Part 4

In the preceding pages various scattered contributions have been made to Teutonic cosmography, and particularly to the topography of the lower world. It may not be out of the way to gather and complete these fragments.

The world-tree's three roots, which divide themselves in the lower world and penetrate through the three lower-world fountains into the foundations of the world-structure and hold it together, stand in a direction from north to south - the northernmost over the Hvergelmir fountain, with its cold waters; the middle one over Mimir's well, which is the fountain of spiritual forces; and the third over Urd's well, whose liquids give warmth to Yggdrasil (see No. 63).

In a north and south direction stands likewise the bridge Bifröst, also called Bilröst, Ásbrú (Grímnismál 29), and in a bold paraphrase, hitherto not understood, þjóðvitnis fiskur, "the fish of the folk-wolf". The paraphrase occurs in Grímnismál 21 in its description of Valhall and other abodes of the gods:

Þýtur Þund,
unir Þjóðvitnis
fiskur flóði í;
árstraumur þykir
ofmikill
valglaumi að vaða.

"Thund (the air-river) roars. The fish of the folk-wolf stands secure in the stream. To the noisy crowd of sword-fallen men the current seems too strong to wade through."

It has already been shown (No. 65) that those fallen by the sword ride with their psychopomps on Bifrost up to Valhal, and do not proceed thither through space, but have a solid foundation for the hoofs of their steeds. Here, as in Fáfnismál 15, the air is compared with a river, in which the horses are compelled to wade or swim if the bridge leading to Asgard is not used, and the current in this roaring stream is said to be very strong; while, on the other hand, "the fish" stands safe and inviting therein. That the author of Grímnismál called the bridge a fish must seem strange, but has its natural explanation in Icelandic usage, which called every bridge-end or bridge-head a sporður, that is, a fish-tail. Compare Sigurdrífumál 16, which informs us that runes were risted on "the fish-tail" of the great mythic bridge (á brúar sporði), and the expression brúarsporður (bridge-head, bridge-"fish-tail") in Njala (246) and Biskupasögur (1, 17). As a bridge-pier could be called a fish-tail, it was perfectly logical for the poem to make the bridge a fish. On the zenith of the bridge stands Valhall, that secures those fallen in battle, and whose entrance is decorated with images of the wolf and of the eagle (Grímnismál 10), animals that satisfy their hunger on the field of battle. This explains why the fish is called that of the folk-wolf or great wolf. The meaning of the paraphrase is simply "the Valhall bridge". That the bow of Bifrost stands north and south follows from the fact that the gods pass over one end of the bridge on their way to Urd's fountain, situated in the south of the lower world, while the other end is outside of Niflhel, situated in the north. From the south the gods come to their judgment-seats in the realm of the dis of fate and death. From the north came, according to Vegtamskviða, Odin when he rode through Niflhel to that hall which awaited Baldur. Why the Asafather on that occasion chose that route Vegtamskviða does not inform us. But from Saxo (Book III), who knew an old heathen song [*] about Odin's visit in the lower world on account of Baldur's death, we get light on this point. According to this song it was Rostiophus Phinnicus who told Odin that a son of the latter and Rind was to avenge Baldur's death. Rostiophus is, as P. E. Müller has already remarked, the rimthurs Hrossþjófur mentioned in Hyndluljóð (i.e. Völuspá in skamma 4) as a son of Hrímnir and brother of the sorceress Heiður, the vala and witch well known from Völuspá and other sources. Niflhel is, as shown above (No. 60), the abode of the rimthurses transferred to the lower world. Where his father Hrímnir (Bergelmir) and his progenitor Hrímgrímnir (Thrudgelmir) dwell in the thurs-hall mentioned in Skírnismál, there we also find Hrossþjófur, and Odin must there seek him. Vegtamskviða makes Odin seek his sister.

