As sons of Nide-Mimer the changes of the moon have been called after his name Nidi, and collectively they have been called by the plural Nidgar, in a later time Nidar. And as Nat's brothers they are enumerated along with her as a stereotyped alliteration. In Vafthrudnersmal Odin asks the wise giant whether he knows whence Nat and Nidjar (Nott med Nithom) came, and Völuspa (6) relates that in the dawn of time the high holy gods (regin) seated themselves on their judgment-seats and gave names to Nat and Nidjar (Nott ok Nithiom). The giving of a name was in heathen times a sacred act, which implied an adoption in the name-giver's family or circle of friends.

Nidjar also appears to have had his signification of moon-changes in regard to the changes of months. According to Saxo (see No. 46), King Gorm saw in the lower world twelve sons of Gudmund-Mimer, all "of noble appearance." Again, Solarljod's skald says that the sons of Nide, whom he saw in the lower world, were "seven together." From the standpoint of a nature-symbol the difference in these statements is explained by the fact that the months of the year were counted as twelve, but in regard to seasons and occupations there were seven divisions: gor-mánudr, frer-m., hrut-m., ein-m., sol-m., sel-m., kornskurdar-mánudr. Seven is the epic-mythological number of these Nidjar. To the saga in regard to these I shall return in No. 94.

88.

A GENERAL REVIEW OF MIMER'S NAMES AND EPITHETS.

The names, epithets, and paraphrases with which the king of the lower world, the ward of the fountain of wisdom, was designated, according to the statements hitherto made, are the following:

(1) Mimir (Hodd-mímir, Mímr, Mími, Mime der alte).

(2) Narfi (Narvi, Njorvi, Nörr, Nari, Neri).

(3) Nidi (Nidhad, Nidadr, Nidudr, Nidungr).

These three names, which means the Thinker, the Binder, the Subterranean, are presumably all ancient.

(4) Modsognir, "the mead-drinker."

(5) Hoddrofnir, presumably "the one bounteous in treasures."

(6) Gauta spjalli, "the one with whom Gaute (Odin) counsels."

(7) Baug-regin, Ring-regin.

(8) Godmundr, the name by which Mimer appears in Christian middle-age sagas of Norse origin. To these names may still be added:

(9) Fimbulthulr, "the great teacher" (the lecturer). Havamál (str. 142; cp. str. 80) says that Fimbulthulr drew (fadi) the runes, that ginn-regin "made" (gordo) them, that is to say, in the older sense of the word, prepared them for use, and that Odin (hroptr raugna) carved (reist) them. In the strophes immediately preceding, it is said that Odin, by self-sacrifice, begot runes out of the deep and fimbul-songs from Beistla's brother. These statements, joined with those which mention how the runes given by Mimer were spread over the world, and were taught by various clan-chiefs to different clans (see No. 53), make it evident that a perfect myth had been developed in regard to the origin of the runes and the spreading of runic knowledge. Mimer, as the possessor of the well of wisdom, was the inventor or source of the runes. When Sigrdrifumal (str. 13) says that they dropped out of Hoddrofner's horn, this is, figuratively speaking, the same as Havamál tells, when it states that Fimbulthul carved them. The oldest powers (ginnregin) and Odin afterwards developed and spread them.

At the time of Tacitus, and probably one or two centuries earlier, the art of writing was known among the Teutons. The runic inscriptions that have come down to our time bear evidence of a Greek-Roman origin.

By this we do not mean to deny that there were runes—at least, non-phonetic ones—before them. The many kinds of magic runes of which our mythic records speak are perhaps reminiscences of them. At all events we must distinguish the latter from the common runes for writing, and also from the many kinds of cypher-runes the keys of which are to be sought in the common phonetic rune-row.

(10) Brimir. By the side of the golden hall of Sindre, Völuspa (str. 36) mentions the giants Brimer's "bjór" hall, which is in Okólnir. Bjórr is a synonym for mead and ale (Alvism., 34). Okólnir means "the place where cold is not found." The reference is to a giant dwelling in the lower world who presides over mead, and whose hall is situated in a domain to which cold cannot penetrate. The myth has put this giant in connection with Ymer, who in relative opposition to him is called Leirbrimir, clay-Brimer (Fjöllsvinnsmal). These circumstances refer to Mimer. So also Sigrdrifumal (str. 14), where it is said that "Odin stood on the mountain with Brimer's sword" (Brimis eggiar), when Mimer's head for the first time talked with him. The expression "Brimer's sword" is ambiguous. As a head was once used as a weapon against Heimdal, a sword and a head can, according to Skaldskaparmal, be employed as paraphrases for each other, whence "Brimer's sword" may be the same as "Mimer's head" (Skaldskaparmal 69, Cod. H.; cp. Skaldskaparmal, 8, and Gylfag., 27). Sigrdrifumal certainly also employs the phrase in its literal sense of a famous mythological sword, for, in the case in question, it represents Odin as fully armed, with helmet on his head; and the most excellent mythological sword, according to an added line in strophe 24 of Grimnersmal (Cod. A.), bore Brimer's name, just as the same sword in the German saga has the name Miminc (Biterolf v. 176, in Vilkinasaga changed to Mimmung), doubtless because it at one time was in Mimer-Nidhad's possession; for the German saga (Biterolf, 157; cp. Vilkinasaga, ch. 23) remembers that a sword called by Mimer's name was the same celebrated weapon as that made by Volund (Weiland in Biterolf; Velint in Vilkinasaga), and hence the same work of art as that which, according to Vilkinasaga, Nidhad captured from him during his stay in Wolfdales.

89.

THE MEAD MYTH.

We have seen (Nos. 72, 73) that the mead which was brewed from the three subterranean liquids destroys the effects of death and gives new vitality to the departed, and that the same liquid is absorbed by the roots of the world-tree, and in its trunk is distilled into that sap which gives the tree eternal life. From the stem the mead rises into the foliage of the crown, whose leaves nourish the fair giver of "the sparkling drink," in Grimnersmal symbolised as Heidrun, from the streams of whose teats the mead-horns in Asgard are filled for the einherjes. The morning dew which falls from Ygdrasil down into the dales of the lower world contains the same elements. From the bridle of Rimfaxe and from the horses of the valkyries some of the same dew also falls in the valleys of Midgard (see No. 74). The flowers receive it in their chalices, where the bees extract it, and thus is produced the earthly honey which man uses, and from which he brews his mead (cp. Gylfag., ch. 16). Thus the latter too contains some of the strength of Mimer's and Urd's fountains (veigar—see Nos. 72, 73), and thus it happens that it is able to stimulate the mind and inspire poetry and song—nay, used with prudence, it may suggest excellent expedients in important emergencies (cp. Tacitus, Germania).

Thus the world-tree is among the Teutons, as it is among their kinsmen the Iranians (see below), a mead-tree. And so it was called by the latter, possibly also by the former. The name miötvidr, with which the world-tree is mentioned in Völuspa (2) and whose origin and meaning have been so much discussed, is from a mythological standpoint satisfactorily explained if we assume that an older word, miödvidr, the mead-tree, passed into the word similar in sound, miötvidr, the tree of fate (from miöt, measure; cp. mjötudr in the sense of fate, the power which gives measure, and the Anglo-Saxon metod, Old Saxon metod, the giver of measure, fate, providence).

