Part 3

When the Asas had refused to give satisfaction for the murder of Gullveig, and when Odin, by hurling his spear, had indicated that the treaty of peace between him and the Vans was broken, the latter leave the assembly hall and Asgard. This is evident from the fact that they afterwards return to Asgard and attack the citadel of the Asa clan. The gods are now divided into two hostile camps: on the one side Odin and his allies, among whom are Heimdal (see Nos. 38, 39, 40) and Skadi; on the other Njord, Frigg (Saxo, Hist., 42-44), Frey, Ull (Saxo, Hist., 130, 131), and Freyja and her husband Svipdag, besides all that clan of divinities who were not adopted in Asgard, but belong to the race of Vans and dwell in Vanaheim.

So far as Skadi is concerned the breach between the gods seems to have furnished her an opportunity of getting a divorce from Njord, with whom she did not live on good terms. According to statements found in the myths, Þjazi's daughter and he were altogether too different in disposition to dwell in peace together. Saxo (Hist., 53 ff.) and the Younger Edda (p. 94) have both preserved the record of a song which describes their different tastes as to home and surroundings. Skadi loved Þrymheim, the rocky home of her father Þjazi, on whose snow-clad plains she was fond of running on skis and of felling wild beasts with her arrows; but when Njord had remained nine days and nine nights among the mountains he was weary of the rocks and of the howling of wolves, and longed for the song of swans on the sea-strand. But when Skadi accompanied him thither she could not long endure to be awakened every morning by the shrieking of sea-fowls. In Grímnismál 11, it is said that Skadi "now" occupies her father's "ancient home" in Þrymheim, but Njord is not there named. In a strophe by Thord Sjarekson (Younger Edda, 262) we read that Skadi never became devoted to the Vana-god (nam-a snotr una goðbrúðr Vani), and Eyvind Skaldaspillir relates in Háleygjatal that there was a time when Odin dwelt í Manheimum together with Skadi, and begat with her many sons. With Manheimar is meant that part of the world which is inhabited by man; that is to say, Midgard and the lower world, where are also found a race of mennskir menn (see Nos. 52, 53, 59, 63), and the topographical counterpart of the word is Ásgarðr. Thus it must have been after his banishment from Asgard, while he was separated from Frigg and found refuge somewhere in Manheimar, that Odin had Skadi for his wife. Her epithet in Grímnismál, skír brúðr goða, also seems to indicate that she had conjugal relations with more than one of the gods.

While Odin was absent and deposed as ruler of the world, Ull has occupied so important a position among the ruling Vans that, according to the tradition preserved in Saxo, they bestowed upon him the task and honour which until that time had belonged to Odin (Dii . . . Ollerum quendam non solum in regni, sed etiam in divinitatis infulas subrogavere - Hist., 130). This is explained by the fact that Njord and Frey, though valtívar and brave warriors when they are invoked, are in their very nature gods of peace and promoters of wealth and agriculture, while Ull is by nature a warrior. He is a skilful archer, excellent in a duel, and hefir hermanns atgervi (Younger Edda, i. 102). Also, after the reconciliation between the Asas and Vans, Thor's stepson Ull has held a high position in Asgard, as is apparently corroborated by Odin's words in Grímnismál 42 (Ullar hylli og allra goða).

From the mythic accounts in regard to the situation and environment of Asgard we may conclude that the siege by the Vans was no easy task. The home of the Asas is surrounded by the atmospheric ocean, whose strong currents make it difficult for the mythic horses to swim to it (see Nos. 65, 93). The bridge Bifrost is not therefore superfluous, but it is that connection between the lower worlds and Asgard which the gods daily use, and which must be captured by the enemy before the great cordon which encloses the shining halls of the gods can be attacked. The wall is built of "the limbs of Leirbrimir" (Fjölsvinnsmál 12), and constructed by its architect in such a manner that it is a safe protection against mountain-giants and frost-giants (Younger Edda, 134). In the wall is a gate wondrously made by the artist-brothers who are sons of "Sólblindi" (Valgrind - Grímnismál 22; Þrymgjöll - Fjölsvinnsmál 10). Few there are who understand the lock of that gate, and if anybody brings it out of its proper place in the wall-opening where it blocks the way for those who have no right to enter, then the gate itself becomes a chain for him who has attempted such a thing (Forn er sú grind en það fáir vitu, hve hún er í lás lokin - Grímnismál 22; Fjöturr fastur verður við faranda hvern er hana hefur frá hliði - Fjölsvinnsmál 10).

