TABLE OF KINGS. (continued 2)

The destruction of Ymer and his offspring, the wicked giants of the frost, by the divine race, is evidently the same mythos as the defeat of the Titans by Jove; of Ahriman and the evil genii, by Ormuzd and the Amshaspands. Surtur is the Ahriman of Scandinavia. He is the author of evil, viz., of the giants; and is destined one day to assist in the destruction of the universe. We read of the great Alfadur,—another than Odin who is sometimes called eternal. It is 49pleasing to read such notions of a First Cause, in such an age. To this omnipotent, eternal, and beneficent Being, who is far above all the worlds, inaccessible to any thing created, there are more allusions than one in the Edda of Sæmund. Thus the Hyndlu-mâl, after mentioning the destruction of Odin, with all the gods:—

Yet there shall come

Another mightier,

Although him

I dare not name.

Farther onward

Few can see,

Than where Odin

Meets the Wolf.

Such notions may be regarded as traces of a purer religious dispensation—of the patriarchal. As an eminent northern writer elegantly observes^[22]—“Thus sounds the voice of the northern prophetess, the Vala, to us obscure and indistinct, through the darkness of ages. It speaks of other times, other men and ideas; if fettered by the bonds of superstition, it longs after eternal light, and, though imperfectly, expresses that longing. We may also recognise some of those mighty minds of which Pindar speaks, as wandering eternally over earth and sea. In such sounds heaven and earth announce an Eternal Being, and at the same time their own mortality,—truths which no paganism has expressed more strongly than the Scandinavian. However darkly, still it does allude to the Mighty One on high, who is above all the deities of nature,—to one mightier than the mighty, whom it dares not name,—to that unknown God whom the Athenians also worshipped.” We may, however, doubt whether this notion of the One First Cause, dark as it is, was introduced by Odin into the north. In most of the relics which the ancient pagans have left us, we have traces of two religions, distinct from each other,—both from Asia, but not at 50the same period, or from the same region. The worship of Thor, for example, seems to be much more ancient than that of Odin; and perhaps before either was known—before the light of patriarchal truth was entirely departed from the north—the elementary form of worship, the most ancient and least debasing of all superstitions, prevailed.

The three gods, Odin, Vilè and Vè, were not the only created beings. Besides Bergelmer and his wife, from whom sprung a new giant race, other offspring than the three deities resulted from the union of Bôrr with Bestla—

The maid so good and fair

Though born of giant race.

From these sprung all the good, benevolent beings,—gods, goddesses, elves, Vanir, and spirits of air, of whom more in the proper place. All these were created before man. So also were the Duergar, or dwarfs.

According to the prose Edda, they bred like maggots in Ymer’s dead body; but the Voluspa tells us that they were created by the gods from the blood and bones of that giant:

Then went the gods

To their exalted seats;

The high and holy

Then consulted

Of them which

Should form the dwarfs

From the sea-giant’s blood,

And his blue bones.

Thus Modsogner is

The chief become

Of all the dwarfs;

And after him Durin.

But the former account is preferable, because it accounts more satisfactorily for the cruel, vindictive, yet often contemptible character of the race,—a race with small deformed bodies, large heads, flat noses, and still more despicable in mind. Probably, as Mr. 51Magnussen conjectures, these beings, who could not bear the light of day; who, if they accidentally saw it, were changed into rocks; whose life was passed in the bowels of the earth, especially in the bowels of the mountains, were intended to personify the subterraneous powers of nature. Their names, when translated, favour the interpretation. Wind, Blast, Gleam, Light, Fruit-giver, Iceberg, and others equally fantastic, attest their elementary character. Of all beings they were the most skilful, the most expert, the most industrious: they were unrivalled smiths; they manufactured wondrous armour, and other enchanted things, which were highly prized by the gods, who excelled them in power, but were inferior in ingenuity.

The beings next created were mankind. “The sons of Bure,” says the prose Edda, “went to the sea-shore, and found two trees, which they formed into man and woman. Odin gave them breath and life; Vilè, understanding and vigour; Vè, beauty of form, speech, hearing, sight.” But the Valuspa says that it was Haenir who gave understanding, and Loder a fair complexion. These, however, may be only different names for the same beings. Askur was the name of the first man, and Embla of the woman; the former signifying an ash tree, the latter, it is said, an elm. This is evidently a vegetable mythos. It is not peculiar to the Goths. Hesiod informs us that Zeus formed the third race of men from ash trees. The ancient Medians had the same notion; the mythic Kaiamar died without issue because without mate; but from his remains in forty years sprung a tree with fifteen branches; and from it Ormuzd fashioned the first progenitors of mankind.

Midgard, or the middle world, was made for the habitation of man; but before we describe it, we must glance at the other worlds with which it was connected. According to both the poetic and the prose Edda, there were nine.

52THE NINE WORLDS.

In the Valuspa, the prophetess says—

I tell of nine worlds

And of nine heavens.

The giant Vafthrudnis has the same boast; and Alvis, the dwarf, tells Thor,

All the nine worlds

Have I passed through

And every being known.

These worlds, which were all vertically arranged, except Utgard, which was on the same plane with Midgard, are thus specified by Magnussen:—

1. Gimlè, the residence of the Supreme Being, the eternal Alfadur. Connected with it was Liosalfaheim, the abode of the benevolent light elves (of whom an account in the proper place). This region is to be the everlasting abode of the good after the destruction of the universe.

2. Muspelheim, the world of Surtur and his fiery genii, which lay far below Liosalfaheim. This world was perhaps uncreated and perhaps will not be destroyed.

3. Asgard (Aser-yard), or Godheim, the residence of the Aser, or gods; the starry firmament, which lay far below Muspelheim.

4. Vanaheim, the residence of the Vanir or spirits of air: it was also called Vindheim, the home of the winds. Its position was the atmosphere below Asgard.

5. Midgard (mid-yard), so called because it was the middle world, between Gimlè above, and Nifleheim below. It was also called Manheim, from its being the home of men.

6. Utgard (outer-yard), or Jotunheim, the home of the giants, lay beyond the vast sea which, according to the Scandinavian cosmography, encompasses Midgard. Midgard and Utgard are horizontal with each other.

537. Swartalfaheim, the home of the black elves or dwarfs, the spirits of darkness, is situated in the bowels of the earth.

8. Helheim, the palace of Hela, the goddess of death, lower far than Swartalfaheim, and the abode of all, however good, who die a natural death.

9. Nifleheim, the world of mist, the lowest of all the worlds. It contains the poisonous fountain and rivers in which the bad are to be punished.

Of these worlds six are to perish,—perhaps seven, for there is some doubt as to Muspelheim. The virtuous are to enjoy an eternity of happiness in Gimlè; the wicked an eternity of punishment in Nifleheim.

GIMLE AND MUSPELHEIM

Defy description. None of the Valas, none of the gods, none of the giants or dwarfs who boasted of their having seen these nine worlds, have left us any record of either. The former, indeed, must have been inaccessible to all created intelligences; but Liosalfaheim was esteemed less holy. Why Muspelheim was placed so near to Gimlè has not been satisfactorily explained; but we may infer that Surtur and his subjects, ministers of evil as they were, were only the instruments of the unknown power. In one account, they are said to be placed there to forbid the ascent of any hostile foot to the pure realms so far above them.

MIDGARD AND UTGARD.

The notion entertained of Midgard by the Scandinavians was, that it is round; that it is entirely encompassed by a vast sea; and that at the extremity of this sea begins Utgard, the abode of the giant race descended from Bergelmer and his wife. No better description of Utgard can be given than that which has been already given in the mysterious voyages of Gorm 54and Thorkill.^[23] We will, however, have frequent occasion to revert to the same subject.

The notion in question was not different from that of the Greeks. In the time of Homer, the earth was regarded as horizontal and circular, with the Mediterranean in its centre; which by one or more channels communicated with the ocean-stream that flowed round the land. On the other side of that ocean-stream was the abode of the Cimmerians and also of the damned,—a region dark and dismal as that to which the two Danish navigators, Gorm and Thorkill, repaired. The heaven too was thought to be solid, supported by four great pillars, which answer to the four dwarfs of the Hindoos and Scandinavians. The latter had a bridge from earth to heaven,—the bifrost, or rainbow, which though slender, was strong as adamant; and in this they resembled the Magians, whose sacred books speak of a similar bridge, most dangerous to pass, between the earth and the mount of the good genii. The Magians, too, recognised a dark country to the north, inhabited by evil genii, whose assaults are continually dreaded by the deities of the stony firmament. But reverting to the Greeks, the description which Ælian gives of the earth, is still more kindred with that of the northern pagans. “Europe, Asia, and Lybia,” says he, “are only islands, being surrounded by a great sea; but encircling the world is a continent of vast magnitude. On it are to be found huge animals: the men are double the size of us; and they live twice as long. Some are martial, and always at war; others so inoffensive and pious, as to be honoured sometimes by the conversation of the gods. They have gold and silver in abundance; and they value gold less than we do iron. A thousand myriads of them once crossed the ocean, and came to the country of the Hyperboreans. Near the extremity of that country there is a place called Avostos, resembling a large gulf or bay, where it is neither perfectly light, nor perfectly dark, but where a strong lurid sky 55hangs down to the earth.” The Arabians had the same notion of the mysterious country to the north; and of the giant race which inhabited it,—a race which is one day to destroy the world.

ASGARD.

