The Prose Edda (19 page)
Authors: Snorri Sturluson
âHow should a ship be referred to?'
âBy calling it the horse, animal or ski of sea kings, the sea, rigging or wind.'
âHow should Christ be referred to?'
âBy calling him the creator of heaven, earth, angels and the sun; the ruler of the world, the heavenly kingdom and the angels; the king of the heavens, the sun, angels, Jerusalem, Jordan and Greece and the counsellor of the apostles and saints. Early poets associated him with the wellspring of the norns and with Rome, as for instance in the verse from Eilif Gudrunarson:
They say he sits on a mount in the south and by the wellspring of the norns. In this way the mighty king of Rome has strengthened his realm with the lands of the heathen gods.'
Harvest month is the name for the last month before winter. The first month in winter is called culling month, followed by frost month, ram month, Thorri, Goi, single month, cuckoo month and seed time, hatching time and lambing time, sun month and upcountry pasture month, haymaking and finally corn-reaping month.
There was a king called Halfdan the Old, who was the greatest of all kings. He organized a big sacrifice at midwinter, intending to secure the destiny of living in his kingdom for three hundred years, but he received the answer that he would live no longer than a very protracted single lifetime. On the other hand, for three hundred years his lineage would contain no women and no lowly ranked men. He was a great man for raiding expeditions and made extensive forays in the eastern regions. There, in single combat, he felled a king called Sigtrygg. Then he took a woman in marriage called Alvig the Wise, daughter
of King Emund the Mighty of Novgorod. They had eighteen sons, of whom nine were born at the same time. These were their names: one was Thengil [Prince], known as Thengil of men; the next Raesir [Leader of the Onslaught]; the third Gram [Fearsome King]; the fourth Gylfi; the fifth Hilmir; the sixth Jofur [Wild Boar]; the seventh Tiggi [Noble]; the eighth Skyli or Skuli [Protector]; and the ninth Harri or Herra [Lord]. These nine brothers had such prowess in raiding that in all subsequent traditions their names rate as distinguished titles, fitting for kings and earls. They had no children and all of them died in battle.
Halfdan and his wife had another nine sons, whose names are as follows. The first was Hildir, founder of the dynasty of Hildings. The second was Nefir, founder of the Niflungs. The third was Audi, founder of the Odlings. The fourth was Yngvi, founder of the Ynglings. The fifth was Dag, founder of the Daglings. The sixth was Bragi, founder of the Bragnings (of which clan Halfdan the Magnanimous is a member). The seventh was Budli, founder of the Budlungs (Atli and Brynhild are members of that clan). The eighth was Lofdi; he was a great warrior king with a following called the Lofdar; he founded the dynasty of Lofdungs. To that lineage belongs Eylimi, the maternal grandfather of Sigurd who slew the serpent Fafnir. The ninth was Sigar, founder of the Siklingar. To that lineage belongs Siggeir, the kinsman by marriage of Volsung, and the Sigar who hanged Hagbard. From the Hilding lineage came Harald of the Red Moustache, maternal grandfather of Halfdan the Black. From the Niflung lineage came Gjuki. From the Odling lineage came Kjar. From the Ylfing lineage came Eirik the Eloquent. The following are also distinguished royal lineages. Yngvi founded the dynasty of Ynglings; Skjold, in Denmark, the Skjoldungs; and Volsung, in France, the Volsungs. Skelfir was a warrior king whose lineage is called the Skilfings, who hold sway in the eastern regions. The lineages listed above are all mentioned in poetry as names of great distinction.
