Chapter X: Front Matter (10)

_Durnir_, on the other hand, is a variation of _Durinn_ (cp. the parallel variations _Dvalnir_ and _Dvalinn_). Of _Durinn_ we already know (see No. 53) that he is one of the ancient beings of mythology who in time's morning, together with _Modsognir_-Mimer and in accordance with the resolve of the high-holy powers, created clans of artists. One of the artists created by Durin, and whose father he in this sense became, is, according to Völuspa (11), _Mjödvitnir_. Rask and Egilsson have for philological reasons assumed that _Midvitnir_ and _Mjödvitnir_ are variations of the same name, and designate the same person (_mjödr_, in the dative _midi_). It here appears that the facts confirm this assumption. _Durinn_ and _Mjödvitnir_, in Völuspa correspond to _Durnir_ and _Midvitnir_ in the strophes concerning _Sökkmimir_.

_Mjödvitnir_ means the mead-wolf, he who captured the mead celebrated in mythology. As Odin, having assumed the name of another, visits the abode of the descendants of Durner-Sokmimer, he accordingly visits that rocky home, where that giant dwells who has secured and possesses the mead desired by Odin.

Ynglingatal reports, as we have seen, that a certain _Svegdir_ was deceived, when he was outside of the door of the hall of the kinsmen of Durner-Sokmimer. He who deceived him was the doorkeeper of the hall. The door appeared to be already open, and the "giant-inhabited" hall "yawned" festively illuminated (_bjartr_) toward Svegder. If we may believe Ynglingatal's commentary on the strophe, the hall-ward had called to him and said that Odin was inside. The strophe represents Svegder as running after the hall-ward, that is to say, toward the door in the rock, eager to get in. What afterwards happened Ynglingatal does not state; but that Svegder did not gain the point he desired, but fell into some snare laid by the doorkeeper, follows from the expression that he was deceived by him, and that this caused his death follows from the fact that the purpose of the strophe is to tell how his life ended. Ynglingasaga says that he got into the rock, but never out of it. The rest that this saga has to say of Svegder--that he was on a journey to the old Asgard in "Tyrkland," to find "Odin the old," Gylfaginning's King Priam--has nothing to do with the mythology and with Ynglingatal, but is of course important in regard to the Euhemeristic hypothesis in regard to the descent of the Asas from Tyrkland (Troy), on which the author of Ynglingatal, like that of Gylfaginning, bases his work.

The variations _Svegdir_, _Svidgir_, and _Sveigdir_ are used interchangeably in regard to the same person (cp. Ynglingatal, 14, 15; Fornald., ii. 2; Fornm., i. 29; and Egilsson, 796, 801). _Svigdir_ seems to be the oldest of these forms. The words means the great drinker (Egilsson, 801). _Svigdir_ was one of the most popular heroes of mythology (see the treatise on the "Ivalde race"), and was already in heathen times regarded as a race-hero of the Swedes. In Ynglingatal (14) Svithiod is called _geiri Svigdis_, "Svigdir's domain." At the same time, _Svegdir_ is an epithet of Odin. But it should be borne in mind that several of the names by which Odin is designated belong to him only in a secondary and transferred sense, and he has assumed them on occasions when he did not want to be recognised, and wanted to represent some one else (cp. Grimnersm., 49) whose name he then assumed.

When Odin visits the abode of _Durinn-Sökkmimir_, where the precious mead is preserved, he calls himself, according to Grimnersmal, _Svidurr_, _Svidrir_. Now it is the case with this name as with _Svigdir_, that it was connected with Svithiod. Skaldskaparmal (65) says that _Svithiod var kallat af nafni Svidurs_, "Svithiod was named after the name of Svidur."

Hence (1) the name _Svidurr_, like _Svegdir-Svigdir_, belongs to Odin, but only in a secondary sense, as one assumed or borrowed from another person; (2) _Svidurr_, like _Svegdir-Svigdir_, was originally a mythic person, whom tradition connected as a race hero with Svithiod.

From all this it appears that the names, facts, and the chain of events connect partly the strophes of Grimnersmal and Ynglingatal with each other, and partly both of these with Havamál's account of Odin's adventure to secure the mead, and this connection furnishes indubitable evidence that they concern the same episode in the mythological epic.

In the mythic fragments handed down to our time are found other epithets, which like _Svigdir_, refer to some mythical person who played the part of a champion drinker, and was connected with the myth concerning mead and brewing. These epithets are _Ölvaldi_, _Ölmódr_, and _Sumbl finnakonungr_, _Sumblus phinnorum rex_ in Saxo. _Sumbl_, as a common noun, means ale, feast. In the "Finn-king" _Sumbl_ these ideas are personified, just as the soma-drink in the Veda songs is personified in King Soma. In my treatise on the Ivalde race, I shall revert to the person who had these epithets, in order to make his mythological position clear. Here I shall simply point out the following: Havamál (110) makes one of the rimthurses, Suttung's guests, say:

Baugeith Odinn
hygg ec at unnit hafi;
hvat scal hans trygdom trua?
Suttung svikinn
han let sumbli fra
oc grætta Gunnlaudo.

The strophe makes the one who says this blame Odin for breaking the oath he took on the ring, and thus showing himself unworthy of being trusted in the promises and oaths he might give in the future, whereupon it is stated that he left Suttung deceitfully robbed of _sumbl_ (_Sumbl_), and Gunlad in tears over a lost kinsman.

The expression that Suttung was deceitfully robbed of _sumbl_, to be intelligible, requires no other interpretation than the one which lies near at hand, that Suttung was treacherously deprived of the mead. But as the skald might have designated the drink lost by Suttung in a more definite manner than with the word _sumbl_, and as he still chose this word, which to his hearers, familiar with the mythology, must have called to mind the personal _Sumbl_ (_Ölvaldi Svigdir_), it is not only possible, but, as it seems to me, even probable, that he purposely chose an ambiguous word, and wanted thereby to refer at the same time to the deceitfully captured mead, and to the intended son-in-law deceitfully lost; and this seems to me to be corroborated by the juxtaposition of Suttung's and Gunlad's loss. The common noun _sumbl's_ double meaning as mead and "drink-feast" has also led M. B. Richert (page 14 in his treatise mentioned above) to assume that "the expression was purposely chosen in such a manner that the meaning should not be entirely limited and definite," and he adds: "A similar indefiniteness of statement, which may give rise to ambiguity and play of words, is frequently found in the old songs." Meanwhile, I do not include this probability in my evidence, and do not present it as the basis of any conclusions.

