IV.° The Land of the Franks, the Rhineland. As far back as the fifth century the Franks occupied that region—to the north of the Burgundians.
Sigurth the son of Sigmund. The story of Sigurth the Völsung is related in Völsunga Saga.
Hundingsbani, i.e. 'Slayer of Hunding.' See Völsunga Saga, ch. 9.
V.° It chanced one day that, etc. Chapters 5 and 6 are mainly taken from the poem Reginsmál of which strophes 13-26 are quoted in our text. Reginsmál is the first poem of a trilogy dealing with the early adventures of Sigurth. The two remaining poems Fáfnismál and Sigrdrifumál are used only in the last two sentences of ch. 6.
Yngvi is a name of the god Frey, from whom the kings of Norway and the early kings of Sweden were believed to have sprung.
Fafnisbani, i.e. 'Slayer of Fafnir.' Cf. ch. 6 infra. See also Völsunga Saga, ch. 18.
The Imperial Power had not, etc. This may mean either the refounding of the Western Empire by Charlemagne, a.d. 800, or possibly the gaining of the Imperial throne by Otto I, King of the Germans, in 962.
VI.° Sigurth prepared for battle, etc. An account of this battle is given in Völsunga Saga, ch. 17.
The sea-king's steed. The text has Ræfils hestum, lit. 'Ræfil's horses.' Ræfil was a legendary sea-king. The names of such characters are frequently used in 'kennings' (i.e. poetic circumlocutions) like this.
Hnikar, a name of the god Othin in the Grímnismál (str. 47) and elsewhere.
The Moon's sister. The text has systur Mána, 'Máni's sister,' i.e. the sun. Máni, the old word for the moon, is preserved in Iceland only in a mythological sense, the ordinary word in use for moon being tungl. Máni and Sól (the sun) were brother and sister. See Vafþrúþnismál, str. 23; also Gylfaginning, ch. 11, 12.
Order their array, lit. 'draw up a wedge-shaped column'—a favourite battle-formation, the origin of which was ascribed to Othin. Stumbling is bad luck, etc. So Wilken (gloss. s.v. fyrir, 2.) Vigfússon and Gering transl. 'It is an ill thing to outrun one's luck.'
Friesland. In early times the Frisians occupied a much greater extent of coast than now, reaching from the boundary between Holland and Belgium on one side to beyond the mouth of the Weser on the other—apart from the Frisians inhabiting the west coast of Slesvig.
The 'blood-eagle' was a form of vengeance practised by the heathen Scandinavians in battle when anyone captured the slayer of his father. The ribs were cut in the shape of an eagle, and the lungs torn out through the opening. The Northumbrian King Ella (Ælla) is said to have been put to death in this way by the sons of Ragnar Lothbrók. Cf. the Saga of Ragnar Loðbrók and his sons, ch. 18; also the Tháttr of Ragnar's Sons, ch. 3.
Hugin and Munin were Othin's attendant ravens who gave him information. See Grímnismál, str. 20; Gylfaginning, ch. 38; Ynglingasaga (Heimskringla), ch. 7.
The story of Sigurth Fafnisbani. The whole story of the loves of Sigurth and Brynhild is related in the Völsunga Saga, ch. 20-32. It is uncertain whether the reference here is to the Völsunga Saga as we have it or to an earlier form of the story.
VII.° Gjuki is mentioned under the form Gebica in the Lex Burgundionum (c. 500 a.d.). Nothing more is known of him from historical sources; but he is mentioned in Skáldskaparmál, ch. 41, Völsunga Saga ch. 25, and in the Edda Poems, as the father of Gunnar and Guthrún. His name appears also (as Gifica, Gibicho, etc.) in the Anglo-Saxon poem Widsiþ, the Latin poem Waltharius, and in several early German poems.
Sigurth Hring, a legendary king of Sweden and Denmark, and the father of Ragnar Loðbrók. His story is related at length in a fragment of the Skjöldunga Saga; and he is probably identical with the Sigifridus who is mentioned in several Frankish Chronicles under the year 812 as carrying on hostilities against another Danish King Anulo.