Asgard, the residence of the gods, deserves a more detailed description. This vast city, as it is called by the Edda, was built by Odin and his two brothers immediately after the death of Ymer. It was well fortified, to defend it against the Vanir below, and the fiery sons of Muspelheim above. In it were twelve palaces, for the twelve chief gods:—

1. Ydale, the abode of Uller

2. Alfheim, the abode of Freyr

3. Valaskialf, the abode of Vale (or Vile)

4. Soequabeck, the abode of Saga

5. Gladsheim, the abode of Odin

6. Thrymheim, the abode of Skada

7. Breidablik, the abode of Baldur

8. Himmelbierg, the abode of Heimdal

9. Folkvangur, the abode of Freya

10. Glitner, the abode of Forsete

11. Noatun, the abode of Niord

12. Landvide, the abode of Vidar.

With Thrudheim, the house of Thor.

At the first glance every reader must perceive that by these twelve palaces are meant the twelve signs of the zodiac; and by Thrudheim the region of the sun. It could scarcely be expected, indeed, that the Scandinavians should be ignorant of a system which prevailed over the whole earth. Like the Egyptians and Assyrians, and Persians and Hindoos, they divided their year into twelve parts or months, and placed over each a god.

The best description of these abodes is in the Edda, in the poem of Grimnis-mâl. It is Odin himself, while between the two fires^[24], that describes them to Geirrod and Agner. The mere enumeration of these palaces, and of the divine inhabitants, would be useless unaccompanied 56by astronomical explanations. To the critical antiquaries of the north, especially to Finn Magnussen, must be conceded the honour of having first penetrated the hidden mysteries of their mythology. From him chiefly we condense the following account.

Thrudheim.

Thrudheim, or Thrudvangur, the residence of Thor, the god of thunder, is the atmosphere between Asgard and the earth. The palace in which the god dwelt was called Bilskirner, which Ohlenschlager, the modern Danish poet, thus justly describes:—

In wide Thrudvangur’s land

(So ancient Scalds indite),

A palace vast doth stand,

Unmatched in breadth and height.

Its halls with burnish’d gold

Are richly fretted o’er;

Their number rightly told,

Five hundred and two score.

Blue lakes and verdant fields

Smiling around are spread;

Studded with copper shields,

The palace glares in red.

From distant earth its walls

Some radiant meteor seem:

Far off the warrior halls

In purple splendour gleam.^[25]

1. Ydale.

Uller’s month commenced the Scandinavian year with the entrance of the sun into Sagittarius, November 22., and ended December 21. Uller excelled as an archer, and he was unrivalled in the art of skating on the ice and snow: hence he was the god of hunting. He was the son of the goddess Sif, whose second husband was Thor; but the name of his father, the first husband, does not appear. Ydale, his residence, signifies the dewy valley.

572. Alfheim.

Freyr month commenced December 21., when the sun entered Capricorn. He was the son of Niord, one of the Vanir, and produced at the same birth with his sister Freya. He was the god of the sun,—doubtless because during this month the days began to lengthen, that is, the sun to return. In the same manner the Egyptians honoured their heroes; and from them, perhaps, the Romans styled the winter solstice “natalitia invicti solis.” Alfheim, the abode of the light elves, was given to him for a residence by the gods, when he cut his first tooth. “He is to be invoked,” says the Edda, “for peace and a good season: he is the dispenser of blessings to mankind.”

3. Valaskialf.

Liosberi, the light-bringer, which extended from January 21. to February 19., began when the sun entered Valaskialf, the residence of Valè, and was sacred to that god. He was a son of Odin by Rinda (frost), a personification of the frozen barren earth. He presided over mid-winter. As the sun was now gaining power, his festival was celebrated by illumination in the houses. In imitation of that pagan ceremony, the Gothic christians had their Candlemas and the feast of torches. Valè too was an archer, probably from the rays of the sun, which now shot downwards with greater force. Valaskialf was said to be white, and covered with silver,—an allusion to the snowy character of the month. Valè (also called Bo^[26]) slew Hoder the blind god, who had killed Baldur. This mythos signifies that the day is beginning to triumph over the night,—for Hoder is the symbol of darkness. Valentine’s day fell within the dominion of Valè,—when half the month was run. Was it derived from this pagan god?

584. Soequabeck.

The fourth month, sacred to Saga, commenced February 19. and ended March 19. Soequabeck signifies the deep brook; in allusion, no doubt, to the abundant rains which fall, and to the snows which are thawed, at this period, which, in some places, indeed, to this day retains the name of Fillbrook. Mythologically, Odin and Saga are said to drink deeply this month. Saga, the goddess of tradition and history, is here put for Urda, the norny of the past. The name, however, of the month, or house, is much more explicit than that of the goddess; for what has the deep brook in common with history? The key to the difficulty may, we think, be found in the fact, that at this period was held the great assembly of Upsal, when all the freemen who were able to attend hastened to the temple, and heard the pontiffs relate the past exploits of the gods; then at the Al-thing, which was held immediately after the sacrifices, listened to the explanation of the old laws, and to the promulgation of new ones, by the judges. Upsal was the place of meeting for the Swedes: the Danes and Norwegians had a different place, but at the same period of the year. On these occasions, the people took care that the name of the month, Soequabeck, should be appropriate; for, in imitation of Odin and Saga, they made the cup pass merrily round.

5. Gladsheim.

Gladsheim, the joyful house, the month sacred to Odin, carries its own signification with it. From the 20th of March to that of April, was indeed a joyful season.

6. Thrymheim.

The next month, when the sun was in Thrymheim (April 21. to May 20.), was called Harpa or Harpen, alluding probably to the music of the birds at this 59season. This sixth house, Thrymheim, had been the residence of the giant Thiasse, but is now of his daughter, Skada. On his death, by the hands of Thor, she was given to Niord, and thus became a goddess. This mythos may be easily explained. The ancient summer began with this month. Thiasse, the genius of winter, is slain by Thor, the thunder god,—for in the mountainous regions of the north the sound begins again to be heard. Skada represents the clear, penetrating wind of spring.

7. Breidablik.

The ninth solar house (May 21. to June 23.), Breidablik,—the wide-shining, was named Baldur from the god who inhabited it. An unclouded sun, warm breezes, and sudden fertility, caused the god to be esteemed the most beautiful of all the deities; to be denominated the fair, the bright, the gentle, the good. The mythos of his death by the hands of Hoder^[27], may be explained by the gradual yielding of the sun to the encroachments of night; for Hoder is represented as blind, and is employed as the symbol of darkness. The nights are beginning to lengthen, the sun to leave the northern hemisphere: Hoder, or darkness, is instigated by Loke, the personification of evil, to encroach on the light. In all the ancient systems, especially in the Magian, which has so many points of affinity with the Scandinavian, night is the characteristic of the evil, just as light is of the good principle; and the former is always at war with the latter. The tears of all nature for the fate of Baldur more strongly illustrate the truth of the physical interpretation. Even the mistletoe, the instrument of Baldur’s death, was not chosen without a meaning; it flourishes when the tree decays; it retains its verdure throughout the winter: hence it was the symbol of immortality, while the physical god was created mortal. When heroes or monarchs died, their 60bodies were burnt: the funeral fire was therefore a rite necessary to the honour of the dead; and all who loved him or were dependent on him, were present on this last solemn occasion. In the mythos, Odin and all the gods were present: their worshippers, corroborating the physical interpretation, honoured Baldur on mid-summer eve by lighting fires on the high mountain tops. When the Northmen, and we may add, Scotland and Ireland, received the Christian faith, they still continued the custom; but now they paid the honour, not to Baldur, but to St. John, whose festival happened at the same period.

8. Himmelbierg.

The eighth solar house, Himmelbierg, or the heavenly mountain, the abode of Heimdal, was so called because the sun was now at its height. Himmelbierg, being the highest of all the palaces, was well adapted for watching; hence Heimdal was the watchman of the gods; and from his elevated situation he looked out upon the whole universe. His golden teeth, his golden-maned horse, his appellation “the whitest and brightest of the Aser,” are but so many expressions for the unusual splendour of the sun at this season (June 23. to July 23). Another of his epithets, the declining, alluding to the declination of the sun in the heavens, is equally explanatory of the mythos. Heimdall, says the Edda, needs less sleep than a bird; an allusion to the extreme shortness of the nights in northern countries at the summer solstice. He can see as well, it adds, by night as by day,—meaning that, at this season, there is no such thing as darkness, properly so called. His hearing, too, is equally acute: not even the growth of the grass, or of wool on the sheep’s back, escaped him. This may denote the silence of all nature during the great heat, and especially during the night.

9. Folkvangur.

The sun careered through Folkvangur, from July 23. 61to August 23. The word means a meeting of people in the field, alluding most evidently to the harvest labours during this season. Hence, Freya was considered the goddess of fertility, and, figuratively, of love. An extension of the same figure rendered her the goddess of the night,—of the moon,—of the planet Venus.

10. Glitner.

Glitner, the tenth house (August 23. to September 23.), was ruled by the god Forsete, which means the fore-sitter, the president. Every year this deity held a Thing at the will of Urda, the norny of the past; and there he decided all controversies so justly that every party was satisfied. Forsete, therefore, was the god of justice. On earth, too, in imitation of the mythical proceedings above, a great judicial assembly, or Al-thing, was held at this season. During its continuance, and indeed during the whole time of harvest, all feuds were suspended; hence the satisfaction of all with his authority.

11. Noatun.

Noatun was the abode of Niord, and the eleventh great solar house (September 23. to October 23). Niord (of whom more hereafter) was a prince of the Vanir, but was admitted among the gods. He was lord of the winds, and consequently of the sea, which is governed by them. Noatun, his residence, was said to lie near the sea-shore, but higher in the clouds. He was the beneficent deity of the sea, while Ægir and Ram were the terrible deities of the same element. The meaning is, that though in this month the winds were high, they were not destructive to ships.

