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Section 11 of 15 - Table of Contents
Chapter IX.
The Teutonic and Scandinavian Religion.
Sec. 1. The Land and the Race.
Sec. 2. Idea of the Scandinavian Religion.
Sec. 3. The Eddas and their Contents.
Sec. 4. The Gods of Scandinavia.
Sec. 5. Resemblance of the Scandinavian Mythology to that of Zoroaster.
Sec. 6. Scandinavian Worship.
Sec. 7. Social Character, Maritime Discoveries, and Political Institutions
of the Scandinavians.
Sec. 8. Relation of this System to Christianity.
Sec. 1. The Land and the Race.
The great Teutonic or German division of the Indo-European family entered
Europe subsequently to the Keltic tribes, and before the Slavic
immigration. This people overspread and occupied a large part of Northern
Central Europe, from which the attempts of the Romans to dispossess them
proved futile. Of their early history we know very little. Bishop Percy
contrasts their love of making records, as shown by the Runic
inscriptions, with the Keltic law of secrecy. The Druids forbade any
communication of their mysteries by writing; but the German Scalds put all
their belief into popular songs, and reverenced literature as a gift of
the gods. Yet we have received very little information concerning these
tribes before the days of Caesar and Tacitus. Caesar describes them as
warlike, huge in stature; having reverence for women, who were their
augurs and diviners; worshipping the Sun, the Moon, and Fire; having no
regular priests, and paying little regard to sacrifices. He says that they
occupied their lives in hunting and war, devoting themselves from
childhood to severe labors. They reverenced chastity, and considered it as
conducive to health and strength. They were rather a pastoral than
agricultural people; no one owning land, but each having it assigned to
him temporarily. The object of this provision was said to be to prevent
accumulation of wealth and the loss of warlike habits. They fought with
cavalry supported by infantry. In the time of Augustus all attempts at
conquering Germany were relinquished, and war was maintained only in the
hope of revenging the destruction of Varus and his three legions by the
famous German chief Arminius, or Herrman[320].
Tacitus freely admits that the Germans were as warlike as the Romans, and
were only inferior in weapons and discipline. He pays a generous tribute
to Arminius, whom he declares to have been "beyond all question the
liberator of Germany," dying at thirty-seven, unconquered in war.[321]
Tacitus quotes from some ancient German ballads or hymns ("the only
historic monuments," says he, "that they possess") the names of Tuisto, a
god born from the earth, and Mannus, his son. Tacitus was much struck with
the physical characteristics of the race, as being so uniform. There was a
family likeness, he says, among them all,--stern blue eyes, yellow hair,
large bodies. Their wealth was in their flocks and herds. "Gold and silver
are kept from them by the anger, or perhaps by the favor, of Heaven."
Their rulers were elective, and their power was limited. Their judges were
the priests. They saw something divine in woman, and her judgments were
accepted as oracles. Such women as Veleda and Aurinia were reverenced as
prophets; "but not adored or made into goddesses," says Tacitus, with a
side-glance at some events at home. Their gods, Tacitus chooses to call
Mercury, Hercules, and Mars; but he distinctly says that the Germans had
neither idols nor temples, but worshipped in sacred groves[322]. He also
says that the Germans divined future events by pieces of sticks, by the
duel, and by the movements of sacred horses. Their leaders might decide
the less important matters, but the principal questions were settled at
public meetings. These assemblies were held at regular intervals, were
opened by the priest, were presided over by the chief, and decided all
public affairs. Tacitus remarks that the spirit of liberty goes to such
an extreme among the Germans as to destroy regularity and order. They will
not be punctual at their meetings, lest it should seem as if they attended
because commanded to come.[323] Marriage was sacred, and, unlike other
heathen nations, they were contented with one wife. They were affectionate
and constant to the marriage vow, which meant to the pure German woman one
husband, one life, one body, and one soul. The ancient Germans, like their
modern descendants, drank beer and Rhenish wine, and were divided into
numerous tribes, who afterward reappeared for the destruction of the Roman
Empire, as the Goths, Vandals, Lombards, and Franks.
The Scandinavians were a branch of the great German family. Their
language, the old Norse, was distinguished from the Alemannic, or High
German tongue, and from the Saxonic, or Low German tongue. From the Norse
have been derived the languages of Iceland, of the Ferroe Isles, of
Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. From the Germanic branch have come German,
Dutch, Anglo-Saxon, Maeso-Gothic, and English. It was in Scandinavia that
the Teutonic race developed its special civilization and religion. Cut off
from the rest of the world by stormy seas, the people could there unfold
their ideas, and become themselves. It is therefore to Scandinavia that we
must go to study the German religion, and to find the influence exercised
on modern civilization and the present character of Europe. This influence
has been freely acknowledged by great historians.
Montesquieu says:[324]--
"The great prerogative of Scandinavia is, that it afforded the great
resource to the liberty of Europe, that is, to almost all of liberty
there is among men. The Goth Jornandes calls the North of Europe the
forge of mankind. I would rather call it the forge of those instruments
which broke the fetters manufactured in the South."
Geijer, in his Swedish History, tells us:--
"The recollections which Scandinavia has to add to those of the
Germanic race are yet the most antique in character and comparatively
the most original. They offer the completest remaining example of a
social state existing previously to the reception of influences from
Rome, and in duration stretching onward so as to come within the sphere
of historical light."
We do not know how much of those old Northern ideas may be still mingled
with our ways of thought. The names of their gods we retain in those of
our weekdays,--Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Their popular
assemblies, or Things, were the origin of our Parliament, our Congress,
and our general assemblies. If from the South came the romantic admiration
of woman, from the North came a better respect for her rights and the
sense of her equality. Our trial by jury was immediately derived from
Scandinavia; and, according to Montesquieu, as we have seen, we owe to the
North, as the greatest inheritance of all, that desire for freedom which
is so chief an element in Christian civilization.
Scandinavia proper consists of those regions now occupied by the kingdoms
of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. The geographical peculiarity of this
country is its proximity everywhere to the sea, and the great extent of
its coast line. The great peninsula of Sweden and Norway, with the
Northern Ocean on its west, the Baltic and Gulf of Bothnia on its east,
penetrated everywhere by creeks, friths, and arms of the sea, surrounded
with innumerable islands, studded with lakes, and cleft with rivers, is
also unrivalled, except by Switzerland, in the sublime and picturesque
beauty of its mountains. The other peninsula, that of Denmark, surrounded
and penetrated also everywhere by the sea, differs in being almost level;
rising nowhere, at its highest point, more than a thousand feet above the
ocean. Containing an area of only twenty-two thousand square miles, it is
so penetrated with bays and creeks as to have four thousand miles of
coast. Like the northern peninsula, it is also surrounded with a multitude
of islands, which are so crowded together, especially on its eastern
coast, as to make an archipelago. It is impossible to look at the map of
Europe, and not be struck with the resemblance in these particulars
between its northern and southern geography. The Baltic Sea is the
Mediterranean of Northern Europe. The peninsula of Denmark, with its
multitudinous bays and islands, corresponds to Greece, the Morea, and its
archipelago. We have shown in our chapter on Greece that modern geography
teaches that the extent of coast line, when compared with the superficial
area of a country, is one of the essential conditions of civilization. Who
can fail to see the hand of Providence in the adaptation of races to the
countries they are to inhabit? The great tide of human life, flowing
westward from Central Asia, was divided into currents by the Caspian and
Black Seas, and by the lofty range of mountains which, under the name of
the Caucasus, Carpathian Mountains, and Alps, extends almost in an
unbroken line from the western coast of the Caspian to the northern limits
of Germany. The Teutonic races, Germans, Saxons, Franks, and Northmen,
were thus determined to the north, and spread themselves along the coast
and peninsulas of the Northern Mediterranean. The other branch of the
great Indo-European variety was distributed through Syria, Asia Minor,
Greece, Southern France, Italy, and Spain. Each of these vast European
families, stimulated to mental and moral activity by its proximity to
water, developed its own peculiar forms of national character, which were
afterwards united in modern European society. The North developed
individual freedom, the South social organization. The North gave force,
the South culture. From Southern Europe came literature, philosophy, laws,
arts; from the North, that respect for individual rights, that sense of
personal dignity, that energy of the single soul, which is the essential
equipoise of a high social culture. These two elements, of freedom and
civilization, always antagonist, have been in most ages hostile. The
individual freedom of the North has been equivalent to barbarism, and from
time to time has rolled down a destroying deluge over the South, almost
sweeping away its civilization, and overwhelming in a common ruin arts,
literature, and laws. On the other hand, civilization at the South has
passed into luxury, has produced effeminacy, till individual freedom has
been lost under grinding despotism. But in modern civilization a third
element has been added, which has brought these two powers of Northern
freedom and Southern culture into equipoise and harmony. This new element
is Christianity, which develops, at the same time, the sense of personal
responsibility, by teaching the individual destiny and worth of every
soul, and also the mutual dependence and interlacing brotherhood of all
human society. This Christian element in modern civilization saves it from
the double danger of a relapse into barbarism on the one hand, and a too
refined luxury on the other. The nations of Europe, to-day, which are the
most advanced in civilization, literature, and art, are also the most
deeply pervaded with the love of freedom; and the most civilized nations
on the globe, instead of being the most effeminate, are also the most
powerful.
