ) and his progenitor H ri mg ri mni r ( T hru dgelmer )

dwell in the t hu rs hall ment i oned i n Sk i rnersmal there -
,
we also find H ross thi dfr and O d i n m u st there seek him , .
V egtamskv i da makes O din see k his sister .
It i s B i frost s north br i dge head which parti cu larly

’
-
P *
i b l y th
os s m th t f wh i h f w t p h
e sa e as p vd i a o c a e s ro es ar e re s er e n
B ld
a d rs m r auld p ti f gm t wh g p h
ar , a n o b fi ll d i
oe c ra en ose a s av e een e n a
v y
er ti f t y m
u ns a i
s ac o r t t im with t p h wh i h w
ann e r n re ce n es s ro es c no a re
t V gt m k i d T h t Od i wh h i b t t p
c u rr e n as e a s v a d t th a n, en e s a ou o r oc e e o e
b d wh i h i th bt l m f b li i t iv B l d
.
a o e c n e su h
e r r ane an r e a s o ss s o r ec e e a er , c oose s
th e t t h gh N i f lh l i x pl i d t b y V gt m k i d wh th i
rou e r ou e e s e a ne no e a s v a, e re s
t t i
ac t t d b t by th l d p m m t i d b y S x wh i h m k h i m
s s a e u e o er oe en o n e a o. c a es
d we l l e r
,
s ee k t h e ln N i f e lh e l, t h e ri m th u rs H r os s th i Ofr, son of H ri mmr .
69 4
requ ires the vigilance of Heimdal the ward of the gods , ,
sin c e the ri mthu rse s and the damned are i ts neighbours .
“ ”
He i mdal is therefore widely known among the i n
habitants of N i felhel ( Ski rnersmal and L oke re ,
proaches He i mdal that his vo cation as watchm an always

com pels him to expose his back to the torrents of an u m
favou rable sky ( L okas .
,
In the night which con
s tantly broods over this northern zone sh i ne the forms of
“ ”
the white god and of h i s gold beam i ng horse Gu ll -
toppr when he makes spying exped i tions there

,
His .
“ ”
eye penetrates the darkness of a hundred rasts and h i s ,
ear cat ches the faintest sound ( Gylfag N ea r .

,
Bifrost pres u mably at the ve ry bridg e head mythology

, ,
has given h i m a fort i fied citadel H i mi nbj org

“t he ward
, ,
”
of heaven with a comfortable hall well s u pplied with
,
“ ”
the good mead ( Gri mn 1 3 ; Gylfag .
,
.
,
The lower world is more exten sive in all directions than

the s u rfa c e of the earth above it B i frost would not be .
able to pass outside and below the cr u st o f the earth to
M
rest with its br i dge hea ds on the doma i n of the three
-
world fou n t ains i f this w er e not the case The lower

-
.
“
world is therefore called f ormu ng ru nd the gr eat ground ,
”
or foundation ( Forspj allslj od and i ts u t termost
,
“
zone j adarr f ormu ng ru ndar the domain of the great
, ,
”
grou nd is Open to the celestial canopy and the under
, ,
s i de o f the eart h i s not its roo f From H li ds kj alf the

.
,
ou t look of the gods in Asgard ( Forspj allslj od the prose ,
texts in Sk i rnersmal and in Gri mnersmal) the view is ,
O pe n to i dgard to the sea and to the giant world situ

, ,
-
ated beyond the E li vagar rivers ( see the texts mentioned ) ,
69 5
M
and should a ccordingly also be so to the broad zone o f
M
J or mu ng ru n d excepting i ts northern most part wh i ch
, ,
always i s shrouded in night F rom H li ds kj alf the eye .
cannot di scern what is done there B u t He i mdal keeps .
wat c h there and when anything un u sual is perceived

,
O din sen ds the raven H u g i nn ( H u g r ) thither to spy i t

out ( Forspj allslj od 1 0 3 which strophes belong to
, , ,
gether ) But from H li dskj alf as the point of obse rva

.
tion the earth conceals all that part of Jormu ng ru nd be

low it ; and as i t is important to O din that he should
kn ow all that happens there H ugi nn and u ni nn fly ,
daily over these subterranean regions : H ng i nh oc u ni nn

fj g
l u a
'
hv e rj an dag i ormu ng ru nd y fir ( Gri m n ersmal ,
T he expeditions of the ravens over N i felhel in