The sons of Gandalf were in constant hostility with King Harold the Fairhaired and his father. They owned Alfheimar and Vingulmörk along the Swedish coast of the Kattegat. Cf. the Story of Halfdan the Black (Heimskringla), ch. 1, 4; also the Story of Harold the Fairhaired (Heimskringla), ch. 1 etc.
Gunnar and Högni. The story of the relations of Gunnar and Högni with Sigurth is told in Völsunga Saga, ch. 26 f.
Jarnamotha. The locality is unknown. There were large forests in Holstein in the Middle Ages called 'Iarnawith' and 'Isarnho'; cf. Müllenhoff, Deutsche Altertumskunde, v, p. 122.
hazlewood poles had been set up, etc. The verb hasla, used in the sense of 'to challenge (to a pitched battle),' means, lit. 'to enhazle' a battlefield, i.e. to mark out the space reserved for a pitched battle with hazel poles. Cf. the Saga of Egil Skallagrímsson, ch. 52.
The Kurir were the people of Courland (perhaps Lithuanians). The Kvænir were the Finnish inhabitants of the northern portion of what is now Sweden. King Alfred, in his translation of Orosius, inserts an original account of Norway and the neighbouring regions which was given to him by a Norwegian called Ohthere. It is there stated that beyond the mountains which bound the northern part of Norway was 'the land of the Cwenas.' Cf. also the Saga of Egil Skallagrímsson, ch. 14.
Starkath, the ideal warrior of old time in the North. Probably originally a historical figure, he became the centre of much legendary matter, and, as often happened in such cases, he was even credited with the composition of many poems, notably that on the Battle of Brávöll—an event which probably took place long after his time. In Saxo Grammaticus, Dan. Hist., pp. 246-258, he corresponds to the unnamed "Old Warrior" mentioned in Beowulf, l. 2041 ff.
Fenhring, in Hörthaland in Norway, not far from Bergen.
Lund, the old ecclesiastical capital of Denmark, situated in Skaane in the extreme south of Sweden. Not only Skaane, but also the neighbouring provinces (Halland, etc.) belonged in early times to Denmark.
VIII.° Starkath had committed a foul murder. For this story see Saxo Grammaticus, Dan. Hist., p. 314 ff. Saxo says that the rule of King Ali or Ole was so hateful to the Zealanders that twelve of their generals resolved to put him to death, bribing Starkath to join them. Although a personal friend of Ole, Starkath agreed to do so, and murdered him in his bath. He afterwards repented bitterly, "and to atone for his crime slew some of those who had inspired him to it."
Travels. I have followed the reading ferða, 'travels,' adopted by Wilken, not frænda, as in the Fornaldar Sögur, ed. by Ásmundarson. The latter would read: "The King wanted him to tell him much more about the history of his relatives."
IX.° Germans say, etc. For the German story of the murder of Sigurth see the Nibelungenlied, str. 985 ff.
Guthrúnarrætha. This is no doubt the poem commonly called Guðrúnarkviða hin forna, the opening of which narrates how Sigurth's horse came home riderless.
Brynhild and the ogress chanted, etc. The following lay is found in the Edda Poems under the title of Helreið Brynhildar ('The Hell-ride of Brynhild').
From the Land of the Romans, lit. 'From Valland'—the 'land of the Valar,' i.e. the Celts or Romans. Here the reference is doubtless to the Roman territories on the west bank of the Rhine. In the Nibelungenlied, Gunther (i.e. Gunnar) is represented as reigning at Worms. Cf. p. 232 below.
Assigned me a home, etc. In the Codex Regius of the Edda Poems this passage runs as follows: "The courageous king had my swan-form and those of my eight sisters carried beneath an oak."
Hjalmgunnar. See Sigrdrifumál, the prose following str. 4. "She (i.e. Sigrdrifa) said that two kings were fighting. One was called Hjalmgunnar. He was old at that time, but a very great warrior, and Othin had promised him victory; but the other was called Agnar, the brother of Autha, whom no being would protect. Sigrdrifa (who was a valkyrie) slew Hjalmgunnar in battle, but Othin pierced her with a sleep-producing thorn in punishment for this," etc.
Fafnir was the serpent who guarded the gold hoard on Gnítaheið till Sigurth slew him and carried off the treasure.
