The Religion of the Northmen
31. In the third Song of Guđrún (Guđrúnarharmr---Guđrún's Sorrows). She opens her griefs to King Theodoric (Ţjóđrek), who sympathises with her. Then she is accused, by Atli's maid, of illicit intercourse with Theodoric, but clears herself by an ordeal.
32. Oddrúnar-grátr---Oddrún's Complaint. Odrún, Atli's sister, relates her history, and especially her unhappy love to Gumar and his tragical death.
33. Gunnars-slagr---Gunnar's Harp-stroke, comes here in order. Gunnar, cast into the den of serpents by Atli's command, is supposed to attune his harp and with it soothe all the vipers to sleep except one---Atli's mother. In this song Atli is accused of unjust enmity and cruelty, and his impending evil fate is foretold.
34. Atla-kviđa, and 35. Atla-mál, the Songs of Atli, are two of the most important poems of the history, especially for the death of the Niflúngar. They relate the murder of Gunnar and Högni by Atli, and Guđrún's terrible vengeance, which form the second chief catastrophe of the great mythic tragedy. Guđrún's history is continued through two more poems, which conclude the series. They are:----
36. Hamdis-mál---the Lay of Hamdir, in which Guđrún incites her sons Hamdir and Sörli to take revenge on King Jormunrek (Ermanaricus), who had killed her daughter Svanhild, and they finding him at a festival, take terrible vengeance upon him and his followers; and,
37. Guđrúnar-hvaut, Guđrun's Summons, containing her call for vengeance upon the cruel murderer of Svanhild, and her lamentation over her own sorrowful fate.
The main features of this mythic history are the same as the Nibelungen Lied, but the Scandinavian Epos is of a much earlier date than the German, the personages are more mythological, and the style is less pretending, while in grandeur and simplicity it far surpasses the Nibelungen.
38. The Völundar-kviđa is an independent Epic, narrating the tragic adventures of that skillful smith Völund, who figures in so many legends of the Middle Ages. As an appendage to the Epic poems may be reckoned:----
39. Grou-galldr--Groa's Incantation, a conversation between the Spirit of Groa and her son, who has invoked her, in which she communcates magic blessings to attend him on his way.
40. Grótta-saungr---Grótti's Song sung by two Jötun-virgins, Fenja and Menja, whom King Fruđi, the Peaceful, had bought of Fjölnir in Sweden, and placed in the magic mill Grótti, to turn the millstones. Fortune, Peace, and Gold, they first grind out for him, but afterward, when the covetous man will not allow them sleep nor rest, the mill brings forth curses, swords, and a hostile army, until it bursts at last, and the virgins obtain rest for themselves.
We have above, a faint outline of the series of songs and poems forming that venerable relique of antiquity, which the Icelanders themselves called by the name of "Grandmother," and which was to the Old-Scandinavians what the Bible was to the Hebrews, what Homer and Hesiod together were to the Greeks. It is, moreover, the only complete collection of Icelandic poetry remaining, ---the only one which (except two fragments, some introductory pieces and interpolated explanations) consists entirely of poetry. Whatever else has come down to us is only fragmentary and inserted in the prose writings, often as extracts from older poems, now no longer known, except from these fragments.
The Later Edda is the most important relic of Icelandic prose with regard to Mythology, although it is by no means the oldest monument of the prose literature of the North. The reputed author or compiler was Snorri Sturlason, and it is supposed to date from the early part of the thirteenth century. There are three manuscript copies of it extant. One in the University Library of Copenhagen, which Arngrim Jónsson found in 1628, and forwarded to Wormius. This copy is the fullest, and is probably from the fifteenth century. The second is in the Royal Library, and was obtained of Brynjúlf Sveinsson in 1640. It is older than the other, evidently from the fourteenth century. The third is in the University Library of Upsala, and was brought from Iceland to Sweden by J. Rugman, about the middle of the seventeenth century. It also appears to be older than the first-named manuscript.
The contents of this Edda are embraced under three principal divisions, viz:---
1. Gylfa-ginning---the Delusion of Gylfi, which consists of fifty-four stories, or chapters, containing a synopsis of the whole Scandinavian Mythology. It is clothed in the form of a dialogue between the mythic King Gylfi of Sweden and the Ćsir Hár, Jafnhár and Thridji (the High, the Equally High, and the Third). It is mainly derived from the poetic Edda, being in reality little else than a paraphrase of the principal mythic poems of the Edda and some other lays, joined together and modified by the explanations and obscurations of the Editor.