The Scandinavian people, destined to play so important a part in the
history of the world, were, as we have said, a branch of the great
Indo-European variety. We have seen that modern ethnology teaches that all
the races which inhabit Europe, with some trifling exceptions, belong to
one family, which originated in Central Asia. This has appeared and is
proved by means of glossology, or the science of language. The closest
resemblance exists between the seven linguistic families of Hindostan,
Persia, Greece, Rome, Germany, the Kelts, and the Slavi; and it is a most
striking fact of human history, that from the earliest period of recorded
time down to the present day a powerful people, speaking a language
belonging to one or other of these races, should have in a great measure
swayed the destinies of the world.
Before the birth of Christ the peninsula of Denmark was called by the
Romans the Cimbric Chersonesus, or Cimbric peninsula. This name came from
the Cimbri, a people who, one hundred and eleven years before Christ,
almost overthrew the Roman Republic, exciting more terror than any event
since the days of Hannibal. More than three hundred thousand men, issuing
from the peninsula of Denmark and the adjacent regions, poured like a
torrent over Gaul and Southern Germany. They met and overthrew in
succession four Roman armies; until, finally, they were conquered by the
military skill and genius of Marius. After this eruption was checked, the
great northern volcano slumbered for centuries. Other tribes from
Asia--Goths, Vandals, Huns--combined in the overthrow of the Roman Empire.
At last the inhabitants of Scandinavia appear again under the name of
Northmen, invading and conquering England in the fifth century as Saxons,
in the ninth century as Danes, and in the eleventh as Normans again
overrunning England and France. But the peculiarity of the Scandinavian
invasions was their maritime character. Daring and skilful navigators,
they encountered the tempests of the Northern Ocean and the heavy roll of
the Atlantic in vessels so small and slight that they floated like
eggshells on the surface of the waves, and ran up the rivers of France and
England, hundreds of miles, without check from shallows or rocks. In these
fragile barks they made also the most extraordinary maritime discoveries.
The sea-kings of Norway discovered Iceland, and settled it A.D. 860 and
A.D. 874. They discovered and settled Greenland A.D. 982 and A.D. 986. On
the western coast of Greenland they planted colonies, where churches were
built, and diocesan bishoprics established, which lasted between four and
five hundred years. Finally, in A.D. 1000, they discovered, by sailing
from Greenland, the coast of Labrador, Nova Scotia, and Massachusetts Bay;
and, five hundred years before the discovery of Columbus, gathered grapes
and built houses on the southern side of Cape Cod. These facts, long
considered mythical, have been established, to the satisfaction of
European scholars, by the publication of Icelandic contemporaneous annals.
This remarkable people have furnished nearly the whole population of
England by means of the successive conquests of Saxon, Danes, and Normans,
driving the Keltic races into the mountainous regions of Wales and North
Scotland, where their descendants still remain. Colonizing themselves also
everywhere in Northern Europe, and even in Italy and Greece, they have
left the familiar stamp of their ideas and habits in all our modern
civilization[325].
Sec. 2. Idea of the Scandinavian Religion.
The central idea of the Scandinavian belief was the free struggle of soul
against material obstacles, the freedom of the Divine will in its conflict
with the opposing forces of nature. The gods of the Scandinavians were
always at war. It was a system of dualism, in which sunshine, summer, and
growth were waging perpetual battle with storm, snow, winter, ocean, and
terrestrial fire. As the gods, so the people. War was their business,
courage their duty, fortitude their virtue. The conflict of life with
death, of freedom with fate, of choice with necessity, of good with evil,
made up their history and destiny.
This conflict in the natural world was especially apparent in the
struggle, annually renewed, between summer and winter. Therefore the light
and heat gods were their friends, those of darkness and cold their
enemies. For the same reason that the burning heat of summer, Typhon, was
the Satan of Egypt; so in the North the Jotuns, ice-giants, were the
Scandinavian devils.
There are some virtues which are naturally associated together, such as
the love of truth, the sense of justice, courage, and personal
independence. There is an opposite class of virtues in like manner
naturally grouped together,--sympathy, mutual helpfulness, and a tendency
to social organization. The serious antagonism in the moral world is that
of truth and love. Most cases of conscience which present a real
difficulty resolve themselves into a conflict of truth and love. It is
hard to be true without hurting the feelings of others; it is hard to
sympathize with others and not yield a little of our inward truth. The
same antagonism is found in the religions of the world. The religions in
which truth, justice, freedom, are developed tend to isolation, coldness,
and hardness. On the other hand, the religions of brotherhood and human
sympathy tend to weakness, luxury, and slavery.
The religion of the German races, which was the natural growth of their
organization and moral character, belonged to the first class. It was a
religion in which truth, justice, self-respect, courage, freedom, were the
essential elements. The gods were human, as in the Hellenic system, with
moral attributes. They were finite beings and limited in their powers.
They carried on a warfare with hostile and destructive agents, in which at
last they were to be vanquished and destroyed, though a restoration of the
world and the gods would follow that destruction.
Such was the idea in all the faith of the Teutonic race. The chief virtue
of man was courage, his unpardonable sin was cowardice. "To fight a good
fight," this was the way to Valhalla. Odin sent his Choosers to every
battlefield to select the brave dead to become his companions in the joys
of heaven.
Sec. 3. The Eddas and their Contents.
We have observed that Iceland was settled from Norway in the ninth
century. A remarkable social life grew up there, which preserved the
ideas, manners, and religion of the Teutonic people in their purity for
many hundred years, and whose Eddas and Sagas are the chief source of our
knowledge of the race. In this ultimate and barren region of the earth,
where seas of ice make thousands of square miles desolate and
impenetrable, where icy masses, elsewhere glaciers, are here mountains,
where volcanoes with terrible eruptions destroy whole regions of inhabited
country in a few days with lava, volcanic sand, and boiling water, was
developed to its highest degree the purest form of Scandinavian life.
The religion of the Scandinavians is contained in the Eddas, which are
two,--the poetic, or elder Edda, consisting of thirty-seven poems, first
collected and published at the end of the eleventh century; and the
younger, or prose Edda, ascribed to the celebrated Snorro Sturleson, born
of a distinguished Icelandic family in the twelfth century, who, after
leading a turbulent and ambitious life, and being twice chosen supreme
magistrate, was killed A.D. 1241. The principal part of the prose Edda is
a complete synopsis of Scandinavian mythology.
The elder Edda, which is the fountain of the mythology, consists of old
songs and ballads, which had come down from an immemorial past in the
mouths of the people, but were first collected and committed to writing by
Saemund, a Christian priest of Iceland in the eleventh century. He was a
Bard, or Scald, as well as a priest, and one of his own poems, "The
Sun-Song," is in his Edda. This word "Edda" means "great-grandmother," the
ancient mother of Scandinavian knowledge. Or perhaps this name was given
to the legends, repeated by grandmothers to their grandchildren by the
vast firesides of the old farm-houses in Iceland.
This rhythmical Edda consists of thirty-seven poems[326]. It is in two
parts,--the first containing mythical poems concerning the gods and the
creation; the second, the legends of the heroes of Scandinavian history.
This latter portion of the Edda has the original and ancient fragments
from which the German Nibelungen-lied was afterward derived. These songs
are to the German poem what the ante-Homeric ballad literature of Greece
about Troy and Ulysses was to the Iliad and Odyssey as reduced to unity by
Homer.
The first poem in the first part of the poetic Edda is the Voluspa, or
Wisdom of Vala. The Vala was a prophetess, possessing vast supernatural
knowledge. Some antiquarians consider the Vala to be the same as the
Nornor, or Fates. They were dark beings, whose wisdom was fearful even to
the gods, resembling in this the Greek Prometheus. The Voluspa describes
the universe before the creation, in the morning of time, before the great
Ymir lived, when there was neither sea nor shore nor heaven. It begins
thus, Vala speaking:--
"I command the devout attention of all noble souls,
Of all the high and the low of the race of Heimdall;
I tell the doings of the All-Father,
In the most ancient Sagas which come to my mind.
"There was an age in which Ymir lived,
When was no sea, nor shore, nor salt waves;
No earth below, nor heaven above,
No yawning abyss and no grassy land.
"Till the sons of Bors lifted the dome of heaven,
And created the vast Midgard (earth) below;
Then the sun of the south rose above the mountains,
And green grasses made the ground verdant.
"The sun of the south, companion of the moon,
Held the horses of heaven with his right hand;
The sun knew not what its course should be,
The moon knew not what her power should be,
The stars knew not where their places were.
"Then the counsellors went into the hall of judgment,
And the all-holy gods held a council.
They gave names to the night and new moon;
They called to the morning and to midday,
To the afternoon and evening, arranging the times."