The sap of the world-tree and the veigar of the horn of the lower world are not, however, precisely the same mead as the pure and undefiled liquid from Mimer's fountain, that which Odin in his youth, through self-sacrifice, was permitted to taste, nor is it precisely the same as that concerning the possession of which the powers of mythology long contended, before it finally, through Odin's adventures at Suttung's, came to Asgard. The episodes of this conflict concerning the mead will be given as my investigation progresses, so far as they can be discovered. Here we must first examine what the heathen records have preserved in regard to the closing episode in which the conflict was ended in favour of Asgard. What the Younger Edda (Bragarædur) tells about it I must for the present leave entirely unnoticed, lest the investigation should go astray and become entirely abortive.

The chief sources are the Havamál strophes 104-110, and strophes 13 and 14. Subordinate sources are Grimnersmal (50) and Ynglingatal (15). To this must be added half a strophe by Eyvind Skaldaspiller (Skaldskaparmal, ch. 2).

The statements of the chief source have, strange to say, been almost wholly unobserved, while the mythologists have confined their attention to the later presentation in Bragarædur, which cannot be reconciled with the earlier accounts, and which from a mythological standpoint is worse than worthless. In 1877 justice was for the first time done to Havamál in the excellent analysis of the strophes in question made by Prof. M. B. Richert, in his "Attempts at explaining the obscure passages not hitherto understood in the poetic Edda."

From Havamál alone we get directly or indirectly the following:

The giant Suttung, also called Fjalar, has acquired possession of the precious mead for which Odin longs. The Asa-father resolves to capture it by cunning.

There is a feast at Fjalar's. Guests belonging to the clan of rimthurses are gathered in his halls (Havamál, 110). Besides these we must imagine that Suttung-Fjalar's own nearest kith and kin are present. The mythology speaks of a separate clan entirely distinct from the rimthurses, known as Suttungs Synir (Alvismal, Skirnersmal; see No. 78), whose chief must be Suttung-Fjalar, as his very name indicates. The Suttung kin and the rimthurses are accordingly gathered at the banquet on the day in question.

An honoured guest is expected, and a golden high-seat prepared for him awaits his arrival. From the continuation of the story we learn that the expected guest is the wooer or betrothed of Suttung-Fjalar's daughter, Gunlad. On that night the wedding of the giant's daughter is to be celebrated.

Odin arrives, but in disguise. He is received as the guest of honour, and is conducted to the golden high-seat. It follows of necessity that the guise assumed by Odin, when he descends to the mortal foes of the gods and of himself, is that of the expected lover. Who the latter was Havamál does not state, unless strophe 110, 5, like so many other passages, is purposely ambiguous and contains his name, a question which I shall consider later.

After the adventure has ended happily, Odin looks back with pleasure upon the success with which he assumed the guise of the stranger and played his part (str. 107). el keyptz litar hefi ec vel notith: "From the well changed exterior I reaped great advantage." In regard to the mythological meaning of litr, see No. 95: The expression keyptr litr, which literally means "purchased appearance," may seem strange, but kaupa means not only to "buy," but also to "change," "exchange;" kaupa klædum vid einn means "to change clothes with some one." Of a queen who exchanged her son with a slave woman, it is said that she keyptr um sonu vid ambátt. But the cause of Odin's joy is not that he successfully carried out a cunning trick, but that he in this way accomplished a deed of inestimable value for Asgard and for man (str., 107, 4-6), and he is sorry that poor Gunlad's trust in him was betrayed (str. 105). This is a characterisation of Odin's personality.

Nor does Havamál tell us what hinders the real lover from putting in his appearance and thwarting Odin's plan, while the latter is acting his part; but of this we learn something from another source, which we shall consider below.

The adventure undertaken by Odin is extremely dangerous, and he ran the risk of losing his head (str. 106, 6). For this reason he has, before entering Suttung-Fjalar's halls, secured an egress, through which he must be able to fly, and if possible, with the skaldic mead as his booty. There is no admittance for everybody to the rocky abode where the mead-treasure so much desired by all powers is kept. The dwelling is, as Eyvind tells us, situated in an abyss, and the door is, as another record tells us, watched. But Odin has let Rate bore ("gnaw") a tunnel through the mountain large enough to give him room to retire secretly (str. 106). In regard to Rate, see No. 82.

When the pretended lover has seated himself in the golden high-seat, a conversation begins around the banquet table. It is necessary for Odin to guard well his words, for he represents another person, well known there, and if he is not cautious he may be discovered. It is also necessary to be eloquent and winning, so that he may charm Gunlad and secure her devotion, for without her knowledge he cannot gain his end, that of carrying away the supply of inspiration-mead kept at Suttung's. Odin also boasts (str. 103, 104) that on this occasion he proved himself minnigr and málugr and margfrodr and eloquent for the realisation of his plan.

During the progress of the feast the guest had his glass filled to his honour with the precious mead he desired to obtain. "Gunlad gave me on the golden seat the drink of the precious mead" (str. 105).

Then the marriage ceremony was performed, and on the holy ring Gunlad took to Odin the oath of faithfulness (str. 110).

It would have been best for the Asa-father if the banquet had ended here, and the bridegroom and the bride had been permitted to betake themselves to the bridal chamber. But the jolly feast is continued and the horns are frequently filled and emptied. Havamál does not state that the part played by Odin required him to be continually drinking; but we shall show that Gunlad's wooer was the champion drinker of all mythology, and in the sagas he has many epithets referring to this quality. Odin became on his own confession "drunk, very drunk, at Fjalar's." "The hern of forgetfulness which steals one's wit and understanding hovers over his drink" (str. 13, 15).

In this condition he let drop words which were not those of caution—words which sowed the seed of suspicion in the minds of some of his hearers who were less drunk. He dropped words which were not spelt with letters of intelligence and good sense—words which did not suit the part he was playing.

At last the banquet comes to an end, and the bridegroom is permitted to be alone with the bride in that rocky hall which is their bed-chamber. There is no doubt that Odin won Gunlad's heart, "the heart of that good woman whom I took in my embrace" (str. 108). With her help he sees his purpose attained and the mead in his possession. But the suspicions which his reckless words had sown bear fruit in the night, and things happen which Havamál does not give a full account of, but of a kind which would have prevented Odin from getting out of the giant-gard, had he not had Gunlad's assistance (str. 108). Odin was obliged to fight and rob Gunlad of a kinsman (str. 110—hann lèt grætta Gunnlödu; see Rich., p. 17). Taking the supply of mead with him, he takes flight by the way Rate had opened for him—a dangerous way, for "above and below me were the paths of the giants" (str. 106).

It seems to have been the custom that the wedding guests on the morning of the next day went to the door of the bridal-chamber to hear how the newly-married man was getting on in his new capacity of husband. According to Havamál, Suttung's guests, the rimthurses, observe this custom; but the events of the night change their inquires into the question whether Odin had succeeded in escaping to the gods or had been slain by Suttung (str. 109, 110).

Thus far Havamál. We must now examine Grimnersmal (150) and Ynglingatal (15), whose connection with the myth concerning Odin's exploit in the home of Suttung-Fjalar has not hitherto been noticed.

Odin says in Grimnersmal:

Svitharr oc Svithrir
er ec het at Sauccmimis
oc dultha ec thann inn aldna iotun,
tha er ec Mithvithnis varc
ins mæra burar
ordinn einbani.