Outside of the very high Asgard cordon and around it there flows a rapid river (see below), the moat of the citadel. Over the eddies of the stream floats a dark, shining, ignitible mist. If it is kindled it explodes in flames, whose bickering tongues strike their victims with unerring certainty. It is the vafurlogi, "the bickering flame," "the quick fire," celebrated in ancient songs - vafrlogi, vafreyði, skjótbrinni. It was this fire which the gods kindled around Asgard when they saw Þjazi approaching in eagle guise. In it their irreconcilable foe burnt his pinions, and fell to the ground. "Haustlaung," Thjodolf's poem, says that when Þjazi approached the citadel of the gods "the gods raised the quick fire and sharpened their javelins" - Hófu skjót- (en skófu sköpt) ginnregin -brinna. The "quick fire," skjót-brinni, is the vafurlogi. [* The author of Skáldskaparmál in the Younger Edda has understood this passage to mean that the Asas, when they saw Þjazi approaching, carried out a lot of shavings, which were kindled (!).]

The material of which the ignitible mist consists is called "black terror-gleam". It is úr ódökkum; that is to say, ofdökkum ógnar ljóma (Fáfnismál 42) (cp. myrkvan vafrloga - Skírnismál 8-9; Fjölsvinnsmál 31). It is said to be "wise," which implies that it consciously aims at him for whose destruction it is kindled.

How a water could be conceived that evaporates a dark ignitible mist we find explained in Þórsdrápa. The thunder-storm is the "storm of the vaferfire," and Thor is the "ruler of the chariot of the vaferfire-storm" (váfr-eyða hreggs húfstjóri). Thus the thundercloud contains the water that evaporates a dark material for lightning. The dark metallic colour which is peculiar to the thunder-cloud was regarded as coming from that very material which is the "black terror-gleam" of which lightning is formed. When Thor splits the cloud he separates the two component parts, the water and the vafermist; the former falls down as rain, the latter is ignited and rushes away in quick, bickering, zigzag flames - the vaferfires. That these are "wise' was a common Aryan belief. They do not proceed blindly, but know their mark and never miss it.

The river that foams around Asgard thus has its source in the thunder-clouds; not as we find them after they have been split by Thor, but such as they are originally, swollen with a celestial water that evaporates vafermist. All waters - subterranean, terrestrial, and celestial - have their source in that great subterranean fountain Hvergelmir. Thence they come and thither they return (Grímnismál 26; see Nos. 59, 63, 33). Hvergelmir's waters are sucked up by the northern root of the world-tree; they rise through its trunk, spread into its branches and leaves, and evaporate from its crown into a water-tank situated on the top of Asgard, Eikþyrnir, in Grímnismál 26, symbolised as a "stag " [*] who stands on the roof of Odin's hall and out of whose horns the waters stream down into Hvergelmir. Eikþyrnir is the great celestial water-tank which gathers and lets out the thunder-cloud. In this tank the Asgard river has its source, and hence it consists not only of foaming water but also of ignitible vafermists. In its capacity of discharger of the thunder-cloud, the tank is called Eikþyrnir, the oak-stinger. Oaks struck by lightning is no unusual occurrence. The oak is, according to popular belief based on observation, that tree which the lightning most frequently strikes.

[* In the same poem the elf-artist, Dáinn, and the "dwarf"-artist, Dvalinn, are symbolised as stags, the wanderer Rati (see below) as a squirrel, the wolf-giant Grafvitnir's sons as serpents, the bridge Bifrost as a fish (see No. 93), &c. Fortunately for the comprehension of our mythic records such symbolising is confined to a few strophes in the poem named, and these strophes appear to have belonged originally to an independent song which made a speciality of that sort of symbolism, and to have been incorporated in Grímnismál in later times.]

But Asgard is not the only citadel which is surrounded by vafermists. These are also found enveloping the home where dwelt the storm-giant Gymir and the storm-giantess Aurboða, the sorceress who knows all of Asgard's secrets, at the time when Frey sent Skírnir to ask for the hand of their daughter Gerd. Epics which in their present form date from Christian times make vaferflames burn around castles, where goddesses, pricked by sleep-thorns, are slumbering. This is a belief of a later age.

