Teutonic Mythology Part 11

According to a well-supported statement in Forspjallsljod (see No. 123), Ivalde was the father of two groups of children. The mother of one of these groups is a giantess (see Nos. 113, 114, 115). With her he has three sons, viz., the three famous artists of antiquity--Ide, Gang-Urnir, and Thja.s.se. The mother of the other group is a G.o.ddess of light (see No. 123). With her he has daughters, who are G.o.ddesses of growth, among them Idun and Signe-Alveig. That Idun is the daughter of Ivalde is clear from Forspjallsljod (6), _alfa aettar Ithunni heto Ivallds ellri ngsta barna_.

Of the names of their father _Sumbl_, _olvaldi_, _olmodr_, it may be said that, as nature-symbols, "ol" (ale) and "mjod" (mead), are in the Teutonic mythology identical with _soma_ and _somamadhu_ in Rigveda and _haoma_ in Avesta, that is, they are the strength-developing, nouris.h.i.+ng saps in nature. Mimer's subterranean well, from which the world-tree draws its nourishment, is a mead-fountain. In the poem "Haustlaung" Idun is called _olgefn_; in the same poem Groa is called _olgefion_. Both appellations refer to G.o.ddesses who give the drink of growth and regeneration to nature and to the G.o.ds. Thus we here have a family, the names and epithets of whose members characterise them as forces, active in the service of nature and of the G.o.d of harvests. Their names and epithets also point to the family bond which unites them. We have the group of names, _Idvaldi_, _Idi_, _Idunn_, and the group, _olvaldi_ (_olmodr_), _olgefn_, and _olgefion_, both indicating members of the same family. Further on (see Nos. 113, 114, 115), proof shall be presented that Groa's first husband, Orvandel the brave, is one of Thja.s.se's brothers, and thus that Groa, too, was closely connected with this family.

As we know, it is the enmity caused by Loke between the Asa-G.o.ds and the lower serving, yet powerful, divinities of nature belonging to the Ivalde group, which produces the terrible winter with its awful consequences for man, and particularly for the Teutonic tribes. These hitherto beneficent agents of growth have ceased to serve the G.o.ds, and have allied themselves with the frost-giants. The war waged by Halfdan must be regarded from this standpoint. Midgard's chief hero, the real Teutonic patriarch, tries to reconquer for the Teutons the country of which winter has robbed them. To be able to do this, he is the son of Thor, the divine foe of the frost-giants, and performs on the border of Midgard a work corresponding to that which Thor has to do in s.p.a.ce and in Jotunheim. And in the same manner as Heimdal before secured favourable conditions of nature to the original country, by uniting the sun-G.o.ddess with himself through bonds of love, his grandson Halfdan now seeks to do the same for the Teutonic country, by robbing a hostile son of Ivalde, Orvandel, of his wife Groa, the growth-giver, and thereupon also of Alveig, the giver of the nouris.h.i.+ng sap. A symbol of nature may also be found in Saxo's statement, that the king of Svithiod, Sigtrygg, Groa's father, could not be conquered unless Halfdan fastened a golden ball to his club (_Hist._, 31). The purpose of Halfdan's conflicts, the object which the norns particularly gave to his life, that of reconquering from the powers of frost the northernmost regions of the Teutonic territory and of permanently securing them for culture, and the difficulty of this task is indicated, it seems to me, in the strophes above quoted, which tell us that the norns fastened the woof of his power in the east and west, and that he from the beginning, and undisputed, extended the sceptre of his rule over these lat.i.tudes, while in regard to the northern lat.i.tudes, it is said that Nere's kinswoman, the chief of the norns (see Nos. 57-64, 85), cast a single thread in this direction and _prayed_ that it might hold for ever:

ther austr oc vestr enda falo, thar atti lofdungr land a milli; bra nipt Nera a nordrvega einni festi, ey bath hon halda.

The norns' prayer was heard. That the myth made Halfdan proceed victoriously to the north, even to the very starting-point of the emigration to the south caused by the fimbul-winter, that is to say, to Svarin's Mound, is proved by the statements that he slays Svarin and his brothers, and wins in the vicinity of Svarin's Mound the victory over his opponents, which was for a time decisive. His penetration into the north, when regarded as a nature-myth, means the restoration of the proper change of seasons, and the rendering of the original country and of Svithiod inhabitable. As far as the hero, who secured the "giver of growth" and the "giver of nouris.h.i.+ng sap," succeeds with the aid of his father Thor to carry his weapons into the Teutonic lands destroyed by frost, so far spring and summer again extend the sceptre of their reign.

