Chapter XI: Section I (1)

THE SCANDINAVIAN UNIVERSE, ITS WORLDS, AND THEIR INHABITANTS IN GENERAL,
WITH THE PHYSICAL INTERPRETATION.

CREATION OF THE UNIVERSE.—YMER.—THE GIANTS.—THE GODS.—OTHER BEINGS.—THE
NINE WORLDS, WITH THEIR POSITION AND PHYSICAL INTERPRETATION.—THE
TWELVE HOUSES OF ASGARD.—SWARTALFAHEIM.—INHABITANTS OF THE NINE
WORLDS.—THE ASER.—THE VEVER, &c.

In the Voluspa, or Song of the Prophetess, the Vala, who is probably Urda, the Norny of the past, being seated on a high throne, and surrounded by the deities, acquaints them with the wonders of creation, and of the destiny reserved for them all,—destruction. In the Grimnis-mâl[21], Odin gives a similar account of the origin of all things; and throughout the elder Edda, we have allusion to the same doctrines. From them was derived the relation in the younger or prose Edda, with the merit of being much clearer. According to both, there existed in the beginning, on the site of the world, a vast abyss, Ginnunga-gap, which contained nothing. But to the north of that abyss there was another world, called Nifleheim, the cold and misty. It contained nothing but a spring, Vergelmer, from which flowed eleven great rivers into the abyss. They were called Elivagar (the cold waters), and their streams were poisonous as they were cold. As they flowed on, owing to the cold they became more sluggish in their course; so that when they reached the centre of the abyss, they were converted into ice. Still they flowed, and still the ice increased, until the whole Ginnunga-gap was filled. Out of such materials what could be made? It was necessary to create some other power before the visible universe could be formed. This northern realm, Nifleheim, which contained nothing except the fountain, which had no quality except that of coldness, which was covered with darkness, could, of itself, produce nothing; it could only send the sluggish poisonous waters into the centre of the abyss. That these waters were eternal we may infer; but we cannot infer how long the ice had accumulated when the real events of creation began. The agent of that creation is placed in another region, or rather world, Muspelheim, which lay far to the south of Ginnunga-gap, and which was intolerably hot,—more hot than Nifleheim was cold. The origin of this earth and its inhabitants, therefore, was the work of these two agencies, heat and cold, operating on the poisonous waters which lay between them. (Muspelheim, we suppose, with its numerous fiery inhabitants, and their mighty chief Surtur, the dark, the incomprehensible, the great evil principle, had no beginning; or if it had, the Odinian theologians were unacquainted with it.) What was frozen by the one influence was thawed by the other. It was probably some centuries before the heat from Surtur’s fiery empire dissolved the prodigious mass into a liquid element. From that element sprung the giant Ymer, by a process of generation which the northern sages do not deign to explain; and his vast bulk filled no inconsiderable portion of the abyss, as will soon appear from the use made of his corpse. This giant begat others. How? By a process no less odd than that which brought him into being. While asleep, a male and a female sprung from his left armpit; and he had the felicity too, by rubbing one foot against another, to produce a son. Why there should be _three_ ancestors to the Rimthurser, or frost-giants, when, in our humble notion, two might have sufficed, is another mystery which we shall not attempt to penetrate. How were all nourished, seeing that there was no alimentary substance created? By the Supreme Being, the Great Alfadur, a cow with four teats was created; and from these flowed four rivers of milk. The cow herself was sustained by licking the salt-rocks, on which the hoar frost still lay. But her destiny was not fulfilled by this service; she was to call into existence a new race. When she had licked one day, the hair appeared; when she had licked two, there was a head; when three, there was a complete animal,—a man or giant, named Burè. This Burè, in his turn, became the father (probably by marriage with a descendant of Ymer) of Bur, or Bôrr, or Bore, who was more famous than any of his predecessors. His son married a lady of the giant race, named Bestla, and by her had three gods, Odin, Vilè, and Vè. Before these were long born, they slew the old giant Ymer. His blood was sufficient to drown all of the giant race, except Bergelmer and his wife, who sailed away to the mountains, and became the progenitors of a new race of giants. The corpse was now cast into the Ginnunga-gap; and from it heaven and earth were created. Thus the Grimnis-mâl:—

From Ymer’s flesh
Was the earth formed;
The sea from his blood,
The hills from his bones,
Plants from his hair,
Heaven from his skull;
From his eye-brows
Formed the mild gods
Midgard for the sons of men.
But from his brain
Were the thick clouds
All created.

This heaven, made from the giant’s skull, was supported by four dwarfs, East, West, North, South, and at one of the corners, a living pillar. (What supports the earth, or the dwarfs themselves, we are not informed). The globes of fire which ascended from Muspelheim, and spread through all space, were now placed by the three gods in the firmament, and made sun, moon, and stars, to enlighten heaven and earth.

