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NORTHERN MYTHOLOGY. 



I over to Sweden, where Gylf, who did homage 

 to the wonderful stranger and his gods, then ruled. 

 He soon made himself absolute master there, built 

 Sigtuna as the capital of his great empire, and estab- 

 lished a new code of laws and a new religion. He 

 himself assumed the name Odin, established the 

 priesthood of the twelve Drottars, who conducted 

 the secret worship, and the administration of justice, 

 and, as prophets, unveiled the future. He is also 

 the god of song and war. (Gibbon and Miinter con- 

 sider Odin a Shaman, and his doctrine Lamaism.) He 

 was the inventor of the Runic alphabet, and made 

 himself dreaded as an enchanter. But the Aser, 

 that is, these new gods of the scalds, are as follows : 

 Odin, the god of gods, the first and oldest of all, who 

 lives for ever : he sits upon the elevated throne 

 Lidskjalf, whence he observes every thing in the 

 universe, alone, contemplating his own being. By 

 his side stands the spear, Gungner. He has twelve 

 chief names, and 114 others, in the ancient Asgard. 

 His swift steed is called Sleipner. From him and his 

 wife Frigga are descended the gods, on which account 

 he is called Alfadur (Father of All), or, according to 

 some, more correctly, Walfader (Father of All who 

 fall in battle a title which belongs to him as the 

 ruler of Valhalla). Frigga, wife of the king of gods, 

 shares with him the wonderful throne, from which all 

 countries are seen. She knows the fate of all mor- 

 tals, but keeps it secret. Their sons are Thor, god 

 of thunder a symbol of physical strength, the 

 strongest of gods and mortals, whose mighty step 

 sounds like the storm, whose hammer, Miolner (the 

 Crusher), crushes the hardest objects and Balder, 

 the youthful and beautful god of eloquence and just 

 decision, the innocent who appears brilliant as the 

 lily, and in honour of whom the whitest flower 

 received the name Baldrian. His wife, Nanna, 

 daughter of Gewar, looks with modest admiration on 

 the mind of her husband. She bears Forfete, the 

 god of concord, who resembles the rainbow, when it 

 descends from the dark cloud. He puts an end to 

 all strife. His palace, Glitner, rests on pillars of 

 gold. Niord, who shakes his vans in the roaring 

 storm, so that every thing trembles, is the god of 

 winds, of sailors, of commerce, and of riches. By 

 his wife, Scada, a daughter of the mountain-giant 

 Thiasse, he had the beautiful, beneficent, and mighty 

 Frei and Freia. Frei, who floats in the shining gar- 

 ments of spring, is the ruler of the sun, and upon 

 him depend rain and sunshine, plenty, or dearth. 

 He rules in Alfheim, where the elfs dwell. Instead 

 of a horse, he rides a boar with golden bristles. 

 Gerda, Gymer's daughter, is his wife. Freia, Fraa, 

 is the goddess of love. Her eye is an eternal spring ; 

 her neck and cheek light. The mildest and most 

 bountiful of the gods, she is a friend of sweet song, 

 and loves to hear the prayers of mortals. She mourns 

 her lost husband, Odur, to whom she had born two 

 daughters, Nossa, the model of all beauty and grace, 

 and Gersemi. Tyr, a son of Odin, the fearless god, 

 who wounds by a look, is lofty as a fir, and brandishes 

 the lightnings of battle. All brave warriors are 

 under his protection, though he is not properly the 

 god of war, but rather of power and valour, and no 

 friend of peaceful agreement. Of a different char- 

 acter is his brother Braga, the god of wisdom and 

 poetry, which, from him, is called Bragur. He ap- 

 pears with a golden telyn, and strikes the cords, which 

 emit a sweet sound. His wife is Iduna, who pre- 

 serves the apples of immortality, which she offers in 

 vessels of gold to the heroes at their entrance into 

 Valhalla those apples which alone preserve the 

 eternal youth of the gods. Other sons of Odin are 

 Hermode, the messenger of the gods, armed with a 

 helmet and mail ; Vidar, strong as Thor, the god of 



god 



of Thor the Thunderer, is of a beautiful figure, mas- 

 ter of archery and skating, who was invoked by those 

 who engaged in single combat. A silver circle sur- 

 rounds the down of his chin. His empire is Ydalir 

 (that is, Rain-valleys). 