To get over or through the vaferflame is, according to the myth, impossible for anyone who has not got a certain mythical horse to ride - probably Sleipnir, the eight-footed steed of the Asa-father, which is the best of all horses (Grímnismál 44). The quality of this steed, which enables it to bear its rider unscathed through the vaferflame, makes it indespensable when this obstacle is to be overcome. When Skírnir is to go on Frey's journey of courtship to Gerd, he asks for that purpose mar þann er mig um myrkvan beri vísan vafurloga, and is allowed to ride it on and for the journey (Skírnismál 8-9). This horse must accordingly have been in the possession of the Vans when they conquered Asgard, an assumption confirmed by what is to be stated below. (In the great epic Sigurd's horse Grani is made to inherit the qualities of this divine horse.)

On the outer side of the Asgard river, and directly opposite the Asgard gate, lie projecting ramparts (forgarðar) to protect the drawbridge, which from the opening in the wall can be dropped down across the river (see below). When Svipdag proceeded toward Menglad's abode in Asgard, he first came to this forgarðar (Fjölsvinnsmál 1, 3). There he is hailed by the watch of the citadel, and thence he gets a glimpse over the gate of all the glorious things which are hid behind the high walls of the citadel.

Outside the river Asgard has fields with groves and woods (Younger Edda, 136, 210).

Of the events of the wars waged around Asgard, the mythic fragments, which the Icelandic records have preserved, give us but very little information, though they must have been favourite themes for the heathen skaldic art, which here had an opportunity of describing in a characteristic manner all the gods involved, and of picturing not only their various characters, but also their various weapons, equipments, and horses. In regard to the weapons of attack we must remember that Thor at the outbreak of the conflict is deprived of the assistance of his splendid hammer: it has been broken by Svipdag's sword of victory (see Nos. 101, 103) - a point which it was necessary for the myth to assume, otherwise the Vans could hardly be represented as conquerors. Nor do the Vans have the above-mentioned sword at their disposal: it is already in the power of Gymir and Aurboða. The irresistible weapons which in a purely mechanical manner would have decided the issue of the war, were disposed of in advance in order that the persons themselves, with their varied warlike qualities, might get to the foreground and decide the fate of the conflict by heroism or prudence, by prescient wisdom or by blind daring. In this war the Vans have particularly distinguished themselves by wise and well calculated undertakings. This we learn from Völuspá, where it makes the final victors conquer Asgard through vígspá, that is, foreknowledge applied to warlike ends (24). The Asas, as we might expect from Odin's brave sons, have especially distinguished themselves by their strength and courage. A record of this is found in the words of Thorbjorn Disarskald (Younger Edda, 256):

Þórr hefir Yggs með árum
Ásgarð of þrek varðan.

But in number they must have been far inferior to their foes. Simply the circumstance that Odin and his men had to confine themselves to the defence of Asgard shows that nearly all other divinities of various ranks had allied themselves with his enemies. The ruler of the lower world (Mimir) and Hoener are the only ones of whom it can be said that they remained faithful to Odin; and if we can trust the Heimskringla tradition, which is related as history and greatly corrupted, then Mimir lost his life in an effort at mediation between the contending gods, while he and Hoener were held as hostages among the Vans (Ynglingasaga, ch. 4).

Asgard was at length conquered. Völuspá 24, relates the final catastrophe:

brotinn var borðveggur
borgar ása,
knáttu vanir vígspá
völlu sporna.

Völuspá's words seem to indicate that the Vans took Asgard by strategy; and this is confirmed by a source which shall be quoted below. But to carry out the plan which chiefly involved the finding of means for crossing the vaferflames kindled around the citadel and for opening the gates of Asgard, not only cunning but also courage was required. The myth has given the honour of this undertaking to Njord, the clan-chief of the Vans and the commander of their forces. This is clear from the above-quoted passage: Njörðr klauf Herjans hurðir - "Njord broke Odin's doors open," which should be compared with the poetical paraphrase for battle-axe: Gauts megin-hurðar galli - "the destroyer of Odin's great gate," - a paraphrase that indicates that Njord burst the Asgard gate open with the battle-axe. The conclusion which must be drawn from these utterances is confirmed by an account with which the sixth book of Saxo begins, and which doubtless is a fragment of the myth concerning the conquest of Asgard by the Vans corrupted and told as history.

The event is transferred by Saxo to the reign of King Fridlevus II. It should here be remarked that every important statement made by Saxo about this Fridlevus, on a closer examination, is found to be taken from the myth concerning Njord.

