It is dark night. The storm howls among the rocks. Sometimes it lightens and thunders, and the bears bellow here and there in the forest.
HOTHER (sitting upon a rock unarmed and in a dejected attitude).
The rocks are reeling,When storms are roaring,And thunders pealing,I feel no fright!What I’m enduringIs wilder, strangerThan thunder’s angerOr tempests might.
The rocks are reeling,When storms are roaring,And thunders pealing,I feel no fright!What I’m enduringIs wilder, strangerThan thunder’s angerOr tempests might.
Welcome, thou night! O darkness thick! how friendly,Compassionately hid’st thou me from Hother!From him, the weak, the overcome, the fallen!Come, then, embrace me, Hœtheim’s murky princess!With all thy horrors dark, thou foe of gladness!Ah, come! conceal the feeble, shiver’d weapon!Cover the gloomy rock where I— Ha! thunderAnnihilate thee, accursed thought, that darestDisturb the Skoldung where to rest he’s flung him!But I may breathe it to the night, and HœtheimI may entrust with Hother’s ignominy.Ha! hear it, night! and in thy depths conceal it!There is a rock—a gloomy one—a horrid,For ugly demons swarm upon its summit,And dragons nestle in its murky caverns:There did I fall, and with me fell my honour.There knelt I powerless, and my life accepted!Now am I calm, for I no more behold it;Nor yet behold the proud, the noble foeman,Nor yet my Nanna’s cheek, o’erspread with blushes;Nor yet the burning, hated tears which rescued,Which purchased Hother from triumphant Balder!Ha! storm, thou sinkest! Howl and whoop around me!Peal, thunders, peal! and drown the cruel echoOf dastard prayer, of Nanna’s intercession!
Life of my Nanna,Thy breath doth kill,Its sweet lamenting,One stroke preventing,With many, with manyThis breast doth fill.
Life of my Nanna,Thy breath doth kill,Its sweet lamenting,One stroke preventing,With many, with manyThis breast doth fill.
Thou lovest me! Ha! weak, enamour’d Nanna!Thou lovest Hother’s life, but not thy Hother.How cold, how cruel to his name, his honour!But I—I too was cruel! I accus’d thee—Beloved Nanna, at thy feet full quicklyHother’s best blood shall wash away that insult!
[He springs up and walks about the scene.
Why do I slumber? Why delay a momentTo keep my oath? Ha, cruel, cruel destiny!E’en death itself thou dost refuse to Hother,For every sword and precipice thou hidest;Ha, feeble spear! whereon I, fool-like, trusted,Where art thou now? and thou my fragile MimringNe’er frail in fight before; and thou my dagger—
[He stumbles over the horn which he cast away in the first act.
What, what is this? By Hal, the horn which VanfredGave me wherewith in time of need to call him.Ha! by the gods, was ever need so horrid,To crave to die, yet want the power of dying;Friendship so warm as his will never surelyRefuse a dagger to this breast.
[He winds the horn, which echoes frightfully among the rocks.
Ha, Vanfred!I call thee now; where art thou, Vanfred? Vanfred!
[A whirlwind is heard, andLOKEimmediately appears.
LOKE, HOTHER.
LOKE. Hail, hail to thee, most fortunate of heroes!
HOTHER. Ha! darest thou mock Hother?
LOKE. What disturbethA fortune which thy foe himself, which Skulda,Which heavenly and subterranean powersEstablish with united strength?
HOTHER. Old dreamer!Lend me a spear, and better right hand shallEstablish it than all the powers thou namest!
LOKE. I know thy state of mind and wretched project.By Nastroud, that worst of fools, if BalderHad not thine eyes with Asa magic blinded,And hid each dagger, each abyss thou soughtest,Ere now in mist thou’dst unreveng’d been lying!
HOTHER. What, has he hindered me, the noble, proud one!
LOKE. Yes, proud; for he despises thee.
HOTHER. Despises!
LOKE. And think’st thou he for sake of pleasing NannaWould e’er have deign’d to guard thee from destruction,If he had much regarded Hother’s anger,And if thy love one grain of sand he heeded?
HOTHER. Bad art thou, Vanfred; all thy words are poison’d.
LOKE (incensed). Ha! Hother, thou reward’st in evil fashionThe friendship and the happiness I bring thee.
HOTHER. What happiness?
LOKE. But come, thy misery sours thee;Know, I can straight assuage it!
HOTHER. And delayest.
LOKE. Know then at once, thou lucky son of Hothbrod,The spear which sendeth Balder’s soul to Hælheim.
HOTHER. A spear, a spear! ’tis all I—
LOKE. Is discover’d!I knew, for I had read it in the planets,Valhalla’s battle-loving maids must seek forThe ne’er seen weapon, and prepare for slaughterIts deadly point, and I—yes, I—seduc’d them,The haughty three, to seek the spear.