All too long, etc. In the Codex Regius of the Edda Poems this passage runs as follows: "For far too long a time (? for ever) will women and men be born into the world to overwhelming sorrow."
The Sons of Lothbrok. Ragnar Lothbrók was a famous king who flourished about the middle of the ninth century, and who, according to legend, obtained his name ('Shaggy Breeks') from the shaggy trowsers which he wore when he went to attack a serpent. His various exploits are told in the Saga of Ragnar Lothbrók, and in the Tháttr of the Sons of Ragnar, and also by Saxo Grammaticus, Dan. Hist., pp. 368-380, etc. Among his other adventures he is said to have invaded Northumbria, but he was defeated by King Ella (Ælla) and thrown into a snake-pit, where he "died laughing," as we are told in a late poem (Krakumál or the 'Death-song of Ragnar Lothbrók'). His death was afterwards avenged by his sons who invaded England in 866. Practically nothing historical is known of Loðbrók himself, though the achievements of his sons, both in the British Isles and on the continent, are of great historical importance.
In the neighbourhood of the Alps. In 856, Björn Ironside, a son of Ragnar Lothbrók, with Hástein his chief lieutenant, invaded France, and during the years 859-862 made expeditions to Spain, Africa, the south of France, and Italy, capturing Pisa, Luna, etc. There can be no doubt that in their invasion of Italy in 860 the real objective was Rome; but for some unknown reason they returned without approaching it. According to Scandinavian tradition, when they entered Luna they were under the impression that it was Rome, and returned satisfied that their aim was accomplished.
Vifilsborg. This place is identified by Wilken with the modern Avenches in the Canton Vaud (Switzerland).
Make their way there, lit. 'pass over (the mountains) thither.'
X.° Eric, a famous King of Sweden in the time of Harold the Fairhaired, King of Norway, in the latter half of the ninth century. He is frequently referred to in the Sagas and regarded as the typical great Swedish King of the past.
Upsala, i.e. Old Upsala, the ancient capital of the Swedish kingdom, a few miles from the modern city.
King Harold the Fairhaired, said to have been born c. 850 and to have succeeded as King of Vestfold c. 860. His conquest of Norway was practically completed at the Battle of Hafrsfjörth (c. 872). He is said to have retired in 930 and died c. 933.
King Hlothver, i.e. Louis I, King of the Franks and Emperor, 814-840.
The Saxons inhabited a large part of north-west Germany and Holland; but the name Saxland is often used in a wider sense, i.e. the German part of the Empire.
Nornagest, i.e. 'Gest (or guest) of the Norns.' The Norns were represented in Scandinavian mythology as women with the power of shaping human destiny. See Helgakviða Hundingsbana, 1, str. 2; Gylfaginning, chs. 15, 16; Saxo Grammaticus, Dan. Hist., p. 223; the Saga of Burnt Njál, ch. 156. Similar beliefs occur in Greek stories about the Fates (Κλὥθες) e.g. the late Greek legend of the birth of Meleager. Cf. p. 13 above.
XII.° Three hundred. I have used round figures here as elsewhere. Strictly the Norse 100 is 120.
I. Vanakvisl. The opening sentence may be compared with Ynglingasaga, ch. 1, in the Heimskringla. From this it appears that Vanakvísl is the River Don, though strictly kvǐsl means the fork (delta) of a river.
Æsir and Vanir, two sets of Scandinavian deities; but the references to the River Don and Asia are due to the learned speculations of later times, suggested partly by the resemblance of Asia and Æsir. According to Ynglingasaga, chs. 1-4, there was war between the Æsir and the Vanir, which was concluded by an exchange of hostages. The Vanir gave to the Æsir three of their leading people—Njörth and his children Frey and Freyja. Othin made Njörth and Frey temple-priests, and Freyja a temple-priestess. What is said about Freyja here is not mentioned in Ynglingasaga; but from the poems of the Edda it is clear that she was the Aphrodite of northern mythology.
Asgarth. For a description of Asgarth, the home of the Æsir, see Gylfaginning, chs. 2, 9, 14, etc.
Men in Asia called Alfregg, etc. For Dvalin, cf. the Saga of Hervör and Heithrek, ch. 2 and note.