The songs about Helge Hundingsbane have also preserved from the myth the idea that Halfdan and his forces penetrating northward by land and by sea are accompanied in the air by "valkyries," "G.o.ddesses from the south," armed with helmets, coats of mail, and s.h.i.+ning spears, who fight the forces of nature that are hostile to Halfdan, and these valkyries are in their very nature G.o.ddesses of growth, from the manes of whose horses falls the dew which gives the power of growth back to the earth and harvests to men. (Cp. Helg. Hund., i. 15, 30; ii., the prose to v.

5, 12, 13, with Helg. Hjorv., 28.) On this account the Swedes, too, have celebrated Halfdan in their songs as their patriarch and benefactor, and according to Saxo they have wors.h.i.+pped him as a divinity, although it was his task to check the advance of the Skilfings to the south.

Doubtless it is after this successful war that Halfdan performs the great sacrifice mentioned in Skaldskaparmal, ch. 64, in order that he may retain his royal power for three hundred years. The statement should be compared with what the German poems of the middle ages tell about the longevity of Berchtung-Borgar and other heroes of antiquity. They live for several centuries. But the response Halfdan gets from the powers to whom he sacrificed is that he shall live simply to the age of an old man, and that in his family there shall not for three hundred years be born a woman or a fameless man.

33.

REVIEW OF THE SVIPDAG MYTH AND ITS POINTS OF CONNECTION WITH THE MYTH ABOUT HALFDAN (cp. No. 24).

When Halfdan secured Groa, she was already the bride of Orvandel the brave, and the first son she bore in Halfdan's house was not his, but Orvandel's. The son's name is Svipdag. He develops into a hero who, like Halfdan himself, is the most brilliant and most beloved of those celebrated in Teutonic songs. We have devoted a special part of this work to him (see Nos. 96-107). There we have given proofs of various mythological facts, which I now already must incorporate with the following series of events in order that the epic thread may not be wanting:

(_a_) Groa bears with Halfdan the son Guthorm (Saxo, _Hist._, _Dan._, 34).

(_b_) Groa is rejected by Halfdan (Saxo, _Hist. Dan._, 33). She returns to Orvandel, and brings with her her own and his son Svipdag.

(_c_) Halfdan marries Signe-Alveig (Hyndluljod, 15; Prose Edda, i. 516; Saxo _Hist._, 33), and with her becomes the father of the son Hadding (Saxo, _Hist. Dan._, 34).

(_d_) Groa dies, and Orvandel marries again (Grogaldr, 3). Before her death Groa has told her son that if he needs her help he must go to her grave and invoke her (Grogaldr, 1).

(_e_) It is Svipdag's duty to revenge on Halfdan the disgrace done to his mother and the murder of his mother's father Sigtrygg. But his stepmother bids Svipdag seek Menglad, "the one loving ornaments"

(Grogaldr, 3).

(_f_) Under the weight of these tasks Svipdag goes to his mother's grave, bids her awake from her sleep of death, and from her he receives protecting incantations (Grogaldr, 1).

(_g_) Before Svipdag enters upon the adventurous expedition to find Menglad, he undertakes, at the head of the giants, the allies of the Ivaldesons (see Fjolsvinsm, 1, where Svipdag is called _thursathjodar sjolr_), a war of revenge against Halfdan (Saxo, 33 ff., 325; cp. Nos.

102, 103). The host of giants is defeated, and Svipdag, who has entered into a duel with his stepfather, is overcome by the latter. Halfdan offers to spare his life and adopt him as his son. But Svipdag refuses to accept life as a gift from him, and answers a defiant no to the proffered father-hand. Then Halfdan binds him to a tree and leaves him to his fate (Saxo, _Hist._, 325; cp. No. 103).

(_h_) Svipdag is freed from his bonds through one of the incantations sung over him by his mother (Grogaldr, 10).

(_i_) Svipdag wanders about sorrowing in the land of the giants.

Gevarr-Nokkve, G.o.d of the moon (see Nos. 90, 91), tells him how he is to find an irresistible sword, which is always attended by victory (see No.

101). The Sword is forged by Thja.s.se, who intended to destroy the world of the G.o.ds with it; but just at the moment when the smith had finished his weapon he was surprised in his sleep by Mimer, who put him in chains and took the sword. The latter is now concealed in the lower world (see Nos. 98, 101, 103).

(_j_) Following Gevarr-Nokkve's directions, Svipdag goes to the northernmost edge of the world, and finds there a descent to the lower world; he conquers the guard of the gates of Hades, sees the wonderful regions down there, and succeeds in securing the sword of victory (see Nos. 53, 97, 98, 101, 103, 112).