HOTHER. Seduc’d them?
LOKE. And dost thou think they wish the death of Balder?
HOTHER. Ha, Vanfred! more.
LOKE. At first thou hadst not the right one;Thy combat, friend, prov’d that. Near then hadBalder crush’d thee and my design. Aghast I saw himBrandish the Jotun’s bane—I’m well acquaintedWith Balder’s strength; but ha! the fool prov’d tender;He saw thy bride, and spar’d thee. Then up mountedMy courage and thine own.
HOTHER (to himself). I blush: my courage!(ToLOKE). What, courage! I was raging—blind with fury!
LOKE. Courage of fury—I, by Hæl, care little,My youthful hero, which thine eyeball gleams with,If thou seek vengence, and thine enemy falleth.
HOTHER. Who art thou—who? But speak; proceed; explain thee!
LOKE. Strong was thine arm, and strong ’gainst Jotun’s armourWas Rota’s lance, but all too weak ’gainst Balder;And yet he kneel’d; I saw the proud one palen.But ha! he rear’d himself; my heart then fail’d me,For I could best appreciate thy full danger;Raised was his arm; bright appear’d the massive falchion;He called on Odin’s name, and then none livingCould save thee but himself—the fool! his loftyCourage shall prove his overthrow.
HOTHER. Ha, Vanfred!
LOKE. Well?
HOTHER. I do admire more and more thy wisdom.But whilst we fought, where were the maids of battle?
LOKE. They were my dread; I quak’d at every shadowAnd every leaf that mov’d, lest I should see them.When I saw that no one of the sistersHeard the high call, and din of shield and falchion,My courage rose—I knew thou wast in safety:They hear no fight where no one’s doomed to perish.
HOTHER. And now the spear thou spak’st about?
LOKE. She has it,Valfather’s favour’d maid—his trusty servant,At length discover’d by unwearied searchingThe spear by which his much-lov’d son shall perish.Shortly ere thou didst call, as in my cavernI sat, its vaulted roof begun to tremble.Three times my stilly dwelling shook, and o’er meA sound assailed my ear; ’twas like the tempest’sWhen it uptears the mountain oak; then heard IThe voice of Rota; black huge drops did trickleOf Jotun blood, of them whom Odin slaughtered,Through the rock’s rifts. I knew by all these signalsThat she had found the right, the fatal weapon.
HOTHER (impatiently). Where is it—where?
LOKE. She hardens it in Nastroud.
HOTHER. Peace, dreamer! Go!
LOKE. I see this heat with pleasure,And to extinguish all thy doubts, I’ll show thee—If thou dare see her—the terrific Rota.
HOTHER. What, Vanfred! if I dare?
LOKE. Enough! Look westward!
[He touchesHOTHER’Seyelids. Immediately is seen the entrance of a vast cavern, which is only illumined by the flames which, with a continual roaring, now sinking, now rising, appear in its deepest part. At the entrance, on each side, is a little round altar. On the one a flame is burning in which lies the fatal spear. On the other stands a caldron. TheVALKYRIERmove in a circle round the first.
THE THREE VALKRIER.
THE FIRST. Flames of NastroudBlaze away!The deepmost deeps feelValhall’s May.
THE SECOND. Flames whose roaringWith dismayE’en Asa hears,Fate’s voice obey.
ROTA. Poisonous blazesHarden a spearFor Valhall’s May!
ALL THREE. Poisonous blazesHarden a spearFor Valhall’s May.
ROTA. Whom it woundethIt shall slay.
THE FIRST. Whom it woundethIt shall slay.
THE SECOND. Whom it woundethIt shall slay.
ALL THREE. Whom it woundethIt shall slay.
ROTA (takes the spear from the fire and goes towards the other altar). Enough, enough! Now will we in the caldronCool its red point—now backward turns the circle,And as we turn, the life of him turns backwardWhom the spear smites; as quench’d are Nastroud’s sparklesVanish shall the life of him it woundeth.
[She retains the spear in her hand, and all three march round the caldron.
ALL THREE. In juice of rue,And trefoil too;In marrow of bearAnd blood of Trold,Be cool’d the spear,Three times cool’d,When not from blazesWhich Nastroud raisesFor Valhall’s May.
ROTA (she dips it in, and then immediately gives it to the firstVALKYRIE,who does the same, and then hands it to the second, likewise dips it in the caldron; meanwhile they sing:)
THE FIRST. Whom it woundethIt shall slay.
THE SECOND. Whom it woundethIt shall slay.
ALL THREE. Whom it woundethIt shall slay.
