Notes and Elucidations
Notes to the First Canto
Specimen of the metre in the original.
Et Sagn fuld vaerd at höre
Med gamle Runer staaer;
Laaner mig Eders Oere!
Mens jeg Guldharpen slaaer.
Hvad i de mörke Skrifter
Er sat med sindrig Hu
Om Asernes Bedrifter,
Det vil jeg tolke nu.
The eight first Cantos, in the original, are written in the same metre. In my translation, as will be seen, I have indulged in greater variety.
Notes to the Second Canto
Specimen of the metre in the original.
Com Thor med vaagent Oere
Ru tröstig sad i̱ Mag,
Da fik han snart at höre
Et svart og vaeldigt Brag, etc.
Notes to the Third Canto
Specimen of the metre in the original.
En Saga fast utroli̱g
Jeg nu kundgi̱öre maa;
Mod Utgards fierne Boli̱g
Vilde de Kaemper gaae.
Notes to the Fourth Canto
Specimen of the original.
Da laa ret for hans Oeje
Den store Utgardstad;
Det kunde vel fornöie,
Han blev i Hu saa glad.
For this Canto, I have adopted a metre something similar to that used in Bürger’s Leonora.
Notes to the Fifth Canto
Specimen of the original.
Da ved de brede Borde
De Kaemper rundt nu sad,
Tog Loke snilt ti̱l Orde,
Den muntre Usa glad, etc.
and in another place,
Que cosa puede haber con que se iguale
La paciencia de un gato enamorado?
Thor answers:
They were not women;
They were she-wolves;
They attacked me with iron clubs.
The meaning of this, according to Finn Magnussen, is, that the noxious vapours and tempest on Hlesey were dispersed by a thunderstorm; and the iron clubs denote hailstones.
Notes to the Sixth Canto
Specimen of the original.
Da nu den Helt hi̱n svare
Midt udi Marken stod,
Alt under Himlen klare,
Med Blomster ved sin Fod, etc.
The Author has adhered closely to the prosaic Edda in his narration of Thor’s adventure in Utgard.
With respect to the two Loks, and the difference between them, it is not a little curious to find that in the gospel of Nicodemus (one of those rejected by the council of Nice, chap. xx, verses 2 and following), Satan and the prince of hell are described as two distinct persons; and when Satan informs the latter, that he has achieved for him a great conquest, by bringing captive to his realm no less a personage than Jesus Christ, the prince of hell, instead of thanking Satan for that service, loads him with reproaches for his unpardonable thoughtlessness, in bringing into his dominions a person by whom he (the prince of hell) had sustained a serious detriment, in the loss of sundry souls, whom Jesus Christ, in escaping from hell, had carried off with him, and who, but for that visit, would still have remained there.
It is singular that this comparison should have escaped the notice, not only of Finn Magnussen, but that of all the other commentators of the Edda, when discussing the subject of the two Loks. I stumbled by mere chance three years ago on a copy of the apocryphal New Testament in German, and on reading the chapter above quoted, the idea of this analogy immediately and forcibly struck me.
Notes to the Seventh Canto
Specimen of the original.
Thor monne sig omgiorde,
Og kasted vidt sit Blik;
De rige, fede Hiorde
Saa stadigt rundt ham gik.
and the words
“Whose cheek but emulates the peach’s bloom,
“Whose breath the hyacinth’s perfume,”
occurring to my memory, I made no scruple of adopting them, and I am sure my readers will view with an indulgent eye this plagiarism.
Ου τοι, τεκνον εμον, δεδοται πολεμηια εργα, etc.
Notes to the Eighth Canto
Specimen of the original.
Gud Thor, den Understaerke,
Var ti̱t i̱ Hu saa gram;
Han lod sig i̱ntet maerke,
Dog tyktes det ham Skam,
At Jetter ham turde giaekke, etc.
By way of variety, I have adopted a trochaic metre for my translation of this Canto.
Another very ingenious allegory lies in the nature of the nourishment used by Odin at the banquet of Valhalla. In the younger or prosaic Edda it is written, “The food that comes to his (Odin’s) share, he gives to his two wolves, Gere and Freke. He himself requires no solid food, for wine is to him both meat and drink.” In the elder or poetic Edda it is thus written in the chapter called Grimnismal:
“The warlike highly honoured
Father of heroes gives his food
To Gere and to Freke;
For by wine alone
Is the glorious Odin nourish’d.”
By this is meant, that in battle the spirits of the slain mount to heaven (Odin), while their bodies remain a prey to wolves, and other beasts of prey. Spirits are typified by wine, the most spirituous of all fermented liquors.
The above quotations from the two Eddas afford, perhaps, the best illustration of the difference of their respective styles.
Notes to the Ninth Canto
Specimen of the original.
Ormen laa paa salten Bund i̱ Havet,
Straengt i Dybets Faengsel avet,
Bag Steenplanterne begravet.
Over ham flöd fri og dristig Hvalen,
Men i mörke Bölgedalen
Beed han slugen sig i Halen, etc.
and so on in tercets. I have preferred the heroic couplet for my translation.
Notes to the Tenth Canto
Specimen of the original.
I Valaskialf sad Loke laenge,
Han kieded sig, lod Hovdet haenge,
Ei Valhals Glaeder meer ham smage.
Man seer ham selv Saehrimner vrage;
Han bittert leer og spotter Guder;
and so on in tercets and couplets. I have adopted a free but rhymed metre for my translation.
Notes to the Eleventh Canto
Specimen of the original.
Tilgiv tvungne
Trael af Elskov!
At han dig atter
Astsael finder:
Bil du ei̱ vorde
Billiens Frister,
Bri̱nge du Brand i
Blodet aldrig.
I have given two translations of this Canto, one of which is an attempt to imitate the metre of the original, in which Œhlenschläger has successfully imitated the alliterative metre of the Icelandic poetry.