(_k_) Svipdag begins a new war with Halfdan. Thor fights on his son's side, but the irresistible sword cleaves the hammer Mjolner; the Asa-G.o.d himself must yield. The war ends with Halfdan's defeat. He dies of the wounds he has received in the battle (see Nos. 101, 103; cp. Saxo, _Hist._, 34).

(_l_) Svipdag seeks and finds Menglad, who is Freyja who was robbed by the giants. He liberates her and sends her pure and undefiled to Asgard (see Nos. 96, 98, 100, 102).

(_m_) Idun is brought back to Asgard by Loke. Thja.s.se, who is freed from his prison at Mimer's, pursues, in the guise of an eagle, Loke to the walls of Asgard, where he is slain by the G.o.ds (see the Eddas).

(_n_) Svipdag, armed with the sword of victory, goes to Asgard, is received joyfully by Freyja, becomes her husband, and presents his sword of victory to Frey. Reconciliation between the G.o.ds and the Ivalde race.

Njord marries Thja.s.se's daughter Skade. Orvandel's second son Ull, Svipdag's half-brother (see No. 102), is adopted in Valhal. A sister of Svipdag is married to Forsete (Hyndluljod, 20). The G.o.ds honour the memory of Thja.s.se by connecting his name with certain stars (Harbardsljod, 19). A similar honour had already been paid to his brother Orvandel (Prose Edda).

From this series of events we find that, although the Teutonic patriarch finally succ.u.mbs in the war which he waged against the Thja.s.se-race and the frost-powers led by Thja.s.se's kinsmen, still the results of his work are permanent. When the crisis had reached its culminating point; when the giant hosts of the fimbul-winter had received as their leader the son of Orvandel, armed with the irresistible sword; when Halfdan's fate is settled; when Thor himself, _Midgard's veorr_ (Volusp.), the mighty protector of earth and the human race, must retreat with his lightning hammer broken into pieces, then the power of love suddenly prevails and saves the world. Svipdag, who, under the spell of his deceased mother's incantations from the grave, obeyed the command of his stepmother to find and rescue Freyja from the power of the giants, thereby wins her heart and earns the grat.i.tude of the G.o.ds. He has himself learned to love her, and is at last compelled by his longing to seek her in Asgard.

The end of the power of the fimbul-winter is marked by Freyja's and Idun's return to the G.o.ds, by Thja.s.se's death, by the presentation of the invincible sword to the G.o.d of harvests (Frey), by the adoption of Thja.s.se's kinsmen, Svipdag, Ull, and Skade in Asgard, and by several marriage ties celebrated in commemoration of the reconciliation between Asgard's G.o.ds and the kinsmen of the great artist of antiquity.

34.

THE WORLD WAR. ITS CAUSE. THE MURDER OF GULLVEIG-HEIDR.

THE VOICE OE COUNSEL BETWEEN THE ASAS AND THE VANS.

Thus the peace of the world and the order of nature might seem secured.

But it is not long before a new war breaks out, to which the former may be regarded as simply the prelude. The feud, which had its origin in the judgment pa.s.sed by the G.o.ds on Thja.s.se's gifts, and which ended in the marriage of Svipdag and Freyja, was waged for the purpose of securing again for settlement and culture the ancient domain and Svithiod, where Heimdal had founded the first community. It was confined within the limits of the North Teutonic peninsula, and in it the united powers of Asgard supported the other Teutonic tribes fighting under Halfdan. But the new conflict rages at the same time in heaven and in earth, between the divine clans of the Asas and the Vans, and between all the Teutonic tribes led into war with each other by Halfdan's sons. From the standpoint of Teutonic mythology it is a world war; and Voluspa calls it _the first great war in the world--folcvig fyrst i heimi_ (str. 21, 25).

Loke was the cause of the former prelusive war. His feminine counterpart and ally _Gullveig-Heidr_, who gradually is blended, so to speak, into one with him, causes the other. This is apparent from the following Voluspa strophes:

Str. 21. That man hon folcvig fyrst i heimi er Gullveig geirum studdu oc i haull Hars hana brendo.

Str. 22. Thrysvar brendo thrysvar borna opt osialdan tho hon en lifir.

Str. 23. Heida hana heto hvars til husa com volo velspa vitti hon ganda seid hon kuni seid hon Leikin, e var hon angan illrar brudar.

Str. 24. Tha gengo regin oll a raukstola ginheilog G.o.d oc um that gettuz hvart scyldo esir afrad gialda etha scyldo G.o.din aull gildi eiga.

Str. 25. Fleygde Odin oc i folc um scaut that var en folcvig fyrst i heimi.