The name Suttung shows in its very form that it is a patronymic, and although we can furnish no linguistic evidence that the original form was _Surtungr_ and characterised its possessor as son of _Surtr_, still there are other facts which prove that such was actually the case. The very circumstance that the skaldic drink which came into Suttung's possession is paraphrased with the expression _sylgr Surts ættar_, "the drink of Surt's race" (Fornmanna, iii. 3), points that way and the question is settled completely by the half-strophe quoted in the Younger Edda (i. 242), and composed by Eyvind Skaldaspiller, where the skaldic potion is called--

hinn er Surts
or sökkdölum
farmagnudr
fljugandi bar.

("the drink, which Odin flying bore from Surt's deep dales").

When Odin had come safely out of Fjalar-Suttung's deep rocky halls, and, on eagle-pinions, was flying with the precious mead to Asgard, it was accordingly that deep, in which _Surtr_ dwells, which he left below him, and the giant race who had been drinking the mead before that time, while it was still in Suttung's possession, was Surt's race. From this it follows that "the ancient giant," whom Odin visited for the purpose of robbing his circle of kinsmen of the skaldic mead, is none other than that being so well known in the mythology, _Surtr_, and that _Surtr_ is identical with _Durinn_ (_Durnir_), and _Sökkmimir_.

This also explains the epithet _Sökkmimir_, "the Mimer of the deep." _Sökk-_ in _Sökk-Mimir_ refers to _Sökk_ in _Sökkdalir_, Surt's domain, and that Surt could be associated with Mimer is, from the standpoint of Old Norse poetics, perfectly justifiable from the fact that he appears in time's morning as a co-worker with Mimer, and operating with him as one of the forces of creation in the service of the oldest high-holy powers (see No. 53). Consequently Mimer and Sokmimer (_Surtr-Durinn_) created the clans of artists.

_Surtr_, _Durinn_, _Durnir_, _Sökkmimir_, are, therefore, synonyms, and designate the same person. He has a son who is designated by the synonyms _Suttungr_, _Fjalarr_, _Mjödvitnir_ (_Midvitnir_). Suttung has a son slain by Odin, when the latter robs him of the mead of inspiration, and a daughter, Gunlad. The giant maid, deceived and deplored by Odin, is consequently the daughter of Surt's son.

Light is thus shed on the myth concerning the giant who reappears in Ragnarok, and there wields the sword which fells Frey and hurls the flames which consume the world. It is found to be connected with the myth concerning the oldest events of mythology. In time's morning we find the fire-being Surt--the representative of subterranean fire--as a creative force by the side of Mimer, who is a friend of the gods, and whose kinsman he must be as a descendant of Ymer. Both work together in peace for similar purposes and under the direction of the gods (Völuspa, 9, 10). But then something occurs which interrupts the amicable relations. Mimer and Surt no longer work together. The fountain of creative force, the mead of wisdom and inspiration, is in the exclusive possession of Mimer, and he and Urd are together the ruling powers in the lower world. The fire-giant, the primeval artist, is then with his race relegated to the "deep dales," situated to the southward (Völuspa, 52), difficult of access, and dangerous for the gods to visit, and presumably conceived as located deeper down than the lower world governed by Mimer and Urd. That he tried to get possession of a part of "_Odrærir_" follows from the position he afterwards occupies in the myth concerning the mead. When daylight again falls on him from the mythic fragments extant, his son has captured and is in possession of a supply of mead, which must originally have come from Mimer's fountain, and been chiefly composed of its liquid, for it is skaldic mead, it too, and can also be designated as _Ódrærir_ (Havamál, 107), while the son is called "the mead-wolf," the one who has robbed and conceals the precious drink. Odin captures his mead by cunning, the grandson of the fire-giant is slain, the devoted love of the son's daughter is betrayed, and the husband selected for her is deceived and removed. All this, though done for purposes to benefit gods and men, demands and receives in the mythology its terrible retribution. It is a trait peculiar to the whole Teutonic mythology that evil deeds, with a good purpose, even when the object is attained, produce evil results, which develop and finally smother the fruits of the good purpose. Thus Surt has a reason for appearing in Ragnarok as the annihilator of the world of the Asas, when the latter is to make room for a realm of justice. The flames of revenge are hurled upon creation.

I have already above (No. 87), had occasion to speak of the choicest sword of mythology, the one which Volund smithied and Mimer captured, and which was fetched from the lower world by a hero whose name Saxo Latinised into Hotherus. In my treatise on "the Ivalde race" it shall be demonstrated who this Hotherus was in mythology, and that the sword was delivered by him to Frey. Lokasenna (42; cp. Gylfag., 37), informs us that the lovesick Frey gave the sword to the giant Gymer for his bride. After coming into the hands of the giants it is preserved and watched over until Ragnarok by _Eggther_ (an epithet meaning sword-watcher), who in the Ironwood is the shepherd of the monster herd of Loke's progeny, which in the last days shall harry the world and fight in Ragnarok (Völuspa, 39-41). When Ragnarok is at hand a giant comes to this sword-watcher in the guise of the red cock, the symbol of the destructive fire. This giant is Fjalar (Völuspa, 41), and that the purpose of his visit is to secure the sword follows from the fact that the best sword of mythology is shortly afterwards in the hands of his father Surt (Völuspa, 50) when the latter comes from the south with his band (the sons of Suttung, not of Muspel) to take part in the last conflict and destroy with fire that part of the world that can be destroyed. Frey is slain by the sword which was once his own.

In this manner the myth about the mead and that about the Volund sword are knit together.