That these notions are wild and extravagant will be asserted by most readers; but do they not involve physical truths? Were they not invented by the priests of old to cover their learning from the vulgar gaze? Let us hear the interpretation of Finn Magnussen, the most learned, the most acute, though, in too many instances, the most visionary, of northern commentators. The giant Ymer, he observes, represents the chaotic undigested state of the earth, produced by the combined effects of heat and cold upon water. That water was the first existing matter, is evident even from holy scripture. Many nations regarded it as the source of all things. The opinions of the Greek philosopher on this subject are well known; but we may mention the Orphic fragment preserved by Athenagoras. The water produced mud; the mud produced a monster with three heads,—the head of a god, of a lion, of an ox. This monster, which, however, was a deity, laid an egg, the upper half of which formed the heaven, the lower half the earth. From the union of heaven and earth, the offspring were, first the three fates, and then the giants and cyclops who rebelled, and were eventually cast into the Tartarean gulf. The Greeks, like all other people, had seen the mud deposited by water give birth to animals, after receiving for a time the solar heat. The action, therefore, of fire on the slimy particles thus deposited, was received as a generative principle; and assuredly there is nothing more irrational in the system of Scandinavia than in that of Greece. The Egyptian system was conformable with it. An original chaos; the separation of the mud from the waters; the action of the sun, or of heat, on the mud; the fermentation which followed; and the origin of animal existence, are the great features: as a necessary result, the sun, no less than the water, was deified. In the Scandinavian, as in the other systems, some kinds of matter were eternal. Eternal were the mists of Nifleheim, and the well Vergelmer; eternal perhaps the abode of Surtur, Surtur himself, and his fiery spirits. From the beneficent Alfadur nothing evil was to spring; he, therefore, we suppose, could not create Muspelheim, or its inhabitants; nor could he give birth to the giants of the frost, who are emphatically called wicked: hence their origin from the poisonous waters of Nifleheim.

If, in respect to water and fire, the cosmogony of the Scandinavians was kindred with that of other people, the resemblance furnished by the cow was equally great. “We need not be surprised,” observes Magnussen, “that men selected the ox, the most useful and widely-spread animal with which they were acquainted, for a cosmic symbol in its various forms. The cow was probably our first nurse; and the oldest nations, especially the Hindoos and the Egyptians, regarded her with religious veneration, and called her the mother of mankind. When men applied poetry to cosmogony, they elevated a mythic cow to the place of earth’s mother, or nurse. Such is our Audumbla. And if the cow was the mother, well may the bull (as in India) be held the father: he propagated the race, drew the plough, and in both cases might be said to rear or nurse mankind.” Among the Persians, the cow was held in even greater veneration than among the Scandinavians. The Abudad was the earth, which Jemsheed (the sun) pierced with his dagger. The cow was the symbol of creation, the instrument which Ormuzd employed for the production of the first human being. A cow, too, received the soul of Zoroaster, and transmitted it in the form of milk to the father of the prophet; but the notion was common to most people. The Cimbri in Italy had their copper ox, on which they swore, just as the Egyptians swore by Apis. It was the symbol of heaven, just as the cow was that of earth; it was held to be the father, just as the female was the mother, of all. The chariot of Hertha, or mother earth, was, as Tacitus informs us, drawn by cows. The Io of the Greeks was probably derived from the same widely-spread doctrine.

The cow, according to Finn Magnussen, is a purification of the atmosphere in the Scandinavian mythos of the creation. This, however, is not very clear; nor do we perceive more justice in the explanation given of Burè’s origin,—that the licking of the salt-rocks betokens the emersion of the solid earth from the deep waters. In another of his analogies, he is whimsical—that which makes Bôrr, or Bors, to be the Elbors, the Caucasus of the Persians. A correspondence of names is, in most cases, purely accidental, and proves nothing. More rational, perhaps, is our commentator, when he treats of Odin, Vilè, and Vè, which he makes into air, light and fire. The three gods destroyed Ymer, that is, the elements in question destroyed chaos. Whether, however, he is equally successful in the derivation of the three words, may be disputed; but there is much ingenuity, and some plausibility, in all. The Greek ατμός, the Sanscrit _atma_, the Teutonic _athem_, all signifying air or breath, are certainly cognate; and they are probably the same with the Othem, or Odin, or Woden, of the Germans. But whether Odin or Woden is derived from the Latin _vado_, to go through, to pervade, is not so clear. If this etymology were established, we should have no difficulty in conceiving Odin to be the air, the breath, the soul of the world. Still the subject is worthy of consideration; and the reader may adopt or reject it. He will be less inclined to admit the derivation of Vilè, which seems far-fetched. Nor are we quite sure that _Vè_, akin to _Vesta_, is to be taken for elemental _fire_, or metaphorically for _life_. Yet on a subject so obscure, we are unwilling to pronounce dogmatically.

The destruction of Ymer and his offspring, the wicked giants of the frost, by the divine race, is evidently the same mythos as the defeat of the Titans by Jove; of Ahriman and the evil genii, by Ormuzd and the Amshaspands. Surtur is the Ahriman of Scandinavia. He is the author of evil, viz., of the giants; and is destined one day to assist in the destruction of the universe. We read of the great Alfadur,—another than Odin who is sometimes called eternal. It is pleasing to read such notions of a First Cause, in such an age. To this omnipotent, eternal, and beneficent Being, who is far above all the worlds, inaccessible to any thing created, there are more allusions than one in the Edda of Sæmund. Thus the Hyndlu-mâl, after mentioning the destruction of Odin, with all the gods:—

Yet there shall come
Another mightier,
Although him
I dare not name.
Farther onward
Few can see,
Than where Odin
Meets the Wolf.

