Myths of the Norsemen Part 12

Geirrod now appeared and challenged Thor to a test of strength and skill, but without waiting for a preconcerted signal, he flung a red-hot wedge at him. Thor, quick of eye and a practised catcher, caught the missile with the giantess's iron glove, and hurled it back at his opponent. Such was the force of the G.o.d, that the missile pa.s.sed, not only through the pillar behind which the giant had taken refuge, but through him and the wall of the house, and buried itself deep in the earth without.

Thor then strode up to the giant's corpse, which at the blow from his weapon had been petrified into stone, and set it up in a conspicuous place, as a monument of his strength and of the victory he had won over his redoubtable foes, the mountain giants.

The Wors.h.i.+p of Thor

Thor's name has been given to many of the places he was wont to frequent, such as the princ.i.p.al harbour of the Faroe Islands, and to families which claim to be descended from him. It is still extant in such names as Thunderhill in Surrey, and in the family names of Thorburn and Thorwaldsen, but is most conspicuous in the name of one of the days of the week, Thor's day or Thursday.

"Over the whole earth Still is it Thor's day!"

Saga of King Olaf (Longfellow).

Thor was considered a pre-eminently benevolent deity, and it was for that reason that he was so widely wors.h.i.+pped and that temples to his wors.h.i.+p arose at Moeri, Hlader, G.o.dey, Gothland, Upsala, and other places, where the people never failed to invoke him for a favourable year at Yule-tide, his princ.i.p.al festival. It was customary on this occasion to burn a great log of oak, his sacred tree, as an emblem of the warmth and light of summer, which would drive away the darkness and cold of winter.

Brides invariably wore red, Thor's favourite colour, which was considered emblematical of love, and for the same reason betrothal rings in the North were almost always set with a red stone.

Thor's temples and statues, like Odin's, were fas.h.i.+oned of wood, and the greater number of them were destroyed during the reign of King Olaf the Saint. According to ancient chronicles, this monarch forcibly converted his subjects. He was specially incensed against the inhabitants of a certain province, because they wors.h.i.+pped a rude image of Thor, which they decked with golden ornaments, and before which they set food every evening, declaring the G.o.d ate it, as no trace of it was left in the morning.

The people, being called upon in 1030 to renounce this idol in favour of the true G.o.d, promised to consent if the morrow were cloudy; but when after a whole night spent by Olaf in ardent prayer, there followed a cloudy day, the obstinate people declared they were not yet convinced of his G.o.d's power, and would only believe if the sun shone on the next day.

Once more Olaf spent the night in prayer, but at dawn, to his great chagrin, the sky was overcast. Nevertheless, he a.s.sembled the people near Thor's statue, and after secretly bidding his princ.i.p.al attendant to smash the idol with his battle-axe if the people turned their eyes away but for a moment, he began to address them. Suddenly, while all were listening to him, Olaf pointed to the horizon, where the sun was slowly breaking its way through the clouds, and exclaimed, "Behold our G.o.d!" The people one and all turned to see what he meant, and the attendant seized this opportunity for attacking the idol, which yielded easily to his blows, and a host of mice and other vermin scattered hastily from its hollow interior. Seeing now that the food placed before their G.o.d had been devoured by noxious animals only, the people ceased to revere Thor, and definitely accepted the faith which King Olaf had so long and vainly pressed upon them.

CHAPTER V: TYR

The G.o.d of War

Tyr Tiu, or Ziu was the son of Odin, and, according to different mythologists, his mother was Frigga, queen of the G.o.ds, or a beautiful giantess whose name is unknown, but who was a personification of the raging sea. He is the G.o.d of martial honour, and one of the twelve princ.i.p.al deities of Asgard. Although he appears to have had no special dwelling there, he was always welcome to Vingolf or Valhalla, and occupied one of the twelve thrones in the great council hall of Glads-heim.

"The hall Glads-heim, which is built of gold; Where are in circle, ranged twelve golden chairs, And in the midst one higher, Odin's Throne."

Balder Dead (Matthew Arnold).