Lived in a rock; cf. Völuspá, str. 48.
Necklace. For the Brísingamen, Freyja's treasure, see Thrymskviða, str. 12, etc. Cf. also Beowulf, l. 1199.
II.° Nal, i.e. 'Needle.'
Loki. See Gylfaginning, ch. 33; and the Edda Poems, passim.
So much favoured by the great good fortune of his lord. Cf. Laxdæla Saga, ch. 40 'Mun konungr [i.e. Olaf Tryggvason] vera giftudrjúgr ok hamingju-mikill.'
III.° Frithfrothi, the mythical peace-king of the Danes. See Skáldskaparmál, ch. 43. He is often split up into two different characters, as by Saxo Grammaticus. (See especially Dan. Hist., Book v, which gives an account of the great Frothi.)
Erling and Sörli. Their story is told in the Saga of Sörli the Strong (Fornaldar Sögur, iii.).
Skerries of the Elf. Rocky islands near the mouth of the Göta Elv not far from Göteborg.
IV.° Halfdan, surnamed Brönufóstri. See the Saga of Sörli the Strong, ch. 11, where he is represented as King of Sweden.
Roeskilde, the old capital of Sjælland, now the ecclesiastical capital of Denmark.
Ellithi. See the Saga of Thorstein Vikingson (passim), and the Saga of Friðjóf the Bold (passim).
Gnoth. The ship Gnoth belonged to Ásmund, who was called after it 'Gnoðar-Ásmund.' Cf. the Saga of Egil and Asmund, ch. 17; and the Saga of Grím Loðinkinni, ch. 3. See also the Saga of Hromund Greipsson, ch. 1.
Long Serpent, i.e. the warship of Olaf Tryggvason.
As is told in the poem, etc. The poem is now lost.
The poem of which he is the subject. The Saga here quotes a difficult and obscure stanza which I have omitted.
Högni ... went raiding in the Baltic, etc. In Widsið l. 21, Högni is said to have ruled the Holmryge, i.e., no doubt, the Rugii on the coast of Pomerania.
V.° Hjarrandi is the name of Hethin's father in all the Norse forms of the story; but originally this would seem to have been the name of Hethin's minstrel—the Hôrant of Kudrun, and the Heorrenda of Deor.
Serkland, i.e. Africa, 'Saracen Land.' It is only in this story that Hethin is said to come from here. Saxo Grammaticus calls him a Norwegian. Cf. also Widsiþ, l. 21, which gives the name of an unknown people.
Göndul, the name of one of the Valkyries. See Völuspá, str. 31; Hákonarmál, passim; Skáldskaparmál, chs. 2 and 47.
VI.° Heithrek Ulfham. For Heithrek Ulfham see the Saga of Hervör and Heithrek, ch. 16.
VII.° She asked him. I have followed Rafn's text. The Reykjavík ed. apparently has a misprint here—hann for hón.
He thrust the Queen down in front of the prow, etc. The murder of the Queen is peculiar to this saga.
VIII.° This harrowing torment continued, etc. A good deal has been written on the subject of the Unending Battle, which many writers believe to have been of mythological origin. Very often, however, it appears in local traditions. See Frazer's Pausanias, vol. ii, p. 443 (the reference to the Battle of Marathon), where a considerable number of parallels are given. See also Panzer, Hilde-Gudrun, p. 328. Cf. p. 43, note i above.
Olaf Tryggvason. See the Tháttr of Nornagest, ch. 1 and note.
IX.° Jarnskjöld. Cf. Fornmanna Sögur, vol. iii, p. 125 ff. (Saga of Olaf Tryggvason).
Glance of his eye, etc. Literally, "He has the ægishjálmr." This is a poetical expression for a glance inspiring terror.
I. Gnothar-Asmund, i.e. Asmund of the Gnoth, who was so called from his ship 'Gnoth' (cf. p. 230 above). For an account of him see the Saga of Egil and Asmund (in Fornaldar Sögur, vol. iii), especially ch. 17. He is mentioned also in the Saga of Grím Loðinkinni, ch. 2. A different account of Olaf's family is given in Göngu-Hrólfs Saga, ch. 38.