Notes to the Twelfth Canto
Specimen of the original.
Han sad i Hallen og taenkte derpaa,
Hans Haevn ham glaedte saa saare:
Naar Sif sig nu speiler i blanken Aa,
Da faelder hun modige Taare.
I have adopted a similar metre to the original in my translation of this Canto, but with greater prodigality of rhyme, the middle rhymes being only used by the author in the nine last stanzas.
Notes to the Thirteenth Canto
Specimen of the original.
As-Odin ud med Hænir drog,
Og med Loke, den Svend i Ophav staerk;
De Menneskeskikkelser dem paatog.
(Vil du kiaende di̱n Mand, pröv selv hans Vaerk.)
Af at sidde paa Stol i Hlidskialfs Slot
Var Odin traet, den opmaerksomme Drot;
Som Vandringsmand, i Skyggernes Löv
Han aander, og föler selv sig Stöv, etc.
In my translation of this Canto, I have adopted as a metre a stanza of eight lines, generally of ten syllables each, but admitting occasionally lines of eight or twelve syllables; the arrangement of the rhymes is varied. It is in fact exactly the same metre as that adopted by Schiller, in his translation of the second and fourth Books of the Æneid, and by Wieland, in his poem of Idris and Zenide.
Notes to the Fourteenth Canto
Specimen of the original.
Som Vinden blaeser hen den lette Sky,
Saa svinder hver Bedrift i Evigheden;
Sen Bölge sank, een reiser sig paa ny,
Og Kampen leger leflende med Freden;
Snart blinke Svaerd, snart ruste de i Skeden.
Hvad er det alt? Et flygtigt Giöglemöde,
En Sommerfugl, som parred sig—og döde.
I much wished to adopt, as a metre for the translation of this Canto, the Spenserian stanza, but I found it too difficult. I therefore adopted a metre of my own invention, viz., a stanza of nine lines, eight of which have ten syllables, and the ninth, which rhymes with the sixth and eighth, has twelve. The arrangement of the rhyme is regular throughout, and it appears to me that this metre has something of the march and harmony of the Spenserian stanza.
The human race has often been compared by poets to a tree, and the generations of mankind to its leaves. Homer has,
Ὁιη τῶν φυλλῶν γενεη τοιηδε και ανδρῶν.
Notes to the Fifteenth Canto
Specimen of the original.
Da de höje Valhals Guder
Blomstred end i Oestens Land,
Fiernt i Asien paa Bierget,
Naer det skiönne Ginistan:
For de hid til Norden droge,
Mod den kolde Klippeblok,
Hvor de sloge
Jetters Haer og Dvaerges Flok.
The metre I have adopted for my translation of this Canto is of my own invention; it may be thought fantastic, but in its trochaic form it has something of the march of the original. I leave the first, third, and fifth line unrhymed, with a double close.
It seems to me that the appellation Goth was not known in Scandinavia previous to the invasion of the Asar, and that these last assumed the name of Goths (good and brave men), when they introduced their religion into that country. This idea leads me also to surmise, that as long as the Asar remained in Asia, the name Hrimthusser (frost-giant), and not Jetter or Jotun, was applied to the evil spirits of their mythology; and that it was not until after their grand immigration into Scandinavia, under the command of the historical Odin, that the term Jetter or Jotun (which was the national appellation of the aborigines of Scandinavia) was, in consequence of the long and bitter wars between the Asar and Jetter, and of the national hatred arising therefrom, applied by the Asar to those malevolent spirits, who, as they supposed, assisted their enemies, the Jetter. The self-love of all nations leads them to assume, that they are the favourites of the good gods, and that the evil spirits are the abettors, instigators, and coadjutors of their enemies; and even in our time, as has been wittily remarked by Washington Irving, a number of the good sort of people in England, during the war against revolutionary France, thought that somehow or other God Almighty was on the side of the English government. As a further confirmation of my conjecture that the word Goth was unknown to the Scandinavian peninsula, until introduced there by the Asar, I cite the following passage from a Saga, written in the Icelandic or ancient Scandinavian tongue:
En dha voru dhessi lönd er Asia menn bygdu köllud Godlönd, en fólkid Godjod. Odin ok hans synir voru slórum vitrir ok fjölkunnigir, fagrir at álitum, og sterkir át afli. Margir adrir i dheirra ætt voru miklir afburdbarmenn, medh ymisligum algerleik, og nokkura af dheim tóku menn til at blóta og trúa á, ok kölludhu godh sin.
Translated thus:
Then this land, which Asia’s people took possession of, was called Godland, and the people Godjod. Odin and his sons were very wise and skilled in many things, fair in aspect, and strong limbed. Many of their race were men of great strength and of divers perfections, and the people began to worship some of them, and call them their gods.
Notes to the Sixteenth Canto
Specimen of the metre.
Mens Ydun var i̱ Faengsel, stod Valhal som en Grav,
En frugtbar Oee var opslugt af baelmörken Hav
I Borgens öde Haller hver Gud sad i sin Vraa,
Og som en Marmelstötte sti̱vt hen for sig saae.
The metre I have adopted for the translation of this Canto is somewhat more regular than that of the original: mine is in lines of thirteen syllables each: a slight pause after the seventh syllable will give the rhythm required.
Notes to the Seventeenth Canto
Specimen of the metre.
Dybt udi Fieldehallen et Kammer blev han vaer;
En deilig Mö han öined paa Bolstrene, klar:
I söden Sövn hun slumred med stille Pigesind,
Og Morgenröden blomstred paa hendes Liliekind.
In my translation of this and of the two next Cantos, I have adopted, as a metre, the line of fourteen syllables.
Notes to the Eighteenth Canto
Specimen of the metre.