12. Landvide.

Landvide, the twelfth solar house, means empty or barren land,—a term descriptive enough of the earth at this season. As this is the last of the months so 62Vidar, the presiding deity, is to outlive the rest of the gods, and to revenge the death of his father Odin on the wolf Fenris.

Such were the divine palaces of Asgard. But that great world had other parts, which require a moment’s notice. Three of them belonged to Odin:—Gladsheim was the great palace or hall where he presided over the twelve diar, or judges, who administered the affairs of Asgard. Valaskialf, the palace of his son Valè, was also his own. The highest part of this dwelling was called Lidskialf, where he had a throne, and which was so elevated that he could see all the dwellers upon earth. But more celebrated than these, or all his other abodes, was Valhalla.

Easily can they

Who come to Odin

Perceive and know Valhall.

The roof is decked with spears,

The walls covered with shields,

The benches with helmets.

This was the great hall in which Odin entertained the Einheriar, or souls of the warriors slain in battle. Like the palace of Thor, it had 540 gates. Daintily were they fed on the boar Schrimner, which though killed and eaten every day, was always alive again in the evening. Andrimner, the best cook in the world, prepared the meal. As for the mead, without which in profusion no northern feast would have been esteemed, abundance of it was furnished by the goat Heidrun. Never had guests a more liberal host. He treated them thus, that when the dreaded twilight of the gods arrived, they might assist him in repelling the giants and the spirits of fire. Nor would he allow them to forget their martial exercises. Early each morning they are awakened by the crowing of the cock with the golden comb,—that cock which is doomed also to warn the gods when the last enemy approaches. Hastily assuming their vizors, 800 of them issued at each of the 540 gates, so that the god had nearly half a million of boon 63companions. The whole of the time from sunrise to the hour of dinner was passed in fighting; and with such hearty good will, that multitudes were prostrated; but when the great hour arrived, all rose, perfectly well, to contend over the cups as strenuously as they had done in the field. They were served by the Valkyrs, viz., the choosers of the slain,—goddesses who were the favourite messengers of Odin, and the only females admitted into Valhalla.

The way in which a hero, who died in battle, or marked his bosom with runes to Odin, left Midgard for Valhalla, is poetically described. Thus shortly after his burial, king Hako, in his silent mound, first changed his posture from the supine to the sitting. He grasped his sword in his right hand; his shield with his left; while the celestial gold-hoofed courser, which had been sent to convey him, pawed the ground outside with manifest impatience. The mound opens; the monarch rises, mounts the noble horse, gallops up Vifrost, and passes through Gladsheim into Valhalla, where the gods came forward to meet him; while Braga, the deity of song, sounds the celestial harp with his praises.

We have seen the pursuits of the Einheriar by day,—fighting and drinking. Did they sleep? So we suppose. Sometimes, however, they mounted their horses, galloped down Vifrost, and entered their sepulchral mounds. Sometimes, too, they were present in battle; at other times they communed with their mortal friends.

The blood-thirsty character of the Northmen, which could not enjoy peace without cutting one another to pieces, has been justly exposed by historians. Still, however valour might be esteemed, we would not assert that it was the only virtue in the mind of the Scandinavians, or that heaven was closed to every other. There is, indeed, room to infer that this tenet was confined merely to a sect,—a caste,—the dominant one,—the immediate followers of Odin.

As we shall have frequently to speak of these celestial residences in the course of this chapter, we shall only 64add that Asgard had another palace called Vingolf, where the Asyniar, or goddesses, met, just as the gods met in Valhalla.

SWARTALFAHEIM

Was the abode of the Black Elves, (to distinguish them from the Light or shining Elves, who dwelt in Loisalsfaheim,) and also of the Dwarfs.

But there were elves who dwelt in the air, in water, amongst the trees. These could not be called underground people; and it is almost doubtful whether they can be classed among the Black Elves. As the term, however, has been adopted for the purpose we have indicated, viz., to distinguish the elves of earth from those of the highest heaven,—both those who dwell on, and those who dwell below, the earth’s surface—the well and the ill disposed—may here be considered.

“Our heathen forefathers,” says Thorlacius^[28], “believed, like the Pythagoreans—and the farther back in antiquity the more firmly—that the whole world was filled with spirits of various kinds, to whom they ascribed in general the same nature and properties as the Greeks did to their Dæmons. These were divided into the celestial and the terrestrial, from their places of abode. The former were, according to the ideas of those times, of a good and elevated nature, and of a friendly disposition towards men, whence they also received the name of White or Light Alfs, or spirits. The latter, on the contrary, who were classified after their abodes in the air, sea, and earth, were not regarded in so favourable a light. It was believed that they, particularly the land ones, the δαίμονες ἐπιχθόνιοι of the Greeks, constantly and on all occasions sought to torment or injure mankind, and that they had their dwelling partly on the earth in great and thick woods, whence came the name Skovtrolde^[29] (Wood-Trolds); or 65in other desert and lonely places, partly in and under the ground, or in rocks and hills: these last were called Bjerg-Trolde (Hill Trolds); to the first, on account of their different nature, was given the name of Dverge (Dwarfs), and Alve, whence the word Ellefolk, which is still in the Danish language. These Dæmons, particularly the underground ones, were called Svartalfar, that is, Black Spirits, and inasmuch as they did mischief, Trolls.”

The prose Edda draws a broad distinction between the light and the black elves,—the former being whiter than the sun; the latter darker than pitch.

“Of the origin of the word Alf,” says Mr. Keightley, “nothing satisfactory is to be found. Some think it is akin to the Latin albus, white; others to alpes, Alps mountains. There is supposed to be some mysterious connection between it and the word Elf or Elv, signifying water in the northern languages; an analogy which has been thought to correspond with that between the Latin Nympha and Lympha. Both relations are perhaps rather fanciful than just. Of the derivation of Alf, as just observed, we know nothing certain^[30]; and the original meaning of Nympha would appear to be, a new-married woman^[31], and thence a marriageable young woman; and it was applied to the supposed inhabitants of the mountains, 66seas, and streams, on the same principle that the northern nations gave them the appellation of men and women, that is, from their imagined resemblance to the human form.

“Whatever its origin, the word Alf has continued till the present day in all the Teutonic languages. The Danes and Swedes have their Ellen or Elven Dan, and Elfvor Swed (Elvus), and the words Elf-dans and Elf-blæst, together with Olof and other proper names, are derived from it. The Germans call the nightmare Alp; and in their old poems we meet Elben and Elbinnen, male and female elves, and Elbisch frequently occurs in them in the bad sense of the “Elvish” of Chaucer and our old romancers, and a number of proper names, such as Alprecht, Alpine, Alpwin, &c., were formed from it; undoubtedly before it got its present ill sense. In the Anglo-Saxon Ælf, with its feminine and plural, frequently occurs. The Orcades, Naiades, and Hamodryades of the Greeks and Romans are rendered in an Anglo-Saxon Glossary by munt-ælfenne, fæ-ælfenne, and feld-ælfenne. Ælf is a component part of the proper names Ælfred and Ælfric; and the author of the poem of ‘Judith’ says that his heroine was Ælf-scīene (Elf-sheen), bright as an Elf. But of the character and acts of the Elfs no traditions have been preserved in Anglo-Saxon literature. In the English language, Elf, Elves, and their derivatives, are to be found in every period, from its first formation down to this present time.”^[32]

The judicious and indefatigable writer whom we have followed in the preceding extract, and who has treated the subject with a minuteness and an accuracy unequalled in this country, continues:—

“The Alfar still live in the memory and traditions of the peasantry of Scandinavia. They also, to a certain extent, retain their distinction into white and 67black. The former, or the good elves, dwell in the air, dance on the grass, or sit in the leaves of trees; the latter, or evil elves, are regarded as an underground people, who frequently inflict sickness or injury on mankind; for which there is a particular kind of doctors, called Kloka, to be met in all parts of the country.

“The elves are believed to have their kings, to celebrate their weddings and banquets, just the same as the dwellers above ground. There is an interesting intermediate class of them in popular tradition, called the Hill-people (Högfolk), who are believed to dwell in caves and small hills: when they show themselves they have a handsome human form. The common people seem to connect with them a deep feeling of melancholy, as if bewailing a half-quenched hope of redemption.

“There are only a few old persons who now can tell any thing more about them than of the sweet singing that may occasionally on summer nights be heard out of their hills, when one stands still and listens, or, as it is expressed in the ballads, lays his ear to the Elve-hill (lägger sitt öra till Elfvehögg): but no one must be so cruel as, by the slightest word, to destroy their hopes of salvation, for then the sprightly music will be turned into weeping and lamentation.

“The Norwegians called the Elves, Huldrafolk, and their music, Huldraslaat: it is in the minor key, and of a dull and mournful sound. The mountaineers sometimes play it, and pretend they have learned it by listening to the underground people among the hills and rocks. There is also a tune called the Elf-king’s tune, which several of the good fiddlers know right well, but never venture to play; for as soon as it begins, both old and young, and even inanimate objects, are impelled to dance, and the player cannot stop unless he can play the air backwards, or that some one comes behind him and cuts the strings of his fiddle.

“The little underground Elves, who are believed to 68dwell under the houses of mankind, are described as sportive and mischievous, and as imitating all the actions of men. They are said to love cleanliness about the house and place, and to reward such servants as are neat and cleanly.

“The Elves are extremely fond of dancing in the meadows, where they form those circles of a livelier green which from them are called Elfdans (Elfdance): when the country people see in the morning stripes along the dewy grass in the woods and meadows, they say the Elves have been dancing there. If any one should at midnight get within their circle, they become visible to him, and they may then illude him. It is not every one that can see the Elves; and one person may see them dancing, while another perceives nothing. Sunday children, as they are called, i.e., those born on Sunday, are remarkable for possessing this property of seeing Elves and similar beings. The Elves, however, have the power to bestow this gift on whomsoever they please. They also used to speak of Elf-books, which they gave to those whom they loved, and which enabled them to foretell future events.