* Possibly the same as that of which a few strophes are preserved in Baldurs draumar, an old poetic fragment whose gaps have been filled in a very unsatisfactory manner in recent times with strophes which now are current as Vegtamskviða. That Odin, when he is about to proceed to the abode which in the subterranean realms of bliss is to receive Baldur, chooses the route through Niflhel is explained not by Vegtamskviða, where this fact is stated, but by the older poem mentioned by Saxo, which makes him seek the dweller in Niflhel, the rimthurs Hrossþjófur, son of Hrímnir.

It is Bifrost's north bridge-head which particularly requires the vigilance of Heimdall, the ward of the gods, since the rimthurses and the damned are its neighbours. Heimdall is therefore "widely known" among the inhabitants of Niflhel (Skírnismál 28), and Loki reproaches Heimdall that his vocation as watchman always compels him to expose his back to the torrents of an unfavourable sky (Lokasenna 48). In the night which constantly broods over this northern zone shine the forms of the "white" god and of his gold-beaming horse Gulltoppur, when he makes spying expeditions there. His eye penetrates the darkness of a hundred "rasts," and his ear catches the faintest sound (Gylfaginning 27). Near Bifrost, presumably at the very bridge-head, mythology has given him a fortified citadel, Himinbjörg, "the ward of heaven" with a comfortable hall well supplied with "the good mead" (Grímnismál 13; Gylfaginning 27).

The lower world is more extensive in all directions than the surface of the earth above it. Bifrost would not be able to pass outside and below the crust of the earth to rest with its bridge-heads on the domain of the three world-fountains if this were not the case. The lower world is therefore called Jörmungrund, "the great ground or foundation" (Forspjallsljóð 25), and its uttermost zone, jaðarr Jörmungrundar, "the domain of the great ground," is open to the celestial canopy, and the under side of the earth is not its roof. From Hliðskjálf, the outlook of the gods in Asgard (Forspjallsljóð, the prose texts in Skírnismál and in Grímnismál), the view is open to Midgard, to the sea, and to the giant-world situated beyond the Elivagar rivers (see the texts mentioned), and should accordingly also be so to the broad zone of Jormungrund, excepting its northernmost part, which always is shrouded in night. From Hliðskjálf the eye cannot discern what is done there. But Heimdall keeps watch there, and when anything unusual is perceived Odin sends the raven Huginn (Hugur) thither to spy it out (Forspjallsljóð, 10, 3, which strophes belong together). But from Hliðskjálf as the point of observation the earth conceals all that part of Jormungrund below it; and as it is important to Odin that he should know all that happens there, Huginn and Muninn fly daily over these subterranean regions: Huginn og Muninn fljúga hverjan dag jörmungrund yfir (Grímnismál 20). The expeditions of the ravens over Niflhel in the north and over Surt's "deep dales" in the south expose them to dangers: Odin expresses his fear that some misfortune may befall them on these excursions (Grímnismál 20).

In the western and eastern parts of jaðarr Jörmungrundar dwell the two divine clans the Vans and Elves, and the former rule over the whole zone ever since "the gods in time's morning" gave Frey, Njord's bounteous son, Alfheim as a tooth-gift (Grímnismál 5). Delling is to be regarded as clan-chief of the Elves (light-Elves), since in the very theogony he is ranked with the most ancient powers. With Mimir's daughter Nott he becomes the father of Dag and the progenitor of Dag's synir (the light-Elves). It has already been emphasised (see No. 53) that he is the lord of the rosy dawn, and that outside of his doors the song of awakening is sung every morning over the world: "Power to the Asas, success to the Elves, and wisdom to Hroptatyr" (Hávamál 100). The glow of dawn blazes up from his domain beyond the eastern horizon. Where this clan-chieftain of the Elves dwells, thither the mythology has referred the original home of his clan. Álfheimur occupies the eastern part of Jormungrund's zone. It is in the eastern part that Dag, Delling's son, and Sol, his kinswoman, mount their chariots to make their journey around the earth in the sky. Here is also the Hel-gate through which all the dead must pass in the lower world (No. 68).

There are many proofs that the giant settlement with the Ironwood or Myrkwood was conceived as extending from the north over large portions of the east (Völuspá 40, 50, &c.). These regions of Alfheim constitute the southern coasts of the Elivagar, and are the scenes of important events in the epic of the mythology (see the treatise on the Ivaldi race).