The Voluspa goes on to describe how the gods assembled on the field of
Ida, and proceeded to create metals and vegetables; after that the race of
dwarfs, who preside over the powers of nature and the mineral world. Then
Vala narrates how the three gods, Odin, Honir, and Lodur, "the mighty and
mild Aser," found Ask and Embla, the Adam and Eve of the Northern legends,
lying without soul, sense, motion, or color. Odin gave them their souls,
Honir their intellects, Lodur their blood and colored flesh. Then comes
the description of the ash-tree Yggdrasil, of the three Norns, or sisters
of destiny, who tell the Aser their doom, and the end and renewal of the
world; and how, at last, one being mightier than all shall arrive:--
"Then comes the mighty one to the council of the gods,
He with strength from on high who guides all things,
He decides the strife, he puts an end to struggle,
He ordains eternal laws."
In the same way, in the Song of Hyndla, another of the poems of this Edda,
is a prediction of one who shall come, mightier than all the gods, and put
an end to the strife between Aser and the giants. The song begins:--
"Wake, maid of maidens! Awake, my friend!
Hyndla, sister, dwelling in the glens!
It is night, it is cloudy; let us ride together
To the sacred place, to Valhalla."
Hyndla sings, after describing the heroes and princes born of the gods:--
"One shall be born higher than all,
Who grows strong with the strength of the earth;
He is famed as the greatest of rulers,
United with all nations as brethren.
"But one day there shall come another mightier than he;
But I dare not name his name.
Few are able to see beyond
The great battle of Odin and the Wolf."
Among the poems of the elder Edda is a Book of Proverbs, like those of
Solomon in their sagacious observations on human life and manners. It is
called the Havamal. At first we should hardly expect to find these maxims
of worldly wisdom among a people whose chief business was war. But war
develops cunning as well as courage, and battles are won by craft no less
than by daring. Consequently, among a warlike people, sagacity is
naturally cultivated.
The Havamal contains (in its proverbial section) one hundred and ten
stanzas, mostly quatrains. The following are specimens:--
1. "Carefully consider the end
Before you go to do anything,
For all is uncertain, when the enemy
Lies in wait in the house.
4. "The guest who enters
Needs water, a towel, and hospitality.
A kind reception secures a return
In word and in deed.
7. "The wise man, on coming in,
Is silent and observes,
Hears with his ears, looks with his eyes,
And carefully reflects on every event.
11. "No worse a companion can a man take on his journey
Than drunkenness.
Not as good as many believe
Is beer to the sons of men.
The more one drinks, the less he knows,
And less power has he over himself.
26. "A foolish man, in company, had better be silent.
Until he speaks no one observes his folly.
But he who knows little does not know this,
When he had better be silent.
29. "Do not mock at the stranger
Who comes trusting in your kindness;
For when he has warmed himself at your fire,
He may easily prove a wise man.
34. "It is better to depart betimes,
And not to go too often to the same house.
Love tires and turns to sadness
When one sits too often at another man's table.
35. "One's own house, though small, is better,
For there thou art the master.
It makes a man's heart bleed to ask
For a midday meal at the house of another.
36. "One's own house, though small, is better;
At home thou art the master.
Two goats and a thatched roof
Are better than begging.
38. "It is hard to find a man so rich
As to refuse a gift.
It is hard to find a man so generous
As to be always glad to lend.
42. "Is there a man whom you distrust,
And who yet can help you?
Be smooth in words and false in thought,
And pay back his deceit with cunning.
48. "I hung my garments on two scarecrows,
And, when dressed, they seemed
Ready for the battle.
Unclothed they were jeered at by all.
52. "Small as a grain of sand
Is the small sense of a fool;
Very unequal is human wisdom.
The world is made of two unequal halves.
53. "It is well to be wise; it is not well
To be too wise.
He has the happiest life
Who knows well what he knows.
54. "It is well to be wise; not well
To be too wise.
The wise man's heart is not glad
When he knows too much.
55. "Two burning sticks placed together
Will burn entirely away.
Man grows bright by the side of man;
Alone, he remains stupid."
Such are the proverbs of the Havamal. This sort of proverbial wisdom may
have come down from the days when the ancestors of the Scandinavians left
Central Asia. It is like the fables and maxims of the Hitopadesa.[327]
Another of these poems is called Odin's Song of Runes. Runes were the
Scandinavian alphabet, used for lapidary inscriptions, a thousand of which
have been discovered in Sweden, and three or four hundred in Denmark and
Norway, mostly on tombstones. This alphabet consists of sixteen letters,
with the powers of F, U, TH, O, R, K, H, N, I, A, S, T, B, L, M, Y. The
letters R, I, T, and B very nearly resemble the Roman letters of the same
values. A magical power was ascribed to these Runes, and they were carved
on sticks and then scraped off, and used as charms. These rune-charms were
of different kinds, eighteen different sorts are mentioned in this song.
A song of Brynhilda speaks of different runes which she will teach Sigurd.
"_Runes of victory_ must those know, to conquer thine enemies. They must
be carved on the blade of thy sword. _Drink-Runes_ must thou know to make
maidens love thee. Thou must carve them on thy drinking horn. _Runes of
freedom_ must thou know to deliver the captives. _Storm-Runes_ must thou
know, to make thy vessel go safely over the waves. Carve them on the mast
and the rudder. _Herb-Runes_ thou must know to cure disease. Carve them on
the bark of the tree. _Speech-Runes_ must thou know to defeat thine enemy
in council of words, in the Thing. _Mind-Runes_ must thou know to have
good and wise thoughts. These are the Book-Runes, and Help-Runes, and
Drink-Runes, and Power-Runes, precious for whoever can use them."
The second part of the poetic Edda contains the stories of the old heroes,
especially of Sigurd, the Achilles of Northern romance. There is also the
Song of Volund, the Northern Smith, the German Vulcan, able to make swords
of powerful temper. These songs and ballads are all serious and grave, and
sometimes tender, having in them something of the solemn tone of the old
Greek tragedy.
The prose Edda, as we have said, was the work of Snorro Sturleson, born in
Iceland in 1178[328]. He probably transcribed most of it from the
manuscripts in his hands, or which were accessible to him, and from the
oral traditions which had been preserved in the memory of the Skalds. His
other chief work was the Heimskringla, or collection of Saga concerning
the history of the Scandinavians. In his preface to this last book he says
he "wrote it down from old stories told by intelligent people"; or from
"ancient family registers containing the pedigrees of kings," or from "old
songs and ballads which our fathers had for their amusement"
The prose Edda begins with "The deluding of Gylfi," an ancient king of
Sweden. He was renowned for his wisdom and love of knowledge, and
determined to visit Asgard, the home of the AEsir, to learn something of
the wisdom of the gods. They, however, foreseeing his coming, prepared
various illusions to deceive him. Among other things, he saw three
thrones raised one above another.
"He afterwards beheld three thrones raised one above another, with a
man sitting on each of them. Upon his asking what the names of these
lords might be, his guide answered: 'He who sits on the lowest throne
is a king; his name is Har (the High or Lofty One); the second is
Jafnhar (i.e. equal to the High); but he who sitteth on the highest
throne is called Thridi (the Third).' Har, perceiving the stranger,
asked him what his errand was, adding that he should be welcome to eat
and drink without cost, as were all those who remained in Hava Hall.
Gangler said he desired first to ascertain whether there was any person
present renowned for his wisdom.
"'If thou art not the most knowing,' replied Har, 'I fear thou wilt
hardly return safe. But go, stand there below, and propose thy
questions; here sits one who will be able to answer them.'
"Gangler thus began his discourse: 'Who is the first, or eldest of the
gods?'
"'In our language,' replied Har, 'he is called Alfadir (All-Father, or
the Father of All); but in the old Asgard he had twelve names.'
"'Where is this God?' said Gangler; 'what is his power? and what hath
he done to display his glory?'
"'He liveth,' replied Har, 'from all ages, he governeth all realms, and
swayeth all things great and small.'
"'He hath formed,' added Jafnhar, 'heaven and earth, and the air, and
all things thereunto belonging.'
"'And what is more,' continued Thridi, 'he hath made man, and given him
a soul which shall live and never perish, though the body shall have
mouldered away, or have been burnt to ashes. And all that are righteous
shall dwell with him in the place called Gimli, or Vingolf; but the
wicked shall go to Hel, and thence to Niflhel, which is below, in the
ninth world.'"
Of the creation of the world the Eddas thus speak: In the day-spring of
the ages there was neither seas nor shore nor refreshing breeze; there was
neither earth below nor heaven above. The whole was only one vast abyss,
without herb and without seas. The sun had no palace, the stars no place,
the moon no power. After this there was a bright shining world of flame to
the South, and another, a cloudy and dark one, toward the North. Torrents
of venom flowed from the last into the abyss, and froze, and filled it
full of ice. But the air oozed up through it in icy vapors, which were
melted into living drops by a warm breath from the South; and from these
came the giant Ymir. From him came a race of wicked giants. Afterward,
from these same drops of fluid seeds, children of heat and cold, came the
mundane cow, whose milk fed the giants. Then arose also, in a mysterious
manner, Bor, the father of three sons, Odin, Vili, and Ve, who, after
several adventures,--having killed the giant Ymir, and made out of his
body Heaven and Earth,--proceeded to form a man and woman named Ask and
Embla. Chaos having thus disappeared, Odin became the All-Father, creator
of gods and men, with Earth for his wife, and the powerful Thor for his
oldest son. So much for the cosmogony of the Edda.