"Svidur and Svidrir I was called at Sokmimer's, and I presented myself to the ancient giant, at the time when I alone became the slayer of Midvitnir's famous son."

Ynglingatal (15) reads:

En Dagskjarr
Durnis nidja
salvördudr
Svegdi velti,
tha er i stein
hinn stórgedi
Dulsa konr
ept dvergi hljóp,
ok sal bjartr
theirra Sökkmimis
jotunbyggdr
vid jofri gein.

"The day-shy hall-guard of Durnir's descendants deceived Svegdir when he, the dauntless son of Dulsi, ran after the dwarf into the rock, and when the shining giant-inhabited hall of Sökkmimir's kinsmen yawned against the chief." (In regard to Dulsi, see No. 83).

What attracts attention in a comparison of these two strophes is that the epithet Sökkmimir is common to both of them, while this name does not occur elsewhere in the whole Old Norse literature.

In both the strophes Sökkmimir is a giant. Grimnersmal calls him inn aldna iotun, "the ancient giant," with which we may compare Odin's words in Havamál (104): enn aldna iotun ec sotta, "the ancient giant I sought," when he visited that giant-chief, to whose clan Suttung-Fjalar, the possessor of the skald-mead, belonged.

In both the strophes the giant Sökkmimir is the lord and chief of those giants to whom, according to Grimnersmal, Odin comes, and outside of whose hall-door, according to Ynglingatal, a certain Svegdir is deceived by the ward of the hall. This position of Sökkmimir in relation to his surroundings already appears, so far as Grimnersmal is concerned, from the expression at Sauccmimis, which means not only "with Sokmimer," but also "at Sokmimer's," that is to say, with that group of kinsmen and in that abode where Sokmimer is chief and ruler. It is with this giant-chief, and in his rocky hall, that Midvitnir and his son sojourns when Odin visits him, presents himself to him, and by the name Svidur (Svidrir) acts the part of another person, and in this connection causes Midvitner's death. The same quality of Sokmimer as clan-chief and lord appears in the Ynglingatal strophe, in the form that the hall, outside of whose door Svegder was deceived, is theirra Sökkmimis, that is to say, is the abode of Sokmimer's kinsmen and household, "is their giant-home." Thus all the giants who dwell there take their clan-name from Sokmimer.

The appellation Sökkmimir is manifestly not a name in the strictest sense, but one of the epithets by which this ancient giant-chief could be recognised in connection with mythological circumstances. We shall point out these mythological circumstances further on.

The Ynglingatal strophe gives us, in fact, another epithet for the same mythic person. What the latter half of the strophe calls the hall of Sokmimer's kinsmen and household, the former half of the same strophe calls the hall of Durnir's descendants. Thus Sokmimer and Durnir are the same person.

Durnir, on the other hand, is a variation of Durinn (cp. the parallel variations Dvalnir and Dvalinn). Of Durinn we already know (see No. 53) that he is one of the ancient beings of mythology who in time's morning, together with Modsognir-Mimer and in accordance with the resolve of the high-holy powers, created clans of artists. One of the artists created by Durin, and whose father he in this sense became, is, according to Völuspa (11), Mjödvitnir. Rask and Egilsson have for philological reasons assumed that Midvitnir and Mjödvitnir are variations of the same name, and designate the same person (mjödr, in the dative midi). It here appears that the facts confirm this assumption. Durinn and Mjödvitnir, in Völuspa correspond to Durnir and Midvitnir in the strophes concerning Sökkmimir.

Mjödvitnir means the mead-wolf, he who captured the mead celebrated in mythology. As Odin, having assumed the name of another, visits the abode of the descendants of Durner-Sokmimer, he accordingly visits that rocky home, where that giant dwells who has secured and possesses the mead desired by Odin.

Ynglingatal reports, as we have seen, that a certain Svegdir was deceived, when he was outside of the door of the hall of the kinsmen of Durner-Sokmimer. He who deceived him was the doorkeeper of the hall. The door appeared to be already open, and the "giant-inhabited" hall "yawned" festively illuminated (bjartr) toward Svegder. If we may believe Ynglingatal's commentary on the strophe, the hall-ward had called to him and said that Odin was inside. The strophe represents Svegder as running after the hall-ward, that is to say, toward the door in the rock, eager to get in. What afterwards happened Ynglingatal does not state; but that Svegder did not gain the point he desired, but fell into some snare laid by the doorkeeper, follows from the expression that he was deceived by him, and that this caused his death follows from the fact that the purpose of the strophe is to tell how his life ended. Ynglingasaga says that he got into the rock, but never out of it. The rest that this saga has to say of Svegder—that he was on a journey to the old Asgard in "Tyrkland," to find "Odin the old," Gylfaginning's King Priam—has nothing to do with the mythology and with Ynglingatal, but is of course important in regard to the Euhemeristic hypothesis in regard to the descent of the Asas from Tyrkland (Troy), on which the author of Ynglingatal, like that of Gylfaginning, bases his work.

The variations Svegdir, Svidgir, and Sveigdir are used interchangeably in regard to the same person (cp. Ynglingatal, 14, 15; Fornald., ii. 2; Fornm., i. 29; and Egilsson, 796, 801). Svigdir seems to be the oldest of these forms. The words means the great drinker (Egilsson, 801). Svigdir was one of the most popular heroes of mythology (see the treatise on the "Ivalde race"), and was already in heathen times regarded as a race-hero of the Swedes. In Ynglingatal (14) Svithiod is called geiri Svigdis, "Svigdir's domain." At the same time, Svegdir is an epithet of Odin. But it should be borne in mind that several of the names by which Odin is designated belong to him only in a secondary and transferred sense, and he has assumed them on occasions when he did not want to be recognised, and wanted to represent some one else (cp. Grimnersm., 49) whose name he then assumed.

When Odin visits the abode of Durinn-Sökkmimir, where the precious mead is preserved, he calls himself, according to Grimnersmal, Svidurr, Svidrir. Now it is the case with this name as with Svigdir, that it was connected with Svithiod. Skaldskaparmal (65) says that Svithiod var kallat af nafni Svidurs, "Svithiod was named after the name of Svidur."

Hence (1) the name Svidurr, like Svegdir-Svigdir, belongs to Odin, but only in a secondary sense, as one assumed or borrowed from another person; (2) Svidurr, like Svegdir-Svigdir, was originally a mythic person, whom tradition connected as a race hero with Svithiod.

From all this it appears that the names, facts, and the chain of events connect partly the strophes of Grimnersmal and Ynglingatal with each other, and partly both of these with Havamál's account of Odin's adventure to secure the mead, and this connection furnishes indubitable evidence that they concern the same episode in the mythological epic.

In the mythic fragments handed down to our time are found other epithets, which like Svigdir, refer to some mythical person who played the part of a champion drinker, and was connected with the myth concerning mead and brewing. These epithets are Ölvaldi, Ölmódr, and Sumbl finnakonungr, Sumblus phinnorum rex in Saxo. Sumbl, as a common noun, means ale, feast. In the "Finn-king" Sumbl these ideas are personified, just as the soma-drink in the Veda songs is personified in King Soma. In my treatise on the Ivalde race, I shall revert to the person who had these epithets, in order to make his mythological position clear. Here I shall simply point out the following: Havamál (110) makes one of the rimthurses, Suttung's guests, say:

Baugeith Odinn
hygg ec at unnit hafi;
hvat scal hans trygdom trua?
Suttung svikinn
han let sumbli fra
oc grætta Gunnlaudo.

