Chapter V: The Ivalde Race (6)

In the dictionaries and in the mythological text-books _Rögnir_ is said to be one of Odin's epithets. In his excellent commentary on Vellekla, Freudenthal has expressed a doubt as to the correctness of this view. I have myself made a list of all the passages in the Old Norse literature where the name occurs, and I have thereby reached the conclusion that the statement in the dictionaries and in the text-books has no other foundation than the name-list in _Eddubrott_ and the above-cited _Skidarima_, composed in the fifteenth century. The conceptions of the latter in regard to heathen mythology are of such a nature that it should never in earnest be regarded as an authority anent this question. In the Old Norse records there cannot be found a single passage where _Rögnir_ is used as an epithet of Odin. It is everywhere used in reference to a mythic being who was a smith and a singer of magic songs, and regularly, and without exception, refers to Thjasse. While Thjodolf designates Thjasse as the Rogner of the wing-cars, his descendant Hakon Jarl gets the same epithet in Einar Skalaglam's paraphrases. He is _hjörs brak-Rögnir_, "the Rogner of the sword-din," and _Geirrásargard-Rögnir_, "the Rogner of the wall of the sword-flight (the shield)." The Thjasse descendant, Sigurd Hladejarl, is, in harmony herewith, called _fens furs Rögnir_. _Thrym-Rögnir_ (Eg., 58) alludes to Thjasse as ruler in Thrymheim. A parallel phrase to _thrym-Rögnir_ is _thrym-Regin_ (Younger Edda, i. 436). Thus, while Thjasse is characterised as _Rögnir_, Saxo has preserved the fact that Volund's brother, Orvandel-Egil, bore the epithet Regin. Saxo Latinises Regin into Regnerus, and gives this name to Ericus-Svipdag's father (_Hist._, 192). The epithet _Rögnir_ confines itself exclusively to a certain group--to Thjasse and his supposed descendants. Among them it is, as it were, an inheritance.

The paraphrases in Vellekla are of great mythological importance. While other mythic records relate that Thjasse carried away Idun, the goddess of vegetation, the goddess who controls the regenerating forces in nature, and that he thus assisted in bringing about the great winter of antiquity, we learn from Vellekla that it was he who directly, and by separate magic acts, produced this winter, and that he, accordingly, acted the same part in this respect as Rogner and Regin do in Forspjallsljod.

Thus, for example, the poem on Hakon Jarl, when the latter fought against the sons of Gunhild, says: _Hjörs brak-Rögnir skók bogna hagl or Hlakkar seglum_, "the Rogner of the sword-din shook the hail of the bows from the sails of the valkyrie." The mythic kernel of the paraphrase is: _Rögnir skók hagl ur seglum_, "Rogner shook hails from the sails." The idea is still to be found in the sagas that men endowed with magic powers could produce a hailstorm by shaking napkins or bags, filling the air with ashes, or by untying knots. And in Christian records it is particularly stated of Hakon Jarl that he held in honour two mythic beings--Thorgerd and Irpa--who, when requested, could produce storms, rain, and hail. No doubt this tradition is connected with Hakon's supposed descent from Thjasse, the cause of hailstorms and of the fimbul-winter. By making Rogner the "Rogner of the sword-din," and the hail sent by him "the hail of the bows," and the sails or napkins shook by him "the sails of the valkyrie"--that is to say, the shields--the skald makes the mythological kernel pointed out develop into figures applicable to the warrior to the battle.

In other paraphrases Vellekla says that the descendant of Thjasse, Hakon, made "the death-cold sword-storm grow against the life of udal men in Odin's storm," and that he was "an elf of the earth of the wood-land" coming from the north, who, with "murder-frost," received the warriors of the south (Emperor Otto's army) at Dannevirke. Upon the whole Vellekla chooses the figures used in describing the achievements of Hakon from the domain of cold and storm, and there can be no doubt that it does so in imitation of the Thjasse-myth.

In another poem to Hakon Jarl, of which poem there is only a fragment extant, the skald Einar speaks of Hakon's generosity, and says: _Verk Rögnis mer hogna_, "Rogner's works please me." We know that Hakon Jarl once gave Einar two gilt silver goblets, to which belonged two scales in the form of statuettes, the one of gold, the other of silver, which scales were thought to possess magic qualities, and that Hakon on another occasion gave him an exceedingly precious engraved shield, inlaid between the engraved parts with gold and studded with precious stones. It was customary for the skalds to make songs on such gifts. It follows, therefore, that the "works of Rogner," with which Einar says he was pleased, are the presents which Hakon, the supposed descendant of Rogner-Thjasse, gave him; and I find this interpretation the more necessary for the reason that we have already found several unanimous evidences of Thjasse's position in the mythology as an artist of the olden time.

Forspjallsljod's Rogner "sings magic songs" and "concocts witchcraft" in order to encourage and strengthen by these means of magic the attack of the powers of frost on the world protected by the gods. Haustlaung calls Thjasse _ramman reimud Jötunheima_, "the powerful _reimud_ of Jotunheim." The word _reimud_ occurs nowhere else. It is thought to be connected with _reimt_ and _reimleikar_, words which in the writings of Christian times refer to ghosts, supernatural phenomena, and _reimudr_. _Jötunheima_ has therefore been interpreted as "the one who made Jotunheim the scene of his magic arts and ghost-like appearances." From what has been stated above, it is manifest that this interpretation is correct.

