SCORPION

CHAPTER XXVII: THE STORY OF FRITHIOF


Bishop Tegnйr

Probably no writer of the nineteenth century did so much to awaken
interest in the literary treasures of Scandinavia as Bishop Esaias
Tegnйr, whom a Swedish author characterised as, "that mighty Genie
who organises even disorder."

Tegnйr's "Frithiof Saga" has been translated once at least into every
European tongue, and some twenty times into English and German. Goethe
spoke of the work with the greatest enthusiasm, and the tale, which
gives a matchless picture of the life of our heathen ancestors in the
North, drew similar praise from Longfellow, who considered it to be
one of the most remarkable productions of his century.

Although Tegnйr has chosen for his theme the Frithiof saga only, we
find that that tale is the sequel to the older but less interesting
Thorsten saga, of which we give here a very brief outline, merely to
enable the reader to understand clearly every allusion in the more
modern poem.

As is so frequently the case with these ancient tales, the story begins
with Haloge (Loki), who came north with Odin, and began to reign over
northern Norway, which from him was called Halogaland. According to
Northern mythology, this god had two lovely daughters. They were
carried off by bold suitors, who, banished from the mainland by
Haloge's curses and magic spells, took refuge with their newly won
wives upon neighbouring islands.



Birth of Viking

Thus it happened that Haloge's grandson, Viking, was born upon the
island of Bornholm, in the Baltic Sea, where he dwelt until he was
fifteen, and where he became the biggest and strongest man of his
time. Rumours of his valour finally reached Hunvor, a Swedish princess,
who was oppressed by the attentions of a gigantic suitor whom none
dared drive away, and she sent for Viking to deliver her.

Thus summoned, the youth departed, after having received from his
father a magic sword named Angurvadel, whose blows would prove fatal
even to a giant like the suitor of Hunvor. A "holmgang," as a duel
was termed in the North, ensued as soon as the hero arrived upon the
scene, and Viking, having slain his antagonist, could have married
the princess had it not been considered disgraceful for a Northman
to marry before he was twenty.

To beguile the time of waiting for his promised bride, Viking set
out in a well-manned dragon ship; and cruising about the Northern and
Southern seas, he met with countless adventures. During this time he
was particularly persecuted by the kindred of the giant he had slain,
who were adepts in magic, and they brought upon him innumerable perils
by land and sea.

Aided and abetted by his bosom friend, Halfdan, Viking escaped every
danger, slew many of his foes, and, after rescuing Hunvor, whom, in
the meantime, the enemy had carried off to India, he settled down in
Sweden. His friend, faithful in peace as well as in war, settled near
him, and married also, choosing for wife Ingeborg, Hunvor's attendant.

The saga now describes the long, peaceful winters, when the warriors
feasted and listened to the tales of scalds, rousing themselves to
energetic efforts only when returning spring again permitted them to
launch their dragon ships and set out once more upon their piratical
expeditions.


    "Then the Scald took his harp and sang,
    And loud through the music rang
        The sound of that shining word;
    And the harp-strings a clangour made,
    As if they were struck with the blade
        Of a sword.

    "And the Berserks round about
    Broke forth into a shout
        That made the rafters ring:
    They smote with their fists on the board,
    And shouted, 'Long live the Sword,
        And the King!'"

            Longfellow's Saga of King Olaf.


In the old story the scalds relate with great gusto every phase of
attack and defence during cruise and raid, and describe every blow
given and received, dwelling with satisfaction upon the carnage and
lurid flames which envelop both enemies and ships in common ruin. A
fierce fight is often an earnest of future friendship, however, and
we are told that Halfdan and Viking, having failed to conquer Njorfe,
a foeman of mettle, sheathed their swords after a most obstinate
struggle, and accepted their enemy as a third link in their close
bond of friendship.

On returning home from one of these customary raids, Viking lost
his beloved wife; and, entrusting her child, Ring, to the care of a
foster father, after undergoing a short period of mourning, the brave
warrior married again. This time his marital bliss was more lasting,
for the saga tells that his second wife bore him nine stalwart sons.

Njorfe, King of Uplands, in Norway, also rejoiced in a family of
nine brave sons. Now, although their fathers were united in bonds of
the closest friendship, having sworn blood brotherhood according to
the true Northern rites, the young men were jealous of one another,
and greatly inclined to quarrel.



The Game of Ball

Notwithstanding this smouldering animosity, the youths often met;
and the saga relates that they used to play ball together, and gives
a description of the earliest ball game on record in the Northern
annals. Viking's sons, as tall and strong as he, were inclined to be
rather reckless of their opponents' welfare, and, judging from the
following account, translated from the old saga, the players were
often left in as sorry a condition as after a modern game.

"The next morning the brothers went to the games, and generally had
the ball during the day; they pushed men and let them fall roughly,
and beat others. At night three men had their arms broken, and many
were bruised or maimed."

The game between Njorfe's and Viking's sons culminated in a
disagreement, and one of Njorfe's sons struck one of his opponents
a dangerous and treacherous blow. Prevented from taking his revenge
then and there by the interference of the spectators, the injured
man made a trivial excuse to return to the ground alone; and, meeting
his assailant there, he slew him.



The Blood Feud

When Viking heard that one of his sons had slain one of his friend's
children, he was very indignant, and mindful of his oath to avenge all
Njorfe's wrongs, he banished the young murderer. The other brothers,
on hearing this sentence, vowed that they would accompany the exile,
and so Viking sorrowfully bade them farewell, giving his sword
Angurvadel to Thorsten, the eldest, and cautioning him to remain
quietly on an island in Lake Wener until all danger of retaliation
on the part of Njorfe's remaining sons should be over.

The young men obeyed; but Njorfe's sons were determined to avenge
their brother, and although they had no boats to convey them over
the lake, they made use of a conjurer's art to bring about a great
frost. Accompanied by many armed men, they then stole noiselessly
over the ice to attack Thorsten and his brothers, and a terrible
carnage ensued. Only two of the attacking party managed to escape,
but they left, as they fancied, all their foes among the dead.

Then came Viking to bury his sons, and he found that two of them,
Thorsten and Thorer, were still alive; whereupon he secretly conveyed
them to a cellar beneath his dwelling, and in due time they recovered
from their wounds.

Njorfe's two surviving sons soon discovered by magic arts that their
opponents were not dead, and they made a second desperate but vain
attempt to kill them. Viking saw that the quarrel would be incessantly
renewed if his sons remained at home; so he now sent them to Halfdan,
whose court they reached after a series of adventures which in many
points resemble those of Theseus on his way to Athens.

When spring came round Thorsten embarked on a piratical excursion,
in the course of which he encountered Jokul, Njorfe's eldest son,
who, meanwhile, had taken forcible possession of the kingdom of Sogn,
having killed the king, banished his heir, Belй, and changed his
beautiful daughter, Ingeborg, into the similitude of an old witch.

Throughout the story Jokul is represented as somewhat of a coward,
for he resorted by preference to magic when he wished to injure
Viking's sons. Thus he stirred up great tempests, and Thorsten,
after twice suffering shipwreck, was only saved from the waves by
the seeming witch, whom he promised to marry in gratitude for her
good offices. Thorsten, advised by Ingeborg, now went in search of
Belй, whom he found and replaced upon his hereditary throne, having
sworn eternal friendship with him. After this, the baleful spell was
removed, and Ingeborg, now revealed in her native beauty, was united
to Thorsten, and dwelt with him at Framnдs.



Thorsten and Belй

Every spring Thorsten and Belй set out together in their ships; and,
upon one of these expeditions, they joined forces with Angantyr,
a foe whose mettle they had duly tested, and proceeded to recover
possession of a priceless treasure, a magic dragon ship named Ellida,
which Жgir, god of the sea, had once given to Viking in reward for
hospitable treatment, and which had been stolen from him.


    "A royal gift to behold, for the swelling planks of its framework
    Were not fastened with nails, as is wont, but grown in together.
    Its shape was that of a dragon when swimming, but forward
    Its head rose proudly on high, the throat with yellow gold flaming;
    Its belly was spotted with red and yellow, but back by the rudder
    Coiled out its mighty tail in circles, all scaly with silver;
    Black wings with edges of red; when all were expanded
    Ellida raced with the whistling storm, but outstript the eagle.
    When filled to the edge with warriors, it sailed o'er the waters,
    You'd deem it a floating fortress, or warlike abode of a monarch.
    The ship was famed far and wide, and of ships was first in
    the North."

            Tegnйr, Frithiof Saga (Spalding's tr.).


The next season, Thorsten, Belй, and Angantyr conquered the Orkney
Islands, which were given as a kingdom to the latter, he voluntarily
pledging himself to pay a yearly tribute to Belй. Next Thorsten and
Belй went in quest of a magic ring, or armlet, once forged by Vцlund,
the smith, and stolen by Sotй, a famous pirate.

This bold robber was so afraid lest some one should gain possession of
the magic ring, that he had buried himself alive with it in a mound
in Bretland. Here his ghost was said to keep constant watch over it,
and when Thorsten entered his tomb, Belй, who waited outside, heard
the sound of frightful blows given and returned, and saw lurid gleams
of supernatural fire.

When Thorsten finally staggered out of the mound, pale and bloody,
but triumphant, he refused to speak of the horrors he had encountered
to win the coveted treasure, but often would he say, as he showed it,
"I trembled but once in my life, and 'twas when I seized it!"



Birth of Frithiof and Ingeborg

Thus owner of the three greatest treasures of the North, Thorsten
returned home to Framnдs, where Ingeborg bore him a fine boy, Frithiof,
while two sons, Halfdan and Helgй, were born to Belй. The lads played
together, and were already well grown when Ingeborg, Belй's little
daughter, was born, and some time later the child was entrusted to
the care of Hilding, who was already Frithiof's foster father, as
Thorsten's frequent absences made it difficult for him to undertake
the training of his boy.


    "Jocund they grew, in guileless glee;
    Young Frithiof was the sapling tree;
    In budding beauty by his side,
    Sweet Ingeborg, the garden's pride."

            Tegnйr, Frithiof Saga (Longfellow's tr.).


Frithiof soon became hardy and fearless under his foster father's
training, and Ingeborg rapidly developed the sweetest traits of
character and loveliness. Both were happiest when together; and as
they grew older their childish affection daily became deeper and more
intense, until Hilding, perceiving this state of affairs, bade the
youth remember that he was a subject of the king, and therefore no
mate for his only daughter.


    "To Odin, in his star-lit sky,
    Ascends her titled ancestry;
    But Thorsten's son art thou; give way!
    For 'like thrives best with like,' they say."

            Tegnйr, Frithiof Saga (G. Stephens's tr.).



Frithiof's Love for Ingeborg

These wise admonitions came too late, however, and Frithiof vehemently
declared that he would win the fair Ingeborg for his bride in spite
of all obstacles and his more humble origin.

Shortly after this Belй and Thorsten met for the last time, near the
magnificent shrine of Balder, where the king, feeling that his end was
near, had convened a solemn assembly, or Thing, of all his principal
subjects, in order to present his sons Helgй and Halfdan to the people
as his chosen successors. The young heirs were very coldly received
on this occasion, for Helgй was of a sombre and taciturn disposition,
and inclined to the life of a priest, and Halfdan was of a weak,
effeminate nature, and noted for his love of pleasure rather than of
war and the chase. Frithiof, who was present, and stood beside them,
was the object of many admiring glances from the throng.


    "But close behind them Frithiof goes,
      Wrapp'd in his mantle blue;
    His height a whole head taller rose
      Than that of both the two.

    He stands between the brothers there--
      As though the ripe day stood
    Atween young morning rosy-fair,
      And night within the wood."

            Tegnйr, Frithiof Saga (G. Stephens's tr.).


After giving his last instructions and counsel to his sons, and
speaking kindly to Frithiof, for whom he entertained a warm regard,
the old king turned to his lifelong companion, Thorsten, to take
leave of him, but the old warrior declared that they would not long
be parted. Belй then spoke again to his sons, and bade them erect his
howe, or funeral mound, within sight of that of Thorsten, that their
spirits might commune over the waters of the narrow firth which would
flow between them, that so they might not be sundered even in death.



