THOR, HYMIR, AND THE MIDGARD SERPENT.(From an etching by Lorenz Frölich.)Hymir, a giant and ruler of the winter sea, was the owner of a great kettle that brewed any quantity desired of the finest ale. The gods, eager to posses the kettle, sent Thor to obtain it. Proceeding to the borders of heaven, where Hymir lived, Thor assumed the form of a young man and appearing before the giant, asked permission to accompany him on a fishing excursion. The giant objected that so small a youth could not endure the hardships of such a journey, but finally consented. Thor secured necessary bait by tearing the head from a bull, and the two then set off to row far out to sea. Thor insisted upon going further until they came near the borders of the world, and the two began to fish. Hymir soon hooked and drew up two whales, which he boastfully showed as proof of his strength, but soon after Thor hooked the Midgard Serpent, which rose spouting floods of venom that greatly terrified Hymir. Thor pulled with so much strength on the line that he broke through the bottom of the boat, but his feet stood upon the bottom of the sea and he raised his hammer to strike the serpent; Hymir was so alarmed, however, that he cut the line and let the serpent escape. Thor then rowed back with Hymir to his castle, where he slew Hymir and several other giants and secured the kettle.See page855.
A passage in Thorsdrapa (str. 3), to which I shall recur below, informs us that at the time when Thor made his famous journey to the fire-giant Geirrod, Rogner had not yet come to an agreement with Loke in regard to the plan of bringing ruin on the gods. Rogner was, therefore, during a certain period of his life, the foe of the gods, but during a preceding period he was not an enemy. The same is true of Thjasse. He was for a timehapta snytrir, "the one giving the gods treasures." At another time he carried away Idun, and appeared as one changed intodólgr ballastr vallar, "the most powerful foe of the earth" (Haustl., 6), an expression which characterises him as the cause of the fimbul-winter.
There still remain one or two important passages in regard to the correct interpretation of the epithet Rogner. In Atlakvida (33) it is said of Gudrun when she goes to meet her husband Atle, who has returned home, carrying in her hand a golden goblet, that she goes toreifa gjöld Rögnis, "to present that requital or that revenge which Rogner gave." To avenge her brothers, Gudrun slew in Atle's absence the two young sons she had with him and made goblets of their skulls. Into one of these she poured the drink of welcome for Atle. A similar revenge is told about Volund. The latter secretly killsNidadr'stwo young sons and makes goblets out of their skulls for their father. In the passage it is statedthat the revenge of Gudrun against Atle was of the same kind as Rogner's revenge against some one whom he owed a grudge. So far as our records contain any information, Volund is the only one to whom the epithet Rogner is applicable in this case. Of no one else is it reported that he took a revenge of such a kind that Gudrun's could be compared therewith. In all other passages the epithet Rogner refers to "the father of the swords," to the ancient artist Thjasse, the son of Alvalde. Here it refers to the father of the most excellent sword, to the ancient artist Volund, the son of Ivalde.
The strophe in Vellekla, which compares the Thjasse descendant Hakon Jarl with the hail-producing Rogner, also alludes to another point in the myth concerning him by a paraphrase the kernel of which is:Varat svanglýjadi at frýja ofbyrjar nè drifu, "it was impossible to defy the swan-pleaser in the matter of storm and bad weather." The paraphrase is made applicable to Hakon by making the "swan-pleaser" into the "pleaser of the swan of the sword's high-billowing fjord"—that is to say, the one who pleases the bird of the battlefield, that is, the raven. The storm is changed into "the storm of arrows," and the bad weather into the "bad weather of the goddess of the battle." The mythological kernel of this paraphrase, and that which sheds light on our theme, is the fact that Rogner in the mythology was "one who pleased the swans." In the heroic poem three swan-maids are devoted in their love to Volund and his brothers. Volundarkvida says that the third one lays her arms around Volund-Anund's white neck.
We will now combine the results of this investigation concerning Rogner, and in so doing we will first consider what is said of him when the name occurs independently, and not connected with paraphrases, and then what is said of him in paraphrases in which his name constitutes the kernel.
Forspjallsljod describes Rogner as dwelling on the northern-most edge of the earth at the time when Idun was absent from Asgard. There he sings magic songs and concocts witchcraft, by which means he sends a destructive winter out upon the world. He is a "smith," and in his company is found one or more than one mythic person called Regin. (Regin may be singular or plural.)
Einar Skalaglam, who received costly treasures from Hakon Jarl, speaks in his song of praise to the latter of the "works of Rogner," which please him, and which must be the treasures he received from the Jarl.
In Thorsdrapa, Eilif Gudrunson relates that Rogner had not yet "associated himself" with Loke when Thor made his expedition to Geirrod.
Atlakvida states that he revenged himself on some one, with which revenge the song compares Gudrun's when she hands to Atle the goblets made of the skulls of the two young sons of the latter.
All the facts presented in these passages are rediscovered in the myth concerning Ivalde's sons—Volund, Egil, and Slagfin. There was a time when they were the friends of the gods and smithied for them costly treasures, and there was another time when they had the same plans as Loke tried to carry out in a secret manner—thatis, to dethrone the gods and destroy what they had created. They deliver their foster-son Frey, the young god of harvests, to the giants (see Nos. 109, 112)—an event which, like Idun's disappearance from Asgard, refers to the coming of the fimbul-winter—and they depart to the most northern edge of the lower world where they dwell with swan-maids, dises of growth, who, like Idun in Forspjallsljod (str. 8), must have changed character and joined the world-hostile plots of their lovers. (Of Idun it is said, in the strophe mentioned, that she clothed herself in a wolf-skin given her by the smiths, andlyndi breytti, lek at lævisi, litom skipti.) The revenge which Volund, during his imprisonment by Nidad, takes against the latter explains why Atlakvida characterises Gudrun's terrible deed as "Rogner's revenge." In regard to the witchcraft (gand) concocted by Rogner and Regin, it is to be said that the sword of victory made by Volund is agandrin the original sense of this word—an implement endowed with magic powers, and it was made during his sojourn in the Wolfdales.