Thor, too, ventured to visit Fjalar's abode. In regard to this visit we have a few words in strophe 26 of Harbardsljod. _Harbardr_ accuses Thor, no doubt unjustly, of having exhibited fear. Of this matter we have no reliable details in the records from heathendom, but a comparison of the above strophe of Harbardsljod with Gylfaginning shows that the account compiled in Gylfaginning from various mythic fragments concerning Thor's journey to Utgarda-Loke and his adventures there contains reminiscences of what the original myths have had to say about his experience on his expedition to Fjalar's. The fire-giant natures of Surt and of his son Fjalar gleam forth in the narrative: the ruler of Utgard can produce earthquakes, and Loge (the flame) is his servant. It is also doubtless correct, from a mythical standpoint, that he is represented as exceedingly skilful in "deluding," in giving things the appearance of something else than they really are (see No. 39). When Odin assumed the guise of Fjalar's son-in-law, he defeated Surt's race with their own weapons.

Eyvind Skaldaspiller states, as we have seen, that Surt's abode is in dales down in the deep. From an expression in Ynglingasaga's strophe we must draw the conclusion that its author, in harmony herewith, conceived the abyss where Surt's race dwelt as regions to which the light of day never comes. Sokmimer's doorkeeper, one of whose tasks it was to take notice of the wayfarers who approached, is a day-shy dwarf (_dagskjarr salvordudr_; in regard to dwarfs that shun the light of day, see Alvissmal). Darkness therefore broods over this region, but in the abode of the fire-giant it is light (the hall is _bjartr_).

I now return to the episodes in the mead-myth under discussion to recapitulate in brief the proofs and results. If we for a moment should assume that the main source, namely, the Havamál strophes, together with Eyvind's half strophe, were lost, and that the only remaining evidences were Grimnersmal (50) and Ynglingatal (15), together with the prose text in Ynglingasaga, then an analysis of these would lead to the following result:

(1) Grimnersmal (50) and Ynglingatal (15) should be compared with each other. The reasons for assuming them to be intrinsically connected are the following:

(_a_) Both contain the epithet _Sökkmimir_, which occurs nowhere else.

(_b_) Both describe a primeval giant, who is designated by this epithet as chief and lord of a giant race gathered around him.

(_c_) Both refer the events described to the same locality: the one tells what occurred in the halls of _Sökkmimir_; the other narrates an episode which occurred outside of the door of Sokmimer's giant abode.

(_d_) The one shows that Sokmimer is identical with _Durnir_ (Durin); the other mentions _Midvitnir_ as one of Sokmimer's subjects. _Midvitnir_ (_Mjódvitnir_), according to Völuspa, was created by _Durinn_.

(_e_) Both describe events occurring while Odin is inside at Sokmimer's.

(_f_) The one mentions _Svidurr_, the other _Svegdir_. Mythologically, the two names refer to each other.

(2) To the giant group which Odin visits in the abode of _Sökkmimir_ belongs the giant who captured the famous mead which Odin is anxious to secure. This appears from the epithet which the author of the Grimnersmal strophe chose in order to designate him in such a manner that he could be recognised, namely, _Midvitnir_, "the mead-wolf," an epithet which explains why the mead-thirsty Odin made his journey to this race hostile to the gods.

(3) That Odin did not venture, or did not think it desirable in connection with the purpose of his visit, to appear in his own name and in a guise easily recognised, is evident from the fact that he "disguised" himself, "acted the hypocrite" (_dulda_), in the presence of the giant, and appeared as another mythic person, _Svidurr_.

This mythic person has been handed down in the traditions as the one who gave the name to Svithiod, and as a race-hero of the Swedes. _Svíthiód var kallat af nafni Svidurs._

(4) While Odin, in the guise of this race-hero, plays his part in the mountain in the abode of Sokmimer, a person arrives at the entrance of the halls of this giant. This person, _Svegdir_ (_Svigdir_), is in the sagas called the race-hero of the Swedes, and after him they have called Svithiod _geiri Svigdis_. Odin, who acted _Svidurr's_ part, has also been called _Svigdir_, _Svegdir_.

_Svigdir_ is an epithet, and means "the champion drinker" (Anglo-Saxon _swig_: to drink deep draughts). "The champion drinker" is accordingly on his way to the "Mead-wolf," while Odin is in his abode. All goes to show that the event belongs to the domain of the mead-myth.

Accordingly, the situation is this: A pretended race-hero and namer of Svithiod is in the abode of Sokmimer, while a person who, from a mythological standpoint, is the real race-hero and namer of Svithiod is on his way to Sokmimer's abode and about to enter. The myth could not have conceived the matter in this way, unless the pretended race-hero was believed to act the part of the real one. The arrival of the real one makes Odin's position, which was already full of peril, still more dangerous, and threatens him with discovery and its consequences.

(5) If Odin appeared in the part of a "champion drinker," he was compelled to drink much in Sokmimer's halls in order to maintain his part, and this, too, must have added to the danger of his position.

(6) Still the prudent Asa-father seems to have observed some degree of caution, in order that his plans might not be frustrated by the real _Svigdir_. That which happens gives the strongest support to this supposition, which in itself is very probable. Sokmimer's doorkeeper keeps watch in the darkness outside. When he discovers the approach of _Svigdir_, he goes to meet him and informs him that Odin is inside. Consequently the doorkeeper knows that _Svidurr_ is Odin, who is unknown to all those within excepting to Odin himself. This and what follows seems to show positively that the wise Odin and the cunning dwarf act upon a settled plan. It may be delusion or reality, but _Svigdir_ sees the mountain door open to the illuminated giant-hall, and the information that Odin is within (the dwarf may or may not have added that Odin pretends to be _Svigdir_) causes him, the "proud one," "of noble race," the kinsman of _Dulsi_ (epithet of Mundilfore, see No. 83), to rush with all his might after the dwarf against the real or apparent door, and the result is that the dwarf succeeded in "deceiving" him (he _velti_ Svegder), so that he never more was seen.

This is what we learn from the strophes in Grimnersmal and Ynglingatal, with the prose text of the latter. If we now compare this with what Havamál and Eyvind relates, we get the following parallels:

_Havamál and Eyvind._ _The strophes about Sökkmimir._

Odin visits inn aldna iotum Odin visits inn aldna iotun
(Surtr and his race). (Sökkmimir and his race).

Odin's purpose is to deceive Odin's purpose is to deceive
the old giant. In his abode is the old giant. In his abode is
found a kinsman, who is in found a kinsman who is in
possession of the skaldic possession of the skaldic
mead (Suttung-Fjalar). mead (Midvitnir).