(_From an etching by Lorenz Frölich._)

Hymir, a giant and ruler of the winter sea, was the owner of a great kettle that brewed any quantity desired of the finest ale. The gods, eager to posses the kettle, sent Thor to obtain it. Proceeding to the borders of heaven, where Hymir lived, Thor assumed the form of a young man and appearing before the giant, asked permission to accompany him on a fishing excursion. The giant objected that so small a youth could not endure the hardships of such a journey, but finally consented. Thor secured necessary bait by tearing the head from a bull, and the two then set off to row far out to sea. Thor insisted upon going further until they came near the borders of the world, and the two began to fish. Hymir soon hooked and drew up two whales, which he boastfully showed as proof of his strength, but soon after Thor hooked the Midgard Serpent, which rose spouting floods of venom that greatly terrified Hymir. Thor pulled with so much strength on the line that he broke through the bottom of the boat, but his feet stood upon the bottom of the sea and he raised his hammer to strike the serpent; Hymir was so alarmed, however, that he cut the line and let the serpent escape. Thor then rowed back with Hymir to his castle, where he slew Hymir and several other giants and secured the kettle.

See page 855.]

A passage in Thorsdrapa (str. 3), to which I shall recur below, informs us that at the time when Thor made his famous journey to the fire-giant Geirrod, Rogner had not yet come to an agreement with Loke in regard to the plan of bringing ruin on the gods. Rogner was, therefore, during a certain period of his life, the foe of the gods, but during a preceding period he was not an enemy. The same is true of Thjasse. He was for a time _hapta snytrir_, "the one giving the gods treasures." At another time he carried away Idun, and appeared as one changed into _dólgr ballastr vallar_, "the most powerful foe of the earth" (Haustl., 6), an expression which characterises him as the cause of the fimbul-winter.

There still remain one or two important passages in regard to the correct interpretation of the epithet Rogner. In Atlakvida (33) it is said of Gudrun when she goes to meet her husband Atle, who has returned home, carrying in her hand a golden goblet, that she goes to _reifa gjöld Rögnis_, "to present that requital or that revenge which Rogner gave." To avenge her brothers, Gudrun slew in Atle's absence the two young sons she had with him and made goblets of their skulls. Into one of these she poured the drink of welcome for Atle. A similar revenge is told about Volund. The latter secretly kills _Nidadr's_ two young sons and makes goblets out of their skulls for their father. In the passage it is stated that the revenge of Gudrun against Atle was of the same kind as Rogner's revenge against some one whom he owed a grudge. So far as our records contain any information, Volund is the only one to whom the epithet Rogner is applicable in this case. Of no one else is it reported that he took a revenge of such a kind that Gudrun's could be compared therewith. In all other passages the epithet Rogner refers to "the father of the swords," to the ancient artist Thjasse, the son of Alvalde. Here it refers to the father of the most excellent sword, to the ancient artist Volund, the son of Ivalde.

The strophe in Vellekla, which compares the Thjasse descendant Hakon Jarl with the hail-producing Rogner, also alludes to another point in the myth concerning him by a paraphrase the kernel of which is: _Varat svanglýjadi at frýja ofbyrjar nè drifu_, "it was impossible to defy the swan-pleaser in the matter of storm and bad weather." The paraphrase is made applicable to Hakon by making the "swan-pleaser" into the "pleaser of the swan of the sword's high-billowing fjord"--that is to say, the one who pleases the bird of the battlefield, that is, the raven. The storm is changed into "the storm of arrows," and the bad weather into the "bad weather of the goddess of the battle." The mythological kernel of this paraphrase, and that which sheds light on our theme, is the fact that Rogner in the mythology was "one who pleased the swans." In the heroic poem three swan-maids are devoted in their love to Volund and his brothers. Volundarkvida says that the third one lays her arms around Volund-Anund's white neck.

We will now combine the results of this investigation concerning Rogner, and in so doing we will first consider what is said of him when the name occurs independently, and not connected with paraphrases, and then what is said of him in paraphrases in which his name constitutes the kernel.

Forspjallsljod describes Rogner as dwelling on the northern-most edge of the earth at the time when Idun was absent from Asgard. There he sings magic songs and concocts witchcraft, by which means he sends a destructive winter out upon the world. He is a "smith," and in his company is found one or more than one mythic person called Regin. (Regin may be singular or plural.)

Einar Skalaglam, who received costly treasures from Hakon Jarl, speaks in his song of praise to the latter of the "works of Rogner," which please him, and which must be the treasures he received from the Jarl.

In Thorsdrapa, Eilif Gudrunson relates that Rogner had not yet "associated himself" with Loke when Thor made his expedition to Geirrod.

Atlakvida states that he revenged himself on some one, with which revenge the song compares Gudrun's when she hands to Atle the goblets made of the skulls of the two young sons of the latter.

All the facts presented in these passages are rediscovered in the myth concerning Ivalde's sons--Volund, Egil, and Slagfin. There was a time when they were the friends of the gods and smithied for them costly treasures, and there was another time when they had the same plans as Loke tried to carry out in a secret manner--that is, to dethrone the gods and destroy what they had created. They deliver their foster-son Frey, the young god of harvests, to the giants (see Nos. 109, 112)--an event which, like Idun's disappearance from Asgard, refers to the coming of the fimbul-winter--and they depart to the most northern edge of the lower world where they dwell with swan-maids, dises of growth, who, like Idun in Forspjallsljod (str. 8), must have changed character and joined the world-hostile plots of their lovers. (Of Idun it is said, in the strophe mentioned, that she clothed herself in a wolf-skin given her by the smiths, and _lyndi breytti, lek at lævisi, litom skipti_.) The revenge which Volund, during his imprisonment by Nidad, takes against the latter explains why Atlakvida characterises Gudrun's terrible deed as "Rogner's revenge." In regard to the witchcraft (_gand_) concocted by Rogner and Regin, it is to be said that the sword of victory made by Volund is a _gandr_ in the original sense of this word--an implement endowed with magic powers, and it was made during his sojourn in the Wolfdales.