On this cosmogony, we may remark that it belongs to the class of
development, or evolution, but combined with a creation. The Hindoo,
Gnostic, and Platonic theories suppose the visible world to have emanated
from God, by a succession of fallings, from the most abstract spirit to
the most concrete matter. The Greeks and Romans, on the contrary, suppose
all things to have come by a process of evolution, or development from an
original formless and chaotic matter. The resemblance between the Greek
account of the origin of gods and men and that of the Scandinavians is
striking. Both systems begin in materialism, and are radically opposed to
the spiritualism of the other theory; and in its account of the origin of
all things from nebulous vapors and heat the Edda reminds us of the modern
scientific theories on the same subject.
After giving this account of the formation of the world, of the gods, and
the first pair of mortals, the Edda next speaks of night and day, of the
sun and moon, of the rainbow bridge from earth to heaven, and of the great
Ash-tree where the gods sit in council. Night was the daughter of a
giant, and, like all her race, of a dark complexion. She married one of
the AEsir, or children of Odin, and their son was Day, a child light and
beautiful, like its father. The Sun and Moon were two children, the Moon
being the boy, and the Sun the girl; which peculiarity of gender still
holds in the German language. The Edda gives them chariot and horses with
which to drive daily round the heavens, and supposes their speed to be
occasioned by their fear of two gigantic wolves, from Jotunheim, or the
world of darkness, which pursue them. The rainbow is named Bifrost, woven
of three hues, and by this, as a bridge, the gods ride up every day to
heaven from the holy fountain below the earth. Near this fountain dwell
three maidens, below the great Ash-tree, who decide every man's fate.
These Fates, or Norns, are named Urd, Verdandi, and Skuld,--three words
meaning "past," "present," and "future." From Urd comes our word "weird,"
and the weird sisters of Shakespeare. The red in the rainbow is burning
fire, which prevents the frost-giants of Jotunheim from going up to
heaven, which they otherwise might do. This region of the gods is called
Asgard, and contains Valhalla, where they feast every day, with all heroes
who have died in battle; drinking mead, but not out of their enemies'
skulls, as has been so often said. This mistake modern scholars have
attributed to a mistranslation of a word in the original, which means
"curved horns," the passage being, "Soon shall we drink ale out of the
curved branches of the skull," that is, of an animal. Their food is the
flesh of a boar, which is renewed every day.
It is not to be supposed that Odin and the other gods lived quietly on
their Olympus without adventures. Many entertaining ones are narrated in
the Edda, had we room to tell them. One of these describes the death of
Baldur the Good, whom all beings loved. Having been tormented with bad
dreams, indicating that his life was in danger, he told them to the
assembled gods, who made all creatures and things, living or dead, take an
oath to do him no harm. This oath was taken by fire and water, iron and
all other metals, stones, earths, diseases, poisons, beasts, birds, and
creeping things. After this, they amused themselves at their meeting in
setting Baldur up as a mark; some hurling darts or shooting arrows at him,
and some cutting at him with swords and axes; and as nothing hurt him, it
was accounted a great honor done to Baldur. But wicked Loki, or Loke, was
envious at this; and, assuming the form of a woman, he inquired of the
goddess who had administered the oath, whether all things had taken it.
She said everything except one little shrub called mistletoe, which she
thought too young and feeble to do any harm. Therefore Loki got the
mistletoe, and, bringing it to one of the gods, persuaded him to throw it
at Baldur, who, pierced to the heart, fell dead. The grief was immense. An
especial messenger was despatched to Queen Hela, in Hell, to inquire if,
on any terms, Baldur might be ransomed. For nine days and nights he rode
through dark chasms till he crossed the river of Death, and entering the
kingdom of Hela, made known his request. Hela replied that it should now
be discovered whether Baldur was so universally loved as was represented;
for that she would permit him to return to Asgard if all creatures and all
things, without exception, would weep for him. The gods then despatched
messengers through the world to beg all things to weep for Baldur, which
they immediately did. Then you might have seen, not only crocodiles but
the most ferocious beasts dissolved in tears. Fishes wept in the water,
and birds in the air. Stones and trees were covered with pellucid
dew-drops, and, for all we know, this general grief may have been the
occasion of some of the deluges reported by geology. The messengers
returned, thinking the work done, when they found an old hag sitting in a
cavern, and begged her to weep Baldur out of Hell. But she declared that
she could gain nothing by so doing, and that Baldur might stay where he
was, like other people as good as he; planting herself apparently on the
great but somewhat selfish principle of non-intervention. So Baldur
remains in the halls of Hela. But this old woman did not go unpunished.
She was shrewdly suspected to be Loki himself in disguise, and on inquiry
so it turned out. Whereupon a hot pursuit of Loki took place, who, after
changing himself into many forms, was caught, and chained under
sharp-pointed rocks below the earth.
The adventures of Thor are very numerous. The pleasantest, perhaps, is the
account of his journey to Jotunheim, to visit his enemies, the giants of
Cold and Darkness. On his way, being obliged to pass the night in the
forest, he came to a spacious hall, with an open door, reaching from one
side to the other. In this he went to sleep, but being aroused by an awful
earthquake, Thor and his companions crept into a chamber which opened out
of the hall. When day came they found, sleeping near them, an enormous
giant, so large, that, as it appeared, they had passed the night in the
thumb of his glove. They travelled with him all day; and the next night
Thor considered himself justified in killing this giant, who was one of
their enemies. Three times he launched his mallet with fearful force at
the giant's head, and three times the giant awoke to inquire whether it
was a leaf or an acorn which had fallen on his face. After taking leave of
their enormous and invulnerable companion, they arrived at the abodes of
Jotunheim, and the city of Utgard, and entered the city of the king,
Utgard Loki. This king inquired what great feat Thor and his companions
could do. One professed to be a great eater; on which the king of giants
called one of his servants named Logi, and placed between them a trough
filled with meat. Thor's companion ate his share, but Logi ate meat and
bone too, and the trough into the bargain, and was considered to have
conquered. Thor's other companion was a great runner, and was set to run
with a young man named Hugi, who so outstripped him that he reached the
goal before the other had gone half-way. Then Thor was asked what he could
do himself. He said he would engage in a drinking-match, and was presented
with a large horn, and was requested to empty it at a single draught,
which he expected easily to do, but on looking in the liquor seemed
scarcely diminished. The second time he tried, and lowered it slightly. A
third, and it was still only sunk half an inch. Whereupon he was laughed
at, and called for some new feat. "We have a trifling game here,"
answered the king, "in which we exercise none but children. It is merely
to lift my cat from the ground." Thor put forth his whole might, but could
only lift up one foot, and was laughed at again. Angry at this, he called
for some one to wrestle with him. "My men," said King Utgard, "would think
it beneath them to wrestle with thee, but let some one call my old nurse
Eld, and let Thor wrestle with her." A toothless old woman entered the
hall, and after a violent struggle Thor began to lose his footing, and
went home excessively mortified. But it turned out afterward that all this
was illusion. The three blows of the mallet, instead of striking the
giant's head, had fallen on a mountain, which he had dexterously put
between, and made three deep ravines in it, which remain to this day. The
triumphant eater was Fire itself, disguised as a man. The successful
runner was Thought. The horn out of which Thor tried to drink was
connected with the ocean, which was lowered a few inches by his tremendous
draughts. The cat was the great Midgard Serpent, which goes round the
world, and Thor had actually pulled the earth a little way out of its
place; and the old woman was Old Age itself[329].
According to this mythology, there is coming a time in which the world
will be destroyed by fire and afterward renewed. This will be, preceded by
awful disasters; dreadful winters; wars, and desolations on earth; cruelty
and deceit; the sun and moon will be devoured, the stars hurled from the
sky, and the earth violently shaken. The Wolf (Fenrir), the awful Midgard
Serpent, Loki, and Hela come to battle with the gods. The great Ash-tree
will shake with fear. The Wolf (Fenrir) breaks loose, and opens his
enormous mouth. The lower jaw reaches to the earth, and the upper to
heaven. The Midgard Serpent, by the side of the Wolf, vomits forth floods
of poison. Heaven is rent in twain, and Surtur and the sons of Muspell
ride through the breach. These are the children of Light and Fire, who
dwell in the South, and who seem to belong neither to the race of gods nor
to that of giants, but to a third party, who only interfere at the close
of the conflict. While the battle goes on between the gods and the giants
they keep their effulgent bands apart on the field of battle. Meantime
Heimdall--doorkeeper of the gods--sounds his mighty trumpet, which is
heard through the whole universe, to summon the gods to conflict. The
gods, or AEsir, and all the heroes of Valhalla, arm themselves and go to
the field. Odin fights with the Wolf; Thor with the Midgard Serpent, whom
he kills, but being suffocated with the floods of venom dies himself. The
Wolf swallows Odin, but at that instant Vidar sets his foot on its lower
jaw, and laying hold of the upper jaw tears it apart. He accomplishes this
because he has on the famous shoe, the materials of which have been
collecting for ages, it being made of the shreds of shoe-leather which are
cut off in making shoes, and which, on this account, the religious
Scandinavians were careful to throw away. Loki and Heimdall fight and kill
each other. After this Surtur darts fire over the whole earth, and the
whole universe is consumed. But then comes the restitution of all things.
