The Religion of the Northmen
Chapter XVII
All the Gods of the Asa-faith were certainly invoked and worshiped by the heathen Northmen, although only a few of them are so mentioned in the ancient historical accounts, that we may know clearly how their being was understood by the people, or in what character each one was especially worshipped.
Odin was specially worshiped as the God of War---as the Dispenser of Victory; therefore the first filled horn at the sacrificial festivals was consecrated to him for victory. (1) It was believed that he rejoiced in the battles of men, which brought heroes to him in Valhalla; and hence the blame of a hero's fall was often laid upon him by the slayer. Thus Dag Högnason says, in exculpating himself before his sister Sigrún, who curses him because he has slain her husband Helgi Hundingsbani:
"Mad art thou, sister!
And distracted,
That on thy brother
Thou callest down curses.
Odin alone
All misery brings,
For he between kinsmen
The battle-runes bore." (2)
Before a battle began the combatants directed each other to Valhalla, and the hostile host was consigned to Odin by casting a spear over it; a performance which undoubtedly had its type in the myth of Odin, in which he is represented as awakening the first battle in the world by throwing his spear among the people. (3) Before entering upon a march, or undertaking a warlike enterprise, they sought, by offerings, to gain the favor of Odin. Thus, it is related of Hákon Jarl when he had cast off Christianity, which had been forced upon him, and, on his journey home to Norway from Jutland, was driven out of his course to the coasts of East Gothland by a storm, that he landed there and made preparations for a great sacrifice. During the sacrifice two ravens came flying along and croaked loudly. By this appearance the Jarl thought he saw that Odin had accepted the offering and would grant him success in battle. He therefore burned all his ships, and, sword in hand, cut his way with his army through the whole of Gothland back to Norway. (4)
The fallen warrior rejoiced in his dying hour that by Odin's invitation he should go to Valhalla and drink ale with the Æsir; as the ancient skald makes Ragnar Lóðbrók sing in the den of serpents:
"Home bid me the Dísir,
Whom, from the warrior-halls,
Odin has sent me;
Glad shall I with the Æsir
Drink ale in the high-seat.
Loathsome are life's hours;
Laughing shall I die." (5)
It is often related in the ancient legends that Odin would make his appearance before or during a battle, either to secure the victory to his favorites, or to set a limit to their victorious career on earth and summon them away to himself.
Odin lent his spear to Dag Högnason that he might slay with it the hero Helgi Hundingsbani, whose spirit, therefore, met with the most distinguished reception in Valhalla. "Odin," it is stated, "invited him to share in the rule of all things with himself." (6)
As an aged one-eyed man with a slouched hat upon his head, Odin once made his appearance to King Völsung's hall and selected Sigmund, the king's son, as his favorite, by presenting to him a sword. Sigmund became a victorious hero, but when his time was come Odin again appeared to him in the same form, in the midst of a battle, and held his spear before his sword. The sword broke, and Sigmund was left severely wounded upon the battlefield. His wife wished to cure him but he declined her help; "Odin," said he "wishes not that I shall swing my sword again after it is once broken; I have fought as long as it was his will." (7)
The Danish King Harald Hildatand was from his childhood consecrated to Odin, and he was afterwards throughout his whole life led on by this God to victory. But in his advanced age Odin involved him in a quarrel with his nephew, Sigurd Ring, then with his own hand, under the semblance of Brun, a military chief, guided the chariot of the blind king at the great battle of Brávalla Heath, and finally, in the tumult of battle, slew his favorite with his own war-club. (8)
When Styrbjörn Sviakappi---i.e., Sweden's Champion---attacked his uncle the Swedish king Eirik Sigrsæli, the latter applied to Odin and offered himself up to him for the sake of victory. Odin appeared to him in the form of a large man with a slouched hat, reached him a reed and bade him shoot it over the hosts of Styrbjörn, with the words "Odin owns you all!" Eirik did as he was commanded, and the reed became a spear as it flew through the air above the enemy. Styrbjörn and his people were struck with blindness and buried beneath a mountain slide. (9)
Sometimes, also, it was believed, Odin would call his favorites to himself, when not engaged in battle. Vikarr, King of Hörðaland, it seems, was consecrated or given to Odin from his birth. (10) He became a mighty and victorious king, but was slain at last by his foster-brother Starkað, at the instigation of Odin. It happened that Vikarr and Starkað, on one of their Sea-roving expeditions, were delayed by a head-wind, and when the cause came to be inquired into, they learned that Odin required a man from among their hosts. Lots were therefore drawn, and the lot fell upon Vikarr. All were struck with terror, and it was resolved to reconsider the matter on the following day. But in the night Odin appeared to Starkað in the guise of his foster-brother Hrosshárs-Grani, bade him send Vikarr to him, and gave him a spear which seemed to be the stalk of a reed. On the next day they held a consultation on the sacrifice of Vikarr, and at the suggestion of Starkað it was concluded to undertake it for the sake of appearances. The king mounted the stump of a tree, and Starkað laid about his neck a piece of calf-gut, the other end of which was fastened to a tender fir-twig. Then Starkað touched him with the reed and said, "Now do I give thee unto Odin!" But in the same instant the stump tumbled away from under Vikarr's feet, the intestine around his neck became a withe, the twig, which sprang upward with force, swung him up into the tree, and the reed in Starkað's hand was transformed into a spear, which pierced through the body of the king. (11)