[ROTAtakes the spear. TheVALKYRIERand the cavern disappear. The scene appears the same as in the first of this act. The tempest still continues to rage.
HOTHER. Evanished! sunken! sorcery surroundethMy every step, and ties the arm of Hother.Fool that I am! the moon will soon break overGevar’s high rocks; and I, by Hothbrod’s ashes,Like one who fearfully will prolong existence,I’m paying heed to phantoms. Vanfred! Vanfred!Fiend, who didst vow me friendship I detested!Say, where is now the spear which kills for certain?
LOKE. Thou saw’st it.
HOTHER. Ha! I saw! I saw! Where is it?
LOKE. Do I not know that Odin’s maids prepar’d itOnly for thee, that fate will only sufferThine arm in Balder’s heart to thrust it?
HOTHER. LatelyThou saidst, think’st thou they wish the death of Balder?But now against him they the weapon harden;Now Valhall’s maidens hate the noble half-god.Hence with thy contradictions, false deceiver!
LOKE. I have already said that I seduced them;My subtlety, not they, the spear has harden’d.
HOTHER. Good now! thy subtlety! how nobly HotherPasses the night! Proceed with thy narration.
LOKE. Then hear. Thou dost remember Rota’s present.The spear which set the haughty half-god kneeling,That shiver’d I, and brought it unto Rota.I borrowed Tyr’s, the Asa’s dress and figure.“Behold,” I cried, “thy spear, thou crafty Rota!Late at a Jotun’s foot I found it lying,Sent from the Leir-King’s hand; it still was buzzing,For strong is Hother’s arm; I knew the weapon,And I, who trusted in thy art, I shouted.Now ill it stands with yonder mountain Jotun;But loud he laugh’d, and straight the lance upsnatching,He shiver’d it, and here, O crafty Rota!Here bring I back to thee the precious fragments!”With joy I saw her eyes with fury flashing,She swore by Odin’s arm, by all the powers,And by the highest Godhead—by Allfather,Restless to search till she a spear discover’dWith power to slay the strongest son of Ymer,And all who could be slain. She swore and vanished.Then seem’d it—then, by Hæla’s mists, then seem’d itAs if fate only for that oath had waited.Three times above me thunder’d the high Norna;She spake; but terrible is Skulda’s thunder;I cannot bear its sound; I swift departed;But soon was conscious of our spear’s discovery.Then thou didst call— But hear the heavy pinions!’Tis she! ’tis Rota! I aside must hasten;For Valhall’s maids detest me. [LOKEgoes aside.
HOTHER, and presently the Valkyrie ROTA.
HOTHER (he pursuesLOKEwith a contemptuous look). Outcast!Ha! dastard slave! and thou didst swear me friendship!No, ne’er hast thou been Hother’s friend, thou traitor,But the sworn enemy of the gods and virtue!
ROTA (handing him the fatal spear with a half-averted countenance). Here, son of Hothbrod! here, my much-lov’d warrior!Receive this spear, and use it as—
HOTHER. Thou weepest!
ROTA. Thou saw’st my tear—dear and noble the blood isWhich it forebodes; but do thou use this weapon!Yet ’tis no gift of mine—’tis that of Skulda.
HOTHER. I know thou fearest for the generous Balder;But, noble maid, if thou my heart see’st into,Thou know’st that he is safe as Thor in Valhall.
ROTA. Think’st thou to thwart the Norna’s will, young hero?She pointed out the hidden tree; she bade meBreak off the bough of death; she bade me hardenIts point in Nastroud’s flames; she— But what will I?My tears are wasted, like thy noble project.Well, then: use thou this spear! Death is its surname,And whom it smites eternal sleep shall fetterIn Hælheim’s silent night, if he is mortal;The immortal demon, whose eye by hate and wickednessIs clouded, ’twill plunge to torments of a thousand winters.Mark that, and use it well! Thy breast is noble;But him, the wretch! who breathest poison in it,(Full well I know he’s near) him shalt thou punish.
[ROTAdisappears.
HOTHER,and presentlyLOKE.
HOTHER. Now, now! is all a dream? Yet, I’ve the weapon!How welcome death! my noble foe no longerShall hide thee from me, nor of thee deprive me;Now can I keep what I have sworn! O Nanna!I bring a noble offering to thy virtue!
[He is going, butLOKEmeets him at the entrance.
LOKE. Whither? thou Fortune’s fav’rite!
HOTHER (sharply). Ha! to Hælheim.
LOKE. Hother, I scoff thy wise determination.
HOTHER (incensed). Thou scoffest?
LOKE. Yes, thou holdest thy foeman’s life,And thou wilt die.
HOTHER. What foeman’s?
LOKE. Whose, if not Balder’s?