One passage in Volundarkvida (str. 5), which hitherto has defied every effort at interpretation, shows that his skill was occupied with other magic things while he dwelt there. The passage reads:Lucthi hann alla lindbauga vel. The "lind"-rings in question, smithied of "red gold" (see the preceding lines in strophe 5), are, according to the prefix,lind, linnr, serpent-formed rings, which again are gand- (witchcraft) rings on account of the mysterious qualities ascribed to the serpent.Lindbaugiis another form forlinnbaugi, just aslindbólis another form forlinnból. The part played by the serpent in the magic arts made it, when under the influence or in the possession of the magician, agand, whencelinnr, a serpent, could be used as a paraphrase ofgandr, andgandrcould in turn, in the compoundJörmungandr, be used as an epithet for the Midgard-serpent. The rings which Volund "closed well together" are gand-rings. The very rope (bast, böstr—Volundarkvida, 7, 12) on which he hangs the seven hundred gand-rings he has finished seems to be a gand, an object of witchcraft, with which Volund can bind and from which he can release the wind. When Nidad's men surprised Volund in his sleep and bound him with this rope, he asks ambiguously who "had bound the wind" with it (str. 12). In two passages in Volundarkvida (str. 4, 8) he is calledvedreygr, "the storm-observer," or "the storm-terrible." The word may have either meaning. That Volund for his purposes, like Rogner, made use of magic songs is manifest from Saxo (Hist., 323, 324). According to Saxo it was by means of Volund-Haquinus' magic song that the Volund-sword, wielded by Svipdag-Ericus, was able to conquer Thor's hammer and Halfdan's club.
Passing now to the passages where the name Rogner occurs in paraphrases, I would particularly emphasize what I have already demonstrated: that Haustlaung with this name refers to Thjasse; that poems of a more recent date than Haustlaung, and connected with the same celebrated song, apply it to the supposed descendants of Thjasse, Hakon Jarl and his kinsmen; that all of these paraphrases represent Rogner as a producer of storm,snow, and hail; and that Rogner made "wind-cars," was a "Regin of the motion of the feather-leaf" (the wing), and "one who pleased the swans." Therefore (a) Rogner is an epithet of Thjasse, and at the same time it designates Volund; (b) all that is said of Rogner, when the name in the paraphrases is a Thjasse-epithet, applies to Volund; (c) all that is said of Rogner, independently of paraphrases, applies to Volund.
(18) A usage in the Old Norse poetry is to designate a person by the name of his opponent, when, by means of an additional characterisation, it can be made evident that the former and not the latter is meant. Thus, a giant can be calledberg-thórrorgrjót-Módi, because he once had Thor or Thor's son Mode as an opponent, and these epithets particularly apply to giants who actually fought with Thor or Mode in the mythology. In contrast with their successors in Christian times, the heathen skalds took great pains to give their paraphrases special justification and support in some mythological event. For the same reason that a giant who had fought with Mode could be calledgrjót-Módi, Volund, as Nidad's foe, could be calledgrjót-Nidudr. This epithet also occurs a single time in the Old Norse poetry, namely, in Haustlaung, and there it is applied to Thjasse. The paraphrase shows that the skald had in his mind a corresponding (antithetic) circumstance between Thjasse andNidadr(Nidudr). What we are able to gather from our sources is, that Volund andNidadrhad had an encounter, and that one of so decisive a character, that the epithetgrjót-Nidudrnaturally would make the hearers think of Volund.
(19) When Loke had struck Thjasse, who was in eagle guise, with the magic pole, Thjasse flew up; and as Loke's hand was glued fast to one end of the pole and the eagle held fast to the other end, Loke had to accompany the eagle on its flight. Haustlaung says that Thjasse, pleased with his prey, bore him a long distance (of veg lángan) through the air. He directed his course in such a manner that Loke's body fared badly, probably being dragged over trees and rocks (svá at slitna sundr úlfs födor mundi). Then follows in the poem the lines given below, which I quote from Codex Regius, with the exception of a single word (midjungs, instead ofmildings), which I cite from Codex Wormianus. Here, as elsewhere, I base nothing on text emendations, because even such, for which the best of reasons may be given, do not furnish sufficient foundation for mythological investigation, when the changes are not supported by some manuscript, or are in and of themselves absolutely necessary.
thá vard thórs ofrunni,thúngr var Loptr, of sprúnginn;málunautr hvats máttimidjungs fridar bidja.
The contents of these lines, in the light of what has now been stated, are as follows:
Thjasse's pleasure in dragging Loke with him, and making his limbs come in disagreeable contact with objects on their way, was so great that he did not abstain therefrom, before he felt that he had over-exerted himself. Strong as he was, this could not but happen, for he had been flying with his burden very far from the place wherehe captured Loke in the ambush he had laid; and, besides, Loke was heavy. The badly-hurt Loke had during the whole time desired to beg for mercy, but during the flight he was unable to do so. When Thjasse finally sank to the ground, Loke obtained a breathing space, so that he could sue for mercy.
In the four lines there are four paraphrases. Thjasse is calledthórs ofrunniorthórs ofrúni, "he who made Thor run," or "he who was Thor's friend," and "midjungr," a word the meaning of which it is of no importance to investigate in connection with the question under consideration. Loke is calledLoptr, a surname which is applied to him many times, andmálunautr hvats midjungs, "he who had journeyed with the female companion of the powerful Midjung (Thjasse)." The female companion (mála) of Thjasse is Idun, and the paraphrase refers to the myth telling how Loke carried Idun away from Thjasse's halls, and flew with her to Asgard.
With these preparatory remarks I am ready to present a literal translation of the passage:
(Thjasse flew a long way with Loke, so that the latter came near being torn into pieces), "... thereupon (thá=deinde) became he who caused Thor to run (vard Ihórs ofrunni)—or who became Thor's friend (Ihórs ofrúni)—tired out (ofsprúnginn), (for) Lopt was heavy (thúngr var Loptr). He (Loke) who had made a journey with the powerful Midjung's (Thjasse's) female companion (málunautr hvats midjungs) could (now finally) sue for peace (mátti fridar bidja)."