The strophe makes the one who says this blame Odin for breaking the oath he took on the ring, and thus showing himself unworthy of being trusted in the promises and oaths he might give in the future, whereupon it is stated that he left Suttung deceitfully robbed of sumbl (Sumbl), and Gunlad in tears over a lost kinsman.

The expression that Suttung was deceitfully robbed of sumbl, to be intelligible, requires no other interpretation than the one which lies near at hand, that Suttung was treacherously deprived of the mead. But as the skald might have designated the drink lost by Suttung in a more definite manner than with the word sumbl, and as he still chose this word, which to his hearers, familiar with the mythology, must have called to mind the personal Sumbl (Ölvaldi Svigdir), it is not only possible, but, as it seems to me, even probable, that he purposely chose an ambiguous word, and wanted thereby to refer at the same time to the deceitfully captured mead, and to the intended son-in-law deceitfully lost; and this seems to me to be corroborated by the juxtaposition of Suttung's and Gunlad's loss. The common noun sumbl's double meaning as mead and "drink-feast" has also led M. B. Richert (page 14 in his treatise mentioned above) to assume that "the expression was purposely chosen in such a manner that the meaning should not be entirely limited and definite," and he adds: "A similar indefiniteness of statement, which may give rise to ambiguity and play of words, is frequently found in the old songs." Meanwhile, I do not include this probability in my evidence, and do not present it as the basis of any conclusions.

The name Suttung shows in its very form that it is a patronymic, and although we can furnish no linguistic evidence that the original form was Surtungr and characterised its possessor as son of Surtr, still there are other facts which prove that such was actually the case. The very circumstance that the skaldic drink which came into Suttung's possession is paraphrased with the expression sylgr Surts ættar, "the drink of Surt's race" (Fornmanna, iii. 3), points that way and the question is settled completely by the half-strophe quoted in the Younger Edda (i. 242), and composed by Eyvind Skaldaspiller, where the skaldic potion is called—

hinn er Surts
or sökkdölum
farmagnudr
fljugandi bar.

("the drink, which Odin flying bore from Surt's deep dales").

When Odin had come safely out of Fjalar-Suttung's deep rocky halls, and, on eagle-pinions, was flying with the precious mead to Asgard, it was accordingly that deep, in which Surtr dwells, which he left below him, and the giant race who had been drinking the mead before that time, while it was still in Suttung's possession, was Surt's race. From this it follows that "the ancient giant," whom Odin visited for the purpose of robbing his circle of kinsmen of the skaldic mead, is none other than that being so well known in the mythology, Surtr, and that Surtr is identical with Durinn (Durnir), and Sökkmimir.

This also explains the epithet Sökkmimir, "the Mimer of the deep." Sökk- in Sökk-Mimir refers to Sökk in Sökkdalir, Surt's domain, and that Surt could be associated with Mimer is, from the standpoint of Old Norse poetics, perfectly justifiable from the fact that he appears in time's morning as a co-worker with Mimer, and operating with him as one of the forces of creation in the service of the oldest high-holy powers (see No. 53). Consequently Mimer and Sokmimer (Surtr-Durinn) created the clans of artists.

Surtr, Durinn, Durnir, Sökkmimir, are, therefore, synonyms, and designate the same person. He has a son who is designated by the synonyms Suttungr, Fjalarr, Mjödvitnir (Midvitnir). Suttung has a son slain by Odin, when the latter robs him of the mead of inspiration, and a daughter, Gunlad. The giant maid, deceived and deplored by Odin, is consequently the daughter of Surt's son.

Light is thus shed on the myth concerning the giant who reappears in Ragnarok, and there wields the sword which fells Frey and hurls the flames which consume the world. It is found to be connected with the myth concerning the oldest events of mythology. In time's morning we find the fire-being Surt—the representative of subterranean fire—as a creative force by the side of Mimer, who is a friend of the gods, and whose kinsman he must be as a descendant of Ymer. Both work together in peace for similar purposes and under the direction of the gods (Völuspa, 9, 10). But then something occurs which interrupts the amicable relations. Mimer and Surt no longer work together. The fountain of creative force, the mead of wisdom and inspiration, is in the exclusive possession of Mimer, and he and Urd are together the ruling powers in the lower world. The fire-giant, the primeval artist, is then with his race relegated to the "deep dales," situated to the southward (Völuspa, 52), difficult of access, and dangerous for the gods to visit, and presumably conceived as located deeper down than the lower world governed by Mimer and Urd. That he tried to get possession of a part of "Odrærir" follows from the position he afterwards occupies in the myth concerning the mead. When daylight again falls on him from the mythic fragments extant, his son has captured and is in possession of a supply of mead, which must originally have come from Mimer's fountain, and been chiefly composed of its liquid, for it is skaldic mead, it too, and can also be designated as Ódrærir (Havamál, 107), while the son is called "the mead-wolf," the one who has robbed and conceals the precious drink. Odin captures his mead by cunning, the grandson of the fire-giant is slain, the devoted love of the son's daughter is betrayed, and the husband selected for her is deceived and removed. All this, though done for purposes to benefit gods and men, demands and receives in the mythology its terrible retribution. It is a trait peculiar to the whole Teutonic mythology that evil deeds, with a good purpose, even when the object is attained, produce evil results, which develop and finally smother the fruits of the good purpose. Thus Surt has a reason for appearing in Ragnarok as the annihilator of the world of the Asas, when the latter is to make room for a realm of justice. The flames of revenge are hurled upon creation.

I have already above (No. 87), had occasion to speak of the choicest sword of mythology, the one which Volund smithied and Mimer captured, and which was fetched from the lower world by a hero whose name Saxo Latinised into Hotherus. In my treatise on "the Ivalde race" it shall be demonstrated who this Hotherus was in mythology, and that the sword was delivered by him to Frey. Lokasenna (42; cp. Gylfag., 37), informs us that the lovesick Frey gave the sword to the giant Gymer for his bride. After coming into the hands of the giants it is preserved and watched over until Ragnarok by Eggther (an epithet meaning sword-watcher), who in the Ironwood is the shepherd of the monster herd of Loke's progeny, which in the last days shall harry the world and fight in Ragnarok (Völuspa, 39-41). When Ragnarok is at hand a giant comes to this sword-watcher in the guise of the red cock, the symbol of the destructive fire. This giant is Fjalar (Völuspa, 41), and that the purpose of his visit is to secure the sword follows from the fact that the best sword of mythology is shortly afterwards in the hands of his father Surt (Völuspa, 50) when the latter comes from the south with his band (the sons of Suttung, not of Muspel) to take part in the last conflict and destroy with fire that part of the world that can be destroyed. Frey is slain by the sword which was once his own.

In this manner the myth about the mead and that about the Volund sword are knit together.