Such notions may be regarded as traces of a purer religious dispensation—of the patriarchal. As an eminent northern writer elegantly observes[22]—“Thus sounds the voice of the northern prophetess, the Vala, to us obscure and indistinct, through the darkness of ages. It speaks of other times, other men and ideas; if fettered by the bonds of superstition, it longs after eternal light, and, though imperfectly, expresses that longing. We may also recognise some of those mighty minds of which Pindar speaks, as wandering eternally over earth and sea. In such sounds heaven and earth announce an Eternal Being, and at the same time their own mortality,—truths which no paganism has expressed more strongly than the Scandinavian. However darkly, still it does allude to the Mighty One on high, who is above all the deities of nature,—to one mightier than the mighty, whom it dares not name,—to that unknown God whom the Athenians also worshipped.” We may, however, doubt whether this notion of the One First Cause, dark as it is, was introduced by Odin into the north. In most of the relics which the ancient pagans have left us, we have traces of two religions, distinct from each other,—both from Asia, but not at the same period, or from the same region. The worship of Thor, for example, seems to be much more ancient than that of Odin; and perhaps before either was known—before the light of patriarchal truth was entirely departed from the north—the elementary form of worship, the most ancient and least debasing of all superstitions, prevailed.

The three gods, Odin, Vilè and Vè, were not the only created beings. Besides Bergelmer and his wife, from whom sprung a new giant race, other offspring than the three deities resulted from the union of Bôrr with Bestla—

The maid so good and fair
Though born of giant race.

From these sprung all the good, benevolent beings,—gods, goddesses, elves, Vanir, and spirits of air, of whom more in the proper place. All these were created before man. So also were the Duergar, or dwarfs.

According to the prose Edda, they bred like maggots in Ymer’s dead body; but the Voluspa tells us that they were created by the gods from the blood and bones of that giant:

Then went the gods
To their exalted seats;
The high and holy
Then consulted
Of them which
Should form the dwarfs
From the sea-giant’s blood,
And his blue bones.
Thus Modsogner is
The chief become
Of all the dwarfs;
And after him Durin.

But the former account is preferable, because it accounts more satisfactorily for the cruel, vindictive, yet often contemptible character of the race,—a race with small deformed bodies, large heads, flat noses, and still more despicable in mind. Probably, as Mr. Magnussen conjectures, these beings, who could not bear the light of day; who, if they accidentally saw it, were changed into rocks; whose life was passed in the bowels of the earth, especially in the bowels of the mountains, were intended to personify the subterraneous powers of nature. Their names, when translated, favour the interpretation. Wind, Blast, Gleam, Light, Fruit-giver, Iceberg, and others equally fantastic, attest their elementary character. Of all beings they were the most skilful, the most expert, the most industrious: they were unrivalled smiths; they manufactured wondrous armour, and other enchanted things, which were highly prized by the gods, who excelled them in power, but were inferior in ingenuity.

The beings next created were mankind. “The sons of Bure,” says the prose Edda, “went to the sea-shore, and found two trees, which they formed into man and woman. Odin gave them breath and life; Vilè, understanding and vigour; Vè, beauty of form, speech, hearing, sight.” But the Valuspa says that it was Haenir who gave understanding, and Loder a fair complexion. These, however, may be only different names for the same beings. Askur was the name of the first man, and Embla of the woman; the former signifying an ash tree, the latter, it is said, an elm. This is evidently a vegetable mythos. It is not peculiar to the Goths. Hesiod informs us that Zeus formed the third race of men from ash trees. The ancient Medians had the same notion; the mythic Kaiamar died without issue because without mate; but from his remains in forty years sprung a tree with fifteen branches; and from it Ormuzd fashioned the first progenitors of mankind.

Midgard, or the middle world, was made for the habitation of man; but before we describe it, we must glance at the other worlds with which it was connected. According to both the poetic and the prose Edda, there were _nine_.

THE NINE WORLDS.

In the Valuspa, the prophetess says—

I tell of nine worlds
And of nine heavens.

The giant Vafthrudnis has the same boast; and Alvis, the dwarf, tells Thor,

All the nine worlds
Have I passed through
And every being known.

These worlds, which were all vertically arranged, except Utgard, which was on the same plane with Midgard, are thus specified by Magnussen:—

1. _Gimlè_, the residence of the Supreme Being, the eternal Alfadur. Connected with it was Liosalfaheim, the abode of the benevolent light elves (of whom an account in the proper place). This region is to be the everlasting abode of the good after the destruction of the universe.

2. _Muspelheim_, the world of Surtur and his fiery genii, which lay far below Liosalfaheim. This world was _perhaps_ uncreated and _perhaps_ will not be destroyed.

3. _Asgard_ (Aser-yard), or _Godheim_, the residence of the Aser, or gods; the starry firmament, which lay far below Muspelheim.

4. _Vanaheim_, the residence of the Vanir or spirits of air: it was also called _Vindheim_, the home of the winds. Its position was the atmosphere below Asgard.

5. _Midgard_ (mid-yard), so called because it was the middle world, between Gimlè above, and Nifleheim below. It was also called _Manheim_, from its being the home of men.

6. _Utgard_ (outer-yard), or _Jotunheim_, the home of the giants, lay beyond the vast sea which, according to the Scandinavian cosmography, encompasses Midgard. Midgard and Utgard are horizontal with each other.

7. _Swartalfaheim_, the home of the black elves or dwarfs, the spirits of darkness, is situated in the bowels of the earth.

8. _Helheim_, the palace of Hela, the goddess of death, lower far than Swartalfaheim, and the abode of all, however good, who die a natural death.

9. _Nifleheim_, the world of mist, the lowest of all the worlds. It contains the poisonous fountain and rivers in which the bad are to be punished.

Of these worlds six are to perish,—perhaps seven, for there is some doubt as to Muspelheim. The virtuous are to enjoy an eternity of happiness in Gimlè; the wicked an eternity of punishment in Nifleheim.