As the G.o.d of courage and of war, Tyr was frequently invoked by the various nations of the North, who cried to him, as well as to Odin, to obtain victory. That he ranked next to Odin and Thor is proved by his name, Tiu, having been given to one of the days of the week, Tiu's day, which in modern English has become Tuesday. Under the name of Ziu, Tyr was the princ.i.p.al divinity of the Suabians, who originally called their capital, the modern Augsburg, Ziusburg. This people, venerating the G.o.d as they did, were wont to wors.h.i.+p him under the emblem of a sword, his distinctive attribute, and in his honour held great sword dances, where various figures were performed. Sometimes the partic.i.p.ants forming two long lines, crossed their swords, point upward, and challenged the boldest among their number to take a flying leap over them. At other times the warriors joined their sword points closely together in the shape of a rose or wheel, and when this figure was complete invited their chief to stand on the navel thus formed of flat, s.h.i.+ning steel blades, and then they bore him upon it through the camp in triumph. The sword point was further considered so sacred that it became customary to register oaths upon it.

"... Come hither, gentlemen, And lay your hands again upon my sword; Never to speak of this that you have heard, Swear by my sword."

Hamlet (Shakespeare).

A distinctive feature of the wors.h.i.+p of this G.o.d among the Franks and some other Northern nations was that the priests called Druids or G.o.di offered up human sacrifices upon his altars, generally cutting the b.l.o.o.d.y- or spread-eagle upon their victims, that is to say, making a deep incision on either side of the back-bone, turning the ribs thus loosened inside out, and tearing out the viscera through the opening thus made. Of course only prisoners of war were treated thus, and it was considered a point of honour with north European races to endure this torture without a moan. These sacrifices were made upon rude stone altars called dolmens, which can still be seen in Northern Europe. As Tyr was considered the patron G.o.d of the sword, it was deemed indispensable to engrave the sign or rune representing him upon the blade of every sword--an observance which the Edda enjoined upon all those who were desirous of obtaining victory.

"Sig-runes thou must know, If victory (sigr) thou wilt have, And on thy sword's hilt rist them; Some on the chapes, Some on the guard, And twice name the name of Tyr."

Lay of Sigdrifa (Thorpe's tr.).

Tyr was identical with the Saxon G.o.d Saxnot (from sax, a sword), and with Er, Heru, or Cheru, the chief divinity of the Cheruski, who also considered him G.o.d of the sun, and deemed his s.h.i.+ning sword blade an emblem of its rays.

"This very sword a ray of light s.n.a.t.c.hed from the Sun!"

Valhalla (J. C. Jones).

Tyr's Sword

According to an ancient legend, Cheru's sword, which had been fas.h.i.+oned by the same dwarfs, sons of Ivald, who had also made Odin's spear, was held very sacred by his people, to whose care he had entrusted it, declaring that those who possessed it were sure to have the victory over their foes. But although carefully guarded in the temple, where it was hung so that it reflected the first beams of the morning sun, it suddenly and mysteriously disappeared one night. A Vala, druidess, or prophetess, consulted by the priests, revealed that the Norns had decreed that whoever wielded it would conquer the world and come to his death by it; but in spite of all entreaties she refused to tell who had taken it or where it might be found. Some time after this occurrence a tall and dignified stranger came to Cologne, where Vitellius, the Roman prefect, was feasting, and called him away from his beloved dainties. In the presence of the Roman soldiery he gave him the sword, telling him it would bring him glory and renown, and finally hailed him as emperor. The cry was taken up by the a.s.sembled legions, and Vitellius, without making any personal effort to secure the honour, found himself elected Emperor of Rome.

The new ruler, however, was so absorbed in indulging his taste for food and drink that he paid but little heed to the divine weapon. One day while leisurely making his way towards Rome he carelessly left it hanging in the antechamber to his pavilion. A German soldier seized this opportunity to subst.i.tute in its stead his own rusty blade, and the besotted emperor did not notice the exchange. When he arrived at Rome, he learned that the Eastern legions had named Vespasian emperor, and that he was even then on his way home to claim the throne.