Thor, too, ventured to visit Fjalar's abode. In regard to this visit we have a few words in strophe 26 of Harbardsljod. Harbardr accuses Thor, no doubt unjustly, of having exhibited fear. Of this matter we have no reliable details in the records from heathendom, but a comparison of the above strophe of Harbardsljod with Gylfaginning shows that the account compiled in Gylfaginning from various mythic fragments concerning Thor's journey to Utgarda-Loke and his adventures there contains reminiscences of what the original myths have had to say about his experience on his expedition to Fjalar's. The fire-giant natures of Surt and of his son Fjalar gleam forth in the narrative: the ruler of Utgard can produce earthquakes, and Loge (the flame) is his servant. It is also doubtless correct, from a mythical standpoint, that he is represented as exceedingly skilful in "deluding," in giving things the appearance of something else than they really are (see No. 39). When Odin assumed the guise of Fjalar's son-in-law, he defeated Surt's race with their own weapons.

Eyvind Skaldaspiller states, as we have seen, that Surt's abode is in dales down in the deep. From an expression in Ynglingasaga's strophe we must draw the conclusion that its author, in harmony herewith, conceived the abyss where Surt's race dwelt as regions to which the light of day never comes. Sokmimer's doorkeeper, one of whose tasks it was to take notice of the wayfarers who approached, is a day-shy dwarf (dagskjarr salvordudr; in regard to dwarfs that shun the light of day, see Alvissmal). Darkness therefore broods over this region, but in the abode of the fire-giant it is light (the hall is bjartr).

I now return to the episodes in the mead-myth under discussion to recapitulate in brief the proofs and results. If we for a moment should assume that the main source, namely, the Havamál strophes, together with Eyvind's half strophe, were lost, and that the only remaining evidences were Grimnersmal (50) and Ynglingatal (15), together with the prose text in Ynglingasaga, then an analysis of these would lead to the following result:

(1) Grimnersmal (50) and Ynglingatal (15) should be compared with each other. The reasons for assuming them to be intrinsically connected are the following:

(a) Both contain the epithet Sökkmimir, which occurs nowhere else.

(b) Both describe a primeval giant, who is designated by this epithet as chief and lord of a giant race gathered around him.

(c) Both refer the events described to the same locality: the one tells what occurred in the halls of Sökkmimir; the other narrates an episode which occurred outside of the door of Sokmimer's giant abode.

(d) The one shows that Sokmimer is identical with Durnir (Durin); the other mentions Midvitnir as one of Sokmimer's subjects. Midvitnir (Mjódvitnir), according to Völuspa, was created by Durinn.

(e) Both describe events occurring while Odin is inside at Sokmimer's.

(f) The one mentions Svidurr, the other Svegdir. Mythologically, the two names refer to each other.

(2) To the giant group which Odin visits in the abode of Sökkmimir belongs the giant who captured the famous mead which Odin is anxious to secure. This appears from the epithet which the author of the Grimnersmal strophe chose in order to designate him in such a manner that he could be recognised, namely, Midvitnir, "the mead-wolf," an epithet which explains why the mead-thirsty Odin made his journey to this race hostile to the gods.

(3) That Odin did not venture, or did not think it desirable in connection with the purpose of his visit, to appear in his own name and in a guise easily recognised, is evident from the fact that he "disguised" himself, "acted the hypocrite" (dulda), in the presence of the giant, and appeared as another mythic person, Svidurr.

This mythic person has been handed down in the traditions as the one who gave the name to Svithiod, and as a race-hero of the Swedes. Svíthiód var kallat af nafni Svidurs.

(4) While Odin, in the guise of this race-hero, plays his part in the mountain in the abode of Sokmimer, a person arrives at the entrance of the halls of this giant. This person, Svegdir (Svigdir), is in the sagas called the race-hero of the Swedes, and after him they have called Svithiod geiri Svigdis. Odin, who acted Svidurr's part, has also been called Svigdir, Svegdir.

Svigdir is an epithet, and means "the champion drinker" (Anglo-Saxon swig: to drink deep draughts). "The champion drinker" is accordingly on his way to the "Mead-wolf," while Odin is in his abode. All goes to show that the event belongs to the domain of the mead-myth.

Accordingly, the situation is this: A pretended race-hero and namer of Svithiod is in the abode of Sokmimer, while a person who, from a mythological standpoint, is the real race-hero and namer of Svithiod is on his way to Sokmimer's abode and about to enter. The myth could not have conceived the matter in this way, unless the pretended race-hero was believed to act the part of the real one. The arrival of the real one makes Odin's position, which was already full of peril, still more dangerous, and threatens him with discovery and its consequences.

(5) If Odin appeared in the part of a "champion drinker," he was compelled to drink much in Sokmimer's halls in order to maintain his part, and this, too, must have added to the danger of his position.

(6) Still the prudent Asa-father seems to have observed some degree of caution, in order that his plans might not be frustrated by the real Svigdir. That which happens gives the strongest support to this supposition, which in itself is very probable. Sokmimer's doorkeeper keeps watch in the darkness outside. When he discovers the approach of Svigdir, he goes to meet him and informs him that Odin is inside. Consequently the doorkeeper knows that Svidurr is Odin, who is unknown to all those within excepting to Odin himself. This and what follows seems to show positively that the wise Odin and the cunning dwarf act upon a settled plan. It may be delusion or reality, but Svigdir sees the mountain door open to the illuminated giant-hall, and the information that Odin is within (the dwarf may or may not have added that Odin pretends to be Svigdir) causes him, the "proud one," "of noble race," the kinsman of Dulsi (epithet of Mundilfore, see No. 83), to rush with all his might after the dwarf against the real or apparent door, and the result is that the dwarf succeeded in "deceiving" him (he velti Svegder), so that he never more was seen.

This is what we learn from the strophes in Grimnersmal and Ynglingatal, with the prose text of the latter. If we now compare this with what Havamál and Eyvind relates, we get the following parallels:

To this is finally to be added that Eyvind's statement, that the event occurred in Surt's Sökkdalir, helps to throw light on Surt's epithet Sökkmimir, and particularly that Ynglingatal's account of the arrival and fate of the real Svegder fills a gap in Havamál's narrative, and shows how Odin, appearing in the guise of another person who was expected, could do so without fear of being surprised by the latter.

