~ 
1825.] 
dant maidens, wight rival Verus and her 
Graces ;—while between Inuna,* in her 
orchard of bliss, tending the apples of 
eternal youth, and the Pomona of classic 
mythology, the advantage is all on the 
side of the former. 
Relative to this Goddess, and another 
of the northern deities, (their God of 
music, poetry and eloquence,) permit 
me, Sir, to present your readers with a 
Scaldic song,t in which, though some 
liberties are taken with antique fable 
(and, perhaps, a tradition feigned), 
nothing, I believe, is introduced, which 
violates the costume of the mythology 
to which it refers. 
The tuneful Scald (so bade the jovial king, 
Fostering the latent passion he approv’d) 
Awakes the voiceful harp, to sing the loves 
Of BRAGA and IDUNA :—“ How forlorn, 
A wandering minstrel, the incipient God 
{Flying the rancour of the power malign— 
Perverse disturber of the Asgardian race! +) 
Came to her orchaid-bower, all redolent 
Of fruits divine,—herself the fairest fruit, § 
In bloom mature, and fresh with morning dew, 
Ripe for the gatherer. She nor views averse 
His wan-worn form, nor harp of silver string 
Disdains, that, plaintive, echoes to the tale 
Of adverse doom, and Lok’s relentless hate ; 
But the instinctive lustre of that eye— 
The spark etherial of his kindred skies, 
* Iduna. She possessed the Apples of 
Youth ; of which, when advancing to old 
age, the deities tasted, and were instantly 
restored to their former youth and vigour. 
+ The Scald was the poet and minstrel of 
the North. His office, and perhaps his 
rank, was not unlike to that of the Bard of 
our Irish antiquaries; but he bore, in the 
days of Seandinavian superstition, no re- 
semblance to the Bards of the Druidical, or 
Celtic hierarchy. He had no connexion 
with the offices of religion ; nor, indeed, had 
the Scandinavian priesthood, like the Cel- 
tic, any political domination. They were 
scarcely a separate, by no means a pre- 
eminent order. 
t Lok, the “ Evil Genius”’ of the Scan- 
dinavians, — ranked, nevertheless, among 
their Gods. The Architect of Guilt, &c ; 
beautiful in figure; but surpassing all beings 
in perfidy and craft. He had many chil- 
dren. 
§ The Saxon Scald seems to have paro- 
died, by anticipation, in this instance, a he- 
mistick of our Milton’s. See P. L., b. 
iy., y. 269.—‘ Herself a fairer flower.’— 
Epir. 
Montury Mas. No, 409. 
Northern Mythology. 
313 
Misfortune could not quench—with half-met glance 
Bashful admires; and maiden welcome gives, 
And cates and. mead: nor her own vintage spares, 
That, press’d between her glowing fingers, foams 
And sparkles in the cup,—nor asks, so pour’d, 
The mellowing zest of time. Nor touch’d alone 
With maiden pity, her protective care 
Relieves the wanderer’s woe; but inly owns 
A thrill more soft: and as his changeful song, 
In grateful rapture of her charms, dilates, 
Her conscious bosom to the note responds, 
And swells and falls, as ’twere another harp, 
Attun’d to sentient unisons, that spoke, 
Instinctive, to the accordant string,—till, quench'd 
In mutual murmurs, melts the enamour’d lay. 
**™In deep recess of nuptial sanctity— 
O’er which benignant Fréa spreads her veil, 
Of whisper’d sighs and roseate blushes, wove 
In Norver’s shadowy dome,||—the maid he press'd ; 
Then pluck’d the apples of immortal youth, 
And ate to full beatitude: while heaven 
Hail’d its new guest; and whom stern Lok had doom’d 
A joyless exile, willing Beauty rais’d 
Among the blest Asori, to control 
The Asamiel | hymn, and chorus of the stars.” 
Ir this specimen of the Songs of the 
Scald should prove acceptable to your 
readers, I may hereafter, perhaps, occa- 
sionally furnish you with some others, 
of a different cast and character. In 
the mean time, whether subjects from 
the same source are, or are not, here- 
after to animate the canvas and the 
marble of the artist, it may be premature 
to decide. But perhaps it may not be 
unreasonable to admit, that the poet 
must popularize these neglected legends, 
before they will be quite efficient in the 
hands of the painter and the statuary. 
They are, however, recommended to 
the attention of all those who are dis- 
posed to expatiate in the unexhausted 
tracks of imaginative genius, by, Sir, 
(for brevity of signature,) your’s, &c. 
An Op Saxon. 
2d April 1825. 
|| Norver—‘‘ the Father of Night;” as 
Dager, of the Day. 
+ Asamiéel—the language of poetry. As 
the word Runic, strictly speaking, is appli- 
cable only to the character in which the 
verses of the Northern. Poets, or Scalds, 
were written ; so is Asamiiel descriptive of 
the’ particular dialect in which their poetry 
_was always composed. 
258 