Da ilte dem imöde Freiers gode Skosvend,
Vel Skirnir man ham naevner. Nu er hun her igien,
Til Guderne han raabte, da han dem kunde see,
Nu Ydun er i Valhal: endt er nu Asernes Vee!
The nature and attributes of all the gods and goddesses seated at the banquet of Valhalla, are so fully detailed in the text, that notes to this Canto are almost superfluous.
Notes to the Nineteenth Canto
Specimen of the metre.
Fra Valaskialf gik Odin nu i den naeste Hal;
Der vented ham Einheriar, de stod i tusindtal:
Syn, den gode Vogterske, vidt aabned Portens Flöi̱,
Da traadte mellem Kaemper Odin den Herre saa höi.
Notes to the Twentieth Canto
Specimen of the metre.
Da Asaskokke
I taette Flokke
Fra Oesten rede,
Med Svaerd af Skede, etc.
I have chosen the octosyllabic couplet for my translation.
The mythologic formation of the island of Sealand (of which Copenhagen is the present capital), and which forms the subject of this Canto, is thus given in the poetic Edda:
“Gladly drew Gefion
From the powerful Gyllfe
Denmark’s annexation,
So that it smoked after the springing oxen.
Four heads and eight eyes
Had the oxen, who drew
The piece of earth after them,
To form the favourite island.”
Notes to the Twenty-First Canto
In the original, this Canto is written in the classic hexameter, which seems to suit wonderfully well the Danish and Swedish languages.
Specimen of the metre.
Men da Maane bag Field var flygtet, haeftig forfulgt af
Maanegarm, den bevingede Trold, som stedse den aengster,
Meest usynlig for Menneskers Bli̱k, dog stundum i Regnsky
Synlig som Ulv, naar i Dunsterne brun han viser sit Hoved.
I have given my translation in the ten syllabled heroic couplet.
Notes to the Twenty-Second Canto
Specimen of the metre.
Du Ungersvend, som sukker taus med blegen Ki̱nd,
Fordi ei Freya signer di̱t Bryst,
Fordi du ei kan böi̱e stolten Piges Si̱nd, etc.
In stanzas of eight lines.
In my translation I have adopted the ottava rima.
Notes to the Twenty-Third Canto
Specimen of the metre.
Nu i̱lte Ski̱rnir, hvad han kunde,
Ned ad den ski̱önne Regnbuerand,
Hen over Jordens dunkle Lunde,
Da kom han til Troldkaemveland.
Det var som Vinden, Vei̱en over:
Den i̱ngen Bom kan byde Stöv;
Det var som Blaest paa Havets Vover,
Der kruser Bölgens sorte Top.
In the metre I have adopted for this Canto, I have introduced occasionally anapests, for the sake of greater variety.
In this Canto the poet has diverged considerably from either Edda, and has boldly and felicitously sketched a plan of his own, into which, however, he has interwoven ideas taken from three different Cantos of the poetic Edda: viz Harbard’s song; Alvismal (discourse of Alvis); Skirnisfor (journey of Skirnir). In the first, Harbard’s song, it is Thor, and not Skirnir, who enters into a dialogue with Harbard, whom he meets at the fiord. In the second, Alvismal, the subject of the Canto is a dialogue between Thor and the dwarf Alvis (all-wise), wherein the latter makes a pompous display of his learning, by giving definitions and synonymes of earth, heaven, wind, fire, nearly in the same manner that Skirnir does in this Canto. In the third, Skirnir’s journey, wherein Skirnir is sent by Frey to propose marriage to Gerda, are mentioned the ferocious dogs which guard the dwelling of giant Gymer, the father of Gerda.
[A] Probably because Thor had taken off his shoes, in order to ford the stream.
Extract from the Hervara Saga in the original Icelandic, with a literal translation.
| Heiman ék fór, | From home I went, |
| Heiman ék ferdadist; | From home I travelled, |
| Sá ék á veg vega: | Saw I on way ways: |
| Vegr var undir; | The way was under, |
| Vegr var yfir, | The way was over, |
| Ok ver gá alla: | And the way over all; |
| Heidrekr kongr! | Heidrek king! |
| Hyggtu at gatu? | Guessest thou the riddle? |
| Gód er gáta dhin, | Good is riddle thine, |
| Gestr blindi! | Gestur blind! |
| Gétit er dheirrar: | Guessed is it: |
| Fugl dhar yfir fló; | Bird there over flew; |
| Fiskr dhar undir svam | Fish there under swam |
| Fórtu á brú. | Thyself went on bridge. |
Notes to the Twenty-Fourth Canto
This Canto in the original is written in the classic hexameter.
Specimen.
Da nu Skirni̱r blev vaer den ovladtsölverne Laage,
Hvor med kulsort Glands ham en Broes glatdannede Steenkul
Veien viste; da gik han derind; og brat han befandt sig
Atter i fri Luft. Himlen var blaa med utallige Stierner, etc.
I have chosen for my translation our heroic couplet.
In this Canto the poet has diverged considerably from the chapter in the poetic Edda, called the Skirnisfor, which treats of the same subject. In Œhlenschläger’s poem, as has been seen, Skirnir makes use of the most gentle and insinuating means of persuasion to induce Gerda to give ear to his proposal; and the stratagem of Frey’s likeness conveyed from the brook into Gerda’s basin is entirely the poet’s own concetto, and it is, I think, a very ingenious one: whereas, in the Edda, Skirnir makes use of the most terrible threats and sinister predictions, in order to force Gerda to accede to his master’s wishes; and at length he succeeds in terrifying her into submission: among other threats, which are not of the most decent nature, he tells her that she shall either be wedded to a frightful three-headed Goblin of the Hrimthussar race, or pine a maid, tormented with the most violent desires, which cannot be gratified.
