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The Edda, Volume 1

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Title: The Edda, Vol. 1 The Divine Mythology of the North, Popular Studies in Mythology, Romance, and

Folklore, No. 12

Author: Winifred Faraday

Release Date: July 23, 2004 [EBook #13007]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1

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Popular Studies in Mythology, Romance, and Folklore, No. 12

The Edda

The Divine Mythology of the North

Winifred Faraday, M.A.

Published by David Nutt, at the Sign of the Phoenix, Long Acre, London 1902

Author's Note

Some explanation is needed of the form of spelling I have adopted in transcribing Norse proper names. The

spirants thorn and eth are represented by th and d , as being more familiar to readers unacquainted with the

original. Marks of vowel-length are in all cases omitted. The inflexional _-r_ of the nominative singular

masculine is also omitted, whether it appears as _-r_ or is assimilated to a preceding consonant (as in Odinn,

Eysteinn, Heindall, Egill) in the Norse form, with the single exception of the name Tyr, where I use the form

which has become conventional in English.

Manchester, December 1901.

The Edda: I. The Divine Mythology of the North

The Icelandic Eddas are the only vernacular record of Germanic heathendom as it developed during the four

centuries which in England saw the destruction of nearly all traces of the heathen system. The so-called Elder

The Edda, Volume 1

Edda is a collection of some thirty poems, mythic and heroic in substance, interspersed with short pieces of

prose, which survives in a thirteenth-century MS., known as the Codex Regius, discovered in Iceland in 1642;

to these are added other poems of similar character from other sources. The Younger Edda is a prose

paraphrase of, and commentary on, these poems and others which are lost, together with a treatise on metre,

written by the historian Snorri Sturluson about 1220.

This use of the word Edda is incorrect and unhistorical, though convenient and sanctioned by the use of

several centuries. It was early used as a general term for the rules and materials for versemaking, and applied

in this sense to Snorri's work. When the poems on which his paraphrase is founded were discovered, Icelandic

scholars by a misunderstanding applied the name to them also; and as they attributed the collection quite

arbitrarily to the historian Saemund (1056-1133), it was long known as Saemundar Edda, a name now

generally discarded in favour of the less misleading titles of Elder or Poetic Edda. From its application to this

collection, the word derives a more extended use, (1) as a general term for Norse mythology; (2) as a

convenient name to distinguish the simpler style of these anonymous narrative poems from the elaborate

formality of the Skalds.

The poems of the Edda are certainly older than the MS., although the old opinion as to their high antiquity is

untenable. The majority probably date from the tenth century in their present form; this dating does not

necessitate the ascription of the shape in which the legends are presented, still less of their substance, to that

period. With regard to the place of their composition opinions vary widely, Norway, the British Isles and

Greenland having all found champions; but the evidence is rather questionable, and I incline to leave them to

the country which has preserved them. They are possibly of popular origin; this, together with their epic or

narrative character, would account for the striking absence from them of some of the chief characteristics of

Skaldic poetry: the obscuring of the sense by the elaborate interlacing of sentences and the extensive use of

kennings or mythological synonyms, and the complication of the metre by such expedients as the conjunction

of end-rhyme with alliteration. Eddie verse is governed solely by the latter, and the strophic arrangement is

simple, only two forms occurring: (1) couplets of alliterative short lines; (2) six-line strophes, consisting of a

couplet followed by a single short line, the whole repeated.

Roughly speaking, the first two-fifths of the MS. is mythological, the rest heroic. I propose to observe this

distinction, and to deal in this study with the stories of the Gods. In this connexion, Snorri's Edda and the

mythical Ynglinga Saga may also be considered, but as both were compiled a couple of centuries or more

after the introduction of Christianity into Iceland, it is uncertain how much in them is literary explanation of

tradition whose meaning was forgotten; some also, especially in Snorri, is probably pure invention, fairy tale

rather than myth.

Many attempts have been made to prove that the material of the Edda is largely borrowed. The strength and

distinction of Icelandic poetry rest rather on the fact that it is original and national and, like that of Greece,

owes little to foreign sources; and that it began in the heathen age, before Christian or Romantic influences

had touched Iceland. Valuable as the early Christian poetry of England is, we look in vain there for the

humour, the large-minded simplicity of motive, the suggestive character-drawing, the swift dramatic action,

which are as conspicuous in many poems in the Edda as in many of the Sagas.