Helgй and Halfdan

These instructions were piously carried out when, shortly after, the
aged companions breathed their last; and the great barrows having been
erected, the brothers, Helgй and Halfdan, began to rule their kingdom,
while Frithiof, their former playmate, withdrew to his own place at
Framnдs, a fertile homestead, lying in a snug valley enclosed by the
towering mountains and the waters of the ever-changing firth.


    "Three miles extended around the fields of the homestead; on
    three sides
    Valleys and mountains and hills, but on the fourth side was
    the ocean.
    Birch-woods crowned the summits, but over the down-sloping
    hill-sides
    Flourished the golden corn, and man-high was waving the rye-field."

            Tegnйr, Frithiof Saga (Longfellow's tr.).


But although surrounded by faithful retainers, and blessed with much
wealth and the possession of the famous treasures of his hero sire,
the sword Angurvadel, the Vцlund ring, and the matchless dragon
ship Ellida, Frithiof was unhappy, because he could no longer see
the fair Ingeborg daily. All his former spirits revived, however,
when in the spring, at his invitation, both kings came to visit him,
together with their fair sister, and once again they spent long
hours in cheerful companionship. As they were thus constantly thrown
together, Frithiof found opportunity to make known to Ingeborg his
deep affection, and he received in return an avowal of her love.


    "He sat by her side, and he pressed her soft hand,
    And he felt a soft pressure responsive and bland;
    Whilst his love-beaming gaze
    Was returned as the sun's in the moon's placid rays."

            Tegnйr, Frithiof Saga (Longfellow's tr.).



Frithiof's Suit

When the visit was ended and the guests had departed, Frithiof informed
his confidant and chief companion, Bjцrn, of his determination to
follow them and openly ask for Ingeborg's hand. His ship was set free
from its moorings and it swooped like an eagle over to the shore near
Balder's shrine, where the royal brothers were seated in state on
Belй's tomb to listen to the petitions of their subjects. Straightway
Frithiof presented himself before them, and manfully made his request,
adding that the old king had always loved him and would surely have
granted his prayer.


    "No king was my sire, not a jarl, ev'n--'tis true;
    Yet Scald-songs his mem'ry and exploits renew;
    The Rune-stones will tell
    On high-vaulted cairn what my race hath done well.

    "With ease could I win me both empire and land;--
    But rather I stay on my forefathers' strand;
    While arms I can wield--
    Both poverty's hut and king's palace I'll shield.

    "On Belй's round barrow we stand; each word
    In the dark deeps beneath us he hears and has heard;
    With Frithiof pleadeth
    The old Chief in his cairn: think! your answer thought needeth."

            Tegnйr, Frithiof Saga (G. Stephens's tr.).


Then he went on to promise lifelong fealty and the service of his
strong right arm in exchange for the boon he craved.

As Frithiof ceased King Helgй rose, and regarding the young man
scornfully, he said: "Our sister is not for a peasant's son; proud
chiefs of the Northland may dispute for her hand, but not thou. As
for thy arrogant proffer, know that I can protect my kingdom. Yet if
thou wouldst be my man, place in my household mayst thou have."

Enraged at the insult thus publicly offered, Frithiof drew his
invincible sword; but, remembering that he stood on a consecrated spot,
he struck only at the royal shield, which fell in two pieces clashing
to the ground. Then striding back to his ship in sullen silence,
he embarked and sailed away.


                "And lo! cloven in twain at a stroke
    Fell King Helge's gold shield from its pillar of oak:
    At the clang of the blow,
    The live started above, the dead started below."

            Tegnйr, Frithiof Saga (Longfellow's tr.).



Sigurd Ring a Suitor

After his departure came messengers from Sigurd Ring, the aged King
of Ringric, in Norway, who, having lost his wife, sent to Helgй and
Halfdan to ask Ingeborg's hand in marriage. Before returning answer
to this royal suitor, Helgй consulted the Vala, or prophetess, and
the priests, who all declared that the omens were not in favour of the
marriage. Upon this Helgй assembled his people to hear the word which
the messengers were to carry to their master, but unfortunately King
Halfdan gave way to his waggish humour, and made scoffing reference
to the advanced age of the royal suitor. These impolitic words
were reported to King Ring, and so offended him that he immediately
collected an army and prepared to march against the Kings of Sogn to
avenge the insult with his sword. When the rumour of his approach
reached the cowardly brothers they were terrified, and fearing to
encounter the foe unaided, they sent Hilding to Frithiof to implore
his help.

Hilding found Frithiof playing chess with Bjцrn, and immediately made
known his errand.


                "'From Bele's high heirs
    I come with courteous words and prayers
    Disastrous tidings rouse the brave;
    On thee a nation's hope relies.
     
    In Balder's fane, griefs loveliest prey,
    Sweet Ing'borg weeps the livelong day:
    Say, can her tears unheeded fall,
    Nor call her champion to her side?'"

            Tegnйr, Frithiof Saga (Longfellow's tr.).


While the old man was speaking Frithiof continued to play, ever and
anon interjecting an enigmatical reference to the game, until at this
point he said:


    "Bjцrn; thou in vain my queen pursuest,
    She from childhood dearest, truest!
      She's my game's most darling piece, and
        Come what will--I'll save my queen!"

            Tegnйr, Frithiof Saga (G. Stephens's tr.).


Hilding did not understand such mode of answering, and at length
rebuked Frithiof for his indifference. Then Frithiof rose, and
pressing kindly the old man's hand, he bade him tell the kings that
he was too deeply offended to listen to their appeal.

Helgй and Halfdan, thus forced to fight without their bravest leader,
preferred to make a treaty with Sigurd Ring, and they agreed to give
him not only their sister Ingeborg, but also a yearly tribute.



At Balder's Shrine

While they were thus engaged at Sogn Sound, Frithiof hastened to
Balder's temple, to which Ingeborg had been sent for security, and
where, as Hilding had declared, he found her a prey to grief. Now
although it was considered a sacrilege for man and woman to exchange a
word in the sacred building, Frithiof could not forbear to console her;
and, forgetting all else, he spoke to her and comforted her, quieting
all her apprehensions of the gods' anger by assuring her that Balder,
the good, must view their innocent passion with approving eyes, for
love so pure as theirs could defile no sanctuary; and they ended by
plighting their troth before the shrine of Balder.


    "'Thou whisp'rest "Balder,"--His wrath fearest;--
      That gentle god all anger flies.
    We worship here a Lover, dearest!
      Our hearts' love is his sacrifice;
    That god whose brow beams sunshine-splendour,
      Whose faith lasts through eternity,--
    Was not his love to beauteous Nanna
      As pure, as warm, as mine to thee?

    "'His image see!--himself broods o'er it--
      How mild, how kind, his bright eyes move!
    An off'ring bear I here before it,
      A warm heart full of purest love.
Come, kneel with me! no altar incense
      To Balder's soul more grateful is
    Than two hearts, vowing in his presence
      A mutual faith as true as his!'"

            Tegnйr, Frithiof Saga (G. Stephens's tr.).


Reassured by this reasoning, which received added strength from the
voice which spoke loudly from her own heart, Ingeborg could not refuse
to see and converse with Frithiof. During the kings' absence the
young lovers met every day, and they exchanged love-tokens, Frithiof
giving to Ingeborg Vцlund's arm-ring, which she solemnly promised to
send back to her lover should she be compelled to break her promise
to live for him alone. Frithiof lingered at Framnдs until the kings'
return, when, yielding to the fond entreaties of Ingeborg the Fair,
he again appeared before them, and pledged himself to free them from
their thraldom to Sigurd Ring if they would only reconsider their
decision and promise him their sister's hand.


                            "'War stands and strikes
    His glitt'ring shield within thy boundaries;
    Thy realm, King Helge, is in jeopardy:
    But give thy sister, and I'll lend mine arm
    Thy guard in battle. It may stead thee well.
    Come! let this grudge between us be forgotten,
    Unwilling bear I such 'gainst Ing'borg's brother.
    Be counsell'd, King! be just! and save at once
    Thy golden crown and thy fair sister's heart!
    Here is my hand: by Asa-Thor I swear
    Never again 'tis stretch'd in reconcilement!'"

            Tegnйr, Frithiof Saga (G. Stephens's tr.).



Frithiof Banished

But although this offer was received with acclamation by the assembled
warriors, Helgй scornfully demanded of Frithiof whether he had spoken
with Ingeborg and so defiled the temple of Balder.

A shout of "Say nay, Frithiof! say nay!" broke from the ring
of warriors, but he proudly answered: "I would not lie to gain
Valhalla. I have spoken to thy sister, Helgй, yet have I not broken
Balder's peace."

A murmur of horror passed through the ranks at this avowal, and when
the harsh voice of Helgй was raised in judgment, none was there to
gainsay the justice of the sentence.

This apparently was not a harsh one, but Helgй well knew that it
meant death, and he so intended it.

Far westward lay the Orkney Islands, ruled by Jarl Angantyr, whose
yearly tribute to Belй was withheld now that the old king lay in
his cairn. Hard-fisted he was said to be, and heavy of hand, and to
Frithiof was given the task of demanding the tribute face to face.

Before he sailed upon the judgment-quest, however, he once more sought
Ingeborg, and implored her to elope with him to a home in the sunny
South, where her happiness should be his law, and where she should
rule over his subjects as his honoured wife. But Ingeborg sorrowfully
refused to accompany him, saying that, since her father was no more,
she was in duty bound to obey her brothers implicitly, and could not
marry without their consent.

The fiery spirit of Frithiof was at first impatient under this
disappointment of his hopes, but in the end his noble nature conquered,
and after a heartrending parting scene, he embarked upon Ellida, and
sorrowfully sailed out of the harbour, while Ingeborg, through a mist
of tears, watched the sail as it faded and disappeared in the distance.

The vessel was barely out of sight when Helgй sent for two witches
named Heid and Ham, bidding them by incantations to stir up a tempest
at sea in which it would be impossible for even the god-given vessel
Ellida to live, that so all on board should perish. The witches
immediately complied; and with Helgй's aid they soon stirred up a
storm the fury of which is unparalleled in history.


        "Helgй on the strand
        Chants his wizard-spell,
        Potent to command
        Fiends of earth or hell.
    Gathering darkness shrouds the sky;
    Hark, the thunder's distant roll!
    Lurid lightnings, as they fly,
    Streak with blood the sable pole.
    Ocean, boiling to its base,
    Scatters wide its wave of foam;
    Screaming, as in fleetest chase,
    Sea-birds seek their island home."

            Tegnйr, Frithiof Saga (Longfellow's tr.).


    "Then the storm unfetter'd wingeth
      Wild his course; in Ocean's foam
    Now he dips him, now up-swingeth,
      Whirling toward the God's own home:
    Rides each Horror-spirit, warning,
      High upon the topmost wave--
    Up from out the white, vast, yawning,
      Bottomless, unfathom'd grave."

            Tegnйr, Frithiof Saga (G. Stephens's tr.).


The Tempest

Unfrighted by tossing waves and whistling blasts, Frithiof sang a
cheery song to reassure his terrified crew; but when the peril grew
so great that his exhausted followers gave themselves up for lost, he
bethought him of tribute to the goddess Ran, who ever requires gold of
them who would rest in peace under the ocean wave. Taking his armlet,
he hewed it with his sword and made fair division among his men.


    "Who goes empty-handed
    Down to sea-blue Ran?
    Cold her kisses strike, and
    Fleeting her embrace is."

            Tegnйr, Frithiof Saga (G. Stephens's tr.).


He then bade Bjцrn hold the rudder, and himself climbed to the mast-top
to view the horizon. While perched there he descried a whale, upon
which the two witches were riding the storm. Speaking to his good
ship, which was gifted with power of understanding and could obey
his commands, he now ran down both whale and witches, and the sea was
reddened with their blood. At the same instant the wind fell, the waves
ceased to threaten, and fair weather soon smiled again upon the seas.

Exhausted by their previous superhuman efforts and by the labour
of baling their water-logged vessel, the men were too weak to land
when they at last reached the Orkney Islands, and had to be carried
ashore by Bjцrn and Frithiof, who gently laid them down on the sand,
bidding them rest and refresh themselves after all the hardships they
had endured.


    "Yet more wearied than their Dragon
      Totter Frithiof's gallant men;
    Though each leans upon his weapon,
      Scarcely upright stand they then.
    Bjцrn, on pow'rful shoulder, dareth
      Four to carry to the land;
    Frithiof, all alone, eight beareth,--
      Sets them so round the upblaz'd brand.