Note to the Twenty-Fifth Canto
In the original, the metre of this Canto is written in imitation of one much used in the ancient Danish ballads, which, admitting a refrain that seems to have little or no connection with the substance of the ballad, continue it in every stanza throughout the piece. Here are three different refrains used in succession throughout the whole Canto, except in the two last stanzas.
Specimen.
Da Skirnir vaagned i naeste Gry,
(Solstraalen i Skyen sig bader)
Da stod med Venlighed ved hans Ly
Biergtrolden i̱ Pandserplader.
Som Guldbrandsdölen saa staerk og lang
(De Fugle quiddre paa Grene)
I Haanden bar han en sortbraendt Stang,
Dog stod han der ei allene.
Ham fulgte trolig den Datter huld;
(Dugdraaben glindser paa Blommen)
Som Ranken omslynger den runkne Bul,
Hun var med Faderen kommen.
Et Baeger hun ind for Guden bar,
(Solstraalen i Skyen sig bader), etc.
I have followed exactly the same plan in my translation.
Note to the Twenty-Sixth Canto
This Canto in the original is written in the octosyllabic couplet. I have adopted the same metre for the translation.
Specimen of the metre.
Nu blev der Fryd i Valhals Gaard
I fine Vadmel, blöde Maar,
Den skiönne Bi̱ergets Pige foer
Fra Fieldet og fra grönnen Jord.
Ad Bifrost drog den unge Brud,
I Luften liig, et Sti̱erneskud.
Notes to the Twenty-Seventh Canto
Specimen of the metre in the original.
I haveṯ stander Oeen;
Nu Hlesen kun er liden,
Thi Bölgerne med Ti̱den
Har plöieṯ den i̱ Söen;
Men stor i Oldti̱ds Dage
Den knei̱sed höi̱ og brat,
Og ṯrodsed Nordens Drage,
Deṯ sorṯe Kaṯṯegaṯ.
The subject of this Canto is taken from the celebrated chapter in the poetic Edda, called “Ægir’s feast” or “Lok’s scurrility,” to account for the origin, object and meaning of which, has puzzled all the commentators of the Edda. The most simple éclaircissement thereof seems to be that of Finn Magnussen, who thinks that the author of it may have been a sort of Scandinavian Lucian, who wished to throw a sly ridicule on the gods of his country. Œhlenschläger has varied, augmented, and embellished the subject with imagery and embroidery of his own, and has omitted certain parts of somewhat too obscene a nature.
Notes to the Twenty-Eighth Canto
The metre in the original is in couplets as follows:
Hen Loke flöd i Havet, som Orm, sli̱meṯ blaa,
Alle de faele Syner han klart paa Dybeṯ saae.
Han strakte sig med Angest, han bugṯed sig med Iil.
Paa Kysten fulgte Bonden med Oei̱et ham en Mi̱i̱l.
The metre I have adopted for the translation of this Canto is the couplet of lines of fourteen syllables occasionally interspersed with couplets of thirteen syllables. In reading the latter, a pause should be made after the seventh syllable. This metre resembles that of the original, and has much of its prosaic and familiar march. This Canto and the next are based on the chapter of the poetic Edda, called Thrymsqvida.
Notes to the Twenty-Ninth Canto
Specimen of the metre in the original.
Ru Asaṯhor
Med Loke foer
Paa Gyldenkarm
Ti̱l Fieldets Sṯeen;
Og Loke sad
I Hierṯeṯ glad
Ved Gudens Harm,
Ti̱l Jeṯṯers Meen.
Saa reiste de frem medens Klippen skialv,
Med en gabende Klöfṯ Steenbierget sprak,
Og den Hnle saa sort kun aabned sig halv,
Og en Lue med Gni̱st gi̱ennem Mulmeṯ trak.
I have adopted for the translation of this Canto a metre, alternatively trochaic and anapestic.
The following explanation of the foregoing mythe is given by the Swedish poet Ling:
The loss of Thor’s hammer, and its remaining eight miles under ground in the hands of Thrymur the frost giant, denotes the impotence or inactivity of the electrical fluid during the eight months’ winter of the northern regions. The invitation of Thrymur to Freya typifies the struggle of nature at the approach of spring, to renew its vitality.
Stuhr’s opinion of this mythe is much the same as that of Ling. He thinks it to be a hymn in honour of spring, typified by Freya. Thor borrows Freya’s attire, i.e. in spring the electrical heat resumes its force. Thor travels with Loptur (the air) to Thrymur. They are furnished with a copious repast; i.e. at the approach of and by the influence of spring, the unfruitfulness of the earth ceases. When Asa-Lok speaks of the eight nights of longing passed by the pretended Freya, it means the progressive changes undergone by the polar atmosphere during the eight winter months, before the heat finally obtains the mastery. The immense appetite and quantity of mead drank by Thor denote the absorption of the earth’s vapours by the electrical fire of summer, and the death of Thrymur denotes the total disappearance of winter. It is scarcely necessary to remind the reader, that Miölner, the hammer of Thor, typifies, almost everywhere, thunder, or the electrical fire and its effects.
In the Greek poem of Nonnus, called the Dionysiacs, or Actions of Bacchus, we find a mythe having no doubt the same signification as that of the Thrymsqvida. Jupiter at the approach of winter loses his thunderbolts, which fall into the hands of the giant Typhon. He recovers them in spring, by means of a stratagem of Cadmus, and soon after makes use of them to discomfit and slay the giant Typhon.
Note to the Thirtieth Canto
In the original this Canto is written in terza rima as follows.
Da Thor nu sti̱lle sad, og endt var Kampen,
Da steeg en langsom Rög af Jeṯṯeblodeṯ,
Og hvid og tyk oplöftede sig Dampen.
Da ski̱aelved Loke brat og tabte Modeṯ, etc.