HOTHER. Ah, my life he gave me!And though I hold the gift in little value,I took it still. And shall his lofty spiritHis downfall prove? Shall I, shall Hother punishThe pity I craved not?
LOKE. By Hæl! he’s coming!Waste not the moments in these foolish visions.
HOTHER. What wouldst thou?
LOKE. Stand behind that pine, and kill him!
HOTHER. Ha! dastard slave!
[He strikesLOKEon the head with the spear, and he instantly sinks howling into the earth. He is no sooner out of sight than everything becomes quiet. The sun rises in its full majesty. AfterHOTHERhas for some time looked on all this with astonishment, he says:
Like thee fall every traitorWho breatheth wickedness in the Skiolding’s bosom!Ha, Balder! [He goes somewhat aside.
HOTHER. BALDER.
BALDER (without perceivingHOTHER). Gloomy was this night and horrid!Around about me angry gods consulted.What seek they? To affright the soul of Balder?Now all is still.
HOTHER. Now unconcern’d and haughtyWalks the high demigod! Ah, little thinks heEach breath he draweth is the gift of Hother.
BALDER. Who utter’d Hother’s name? I heard it utter’d,But all is hushed as death. I know not whereforeThat name affects me more than any other,And why within mine ear ’tis ever buzzing.Ah! can I more than pity him, poor mortal!Who now his life and feebleness bewaileth,And trembles weaponless at his own shadow.
HOTHER. Ha, now! for that is worthy of the Skoldung;I’ll be as proud as thou, and fly thy presence! [He goes.
BALDER. Who’s speaking here? Who dares disturb my musings?But, know I not that Finnish fiends are swarmingUpon the rocks! The sun approach’d the ocean,And yet I found not Nanna: all desertedWas Gevar’s house, and hollow rang each echoOf Balder’s sighs. Where was she, then? where was she?Ah! Hother charm’d thee. In the arms of HotherThou didst not hear my sighs, my timid knocking,And my enamour’d call, thou cruel maiden!And what if I had found thee? Then thine answerMost probably had prov’d the death of Balder.I know myself no more; my heart it flutters,And here about it creeps unwonted chillness.Yes, Nanna! yes; ’twas thou taught’st me to tremble.Ah! belov’d maiden! I, a half-god, trembleWhen thou but breathest, when thy lip thou movest,As if to utter No, thy lip is open’d.Oh, hush! and let me sink with hope to Hælheim!But did I not behold thine eye beam friendshipOn Balder? felt I not thy warm tear trickleUpon this hand? and saw I not thy blushes?Ha! I’ll think through, I will enjoy entirelyMy hope: why then, my heart, beat’st thou so wildly?And why in Balder’s eyes are tears uprising,And hope to me a stranger? Oh, my treasure,Thou teachest me a dastard’s fear! I trembleNow I’ve a glimpse of hope to be depriv’d of.Ah! if ’tis torn from me again, if Nanna—Oh doubt! oh fear with which my heart is tortur’d!Yes, Thor, my friend, thy words were truth and wisdom;That pity that she showed was thanks for sparing Hother:She trembled but for Hother—for the lov’d one:Each tear but begged his life. What cruel delusionHas led my soul astray? Ah, wretched meteorOf empty hope! thou, thou for me couldst glitter,As if I had been ignorant of her hatred.Ha! she has ever fled my path, my shadow;And when, to my own torment, once I wrestedFrom the proud maid some sort of heed and answer,’Twas mockery mere: she called herself unworthyTo be great Balder’s bride and Odin’s daughter,And held my love-sick sighs for jest and flatt’ry.Yet never have I heard the word which killeth,Without the aid of Surtur’s deadly sapling—The No, the frightful No, by Nanna utter’d.Ha! I will hear it! Yes, by Hælheim’s darkness!My tears shall now extract that No from Nanna.
NANNA, BALDER.
NANNA (she rushes distractedly in upon the stage). Ah!No one answers me! Do thou give hearingTo Nanna’s hard rock, which no god heedeth!My anguish ease! Reply! Ah, where’s my lov’d one?
BALDER (aside). My fate will have it so. Ha, Nanna.
NANNA. Show me,Ye silent forests, shades once lov’d, now awful,Oh, show me him—disclose me my dearest!
BALDER (aside). Ha! shall I? Dare I?
NANNA. Ah, where art thou, Hother?Perhaps in an abyss, all crushed and bloodyAnd silent! Woe is me! for ever silent!
BALDER (springing to her). Dear Nanna! Oh what terror—
NANNA. Ha! I’ve seen him!The direst dream has shown to me my Hother!Close by a yawning chasm was he standing,And round about him bellow’d hideous monsters.