Vanaheimur is situated in the western half of the zone. At the banquet in Ægir's hall, described in Lokasenna, Loki says to Njord:

þú varst austur héðan
gísl um sendur goðum -

"From here you were sent out east as a hostage to the gods".

Ægir's hall is far out in the depths of the sea. The ocean known by the Teutons was the North Sea. The author has manifestly conceived Ægir's hall as situated in the same direction from Asgard as Vanaheim, and not far from the native home of the Vans. This lies in the word héðan (from here). According to Vafþrúðnismál 39, Njord was "created in Vanaheim by wise regin". When he was sent as a hostage to the gods to Asgard he had to journey eastward (austur). The western location of Vanaheim is thereby demonstrated.

In the "western halls" of Vanaheim dwells Billing, Rind's father, the father of the Asa-god, Vali's mother (Rindur ber Vála i vesturrsölum - Vegtamskviða 11). His name has been preserved in both the German and the Anglo-Saxon mythic records. An Old German document mentions together Billunc and Nidunc, that is, Billing and Mimir (see No. 87). In the mythology Mimir's domain is bounded on the west by Billing's realm, and on the east by Delling's. Delling is Mimir's son-in-law. According to Völuspá 13 (Codex Hauk.), Billing is a being which in time's morning, on the resolve of the gods, was created by Modsognir-Mimir and Durinn. Mimir's neighbours in the east and in the west were therefore intimately connected with him. An Anglo-Saxon record (Codex Exoniensis, 320, 7) makes Billing the race-hero of the kinsmen and neighbours of the Angles, the Varnians (Billing veold Vernum). This too has a mythological foundation, as appears in Grímnirsmál 39 and in the saga of Helgi Hjorvardsson, which, as before stated, is composed of mythic fragments. When Sol and Mani leave Delling's domain and begin their march across the heavens, their journey is not without danger. From the Ironwood (cp. Völuspá 40) come the wolf-giants Skoll and Hati and pursue them. Skoll does not desist from the pursuit before the car of the bright-faced goddess has descended toward the western halls and reached Varna viður (Skoll heitir úlfur, er fylgir inu skírleita goði til Varna viðar - Grímnismál 39). Varna viður is the forest of the mythic Varnians or Varinians. Varnians, Varinians, means "defenders," and the protection here referred to can be none other than that given to the journeying divinities of light when they have reached the western horizon. According to Helgi Hjorvardsson's saga, Hati, who pursues the moon, is slain near Varin's Bay. Varinn, the "defender," "protector," is the singular form of the same word as reappears in the genitive plural Varna. These expressions - Billing veold Vernum, Varna viður, and Varins vík - are to be considered as belonging together. So also the local names borrowed from the mythology, Varinsfjörður and Varinsey, in Helgi Hjorvardsson's saga, where several names reappear, e.g., Svarinn, Móinn, Álfur, and Yngvi, which in connection with that of Billing occur in the list of the beings created by Mimir and Durinn. It is manifest that Varna viður, where the wolf Skoll is obliged to turn back from his pursuit of Sol, and that Varins vík, where the moon's pursuer Hati is conquered, were conceived in the mythology as situated in the western horizon, since the sun and the moon making their journey from east to west on the heavens are pursued and are not safe before they reach the western halls. And now as Billing dwells in the western halls and is remembered in the Anglo-Saxon mythic fragments as the prince of the Varnians or Varinians, and as, furthermore, Varinsfjörður and Varinsey are connected with adventures in which there occur several names of mythic persons belonging to Billing's clan, then this proves absolutely an original mythic connection between Billing and his western halls and those western halls in whose regions Varna viður and Varinsvík are situated, and where the divinities of light, their journey athwart the sky accomplished, find defenders and can take their rest. And when we add to this that Delling, Mimir's kinsman and eastern neighbour, is the lord of morning and the rosy dawn, and that Billing is Mimir's kinsman and western neighbour, then it follows that Billing, from the standpoint of a symbol of nature, represents the evening and the glow of twilight, and that in the epic he is ruler of those regions of the world where the divinities of light find rest and peace. The description which the Hávamál strophes (97-101) give us of life in Billing's halls corresponds most perfectly with this view. Through the epic presentation there gleams, as it seems, a conscious symbolising of nature, which paints to the fancy the play of colours in the west when the sun is set. When eventide comes Billing's lass, "the sun-glittering one," sleeps on her bed (Billings mey eg fann beðjum á sólhvíta sofa - str. 97). In his halls Billing has a body-guard of warriors, his saldrótt, vígdrótt (str. 100, 101), in whom we must recognise those Varnians who protect the divinities of light that come to his dwelling, and these warriors watch far into the night, "with burning lights and with torches in their hands," over the slumbering "sun-white" maiden. But when day breaks their services are no longer necessary. Then they in their turn go to sleep (og nær morgni . . . þá var saldrótt um sofin - str. 101).