Note.—The account in the Younger Edda about Odin's visit to Suttung seems to be based on some satire produced long after the introduction of Christianity. With a free use of the confused mythic traditions then extant, and without paying any heed to Havamál's statement, this satire was produced to show in a semi-allegorical way how good and bad poetry originated. The author of this satire either did not know or did not care about the fact that Havamál identifies Suttung and Fjalar. To him they are different persons, of whom the one receives the skaldic mead as a ransom from the other. While in Havamál the rimthurses give Odin the name Bölverkr, "the evil-doer," and this very properly from their standpoint, the Younger Edda makes Odin give himself this name when he is to appear incognito, though such a name was not calculated to inspire confidence. While in Havamál Odin, in the guise of another, enters Suttung's halls, is conducted to a golden high-seat, and takes a lively part in the banquet and in the conversation, the Younger Edda makes him steal into the mountain through a small gimlet-hole and get down into Gunlad's chamber in this manner, where he remains the whole time without seeing anyone else of the people living there, and where, with Gunlad's consent, he empties to the bottom the giant's three mead-vessels, Ódrærir, Bodn, and Són. These three names belong, as we have seen, in the real mythology to the three subterranean fountains which nourish the roots of the world-tree. Havamál contents itself with using a poetic-rhetorical phrase and calling the skaldic mead, captured by Odin, Ódrærir, "the giver of inspiration," "the inspiring nectar." The author of the satire avails himself of this reason for using the names of the two other fountains Bodn and Són, and for applying them to two other "vessels and kettles" in which Suttung is said to have kept the mead. That he called one of the vessels a kettle is explained by the fact that the third lower world fountain is Hvergelmir, "the roaring kettle." In order that Odin and Gunlad may be able to discuss and resolve in perfect secrecy in regard to the mead, Odin must come secretly down into the mountain, hence the satire makes him use the bored hole to get in. From the whole description in Havamál, it appears, on the contrary, that Odin entered the giant's hall in the usual manner through the door, while he avails himself of the tunnel made by Rate to get out. Havamál first states that Odin seeks the giant, and then tells how he enters into conversation and develops his eloquence in Suttung's halls, and how, while he sits in the golden high-seat (probably opposite the host, as Richter has assumed), Gunlad hands him the precious mead. Then is mentioned for the first time the way made for him by Rate, and this on the one hand in connection with the "evil compensation" Gunlad received from him, she the loving and devoted woman whom he had embraced, and on the other hand in connection with the fact that his flight from the mountain was successful, so that he could take the mead with him though his life was in danger, and there were giants' ways both above and below that secret path by which he escaped. That Odin took the oath of faithfulness on the holy ring, that there was a regular wedding feast with the questions on the next morning in regard to the well-being of the newly-married couple—all this the satire does not mention, nor does its premises permit it to do so.

90.

THE MEAD-MYTH (continued). THE MOON AND THE MEAD. PROOFS THAT NANNA'S FATHER IS THE WARD OF THE ATMOSPHERE AND GOD OF THE MOON.

Before the skaldic mead came into the possession of Suttung-Fjalar, it had passed through various adventures. In one of these enters Máni, the god of the moon, who by the names Nökkvi (variation Nökkver), Nefr (variation Nepr), and Gevarr (Gævarr) occupies a very conspicuous position in our mythology, not least in the capacity of Nanna's father.

I shall here present the proofs which lie near at hand, and can be furnished without entering into too elaborate investigations, that the moon-god and Nanna's father are identical, and this will give me an opportunity of referring to that episode of the mead-myth, in which he appears as one of the actors.

The identity of Nökkvi, Nefr, and Gevarr appears from the following passages:

(1) Hyndluljod, 20: "Nanna was, in the next place, Nökkvi's daughter" (Nanna var næst thar Nauckua dottir).

(2) Gylfaginning, 32: "The son of Balder and of Nanna, daughter of Nef, was called Forsete" (Forseti heiter sonr Baldrs ok Nönnu Nefsdóttur). Gylfaginning, 49: "His (Balder's) wife Nanna, daughter of Nef" (Kona hans Nanna Nefsdóttir).

(3) Saxo, Hist., Dan., iii.: "Gevarr's daughter Nanna" (Gevari filia Nanna). That Saxo means the mythological Nanna follows from the fact that Balder appears in the story as her wooer. That the Norse form of the name, which Saxo Latinised into Gevarus, was Gevarr, not Gefr, as a prominent linguist has assumed, follows from the rules adopted by Saxo in Latinising Norse names.

Note.—Names of the class to which Gefr would belong, providing such a name existed, would be Latinised in the following manner:

(a) Askr Ascerus, Baldr Balderus, Geldr Gelderus, Glaumr Glomerus, Hödr, Hadr, Odr, Hötherus, Hatherus, Hotherus, Svipdagr Svipdagerus, Ullr Ollerus, Yggr Uggerus, Vigr Vigerus.

(b) Ásmundr Asmundus, Amundr Amundus, Arngrimr Arngrimus, Bildr Bildus, Knútr Canutus, Fridleifr Fridlevus, Gautrekr Gotricus, Gódmundr Guthmundus, Haddingr Hadingus, Haraldr Haraldus.

Names ending in -arr are Latinised in the following manner:

(a) Borgarr Borcarus, Einarr Enarus, Gunnarr Gunnarus, Hjörvarr Hjartvarus, Ingimarr Ingimarus, Ingvarr Ingvarus, Ísmarr Ismarus, Ívarr Ivarus, Óttarr Otharus, Rostarr Rostarus, Sigarr Sigarus, Sivarr Sivarus, Valdimarr Valdemarus.

(b) Agnarr Agnerus, Ragnarr Regnerus.

With the ending -arus occurs also in a single instance a Norse name in -i, namely, Eylimi Olimarus. Herewith we might perhaps include Liotarus, the Norse form of which Saxo may have had in Ljóti from Ljótr. Otherwise Ljótr is a single exception from the rules followed by Saxo, and methodology forbids our building anything on a single exception, which moreover is uncertain.

Some monosyllabic names ending in -r are sometimes unlatinised, as Alf, Ulf, Sten, Ring, Rolf, and sometimes Latinised with -o, as Alvo, Ulvo, Steno, Ringo, Rolvo, Álfr is also found Latinised as Alverus.

From the above lists of names it follows that Saxo's rules for Latinising Norse names ending with the nominative -r after a consonant were these:

(1) Monosyllabic names (seldom a dissyllabic one, as Svipdagr) are Latinised with the ending -erus or the ending -o.

(2) Names of two or more syllables which do not end in -arr (rarely a name of one syllable, as Bildr) are Latinised with the ending -us.

(3) Names ending in -arr are Latinised with -arus; in a few cases (and then on account of the Danish pronunciation) with -erus.

From the above rules it follows (1) that Gefr, if such a name existed, would have been Latinised by Saxo either into Geverus, Geferus, or into Gevo, Gefo; (2) that Gevarr is the regular Norse for Gevarus.

The only possible meaning of the name Gevarr, considered as a common noun is "the ward of the atmosphere" from ge (gæ; see Younger Edda, ii. 486, and Egilsson, 227) and -varr. I cite this definition not for the purpose of drawing any conclusions therefrom, but simply because it agrees with the result reached in another way.

The other name of Nanna's father is, as we have seen, Nökkvi, Nökkver. This word means the ship-owner, ship-captain. If we compare these two names, Gevarr and Nökkver, with each other, then it follows from the comparison that Nanna's father was a mythic person who operated in the atmosphere or had some connection with certain phenomena in the air, and particularly in connection with a phenomenon there of such a kind that the mythic fancy could imagine a ship. The result of the comparison should be examined in connection with a strophe by Thorbjorn Hornklofve, which I shall now consider.

Thorbjorn was the court-skald of Harald Fairfax, and he described many of the king's deeds and adventures. Harald had at one time caused to be built for himself and his body-guard a large and stately ship, with a beautiful figure-head in the form of a serpent. On board this ship he was overtaken by a severe gale, which Hornklofve (Harald Harfager's saga, ch. 9) describes in the following words:

Ut á mar mætir
mannskædr lagar tanna
ræsinadr til rausnar
rak vebrautar Nökkva.

In prose order: Lagar tanna mannskædr mætir út á mar rak rausnar ræsinadr til Nökkva vebrautar ("The assailants of the skerry (the teeth of the sea), dangerous to man, flung out upon the sea the splendid serpent of the vessel's stem to the holy path of Nokve").

