The Elder Eddas of Saemund Sigfusson; and the Younger Eddas of Snorre Sturleson
Magni, bringing with them their father's mallet Mjolnir. Baldur and
Hodur shall also repair thither from the abode of death (Hel). There
shall they sit and converse together, and call to mind their former
knowledge and the perils they underwent, and the fight of the wolf
Fenrir and the Midgard serpent. There too shall they find in the grass
those golden tablets (orbs) which the Æsir once possessed. As it is
said,--
"'There dwell Vidar and Vali
In the gods' holy seats,
When slaked Surtur's fire is
But Modi and Magni
Will Mjolnir possess,
And strife put an end to.'
"Thou must know, moreover, that during the conflagration caused by
Surtur's fire, a woman named Lif (Life), and a man named Lifthrasir,
lie concealed in Hodmimir's forest. They shall feed on morning dew,
and their descendants shall soon spread over the whole earth.
"But what thou wilt deem more wonderful is, that the sun shall have
brought forth a daughter more lovely than herself, who shall go in the
same track formerly trodden by her mother.
"And now," continued Thridi, "if thou hast any further questions to
ask, I know not who can answer thee, for I never heard tell of any
one who could relate what will happen in the other ages of the world.
Make, therefore, the best use thou canst of what has been imparted to
thee."
Upon this Gangler heard a terrible noise all around him: he looked
everywhere, but could see neither palace nor city, nor anything save a
vast plain. He therefore set out on his return to his own kingdom,
where he related all that he had seen and heard, and ever since that
time these tidings have been handed down by oral tradition.
ÆGIR'S JOURNEY TO ASGARD.
68. Ægir, who was well skilled in magic, once went to Asgard, where
he met with a very good reception. Supper time being come, the twelve
mighty Æsir,--Odin, Thor, Njord, Frey, Tyr, Heimdall, Bragi, Vidar,
Vali, Ullur, Hoenir and Forseti, together with the Asynjor,--Frigga,
Freyja, Gefjon, Iduna, Gerda, Siguna, Fulla and Nanna, seated
themselves on their lofty doom seats, in a hall around which were
ranged swords of such surpassing brilliancy that no other light was
requisite. They continued long at table, drinking mead of a very
superior quality. While they were emptying their capacious drinking
horns, Ægir, who sat next to Bragi, requested him to relate something
concerning the Æsir. Bragi instantly complied with his request, by
informing him of what had happened to Iduna.
IDUNA AND HER APPLES.
69. "Once," he said, "when Odin, Loki, and Hoenir went on a journey,
they came to a valley where a herd of oxen were grazing, and being
sadly in want of provisions did not scruple to kill one for their
supper. Vain, however, were their efforts to boil the flesh; they
found it, every time they took off the lid of the kettle, as raw as
when first put in. While they were endeavouring to account for this
singular circumstance a noise was heard above them, and on looking up
they beheld an enormous eagle perched on the branch of an oak tree.
'If ye are willing to let me have my share of the flesh,' said the
eagle, 'it shall soon be boiled;' and on their assenting to this
proposal, it flew down and snatched up a leg and two shoulders of the
ox--a proceeding which so incensed Loki, that he laid hold of a large
stock, and made it fall pretty heavily on the eagle's back. It was,
however, not an eagle that Loki struck, but the renowned giant
Thjassi, clad in his eagle plumage. Loki soon found this out to his
cost, for while one end of the stock stuck fast to the eagle's back,
he was unable to let go his hold of the other end, and was
consequently trailed by the eagle-clad giant over rocks and forests,
until he was almost torn to pieces. Loki in this predicament began to
sue for peace, but Thjassi told him that he should never be released
from his hold until he bound himself by a solemn oath to bring Iduna
and her apples out of Asgard. Loki very willingly gave his oath to
effect this object, and went back in a piteous plight to his
companions.
70. "On his return to Asgard, Loki told Iduna that, in a forest at a
short distance from the celestial residence, he had found apples
growing which he thought were of a much better quality than her own,
and that at all events it was worth while making a comparison between
them. Iduna, deceived by his words, took her apples, and went with him
into the forest, but they had no sooner entered it than Thjassi, clad
in his eagle-plumage, flew rapidly towards them, and catching up
Iduna, carried her treasure off with him to Jotunheim. The gods being
thus deprived of their renovating apples, soon became wrinkled and
grey; old age was creeping fast upon them, when they discovered that
Loki had been, as usual, the contriver of all the mischief that had
befallen them. They therefore threatened him with condign punishment
if he did not instantly hit upon some expedient for bringing back
Iduna and her apples to Asgard. Loki having borrowed from Freyja her
falcon-plumage, flew to Jotunheim, and finding that Thjassi was out at
sea fishing, lost no time in changing Iduna into a sparrow and flying
off with her; but when Thjassi returned and became aware of what had
happened, he donned his eagle-plumage, and flew after them. When the
Æsir saw Loki approaching, holding Iduna transformed into a sparrow
between his claws, and Thjassi with his outspread eagle wings ready to
overtake him, they placed on the walls of Asgard bundles of chips,
which they set fire to the instant that Loki had flown over them; and
as Thjassi could not stop his flight, the fire caught his plumage, and
he thus fell into the power of the Æsir, who slew him within the
portals of the celestial residence. When these tidings came to
Thjassi's daughter, Skadi, she put on her armour and went to Asgard,
fully determined to avenge her father's death; but the Æsir having
declared their willingness to atone for the deed, an amicable
arrangement was entered into. Skadi was to choose a husband in Asgard,
and the Æsir were to make her laugh, a feat which she flattered
herself it would be impossible for any one to accomplish. Her choice
of a husband was to be determined by a mere inspection of the feet of
the gods, it being stipulated that the feet should be the only part of
their persons visible until she had made known her determination. In
inspecting the row of feet placed before her, Skadi took a fancy to a
pair which she flattered herself, from their fine proportions, must be
those of Baldur. They were however Njord's, and Njord was accordingly
given her for a husband, and as Loki managed to make her laugh, by
playing some diverting antics with a goat, the atonement was fully
effected. It is even said that Odin did more than had been stipulated,
by taking out Thjassi's eyes, and placing them to shine as stars in
the firmament.[137]
THE ORIGIN OF POETRY.