In the lines—
thá vard thórs ofrunnithúngr var Loptr, ofsprúnginn—
thúngr var Loptrclearly stands as an intermediate sentence, which, in connection with what has been stated above, namely, that Thjasse had been flying a long way with his burden, will justify and explain why Thjasse, though exceedingly strong, stronger thanHrungnir(the Grotte-song), still was at the point of succumbing from over-exertion. The skald has thus given the reason why Thjasse, "rejoicing in what he had caught," sank to the earth with his victim, before Loke became more used up than was the case. To understand the connection, the wordmáttiin the third line is of importance. Hitherto the wordsmálunautr hvats mátti midjungs fridar bidjahave been interpreted as if they meant that Loke "was compelled" to ask Thjasse for peace.Máttihas been understood to meancoactus est. Finnur Jonsson (Krit. Stud., p. 48) has pointed out that not a single passage can with certainty or probability be found where the verbmega, mátti, means "to be compelled." Everywhere it can be translated "to be able." Thus the wordsmátti fridar bidjamean that Lokecould, was able to, ask Thjasse for peace. The reason why he was able is stated above, where it is said that Thjasse got tired of flying with his heavy burden. Before that, and during the flight and the disagreeable collisions between Loke's body and objects with which he came in contact, he was not able to treat with his capturer; but when the latter had settled on the ground, Loke got a breathing space, and could beg tobe spared. The half strophe thus interpreted gives the most logical connection, and gives three causes and three results: (1) Loke was able to use his eloquent tongue in speaking to Thjasse, since the latter ceased to fly before Loke was torn into pieces; (2) Thor'sofrunniorofrúniended his air-journey, because he, though a very powerful person, felt that he had over-exerted himself; (3) he felt wearied because Loke, with whom he had been flying, was heavy. But from this it follows with absolute certainty that the skald, with Thor'sofrunniorofrúni, meant Thjasse and not Loke, as has hitherto been supposed. The epithet Thor'sofrunni, "he who made Thor run," must accordingly be explained by some mythic event, which shows that Thor at one time had to take flight on account of Thjasse. A single circumstance has come to our knowledge, where Thor retreats before an opponent, and it is hardly credible that the mythology should allow its favourite to retreat conquered more than once. On that occasion it is Volund's sword, wielded by Svipdag, which cleaves Thor's hammer and compels him to retire. Thus Volund was at one time Thor'sofrunni. In Haustlaung it is Thjasse. Here, too, we therefore meet the fact which has so frequently come to the surface in these investigations, namely, that the same thing is told of Volund and of Thjasse.
But by the side ofofrunniwe have another reading which must be considered. Codex Wormianus hasofrúniinstead ofofrunni, and, as Wisén has pointed out, this runni must, for the sake of the metre, be readrúni. According to this reading Thjasse must at some timehave been Thor'sofrúni, that is, Thor's confidential friend. This reading also finds its support in the mythology, as shall be demonstrated further on. I may here be allowed to repeat what I have remarked before, that of two readings only the one can be the original, while both may be justified by the mythology.
(20) In the mythology are found characters that form a group by themselves, and whose characteristic peculiarity is that they practise skee-running in connection with the use of the bow and arrow. This group consists of the brothers Volund, Egil, Slagfin, Egil's son Ull, and Thjasse's daughter Skade. In the introduction to Volundarkvida it is said of the three brothers that they ran on skees in the Wolfdales and hunted. We have already referred to Egil's wonderful skees, that could be used on the water as well as on the snow. Of Ull we read in Gylfaginning (Younger Edda, i. 102): "He is so excellent an archer and skee-runner that no one is his equal;" and Saxo tells about his Ollerus that he could enchant a bone (the ice-shoe formed of a bone, the pendant of the skee), so that it became changed into a ship. Ull's skees accordingly have the same qualities as those of his father Egil, namely, that they can also be used on the sea. Ull's skees seem furthermore to have had another very remarkable character, namely, that when their possessor did not need them for locomotion on land or on sea, they could be transformed into a shield and be used in war. In this way we explain that the skalds could employskip Ullar,Ullar far,knörr Örva áss, as paraphrases for shields, and that, according to one statement in the Edda Lovasina,Ullr átti skip that, er Skjöldr hét. So far as his accomplishments are concerned, Ull is in fact the counterpart of his father Egil, and the same may be said of Skade. While Ull is called "the god of the skees," Skade is called "the goddess of the skees," "the dis of the skees," and "the dis of the sea-bone,"sævar beins dis, a paraphrase which manifestly has the same origin as Saxo's account of the bone enchanted by Ull. Thus Thjasse's daughter has an attribute belonging to the circle of Volund's kinsmen.
The names also connect those whom we find to be kinsmen of Volund with Thjasse's. Alvalde is Thjasse's father; Ivalde is Volund's.Ívaldiis another form forIdvaldi. The long prefixedÍinÍvaldiis explained by the disappearance ofdfromIdvaldi.Idreappears in the name of Ivalde's daughterIdunnand Thjasse's brotherIdi, and these are the only mythological names in whichIdappears. Furthermore, it has already been pointed out, that of Alvalde's (Ölvaldi's) three sons there is one who has the epithet Wildboar (Aurnir, Urnir); and that among Ivalde's three sons there is one—namely, Orvandel-Egil—who has the same epithet (Ibor, Ebur, Ebbo); and that among Alvalde's sons one—namely, Thjasse—has the epithetFjallgyldir, "mountain-wolf" (Haustlaung); while among Ivalde-Olmod's sons there is one—namely, Volund—who has the epithetÁsólfr, which also means "mountain-wolf."
In this connection it must not be forgotten that tradition has attached the qualities of giants, not only to Thjasse, but also to Volund. That this does not appearin the Elder Edda depends simply on the fact that Volund is not mentioned by this name in the genuine mythic songs, but only in the heroic fragment which we have in Volundarkvida. The memory that Volund, though an elf-prince in the mythology, and certainly not a full-blooded giant on his father's side, was regarded and celebrated in song as aniötunn,—the memory of this not only survives in Vilkinasaga, but appears there in an exaggeration fostered by later traditions, to the effect that his father Vade (see No. 110) is there called a giant, while his father's mother is said to have been a mermaid. In another respect, too, there survives in Vilkinasaga the memory of a relationship between Volund and the most famous giant-being. He and the giants Etgeir (Eggther) and Vidolf are cousins, according to chapter 175. If we examine the Norse sources, we find Vidolf mentioned in Hyndluljod (53) as progenitor of all the mythological valas, and Aurboda, the most notorious of the valas of mythology, mentioned in strophe 30 as a kinswoman of Thjasse. Thus while Hyndluljod makes Thjasse, the Vilkinasaga makes Volund, a kinsman of the giant Vidolf.
Though in a form greatly changed, the Vilkinasaga has also preserved the memory of the manner in which Volund's father closed his career. With some smiths ("dwarfs") who lived in a remote mountain, Vade had made an agreement, according to which, in return for a certain compensation, his son Volund should learn their wonderful art as smiths. When, toward the close of the time agreed upon, Vade appeared outside of the mountain, he was, before entering, killed by an avalanche inaccordance with the treacherous arrangement of these smiths.
