SCANDINAVIAN MYTHOLOGY.

2 reproach of idleness, or tend otherwise than to enlarge and elevate the mind, which leads us to inquire concerning the nature of doctrines, which, however erroneous, have exercised a powerful and enduring influence on the destinies of mankind. But such inquiry assumes a far higher importance when we reflect on the striking resemblance that, amid the variety of extravagant fictions in which the undirected imagination of these primitive philosophers indulged, has been found to pervade the Mythologies of all the great heathen nations: a resemblance, remarks Sir W. Jones, “too strong to be accidental,” and which extends to the religions of Greece, Italy, India, Egypt, Persia, China, Phrygia, Phoenicia, Syria, the gothic nations of Northern Europe, and even to those of the American continent. “The conclusion to be drawn from this unquestionable fact,” adds the same gifted writer, “is inevitable, viz. that a general affinity must have existed between the most distinguished inhabitants of the primitive world, when they first deviated from the worship of the only true God.”3 Some writers, indeed, have laboured with mistaken zeal, to prove that whatever is to be found good or elevated in the religious doctrines of the heathen nations, has been 3 Anniversary Discourse on the Hindus.

3 derived from the Jewish or Christian religions: thereby falling into the precise error of the Jews themselves, who presumptuously conclude that the miraculous dispensation by which they were so long separated from the rest of mankind was in consequence “of a peculiar fondness of the Almighty” (to use the words of Bishop Warburton4) for their race, and not to preserve the memory of the one God in the midst of an idolatrous world. That all divine truth was not limited to the revelations vouchsafed to the Jewish people has been sufficiently shewn by Bishops Warburton,5 Horsley,6 and others, and the prophecies of Job and of Balaam afford alone sufficient proof, that God’s warning voice was not at all times confined to the children of Israel. Thus much is certain, that hitherto no community of men has been discovered, in any age, or however uncivilized, entirely devoid of traditions, more or less obscure, respecting the origin of the world; and of a belief, more or less distinct, in a state of existence after death. History teaches us, moreover, that all the principal nations of antiquity 4 Divine Leg. of Moses, book v. sec. 2. 5 Div. Leg. book ii. 6 Dissertation on the prophecies of the Messiah dispersed among the heathen.

4 had their peculiar theories respecting the creation, which formed the principal subject or their mysteries J and were the foundation of their popular worship. The cosmogonies of many of these nations have been preserved to the present time, some in obscure fragments, some nearly entire, and afford an interesting subject of comparison. The following is an abridged account of the Cosmogony of the Scandinavians, as contained in the Eddas: “In the beginning there existed nothing save one vast abyss, called Ginnungagap, (chaotic pit), which was wholly void. One side of this abyss, called Muspell, faced towards the south, and was warm; the other, Niffl-heim, faced northwards, and was cold. Out of Niffl-heim there rose a spring, Hvergelmer, which existed before anything else was created. It was full of poisons, and its waters flowed by means of several great rivers into the abyss. The largest of these rivers was called Elivagar (the cold stormy waters), which penetrated farther than the others, but in proportion as it receded from its source flowed with a. weaker current, until on reaching the centre its waters became so sluggish, that they could no longer resist the cold, and thus became ice. Still, 7 Div. leg. Book ii. sec. 4.

5 as the rivers flowed on the ice accumulated, so that at length the whole abyss was filled up with ice and rime. But in the process of time also the heat from Muspell began to act on that portion of the ice the nearest to it, until the whole by degrees was thawed, and from the thaw was produced the giant Ymer, whose immeasurable bulk filled up a portion of the abyss. Ymer fell into a deep sleep, during which a man and a woman were generated under his left arm, and one foot begat a son upon the other. From these are descended the race of the Hrymthussar, or giants of the frost. At the same time that Ymer, or the evil principle (for the Edda tells us that he and all his race were evil), was produced from the contending elements, Alfadur, or the father of all things, created the cow, Audumbla, from whose udders flowed four streams of milk, by which Ymer was nourished. She herself procured sustenance by licking some stones on which the hoar frost still lay, and which were salt. By this process, within three days, they were moulded into a man who was called Bure. He had a son Bur or Börr, who married a maid of giant race named Beyzla, or Belsta, by whom he had three sons, Odin, Vile, and Ve. These three, shortly after their birth, slew the giant Ymer, the blood from whose wounds drowned the whole of the frost-giants,

6 with the exception of Bergelmer (the old man of the mountain), who escaped with his wife in a boat, and continued the race. After this, Bon’s sons took Ymer’s body and set it in the midst of the gulf Ginnungagap. Of his flesh they formed the earth, of his blood seas and waters, of his bones mountains, of his teeth rocks and stones, of his hair all manner of plants. They made the heavens out of his skull, and set four dwarfs, whose names were East, West, North, and South, at the four corners, to support it. They took also fires from Muspelheim and fixed them in heaven, above and below, to light up the heaven and the earth. And they determined the course of all meteors and heavenly bodies, some in the heavens, some under the heavens. Moreover, they threw up Ymer’s brains into the air, where they became clouds, and formed Midgard of his eye-brows.” Such is the account of the creation of the universe given in the Prose Edda, the author of which has put in the shape of a continuous narrative details collected from several of the Mythological Poems or Songs, which compose what is called the Elder or Poetic Edda. In the Voluspa, or the Song of the Prophetess, the most interesting of them all, as well on account of the evident marks which it bears of remote antiquity,

7 as of the loftiness of its language, and the poetry of its conception, a Vala or Prophetess, probably Urda, the Norny of the past, from a high seat, informs the gods and the numerous race of lesser deities, assembled in intent silence around her, of the mystery of their creation, and of the destruction which must one day overtake them. She begins as follows:—                 1. Listen to my tale, Ye holy beings, High and low, Of the race of Heimdall! I will narrate the deeds Of the sire of the slain, With old traditions,     The oldest I remember.                 2. I bring to mind the giants, Born betimes: They who, of yore, Fostered my childhood, I can tell of nine worlds, And nine heavens, Of the lordly central tree,     Beneath the earth.                 3. It was the morn of time, When nothing was, Nor sand nor sea, Nor cold billows, Nowhere could earth be found,