GIMLE AND MUSPELHEIM

Defy description. None of the Valas, none of the gods, none of the giants or dwarfs who boasted of their having seen these nine worlds, have left us any record of either. The former, indeed, must have been inaccessible to all created intelligences; but Liosalfaheim was esteemed less holy. Why Muspelheim was placed so near to Gimlè has not been satisfactorily explained; but we may infer that Surtur and his subjects, ministers of evil as they were, were only the instruments of the unknown power. In one account, they are said to be placed there to forbid the ascent of any hostile foot to the pure realms so far above them.

MIDGARD AND UTGARD.

The notion entertained of Midgard by the Scandinavians was, that it is round; that it is entirely encompassed by a vast sea; and that at the extremity of this sea begins Utgard, the abode of the giant race descended from Bergelmer and his wife. No better description of Utgard can be given than that which has been already given in the mysterious voyages of Gorm and Thorkill.[23] We will, however, have frequent occasion to revert to the same subject.

The notion in question was not different from that of the Greeks. In the time of Homer, the earth was regarded as horizontal and circular, with the Mediterranean in its centre; which by one or more channels communicated with the ocean-stream that flowed round the land. On the other side of that ocean-stream was the abode of the Cimmerians and also of the damned,—a region dark and dismal as that to which the two Danish navigators, Gorm and Thorkill, repaired. The heaven too was thought to be solid, supported by four great pillars, which answer to the four dwarfs of the Hindoos and Scandinavians. The latter had a bridge from earth to heaven,—the _bifrost_, or rainbow, which though slender, was strong as adamant; and in this they resembled the Magians, whose sacred books speak of a similar bridge, most dangerous to pass, between the earth and the mount of the good genii. The Magians, too, recognised a dark country to the north, inhabited by evil genii, whose assaults are continually dreaded by the deities of the stony firmament. But reverting to the Greeks, the description which Ælian gives of the earth, is still more kindred with that of the northern pagans. “Europe, Asia, and Lybia,” says he, “are only islands, being surrounded by a great sea; but encircling the world is a continent of vast magnitude. On it are to be found huge animals: the men are double the size of us; and they live twice as long. Some are martial, and always at war; others so inoffensive and pious, as to be honoured sometimes by the conversation of the gods. They have gold and silver in abundance; and they value gold less than we do iron. A thousand myriads of them once crossed the ocean, and came to the country of the Hyperboreans. Near the extremity of that country there is a place called Avostos, resembling a large gulf or bay, where it is neither perfectly light, nor perfectly dark, but where a strong lurid sky hangs down to the earth.” The Arabians had the same notion of the mysterious country to the north; and of the giant race which inhabited it,—a race which is one day to destroy the world.

ASGARD.

Asgard, the residence of the gods, deserves a more detailed description. This vast city, as it is called by the Edda, was built by Odin and his two brothers immediately after the death of Ymer. It was well fortified, to defend it against the Vanir below, and the fiery sons of Muspelheim above. In it were twelve palaces, for the twelve chief gods:—

1. Ydale, the abode of Uller

2. Alfheim, the abode Freyr
of

3. Valaskialf, the Vale (or
abode of Vile)

4. Soequabeck, the Saga
abode of

5. Gladsheim, the Odin
abode of

6. Thrymheim, the Skada
abode of

7. Breidablik, the Baldur
abode of

8. Himmelbierg, the Heimdal
abode of

9. Folkvangur, the Freya
abode of

10. Glitner, the abode Forsete
of

11. Noatun, the abode Niord
of

12. Landvide, the Vidar.
abode of

With Thrudheim, the house of Thor.

At the first glance every reader must perceive that by these twelve palaces are meant the twelve signs of the zodiac; and by Thrudheim the region of the sun. It could scarcely be expected, indeed, that the Scandinavians should be ignorant of a system which prevailed over the whole earth. Like the Egyptians and Assyrians, and Persians and Hindoos, they divided their year into twelve parts or months, and placed over each a god.

The best description of these abodes is in the Edda, in the poem of Grimnis-mâl. It is Odin himself, while between the two fires[24], that describes them to Geirrod and Agner. The mere enumeration of these palaces, and of the divine inhabitants, would be useless unaccompanied by astronomical explanations. To the critical antiquaries of the north, especially to Finn Magnussen, must be conceded the honour of having first penetrated the hidden mysteries of their mythology. From him chiefly we condense the following account.

THRUDHEIM.

Thrudheim, or Thrudvangur, the residence of Thor, the god of thunder, is the atmosphere between Asgard and the earth. The palace in which the god dwelt was called _Bilskirner_, which Ohlenschlager, the modern Danish poet, thus justly describes:—

In wide Thrudvangur’s land
(So ancient Scalds indite),
A palace vast doth stand,
Unmatched 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 glares in red.
From distant earth its walls
Some radiant meteor seem:
Far off the warrior halls
In purple splendour gleam.[25]

1. YDALE.

Uller’s month commenced the Scandinavian year with the entrance of the sun into Sagittarius, November 22., and ended December 21. Uller excelled as an _archer_, and he was unrivalled in the art of skating on the ice and snow: hence he was the god of hunting. He was the son of the goddess Sif, whose second husband was Thor; but the name of his father, the first husband, does not appear. Ydale, his residence, signifies the dewy valley.