According to the Sagas, when Odin revealed himself he made his appearance in the form of an elderly, grave-looking, one-eyed man, usually clad in a green, blue, or spotted mantle, with a slouched hat upon his head and a spear in hand. (12)
Although Odin is represented in the Asa Mythology as the highest of the Æsir, yet it appears that Thor did not hold an inferior place in the worship of the people, especially among the inhabitants of Norway and Iceland. There is evidence of this in the circumstance that temples dedicated to him alone, or in which he was the chief object of worship, are so often mentioned in the ancient Sagas, as well as the firm faith which not merely individual Northmen but the people of whole provinces of Norway are said to have placed in him in preference to any other deity of heathendom. There were temples dedicated to Thor on the island of Moster near Hörðaland, on Randsey near Naumdal, upon Thorsness in Iceland, at Hundsthorp in Gudbrandsdal; he was the principal Divinity worshiped in the chief-temple at Mæri in Inner-Throndheim and at many other places in Norway. The people of Gudbrandsdal put their highest trust in Thor. When Thorolf Mostrarskegg wished to leave Norway, he consulted Thor in order to learn whither he should go, and Thor directed him to Iceland. (13) By Thor's direction, likewise, the Northman Kraku Hreiðar selected a dwelling-place upon that island, (14) and so did Helgi the Meagre, who went thither from Suðr-eyjar (South Islands). (15)
Those who trusted more to their own strength in battle than to the protection of Odin, worshiped Thor as the Bestower of Strength, and at the sacrificial festivals consecrated to him the first filled horn. This was done by making the sign of the Hammer over the horn, as is seen in the well-known history of King Hákon Athelsteins-fostri, who during a sacrificial festival at Hlaði made the sign of the Cross over the horn consecrated to Odin, an act which Sigurd Jarl explained by saying that the king did as all do who trust in their own strength; ---he consecrated the horn to Thor by the sign of the Hammer. (16) It is not improbable that Thor's Hammer-sign was also employed in the marriage ceremonies of the Northmen, as a consecration of the union of man and wife, as well as at their funeral ceremonies, of which usage the type was in the myth of Thor, who consecrated Baldur's funeral pile with his Hammer. (17) In both cases the sign of the Hammer was to frighten away evil Jötun-beings, and prevent them from disturbing the domestic peace of the married, and the repose of the dead in the grave.
Thor was also invoked by persons about to engage in wrestling. When the Icelander Thord, who was a very experienced wrestler, was going to try his strength with his countryman Gunnlaug Ormstúnga, he called upon Thor beforehand. Gunnlaug, however, tripped him and threw him upon the ground, but at the same time wrenched his own foot out of joint. (18) But it appears that the Northmen worshiped Thor especially to secure in him a protector against Trolls and Evil Powers of a Jötun nature, which were believed to have their abodes in mountains and wild, desert places. According to an ancient legend, he had delivered the inhabitants of Norway from these Powers; no wonder, therefore, that he was specially worshiped in that country. (19)
Thor was believed occasionally to reveal himself to men. In the form of a red-bearded man he made his appearance in the camp of the Swedish hero Styrbjörn, when the latter had invoked his aid against his uncle Eirik the Victorious, whom Odin protected. (20) As a young, red-bearded man of large stature and a beautiful countenance, strong and supple in wrestling, he revealed himself to King Olaf Tryggvason, and related to him how in the Olden Time, when the Northmen invoked his aid, he had with his Hammer beaten two Troll-women who tormented them. (21) Thor's red-beard was, doubtless, to indicate the fiery nature of the Thunder-God.
That Njörð was an object of the zealous worship of the Northmen may be readily inferred, as he was believed to protect Sea-faring, in which our forefathers busied themselves so much, and it is said of him, in one of the Old Eddaic poems, that "he rules over temples and places of sacrifice innumerable." (22) Njörð and his son Frey are named in the heathen oath-formula of the Northmen; (23) they are called upon, in a poem of Egil Skallagrimsson, to banish Eirik Blood-axe and Queen Gunhilda from Norway; (24) they are represented by the same skald, in his Arinbjarnar Drápa as "Bestowers of Riches," (25) and the extremely rich are said to be "rich as Njörð."