Odin appears in the guise Odin appears as Svidurr-Svigdir.
of Gunlad's wooer, who, if he Svigdir means the
is named, is called Sumbl champion drinker.
(sumbl = a drink, a feast).

Odin became drunk. Odin must have drunk
much, since he appears among
the giants as one acting the
part of a "champion drinker."

A catastrophe occurs causing A catastrophe occurs causing
Gunnlöd to bewail the Odin to slay Midvitnir's
death of a kinsman. son.

To this is finally to be added that Eyvind's statement, that the event occurred in Surt's _Sökkdalir_, helps to throw light on Surt's epithet _Sökkmimir_, and particularly that Ynglingatal's account of the arrival and fate of the real Svegder fills a gap in Havamál's narrative, and shows how Odin, appearing in the guise of another person who was expected, could do so without fear of being surprised by the latter.

NOTE.--The account in the Younger Edda about Odin's visit to Suttung seems to be based on some satire produced long after the introduction of Christianity. With a free use of the confused mythic traditions then extant, and without paying any heed to Havamál's statement, this satire was produced to show in a semi-allegorical way how good and bad poetry originated. The author of this satire either did not know or did not care about the fact that Havamál identifies Suttung and Fjalar. To him they are different persons, of whom the one receives the skaldic mead as a ransom from the other. While in Havamál the rimthurses give Odin the name _Bölverkr_, "the evil-doer," and this very properly from their standpoint, the Younger Edda makes Odin give himself this name when he is to appear _incognito_, though such a name was not calculated to inspire confidence. While in Havamál Odin, in the guise of another, enters Suttung's halls, is conducted to a golden high-seat, and takes a lively part in the banquet and in the conversation, the Younger Edda makes him steal into the mountain through a small gimlet-hole and get down into Gunlad's chamber in this manner, where he remains the whole time without seeing anyone else of the people living there, and where, with Gunlad's consent, he empties to the bottom the giant's three mead-vessels, _Ódrærir_, _Bodn_, and _Són_. These three names belong, as we have seen, in the real mythology to the three subterranean fountains which nourish the roots of the world-tree. Havamál contents itself with using a poetic-rhetorical phrase and calling the skaldic mead, captured by Odin, _Ódrærir_, "the giver of inspiration," "the inspiring nectar." The author of the satire avails himself of this reason for using the names of the two other fountains _Bodn_ and _Són_, and for applying them to two other "vessels and kettles" in which Suttung is said to have kept the mead. That he called one of the vessels a kettle is explained by the fact that the third lower world fountain is _Hvergelmir_, "the roaring kettle." In order that Odin and Gunlad may be able to discuss and resolve in perfect secrecy in regard to the mead, Odin must come secretly down into the mountain, hence the satire makes him use the bored hole to get _in_. From the whole description in Havamál, it appears, on the contrary, that Odin entered the giant's hall in the usual manner through the door, while he avails himself of the tunnel made by Rate to get _out_. Havamál first states that Odin seeks the giant, and then tells how he enters into conversation and develops his eloquence in Suttung's halls, and how, while he sits in the golden high-seat (probably opposite the host, as Richter has assumed), Gunlad hands him the precious mead. Then is mentioned for the first time the way made for him by Rate, and this on the one hand in connection with the "evil compensation" Gunlad received from him, she the loving and devoted woman whom he had embraced, and on the other hand in connection with the fact that his flight from the mountain was successful, so that he could take the mead with him though his life was in danger, and there were giants' ways both above and below that secret path by which he escaped. That Odin took the oath of faithfulness on the holy ring, that there was a regular wedding feast with the questions on the next morning in regard to the well-being of the newly-married couple--all this the satire does not mention, nor does its premises permit it to do so.

90.

THE MEAD-MYTH (_continued_). THE MOON AND THE MEAD. PROOFS THAT
NANNA'S FATHER IS THE WARD OF THE ATMOSPHERE AND GOD OF THE
MOON.

Before the skaldic mead came into the possession of Suttung-Fjalar, it had passed through various adventures. In one of these enters _Máni_, the god of the moon, who by the names _Nökkvi_ (variation _Nökkver_), _Nefr_ (variation _Nepr_), and _Gevarr_ (_Gævarr_) occupies a very conspicuous position in our mythology, not least in the capacity of Nanna's father.

I shall here present the proofs which lie near at hand, and can be furnished without entering into too elaborate investigations, that the moon-god and Nanna's father are identical, and this will give me an opportunity of referring to that episode of the mead-myth, in which he appears as one of the actors.

The identity of _Nökkvi_, _Nefr_, and _Gevarr_ appears from the following passages:

(1) Hyndluljod, 20: "Nanna was, in the next place, _Nökkvi's_ daughter" (_Nanna var næst thar Nauckua dottir_).

(2) Gylfaginning, 32: "The son of Balder and of Nanna, daughter of Nef, was called Forsete" (_Forseti heiter sonr Baldrs ok Nönnu Nefsdóttur_). Gylfaginning, 49: "His (Balder's) wife Nanna, daughter of Nef" (_Kona hans Nanna Nefsdóttir_).

(3) Saxo, _Hist., Dan._, iii.: "_Gevarr's_ daughter Nanna" (_Gevari filia Nanna_). That Saxo means the mythological Nanna follows from the fact that Balder appears in the story as her wooer. That the Norse form of the name, which Saxo Latinised into Gevarus, was _Gevarr_, not _Gefr_, as a prominent linguist has assumed, follows from the rules adopted by Saxo in Latinising Norse names.

NOTE.--Names of the class to which _Gefr_ would belong, providing such a name existed, would be Latinised in the following manner:

(_a_) _Askr_ Ascerus, _Baldr_ Balderus, _Geldr_ Gelderus, _Glaumr_ Glomerus, _Hödr_, _Hadr_, _Odr_, Hötherus, Hatherus, Hotherus, _Svipdagr_ Svipdagerus, _Ullr_ Ollerus, _Yggr_ Uggerus, _Vigr_ Vigerus.

(_b_) _Ásmundr_ Asmundus, _Amundr_ Amundus, _Arngrimr_ Arngrimus, _Bildr_ Bildus, _Knútr_ Canutus, _Fridleifr_ Fridlevus, _Gautrekr_ Gotricus, _Gódmundr_ Guthmundus, _Haddingr_ Hadingus, _Haraldr_ Haraldus.