“The Elves often sit in little stones that are of a circular form, and are called Elf-mills (Elf-quärnor); the sound of their voice is said to be sweet and soft, like the air.

“The Danish peasantry give the following account of their Ellefolk or Elve-people:

“The Elle-people live in the Elle-moors. The appearance of the man is that of an old man, with a low-crowned hat on his head: the Elle-woman is young, and of a fair and attractive countenance, but behind she is hollow like a dough-trough. Young men should be especially on their guard against her, for it is very difficult to resist her; and she has, moreover, a stringed instrument, which, when she plays on it, quite ravishes their hearts. The man may be often seen near the Elle-moors, bathing himself in the sunbeams; but if any 69one comes too near him, he opens his mouth wide and breathes upon them, and his breath produces sickness and pestilence. But the women are most frequently to be seen by moonshine; then they dance their rounds in the high grass so lightly and so gracefully, that they seldom meet a denial when they offer their hand to a rash young man. It is also necessary to watch cattle, that they may not graze in any place where the Elle-people have been; for if any animal come to a place where the Elle-people have spit, or done what is worse, it is attacked by some grievous disease, which can only be cured by giving it to eat a handful of St. John’s wort, which had been pulled at twelve o’clock on St. John’s night. It might also happen that they might sustain some injury by mixing with the Elle-people’s cattle, which are very large, and of a blue colour, and which may sometimes be seen in the fields licking up the dew on which they live. But the farmer has an easy remedy against this evil; for he has only to go to the Elle-hill when he is turning out his cattle, and to say, ‘Thou little Trold! may I graze my cows on thy hill?’ And if he is not prohibited, he may set his mind at rest.”^[33]

Of the Scandinavian Dwarfs much less is known by the general reader.

“These diminutive beings, dwelling in rocks and hills, and distinguished for their skill in metallurgy, seem to be peculiar to the Gothic mythology. Perhaps the most probable account of them is, that they are personifications of the subterraneous powers of nature; for it may be again observed, that all the parts of every ancient mythology are but personified powers, attributes, and moral qualities. The Edda thus describes their origin:—

“‘Then the gods sat on their seats, and held a council, and called to mind how the Duergar had become 70animated in the clay below in the earth, like maggots in flesh. The Duergar had been first created, and had taken life in Ymer’s flesh, and were maggots in it, and by the will of the gods they became partakers of human knowledge, and had the likeness of men, and yet they abode in the ground and in stones. Modsogner was the first of them, and then Dyrin.’

“The Duergar are described as being of low stature, with short legs and long arms, reaching almost down to the ground when they stand erect. They are skilful and expert workmen in gold, silver, iron, and other metals. They form many wonderful and extraordinary things for the Æser, and for mortal heroes, and the arms and armour that come from their forges are not to be paralleled. Yet the gift must be spontaneously bestowed, for misfortune attends those extorted from them by violence.”^[34]

Two narratives of undoubted antiquity will illustrate the cunning of these subterraneous workmen. They are, however, somewhat out of place, since they would better suit the following section.

The first is from the Edda:—

“Loke, the son of Laufeiar, had out of mischief cut off all the hair of Sif. When Thor found this out, he seized Loke, and would have broken every bone in his body, only that he swore to get the Suartalfar to make for Sif hair of gold, which would grow like any other hair.

“Loke then went to the Dwarfs that are called the sons of Ivalldr. They first made the hair, which as soon as it was put on the head grew like natural hair; then the ship Skidbladnor^[35], which always had the wind with it, wherever it would sail; and, thirdly, the spear Gugner, which always hit in battle.

“Then Loke laid his head against the Dwarf Brock, that his brother Eitri could not forge three such valuable 71things as these were. They went to the forge; Eitri set the swine-skin (bellows) to the fire, and bid his brother Brock to blow, and not to quit the fire till he should have taken out the things he had put into it.

“And when he was gone out of the forge, and that Brock was blowing, there came a fly and settled upon his hand, and bit him; but he blew without stopping till the smith took the work out of the fire; and it was a boar, and its bristles were of gold.

“He then put gold into the fire, and bid him not to stop blowing till he came back. He went away, and then the fly came and settled on his neck, and bit him more severely than before; but he blew on till the smith came back and took out of the fire the gold ring which is called Drupner.

“Then he put iron into the fire, and bid him blow, and said that if he stopped blowing all the work would be lost. The fly now settled between his eyes, and bit so hard that the blood ran into his eyes, so that he could not see; so when the bellows were down he caught at the fly in all haste, and tore off its wings; but then came the smith, and said that all that was in the fire had nearly been spoiled. He then took out of the fire the hammer Miölner, and gave all the things to his brother Brock, and bade him go with them to Asgard and settle the wager.

“Loke also produced his jewels, and they took Odin, Thor, and Freyr, for judges. Then Loke gave to Odin the spear Gugner, and to Thor the hair that Sif was to have, and to Freyr Skidbladnor, and told their virtues as they have been already related. Brock took out his jewels, and gave to Odin the ring, and said that every ninth night there would drop from it eight other rings as valuable as itself. To Freyr he gave the boar, and said that he would run through air and water, by night and by day, better than any horse, and that never was there night so dark that the way by which he went 72would not be light from his hide. He gave the hammer to Thor, and said that it would never fail to hit a Troll, and that at whatever he threw it, it would never miss it; and that he could never fling it so far that it would not of itself return to his hand; and when he chose, it would become so small that he might put it into his pocket. But the fault of the hammer was, that its handle was too short.

“Their judgment was, that the hammer was the best, and that the Dwarf had won the wager. Then Loke prayed hard not to lose his head; but the Dwarf said that could not be. ‘Catch me, then,’ said Loke; and when he went to catch him, he was far away; for Loke had shoes with which he could run through air and water. Then the Dwarf prayed Thor to catch him, and Thor did so. The Dwarf now went to cut off his head; but Loke said he was to have the head only, and not the neck. Then the Dwarf took a knife and a thong, and went to sew up his mouth; but the knife was bad, so the Dwarf wished that his brother’s awl were there; and as soon as he wished it, it was there, and he sewed his lips together.”^[36]

The physical interpretation of this mythos is entitled to some attention. Sif is a personification of the earth, “the wife of Thor, the heaven or atmosphere: her hair is the trees, bushes, and plants, that adorn the surface of the earth. Loke is the fire-god, that delights in mischief, bene servit, male imperat. When by immoderate heat he has burned off the hair of Sif, her husband compels him so by temperate heat to warm the moisture of the earth, that its former products may spring up more beautiful than ever. The boar is given to Freyr, to whom and his sister Freya, as the gods of animal and vegetable fecundity, the northern people offered that animal, as the Italian people did to the earth. Loke’s bringing the gifts from the underground 73people, seems to indicate a belief that metals were prepared by subterranean fire; and perhaps the forging of Thor’s hammer, the mythic emblem of thunder, by a terrestrial demon, on a subterranean anvil, may suggest that the natural cause of thunder is to be sought in the earth.”

The next illustration is from the Heimskringla of Snorro:—

THORSTON AND THE DWARF.

“When spring came, Thorston made ready his ship, and put twenty-four men on board of her. When they came to Vinland, they ran her into a harbour, and every day he went on shore to amuse himself.

“He came one day to an open part of the wood, where he saw a great rock, and out a little piece from it a Dwarf, who was horridly ugly, and was looking up over his head, with his mouth wide open; and it appeared to Thorston that it ran from ear to ear, and that the lower jaw came down to his knees. Thorston asked him why he was acting so foolishly. ‘Do not be surprised, my good lad,’ replied the Dwarf; ‘do you not see that great dragon that is flying up there? He has taken off my son, and I believe that it is Odin himself that has sent the monster to do it. But I shall burst and die if I lose my son.’ Then Thorston shot at the dragon, and hit him under one of the wings, so that he fell dead to the earth; but Thorston caught the Dwarf’s child in the air, and brought him to his father.

“The Dwarf was exceeding glad, and was more rejoiced than any one could tell; and he said, ‘A great benefit have I to reward you for, who are the deliverer of my son; and now choose your recompense in gold and silver.’ ‘Cure your son,’ said Thorston, ‘but I am not used to take rewards for my services.’ ‘It were not becoming,’ said the Dwarf, ‘if I did not reward you; and let not my shirt of sheep’s-wool, which 74I will give you, appear a contemptible gift, for you will never be tired when swimming, or get a wound, if you wear it next your skin.’

“Thorston took the shirt and put it on, and it fitted him well, though it had appeared too short for the Dwarf. The Dwarf now took a gold ring out of his purse, and gave it to Thorston, and bid him to take good care of it, telling him that he never should want for money while he kept that ring. He next took a black stone, and gave it to Thorston, and said, ‘If you hide this stone in the palm of your hand, no one will see you. I have not many more things to offer you, or that would be of any value to you; I will, however, give you a fire-stone for your amusement.’

“He then took the stone out of his purse, and with it a steel point. The stone was triangular, white on one side, and red on the other, and a yellow border ran round it. The Dwarf then said, ‘If you prick the stone with the point in the white side, there will come on such a hail-storm that no one will be able to look at it; but if you want to stop this shower, you have only to prick on the yellow part, and there will come so much sunshine that the whole will melt away. But if you should like to prick the red side, then there will come out of it such fire, with sparks and crackling, that no one will be able to look at it. You may also get whatever you will by means of this point and stone, and they will come of themselves back to your hand when you call them. I can now give you no more such gifts.’

“Thorston then thanked the Dwarf for his presents, and returned to his men, and it was better for him to have made this voyage than to have stayed at home.”