There will rise out of the sea a new heaven and a new earth. Two gods,
Vidar and Vali, and two human beings, a man and woman, survive the
conflagration, and with their descendants occupy the heavens and earth.
The suns of Thor come with their father's hammer and put an end to war.
Baldur, and Hodur, the blind god, come up from Hell, and the daughter of
the Sun, more beautiful than its mother, occupies its place in the skies.
Sec. 4. The Gods of Scandinavia.
We can give no better account of the Norse pantheon than by extracting the
passages from the prose Edda, which describe the gods. We take the
translation in Mallet's Northern Antiquities:--
"OF ODIN.
"'I must now ask thee,' said Gangler, 'who are the gods that men are
bound to believe in?'
"'There are twelve gods,' replied Har, 'to whom divine honors ought to
be rendered.'
"'Nor are the goddesses,' added Jafhhar, 'less divine and mighty.'
"'The first and eldest of the AEsir,' continued Thridi, 'is Odin. He
governs all things, and although the other deities are powerful, they
all serve and obey him as children do their father. Frigga is his wife.
She foresees the destinies of men, but never reveals what is to come.
For thus it is said that Odin himself told Loki, "Senseless Loki, why
wilt thou pry into futurity? Frigga alone knoweth the destinies of all,
though she telleth them never."'
"'Odin is named Alfadir (All-father), because he is the father of all
the gods, and also Valfadir (Choosing Father), because he chooses for
his sons all those who fall in combat. For their abode he has prepared
Valhalla and Vingolf, where they are called Einherjar (Heroes or
Champions). Odin is also called Hangagud, Haptagud, and Farmagud, and,
besides these, was named in many ways when he went to King
Geirraudr.'....
"OF THOR.
"'I now ask thee,' said Gangler, 'what are the names of the other gods?
What are their functions, and what have they brought to pass?'
"'The mightiest of them,' replied Har, 'is Thor. He is called Asa-Thor
and Auku-Thor, and is the strongest of gods and men. His realm is named
Thrudvang, and his mansion Bilskirnir, in which are five hundred and
forty halls. It is the largest house ever built. Thus it is called in
the Grimnismal:--
"Fire hundred halls
And forty more,
Methinketh, hath
Bowed Bilskirnir.
Of houses roofed
There's none I know
My son's surpassing."
"'Thor has a car drawn by two goats called Tanngniost and Tanngrisnir.
From his driving about in this car he is called Auku-Thor
(Charioteer-Thor). He likewise possesses three very precious things.
The first is a mallet called Mjoelnir, which both the Frost and Mountain
Giants know to their cost when they see it hurled against them in the
air; and no wonder, for it has split many a skull of their fathers and
kindred. The second rare thing he possesses is called the belt of
strength or prowess (Megingjardir). When he girds it about him his
divine might is doubly augmented; the third, also very precious, being
his iron gauntlets, which he is obliged to put on whenever he would lay
hold of the handle of his mallet. There is no one so wise as to be able
to relate all Thor's marvellous exploits, yet I could tell thee so many
myself that hours would be whiled away ere all that I know had been
recounted.'
"OF BALDUR.
"'I would rather,' said Gangler, 'hear something about the other
AEsir.'
"'The second son of Odin,' replied Har, 'is Baldur, and it may be truly
said of him that he is the best, and that all mankind are loud in his
praise. So fair and dazzling is he in form and features, that rays of
light seem to issue from him; and thou mayst have some idea of the
beauty of his hair when I tell thee that the whitest of all plants is
called Baldur's brow. Baldur is the mildest, the wisest, and the most
eloquent of all the AEsir, yet such is his nature that the judgment he
has pronounced can never be altered. He dwells in the heavenly mansion
called Breidablik, in which nothing unclean can enter. As it is said,--
"'T is Breidablik called,
"Where Baldur the Fair
Hath built him a bower,
In that land where I know
The least loathliness lieth."'
"OF NJOeRD.
"'The third god,' continued Har, 'is Njoerd, who dwells in the heavenly
region called Noatun. He rules over the winds, and checks the fury of
the sea and of fire, and is therefore invoked by seafarers and
fishermen. He is so wealthy that he can give possessions and treasures
to those who call on him for them. Yet Njoerd is not of the lineage of
the AEsir, for he was born and bred in Vanaheim. But the Vanir gave him
as hostage to the AEsir, receiving from them in his stead Hoenir. By
this means was peace re-established between the AEsir and Vanir. Njoerd
took to wife Skadi, the daughter of the giant Thjassi. She preferred
dwelling in the abode formerly belonging to her father, which is
situated among rocky mountains, in the region called Thrymheim, but
Njoerd loved to reside near the sea. They at last agreed that they
should pass together nine nights in Thrymheim, and then three in
Noatun. One day, when Njoerd came back from the mountains to Noatun, he
thus sang:--
"Of mountains I'm weary,
Not long was I there,
Not more than nine nights;
But the howl of the wolf
Methought sounded ill
To the song of the swan-bird."
'"To which Skadi sang in reply:--
"Ne'er can I sleep
In my couch on the strand,
For the screams of the sea-fowl.
The mew as he comes
Every morn from the main
Is sure to awake me."
"'Skadi then returned to the rocky mountains, and abode in Thrymheim.
There, fastening on her snow-skates and taking her bow, she passes her
time in the chase of savage beasts, and is called the Ondur goddess,
or Ondurdis.....'
"OF THE GOD FREY, AND THE GODDESS FREYJA.
"'Njoerd had afterwards, at his residence at Noatun, two children, a son
named Frey, and a daughter called Freyja, both of them beauteous and
mighty. Frey is one of the most celebrated of the gods. He presides
over rain and sunshine, and all the fruits of the earth, and should be
invoked in order to obtain good harvests, and also for peace. He,
moreover, dispenses wealth among men. Freyja is the most propitious of
the goddesses; her abode in heaven is called Folkvang. To whatever
field of battle she rides, she asserts her right to one half of the
slain, the other half belonging to Odin.....'
"OF TYR.
"'There is Tyr, who is the most daring and intrepid of all the gods. 'T
is he who dispenses valor in war, hence warriors do well to invoke him.
It has become proverbial to say of a man who surpasses all others in
valor that he is _Tyr-strong_, or valiant as Tyr. A man noted for his
wisdom is also said to be "wise as Tyr." Let me give thee a proof of
his intrepidity. When the AEsir were trying to persuade the wolf,
Fenrir, to let himself be bound up with the chain, Gleipnir, he,
fearing that they would never afterwards unloose him, only consented on
the condition that while they were chaining him he should keep Tyr's
right hand between his jaws. Tyr did not hesitate to put his hand in
the monster's mouth, but when Fenrir perceived that the AEsir had no
intention to unchain him, he bit the hand off at that point, which has
ever since been called the wolf's joint (ulflidr). From that time Tyr
has had but one hand. He is not regarded as a peacemaker among men.'
"OF THE OTHER GODS.
"'There is another god,' continued Har, 'named Bragi, who is celebrated
for his wisdom, and more especially for his eloquence and correct forms
of speech. He is not only eminently skilled in poetry, but the art
itself is called from his name _Bragr_, which epithet is also applied
to denote a distinguished poet or poetess. His wife is named Iduna. She
keeps in a box the apples which the gods, when they feel old age
approaching, have only to taste of to become young again. It is in this
manner that they will be kept in renovated youth until Ragnaroek.....
"'One of the gods is Heimdall, called also the White God. He is the son
of nine virgins, who were sisters, and is a very sacred and powerful
deity. He also bears the appellation of the Gold-toothed, on account of
his teeth being of pure gold, and also that of Hallinskithi. His horse
is called Gulltopp, and he dwells in Himinbjoerg at the end of Bifroest.
He is the warder of the gods, and is therefore placed on the borders of
heaven, to prevent the giants from forcing their way over the bridge.
He requires less sleep than a bird, and sees by night, as well as by
day, a hundred miles around him. So acute is his ear that no sound
escapes him, for he can even hear the grass growing on the earth, and
the wool on a sheep's back. He has a horn called the Gjallar-horn,
which is heard throughout the universe.....
"'Among the AEsir,' continued Har,'we also reckon Hoedur, who is blind,
but extremely strong. Both gods and men would be very glad if they
never had occasion to pronounce his name, for they will long have cause
to remember the deed perpetrated by his hand.