Besides the difficulty of the terza rima, it is a metre not very well suited to the genius of the English language. I have, therefore, given my translation of this Canto in blank verse, following the example of Carey in his version of Dante.
The subject of this Canto seems taken partly from some strophes in the Voluspâ, and partly from the Vaftrudnismal, which are the names of two of the most important chapters of the poetic Edda.
This Canto does not require notes, but as it may amuse the reader to compare the history of the destruction and reproduction of the world with the account thereof given in the Edda, I here subjoin some extracts from the two chapters above mentioned, following Finn Magnussen’s translation. I think the reader will remark some resemblance between certain parts of this Canto and certain parts of the Apocalypse. The battle between Thor and the Serpent Jormundgard is not unlike the combat between the Archangel Michael and the great dragon; and the palace of Gimle, the future abode of the blessed, presents an image of the new Jerusalem.
Extracts From the Vaftrudnismal — (Discourse of Vaftrudner)
The wolf (Fenris) shall swallow up
The father of time (Odin);
But Vidar shall avenge him,
And tear the monster’s jaws asunder.
…
A daughter shall be born
Of the old sun,104
Before Fenris swallows her up:
After the fall of the gods
The daughter shall travel
On the same course as her mother did.
…
Lif and Liftrasir
Remain conceal’d in the wood (Hoddmimer);
They are nourished by the morning dew,
And from them the new race shall spring.
…
When the fire (of Surtur) shall be extinguish’d,
Vidar shall construct anew
The dwellings of the gods.
…
Then finally shall peace
Succeed to the long strife.
Extracts From the Voluspa — (Vala’s Prophecy)
Loud howls the monster (the dog Garm)
At the cavern of Gnypa;
The wolf (Fenris) shall break his chain.
…
Brother shall fight with brother
And slay each other:
The bonds of affection and parentage
Shall be rent asunder:
Evil reigns in the world;
Libidinous excess triumphs;
The sword, the axe
Shall be in constant employ:
Shields shall be cloven;
Times of tempest, of wolfish ferocity,
Before the world finally ends;
No man shall spare his neighbour.
…
Naglefar moves forward
With keel gliding from the East;
Lok steers it.
…
Surtur compelling flames
Advances from the south!
…
The earth sinks into the deep!
The stars disappear from heaven!
Volumes of fire and smoke
Consume the all-nourishing tree (Yggdrassil)
Flames mounting on high
Consume heaven itself.
…
And behold arises a second time
The earth from the sea!
…
The Asar shall meet again
On the plains of Ida;
There shall again
Wonderful tablets of gold
Be found in the grass.
…
Fields unsown
Shall produce corn;
All evil vanish;
Balder return;
He and Hœdur shall dwell
In Odin’s holy abode.
…
A palace is seen
Brighter than the sun
Roof’d with gold
Standing on Gimle!
Therein shall dwell
Virtuous people,
And enjoy happiness
For ever and ever!
Etymologies Omitted in the Catalogue
Lok from locka (to tempt).
Hofvarpur, name of the steed of Gna, from hof (hoof), hvarpa (to throw out).
Notes
13 In the heathen time there was a magnificent temple at Upsala. The poet here probably alludes to some earthquake, or convulsion of nature, which damaged or destroyed it, and which was therefore supposed to be occasioned by Utgard-Lok, the chief of the giants.
14 This Ash is the ash-tree Yggdrassil. See the Catalogue of proper names.
15 The Valkyrior.
16 By the seven virgins are no doubt personified the seven colours of the rainbow.
17 By the mythe of the death and resuscitation of Thor’s goats, is meant probably the death of nature in winter, and her resuscitation in spring. By the marrow eaten by Tialfe, and the lameness of the goat occasioned thereby, it is meant, that if the seed or germ of reproduction in animals or plants be damaged or destroyed, the reproduction becomes imperfect, or impossible.
18 The pact between Niord and Ægir means, that when the sea is frozen by the north wind, the weather is perfectly calm, and the sea itself passable as dry land.
19 What this hut turns out to be, is explained in the second Canto.
20 Goblin-land: in the original Troldkæmpeland, from trold (goblin) kæmpe (warrior) and land (land). The giants are often called Troldkæmper. Who Skrymur turns out to be, is explained in the sixth Canto.
21 Respecting this glove, the following is Finn Magnussen’s idea of the mythe. Skrymur is the frost-giant, personification of winter. Thor reposing in the glove denotes the beginning of winter, when the thunder or thunderer may be said to rest therein, allegorically (there being no thunder in winter). This hieroglyph is very ancient, inasmuch as Icelandic word vöttr (glove) proceeds probably from vetr (winter); the glove being the part of dress particularly appropriate to and only used in winter in those times, as the muff is still, in northern Europe.
22 Respecting Skrymur’s wallet, which Thor is unable to untie or open, Finn Magnussen says: “I think this mythe is enigmatical, and alludes to winter (the frost-giant), which may be said to prevent man from getting his food from the earth, by envelopping it in ice.” In the prosaic Edda, Utgard-Lok says, in explaining to Thor his magic spells, “The wallet I gave to you, was made fast with an iron girdle;” now there is a close analogy between the words denoting ice and iron in many of the Gothic languages. Ex: in Icelandic, is (ice) isarn (iron); in German, eis (ice) eisen (iron); in Dutch, ijs (ice) ijzer (iron); in Anglo-Saxon, is (ice) isen (iron).
23 The ancient northmen, who oriented themselves with the help of the mountains, figured to themselves the north as lying towards our east or north-east. This will serve to explain the phrase, “mountains vast which towards the north appear.” The mountains lie really towards the east. Towards the north, on the contrary, the land becomes less and less elevated, as you draw near the pole.