Brotin var bordvegr borgar asa knatto vanir vigspa vollo sp.o.r.na.

The first thing to be established in the interpretation of these strophes is the fact that they, in the order in which they are found in Codex Regius, and in which I have given them, all belong together and refer to the same mythic event--that is, to the origin of the great world war. This is evident from a comparison of strophe 21 with 25, the first and last of those quoted. Both speak of the war, which is called _folkvig fyrst i heimi_. The former strophe informs us that it occurred as a result of, and in connection with, the murder of Gulveig, a murder committed in Valhal itself, in the hall of the Asa-father, beneath the roof where the G.o.ds of the Asa-clan are gathered around their father.

The latter strophe tells that the first great war in the world produced a separation between the two G.o.d-clans, the Asas and Vans, a division caused by the fact that Odin, hurling his spear, interrupted a discussion between them; and the strophe also explains the result of the war: the bulwark around Asgard was broken, and the Vans got possession of the power of the Asas. The discussion or council is explained in strophe 24. It is there expressly emphasised that all the G.o.ds, the Asas and Vans, _regin oll, G.o.din aull_, solemnly a.s.semble and seat themselves on their _raukstola_ to counsel together concerning the murder of _Gullveig-Heidr_. Strophe 23 has already described who Gulveig is, and thus given at least one reason for the hatred of the Asas towards her, and for the treatment she receives in Odin's hall. It is evident that she was in Asgard under the name Gulveig, since Gulveig was killed and burnt in Valhal; but Midgard, the abode of man, has also been the scene of her activity. There she has roamed about under the name Heidr, practising the evil arts of black sorcery (see No. 27) and encouraging the evil pa.s.sions of mankind: _ae var hon angan illrar brudar_. Hence Gulveig suffers the punishment which from time immemorial was established among the Aryans for the practice of the black art: she was burnt. And her mysteriously terrible and magic nature is revealed by the fact that the flames, though kindled by divine hands, do not have the power over her that they have over other agents of sorcery. The G.o.ds burn her thrice; they pierce the body of the witch with their spears, and hold her over the flames of the fire. All is in vain. They cannot prevent her return and regeneration. Thrice burned and thrice born, she still lives.

After Voluspa has given an account of the vala who in Asgard was called _Gullveig_ and on earth _Heidr_, the poem speaks, in strophe 24, of the dispute which arose among the G.o.ds on account of her murder. The G.o.ds a.s.sembled on and around the judgment-seats are divided into two parties, of which the Asas const.i.tute the one. The fact that the treatment received by Gulveig can become a question of dispute which ends in enmity between the G.o.ds is a proof that only one of the G.o.d-clans has committed the murder; and since this took place, not in Njord's, or Frey's, or Freyja's halls, but in Valhal, where Odin rules and is surrounded by his sons, it follows that the Asas must have committed the murder. Of course, Vans who were guests in Odin's hall _might_ have been the perpetrators of the murder; but, on the one hand, the poem would scarcely have indicated Odin's hall as the place where Gulveig was to be punished, unless it wished thereby to point out the Asas as the doers of the deed, and, on the other hand, we cannot conceive the murder as possible, as described in Voluspa, if the Vans were the ones who committed it, and the Asas were Gulveig's protectors; for then the latter, who were the lords in Valhal, would certainly not have permitted the Vans quietly and peaceably to subject Gulveig to the long torture there described, in which she is spitted on spears and held over the flames to be burnt to ashes.

That the Asas committed the murder is also corroborated by Voluspa's account of the question in dispute. One of the views prevailing in the consultation and discussion in regard to the matter is that the Asas ought to _afrad gjalda_ in reference to the murder committed. In this _afrad gjalda_ we meet with a phrase which is echoed in the laws of Iceland, and in the old codes of Norway and Sweden. There can be no doubt that the phrase has found its way into the language of the law from the popular vernacular, and that its legal significance was simply more definite and precise than its use in the vernacular. The common popular meaning of the phrase is _to pay compensation_. The compensation may be of any kind whatsoever. It may be rent for the use of another's field, or it may be taxes for the enjoyment of social rights, or it may be death and wounds for having waged war. In the present instance, it must mean compensation to be paid by the Asas for the slaying of _Gullveig-Heidr_. As such a demand could not be made by the Asas themselves, it must have been made by the Vans and their supporters in the discussion. Against this demand we have the proposition from the Asas that all the G.o.ds should _gildi eiga_. In regard to this disputed phrase at least so much is clear, that it must contain either an absolute or a partial counter-proposition to the demand of the Vans, and its purpose must be that the Asas ought not--at least, not alone--to pay the compensation for the murder, but that the crime should be regarded as one in reference to which all the G.o.ds, the Asas and the Vans, were alike guilty, and as one for which they all together should a.s.sume the responsibility.