HELHEIM AND NIFLEHEIM.

The palace of Hela has been already described, 75on the occasion of Hermod’s visit to his brother Balder.^[37]

Of Nifleheim no more need be added to what has been already said. None of the mythological beings whom Scandinavia recognised were ambitious of exploring it.

Such were the worlds of the pagan Northmen. But before we dismiss this part of our subject, we must advert for a moment to one of more philosophical import,—

THE YGGDRASIL.

As this is to us at least a mysterious subject (we do not pretend to the faculty of “looking through a millstone”), we shall present it to the reader in the words of Magnussen, and an able critic of our own country.

“The principal and most holy place of the gods is at the ash Yggdrasil. This ash is the largest and best of all trees. Its branches spread over the whole world, and reach up over the heaven. The tree has two roots, which extend widely; the one to the Aser, the other to the Frost-giants, where before was Ginnunga-gap; the third stretches over Nifleheim, and by it is Hvergelmer (the abyss), where (the Snake-king) Nidhug gnaws the root beneath.

“By the other root, which extends to the Frost-giants, is Mimer’s well, wherein Wisdom and Understanding lie concealed. Mimer, the owner of the well, is full of wisdom; for every morning he drinks from the well out of the Giallar horn. Once came All-Father (Odin) thither, and sought a drink from the well, but attained not his wish, till he gave his eye as a pledge. As it is said, in the Völuspá:

“‘All know I, Odin,

Where thou hiddest thine eye;

76In the clear

Well of Mimer.

Mimer mead

Each morning drinks

From All-Father’s pledge.’

“By the third root of the ash, which extends to heaven, is the Urdar-fount. By the fount stands a fair dwelling, out of which go the three maids, Urda, Verande, and Skuld. These maids appoint the lifetime of all men, and are called Nornir. Of them, saith the Vala:

“‘Thence come maids

Much knowing,—

Three,—from the lake (or hall)

Beneath the tree,’ &c.

“The Nornir, who dwell by the Urdar-fount, take each day water from the well, and with it and the mud that is about the well, sprinkle the ash-tree, that its branches may not rot or wither. This water is so holy, that every thing that comes into the well becomes as white as the membrane within an egg-shell. So it is said in the Völuspá,

“‘An ash know I standing,

Yggdrasil it hight,

A lofty tree besprinkled

With white water;

Thence cometh dew

Which in the dales falleth;

Ever green it standeth

Over Urda’s well.’

“The dew which comes from it is called Honey-dew, and is the food of the bees. Two birds are fed in the Urdar-fount: they are called swans, and from them is descended this species of birds.

“In the branches of the ash Yggdrasil sitteth an eagle, who knows many things; between his eyes sitteth a hawk, called Vederlöfner (Storm-damper). A squirrel, 77named Ratatösk, runs up and down in the tree, and seeks to set strife between the eagle and the Snake-king Nidhug. Four harts run about in the branches of the tree, and bite the buds. In Hvergelmer, by the root of the tree, are so many snakes, that no tongue can tell it. So, in Grimnis-mâl,

“Ratatösk hight the squirrel,

Who shall run

Through the Ash Yggdrasil:

The eagle’s words

He from above shall bear,

And tell to Nidhug below.

There are also four harts,

Who the branches’ buds

Wry-necked gnaw,

Dain and Dvalin,

Dunuir and Durathror.

More snakes lie

Beneath the ash Yggdrasil

Than any one can think.

————

The Ash Yggdrasil

Endureth toil

More than men know.

The hart gnaws it above:

In the side it rotteth;

Nidhug wastes it below.”

“The mythos of Yggdrasil is contained in the preceding passages; and northern mythologists in general, and Magnussen in particular, have been no where more fortunate than in their explanation of it. Yggdrasil, they say, represents the universe (rather the world); its three roots lie in the three portions into which, according to the system of the devisers of Yggdrasil, the universe is divided. The central root is in Niflheim, 78the dark and dismal abyss beneath the earth, and is watered by Hvergelmer (the Ancient Cauldron), and its stem runs up through the earth to the summit of heaven. The second root is by Mimer’s well, in the north, the abode of the Frost-giants. The third root is by the Urdar-fount, in the bright and warm south, whose waters the three Maids, i.e. Time Past, Present, and Future, cast over its foliage to keep it in perpetual verdure. The branches are the æther, their leaves the clouds, the clusters of keys the constellations; the four harts are the four winds, the eagle denotes the air, the hawk the still æther, the squirrel the snow-flakes, hail-stones, and rain-drops. Urda’s fount, i.e. the fount of Destiny, is the source of life, light, and warmth; the snow-white swans, which swim on its waters, represent the sun and moon. The mythos of Mimer’s well shows the descent of the sun (Odin’s eye) into the sea each evening, where, during the night, he learns wisdom from the owner of the well; the golden-hued mead which Mimer drinks each morning, is the ruddy dawn that daily flows out over the sky before the sun.”^[38]

There can be no doubt that two distinct systems of creation are embraced by these mythi. They could not have originated in the same people. The Ymerian, there is strong reason to believe, was the native, the Yggdrasil the foreign, system.

From the preceding sketch of the Scandinavian universe, we perceive that it was inhabited by many distinct races of inhabitants. With one slight alteration, they may be classified after the nine worlds:—

1. The Shining Elves of Liosalfaheim.

2. The fiery spirits of Muspelheim.

3. The Aser, and Asyniar, gods and goddesses.

4. The Vanir, or inhabitants of the windy Vanheim.

5. Mankind.

796. The Giants and Giantesses; the descendants of Bergelmer and his wife.

7. The Black Elves, or Dwarfs, male and female.

8. The subjects of Hela.

9. The nondescripts, that it would puzzle the best antiquaries to say what they are.

With most of these we have little acquaintance. A few of the Light Elves are to be found in the palaces of the Asyniar; but none of Muspel’s sons do we encounter. Of the Vanir in general, we know little; but half a dozen of the race are venerated or esteemed in Asgard. Utgard and its sons were well known, from their intercourse, whether hostile, or friendly, with the Aser; and still better known is Asgard. The land of the Black Elves was frequently visited by men and gods. The realms of Hela were but once visited by living feet,—by those of Hermod.^[39] Of men we can mention such only as came into contact with beings of a higher or lower nature. Most of these classes, therefore, may be dismissed with a few general observations. Details respecting individuals, in most of these classes, will be found under the names of the chief Aser, or gods.

Whether the Aser were gods, or mortals only, or men who had been deified, has been long and zealously disputed. Each party gives elaborate reasons for its own hypothesis, and they have been convincing to itself if not to others. On a subject which requires the aid of the imagination to understand it, and to which speculation only can be applied, this diversity was inevitable. Within the last twenty years, however, a more careful examination of the pagan monuments of antiquity, and a more extended acquaintance with the religious systems of other people, have led to the conclusion that the Aser, like the Vaner, never existed on earth, and that they are purely mythologic. There is certainly much reason for the conclusion. The satisfactory way in which functions 80of the deities have been resolved into physical qualities may well fortify it. Still there are difficulties—we think insuperable ones—to be removed. The account which, in the former volume of this work^[40], we have given of Odin, Niord, Freyr, and Baldur, will scarcely countenance the hypothesis. The circumstances which attended Odin’s progress; those which accompanied and followed his arrival in the north; his temporal even more than his spiritual policy; his extraordinary success; the thrones which he established; the sons whom he left; the universal anxiety of the northern princes—even those of Saxony—to claim him as their ancestor, and an ancestor too only a few generations removed from them^[41]; afford, we think, evidence enough of his mortal career. Nor should we overlook the fact that both Saxo Grammaticus and Snorro Sturleson,—the former well acquainted with the tradition and history of his country; the latter most deeply versed in the religion and literature of the Scythian conquerors—contended for the mortal character of the Aser. In their days, this was not a new interpretation of the subject: ascend the stream of time as far as we can, and still we find that Odin and his pontiff-chiefs were regarded as men whom credulity had deified. Such was the opinion of Adam of Bremen in the eleventh century; of the biographer of St. Anscar in the ninth; of St. Kentigern in the sixth. In one of his sermons to the pagans of south-eastern Scotland, the last-named saint upbraided them with their folly for worshipping one (Odin or Woden) whom they themselves acknowledged to have lived on earth,—to have been a Saxon king,—to have paid the common debt of nature,—one whose bones had long before been confounded with the dust. Men of learning, who lived so much nearer to the times when the pontiff-king reigned in the north—who, for any thing we know to the contrary, had better evidence than 81tradition for his actions, young as that tradition was, have thought the same. It has been said, that even the least of those actions were of too superhuman a character ever to have been attributed to a mortal; and that the being concerning whom they were invented, must have been mythologic. But the assertion would not have been made, had the memory been consulted: it would have furnished personages, indisputably historic, concerning whom wilder legends (if legends can be wilder) have been invented than concerning the Asiatic conqueror. What have the ancient Romans or the modern Persians to say of their kings? What has been said of Attila? What of Arthur? What of Macbeth and of Don Sebastian? There are indeed few eminent characters in the history of the middle ages concerning whom supernatural tales have not been invented and believed. Perhaps, however, the term invented may be too severe a one; for in general the actions or qualities of personages much more ancient have been transferred to those of recent date.