24 The name of this giantess is Angurbod: see the Catalogue of proper Names.
25 Midgard’s snake is the serpent Jormundgard, type of the ocean, which surrounds the earth (Midgard). According to Ling, a Swedish poet, the mythe of Lok and his three offspring, Fenris, Hela and Jormundgard, may be thus explained. Fenris denotes what is destructive or prejudicial in Fire: Hela denotes the deleterious qualities of the Earth, in decomposing substances and causing rottenness: Jormundgard denotes the destructive qualities of Water: all these are caused by the action of Air (Lok or Loptur) mixing with Angurbod (impurity). The amour of Asa-Lok and Angurbod has some resemblance to the amour of the giant Typhon with Echidna, which produced the Chimera, Cerberus and Hydra of the Greek mythology.
26 The Hell of the Christians is always represented by theologians as a place of eternal fire; yet in the country where the religion of Odin prevailed, the inhabitants, from ancient custom, could not refrain from considering it sometimes as a place of eternal cold. At least, the idea sometimes breaks out in the ballads composed long after the introduction of Christianity. In a Scottish ballad, for instance, inserted by Walter Scott in his “Minstrelsey of the Scottish Border,” there is the following stanza:
O whaten a mountain is yon, she said,
All so dreary wi’ frost and snow?
O yon is the mountain of Hell, he cried,
Where you and I must go.
27 This vast and empty space is Ginnungagap.
28 The giantess Betsla. The Author, in his cosmogony, has adhered closely to the Edda.
29 Who this Goblin turns out to be, is explained in the next Canto.
30 Little Thumb; so I translate Tommeliden, the name of Utgard-Lok’s racer; who he, the drinking-horn presented to Thor, the cat, and the old woman turn out be, all this is explained in the next Canto.
31 I do not find in the Edda any mention of this feat; it is probably the poet’s own invention, and meant as a pendant to the episode of Mars and Venus.
32 Let no one be astonished, that the car of the goddess of love should be drawn by cats. Cats are the most ardent and persevering of lovers. The celebrated Spanish poet Lope de Vega has said of them,
Los gatos en efeto
Son del amor el indice perfeto.
33 This combat between Thor and the giantesses on the rocky isle is alluded to in the elder or poetic Edda, in the chapter called “Harbard’s song.” Harbard makes Thor the following reproach, when the latter tells him that he had beaten and put to flight the giantesses on the isle of Hlesey:
Shamefully didst thou act, O Thor!
When thou didst beat women.
34 The apple of Iduna. See the Catalogue.
35 The circumstance of the dwarf’s face being veiled, means, that the thought of Utgard-Lok could not be divined by Thor.
36 It was a saying in the pagan time, when the ebb began, “Thor drinks.”
37 In amplifying this stanza, I could not avoid borrowing something from Mason, in that beautiful chorus of Elfrida, beginning,
“Say! will no white-robed son of light,”
38 The classical reader will be reminded in this passage of the speech of Jupiter to Venus, when she is wounded by Diomed:
39 The serpent Jormundgard, type of humidity and its dangerous effects; it is a happy idea of the poet to imagine all the serpent kind engendered by him.
In every mythology the serpent seems to be the emblem of humidity and its noxious qualities. The fable of Jormundgard has evidently given rise to the supposed existence of the kraken, or monstrous sea-serpent.
40 According to the Scandinavian belief, the half of those who fell in battle fell to the share of Odin, and the other half to Freya. Finn Magnussen thinks this to be a mistake, and that by Freya is meant Frigga, the wife of Odin. The allegory then becomes more clear: Odin typifies the heavens, Frigga the earth; the spirits of the slain ascend to Odin, their bodies remain with Frigga.
41 By Loptur’s daughter is no doubt meant the queen of death, Hela.
This adventure of Thor with the serpent and giant Hymir is recounted in the prosaic Edda.
The story of Thor losing his hammer Miölner in the scales of the body of the serpent Jormundgard has a resemblance to the story of Jupiter losing his thunderbolts, and their falling into the hands of the giant Typhon, often represented as a dragon. Typhon, in Greek, means either the giant of that name, or a whirlpool: now Jormundgard typifies the ocean, and Miölner, the thunderbolt. The Grecian mythe is to be found in the first and second Cantos of the Dionysiacs, or triumphs of Bacchus, in the celebrated Greek poem of Nonnus. These two mythes have a still closer resemblance in their denouement, as will be seen by a reference to the Notes of the 29th Canto of this work.
42 Lassie; the liberty of using a Scottish word may well be allowed in a translation from the Danish, since there is so much affinity between the Danish and the Lowland Scotch languages.
43 By leek and by crout: a common method of swearing among the Scandinavians to this day.
44 Bauta-sten means a tombstone, or funeral monument.
45 Odin’s eye, i.e. the sun.
46 By this description, the poet has probably meant to designate the fossil formations of the earth.
47 The new hair made for Sif may possibly represent a meteor, comet, or shooting star, or perhaps lightning, as connected with thunder (Thor). Finn Magnussen thinks that, in this mythe, Sif typifies the earth, and her hair the corn, which is cut down by Lok (time), and reproduced and gilded by him at the instigation of Thor; i.e. the electrical heat of summer ripening the corn.
48 Jarl: a title of nobility in Norway, corresponding to that of count; the English title, earl, is derived therefrom.
49 This eagle is the giant Thiasse, who took that form, in order to get Asa-Lok into his power, and compel him to carry off Iduna, the guardian of the apples of immortality, from Asagard.
50 Alla lumaca; so the Italians term that style of wreathing the hair.
51 In this stanza the poet means probably to convey the idea, that whoever wishes to succeed in his profession, whatever it be, must aim at excellence and immortality.
52 Kattegat means Passage of the Cat, so called from its danger, arising from the frequency of tempests. The poet begins here to trace the calamities and deterioration caused to the world by the absence of Iduna.