The discussion does not lead to a friendly settlement. Something must have been said at which Odin has become deeply offended, for the Asa-father, distinguished for his wisdom and calmness, hurls his spear into the midst of those deliberating--a token that the contest of reason against reason is at an end, and that it is to be followed by a contest with weapons.

The myth concerning this deliberation between Asas and Vans was well known to Saxo, and what he has to say about it (_Hist._, 126 ff.), turning myth as usual into history, should be compared with Voluspa's account, for both these sources complement each other.

The first thing that strikes us in Saxo's narrative is that sorcery, the black art, plays, as in Voluspa, the chief part in the chain of events.

His account is taken from a mythic circ.u.mstance, mentioned by the heathen skald Kormak (_seid Y ggr til Rindar_--Younger Edda, i. 236), according to which Odin, forced by extreme need, sought the favour of Rind, and gained his point by sorcery and witchcraft, as he could not gain it otherwise. According to Saxo, Odin touched Rind with a piece of bark on which he had inscribed magic songs, and the result was that she became insane (_Rinda ... quam Othinus cortice carminibus adnotato contingens lymphanti similem reddidit_). In immediate connection herewith it is related that the G.o.ds held a council, in which it was claimed that Odin had stained his divine honour, and ought to be deposed from his royal dignity (_dii ... Othinum variis majestatis detrimentis divinitatis gloriam macula.s.se cernentes, collegio suo submovendum duxerunt--Hist._, 129). Among the deeds of which his opponents in this council accused him was, as it appears from Saxo, at least one of which he ought to take the consequences, but for which all the G.o.ds ought not to be held responsible ( ... _ne vel ipsi, alieno crimine implicati, insontes nocentis crimine punirentur--Hist., 129; in omnium caput unius culpam recidere putares, Hist._, 130). The result of the deliberation of the G.o.ds is, in Saxo as in Voluspa, that Odin is banished, and that another clan of G.o.ds than his holds the power for some time. Thereupon he is, with the consent of the reigning G.o.ds, recalled to the throne, which he henceforth occupies in a brilliant manner. But one of his first acts after his return is to banish the black art and its agents from heaven and from earth (_Hist._, 44).

Thus the chain of events in Saxo both begins and ends with sorcery. It is the background on which both in Saxo and in Voluspa those events occur which are connected with the dispute between the Asas and Vans. In both the doc.u.ments the G.o.ds meet in council before the breaking out of the enmity. In both the question turns on a deed done by Odin, for which certain G.o.ds do not wish to take the responsibility. Saxo indicates this by the words: _Ne vel ipsi, alieno crimine implicati innocentes nocentis crimine punirentur._ Voluspa indicates it by letting the Vans present, against the proposition that _G.o.din oll skyldu gildi eiga_, the claim that Odin's own clan, and it alone, should _afrad gjalda_. And while Voluspa makes Odin suddenly interrupt the deliberations and hurl his spear among the deliberators, Saxo gives us the explanation of his sudden wrath. He and his clan had slain and burnt Gulveig-Heid because she practised sorcery and other evil arts of witchcraft. And as he refuses to make compensation for the murder and demands that all the G.o.ds take the consequences and share the blame, the Vans have replied in council, that he too once practised sorcery on the occasion when he visited Rind, and that, if Gulveig was justly burnt for this crime, then he ought justly to be deposed from his dignity stained by the same crime as the ruler of all the G.o.ds. Thus Voluspa's and Saxo's accounts supplement and ill.u.s.trate each other.

_One_ dark point remains, however. Why have the Vans objected to the killing of Gulveig-Heid? Should this clan of G.o.ds, celebrated in song as benevolent, useful, and pure, be kindly disposed toward the evil and corrupting arts of witchcraft? This cannot have been the meaning of the myth. As shall be shown, the evil plans of Gulveig-Heid have particularly been directed against those very Vana-G.o.ds who in the council demand compensation for her death. In this regard Saxo has in perfect faithfulness toward his mythic source represented Odin on the one hand, and his opponents among the G.o.ds on the other, as alike hostile to the black art. Odin, who on one occasion and under peculiar circ.u.mstances, which I shall discuss in connection with the Balder myth, was guilty of the practise of sorcery, is nevertheless the declared enemy of witchcraft, and Saxo makes him take pains to forbid and persecute it. The Vans likewise look upon it with horror, and it is this horror which adds strength to their words when they attack and depose Odin, because he has himself practised that for which he has punished Gulveig.