When the Asas - all on horseback excepting Thor - on their daily journey to the thingstead near Urd's fountain, have reached the southern rune-risted bridge-head of Bifrost, they turn to the north and ride through a southern Hel-gate into the lower world proper. Here, in the south, and far below Jormungrund's southern zone, we must conceive those "deep dales" where the fire-giant Surt dwells with his race, Suttung's sons (not Muspel's sons). The idea presented in Gylfaginning's cosmogony, according to which there was a world of fire in the south and a world of cold in the north of that Ginnungagap in which the world was formed, is certainly a genuine myth, resting on a view of nature which the very geographical position forced upon the Teutons. Both these border realms afterwards find their representatives in the organised world: the fire-world in Surt's Sökkdalir, and the frost-world in the Niflhel incorporated with the eschatological places; and as the latter constitutes the northern part of the realm of death, we may in analogy herewith refer the dales of Surt and Suttung's sons to the south, and we may do this without fear of error, for Völuspá 52 states positively that Surt and his descendants come from the south to the Ragnarok conflict (Surtur fer sunnan med sviga lævi). While the northern bridge-head of Bifrost is threatened by the rimthurses, the southern is exposed to attacks from Suttung's sons. In Ragnarok the gods have to meet storms from both quarters, and we must conceive the conflict as extending along Jormungrund's outer zone and especially near both ends of the Bifrost bridge. The plain around the south end of Bifrost where the gods are to "mix the liquor of the sword with Surt" is called Óskópnir in a part of a heathen poem incorporated with Fáfnismál. Here Frey with his hosts of einherjes meets Surt and Suttung's sons, and falls by the sword which once was his, after the arch of Bifrost on this side is already broken under the weight of the hosts of riders (Fáfnismál 14, 15; Völuspá 53). Óskópnir's plain must therefore be referred to the south end of Bifrost and outside of the southern Hel-gate of the lower world. The plain is also called Vígríður (Vafþrúðnismál 18), and is said to be one hundred rasts long each way. As the gods who here appear in the conflict are called in svásu goð "the sweet," and as Frey falls in the battle, those who here go to meet Surt and his people seem to be particularly Vana-gods and Vans, while those who contend with the giants and with Loki's progeny are chiefly Asas.

When the gods have ridden through the southern Hel-gate, there lie before them magnificent regions over which Urd in particular rules, and which together with Mimir's domain constitute the realms of bliss in the lower world with abodes for departed children and women, and for men who were not chosen on the field of battle. Rivers flowing from Hvergelmir flow through Urd's domain after they have traversed Mimir's realm. The way leads the gods to the fountain of the norns, which waters the southern root of the world-tree, and over which Yggdrasil's lower branches spread their ever-green leaves, shading the gold-clad fountain, where swans swim and whose waters give the whitest colour to everything that comes in contact therewith. In the vicinity of this fountain are the thingstead with judgment-seats, a tribunal, and benches for the hosts of people who daily arrive to be blessed or damned.