These difficulties have appeared so formidable to most of the advocates for the mythological system, that they have been induced to admit the hypothesis of two Odins, who appeared in the north at different intervals;—the former a pontiff, whom superstition afterwards deified; the other a king, yet the chief of religion, who, seeing the veneration in which his predecessor was held, boldly declared himself an incarnation of the same being. This hypothesis, which is purely arbitrary, so far from diminishing the difficulty, greatly increases it, and is not, in other respects, worth another moment’s consideration. A second is more plausible, and not so arbitrary. It represents the pontiff-warrior—the second Odin—as assuming the name, and laying claim to the attributes, of another Odin, long received as a god. In this case, the god must have been incarnate in the person of this Scythian warrior; yet we have not even the shadow of a proof that metempsychosis was a doctrine ever received 82by the Scandinavians, or by any nation of the Goths. The Celts had it^[42]; yet this wide distinction between the two races has not prevented them from being confounded. As well confound the Caffre with the Cherokee. The Eddas assure us that, when a mortal paid the debt of nature, or fell in battle, he went at once to Helheim or Valhalla. Still there are two or three instances in which a transmigration into other bodies was effected; and though they are manifestly at variance with the religious creed of the north, and must be regarded merely as extraordinary exceptions, we are not disposed to reject the hypothesis that Odin assumed, or rather, after death, his people conferred upon him, the name of the god whom they had so long worshipped. It receives no little confirmation from the facts stated by Snorro, that in Asia the pontiff-king was known by the name of Sigoe. The truth is, that transmigration being an article of the Celtic creed, Odin might so far avail himself of it as to pass for the incarnate god. In either case, however, unless we reject Snorro and Saxo, and the Saxon Chronicle, and Adam of Bremen, and a host of writers in the middle ages, we adopt the conclusion that Odin lived, and reigned, and conquered, in the north.

Advocating then, as we deliberately do, the historical interpretation, we have yet to account for the extraordinary powers attributed to mere mortals; for the extraordinary difference of their religion; for the still more extraordinary doctrines of that religion, as contained in the Eddas. The subject is not without its difficulties; but probably they may be removed by a few natural reflections. That Odin and his twelve pontiff-chiefs found, on their arrival in the north, some kind of religious worship established, nobody will deny. What were the doctrines of that religion? Here conjecture 83only can guide us: we have no written, no traditionary, monuments of that antecedent worship. We read only that the Aser—the Scythian bands from Asia—had to contend with the native authorities; but that having in so great a degree the superiority of wisdom, they compelled the natives to receive their spiritual, no less than their temporal, yoke. Their arms, no doubt, effected more than their arguments; but to suppose that they could extirpate the dominant faith—if indeed there were not several established modes of worship in different provinces of the north—would be very irrational in itself, and irreconcilable with all the known facts of history. Pagan conquerors have always been disposed to respect the gods of other people. Every region was believed to have its own peculiar deities; and to honour them was necessary, if that region were to be either permanently or prosperously held. On the other hand, the natives themselves would, in a superstitious age, be sufficiently disposed to respect the gods of their victors; for human prosperity was always regarded as the work of heaven. If they still retained their own, they would not refuse homage to the more powerful stranger gods whose shrines were now transported among them, and whom they must, by degrees, consider as their own tutelary divinities. Hence the union of the two religions; not indeed wholly, but certainly in a very considerable degree. Their gods would be joined; so would such dogmas as were not absolutely irreconcilable with one another; and in a few, a very few, generations, both would be received by priest and people as if they had always been identical and indissoluble. That this has been the case in other countries, we know from authentic history. It was so with the Greeks; it was so with the Romans; it has been so since their conquests with several Asiatic nations. And reason tells us that this must always be the natural progress of events.

But on this subject we have more than conjecture, 84or even reason; we have facts. There are in the Eddas, and still more in the Scaldic interpretations, principles too repugnant to each other ever completely to harmonise. We know that Thor was more esteemed in Norway than Odin; and that in Denmark, no less than in Sweden, Odin was more highly venerated than Thor. The reason is, that the Goths, or, we should rather say, the last swarm of them that arrived with Odin, had more influence in these latter kingdoms than in the former. Thor, indeed, was almost exclusively worshipped by the Norwegians, who invoked Odin only on the eve of a battle. They held the former to be immeasurably the superior of the other; and, in contradiction to the Swedes and Danes, contended that Odin was the son of Thor. The elder Edda calls him the most powerful of the gods; and in the Sagas, by the most ancient Scalds, he is represented as frequently hostile to the other deity. Considering these facts, and the universal homage still paid to Thor by the Finns and Lapps—people of the same race with the Norwegians—we are of opinion that Thor was the native, Odin the foreign, divinity. The giants, too, appear to have been of native, perhaps of Celtic, origin, and to have been adopted by the Scythian Goths, after their arrival; while the black dwarfs, whose habitation was in the bowels of the earth, were introduced by the latter, and soon made a portion of the native creed. The white, or benevolent elves, were universally received by the Goths; but the dark, the malignant elves, seem to have been brought from an eastern region. It is in the highest degree absurd to suppose that if there had been no foreign admixture with that creed, and a very large admixture, we should have nine different worlds, with their complicated, often dissonant relation to one another. Where this complexity, and, still more, this evident dissonance between the elements, are found to exist, we may safely conclude that they have been introduced at different periods; that the mighty and irregular edifice 85has been reared by different hands. But if there were no other argument to establish the dissonance for which we contend, and the forcible union of opinions never intended to harmonise, it would be sufficiently obvious from the distinction between the two great systems of creation to which we have already alluded—the Ymerian or animal, and Yggdrasil or vegetable.^[43] Beyond all doubt, they were as distinct in their origin as in their nature; and were long held by the people essentially different. We are strongly disposed to regard the Ymerian as the native, the Yggdrasil as the foreign, system. Giants were more kindred with the Celtic than with the Gothic creed. By the latter, indeed, they were hated even more than feared. Whoever will peruse with attention those passages of the two Eddas where giants are mentioned, will probably arrive at the same conclusion with ourselves—that they were foreign to the genius of the Scythians. We may adore what we fear; but we never adore what we hate, still less what we despise. The same may be observed in regard to the magical rites of the two people. Of dark magic we read every where amongst the people of the former race. We meet with it in districts where the Scythian Goth never inhabited—in the more remote districts of Lapland and Finland. The rites, the opinions, of the people in these districts, were also, we believe, the rites, the opinions, of all the people that inhabited Norway and Sweden. Some of them, we know, were disliked by the followers of Odin. It was not Odinian, that is Gothic, or white (innocent) magic, that was professed by Raude of Norway.^[44] It was not Odinian, or Gothic, magic that caused Harald Harfager to be captivated so long and so fatally by the daughter of the Finnish Swaso.^[45] In the latter case, nothing can be more evident than that it was the native, black magic, which produced this effect. Hence the detestation with which 86that monarch, pagan as he was, regarded the art.^[46] It was not Odin’s magic which Egill practised when he left Norway, outlawed by Eric of the Bloody Axe. Before he finally left the coast, he fixed the head of a horse on one of the oars of the vessel, and raising it aloft, exclaimed, “Here I erect the rod of vengeance against king Eric and queen Gunhilda!” Turning the horse’s head in another direction, he exclaimed “I direct this curse also against the tutelary deities of Norway, that they shall wander, in pain, and have no rest for the soles of their feet, until they have expelled the king and queen!” This strange imprecation he then carved in runic characters upon the oar, and placed it in the cleft of a rock, where it was not likely to be found, or the spell to be dissolved. It was native magic that distinguished Gunhilda, wife of Eric with the Bloody Axe.^[47] More than one king who worshiped Odin punished with death the observers of these rites. And in most of the Gothic writers, pagan or christian, the palm of superiority in magic is awarded to native professors. The magic of the latter might be darker, more inhuman, more diabolical, but it was also admitted to be more profound and more potent. We agree with Magnussen in the conclusion that there was a union, more or less complete, of two schools of magic, as well as of two religions. But there were tenets which could not be reconciled, and the natives, by adhering to their own, caused a system to be perpetuated essentially at variance with that of the conquerors.

These facts, these arguments, will be admitted to have considerable weight. We shall adduce another which, joined with the preceding, should set the subject as to the fact of a religion having been dominant in the north anterior to the Odinic, and essentially different from it. Rude stones and rocks—so rude as scarcely to have a form—were lately, and probably are now, worshipped 87by the more remote Finns and Lapps. This idol they term the Storjunkar, or great ruler; they offer sacrifices upon it (generally the rein-deer), and prostrate before it, in certain mountainous districts, far from the usual habitations of men.^[48] This worship is a relic of the idolatry once common to the Norwegians, no less than to the Finns and Laps, who are of the same origin. That it was celebrated in Norway is certain; for we find it in Iceland as late as the close of the tenth century. Indrid was the mortal enemy of Thorstein; and one night he left his house to murder him. The latter entered a temple where he was accustomed to worship, prostrated himself before a stone, and prayed to know his fate. The stone replied, in a kind of chant, that his feet were already in the grave; that his fatal enemy was at hand, and that he would never see the rising of the next morning’s sun. All such stones, all such gods, were foreign to the Scythian Goths; and this relation, connected with others which might be easily extracted, proves that the Norwegians, who had felt little of the Asiatic yoke, had retained many of their gods, many of their religious rites, in defiance of opposition.

To say more on this subject in the present place would be useless; as in the course of the present chapter we shall have opportunities enough both of adverting to the more ancient superstition, and of comparing the two. It will, we believe, be found that much of the Eddaic cosmogony is of native growth; that the majority of the worlds and of their inhabitants were native; and that the Scythian warriors added little more than their Midgard, their Asgard, especially their Valhalla; their twelve gods (except Thor), with Odin at their head; their female deities (scarcely a dozen in number); and such other points of the creed as were necessary to connect and illustrate their cardinal articles.