In the mythology Thjasse's father is the great drink-champion who, among his many names and epithets, as we have seen, also has some that refer to his position in the mythology in regard to fermented beverage;Svigdir(the great drinker)Ölvaldi,Ölmódr,Sumbl Finnakonungr. In regard toSvigdir'sdeath, it has already been shown (see No. 89) that, on his complete disappearance from the mythology, he is outside of a mountain in which Suttung and Suttung's sons, descendants of Surt-Durinn, with Mimer the most ancient smith (see No. 89), have their halls; that on his arrival a treacherous dwarf, the doorkeeper of Suttung's sons, goes to meet him, and that he is "betrayed" by the dwarf, never enters the rocky halls, and consequently must have died outside.
Vilkinasaga's very late statements (probably taken from German traditions), in regard to the death of Volund's father, thus correspond in the main features with what is related in the Norse records as to how Thjasse's father disappeared from the scene of mythology.
In regard to the birth and rank of Thjasse's father among the mythic powers, the following statements in poems from the heathen time are to be observed. When Haustlaung tells how Thjasse falls into the vaferflames kindled around Asgard, it makes use of the wordsGreipar bidils son svidnar, "the son of Greip's wooer is scorched." Thus Thjasse's mother is the giantess Greip, who, according to a stanza cited in the Younger Edda, i. 288, is a daughter of the giantGeirrödrand a sister of Gjalp. Oneof these sisters, and, so far as we can see, Greip, is, in Thorsdrapa, calledmeinsvarans hapts arma farmr, "the embrace of the arms of the perjuroushapt."Höpt, singhapt, is likebönd, meaning the same, an appellation of lower and higher powers,numinaof various ranks. If by the perjurous mistress of thehaptGreip, and not the sister Gjalp, is meant, then Thjasse's father is a being who belonged to the number of thenuminaof the mythology, and who, with a giantess whosebidillhe had been, begat the son Thjasse, and probably also the latter's brothersIdiandGángr(Aurnir). What rank this perjuroushaptheld among the powers is indicated in Vellekla, strophe 9, which, like the foregoing strophe 8, and the succeeding strophes 10, 11, treats of Hakon Jarl's conflicts at Dannevirke, whither he was summoned, in the capacity of a vassal under the Danish king, Harald Blue-tooth, to defend the heathen North against Emperor Otto II.'s effort to convert Denmark to Christianity by arms. The strophe, which here, too, in its paraphrases presents parallels between Hakon Jarl and his mythic progenitor Thjasse, says that the Danish king (fémildr konungr) desired that the Morkwood's Hlodyn's (Mork-wood's earth's, that is to say, the woody Norway's) elf, he who came from the North (myrkmarkar Hlodynjar alfs, thess er kom nordan), was to be tested in "murder-frost," that is to say, in war (vid mord-frost freista), when he (Denmark's king) angrily bade the cold-hard storm-watcher (stirdan vedrhirdi, Hakon Jarl) of the Hordaland dwellers (of the Norsemen) defend Dannevirke (Virki varda) against the southland Njords of the shield-din (fyrserkja-hlym-val-Njördum, "the princes of the southland warriors").
Here, too, the myth about Thjasse and of the fimbul-winter forms the kernel out of which the paraphrases adapted to Hakon Jarl have grown. Hakon is clothed with the mask of the cold-hard storm-watcher who comes from the North and can let loose the winter-winds. Emperor Otto and the chiefs who led the southern troops under him are compared with Njord and his kinsmen, who, in the mythology, fought with Volund and the powers of frost, and the battle between the warriors of the South and the North is compared with a "murder-frost," in which Hakon coming from the North meets the Christian continental Teutons at Dannevirke.
Thus the mythical kernel of the strophe is as follows: The elf of the Morkwood of Hlodyn, the cold-hard storm-watcher, tested his power with frost-weather when he fought with Njord and his kinsmen.
The Hlodyn of the Morkwood—that is to say, the goddess of the Jotunheim woods—is in this connection Thjasse's daughter Skade, who, in Haleygjatal, is calledJárnvidjaofJárnvidr, the Ironwood, which is identical with the Morkwood (Darkwood). Thjasse himself, whose father is called "a perjuroushapt" in Thorsdrapa, is here called an elf. Alone, this passage would not be sufficient to decide the question as to which class of mythical beings Thjasse and his father belonged, the less so asálfr, applied in a paraphrase, might allude to any sort of being according to the characterisation added. But "perjuroushapt" cannot possibly be a paraphrase for agiant. Every divinity that has violated its oath is "a perjuroushapt," and the mythology speaks of such perjuries. If a god has committed perjury, this is no reason why he should be called a giant. If a giant has committed perjury, this is no reason why he should be called ahapt, for it is nothing specially characteristic of the giant nature that it commits perjury or violates its oath. In fact, it seems to me that there should be the gravest doubts about Thjasse's being a giant in the strictest and completest sense of the word, from the circumstances that he is a star-hero; that distinguished persons considered it an honour to be descended from him; that Hakon Jarl's skalds never tired of clothing him with the appearance of his supposed progenitor, and of comparing the historical achievements of the one with the mythical exploits of the other; and that he, Thjasse, not only robbed Idun, which indeed a genuine giant might do, but that he also lived with her many long years, and, so far as we can see, begat with her the daughter Skade. It should be remembered, from the foregoing pages, what pains the mythology takes to get the other asynje, Freyja, who had fallen into the hands of giants, back pure and undefiled to Asgard, and it is therefore difficult to believe that Idun should be humiliated and made to live for many years in intimacy with a real giant. It follows from this that when Thjasse, in the above-cited mythological kernel of the strophe of Vellekla, is called análfr, and when his father in Thorsdrapa is called ahapt, a being of higher or lower divine rank, thenálfris a further definition of the ideahapt, and informs us to which class ofnuminaThjasse belonged—namely, the lower class of gods called elves. Thus, on his father's side, Thjasse is an elf. So is Volund. In Volundarkvida he is called a prince of elves. Furthermore, it should be observed that, in the strophe-kernel presented above, Thjasse is represented as one who has fought with Njord and his allies. In Saxo it is Anund-Volund and his brother the archer who fight with Njord-Fridlevus and his companions; and as Njord in Saxo marries Anund-Volund's daughter, while in the mythology he marries Thjasse's daughter, then this is another recurrence of the fact which continually comes to the surface in this investigation, namely, that whatever is told of Volund is also told of Thjasse.
114.
PROOFS THAT IVALDE'S SONS ARE OLVALDE'S (continued). A REVIEW OF THORSDRAPA.
(21) We now come to a mythic record in which Thjasse's brothersIdiandGángr, and he too, in a paraphrase, are mentioned under circumstances well suited to throw light on the subject before us, which is very important in regard to the epic connection of the mythology.
Of Thor's expedition to Geirrod, we have two very different accounts. One is recorded by the author of Skaldskaparmal; the other is found in Eilif Gundrunson's Thorsdrapa.
