Poetic Edda - Cottle Trans.
He married a wife whose name was Gudruna, the daughter of Kolbein, by whom he had many children, who were esteemed among the most illustrious of the island. Sæmund himself was one of the governors, and shewed himself well qualified for that high office, in the dispute that took place between Thorgil the son of Odd, and Halfid the son of Mar. These were men of great power, and had engaged on their separate sides, almost all the nobility of the island; but by the good offices of Sæmund and others, they became speedily reconciled. To Sæmund it was, on account of his great knowledge in antiquity, that Arras, as well as others, submitted the histories they had written on their country for revision.
Sæmund, not content to inspect the works of others, began, after the example of Arras, to rescue the antiquities of his country from oblivion. He was then about 70 years of age. It is certain that he wrote the history of Norway, from Harald Harfagre, or the Fair-haired, to Magnus the good. A few remains of this history are seen in the writing of an anonymous person, who from documents thence derived, has written in Icelandic verses of little note, an account of a series of Kings, and the ancient history of Norway.
According to some, he died at the age of eighty, in the year 1133; and according to others, 1135. But the accounts that are left of him are so blended with the fabulous, that it is very difficult at this distance of time to speak with certainty either about himself or his writings.
Concerning the Edda, which is ascribed to Sæmund, it is necessary to observe, that for several ages it remained undiscovered; but was at last found by one Bryniolfus Suenonius in the year 1639. It was then written on parchment, in a very obscure character; but by the labors of the learned discoverer, its meaning was fully ascertained, and an exact transcript of it taken. He it was who first called it the Edda of Sæmund. Thormadus Torfæus obtained the manuscript of Bryniolfus. He was Historiographer to the King of Norway, and a great Antiquarian. For a long time it was preserved in his Museum, and shown only as a curiosity to the learned. Resenius at last obtained the manuscript from Torfæus. Beside this, there were several writings which could challenge as great, if not greater antiquity than the manuscript of Bryniolfus. They were all, however, connected together, and mutually threw light upon each other.
There are two opinions concerning the title given to these Odes. One is of Olaus, who in his notes to the Voluspa, asserts that Sæmund, wishing to rescue from oblivion the Mythology of his ancestors, which in his time was chiefly traditionary, composed those odes in the Icelandic language which bear his name, and having completed them, gave them the name of Edda. Opposite to this is the opinion of Gudmundus; according to whom Sæmund was the first person who introduced the knowledge of the latin into the island, and translated the popular odes he there found, written in the Runic character, into that language; neither does he think that he added to, or altered them in the least. Resenius, in his preface to the Voluspa, seems to have adopted the same opinion. Bryniolfus and Wormius were of the former opinion. But however it is, the great antiquity of these odes must be acknowledged. Runalfus Jonas, in his differtation on the elements of the Northern languages, does not scruple to assert, that the mythology of these odes, and probably a great part of the odes themselves, are as ancient as the times when the Asiatics first came into the North of Europe. The opinions contained in these odes, therefore, he traces up to the Erythrean Sybil, which is known to have existed before the times of the Trojan war.
To the attentive reader of the Northern antiquities, a striking similarity will appear between them and the Grecian. Odin appears to be the Northern Adonis. He was beloved by Frigga, who represents Venus, and is killed at last by a Wolf, as Adonis was by a boar. He may also be compared with Mercury, on account of his eloquence, and authority over the souls of departed heroes, when they arrive at Valhalla. Horace says of Mercury ----
Tu pias lætis animas reponis
Sedibus, virgaque levam coerces
Aurea turbam, superis Deorum
Gratus, et imis.