These hosts enter through the Hel-gate of the east. They traverse deep and dark valleys, and come to a thorn-grown plain against whose pricks Hel-shoes protect those who were merciful in their life on earth, and thence to the river mixed with blood, which in its eddies whirls weapons and must be waded over by the wicked, but can be crossed by the good on the drift-wood which floats on the river. When this river is crossed the way of the dead leads southward to the thingstead of the gods.

Further up there is a golden bridge across the river to the glorious realm where Mimir's holt and the glittering halls are situated, in which Baldur and the ásmegir await the regeneration. Many streams come from Hvergelmir, among them Leiptur, on whose waters holy oaths are taken, and cast their coils around these protected places, whence sorrow, aging, and death are banished. The halls are situated in the eastern part of Mimir's realm in the domain of the elf of the rosy dawn, for he is their watchman.

Further down in Mimir's land and under the middle root of the world-tree is the well of creative force and of inspiration, and near it are Mimir's own golden halls.

Through this middle part of the lower world goes from west to east the road which Nott, Dag, Sol, and Mani travel from Billing's domain to Delling's. When the mother Nott whose car is drawn by Hrímfaxi makes her entrance through the western Hel-gate, darkness is diffused along her course over the regions of bliss and accompanies her chariot to the north, where the hall of Sindri, the great artist, is located, and toward the Nida mountains, at whose southern foot Nott takes her rest in her own home. Then those who dwell in the northern regions of Jormungrund retire to rest (Forspjallsljóð 25); but on the outer rim of Midgard there is life and activity, for there Dag's and Sol's cars then diffuse light and splendour on land and sea. The hall of Sindri's race has a special peculiarity. It is, as shall be shown below, the prototype of "the sleeping castle" mentioned in the sagas of the middle ages.

Over the Nida mountains and the lands beyond them we find Yggdrasil's third root, watered by the Hvergelmir fountain, the mother of all waters. The Nida mountains constitute Jormungrund's great watershed, from which rivers rush down to the south and to the north. In Hvergelmir's fountain and above it the world-mill is built through whose mill-stone eye water rushes up and down, causing the maelstrom and ebb and flood tide, and scattering the meal of the mill over the bottom of the sea. Nine giantesses march along the outer edge of the world pushing the mill-handle before them, while the mill and the starry heavens at the same time are revolved.

Where the Elivagar rivers rise out of Hvergelmir, and on the southern strand of the mythic Gandvik, is found a region which, after one of its inhabitants, is called Iði's pasture (setur - Þórsdrápa 2). Here dwell warriors of mixed elf and giant blood (see the treatise on the Ivaldi race), who received from the gods the task of being a guard of protection against the neighbouring giant-world.

Farther toward the north rise the Nida mountains and form the steep wall which constitutes Niflhel's southern boundary. In this wall are the Na-gates, through which the damned when they have died their second death are brought into the realm of torture, whose ruler is Leikin. Niflheim is inhabited by the spirits of the primeval giants, by the spirits of disease, and by giants who have fallen in conflict with the gods. Under Niflhel extend the enormous caves in which the various kinds of criminals are tortured. In one of these caves is the torture hall of the Nastrands. Outside of its northern door is a grotto guarded by swarthy elves. The door opens to Amsvartnir's sea, over which eternal darkness broods. In this sea lies the Lyngvi-holm, within whose jurisdiction Loki, Fenrir, and "Muspel's sons" are fettered. Somewhere in the same region Bifrost descends to its well fortified northern bridge-head. The citadel is called Himinbjorg, "the defence or rampart of heaven". Its chieftain is Heimdall.

While Bifrost's arch stands in a direction from north to south, the way on which Mani and Sol travel across the heavens goes from east to west. Mani's way is below Asgard.

The movable starry heaven is not the only, nor is it the highest, canopy stretched over all that has been mentioned above. One can go so far to the north that even the horizon of the starry heavens is left in the rear. Outside, the heavens Andlangur and Víðbláinn support their edges against Jormungrund (Gylfaginning 17). All this creation is supported by the world-tree, on whose topmost bough the cock Vidofnir glitters.