In Skaldskaparmal (Younger Edda, i. 284) we read:
Only for pleasure Loke made an expedition in Freyja's feather guise, and was led by his curiosity to seat himselfin an opening in the wall of Geirrod's house and peep in. There he was captured by one of Geirrod's servants, and the giant, who noticed from his eyes that it was not a real falcon, did not release him before he had agreed so to arrange matters that Thor should come to Geirrod's hall without bringing with him his hammer and belt of strength. This Loke was able to bring about. Thor went to Geirrod without taking any of these implements—not even his steel gloves—with him. Loke accompanied him. On the way thither Loke visited the giantess whose name wasGrídr, and who was Vidar the Silent's mother. From her Thor learned the facts about Geirrod—namely, that the latter was a cunning giant and difficult to get on with. She lent Thor her own belt of strength, her own iron gloves, and her staff,Grídarvölr. Then Thor proceeded to the river which is called Vimur, and which is the greatest of all rivers. There he buckled on his belt of strength, and supported himself in the stream on theGrídarvölr. Loke held himself fast to the belt of strength. When Thor reached the middle of the stream, the water rose to his shoulders. Thor then perceived that up in a mountain chasm below which the river flowed stood Gjalp, Geirrod's daughter, with one foot on each side of the river, and it was she who caused the rising of the tide. Then Thor picked up a stone and threw it at the giantess, saying: "At its mouth the river is to be stopped." He did not miss his mark. Having reached the other bank of the river, he took hold of a rowan, and thus gained the land. Hence the proverb: "Thor's salvation, the rowan." And when Thor came to Geirrod a goat-housewas first given to him and Loke (according to Codex Regius; according to the Upsala Codex a guest-house) as their lodgings. Then are related the adventures Thor had with Geirrod's daughters Gjalp and Greip, and how he, invited to perform games in Geirrod's hall, was met by a glowing iron which Geirrod threw against him with a pair of tongs, but which he caught with the iron gloves and threw back with so great force that the iron passed through a post, behind which Geirrod had concealed himself, and through Geirrod himself and his house wall, and then penetrated into the earth.
This narrative, composed freely from mythical and pseudo-mythical elements, is related to Thorsdrapa, composed in heathen times, about in the same manner as Bragarædur's account of Odin and Suttung is related to that of Havamál. Just as in Bragarædurpunctum salienslies in the coarse jest about how poor poetry originated, so here a crude anecdote built on the proverb, "A stream is to be stemmed at its mouth," seems to be the basis of the story. In Christian times the mythology had to furnish the theme not only for ancient history, heroic poems, and popular traditions, but also for comic songs.
Now, a few words in regard to Thorsdrapa. This song, excellent from the standpoint of poetry and important from a mythological point of view, has, in my opinion, hitherto been entirely misunderstood, not so much on account of the difficulties found in the text—for these disappear, when they are considered without any preconceived opinion in regard to the contents—as on account of the undeserved faith in Skaldskaparmal's account ofThor's visit to Geirrod, and on account of the efforts made under the influence of this misleading authority to rediscover the statements of the latter in the heathen poem. In these efforts the poetics of the Christian period in Iceland have been applied to the poem, and in this way all mythological names, whose real meaning was forgotten in later times, have received a general faded signification, which on a more careful examination is proved to be incorrect. With a collection of names as an armoury, in which the names of real or supposed "dwarfs," "giants," "sea-kings," &c., are brought together and arranged as synonyms, this system of poetics teaches that from such lists we may take whatever dwarf name, giant name, &c., we please to designate whichever "dwarf," "giant," &c., we please. If, therefore, Thorsdrapa mentions "Idi'schalet" and "Gángr'swar-vans," then, according to this system of poetics,IdiandGángr's—though they in heathen times designated particular mythic persons who had their own history, their own personal careers—have no other meaning than the general one of "a giant," for the reason thatIdiandGángrare incorporated in the above-named lists of giant names. Such a system of poetics could not arise before the most of the mythological names had become mere empty sounds, the personalities to whom they belonged being forgotten. The fact that they have been adapted, and still continue to be adapted, to the poems of the heathen skalds, is one of the reasons why the important contributions which names and paraphrases in the heathen poetry are able to furnish in mythological investigations have remained an unused treasure.
While Skaldskaparmal makes Loke and no one else accompany Thor to Geirrod, and represents the whole matter as a visit to the giant by Thor, we learn from Thorsdrapa that this journey to Jotunheim is an expedition of war, which Thor makes at the head of his warriors against the much-dreaded chief of giants, and that on the way thither he had to fight a real battle with Geirrod's giants before he is able to penetrate to the destination of his expedition, Geirrod's hall, where the giants put to flight in the battle just mentioned gather, and where another battle is fought. Thorsdrapa does not mention with a single word that Loke accompanied Thor on this warlike expedition. Instead of this, we learn that he had a secret understanding with one of Geirrod's daughters, that he encouraged Thor to go, and gave him untruthful accounts of the character of the road, so that, if not Thor himself, then at least the allies who went with him, might perish by the ambush laid in wait for them. That Loke, under such circumstances, should accompany Thor is highly incredible, since his misrepresentations in regard to the character of the way would be discovered on the journey, and reveal him as a traitor. But since Skaldskaparmal states that Loke was Thor's companion, the interpreters of Thorsdrapa have allowed him so to remain, and have attributed to him—the traitor and secret ally of the giants—and to Thjalfe (who is not mentioned in the Skaldskaparmal account) the exploits which Thor's companions perform against the giants. That the poem, for instance, in the expressionThjáfi med ýta sinni, "Thjalfe with his companions," in the most distinct manner emphasisesthe fact that a whole host of warriors had Thor as their leader on this expedition, was passed over as one of the obscure passages in which the poem was supposed to abound, and the obscurity of which simply consists in their contradicting the story in Skaldskaparmal. Thorsdrapa does not mention with a single word that Thor, on his journey to Geirrod, stopped at the home of a giantessGridr, and borrowed from her a staff, a belt of strength, and iron gloves; and I regard it as probable that this whole episode in Skaldskaparmal has no other foundation than that the staff which Thor uses as his support on wading across the rapid stream is in Thorsdrapa now calledgrídarvölr, "the safety staff," and again,brautar lids tollr, "the way-helping tree." The namegrídarvölr, and such proverbs asat ósi skall á stemmaandreynir er björg thórs, appear to be the staple wares by the aid of which the story in Skaldskaparmal was framed. The explanation given in Skaldskaparmal of the proverbreynir er björg thórs, that, by seizing hold of a rowan growing on the river bank, Thor succeeded in getting out of the river, is, no doubt, an invention by the author of the story. The statement cannot possibly have had any support in the mythology. In it Thor is endowed with ability to grow equal to any stream he may have to cross. The rowan mentioned in the proverb is probably none other than the "way-helping tree," the "safety staff," on which he supports himself while wading, and which, according to Thorsdrapa (19), is abrotningr skógar, a tree broken or pulled up in the woods.