2. Braga-rćđr---Bragi's Speech, a conversation between the god of Poetry and the Sea-god Ćgir, in which the former relates many things about the deeds and destinies of the gods, as, the Rape of Iduna, the Origin of Poetry, &c., &c.
3. Kenníngar---a collection of poetic denomination and paraphrases. It begins with Odin and the poetic Art, then follow paraphrases of the Ćsir and Asynjur, of the World, the Earth, the Sea, the Sun, the Wind, Fire, Summer, Man, Woman, Gold, &c., finally of War, of Arms, of a Ship, of Christ, the Emperor, Kings, Rulers, &c. The whole is arranged in questions and answers, and many prose passages, such as Thor's Combat with Geirröđ, Ottar's expiration for murder, Sigurd's history, &c., as well as passages of poems, and even whole poems, such as Thors-drapa, Bjarkamál, &c.
A supplement to the Kenníngar, by the name of Heiti, is found in some of the copies, which consists of denominations in Scaldic language, without paraphrases. It contains terms for the Scaldic Art, the gods, the heavenly bodies, the earth, various natural objects, the changes of seasons, &c., all illustrated by examples from the lays of the Skalds.
The Skalda, i.e., Poetics, is usually included among the Eddaic writings, as it was found in the collection with them. It is a treatise on Prosody, Rhetoric, &c., written by Snorri's nephew, Olaf Thordsson, one of the latest of the Skalds, and contains a number of epithets and metaphors used by the Skalds, illustrated by specimens of their poetry, as well as by a poem by Snorri, written in a hundred different metres. The whole collection is also called Háttatal or Háttalykil---Enumeration of Metres or Clavis Metrica.
Besides these, there is a Preface (formáli), which begins with the Creation of the World, and ends with the emigration of the Trojans from Asia into the North, and a Conclusion (eptirmáli) after the mythological part. They were probably written by Snorri himself, and are an absurd mixture of Hebrew, Greek, Roman, and Scandinavian myths and legends, thrown together in a confused mass. They appear to be the attempt of a learned Christian to give a philosophical and historical foundation to the Ćsir doctrines, and to bring them into conformity with the Judaic and heathen traditions.
The "Kenníngar" is the most important part of the prose Edda, as it gives an insight into the nature of the poetic spirit and the mythic conceptions of the Old-Scandinavians, and by its illustrations and paraphrases it opens the way to an understanding of the Sagas.
We will not turn to the Sagas of Iceland, and take a hasty glance at the character and contents of the most prominent among them. We say "of Iceland," for, although many of them record events wholly out of Iceland, and they are written in the language common to the Norsemen before the discovery of Iceland, which is therefore properly called the "Old Norse," still they were written by Icelanders and preserved on the island, therefore the literature which they embody is properly Icelandic. Saga, in its original meaning, was a Saying, a Spoken narration, and when these "sayings" came to be written down, they still retained the name which had become established, and Saga came to signify a written history, a book of traditions or sayings.
The Old-Icelanders did not distinguish very critically between mythic and historic narrative. In the fresh life of a primitive heathen people, in whom the imagination is active, and the Actual and the Imaginary are not very clearly separated, fiction becomes real, and reality becomes poetical. The ideal world of Gods and Heroes was not believed in as existing merely in the poet's fancy, but as an outward, physical reality, like the human world around them. Therefore every narration was called a Saga whether mythical, poetical, or purely historical, so that the Sagas embrace every prose narration, every general, local, or family history, every biography of a Skald, a chieftain or a priest, as well as the mythic histories of the Völsúngar, the Ynglingar, &c.---in short, the whole historical literature of Old-Iceland is, in the broad sense of the term, only one continuous, unending Saga.
The Sagas may be divided into the Poetic or Fictitious, and the Historical---the former embracing the Mythic and the Romantic, the latter including all general, local and family Histories, and Biographies.