References to Poets
Poets are called
greppar
and it is appropriate in poetry, if one wishes, to refer to any kind of man with that word. The men who formed King Half's warband were called
rekkar
. From that name warriors can be called
rekkar
, and in poetry it is appropriate to use that name for all types of men. Another general word in poetry for men is
lofdar
, as previously noted. The men in the warband of King Skati the Generous were called
skatnar
, and from his name any man who is generous can be called
skati
. The men in the warband of King Bragi the Old were called
bragnar
. The men who adjudicate on legal cases are called
virdar
. Men responsible for the defence of the land are called
fyrdar
,
firar
and
verar
. The warbands on board ships are called vikings and
flotnar
. Men in the warband of King Beimuni are called
beimar
. The leaders of a band of men are called
gumnar
or
gumar
, similar to the
gumi
or groom in a bridal party. The name
gotnar
comes from a king called Goti, after whom Gotland is named. His name is one of the names applied to Odin, and it derives from Gaut, since both Gotland and Gautland get their names from names for Odin. Similarly Sweden, which comes from the name Svidur, is yet another name for Odin. At that time the whole of the mainland in his possession was called Reidgotaland and the offshore islands were called Eygotaland. These are now called Denmark and Sweden. Young men who have not yet taken possession of a farm are called
drengir
while they build up their resources and reputations. If they travel from country to country, they are called
fardrengir
[travelling lads]. If they serve kings they are called the king's
drengir
, and the same designation is used for men who serve magnates and property holders and for men who are ambitious and manly.
*
In describing different places in the cosmos, the
Edda
often employs the imprecise word
heimr
, meaning âhome', âworld' or âland', and we must guess at the locations of many of the described areas. In addition to the realms of gods, men and giants, the
Edda
, speaks of geographically disparate regions such as Ginnungagap in the north, an empty place filled with ice, and Muspell, a burning place of intense heat to the south. So also there are several heavens; one is called Andlang and another, âfurther up', is where light elves live.
Many elements in Norse cosmology, however, as described in the
Edda
, fit into a coherent picture derived from the main stories. One is the World Tree, whose trunk remains consistently at the centre of the Norse universe. Another is the heavenly vault which the gods made from the skull of the giant Ymir, and which gives a shape to the upper part of the universe. Four dwarves, one under each of the compass points, hold up this vault. At the skull's upper reaches shine the heavenly bodies, and some of them â the ones that appear to the naked eye to remain steady â were thought to be furthest up in the heavens, while the heavenly bodies that were visibly moving were thought to be lower in the sky. The sun and the moon were clearly the most important of these moving bodies, and chariots pulled them daily across the sky, just ahead of pursuing hungry wolves. In the sky there is also a giant who, in the guise of an eagle, beats its wings and blows winds across the world.
Rising up into the heavens, the World Tree is a living entity,
whose branches spread majestically over all lands. This
axis mundi
or cosmic pillar at the centre of the world is described as a giant ash, binding together the disparate places of the universe, and it serves as a symbol for a dynamic cosmos.
The concept of a World Tree exists in many mythologies. In the case of the Scandinavian World Tree, the idea may reach back thousands of years and may have an Indo-European origin. Although people in Old Scandinavia probably interpreted the tree in different ways, the name Yggdrasil, a compound word with several layers of meaning, perhaps gives us a clue as to how the tree was understood in symbolic terms. One possible interpretation is that the first part of the name,
Ygg
, meaning the âterrible one' and one of Odin's many names, is connected to the aspect of Odin's persona as god of the hanged.
Drasill
is an ancient term for âhorse'. Hence Yggdrasil (
Yggdrasill
) means Ygg's (or Odin's) horse and is a metaphor for a gallows tree. This view assumes that the ancient Scandinavians saw a similarity between how people ride horses and how a hanged person bobs as he ârides' the gallows. The gallows tree was an emotionally significant site for the passage between life and death, and is a fitting symbol for the World Tree as the causeway connecting the heavens and the underworld.
Three roots, spread far apart, support the ash tree. Each root extends into a different world, and each is nourished by a well. Through these wells, the tree draws its life force from the waters of three worlds: those of the gods, the giants and the dead. The root that reaches the highest goes to Asgard, where the Ãsir live in different halls. Asgard is located close enough to the branches of the tree for the goat that stands on the roof of Valhalla to eat its leaves. Under the root leading to Asgard is the Well of Urd, near which the Ãsir daily hold court and make their decisions. Beside the well live three norns â Urd (Fate), Verdandi (Becoming) and Skuld (Obligation) â who are similar to the weirds or prophetic women of Old English tradition and the witches found in
Macbeth
.