I now pass to the consideration of the contents of Thorsdrapa:
Strophe 1.The deceitful Loke encourages Thor to go from home and visit Geirrod, "the master of the temple of the steep altars." The great liar assures him that green paths would take him to Geirrod's halls, that is to say, they were accessible to travellers on foot, and not obstructed by rivers.
Note.—For Thor himself the condition of the roads might be of less importance. He who wades across the Elivagar rivers and subterranean streams did not need to be very anxious about finding water-courses crossing his paths. But from the continuation of the poem we learn that this expedition to Jotunheim was not a visit as a guest, or a meeting to fight a duel, as when Thor went to find Hrungner, but this time he is to press into Jotunheim with a whole army, and thus the character of the road he was to travel was of some importance. The ambush laid in his way does not concern Thor himself, but the giant-foes who constitute his army. If the latter perish in the ambush, then Geirrod and his giants will have Thor alone to fight against, and may then have some hope of victory.
Strophe 2.Thor did not require much urging to undertake the expedition. He leaves Asgard to visit Jotunheim. Of what happened on the way between Asgard and the Elivagar rivers, before Thor penetrated into Jotunheim, the strophe says:
Note.—The common understanding of this passage is (1) thatendrhas nothing to do with the contents, but is a complementary word which may be translated with "once upon a time," a part whichendrhas to play only too often in the interpretation of the old poems; (2) that Ide is merely a general giant name, applicable, like every other giant name, in a paraphraseIdja setr, which is supposed to mean Jotunheim; (3) thatrikri Idja setrs skotumorrikri Gandvikr skotumwas to give the hearers or readers of Thorsdrapa the (utterly unnecessary) information that Thor was stronger than the giants; and (4) that they who longed to subdue Ymer's kinsmen were Thor and Loke—the same Loke who, in secret understanding with the giant-chief and with one of his daughters (see below), has the purpose of enticing Thor and his companions in arms into a trap!
Rikri ... skotumis to be regarded as an elliptical sentence in which the instrumental preposition, as is often the case, is to be understood. When Thor came fromAsgard to the chalet of Ide, situated near Gandvik, he there gets companions in arms, and through them he becomesrikri, through them he gets an addition to his own powers in the impending conflicts. The fact that when Thor invades Jotunheim he is at the head of an army is perfectly evident from certain expressions in the poem, and from the poem as a whole. Whence could all these warriors come all of a sudden? They are not dwellers in Asgard, and he has not brought them with him in his lightning chariot. They live near Gandvik, which means "the magic bay," the Elivagar. Gandvik was a purely mythological-geographical name before it became the name of the White Sea in a late Christian time, when the sea between Greenland and America got the mythic name Ginungagap. Their being the inhabitants on the coast of a bay gives the author of Thorsdrapa an occasion further on to designate them as vikings, bayings. We have already seen that it is a day's journey between Asgard and the Elivagar (see No. 108), and that on the southern coast Thor has an inn, where he stops, and where his precious team and chariot are taken care of while he makes expeditions into Jotunheim. The continuation of the poem shows that this time, too, he stopped at this inn, and that he got his warriors there. Now, as always before, he proceeds on foot, after having reached Jotunheim.
Strophe 3first makes a mythic chronological statement, namely, that the daughter of Geirrod, "skilled in magic," had come to an understanding with Loke, before Rogner became the ally of the latter. This mythic chronologicalstatement shows (1) that there was a time when Rogner did not share Loke's plans, which were inimical to the gods; (2) that the events recounted in Thorsdrapa took place before Rogner became a foe of the gods. Why Thorsdrapa thinks it necessary to give this information becomes apparent already in the fourth strophe.
Then the departure from Ide's chalet is mentioned. The host hostile to the giants proceeds to Jotunheim, but before it gets thither it must traverse an intermediate region which is called Endil's meadow.
We might expect that instead of speaking of a meadow as the boundary territory which had to be traversed before getting into Jotunheim, the poem would have spoken of the body of water behind which Jotunheim lies, and mentioned it by one of its names—Elivagar, Gandvik, or Hraun. But on a more careful examination it appears that Endil's meadow is only a paraphrase for a body of water. The proof of this is found in the fact that "Endil's skees,"Endils andrar,Endils itrskid, is a common paraphrase for ship. So isEndils eykr, "Endil's horse." The meadow which Endil crosses on such skees and on such a horse must therefore be a body of water. And no other water can be meant than that which lies between Endil's chalet and Jotunheim, that is, Elivagar, Gandvik.
The nameEndillmay be the same asVendill,Vandill(Younger Edda, i. 548), and abbreviation ofÖrvandill. The initialVwas originally a semi-vowel, and as such it alliterated with other semi-vowels and with vowels (compare the rhymes on an Oland runic stone,Vandils jörmungrundar urgrandari). This easily-disappearing semi-vowelmay have been thrown out in later times where it seemed to obscure the alliteration, and thus the form Endil may have arisen from Vendil, Vandil. "Örvandel's meadow" is accordingly in poetic language synonymous with Elivagar, and the paraphrase is a fitting one, since Orvandel-Egil had skees which bore him over land and sea, and since Elivagar was the scene of his adventures.
Strophe 4tells that after crossing "Endil's meadow" the host of warriors invaded Jotunheim on foot, and that information about their invasion into the land of the giants came to the witches there.
Two important facts are here given in regard to these warriors: they are calledGángs gunn-vanirandVargs fridar, "Gang's warrior-vans," and "Varg's defenders of the land." Thus, in the first strophes of Thorsdrapa, we meet with the names of Olvalde's three sons:Rögnir(Thjasse),Idi, andGángr. The poem mentions Rogner's name in stating that the expedition occurred before Rogner became the foe of the gods; it names Ide's name when it tells that it was at his (Ide's) chalet near Gandvik that Thor gathered these warriors around him; and it namesGángr'sname, and in connection therewithVargr'sname, when it is to state who the leaders were of those champions who accompanied Thor against Geirrod. Under such circumstances it is manifest that Thorsdrapa relates an episode in which Ide, Gang, and Thjasse appear as friends of Thor and foes of the giants, and that the poem locates their original country in the regions on the south coast of Elivagar, and makesIdja setrto be situated near the same strand, and play in Thor's expeditionsthe same part as Orvandel-Egil's abode near the Elivagar, which is also called chalet,Geirvandil's setr, andÝsetr. TheVargrwho is mentioned is, therefore, so far as can be seen, Rogner-Thjasse himself, who in Haustlaung, as we know, is calledfjallgyldir, that is to say, wolf.