Names ending in _-arr_ are Latinised in the following manner:

(_a_) _Borgarr_ Borcarus, _Einarr_ Enarus, _Gunnarr_ Gunnarus, _Hjörvarr_ Hjartvarus, _Ingimarr_ Ingimarus, _Ingvarr_ Ingvarus, _Ísmarr_ Ismarus, _Ívarr_ Ivarus, _Óttarr_ Otharus, _Rostarr_ Rostarus, _Sigarr_ Sigarus, _Sivarr_ Sivarus, _Valdimarr_ Valdemarus.

(_b_) _Agnarr_ Agnerus, _Ragnarr_ Regnerus.

With the ending _-arus_ occurs also in a single instance a Norse name in _-i_, namely, _Eylimi_ Olimarus. Herewith we might perhaps include Liotarus, the Norse form of which Saxo may have had in _Ljóti_ from _Ljótr_. Otherwise _Ljótr_ is a single exception from the rules followed by Saxo, and methodology forbids our building anything on a single exception, which moreover is uncertain.

Some monosyllabic names ending in _-r_ are sometimes unlatinised, as Alf, Ulf, Sten, Ring, Rolf, and sometimes Latinised with _-o_, as Alvo, Ulvo, Steno, Ringo, Rolvo, _Álfr_ is also found Latinised as Alverus.

From the above lists of names it follows that Saxo's rules for Latinising Norse names ending with the nominative _-r_ after a consonant were these:

(1) Monosyllabic names (seldom a dissyllabic one, as _Svipdagr_) are Latinised with the ending _-erus_ or the ending _-o_.

(2) Names of two or more syllables which do not end in _-arr_ (rarely a name of one syllable, as _Bildr_) are Latinised with the ending _-us_.

(3) Names ending in _-arr_ are Latinised with _-arus_; in a few cases (and then on account of the Danish pronunciation) with _-erus_.

From the above rules it follows (1) that _Gefr_, if such a name existed, would have been Latinised by Saxo either into _Geverus_, _Geferus_, or into _Gevo_, _Gefo_; (2) that _Gevarr_ is the regular Norse for _Gevarus_.

The only possible meaning of the name _Gevarr_, considered as a common noun is "the ward of the atmosphere" from _ge_ (_gæ_; see Younger Edda, ii. 486, and Egilsson, 227) and _-varr_. I cite this definition not for the purpose of drawing any conclusions therefrom, but simply because it agrees with the result reached in another way.

The other name of Nanna's father is, as we have seen, _Nökkvi_, _Nökkver_. This word means the ship-owner, ship-captain. If we compare these two names, _Gevarr_ and _Nökkver_, with each other, then it follows from the comparison that Nanna's father was a mythic person who operated in the atmosphere or had some connection with certain phenomena in the air, and particularly in connection with a phenomenon there of such a kind that the mythic fancy could imagine a ship. The result of the comparison should be examined in connection with a strophe by Thorbjorn Hornklofve, which I shall now consider.

Thorbjorn was the court-skald of Harald Fairfax, and he described many of the king's deeds and adventures. Harald had at one time caused to be built for himself and his body-guard a large and stately ship, with a beautiful figure-head in the form of a serpent. On board this ship he was overtaken by a severe gale, which Hornklofve (Harald Harfager's saga, ch. 9) describes in the following words:

Ut á mar mætir
mannskædr lagar tanna
ræsinadr til rausnar
rak vebrautar Nökkva.

In prose order: _Lagar tanna mannskædr mætir út á mar rak rausnar ræsinadr til Nökkva vebrautar_ ("The assailants of the skerry (the teeth of the sea), dangerous to man, flung out upon the sea the splendid serpent of the vessel's stem to the holy path of Nokve").

All interpreters agree that by "the skerry's assailants, dangerous to man," is meant the waves which are produced by the storm and rush against the skerries in breakers dangerous to seamen. It is also evident that Hornklofve wanted to depict the violence of the sea when he says that the billows which rise to assail the skerry tosses the ship, so that the figure-head of the stem reaches "the holy path of Nokve." Poems of different literatures resemble each other in their descriptions of a storm raging at sea. They make the billows rise to "the clouds," to "the stars," or to "the moon." _Quanti montes volvuntur aquarum! Jam, jam tacturos sidera summa putes_, Ovid sings (_Trist._, i. 18, 19); and Virgil has it: _Procella fluctus ad sidera tollit_ (_Æn._, i. 107). One of their brother skalds in the North, quoted in Skaldskaparmal (ch. 61), depicts a storm with the following words:

Hraud i himin upp glódum
hafs, gekk sær af afli,
bör hygg ek at sky skordi,
skaut Ránar vegr mána.

The skald makes the phosphorescence of the sea splash against heaven; he makes the ship split the clouds, and the way of Ran, the giantess of the sea, cut the path of the moon.

The question now is, whether Hornklofve by "Nokve's holy path" did not mean the path of the moon in space, and whether it is not to this path the figure-head of the ship seems to pitch when it is lifted on high by the towering billows. It is certain that this holy way toward which the heaven-high billows lift the ship is situated in the atmosphere above the sea, and that Nokve has been conceived as travelling this way in a ship, since Nokve means the ship-captain. From this it follows that Nokve's craft must have been a phenomenon in space resembling a ship which was supposed to have its course marked out there. We must therefore choose between the sun, the moon, and the stars; and as it is the moon which, when it is not full, has the form of a ship sailing in space, it is more probable that by Nokve's ship is meant the moon than that any other celestial body is referred to.

This probability becomes a certainty by the following proofs. In Sonatorrek (str. 2, 3) Egil Skallagrimson sings that when heavy sorrow oppresses him (who has lost his favourite son) then the song does not easily well forth from his breast:

Thagna fundr
thriggia nidja
ár borinn
or Jötunheimum,
lastalauss
er lifnadi
á Nökkvers
nökkva Bragi.

The skaldic song is here compared with a fountain which does not easily gush forth from a sorrowful heart, and the liquid of the fountain is compared with the "Thrigge's kinsmen's find, the one kept secret, which in times past was carried from Jotunheim into Nokve's ship, where Brage, unharmed, refreshed himself (secured the vigour of life)."