The following gods are of a most mysterious cha- 

 racter : Hoder, the blind god, murderer of Balder, 

 whose violent deed the gods never forget, but whose 

 name they must never hear pronounced ; Heimdal 

 (Himindal), a son of nine gigantic sisters, born on the 

 margin of the earth, a great mysterious god guards 

 the Bifrost, the bridge to heaven (rainbow), against 

 the giants. He sees as plainly by night as by day ; 

 his ear hears the grass grow in the field, and the wool 

 on the lambs. He is represented with a pensive 

 brow, his eye fixed upon his calm breast. 



Among the goddesses, we must mention Laga, the 

 first next to Frigga ; Syra, the physician of the gods ; 

 Gesione, goddess of chastity, who, herself a virgin, 

 protects all chaste virgins, and, if they die unmarried, 

 takes them to her heavenly dwellings ; Jylla, a vir- 

 gin like Gesione, with beautiful locks, and a diadem 

 of gold, is intrusted with the secrets of Frigga, whose 

 messenger, Gna, floats about with the rays of the sun; 

 Hlyn (Lyna) the Gentle, who kisses away the tear 

 from the eye of the unfortunate, the goddess of 

 friendship and good faith, who is united with several 

 servants of the goddess of love ; Siona, who awakens 

 the first sweet feelings in the breasts of youths and 

 maids, and disposes them to mutual love ; Lobna 

 (Loffna), endowed with the power to reconcile divided 

 lovers ; Wara, the goddess of marriage, who hears 

 the secret vows and oaths of lovers, punishes the 

 faithless, and unites the true ; Snotra, the goddess of 

 modesty, is the protectress of virtuous youths and 

 maids ; Wora, the all-knowing, penetrates every se- 

 cret of the heart ; Synia, the guard of heaven, is the 

 goddess of justice and law, and exposes perjury. 



A large ash (or an ash forest), called Ygdrasil, the 

 tree of the world, stands over the well of time : its 

 branches extend over the world, its top reaches above 

 the heaven. It has three roots, one among the gods, 

 another among the giants, and a third under Hela. 

 Near the middle root is the fountain of wisdom, the 

 fountain of Mimers. Near the heavenly root is the 

 sacred fountain by which the gods hold their council, 

 and make known their decisions. From these foun- 

 tains rise three beautiful maids, the Nornas, whose 

 names are Urd (the Past), Varande (the Present), and 

 Skuld (the Future). They determine the fate of 

 mortals, and aid or punish them by their ministers. 

 On the top of the ash sits an eagle, looking far 

 around ; a squirrel (Rotatoskr) runs up and down the 

 tree ; four stags (Dain, Dynair, Dnalin, and Dyrathor) 

 roam through its branches, and eat the bark ; a ser- 

 pent gnaws its root below ; the trunk of the tree 

 rots ; but the holy maids water it from the sacred 

 fountain, that it may not wither. From the leaves 

 of the ash falls a sweet dew, the food of bees. Over 

 the fountain sing two swans. Here are heard Heim- 

 dal's song of the fate of the tree of the world ; the 

 voices of the past, the present, and the future, in the 

 council of the gods. The gods themselves seek to 

 learn the wisdom of the Nornas, the stern goddesses 

 who rule over all. On this account, they were much 

 honoured; temples were built in their honour, in 

 which their oracles were consulted. 



The Valkyrias, or Disas, are awful and beautiful 

 beings, neither daughters of heaven nor of hell ; 

 neither begot by gods, nor cradled in the lap of im- 

 mortal mothers. Nothing is said of their origin. 

 Their name signifies the " choosers of the slain" (from 

 wal, a heap of killed, and kyria, to choose). They 

 appear awful and horrid in the songs of the scalds ; 