“ ”
the north an d over Surt s deep dales in the so u th ex
’
M
pose them to dangers : O din expresses his fear that some
misfortune may befall them on these excursions ( Gr i m
nersmal,
In the w estern an d eastern parts o f j adarr f ormu n

g ru ndar dwell the two d ivine clans the Vans and Elves ,
and the former rule over the whole zone ever since t he “
”
gods in time s morning gave Frey N j ord s bounteous
’
, ,
’
son Alfheim as a tooth gi ft ( Gri mners -

D elling
is to be regarded as c lan —
, ,
chief of the Elves ( light Elves ) -

,
since in the very theo gony he is ranked with the most

anc i en t powers With . i mer s dau ght e r N at he be ’
'
comes the father o f D ag and the progenitor of D ag s
syni r ( the light Elves ) It has already been empha
-
.
s i se d ( s ee N o 5 3 ) that he is the lord of the rosy dawn

.
-
,
and that ou ts i de of his doo rs the song of awakening is

69 6
s u ng every morn i ng over the world Power to the

”
Asas su ccess to the Elves and wisdom to Hroptatyr ,
( H avamal , The glow of dawn blazes up fro m
M
hi s domain beyond the eastern hor i z on Where this .
clan chieftain o f the Elves dwells thither the mythology

-
,
has referred the original ho m e o f his clan Alfhei mr .
occu pies the eastern part of Jormu ng ru nd s zone It is ’

.
in the eastern p art that D ag D elli ng s son and Sol hi s ,

’
, ,
kinswoman mou nt thei r chariots to make their j o u rney

,
aro u nd the earth in the sky Here i s also the Hel gate .
-
through which all thedead must pass in the lower world

(No .
There are many proofs that the giant settlemen t w i th

the Ironwood or yrkwoo d was conceived as extend i ng
from the north over large po rtions of the east ( Voluspa ,
3 9 48
, ,
These regions of Alfheim constit u te the
southern coasts of the E li vagar and are the scenes of ,
important events in the epic o f the mythology ( see the

treat i se on the Ivalde race ) .
V anahei mr i s situ ated in the western half o f the zone .
A t the banqu et in AE gi i s hall d escribed in Lokasenna

’
,
L oke says to N j ord '
th u vas t au s tr h e dan
g i sl u m s e n dr g o du m
From here you were sent out east as a hostage to the

”
god s
PE g i r s hall is far out
’
in the dep ths of the

‘
sea The .
ocean known by the T eu tons was the N or t h Sea The _

.
author has manifestly conceived n ir s hall as situated ’
69 7
TE U T ON IC M YTH O LO GY
in the same direct i on from Asgard as Vanaheim and not ,
far from the nat i ve home of the Vans This lies in the .
word hedan ( from here ) Accord i ng to V afthru dners

.
M
mal ( str N j ord was cr eated in Vanaheim by wise
MM
.
”
r eg i n
. When he was sent as a hostage to the gods to
Asgard he had to j o u rney eastward ( au s tr ) The west
M
.
e rn location of Vanahei m is thereby d emonstrated .
“ ”
In the wes tern halls of Vanaheim dwells Billing ,
MM
Rind s father the father of t he Asa god Vale s m other
’
-
’
—
, ,
( R i d V l i w l m V His nam
’
n r be rr a a es tr s b u e gt e .
,
has been preserved i n both the G erman and the Anglo

Saxon myth i c records An O ld Ge rman docu ment men
.
t i ons t ogether B i llu nc and N i du nc that i s Billing an d , ,
i mer ( see N o . In the mythology i mer s do ’
ma i n is bounded on the wes t by B i llin g s realm and on ’
the east by D elli ng s D elling i s’

. i mer s son i n law
.
’
- -
.
According to V Olu spa 1 3 ( Codex ,

B illing is a
M
being which in time s morning on the resolve of the god s
’
, ,
was created by Ods og ni r i mer and D u ri nn i mer s ’

-
.
ne i ghbours in the east and i n the west were therefore i n

ti mately connected with him An Anglo Saxon re cord
.
-
( C od ex Exoniensis 3 2 0 7 ) makes B i lling the race

, ,
hero of the kinsmen and neighbou rs of the A ngles the ,
V arni an s ( B i lli ng w old V ernu m ) Th is too has a .
m y t hological foundation as appears i n Gri mnersmal ( 3 9 )

,
and in the saga of Helge H j orvardson whi ch as be , ,
fore stated is co mposed o f mythic fragments When