All the warriors accompanying Thor were eager to fight Ymer's descendants, as we have seen in the second strophe. But the last lines of strophe 4 represent one in particular as longing to contend with one of the warlike and terrible giantesses of giant-land. This champion is not mentioned by name, but he is characterised asbragdmildr, "quick to conceive and quick to move;" asbrædivændr, "he who is wont to offer food to eat;" and asbölkveitirorbölkvetir Loka, "he who compensated Loke's evil deed." The characterisations fit Orvandel-Egil, the nimble archer and skee-runner, who, at his chalet, receives Thor as his guest, when the latter is on his way to Jotunheim, and who gave Thor Thjalfe and Roskva as a compensation, when Loke had deceitfully induced Thjalfe to break a bone belonging to one of Thor's slaughtered goats for the purpose of getting at the marrow. If Thorsdrapa had added that the champion thus designated also was the best archer of mythology, there could be no doubt that Egil was meant. This addition is made further on in the poem, and of itself confirms the fact that Egil took part in the expedition.
Strophe 5, compared with strophes 6 and 7, informs us that Thor, with his troop of champions, in the course of his march came into one of the wild mountain-regions of Jotunheim. The weather is bad and hail-showers fall. And here Thor finds out that Loke has deceived him in the most insolent manner. By his directions Thor has led his forces to the place where they now are, and here rushes forth from between the mountains a river into which great streams, swelling with hail-showers, roll down from the mountains with seething ice-water. To find in such a river a ford by which his companions can cross was for Thor a difficult matter.
Strophe 6.Meanwhile the men from Ide's chalet had confidently descended into the river. A comparison with strophes 7 and 8 shows that they cautiously kept near Thor, and waded a little farther up the river than he. They used their spears as staffs, which they put down into the stony bottom of the river. The din of the spears, when their metallic points came in contact with the stones of the bottom blended with the noise of the eddies roaring around the rocks of the river (Knátti hreggi höggvinn hlymthel vid möl glymja, enn fjalla fellihryn thaut med Fedju stedja).
Strophe 7.In the meantime the river constantly rises and increases in violence, and its ocean-like billows are already breaking against Thor's powerful shoulders. If this is to continue, Thor will have to resort to the power inherent in him of rising equally with the increase of the waves.
Note.—But the warriors from Ide's sæter, who do not possess this power, what are they to do? The plan laid between Loke and the witches of Jotunheim is manifestly to drown them. And the succeeding strophes show that they are in the most imminent danger.
Strophes 8and9. These bold warriors waded with firm steps; but the billowing masses of water increased in swiftness every moment. While Thor's powerful hands hold fast to the staff of safety, the current is altogether too strong for the spears, which the Gandvik champions have to support themselves on. On the mountains stood giantesses increasing the strength of the current. Then it happened that "the god of the bow, driven by the violence of the billows, rushed upon Thor's shoulders (kykva naudar áss, blasinn hrönnjardar skafls hvetvidri, thurdi haudrs runn of herdi), while Thjalfe with his comrades came, as if they had been automatically lifted up, and seized hold of the belt of the celestial prince" (Thor) (unnz thjálfi med ýta sinni kom sjálflopta á himinsjóla skaunar-seil).
Note.—Thus the plan laid by Loke and the giantesses to drown the men hostile to the giants, the men dwelling on the south coast of the Elivagar, came near succeeding. They were saved by their prudence in wading higher up the stream than Thor, so that, if they lost their foothold, they could be hurled by the eddies against him. One of the Gandvik champions, and, as the continuation of the poems shows, the foremost one among them, here characterised as "the god of the bow," is tossed by a storm-billow against Thor's shoulders, and there saves himself. Thjalfe and the whole remaining host of the warriors of Ide's sæter have at the same time been carried by the waves down againstHlodyn'spowerful son, and save themselves by seizing hold of his belt of strength. With"the god of the bow" on his shoulders, and with a whole host of warriors clinging to his waist, Thor continues his wading across the stream.
In strophe 8, the Gandvik champions are designated by two paraphrases. We have already seen them described as "Gang's warrior-vans" and as "Varg's land-defenders." Here they are called "the clever warriors of the viking-sæter" (víkinga setrs snotrir gunnar runnar) and "Odin's land-defenders, bound by oaths" (Gauta eidsvara fridar). That Ide's sæter is called "the vikings' sæter" is explained by the fact that it is situated near Gandvik, and that thesebayingshad the Elivagar as the scene of their conflicts with the powers of frost. That they are Odin's land-defenders, bound by oaths, means that they are mythical beings, who in rank are lower than the Asas, and are pledged by oaths to serve Odin and defend his territory against the giants. Their sæter (chalet) near Gandvik is therefore an outpost against the powers of frost. It follows that Ide, Gang, and Thjasse originally arenumina, though of a lower, serving rank; that their relation to the higher world of gods was of such a character that they could not by their very nature be regarded as foes of the giants, but are bound to the cause of the gods by oaths; but on the other hand they could not be full-blooded giants of the race produced from Ymer's feet (see No. 86). Their original home is not Jotunheim itself, but a land bordering on the home of the giants, and this mytho-geographical locality must correspond with their mytho-genealogical position. The last strophe in Thorsdrapa calls the giants slain by the Gandvik champions "Alfheim'scalves," Alfheim's cattle to be slaughtered, and this seems to indicate that these champions belong to the third and lowest of those clans into which the divinities of the Teutonic mythology are divided, that is, the elves.
The Gandvik champion who rescues himself on Thor's shoulders, while the rest of them hold fast to his girdle, is a celebrated archer, and so well known to the hearers of Thorsdrapa, that it was not necessary to mention him by name in order to make it clear who he was. In fact, the epithet applied to him, "the god of the bow" (áss kykva naudar, and in strophe 18,tvívidar Týr), is quite sufficient to designate him as the foremost archer of mythology, that is, Orvandel-Egil, who is here carried on Thor's shoulders through the raging waves, just as on another occasion he was carried by Thor in his basket across the Elivagar. Already in strophe 4 he is referred to as the hero nimble in thought and body, who is known for his hospitality, and who made compensation for Loke's evil deed. The foremost one next after him among the Gandvik champions is Thjalfe, Egil's foster-son. The others are designated as Thjalfe'sýta sinni, his body of men.