"'Another god is Vidar, surnamed the Silent, who wears very thick
shoes. He is almost as strong as Thor himself, and the gods place great
reliance on him in all critical conjunctures.
"'Vali, another god, is the son of Odin and Rinda; he is bold in war,
and an excellent archer.
"'Another is called Ullur, who is the son of Sif, and stepson of Thor.
He is so well skilled in the use of the bow, and can go so fast on his
snow-skates, that in these arts no one can contend with him. He is also
very handsome in his person, and possesses every quality of a warrior,
wherefore it is befitting to invoke him in single combats.
"'The name of another god is Forseti, who is the son of Baldur and
Nanna, the daughter of Nef. He possesses the heavenly mansion called
Glitnir, and all disputants at law who bring their cases before him go
away perfectly reconciled.....'
"OF LOKI AND HIS PROGENY.
"'There is another deity,' continued Har, 'reckoned in the number of
the AEsir, whom some call the calumniator of the gods, the contriver of
all fraud and mischief, and the disgrace of gods and men. His name is
Loki or Loptur. He is the son of the giant Farbauti.....Loki is
handsome and well made, but of a very fickle mood, and most evil
disposition. He surpasses all beings in those arts called Cunning and
Perfidy. Many a time has he exposed the gods to very great perils, and
often extricated them again by his artifices.....
"'Loki,' continued Har, 'has likewise had three children by Angurbodi,
a giantess of Joetunheim. The first is the wolf Fenrir; the second
Jormungand, the Midgard serpent; the third Hela (Death). The gods were
not long ignorant that these monsters continued to be bred up in
Joetunheim, and, having had recourse to divination, became aware of all
the evils they would have to suffer from them; their being sprung from
such a mother was a bad presage, and from such a sire, one still worse.
All-father therefore deemed it advisable to send one of the gods to
bring them to him. When they came he threw the serpent into that deep
ocean by which the earth is engirdled. But the monster has grown to
such an enormous size that, holding his tail in his mouth, he encircles
the whole earth. Hela he cast into Niflheim, and gave her power over
nine worlds (regions), into which she distributes those who are sent to
her, that is to say, all who die through sickness or old age. Here she
possesses a habitation protected by exceedingly high walls and strongly
barred gates. Her hall is called Elvidnir; Hunger is her table;
Starvation, her knife; Delay, her man; Slowness, her maid; Precipice,
her threshold; Care, her bed; and Burning Anguish forms the hangings of
her apartments. The one half of her body is livid, the other half the
color of human flesh. She may therefore easily be recognized; the more
so, as she has a dreadfully stern and grim countenance.
"'The wolf Fenrir was bred up among the gods; but Tyr alone had the
daring to go and feed him. Nevertheless, when the gods perceived that
he every day increased prodigiously in size, and that the oracles
warned them that he would one day become fatal to them, they determined
to make a very strong iron fetter for him, which they called Laeding.
Taking this fetter to the wolf, they bade him try his strength on it.
Fenrir, perceiving that the enterprise would not be very difficult for
him, let them do what they pleased, and then, by great muscular
exertion, burst the chain, and set himself at liberty. The gods, having
seen this, made another fetter, half as strong again as the former,
which they called Dromi, and prevailed on the wolf to put it on,
assuring him that, by breaking this, he would give an undeniable proof
of his vigor.
"'The wolf saw well enough that it would not be so easy to break this
fetter, but finding at the same time that his strength had increased
since he broke Laeding, and thinking that he could never become famous
without running some risk, voluntarily submitted to be chained. When
the gods told him that they had finished their task, Fenrir shook
himself violently, stretched his limbs, rolled on the ground, and at
last burst his chains, which flew in pieces all around him. He thus
freed himself from Dromi, which gave rise to the proverb "_at leysa or
laeethingi eetha at drepa or droma_" (to get loose out of Laeding, or to
dash out of Dromi), when anything is to be accomplished by strong
efforts.'
"'After this, the gods despaired of ever being able to bind the wolf;
wherefore All-father sent Skirnir, the messenger of Frey, into the
country of the Dark Elves (Svartalfaheim) to engage certain dwarfs to
make the fetter called Gleipnir. It was fashioned out of six things; to
wit, the noise made by the footfall of a cat; the beards of women; the
roots of stones; the sinews of bears; the breath of fish; and the
spittle of birds. Though thou mayest not have heard of these things
before, thou mayest easily convince thyself that we have not been
telling thee lies. Thou must have seen that women have no beards, that
cats make no noise when they run, and that there are no roots under
stones. Now I know what has been told thee to be equally true, although
there may be some things thou art not able to furnish a proof of.'
"'I believe what thou hast told me to be true,' replied Gangler, 'for
what thou hast adduced in corroboratiou of thy statement is
conceivable. But how was the fetter smithied?'
"'This I can tell thee,' replied Har, 'that the fetter was as smooth
and soft as a silken string, and yet, as thou wilt presently hear, of
very great strength. When it was brought to the gods they were profuse
in their thanks to the messenger for the trouble he had given himself;
and taking the wolf with them to the island called Lyngvi, in the Lake
Amsvartnir, they showed him the cord, and expressed their wish that he
would try to break it, assuring him at the same time that it was
somewhat stronger than its thinness would warrant a person in supposing
it to be. They took it themselves, one after another, in their hands,
and after attempting in vain to break it, said, "Thou alone, Fenrir,
art able to accomplish such a feat."
"'"Methinks," replied the wolf, "that I shall acquire no fame in
breaking such a slender cord; but if any artifice has been employed in
making it, slender though it seems, it shall never come on my feet."
"'The gods assured him that he would easily break a limber silken cord,
since he had already burst asunder iron fetters of the most solid
construction. "But if thou shouldst not succeed in breaking it," they
added, "thou wilt show that thou art too weak to cause the gods any
fear, and we will not hesitate to set thee at liberty without delay."
"'"I fear me much," replied the wolf, "that if ye once bind me so fast
that I shall be unable to free myself by my own efforts, ye will be in
no haste to unloose me. Loath am I, therefore, to have this cord wound
round me; but in order that ye may not doubt my courage, I will
consent, provided one of you put his hand into my mouth as a pledge
that ye intend me no deceit."
"'The gods wistfully looked at each other, and found that they had only
the choice of two evils, until Tyr stepped forward and intrepidly put
his right hand between the monster's jaws. Hereupon the gods, having
tied up the wolf, he forcibly stretched himself, as he had formerly
done, and used all his might to disengage himself, but the more efforts
he made, the tighter became the cord, until all the gods, except Tyr,
who lost his hand, burst into laughter at the sight.
"'When the gods saw that the wolf was effectually bound, they took the
chain called Gelgja, which was fixed to the fetter, and drew it through
the middle of a large rock named Gjoell, which they sank very deep into
the earth; afterwards, to make it still more secure, they fastened the
end of the cord to a massive stone called Thviti, which they sank still
deeper. The wolf made in vain the most violent efforts to break loose,
and, opening his tremendous jaws, endeavored to bite them. The gods,
seeing this, thrust a sword into his mouth, which pierced his under jaw
up to the hilt, so that the point touched the palate. He then began to
howl horribly, and since that time the foam flows continually from his
mouth in such abundance that it forms the river called Von. There will
he remain until Ragnaroek.'"
There are also goddesses in the Valhalla, of whom the Edda mentions
Frigga, Saga, and many others.
Sec. 5. Resemblance of the Scandinavian Mythology to that of Zoroaster.
These are the main points of the Scandinavian mythology, the resemblance
of which to that of Zoroaster has been often remarked. Each is a dualism,
having its good and evil gods, its worlds of light and darkness, in
opposition to each other. Each has behind this dualism a dim presence, a
vague monotheism, a supreme God, infinite and eternal. In each the evil
powers are for the present conquered and bound in some subterranean
prisons, but are hereafter to break out, to battle with the gods and
overcome them, but to be destroyed themselves at the same time. Each
system speaks of a great conflagration, in which all things will be
destroyed; to be followed by the creation of a new earth, more beautiful
than the other, to be the abode of peace and joy. The duty of man in each
system is war, though this war in the Avesta is viewed rather as moral
conflict, while in the Edda it is taken more grossly for physical
struggle. The tone of the theology of Zoroaster is throughout higher and
more moral than that of the Scandinavians. Its doctrine of creation is not
a mere development by a dark, unintelligent process, nor, on the other
hand, is it a Hindoo or Gnostic system of emanation. It is neither pure
materialism on the one hand nor pantheism on the other; but a true
doctrine of creation, for an intelligent and moral purpose, by the
conscious and free act of the Creator. But in many of the details, again,
we find a singular correspondence between these two systems. Odin
corresponds to Ormazd, Loki to Ahriman, the AEsir to the Amschaspands, the
giants of Jotunheim to the Daevas. So too the ox (Adudab) is the
equivalent of the giant Ymir, and the creation of the man and woman,
Meshia and Meshiane, is correlated to Ask and Embla. Baldur resembles the
Redeemer Sosiosh. The bridge, Bifrost, which goes up to heaven, is the
bridge Chinevat, which goes from the top of Albordj to heaven. The dog
Sirius (Sura), the watchman who keeps guard over the abyss, seems also to
correspond to Surtur, the watchman of the luminous world at the South. The
earth, in the Avesta, is called Hethra, and by the ancient Germans and
Scandinavians, Hertha,--the name given by Tacitus to this goddess,
signifying the earth, in all the Teutonic languages. In like manner, the
German name for heaven, Himmel, is derived from the Sanskrit word
"Himmala," the name of the Himmalah Mountains in Central Asia, believed by
the ancient inhabitants of Asia to be the residence of their gods[330].