2. ALFHEIM.

Freyr month commenced December 21., when the sun entered Capricorn. He was the son of Niord, one of the Vanir, and produced at the same birth with his sister Freya. He was the god of the sun,—doubtless because during this month the days began to lengthen, that is, the sun to return. In the same manner the Egyptians honoured their heroes; and from them, perhaps, the Romans styled the winter solstice “natalitia invicti solis.” Alfheim, the abode of the light elves, was given to him for a residence by the gods, when he cut his first tooth. “He is to be invoked,” says the Edda, “for peace and a good season: he is the dispenser of blessings to mankind.”

3. VALASKIALF.

Liosberi, the light-bringer, which extended from January 21. to February 19., began when the sun entered Valaskialf, the residence of Valè, and was sacred to that god. He was a son of Odin by Rinda (frost), a personification of the frozen barren earth. He presided over mid-winter. As the sun was now gaining power, his festival was celebrated by illumination in the houses. In imitation of that pagan ceremony, the Gothic christians had their Candlemas and the feast of torches. Valè too was an archer, probably from the rays of the sun, which now shot downwards with greater force. Valaskialf was said to be white, and covered with silver,—an allusion to the snowy character of the month. Valè (also called Bo[26]) slew Hoder the blind god, who had killed Baldur. This mythos signifies that the day is beginning to triumph over the night,—for Hoder is the symbol of darkness. Valentine’s day fell within the dominion of Valè,—when half the month was run. Was it derived from this pagan god?

4. SOEQUABECK.

The fourth month, sacred to Saga, commenced February 19. and ended March 19. Soequabeck signifies the deep brook; in allusion, no doubt, to the abundant rains which fall, and to the snows which are thawed, at this period, which, in some places, indeed, to this day retains the name of Fillbrook. Mythologically, Odin and Saga are said to drink deeply this month. Saga, the goddess of tradition and history, is here put for Urda, the norny of the past. The name, however, of the month, or house, is much more explicit than that of the goddess; for what has the deep brook in common with history? The key to the difficulty may, we think, be found in the fact, that at this period was held the great assembly of Upsal, when all the freemen who were able to attend hastened to the temple, and heard the pontiffs relate the past exploits of the gods; then at the Al-thing, which was held immediately after the sacrifices, listened to the explanation of the old laws, and to the promulgation of new ones, by the judges. Upsal was the place of meeting for the Swedes: the Danes and Norwegians had a different place, but at the same period of the year. On these occasions, the people took care that the name of the month, Soequabeck, should be appropriate; for, in imitation of Odin and Saga, they made the cup pass merrily round.

5. GLADSHEIM.

Gladsheim, the joyful house, the month sacred to Odin, carries its own signification with it. From the 20th of March to that of April, was indeed a joyful season.

6. THRYMHEIM.

The next month, when the sun was in Thrymheim (April 21. to May 20.), was called Harpa or Harpen, alluding probably to the music of the birds at this season. This sixth house, Thrymheim, had been the residence of the giant Thiasse, but is now of his daughter, Skada. On his death, by the hands of Thor, she was given to Niord, and thus became a goddess. This mythos may be easily explained. The ancient summer began with this month. Thiasse, the genius of winter, is slain by Thor, the thunder god,—for in the mountainous regions of the north the sound begins again to be heard. Skada represents the clear, penetrating wind of spring.

7. BREIDABLIK.

The ninth solar house (May 21. to June 23.), Breidablik,—the wide-shining, was named Baldur from the god who inhabited it. An unclouded sun, warm breezes, and sudden fertility, caused the god to be esteemed the most beautiful of all the deities; to be denominated the fair, the bright, the gentle, the good. The mythos of his death by the hands of Hoder[27], may be explained by the gradual yielding of the sun to the encroachments of night; for Hoder is represented as blind, and is employed as the symbol of darkness. The nights are beginning to lengthen, the sun to leave the northern hemisphere: Hoder, or darkness, is instigated by Loke, the personification of evil, to encroach on the light. In all the ancient systems, especially in the Magian, which has so many points of affinity with the Scandinavian, night is the characteristic of the evil, just as light is of the good principle; and the former is always at war with the latter. The tears of all nature for the fate of Baldur more strongly illustrate the truth of the physical interpretation. Even the mistletoe, the instrument of Baldur’s death, was not chosen without a meaning; it flourishes when the tree decays; it retains its verdure throughout the winter: hence it was the symbol of immortality, while the physical god was created mortal. When heroes or monarchs died, their bodies were burnt: the funeral fire was therefore a rite necessary to the honour of the dead; and all who loved him or were dependent on him, were present on this last solemn occasion. In the mythos, Odin and all the gods were present: their worshippers, corroborating the physical interpretation, honoured Baldur on mid-summer eve by lighting fires on the high mountain tops. When the Northmen, and we may add, Scotland and Ireland, received the Christian faith, they still continued the custom; but now they paid the honour, not to Baldur, but to St. John, whose festival happened at the same period.

8. HIMMELBIERG.

The eighth solar house, _Himmelbierg_, or the heavenly mountain, the abode of Heimdal, was so called because the sun was now at its height. Himmelbierg, being the highest of all the palaces, was well adapted for watching; hence Heimdal was the watchman of the gods; and from his elevated situation he looked out upon the whole universe. His golden teeth, his golden-maned horse, his appellation “the whitest and brightest of the Aser,” are but so many expressions for the unusual splendour of the sun at this season (June 23. to July 23). Another of his epithets, the _declining_, alluding to the declination of the sun in the heavens, is equally explanatory of the mythos. Heimdall, says the Edda, needs less sleep than a bird; an allusion to the extreme shortness of the nights in northern countries at the summer solstice. He can see as well, it adds, by night as by day,—meaning that, at this season, there is no such thing as darkness, properly so called. His hearing, too, is equally acute: not even the growth of the grass, or of wool on the sheep’s back, escaped him. This may denote the silence of all nature during the great heat, and especially during the night.