The question of two distinct religions being conceded, it will not be difficult to account for the progress which 88Odin and his companions made towards deification. Most of the steps, indeed, have been indicated on a former occasion^[49], and need not be repeated here. Few were the regal pontiffs of Asia who did not boast of their descent from some god—some warrior king, whom after ages, admiring his success, had deified. Odin was not likely to neglect so useful an instrument for his designs. Then as he and the Vanir chiefs were unquestionably a much more civilised people than the natives of the north; as his talents, beyond all doubt, were of a commanding order; as the religious rites of which he was the superior hereditary pontiff, were celebrated with more pomp; as success attended all his measures, whether of war or of policy; as he himself, and his followers for him, laid claim to something of a divine character, the natives soon regarded him as a supernatural personage. The feeling was no doubt shared by his own people, who had always been taught to believe that a divine spirit might inhabit the bosom of a hero or a king. As in former ages Rovstam and Jemsheed, so in later ages Alaric and Attila, were beheld with equal reverence. With equal reverence at this day do the Chinese, the Thibetians, the Tartars, regard their rulers. So did the Mexicans and the Peruvians. From Snorro, however, we learn that the progress of Odin towards deification was much slower than is generally supposed. He expressly intimates that the king began to be peculiarly honoured after his death: “From this time men began to have more faith in Odin, and to offer him vows.” If his pretensions to divinity were recognised, so must those of his chief pontiffs; since the cause and the interests of the two were inseparable.

The original seat of that colony of the Goths which Odin led into the north, has, with much appearance of reason, been placed east of the Tanais or Don: probably it was considerably to the east of that river. On this subject we can have no better guide than Snorro: 89“The orb of the world, in which dwell the race of mankind, is, as we are informed, intersected with bays and gulfs: great seas from the ocean penetrate the firm land. It is well known that from the Straits of Gibraltar (Njövasund) a great sea extends quite to Palestine (Jórsala-land). From this sea there lies towards the north-east, a gulf called the Black Sea, which separates the three parts of the world from each other: the land to the east is called Europe, by others Enea. Northerly from the Black Sea lies the greater or cold Svithjód (Svecia or Scythia magna). Some affirm that great Svithjód is not of less extent than Serkland (North Africa): others even compare it with the great Blá-land Æthiopia magna). The northern part of Svithjód is uncultivated on account of the frost and cold, in the same manner as the southern part of Bláland lies waste, on account of the burning heat. In great Svithjód are many provinces peopled with various tribes of different tongues. There are giants and dwarfs; there are black men, and dragons and other wild beasts of prodigious size. Towards the north, in the mountains beyond the habitable country, rises a river properly called the Tanais, but which has obtained the name of the Tanasquisl, or Vanasquil, and which running through Svithjód, falls into the Black Sea. The country encircled by the branches of this river was in those days called Vanaland or Vanaheimr. This stream separates the three parts of the world from each other, the part lying east being called Asia, and that to the west Europe. The country to the east of Tanasquisl in Asia was called Asaland or Asaheimr, and the capital of that country, Asgard. There ruled Odin, and there too was a great place of sacrifice. Twelve pontiffs (hofgodar) presided in the temples, who were at the same time the judges of the law.”^[50]

Defective as was the geographical knowledge of 90Snorro, he has, no doubt, correctly assigned the cradle of this people, and of the Vanir. They were neighbours; they were consequently often at war, until the chiefs of both agreed, not only to be for ever amicable, and to join in all future conquests, but in some degree to amalgamate by a union of government. Hence the junction of the Vanir to the Aser, and the contiguity of their respective regions in the Scandinavian calendar. How Asgard and Vanaheim came to be placed in heaven, as well as on earth, has puzzled many writers. They may be equally puzzled, that the twelve drothmen, or pontiff-chiefs, should be transfused into so many divinities; and the temple of the earthly transferred to the celestial Asgard. There are two ways of solving this problem. It is possible—it is even exceedingly probable—that the Scythians, long prior to their migration from Asia, called their country after the heavenly one which they expected to inhabit after death. The government of the Aser was essentially theocratic, and assimilated as much as possible to that which they believed to exist above. Nor were they peculiar in this economy: Athens and greater nations have done the same. The twelve great priests of Egypt were named after the twelve gods who ruled the same number of celestial signs. Such was the case in Assyria. In Persia, too, the number of priests in the great temple corresponded with that of the Amshaspands, or celestial genii, who governed the world as vicegerents of Ormusd. Nothing, indeed, is more natural than the position, that men devoted to the service of the gods would endeavour to form their establishments after the model which the gods themselves were believed to have adopted. “Thus, the Aser were the gods of the new religion introduced by Odin, and at the same time his temporal companions and followers,—the tribe of the Ases, or Aso-Goths, from the river Tanais. Asgard, or Godheim, is their celestial abode, from which they descended on earth (Manheim) to mingle with the children of men; and is, at the same time, the original seat of Odin and his people 91on the river Tanais.”^[51] This we consider the more natural solution of the problem in question. It may, however, be, that the disciples of the original pontiff began after his death to invest both him and his companions with the ensigns of divinity, and assimilated them, both in number and in attributes, with the ancient divinities of Scythia; making, however, some change. In either case there must have been a change. We have before expressed our opinion that Thor was not a Scythian god: he, therefore, (and the same may be said of one or two others,) must have been subsequently admitted into the divine college, when the union for which we have contended took place between the native and foreign religion; or rather, when the foreign was engrafted on the native system. That system, we repeat, was, in our opinion, the basis of the one contained in the Eddas; and much more than the basis.

The union which we have endeavoured to establish, will account for the elaborate, however heterogeneous, system of the Eddas. That system was, assuredly, not the work of one people, or, we may add, of one age. It was derived from people widely different in character, habits, opinions, and manners; and it was probably the work of centuries. The successors of the twelve original pontiffs effected, there is reason to think, much more than they did, or than their predecessors had done. The elements were, indeed, strewed in Norway; but they could scarcely be fashioned into a whole; still less could they have assumed that stately form which they exhibited in the age of Sæmund and Snorro. They consisted of detached portions, composed at different periods, and probably not connected—not fashioned into a whole—until many centuries after Odin’s death. Nay, there is some reason for concluding, that the two Icelanders we have just mentioned were the first collectors of these scattered fragments, no less than of the comments on each by the recent Scalds of their own 92country, and the more ancient Scalds of Norway. Of the same opinion the reader will probably be, before he closes the present volume.

Having now given a general view both of the Scandinavian universe and of its inhabitants, and shown the probable relation between its gods and its mortals, we proceed, in the following section, to examine these gods more in detail, and, where practicable, to explain their respective attributes by the physical phenomena on which they were so frequently based.

SECTION II. CHIEF MYTHOLOGICAL PERSONAGES OF SCANDINAVIA.

ODIN, THOR, AND LOKE.—THEIR CHARACTERS PHYSICALLY INTERPRETED.—THEIR WIVES AND OFFSPRING.—THE THREE DEMON CHILDREN OF LOKE.—INFLUENCE OF THIS DEITY OVER THE FATE OF THE UNIVERSE.—HE IS PRESENT IN EVERY GREAT MYTHOS.—RAPE OF IDUNA.—THOR’S VISITS TO JOTUNHEIM.—THOR AND THE GIANT HYMIR.—THOR AND THE GIANT THRYM.—NIVOD, FREYR, FREYA.—EXPEDITION OF SKIRNIR-ÆGIR AND RAN.—OTHER DEITIES.—BALDER.—PUNISHMENT OF LOKE.—RAGNAROK.—RECOGNITION OF A GREAT FIRST CAUSE BY THE PAGAN SCANDINAVIANS.

ODIN, THOR, LOKE.

The first two gods we place together, as well for the purpose of comparison as that of contrast; the last, because his agency is necessary to explain the other two.

According to the Eddas, Odin had several wives; the first was Frea, or Frigga, by whom he had five sons, Thor, Balder, Braga, Hermod, and Tyr: the second was Skada, by whom he had Semming; the third was Grydur, by whom he had Vidar; the fourth was Rinda, by whom he had Balder, or Bo.^[52]

93In Valhalla he has a table separate from the Einheriar, but he lives only on wine; and the meats set before him he distributes to two wolves which stand by his side. These are Geri the devouring, and Freki the fierce.

He learns all that passes on earth, without the trouble of ascending Lidskialf^[53], by means of two ravens, which leave Asgard at daybreak, and at dinner time return, to perch on his shoulders, and whisper into his ear all that they have seen. These ravens are—Observation and Memory; both presents from the enchantress Hulda. Hence he is called the raven god.

These mythi are for the most part sufficiently obvious. Frigga is a personification of the earth; while Odin himself, in his character of chief god, may represent heaven. Heaven and earth give origin to—thunder (Thor), the summer-sun (Balder), the swift messenger (Hermod), the hospitable board (Braga), and the undaunted defender of nature (Tyr). Skada, the daughter of the giant Thiasse, and a nymph of the mountains, is a personification of the spring winds; but we cannot see the import of the mythos—if, indeed, there were any intended—in regard to Semming. Why Vidar should be the offspring of Grydur is equally dark; but there is propriety enough in making the frost (Rinda) the mother of barrenness. The two wolves at Odin’s side denote his ferocity as the god of battles; and the two ravens, memory and observation, explain his knowledge of the past and present. To that of the future this god had no pretensions; this was reserved to the Norny Skulda, and to a few of the Valas, or prophetesses.

Immediately dependent on Odin—the ministers of his will as the god of war—were the three Valkyrs, or choosers of the slain. They also administer to the slain at his banquet.