BALDER. Thine—as thou callest him—thine Hother liveth.
NANNA (whilst she recognizesBALDER). Ha Balder! thou hast slain him! Ah, forgive me!My dream confuses me—thou see’st I tremble.I heard the fall of gods—the gods lamenting;And bloody by the Hall there stood a spectre:Big was the ruddy wound whereto it pointed.Like one deep musing it conceal’d its visage;But big the tears were through its fingers streaming:Ah, the pale son of night was tall as Hother!
BALDER. Ha! Hother can’t be dead.
NANNA. I do believe thee;But ah! I cannot rest—I cannot, Balder,Till I have seen his face, have spoken to him,Embrac’d his arm, and press’d it to this bosom.
BALDER (distractedly). Ha, Nanna! this is more—’tis more, by Odin,Than I can bear!
NANNA (terrified). Ye mighty gods of heaven!Thou fright’nest me, forlorn one!
[She endeavours to escape, butBALDERdetains her by force, and flings himself at her feet.
BALDER. Oh my Nanna!Stay! by these burning tears I do adjure thee,By all my sufferings! Stay, oh stay!
NANNA (with disquiet). What wilt thou?
BALDER. I scarcely know! Ah! I have hop’d, dear Nanna!
NANNA. Unhand me! Let me fly! What hast thou hop’d for?Thou know’st who has my love. Unhand me, Balder!
BALDER. No, by the gods! here at thy feet I’ll hear theePronounce my doom. Is there no hope remaining?Can all my tenderness—these tears—can nothingSoften thy cruelty? Oh, answer, Nanna!Say so at once! Plunge in my heart the dagger!
NANNA. Ah, wherefore, Balder, dost thou love a mortal?
BALDER. Perhaps thou doubtest my love, perhaps thou wishestIts whole extent. Ha, towards HeavenI’ll lift my better hand, and vow eternal,Eternal tenderness to thee, my Nanna!If greater proofs thou wish’st for, do but name them,That I may show to thee how dear I love thee!
NANNA. Ah, Balder, spare me! spare thyself! What wilt thou?How often have I said my heart can neverMerit the like of thee!
BALDER. Accurst evasion!Why dost thou seek to spare me? Crush me! kill me!Say that thou never wilt!
NANNA. Ah, I love Hother!How can I?
BALDER. Perhaps thou only think’st thou lov’st him.Can he deserve thee, Nanna? he, a mortal?
NANNA (incensed). He loveth virtue, Balder; he is valiant,And great is he ’mongst kings; he ruleth overThe Danes!
BALDER. I’m more than any king, oh Nanna!
NANNA. Wert thou a god, I’d still have none but Hother!
BALDER (stretches his right hand despairingly towards heaven). Although rejected—hear it all ye heavens—Although rejected, I will love thee, Nanna!
[He has scarcely finished speaking when the ValkyrieROTAappears. The Bird of Death sits upon her shoulder. She averts her countenance, touches his skull with her spear, and says:
To battle, friend! to wounds, and fall, and darkness!
[She immediately disappears, and asBALDERandNANNAhave their backs turned to her, and have both been too attentive to themselves to observe any one else, she is neither seen nor heard but by the spectators.
BALDER (he springs up like a maniac, and holds his hand for some time before his head). Ha! how I’m dreaming! how I waste my momentsIn dastard sighs, bewailing like a woman!And have I not a shield and sword? To battle!To battle, Balder! Let thy broad sword glitter!Lift high the sword, cleave down the haughty warrior,And dip thy spear in blood, thou son of Odin!Ha! din of shield ’gainst shield, and battle’s bellow,They, they shall gladden me—and deafen Nanna!And I will cool this heart in blood of Kempions!
[He draws his sword, and runs away in madness.
NANNA (alone). Ye heavens! what did he mean? Alas, he rages!Wretch that I am! he goes to slay my Hother!
My hopes ye annih’late,Ye powers of the sky!Who’ll strengthen me, fainting,Against the god’s might?Who’ll heed my lamenting,My sorrowful plight?Ah! whom can I wend to?Will earth e’er attend toA powerless cry,Which cruel gods smile at?My hopes ye annih’late,Ye powers of the sky!Ha! ye have crush’d my heart! Oh Hother! Hother!Where art thou? Ah! I can no more! I’m swooning!O Death! O Freya!
My hopes ye annih’late,Ye powers of the sky!Who’ll strengthen me, fainting,Against the god’s might?Who’ll heed my lamenting,My sorrowful plight?Ah! whom can I wend to?Will earth e’er attend toA powerless cry,Which cruel gods smile at?My hopes ye annih’late,Ye powers of the sky!Ha! ye have crush’d my heart! Oh Hother! Hother!Where art thou? Ah! I can no more! I’m swooning!O Death! O Freya!