        'Nay! ye white-fac'd, shame not!
        Waves are mighty Vikings;
        Hard's the unequal struggle--
        Ocean's maids our foes.
        See! there comes the mead-horn,
        Wand'ring on bright gold-foot;
        Shipmates! cold limbs warm,--and
        Here's to Ingeborg!'"

            Tegnйr, Frithiof Saga (G. Stephen's tr.).


The arrival of Frithiof and his men, and their mode of landing, had
been noted by the watchman of Angantyr, who immediately informed his
master of all he had seen. The jarl exclaimed that the ship which had
weathered such a gale could be none but Ellida, and that its captain
was doubtless Frithiof, Thorsten's gallant son. At these words one
of his Berserkers, Atlй, caught up his weapons and strode from the
hall, vowing that he would challenge Frithiof, and thus satisfy
himself concerning the veracity of the tales he had heard of the
young hero's courage.



Atlй's Challenge

Although still greatly exhausted, Frithiof immediately accepted
Atlй's challenge, and, after a sharp encounter with swords,
in which Angurvadel was triumphant, the two champions grappled in
deadly embrace. Widely is that wrestling-match renowned in the North,
and well matched were the heroes, but in the end Frithiof threw his
antagonist, whom he would have slain then and there had his sword been
within reach. Atlй saw his intention, and bade him go in search of the
weapon, promising to remain motionless during his absence. Frithiof,
knowing that such a warrior's promise was inviolable, immediately
obeyed; but when he returned with his sword, and found his antagonist
calmly awaiting death, he relented, and bade Atlй rise and live.


    "Then storm they, nothing yielded,
      Two autumn-billows like!
    And oft, with steel round shielded,
      Their jarring breasts fierce strike.

    "All like two bears they wrestle,
      On hills of snow; and draw
    And strain, each like an eagle
      On the angry sea at war.
    The root-fast rock resisted
      Full hardly them between
    And green iron oaks down-twisted
      With lesser pulls have been.

    "From each broad brow sweat rushes;
      Their bosoms coldly heave;
    And stones and mounds and bushes
      Dints hundred-fold receive."

            Tegnйr, Frithiof Saga (G. Stephens's tr.).


Together the appeased warriors now wended their way to Angantyr's hall,
which Frithiof found to be far different from the rude dwellings of
his native land. The walls were covered with leather richly decorated
with gilt designs. The chimney-piece was of marble, and glass panes
were in the window-frames. A soft light was diffused from many candles
burning in silver branches, and the tables groaned under the most
luxurious fare.

High in a silver chair sat the jarl, clad in a coat of golden
mail, over which was flung a rich mantle bordered with ermine,
but when Frithiof entered he strode from his seat with cordial hand
outstretched. "Full many a horn have I emptied with my old friend
Thorsten," said he, "and his brave son is equally welcome at my board."

Nothing loth, Frithiof seated himself beside his host, and after he
had eaten and drunk he recounted his adventures upon land and sea.

At last, however, Frithiof made known his errand, whereupon Angantyr
said that he owed no tribute to Helgй, and would pay him none; but
that he would give the required sum as a free gift to his old friend's
son, leaving him at liberty to dispose of it as he pleased. Meantime,
since the season was unpropitious for the return journey, and storms
continually swept the sea, the king invited Frithiof to tarry with
him over the winter; and it was only when the gentle spring breezes
were blowing once more that he at last allowed him to depart.



Frithiof's Home-coming

Taking leave of his kind host, Frithiof set sail, and wafted by
favourable winds, the hero, after six days, came in sight of Framnдs,
and found that his home had been reduced to a shapeless heap of ashes
by Helgй's orders. Sadly Frithiof strode over the ravaged site of his
childhood's home, and as he viewed the desolate scene his heart burned
within him. The ruins were not entirely deserted, however, and suddenly
Frithiof felt the cold nozzle of his hound thrust into his hand. A
few moments later his favourite steed bounded to his master's side,
and the faithful creatures were well-nigh frantic with delight. Then
came Hilding to greet him with the information that Ingeborg was
now the wife of Sigurd Ring. When Frithiof heard this he flew into a
Berserker rage, and bade his men scuttle the vessels in the harbour,
while he strode to the temple in search of Helgй.

The king stood crowned amid a circle of priests, some of whom
brandished flaming pine-knots, while all grasped a sacrificial flint
knife. Suddenly there was a clatter of arms and in burst Frithiof, his
brow dark as autumn storms. Helgй's face went pale as he confronted the
angry hero, for he knew what his coming presaged. "Take thy tribute,
King," said Frithiof, and with the words, he took the purse from his
girdle and flung it in Helgй's face with such force that blood gushed
from his mouth and he fell swooning at Balder's feet.

The silver-bearded priests advanced to the scene of violence, but
Frithiof motioned them back, and his looks were so threatening that
they durst not disobey.

Then his eye fell upon the arm-ring which he had given to Ingeborg
and which Helgй had placed upon the arm of Balder, and striding up
to the wooden image he said: "Pardon, great Balder, not for thee
was the ring wrested from Vцlund's tomb!" Then he seized the ring,
but strongly as he tugged it would not come apart. At last he put
forth all his strength, and with a sudden jerk he recovered the ring,
and at the same time the image of the god fell prone across the altar
fire. The next moment it was enveloped in flames, and before aught
could be done the whole temple was wreathed in fire and smoke.


    "All, all's lost! From half-burned hall
      Th' fire-red cock up-swingeth!--
    Sits on the roof, and, with shrilly call
      Flutt'ring, his free course wingeth."

            Tegnйr's Frithiof Saga (G. Stephens's tr.).


Frithiof, horror-stricken at the sacrilege which he had involuntarily
occasioned, vainly tried to extinguish the flames and save the costly
sanctuary, but finding his efforts unavailing he escaped to his ship
and resolved upon the weary life of an outcast and exile.


    "Thou may'st not rest thee,
    Thou still must haste thee,
    Ellida!--out
    Th' wide world about.
    Yes! rock on! roaming
    Mid froth salt-foaming
    My Dragon good!

    "Thou billow bold
    Befriend me!--Never
    I'll from thee sever!--
    My father's Mound
    Dull stands, fast-bound,
    And self-same surges
    Chaunt changeless dirges;
    But blue shall mine
    Through foam-flow'rs shine,
    'Mid tempests swimming,
    And storms thick dimming,
    And draw yet mo
    Down, down, below.--
    My Life-Home given,
    Thou shalt, far-driven!
    My Barrow be--
    Thou free broad Sea!"

            Tegnйr, Frithiof Saga (G. Stephens's tr.).



Frithiof an Exile

Helgй started in pursuit with ten great dragon-ships, but these had
barely got under way when they began to sink, and Bjцrn said with a
laugh, "What Ran enfolds I trust she will keep." Even King Helgй was
with difficulty got ashore, and the survivors were forced to stand in
helpless inactivity while Ellida's great sails slowly sank beneath the
horizon. It was thus that Frithiof sadly saw his native land vanish
from sight; and as it disappeared he breathed a tender farewell to
the beloved country which he never expected to see again.

After thus parting from his native land, Frithiof roved the sea as a
pirate, or viking. His code was never to settle anywhere, to sleep on
his shield, to fight and neither give nor take quarter, to protect
the ships which paid him tribute and to plunder the others, and to
distribute all the booty to his men, reserving for himself nothing
but the glory of the enterprise. Sailing and fighting thus, Frithiof
visited many lands, and came at last to the sunny isles of Greece,
whither he would fain have carried Ingeborg as his bride; and the
sights called up such a flood of sad memories that he was well-nigh
overwhelmed with longing for his beloved and for his native land.



At the Court of Sigurd Ring

Three years had passed away and Frithiof determined to return
northward and visit Sigurd Ring's court. When he announced his
purpose to Bjцrn, his faithful companion reproached him for his
rashness in thinking to journey alone, but Frithiof would not be
turned from his purpose, saying: "I am never alone while Angurvadel
hangs at my side." Steering Ellida up the Vik (the main part of the
Christiania Fiord), he entrusted her to Bjцrn's care, and, enveloped in
a bear-hide, which he wore as a disguise, he set out on foot alone for
the court of Sigurd Ring, arriving there as the Yuletide festivities
were in progress. As if nothing more than an aged beggar, Frithiof sat
down upon the bench near the door, where he quickly became the butt
of the courtiers' rough jokes. When one of his tormentors, however,
approached too closely, the seeming beggar caught him in a powerful
grasp and swung him high above his head.

Terrified by this exhibition of superhuman strength, the courtiers
quickly withdrew from the dangerous vicinity, while Sigurd Ring,
whose attention was attracted by the commotion, sternly bade the
stranger-guest approach and tell who thus dared to break the peace
in his royal hall.

Frithiof answered evasively that he was fostered in penitence, that
he inherited want, and that he came from the wolf; as to his name,
this did not matter. The king, as was the courteous custom, did not
press him further, but invited him to take a seat beside him and the
queen, and to share his good cheer. "But first," said he, "let fall
the clumsy covering which veils, if I mistake not, a proper form."

Frithiof gladly accepted the invitation thus cordially given, and when
the hairy hide fell from off his head and shoulders, he stood disclosed
in the pride of youth, much to the surprise of the assembled warriors.

But although his appearance marked him as of no common race,
none of the courtiers recognised him. It was different, however,
with Ingeborg. Had any curious eye been upon her at that moment
her changing colour and the quick heaving of her breast would have
revealed her deep emotion.


    "The astonish'd queen's pale cheeks, how fast-changing rose-tints
    dye!--
    So purple Northlights, quiv'ring, on snow-hid meadows lie;
    Like two white water-lilies on storm-wave wild that rest,
    Each moment rising, falling,--so heaves her trembling breast!"

            Tegnйr, Frithiof Saga (G. Stephens's tr.).


Frithiof had barely taken his seat at the board when with flourish of
trumpets a great boar was brought in and placed before the king. In
accordance with the Yule-tide custom of those days the old monarch
rose, and touching the head of the animal, he uttered a vow that with
the help of Frey, Odin, and Thor, he would conquer the bold champion
Frithiof. The next moment Frithiof, too, was upon his feet, and dashing
his sword upon the great wooden bench he declared that Frithiof was
his kinsman and he also would vow that though all the world withstood,
no harm should reach the hero while he had power to wield his sword.

At this unexpected interruption the warriors had risen quickly
from the oaken benches, but Sigurd Ring smiled indulgently at the
young man's vehemence and said: "Friend, thy words are overbold,
but never yet was guest restrained from uttering his thoughts in
this kingly hall." Then he turned to Ingeborg and bade her fill to
the brim with her choicest mead a huge horn, richly decorated, which
stood in front of her, and present it to the guest. The queen obeyed
with downcast eyes, and the trembling of her hand caused the liquid
to overflow. Two ordinary men could hardly have drained the mighty
draught, but Frithiof raised it to his lips, and when he removed the
horn not one drop of the mead remained.

Ere the banquet was ended Sigurd Ring invited the youthful stranger
to remain at his court until the return of spring, and accepting the
proffered hospitality, Frithiof became the constant companion of the
royal couple, whom he accompanied upon all occasions.

One day Sigurd Ring set out to a banquet with Ingeborg. They travelled
in a sleigh, while Frithiof, with steel-shod feet, sped gracefully
by their side, cutting many mystic characters in the ice. Their way
lay over a dangerous portion of the frozen surface, and Frithiof
warned the king that it would be prudent to avoid this. He would
not listen to the counsel, however, and suddenly the sleigh sank
in a deep fissure, which threatened to engulph it with the king and
queen. But like falcon descending upon its quarry, Frithiof was at
their side in a moment, and without apparent effort he dragged the
steed and its burden on to the firm ice. "In good sooth," said Ring,
"Frithiof himself could not have done better."

The long winter came to an end, and in the early spring the king and
queen arranged a hunting-party in which all the court were to take
part. During the progress of the chase the advancing years of Sigurd
Ring made it impossible for him to keep up with the eager hunt, and
thus it happened that he dropped behind, until at length he was left
with Frithiof as his sole companion. They rode slowly together until
they reached a pleasant dell which invited the weary king to repose,
and he declared that he would lie down for a season to rest.