Sec. 6. Scandinavian Worship.
The religious ceremonies of the Scandinavians were simple. Their worship,
like that of the followers of Zoroaster, was at first held in the open
air; but in later times they erected temples, some of which were quite
splendid. There were three great festivals in the year. The first was at
the winter solstice, and on the longest night of the year, which was
called the Mother Night, as that which produced the rest. This great feast
was called Yul, whence comes the English Yule, the old name for Christmas,
which festival took its place when the Scandinavians became Christians.
Their festival was in honor of the sun, and was held with sacrifices,
feasting, and great mirth. The second festival was in spring, in honor of
the earth, to supplicate fruitful crops. The third was also in the spring,
in honor of Odin. The sacrifices were of fruits, afterward animals, and
occasionally, in later times, human beings. The people believed in divine
interposition, and also in a fixed destiny, but especially in themselves,
in their own force and courage. Some of them laughed at the gods, some
challenged them to fight with them, and professed to believe in nothing
but their own might and main. One warrior calls for Odin, as a foeman
alone worthy of his steel, and it was considered lawful to fight the gods.
The quicken-tree, or mountain-ash, was believed to possess great virtues,
on account of the aid it afforded to Thor on one occasion.
Beside the priests, the Northern nations had their soothsayers. They also
believed that by the power of runes the dead could be made to speak. These
runes were called galder, and another kind of magic, mostly practised by
women, was called seid. It was thought that these wise women possessed the
power of raising and allaying storms, and of hardening the body so that
the sword could not cut it. Some charms could give preternatural strength,
others the power of crossing the sea without a ship, of creating and
destroying love, of assuming different forms, of becoming invisible, of
giving the evil eye. Garments could be charmed to protect or to destroy
the wearer. A horse's head, set on a stake, with certain imprecations,
produced fearful mischief to a foe.[331]
Very few remains of temples have been found in the North. But (as Laing
remarks in his "Sea-Kings of Norway") the most permanent remains of the
religion of Odin are found in the usages and languages of the descendants
of those who worshipped him. These descendants all retain, in the names of
Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, the recollections of the chief gods of
this mythology. Mara (the nightmare) still torments the sleep of the
English-speaking people; and the Evil One, Nokke (so says Laing), is the
ancestor of Old Nick.
Every ninth year solemn sacrifices were held in the great temple at Upsal
in Sweden. The king and all citizens of importance must appear in person
and bring offerings. Crowds came together on these occasions, and no one
was excluded, except for some base or cowardly action. Nine human beings
were sacrificed, usually captives or slaves, but in times of great
calamity even a king was made a victim. Earl Hakon, of Norway, offered his
son in sacrifice to obtain a victory over some pirates. The bodies were
buried in groves, which thence were regarded as very sacred. One, called
Odin's grove, near the temple of Upsal, was sacred in every twig and leaf.
Sec. 7. Social Character, Maritime Discoveries, and Political Institutions of
the Scandinavians.
Of the manners, customs, and habits of the Scandinavians, we cannot speak
at length. Society among them was divided into two classes,--the
landholder or bondsmen, and the thralls or slaves. The duty of the last
was to perform domestic service and till the ground, and they consisted of
prisoners taken in war and their children. The business of the landholder
or bondsman was war, and his chief virtue courage. His maxim was, to
conquer a single opponent, to attack two, not to yield to three, and only
to give way to four. To die in battle was their high ambition; then they
believed that they should pass to the halls of Odin. King Ragnar died
singing the pleasure of receiving death in battle, saying, "The hours of
my life have passed away; I shall die laughing." Saxo, describing a duel,
said that one of the champions fell, laughed, and died. Rather than die in
their bed, some, when sick, leaped from a rock into the sea. Others, when
dying, would be carried into a field of battle. Others induced their
friends to kill them. The Icelandic Sagas are filled with stories of
single combats, or _holm-gangs_. When not fighting they were fond of
feasting; and the man who could drink the most beer was counted the best.
The custom of drinking toasts came from the North. As the English give the
Queen, and we the President, as the first health on public occasions, so
they begin with a cup, first to Odin, and afterward to other deities, and
then to the memory of the dead, in what was called grave-beer. Their
institutions were patriarchal; the head of the family was the chief of the
tribe and also its priest. But all the freemen in a neighborhood met in
the Thing, where they decided disputes, laid down social regulations, and
determined on public measures. The Thing was, therefore, legislature,
court of justice, and executive council in one; and once a year, in some
central place, there was held a similar meeting to settle the affairs of
the whole country, called the Land-Thing or All-Thing. At this the king
was chosen for the whole community, who sometimes appointed subordinate
officers called Yarls, or earls, to preside over large districts. Respect
for women was a marked trait among the Scandinavians, as Tacitus has
noticed of their congeners, the Germans. They were admired for their
modesty, sense, and force of character, rather than for the fascinations
which the nations of the South prefer. When Thor described his battle with
the sorceress, the answer was, "Shame, Thor! to strike a woman!" The wife
was expected to be industrious and domestic. She carried the keys of the
house; and the Sagas frequently mention wives who divorced their husbands
for some offence, and took back their dowry. The Skalds, or Bards, had a
high place and great distinction among this people. Their songs
constituted the literature and history of the Scandinavians, and the
people listened, not as to the inspiration of an individual mind, but to
the pulsation of its own past life. Their praises were desired, their
satire feared, by the greatest heroes and kings. Their style was
figurative, sometimes bombastic, often obscure.
Of the maritime expeditions of the Northmen we have already spoken. For
many centuries they were the terror of Europe, North and South. The
sea-kings of Norway appeared before Constantinople in 866, and afterward a
body-guard of the emperors of the East was composed of these pirates, who
were called the Varangians. Even before the death of Charlemagne their
depredations brought tears to his eyes; and after his death they pillaged
and burnt the principal cities of France, and even his own palace at
Aix-la-Chapelle. They carried their arms into Spain, Italy, and Greece. In
844 a band of these sea-rovers sailed up the Guadalquiver and attacked
Seville, then in possession of the Moors, and took it, and afterward
fought a battle with the troops of Abderahman II. The followers of
Mohammed and the worshippers of Odin, the turbaned Moors and the
fair-haired Norwegians, here met, each far from his original home, each
having pursued a line of conquest, which thus came in contact at their
furthest extremes.
The Northmen in Italy sold their swords to different princes, and under
Count Rainalf built the city of Aversa in 1029[332]. In Sicily the
Northern knights defeated the Saracens, and enabled the Greek Emperor to
reconquer the island. Afterward they established themselves in Southern
Italy, and took possession of Apulia. A league formed against them by the
Greek and German Emperors and the Pope ended in the utter defeat of the
Papal and German army by three thousand Normans, and they afterward
received and held Apulia as a Papal fief. In 1060 Robert Guiscard became
Duke of Apulia and Calabria, and at last of the whole kingdom of Naples.
Sicily was conquered by his brother, Count Roger, who, with a few
Northmen, routed vast numbers of the Saracens and completed the subjection
of the island, after thirty years of war. Meantime his brother Robert
crossed the Adriatic and besieged and took Durazzo, after a fierce battle,
in which the Scandinavian soldiers of the Greek Emperor fought with the
Normans descended from the same Scandinavian ancestors.
Sec. 8. Relation of this System to Christianity.
The first German nation converted to Christianity was that of the Goths,
whose teacher was Ulphilas, born 318, consecrated a bishop in 348. Having
made many converts to Christianity among his people, a persecution arose
against them from the pagan Goths; and in 355, in consequence of this
persecution, he sought and obtained leave to settle his converts in
Maesia. He preached with fervor, studied the Scripture in Greek and Latin,
and made the first translation of the Bible into any German language.
Fragments of his Gothic version are preserved at Upsal. This copy, called
the "Codex Argenteus," was captured by the Swedes at Prague during the
Thirty Years' War. This manuscript is of the sixth century, and, together
with some palimpsests, is the only source of our knowledge of this ancient
version[333].
Ulphilas was an Arian, and died confessing his faith in that form of
Unitarianism. Neander says it is to the credit of the orthodox historians
that they do not on that account abate anything of their praise of
Ulphilas for his great labors as a missionary, confessor, and doctor. His
translation was, for a long time, used all over Europe by the various
tribes of German descent.