[She supports herself, fainting, against a tree.
HOTHER, NANNA.
HOTHER (he rushes up to her in alarm). Dearest!
NANNA (looking stiffly upon him). Ah! my Hother!
HOTHER. So wild! so pale! Ah! would thy noble bosomWas not so tender!
NANNA. Voice of my belov’d one!Oh, speak again! Oh, speak again!
HOTHER. Thou tremblest,My bride! my much-lov’d bride! And burning tear-drops,Oh, hide them! Ha! they burn me—melt my courage!Weep not, my bride!
NANNA. Ah, joy! the joy of heaven,Entices forth these tears! My Hother liveth!
HOTHER (mournfully). Still liveth!
NANNA (affectionately and sorrowfully). Still!
HOTHER (turning away his face). O cruel, cruel fortune!Yet I have sworn?
NANNA. Fright me not, my Hother!Affright me not! What mean’st thou? Mighty powers!Thine eyes thou turnest from thy bride!
HOTHER (looking upon her with tenderness). Ah, Nanna!
NANNA. Ha! tears on Hother’s cheeks! Oh, save me, Freya!What means this? Oh, I die!
HOTHER (he embraces her with violence). Oh, dearest Nanna!
NANNA. Oh heaven! say—
HOTHER (embraces her again). Once more, my bride!
NANNA. I trembleWhat means this?
HOTHER. Canst thou bury in oblivionThy Hother’s cruel doubt? Say, canst thou pardonHis only crime?
NANNA. Think’st thou I can rememberThat Hother e’er has err’d?
HOTHER. How nobly spoken!Farewell, my bride! farewell, for ever.
[He embraces her for the third time, and is going; but she holds fast his arm.
NANNA. Cruel!If thou hast ever lov’d me—
HOTHER. Canst thou doubt it?By Odin, more than the best light! Can Hother’sTears not make bare to thee his heart?
NANNA Then whereforeWouldst thou fly from me!
HOTHER. Honour calleth—Honour!And that—forgive me—that is more than Nanna.Ha! I must fly from thee! Each tear thou sheddestEnfeebles but my heart, and makes death bitter.
[He is going.
NANNA.. If thou regard’st my vow—regard’st my terror,Wouldst thou not see me die, and die distracted—
HOTHER. What wilt thou?
NANNA. Ah! a prayer!—oh how I tremble—But if thou meetest Balder—
HOTHER. I avoid him!
NANNA (astonished, and calmer). What! thou avoid’st him?
HOTHER. Think’st thou I bear hatred’Gainst one who yielded thee a glimpse of pleasure?One—nearly one of Hother’s days? He gave meMy life, and shall I slay him in requital?Oh! Nanna, . . . I’ve the mighty thought imagined;But with it trembles yet my lip—oh, canst thouPay virtue its reward—forget for ever thy Hother,And—in course of time—love Balder?
NANNA. Oh, hush! oh, hush! my Hother!
HOTHER. He is virtuous,He loves thee well, and Odin is his father.
NANNA. How cruel!
HOTHER. I must fly from thee for ever!
NANNA. Oh horror! Whither? What is thy intention?
HOTHER. To die! Thou know’st my oath! Ha! the sun hastens!Seest thou how high? I swore by Hothbrod’s ashesWith Balder not to live a day! Release me!Ha! seest thou how high—
NANNA. And I have sworn too,By tenderness, by Freya, by my bosom,I’ll not release thee; I thy track will followIn the black night of death! This arm I’ll cling to,And my tear-moisten’d eye, until it bursteth,Shall gaze on thee, shall gaze on thee, its Hother!
HOTHER. Then be courageous—of thy Hother worthy!Think on his oath, and—
NANNA (she releases him). Ah, what wilt thou, Hother?
HOTHER. And see him die!
[He lifts his spear to stab himself. At that same moment the franticBALDERrushes upon the scene.
BALDER, HOTHER, NANNA.
BALDER (he runs directly up toNANNA). Come! follow me now, Nanna!Our bridal festival’s prepar’d in Hælheim,In Asgaard. Follow me, thou murky daughterOf joy! Ha, quick! Of dastard love I dream not.Jotuns await my arm. Hurrah! thou stayest!Thou stayest! Come!
[He seizes her by the arm, and seeks to drag her away by force. HOTHERsteps between, and endeavours to thrust him aside with his hand.
NANNA. Oh, save me! save me, Hother!
HOTHER. Hold, Balder!
BALDER (he releasesNANNA,and drawing his sword, hews atHOTHERwith his utmost might, who seeks to parry the blow with his spear, retreating at the same time). Fall, presumptuous wretch!