There were at that time twelve brothers, says Saxo, distinguished for courage, strength, and fine physical appearance. They were "widely celebrated for gigantic triumphs". To their trophies and riches many peoples had paid tribute. But the source from which Saxo received information in regard to Fridlevus' conflict with them did not mention more than seven of these twelve, and of these seven Saxo gives the names. They are called Bjorn, Asbjorn, Gunbjorn, &c. In all the names is found the epithet of the Asa-god Bjorn.

The brothers had had allies, says Saxo further, but at the point when the story begins they had been abandoned by them, and on this account they had been obliged to confine themselves on an island surrounded by a most violent stream which fell from the brow of a very high rock, and the whole surface of which glittered with raging foam. The island was fortified by a very high wall (præaltum vallum), in which was built a remarkable gate. It was so built that the hinges were placed near the ground between the sides of the opening in the wall, so that the gate turning thereon could, by a movement regulated by chains, be lowered and form a bridge across the stream.

Thus the gate is, at the same time, a drawbridge of that kind with which the Germans became acquainted during the war with the Romans already before the time of Tacitus (cp. Annal., iv. 51, with iv. 47). Within the fortification there was a most strange horse, and also a remarkably strong dog, which formerly had watched the herds of the giant Offotes. The horse was celebrated for his size and speed, and it was the only steed with which it was possible for a rider to cross the raging stream around the island fortress.

King Fridlevus now surrounds this citadel with his forces. These are arrayed at some distance from the citadel, and in the beginning nothing else is gained by the siege than that the besieged are hindered from making sallies into the surrounding territory. The citadel cannot be taken unless the above-mentioned horse gets into the power of Fridlevus. Bjorn, the owner of the horse, makes sorties from the citadel, and in so doing he did not always take sufficient care, for on one occasion when he was on the outer side of the stream, and had gone some distance away from his horse, he fell into an ambush laid by Fridlevus. He saved himself by rushing headlong over the bridge, which was drawn up behind him, but the precious horse became Fridlevus' booty. This was of course a severe loss to the besieged, and must have diminished considerably their sense of security. Meanwhile, Fridlevus was able to manage the matter in such a way that the accident served rather to lull them into increased safety. During the following night the brothers found their horse, safe and sound, back on the island. Hence it must have swum back across the stream. And when it was afterwards found that the dead body of a man, clad in the shining robes of Fridlevus, floated on the eddies of the stream, they took it for granted that Fridlevus himself had perished in the stream.

But the real facts were as follows: Fridlevus, attended by a single companion, had in the night ridden from his camp to the river. There his companion's life had to be sacrificed, in order that the king's plan might be carried out. Fridlevus exchanged clothes with the dead man, who, in the king's splendid robes, was cast into the stream. Then Fridlevus gave spur to the steed which he had captured, and rode through the eddies of the stream. Having passed this obstacle safely, he set the horse at liberty, climbed on a ladder over the wall, stole into the hall where the brothers were wont to assemble, hid himself under a projection over the hall door, listened to their conversation, saw them go out to reconnoitre the island, and saw them return, secure in the conviction that there was no danger at hand. Then he went to the gate and let it fall across the stream. His forces had, during the night, advanced toward the citadel, and when they saw the drawbridge down and the way open, they stormed the fortress and captured it.

The fact that we here have a transformation of the myth, telling how Njord at the head of the Vans conquered Asgard, is evident from the following circumstances:

(a) The conqueror is Fridlevus. The most of what Saxo relates about this Fridlevus is, as stated, taken from the myth about Njord, and told as history.

(b) The brothers were, according to Saxo, originally twelve, which is the well-established number of Odin's clansmen: his sons, and the adopted Asa-gods. But when the siege in question takes place, Saxo finds in his source only seven of the twelve mentioned as enclosed in the citadel besieged by Fridlevus. The reason for the diminishing of the number is to be found in the fact that the adopted gods - Njord, Frey, and Ull - had left Asgard, and are in fact identical with the leaders of the besiegers. If we also deduct Baldur and Höðr, who, at the time of the event, are dead and removed to the lower world, then we have left the number seven given. The name Bjorn, which they all bear, is an Asa epithet (Younger Edda, i. 553). The brothers have formerly had allies, but these have abandoned them (deficientibus a se sociis), and it is on this account that they must confine themselves within their citadel. The Asas have had the Vans and other divine powers as allies, but these abandon them, and the Asas must defend themselves on their own fortified ground.