Ulphilas, therefore, led the way in that work which resulted in one of the
greatest events of modern history; namely, the conversion of the German
race to Christianity. It was by various families of this Teutonic
stem--Goths, Vandals, Saxons, Lombards, Burgundians, Franks--that the
Roman Empire was overthrown. If they had not been converted to
Christianity before and during these conquests, what would have been the
fate of European civilization? The only bond uniting the modern and
ancient world was the Christian faith, and this faith was so adapted to
the German character that it was everywhere accepted by them[334]. The
conversion of the Anglo-Saxons by Augustin (A.D. 597), of the Germans by
Boniface (A.D. 718-755), of the Saxons (A.D. 803), and the universal
downfall of German heathenism, was a condition _sine qua non_ of that
union of Latin and Greek culture with the German vitality, which was at
the root of modern European civilization. Previous to this the Visigoths
were converted, as we have seen; then the Ostrogoths; then the Vandals and
Gepidae,--all in the fourth century. The Franks became Christians in the
fifth century, the Alemanni and Lombards in the sixth. All of these tribes
were converted by Arian missionaries, except the Franks. But the records
of these missions have perished, for the historians were Catholics, "who,"
says Milman[335], "perhaps destroyed, or disdained to preserve, the fame
of Arian conquests to a common Christianity." "It was a surprising
spectacle," says he, "to behold the Teutonic nations melting gradually
into the general mass of Christian worshippers. In every other respect
they were still distinct races. The conquering Ostrogoth or Visigoth, the
Vandal, the Burgundian, the Frank, stood apart from the subjugated Roman
population, as an armed or territorial aristocracy. They maintain, in
great part at least, their laws, their language, their habits, their
character; in religion alone they are blended into one society, constitute
one church, worship at the same altar, and render allegiance to the same
hierarchy. This is the single bond of their common humanity."
The German races also established everywhere the feudal system, that
curious institution, which has been the subject of so much discussion, and
has perplexed the readers of history by its incongruities. These
perplexities, however, may perhaps be relieved if we see that the
essential character of this institution was this, that it was an army
permanently quartered on a subject people. This definition contains the
explanation of the whole system. The Germans had overrun and conquered the
Roman Empire. They intended to possess and retain it. But being much fewer
in numbers than the conquered people, how could they do this? Suppose that
when the Confederate States had been conquered by the Union Army it had
been determined to hold them permanently as a conquered territory. It
could be done thus. First, the original inhabitants must be disarmed and
put under stringent laws, like that of the curfew, etc. Then to every
private soldier in the Union Army a farm, say of fifty acres, would be
assigned, on condition that whenever summoned by the captain of his
company he would present himself armed to do military duty. In like manner
the captain would receive, say a hundred acres, on condition of appearing
with his company when summoned by his colonel. Then the colonel would
receive five hundred acres, on condition of appearing with his regiment
when summoned by the general. The general (_dux_, duke) must appear with
his brigade when summoned by the commander-in-chief (_imperator_,
emperor), and he would hold perhaps a thousand acres on this condition.
All this land, thus held on condition of military service, would be held
in fee, and would exemplify the actual foundation of the whole feudal
system, which was simply an arrangement by which a conquering army could
hold down the conquered nation.
Of course, such a system as this was one of tyranny and cruelty, and
during several centuries it was tempered and softened only by the
mediatorial influence of the Christian Church. This was the only power
strong enough to shield the oppressed and to hold back the arm of the
tyrant. Feudalism served, no doubt, some useful purposes. It was a method
of riveting together, with iron nails, the conquerors and conquered, until
they could come into a union of a better kind.
It was about the year 1000 that the people of the North were converted to
Christianity. This process of conversion was a long time going on, and
there were several relapses into paganism; so that no precise time can be
fixed for the conversion of a single nation, much less for that of the
different branches of the Scandinavian stock separately situated in Sweden
and Denmark, Iceland and Greenland, and colonized in England and Normandy.
A mission was established in Denmark, A.D. 822, and the king was baptized;
but the overthrow of this Christian king restricted the labors of the
missionary. An attempt was made in Sweden in 829, and the missionary,
Anschar, remained there a year and a half; but the mission there
established was soon overthrown. Uniting wisdom with his ardor, Anschar
established at Hamburg schools where he educated Danish and Swedish boys
to preach Christianity in their own language to their countrymen. But the
Normans laid waste this city, and the Christian schools and churches were
destroyed. About 850 a new attempt was made in Sweden, and there the
subject was laid by the king before his council or parliament, consisting
of two assemblies, and they decided to allow Christianity to be preached
and practised, apparently on the ground that this new god, Christ, might
help them in their dangers at sea, when the other gods could not. And
thus, according to the independent character of this people, Christianity
was neither allowed to be imposed upon them by their king against their
will, nor excluded from the use of those who chose to adopt it. It took
its chance with the old systems, and many of the Danes and Normans
believed in worshipping both Odin and Christ at the same time. King Harold
in Denmark, during the last half of the tenth century, favored the spread
of Christianity, and was himself baptized with his wife and son, believing
at first that the Christian God was more powerful than the heathen gods,
but finally coming to the conclusion that these last were only evil
spirits. On the other hand, some of the Danes believed that Christ was a
god, and to be worshipped; but that he was a less powerful god than Odin
or Thor. The son of King Harold, in 990, returned to paganism and drove
out the Christian priests; but his son, Canute the Great, who began to
reign in 1014, was converted to Christianity in England, and became its
zealous friend. But these fierce warriors made rather poor Christians.
Adam of Bremen says: "They so abominate tears and lamentations, and all
other signs of penitence which we think so salubrious, that they will
neither weep for their own sins nor at the death of their best friends."
Thus, in these Northern regions, Christianity grew through one or two
centuries, not like the mustard-seed, but like the leaven, infusing itself
more and more into their national life. According to the testimony of an
eye-witness, Adam of Bremen, the Swedes were very susceptible to religious
impressions. "They receive the preachers of the truth with great
kindness," says he, "if they are modest, wise, and able; and our bishops
are even allowed to preach in their great public assemblies." In Norway,
Prince Hacon, in the middle of the tenth century, attempted to establish
Christianity, which he had learned in England. He proposed to the great
national assembly that the whole nation should renounce idolatry, worship
God and Christ, keep Sundays as festivals, and Fridays as fasts. Great
opposition was made, and there was danger of universal insurrection, so
that the king had to yield, and even himself drink a toast to Odin and eat
horse-flesh, which was a heathen practice. Subsequent kings of Norway
introduced Christianity again; but the people, though willing to be
baptized, frequently continued Pagans, and only by degrees renounced, with
their old worship, their habits of piracy. The Icelanders embraced
Christianity at their All-Thing in the year 1000, but with the condition
that they might also continue their old worship, and be permitted the
eating of horse-flesh and exposition of infants. When the All-Thing broke
up, the assembled multitudes went to the hot-baths to be baptized,
preferring for this rite hot water to cold. The Scandinavians seem at this
period to have lost their faith in their old religion, and to have been in
a transition state. One warrior says that he relies more on his own
strength and arms than upon Thor. Another says, "I would have thee know
that I believe neither in idols nor spirits, but only in my own force and
courage." A warrior told King Olaff in Norway, "I am neither Christian nor
Pagan. My companions and I have no other religion than confidence in our
own strength and good success." Evidently Christianity for a long time sat
very lightly on these nations. They were willing to be baptized and accept
some of the outward ceremonies and festivals of the Catholic Church, which
were considerately made to resemble their old ones.
Nevertheless Christianity met many of the wants of this noble race of men;
and, on the other hand, their instincts as a race were as well adapted to
promote an equal development of every side of Christian life. The Southern
races of Europe received Christianity as a religion of order; the Northern
races, as a religion of freedom. In the South of Europe the Catholic
Church, by its ingenious organization and its complex arrangements,
introduced into life discipline and culture. In the North of Europe
Protestant Christianity, by its appeals to the individual soul, awakens
conscience and stimulates to individual and national progress. The nations
of Southern Europe accepted Christianity mainly as a religion of sentiment
and feeling; the nations of Northern Europe, as a religion of truth and
principle. God adapted Christianity to the needs of these Northern races;
but he also adapted these races, with their original instincts and their
primitive religion, to the needs of Christianity. Without them, we do not
see how there could be such a thing in Europe to-day as Protestantism. It
was no accident which made the founder of the Reformation a Saxon monk,
and the cradle of the Reformation Germany. It was no accident which
brought the great Gustavus Adolphus from the northern peninsula, at the
head of his Swedish Protestants, to turn the tide of war in favor of
Protestantism and to die on the field of Lutzen, fighting for freedom of
spirit. It is no accident which makes the Scandinavian races to-day, in
Sweden and Norway, in Denmark and North Germany and Holland, in England
and the United States, almost the only Protestant nations of the world.
The old instincts still run in the blood, and cause these races to ask of
their religion, not so much the luxury of emotion or the satisfaction of
repose, in having all opinions settled for them and all actions
prescribed, as, much rather, light, freedom, and progress. To them
to-day, as to their ancestors,
"Is life a simple art
Of duties to be done,
A game where each man takes his part,
A race where all must run;
A battle whose great scheme and scope
They little care to know;
Content, as men at arms, to cope
Each with his fronting foe."
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