Garthar in Denmark. The geography of the story is by no means clear. Elsewhere in this saga Olaf's realm would seem to be situated in Sweden, while references in other works, e.g. Landnámabók, i, ch. 3, Hversu Noregr Bygthist, ch. 2 (Fornaldar Sögur, ii, p. 7) etc., point to Norway, especially the provinces of Thelamörk and Hörthaland, as the home of Hromund and his family.
Hromund. According to Landnámabók, i, ch. 3, Ingolf and Leif, the first settlers in Iceland (a.d. 874) were the great grandsons of Hromund Greipsson. This would seem to show that he lived in the second half of the eighth century. See also the Saga of Halfdan Eysteinsson, ch. 1.
Bild and Voli. For these names, see Introduction to this saga, p. 59, and the note to Mistletoe below.
Ulfasker. A corruption of Elfasker. Cf. Gríplur, str. 25, and note to Skerries of the Elf, p. 229 above.
Dragon, a common term for a large type of warship in the Viking Age.
Scoundrels. The text has Blámenn, i.e. lit. 'Black men', negroes. But in the Romantic Sagas, owing probably to the influence of stories relating to the Saracens, pirates are described as Blámenn, even in stories relating exclusively to the North. Cf. The Ballad of Hjálmar and Angantyr (refrain), p. 184, above.
II.° I am going to be Othin's guest, is a euphemism for 'be slain,' and is equivalent to 'go to Valhalla,' the abode of slain warriors which belonged to Othin. See the Saga of Egil Skallagrímsson, ch. 81, where Thorgerth, Egil's daughter, says that she will have no supper till she "sup with Freyja."
No blade would wound Hröngvith. It is not uncommon to hear that a warrior, usually an unsympathetic character, was immune through spells from wounds inflicted by weapons; cf. Beowulf, l. 804, where this is stated of Grendel.
III.° Hebrides. The word Suthreyjar, here translated Hebrides, properly means all the islands off the west coast of Scotland. The modern form of the word is Sodor, surviving in the name of the diocese of 'Sodor and Man.'
Ghosts. It will be seen from the context that the word draugr here translated 'ghost,' is in reality the animated corpse of the dead man. This is a common feature of Norse stories (e.g. the Saga of Grettir the Strong, ch. 18).
IV.° Valland, i.e. France, lit. the 'Land of the Valar,' i.e. of the Celts or Romans. In Anglo-Saxon literature the French are sometimes called Galwalas, i.e. the 'Walas (Welsh) of Gaul'. See also the Tháttr of Nornagest, ch. 9 and note.
And he added, etc. Are we to assume a lacuna here? The composition of this saga is however far from perfect. In certain passages (e.g. at the beginning of this chapter) one is inclined to suspect that someone has tried to combine two different texts of the story.
Finger nails, etc. Cf. the physiological fact of the growth of the finger nails after death, and the legend of Charlemagne according to which his beard grew through a stone table after his death.
Gunnlöth. Other documents appear to make Hromund a Norwegian, and this is what we should gather from Landnámabók quoted above (p. 231, note). See Hversu Noregr Bygðist, ch. 2.
Mistletoe, the name of the sword again connects this story with that of Balder who is stated in Völuspá, str. 32 and Gylfaginning, ch. 49 to have been killed by a piece of mistletoe.
V.° Dagny, the wife of Ingjóld, who was the friend of Grím Lothinkinni. See the Saga of Grím Loðinkinni, ch. 3.
Hálogaland. See Hervarar Saga, ch. 1 and note; and also the Sagas of Ketil Hæng and Grím Loðinkinni.
Voli and Bild, etc. At this point the writer of the saga has omitted part of the dialogue in which Olaf threatens to hang Hromund. Cf. Gríplur, p. 383, str. 20, 21.
VI.° Helgi is known elsewhere as Helgi Haddingjaskati, e.g. in the short text called Hversu Noregr Bygðist, ch. 2 (Fornaldar Sögur, ii, p. 7). According to the prose at the end of Helgakviða Hundingsbana ii, Helgi Haddingjaskati and Kara were reincarnations of Helgi Hundingsbani and Sigrún, the hero and heroine of this poem. Their story was given in a poem called Káruljóð which is now lost. See however Vigfússon and Powell, Corpus Poeticum Boreale, vol. i, pp. 129 and 130.