It is plain that Egil here refers to a mythic event that formed an episode in the myth concerning the skaldic mead. Somewhere in Jotunheim a fountain containing the same precious liquid as that in Mimer's well has burst forth. The vein of the fountain was discovered by kinsmen of Thrigge, but the precious find eagerly desired by all powers is kept secret, presumably in order that they who made the discovery might enjoy it undivided and in safety. But something happens which causes the treasure which the fountain gave its discoverers to be carried from Jotunheim to Nokve's ship, and there the drink is accessible to the gods. It is especially mentioned that Brage, the god of poetry, is there permitted to partake of it and thus refresh his powers.

Thus the ship of Nanna's father here reappears, and we learn that on its holy way in space in bygone times it bore a supply of skaldic mead, of which Brage in the days of his innocence drank the strength of life.

With this we must compare a mythic fragment preserved in Gylfaginning (ch. 11). There a fountain called _Byrgir_ is mentioned. Two children, a lass by name _Bil_ and a lad by name _Hjuki_, whose father was named _Vidfinnr_, had come with a pail to this fountain to fetch water. The allegory in which the tradition is incorporated calls the pail _Sægr_, "the one seething over its brinks," and calls the pole on which the pail is carried _Simul_ (according to one manuscript _Sumul_; cp. _Suml_, brewing ale, mead). Bil, one of the two children is put in connection with the drink of poetry. The skalds pray that she may be gracious to them. _Ef unna itr vildi Bil Skáldi_, "if the noble Bil will favour the skald," is a wish expressed in a strophe in the Younger Edda, ii. 363. _Byrgir_ is manifestly a fountain of the same kind as the one referred to by Egil and containing the skaldic mead. _Byrgir's_ fountain must have been kept secret, it must have been a "concealed find," for it is in the night, while the moon is up, that Vidfin's children are engaged in filling their pail from it. This is evident from the fact that _Máni_ sees the children. When they have filled the pail, they are about to depart, presumably to their home, and to their father Vidfin. But they do not get home. While they carry the pail with the pole on their shoulders _Máni_ takes them unto himself, and they remain with him, together with their precious burden. From other mythic traditions which I shall consider later (see the treatise on the Ivalde race), we learn that the moon-god adopts them as his children, and _Bil_ afterwards appears as an asynje (Younger Edda, i. 118, 556).

If we now compare Egil's statement with the mythic fragment about Bil and Hjuke, we find in both a fountain mentioned which contains the liquid of inspiration found in Mimer's fountain, without being Mimer's well-guarded or unapproachable "well." In Egil the find is "kept secret." In Gylfaginning the children visit it in the night. Egil says the liquid was _carried_ from Jotunheim; Gylfaginning says that Bil and Hjuke _carried_ it in a pail. Egil makes the liquid transferred from Jotunheim to Nokve's ship; Gylfaginning makes the liquid and its bearers be taken aloft by the moon-god to the moon, where we still, says Gylfaginning, can see Bil and Hjuke (in the moon-spots).

There can therefore be no doubt that Nokve's ship is the silvery craft of the moon, sailing in space over sea and land on a course marked out for it, and that Nokve is the moon-god. As in Rigveda, so in the Teutonic mythology, the ship of the moon was for a time the place where the liquid of inspiration, the life- and strength-giving mead, was concealed. The myth has ancient Aryan roots.

On the myth concerning the mead-carrying ship, to which the Asas come to drink, rests the paraphrase for _composing_, for _making a song_, which Einar Skalaglam once used (Skaldskaparmal, 1). To make songs he calls "to dip liquid out of Her-Tyr's wind-ship" (_ausa Hértys víngnodar austr_; see further No. 121, about Odin's visit in Nokve's ship).

The name _Nefr_ (variation _Nepr_), the third name of Nanna's father mentioned above, occurs nowhere in the Norse sources excepting in the Younger Edda. It is, however, undoubtedly correct that Nokve-Gevar was also called Nef.

Among all the Teutonic myths there is scarcely one other with which so many heroic songs composed in heathen times have been connected as with the myth concerning the moon-god and his descendants. As shall be shown further on, the Niflungs are descendants of Nef's adopted son Hjuke, and they are originally named after their adopted race-progenitor _Nefr_. A more correct and an older form is perhaps _Hnefr_ and _Hniflungar_, and the latter form is also found in the Icelandic literature. In Old English the moon-god appears changed into a prehistoric king, _Hnäf_, also called _Hoce_ (see Beowulf, 2142, and Gleeman's Tale). Hoce is the same name as the Norse _Hjuki_. Thus while _Hnäf_ and _Hoce_ are identical in the Old English poem "Beowulf," we find in the Norse source that the lad taken aloft by Mane is called by one of the names of his foster-father. In the Norse account the moon-god (_Nefr_) captures, as we have seen, the children of one _Vidfinnr_, and at the same time he robs _Vidfinnr_ of the priceless mead of inspiration found in the fountain _Byrgir_. In the Old English saga _Hnäf_ has a son-in-law and vassal, whose name is _Finn_ (_Fin Folcvalding_), who becomes his bitterest foe, contends with him, is conquered and pardoned, but attacks him again, and, in company with one _Gudere_ (_Gunnr_), burns him. According to Saxo, Nanna's father _Gevarr_ has the same fate. He is attacked by a vassal and burnt. The vassal is called Gunno (_Gunnr_, _Gudere_). Thus we have in the Old English tradition the names _Hnäf_, _Hoce_, _Fin_, and _Gudere_; and in the Norse tradition the corresponding names _Nefr_, _Hjuki_, _Vidfinnr_, and _Gunnr_ (_Gunnarr_). The relation of the moon-god (_Nefr_) to _Vidfinnr_ is the mythological basis of _Fin's_ enmity to _Hnäf_. The burning is common to both the Old English and the Norse sources. Later in this work I shall consider these circumstances more minutely. What I have stated is sufficient to show that the Old English tradition is in this point connected with the Norse in a manner, which confirms _Nefr-Gevarr's_ identity with _Máni_, who takes aloft _Hjuki_ and robs _Vidfinnr_ of the skaldic mead.

