Chapter XII
Immediately following the Creation of the World the Asa doctrine establishes a time of peace among Gods and Men. But it vanished from Heaven when the Æsir allowed the Jötuns to creep into their midst, and even formed connections with them in order to satisfy their desires, or to employ their powers to their own advantage; thus they impaired their Godlike power, and gave their enemies the courage to begin the great battle which was to endure till the destruction of the World. From the Earth, also, the time of guiltless peace disappeared when men became acquainted with the Jötun-power of gold, and set their minds and their dependence upon it. Then the Gods were offended, Odin cast his spear over the people, and strife began upon the Earth. Such appears to be the meaning of the somewhat obscure expressions of the Völuspá on this subject. Thus excessive cupidity and lust were regarded as the cause of the degeneration of the Godlike powers and of the mutual dissensions among men. (1)
The Asa doctrine represents Loki as the author of Evil among both Gods and men. This being has evidently a physical and a moral significance, namely: Fire, and Sin or Sinful desire. The name Loki (the Enticer, Dan. Lokker; cognate with lokka, Dan. lokke, to allure, entice) refers to the latter meaning, though its affinity to logi, flame, is unmistakable. To the former meaning his other names Lódurr and Loptr refer, the one designating him in the character of the blazing and heating earthly fire, the other in that of the unsteady air. (2) Nothing was more natural than to conceive of the being who ruled over the sometimes enlivening and sometimes devouring Fire, as a mingled character, hovering between good and evil powers---between the Æsir and the Jötuns; and in this character is again expressed his significance in a moral point of view. He steps forth in the ancient mythologic legends as the wheedling seducer whose beautiful and animated exterior conceals a malignant soul, and whose smooth tongue is full of lies and slander.
There is, moreover, a distinction made in the Later Edda between two beings of this name, viz.: Loki and Utgarða-Loki---the Loki of the Outer-ward or Jötunheim. The latter is represented as a genuine Jötun, hideous in his whole being. It would appear that in him was meant to be presented physical and moral Evil in all its naked loathsomeness, while in Loki, as he makes his appearance among the Æsir, it was intended to represent the same in the seductive and seemingly beautiful form under which it gludes about through the world of mankind.
With the Jötun-woman Angrboði---(the Anguish-boding), (3) Loki begets the three most bitter enemies of the Æsir, Miðgarðsorm, Fenrisúlf, and Hel. (4) The two former express the disturbing powers in the Sea and the interior of the Earth, which, though bound for a time by the power of the Æsir, will one day burst their chains and work together for the destruction of the world. Hel (Death) is the disturbing power in man's being, which, without satiety, calls his bodily part to her abode, a cold, dark world of shades, full of want and loathsomeness.
Baldur's death is represented in the Asa Mythology as an important event in the existence of the Gods and the World. So long as Baldur was in the midst of the Æsir their dominion stood unmoved, but by his death they were made conscious of their declining power; in it they saw a type of their own destiny. The whole world was filled with grief; for it felt that from that time forth it was going down toward inevitable dissolution.
The Myth of Baldur's Death has been usually explained by the triumph of Winter's darkness over the bright Summer-time. Baldur the Good is thus the God of Summer, the blind Höður becomes wintry Darkness, and Vali (the son of Odin by Rind---the unfruitful Winter-earth) is Spring, who, in turn, slays Winter. Loki (fire) is the only being who loses nothing by the disappearance of summer; he is therefore thought to be the cause of Baldur's death, and to prevent his release from Hel.
There is a great deal, however, against this interpretation, and most of all, is the circumstance that Baldur remains with Hel until the dissolution of the World, while Summer annually returns. It may be, indeed, that Baldur had originally a physical signification, but the Myths concerning him, as well as those relating to Loki, were very early regarded from a moral point of view, and it is thus that they are represented in the Eddas.
The whole representation of Baldur's existence, and of his far-shining abode, Breiðablik, (5) where nothing impure is found, has reference to the Deity of Innocence. The name Balldr signifeies the Strong, (6) and denotes spiritual Power combined with spotless Innocence. The blind Höður, in this connection, denotes physical strength, with its blind earthly endeavors. The latter, led on by Sin (Loki), unwittingly slays Innocence, and with Innocence dies the desire of good and the active participation in it---Nanna (7) dies of a broken heart and is burned on the funeral pile of her husband Baldur. The murder is avenged by the hastily-aroused reflection---Höður is slain by Vali. But Innocence has vanished from the world to return no more, although all Nature mourns its loss. Only in the regenerated World shall it again prevail.
The Æsir succeeded in appeasing their thirst for vengeance upon Loki, and even got him imprisoned in the Abyss, as they had before imprisoned his progeny; but the seeds of destruction and death had already been sown broadcast in the world, and they grew up vigorously. Thenceforth the Æsir foresaw the impending dissolution of the world and of themselves, against which they might, indeed, contend, but were not able to avert.
Endnotes
1. The O. Edda: Völuspá, 25-28. [Back]
2. The name, it is true, comes most directly from lóka or lúka, to lock, to close, to conclude (Dan. lukke; M.-Goth. lukan; AS. lucan), and it is remarkable that we find an Evil Spirit mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon poems by the name of Grendel, which is the same word as grindel, a bolt, bar, or grating. Logi, flame, is cogn. with the M.-Goth. liuhan, to shine, and liuhath; AS. leoht; Germ. Licht; Engl. light; also Dan. Lue; Germ. Lohe; smothered flame. Lóðurr is from the older lóð fire (Germ. lodern, to blaze). Loptr, the Aerial, from lopt; M.-Goth: luftus; Germ. and Dan. Luft; AS. lyft, the air; whence the Engl. loft, lofty, aloft. [Back]
3. Angr; AS. Angé; vexation, grief, anguish; býð, bjóða; AS. beodan; to invite, offer, command. [Back]
4. Ormr, a serpent (AS. wyrm, wurm, worm). Fenrir or Fenris-ulfr, from fen, a morass, gulf; ulfr, AS. wulf, a wolf, hence, the Monster of the Abyss. Hel, Death, the Goddess of Death. Some suppose the primary signification of the word to have been intense cold, cogn. with the Lat. gelu. Grimm derives it from hilan, to conceal, in the sense of a subterranean cavity (AS. hol, a cavern, Engl. hole, being probably cognate). At any rate, all the Germanic nations when converted to Christianity applied this name to the place where the souls of the wicked were supposed to be punished; thus, Mæso-Gothic halja; Old Germ. hellia, hella; Germ. Hölle; AS. helle; Engl. hell; Norse, helviti (prop. the punishment of death); Swed. helvete; Dan. Helvede; &c. [Back]
5. From breiðr, broad, wide; and blika (AS. blican), to shine. [Back]
6. Balldr, ballr, baldinn, brave, strong, bold; Mæso-Goth. balþs, bold; AS. Bealdor, Baldor (the bolder), a hero, a prince, from beald, báld, bóld; bold, courageous, honorable, are terms cognate to the name of the God. Grimm believes this a later meaning, and that the name may be traced to the Lithuanian baltas, which signifies both white and good. [Back]
7. From nenna, to be inclined to, to like. [Back]
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