    "Then threw Frithiof down his mantle, and upon the greensward
    spread,
    And the ancient king so trustful laid on Frithiof's knee his head;
    Slept, as calmly as the hero sleepeth after war's alarms
    On his shield, calm as an infant sleepeth in its mother's arms."

            Tegnйr, Frithiof Saga (Longfellow's tr.).



Frithiof's Loyalty

While the aged king was thus reposing, a bird sang to Frithiof from a
tree near by, bidding him take advantage of his host's powerlessness
to slay him, and recover the bride of whom he had been unfairly
deprived. But although Frithiof's hot young heart clamoured for his
beloved, he utterly refused to entertain the dastardly suggestion,
but, fearing lest he should be overcome by temptation, despite his
horror at the thought, he impulsively flung his sword far from him
into a neighbouring thicket.

A few moments later Sigurd Ring opened his eyes, and informed Frithiof
that he had only feigned sleep; he told him also that having recognised
him from the first, he had tested him in many ways, and had found
his honour equal to his courage. Old age had now overtaken him and
he felt that death was drawing nigh. In but a short time, therefore,
Frithiof might hope to realise his dearest hope, and Sigurd Ring told
him that he would die happy if he would stay by him until the end.

A revulsion of feeling had, however, overtaken Frithiof, and he told
the aged king that he felt that Ingeborg could never be his, because
of the wrath of Balder. Too long had he stayed; he would now go once
more upon the sea and would seek death in the fray, that so he might
appease the offended gods.

Full of his resolve, he quickly made preparations to depart, but when
he returned to the court to bid farewell to his royal hosts he found
that Sigurd Ring was at the point of death. The old warrior bethought
him that "a straw death" would not win the favour of Odin, and in
the presence of Frithiof and his court he slashed bravely the death
runes on his arm and breast. Then clasping Ingeborg with one hand,
he raised the other in blessing over Frithiof and his youthful son,
and so passed in peace to the halls of the blessed.


            "Gods all, I hail ye!
                Sons of Valhalla!
    Earth disappears; to the Asa's high feast
            Gjallar-horn bids me;
                Blessedness, like a
    Gold-helmet, circles their up-coming guest!"

            Tegnйr, Frithiof Saga (G. Stephens's tr.).



Betrothal of Frithiof and Ingeborg

The warriors of the nation now assembled in solemn Thing to choose a
successor to the throne. Frithiof had won the people's enthusiastic
admiration, and they would fain have elected him king; but he raised
Sigurd Ring's little son high on his shield when he heard the shout
which acclaimed his name, and presented the boy to the assembly as
their future king, publicly swearing to uphold him until he was of
age to defend the realm. The lad, weary of his cramped position,
boldly sprang to the ground as soon as Frithiof's speech was ended,
and alighted upon his feet. This act of agile daring in one so young
appealed to the rude Northmen, and a loud shout arose, "We choose thee,
shield-borne child!"


    "But thron'd king-like, the lad sat proud
        On shield-floor high;
    So the eaglet glad, from rock-hung cloud,
        The Sun will eye!

    At length this place his young blood found
        Too dull to keep;
    And, with one spring, he gains the ground--
        A royal leap!"

            Tegnйr, Frithiof Saga (G. Stephens's tr.).


According to some accounts, Frithiof now made war against Ingeborg's
brothers, and after conquering them, allowed them to retain their
kingdom on condition that they paid him a yearly tribute. Then he and
Ingeborg remained in Ringric until the young king was able to assume
the government, when they repaired to Hordaland, a kingdom Frithiof
had obtained by conquest, and which he left to his sons Gungthiof
and Hunthiof.

Bishop Tegnйr's conclusion, however, differs very considerably,
and if it appears less true to the rude temper of the rugged days
of the sea-rovers, its superior spiritual qualities make it more
attractive. According to Tegnйr's poem, Frithiof was urged by the
people of Sigurd Ring to espouse Ingeborg and remain amongst them as
guardian of the realm. But he answered that this might not be, since
the wrath of Balder still burned against him, and none else could
bestow his cherished bride. He told the people that he would fare over
the seas and seek forgiveness of the god, and soon after, his farewells
were spoken, and once more his vessel was speeding before the wind.

Frithiof's first visit was paid to his father's burial mound, where,
plunged in melancholy at the desolation around, he poured out his soul
to the outraged god. He reminded him that it was the custom of the
Northmen to exact blood-fines for kinsmen slain, and surely the blessed
gods would not be less forgiving than the earth-born. Passionately
he adjured Balder to show him how he could make reparation for his
unpremeditated fault, and suddenly, an answer was vouchsafed, and
Frithiof beheld in the clouds a vision of a new temple.


    "Then sudden, o'er the western waters pendent,
    An Image comes, with gold and flames resplendent,
    O'er Balder's grove it hovers, night's clouds under,
    Like gold crown resting on a bed of green.
    At last to a temple settling, firm 'tis grounded--
    Where Balder stood, another temple's founded."

            Tegnйr, Frithiof Saga (G. Stephens's tr.).


The hero immediately understood that the gods had thus indicated a
means of atonement, and he grudged neither wealth nor pains until a
glorious temple and grove, which far exceeded the splendour of the
old shrine, rose out of the ruins.


            "Finish'd great Balder's Temple stood!
                Round it no palisade of wood
                    Ran now as erst;
            A railing stronger, fairer than the first,
            And all of hammer'd iron--each bar
                Gold-tipp'd and regular--
    Walls Balder's sacred House. Like some long line
    Of steel-clad champions, whose bright war-spears shine
                And golden helms afar--so stood
            This glitt'ring guard within the holy wood!

    "Of granite blocks enormous, join'd with curious care
    And daring art, the massy pile was built; and there
                (A giant-work intended
            To last till time was ended,)
    It rose like Upsal's temple, where the north
    Saw Valhall's halls fair imag'd here on earth.

    "Proud stood it there on mountain-steep, its lofty brow
    Reflected calmly on the sea's bright-flowing wave.
    But round about, some girdle like of beauteous flow'rs,
    Went Balder's Dale, with all its groves' soft-murmur'd sighs,
    And all its birds' sweet-twitter'd songs,--the Home of Peace."

            Tegnйr, Frithiof Saga (G. Stephens's tr.).


Meantime, while the timbers were being hewed, King Helgй was absent
upon a foray amongst the Finnish mountains. One day it chanced that his
band passed by a crag where stood the lonely shrine of some forgotten
god, and King Helgй scaled the rocky summit with intent to raze the
ruined walls. The lock held fast, and, as Helgй tugged fiercely at
the mouldered gate, suddenly a sculptured image of the deity, rudely
summoned from his ancient sleep, started from his niche above.

Heavily he fell upon the head of the intruder, and Helgй stretched
his length upon the rocky floor, nor stirred again.

When the temple was duly consecrated to Balder's service, Frithiof
stood by the altar to await the coming of his expected bride. But
Halfdan first crossed the threshold, his faltering gait showing
plainly that he feared an unfriendly reception. Seeing this,
Frithiof unbuckled his sword and strode frankly to Halfdan with hand
outstretched, whereupon the king, blushing deeply, grasped heartily
the proffered hand, and from that moment all their differences were
forgotten. The next moment Ingeborg approached and the renewed amity
of the long-sundered friends was ratified with the hand of the bride,
which Halfdan placed in that of his new brother.


    "Over the copper threshold Halfdan now,
            With pallid brow
      And fearful fitful glance, advanceth slow
    Tow'rds yonder tow'ring ever-dreaded foe--
        And, silent, at a distance stands,--
        Then Frithiof, with quick hands,
      The corslet-hater, Angurvadel, from his thigh
    Unbuckleth, and his bright shield's golden round
      Leaning 'gainst the altar, thus draws nigh;--

                While his cow'd enemy
          He thus accosts, with pleasant dignity.--
          'Most noble in this strife will he be found
            Who first his right hand good
        Offers in pledge of peaceful brotherhood!'--
      Then Halfdan, deeply blushing, doffs with haste
    His iron-gauntlet and,--with hearty grasp embrac'd,--
          Each long, long, sever'd hand
      Its friend-foe hails, steadfast as mountain-bases stand!

                    "And as th' last deep accents
        Of reconcilement and of blessing sounded;
        Lo! Ing'borg sudden enters, rich adorn'd
        With bridal ornaments, and all enrob'd
        In gorgeous ermine, and by bright-ey'd maidens
        Slow-follow'd, as on heav'n's broad canopy,
        Attending star-trains guard the regent-moon!--
            But the young bride's fair eyes,
                    Those two blue skies,
                    Fill quick with tears,
        And to her brother's heart she trembling sinketh;--
            He, with his sister's fears
      Deep-mov'd, her hand all tenderly in Frithiof's linketh,
        His burden soft transferring to that hero's breast,
            Its long-tried faith fit place for Ing'borg's rest."

            Tegnйr, Frithiof Saga (G. Stephens's tr.).






CHAPTER XXVIII: THE TWILIGHT OF THE GODS


The Decline of the Gods

One of the distinctive features of Northern mythology is that the
people always believed that their gods belonged to a finite race. The
Жsir had had a beginning; therefore, it was reasoned, they must have
an end; and as they were born from a mixture of the divine and giant
elements, being thus imperfect, they bore within them the germ of
death, and were, like men, doomed to suffer physical death in order
to attain spiritual immortality.

The whole scheme of Northern mythology was therefore a drama, every
step leading gradually to the climax or tragic end, when, with true
poetic justice, punishment and reward were impartially meted out. In
the foregoing chapters, the gradual rise and decline of the gods have
been carefully traced. We have recounted how the Жsir tolerated the
presence of evil, personated by Loki, in their midst; how they weakly
followed his advice, allowed him to involve them in all manner of
difficulties from which they could be extricated only at the price
of part of their virtue or peace, and finally permitted him to gain
such ascendency over them that he did not scruple to rob them of
their dearest possession, purity, or innocence, as personified by
Balder the good.

Too late the gods realised how evil was this spirit that had found
a home among them, and too late they banished Loki to earth, where
men, following the gods' example, listened to his teachings, and were
corrupted by his sinister influence.


    "Brothers slay brothers;
    Sisters' children
    Shed each other's blood.
    Hard is the world;
    Sensual sin grows huge.
    There are sword-ages, axe-ages;
    Shields are cleft in twain;
    Storm-ages, murder-ages;
    Till the world falls dead,
    And men no longer spare
    Or pity one another."

            Norse Mythology (R. B. Anderson).



The Fimbul-winter

Seeing that crime was rampant, and all good banished from the earth,
the gods realised that the prophecies uttered of old were about to be
fulfilled, and that the shadow of Ragnarok, the twilight or dusk of the
gods, was already upon them. Sol and Mani grew pale with affright, and
drove their chariots tremblingly along their appointed paths, looking
back with fear at the pursuing wolves which would shortly overtake and
devour them; and as their smiles disappeared the earth grew sad and
cold, and the terrible Fimbul-winter began. Then snow fell from the
four points of the compass at once, the biting winds swept down from
the north, and all the earth was covered with a thick layer of ice.


    "Grim Fimbul raged, and o'er the world
    Tempestuous winds and snowstorms hurled;
    The roaring ocean icebergs ground,
    And flung its frozen foam around,
    E'en to the top of mountain height;
        No warming air
        Nor radiance fair
    Of gentle Summer's soft'ning light,
    Tempered this dreadful glacial night."

            Valhalla (J. C. Jones).

This severe winter lasted during three whole seasons without a break,
and was followed by three others, equally severe, during which all
cheer departed from the earth, and the crimes of men increased with
fearful rapidity, whilst, in the general struggle for life, the last
feelings of humanity and compassion disappeared.



The Wolves Let Loose

In the dim recesses of the Ironwood the giantess Iarnsaxa or Angur-boda
diligently fed the wolves Hati, Skцll, and Managarm, the progeny of
Fenris, with the marrow of murderers' and adulterers' bones; and
such was the prevalence of these vile crimes, that the well-nigh
insatiable monsters were never stinted for food. They daily gained
strength to pursue Sol and Mani, and finally overtook and devoured
them, deluging the earth with blood from their dripping jaws.


    "In the east she was seated, that aged woman, in Jarnrid,
    And there she nourished the posterity of Fenrir;
    He will be the most formidable of all, he
    Who, under the form of a monster, will swallow up the moon."

            Voluspa (Pfeiffer's tr.).