53 Yggdrassil; see this name in the Alphabetical Catalogue. Yggdrassil, the mythological ash-tree, is called by the Scalds “the tree of life.” There is a Christmas ceremony at this day in Germany, wherein an artificial tree, generally made of fir, bears on its branches various little presents for children, for which they draw lots. May not this tree trace its origin from Yggdrassil, the tree of life, which distributes to the human race their different lots?
54 Odin’s ravens; their names are Hugin (thought), and Munin (memory). Finn Magnussen thus explains the mythe of the rape of Iduna by the giant Thiasse:
Iduna represents the mild air of spring, which gives renovated life and animation to all nature. Thiasse represents winter, and the carrying off of Iduna typifies the disappearance of all genial warmth at the approach of winter; her deliverance from the prison of Thiasse denotes the return of spring; Thiasse being burnt to death in the bale-fire of Breidablik, denotes the melting and disappearance of ice by the heat of the sun at the approach of summer. The rape and the deliverance of Iduna are both effectuated through the agency of Asa-Lok, who typifies time and its vacillating nature, now impelled to good, and now to evil.
55 Vaner: see the article Vaner and Vanaheim in the Alphabetical Catalogue.
56 Ginnistan; by Ginnistan is probably meant Persia or Armenia. My friend Dr. Constancio suggests to me, that the word may be derived from Zend, the actual name of a tribe of Curds, and signifying in Persian life, living, and figuratively vigorous. The word Zend, with the addition of stan (country, in Persian), comes very near the word Ginnistan.
57 The circumstance of Niord being given as a hostage to the Asar pleads in favour of the hypothesis I have already given, namely, that Niord and his children Frey and Freya were Assyrian or Persian divinities, adopted by the Asar, and incorporated in their religion. Frey, the son of Niord, typifies the sun at the winter solstice, and the festivities of the new year in the pagan time were instituted to do him honour. His father Niord presides over the winds and waves; but Balder also typifies the sun (at its highest elevation), and Ægir is the god of the sea. The fact is, that in the Scandinavian mythology there are two sun-gods and two gods of the sea. The explanation of this seeming incongruity is not difficult. Among the Asar, Balder was the sun god, and Ægir the god of the sea; but among the Vaner, Niord was the god of the winds and waves, Frey typified the sun, and his sister Freya the moon. When the political alliance took place between the Asar and the Vaner, the former adopted some of the divinities of the latter, and in consequence of this amalgamation, Niord, Frey and Freya received suitable posts in the Gothic pantheon. It is remarkable, that among the ancient Egyptians the sun was called Phré. Among the Greeks, Bacchus often typified the sun, and by the Romans he was called Liber, which has exactly the same meaning as the word Frey, viz. free.
58 By Niord’s drying up marshes and dispelling vapours may be meant the salubrious effects of the north wind.
59 Odur; this description will remind the classical reader of Bacchus.
60 This Canto begins with a description of the fatal consequences of the absence of Iduna: all the pleasures of Valhalla are suspended. According to Finn Magnussen, the mythe of Skada’s entry into Valhalla may be thus interpreted: Skada here typifies the violent winds and capricious temperature of the commencement of spring, which proceeds from winter, as Skada does from her father, the frost-giant Thiasse. Though she enters Valhalla with violent designs, she becomes pacified at the sight of Balder (the sun at the summer solstice). Thus doth spring, commencing with tempests, become appeased and calm, from the increasing heat of the sun at the beginning of summer. The English reader will be here reminded of the old English proverb: “Spring comes in like a lion, and goes out like a lamb.”
61 Hildur’s favourite sport; i.e. war. See this name in the Catalogue.
62 The story of the game of blind man’s buff, called by the Northmen blind cow, in which Skada catches Niord, and is united to him in marriage, is borrowed from the prosaic Edda. I can find no satisfactory solution of this mythe; it may mean, however, that the spring weather, after much shuffling and shifting about, settles down at last into a mild serenity and constancy (during summer). But the matrimonial bliss of Niord and his consort will not be of long duration. Towards the autumnal equinox, Skada’s capricious temper will break out, she will begin her mischievous pranks again, and set winds and waves by the ears as usual. Skada’s catching Niord by the leg in the game of blind man’s buff, may mean the force of a tempest, which sometimes lifts men off their legs.
63 That the Jotuns should appear to the Asar to be giants in size, and as having the heads of wolves, bears, etc., has been accounted for in my preface to this work, which I hope the reader will consult and bear in mind.
64 Of all the giant race, the Hrimthusser were reckoned the most ferocious, rough, and uncouth. The names of Horseleg and Goatbeard are humourously given by the poet to two of them, whom he represents as testifying their admiration of Gerda in a clownish and indelicate manner.
65 This change was the consequence of the return of Iduna to Valhalla.
66 In the original, Blaamandsland (blue man’s land): so Africa was called by the Scandinavians.
67 Alludes to Skirnir’s name, derived from skirna (to clear up, to brighten).
68 Frey is sometimes called Freyr.
69 By this the poet means, no doubt, that the pearl and coral divers, from their being accustomed to remain for a long time under water, are less liable to be drowned than other people.
70 By Ervin’s minster is meant the steeple of the cathedral of Strasburgh, built by Ervin of Steinbach.
71 The nature of the message given by Odin to Hermod has been already related in the 15th Canto.
72 Starkodder was the greatest warrior of his time, and was deified after his death. His name was ever in the greatest veneration among the Scandinavians. Though he killed Oluf, he repented it ever afterwards, and in this poem the poet puts into Oluf’s mouth the generous sentiment, that Starkodder, in killing him and making him die in blood, had perhaps saved him from dying by old age or sickness; in which case, instead of being in Valhalla, he would have risked falling into the hands of Hela. According to the author of this work, Œhlenschläger (who has made Starkodder the subject of a most interesting tragedy), Oluf’s death was revenged by his son Frode Frækne, who clove Starkodder’s scull in single combat. In the above tragedy Frode, after killing Starkodder, renders ample justice to his military talent and exploits, and anticipates, in the following manner, his reception among the heroes of Valhalla:
“Now he’s a god! at the command of Thor
Five hundred forty massive gates of Trudvang,
Each broad and long, and made of bronze, ope wide
With fearful clang; in brilliant armour clad
Five hundred forty heroes from each gate
Rush forth to meet him, and with loud applause
Thus do they greet the chief: All hail! Starkodder!
