The Younger Edda; Also called Snorre's Edda, or The Prose Edda
father; his son was Henrede; his son Vingethor (Vingthor); his son
Vingener (Vingner); his son Moda (Mode); his son Magi (Magne); his son
Kesfet; his son Bedvig; his son Atra, whom we call Annan; his son
Itrman; his son Heremod (Hermod); his son Skjaldun, whom we call Skjold;
his son Bjaf, whom we call Bjar; his son Jat; his son Gudolf, his son
Fjarlaf, whom we call Fridleif; he had the son who is called Vodin, whom
we call Odin; he was a famous man for wisdom and all accomplishments.
His wife hight Frigida, whom we call Frigg.
10. Odin had the power of divination, and so had his wife, and from this
knowledge he found out that his name would be held high in the north
part of the world, and honored beyond that of all kings. For this reason
he was eager to begin his journey from Turkey, and he had with him very
many people, young and old, men and women, and he had with him many
costly things. But wherever they fared over the lands great fame was
spoken of them, and they were said to be more like gods than men. And
they stopped not on their journey before they came north into that land
which is now called Saxland; there Odin remained a long time, and
subjugated the country far and wide. There Odin established his three
sons as a defense of the land. One is named Veggdegg; he was a strong
king and ruled over East Saxland. His son was Vitrgils, and his sons
were Ritta, the father of Heingest (Hengist), and Sigar, the father of
Svebdegg, whom we call Svipdag. Another son of Odin hight Beldegg, whom
we call Balder; he possessed the land which now hight Vestfal; his son
was Brander, and his son Frjodigar, whom we call Froda (Frode). His son
was Freovit, his son Yvigg, his son Gevis, whom we call Gave. The third
son of Odin is named Sigge, his son Verer. These forefathers ruled the
land which is now called Frankland, and from them is come the race that
is called the Volsungs. From all of these many and great races are
descended.
11. Then Odin continued his journey northward and came into the country
which was called Reidgotaland, and in that land he conquered all that he
desired. He established there his son, who hight Skjold; his son hight
Fridleif; from him is descended the race which hight Skjoldungs; these
are the Dane kings, and that land hight now Jutland, which then was
called Reidgotaland.
12. Thereupon he fared north to what is now called Svithjod (Sweden),
there was the king who is called Gylfe. But when he heard of the coming
of those Asiamen, who were called asas, he went to meet them, and
offered Odin such things in his kingdom as he himself might desire. And
such good luck followed their path, that wherever they stopped in the
lands, there were bountiful crops and good peace; and all believed that
they were the cause thereof. The mighty men of the kingdom saw that they
were unlike other men whom they had seen, both in respect to beauty and
understanding. The land there seemed good to Odin, and he chose there
for himself a place for a burg, which is now called Sigtuna.[6] He there
established chiefs, like unto what had formerly existed in Troy; he
appointed twelve men in the burg to be judges of the law of the land,
and made all rights to correspond with what had before been in Troy, and
to what the Turks had been accustomed.
[Footnote 6: Near Upsala.]
13. Thereupon he fared north until he reached the sea, which they
thought surrounded all lands, and there he established his son in the
kingdom, which is now called Norway; he is hight Saming, and the kings
of Norway count their ancestors back to him, and so do the jarls and
other mighty men, as it is stated in the Haleygjatal.[7] But Odin had
with him that son who is called Yngve, who was king in Sweden, and from
him is descended the families called Ynglings (Yngvelings). The asas
took to themselves wives there within the land. But some took wives for
their sons, and these families became so numerous that they spread over
Saxland, and thence over the whole north region, and the tongue of these
Asiamen became the native tongue of all these lands. And men think they
can understand from the way in which the names of their forefathers is
written, that these names have belonged to this tongue, and that the
asas have brought this tongue hither to the north, to Norway, to Sweden
and to Saxland. But in England are old names of places and towns which
can be seen to have been given in another tongue than this.
[Footnote 7: A heroic poem, giving the pedigree (tal) of Norse
kings.]
THE FOOLING OF GYLFE.
CHAPTER I.
GEFJUN’S PLOWING.
1. King Gylfe ruled the lands that are now called Svithjod (Sweden). Of
him it is said that he gave to a wayfaring woman, as a reward for the
entertainment she had afforded him by her story-telling, a plow-land in
his realm, as large as four oxen could plow it in a day and a night But
this woman was of the asa-race; her name was Gefjun. She took from the
north, from Jotunheim, four oxen, which were the sons of a giant and
her, and set them before the plow. Then went the plow so hard and deep
that it tore up the land, and the oxen drew it westward into the sea,
until it stood still in a sound. There Gefjun set the land, gave it a
name and called it Seeland. And where the land had been taken away
became afterward a sea, which in Sweden is now called Logrinn (the Lake,
the Malar Lake in Sweden). And in the Malar Lake the bays correspond to
the capes in Seeland. Thus Brage, the old skald:
Gefjun glad
Drew from Gylfe
The excellent land,
Denmark’s increase,
So that it reeked
From the running beasts.
Four heads and eight eyes
Bore the oxen
As they went before the wide
Robbed land of the grassy isle.[8]
[Footnote 8: Heimskringla: Ynglinga Saga, ch. v.]
CHAPTER II.
GYLFE’S JOURNEY TO ASGARD.