At this terrible calamity the whole earth trembled and shook, the
stars, affrighted, fell from their places, and Loki, Fenris, and Garm,
renewing their efforts, rent their chains asunder and rushed forth to
take their revenge. At the same moment the dragon Nidhug gnawed through
the root of the ash Yggdrasil, which quivered to its topmost bough;
the red cock Fialar, perched above Valhalla, loudly crowed an alarm,
which was immediately echoed by Gullin-kambi, the rooster in Midgard,
and by Hel's dark-red bird in Nifl-heim.


                "The gold-combed cock
    The gods in Valhal loudly crowed to arms;
    The blood-red cock as shrilly summons all
    On earth and down beneath it."

            Viking Tales of the North (R. B. Anderson).



Heimdall Gives the Alarm

Heimdall, noting these ominous portents and hearing the cock's
shrill cry, immediately put the Giallar-horn to his lips and blew the
long-expected blast, which was heard throughout the world. At the first
sound of this rally Жsir and Einheriar sprang from their golden couches
and sallied bravely out of the great hall, armed for the coming fray,
and, mounting their impatient steeds, they galloped over the quivering
rainbow bridge to the spacious field of Vigrid, where, as Vafthrudnir
had predicted long before, the last battle was to take place.



The Terrors of the Sea

The terrible Midgard snake Iцrmungandr had been aroused by the general
disturbance, and with immense writhings and commotion, whereby the
seas were lashed into huge waves such as had never before disturbed
the deeps of ocean, he crawled out upon the land, and hastened to
join the dread fray, in which he was to play a prominent part.


    "In giant wrath the Serpent tossed
    In ocean depths, till, free from chain,
    He rose upon the foaming main;
    Beneath the lashings of his tail,
    Seas, mountain high, swelled on the land;
    Then, darting mad the waves acrost,
    Pouring forth bloody froth like hail,
    Spurting with poisoned, venomed breath
    Foul, deadly mists o'er all the Earth,
    Thro' thundering surge, he sought the strand."

            Valhalla (J. C. Jones).


One of the great waves, stirred up by Iцrmungandr's struggles, set
afloat Nagilfar, the fatal ship, which was constructed entirely out
of the nails of those dead folks whose relatives had failed, through
the ages, in their duty, having neglected to pare the nails of the
deceased, ere they were laid to rest. No sooner was this vessel
afloat, than Loki boarded it with the fiery host from Muspells-heim,
and steered it boldly over the stormy waters to the place of conflict.

This was not the only vessel bound for Vigrid, however, for out of a
thick fog bank towards the north came another ship, steered by Hrym,
in which were all the frost giants, armed to the teeth and eager for
a conflict with the Жsir, whom they had always hated.



The Terrors of the Underworld

At the same time, Hel, the goddess of death, crept through a crevice
in the earth out of her underground home, closely followed by the
Hel-hound Garm, the malefactors of her cheerless realm, and the dragon
Nidhug, which flew over the battlefield bearing corpses upon his wings.

As soon as he landed, Loki welcomed these reinforcements with joy,
and placing himself at their head he marched with them to the fight.

Suddenly the skies were rent asunder, and through the fiery breach
rode Surtr with his flaming sword, followed by his sons; and as
they rode over the bridge Bifrцst, with intent to storm Asgard,
the glorious arch sank with a crash beneath their horses' tread.


    "Down thro' the fields of air,
    With glittering armour fair,
    In battle order bright,
    They sped while seething flame
    From rapid hoofstrokes came.
    Leading his gleaming band, rode Surtur,
    'Mid the red ranks of raging fire."

            Valhalla (J. C. Jones).


The gods knew full well that their end was now near, and that their
weakness and lack of foresight placed them under great disadvantages;
for Odin had but one eye, Tyr but one hand, and Frey nothing but a
stag's horn wherewith to defend himself, instead of his invincible
sword. Nevertheless, the Жsir did not show any signs of despair, but,
like true battle-gods of the North, they donned their richest attire,
and gaily rode to the battlefield, determined to sell their lives as
dearly as possible.

While they were mustering their forces, Odin once more rode down to
the Urdar fountain, where, under the toppling Yggdrasil, the Norns
sat with veiled faces and obstinately silent, their web lying torn at
their feet. Once more the father of the gods whispered a mysterious
communication to Mimir, after which he remounted Sleipnir and rejoined
the waiting host.



The Great Battle

The combatants were now assembled on Vigrid's broad plain. On one side
were ranged the stern, calm faces of the Жsir, Vanas, and Einheriar;
while on the other were gathered the motley host of Surtr, the grim
frost giants, the pale army of Hel, and Loki and his dread followers,
Garm, Fenris, and Iцrmungandr, the two latter belching forth fire and
smoke, and exhaling clouds of noxious, deathly vapours, which filled
all heaven and earth with their poisonous breath.


                    "The years roll on,
    The generations pass, the ages grow,
    And bring us nearer to the final day
    When from the south shall march the fiery band
    And cross the bridge of heaven, with Lok for guide,
    And Fenris at his heel with broken chain;
    While from the east the giant Rymer steers
    His ship, and the great serpent makes to land;
    And all are marshall'd in one flaming square
    Against the Gods, upon the plains of Heaven."

            Balder Dead (Matthew Arnold).


All the pent-up antagonism of ages was now let loose in a torrent
of hate, each member of the opposing hosts fighting with grim
determination, as did our ancestors of old, hand to hand and face to
face. With a mighty shock, heard above the roar of battle which filled
the universe, Odin and the Fenris wolf came into impetuous contact,
while Thor attacked the Midgard snake, and Tyr came to grips with
the dog Garm. Frey closed with Surtr, Heimdall with Loki, whom he
had defeated once before, and the remainder of the gods and all the
Einheriar engaged foes equally worthy of their courage. But, in spite
of their daily preparation in the heavenly city, Valhalla's host was
doomed to succumb, and Odin was amongst the first of the shining
ones to be slain. Not even the high courage and mighty attributes
of Allfather could withstand the tide of evil as personified in the
Fenris wolf. At each succeeding moment of the struggle its colossal
size assumed greater proportions, until finally its wide-open jaws
embraced all the space between heaven and earth, and the foul monster
rushed furiously upon the father of gods and engulphed him bodily
within its horrid maw.


    "Fenrir shall with impious tooth
    Slay the sire of rolling years:
    Vithar shall avenge his fall,
    And, struggling with the shaggy wolf,
    Shall cleave his cold and gory jaws."

            Vafthrudni's-mal (W. Taylor's tr.).


None of the gods could lend Allfather a helping hand at that critical
moment, for it was a time of sore trial to all. Frey put forth heroic
efforts, but Surtr's flashing sword now dealt him a death-stroke. In
his struggle with the arch-enemy, Loki, Heimdall fared better, but his
final conquest was dearly bought, for he, too, fell dead. The struggle
between Tyr and Garm had the same tragic end, and Thor, after a most
terrible encounter with the Midgard snake, and after slaying him with
a stroke from Miцlnir, staggered back nine paces, and was drowned in
the flood of venom which poured from the dying monster's jaws.


    "Odin's son goes
    With the monster to fight;
    Midgard's Veor in his rage
    Will slay the worm;
    Nine feet will go
    Fiцrgyn's son,
    Bowed by the serpent
    Who feared no foe."

            Sжmund's Edda (Thorpe's tr.).


Vidar now came rushing from a distant part of the plain to avenge the
death of his mighty sire, and the doom foretold fell upon Fenris, whose
lower jaw now felt the impress of that shoe which had been reserved
for this day. At the same moment Vidar seized the monster's upper
jaw with his hands, and with one terrible wrench tore him asunder.



The Devouring Fire

The other gods who took part in the fray, and all the Einheriar having
now perished, Surtr suddenly flung his fiery brands over heaven, earth,
and the nine kingdoms of Hel. The raging flames enveloped the massive
stem of the world ash Yggdrasil, and reached the golden palaces of
the gods, which were utterly consumed. The vegetation upon earth was
likewise destroyed, and the fervent heat made all the waters seethe
and boil.


    "Fire's breath assails
    The all-nourishing tree,
    Towering fire plays
    Against heaven itself."

            Sжmund's Edda (Thorpe's tr.).


The great conflagration raged fiercely until everything was consumed,
when the earth, blackened and scarred, slowly sank beneath the boiling
waves of the sea. Ragnarok had indeed come; the world tragedy was
over, the divine actors were slain, and chaos seemed to have resumed
its former sway. But as in a play, after the principals are slain and
the curtain has fallen, the audience still looks for the favourites
to appear and make their bow, so the ancient Northern races fancied
that, all evil having perished in Surtr's flames, from the general
ruin goodness would rise, to resume its sway over the earth, and that
some of the gods would return to dwell in heaven for ever.


                        "All evil
    Dies there an endless death, while goodness riseth
    From that great world-fire, purified at last,
    To a life far higher, better, nobler than the past.

            Viking Tales of the North (R. B. Anderson).



Regeneration

Our ancestors believed fully in regeneration, and held that after a
certain space of time the earth, purged by fire and purified by its
immersion in the sea, rose again in all its pristine beauty and was
illumined by the sun, whose chariot was driven by a daughter of Sol,
born before the wolf had devoured her mother. The new orb of day
was not imperfect, as the first sun had been, and its rays were no
longer so ardent that a shield had to be placed between it and the
earth. These more beneficent rays soon caused the earth to renew its
green mantle, and to bring forth flowers and fruit in abundance. Two
human beings, a woman, Lif, and a man, Lifthrasir, now emerged from the
depths of Hodmimir's (Mimir's) forest, whence they had fled for refuge
when Surtr set fire to the world. They had sunk into peaceful slumber
there, unconscious of the destruction around them, and had remained,
nurtured by the morning dew, until it was safe for them to wander
out once more, when they took possession of the regenerated earth,
which their descendants were to people and over which they were to
have full sway.


                "We shall see emerge
    From the bright Ocean at our feet an earth
    More fresh, more verdant than the last, with fruits
    Self-springing, and a seed of man preserved,
    Who then shall live in peace, as then in war."

            Balder Dead (Matthew Arnold).



A New Heaven

All the gods who represented the developing forces of Nature were
slain on the fatal field of Vigrid, but Vali and Vidar, the types of
the imperishable forces of Nature, returned to the field of Ida, where
they were met by Modi and Magni, Thor's sons, the personifications
of strength and energy, who rescued their father's sacred hammer from
the general destruction, and carried it thither with them.


    "Vithar's then and Vali's force
    Heirs the empty realm of gods;
    Mothi's thew and Magni's might
    Sways the massy mallet's weight,
    Won from Thor, when Thor must fall."

            Vafthrudni's-mal (W. Taylor's tr.).


Here they were joined by Hoenir, no longer an exile among the Vanas,
who, as developing forces, had also vanished for ever; and out of
the dark underworld where he had languished so long rose the radiant
Balder, together with his brother Hodur, with whom he was reconciled,
and with whom he was to live in perfect amity and peace. The past
had gone for ever, and the surviving deities could recall it without
bitterness. The memory of their former companions was, however, dear
to them, and full often did they return to their old haunts to linger
over the happy associations. It was thus that walking one day in the
long grass on Idavold, they found again the golden disks with which
the Жsir had been wont to sport.


    "We shall tread once more that well-known plain
    Of Ida, and among the grass shall find
    The golden dice with which we play'd of yore;
    And that will bring to mind the former life
    And pastime of the Gods, the wise discourse
    Of Odin, the delights of other days."

            Balder Dead (Matthew Arnold).

When the small band of gods turned mournfully towards the place
where their lordly dwellings once stood, they became aware, to their
joyful surprise, that Gimli, the highest heavenly abode, had not
been consumed, for it rose glittering before them, its golden roof
outshining the sun. Hastening thither they discovered, to the great
increase of their joy, that it had become the place of refuge for
all the virtuous.


    "In Gimli the lofty
    There shall the hosts
    Of the virtuous dwell,
    And through all ages
    Taste of deep gladness."

            Literature and Romance of Northern Europe (Howitt).