Omitting the heroic poems, there are in Codex Regius the following: (1) Of a more or less comprehensive

character, _Völuspa, Vafthrudnismal, Grimnismal, Lokasenna, Harbardsljod_; (2) dealing with episodes,

_Hymiskvida, Thrymskvida, Skirnisför. Havamal_ is a collection of proverbs, but contains two interpolations

from mythical poems; Alvissmal , which, in the form of a dialogue between Thor and a dwarf Alviss, gives a

list of synonyms, is a kind of mythologico-poetical glossary. Several of these poems are found in another

thirteenth-century vellum fragment, with an additional one, variously styled Vegtamskvida or _Baldr's

Dreams_; the great fourteenth-century codex Flateybook contains Hyndluljod , partly genealogical, partly an

imitation of _Völuspa_; and one of the MSS. of Snorri's Edda gives us Rigsthula .

The Edda, Volume 1

_Völuspa_, though not one of the earliest poems, forms an appropriate opening. Metrical considerations

forbid an earlier date than the first quarter of the eleventh century, and the last few lines are still later. The

material is, however, older: the poem is an outline, in allusions often obscure to us, of traditions and beliefs

familiar to its first hearers. The very bareness of the outline is sufficient proof that the material is not new. The

framework is apparently imitated from that of the poem known as _Baldr's Dreams_, some lines from which

are inserted in _Völuspa_. This older poem describes Odin's visit to the Sibyl in hell-gates to inquire into the

future. He rides down to her tomb at the eastern door of Nifl-hell and chants spells, until she awakes and asks:

"What man unknown to me is that, who has troubled me with this weary journey? Snow has snowed on me,

rain has beaten me, dew has drenched me, I have long been dead." He gives the name Wegtam, or Way-wise,

and then follow question and answer until she discovers his identity and will say no more. In _Völuspa_ there

is no descriptive introduction, and no dialogue; the whole is spoken by the Sibyl, who plunges at once into her

story, with only the explanatory words: "Thou, Valfather, wouldst have me tell the ancient histories of men as

far as I remember." She describes the creation of the world and sky by Bor's sons; the building by the Gods of

a citadel in Ida-plain, and their age of innocence till three giant-maids brought greed of gold; the creation of

the dwarfs; the creation of the first man and woman out of two trees by Odin, Hoeni and Lodur; the world-ash

and the spring beside it where dwell the three Norns who order the fates of men. Then follows an allusion to

the war between the Aesir and the Vanir, the battle with the giants who had got possession of the goddess

Freyja, and the breaking of bargains; an obscure reference to Mimi's spring where Odin left his eye as a

pledge; and an enumeration of his war-maids or Valkyries. Turning to the future, the Sibyl prophesies the

death of Baldr, the vengeance on his slayer, and the chaining of Loki, the doom of the Gods and the

destruction of the world at the coming of the fire-giants and the release of Loki's children from captivity. The

rest of the poem seems to be later; it tells how the earth shall rise again from the deep, and the Aesir dwell

once more in Odin's halls, and there is a suggestion of Christian influence in it which is absent from the earlier

part.

Of the other general poems, the next four were probably composed before 950; in each the setting is different.

Vafthrudnismal , a riddle-poem, shows Odin in a favourite position, seeking in disguise for knowledge of the

future. Under the name of Gangrad (Wanderer), he visits the wise giant Vafthrudni, and the two agree to test

their wisdom: the one who fails to answer a question is to forfeit his head. In each case the questions deal first

with the past. Vafthrudni asks about Day and Night, and the river which divides the Giants from the Gods,

matters of common knowledge; and then puts a question as to the future: "What is the plain where Surt and

the blessed Gods shall meet in battle?" Odin replies, and proceeds to question in his turn; first about the

creation of Earth and Sky, the origin of Sun and Moon, Winter and Summer, the Giants and the Winds; the

coming of Njörd the Wane to the Aesir as a hostage; the Einherjar, or chosen warriors of Valhalla. Then come

prophetic questions on the destruction of the Sun by the wolf Fenri, the Gods who shall rule in the new world

after Ragnarök, the end of Odin. The poem is brought to a close by Odin's putting the question which only

himself can answer: "What did Odin say in his son's ear before he mounted the pyre?" and the giant's head is

forfeit.

In the third poem of this class, Grimnismal , a prose introduction relates that Odin and Frigg quarrelled over

the merits of their respective foster-children. To settle the question, Odin goes disguised as Grimni, "the

Hooded One," to visit his foster-son Geirröd; but Frigg, to justify her charge of inhospitality against Geirröd,

sends her maiden Fulla to warn him against the coming stranger. Odin therefore meets with a harsh reception,

and is bound between two fires in the hall. Geirröd's young son, Agnar, protests against this rude treatment,

and gives wine to the guest, who then begins to instruct him in matters concerning the Gods. He names the

halls of the Aesir, describes Valhalla and the ash Yggdrasil, the Valkyries, the creation of the world (two

stanzas in common with _Vafthrudnismal_), and enumerates his own names. The poem ends with impressive

abruptness by his turning to Geirröd:

"Thou art drunk, Geirröd, thou hast drunk too deep; thou art bereft of much since thou hast lost my favour, the

favour of Odin and all the Einherjar. I have told thee much, but thou hast minded little. Thy friends betray

thee: I see my friend's sword lie drenched in blood. Now shall Odin have the sword-weary slain; I know thy

The Edda, Volume 1

life is ended, the Fates are ungracious. Now thou canst see Odin: come near me, if thou canst."

[Prose.] "King Geirröd sat with his sword on his knee, half drawn. When he heard that Odin was there, he

stood up and would have led Odin from the fires. The sword slipt from his hand; the hilt turned downwards.

The king caught his foot and fell forwards, the sword standing towards him, and so he met his death. Then

Odin went away, and Agnar was king there long afterwards."

Harbardsljod is a dialogue, and humorous. Thor on his return from the east comes to a channel, at the farther

side of which stands Odin, disguised as a ferryman, Greybeard. He refuses to ferry Thor across, and they

question each other as to their past feats, with occasional threats from Thor and taunts from Odin, until the

former goes off vowing vengeance on the ferryman:

Thor . "Thy skill in words would serve thee ill if I waded across the water; I think thou wouldst cry louder than

the wolf, if thou shouldst get a blow from the hammer."

Odin . "Sif has a lover at home, thou shouldst seek him. That is a task for thee to try, it is more proper for

thee."

Thor . "Thou speakest what thou knowest most displeasing to me; thou cowardly fellow, I think that thou

liest."

Odin . "I think I speak true; thou art slow on the road. Thou wouldst have got far, if thou hadst started at

dawn."

Thor . "Harbard, scoundrel, it is rather thou who hast delayed me."

Odin . "I never thought a shepherd could so delay Asa-Thor's journey."

Thor . "I will counsel thee: row thy boat hither. Let us cease quarrelling; come and meet Magni's father."

Odin . "Leave thou the river; crossing shall be refused thee."

Thor . "Show me the way, since thou wilt not ferry me."

Odin . "That is a small thing to refuse. It is a long way to go: a while to the stock, and another to the stone,

then keep to the left hand till thou reach Verland. There will Fjörgyn meet her son Thor, and she will tell him

the highway to Odin's land."

Thor . "Shall I get there to-day?"

Odin . "With toil and trouble thou wilt get there about sunrise, as I think."

Thor . "Our talk shall be short, since thou answerest with mockery. I will reward thee for refusing passage, if

we two meet again."

Odin . "Go thy way, where all the fiends may take thee."

Lokasenna also is in dialogue form. A prose introduction tells how the giant Oegi, or Gymi, gave a feast to the

Aesir. Loki was turned out for killing a servant, but presently returned and began to revile the Gods and

Goddesses, each one in turn trying to interfere, only to provoke a taunt from Loki. At last Thor, who had been

absent on a journey, came in and threatened the slanderer with his hammer, whereupon Loki said, "I spoke to

the Aesir and the sons of the Aesir what my mind told me; but for thee alone I will go away, for I know thou

The Edda, Volume 1

wilt strike." Some of the poem is rather pointless abuse, but much touches points already suggested in the

other poems.

Hyndluljod is much later than the others, probably not before 1200. The style is late, and the form imitated

from _Völuspa_. It describes a visit paid by Freyja to the Sibyl to learn the genealogy of her favourite Ottar.

The larger part deals with heroic genealogies, but there are scanty allusions to Baldr, Frey, Heimdal, Loki's

children, and Thor, and a Christian reference to a God who shall come after Ragnarök "when Odin shall meet

the wolf." It tells nothing new.

We have here then, omitting Hyndluljod , five poems (four of them belonging to the first half of the tenth

century) which suggest a general outline of Norse mythology: there is a hierarchy of Gods, the Aesir, who live

together in a citadel, Odin being the chief. Among them are several who are not Aesir by origin: Njörd and his

son and daughter, Frey and Freyja, are Vanir; Loki is really an enemy and an agent in their fall; and there are

one or two Goddesses of giant race. The giants are rivals and enemies to the Gods; the dwarfs are also

antagonistic, but in bondage. The meeting-place of the Gods is by the World-Ash, Yggdrasil, on whose

well-being the fate of Gods and men depends; at its root lies the World-Snake. The Gods have foreknowledge

of their own doom, Ragnarök, the great fight when they shall meet Loki's children, the Wolf and the Snake;

both sides will fall and the world be destroyed. An episode in the story is the death of Baldr. This we may

assume to be the religion of the Viking age (800-1000 A.D.), a compound of the beliefs of various ages and

tribes.

_The Aesir._--The number of the Aesir is not fixed. Hyndluljod says there were twelve ("there were eleven

Aesir when Baldr went down into the howe"). Snorri gives a list of fourteen Aesir or Gods (Odin, Thor, Baldr,

Njörd, Frey, Tyr, Bragi, Heimdal, Höd, Vidar, Vali, Ullr, Forseti, Loki), and adds Hoeni in another list, all the

fifteen occurring in the poems; and sixteen Goddesses (Asynjor), the majority of whom are merely personified

epithets, occurring nowhere else. Of the sixteen, Frigg, Gefion, Freyja and Saga (really an epithet only) are

Goddesses in the poems, and Fulla is Frigg's handmaid. In another chapter, Snorri adds Idunn, Gerd, Sigyn

and Nanna, of whom the latter does not appear in the Elder Edda, where Idunn, Gerd (a giantess) and Sigyn

are the wives of Bragi, Frey and Loki; and two others, the giantess Skadi and Sif, are the wives of Njörd and

Thor.

A striking difference from classical mythology is that neither Tyr (who should etymologically be the

Sky-god), nor Thor (the Thunder-god), takes the highest place. Tyr is the hero of one important episode, the

chaining of the Wolf, through which he loses his right hand. This is told in full by Snorri and alluded to in

Lokasenna , both in the prose preface ("Tyr also was there, with only one hand; the Fenris-wolf had bitten off

the other, when he was bound") and in the poem itself:

Loki . "I must remember that right hand which Fenri bit off thee."

Tyr . "I am short of a hand, but thou of the famous wolf; to each the loss is ill-luck. Nor is the wolf in better

plight, for he must wait in bonds till Ragnarök."

Otherwise, he only appears in connexion with two more popular Gods: he speaks in Frey's defence in

Lokasenna , and in Hymiskvida he is Thor's companion in the search for a cauldron; the latter poem represents

him as a giant's son.

Thor, on the other hand, is second only to his father Odin; he is the strongest of the Gods and their champion

against the giants, and his antagonist at Ragnarök is to be the World-Snake. Like Odin, he travels much, but

while the chief God generally goes craftily and in disguise, to gain knowledge or test his wisdom, Thor's

errands are warlike; in Lokasenna he is absent on a journey, in Harbardsljod and Alvissmal he is returning

from one. His journeys are always to the east; so in _Harbardsljod_: "I was in the east, fighting the malevolent

giant-brides.... I was in the east and guarding the river, when Svarang's sons attacked me." The Giants live in

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