,
.
Sol and a ne leave D elli ng s domain and begin their ’
march across the heavens their j ourney is not witho u t,
danger From the Ironwood ( cp V Oluspa 3 9 ) come

. .
,
69 8
TE U T ON IC MY THOLO GY
the wolf giants Sholl and H ate and purs u e them Skoll
- .
doe s not des i st from the p u rs u i t before the car O f the

bright faced goddess has descended toward the western
-
halls and reached Varna vi dr ( Scau ll hei ti r u lfr er fylgir

—G i m
,
Hi de r n ersmal,
e no s ci rlei ta g di
o ti l Varna r
V arna vi dr the mythic V arni ans or Varin

is the forest of
“
ians V arni ans V ari ni ans means defenders an d the ”
.
, , ,
protection here referr ed to can be none other than that
M
given to the j ourneying divin i ties of l i ght when they have
reached the western horizon A ccording to Helge .
M
H j orv ardson s saga Hate who pursues the moo n is
’
, , ,
“ ” “
slain near V ari n s Bay Vari nn the defender
’
. pro , ,
”
tecto r i s the singular form of the same word as reap
,
pear s in the genitive plural Varna These expres sions r
—
.
B i lli ng ve o d
l V ernum V ar na n i dr and V or
r i n
,s v i l
e are ,
to be cons i dered as belonging together So also the local .
n ames borrowed from the mythology Vari nsfj brdr and

’
Vari ns ey in Helge Hj orvardson s saga where several

’
, ,
’
names reappear e g Svari nn oi nn Alfr and Yngvi

’
, . .
, , , , ,
wh i ch in connection with that of Billing occu r in the l i st

of the beings created by i mer and D u ri nn It i s mani .
fest that Varna v i dr where the wolf Skoll is obliged to

,
turn back from hi s pursuit of Sol and that Vari ns vi le , ,
where the moon s pursuer Hate is con quered were con

’
,
c ei v ed in the mythology as situate d in the western hor i
zon since the su n and the moon maki ng thei r j ou rney

,
from the east to west on the heaven s are pursu ed and are
not safe before they reach the wester n halls And no w .
a s B illing dwells in the western halls and i s remembered

in the Anglo S axon mythic fragments as the prince of
-
69 9
M
the V arni ans or and as fu r t hermore Vdri ns
V ari ni ans , , ,
M
fj d and V i s ey are c onnected with adventures in
'
b r r ar n
wh i ch there o ccu r several nam es of mythic per sons be

longing to Bi lling s clan then this proves absol u tely an
’
or i ginal mythic connect i on between Billing and hi s west

ern halls and th ose western halls in whose regions Varna
vi dr and Vari nsvi k are situ ated and where the d i vinities ,
of light their j ou rney at hwart the sky accomplished fin d

, ,
defender s and can take thei r rest A n d when we add .
to this that D ell i ng i mer s kinsman and eastern n e i gh

,
’
bou r is the lord o f morn i ng and t he rosy da wn and t hat

, ,
Billing i s i mer s kinsman and western nei ghbo u r then

’
it follows that Billing from t he stan dpoint O f a symbol

,
of nature represents the evening and the glow of twi

,
l i ght and that in the epic he is ru ler of those regions

,
o f the world where the div i n i t i es of light find rest and

peace The d escription wh i ch the H av amal strophes
.
) give us of life in B i lli ng s halls corresponds

’
( 9 7 1 0
- 1
most per fectly with this view T h rou gh the epic pre .
s entati on there gl eams as it seems a conscio u s symbo li s

, ,
ing of nat u re which paints to the fancy the play of col

,
o u rs in the west when the su n is set When eventide .
c om es B i lling s lass
“ ”
the su n gl i tter ing one sleeps on
’
-
, ,
her bed ( B i lli ng s mey ec fann bedj u m d s olhvi ta s ofa

’
str . In his halls Billing has a bod y guard of war -

‘
riors his saldrdtt o i g drétt ( str 1 0 0

, ,
i n whom we .
,
mu st recognise those V arni ans who prot ect the divinities

of light that come to his dwelling and these warriors ,
watch far into the night with burning lights and with ,
” “ ”
torches in their hands over the slumbering sun white ,
-
70 0
M
ma i den B u t when day breaks the i r services are no
.
longer n eces sary Then they in the i r turn go to sleep '
—
.
( O c n cer m orn i thd v ar s aldr o tt u m s ofin str
When the Asas—all on horseback excepting Thor