Lok may be compared to the Apollo of the Grecians. Apollo was believed to be the author of plagues; so we find in the Voluspa, Lok threatening the Gods that he would spread infection through the air. In the twilight of the Gods, also, he is to fight with, and destroy Heimdaller, the God of the Air. Apollo, by the Grecians, is called Loxias, either, it is supposed, on account of the obliquity of the zodiac, in which the sun goes, or the ambiguity of his oracles, or lastly from locoj, infidiæ. This exactly agrees with the character of Lok, who is called the architect of guile, &c. The wolf also was sacred to Apollo, and Fenrir, the most voracious of wolves, was the son of Lok. At the feast of Ager, he seems to have acted the part of Momus. There is an odd coincidence of thought between this ode and the wanton wife of Bath. Thor in many things is similar to Hercules. He fought with the serpent of Midgard --- Hercules with the Hydra: he overcame the Giants --- so did Hercules. The armour of Thor and Hercules bear also some resemblance. The former carried a Mallet, wore a girdle of courage, and defended his hands with gauntlets --- Hercules had his Club, his Lion's skin, and his Cæsti. Thor also bears some analogy to the Grecian Jupiter who overthrew the Giants with his thunder as Thor did with his mallet. Balder, on account of his beauty, was supposed to be the God of the sun. It is said that all nature, together with Frigga and the Gods, grieved for his death --- this seems very analagous to the fables of Adonis and Atys. Tyr answers to Mars, and also to Hercules. One fought with Cerberus, the other with Garmer. Heimdaller presided over the Ether. This was the office that the Grecians assigned to Minerva. There is also a similarity of names between the Northern and Grecian Goddesses --- Frigga sounds like Dea Phrygia, Loduna like Latona. For more reasons than this, Loduna may be supposed to be the Grecian Latona, for they were both supposed to inhabit an Island, undisturbed with storms, fertile in the extreme, and cloathed with verdure twice in the year. Freya bears some resemblance to Venus; she was inconsolable at the loss of her husband, as Venus was at the loss of Adonis; the pig was sacrificed to Venus, and the boar to Freya; Freya and Frigga moreover, bear some resemblance to Juno and Diana, because, like them, they were invoked by pregnant women. The Nornæ of the Northern nations, seem to answer to the Parcæ of the Greeks and Latins, for they were equally esteemed the arbiters of the life of men. The Northern notions concerning Genii who shun the light, magic rites, and the emigration of the soul from the body, may be traced to the Orphic mysteries of Thrace. Odin's head of Mimer may be compared to the head of Orpheus, which was said to utter oracles; and Heidruna, the goat of Odin, to that by which Jupiter was nourished. To these similitudes may be added also, the eyes of the sons of Thiaz, which like those of Argus were converted into stars, that ornamented the tail of the bird of Juno. The whole earth was also bound by Juno, not to reveal the place where Latona brought forth: Frigga, in the same manner, exacted an oath from Nature, not to hurt her favorite Balder. Sigard eat the heart and drank the blood of a serpent, by means of which he was enabled to understand the language of birds; the same circumstance is related also of Democritus, Melampus, and Apollonius Thyaneus. All these circumstances plainly demonstrate the antiquity of the Northern Mythology.
With respect to the morals of these Odes, it may be observed, that the fate of Freyer, like that of Phaeton, arose from the excess of curiosity; for through that he fell in love with a woman who was a mortal, lost his sword, and fell in his conflict with Surtur. Tyr lost his hand as a punishment for his temerity; and learnt by sad experience that, in audaces non sit audacia tuta. We see, in the song of Harbard, the presumptous strength of Thor ridiculed by Odin; and the excellencies of the mind advantageously contrasted with it.
To comprehend fully in all its parts, the meaning of the Northern mythology, requires a second Apollo or dipus. The eagle, therefore, the ash of Yggdrasil, Nidhogger gnawing at its roots, and Ratatosk the squirrel, with many other circumstances, must ever remain enveloped in obscurity.
Verstegan, a learned writer of Northern antiquities in the reign of Charles the First, is of opinion that the Northern and Grecian Mythologies are in no way connected together. But that when the Romans carried their arms into the North of Europe, curiosity led them to trace analogies between the two religions; and the vanquished perhaps flattered their conquerors in assimilating the name and character of thier Deities, as much as possible, to those who were held in esteem among the Romans.
The translator has omitted one ode in this series, on account of its containing nothing of the Northern Mythology. It is filled with little else but the absurd superstitions of the Church of Rome.
BRISTOL, NOV. 1, 1797.
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