One too Mighty to Name

As the Norsemen who settled in Iceland, and through whom the
most complete exposition of the Odinic faith has come down to us
in the Eddas and Sagas, were not definitely converted until the
eleventh century,--although they had come in contact with Christians
during their viking raids nearly six centuries before,--it is very
probable that the Northern scalds gleaned some idea of the Christian
doctrines, and that this knowledge influenced them to a certain
extent, and coloured their descriptions of the end of the world and
the regeneration of the earth. It was perhaps this vague knowledge,
also, which induced them to add to the Edda a verse, which is generally
supposed to have been an interpolation, proclaiming that another God,
too mighty to name, would arise to bear rule over Gimli. From his
heavenly seat he would judge mankind, and separate the bad from the
good. The former would be banished to the horrors of Nastrond, while
the good would be transported to the blissful halls of Gimli the fair.


    "Then comes another,
    Yet more mighty.
    But Him I dare not
    Venture to name.
    Few farther may look
    Than to where Odin
    To meet the wolf goes."

            Literature and Romance of Northern Europe (Howitt).

There were two other heavenly mansions, however, one reserved for
the dwarfs and the other for the giants; for as these creatures
had no free will, and but blindly executed the decrees of fate,
they were not thought to be responsible for any harm done by them,
and were therefore held to be undeserving of punishment.

The dwarfs, ruled by Sindri, were said to occupy a hall in the Nida
mountains, where they drank the sparkling mead, while the giants took
their pleasure in the hall Brimer, situated in the region Okolnur
(not cool), for the power of cold was entirely annihilated, and there
was no more ice.

Various mythologists have, of course, attempted to explain these myths,
and some, as we have already stated, see in the story of Ragnarok the
influence of Christian teachings, and esteem it only a barbaric version
of the end of the world and the coming judgment day, when a new heaven
and earth shall arise, and all the good shall enjoy eternal bliss.






CHAPTER XXIX: GREEK AND NORTHERN MYTHOLOGIES


Comparative Mythology

During the past fifty years learned men of many nations have
investigated philology and comparative mythology so thoroughly that
they have ascertained beyond the possibility of doubt "that English,
together with all the Teutonic dialects of the Continent, belongs to
that large family of speech which comprises, besides the Teutonic,
Latin, Greek, Slavonic, and Celtic, the Oriental languages of India
and Persia." "It has also been proved that the various tribes who
started from the central home to discover Europe in the north,
and India in the south, carried away with them, not only a common
language, but a common faith and a common mythology. These are facts
which may be ignored but cannot be disputed, and the two sciences
of comparative grammar and comparative mythology, though but of
recent origin, rest on a foundation as sound and safe as that of
any of the inductive sciences." "For more than a thousand years the
Scandinavian inhabitants of Norway have been separated in language
from their Teutonic brethren on the Continent, and yet both have not
only preserved the same stock of popular stories, but they tell them,
in several instances, in almost the same words."

This resemblance, so strong in the early literature of nations
inhabiting countries which present much the same physical aspect and
have nearly the same climate, is not so marked when we compare the
Northern myths with those of the genial South. Still, notwithstanding
the contrast between Northern and Southern Europe, where these myths
gradually ripened and attained their full growth, there is an analogy
between the two mythologies which shows that the seeds from whence
both sprang were originally the same.

In the foregoing chapters the Northern system of mythology has been
outlined as clearly as possible, and the physical significance of
the myths has been explained. Now we shall endeavour to set forth the
resemblance of Northern mythology to that of the other Aryan nations,
by comparing it with the Greek, which, however, it does not resemble
as closely as it does the Oriental.

It is, of course, impossible in a work of this character to do more
than mention the main points of resemblance in the stories forming the
basis of these religions; but that will be sufficient to demonstrate,
even to the most sceptical, that they must have been identical at a
period too remote to indicate now with any certainty.



The Beginning of Things

The Northern nations, like the Greeks, imagined that the world
rose out of chaos; and while the latter described it as a vapoury,
formless mass, the former, influenced by their immediate surroundings,
depicted it as a chaos of fire and ice--a combination which is only
too comprehensible to any one who has visited Iceland and seen the
wild, peculiar contrast between its volcanic soil, spouting geysers,
and the great icebergs which hedge it round during the long, dark
winter season.

From these opposing elements, fire and ice, were born the first
divinities, who, like the first gods of the Greeks, were gigantic in
stature and uncouth in appearance. Ymir, the huge ice giant, and his
descendants, are comparable to the Titans, who were also elemental
forces of Nature, personifications of subterranean fire; and both,
having held full sway for a time, were obliged to yield to greater
perfection. After a fierce struggle for supremacy, they all found
themselves defeated and banished to the respective remote regions of
Tartarus and Jцtun-heim.

The triad, Odin, Vili, and Ve, of the Northern myth is the exact
counterpart of Jupiter, Neptune, and Pluto, who, superior to the
Titan forces, rule supreme over the world in their turn. In the Greek
mythology, the gods, who are also all related to one another, betake
themselves to Olympus, where they build golden palaces for their use;
and in the Northern mythology the divine conquerors repair to Asgard,
and there construct similar dwellings.



Cosmogony

Northern cosmogony was not unlike the Greek, for the people imagined
that the earth, Mana-heim, was entirely surrounded by the sea, at
the bottom of which lay coiled the huge Midgard snake, biting its
own tail; and it was perfectly natural that, viewing the storm-lashed
waves which beat against their shores, they should imagine these to
be caused by his convulsive writhing. The Greeks, who also fancied
the earth was round and compassed by a mighty river called Oceanus,
described it as flowing with "a steady, equable current," for they
generally gazed out upon calm and sunlit seas. Nifl-heim, the Northern
region of perpetual cold and mist, had its exact counterpart in the
land north of the Hyperboreans, where feathers (snow) continually
hovered in the air, and where Hercules drove the Ceryneian stag into
a snowdrift ere he could seize and bind it fast.



The Phenomena of the Sky

Like the Greeks, the Northern races believed that the earth was
created first, and that the vaulted heavens were made afterwards to
overshadow it entirely. They also imagined that the sun and moon were
daily driven across the sky in chariots drawn by fiery steeds. Sol,
the sun maiden, therefore corresponded to Helios, Hyperion, Phoebus,
or Apollo, while Mani, the Moon (owing to a peculiarity of Northern
grammar, which makes the sun feminine and the moon masculine), was
the exact counterpart of Phoebe, Diana, or Cynthia.

The Northern scalds, who thought that they descried the prancing
forms of white-maned steeds in the flying clouds, and the glitter
of spears in the flashing light of the aurora borealis, said that
the Valkyrs, or battle maidens, galloped across the sky, while the
Greeks saw in the same natural phenomena the white flocks of Apollo
guarded by Phaetusa and Lampetia.

As the dew fell from the clouds, the Northern poets declared that
it dropped from the manes of the Valkyrs' steeds, while the Greeks,
who observed that it generally sparkled longest in the thickets,
identified it with Daphne and Procris, whose names are derived from
the Sanskrit word which means "to sprinkle," and who are slain by
their lovers, Apollo and Cephalus, personifications of the sun.

The earth was considered in the North as well as in the South as
a female divinity, the fostering mother of all things; and it was
owing to climatic difference only that the mythology of the North,
where people were daily obliged to conquer the right to live by a
hand-to-hand struggle with Nature, should represent her as hard and
frozen like Rinda, while the Greeks embodied her in the genial goddess
Ceres. The Greeks believed that the cold winter winds swept down from
the North, and the Northern races, in addition, added that they were
produced by the winnowing of the wings of the great eagle Hrж-svelgr.

The dwarfs, or dark elves, bred in Ymir's flesh, were like Pluto's
servants in that they never left their underground realm, where they,
too, sought the precious metals, which they moulded into delicate
ornaments such as Vulcan bestowed upon the gods, and into weapons
which no one could either dint or mar. As for the light elves, who
lived above ground and cared for plants, trees, and streams, they were
evidently the Northern equivalents to the nymphs, dryads, oreades,
and hamadryads, which peopled the woods, valleys, and fountains of
ancient Greece.



Jupiter and Odin

Jupiter, like Odin, was the father of the gods, the god of victory,
and a personification of the universe. Hlidskialf, Allfather's lofty
throne, was no less exalted than Olympus or Ida, whence the Thunderer
could observe all that was taking place; and Odin's invincible spear
Gungnir was as terror-inspiring as the thunderbolts brandished by his
Greek prototype. The Northern deities feasted continually upon mead
and boar's flesh, the drink and meat most suitable to the inhabitants
of a Northern climate, while the gods of Olympus preferred the nectar
and ambrosia which formed their only sustenance.

Twelve Жsir sat in Odin's council hall to deliberate over the wisest
measures for the government of the world and men, and an equal number
of gods assembled on the cloudy peak of Mount Olympus for a similar
purpose. The Golden Age in Greece was a period of idyllic happiness,
amid ever-flowering groves and under balmy skies, while the Northern
age of bliss was also a time when peace and innocence flourished on
the earth, and when evil was as yet entirely unknown.



The Creation of Man

Using the materials near at hand, the Greeks modelled their first
images out of clay; hence they naturally imagined that Prometheus had
made man out of that substance when called upon to fashion a creature
inferior to the gods only. As the Northern statues were hewn out
of wood, the Northern races inferred, as a matter of course, that
Odin, Vili, and Ve (who here correspond to Prometheus, Epimetheus,
and Minerva, the three Greek creators of man) made the first human
couple, Ask and Embla, out of blocks of wood.

The goat Heidrun, which supplied the heavenly mead, is like Amalthea,
Jupiter's first nurse, and the busy, tell-tale Ratatosk is equivalent
to the snow-white crow in the story of Coronis, which was turned black
in punishment for its tattling. Jupiter's eagle has its counterpart
in the ravens Hugin and Munin, or in the wolves Geri and Freki,
which are ever crouching at Odin's feet.



Norns and Fates

The close resemblance between the Northern Orlog and the Greek Destiny,
goddesses whose decrees the gods themselves were obliged to respect,
and the equally powerful Norns and Moerж, is too obvious to need
pointing out, while the Vanas are counterparts of Neptune and the
other ocean divinities. The great quarrel between the Vanas and the
Жsir is merely another version of the dispute between Jupiter and
Neptune for the supremacy of the world. Just as Jupiter forces his
brother to yield to his authority, so the Жsir remain masters of all,
but do not refuse to continue to share their power with their conquered
foes, who thus become their allies and friends.

Like Jupiter, Odin is always described as majestic and middle-aged,
and both gods are regarded as the divine progenitors of royal
races, for while the Heraclidж claimed Jupiter as their father, the
Inglings, Skioldings, etc., held that Odin was the founder of their
families. The most solemn oaths were sworn by Odin's spear as well as
by Jupiter's footstool, and both gods rejoice in a multitude of names,
all descriptive of the various phases of their nature and worship.

Odin, like Jupiter, frequently visited the earth in disguise, to
judge of the hospitable intentions of mankind, as in the story of
Geirrod and Agnar, which resembles that of Philemon and Baucis. The
aim was to encourage hospitality; therefore, in both stories, those
who showed themselves humanely inclined are richly rewarded, and in
the Northern myth the lesson is enforced by the punishment inflicted
upon Geirrod, as the scalds believed in poetic justice and saw that
it was carefully meted out.

The contest of wit between Odin and Vafthrudnir has its parallel in
the musical rivalry of Apollo and Marsyas, or in the test of skill
between Minerva and Arachne. Odin further resembled Apollo in that
he, too, was god of eloquence and poetry, and could win all hearts
by means of his divine voice; he was like Mercury in that he taught
mortals the use of runes, while the Greek god introduced the alphabet.



Myths of the Seasons

The disappearance of Odin, the sun or summer, and the consequent
desolation of Frigga, the earth, is merely a different version of
the myths of Proserpine and Adonis. When Proserpine and Adonis have
gone, the earth (Ceres or Venus) bitterly mourns their absence, and
refuses all consolation. It is only when they return from their exile
that she casts off her mourning garments and gloom, and again decks
herself in all her jewels. So Frigga and Freya bewail the absence of
their husbands Odin and Odur, and remain hard and cold until their
return. Odin's wife, Saga, the goddess of history, who lingered by
Sokvabek, "the stream of time and events," taking note of all she saw,
is like Clio, the muse of history, whom Apollo sought by the inspiring
fount of Helicon.

Just as, according to Euhemerus, there was an historical Zeus,
buried in Crete, where his grave can still be seen, so there was an
historical Odin, whose mound rises near Upsala, where the greatest
Northern temple once stood, and where there was a mighty oak which
rivalled the famous tree of Dodona.



