95 hand at the same time it was so small that he carry it in his pocket; 2nd, his belt, Meigingardur, which had this virtue, that whenever he up, his strength was doubled; 3rd, a pair of steel gauntlets with which he held Miölner. His residence was called Thrudheim or Thrudvanger, after his daughter Thrude,2 and his palace, Bilskirner, was the largest building in the world, containing 540 halls. In wide Thrudvanger’s land (So ancient Scalds indite) A palace vast doth stand: Unmatch’d in breadth and height. Its halls with burnish’d gold Are richly fretted o’er; Their number, rightly told, Five hundred and two score. Blue lakes and verdant fields Smiling around are spread, Studded with copper shields The palace glows in red. From distant earth its walls Some radiant meteor seem; Far off the warrior hails In purple splendour gleam. There sits on golden throne Aloft the god of war, 2 Thrudr, in Icelandic, signifies strength, and Thrudheimar the home of the strong one.

96 Save Odin, yields to none ’Mongst gods great Aser-Thor. He gives what warriors feel When first the battle joins; His gauntlets are of steel, A belt binds up his loins. His hammer, Miölner hight, All weapons far exceeds; Where falls its massive weight No leeches fee there needs. And when his strength ’gins melt, When hot the battle bums, He girds him up his belt And two-fold it returns.                            Oehlenschläger. Thor had two sons, Magne and Mode, who, with the aid of Miölner, were to avenge his death at Ragnarokur, and two daughters, Thrude and Lora. As chief defender of the boundary of Asgard, he was continually on the watch in Midgard, or the atmosphere, to repel intruding giants and evil spirits. Lightning flashed from his eyes and from his chariot wheels, as they rolled along, and from his hammer also, and this was why he was obliged to have on his steel gloves when he grasped it. From out some murky cloud, Pendent in middle air,

97 His wheels oft creak aloud— Then mortals thunder hear.                        Oehlenschläger. In many parts of the north, but more especially in Norway and Iceland, Thor was more highly honoured than Odin himself, and, as has been before remarked, there seems good ground for the belief that the worship of Thor, as the god of thunder, was established there from the remotest antiquity. Suhm is of opinion that Thor, at first, was a personification of thunder. In the Scandinavian dialects, Tor-dön signifies a dull, rolling noise, and we find that thunder is rendered in Danish, Torden; in Swedish, Thordön; in German, Donner; in Latin, Tonitru; in British, Taran; Phoenician, Thorom; Highland Scotch, Toron. Lucan calls Thor Taranis, which still, in Welsh, signifies thunder.3 The Elder Edda itself in one place expressly calls Auka, or Oka-Thor, the first and most powerful of the gods, and the name or worship of Odin is never once alluded to in the remains of the ancient Celts or Sclavonians, whilst that of Thor is frequendy mentioned. As all warriors of high birth were received after their death into Valhalla, the pal ace of Odin; so 3 Suhm om Odin.

98 those of inferior rank, and slaves, were to repair to Bilskirner. “Odin à jarla Tha er i val falla En Thor à thræiakyn.” “Odin owns the Jarls (Earls) who have fallen in battle, but Thor owns the race of slaves (thralls).” Magnussen suggests that Odin having foisted his son or follower, Asa-Thor, into the place of the old divinity, Auka-Thor, left to the conquered Finns and Celts their ancient paradise. But there were also two Scandinavian sects attributing respectively the highest place to Thor and Odin, and these two deities are sometimes introduced in the Eddas as reviling each other. Thor’s name was given to the fifth day of the week, which was kept holy from noon by many of the heathen Scandinavians, as well as by the Finns and Finnlaps, and with which the Scandinavian summer always commenced. Sunday, on the other hand, was considered an unlucky day, and children born thereon were thought never to live long. Even to the present time, in many parts of Norway and Sweden, a belief in the superior sanctity of Thursday over other week-days may be traced. In some parts of England Thursday is still considered as unpropitious for weddings, a superstition which originated, probably, in the fears