One passage in Volundarkvida (str. 5), which hitherto has defied every effort at interpretation, shows that his skill was occupied with other magic things while he dwelt there. The passage reads: _Lucthi hann alla lindbauga vel_. The "lind"-rings in question, smithied of "red gold" (see the preceding lines in strophe 5), are, according to the prefix, _lind, linnr_, serpent-formed rings, which again are gand- (witchcraft) rings on account of the mysterious qualities ascribed to the serpent. _Lindbaugi_ is another form for _linnbaugi_, just as _lindból_ is another form for _linnból_. The part played by the serpent in the magic arts made it, when under the influence or in the possession of the magician, a _gand_, whence _linnr_, a serpent, could be used as a paraphrase of _gandr_, and _gandr_ could in turn, in the compound _Jörmungandr_, be used as an epithet for the Midgard-serpent. The rings which Volund "closed well together" are gand-rings. The very rope (_bast, böstr_--Volundarkvida, 7, 12) on which he hangs the seven hundred gand-rings he has finished seems to be a gand, an object of witchcraft, with which Volund can bind and from which he can release the wind. When Nidad's men surprised Volund in his sleep and bound him with this rope, he asks ambiguously who "had bound the wind" with it (str. 12). In two passages in Volundarkvida (str. 4, 8) he is called _vedreygr_, "the storm-observer," or "the storm-terrible." The word may have either meaning. That Volund for his purposes, like Rogner, made use of magic songs is manifest from Saxo (_Hist._, 323, 324). According to Saxo it was by means of Volund-Haquinus' magic song that the Volund-sword, wielded by Svipdag-Ericus, was able to conquer Thor's hammer and Halfdan's club.

Passing now to the passages where the name Rogner occurs in paraphrases, I would particularly emphasize what I have already demonstrated: that Haustlaung with this name refers to Thjasse; that poems of a more recent date than Haustlaung, and connected with the same celebrated song, apply it to the supposed descendants of Thjasse, Hakon Jarl and his kinsmen; that all of these paraphrases represent Rogner as a producer of storm, snow, and hail; and that Rogner made "wind-cars," was a "Regin of the motion of the feather-leaf" (the wing), and "one who pleased the swans." Therefore (_a_) Rogner is an epithet of Thjasse, and at the same time it designates Volund; (_b_) all that is said of Rogner, when the name in the paraphrases is a Thjasse-epithet, applies to Volund; (_c_) all that is said of Rogner, independently of paraphrases, applies to Volund.

(18) A usage in the Old Norse poetry is to designate a person by the name of his opponent, when, by means of an additional characterisation, it can be made evident that the former and not the latter is meant. Thus, a giant can be called _berg-thórr_ or _grjót-Módi_, because he once had Thor or Thor's son Mode as an opponent, and these epithets particularly apply to giants who actually fought with Thor or Mode in the mythology. In contrast with their successors in Christian times, the heathen skalds took great pains to give their paraphrases special justification and support in some mythological event. For the same reason that a giant who had fought with Mode could be called _grjót-Módi_, Volund, as Nidad's foe, could be called _grjót-Nidudr_. This epithet also occurs a single time in the Old Norse poetry, namely, in Haustlaung, and there it is applied to Thjasse. The paraphrase shows that the skald had in his mind a corresponding (antithetic) circumstance between Thjasse and _Nidadr_ (_Nidudr_). What we are able to gather from our sources is, that Volund and _Nidadr_ had had an encounter, and that one of so decisive a character, that the epithet _grjót-Nidudr_ naturally would make the hearers think of Volund.

(19) When Loke had struck Thjasse, who was in eagle guise, with the magic pole, Thjasse flew up; and as Loke's hand was glued fast to one end of the pole and the eagle held fast to the other end, Loke had to accompany the eagle on its flight. Haustlaung says that Thjasse, pleased with his prey, bore him a long distance (_of veg lángan_) through the air. He directed his course in such a manner that Loke's body fared badly, probably being dragged over trees and rocks (_svá at slitna sundr úlfs födor mundi_). Then follows in the poem the lines given below, which I quote from Codex Regius, with the exception of a single word (_midjungs_, instead of _mildings_), which I cite from Codex Wormianus. Here, as elsewhere, I base nothing on text emendations, because even such, for which the best of reasons may be given, do not furnish sufficient foundation for mythological investigation, when the changes are not supported by some manuscript, or are in and of themselves absolutely necessary.

thá vard thórs ofrunni,
thúngr var Loptr, of sprúnginn;
málunautr hvats mátti
midjungs fridar bidja.

The contents of these lines, in the light of what has now been stated, are as follows:

Thjasse's pleasure in dragging Loke with him, and making his limbs come in disagreeable contact with objects on their way, was so great that he did not abstain therefrom, before he felt that he had over-exerted himself. Strong as he was, this could not but happen, for he had been flying with his burden very far from the place where he captured Loke in the ambush he had laid; and, besides, Loke was heavy. The badly-hurt Loke had during the whole time desired to beg for mercy, but during the flight he was unable to do so. When Thjasse finally sank to the ground, Loke obtained a breathing space, so that he could sue for mercy.

In the four lines there are four paraphrases. Thjasse is called _thórs ofrunni_ or _thórs ofrúni_, "he who made Thor run," or "he who was Thor's friend," and "_midjungr_," a word the meaning of which it is of no importance to investigate in connection with the question under consideration. Loke is called _Loptr_, a surname which is applied to him many times, and _málunautr hvats midjungs_, "he who had journeyed with the female companion of the powerful Midjung (Thjasse)." The female companion (_mála_) of Thjasse is Idun, and the paraphrase refers to the myth telling how Loke carried Idun away from Thjasse's halls, and flew with her to Asgard.

With these preparatory remarks I am ready to present a literal translation of the passage:

(Thjasse flew a long way with Loke, so that the latter came near being torn into pieces), "... thereupon (_thá_ = _deinde_) became he who caused Thor to run (_vard Ihórs ofrunni_)--or who became Thor's friend (_Ihórs ofrúni_)--tired out (_ofsprúnginn_), (for) Lopt was heavy (_thúngr var Loptr_). He (Loke) who had made a journey with the powerful Midjung's (Thjasse's) female companion (_málunautr hvats midjungs_) could (now finally) sue for peace (_mátti fridar bidja_)."