The tradition of _Gevarr-Nefr's_ identity with _Máni_ reappears in Iceland once more as late as in Hromund Greipson's saga. There a person called _Máni Karl_ shows where the hero of the saga is to find the sword _Mistelteinn_. In Saxo, Nanna's father _Gevarr_ shows the beforementioned Hotherus where he is to find the weapon which is to slay Balder. Thus _Máni_ in Hromund's saga assumes the same position as _Gevarr_, Nanna's father, occupies in Saxo's narrative.

All these circumstances form together a positive proof of the moon-god's identity with Nanna's father. Further on, when the investigation has progressed to the proper point, we shall give reasons for assuming that _Vidfinnr_ of the Edda, the _Fin_ of the English heroic poem, is the same person whom we have heretofore mentioned by the name _Sumbl Finnakonungr_ and _Svigdir_, and that the myth concerning the taking of the mead aloft to the moon accordingly has an epic connection with the myth concerning Odin's visit to the giant Fjalar, and concerning the fate which then befell Nokve's slayer.

91.

THE MYTH CONCERNING THE MOON-GOD (_continued_).

The moon-god, like Nat, Dag, and Sol, is by birth and abode a lower-world divinity. As such, he too had his importance in the Teutonic eschatology. The god who on his journeys on "Nokve's holy way" serves _auldom at ártali_ (Vafthrudnersmal, 23) by measuring out to men time in phases of the moon, in months, and in years has, in the mythology also, received a certain influence in inflicting suffering and punishment on sinners. He is lord of the _heiptir_, the Teutonic Erinnyes (see No. 75), and keeps those _limar_ (bundles of thorns) with which the former are armed, and in this capacity he has borne the epithet _Eylimi_, which reappears in the heroic songs in a manner which removes all doubt that Nanna's father was originally meant. (See in Saxo and in Helge Hjorvardson's saga. To the latter I shall return in the second part of this work, and I shall there present evidence that the saga is based on episodes taken from the Balder myth, and that Helge Hjorvardson is himself an imitation of Balder). In this capacity of lord of the _Heiptir_ the moon-god is the power to whom prayers are to be addressed by those who desire to be spared from those sufferings which the _Heiptir_ represent (_Heithtom scal mána qvedja_--Havamál, 137). His quality as the one who keeps the thorn-rods of the _heiptir_ still survives in a great part of the Teutonic world in the scattered traditions about "the man in the moon," who carries bundles of thorns on his back (J. Grimm, _Myth._, 680; see No. 123).

92.

THE MOON-DIS NANNA. THE MERSEBURG FORMULA. BALDER'S NAME FALR.

Thus Nanna is the daughter of the ruler of the moon, of "the ward of the atmosphere." This alone indicates that she herself was mythologically connected with the phenomena which pertain to her father's domain of activity, and in all probability was a moon-dis (goddess). This assumption is fully confirmed by a contribution to Teutonic mythology rescued in Germany, the so-called Merseburg formula, which begins as follows:

Phol ende Uodan Falr and Odin
vuoron zi holza went to the wood,
dû vart demo Balderes then was the foot sprained
volon sin vous birenkit on Balder's foal.
thû biguolon Sinhtgunt. Then sang over him Sinhtgunt,
Sunna era svister, Sunna her sister,
thû biguolen Friia, then sang over him Frigg,
Volla era svister Fulla her sister;
thû biguolen Uodan then sang over him Odin
sô hê wola conda. as best he could.

Of the names occurring in this strophe Uodan-Odin, Balder, Sunna (synonym of Sol--Alvissm., 17; Younger Edda, i. 472, 593), Friia-Frigg, and Volla-Fulla are well known in the Icelandic mythic records. Only Phol and Sinhtgunt are strangers to our mythologists, though Phol-_Falr_ surely ought not to be so.

In regard to the German form Phol, we find that it has by its side the form Fal in German names of places connected with fountains. Jacob Grimm has pointed out a "Pholes" fountain in Thuringia, a "Fals" fountain in the Frankish Steigerwald, and in this connection a "Balder" well in Rheinphaltz. In the Danish popular traditions Balder's horse had the ability to produce fountains by tramping on the ground, and Balder's fountain in Seeland is said to have originated in this manner (cp. P. E. Müller on Saxo, _Hist._, 120). In Saxo, too, Balder gives rise to wells (_Victor Balderus, ut afflictum siti militem opportuni liquoris beneficio recrearet, novos humi latices terram altius rimatus operuit_--p. 120).

This very circumstance seems to indicate that Phol, Fal, was a common epithet or surname of Balder in Germany, and it must be admitted that this meaning must have appeared to the German mythologists to be confirmed by the Merseburg formula; for in this way alone could it be explained in a simple and natural manner, that Balder is not named in the first line as Odin's companion, although he actually attends Odin, and although the misfortune that befalls "Balder's foal" is the chief subject of the narrative, while Phol on the other hand is not mentioned again in the whole formula, although he is named in the first line as Odin's companion.

This simple and incontrovertible conclusion, that Phol and Balder in the Merseburg formula are identical is put beyond all doubt by a more thorough examination of the Norse records. In these it is demonstrated that the name _Falr_ was also known in the North as an epithet of Balder.

The first books of Saxo are based exclusively on the myths concerning gods and heroes. There is not a single person, not a single name, which Saxo did not borrow from the mythic traditions. Among them is also a certain _Fjallerus_, who is mentioned in bk. i. 160. In the question in regard to the Norse form which was Latinised into _Fjallerus_, we must remember that Saxo writes _Hjallus_ (_Hist._, pp. 371, 672) for _Hjali_ (cp. p. 370), and alternately _Colo_, _Collo_, and _Collerus_ (_Hist._, pp. 56, 136, 181), and that he uses the broken form _Bjarbi_ for _Barri_ (_Hist._, p. 250). In accordance with this the Latin form _Fjallerus_ must correspond to the Norse _Falr_, and there is, in fact, in the whole Old Norse literature, not a single name to be found corresponding to this excepting Falr, for the name _Fjalarr_, the only other one to be thought of in this connection should, according to the rules followed by Saxo, be Latinised into _Fjallarus_ or _Fjalarus_, but not into _Fjallerus_.

Of this _Fjallerus_ Saxo relates that he was banished by an enemy, and the report says that _Fjallerus_ betook himself to the place which is unknown to our populations, and which is called _Odáins-akr_ (_quem ad locum, cui Undensakre nomen est, nostris ignotum populis concessisse est fama_--p. 160.)