71. Ægir having expressed a wish to know how poetry originated,
Bragi informed him that the Æsir and Vanir having met to put an end to
the war which had long been carried on between them, a treaty of
peace was agreed to and ratified by each party spitting into a jar. As
a lasting sign of the amity which was thenceforward to subsist between
the contending parties, the gods formed out of this spittle a being to
whom they gave the name of Kvasir, and whom they endowed with such a
high degree of intelligence that no one could ask him a question that
he was unable to answer. Kvasir then traversed the whole world to
teach men wisdom, but was at length treacherously murdered by the
dwarfs, Fjalar and Galar, who, by mixing up his blood with honey,
composed a liquor of such surpassing excellence that whoever drinks of
it acquires the gift of song. When the Æsir inquired what had become
of Kvasir, the dwarfs told them that he had been suffocated with his
own wisdom, not being able to find any one who by proposing to him a
sufficient number of learned questions might relieve him of its
superabundance. Not long after this event, Fjalar and Galar managed to
drown the giant Gilling and murder his wife, deeds which were avenged
by their son Suttung taking the dwarfs out to sea, and placing them on
a shoal which was flooded at high water. In this critical position
they implored Suttung to spare their lives, and accept the
verse-inspiring beverage which they possessed as an atonement for
their having killed his parents. Suttung having agreed to these
conditions, released the dwarfs, and carrying the mead home with him,
committed it to the care of his daughter Gunnlauth. Hence poetry is
indifferently called Kvasir's blood, Suttung's mead, the dwarf's
ransom, etc.
ODIN BEGUILES THE DAUGHTER OF BAUGI
72. Æsir then asked how the gods obtained possession of so valuable
a beverage, on which Bragi informed him that Odin being fully
determined to acquire it, set out for Jotunheim, and after journeying
for some time, came to a meadow in which nine thralls were mowing.
Entering into conversation with them, Odin, offered to whet their
scythes, an offer which they gladly accepted, and finding that the
whetstone he made use of had given the scythes an extraordinary
sharpness, asked him whether he was willing to dispose of it. Odin,
however, threw the whetstone in the air, and in attempting to catch it
as it fell, each thrall brought his scythe to bear on the neck of one
of his comrades, so that they were all killed in the scramble. Odin
took up his night's lodging at the house of Suttung's brother, Baugi,
who told him that he was sadly at a loss for labourers, his nine
thralls having slain each other. Odin, who went under the name of
Baulverk, said that for a draught of Suttung's mead he would do the
work of nine men for him. The terms agreed on, Odin worked for Baugi
the whole summer, but Suttung was deaf to his brother's entreaties,
and would not part with a drop of the precious liquor, which was
carefully preserved in a cavern under his daughter's custody. Into
this cavern Odin was resolved to penetrate. He therefore persuaded
Baugi to bore a hole through the rock, which he had no sooner done
than Odin, transforming himself into a worm, crept through the
crevice, and resuming his natural shape, won the heart of Gunnlauth.
After passing three nights with the fair maiden, he had no great
difficulty in inducing her to let him take a draught out of each of
the three jars, called Odhroerir, Bodn, and Son, in which the mead was
kept. But wishing to make the most of his advantage, he pulled so deep
that not a drop was left in the vessels. Transforming himself into an
eagle, he then flew off as fast as his wings could carry him, but
Suttung becoming aware of the stratagem, also took upon himself an
eagle's guise, and flew after him. The Æsir, on seeing him approach
Asgard, set out in the yard all the jars they could lay their hands
on, which Odin filled by discharging through his beak the
wonder-working liquor he had drunken. He was however, so near being
caught by Suttung, that some of the liquor escaped him by an impurer
vent, and as no care was taken of this it fell to the share of the
poetasters. But the liquor discharged in the jars was kept for the
gods, and for those men who have sufficient wit to make a right use of
it. Hence poetry is also called Odin's booty, Odin's gift, the
beverage of the gods, &c, &c.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 125: This chapter is probably the interpolation of an early
copyist, for it has evidently no connection with the following one,
and is not found in the Upsal MS. of the Prose Edda, which is supposed
to be the oldest extant. Gefjon's ploughing is obviously a mythic way
of accounting for some convulsions of nature, perhaps the convulsion