8 Nor the high heaven, There was a boundless gulph     Without thing that groweth.                 4. Until the sons of Börr Gave life to clay, They who constructed The lordly Midgard. Soel from the south Shone on its walls, When earth was decked     With verdant plants. In like manner, in another of these songs, the Grimnersmaal, to which we shall have occasion to refer presently, we are told by Odin himself:— From Ymer’s corpse Earth was created: From his blood the sea; Plants from his hair; The heavens from his front; From his brows The wild gods formed Midgard, for the sons of men; Whilst from his brains The hard blowing clouds     Came into being. Notwithstanding the extravagant wildness of the preceding fiction, thus much at least may be elicited from it; that its inventors believed in one supreme, eternal, and omnipotent being (Alfadur), to whom they assigned no origin, and respecting

9 whose nature and attributes they presumed not to conjecture.8 They intended also plainly to inculcate that matter was eternal, and in its nature evil, whilst good could proceed only from the allwise Alfadur.9 Pinn Magnussen views the Scandinavian Cosmogony as an allegory, which he thus interprets:— The giant Ymer represents the chaotic state of the earth, produced by the combined effects of heat and cold upon water, which according to the belief of all nations, and to the account of the Holy Scriptures themselves, was the first existing 8 Mysterious allusions to .the supreme being occur from time to time in the poems of the Elder Edda. Thus in Hyndla’s song, Yet there shall come Another mightier, Altho’ him I dare not name. Further onward Few can see, Than when Odin Meets the wolf. 9 The eternity of the world, remarks Bastholm, is an invention of modern philosophers; but the ancients, whilst they steered clear of this absurdity, believed in the eternity of matter, because they could not comprehend how the world could have been produced out of nothing. (Bastholm over de ældste Folkes-lægters rel. og philos. Meiningen).

10 matter. The cow Andnmbla, he thinks not an inapt symbol of the atmosphere, which surrounded the chaotic earth, and might be said to nourish it« The production of a nobler being, Bure, from the salt stones might denote the emersion of the earth from the ocean. His son Börr, the heavenly mountain Caucasus, called by the Persians Bon, and which plays so prominent a part in the earliest mythologies almost of all nations. From his union with Bestla, or Belsta, were produced three powerful beings, Odin, Vile, and Ve. Air Light, and Fire, which put an end to the chaos, or, in the words of the allegory, slew the giant Ymer.10 But whatever may be concluded as to the real meaning of the Scandinavian Cosmogony, we should be careful lest the extravagance of its details lead us to too hasty conclusions with respect to the ignorance or barbarousness of the people by whom it was received, for upon examination we shall find that the notions entertained on this subject, by the most enlightened nations of antiquity, were scarcely more intelligible. The doctrine of the Egyptians did not differ widely from that of the Scandinavians. According to Diodorus, they taught that there was an original 10 Magnussen Edda Lære, vol. i. p. 29.

11 chaos, from which the world was formed by motion, and the action of the sun, or of fire, which was worshipped by the ancient Egyptians, as the supreme deity, under the title of Phthas. The earth, when separated from the waters, began to ferment, and through this fermentation all animals came into existence.11 The ancient Chaldeans also taught that the world was produced from a chaos, composed of water and darkness, but inhabited by various monsters, who were destroyed by Bel, the sun. In like manner as Odin and his brethren destroy Ymer, and from his body form the universe; Bel cuts in twain the giantess Omorca, and converts the two halves of her body into heaven and earth. In other respects the Chaldean allegory, whilst it strongly resembles, may be said to surpass in extravagance, the Scandinavian.12 The Cosmogony of the Phoenicians, that active and intelligent people to whom probably Greece, and die whole of Europe chiefly owe their early civilization and religious worship, as far as we can judge from the fragments handed down to us, was still more extravagant than those we have cited.13 11 Diod. Bibl. Hist. 12 Berosi Chaldæi fragmenta in fab. Bibl. Græc. v. 14. 13 Sanconiatho in frag. Philonis.

12 According to the ancient Greek Cosmogony, ass contained in the fragments of the songs of Orpheus, preserved by Athenagoras, water was the principle of all things. From water was produced a slough or mud, and from this again a monster with three heads, of which one was like that of a god, one of a lion, and one of an ox. This monster however was a god, and produced an egg, of the top of which was formed heaven (Uranos), of the bottom, earth (Ge). From the union of these two were produced, first, the three fates, Klotho, Lachesis, and Atropos, and then the giants and cyclops, who rebelling against heaven, were cast down to Tartarus. The Titans, also, were the offspring of the earth, and from them descended the gods. It would lead us too far from our subject to detail the cosmogonic theories of the Persians, Chinese, and the different Indian sects, all of which are easily accessible to the curious reader. Each of these nations, as has been already stated, had a peculiar theory, all in their most important particulars strongly resembling each other, all evidently distorted copies of one divine original. Striking indeed, as Magnussen remarks, is the contrast between the sublime simplicity of the account of the creation as given in the book of Genesis, and the laboured and monstrous allegories which

13 compose the heathen cosmogonies. And yet if we duly consider these venerable traditions, we shall find that the light of truth, which through especial revelation was preserved in all its purity to the descendants of Israel, although greatly dimmed, was not altogether extinguished amongst the heathens. This may be said more especially of the Persians and Hindoos. The Zend-Avesta (living word) of the former, and the Vedas of the latter, have been deemed by wise and good men14 to contain the remnants of divine revelation. The religions doctrines of the other ancient nations have been almost entirely lost, but the resemblance of their cosmogonies to each other, and to the Mosaic account, afford a striking corroboration of the truth of the divine mission of the Hebrew legislator, and of his account of the derivation of all the nations of the earth from one original stock. Almost all the heathen nations, as Magnussen remarks, recognised one supreme God, eternal, almighty, creator of the universe, enthroned in the highest heavens; but whilst the Jews, taught by inspired prophets, worshipped the one God in 14 Amongst those of our own countrymen who held this opinion, may be cited the distinguished names of Bryant, Hyde, Holwell, Bishop Horsley, and Sir William Jones.

14 Spirit and in truth; and rightly viewed the angels of heaven, the cherubim and seraphim, and Elohim as the mere servants of his will; the heathens gradually lost sight of this great truth,15 and deified in proportion to their ignorance and to the artifices of their priests, men, the elements, brutes, and at length, even stocks and stones.16 But to return to the doctrines of the Scandinavians, we have already shewn how Odin and his two brothers formed the world out of the body of the giant Ymer. We shall now give a description of that event in the words of the poet Oehlenschläger. Thor, the god of thunder, and the sworn foe of the giants is engaged in a discussion with Utgardelok, their king, on the nobility of their respective descents, in the course of which, the dæmon-monarch addresses his adversary as follows:— In being’s earliest dawn, All was one dark abyss, Nor heaven, nor earth was known, Chill noxious fogs and ice, North from murk Niffl-heim’s hole, Piled up in mountains lay; 15 A considerable portion of Bryant’s learned work, the Analysis of Ancient Mythology, is devoted to the proof, that the earliest defection to idolatry consisted in the adoration of the sun, and the worship of daemons, styled Baalim. 16 Magnussen Edda Lære, vol. i.

15 From Muspell’s radiant pole, South-wards fire held the sway. Thus after ages past, Mid in the chaos, met A warm breath, Niffl-heim’s blast: Cold with prolific heat: Hence pregnant drops were formed, Which, by the parent air, From Muspell’s region, warmed Produced great Aurgelmer.17 He was the mighty root Of all our ancient race, Which now, from light shut out, In caves their days must pass; High as thou hold’st thine head, Say where was then thy car?18 The hammer-swinger said Now lend to me an ear: “Thy vaunt, how little worth, My plain tale soon shall show! The hour brought Ymer forth, Saw, too, the mystic cow; She shaped the cold salt stone, Whence Bure our parent stood: 17 The giants and the gods had each their peculiar language, Aurgelmer was the name which the giants gave to Ymer. 18 A favorite epithet of Thor, from his celebrated hammer. He always, in his expeditions, used a car drawn by two goats, no horse being sufficiently strong to carry him.

16 No vapourous root, we own, But breathing flesh and blood. “With beauty, strength and power, Him, great Alfader bless’d; His son was mighty Burr Who the tall Bestia press’d. The maid was good and fair, Though of a giant race; Their birth, hence spirits of air, Elves, Aser, Vaner, trace. “Need was the primal powers Should ripen and unite, Ere that, such race as ours, Could fitly come to light; The oak, the forest's sire, Long in the earth must grow, Ere empyreal fire From its gross limbs can flow.” After bringing to his memory the destruction of Ymer by the three sons of Bore, Thor proceeds:— I’ the gulf his body hurled Odin and Vile and Ve; Thereout to form the world: His blood, the boundless sea, His flesh they turn to earth, His bones to mountains high, His teeth as rocks spring forth, His brains, clouds upwards fly. They take his shaggy brows And build fair Midgard’s towers

17 Which with a fence they close ’Gainst Utgard’s demon powers; His spacious vaulted front Aloft the brethren threw, It formed the firmament, And Frey19 tinged it blue. Oehlenschläger. We next come to the creation of man, which is thus described in the prose Edda. “Gangler asked, whence came men, who dwell upon earth? Har answered, as Bör’s sons went out to the seashore, they found two trees; out of which they created man. Odin gave spirit and life; Vile, understanding and vigour; Ve, form, speech, hearing and sight.” In the Voluspa we are told that it was Odin who gave the spirit (soul); Hæner, understanding; and Loder, blood and a fair complexion. Askur and Embla night, The first of human kind; Their home the spirits of light In Midgard’s realms assigned; The countless human race, Their praise on earth who sing, From these their lineage trace; All from one couple spring. Oehlenschläger. 19 Freya, the goddess of Love and Beauty, the Scandinavian Venus.

18 The word Askur signifies an Ash; Embla has been said also to mean Elm, but this is not so certain. The Greeks had a similar belief; Hesiod tells us20 that Zeus created men from ash-trees, and the nymphs of the ash-tree (Meliæ) were said to be sprung from the blood of Saturn, and to have been the mothers of the human race. The gods took for their own habitation the celestial city, Asgard; Utgard, or the outermost abode, was allotted to the Giants. The Aser, the Giants, and the Human race, however, were not the only inhabitants of the universe. There existed various other beings, and nine distinct worlds for their abode. In the Voluspa the prophetess says, I call to mind nine worlds And nine heavens. The Giant Vafthrudner also boasts of having seen the nine worlds, and the dwarf Alvis tells Thor, All the nine worlds Have I travelled through, And every being known. The prose Edda says: “Bad men go to Hela, and from her to Nifl-hel, that is down to the ninth world.” 20 Ergai kai Emerai.

19 Magnussen classes these nine worlds as follows:— I. Gimle, the residence of the supreme being, with its world, from whence the light Elves first had their origin; Gimle is to be the abode of the good after the destruction of the universe. II. Muspel, or Muspelheim, the region of the genii of fire. III. Godheim, or Asgard, the residence of the Gods, or Aser; the starry firmament. IV. Vanaheim, the home of the Vaner, or spirits of air; also called Vindheim, or the home of the winds; the atmosphere. V. Man-heim, or Midgard, the residence of man, the middle residence, being equally removed from Gimle and from Nifl-heim. VI. Jotunheim, the home of the Jotuns, or Giants; also called Utgard, or the outer residence, as being placed outside the great sea which surrounded the earth, in which lay Jornjungandur the serpent. VII. The world of the Black Elves, or evil demons, spirits of Darkness and of the Dwarfs. VIII. Helheim, the home of Hela the goddess of death; the abode of those who die in gloriously of sickness. IX. Nifl-heim, the lowest of all the worlds, in

20 which is the river Elivaga, and the poisonous well Hvergelmer, which, after the destruction of the world, is to serve as a place of punishment for evil men. Nastroud, which was to serve the same purpose, was also here. Of the worlds above enumerated and their inhabitants, seven were transitory and to be destroyed at the great catastrophe of Ragnarockur, the twilight of the Gods; two only, Gimle and Nifl-heim were to endure for ever; the former as a place of happiness for the virtuous, the latter of punishment for evil doers. We shall have occasion to describe all these regions more particularly in the course of the following chapters, and in the mean time, with a view to a more distinct understanding of their order and relation, the reader is referred to the annexed engraving, borrowed from Finn Magnussen’s elaborate work on the Doctrine of the Eddas, where he will find the position of each of the nine worlds clearly marked out. As it is the object of the present chapter to present a general outline of the whole system of the northern Mythology, previously to examining in detail its respective parts, we shall proceed, in imitation of Heiberg, to touch briefly on its principal points, and to enumerate the various beings of which it is composed. And first it will be necessary

21 to explain the meaning of the term Aser, by which the northern gods are usually designated. The word As or Asa (pl. Aser) amongst the ancient Scandinavians, appears to have been nearly synonymous with Lord,21 and to have been a title applied to persons of an elevated rank, whether deities or mortals. According to Snorro Sturleseu, the celebrated Icelandic historian, and reputed author of the prose Edda, the Aser were a tribe settled on the Tanais, whose capital was called As-gaard, or As-hof, (Azov) which two words are-synonymous, and signify merely the “residence of the Aser.” A number of these Aser, under their prince or chief priest, Odin, left their country, and penetrated through Russia into Scandinavia, which they conquered, dispossessing the ancient inhabitants, probably Celts, and introducing their own language, manners, and religion. In the Edda, however, the title of Aser is given only to the principal deities, of whom, besides 21 According to Bryant the word As, Ees, or Is, was a title of the sun. In like manner in Phoenician, Ad signified Lord, and often occurs compounded, as Ad-On, the Lord Sun; whence Adonis, Ad-Or, &c. &c. It was sometimes compounded with itself, as Ad-ad, Lord of lords. Ham, the son of Noah, was sometimes styled Ad-Ham, which appellation has given rise to much mistake.—Analysis of Ancient Mythol.

22 Odin, there were twelve; viz. Thor, Baidur, Niord, Freyr, Bragi, Heimdall, Hoeder, Vidar, Ali or Vali, Uller, Forsete, and Loke or Loptur. There were likewise Asynier, or goddesses, who enjoyed equal power with the Aser. The Aser were benevolent spirits, the friends of man, emanating from the good principle, but not immortal. Their sovereignty over the world was to cease at Ragna-rokkur, or the great battle, the twilight of the gods, when they and their eternal enemies, the Giants, were mutually to destroy each other, and the whole earth was to be consumed. They dwelt in the celestial Asgard, which was placed in the centre of the universe, and which will be more particularly described hereafter. Odin’s wife was Frea or Frigga, by whom he had his first born, Thor, the strongest and most formidable of the Aser, and the mortal foe of the Giants. Their second son was Balder, the fair, the wise, the merciful, the lover of peace. His death is the principal event in the Mythological drama of the Scandinavians, being foredoomed to serve as the prognostic of the approaching destruction of the universe, and of the gods themselves. The next to Balder in rank was Niord, by birth one of the Vaner, and lord of the winds. The Vaner seem to have been a people with whom the Aser, at a remote period of their

23 history, before their migration northwards, had much intercourse. The Edda tells us of a war between them, at the conclusion of which Niord remained a hostage with the Aser. After this he Beamed Skada, a daughter of the giant Thiasse, hut had had previously by his sister, whom he had espoused according to the law of the Vaner, two children, Freyr and Freya. Freyr was high-minded and benevolent, fair to look on, lord of t-lie sun and summer rains, and of the fruits of the earth. His sister, Freya, was the goddess of beauty and of love, the Scandinavian Venus. Besides these there were Tyr, the god of battles, another son of Odin, as would appear from the Eddas, by a giant woman; Bragi, the god of poetry and song, whose wife Iduna plays a conspicuous part, from the circumstance that she possessed certain apples of such virtue, that by eating of them the gods were exempted from the consequences of old age, and retained unimpaired the freshness of youth. Heimdall, the warder of Asgard, whose post was on the summit of Bifrost, the rainbow, the bridge which connects earth and heaven; Hodur and Vidar, the one blind, the other dumb. Lastly, there were Forsete, the son of Balder and the god of justice, and Ægir, the god of the sea, whose wife Ran, was hideous and cruel, the chief cause of shipwrecks and the terror

24 of sailors. Ægir was of giant race, but received amongst the Aser. Last, although not the least important, comes Asa-Loke, the most busy and prominent actor of the Scandinavian Mythology. Descended from the giants he was, notwithstanding, received amongst the spirits of light. He retained, however, all the vices of his race; though eloquent and fair of form, he was cowardly, treacherous, and cruel, ever plotting against his benefactors, of whose destruction he at length proves the cause. He is called Asa-Loke, to distinguish him from Utgard’s-Loke, a giant or evil demon, and king of the lower world, Utgard (or the outer residence) being, as already remarked, the abode of the infernal deities of the Scandinavians. As son of a giant, Asa-Loke claimed the advantages of his connexion, and had frequent intercourse with his infernal relatives. Both.giants and gods, however, distrusted him, and he, not unfrequently, received punishment at the hands of both. The Edda describes his laughter as terrible, making the hearer shudder. By his wife, Signi, he had a son, Narfe, and by an amour with a giant woman, Augerbode, the three monsters; Fenris, the wolf; the great serpent, Jormungandur; and Hela, the queen of death, the constant source of terror to the gods, as destined to prove the chief engines of their destruction.

25 Besides the Aser and the Giants, the Scandinavian Mythology included various subordinate intelligences, the most important of which were the dwarfs, sprung from the decaying body of Ymer, who form a connecting link between the Aser and the Giants, in their nature partaking of evil and good, but most inclined to evil. They lived beneath the earth, and could not endure the light of the sun. Akin to these, but devoid of their evil qualities, were the Alfs or Elves, fair and well proportioned, cherished by the Aser and friends of man. The Valkyrs were the especial messengers of Odin, in his character of god of battles. Their province, as their name denotes, was, before the commencement of a battle, to select the warriors who were to fall during the contest. Such a death was considered an especial favour, as it secured to the slain an immediate passage to Valhalla, where these warlike maids served them as cupbearers. The translated warriors were called Einheriar, and were to compose the army of Odin at the last combat. The great Ash Ygg-drasill, which Magnussen conjectures to be a symbol of the earth in its organized state, in like manner as the giant Ymer represents the earth, in a state of chaos, forms an important feature in the Scandinavian Mythology.

26 In this also we find the same contest betwixt good and evil, which pervades the whole Mythology. Two of its roots spring from the infernal regions, the third from the abode of the gods. Various beings are incessantly employed in its destruction, whilst the three Nornies or fates, Urda, Verdandi, and Skulda, (the past the present and the future), prolong its existence by watering it continually from Urda’s well. Its branches extend over earth and heaven. Four stags who nip off the young buds have been explained by Gräter and Finn Magnussen, as symbolical of the four winds, by Grundtvig more poetically, if not more justly, of time. Night was the daughter of a Giant; she married an Aser, Delling, (the dawn), and by him had a son, the Day. Odin placed both mother and son in Asgard, gave to each a horse and car, and directed them to traverse the heavens unceasingly. Night’s horse was called Hrymfaxe, or the dewy-mane, for by the shaking of his mane dew-drops were scattered over the face of the earth. The horse of Day was called Skin-faxe, or the shining mane, because from his mane rays of light were emanated throughout the universe. Besides these, Soel and Maane, the sun and moon, travelled daily in cars the same route; the former was daughter, the latter son of Mundilfaxe. Their course

27 was hurried, for they were in continual fear of two wolves who followed seeking to devour them. The winter was ruled by a giant in the shape of an eagle, who sat at the north pole, surrounded by ice and snow, and the waving of whose wings produced the bleak north wind. He is thus described in the Elder Edda:— The giant Hrsuelgur, At the end of heaven, Sits in an eagle’s form; Tis said that from his wings The cold winds sweep Over all nations.22             Vafthrudvers maal. The title Hrsuelgur signifies the devourer of carrion, a title equally applicable to the eagle, and asHeiberg suggests to the bleak north wind, of which he is the personification, which dissipates noisome unwholesome vapours. The lord of summer was called Svosödur, the sweet and pleasant, but is not particularly described. The remainder of the Mythology consists in 22 “The Chippewyan Indians believe that originally the globe was one vast ocean inhabited by no creature except a mighty bird, whose eyes were fire and whose glances lightning and the clapping of whose wings were thunder. On his descent to the ocean and on his approaching it, the earth instantly rose up and remained on the surface.”        Mackenzie’s Travels, p. 126.

28 narrations of the various feats of the gods, and particularly of their adventures with the giants. The chief event in the drama, as has been already said, is the death of Baldur, brought about through the agency of Loke. The gods, after taking a fearful vengeance on the traitor, consult anxiously together how to avert the fate, of which his death was to be the forerunner. Odin descends to the tomb of a deceased vala or prophetess, to seek to extract from her the secrets of the dead; but his journey is profitless, and he returns convinced of the necessity of submitting to the decrees of destiny, and that Ragnarokkur must at length arrive, when the wolf Fenris will break his chain, the huge serpent awakening from his stupor escape from his ocean prison, Surtur, the god of fire, leading on the Giants and the children of Muspell, storm Asgard, and gods, giants and the universe perish in one common ruin. By the decree, however, of the eternal Alfadur, who, during this terrific struggle remains on high, a tranquil spectator, a new earth will arise from the sea, fairer and more verdant than the old, the gods will be recalled to life, and the human race be renewed from one couple, miraculously preserved. Of the old universe, two portions only will remain, one turned towards the south, the other to

29 the north, Gimle and Nastro&l. The former composed of pure gold and destined to be the place of abode for good and just men. The latter Constructed of poisonous serpents and to be the place of punishment for perjurers, murderers, and the seducers of other men’s wives. Men forsworn, And wolf-like murderers, And they who beguile The wives of others.                         Voluspa. It remains, lastly, to speak of the dwellings of the gods. Their abode, Asgard, in the centre of the universe, has already been alluded to. In this great city, as the Edda calls it, each of the principal deities had a residence, apart from the rest, and all these residences are enumerated and particularly described in one of the poems of the Elder Edda. They were twelve in number, and denominated as follows:— 1. Ydale, the residence of the god . . . 2. Alfheim, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3. Valaskialf, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4. Soequabeck, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5. Gladsheim, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6. Thrymheim, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7. Breidablilc, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8. Himmelbjeig, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9. Folkvangur, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Uller Freyr Vale Saga Odin Skada Baldur Heimdale Freya

30 10. Glitner, the residence of . . . . . . 11. Noatun, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12. Landvide, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Forsete Njord Vidar Besides these twelve, there was Thrudheim, the residence of Thor, the Thunder god; but these celestial residences have a claim to our attention, beyond that which they could have derived from the simple fact that they were the dwelling-places of the deities enumerated, for it has been shewn by Finn Magnussen,23 that they were invented for astronomical purposes, and that they hold the place of the zodiac in the astronomy of the ancient Scandinavians. In the introduction, we have endeavoured to shew that this people were far removed from being so rude and barbarous as they have usually been considered. We know that the worship of the stars prevailed throughout the East, and especially amongst those nations from whom the Scandinavians more immediately derived their origin. To the latter, from their maritime position and habits an accurate observation of the heavenly bodies became almost indispensable. According to Herodotus, the Egyptians, who worshipped the twelve great gods, were the first who divided their year into twelve equal parts or months, consecrating one part to each of their gods, and marking the divisions by certain 23 Den Ældse Edda, vol. i. p. 134.

31 groups of stars, in or near the sun’s course through the heavens, to which they affixed names. Whether the honour of this invention be due to them, or to the Chaldeans, it is certain that the practice was adopted either in imitation, or by original discovery, by almost every considerable nation upon earth, for example, by the Persians, Hebrews, Syrians, Hindoos, Chinese, Arabians, Japanese, Siamese, Goths, and by the inhabitants of Java, of Mexico, and of Peru. The Scandinavians also divided their year into twelve parts or months, and had twelve principal deities, to each of whom a month was consecrated, and each of whom had a celestial palace in Asgard. In like manner as the Romans, who, we know, borrowed the practice from the Egyptians, and that at a late period of their history under the emperors, the Scandinavians divided also their time into weeks of seven days, and consecrated the days of their week to the sun, moon, and five of their principal deities. It is not improbable therefore, that having retained so much of the eastern worship, they should not have been altogether ignorant of the division of the ecliptic into twelve parts. We shall not however pause to discuss this question, but proceed without further preface to give an account of the Grimnersmaal, the poem in which these palaces are described together with the commentary of Finn Magnussen, in illustration thereof. This poem,

32 which forms a part of the Elder Edda, is preceded by a prose introduction, entitled A TALE ABOUT KING HRODUNG’S SONS. “Hrodung, king of the Goths, had two sons, Agnar and Geirrod, the one ten, the other eight years of age. One day that they were alone fishing, their boat was driven out to sea, and, after tossing about for some time, was wrecked on an island. Having got to shore, they were hospitably received by a poor peasant and his wife, who proved to be Odin and Frigga in disguise. Odin adopted Geirrod, and Frigga, Agnar, as their foster children, and took care of them for a whole winter, during which time Odin instructed Geirrod in many things; and when the spring came, gave the two lads a vessel in which to return home. As he and Frigga were accompanying them to the shore, he talked apart with Geirrod for an hour. With a favourable wind the youths reached their father’s kingdom. Geirrod, who was in the bow, leaped at once on shore, and kicking the boat from him cried, “Float away into the power of the evil spirits.” The skiff drifted out to sea with the elder brother, and Geirrod hastened to the town, where, his father being dead, he was well received by the people, who made him their king, and he came to be much considered.

33 Odin and Frigga sat in Hlidskialf and looked out over the whole world. Odin said, behold now Agnar, your foster son, how he is poor and a wanderer, whilst my foster son, Geirrod, though his younger brother, is a king, and rules over his father’s realm. Frigga replied, that Geirrod was a pitiftil niggard, who starved his guests when he thought they were too numerous. Odin refused to credit the fact, and they made a wager upon it. Frigga despatched her confidential hand-maiden, Fulla, to Geirrod, to warn him to be on his guard, for that his life was in danger from a wise man, who was at that time in his kingdom. She gave him as a sign by which the stranger might be discovered, that no dog, however fierce, would venture to attack him. Although it was not true that Geirrod was inhospitable, he now issued orders to seize the man whom no dog would attack. One was brought to him clad in a blue Peltz, who said that his name was Grimner (the disguised), but however questioned he would give no further account of himself. With a view to force him to confess, king Geirrod ordered him to be placed between two huge fires, and to receive no food. In this state he continued eight nights, when the king’s son, a boy of ten years old, called Agnar after his uncle, reached him a fall horn to drink, saying, that his father did ill to

34 punish one who was innocent. Grimner drank out the horn, but by this time the heat of the fire had so increased that his fur cloak began to burn, when he thus sang, Hot art thou grasping flame! And all too powerful, Let me go from the fire! The fur is singed, Though I gather it up The Peltz bums upon me. Eight nights have I sat Here, between the fires, And no man Hath offered me food: Save Agnar alone, Who shall rule the land of the Goths, The son of Geirrod. Hail to thee, Agnar! Good fortune bids thee now Be the ruler of heroes! For a drink Never shalt thou Enjoy richer reward. After this prophetic rhapsody, Odin proceeds his celestial song as follows: Holy is the land Which I see before me, Near to the Aser and the Elves.

35 But in Thrudheim, Shall Thor abide, Until the gods are no more. Thrudheim is the atmosphere between the heavenly Asgard and the earth, the proper residence of Thor, the god of thunder. The twelve celestial residences are next described; the first is Ydale, the abode of the god Uller, to whom the first month of the Scandinavian year was dedicated, commencing with the entrance of the sun into Sagittarius, and including the period from November 22 to December 21. Of Uller the prose Edda tells us, that he is the best of archers, that 6now flakes and hail are his arrows, that he runs so swift on snow shoes or skees, that no one can cope with him. He was said to be of a fair and warlike appearance, and was lord of the snows and of the chase, which in the north usually begins with the first snow. The second celestial habitation was called Alf-heim, the land of the Light Elves. It was the abode of Freyr, and given to him by the Aser, in the morning of time, when he received his first teeth. Freyr was the god of the sun, and to him was consecrated the second month, commencing at the winter solstice, when the days begin to lengthen and the sun may be said to be born again. In the same manner the Egyptians celebrated the

36 birth of their sun-god, Horus; and the Romans called the winter solstice “natalitia invicti Sous.” Freyr and Freya were twin children of Njord, the god of the sea and air. The Edda tells us, that “Njord begat in Noatun two children, Freyr and Freya. They were fair and noble, and Freyr rules over rain and sunshine, and the fruits of the earth. He is to be prayed to for a good year and for peace, and it is he who dispenses blessings to mankind.” In like manner the Greeks pretended that Apollo and Diana were the children of Latona, who, like Njord, was the personification of the lower atmosphere, or of the ocean. In the third month the sun entered Valaskialf, which the Edda tells us the god Vale acquired for himself in the morning of time. Vale was a son of Odin and Rinde (Rind), a personification of the frozen, unfruitful earth, and was brave and a good archer. The name of this month was Liosberi, or the light-bringer, and it extended from January 21 to February 19. The Christian Anglo-Saxons called it the sun month, and formerly in the north it was the custom to celebrate at this period the mid-winter festival, by lighting up the houses with torches, and making bonfires on the heights. In place of this feast the Catholics instituted Candlemas, or the feast of torches, and Candlemas is still denoted on the Swedish and Norwegian Primstaves, or

37 Rimestocks, the wooden almanacks in use amongst the peasants, by a lighted torch, in like manner as the winter solstice by a bale-fire. In place of the rejoicings of the great mid-winter festival, were substituted the merrymakings of the Carnival. A similar festival (Ambarvalia) was held at this time by the Romans. The Catholic priests seem to have dexterously substituted St. Paul, whose festival is held on the 25th of January, for Vale. It is marked on the primstaves by a bow, and the peasants who call the saint, Paul the archer, or Paul with the bow, believe him to have been a warrior, who fought in the morning and prayed in the afternoon. St. Valentine also, whose feast is early in February, puts us in mind of the deposed Vale. Valaskialf was said to be white, and roofed with silver; a poetical and not inapt representation of the effect of the reflection of the snow-covered earth on a clear frosty sky. In the fourth month, from February 19 to March 19, the sun was in Socquaboek (the deep brook), where Odin and Saga drink every day out of golden cups. Magnussen remarks that Saga here is put for Urda, and with great propriety, Saga being the goddess of history and tradition, Urda the norny of the past. In this month the sun begins to thaw the snows, and to fill the brooks

38 and rivers, and in some parts of England it is still called Fillbrook. Urda’s well is the source of all fertilizing waters, and answers to the sign of the fishes in the Greek Zodiac. In the fifth month the sun was in Gladsheim, the abode of Odin, and the entrance to the radiant Valhalla, the general place of assembly for all the gods, whose roof is composed of shields and spears. Easily can they Who come to Odin, Perceive and know Valhalla. The roof is decked with spears, The hall covered with shields, The benches strewed with helmets. West before the gate Hangs a wolf, An eagle soars above it. The wolf and the eagle were probably constellations, as it appears that these two animals, as well as the raven, were attributes of Odin. Gladsheim, answers to the sign of the ram, in which falls the vernal equinox, designated by various eastern nations, and by the Greeks also, the gates of heaven. In the sixth month, from April 21 to May 20, the sun was in Thrymheim, which answers to the sign of the bull.

39 Thrymheim the sixth is called, Where Thiasse dwelt of yore, The powerful giant: But Skada now inhabits, (The chaste Aser’s bride) Her father’s ancient halls. The giant Thiasse here spoken of was slain by Thor, and the gods gave his residence to Skada, on her marriage with Njord. As the new married couple could not agree about their place of abode, it was settled that Skada should remain with her husband, at Noatun, for three successive days, and then return for nine, to her paternal mountains. Magnussen thus explains this fable: “The summer of the ancients began with this month, and Thiasse, the genius of winter, is represented as slain by Thor, the god of thunder, which in mountainous regions, such as Caucasus, where this fiction probably originated, or at least in Sweden and Norway, begins once again to be heard. Skada is a personification of the clear, penetrating wind of spring, which loves the mountains, and partakes of the nature of winter and of summer. Thor, haying slain Thiasse, is said to have thrown his eyes up to heaven, where they became stars. The seventh solar house is called Breidablik (the wide shining), and is the dwelling place of the

40 fair and gentle Baldur. This fairest of months, including the period from the 21st of May to the summer solstice, was fitly consecrated to him who was beloved of gods and men, and for whose untimely fate everything in nature wept. From the end of this month the days get shorter, and night slowly resumes her reign, which is figured by the death of Baldur, through the agency of the blind god, Hodur, the symbol of night, who in his turn is slain by the young Vale. The eighth month begins at the solstice. The sun being now at its highest, its house is called “the celestial mount.” Here dwells Heimdall, the heavenly watchman, who stands on the summit of the rainbow. His golden teeth and golden maned horse, and the declaration “that he is the whitest or brightest of the Aser,” are evident allusions to the splendour and brilliancy of the sun at this season. He is also called Hallinskeide (the declining), for the sun now begins to decline in the heavens. As at midsummer, in the northern latitudes, night can scarcely be said to exist; the Edda informs us that Heimdall requires less sleep than a bird, and that his sight is equally penetrating by day and by night. His exquisite hearing, which can detect the wool growing on the sheep’s back, may be intended to denote the stillness

41 which pervades all nature during the great heats prevalent at this season.24 In the ninth month the sun is in Folk-vangur, the residence of the goddess Freya. The word Folk-vangur signifies a meadow or field, filled with people. This month ending on the 23rd of August, and including the dog-days, is the month of harvest, and appropriately consecrated to the goddess of love and fruitfulness. She is also the queen of the night, the goddess of the moon; and the planet Venus in the north bore her name. The tenth solar house was called Glitner, and belonged to Forsete, the son of Baldur. Glitner is the tenth. On golden columns rests The silver dome of its hall: There dwells Forsete. Forsete is the god of justice; he holds a Thing at Urda’s well, and from his tribunal gods and men depart reconciled and satisfied. In this month fells the autumnal equinox, assumed as the symbol of equality and justice. In the north it was the custom to suspend all feuds during the harvest, 24 Magnussen remarks after Rudbeek (Atlantica 11. 30.) on the resemblance between Heimdall and the Greek Hermes, who presided over the same month.

42 and a solemn Thing was held yearly at this season* The word Forsete signifies “president.” The eleventh month was consecrated to Njord, who lives in Noatun. Njord controls the course of the winds, and checks the raging of the sea and m of fire; he is the beneficent deity of the sea, in opposition to Ægir and Ran. Noatun is said to be by the sea side, probably because the sun, now in northern latitudes, fast lessening his diurnal arches, appears to approach nearer and nearer to the sea. At length in the twelfth month, from November 21 to December 22, the sun enters Landvide, the abode of the sullen, dumb god, Vidar. With osiers and with High grass is overgrown Landvide, the house of Vidar: Thence the son descends Quick from his horse’s back To avenge his sire. The leaves have now fallen from the trees, dense fogs obscure the heavens, and all nature seems depressed. In mournful silence this month outlives its elder and more cheerful brethren, as Vidar himself survives the other gods, and avenges the death of his father, Odin, on the wolf Fenris. Besides these twelve heavenly palaces on which we have dwelt at such length, Odin enumerates the sacred rivers, and the various mystic animals,

43 the ravens, the wolves, the goats, the stags; describes also the Ash Yggdrasill, the Valkyrs, and lastly gives fifty-five of his own names. All this divine instruction may have been intended as a part of the reward of the young Agnar, and the enumeration of his names probably as an indication to Geirrod of his real character. Geirrod, however, overcome by the pleasures of the table, gives no heed to his discourse, and Odin, at length, losing patience, pronounces his death doom in these words: Geirrod! thou hast thy reward— Thou art overcome with drink— The mead hath stupified thee: Great was thy loss When my support went from thee:     The favour of Odin and the Einheriar. Much have I laid open to thee; Little hast thou heeded: Thy friends disappear, I, of my friend, Behold the blade     Dripping with blood. Sword-enfeebled spectre Now shall Ygg25 receive: I know thy life has passed away, 25 Ygg, a title of Odin.

44 The Nornies are wroth with thee: Now mayest thou see Odin;     Approach me if thou canst. King Geirrod was sitting with his sword lying upon his knees, half drawn from the scabbard. When he heard that it was Odin who addressed him, he rose up suddenly from his seat to release the god from between the fires. In the act of rising, his sword slipped from his hand, and fell on the hilt to the ground. The king stumbled and fell forward, and the point of the sword entering his breast gave him his death wound. Odin disappeared, and Agnar long reigned over the land. This story bears internal marks of great antiquity, and was probably composed soon after the introduction of the religion of Odin into the north. Geirrod is said to have been a king of Reid-goth-land, (which includes the district between the Vistula and the Gulf of Finland,) who was slain by Odin, and his son, Agnar, made king in his place. With respect to some of its details, Magnussen remarks that it was a very general superstition amongst heathen nations, that immortal spirits, good or evil, although possessing the power of assuming various forms, yet could not divest their eyes of a preternatural expression; a superstition which gave rise to that of the evil eye so prevalent still in the east, and not wholly extinct

45 in the north. In explanation of the torture to which Odin was subjected, he tells us also that the heathen inhabitants of Caucasus believed that this was the most effectual mode of rendering harmless the machinations of sorcerers. The blue mantle in which Odin was enveloped was an indication of his celestial character. In conclusion, for a fuller understanding of the northern zodiac, as explained by Magnussen, we refer the reader to the annexed calendar, taken together with the preceding explanation, from that learned writer’s annotations on the Elder Edda. In addition to the heavenly palaces already described, the Eddas mention Vingolf the place of assemblage for the goddesses, as Valhalla for the gods, and Fensale, Frigga’s favourite seat.26 26 In the east also the divisions of the Zodiac are called the twelve houses of the sun, represented by the twelve palaces in the celebrated Egyptian Labyrinth.

46 Calendar of the ancient Scandinavians, as explained by Professor Finn Magnussen. Signs Sun enters Northern Solar House Deity Remarks Sagittarius November 22 I. Ydale Uller The old name of this month was Yler, Uller considered the deity of winter. Capricornus December 21 II. Alfheim Freyr The birth of Freyr or the sun-god, the real feast of Juul or Jule, the mother night, the winter solstice. Aquarius January 21 III. Valaskialf Vale In this month, termed the light-bringer, was celebrated the feast of torches, and in the northernmost countries that of Juul itself, the sun now first becoming risible. Pisces February 19 IV. Socquabeck Saga In this month, now called Goa, in Sweden Goja, a solemn feast was held at Upsala, where the chief amusements were drinking and poetical recitations. Aries March 19 V. Gladsheim Hropt, or Odin The vernal equinox. Taurus April 21 VI. Thrymheim Skade This month was called Harpa or Harpeu, and was considered as the commencement of summer. Gemini May 21 VII. Breidablik Balder The finest month of the year, called of old the sun’s month, Balder, a symbol of the summer sun. Cancer June 23 VIII. Himmelbjerg Heimdall The summer solstice, formerly the festival of Balder and Heimdall, now St. John’s day. Leo July 23 IX. Folkvang Freya The warmest month, harvest. Virgo August 23 X. Glitner Forsete Autumnal equinox. Libra September 23 XI. Noatun Njord The great autumnal feast, now Michaelmas. Scorpio October 23 XII. Landvide Vidar The fall of the leaf, the mournful month which survives the rest.