On the frozen surface of Lake Vener. This story is perhaps taken from that of the battle related in Skáldskaparmál, ch. 43 and Ynglingasaga, ch. 33. Cf. Beowulf, l. 2392 ff.
Kara. For the form Lara which appears in the printed editions see p. 62, note, above. In the prose at the end of Helgakviða Hundingsbana ii, Kara is called a valkyrie.
VIII.° Hagal. The story of Hagal and Blind is given also at the beginning of Helgakviða Hundingsbana ii; but here the person disguised as a grinding-maid is Helgi, the hero of the poem.
X.° Who was also called Bavis; cf. Helgakv. Hund. ii, str. 2, where he is called Blindr enn bölvísi ('skilled in harmful doings').
I. Finnmark, i.e. the northernmost part of the Scandinavian Peninsula.
Jötunheimar, i.e. the homes of the jötnar or giants. This name occurs frequently in Norse stories, though it is not elsewhere connected with Finnmark.
Ymisland, i.e. the land of Ýmir; see below.
Halogaland, i.e. the northern part of Norway stretching from about lat. 65° as far as Finnmark.
Guthmund. Cf. the Tháttr of Nornagest, ch. 1 and note.
Glasisvellir. Cf. the Tháttr of Nornagest, ch. 1, and note.
Fields of immortality, i.e. lit. 'Fields of the not dead' (ódainsakr). Cf. the Saga of Eiríkr Víðförla, ch. 1, and the Saga of Hálfdan Eysteinsson, ch. 1. See also Saxo Grammaticus, Dan. Hist., p. 129.
Höfund. The name means lit. 'Judge.'
Ymir, i.e. the old 'Rime-giant,' the first being created out of Chaos, from whom the giants sprang; cf. Völuspá, str. 3; Vafþrúþnismál, str. 21; Grímnismál, str. 40; Hyndluljóð, str. 33; Gylfaginning, chs. 5-8.
Starkath Aludreng. See Gautreks Saga, ch. 3, according to which this Starkath is the grandfather of his more famous namesake, for whom see the Tháttr of Nornagest, ch. 7 and note. See also Saxo Grammaticus, Dan. Hist., pp. 224, 225.
Elivagar. See Vafþrúþnismál, str. 31; Gylfaginning, ch. 5; Hymiskviða, str. 5.
Alfheimar, a name given to the region between the Gøtaelv and the River Glommen, in the south-east of Norway (now mainly in Sweden). The royal family of this region is frequently mentioned in the history of Harold the Fairhaired and his father, and also in the stories of Sigurth Hring. See the Tháttr of Nornagest, ch. 7 and note.
Ey-grim Bolm, i.e. 'Grim of the Island of Bolm.'
Arngrim. See Saxo Grammaticus, Dan. Hist., p. 203 ff.
Berserk. See Ynglingasaga, ch. 6.
II.° Dwarfs. Cf. the story of Svegðir in Ynglingasaga, ch. 15.
Dvalin is the name of a dwarf in Völuspá, str. 11, 14; Hávamál, str. 143, and in other of the Edda poems. It is, in fact, the typical name for a dwarf. Cf. also Gylfaginning, ch. 14, and Skáldskaparmál, ch. 3, 57. Dulin does not occur elsewhere, though Durin is found in Völuspá, str. 10.
Standing in the doorway of the stone, etc. Cf. Völuspá, str. 48.
Your sword, etc. Cf. Skáldskaparmál, ch. 49. "Now I have drawn Dáinsleif, which the dwarfs made and which must cause a man's death every time it is drawn, and never fails in its stroke."
Tyrfing. It has been suggested that this name is derived from tyrfi, 'resinous fir-tree,' owing to its flaming like resinous fir-wood. In early times it was customary for swords to be called by names ending in -ing. Cf. the swords Hrunting in Beowulf, l. 1457, etc., Nagling, ibid., l. 2680, and Mimming in Waldhere, l. 3, etc., etc.