Searching for the sacred weapon to defend his rights, Vitellius now discovered the theft, and, overcome by superst.i.tious fears, did not even attempt to fight. He crawled away into a dark corner of his palace, whence he was ignominiously dragged by the enraged populace to the foot of the Capitoline Hill. There the prophecy was duly fulfilled, for the German soldier, who had joined the opposite faction, coming along at that moment, cut off Vitellius' head with the sacred sword.

The German soldier now changed from one legion to another, and travelled over many lands; but wherever he and his sword were found, victory was a.s.sured. After winning great honour and distinction, this man, having grown old, retired from active service to the banks of the Danube, where he secretly buried his treasured weapon, building his hut over its resting-place to guard it as long as he might live. When he lay on his deathbed he was implored to reveal where he had hidden it, but he persistently refused to do so, saying that it would be found by the man who was destined to conquer the world, but that he would not be able to escape the curse. Years pa.s.sed by. Wave after wave the tide of barbarian invasion swept over that part of the country, and last of all came the terrible Huns under the leaders.h.i.+p of Attila, the "Scourge of G.o.d." As he pa.s.sed along the river, he saw a peasant mournfully examining his cow's foot, which had been wounded by some sharp instrument hidden in the long gra.s.s, and when search was made the point of a buried sword was found sticking out of the soil.

Attila, seeing the beautiful workmans.h.i.+p and the fine state of preservation of this weapon, immediately exclaimed that it was Cheru's sword, and brandis.h.i.+ng it above his head he announced that he would conquer the world. Battle after battle was fought by the Huns, who, according to the Saga, were everywhere victorious, until Attila, weary of warfare, settled down in Hungary, taking to wife the beautiful Burgundian princess Ildico, whose father he had slain. This princess, resenting the murder of her kin and wis.h.i.+ng to avenge it, took advantage of the king's state of intoxication upon his wedding night to secure possession of the divine sword, with which she slew him in his bed, once more fulfilling the prophecy uttered so many years before.

The magic sword again disappeared for a long time, to be unearthed once more, for the last time, by the Duke of Alva, Charles V.'s general, who shortly after won the victory of Muhlberg (1547). The Franks were wont to celebrate yearly martial games in honour of the sword; but it is said that when the heathen G.o.ds were renounced in favour of Christianity, the priests transferred many of their attributes to the saints, and that this sword became the property of the Archangel St. Michael, who has wielded it ever since.

Tyr, whose name was synonymous with bravery and wisdom, was also considered by the ancient Northern people to have the white-armed Valkyrs, Odin's attendants, at his command, and they thought that he it was who designated the warriors whom they should transfer to Valhalla to aid the G.o.ds on the last day.

"The G.o.d Tyr sent Gondul and Skogul To choose a king Of the race of Ingve, To dwell with Odin In roomy Valhal."

Norse Mythology (R. B. Anderson).

The Story of Fenris

Tyr was generally spoken of and represented as one-armed, just as Odin was called one-eyed. Various explanations are offered by different authorities; some claim that it was because he could give the victory only to one side; others, because a sword has but one blade. However this may be, the ancients preferred to account for the fact in the following way:

Loki married secretly at Jotun-heim the hideous giantess Angur-boda (anguish boding), who bore him three monstrous children--the wolf Fenris, Hel, the parti-coloured G.o.ddess of death, and Iormungandr, a terrible serpent. He kept the existence of these monsters secret as long as he could; but they speedily grew so large that they could no longer remain confined in the cave where they had come to light. Odin, from his throne Hlidskialf, soon became aware of their existence, and also of the disquieting rapidity with which they increased in size. Fearful lest the monsters, when they had gained further strength, should invade Asgard and destroy the G.o.ds, Allfather determined to get rid of them, and striding off to Jotun-heim, he flung Hel into the depths of Nifl-heim, telling her she could reign over the nine dismal worlds of the dead. He then cast Iormungandr into the sea, where he attained such immense proportions that at last he encircled the earth and could bite his own tail.

"Into mid-ocean's dark depths hurled, Grown with each day to giant size, The serpent soon inclosed the world, With tail in mouth, in circle-wise; Held harmless still By Odin's will."