2. King Gylfe was a wise man and skilled in the black art. He wondered
much that the asa-folk was so mighty in knowledge, that all things went
after their will. He thought to himself whether this could come from
their own nature, or whether the cause must be sought for among the gods
whom they worshiped. He therefore undertook a journey to Asgard. He went
secretly, having assumed the likeness of an old man, and striving thus
to disguise himself. But the asas were wiser, for they see into the
future, and, foreseeing his journey before he came, they received him
with an eye-deceit. So when he came into the burg he saw there a hall so
high that he could hardly look over it. Its roof was thatched with
golden shields as with shingles. Thus says Thjodolf of Hvin, that Valhal
was thatched with shields:
Thinking thatchers
Thatched the roof;
The beams of the burg
Beamed with gold.[9]
[Footnote 9: Heimskringla: Harald Harfager’s Saga, ch. xix.]
In the door of the hall Gylfe saw a man who played with swords so
dexterously that seven were in the air at one time. That man asked him
what his name was. Gylfe answered that his name was Ganglere;[10] that
he had come a long way, and that he sought lodgings for the night. He
also asked who owned the burg. The other answered that it belonged to
their king: I will go with you to see him and then you may ask him for
his name yourself. Then the man turned and led the way into the hall.
Ganglere followed, and suddenly the doors closed behind him. There he
saw many rooms and a large number of people, of whom some were playing,
others were drinking, and some were fighting with weapons. He looked
around him, and much of what he saw seemed to him incredible. Then
quoth he:
Gates all,
Before in you go,
You must examine well;
For you cannot know
Where enemies sit
In the house before you.[11]
[Footnote 10: The walker.]
[Footnote 11: Elder Edda: Havamal.]
He saw three high-seats, one above the other, and in each sat a man. He
asked what the names of these chiefs were. He, who had conducted him in,
answered that the one who sat in the lowest high-seat was king, and
hight Har; the one next above him, Jafnhar; but the one who sat on the
highest throne, Thride. Har asked the comer what more his errand was,
and added that food and drink was there at his service, as for all in
Har’s hall. Ganglere answered that he first would like to ask whether
there was any wise man. Answered Har: You will not come out from here
hale unless you are wiser.
And stand now forth
While you ask;
He who answers shall sit.
CHAPTER III.
OF THE HIGHEST GOD.
3. Ganglere then made the following question: Who is the highest and
oldest of all the gods? Made answer Har: Alfather he is called in our
tongue, but in Asgard of old he had twelve names. The first is Alfather,
the second is Herran or Herjan, the third Nikar or Hnikar, the fourth
Nikuz or Hnikud, the fifth Fjolner, the sixth Oske, the seventh Ome, the
eighth Biflide or Biflinde, the ninth Svidar, the tenth Svidrer, the
eleventh Vidrer, the twelfth Jalg or Jalk. Ganglere asks again: Where is
this god? What can he do? What mighty works has he accomplished?
Answered Har: He lives from everlasting to everlasting, rules over all
his realm, and governs all things, great and small. Then remarked
Jafnhar: He made heaven and earth, the air and all things in them.
Thride added: What is most important, he made man and gave him a spirit,
which shall live, and never perish, though the body may turn to dust or
burn to ashes. All who live a life of virtue shall dwell with him in
Gimle or Vingolf. The wicked, on the other hand, go to Hel, and from her
to Niflhel, that is, down into the ninth world. Then asked Ganglere:
What was he doing before heaven and earth were made? Har gave answer:
Then was he with the frost-giants.
CHAPTER IV.
THE CREATION OF THE WORLD.
4. Said Ganglere: How came the world into existence, or how did it rise?
What was before? Made answer to him Har: Thus is it said in the Vala’s
Prophecy:
It was Time’s morning,
When there nothing was;
Nor sand, nor sea,
Nor cooling billows.
Earth there was not,
Nor heaven above.
The Ginungagap was,
But grass nowhere.[12]
[Footnote 12: Elder Edda: The Vala’s Prophecy, 6.]
Jafnhar remarked: Many ages before the earth was made, Niflheim had
existed, in the midst of which is the well called Hvergelmer, whence
flow the following streams: Svol, Gunnthro, Form, Fimbul, Thul, Slid and
Hrid, Sylg and Ylg, Vid, Leipt and Gjoll, the last of which is nearest
the gate of Hel. Then added Thride: Still there was before a world to
the south which hight Muspelheim. It is light and hot, and so bright
and dazzling that no stranger, who is not a native there, can stand it.
Surt is the name of him who stands on its border guarding it. He has a
flaming sword in his hand, and at the end of the world he will come and
harry, conquer all the gods, and burn up the whole world with fire. Thus
it is said in the Vala’s Prophecy:
Surt from the south fares
With blazing flames;
From the sword shines
The sun of the war-god.
Rocks dash together
And witches collapse,
Men go the way to Hel
And the heavens are cleft.[13]
[Footnote 13: Elder Edda: The Vala’s Prophecy, 56.]
5. Said Ganglere: What took place before the races came into existence,
and men increased and multiplied? Replied Har, explaining, that as soon
as the streams, that are called the Elivogs, had come so far from their
source that the venomous yeast which flowed with them hardened, as does
dross that runs from the fire, then it turned into ice. And when this
ice stopped and flowed no more, then gathered over it the drizzling rain
that arose from the venom and froze into rime, and one layer of ice was
laid upon the other clear into Ginungagap. Then said Jafnhar: All that