Perms. The text has um Bjarmaland 'in the land of the Bjarmar,' i.e. the Beormas of Ohthere's Voyage in Alfred's translation of Orosius. It is generally reached, not as here, apparently, by the Baltic, but by voyages round the North Cape. The name is generally supposed to be connected with Perm, and in early times may have comprehended the Zyrianians, as well as the Permians proper and the Votiaks. There is some evidence from place-names that this group of languages was once spoken as far west as the White Sea. Cf. Abercromby, The Pre- and Proto-historic Finns, p. 10 f.
Svafrlami. The text (H) followed by the Reykjavik edition here has Sigrlami—which can hardly be right. Rafn's ed. reads Svafrlami.
Twelve sons. For Arngrim's Sons, Cf. Hyndluljóth, str. 23, 24; Saxo Grammaticus, Dan. Hist., pp. 203-205; Saga of Örvar Odd, ch. 14.
Twins. See the Saga of Harold the Fairhaired (Heimskringla), ch. 18, where again we find twins both receiving the same name.
Mistletoe. A sword of the same name occurs in the Saga of Hromund Greipsson (see above).
Hrotti. Cf. Hrunting, the sword of Hunferth in Beowulf, l. 1457 etc. See also the note to Tyrfing, p. 235.
III.° Yule, a festival of heathen times, approximately at Christmas, but rather later.
Feast, lit. 'At the Bragi-cup.' The custom of making vows in connection with these toasts was carried on into Christian times, an interesting example being found in the Saga of Olaf Tryggvason (Heimskringla), ch. 39. See also the Saga of Haakon the Good (Heimskringla), ch. 16; and Helgakviða Hjörvarðssónar, str. 32.
Angantyr made a vow. In the Royal MS. (see p. 79) it is Hjörvarth who makes the vow and subsequently claims the bride.
Yngvi is the family name of the early Swedish kings. Collectively the early Swedish royal family were called Ynglingar. Cf. Ynglingasaga, ch. 20.
Never did he, etc. Compare what is said of Högni's sword in Skáldskaparmál, ch. 49.
Samsø. The fight at Samsø is described in another ms. of this saga (which is translated in the appendix to Part I, p. 145 ff. above and which contains also the Death-song of Hjalmar), as well as in the Saga of Örvar Odd, ch. 14, and in Saxo Grammaticus, Dan. Hist., p. 205. The Island of Samsø is situated half way between Jutland and Sjælland.
IV.° Exposing the child, etc. For the custom of exposing infants, especially girls, at birth, so as to cause their death, see the Saga of Gunnlaug Ormstungu, ch. 3, the Saga of Finnbogi Rammi, etc. A similar custom prevailed in Ancient Greece. Cf. Plato, Rep. v, 461; Aristophanes, Clouds, l. 530 f.
Sprinkled with water. Sprinkling a child with water when a name was given to it appears to have been customary in heathen times. Cf. the Saga of Harold the Fairhaired (Heimskringla), ch. 40; the Saga of Haakon the Good, ch. 12; the Saga of Egil Skallagrimsson, ch. 31; Völsunga Saga, ch. 13.
She grew up, etc. Cf. the description of the later Hervör in ch. 10.
Here is a poem, etc. The poem is probably earlier than the Saga in its present form. Heusler (Eddica Minora, p. xxi) refers it to the early part of the twelfth century.
I will give you my necklace, etc. Note the discrepancy between the poem and the prose at this point. In the former it would seem to be Hervör who offers a necklace, and this is what we should expect.
Foolish is he who comes here alone, etc. Cf. J. M. Synge, The Aran Islands, iii: "We went up on the dun, where Michael said he had never been before after nightfall, though he lives within a stone's throw.... These people make no distinction between the natural and the supernatural."
V.° Ghosts, i.e. the animated corpses of the people buried there.
Nor other kinsman. There is a lacuna in the text of the ms. at this point.
VI.° Bring up the child, etc. It was customary for men in high station to send their children to be brought up and educated in the houses of relatives and friends.
Reithgotaland is here explained as Jutland; but in ch. 9, Heithrek's subjects are described as Gotar, i.e. Goths; and in the latter part of the Saga, from ch. 12 onwards, the subject is clearly a war between the Goths and Huns. The earliest occurrence of the word (in the Swedish Inscription of Rök; cf. also Vafþrúþnismál, str. 12) gives not Reithgotaland, but Hraithgotaland, which suggests that the name may be connected in some way with Hrethgotan, a name applied to the Goths in Anglo-Saxon poetry.