HOTHER. Beware thee!
BALDER. Fall, nidding!
HOTHER. Ha, beware thee!
BALDER. Die!
[He stumbles, and runs the spear into his breast; whereupon he immediately drops his sword and sinks upon one knee.
HOTHER. Ha, Balder!
BALDER. Ha, Nanna!—Thor! I have deserv’d my fortune.
[He dies, and a mighty whirlwind passes over the scene.
NANNA. Ye heavens!
HOTHER. He is dead, the mighty Balder!
A VOICE FAR AWAY IN THE FOREST. He is dead, the mighty Balder!
MANY VOICES,which answer one another amongst the rocks.The mighty Balder is dead.
[It thunders; ODINandFRIGGAappear upon a cloud in a very mournful attitude. THORand many of theASERcome forward from one side of the wood, and the threeVALKYRIERfrom the other.
THOR (and his retinue). Odin, thy Balder is dead!
CHORUS. Thunders, burst your cloudy portals!Heaven, earth, and ocean rave!Weep ye gods, and mourn ye mortals,O’er the mighty Balder’s grave!
THOR. Gods of battle stern and gory,Weep ye o’er the hero slain!Balder, thou the Aser’s glory!Love, base love, has prov’d thy bane.
CHORUS. Balder, thou the Aser’s glory,Love, base love, has prov’d thy bane.
ROTA. I of slaughter swift purveyor,Sorrow o’er the hero slain!Balder, thou the Jotun-slayer,Loke’s falsehood was thy bane.
CHORUS. Balder, thou the Jotun-slayer,Loke’s falsehood was thy bane.
HOTHER. Hother’s burning tears are flowingO’er the mighty Balder slain;Ah, thy heart with virtue glowing,Noble Balder, was thy bane.
CHORUS. Ah, thy heart with virtue glowing,Noble Balder, was thy bane.
NANNA. Nanna weeps with pallid featureO’er the mighty Balder slain:Friend of gods and every creature!Fate alone has prov’d thy bane.
CHORUS. Friend of gods and every creature!Fate alone has prov’d thy bane.
MANY VOICESanswer one another among the rocks. Themighty Balder is dead!
CONCLUDING CHORUS. Thunders, burst your cloudy portals!Heaven, earth, and ocean rave!Weep and howl, ye gods and mortals,O’er the mighty Balder’s grave.
ALLFATHER was one of Odin’s surnames, but it signifies in this piece the highest being, who governs all things, and Odin himself.
ALF, a spirit; the same as Demon amongst the Greeks. There were good and bad Alf’s or Elves, light and black, as the Edda calls them.
ASER, was one of Odin’s surnames, and on that account the name of Aser was given to all the gods.
ASGARD, the castle or city of the gods, erected by Odin and his brothers.
THE FALL OF ASGARD. At the end of the world the heavens were to burst, and the castle of the gods to fall.
BALDER, son of Odin and Frigga, the best and most beautiful amongst the Aser. His death and the circumstances which caused it in this piece—that is, the whole plot—are taken partly from the Edda (43rd, 44th and 45th falle), partly from the third book of Saxo, and something is, according to poetic license, added or altered.
FENRI’S wolf, was begot by Loke with the giantess Angerbode. This wolf in the conflict of Surtur with the gods was to swallow Odin, who on account of this prophecy kept him in chains.
FIGHT AND DEATH OF GODS. At the destruction of the world, Odin and the other gods were to fight with Surtur and his train, and all to perish in this conflict. This period is termed, in the Edda, Ragnarokr, the “twilight of the gods.”
FIND, a Trold or Demon of this name.
FREYA, the most exalted of the goddesses next to Frigga. She was the protectress of the human race in general, but particularly of lovers.
FRIGGA, the wife of Odin and the mother of Balder; the most exalted of all the goddesses.
GELDER, king of the Saxons (according to Saxo, in the life of Hother). He is presumed here to have been killed by Hother, who is therefore called “the bane of Gelder.”
GEVAR, according to Saxo, a spæman or prophet, the father of Nanna and the foster-father of Hother. He makes him likewise king of Norway; but Giver is not so in this piece.
HÆLorHÆLA, the goddess of death. She was the daughter of Loke and the giantess Angerbode, and was hurled down by Odin to her horrible habitation.
HÆLHEIM, Hæl’s dwelling. In the Edda it is called Helim, that is, Hell; but as the word Hell has now a different signification, it was necessary to invent here a word to express Hæl’s dwelling.
HÆLWAY, the way of the dead, or the path to Hælheim.
HERTE, HERTA,orHERTHA, the earth, considered as a divine being and worshipped as a goddess by the old German and Northern people, as likewise by the Romans and others. The Edda calls this goddess Jörd (that is, earth), and makes her the daughter and wife of Odin, and the mother of Thor, his first son.