Of the Mythic class we have---1. The Völsúngasaga; 2. The Nornagests-saga, and 3. The Vilkinasaga, which contain the same story of the Völsúngar and Niflúngar. The two former are mostly drawn from the Eddaic Lays, although the first refers to other poems, now lost, and the second is much disguised by arbitrary fiction. The Vilkina-saga is the history of Diedrich of Bern, a collection of Sagas in accordance with the German Heldenbuch, and Nibelungen Lied. It has not the stamp of antiquity which the others possess, being evidently written about the fourteenth century, and though not a translation from the German, is wholly written down from the German stories. 4. Fundinn Noregr---the Found Norway---is a curious attempt at a genealogical history of Ancient Norway, drawn from mythological names and genealogies. For a long time it was regarded as a reliable source of history, and is the basis of many earlier historical works on the North.
The following heroic Sagas belong also to the Mythic class, for, although the heroes are remotely historical, yet amid the drapery of the Sagas they step forth as mythic beings:---1. Hálfs-saga, which relates the history of King Alfrek, of Hörđaland, and the hero Hálf and his warriors. It abounds in quotations from old poems, and dates from about the thirteenth century. 2. Sagan af Hrólfi Konúngi Kraka ok Köppum hans. The history of King Hrólf Kraka and his Champions. Hrólf Kraka is the chief personage of the mythic race of Skjöldúngar, with whose name is connected the history of the most celebrated Old-Danish Heroes, so that we have rather a complete Book of Heroes than a single Saga. It is thus divided into sections comprising the histories of King Fróđi, of Hroar and Helgi, of Svipdagr and his brothers, of Bodvar Bjarki and his brothers, of Hjalti the Meek, of Adils the Upsala-King and the Expedition of Hrólf and his Champions into Sweden, of the End of King Hrólf and his Champions.
These may have been independent Sagas originally, which were afterward collected from old traditions by the Saga writer. In their present form they are not older than the fourteenth century, but the subjects are far more ancient, as is seen by the Bjarka-mál, a poem in it which was known, in the early part of the eleventh century, as a very ancient song. 3. Saga af Ragnari Konúngi Lóđbrók ok Sonum hans---The history of King Ragnar Lóđbrók and his sons. Ragnar Lóđbrók approaches Hrólf Kraka in mythic glory, but is more historical, as he was the hero of the sea-roving life of the Northmen, especially in the plundering expeditions by which England was laid waste after the close of the eighth century. As these expeditions first brought the North out of its mythic clair-obscurity into historical light, Ragnar is the personage who represents the transition of the proper Saga into History. While he appears as a mythic Hero in the Icelandic songs and narrations, he is a purely historical character in the Chronicles of the Old Annalists of England, France, and Germany. There is no certain proof of the existence of the more ancient Ynglíngar, Skjöldúngar, &c., but we may affirm that Ragnar Lóđbrók lived about the close of the eighth and beginning of the ninth century. All the rapacity and wild adventure which characterized the early piratical expeditions to England, became connected with his name, and he thus gradually became a legendary being---a personification of the Víking-life. It is that spirit, in its wild and dreadful reality, that appears in this Saga. It was written down in the fourteenth century, and contains many poems of older date, among them the celebrated "Death Song of Ragnar Lóđbrók" (Lóđbrókarkviđa), which belongs to the Golden Age of Skaldic literature, i.e., about the tenth century. A short sketch of Ragnar's Sons (Ţáttr af Ragnars Sonum), and another fragment on the Upland Kings (af Upplendínga Konúngum), are connected with this Saga. 4. Sögubrot---A Historical Fragment of some of the Old Kings of Denmark and Sweden, which is regarded by some as a fragment of the lost Skjöldúnga Saga.
There are other Sagas which might be called mythic, as the material of some of them is taken from heathen traditions, and others are founded upon ancient songs, but they are so fantastically adorned, and the genuine legend is so transformed and variegated by the fictions of the writer, that they are more properly Romantic than Mythic. In the best Sagas of this class the violation of the original material was not caused by the caprice of the individual, so much as by the change which had been wrought upon the general mind through the influence of Christianity and the Romanticism of the Middle Ages. The views and feelings of the mass became gradually estranged from heathenism, and in the fourteenth century (in which the most of them were written), the Gods, Heroes, Elves, Valas, &c., were looked upon by the people only as Kings, Knights, Sorcerers, Witches, &c.
All the Sagas of this class border on the fabulous; some are pure fable, others are chivalric Romances. Some are not to be slighted for richness of invention, skillful development and graceful representation, while others are flat stories of goblins and witches. They have little mythological importance, except that here and there a pure grain of Mythos may be picked out from a great mass of rubbish.
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