9. FOLKVANGUR.

The sun careered through Folkvangur, from July 23. to August 23. The word means a meeting of people in the field, alluding most evidently to the harvest labours during this season. Hence, Freya was considered the goddess of fertility, and, figuratively, of love. An extension of the same figure rendered her the goddess of the night,—of the moon,—of the planet Venus.

10. GLITNER.

Glitner, the tenth house (August 23. to September 23.), was ruled by the god Forsete, which means the _fore-sitter_, the president. Every year this deity held a _Thing_ at the will of Urda, the norny of the past; and there he decided all controversies so justly that every party was satisfied. Forsete, therefore, was the god of justice. On earth, too, in imitation of the mythical proceedings above, a great judicial assembly, or Al-thing, was held at this season. During its continuance, and indeed during the whole time of harvest, all feuds were suspended; hence the satisfaction of all with his authority.

11. NOATUN.

Noatun was the abode of Niord, and the eleventh great solar house (September 23. to October 23). Niord (of whom more hereafter) was a prince of the Vanir, but was admitted among the gods. He was lord of the winds, and consequently of the sea, which is governed by them. Noatun, his residence, was said to lie near the sea-shore, but higher in the clouds. He was the beneficent deity of the sea, while Ægir and Ram were the terrible deities of the same element. The meaning is, that though in this month the winds were high, they were not destructive to ships.

12. LANDVIDE.

Landvide, the twelfth solar house, means empty or barren land,—a term descriptive enough of the earth at this season. As this is the last of the months so Vidar, the presiding deity, is to outlive the rest of the gods, and to revenge the death of his father Odin on the wolf Fenris.

Such were the divine palaces of Asgard. But that great world had other parts, which require a moment’s notice. Three of them belonged to Odin:—Gladsheim was the great palace or hall where he presided over the twelve diar, or judges, who administered the affairs of Asgard. Valaskialf, the palace of his son Valè, was also his own. The highest part of this dwelling was called Lidskialf, where he had a throne, and which was so elevated that he could see all the dwellers upon earth. But more celebrated than these, or all his other abodes, was _Valhalla_.

Easily can they
Who come to Odin
Perceive and know Valhall.
The roof is decked with spears,
The walls covered with shields,
The benches with helmets.

This was the great hall in which Odin entertained the Einheriar, or souls of the warriors slain in battle. Like the palace of Thor, it had 540 gates. Daintily were they fed on the boar Schrimner, which though killed and eaten every day, was always alive again in the evening. Andrimner, the best cook in the world, prepared the meal. As for the mead, without which in profusion no northern feast would have been esteemed, abundance of it was furnished by the goat Heidrun. Never had guests a more liberal host. He treated them thus, that when the dreaded twilight of the gods arrived, they might assist him in repelling the giants and the spirits of fire. Nor would he allow them to forget their martial exercises. Early each morning they are awakened by the crowing of the cock with the golden comb,—that cock which is doomed also to warn the gods when the last enemy approaches. Hastily assuming their vizors, 800 of them issued at each of the 540 gates, so that the god had nearly half a million of boon companions. The whole of the time from sunrise to the hour of dinner was passed in fighting; and with such hearty good will, that multitudes were prostrated; but when the great hour arrived, all rose, perfectly well, to contend over the cups as strenuously as they had done in the field. They were served by the Valkyrs, viz., the choosers of the slain,—goddesses who were the favourite messengers of Odin, and the only females admitted into Valhalla.

The way in which a hero, who died in battle, or marked his bosom with runes to Odin, left Midgard for Valhalla, is poetically described. Thus shortly after his burial, king Hako, in his silent mound, first changed his posture from the supine to the sitting. He grasped his sword in his right hand; his shield with his left; while the celestial gold-hoofed courser, which had been sent to convey him, pawed the ground outside with manifest impatience. The mound opens; the monarch rises, mounts the noble horse, gallops up Vifrost, and passes through Gladsheim into Valhalla, where the gods came forward to meet him; while Braga, the deity of song, sounds the celestial harp with his praises.

We have seen the pursuits of the Einheriar by day,—fighting and drinking. Did they sleep? So we suppose. Sometimes, however, they mounted their horses, galloped down Vifrost, and entered their sepulchral mounds. Sometimes, too, they were present in battle; at other times they communed with their mortal friends.

The blood-thirsty character of the Northmen, which could not enjoy peace without cutting one another to pieces, has been justly exposed by historians. Still, however valour might be esteemed, we would not assert that it was the only virtue in the mind of the Scandinavians, or that heaven was closed to every other. There is, indeed, room to infer that this tenet was confined merely to a sect,—a caste,—the dominant one,—the immediate followers of Odin.

As we shall have frequently to speak of these celestial residences in the course of this chapter, we shall only add that Asgard had another palace called Vingolf, where the Asyniar, or goddesses, met, just as the gods met in Valhalla.

SWARTALFAHEIM

Was the abode of the Black Elves, (to distinguish them from the Light or shining Elves, who dwelt in Loisalsfaheim,) and also of the Dwarfs.