Asgard is connected to the world below, called Midgard (Middle Enclosure or Middle Earth), by the rainbow bridge, Bifrost. This middle world is conceived as a landmass inhabited
by humans, who live towards the centre, and giants, who live at the periphery in the region called Utgard. Midgard does not have a root or a well, but under the root that leads to the frost giants in Utgard is the Well of Mimir. A mysterious figure, Mimir owns the well in which wisdom and intelligence are hidden. Odin went to Mimir's Well and asked for one drink, but his request was denied until he pledged one of his eyes, plucking it out and placing it in the well. Because of this, Odin became known as the one-eyed god. The poem
The Sibyl's Prophecy
tells that each day Mimir drinks âmead', a beverage of inspiration from the well containing Odin's pledged eye.
Midgard's geographical relationship to Utgard and its threatening giants is somewhat unclear, in part because the
Edda
refers to Midgard both as the earth itself and as a central fortress. The lack of clarity is heightened because the
Edda
also gives several descriptions of the placement of the sea, and it is not clear whether the ocean surrounds Midgard and Utgard together or lies between these two regions. One passage suggests that the âearth's girdle', as the sea was called, lies at Utgard's outer edge. Another concept of the placement of the sea, which may not be fully contradictory, is gleaned from the story about Thor's route on his way to visit the giant Utgarda-Loki. This story leaves Midgard in the centre. Since Thor, however, has to cross water after leaving Midgard and before arriving in Utgard, it implies that the sea, or at least an inlet, lies between Midgard and Utgard. Perhaps the discrepancy is mostly a question of emphasis, because a passage describing the Midgard Serpent tells that the outer sea surrounds all the land, and the huge serpent lies in this outer sea, biting its tail.
Yggdrasil's third root goes to the underworld, a region guarded by the great hound Garm, and into the dark world called Niflheim and Niflhel. The
Edda
tells us that the well of the underworld, Hvergelmir, is a seething cauldron of waters that unleash a torrent of underworld rivers. The eddic poem
The Lay of Grimnir
(
GrÃmnismál
, Grimnir being Odin) also speaks of Hvergelmir, saying that all the rivers of the world spring from this well. In the underworld is the huge serpent Nidhogg, lying among smaller, gnawing snakes too numerous
to count. Nidhogg is not isolated in its dark home, because a squirrel named Ratatosk runs up and down the trunk of the tree, carrying insults between the serpent and a great eagle, who sits high up in the airy branches of the tree with a hawk between its eyes.
The lower region also contains Hel, the realm of those who die a natural death, in contrast to the warriors who enter Valhalla. Hel is also the name of the goddess overseeing the World of the Dead, and her unlucky charges enter the underworld by passing through the Gates of Hel and then crossing the Gjoll Bridge. Old Scandinavian Hel was a pre-Christian concept and was understood to be a shadowy region much like the Greek Hades. As the realm of those who die undistinguished deaths, Hel is very different from the boisterous Valhalla.
Despite the tree's inherent strength and the sustenance received from the wells, it faces constant peril from several directions: Nidhogg gnaws its deepest root, and four stags move through its branches, ripping and devouring its foliage. The trunk is also subject to rot, and the great ash would die were it not for the three norns in Asgard who nurture it. To slow the rot, these norns draw water every day from Urd's Well, mix it with the mud lying beside their spring and then coat this potent salve on to the trunk. In the long run, this attempt at healing will be in vain. The
Edda
implies that the tree is threatened at Ragnarok. The great ash trembles and groans at the coming of the final battle, but it is not clear that it is destroyed.
Heiti
The Viking Age was a time when information was transmitted orally. Traditional stories were usually told in verse, with the rhythms of metre and the patterns of poetic phrasing providing aids to memory and transmission. Norse heroic and mythic poetry was also a word game whose intricate language paralleled the style of Viking Age carvings made on wood, stone and metal objects. Both Scandinavian wordsmiths and artisans shunned realistic depictions, and instead intertwined their representations into complex images. In Old Scandinavia, participation of both skald and audience in the game of creating and unravelling poetic diction (
skáldskaparmál
) was a sign of intellect and learning.