In the lines--

thá vard thórs ofrunni
thúngr var Loptr, ofsprúnginn--

_thúngr var Loptr_ clearly stands as an intermediate sentence, which, in connection with what has been stated above, namely, that Thjasse had been flying a long way with his burden, will justify and explain why Thjasse, though exceedingly strong, stronger than _Hrungnir_ (the Grotte-song), still was at the point of succumbing from over-exertion. The skald has thus given the reason why Thjasse, "rejoicing in what he had caught," sank to the earth with his victim, before Loke became more used up than was the case. To understand the connection, the word _mátti_ in the third line is of importance. Hitherto the words _málunautr hvats mátti midjungs fridar bidja_ have been interpreted as if they meant that Loke "was compelled" to ask Thjasse for peace. _Mátti_ has been understood to mean _coactus est_. Finnur Jonsson (_Krit. Stud._, p. 48) has pointed out that not a single passage can with certainty or probability be found where the verb _mega, mátti_, means "to be compelled." Everywhere it can be translated "to be able." Thus the words _mátti fridar bidja_ mean that Loke _could_, was able to, ask Thjasse for peace. The reason why he was able is stated above, where it is said that Thjasse got tired of flying with his heavy burden. Before that, and during the flight and the disagreeable collisions between Loke's body and objects with which he came in contact, he was not able to treat with his capturer; but when the latter had settled on the ground, Loke got a breathing space, and could beg to be spared. The half strophe thus interpreted gives the most logical connection, and gives three causes and three results: (1) Loke was able to use his eloquent tongue in speaking to Thjasse, since the latter ceased to fly before Loke was torn into pieces; (2) Thor's _ofrunni_ or _ofrúni_ ended his air-journey, because he, though a very powerful person, felt that he had over-exerted himself; (3) he felt wearied because Loke, with whom he had been flying, was heavy. But from this it follows with absolute certainty that the skald, with Thor's _ofrunni_ or _ofrúni_, meant Thjasse and not Loke, as has hitherto been supposed. The epithet Thor's _ofrunni_, "he who made Thor run," must accordingly be explained by some mythic event, which shows that Thor at one time had to take flight on account of Thjasse. A single circumstance has come to our knowledge, where Thor retreats before an opponent, and it is hardly credible that the mythology should allow its favourite to retreat conquered more than once. On that occasion it is Volund's sword, wielded by Svipdag, which cleaves Thor's hammer and compels him to retire. Thus Volund was at one time Thor's _ofrunni_. In Haustlaung it is Thjasse. Here, too, we therefore meet the fact which has so frequently come to the surface in these investigations, namely, that the same thing is told of Volund and of Thjasse.

But by the side of _ofrunni_ we have another reading which must be considered. Codex Wormianus has _ofrúni_ instead of _ofrunni_, and, as Wisén has pointed out, this runni must, for the sake of the metre, be read _rúni_. According to this reading Thjasse must at some time have been Thor's _ofrúni_, that is, Thor's confidential friend. This reading also finds its support in the mythology, as shall be demonstrated further on. I may here be allowed to repeat what I have remarked before, that of two readings only the one can be the original, while both may be justified by the mythology.

(20) In the mythology are found characters that form a group by themselves, and whose characteristic peculiarity is that they practise skee-running in connection with the use of the bow and arrow. This group consists of the brothers Volund, Egil, Slagfin, Egil's son Ull, and Thjasse's daughter Skade. In the introduction to Volundarkvida it is said of the three brothers that they ran on skees in the Wolfdales and hunted. We have already referred to Egil's wonderful skees, that could be used on the water as well as on the snow. Of Ull we read in Gylfaginning (Younger Edda, i. 102): "He is so excellent an archer and skee-runner that no one is his equal;" and Saxo tells about his Ollerus that he could enchant a bone (the ice-shoe formed of a bone, the pendant of the skee), so that it became changed into a ship. Ull's skees accordingly have the same qualities as those of his father Egil, namely, that they can also be used on the sea. Ull's skees seem furthermore to have had another very remarkable character, namely, that when their possessor did not need them for locomotion on land or on sea, they could be transformed into a shield and be used in war. In this way we explain that the skalds could employ _skip Ullar_, _Ullar far_, _knörr Örva áss_, as paraphrases for shields, and that, according to one statement in the Edda Lovasina, _Ullr átti skip that, er Skjöldr hét_. So far as his accomplishments are concerned, Ull is in fact the counterpart of his father Egil, and the same may be said of Skade. While Ull is called "the god of the skees," Skade is called "the goddess of the skees," "the dis of the skees," and "the dis of the sea-bone," _sævar beins dis_, a paraphrase which manifestly has the same origin as Saxo's account of the bone enchanted by Ull. Thus Thjasse's daughter has an attribute belonging to the circle of Volund's kinsmen.

The names also connect those whom we find to be kinsmen of Volund with Thjasse's. Alvalde is Thjasse's father; Ivalde is Volund's. _Ívaldi_ is another form for _Idvaldi_. The long prefixed _Í_ in _Ívaldi_ is explained by the disappearance of _d_ from _Idvaldi_. _Id_ reappears in the name of Ivalde's daughter _Idunn_ and Thjasse's brother _Idi_, and these are the only mythological names in which _Id_ appears. Furthermore, it has already been pointed out, that of Alvalde's (_Ölvaldi's_) three sons there is one who has the epithet Wildboar (_Aurnir, Urnir_); and that among Ivalde's three sons there is one--namely, Orvandel-Egil--who has the same epithet (_Ibor, Ebur, Ebbo_); and that among Alvalde's sons one--namely, Thjasse--has the epithet _Fjallgyldir_, "mountain-wolf" (Haustlaung); while among Ivalde-Olmod's sons there is one--namely, Volund--who has the epithet _Ásólfr_, which also means "mountain-wolf."