But there were elves who dwelt in the air, in water, amongst the trees. These could not be called underground people; and it is almost doubtful whether they can be classed among the Black Elves. As the term, however, has been adopted for the purpose we have indicated, viz., to distinguish the elves of earth from those of the highest heaven,—both those who dwell _on_, and those who dwell _below_, the earth’s surface—the well and the ill disposed—may here be considered.

“Our heathen forefathers,” says Thorlacius[28], “believed, like the Pythagoreans—and the farther back in antiquity the more firmly—that the whole world was filled with spirits of various kinds, to whom they ascribed in general the same nature and properties as the Greeks did to their Dæmons. These were divided into the celestial and the terrestrial, from their places of abode. The former were, according to the ideas of those times, of a good and elevated nature, and of a friendly disposition towards men, whence they also received the name of White or Light Alfs, or spirits. The latter, on the contrary, who were classified after their abodes in the air, sea, and earth, were not regarded in so favourable a light. It was believed that they, particularly the _land ones_, the _δαίμονες ἐπιχθόνιοι_ of the Greeks, constantly and on all occasions sought to torment or injure mankind, and that they had their dwelling partly on the earth in great and thick woods, whence came the name Skovtrolde[29] (Wood-Trolds); or in other desert and lonely places, partly in and under the ground, or in rocks and hills: these last were called Bjerg-Trolde (Hill Trolds); to the first, on account of their different nature, was given the name of Dverge (Dwarfs), and Alve, whence the word Ellefolk, which is still in the Danish language. These Dæmons, particularly the underground ones, were called Svartalfar, that is, Black Spirits, and inasmuch as they did mischief, Trolls.”

The prose Edda draws a broad distinction between the light and the black elves,—the former being whiter than the sun; the latter darker than pitch.

“Of the origin of the word Alf,” says Mr. Keightley, “nothing satisfactory is to be found. Some think it is akin to the Latin _albus_, white; others to _alpes_, Alps mountains. There is supposed to be some mysterious connection between it and the word Elf or Elv, signifying water in the northern languages; an analogy which has been thought to correspond with that between the Latin Nympha and Lympha. Both relations are perhaps rather fanciful than just. Of the derivation of Alf, as just observed, we know nothing certain[30]; and the original meaning of Nympha would appear to be, a new-married woman[31], and thence a marriageable young woman; and it was applied to the supposed inhabitants of the mountains, seas, and streams, on the same principle that the northern nations gave them the appellation of men and women, that is, from their imagined resemblance to the human form.

“Whatever its origin, the word Alf has continued till the present day in all the Teutonic languages. The Danes and Swedes have their Ellen or Elven Dan, and Elfvor Swed (Elvus), and the words Elf-dans and Elf-blæst, together with Olof and other proper names, are derived from it. The Germans call the nightmare _Alp_; and in their old poems we meet _Elben_ and _Elbinnen_, male and female elves, and _Elbisch_ frequently occurs in them in the bad sense of the “Elvish” of Chaucer and our old romancers, and a number of proper names, such as Alprecht, Alpine, Alpwin, &c., were formed from it; undoubtedly before it got its present ill sense. In the Anglo-Saxon Ælf, with its feminine and plural, frequently occurs. The Orcades, Naiades, and Hamodryades of the Greeks and Romans are rendered in an Anglo-Saxon Glossary by munt-ælfenne, fæ-ælfenne, and feld-ælfenne. Ælf is a component part of the proper names Ælfred and Ælfric; and the author of the poem of ‘Judith’ says that his heroine was Ælf-scīene (Elf-sheen), bright as an Elf. But of the character and acts of the Elfs no traditions have been preserved in Anglo-Saxon literature. In the English language, Elf, Elves, and their derivatives, are to be found in every period, from its first formation down to this present time.”[32]

The judicious and indefatigable writer whom we have followed in the preceding extract, and who has treated the subject with a minuteness and an accuracy unequalled in this country, continues:—

“The Alfar still live in the memory and traditions of the peasantry of Scandinavia. They also, to a certain extent, retain their distinction into white and black. The former, or the good elves, dwell in the air, dance on the grass, or sit in the leaves of trees; the latter, or evil elves, are regarded as an underground people, who frequently inflict sickness or injury on mankind; for which there is a particular kind of doctors, called Kloka, to be met in all parts of the country.

“The elves are believed to have their kings, to celebrate their weddings and banquets, just the same as the dwellers above ground. There is an interesting intermediate class of them in popular tradition, called the Hill-people (Högfolk), who are believed to dwell in caves and small hills: when they show themselves they have a handsome human form. The common people seem to connect with them a deep feeling of melancholy, as if bewailing a half-quenched hope of redemption.

“There are only a few old persons who now can tell any thing more about them than of the sweet singing that may occasionally on summer nights be heard out of their hills, when one stands still and listens, or, as it is expressed in the ballads, _lays his ear to the Elve-hill_ (lägger sitt öra till Elfvehögg): but no one must be so cruel as, by the slightest word, to destroy their hopes of salvation, for then the sprightly music will be turned into weeping and lamentation.

“The Norwegians called the Elves, Huldrafolk, and their music, Huldraslaat: it is in the minor key, and of a dull and mournful sound. The mountaineers sometimes play it, and pretend they have learned it by listening to the underground people among the hills and rocks. There is also a tune called the Elf-king’s tune, which several of the good fiddlers know right well, but never venture to play; for as soon as it begins, both old and young, and even inanimate objects, are impelled to dance, and the player cannot stop unless he can play the air backwards, or that some one comes behind him and cuts the strings of his fiddle.