All interpreters agree that by "the skerry's assailants, dangerous to man," is meant the waves which are produced by the storm and rush against the skerries in breakers dangerous to seamen. It is also evident that Hornklofve wanted to depict the violence of the sea when he says that the billows which rise to assail the skerry tosses the ship, so that the figure-head of the stem reaches "the holy path of Nokve." Poems of different literatures resemble each other in their descriptions of a storm raging at sea. They make the billows rise to "the clouds," to "the stars," or to "the moon." Quanti montes volvuntur aquarum! Jam, jam tacturos sidera summa putes, Ovid sings (Trist., i. 18, 19); and Virgil has it: Procella fluctus ad sidera tollit (Æn., i. 107). One of their brother skalds in the North, quoted in Skaldskaparmal (ch. 61), depicts a storm with the following words:

Hraud i himin upp glódum
hafs, gekk sær af afli,
bör hygg ek at sky skordi,
skaut Ránar vegr mána.

The skald makes the phosphorescence of the sea splash against heaven; he makes the ship split the clouds, and the way of Ran, the giantess of the sea, cut the path of the moon.

The question now is, whether Hornklofve by "Nokve's holy path" did not mean the path of the moon in space, and whether it is not to this path the figure-head of the ship seems to pitch when it is lifted on high by the towering billows. It is certain that this holy way toward which the heaven-high billows lift the ship is situated in the atmosphere above the sea, and that Nokve has been conceived as travelling this way in a ship, since Nokve means the ship-captain. From this it follows that Nokve's craft must have been a phenomenon in space resembling a ship which was supposed to have its course marked out there. We must therefore choose between the sun, the moon, and the stars; and as it is the moon which, when it is not full, has the form of a ship sailing in space, it is more probable that by Nokve's ship is meant the moon than that any other celestial body is referred to.

This probability becomes a certainty by the following proofs. In Sonatorrek (str. 2, 3) Egil Skallagrimson sings that when heavy sorrow oppresses him (who has lost his favourite son) then the song does not easily well forth from his breast:

Thagna fundr
thriggia nidja
ár borinn
or Jötunheimum,
lastalauss
er lifnadi
á Nökkvers
nökkva Bragi.

The skaldic song is here compared with a fountain which does not easily gush forth from a sorrowful heart, and the liquid of the fountain is compared with the "Thrigge's kinsmen's find, the one kept secret, which in times past was carried from Jotunheim into Nokve's ship, where Brage, unharmed, refreshed himself (secured the vigour of life)."

It is plain that Egil here refers to a mythic event that formed an episode in the myth concerning the skaldic mead. Somewhere in Jotunheim a fountain containing the same precious liquid as that in Mimer's well has burst forth. The vein of the fountain was discovered by kinsmen of Thrigge, but the precious find eagerly desired by all powers is kept secret, presumably in order that they who made the discovery might enjoy it undivided and in safety. But something happens which causes the treasure which the fountain gave its discoverers to be carried from Jotunheim to Nokve's ship, and there the drink is accessible to the gods. It is especially mentioned that Brage, the god of poetry, is there permitted to partake of it and thus refresh his powers.

Thus the ship of Nanna's father here reappears, and we learn that on its holy way in space in bygone times it bore a supply of skaldic mead, of which Brage in the days of his innocence drank the strength of life.

With this we must compare a mythic fragment preserved in Gylfaginning (ch. 11). There a fountain called Byrgir is mentioned. Two children, a lass by name Bil and a lad by name Hjuki, whose father was named Vidfinnr, had come with a pail to this fountain to fetch water. The allegory in which the tradition is incorporated calls the pail Sægr, "the one seething over its brinks," and calls the pole on which the pail is carried Simul (according to one manuscript Sumul; cp. Suml, brewing ale, mead). Bil, one of the two children is put in connection with the drink of poetry. The skalds pray that she may be gracious to them. Ef unna itr vildi Bil Skáldi, "if the noble Bil will favour the skald," is a wish expressed in a strophe in the Younger Edda, ii. 363. Byrgir is manifestly a fountain of the same kind as the one referred to by Egil and containing the skaldic mead. Byrgir's fountain must have been kept secret, it must have been a "concealed find," for it is in the night, while the moon is up, that Vidfin's children are engaged in filling their pail from it. This is evident from the fact that Máni sees the children. When they have filled the pail, they are about to depart, presumably to their home, and to their father Vidfin. But they do not get home. While they carry the pail with the pole on their shoulders Máni takes them unto himself, and they remain with him, together with their precious burden. From other mythic traditions which I shall consider later (see the treatise on the Ivalde race), we learn that the moon-god adopts them as his children, and Bil afterwards appears as an asynje (Younger Edda, i. 118, 556).

If we now compare Egil's statement with the mythic fragment about Bil and Hjuke, we find in both a fountain mentioned which contains the liquid of inspiration found in Mimer's fountain, without being Mimer's well-guarded or unapproachable "well." In Egil the find is "kept secret." In Gylfaginning the children visit it in the night. Egil says the liquid was carried from Jotunheim; Gylfaginning says that Bil and Hjuke carried it in a pail. Egil makes the liquid transferred from Jotunheim to Nokve's ship; Gylfaginning makes the liquid and its bearers be taken aloft by the moon-god to the moon, where we still, says Gylfaginning, can see Bil and Hjuke (in the moon-spots).

There can therefore be no doubt that Nokve's ship is the silvery craft of the moon, sailing in space over sea and land on a course marked out for it, and that Nokve is the moon-god. As in Rigveda, so in the Teutonic mythology, the ship of the moon was for a time the place where the liquid of inspiration, the life- and strength-giving mead, was concealed. The myth has ancient Aryan roots.

On the myth concerning the mead-carrying ship, to which the Asas come to drink, rests the paraphrase for composing, for making a song, which Einar Skalaglam once used (Skaldskaparmal, 1). To make songs he calls "to dip liquid out of Her-Tyr's wind-ship" (ausa Hértys víngnodar austr; see further No. 121, about Odin's visit in Nokve's ship).

The name Nefr (variation Nepr), the third name of Nanna's father mentioned above, occurs nowhere in the Norse sources excepting in the Younger Edda. It is, however, undoubtedly correct that Nokve-Gevar was also called Nef.

Among all the Teutonic myths there is scarcely one other with which so many heroic songs composed in heathen times have been connected as with the myth concerning the moon-god and his descendants. As shall be shown further on, the Niflungs are descendants of Nef's adopted son Hjuke, and they are originally named after their adopted race-progenitor Nefr. A more correct and an older form is perhaps Hnefr and Hniflungar, and the latter form is also found in the Icelandic literature. In Old English the moon-god appears changed into a prehistoric king, Hnäf, also called Hoce (see Beowulf, 2142, and Gleeman's Tale). Hoce is the same name as the Norse Hjuki. Thus while Hnäf and Hoce are identical in the Old English poem "Beowulf," we find in the Norse source that the lad taken aloft by Mane is called by one of the names of his foster-father. In the Norse account the moon-god (Nefr) captures, as we have seen, the children of one Vidfinnr, and at the same time he robs Vidfinnr of the priceless mead of inspiration found in the fountain Byrgir. In the Old English saga Hnäf has a son-in-law and vassal, whose name is Finn (Fin Folcvalding), who becomes his bitterest foe, contends with him, is conquered and pardoned, but attacks him again, and, in company with one Gudere (Gunnr), burns him. According to Saxo, Nanna's father Gevarr has the same fate. He is attacked by a vassal and burnt. The vassal is called Gunno (Gunnr, Gudere). Thus we have in the Old English tradition the names Hnäf, Hoce, Fin, and Gudere; and in the Norse tradition the corresponding names Nefr, Hjuki, Vidfinnr, and Gunnr (Gunnarr). The relation of the moon-god (Nefr) to Vidfinnr is the mythological basis of Fin's enmity to Hnäf. The burning is common to both the Old English and the Norse sources. Later in this work I shall consider these circumstances more minutely. What I have stated is sufficient to show that the Old English tradition is in this point connected with the Norse in a manner, which confirms Nefr-Gevarr's identity with Máni, who takes aloft Hjuki and robs Vidfinnr of the skaldic mead.