Still more numerous are the traces in our ancient Sagas of the widely-extended worship of Frey---the God of Fruitfulness---among the Northmen. In Throndheim there was a temple in Olaf Tryggvasson's days, in which Frey was zealously worshiped. When the King, after he had overthrown the statue of the God, upbraided the landsmen for their stupid idolatry, and asked them wherein Frey had evinced his power, they answered, "Frey often talked with us, foretold us the future, and granted us good seasons and peace." (26)
The Norse chieftain Ingemund Thorsteinsson, who in the days of Harald Hárfagri settled at Vatnsdal in Iceland, built near his homestead a temple which appears to have been specially dedicated to Frey, who had in a manner pointed out a dwelling-place to him; for in digging a place for his Öndvegis-súlur, or pillars of the High-seat, Ingemund found in the earth an image of Frey which he had lost in Norway. (27) The Icelander Thorgrim of Sjóbol was a zealous worshiper of Frey, and held sacrificial festivals in his honor during the winter nights. When Thorgrim was dead and buried, the snow never settled upon his funeral mound; this was believed to be a favor shown by Frey, for "the God loved him so for the sacrifices he had made that he would not have it to become cold between them." (28)
In the vicinity of the estate of Thverá in Eyjafjörð in Iceland there was a temple to Frey, and the place became so holy that no criminal dared to tarry there; "Frey did not allow of it." When the chieftain Thorkel the Tall was expelled from Thverá by Glum Eyjólfsson, universally known by name of Viga-Glum, he led a full-grown ox to Frey's temple before he left, and said, "Long have I put all my trust in thee, Oh Freyr! Many gifts hast thou accepted of me and repaid them well; now do I give this ox to thee, that thou may one day cause Glum to leave this Thverá land even as much against his will as I do now. Do thou give me a sign that thou acceptest the offering!" At that moment the ox bellowed loudly and fell dead upon the ground. Thorkel considered this a good omen, and moved away with a lighter heart. Afterward, Glum, in his old days, became involved in a dangerous suit for manslaughter, which ended with his having to relinquish Thverá to the murdered man's son. On the night before he rode to the Assembly at which the case was to be decided, he dreamed that he saw Frey sitting on the banks of the stream; his own departed friends were beseeching the God that Glum might not be driven away from Thverá, but Frey answered them short and angrily, for he now remembered the ox which Thorkel the Tall had presented him. After this dream and the subsequent forced removal, Glum no longer honored Frey so much as he had done before. (29)
In the temple at Upsala in Sweden, Frey, together with Odin and Thor, was especially worshiped; (30) and that in some provinces of Sweden the people put their highest trust in him, and even believed that he sometimes appeared in human form, is attested by the story---somewhat embellished, it is true---of the Northman Gunnar Helming, who gave himself out in Sweden as Frey. (31)
The horse, it appears, was regarded as a favorite animal of Frey. At his temple in Throndheim it is said there were horses belonging to him. (32) It is related of the Icelander Rafnkel Freysgoði that he loved Frey above all other gods, and bestowed upon him an equal share in all his best possessions. He had a brown horse, called Frey-faxi (Frey's horse), which he loved so highly that he made a solemn vow to slay the man who should ride this horse against his will, a vow which he also fulfilled. (33) Another Icelander, Brand, had a horse also called Frey-faxi which he had so much of that he was said to believe in it as in a Divinity. (34)
It was the same case with the swine, perhaps, as with the horse. The Boar Gullinbrusti, with which Frey drove, has been already alluded to; and the story of the fabulous king Heiðrek, who on Yule-eve made solemn vows upon the Atonement-Boar (Sónar-gölltr), (35) sacred to Frey and Freyja, appears to refer to an actual custom of heathen antiquity; for we find also, in one of the prose supplements to the ancient Eddaic poem of Helgi Hjörvarðsson, that the Sónar-gölltr is mentioned, as being led out on Yule-eve, in order that they might, with hands laid upon it, make solemn vows. (36)
The worship of Baldur we find spoken of only in Frithjóf's Saga, which relates that in Baldur's grove, in Sokn, there was a great temple to many gods, among whom, however, Baldur was chiefly worshiped. So great was the sanctity of the place, it is stated, that not any violence whatever should be done to man or beast, nor could there be any sexual intercourse there. (37) Baldur's worship therefore bore the impress of the goodness and innocence of which he was himself the emblem.
Of the worship of Forseti among the Northmen, we have, indeed, no very positive information; but we find that this god was zealously worshiped by the Frisians, and that he had a very holy temple on an island which was called after him Foseteslant, the Helgoland of the present day. (38)
To Bragi the heathen Northmen consecrated the replenished horn, called Bragi's Horn (Bragarfulli), which was emptied at the great festivals while solemn vows were made. Bragi, the god of the Skaldic art, was to hear the vows relating to the great deeds, whose memory was to be delivered to posterity through the mouth of the Skald.
