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                             Myths of the Norsemen

                            From the Eddas and Sagas

                                       By

                                 H. A. Guerber

                 Author of "The Myths of Greece and Rome" etc.




                                     London
                           George G. Harrap & Company
                          15 York Street Covent Garden

                                      1909








                      Printed by Ballantyne & Co. Limited
                    Tavistock Street, Covent Garden, London






CONTENTS


        Chap.                                                      Page

        I.      The Beginning                                         1
        II.     Odin                                                 16
        III.    Frigga                                               42
        IV.     Thor                                                 59
        V.      Tyr                                                  85
        VI.     Bragi                                                95
        VII.    Idun                                                103
        VIII.   Nioerd                                               111
        IX.     Frey                                                117
        X.      Freya                                               131
        XI.     Uller                                               139
        XII.    Forseti                                             142
        XIII.   Heimdall                                            146
        XIV.    Hermod                                              154
        XV.     Vidar                                               158
        XVI.    Vali                                                162
        XVII.   The Norns                                           166
        XVIII.  The Valkyrs                                         173
        XIX.    Hel                                                 180
        XX.     AEgir                                                185
        XXI.    Balder                                              197
        XXII.   Loki                                                216
        XXIII.  The Giants                                          230
        XXIV.   The Dwarfs                                          239
        XXV.    The Elves                                           246
        XXVI.   The Sigurd Saga                                     251
        XXVII.  The Frithiof Saga                                   298
        XXVIII. The Twilight of the Gods                            329
        XXIX.   Greek and Northern Mythologies--A Comparison        342






LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS


        Norsemen Landing in Iceland   (Oscar Wergeland)    Frontispiece

                                                           To face page
        The Giant with the Flaming Sword   (J. C. Dollman)            2
        The Wolves Pursuing Sol and Mani   (J. C. Dollman)            8
        Odin   (Sir E. Burne-Jones)                                  16
        The Chosen Slain   (K. Dielitz)                              18
        A Viking Foray   (J. C. Dollman)                             20
        The Pied Piper of Hamelin   (H. Kaulbach)                    28
        Odin   (B. E. Fogelberg)                                     36
        Frigga Spinning the Clouds   (J. C. Dollman)                 42
        Tannhaeuser and Frau Venus   (J. Wagrez)                      52
        Eastre   (Jacques Reich)                                     54
        Huldra's Nymphs   (B. E. Ward)                               58
        Thor   (B. E. Fogelberg)                                     60
        Sif   (J. C. Dollman)                                        64
        Thor and the Mountain   (J. C. Dollman)                      72
        A Foray   (A. Malmstroem)                                     88
        The Binding of Fenris   (Dorothy Hardy)                      92
        Idun   (B. E. Ward)                                         100
        Loki and Thiassi   (Dorothy Hardy)                          104
        Frey   (Jacques Reich)                                      118
        Freya   (N. J. O. Blommer)                                  132
        The Rainbow Bridge   (H. Hendrich)                          146
        Heimdall   (Dorothy Hardy)                                  148
        Jarl   (Albert Edelfelt)                                    152
        The Norns   (C. Ehrenberg)                                  166
        The Dises   (Dorothy Hardy)                                 170
        The Swan-Maiden   (Gertrude Demain Hammond, R.I.)           174
        The Ride of the Valkyrs   (J. C. Dollman)                   176
        Brunhild and Siegmund   (J. Wagrez)                         178
        The Road to Valhalla   (Severin Nilsson)                    182
        AEgir   (J. P. Molin)                                        186
        Ran   (M. E. Winge)                                         190
        The Neckan   (J. P. Molin)                                  194
        Loki and Hodur   (C. G. Qvarnstroem)                         202
        The Death of Balder   (Dorothy Hardy)                       206
        Hermod before Hela   (J. C. Dollman)                        210
        Loki and Svadilfari   (Dorothy Hardy)                       222
        Loki and Sigyn   (M. E. Winge)                              228
        Thor and the Giants   (M. E. Winge)                         230
        Torghatten                                                  234
        The Peaks of the Trolls                                     244
        The Elf-Dance   (N. J. O. Blommer)                          246
        The White Elves   (Charles P. Sainton, R.I.)                248
        Old Houses with Carved Posts                                250
        The Were-Wolves   (J. C. Dollman)                           260
        A Hero's Farewell   (M. E. Winge)                           264
        The Funeral Procession   (H. Hendrich)                      268
        Sigurd and Fafnir   (K. Dielitz)                            274
        Sigurd Finds Brunhild   (J. Wagrez)                         278
        Odin and Brunhild   (K. Dielitz)                            280
        Aslaug   (Gertrude Demain Hammond, R.I.)                    282
        Sigurd and Gunnar   (J. C. Dollman)                         284
        The Death of Siegfried   (H. Hendrich)                      288
        The End of Brunhild   (J. Wagrez)                           290
        Ingeborg   (M. E. Winge)                                    304
        Frithiof Cleaves the Shield of Helge   (Knut Ekwall)        308
        Ingeborg Watches her Lover Depart   (Knut Ekwall)           312
        Frithiof's Return to Framnaes   (Knut Ekwall)                316
        Frithiof at the Shrine of Balder   (Knut Ekwall)            318
        Frithiof at the Court of Ring   (Knut Ekwall)               320
        Frithiof Watches the Sleeping King   (Knut Ekwall)          324
        Odin and Fenris   (Dorothy Hardy)                           334
        The Ride of the Valkyrs   (H. Hendrich)                     344
        The Storm-Ride   (Gilbert Bayes)                            358






INTRODUCTION


The prime importance of the rude fragments of poetry preserved in
early Icelandic literature will now be disputed by none, but there
has been until recent times an extraordinary indifference to the
wealth of religious tradition and mythical lore which they contain.

The long neglect of these precious records of our heathen ancestors
is not the fault of the material in which all that survives of
their religious beliefs is enshrined, for it may safely be asserted
that the Edda is as rich in the essentials of national romance
and race-imagination, rugged though it be, as the more graceful
and idyllic mythology of the South