Thou greatest after Tyr and Asa-Thor!”
73 The purport of this message is explained in the twenty-first Canto. It was to obtain from the dwarfs a magic chain, wherewith to bind Fenris.
74 This butting match between Asa-Lok and one of Thor’s goats was no doubt suggested to the poet (for there is no account of it in either Edda) by the painting or mosaic found in Herculaneum, I believe, or in Pompeii, and which has been made the subject of many a bas-relief, medallion, or cameo: viz. a satyr butting against a goat. To Œhlenschläger may well be applied the line of Haley respecting Ariosto:
“The bard of pathos now, and now of mirth!”
75 The etymology of Sealand, called formerly and more properly Sœlund, is from the Danish words sœ (sea) and lund (grove).
76 Œresund is the appellation for what other nations call the Sound par excellence; for sund means a channel or strait.
77 Horseleg and Goatbeard; names of the two giants mentioned in the 17th Canto as having behaved rudely to Gerda.
78 Quaser in the Icelandic language signifies breath or inspiration. The story of Quaser is probably an oriental one of some poet, who was murdered by those who were jealous of his talents, and were dwarfs in genius compared to him.
79 The story of the stone, which Odin casts among the giants to incite them to discord, resembles much a circumstance mentioned in the poem of Apollonius of Rhodes, called “The Argonauts” in the 3d Canto. “But the giants, springing from the furrows which he had traced, covered with their arms the field he had ploughed. Jason, returning, rushes toward them, and throws amongst them an enormous stone; many are crushed by it; others, disputing for its possession, slay one another.” In fact, the amour of Odin with Gunliod has some sort of resemblance in the beginning to that of Jason and Medea.
80 Freya’s grief for the loss of Odur is related in the 15th Canto. Freya is often termed by the Scalds the “goddess of the golden tear.”
81 Fiord means a creek or arm of the sea running inland; on the coast of Norway the fiords run for a very considerable distance inland; and thus flowing from the sea at the high tide form a contrast with the course of the rivers.
82 The word shoeless foot, in the original nœgne Fod, seems borrowed from the speech of Harbard to Thor, in Harbard’s song in the poetic Edda, wherein he says,
Thou dost not look, as if thou
Three domains possess’d;
[A]Bare legged thou standest
In beggar’s apparel.
83 The remarks on the females of the Jotun race seem likewise borrowed from the same chapter in the poetic Edda:
We had sprightly women,
Were they but gentle;
We had clever women,
Were they but fond of us.
84 Drypsal means Drippinghall.
85 Oppheim means abode above.
86 The original has Svalhjelm (cool helmet), and means a covering to protect the head against the rays of the sun; I have therefore chosen the word umbrella as the most appropriate expression.
87 Alludes to the difference between a fiord and a river.
88 With respect to Gestur and his riddles, they are not to be found in the Edda; but the poet has borrowed the idea from the Hervara Saga, wherein king Heidrek, who had a great talent for divining riddles and enigmas, had a great many proposed to him by Odin, under the disguise of the blind Gestur.
89 The poet, in this line, alludes no doubt to the unclean food often used by the inhabitants of Finmark.
90 This part of Gerda’s speech reminds me of the discourse of the beautiful Marcela, in the XIV chapter, 2d book, part 1st of Don Quixote.
91 Gefion’s strand is the island of Sealand.
92 Skidbladner, name of the bark given by Gerda to Frey. The following is probably the explanation of this mythe. Frey signifies the sun; Gerda, the earth. Skidbladner signifies the clouds or vapours extracted from the earth by the rays of the sun. See Skidbladner in the Alphabetical Catalogue.
93 Hringhorn; name of Balder’s bark. The language of the ancient Scandinavians was highly poetical and metaphorical. A ship was often compared to an animal, and its masts to the horns of the said animal; the masts were made fast with iron rings round their circumference, and this I take to be the surest etymology of the word Hringhorn or Ringhorn. The ships of the Vikings were long and deep, and had usually but one mast.
94 Naglefare: See the Catalogue.
95 It seems to me as if the author has taken this idea from the account given in Cook’s voyages of the women of Otaheite swimming off from the shore to the ship, to look out for lovers among the sailors.
96 I here acknowledge a plagiarism from Dryden, in his quaint translation of the Novimus et qui te in the Third Bucolic of Virgil.
97 Alludes to Thor and his companions’ adventure related in the Second Canto.
98 King Hro founded the town of Roeskild, situate where Leire once stood. Roeskild is about twenty-five English miles distant W. from Copenhagen, and has a magnificent cathedral, which is the cemetery of the Danish kings.
99 Kongebo, means royal residence or palace.
100 Giants’ bane, in Icelandic Jótun bani, name given by the Scalds to Thor, on account of his constant enmity towards the giants.
101 It was the custom, at the marriage ceremony of the ancient Scandinavians in the pagan time, for the betrothed to swear fidelity to each other, in touching the hammer of Thor. May not this account for the ceremony of marriage at Gretna-green being always performed by a blacksmith? The lowland Scots are of Scandinavian origin, and they have preserved many a custom and many a superstition of their ancestors.
102 Respecting Hrugner and Mokkurcalf, please to consult the Alphabetical Catalogue.
103 Gugner, name of Odin’s lance.
104 The sun is feminine in the Gothic languages.