The tradition of Gevarr-Nefr's identity with Máni reappears in Iceland once more as late as in Hromund Greipson's saga. There a person called Máni Karl shows where the hero of the saga is to find the sword Mistelteinn. In Saxo, Nanna's father Gevarr shows the beforementioned Hotherus where he is to find the weapon which is to slay Balder. Thus Máni in Hromund's saga assumes the same position as Gevarr, Nanna's father, occupies in Saxo's narrative.

All these circumstances form together a positive proof of the moon-god's identity with Nanna's father. Further on, when the investigation has progressed to the proper point, we shall give reasons for assuming that Vidfinnr of the Edda, the Fin of the English heroic poem, is the same person whom we have heretofore mentioned by the name Sumbl Finnakonungr and Svigdir, and that the myth concerning the taking of the mead aloft to the moon accordingly has an epic connection with the myth concerning Odin's visit to the giant Fjalar, and concerning the fate which then befell Nokve's slayer.

91.

THE MYTH CONCERNING THE MOON-GOD (continued).

The moon-god, like Nat, Dag, and Sol, is by birth and abode a lower-world divinity. As such, he too had his importance in the Teutonic eschatology. The god who on his journeys on "Nokve's holy way" serves auldom at ártali (Vafthrudnersmal, 23) by measuring out to men time in phases of the moon, in months, and in years has, in the mythology also, received a certain influence in inflicting suffering and punishment on sinners. He is lord of the heiptir, the Teutonic Erinnyes (see No. 75), and keeps those limar (bundles of thorns) with which the former are armed, and in this capacity he has borne the epithet Eylimi, which reappears in the heroic songs in a manner which removes all doubt that Nanna's father was originally meant. (See in Saxo and in Helge Hjorvardson's saga. To the latter I shall return in the second part of this work, and I shall there present evidence that the saga is based on episodes taken from the Balder myth, and that Helge Hjorvardson is himself an imitation of Balder). In this capacity of lord of the Heiptir the moon-god is the power to whom prayers are to be addressed by those who desire to be spared from those sufferings which the Heiptir represent (Heithtom scal mána qvedja—Havamál, 137). His quality as the one who keeps the thorn-rods of the heiptir still survives in a great part of the Teutonic world in the scattered traditions about "the man in the moon," who carries bundles of thorns on his back (J. Grimm, Myth., 680; see No. 123).

92.

THE MOON-DIS NANNA. THE MERSEBURG FORMULA. BALDER'S NAME FALR.

Thus Nanna is the daughter of the ruler of the moon, of "the ward of the atmosphere." This alone indicates that she herself was mythologically connected with the phenomena which pertain to her father's domain of activity, and in all probability was a moon-dis (goddess). This assumption is fully confirmed by a contribution to Teutonic mythology rescued in Germany, the so-called Merseburg formula, which begins as follows:

Of the names occurring in this strophe Uodan-Odin, Balder, Sunna (synonym of Sol—Alvissm., 17; Younger Edda, i. 472, 593), Friia-Frigg, and Volla-Fulla are well known in the Icelandic mythic records. Only Phol and Sinhtgunt are strangers to our mythologists, though Phol-Falr surely ought not to be so.

In regard to the German form Phol, we find that it has by its side the form Fal in German names of places connected with fountains. Jacob Grimm has pointed out a "Pholes" fountain in Thuringia, a "Fals" fountain in the Frankish Steigerwald, and in this connection a "Balder" well in Rheinphaltz. In the Danish popular traditions Balder's horse had the ability to produce fountains by tramping on the ground, and Balder's fountain in Seeland is said to have originated in this manner (cp. P. E. Müller on Saxo, Hist., 120). In Saxo, too, Balder gives rise to wells (Victor Balderus, ut afflictum siti militem opportuni liquoris beneficio recrearet, novos humi latices terram altius rimatus operuit—p. 120).

This very circumstance seems to indicate that Phol, Fal, was a common epithet or surname of Balder in Germany, and it must be admitted that this meaning must have appeared to the German mythologists to be confirmed by the Merseburg formula; for in this way alone could it be explained in a simple and natural manner, that Balder is not named in the first line as Odin's companion, although he actually attends Odin, and although the misfortune that befalls "Balder's foal" is the chief subject of the narrative, while Phol on the other hand is not mentioned again in the whole formula, although he is named in the first line as Odin's companion.

This simple and incontrovertible conclusion, that Phol and Balder in the Merseburg formula are identical is put beyond all doubt by a more thorough examination of the Norse records. In these it is demonstrated that the name Falr was also known in the North as an epithet of Balder.

The first books of Saxo are based exclusively on the myths concerning gods and heroes. There is not a single person, not a single name, which Saxo did not borrow from the mythic traditions. Among them is also a certain Fjallerus, who is mentioned in bk. i. 160. In the question in regard to the Norse form which was Latinised into Fjallerus, we must remember that Saxo writes Hjallus (Hist., pp. 371, 672) for Hjali (cp. p. 370), and alternately Colo, Collo, and Collerus (Hist., pp. 56, 136, 181), and that he uses the broken form Bjarbi for Barri (Hist., p. 250). In accordance with this the Latin form Fjallerus must correspond to the Norse Falr, and there is, in fact, in the whole Old Norse literature, not a single name to be found corresponding to this excepting Falr, for the name Fjalarr, the only other one to be thought of in this connection should, according to the rules followed by Saxo, be Latinised into Fjallarus or Fjalarus, but not into Fjallerus.

Of this Fjallerus Saxo relates that he was banished by an enemy, and the report says that Fjallerus betook himself to the place which is unknown to our populations, and which is called Odáins-akr (quem ad locum, cui Undensakre nomen est, nostris ignotum populis concessisse est fama—p. 160.)

The mythology mentions only a single person who by an enemy was transferred to Odáinsakr, and that is Balder. (Of Odáinsakr and Balder's abode there, see Nos. 44-53).

The enemy who transfers Falr to the realm of immortality is, according to Saxo, a son of Horvendillus, that is to say, a son of the mythological Örvandill, Groa's husband and Svipdag's father (see Nos. 108, 109). Svipdag has already once before been mistaken by Saxo for Hotherus (see No. 101). Hotherus is, again, the Latin form for Hödr. Hence it is Balder's banishment by Hödr to the subterranean realms of immortality of which we here read in Saxo where the latter speaks of Fal's banishment to Odáinsakr by a son of Orvandel.