The mythology mentions only a single person who by an enemy was transferred to _Odáinsakr_, and that is Balder. (Of _Odáinsakr_ and Balder's abode there, see Nos. 44-53).

The enemy who transfers _Falr_ to the realm of immortality is, according to Saxo, a son of _Horvendillus_, that is to say, a son of the mythological _Örvandill_, Groa's husband and Svipdag's father (see Nos. 108, 109). Svipdag has already once before been mistaken by Saxo for _Hotherus_ (see No. 101). _Hotherus_ is, again, the Latin form for _Hödr_. Hence it is Balder's banishment by _Hödr_ to the subterranean realms of immortality of which we here read in Saxo where the latter speaks of Fal's banishment to _Odáinsakr_ by a son of Orvandel.

When Balder dies by a _flaug_ hurled by _Hödr_ he stands in the midst of a rain of javelins. He is the centre of a _mannhringr_, where all throw or shoot at him: _sumir skjóta á hann, sumir höggva til, sumir berja grjóti_ (Gylfaginning). In this lies the mythical explanation of the paraphrase _Fal's rain_, which occurs in the last strophe of a poem attributed to the skald Gisle Surson. In Gisle's saga we read that he was banished on account of manslaughter, but by the aid of his faithful wife he was able for thirteen years to endure a life of persecutions and conflicts, until he finally was surprised and fell by the weapons of his foes. Surrounded by his assailants, he is said to have sung the strophe in question, in which he says that "the beloved, beautiful, brave Fulla of his hall," that is to say, his wife, "is to enquire for him, her friend," for whose sake "Fal's rain" now "falls thick and fast," while "keen edges bite him." In a foregoing strophe Gisle has been compared with a "Balder of the shield," and this shield-Balder now, as in the Balder of the myth, is the focus of javelins and swords, while he like Balder, has a beautiful and faithful wife, who, like Nanna, is to take his death to heart. If the name Nanna, as has been assumed by Vigfusson and others, is connected with the verb _nenna_, and means "the brave one," then _rekkilát_ Fulla, "the brave Fulla of Gisle's hall," is an all the more appropriate reference to Nanna, since Fulla and she are intimately connected in the mythology, and are described as the warmest of friends (Gylfaginning). Briefly stated: in the poem Gisle is compared with Balder, his wife with Nanna, his death with Balder's death, and the rain of weapons by which he falls with _Fal's rain_.

In a strophe composed by _Refr_ (Younger Edda, i. 240) the skald offers thanks to Odin, the giver of the skaldic art. The Asa-father is here called _Fals hrannvala brautar fannar salar valdi_ ("The ruler of the hall of the drift of the way of the billow-falcons of Fal"). This long paraphrase means, as has also been assumed by others, the ruler of heaven. Thus heaven is designated as "the hall of the drift of the way of the billow-falcons of Fal." The "drift" which belongs to heaven, and not to the earth, is the cloud. The heavens are "the hall of the cloud." But in order that the word "drift" might be applied in this manner it had to be united with an appropriate word, showing that the heavens were meant. This is done by the adjective phrase "of the way of the billow-falcons of Fal." Standing alone, "the drift of the way of the billow-falcons" could not possibly mean anything else than the billow white with foam, since "billow-falcons" is a paraphrase for ships, and the "way of the billow-falcons" is a paraphrase for the sea. By adding the name _Falr_ the meaning is changed from "sea" to "sky." By Fal's "billow-falcons" must therefore be meant objects whose course is through the air, just as the course of the ships is on the sea, and which traverse the drift of the sky, the cloud, just as the ships plough through the drift of the sea, the white-crested billow. Such a paraphrase could not possibly avoid drawing the fancy of the hearers and readers to the atmosphere strewn with clouds and penetrated by sunbeams, that is, to Odin's hall. Balder is a sun-god, as his myth, taken as a whole, plainly shows, and as is manifested by his epithet; _raudbrikar rikr rækir_ (see No. 53). Thus Fal, like Balder, is a divinity of the sun, a being which sends the sunbeams down through the drifts of the clouds. As he, furthermore, like Balder, stood in a rain of weapons under circumstances sufficiently familiar for such a rain to be recognised when designated as Fal's, and as he, finally, like Balder, was sent by an opponent to the realm of immortality in the lower world, then _Falr_ and Balder must be identical.

Their identity is furthermore confirmed by the fact that Balder in early Christian times was made a historical king of Westphalia. The statement concerning this, taken from Anglo-Saxon or German sources, has entered into the foreword to Gylfaginning. Nearly all lands and peoples have, according to the belief of that time, received their names from ancient chiefs. The Franks were said to be named after one Francio, the East Goth after Ostrogotha, the Angles after Angul, Denmark after Dan, &c. The name Phalia, Westphalia, was explained in the same manner, and as Balder's name was Phol, Fal, this name of his gave rise to the name of the country in question. For the same reason the German poem Biterolf makes Balder (Paltram) into king _ze Pülle_. (Compare the local name Pölde, which, according to J. Grimm, is found in old manuscripts written _Polidi_ and _Pholidi_.) In the one source Balder is made a king in Pholidi, since Phol is a name of Balder, and in the other source he is for the same reason made a king in Westphalia, since Phal is a variation of Phol, and likewise designated Balder. "Biterolf" has preserved the record of the fact that Balder was not only the stateliest hero to be found, but also the most pure in morals, and a man much praised. Along with Balder, Gylfaginning speaks of another son of Odin, _Siggi_, who is said to have become a king in Frankland. The same reason for which Fal-Balder was made a king in Westphalia also made the apocryphal _Siggi_ in question the progenitor of Frankian kings. The Frankian branch to which the Merovingian kings belonged bore the name _Sigambrians_, and to explain this name the son _Siggi_ was given to Odin, and he was made the progenitor and eponym of the Sigambrians.

After this investigation which is to be continued more elaborately in another volume, I now return to the Merseburg formula:

"Fall and Odin
Went to the wood,
Then the foot was sprained
Of Balder's foal."

With what here is said about Balder's steed, we must compare what Saxo relates about Balder himself: _Adeo in adversam corporis valetudinem incidit, ut ni pedibus quidem incedere posset_ (_Hist._, 120).