Frigga and Juno

Frigga, like Juno, was a personification of the atmosphere, the
patroness of marriage, of connubial and motherly love, and the goddess
of childbirth. She, too, is represented as a beautiful, stately
woman, rejoicing in her adornments; and her special attendant, Gna,
rivals Iris in the rapidity with which she executes her mistress's
behests. Juno has full control over the clouds, which she can brush
away with a motion of her hand, and Frigga is supposed to weave them
out of the thread she has spun on her jewelled spinning wheel.

In Greek mythology we find many examples of the way in which Juno
seeks to outwit Jupiter. Similar tales are not lacking in the Northern
myths. Juno obtains possession of Io, in spite of her husband's
reluctance to part with her, and Frigga artfully secures the victory
for the Winilers in the Langobarden Saga. Odin's wrath at Frigga's
theft of the gold from his statue is equivalent to Jupiter's marital
displeasure at Juno's jealousy and interference during the war of
Troy. In the story of Gefjon, and the clever way in which she procured
land from Gylfi to form her kingdom of Seeland, we have a reproduction
of the story of Dido, who obtained by stratagem the land upon which she
founded her city of Carthage. In both accounts oxen come into play,
for while in the Northern myth these sturdy beasts draw the piece
of land far out to sea, in the other an ox hide, cut into strips,
serves to enclose the queen's grant.



Musical Myths

The Pied Piper of Hamelin, who could attract all living creatures
by his music, is like Orpheus or Amphion, whose lyres had the same
power; and Odin, as leader of the dead, is the counterpart of Mercury
Psychopompus, both being personifications of the wind, on whose wings
disembodied souls were thought to be wafted from this mortal sphere.

The trusty Eckhardt, who would fain save Tannhдuser and prevent his
returning to expose himself to the enchantments of the sorceress,
in the Hцrselberg, is like the Greek Mentor, who not only accompanied
Telemachus, but gave him good advice and wise instructions, and would
have rescued Ulysses from the hands of Calypso.



Thor and the Greek Gods

Thor, the Northern thunder-god, also has many points of resemblance
with Jupiter. He bears the hammer Miцlnir, the Northern emblem of the
deadly thunderbolt, and, like Jupiter, uses it freely when warring
against the giants. In his rapid growth Thor resembles Mercury, for
while the former playfully tosses about several loads of ox hides a
few hours after his birth, the latter steals Apollo's oxen before he
is one day old. In physical strength Thor resembles Hercules, who also
gave early proofs of uncommon vigour by strangling the serpents sent
to slay him in his cradle, and who delighted, later on, in attacking
and conquering giants and monsters. Hercules became a woman and took
to spinning to please Omphale, the Lydian queen, and Thor assumed a
woman's apparel to visit Thrym and recover his hammer, which had been
buried nine rasts underground. The hammer, his principal attribute,
was used for many sacred purposes. It consecrated the funeral pyre
and the marriage rite, and boundary stakes driven in by a hammer were
considered as sacred among Northern nations as the Hermж or statues
of Mercury, removal of which was punishable by death.

Thor's wife, Sif, with her luxuriant golden hair, is, as we have
already stated, an emblem of the earth, and her hair of its rich
vegetation. Loki's theft of these tresses is equivalent to Pluto's rape
of Proserpine. To recover the golden locks, Loki must visit the dwarfs
(Pluto's servants), crouching in the low passages of the underground
world; so Mercury must seek Proserpine in Hades.

The gadfly which hinders Jupiter from recovering possession of
Io, after Mercury has slain Argus, reappears in the Northern myth
to sting Brock and to endeavour to prevent the manufacture of the
magic ring Draupnir, which is merely a counterpart of Sif's tresses,
as it also represents the fruits of the earth. The fly continues to
torment the dwarf during the manufacture of Frey's golden-bristled
boar, a prototype of Apollo's golden sun chariot, and it prevents
the perfect formation of the handle of Thor's hammer.

The magic ship Skidbladnir, also made by the dwarfs, is like the
swift-sailing Argo, which was a personification of the clouds sailing
overhead; and just as the former was said to be large enough to
accommodate all the gods, so the latter bore all the Greek heroes
off to the distant land of Colchis.

The Germans, wishing to name the days of the week after their gods,
as the Romans had done, gave the name of Thor to Jove's day, and thus
made it the present Thursday.

Thor's struggle against Hrungnir is a parallel to the fight between
Hercules and Cacus or Antжus; while Groa is evidently Ceres, for she,
too, mourns for her absent child Orvandil (Proserpine), and breaks
out into a song of joy when she hears that it will return.

Magni, Thor's son, who when only three hours old exhibits his
marvellous strength by lifting Hrungnir's leg off his recumbent father,
also reminds us of the infant Hercules; and Thor's voracious appetite
at Thrym's wedding feast has its parallel in Mercury's first meal,
which consisted of two whole oxen.

The crossing of the swollen tide of Veimer by Thor reminds us of
Jason's feat when he waded across the torrent on his way to visit
the tyrant Pelias and recover possession of his father's throne.

The marvellous necklace worn by Frigga and Freya to enhance their
charms is like the cestus or girdle of Venus, which Juno borrowed to
subjugate her lord, and is, like Sif's tresses and the ring Draupnir,
an emblem of luxuriant vegetation or a type of the stars which shine
in the firmament.

The Northern sword-god Tyr is, of course, the Greek war-god Ares,
whom he so closely resembles that his name was given to the day of
the week held sacred to Ares, which is even now known as Tuesday or
Tiu's day. Like Ares, Tyr was noisy and courageous; he delighted in
the din of battle, and was fearless at all times. He alone dared to
brave the Fenris wolf; and the Southern proverb concerning Scylla and
Charybdis has its counterpart in the Northern adage, "to get loose
out of Lжding and to dash out of Droma." The Fenris wolf, also a
personification of subterranean fire, is bound, like his prototypes
the Titans, in Tartarus.

The similarity between the gentle, music-loving Bragi, with his harp,
and Apollo or Orpheus, is very great; so is the resemblance between
the magic draught Od-hroerir and the waters of Helicon, both of which
were supposed to serve as inspiration to mortal as well as to immortal
poets. Odin dons eagle plumes to bear away this precious mead, and
Jupiter assumes a similar guise to secure his cupbearer Ganymede.

Idun, like Adonis and Proserpine, or still more like Eurydice, is also
a fair personification of spring. She is borne away by the cruel ice
giant Thiassi, who represents the boar which slew Adonis, the kidnapper
of Proserpine, or the poisonous serpent which bit Eurydice. Idun is
detained for a long time in Jцtun-heim (Hades), where she forgets all
her merry, playful ways, and becomes mournful and pale. She cannot
return alone to Asgard, and it is only when Loki (now an emblem of
the south wind) comes to bear her away in the shape of a nut or a
swallow that she can effect her escape. She reminds us of Proserpine
and Adonis escorted back to earth by Mercury (god of the wind), or
of Eurydice lured out of Hades by the sweet sounds of Orpheus's harp,
which were also symbolical of the soughing of the winds.



Idun and Eurydice

The myth of Idun's fall from Yggdrasil into the darkest depths of
Nifl-heim, while subject to the same explanation and comparison as the
above story, is still more closely related to the tale of Orpheus and
Eurydice, for the former, like Bragi, cannot exist without the latter,
whom he follows even into the dark realm of death; without her his
songs are entirely silenced. The wolf-skin in which Idun is enveloped
is typical of the heavy snows in Northern regions, which preserve the
tender roots from the blighting influence of the extreme winter cold.



Skadi and Diana

The Van Niцrd, who is god of the sunny summer seas, has his counterpart
in Neptune and more especially in Nereus, the personification of the
calm and pleasant aspect of the mighty deep. Niцrd's wife, Skadi,
is the Northern huntress; she therefore resembles Diana. Like her,
she bears a quiver full of arrows, and a bow which she handles with
consummate skill. Her short gown permits the utmost freedom of motion,
also, and she, too, is generally accompanied by a hound.

The story of the transference of Thiassi's eyes to the firmament,
where they glow like brilliant stars, reminds us of many Greek star
myths, and especially of Argus's eyes ever on the watch, of Orion and
his jewelled girdle, and of his dog Sirius, all changed into stars
by the gods to appease angry goddesses. Loki's antics to win a smile
from the irate Skadi are considered akin to the quivering flashes of
sheet-lightning which he personified in the North, while Steropes,
the Cyclops, typified it for the Greeks.



Frey and Apollo

The Northern god of sunshine and summer showers, the genial Frey,
has many traits in common with Apollo, for, like him, he is beautiful
and young, rides the golden-bristled boar which was the Northern
conception of the sunbeams, or drives across the sky in a golden car,
which reminds us of Apollo's glittering chariot.

Frey has some of the gentle Zephyrus's characteristics besides, for
he, too, scatters flowers along his way. His horse Blodug-hofi is
not unlike Pegasus, Apollo's favourite steed, for it can pass through
fire and water with equal ease and velocity.

Fro, like Odin and Jupiter, is also identified with a human king, and
his mound lies beside Odin's near Upsala. His reign was so happy that
it was called the Golden Age, and he therefore reminds us of Saturn,
who, exiled to earth, ruled over the people of Italy, and granted
them similar prosperity.



Freya and Venus

Gerda, the beautiful maiden, is like Venus, and also like Atalanta;
she is hard to woo and hard to win, like the fleet-footed maiden,
but, like her, she yields at last and becomes a happy wife. The golden
apples with which Skirnir tries to bribe her remind us of the golden
fruit which Hippomenes cast in Atalanta's way, and which made her
lose the race.

Freya, the goddess of youth, love, and beauty, like Venus, sprang from
the sea, for she is a daughter of the sea-god Niцrd. Venus bestowed
her best affections upon the god of war and upon the martial Anchises,
while Freya often assumes the garb of a Valkyr, and rides rapidly
to earth to take part in mortal strife and bear away the heroic
slain to feast in her halls. Like Venus, she delights in offerings
of fruits and flowers, and lends a gracious ear to the petitions
of lovers. Freya also resembles Minerva, for, like her, she wears
a helmet and breastplate, and, like her, also, she is noted for her
beautiful blue eyes.



Odur and Adonis

Odur, Freya's husband, is like Adonis, and when he leaves her,
she, too, sheds countless tears, which, in her case, are turned
to gold, while Venus's tears are changed into anemones, and those
of the Heliades, mourning for Phaeton, harden to amber, which
resembles gold in colour and in consistency. Just as Venus rejoices
at Adonis's return, and all Nature blooms in sympathy with her joy,
so Freya becomes lighthearted once more when she has found her husband
beneath the flowering myrtles of the South. Venus's car is drawn by
fluttering doves, and Freya's is swiftly carried along by cats, which
are emblems of sensual love, as the doves were considered types of
tenderest love. Freya is appreciative of beauty and angrily refuses
to marry Thrym, while Venus scorns and finally deserts Vulcan, whom
she has been forced to marry against her will.

The Greeks represented Justice as a goddess blindfolded, with scales
in one hand and a sword in the other, to indicate the impartiality and
the fixity of her decrees. The corresponding deity of the North was
Forseti, who patiently listened to both sides of a question ere he,
too, promulgated his impartial and irrevocable sentence.

Uller, the winter-god, resembles Apollo and Orion only in his love for
the chase, which he pursues with ardour under all circumstances. He
is the Northern bowman, and his skill is quite as unerring as theirs.

Heimdall, like Argus, was gifted with marvellous keenness of sight,
which enabled him to see a hundred miles off as plainly by night as
by day. His Giallar-horn, which could be heard throughout all the
world, proclaiming the gods' passage to and fro over the quivering
bridge Bifrцst, was like the trumpet of the goddess Renown. As he
was related to the water deities on his mother's side, he could,
like Proteus, assume any form at will, and he made good use of this
power on the occasion when he frustrated Loki's attempt to steal the
necklace Brisinga-men.

Hermod, the quick or nimble, resembles Mercury not only in his
marvellous celerity of motion. He, too, was the messenger of the gods,
and, like the Greek divinity, flashed hither and thither, aided not by
winged cap and sandals, but by Odin's steed Sleipnir, whom he alone
was allowed to bestride. Instead of the Caduceus, he bore the wand
Gambantein. He questioned the Norns and the magician Rossthiof, through
whom he learned that Vali would come to avenge his brother Balder and
to supplant his father Odin. Instances of similar consultations are
found in Greek mythology, where Jupiter would fain have married Thetis,
yet desisted when the Fates foretold that if he did so she would be
the mother of a son who would surpass his father in glory and renown.