Only a few traces of the worship of the Asynjur, or Goddesses, are to be found in the ancient poems and Sagas. Concerning a certain Otar, it is stated in the Eddaic poem Hyndluljóð, that he always put his trust in the Asynjur. The Valkyrja Sigrdrifa, when she awakens from her enchanted sleep, salutes the Æsir and Asynjur. (39) Borgny, a king's daughter, calls upon Friga and Freyja to reward Oddrún, who had been with her during severe pangs of childbirth and had assisted at her delivery. (40) When King Rerer and his wife called upon the Gods for offspring, Friga and Odin, it is stated, heard their prayers and presented them with a son. (41) Signy, the Queen of King Alfrek of Hörðaland, invoked the aid of Freyja when she was going to vie with the king's other wife, Geirhild, in ale-brewing. It seems that the king had to get rid of one of them on account of their irreconcilable enmity toward each other, so he declared that he would retain the one who brewed the best ale. Signy, however, was foiled by her rival, for the latter had called upon Odin, who revealed himself to her in advance, in the form of a certain Hött; and as he gave her his spittle for yeast, Geirhild's ale became the best. (42)
Friga and Freyja, as the highest among the Asynjur, were, without doubt, the most especially worshiped. In a temple in Iceland their statues are said to have been seated upon a throne opposite those of Thor and Frey. When the Icelander Hjalti Skeggjason, newly converted to Christianity, wished to express his contempt for the heathen Gods, he, in a ditty, called Freyja a bitch, and Hallfred Vandræðaskald, in a verse that he made at Olaf Tryggvason's request, in order to display his Christian disposition, names Freyja among the Gods whom he had forsaken for Christ. (43)
Endnotes
1. Snor.: Sag. Hák. Góða, 16 [Back]
2. The O. Edda: Helgakviða Hundingsbana, II., 32. [Back]
3. Hervarar S. 5; Eyrb. S. 44; Fornm. S. V. p. 250; Völuspá 28. [Back]
4. Snor.: Ol. Tryggv. S. 28. [Back]
5. Krákumál 29. [Back]
6. The O. Edda: Helgakv. Hundingsb. II. 36, et sup. [Back]
7. Völsúnga S. 3, 11, 12. [Back]
8. Saxo Grammaticus 1, 7-8. [Back]
9. Styrb. þáttr, 2. [Back]
10. Hálfs S. 1. [Back]
11. Gautreks S. 7. [Back]
12. Völsunga S. 3, 11, 13; Norna-Gests S. 6; Hálfs S. 1; Snor.: Olaf Tryggv. S. 71; Ol. Tryggv. 5, in Skalh. 63; Hörðs S. 14. [Back]
13. Eyrbyggja S. 4. [Back]
14. Landnb. III., 7. [Back]
15. Ib. I., 12. [Back]
16. Snor.: Hák. Góð. S. 18. [Back]
17. The L. Edda: Gylf. 49. [Back]
18. Gunnlaugs Ormstúnga S. 10. [Back]
19. Ol. Tr. S. in Fornm. S. 213 [Back]
20. Styrb. þáttr, 2. [Back]
21. Ol. Tryggv. S. in Fornm. S. 213. [Back]
22. The O. Edda: Vafþrúðnismál, 38. [Back]
23. Landnmb. IV. 7. [Back]
24. Egils S. 58, 365. [Back]
25. Egils S. 80. [Back]
26. Ol. Tr. S. Skalh. II. 49, 50. [Back]
27. Vatnsd. S. 10, 15. [Back]
28. Gisl. Surs. S. 15, 18. [Back]
29. Viga-Gl. S., 5, 9, 19, 26. [Back]
30. Adam of Bremen: de situ Daniæ, 233. The name Fricco which here occurs, can hardly refer to any other god than Freyr. [Back]
31. Ol. Tr. S. in Fornm. S. 173. [Back]
32. Ol. Tr. S. Skalh. II. 49. [Back]
33. Rafnk. Freysg. S. pp. 4, 6, 11. [Back]
34. Vatnsd. S. 34. [Back]
35. Hervarar S. 14. [Back]
36. "Um kveldit óru heitstrengingar; var framleiddr sónargölltr, lögðu menn þar á hendr sinar, ok strengðu menn á heit at bragarfulli." The O. Edda: Helgakviða Hjörvarðs-sonar, 30. [Back]
37. Friðþjófs S. 1. [Back]
38. J. Grimm: Deut. Myth. pp. 210, 212. [Back]
39. The O. Edda: Sigrdrifumál, 4. [Back]
40. Ib.: Oddrúnargrátr, 10. [Back]
41. Völsúnga S. 2. [Back]
42. Hálfs S. 1. [Back]
43. Ol. Tr. S. in Fornm. S. 217, 170. [Back]
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