(c) Before this the brothers have made themselves celebrated for extraordinary exploits, and have enjoyed a no less extraordinary power. They shone on account of their giganteis triumphis - an ambiguous expression which alludes to the mythic sagas concerning the victories of the Asas over Jotunheim's giants (gigantes), and nations have submitted to them as victors, and enriched them with treasures (trophæis gentium celebres, spoliis locupletes).

(d) The island on which they are confined is fortified, like the Asa citadel, by an immensely high wall (præaltum vallum), and is surrounded by a stream which is impassable unless one possesses a horse which is found among the brothers. Asgard is surrounded by a river belt covered with vaferflames, which cannot be crossed unless one has that single steed which um myrkvan beri vísan vafrloga, and this belongs to the Asas.

(e) The stream which roars around the fortress of the brothers comes ex summis montium cacuminibus. The Asgard stream comes from the collector of the thunder-cloud, Eikþyrnir, who stands on the summit of the world of the gods. The kindled vaferflames, which did not suit an historical narration, are explained by Saxo to be a spumeus candor, a foaming whiteness, a shining froth, which in uniform, eddying billows everywhere whirl on the surface of the stream (iota alvei tractu undis uniformiter turbidatis spumeus ubique candor exuberat).

(f) The only horse which is able to run through the shining and eddying foam is clearly one of the mythic horses. It is named along with another prodigy from the animal kingdom of mythology, viz., the terrible dog of the giant Offotes. Whether this is a reminiscence of Fenrir which was kept for some time in Asgard, or of Odin's wolf-dog Freki, or of some other saga-animal of that sort, we will not now decide.

(g) Just as Asgard has an artfully contrived gate, so has also the citadel of the brothers. Saxo's description of the gate implies that any person who does not know its character as a drawbridge, but lays violent hands on the mechanism which holds it in an upright position, falls, and is crushed under it. This explains the words of Fjölsvinnsmál about the gate to that citadel, within which Freyja-Menglad dwells: Fjöturr fastr verðr við faranda hvern, er hana hefr frá hliði.

(h) In the myth, it is Njord himself who removes the obstacle, "Odin's great gate," placed in his way. In Saxo's account, it is Fridlevus himself who accomplishes the same exploit.

(i) In Saxo's narration occurs an improbability, which is explained by the fact that he has transformed a myth into history. When Fridlevus is safe across the stream, he raises a ladder against the wall and climbs up on to it. Whence did he get this ladder, which must have been colossal, since the wall he got over in this manner is said to be præaltum? Could he have taken it with him on the horse's back? Or did the besieged themselves place it against the wall as a friendly aid to the foe, who was already in possession of the only means for crossing the stream? Both assumptions are alike improbable. Saxo had to take recourse to a ladder, for he could not, without damaging the "historical" character of his story, repeat the myth's probable description of the event. The horse which can gallop through the bickering flame can also leap over the highest wall. Sleipnir's ability in this direction is demonstrated in the account of how it, with Hermod in the saddle, leaps over the wall to Baldur's high hall in the lower world (Younger Edda, 178). The impassibility of the Asgard wall is limited to mountain-giants and frost-giants; for a god riding Odin's horse the wall was no obstacle. No doubt the myth has also stated that the Asas, after Njord had leaped over the wall and sought out the above-mentioned place of concealment, found within the wall their precious horse again, which lately had become the booty of the enemy. And where else should they have found it, if we regard the stream with the bickering flames as breaking against the very foot of the wall?

Finally, it should be added, that our myths tell of no other siege than the one Asgard was subjected to by the Vans. If other sieges have been mentioned, they cannot have been of the same importance as this one, and consequently they could not so easily have left traces in the mythic traditions adapted to history or heroic poetry; nor could a historicised account of a mythic siege which did not concern Asgard have preserved the points here pointed out, which are in harmony with the story of the Asgard siege.

When the citadel of the gods is captured, the gods are, as we have seen, once more in possession of the steed, which, judging from its qualities, must be Sleipnir. Thus, Odin has the means of escaping from the enemy after all resistance has proved impossible. Thor has his thundering car, which, according to the Younger Edda, has room for several besides the owner, and the other Asas have splendid horses (Grímnismál, Younger Edda), even though they are not equal to that of their father. The Asas give up their throne of power, and the Vans now assume the rule of the world.