In this connection it must not be forgotten that tradition has attached the qualities of giants, not only to Thjasse, but also to Volund. That this does not appear in the Elder Edda depends simply on the fact that Volund is not mentioned by this name in the genuine mythic songs, but only in the heroic fragment which we have in Volundarkvida. The memory that Volund, though an elf-prince in the mythology, and certainly not a full-blooded giant on his father's side, was regarded and celebrated in song as an _iötunn_,--the memory of this not only survives in Vilkinasaga, but appears there in an exaggeration fostered by later traditions, to the effect that his father Vade (see No. 110) is there called a giant, while his father's mother is said to have been a mermaid. In another respect, too, there survives in Vilkinasaga the memory of a relationship between Volund and the most famous giant-being. He and the giants Etgeir (_Eggther_) and Vidolf are cousins, according to chapter 175. If we examine the Norse sources, we find Vidolf mentioned in Hyndluljod (53) as progenitor of all the mythological valas, and Aurboda, the most notorious of the valas of mythology, mentioned in strophe 30 as a kinswoman of Thjasse. Thus while Hyndluljod makes Thjasse, the Vilkinasaga makes Volund, a kinsman of the giant Vidolf.

Though in a form greatly changed, the Vilkinasaga has also preserved the memory of the manner in which Volund's father closed his career. With some smiths ("dwarfs") who lived in a remote mountain, Vade had made an agreement, according to which, in return for a certain compensation, his son Volund should learn their wonderful art as smiths. When, toward the close of the time agreed upon, Vade appeared outside of the mountain, he was, before entering, killed by an avalanche in accordance with the treacherous arrangement of these smiths.

In the mythology Thjasse's father is the great drink-champion who, among his many names and epithets, as we have seen, also has some that refer to his position in the mythology in regard to fermented beverage; _Svigdir_ (the great drinker) _Ölvaldi_, _Ölmódr_, _Sumbl Finnakonungr_. In regard to _Svigdir's_ death, it has already been shown (see No. 89) that, on his complete disappearance from the mythology, he is outside of a mountain in which Suttung and Suttung's sons, descendants of Surt-Durinn, with Mimer the most ancient smith (see No. 89), have their halls; that on his arrival a treacherous dwarf, the doorkeeper of Suttung's sons, goes to meet him, and that he is "betrayed" by the dwarf, never enters the rocky halls, and consequently must have died outside.

Vilkinasaga's very late statements (probably taken from German traditions), in regard to the death of Volund's father, thus correspond in the main features with what is related in the Norse records as to how Thjasse's father disappeared from the scene of mythology.

In regard to the birth and rank of Thjasse's father among the mythic powers, the following statements in poems from the heathen time are to be observed. When Haustlaung tells how Thjasse falls into the vaferflames kindled around Asgard, it makes use of the words _Greipar bidils son svidnar_, "the son of Greip's wooer is scorched." Thus Thjasse's mother is the giantess Greip, who, according to a stanza cited in the Younger Edda, i. 288, is a daughter of the giant _Geirrödr_ and a sister of Gjalp. One of these sisters, and, so far as we can see, Greip, is, in Thorsdrapa, called _meinsvarans hapts arma farmr_, "the embrace of the arms of the perjurous _hapt_." _Höpt_, sing _hapt_, is like _bönd_, meaning the same, an appellation of lower and higher powers, _numina_ of various ranks. If by the perjurous mistress of the _hapt_ Greip, and not the sister Gjalp, is meant, then Thjasse's father is a being who belonged to the number of the _numina_ of the mythology, and who, with a giantess whose _bidill_ he had been, begat the son Thjasse, and probably also the latter's brothers _Idi_ and _Gángr_ (_Aurnir_). What rank this perjurous _hapt_ held among the powers is indicated in Vellekla, strophe 9, which, like the foregoing strophe 8, and the succeeding strophes 10, 11, treats of Hakon Jarl's conflicts at Dannevirke, whither he was summoned, in the capacity of a vassal under the Danish king, Harald Blue-tooth, to defend the heathen North against Emperor Otto II.'s effort to convert Denmark to Christianity by arms. The strophe, which here, too, in its paraphrases presents parallels between Hakon Jarl and his mythic progenitor Thjasse, says that the Danish king (_fémildr konungr_) desired that the Morkwood's Hlodyn's (Mork-wood's earth's, that is to say, the woody Norway's) elf, he who came from the North (_myrkmarkar Hlodynjar alfs, thess er kom nordan_), was to be tested in "murder-frost," that is to say, in war (_vid mord-frost freista_), when he (Denmark's king) angrily bade the cold-hard storm-watcher (_stirdan vedrhirdi_, Hakon Jarl) of the Hordaland dwellers (of the Norsemen) defend Dannevirke (_Virki varda_) against the southland Njords of the shield-din (_fyr serkja-hlym-val-Njördum_, "the princes of the southland warriors").

Here, too, the myth about Thjasse and of the fimbul-winter forms the kernel out of which the paraphrases adapted to Hakon Jarl have grown. Hakon is clothed with the mask of the cold-hard storm-watcher who comes from the North and can let loose the winter-winds. Emperor Otto and the chiefs who led the southern troops under him are compared with Njord and his kinsmen, who, in the mythology, fought with Volund and the powers of frost, and the battle between the warriors of the South and the North is compared with a "murder-frost," in which Hakon coming from the North meets the Christian continental Teutons at Dannevirke.

Thus the mythical kernel of the strophe is as follows: The elf of the Morkwood of Hlodyn, the cold-hard storm-watcher, tested his power with frost-weather when he fought with Njord and his kinsmen.

The Hlodyn of the Morkwood--that is to say, the goddess of the Jotunheim woods--is in this connection Thjasse's daughter Skade, who, in Haleygjatal, is called _Járnvidja_ of _Járnvidr_, the Ironwood, which is identical with the Morkwood (Darkwood). Thjasse himself, whose father is called "a perjurous _hapt_" in Thorsdrapa, is here called an elf. Alone, this passage would not be sufficient to decide the question as to which class of mythical beings Thjasse and his father belonged, the less so as _álfr_, applied in a paraphrase, might allude to any sort of being according to the characterisation added. But "perjurous _hapt_" cannot possibly be a paraphrase for a giant. Every divinity that has violated its oath is "a perjurous _hapt_," and the mythology speaks of such perjuries. If a god has committed perjury, this is no reason why he should be called a giant. If a giant has committed perjury, this is no reason why he should be called a _hapt_, for it is nothing specially characteristic of the giant nature that it commits perjury or violates its oath. In fact, it seems to me that there should be the gravest doubts about Thjasse's being a giant in the strictest and completest sense of the word, from the circumstances that he is a star-hero; that distinguished persons considered it an honour to be descended from him; that Hakon Jarl's skalds never tired of clothing him with the appearance of his supposed progenitor, and of comparing the historical achievements of the one with the mythical exploits of the other; and that he, Thjasse, not only robbed Idun, which indeed a genuine giant might do, but that he also lived with her many long years, and, so far as we can see, begat with her the daughter Skade. It should be remembered, from the foregoing pages, what pains the mythology takes to get the other asynje, Freyja, who had fallen into the hands of giants, back pure and undefiled to Asgard, and it is therefore difficult to believe that Idun should be humiliated and made to live for many years in intimacy with a real giant. It follows from this that when Thjasse, in the above-cited mythological kernel of the strophe of Vellekla, is called an _álfr_, and when his father in Thorsdrapa is called a _hapt_, a being of higher or lower divine rank, then _álfr_ is a further definition of the idea _hapt_, and informs us to which class of _numina_ Thjasse belonged--namely, the lower class of gods called elves. Thus, on his father's side, Thjasse is an elf. So is Volund. In Volundarkvida he is called a prince of elves. Furthermore, it should be observed that, in the strophe-kernel presented above, Thjasse is represented as one who has fought with Njord and his allies. In Saxo it is Anund-Volund and his brother the archer who fight with Njord-Fridlevus and his companions; and as Njord in Saxo marries Anund-Volund's daughter, while in the mythology he marries Thjasse's daughter, then this is another recurrence of the fact which continually comes to the surface in this investigation, namely, that whatever is told of Volund is also told of Thjasse.

[10] See for example Th. Wisén's investigations and Finnur Jonsson's _Krit. Stud._ (Copenhagen, 1884).

[11] The editions have changed _Urdar_ to _Urdr_, and thereby converted the above-cited passage into nonsense, for which in turn the author of Forspjallsljod was blamed, and it was presented as an argument to prove that the poem is spurious.

114.

PROOFS THAT IVALDE'S SONS ARE OLVALDE'S (_continued_). A REVIEW
OF THORSDRAPA.

(21) We now come to a mythic record in which Thjasse's brothers _Idi_ and _Gángr_, and he too, in a paraphrase, are mentioned under circumstances well suited to throw light on the subject before us, which is very important in regard to the epic connection of the mythology.

Of Thor's expedition to Geirrod, we have two very different accounts. One is recorded by the author of Skaldskaparmal; the other is found in Eilif Gundrunson's Thorsdrapa.

In Skaldskaparmal (Younger Edda, i. 284) we read:

Only for pleasure Loke made an expedition in Freyja's feather guise, and was led by his curiosity to seat himself in an opening in the wall of Geirrod's house and peep in. There he was captured by one of Geirrod's servants, and the giant, who noticed from his eyes that it was not a real falcon, did not release him before he had agreed so to arrange matters that Thor should come to Geirrod's hall without bringing with him his hammer and belt of strength. This Loke was able to bring about. Thor went to Geirrod without taking any of these implements--not even his steel gloves--with him. Loke accompanied him. On the way thither Loke visited the giantess whose name was _Grídr_, and who was Vidar the Silent's mother. From her Thor learned the facts about Geirrod--namely, that the latter was a cunning giant and difficult to get on with. She lent Thor her own belt of strength, her own iron gloves, and her staff, _Grídarvölr_. Then Thor proceeded to the river which is called Vimur, and which is the greatest of all rivers. There he buckled on his belt of strength, and supported himself in the stream on the _Grídarvölr_. Loke held himself fast to the belt of strength. When Thor reached the middle of the stream, the water rose to his shoulders. Thor then perceived that up in a mountain chasm below which the river flowed stood Gjalp, Geirrod's daughter, with one foot on each side of the river, and it was she who caused the rising of the tide. Then Thor picked up a stone and threw it at the giantess, saying: "At its mouth the river is to be stopped." He did not miss his mark. Having reached the other bank of the river, he took hold of a rowan, and thus gained the land. Hence the proverb: "Thor's salvation, the rowan." And when Thor came to Geirrod a goat-house was first given to him and Loke (according to Codex Regius; according to the Upsala Codex a guest-house) as their lodgings. Then are related the adventures Thor had with Geirrod's daughters Gjalp and Greip, and how he, invited to perform games in Geirrod's hall, was met by a glowing iron which Geirrod threw against him with a pair of tongs, but which he caught with the iron gloves and threw back with so great force that the iron passed through a post, behind which Geirrod had concealed himself, and through Geirrod himself and his house wall, and then penetrated into the earth.

This narrative, composed freely from mythical and pseudo-mythical elements, is related to Thorsdrapa, composed in heathen times, about in the same manner as Bragarædur's account of Odin and Suttung is related to that of Havamál. Just as in Bragarædur _punctum saliens_ lies in the coarse jest about how poor poetry originated, so here a crude anecdote built on the proverb, "A stream is to be stemmed at its mouth," seems to be the basis of the story. In Christian times the mythology had to furnish the theme not only for ancient history, heroic poems, and popular traditions, but also for comic songs.

Now, a few words in regard to Thorsdrapa. This song, excellent from the standpoint of poetry and important from a mythological point of view, has, in my opinion, hitherto been entirely misunderstood, not so much on account of the difficulties found in the text--for these disappear, when they are considered without any preconceived opinion in regard to the contents--as on account of the undeserved faith in Skaldskaparmal's account of Thor's visit to Geirrod, and on account of the efforts made under the influence of this misleading authority to rediscover the statements of the latter in the heathen poem. In these efforts the poetics of the Christian period in Iceland have been applied to the poem, and in this way all mythological names, whose real meaning was forgotten in later times, have received a general faded signification, which on a more careful examination is proved to be incorrect. With a collection of names as an armoury, in which the names of real or supposed "dwarfs," "giants," "sea-kings," &c., are brought together and arranged as synonyms, this system of poetics teaches that from such lists we may take whatever dwarf name, giant name, &c., we please to designate whichever "dwarf," "giant," &c., we please. If, therefore, Thorsdrapa mentions "_Idi's_ chalet" and "_Gángr's_ war-vans," then, according to this system of poetics, _Idi_ and _Gángr's_--though they in heathen times designated particular mythic persons who had their own history, their own personal careers--have no other meaning than the general one of "a giant," for the reason that _Idi_ and _Gángr_ are incorporated in the above-named lists of giant names. Such a system of poetics could not arise before the most of the mythological names had become mere empty sounds, the personalities to whom they belonged being forgotten. The fact that they have been adapted, and still continue to be adapted, to the poems of the heathen skalds, is one of the reasons why the important contributions which names and paraphrases in the heathen poetry are able to furnish in mythological investigations have remained an unused treasure.

While Skaldskaparmal makes Loke and no one else accompany Thor to Geirrod, and represents the whole matter as a visit to the giant by Thor, we learn from Thorsdrapa that this journey to Jotunheim is an expedition of war, which Thor makes at the head of his warriors against the much-dreaded chief of giants, and that on the way thither he had to fight a real battle with Geirrod's giants before he is able to penetrate to the destination of his expedition, Geirrod's hall, where the giants put to flight in the battle just mentioned gather, and where another battle is fought. Thorsdrapa does not mention with a single word that Loke accompanied Thor on this warlike expedition. Instead of this, we learn that he had a secret understanding with one of Geirrod's daughters, that he encouraged Thor to go, and gave him untruthful accounts of the character of the road, so that, if not Thor himself, then at least the allies who went with him, might perish by the ambush laid in wait for them. That Loke, under such circumstances, should accompany Thor is highly incredible, since his misrepresentations in regard to the character of the way would be discovered on the journey, and reveal him as a traitor. But since Skaldskaparmal states that Loke was Thor's companion, the interpreters of Thorsdrapa have allowed him so to remain, and have attributed to him--the traitor and secret ally of the giants--and to Thjalfe (who is not mentioned in the Skaldskaparmal account) the exploits which Thor's companions perform against the giants. That the poem, for instance, in the expression _Thjáfi med ýta sinni_, "Thjalfe with his companions," in the most distinct manner emphasises the fact that a whole host of warriors had Thor as their leader on this expedition, was passed over as one of the obscure passages in which the poem was supposed to abound, and the obscurity of which simply consists in their contradicting the story in Skaldskaparmal. Thorsdrapa does not mention with a single word that Thor, on his journey to Geirrod, stopped at the home of a giantess _Gridr_, and borrowed from her a staff, a belt of strength, and iron gloves; and I regard it as probable that this whole episode in Skaldskaparmal has no other foundation than that the staff which Thor uses as his support on wading across the rapid stream is in Thorsdrapa now called _grídarvölr_, "the safety staff," and again, _brautar lids tollr_, "the way-helping tree." The name _grídarvölr_, and such proverbs as _at ósi skall á stemma_ and _reynir er björg thórs_, appear to be the staple wares by the aid of which the story in Skaldskaparmal was framed. The explanation given in Skaldskaparmal of the proverb _reynir er björg thórs_, that, by seizing hold of a rowan growing on the river bank, Thor succeeded in getting out of the river, is, no doubt, an invention by the author of the story. The statement cannot possibly have had any support in the mythology. In it Thor is endowed with ability to grow equal to any stream he may have to cross. The rowan mentioned in the proverb is probably none other than the "way-helping tree," the "safety staff," on which he supports himself while wading, and which, according to Thorsdrapa (19), is a _brotningr skógar_, a tree broken or pulled up in the woods.

I now pass to the consideration of the contents of Thorsdrapa:

_Strophe 1._ The deceitful Loke encourages Thor to go from home and visit Geirrod, "the master of the temple of the steep altars." The great liar assures him that green paths would take him to Geirrod's halls, that is to say, they were accessible to travellers on foot, and not obstructed by rivers.

NOTE.--For Thor himself the condition of the roads might be of less importance. He who wades across the Elivagar rivers and subterranean streams did not need to be very anxious about finding water-courses crossing his paths. But from the continuation of the poem we learn that this expedition to Jotunheim was not a visit as a guest, or a meeting to fight a duel, as when Thor went to find Hrungner, but this time he is to press into Jotunheim with a whole army, and thus the character of the road he was to travel was of some importance. The ambush laid in his way does not concern Thor himself, but the giant-foes who constitute his army. If the latter perish in the ambush, then Geirrod and his giants will have Thor alone to fight against, and may then have some hope of victory.

_Strophe 2._ Thor did not require much urging to undertake the expedition. He leaves Asgard to visit Jotunheim. Of what happened on the way between Asgard and the Elivagar rivers, before Thor penetrated into Jotunheim, the strophe says:

thá er gjardvenjodr When the belt-wearer (Thor the
possessor of the belt of strength)

endr (= iterum, rursus) now, as on former occasions,

ríkri Idja Gandvikr-setrs skotum strengthened by the men of Ide's
chalet situated near Gandvik,

gördist frá thridia til Ymsa was on his way from Odin to
kindar, Ymse's (Ymer's) race,

fystust their (Cod. Worm.) it was to them (to Thor and to
fýrstuz (Cod. Reg.) the men of Ide's chalet) a joy
(or they rushed thither)

at thrysta thorns nidjum to conquer Thorn's (Bolthorn-Ymer's)
kinsmen.

NOTE.--The common understanding of this passage is (1) that _endr_ has nothing to do with the contents, but is a complementary word which may be translated with "once upon a time," a part which _endr_ has to play only too often in the interpretation of the old poems; (2) that Ide is merely a general giant name, applicable, like every other giant name, in a paraphrase _Idja setr_, which is supposed to mean Jotunheim; (3) that _rikri Idja setrs skotum_ or _rikri Gandvikr skotum_ was to give the hearers or readers of Thorsdrapa the (utterly unnecessary) information that Thor was stronger than the giants; and (4) that they who longed to subdue Ymer's kinsmen were Thor and Loke--the same Loke who, in secret understanding with the giant-chief and with one of his daughters (see below), has the purpose of enticing Thor and his companions in arms into a trap!

_Rikri ... skotum_ is to be regarded as an elliptical sentence in which the instrumental preposition, as is often the case, is to be understood. When Thor came from Asgard to the chalet of Ide, situated near Gandvik, he there gets companions in arms, and through them he becomes _rikri_, through them he gets an addition to his own powers in the impending conflicts. The fact that when Thor invades Jotunheim he is at the head of an army is perfectly evident from certain expressions in the poem, and from the poem as a whole. Whence could all these warriors come all of a sudden? They are not dwellers in Asgard, and he has not brought them with him in his lightning chariot. They live near Gandvik, which means "the magic bay," the Elivagar. Gandvik was a purely mythological-geographical name before it became the name of the White Sea in a late Christian time, when the sea between Greenland and America got the mythic name Ginungagap. Their being the inhabitants on the coast of a bay gives the author of Thorsdrapa an occasion further on to designate them as vikings, bayings. We have already seen that it is a day's journey between Asgard and the Elivagar (see No. 108), and that on the southern coast Thor has an inn, where he stops, and where his precious team and chariot are taken care of while he makes expeditions into Jotunheim. The continuation of the poem shows that this time, too, he stopped at this inn, and that he got his warriors there. Now, as always before, he proceeds on foot, after having reached Jotunheim.

_Strophe 3_ first makes a mythic chronological statement, namely, that the daughter of Geirrod, "skilled in magic," had come to an understanding with Loke, before Rogner became the ally of the latter. This mythic chronological statement shows (1) that there was a time when Rogner did not share Loke's plans, which were inimical to the gods; (2) that the events recounted in Thorsdrapa took place before Rogner became a foe of the gods. Why Thorsdrapa thinks it necessary to give this information becomes apparent already in the fourth strophe.

Then the departure from Ide's chalet is mentioned. The host hostile to the giants proceeds to Jotunheim, but before it gets thither it must traverse an intermediate region which is called Endil's meadow.

We might expect that instead of speaking of a meadow as the boundary territory which had to be traversed before getting into Jotunheim, the poem would have spoken of the body of water behind which Jotunheim lies, and mentioned it by one of its names--Elivagar, Gandvik, or Hraun. But on a more careful examination it appears that Endil's meadow is only a paraphrase for a body of water. The proof of this is found in the fact that "Endil's skees," _Endils andrar_, _Endils itrskid_, is a common paraphrase for ship. So is _Endils eykr_, "Endil's horse." The meadow which Endil crosses on such skees and on such a horse must therefore be a body of water. And no other water can be meant than that which lies between Endil's chalet and Jotunheim, that is, Elivagar, Gandvik.

The name _Endill_ may be the same as _Vendill_, _Vandill_ (Younger Edda, i. 548), and abbreviation of _Örvandill_. The initial _V_ was originally a semi-vowel, and as such it alliterated with other semi-vowels and with vowels (compare the rhymes on an Oland runic stone, _Vandils jörmungrundar urgrandari_). This easily-disappearing semi-vowel may have been thrown out in later times where it seemed to obscure the alliteration, and thus the form Endil may have arisen from Vendil, Vandil. "Örvandel's meadow" is accordingly in poetic language synonymous with Elivagar, and the paraphrase is a fitting one, since Orvandel-Egil had skees which bore him over land and sea, and since Elivagar was the scene of his adventures.

_Strophe 4_ tells that after crossing "Endil's meadow" the host of warriors invaded Jotunheim on foot, and that information about their invasion into the land of the giants came to the witches there.

Two important facts are here given in regard to these warriors: they are called _Gángs gunn-vanir_ and _Vargs fridar_, "Gang's warrior-vans," and "Varg's defenders of the land." Thus, in the first strophes of Thorsdrapa, we meet with the names of Olvalde's three sons: _Rögnir_ (Thjasse), _Idi_, and _Gángr_. The poem mentions Rogner's name in stating that the expedition occurred before Rogner became the foe of the gods; it names Ide's name when it tells that it was at his (Ide's) chalet near Gandvik that Thor gathered these warriors around him; and it names _Gángr's_ name, and in connection therewith _Vargr's_ name, when it is to state who the leaders were of those champions who accompanied Thor against Geirrod. Under such circumstances it is manifest that Thorsdrapa relates an episode in which Ide, Gang, and Thjasse appear as friends of Thor and foes of the giants, and that the poem locates their original country in the regions on the south coast of Elivagar, and makes _Idja setr_ to be situated near the same strand, and play in Thor's expeditions the same part as Orvandel-Egil's abode near the Elivagar, which is also called chalet, _Geirvandil's setr_, and _Ýsetr_. The _Vargr_ who is mentioned is, therefore, so far as can be seen, Rogner-Thjasse himself, who in Haustlaung, as we know, is called _fjallgyldir_, that is to say, wolf.