The Northern god of silence, Vidar, has some resemblance to Hercules,
for while the latter has nothing but a club with which to defend
himself against the Nemean lion, whom he tears asunder, the former
is enabled to rend the Fenris wolf at Ragnarok by the possession of
one large shoe.



Rinda and Danae

Odin's courtship of Rinda reminds us of Jupiter's wooing of Danae,
who is also a symbol of the earth; and while the shower of gold in
the Greek tale is intended to represent the fertilising sunbeams, the
footbath in the Northern story typifies the spring thaw which sets in
when the sun has overcome the resistance of the frozen earth. Perseus,
the child of this union, has many points of resemblance with Vali,
for he, too, is an avenger, and slays his mother's enemies just as
surely as Vali destroys Hodur, the murderer of Balder.

The Fates were supposed to preside over birth in Greece, and to
foretell a child's future, as did the Norns; and the story of Meleager
has its unmistakable parallel in that of Nornagesta. Althжa preserves
the half-consumed brand in a chest, Nornagesta conceals the candle-end
in his harp; and while the Greek mother brings about her son's death
by casting the brand into the fire, Nornagesta, compelled to light
his candle-end at Olaf's command, dies as it sputters and burns out.

Hebe and the Valkyrs were the cupbearers of Olympus and Asgard. They
were all personifications of youth; and while Hebe married the great
hero and demigod Hercules when she ceased to fulfil her office, the
Valkyrs were relieved from their duties when united to heroes like
Helgi, Hakon, Vцlund, or Sigurd.

The Cretan labyrinth has its counterpart in the Icelandic Vцlundarhaus,
and Vцlund and Dжdalus both effect their escape from a maze by a
cleverly devised pair of wings, which enable them to fly in safety
over land and sea and escape from the tyranny of their respective
masters, Nidud and Minos. Vцlund resembles Vulcan, also, in that
he is a clever smith and makes use of his talents to work out his
revenge. Vulcan, lamed by a fall from Olympus, and neglected by Juno,
whom he had tried to befriend, sends her a golden throne, which is
provided with cunning springs to seize and hold her fast. Vцlund,
hamstrung by the suggestion of Nidud's queen, secretly murders her
sons, and out of their eyes fashions marvellous jewels, which she
unsuspectingly wears upon her breast until he reveals their origin.



Myths of the Sea

Just as the Greeks fancied that the tempests were the effect of
Neptune's wrath, so the Northern races attributed them either to the
writhings of Iцrmungandr, the Midgard snake, or to the anger of Жgir,
who, crowned with seaweed like Neptune, often sent his children,
the wave maidens (the counterpart of the Nereides and Oceanides),
to play on the tossing billows. Neptune had his dwelling in the coral
caves near the Island of Euboea, while Жgir lived in a similar palace
near the Cattegat. Here he was surrounded by the nixies, undines,
and mermaids, the counterpart of the Greek water nymphs, and by the
river-gods of the Rhine, Elbe, and Neckar, who remind us of Alpheus
and Peneus, the river-gods of the Greeks.

The frequency of shipwrecks on the Northern coasts made the people
think of Ran (the equivalent of the Greek sea-goddess Amphitrite) as
greedy and avaricious, and they described her as armed with a strong
net, with which she drew all things down into the deep. The Greek
Sirens had their parallel in the Northern Lorelei, who possessed the
same gift of song, and also lured mariners to their death; while
Princess Ilse, who was turned into a fountain, reminds us of the
nymph Arethusa, who underwent a similar transformation.

In the Northern conception of Nifl-heim we have an almost exact
counterpart of the Greek Hades. Mцdgud, the guardian of the
Giallar-bridge (the bridge of death), over which all the spirits of
the dead must pass, exacts a tribute of blood as rigorously as Charon
demands an obolus from every soul he ferries over Acheron, the river
of death. The fierce dog Garm, cowering in the Gnipa hole, and keeping
guard at Hel's gate, is like the three-headed monster Cerberus; and
the nine worlds of Nifl-heim are not unlike the divisions of Hades,
Nastrond being an adequate substitute for Tartarus, where the wicked
were punished with equal severity.

The custom of burning dead heroes with their arms, and of slaying
victims, such as horses and dogs, upon their pyre, was much the same
in the North as in the South; and while Mors or Thanatos, the Greek
Death, was represented with a sharp scythe, Hel was depicted with a
broom or rake, which she used as ruthlessly, and with which she did
as much execution.



Balder and Apollo

Balder, the radiant god of sunshine, reminds us not only of Apollo and
Orpheus, but of all the other heroes of sun myths. His wife Nanna is
like Flora, and still more like Proserpine, for she, too, goes down
into the underworld, where she tarries for a while. Balder's golden
hall of Breidablik is like Apollo's palace in the east; he, also,
delights in flowers; all things smile at his approach, and willingly
pledge themselves not to injure him. As Achilles was vulnerable only
in the heel, so Balder could be slain only by the harmless mistletoe,
and his death is occasioned by Loki's jealousy just as Hercules was
slain by that of Deianeira. Balder's funeral pyre on Ringhorn reminds
us of Hercules's death on Mount OEta, the flames and reddish glow of
both fires serving to typify the setting sun. The Northern god of sun
and summer could only be released from Nifl-heim if all animate and
inanimate objects shed tears; so Proserpine could issue from Hades
only upon condition that she had partaken of no food. The trifling
refusal of Thok to shed a single tear is like the pomegranate seeds
which Proserpine ate, and the result is equally disastrous in both
cases, as it detains Balder and Proserpine underground, and the earth
(Frigga or Ceres) must continue to mourn their absence.

Through Loki evil entered into the Northern world; Prometheus's
gift of fire brought the same curse upon the Greeks. The punishment
inflicted by the gods upon the culprits is not unlike, for while
Loki is bound with adamantine chains underground, and tortured by
the continuous dropping of venom from the fangs of a snake fastened
above his head, Prometheus is similarly fettered to Caucasus, and a
ravenous vulture continually preys upon his liver. Loki's punishment
has another counterpart in that of Tityus, bound in Hades, and in
that of Enceladus, chained beneath Mount Жtna, where his writhing
produced earthquakes, and his imprecations caused sudden eruptions
of the volcano. Loki, further, resembles Neptune in that he, too,
assumed an equine form and was the parent of a wonderful steed,
for Sleipnir rivals Arion both in speed and endurance.

The Fimbul-winter has been compared to the long preliminary fight under
the walls of Troy, and Ragnarok, the grand closing drama of Northern
mythology, to the burning of that famous city. "Thor is Hector;
the Fenris wolf, Pyrrhus, son of Achilles, who slew Priam (Odin);
and Vidar, who survives in Ragnarok, is Жneas." The destruction of
Priam's palace is the type of the ruin of the gods' golden halls;
and the devouring wolves Hati, Skцll, and Managarm, the fiends of
darkness, are prototypes of Paris and all the other demons of darkness,
who bear away or devour the sun-maiden Helen.



Ragnarok and the Deluge

According to another interpretation, however, Ragnarok and the
consequent submersion of the world is but a Northern version of the
Deluge. The survivors, Lif and Lifthrasir, like Deucalion and Pyrrha,
were destined to repeople the world; and just as the shrine of Delphi
alone resisted the destructive power of the great cataclysm, so Gimli
stood radiant to receive the surviving gods.



Giants and Titans

We have already seen how closely the Northern giants resembled the
Titans. It only remains to mention that while the Greeks imagined
that Atlas was changed into a mountain, so the Northmen believed that
the Riesengebirge, in Germany, were formed from giants, and that the
avalanches which descended from their lofty heights were the burdens
of snow which these giants impatiently shook from their crests as
they changed their cramped positions. The apparition, in the shape of
a bull, of one of the water giants, who came to woo the queen of the
Franks, has its parallel in the story of Jupiter's wooing of Europa,
and Meroveus is evidently the exact counterpart of Sarpedon. A faint
resemblance can be traced between the giant ship Mannigfual and the
Argo, for while the one is supposed to have cruised through the Жgean
and Euxine Seas, and to have made many places memorable by the dangers
it encountered there, so the Northern vessel sailed about the North
and Baltic Seas, and is mentioned in connection with the Island of
Bornholm and the cliffs of Dover.

While the Greeks imagined that Nightmares were the evil dreams which
escaped from the Cave of Somnus, the Northern race fancied they were
female dwarfs or trolls, who crept out of the dark recesses of the
earth to torment them. All magic weapons in the North were said to
be the work of the dwarfs, the underground smiths, while those of the
Greeks were manufactured by Vulcan and the Cyclopes, under Mount Жtna,
or on the Island of Lemnos.



The Volsunga Saga

In the Sigurd myth we find Odin one-eyed like the Cyclopes, who, like
him, are personifications of the sun. Sigurd is instructed by Gripir,
the horse-trainer, who is reminiscent of Chiron, the centaur. He is
not only able to teach a young hero all he need know, and to give him
good advice concerning his future conduct, but is also possessed of
the gift of prophecy.

The marvellous sword which becomes the property of Sigmund and of
Sigurd as soon as they prove themselves worthy to wield it, and the
sword Angurvadel which Frithiof inherits from his sire, remind us of
the weapon which Жgeus concealed beneath the rock, and which Theseus
secured as soon as he had become a man. Sigurd, like Theseus, Perseus,
and Jason, seeks to avenge his father's wrongs ere he sets out in
search of the golden hoard, the exact counterpart of the golden fleece,
which is also guarded by a dragon, and is very hard to secure. Like
all the Greek sun-gods and heroes, Sigurd has golden hair and bright
blue eyes. His struggle with Fafnir reminds us of Apollo's fight with
Python, while the ring Andvaranaut can be likened to Venus's cestus,
and the curse attached to its possessor is like the tragedy of Helen,
who brought endless bloodshed upon all connected with her.

Sigurd could not have conquered Fafnir without the magic sword, just
as the Greeks failed to take Troy without the arrows of Philoctetes,
which are also emblems of the all-conquering rays of the sun. The
recovery of the stolen treasure is like Menelaus's recovery of Helen,
and it apparently brings as little happiness to Sigurd as his recreant
wife did to the Spartan king.



Brunhild

Brunhild resembles Minerva in her martial tastes, physical appearance,
and wisdom; but her anger and resentment when Sigurd forgets her
for Gudrun is like the wrath of OEnone, whom Paris deserts to woo
Helen. Brunhild's anger continues to accompany Sigurd through life,
and she even seeks to compass his death, while OEnone, called to cure
her wounded lover, refuses to do so and permits him to die. OEnone
and Brunhild are both overcome by the same remorseful feelings when
their lovers have breathed their last, and both insist upon sharing
their funeral pyres, and end their lives by the side of those whom
they had loved.


Sun Myths

Containing, as it does, a whole series of sun myths, the Volsunga Saga
repeats itself in every phase; and just as Ariadne, forsaken by the
sun-hero Theseus, finally marries Bacchus, so Gudrun, when Sigurd has
departed, marries Atli, the King of the Huns. He, too, ends his life
amid the flames of his burning palace or ship. Gunnar, like Orpheus
or Amphion, plays such marvellous strains upon his harp that even
the serpents are lulled to sleep. According to some interpretations,
Atli is like Fafnir, and covets the possession of the gold. Both are
therefore probably personifications "of the winter cloud which broods
over and keeps from mortals the gold of the sun's light and heat,
till in the spring the bright orb overcomes the powers of darkness
and tempests, and scatters his gold over the face of the earth."

Swanhild, Sigurd's daughter, is another personification of the sun,
as is seen in her blue eyes and golden hair; and her death under the
hoofs of black steeds represents the blotting out of the sun by clouds
of storm or of darkness.

Just as Castor and Pollux hasten to rescue their sister Helen when
she has been borne away by Theseus, so Swanhild's brothers, Erp,
Hamdir, and Sцrli, hasten off to avenge her death.

Such are the main points of resemblance between the mythologies
of the North and South, and the analogy goes far to prove that
they were originally formed from the same materials, the principal
differences being due to the local colouring imparted unconsciously
by the different races.