Thus we find that the two foremost among "Gang's warrior-vans," who with Thor marched forth from "Ide's sæter," before Rogner (Thjasse) became Loke's ally, are Volund's and Slagfin's brother Egil and Egil's foster-son Thjalfe. We find that Egil and Thjalfe belong to the inhabitants of Ide's sæter, where Thor on this occasion had stopped, and where he had left his chariot and goats, for now, as on other occasions, he goes on foot to Jotunheim.And as in other sources Egil is mentioned as the one who on such occasions gives lodgings to Thor and his goats, and as Thorsdrapa also indicates that he is the hospitable host who had received Thor in his house, and had paid him a ransom for the damage caused by Loke to one of his goats, then this must be a most satisfactory proof that Ide's sæter is the same place as theGeirvadilssetr inhabited by Egil and his brothers, and that Orvandel-Egil is identical either with Ide or Gang, from which it follows, again, that Alvalde's (Olvalde's) sons, Ide, Gang, and Thjasse, are identical with Ivalde's sons, Slagfin, Egil, and Volund.
That Egil is identical with Gang and not with Ide is apparent from a comparison with the Grotte-song. There Olvalde's sons are calledIdi,Aurnir, andThjazi, while in the Younger Edda they are calledIdi,Gángr, andThjazi. Thus Aurnir is identical withGángr, and asAurnirmeans "wild boar," and as "wild boar" (Ebur, Ibor, Ebbo) is an epithet of Egil, Orvandel-Egil must be identical with Gang.
In regard to the rest of Thorsdrapa I may be brief, since it is of less interest to the subject under discussion.
Strophe 10.In spite of the perilous adventure described above, the hearts of Thjalfe and the Gandvik champions were no more terrified than Thor's. Here they are designated aseids fiardar, "the men pledged by oath," with which is to be comparedeidsvara fridarin strophe 8.
Strophes 11, 12, show that Thor landed safely with his burden. Scarcely had he and his companions got afirm foothold on the other strand before Geirrod's giant-clan, "the world-tree-destroying folk of the sea-belt," came to the spot, and a conflict arose, in which the attacks of the giants were firmly repulsed, and the latter were finally forced to retreat.
Strophe 13.After the victory Thor's terrible hosts pressed farther into Jotunheim to open Geirrod's hall, and they arrived there amid the din and noise of cave-dwellers.
The following strophes mention that Thor broke the backs of Geirrod's daughters, and pressed with his warriors into Geirrod's hall, where he was received with a piece of red-hot iron hurled by the latter, which, hurled back by Thor, caused the death of the giant-chief. Thor had given the glowing javelin such a force that some one who stood near him, probably Egil, "drank so that he reeled in the air-current of the piece of iron the air-drink of Hrimner's daughter" (svalg hrapmunum á siu lopti Hrimnis drósar lyptisylg). Hrimner's daughter is Gulveig-Heid (Hyndluljod, 32), and her "air-drink" is the fire, over which the gods held her lifted on their spears (Völuspa, 21).
As we see from the context, Geirrod's halls were filled with the men who had fled from the battle near the river, and within the mountain there arose another conflict, which is described in the last three strophes of the poem. Geirrod's hall shook with the din of battle. Thor swung his bloody hammer. "The staff of safety," "the help-tree of the way," the staff on which Thor supported himself in crossing the river, fell into Egil's hands (kom at tvívidar Tývi brautar lids tollr), who did not here haveroom to use his bow, but who, with this "convenient tree jerked (or broken) from the forest," gave death-blows to "the calves of Alfheim." The arrows from his quiver could not be used in this crowded place against the men of the mountain-chief.
The fact that the giants in Thorsdrapa use the sling is of interest to the question concerning the position of the various weapons of mythology. Geirrod is calledvegtaugar thrjótr, "the industrious applier of the sling" (str. 17), andálmtaugar Ægir, "theÆgirof the sling made of elm-bast."
In the last strophe Egil is said to behelblótinnandhneitir,undirfjálfs bliku, expressions to which I shall recur further on.
Like the relation between Volund and his swan-maids in Volundarkvida, the relation between Rogner-Thjasse and Idun in Forspjallsljod is not that of the robber to his unwilling victim, but one of mutual harmony. This is confirmed by a poem which I shall analyse when the investigation reaches a point that demands it, and according to which Idun was from her childhood tied by bonds of love and by oath to the highly-gifted but unhappy son of Ivalde, to the great artist who, by his irreconcilable thirst for revenge, became the Lucifer of Teutonic mythology, while Loke is its Mefisto. I presume that the means of rejuvenation, the divine remedy against age (ellilyf ása—Haustlaung), which Idun alone in Asgard knows and possesses, was a product of Thjasse-Volund's art. The middle age also remembered Volund (Wieland) as a physician, and this trait seems to be from the oldest time,for in Rigveda, too, the counterparts of the Ivalde sons, that is, the Ribhus, at the request of the gods, invent means of rejuvenation. It may be presumed that the mythology described his exterior personality in a clear manner. From his mother he must have inherited his giant strength, which, according to the Grotte-song, surpassed Hrungner's and that of the father of the latter (Hard var Hrungnir ok hans fadir, thó var Thjazi theim auflgari—str. 9). With his strength beauty was doubtless united. Otherwise, Volundarkvida's author would scarcely have said that his swan-maid laid her arms around Anund's (Volund's) "white" neck. That his eyes were conceived as glittering may be concluded from the fact that they distinguish him on the starry canopy as a star-hero, and that in Volundarkvida Nidhad's queen speaks of the threatening glow in the gaze of the fettered artist (amon ero augu ormi theim enom frána—str. 17).
Ivalde's sons—Thjasse-Volund, Aurnir-Egil, and Ide-Slagfin—are, as we have seen, bastards of an elf and a giantess (Greip, Gambara). Ivalde's daughters, on the other hand (see No. 113), have as mother a sun-dis, daughter of the ruler of the atmosphere, Nokver. In other sources the statement in Forspjallsljod (6) is confirmed, that Ivalde had two groups of children, and that she who "among the races of elves was called Idun" belonged to one of them. Thus, while Idun and her sisters are half-sisters to Ivalde's sons, these are in turn half-brothers to pure giants, sons of Greip, and these giants are, according to the Grotte-song (str. 9), the fathers of Fenja and Menja. The relationship of the Ivalde sonsto the gods on the one hand and to the giants on the other may be illustrated by the following scheme: