



Produced by the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
http://www.pgdp.net/








                             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. Neither is it due to anything
weak in the conception of the deities themselves, for although
they may not rise to great spiritual heights, foremost students of
Icelandic literature agree that they stand out rude and massive as the
Scandinavian mountains. They exhibit "a spirit of victory, superior
to brute force, superior to mere matter, a spirit that fights and
overcomes." [1] "Even were some part of the matter of their myths
taken from others, yet the Norsemen have given their gods a noble,
upright, great spirit, and placed them upon a high level that is all
their own." [2] "In fact these old Norse songs have a truth in them,
an inward perennial truth and greatness. It is a greatness not of
mere body and gigantic bulk, but a rude greatness of soul." [3]

The introduction of Christianity into the North brought with it the
influence of the Classical races, and this eventually supplanted the
native genius, so that the alien mythology and literature of Greece
and Rome have formed an increasing part of the mental equipment of the
northern peoples in proportion as the native literature and tradition
have been neglected.

Undoubtedly Northern mythology has exercised a deep influence upon
our customs, laws, and language, and there has been, therefore,
a great unconscious inspiration flowing from these into English
literature. The most distinctive traits of this mythology are a
peculiar grim humour, to be found in the religion of no other race,
and a dark thread of tragedy which runs throughout the whole woof,
and these characteristics, touching both extremes, are writ large
over English literature.

But of conscious influence, compared with the rich draught of Hellenic
inspiration, there is little to be found, and if we turn to modern
art the difference is even more apparent.

This indifference may be attributed to many causes, but it was due
first to the fact that the religious beliefs of our pagan ancestors
were not held with any real tenacity. Hence the success of the
more or less considered policy of the early Christian missionaries
to confuse the heathen beliefs, and merge them in the new faith,
an interesting example of which is to be seen in the transference
to the Christian festival of Easter of the attributes of the pagan
goddess Eastre, from whom it took even the name. Northern mythology
was in this way arrested ere it had attained its full development,
and the progress of Christianity eventually relegated it to the limbo
of forgotten things. Its comprehensive and intelligent scheme, however,
in strong contrast with the disconnected mythology of Greece and Rome,
formed the basis of a more or less rational faith which prepared the
Norseman to receive the teaching of Christianity, and so helped to
bring about its own undoing.

The religious beliefs of the North are not mirrored with any
exactitude in the Elder Edda. Indeed only a travesty of the faith of
our ancestors has been preserved in Norse literature. The early poet
loved allegory, and his imagination rioted among the conceptions of
his fertile muse. "His eye was fixed on the mountains till the snowy
peaks assumed human features and the giant of the rock or the ice
descended with heavy tread; or he would gaze at the splendour of the
spring, or of the summer fields, till Freya with the gleaming necklace
stepped forth, or Sif with the flowing locks of gold." [4]

We are told nothing as to sacrificial and religious rites, and
all else is omitted which does not provide material for artistic
treatment. The so-called Northern Mythology, therefore, may be regarded
as a precious relic of the beginning of Northern poetry, rather than
as a representation of the religious beliefs of the Scandinavians,
and these literary fragments bear many signs of the transitional stage
wherein the confusion of the old and new faiths is easily apparent.

But notwithstanding the limitations imposed by long neglect it is
possible to reconstruct in part a plan of the ancient Norse beliefs,
and the general reader will derive much profit from Carlyle's
illuminating study in "Heroes and Hero-worship." "A bewildering,
inextricable jungle of delusions, confusions, falsehoods and
absurdities, covering the whole field of Life!" he calls them,
with all good reason. But he goes on to show, with equal truth,
that at the soul of this crude worship of distorted nature was a
spiritual force seeking expression. What we probe without reverence
they viewed with awe, and not understanding it, straightway deified
it, as all children have been apt to do in all stages of the world's
history. Truly they were hero-worshippers after Carlyle's own heart,
and scepticism had no place in their simple philosophy.

It was the infancy of thought gazing upon a universe filled with
divinity, and believing heartily with all sincerity. A large-hearted
people reaching out in the dark towards ideals which were better than
they knew. Ragnarok was to undo their gods because they had stumbled
from their higher standards.

We have to thank a curious phenomenon for the preservation of so much
of the old lore as we still possess. While foreign influences were
corrupting the Norse language, it remained practically unaltered in
Iceland, which had been colonised from the mainland by the Norsemen
who had fled thither to escape the oppression of Harold Fairhair after
his crushing victory of Hafrsfirth. These people brought with them the
poetic genius which had already manifested itself, and it took fresh
root in that barren soil. Many of the old Norse poets were natives
of Iceland, and in the early part of the Christian era, a supreme
service was rendered to Norse literature by the Christian priest,
Saemund, who industriously brought together a large amount of pagan
poetry in a collection known as the Elder Edda, which is the chief
foundation of our present knowledge of the religion of our Norse
ancestors. Icelandic literature remained a sealed book, however,
until the end of the eighteenth century, and very slowly since that
time it has been winning its way in the teeth of indifference, until
there are now signs that it will eventually come into its own. "To
know the old Faith," says Carlyle, "brings us into closer and clearer
relation with the Past--with our own possessions in the Past. For
the whole Past is the possession of the Present; the Past had always
something true, and is a precious possession."

The weighty words of William Morris regarding the Volsunga Saga
may also be fitly quoted as an introduction to the whole of this
collection of "Myths of the Norsemen": "This is the great story of
the North, which should be to all our race what the Tale of Troy was
to the Greeks--to all our race first, and afterwards, when the change
of the world has made our race nothing more than a name of what has
been--a story too--then should it be to those that come after us no
less than the Tale of Troy has been to us."






CHAPTER I: THE BEGINNING


Myths of Creation

Although the Aryan inhabitants of Northern Europe are supposed by some
authorities to have come originally from the plateau of Iran, in the
heart of Asia, the climate and scenery of the countries where they
finally settled had great influence in shaping their early religious
beliefs, as well as in ordering their mode of living.

The grand and rugged landscapes of Northern Europe, the midnight
sun, the flashing rays of the aurora borealis, the ocean continually
lashing itself into fury against the great cliffs and icebergs of
the Arctic Circle, could not but impress the people as vividly as
the almost miraculous vegetation, the perpetual light, and the blue
seas and skies of their brief summer season. It is no great wonder,
therefore, that the Icelanders, for instance, to whom we owe the most
perfect records of this belief, fancied in looking about them that the
world was originally created from a strange mixture of fire and ice.

Northern mythology is grand and tragical. Its principal theme is the
perpetual struggle of the beneficent forces of Nature against the
injurious, and hence it is not graceful and idyllic in character,
like the religion of the sunny South, where the people could bask
in perpetual sunshine, and the fruits of the earth grew ready to
their hand.

It was very natural that the dangers incurred in hunting and fishing
under these inclement skies, and the suffering entailed by the long
cold winters when the sun never shines, made our ancestors contemplate
cold and ice as malevolent spirits; and it was with equal reason that
they invoked with special fervour the beneficent influences of heat
and light.

When questioned concerning the creation of the world, the Northern
scalds, or poets, whose songs