There are many legends respecting Odin, who often visited mankind. We select one because it illustrates the observations we have made in regard to the rivalry 94of him and Thor. Sterkodder, the celebrated champion^[54], when a child, was taken captive. He fell to the lot of one named Granè, or Whiskers, who was named Horsehair Whiskers, and who brought him up as a foster-son. This was no other than Odin in disguise, whose attachment to one destined to become so unrivalled in arms may be easily conceived. One night the destiny of the young man, unknown to himself, was to be shown him. Horsehair Whiskers, of whose quality he was ignorant, embarked with him in a small boat, and they proceeded to an island, landed, and by midnight reached an open plain in the centre of a forest. There he saw a large assemblage; and within the ring formed by the assemblage were twelve seats, for so many judges. Eleven were full, but one was empty, and Horsehair Whiskers immediately seated himself in it. From the instantaneous salute of Odin by the judges, and the mention of his name, the chieftain perceived that he was in the awful presence of that deity, and of the other gods. Odin said that the judges should now decree Sterkodder his destiny. Thor then spoke and said, “Alfhild, the mother of Sterkodder’s father, chose for her son’s-father (husband) a very wise Jötunn (giant) in preference to Asathor; wherefore I appoint to Sterkodder that he shall have neither son nor daughter, and thus be the last of his race.”

Odin. “I grant him to live three men’s age.”

Thor. “He shall do a vile act in each of them.”

Odin. “I give him that he shall own the best weapons and harness.”

Thor. “And I appoint him that he shall own neither land nor sand.”

Odin. “I give him that he shall be rich in money.”

Thor. “I lay on him that he shall never seem to have enough.”

Odin. “I give him victory and martial skill in every fight.”

95Thor. “I lay on him that in every fight he shall lose a limb.”

Odin. “I give him the poet’s faculty, so that he shall produce poems with as much ease as unmeasured language.”

Thor. “He shall never be able to remember the verses he makes.”

Odin. “I grant him that he shall be favoured by those of greatest rank and name.”

Thor. “He shall be hated by all others.”

Then the judges ratified to Sterkodder all that had been said, and the council broke up.

The Saga from which this incident has been derived was written by a Norwegian, who certainly held Thor to be the equal, if not the superior, of Odin. It is not unlike the magian scene at the creation of the world, when to every good thing decreed by Ormusd, an evil one was joined by Ahriman. That Odin and Thor were rival deities, and that they gave rise to hostile sects, is evident. And there is another point from which this hostility may be viewed. The warriors who went to Valhalla were all of noble birth; they were jarls or herser, were rich and powerful. But what became of meaner freemen and thralls (serfs) who fell in battle? They went to Thrudheim to the palace of Thor, Bilskirner^[55], which that the owner might not be outdone, had the same number of gates as the palace of Odin, viz. five hundred and forty. Does not this prove that Thor was the native, Odin the foreign, god?—that the former belonged to the vanquished, the latter to the victorious people? The very name of Thor shows that he was a Celtic divinity. He is the Taranis of Lucan, the Toron of the Scottish Highlands, and the Tiermes of the Lapps.^[56]

The visit of Odin to the giant Vafthrudnir, and his contest with him^[57], may also serve to illustrate his boasted 96knowledge, as well as power. Frigga, his wife, was alarmed when she first heard of her husband’s intention to visit “that learned giant.” He conquers, indeed, in the strife, but not through any superiority of knowledge: it is rather by an unworthy artifice.

Frigga, the wife of Odin, was a distinguished personage in the northern Olympus. She is the queen and mother of the gods. Her palace, called Fensale, was magnificent; and it was a sort of drawing-room for all the goddesses. Her prescience was great; she could foresee the future, and she was invoked by women in childbed.

According to the vulgar genealogy,—that which the Odinists, in opposition to the Thorists, were anxious to establish,—Thor was the eldest son of Odin and Frigga. Even in Sweden he was, after Odin, the first in rank among the gods. We may even doubt whether by one sect of the Odinists he was not esteemed the first; for his image at Upsal, where he is represented seated on a throne, with the attributes of divine majesty about him,—while Odin, the war god, is standing at his right hand with a drawn sword, and Frigga, the goddess of production, on his left, with the fruits of nature in her hands,—clearly establishes his predominancy. His strength was unrivalled; and his structure so large, that no horse could carry him: he always travelled in a chariot drawn by two he-goats. He had three treasures, all unrivalled, all made by the Dwarfs. Of these the most famous was his hammer, called Miölner (the miller, the bruiser), which, when thrown by his powerful hand, was irresistible; yet, however far it was thrown, it always returned to him. Formidable as it was, it was so small that he could put it in his pocket. No hands but his could touch it; nor even he without his wonderful steel gloves, the second of his treasures. The third was a belt,—Melgingandur, which doubled his strength whenever he girded it on. Above all the gods, he was the enemy of the Rimthurser, or Frost Giants, against whom, with his dreaded weapon, he 97waged unceasing war. The very glare of his eyes was tremendous: it was lightning; and lightning was emitted by his chariot wheels as he rolled along. Every day did he make the circuit of Asgard, to drive away the giants.

Of this mythos an interpretation is scarcely necessary. Miölner is his thunderbolt. His antipathy to the giants—the powers alike of darkness and of cold, and his daily circuit round Asgard, sufficiently explain themselves. His gloves and belt were an embellishment, which have no necessary connection with his nature. The latter is to be found in many oriental fictions, (the Arabian Nights, for instance,) and in many also current throughout Europe. His wife, Sif, is another illustration of the mythos. She is held to be a personification of the summer earth, and is represented in the act of distributing fruits and flowers. She, like her husband, was peculiarly worshipped in Norway. By a former husband she had a son—Uller, the god of hunters, whose residence was Ydale, or the Dewy Valley.^[58] The most wonderful of her peculiarities was her hair, which was unrivalled for its beauty, and to which we have before adverted.

The fact, that Sif was worshipped in Norway alone, of all the Scandinavian regions, is another argument in favour of her husband’s supreme worship, long before the arrival of the Aser. A still stronger one is to be found in the fact, that Thrudheim, or Thrudvang, was the name of a district in that kingdom, no less than of a palace in heaven: and the strongest of all is, the peculiar affection with which he was regarded by the Norwegians, who held him to be their native, their tutelary god. He seems to have had some attributes of the Roman thunderer: the same day (Thursday), and the same planet (Jupiter), were sacred to him.

The giants of whom Thor was thus the natural, the everlasting enemy, were, as we have frequently observed, 98the offspring of Bergelmer, the old man of the mountains, and of his wife, who escaped the destruction of their race by the blood of Ymer, only because they chanced to be at sea, fishing, when the giant was slain. Repairing to the dark lower region which lies within the polar seas, they soon peopled it. Darkness, indeed, was the element of these beings: no sun enlightened or cheered them. When they visited earth, it was during the night, for then their power was the greatest. In magic they surpassed all other beings: they possessed many secrets, relating to the origin and nature of things, unknown to the wisest of the gods. With them the three Nornies, or destinies,—with them Vala herself, the great prophetess of heaven, was educated. They regarded the Aser with dislike,—as usurpers of a world which rightly belonged to them; and towards the sons of Askur, the creation of the gods, they bore equal dislike. This feeling, indeed, did not prevent the Aser from occasionally intermarrying with them; but the marriages were never well assorted. The king of this vast gloomy region was Ugarthiloc, or, more correctly, Utgardelok, viz. the Loke of Utgard, the monarch of the outer world. The notion entertained of this personage, and of the whole race, by the Danes, we have shown on a former occasion.^[59] Wild as the legends there related may seem, they have their meaning. The reader will not fail to observe, that these original inhabitants of the earth—this people destroyed by the Aser, and exiled into the dreary wastes of the North, were the original Finnish, or rather Celtic race, whom the Goths expelled. The mythology of that race was full of giants; the Druids boasted of an acquaintance with nature denied to the rest of mankind; and the boast was probably a just one. The testimony borne by Cæsar to the extensive character of their knowledge, will abundantly illustrate this part of the historical question. Again, the Celts pretended to mystical science: in proof of it, look to 99Cæsar, to the traditions rife wherever the Celts have been located, and, above all, to the fragments of the ancient Welsh bards preserved in the Archæologia of the principality. The Eddas are filled with Celtic mythological allusions. For example, Celtic were the dwarfs or fairies of the benevolent class; while the malignant ones, who were a kind of evil genii, came with the Aser from a seat where the two principles of good and evil were a dominant article of the popular creed.

A personage no less important than Odin or Thor in the Scandinavian mythology, is Loke, or, as he is sometimes called, Luptur. He was important, not from his power, or his wisdom, or his dignity, but from his cunning, his treachery, his ill-nature, and the influence which he exercised alike over gods and men. He was the son of the giant Farbautè, by the enchantress Laufeya. Though of giant race, he obtained admission among the gods: indeed, as his manners were exceedingly pleasant, his mirth constant, and his wit unbounded, whenever they were not mixed with spite, he could not fail to be acceptable to so vulgar a race as the Aser. But when, as indeed was often the case, there was malice in his jokes, his laughter made the hearer shudder. Why the gods should tolerate him, is not very clear; but destiny was probably the reason which a devout Odinist would have assigned for it,—a very convenient reason in most systems of mythology. His birth might be traced to the origin of time; for, in some way or other, he was concerned with Odin in the work of creation, though the connection is very obscurely hinted at. He was a relation, we are told, of the Utgard Loke, or Ugarthiloc, the monarch of the frosty giants. These two personages were no doubt originally the same; but as the Celts and Aser had different notions of the same being, it was found necessary to introduce the two into the united creed. In virtue of his connection with them, Loke often visited the 100giants, by whom he was as little trusted as by the Aser. But he was sometimes useful to both; and, from the malice of his nature, no less than from his dislike to the gods, whom he at once feared and hated, he was frequently the ally of the giants in their efforts to recover their lost dominion, and to destroy the usurpers. If he thus brought the latter into danger, he alone could extricate them from it. In perfect accordance with the Eddas, he is thus described by Ohlenschlager:—