. .
on their daily jo u rney to the thingstea d near Urd s foun ’
tain have reached the southern rune ri sted bridge head

,
- -
of B i frost they turn to the north and ride through a

,
sou th e rn H el gate into the lower world proper Here

-
.
,
i n the south and far below Jormu ng ru nd s southe rn zone

,
’
“ ”
we m u st conc eive those deep dales where the fire giant -
S u rt dwells w it h h i s ra c e Su ttu ng s sons ( not u spe l s

,
’ ’
son s ) The idea presented in Gylfag i nni ng s cosmogony

.
’
a ccording to which th ere was a world of fire in the so u th

and a world of cold in the north of that Gi nu ngagap in
which the world was form ed is certainly a gen u ine myth
, ,
rest i ng on a view of nature which the very geographical

position forced u pon the Teutons Both these border .
realms a fterwards find their representatives in the or

ganised world : the fire world in Su rt s Sbkkdali r and the ’ '
-
,
frost world in the N i felhel incorporated with the escha

-
tolog i cal places ; and as the latter con stit u tes the north
ern pa rt of the realm of death we may in analogy her e
,
w i th refer the dales of Su rt and Su ttu ng s sons to the ’
south and we may do this without fear of er ror for

, ,
V Olu spa ( 5 0 ) states positively th at Surt an d hi s de

s cendants come from the sou th to the R agna rok confl i c t
( Su r tr fer su nan me d soi g a lcefi ) While the northe rn

.
bridge head of Bifrost is threatened by the ri mthu rses

-
,
the so u thern is ex pos ed to attacks from Su ttung s sons ’

.
In Ragnarok the gods have to meet storms from both

7 0 1
TE U TON I C MY TH O L O G Y
q uarters and we m u st c once i ve the conflict as extend i n g

,
along Jormu ngru nd s ou ter zone and especially nea r bo t h

’
ends of the Bifrost br i dge The plain around the south

.
“
end of Bi fros t where the gods are to mix the liquor of
”
the sword with Surt is called Os kopni r in a part of a
’
heathen poem incorpo rated w it h Fafne rsmal Here .

.
‘
F rey with hi s hosts o f e i nherj es meets S u rt and Sut
tun g s s ons and falls by the s word wh i ch once was his
’
, ,
after the arch of Bifros t on th i s side is already broken
u nder the weight of the hosts of riders ( Fafnersmal 1 4 , ,
Os kopni r s plain must therefore be

'
1 5 ; V Olu spa
’
refer red to the south end o f Bifrost and outside of the

s ou t hern Hel gate of the lower world
-
The plain is also .
MM
c alled V i g ri dr ( V afthru dne rsmal and is said to be
'
one h u ndred rasts long each way As the god s who here .
“ ”
appear in the confl i ct are called i n svas o g od the sweet , ,
and as Frey falls i n the battle those who here go to m eet

,
Surt and his peo ple s eem to be particularly Vana gods -
and Vans while thos e who contend with the gi ants and
,
with L oke s progeny are chiefly Asas

’
.
When the god s have ridden through the southern

Hel gate there he be fore them magnificent regions over
-
,
wh i ch Urd i n particu lar rules and which together wi t h

,
i mer s domain const i tute the realms o f bliss in the lower

’
wor ld with abodes for departed children and women ,
and for men who were not chosen on the fi eld of ba t tle .
R ivers flowing from H vergelmer flow through Urd s ’
’
domain after they have traversed i mer s realm The .
way leads the gods to the fountain of the norns which ,
waters the southern root of the world tree and over -

,
7 0 2
TE U T ON IC M YTH OL OG Y
’
wh i ch Ygdrasil s lower branches spread the i r ever green -
leaves shading the gold clad fountain where swans s wi m

,
-
,
and whose water s give the whi t est col ou r to everything
that comes in contact therew i th In the vicinity of th i s

‘
fou ntain are the th i ngstead wi t h judgment seats a tr i bu -

,
nal and be nches for the hosts of people who daily arrive
,
to be blessed or damn ed .
M
These hosts enter through the Hel gate o f the east -
.
They traverse d eep and dark valleys and come to a thorn ,
grown plain aga i nst whose pr i cks Hel shoes protect those
MM
-
who were merci ful in thei r life on earth and t hence to ,
the river mi xed with blood whi ch in its edd i es whirls ,
weapons and must be wad ed over by the wi ck ed but ,
c an be crossed by the goo d on the drift woo d which floats -
on the river When this river is crosse d the way of the

.
dead leads sou thward to the th i ngstead of the gods .
M
Further up there i s a golden bridge across the river to
the glorious re alm where i mer s holt and the gli t tering '
M
halls are situ ated in which Balder and the ds meg i r await
,
the regen eration a ny streams come from H v ergel

.
mer among them Lei ptr on whose waters holy oaths

, ,
are taken and cast thei r coils aro u nd these protected

,
places whence sorrow aging and death are ban i shed

, , ,
.
The halls are situated in the eastern part of i mer s ’
realm i n the domain of the el f o f the ros y dawn for he i s ,
their watchman .
Further down in i mer s lan d and u nder the middle ’
root of the world tree is the well o f creative force and O f

-
inspiration and near it are i mer s o wn golden halls

,
’
.
Through this middle part of the lower world goes from

70 3
TE
we st to east the road which N at D ag Sol and a ne M

M
, , ,
travel from Bill i ng s domain to D elli ng s When the

’ ’
.
mother N at whose car i s drawn by H ri mfaxi makes her

en t rance through t he western Hel gate darkness is d i f -
,
fused along her cou rse over the regions of bl i ss and ac

c o mpan i es her char i ot to the north where the hall of Sin ,
dre t he great artis t is loc ated and toward the N ida

, , ,
mo u ntains at who se so u thern foot N at takes her rest in

,
her own home Then those who dwell in the northern

.
regions of Jormu ng ru nd r e t i re to rest ( Forspj allslj o d ,
2 5 ) but on the outer rim of i dgard there is l i fe and ac

ti v i ty for there D ag s and 80 1 s cars t hen d i ff use l i ght
’ ’
and splendo u r on land and sea The hall of Si ndre s .

’
ra c e has a special pecu liarity It is as shall be shown .

,
“ ”
below the prototype of the sleeping castle ment i oned
,
i n t he sagas of the middle ages .
O ver the N ida mounta i ns and the lands beyond them

we find Y g d ras i l s third root watered by the H v erg elmer
’
fou ntain the mother of all waters The N ida moun t a i ns

, .
constitute Jormu ng ru nd s great watershed from wh i ch

’
rivers r u sh down to the so u th and to the north In .
H ve rg elmer s fou ntain and above it the world m i ll is

’
-
bu ilt through whose mill stone eye water r u shes u p and

-
do wn c a u sing the maelstro m and ebb and flood tide and

, ,
s cat t ering the meal of the mill over the bottom of the
sea. N i ne giantesses march along the outer edge of t he
world pushing the mill handle before them wh i le the
-
,
m i ll and the starry heavens at the same t i me are re

volved .
Where the E li vagar rivers r i se out O f H v erg elmer ,
70 4
TE U T ON IC M YTH OLO GY
and on the sou thern strand of the mythic Gandvik i s ,
found a reg i on wh i ch after one O f i ts inhabitants is called

I de s pasture ( s e tr—Y o u nger Ed da i
, ,
’
Here , .
dwells warriors of mixed elf and giant blood ( see the

treatise on the Ivalde race ) who received from the gods ,
the task of be i ng a guard of protection against the neigh

bouri ng giant world -
.
Farther toward the north rise the N ida mountains and

form the steep wall wh i ch c onstitutes N i felhel s sou ther n ’
boundary In th i s wall are the N a gates through wh i ch

.
-
,
the damned when they have d i ed t heir se cond death are

brought into the realm of torture whose r u ler is Lei ki nn
M
, .
N i felhei m i s inhab it ed by the spir i ts of the prim e val

giants by the spirits of d i sease and by giants who have
, ,
fallen in confl i ct w it h the god s Under N i felhel extend .
the enormous caves in wh i ch the vario u s kinds of cri mi

nals are tortured In one of these caves i s the tortu re
.
hall of the N astran ds Ou tside of its northern door is a
M
.
M
grotto guarded by swarthy elves The door ope ns to .
Armsv artner s sea over which eternal darkness brood s

’
.
,
In this sea lies the Lyngv e hol m w ith in whose j u ri sdi c

-
,
tion L oke Fenrer and “ ”

u spe l s sons are fettered ’
.
, ,
Somewhere in the same region B ifrost des c ends to its

well fortified northern bridge head The citadel is called -
.
“ ”
H i mi nbj org the defence or rampart o f heaven Its
'
.
,
c hieftain i s Heimdal .
Wh i le B i f rost s arch stands in a direction from nor t h

’
to sou th the way o n whi ch a n e and Sol travel a c ross

,
t he heavens goes fro m east to west a ne s way i s be

-
.
’
low Asgard .
70 5
TE U T ON IC MY TH O L OG Y
The movable starry heaven is not the only nor is i t ,
the h i ghest canopy stretched over all t ha t has be en men

,
ti one d above .O ne can go so far to the north that even

the h orizon of the starry heavens is left in the rea r s
O utside the he avens Andldng er and Vi dblai nn support ‘
.
their edges against Jormu ng ru nd ( Gylfag . All

,
t his creation is s u pported by the world tree on wh ose

-
,
topmos t bough the cock V i dofner gl i tters .
( Conti nuati on of P ar t I V i n Volu me III .

)

TeutonicMythology 10012405

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

TeutonicMythology 10012405

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

m x rA x "

LO N D O N CO P E N HAGE N ST O CKH O L B E RLIN NE YO RK

yth i n R egard to the Lower Wor l d

i mer s Grov e and R egen e ra tion of the Wor l d

Gylfag i nni ng s Co smography

T he Word H el i n Lingu i s ti c Usage

T he Way o f Th ose who F a ll by the Sword

Way to Hades Common to the D ead

The P l aces o f Pu n i shmen t

Gi an t C l an s D escend ed from Yme r

F ron t i sp i ece—Va l kyr i e s Br i ngi ng the Body of a Sl a i n

Thor D es t roys the Gi an t Thrym

It is ne c essary to begin this investigation by pointing

( from L i f and Lei fthraser i n i mer s grove ) races are ’

C odex U psalensi s has ins t ead—oh thar u m alldr

aloe : And they ( L i f and Lei fthraser ) h ave ther e ( in

histor i cal standpoint be the original one But this does

not h i nder both from being equally legitimate from a

when the main features of the myth about L if and L ei f

equally j u stiﬁable from a mythological standpoint can be

the choice between the two versions pay regard only to

the ageof the m anuscripts then the one in Cod ex U p ,

salensi s whi c h is c op i e d a bo u t the year

pu t t he ch i ef emphasi s on th i s fact W it hout drawing .

any c on c lu s i ons I simply po i nt ou t the fact that the oldest

vers i on we possess of t he passage says that Li f and L eif

other vers i on m u ch you nger so far as the manuscript in ,

which it i s fou nd is concerned and from a mythological

s tandpo i nt that too is beyond dou bt correct

In two pla ce s in the poet i c Edda ( V egtamskv 7 and , ,

Fj olsv i nnsm 3 3 ) occu rs the word denLeg i t

it is used in such a manner that we perceive that i t is a

application What th i s appl i cation was is not kno wn

It is necessary to make a most thorou gh analysis of the

are discussing I shall begin with the passage in Fj ols

The you ng Svi pdag the hero in Gr ogalder and i n ,

Fj olsv i nnsmal is in the latter poem represented as stand

i ng before the gate of a c itadel wh i ch he never saw be

has d estin ed to be his w i fe resides Outs i de of the gate .

is a person who is or pre t ends to be the gate keeper and -

c alls himself F olsv i nn He and Svi pdag enter i nto con

versation The conversat i on turns chieﬂy upon the re

markable obj ects whi ch Sv i pdag has before his eyes .

Svi pdag asks questions abo ut them and Fj olsvi nn gives ,

h i m in format i on But be fore Sv i pdag came to the cas .

tle wi t h i n wh i ch hi s chosen one a wa i ts hi m he has made

a remarkable j ourney ( allu ded to in Grogalder) and he ,

has seen strange things ( t h u s in str 9 1 1 3 3 ) which he .

compares with those wh i ch he now sees and in regard t o ,

which he also desires i nformat i on from Fj olsv i nn When .

the questions c oncern obj ec t s wh i ch are before h i m at the

qu ires the pre s ent tense of the verb ( as in strophe 3 5

s eg an mer he a t tha t bj arg he i ti r er e l a s é brndi d )

When h e S peaks of what he has se en be fore and el se

T ell me that which I ask you and which I wish to ,

know Fj olsv i nn : Who made that wh i ch I saw within

the cas t le wall of the

Fj olsv i nn answers ( str . 34)

Une and Ire Bare and O re Var and V egdrasi l D ore

and Ure D elling the c u nning elf i s watchman at t he

Thus Svi pdag seen a pla c e where beings called

elf D elling The myth must have la i d great stress on

whose cunning i s especially emphasised has been en ,