HERTEDAL, the place in Sielland where Herte’s grove was.
HOTHBROD, the father of Hother, according to Saxo, who makes him king of Sweden, and thus Hother a Swede. Contrary to which, the author of this piece found himself justified in reckoning Hother amongst the Skioldungs.
HOTHER, according to Saxo, was king of Denmark and Sweden; but his Life, by the same, is a chain of fables, which has yet given considerable occasion to the contents of this piece.
LEIRE, the ancient place of residence of the Danish kings, whence they were termed “Kings of Leire.”
LIDSKIALF, in the Edda Klidskialf, a place in Asgard from which Odin surveys the whole world.
LOKE, a very wicked god, who, according to the Edda, was the cause of the death of Balder, and was therefore conducted by the other gods to a cavern, where they chained him to three rocks, there to suffer the most painful punishment until the destruction of the world. By the giantess Angerbode he begot Fenri’s Wolf, Midgard’s Serpent, and Hæl. He was reckoned among the Aser, and was, notwithstanding his wickedness, beautiful of appearance.
MIDGARD’S SERPENT, a serpent begot by Loke with the giantess Angerbode. It was to be one of the occasioners of the world’s destruction, and was on that account cast by Odin into the deep sea, where it grew to such a degree that it lay round the whole earth, and bit its own tail.
MIMMER, the owner of a fountain wherein wisdom and knowledge of the future lay concealed, out of which he drank every morning. Odin was once obliged to lay one of his eyes in pawn, in order to obtain a draught from this fountain. He was likewise, when Surtur should attack the gods, to ride to this fountain and seek counsel from Mimer on his own and his army’s account.
MIMRING, this is the sword called here, which Hother, according to the relation of Saxo, took from a satyr or wild man of the same name.
NANNA, daughter of Gevar, beloved by Hother, and by Balder, son of Odin, according to Saxo, whose narration bears that Hother wedded Nanna, and afterwards slew Balder by the assistance of an enchanted belt which three nymphs had bestowed upon him.
NASTROUD, was properly the place where the ungodly were to be after the destruction of the world, but here the word is intended to signify the glowing and burning world towards the south, at whose extremest end Surtur had his habitation, and which is called in the Edda, Muspel, or Muspelheim.
NORNIES, were the goddesses of destiny, whose messages Odin himself was compelled to fear and to attend to. They were three in number. But the eldest, Urd (been), presided over the past; the second, Verande (being), the present; and the youngest, Skuld (shall be), the future.
ODIN, the god of war, the most exalted of the gods, and father of them all.
ROTA, one of the Valkyrier. See VALKYRIER.
SKIOLDUNG. Skiold, son of Odin, was the founder of the Danish monarchy. His descendants were called after him Skioldungs, or, contractedly, Skiolds.
SKULDA (in the Edda, SKULD), the youngest Nornie. See NORNIES.
SURTUR (the Black), the ruler of the glowing or burning world, at whose extremest end was his seat or dwelling. See above: NASTROUD. At the fated time he was with his army to overcome and slaughter Odin and all the gods, and thereupon set fire to the whole world.
THOR, was the god of thunder and strength: with his hammer he slew Yults, Trolds, and other foes of Odin and the gods.
TYR, one of the bravest and wisest gods, so that it was customary to say proverbially, “As bold as Tyr,” “Wise as Tyr.”
VALFATHER, the father of the slain or fallen in battle: one of Odin’s surnames.
VALHALL, (the Hall of the Slain), the place where all warriors who had fallen by the enemy were so nobly entertained by Odin. It is commonly called Valhalla; but Valhall is the right, andValhallaonly the Latinized name in Resenius’ edition of the Edda.
VALKYRIER, were virgins, or war-maids, who waited upon the heroes in Valhall. Three of them, amongst whom was Rota, were commonly dispatched to the field of battle by Odin, in order to choose them who were to be slain, which employment the name Valkyrier denotes. These three have obtained a place in this tragedy, and Rota is made the principal of them.
UDGAARD (UDGARD), Loke’s dwelling outside of heaven. His usual name in the Edda is Udgarda Loke, Loke of Udgard; and thus Saxo in the Life of Gorm the first calls him Ugartilocum.
YMER, the first giant, Yutt, or Jotun, who lived before the heaven and the earth existed, and who was killed with all his offspring by Odin and his brothers. Only one of this giant race, by name Borgeline, escaped, together with his wife, and became the stem-father of the subsequent Jotuns.
{1}Wadmal, a coarse woollen stuff, much worn by Norwegian peasants.
{2}Skiers are wooden pattens to run upon over the frozen snow