99 of the first half converts to Christianity. In the same manner as in the north at the first introduction of the new belief, when the day sacred to the deserted deity returned, it was the custom to pray. “Gud tal for os: det er Tors-dag over hele Verden.” “God speak for us: it is Thor’s-day (Thursday) over all the world.” During the feast of Juul, the oldest and most solemn of all the religious festivals of the inhabitants of the north, and which was held at the winter solstice, about the time of our Christmas, oxen and fatted horses were sacrificed to Thor. The Runic letter(Th) was also sacred to him.4 Thor’s wife was Sif, the chastest of the goddesses; she had been married before Thor took her to wife, and had Oiler or Uller by her first 4 In the Eyrbiggia Saga there is a description of the temple erected by Thorolf on his first landing in Iceland, about the year 883 A.D. to the god Thor. On the altar was placed a silver ring weighing two ounces, which was worn by the priest on solemn occasions, and on which oaths were worn. On this altar human sacrifices were frequently offered up, and the mode of destroying the victims was by crashing the spine. The holy mount (Helga-fels) was so sacred that no one might even look upon it until after his morning ablutions, and to enter within its limits was punishable by death.

100 husband. Her hair is celebrated in the Edda its extraordinary beauty. Sif, tall and fair with native grace. To none in beauty need give place Save her whom Odin called to light To make the erst dull world more bright. Fair tho’ she be, to Freya ne’er Can stately Sif in form compare.     Not hers the clear eye’s speaking glance, Age-frozen blood might make to dance: Or heart which passion ne’er had felt. Like snow ’neath mid-day sun to melt. .        .        .        .        .        .      .        .        .        .        .        . Sif seems some Amazon to be, Her look replete with dignity, Her eye beams no impassioned glance, But rests in cold indifference. Her round arms, form’d alike to prove The contests or of war or love; Her swan-like bosom’s faultless curve Would Bragi’s golden lyre deserve. Smaller tho’ Freya’s hand, not snow Than Sif’s, fresh fallen on mountain brow, More white, nor softer virgin down Of Eyder-fowl, nor breast of swan. Two pencill’d brows of darkest brown Meet on her front, and seem to frown: What gentler beauty would deface To hers but adds another grace; Her pearly teeth, of dazzling white, With ruby lips form contrast bright;

101 But her first charm, past all compare, Is her long, silken, amber hair.                                 Oehlenschläger. Sif was worshipped in the heathen temples in Norway, and by the Vendish and other nations; by the latter as a fair-haired goddess, dispensing flowers and fruits; and is considered as a personification of the earth in summer. She was said to have the gift of prophecy. Sif’s son by her first husband was called Uller. Be was handsome, and had the appearance and manners of a warrior, an excellent archer, and unrivalled in the art of running on skees or snow-shoes. It was usual to invoke his name in duels, and he protected those who were exposed to danger from fire. He was entitled the hunting god, and his residence was called Ydale, or the dewy valley. The remains of the worship of Thor lingered longer in the north than those of any of the other Scandinavian deities. In Nial’s Saga, a female Scald says to a Christian—“Do you not know that Thor has challenged your Christ to single combat, and that he dares not fight him.” The planet Jupiter was sacred to him. He was represented with a great red beard, and his symbols upon monuments were a wheel, a glove or a does, the latter denoting either his hammer or two

102 crossed thunderbolts. Hence we have an easy explanation of the crosses on Rune-stones, older than the introduction of Christianity into Scandinavia, which have so greatly puzzled antiquarians.5 As Thor’s principal occupation consisted in repelling the attacks of the giants on Asgard, or at times in seeking them in their own gloomy abodes, this is perhaps the proper place to condense the information contained in the Eddas respecting these eternal foes to gods and men. After that the primitive race of the giants, with the exception of Bergelmer (the old dweller on the mountains) and his wife, had been submerged in the blood of their parent Ymer; a new progeny sprang up from these two, who were condemned by Odin to inhabit the dark barren rocks which encircled the earth, and were separated from it by a trackless waste and by the stormy ocean, in which lay imprisoned the great serpent, Jormungandur. This gloomy region, chilled by ice and eternal snows, and into which the sun’s light never penetrated, was ruled by their king Utgardelok, a mighty magician, who within the limits of his realm exercised an uncontrolled power, so that no 5 Magnussen.

103 Aser ever ventured to cross them unless in disguise. The giants who conceived that they had a prior right to the Aser to the sovereignty of the universe, looked upon the latter as usurpers, and hence bore a deadly hatred to them and to their creation, the sons of Askur; and although there were some instances of intermarriages between the inhabitants of Asgard and of Utgard, these ill-assorted unions never caused any long suspension of hostility. The giants never ventured to quit Jotunheim, or Giant-land, unless by night, when their influence predominated. They were well skilled in magic, of great sagacity, and possessed secrets relating to the origin of things, unknown to Odin himself. The great prophetess, Vola, and the three nornies or fates, were brought up amongst them, and from them derived their knowledge of the past. They possessed inexhaustible subterranean treasures, were cruel and treacherous, but had one good quality, viz. that they were religious observers of their promises. In Thor’s journey to Jotunheim, he thus addresses the giant Skrymner, who was seeking to deter him by enchantments from proceeding further: The great Alfader set Midst thickest gloom your home,

104 Treasures ye’re skill’d to get From out the mountain’s womb. When o’er the silent earth Night spreads her sable veil. Ye rush, blood-thirsting, forth. Her helpless sons t’ assail. Then, at the midnight hour, When spirits of light retire, Then rules with hellish pow’r Dark Utgard’s demon sire. Whate’er is good or fair To harass, all your joy; Like rav’nous wolf or bear, Ye live but to destroy. In th’ Empyrean heaven Who sits with sleepless eye,6 To th’ Aser pow’r hath given, Wisdom and courage high. By us your felon race And Loke7 himself, your king Must perish, nor your trace Be left,—so nornies sing.                          Oehlenschläger. The most celebrated of the giants was Mimer, who does not appear, however, to have partaken of the evil nature of his brethren. He possessed a well, situated under that one of the three roots of the 6 The omnipotent being, Alfader. 7 Utgardelok, not Asa-Loke.

105 great Ash, which stretched out to the land of the giants. Wisdom was said to be hidden in it, and Mimer was the wisest of all beings because he drank daily of its water. One day Odin went there, and begged permission to quench his thirst, but Mimer would not allow him to do so until he had left one of his eyes in pawn. Afterwards he was in the habit of repairing thither every morning to drink. Mimer having been left by Odin as hostage with the Vaner, they cut off his head, and sent it back to the Asgard. Odin, by means of his magic art, Seid, embalmed it, and, having pronounced Runes over it, consulted it ever after in all difficult cases.8 THOR’S VISIT TO THE GIANT GEYRUTH. Geyruth or Geirraudr was a powerful giant, and one of the most inveterate enemies of the Aser. 8 Magnussen thus interprets the allegory of Mimer:— His well is the great ocean, Odin’s eye is the sun, which in the northernmost latitudes disappears during one portion of the year, Odin’s daily drink, the alternation of day and night. He suggests that Mimer is only a corruption of Ymer, the name of the great Cosmogonic giant, and that in the lapse of time two divinities have arisen from one.

106 He ruled over a country which was dark and rainy, and inhabited by hateful spectres; it was surrounded with palisades on which were placed men’s heads, and large fierce dogs guarded the entrance. His own residence was a dark cavern full of noisome stenches, the walls of which were covered with filth, and the floor with adders and other venomous reptiles. Opposite to the entrance of the cavern, on a rock, sat an old grey-headed giant, with an iron wedge through his breast, and close to him three withered old women, with broken back-bones. These were Geyruth and his three daughters, and the cause of their deplorable state is thus related in the Edda: “Loke ventured once in the shape of a hawk, into Geyruth’s territory, and had the ill luck to fall into his power. The giant suspected that he was an Aser in disguise, and bade him speak, but Loke remaining silent, he was shut up during three months in a chest. At length his courage failed him, and he confessed who he was. Geyruth then let him out on condition that he would bring Thor to his residence without belt or hammer. Thor had no objection to undertake the adventure. “There was in Utgard an enchanted forest, called Jernvidi or Jarnvidr, where dwelt certain giant witches, who had power to raise terrible storms, and used to entice travellers into their

107 power in order to destroy them. The trees of this forest were of iron,9 and it was ruled by an old giant who used to sit immoveably in a bending position. From these witches descended sorcerers, male and female, who had the power of assuming at will the forms of wolves. “On his way, Thor fell in with one of these old witches, who put him on his guard against the arts of Geyruth, and gave him a pair of iron gloves, a girdle, and a staff. When he arrived at the river Vimur, the largest in the world, he perceived Gialp, one of the giant’s daughters, standing astride across the river, with one foot on each bank, ready to oppose his passage, and causing the waters to rise. Thor drove her away with a large stone, and waded across to Geyruth’s hall. A lodging was assigned to him in a separate house, on entering which he sate down upon a stool placed at one end. Perceiving that the stool under him began suddenly to rise from the ground, he struck the witch’s staff violently against the top of the cavern and at the same moment heard a crack and a loud scream beneath him. On searching for the cause of these noises, he discovered that Geyruth’s 9 In the Indian Mythology there is mention of similar wood, where the trees bear swords and spears instead of leaves. (Magnussen.)

108 three daughters had placed themselves there with the design to crush him, and that he had broken their backs. “After this Geyruth invited Thor to come into his drinking chamber. There was a large fire in the midst of it, on one side of which sat the giant, and Thor over against him. On a sudden, Geyruth seized a wedge of red-hot iron, which was glowing in the fire and threw it at Thor, who, however, caught it with his iron gloves, and sent it back with such force that, although the giant crept behind a pillar to avoid it, it passed through the pillar, the giant, and the wall, and he has remained in the same position ever since.” THOR AND THE DWARF ALVIS. A dwarf whose name was Alvis, had contrived by cunning to obtain from Thor’s foster-daughter a promise that she would marry him. He went secretly to her bower when he imagined that Thor was absent, but whilst he was endeavouring to persuade her to accompany him to his home in the mountains, the god suddenly returned, and surprised him in the midst of his courtship. The dwarfs alarm was not lessened, when Thor addressed him in the following manner:

109 “A pretty kind of a fellow you are to come here a wooing with that white nose of yours; you I seem to me to have a strong resemblance to the Thurser,10 you were never born for a bride like I this.” Alvis, finding that this was no time for deceit, acknowledged that he was a dwarf, and lived beneath the rocks, and at the same time boldly claimed the maiden, on the ground that a solemn promise ought never to be broken. Thor replied, that he would break the promise, that he who stood in the place of the maiden’s father had made no promise, and that no one else had a right to give her away. The dwarf, in despair at the prospect of losing his bride, began to question the right of the intruder to interfere, and asked him who he was. Thor told him: and said that neither he nor any one else should have the maid without his, Thor’s, consent; but that if his wisdom was so great as his name indicated,11 and he could answer all that was asked him respecting each of the worlds, her love should not be denied him. Alvis answered: “O Thor! you know well how to draw out the wisdom of the dwarfs. 10 The Thurser, a name for evil spirits generally. 11 Al-vis, or All-wise.

110 I have travelled through each of the nine worlds and am acquainted with all that they contain.” Thor then began to question him on a variety of subjects, respecting the names which they bore in the different worlds, and the dwarf’s answers showed that each class of beings, the Aser, the Genii of fire, the Vaner, the Giants, the Elves, the Dwarfs, Men, and the spirits of the dead, had their particular language; a superstition, remarks Magnussen, which prevailed amongst many heathen nations, and particularly with the ancient Greeks and the Hindoos. Thor’s questions related to the earth, heaven, the moon, the sun, the clouds, wind, calms, the sea, fire, forests, night, grain, ale, &c. The dwarf, carried away by his wisdom, dwelt so long on these subjects, that he did not perceive the approach of day until the sun fell on him, and he was turned at once to a stone.12 Thor remarked that he had never found so much wisdom in any breast, but that the dwarf had suffered himself to be taken in like a fool. The above tale is taken from the Alvis-maal, in the poetic Edda. Like many other of the poems 12 No dwarf or evil spirit of any kind could endure the light of the sun, but if surprised by it was instantly converted to stone.

111 of the same collection, it is in the form of a dialogue, and the tale seems designed merely as an attractive mode of conveying the mythological and other information which it contains. The most celebrated, however, of Thor’s adventures, was his journey to Giant-land, to which, on account of its length, we shall devote the ensuing chapter, following Oehlenschläger’s poetical paraphrase of the account given in the prose Edda.