VII.° Divination. The phrase means literally, 'The casting of bits of wood at the sacrifice.' Cf. Tacitus, Germania, ch. 10.
Every second man. annanhvárn, apparently for annanhvern.
Hall of the Dís. It is not clear who the dís was, as the word is used rather loosely for supernatural female beings. Another reference to the Hall of the Dís occurs in Ynglingasaga, ch. 33. One of the goddesses (Freyja?) may be meant; or it may be the guardian spirit of the family.
VIII.° Land of the Saxons. Cf. the Tháttr of Nornagest, ch. 10 and note.
Sifka and Hlöth. The names here mentioned, together with Heithrek and Angantyr, are believed by some scholars to recur in Widsiþ, l. 116, where we find
Heaðoric and Sifecan, Hliðe and Incgenðeow,
mentioned as being among the followers of Eormenric. These names clearly come from Gothic tradition, but the passage would seem to suggest that Sifeca was a man, the Sibich of the German poems. Cf. Chambers, Widsith, p. 32. For the name Lotherus in Saxo, see note to ch. 12, p. 242.
Holmgarth, i.e. Novgorod.
IX.° Wendland, i.e. the 'Land of the Slavs' (Anglo-Saxon Weonodland). After the expansion of the Slavs, from the fifth century onwards, this term came to denote an enormous expanse of country, including the coast of Eastern Germany, to which it is applied in the account of the voyage of Wulfstan in Alfred's translation of Orosius. In earlier times, when the Goths still occupied Poland and Galicia, the Slavs were restricted to the regions east of these countries.
His horse fell dead. Here the point of the story seems to be missed, or at least not clearly expressed. According to Höfund's fifth maxim (see ch. 6), Heithrek was not to ride his best horse when he was in a hurry.
X.° They had a daughter. From our text it would appear that Hervör was the daughter of Sifka; but the end of ch. 9 is probably a late addition to the text. In the text printed by Rafn, Hervör is expressly stated to be a daughter of Hergerth.
Ormar is presumably to be identified with the Wyrmhere mentioned in Widsiþ, l. 119, in connection with the war waged by the Goths against the Huns in defence of their ancient fatherland, round the forest of the Vistula.
Gestumblindi. For this curious name, cf. the Gestiblindus Gothorum rex mentioned by Saxo Grammaticus, Dan. Hist., p. 198 ff.
In the King's retinue there were seven men, etc. In the text (a) of this saga printed in Rafn's edition (Fornaldar Sögur, i, p. 462), there are said to be twelve men here. This is no doubt the right figure, twelve being the regular number in the judicial councils of the North, whether historical or legendary. Thus, e.g. in the Saga of Olaf the Holy (Heimskringla), ch. 96 we read of a council of twelve sages (spekingar), whose duty it was to advise the Swedish king, especially in the administration of justice. Similar councils existed in the Danish settlements in England. Thus Lincoln and Stamford had each a council of twelve (cf. Stubbs, Const. Hist., i, p. 106, and n. 4). We may compare the twelve priests who officiated in the sacrifices at Mæren (cf. the Saga of Olaf the Holy, Heimskr. ch. 115), and the story of the twelve gods who were appointed by Othin as temple priests (hof-goðar) to keep up the sacrifices and administer justice among men; cf. Ynglingasaga, ch. 2 (Hyndluljóð, str. 30; Gautrekssaga, ch. 7). In the Irish Lay of Magnus Barelegs, the Norwegians are referred to as Clann an dá ċoṁairleaċ déag ('children or clan of the twelve councillors'). Cf. Laoiḋ Maġnius Moir (Reliques of Irish Poetry, by Charlotte Brooke, Dublin 1789, p. 274).
King Heithrek worshipped Frey. One text quoted by Rafn (Verelius) has Freyja for Frey. The boar appears in stories relating to both these deities, e.g. Gylfaginning, ch. 49; Skáldskaparmál, ch. 35; Hyndlulióð, str. 5, 7.