“The little underground Elves, who are believed to dwell under the houses of mankind, are described as sportive and mischievous, and as imitating all the actions of men. They are said to love cleanliness about the house and place, and to reward such servants as are neat and cleanly.

“The Elves are extremely fond of dancing in the meadows, where they form those circles of a livelier green which from them are called Elfdans (Elfdance): when the country people see in the morning stripes along the dewy grass in the woods and meadows, they say the Elves have been dancing there. If any one should at midnight get within their circle, they become visible to him, and they may then illude him. It is not every one that can see the Elves; and one person may see them dancing, while another perceives nothing. Sunday children, as they are called, _i.e._, those born on Sunday, are remarkable for possessing this property of seeing Elves and similar beings. The Elves, however, have the power to bestow this gift on whomsoever they please. They also used to speak of Elf-books, which they gave to those whom they loved, and which enabled them to foretell future events.

“The Elves often sit in little stones that are of a circular form, and are called Elf-mills (Elf-quärnor); the sound of their voice is said to be sweet and soft, like the air.

“The Danish peasantry give the following account of their Ellefolk or Elve-people:

“The Elle-people live in the Elle-moors. The appearance of the man is that of an old man, with a low-crowned hat on his head: the Elle-woman is young, and of a fair and attractive countenance, but behind she is hollow like a dough-trough. Young men should be especially on their guard against her, for it is very difficult to resist her; and she has, moreover, a stringed instrument, which, when she plays on it, quite ravishes their hearts. The man may be often seen near the Elle-moors, bathing himself in the sunbeams; but if any one comes too near him, he opens his mouth wide and breathes upon them, and his breath produces sickness and pestilence. But the women are most frequently to be seen by moonshine; then they dance their rounds in the high grass so lightly and so gracefully, that they seldom meet a denial when they offer their hand to a rash young man. It is also necessary to watch cattle, that they may not graze in any place where the Elle-people have been; for if any animal come to a place where the Elle-people have spit, or done what is worse, it is attacked by some grievous disease, which can only be cured by giving it to eat a handful of St. John’s wort, which had been pulled at twelve o’clock on St. John’s night. It might also happen that they might sustain some injury by mixing with the Elle-people’s cattle, which are very large, and of a blue colour, and which may sometimes be seen in the fields licking up the dew on which they live. But the farmer has an easy remedy against this evil; for he has only to go to the Elle-hill when he is turning out his cattle, and to say, ‘Thou little Trold! may I graze my cows on thy hill?’ And if he is not prohibited, he may set his mind at rest.”[33]

Of the Scandinavian _Dwarfs_ much less is known by the general reader.

“These diminutive beings, dwelling in rocks and hills, and distinguished for their skill in metallurgy, seem to be peculiar to the Gothic mythology. Perhaps the most probable account of them is, that they are personifications of the subterraneous powers of nature; for it may be again observed, that all the parts of every ancient mythology are but personified powers, attributes, and moral qualities. The Edda thus describes their origin:—

“‘Then the gods sat on their seats, and held a council, and called to mind how the Duergar had become animated in the clay below in the earth, like maggots in flesh. The Duergar had been first created, and had taken life in Ymer’s flesh, and were maggots in it, and by the will of the gods they became partakers of human knowledge, and had the likeness of men, and yet they abode in the ground and in stones. Modsogner was the first of them, and then Dyrin.’

“The Duergar are described as being of low stature, with short legs and long arms, reaching almost down to the ground when they stand erect. They are skilful and expert workmen in gold, silver, iron, and other metals. They form many wonderful and extraordinary things for the Æser, and for mortal heroes, and the arms and armour that come from their forges are not to be paralleled. Yet the gift must be spontaneously bestowed, for misfortune attends those extorted from them by violence.”[34]

Two narratives of undoubted antiquity will illustrate the cunning of these subterraneous workmen. They are, however, somewhat out of place, since they would better suit the following section.

The first is from the Edda:—

“Loke, the son of Laufeiar, had out of mischief cut off all the hair of Sif. When Thor found this out, he seized Loke, and would have broken every bone in his body, only that he swore to get the Suartalfar to make for Sif hair of gold, which would grow like any other hair.

“Loke then went to the Dwarfs that are called the sons of Ivalldr. They first made the hair, which as soon as it was put on the head grew like natural hair; then the ship Skidbladnor[35], which always had the wind with it, wherever it would sail; and, thirdly, the spear Gugner, which always hit in battle.

“Then Loke laid his head against the Dwarf Brock, that his brother Eitri could not forge three such valuable things as these were. They went to the forge; Eitri set the swine-skin (bellows) to the fire, and bid his brother Brock to blow, and not to quit the fire till he should have taken out the things he had put into it.

“And when he was gone out of the forge, and that Brock was blowing, there came a fly and settled upon his hand, and bit him; but he blew without stopping till the smith took the work out of the fire; and it was a boar, and its bristles were of gold.

“He then put gold into the fire, and bid him not to stop blowing till he came back. He went away, and then the fly came and settled on his neck, and bit him more severely than before; but he blew on till the smith came back and took out of the fire the gold ring which is called Drupner.

“Then he put iron into the fire, and bid him blow, and said that if he stopped blowing all the work would be lost. The fly now settled between his eyes, and bit so hard that the blood ran into his eyes, so that he could not see; so when the bellows were down he caught at the fly in all haste, and tore off its wings; but then came the smith, and said that all that was in the fire had nearly been spoiled. He then took out of the fire the hammer Miölner, and gave all the things to his brother Brock, and bade him go with them to Asgard and settle the wager.