The Classic Myths in English Literature and in Art (2nd ed.) (1911)

"Long is one night,Long are two nights,But how shall I hold out three?Shorter hath seemedA month to me oftThan of this longing time the half."

So Freyr obtained Gerda, the most beautiful of all women, for his wife, but he lost his sword.

278. The Death of Balder. Balder the Good, having been tormented with terrible dreams indicating that his life was in peril, told them to the assembled gods, who resolved to conjure all things to avert from him the threatened danger. Then Frigga, the wife of Odin, exacted an oath from fire and water, from iron and all other metals, from stones, trees, diseases, beasts, birds, poisons, and creeping things, that none of them would do any harm to Balder. Odin, not satisfied with all this, and feeling alarmed for the fate of his son, determined to consult the prophetess Angerbode, a giantess, mother of Fenris, Hela, and the Midgard serpent. She was dead, and Odin was forced to seek her in Hela's dominions.

But the other gods, feeling that what Frigga had done was quite sufficient, amused themselves with using Balder as a mark, some hurling darts at him, some stones, while others hewed at him with their swords and battle-axes, for do what they would, none of them could harm him. And this became a favorite pastime with them, and was regarded as an honor shown to Balder. But when Loki beheld the scene, he was sorely vexed that Balder was not hurt. Assuming, therefore, the shape of a woman, he went to Fensalir, the mansion of Frigga. That goddess, when she saw the pretended woman, inquired of her if she knew what the gods were doing at their meetings. She replied that they were throwing darts and stones at Balder, without being able to hurt him. "Ay," said Frigga, "neither stones, nor sticks, nor anything else can hurt Balder, for I have exacted an oath from all of them." "What," exclaimed the woman, "have all things sworn to spare Balder?" "All things," replied Frigga, "except one little shrub that grows on the eastern side of Valhalla and is called Mistletoe, which I thought too young and feeble to crave an oath from."

As soon as Loki heard this he went away and, resuming his natural shape, cut off the mistletoe and repaired to the place where the gods were assembled. There he found Höder standing apart, without partaking of the sports on account of his blindness, and going up to him said, "Why dost thou not also throw something at Balder?"

"Because I am blind," answered Höder, "and see not where Balder is, and have, moreover, nothing to throw."

"Come, then," said Loki, "do like the rest and show honor to Balder by throwing this twig at him, and I will direct thy arm toward the place where he stands."

Höder then took the mistletoe and, under the guidance of Loki, darted it at Balder, who, pierced through and through, fell down lifeless. Never was there witnessed, either among gods or men, a more atrocious deed.

So on the floor lay Balder dead; and round366Lay thickly strewn swords, axes, darts, and spears,Which all the gods in sport had idly thrownAt Balder, whom no weapon pierced or clove;But in his breast stood fixt the fatal boughOf mistletoe, which Lok the accuser gaveTo Höder, and unwitting Höder threw —'Gainst that alone had Balder's life no charm.And all the gods and all the heroes came,And stood round Balder on the bloody floor,Weeping and wailing; and Valhalla rangUp to its golden roof with sobs and cries;And on the tables stood the untasted meats,And in the horns and gold-rimmed skulls the wine.And now would night have fall'n and found them yetWailing; but otherwise was Odin's will.

He bade them not to spend themselves in unavailing grief, for Balder, though the brightest god of heaven and best beloved, had but met the doom ordained at his birth by the Norns. Rather let the funeral pile be prepared, and let vengeance on Loki be left to Odin himself. So speaking, Odin mounted his horse Sleipnir and rode away to Lidskialf, and the gods in Valhalla returned to the feast:

And before each the cooks, who served them, placedNew messes of the boar Serimnir's flesh,And the Valkyries crowned their horns with mead.So they, with pent-up hearts and tearless eyes,Wailing no more, in silence ate and drank,While twilight fell, and sacred night came on.

But the blind Höder, leaving the gods, went by the sea to Fensalir, the house of Frigga, mother of the gods, to ask her what way there might be of restoring Balder to life and heaven. Might Hela perchance surrender Balder if Höder himself should take his place among the shades? "Nay," replied Frigga, "no way is there but one, that the first god thou meetest on the return to Asgard take Sleipnir, Odin's horse, and ride o'er the bridge Bifrost where is Heimdall's watch, past Midgard fortress, down the dark, unknown road to Hel, and there entreat the goddess Hela that she yield Balder back to heaven." Höder, returning cityward, met Hermod, swiftest of the gods, —

Nor yet could Hermod see his brother's face,For it grew dark; but Höder touched his arm.And as a spray of honeysuckle flowersBrushes across a tired traveler's faceWho shuffles through the deep dew-moisten'd dustOn a May evening, in the darken'd lanes,And starts him, that he thinks a ghost went by,So Höder brush'd by Hermod's side, and said:"Take Sleipnir, Hermod, and set forth with dawnTo Hela's kingdom, to ask Balder back;And they shall be thy guides who have the power."He spake, and brush'd soft by and disappear'd.And Hermod gazed into the night, and said:"Who is it utters through the dark his hestSo quickly, and will wait for no reply?The voice was like the unhappy Höder's voice.Howbeit I will see, and do his hest;For there rang note divine in that command."So speaking, the fleet-footed Hermod cameHome, and lay down to sleep in his own house;And all the gods lay down in their own homes.And Höder, too, came home distraught with grief,Loathing to meet, at dawn, the other gods;And he went in, and shut the door, and fixtHis sword upright, and fell on it, and died.But from the hill of Lidskialf Odin rose,The throne, from which his eye surveys the world;And mounted Sleipnir, and in darkness rodeTo Asgard. And the stars came out in heaven,High over Asgard, to light home the king.But fiercely Odin gallop'd, moved in heart:And swift to Asgard, to the gate he came,And terribly the hoofs of Sleipnir rangAlong the flinty floor of Asgard streets,And the gods trembled on their golden bedsHearing the wrathful father coming home —For dread, for like a whirlwind Odin came.And to Valhalla's gate he rode, and leftSleipnir; and Sleipnir went to his own stall,And in Valhalla Odin laid him down.

That night in a vision appeared Balder to Nanna his wife, comforting her:

"Yes, and I fain would altogether wardDeath from thy head, and with the gods in heavenProlong thy life, though not by thee desired —But right bars this, not only thy desire.Yet dreary, Nanna, is the life they leadIn that dim world, in Hela's moldering realm;And doleful are the ghosts, the troops of dead,Whom Hela with austere control presides.For of the race of gods is no one thereSave me alone, and Hela, solemn queen;For all the nobler souls of mortal menOn battle field have met their death, and nowFeast in Valhalla, in my father's hall;Only the inglorious sort are there below —The old, the cowards, and the weak are there,Men spent by sickness, or obscure decay.But even there, O Nanna, we might findSome solace in each other's look and speech,Wandering together through that gloomy world,And talking of the life we led in heaven,While we yet lived, among the other gods."He spake, and straight his lineaments beganTo fade; and Nanna in her sleep stretch'd outHer arms towards him with a cry, but heMournfully shook his head and disappear'd.And as the woodman sees a little smokeHang in the air, afield, and disappear,So Balder faded in the night away.And Nanna on her bed sank back; but thenFrea, the mother of the gods, with strokePainless and swift, set free her airy soul,Which took, on Balder's track, the way below;And instantly the sacred morn appear'd.

With the morn Hermod, mounting Sleipnir, set out on his mission. For the space of nine days and as many nights he rode through deep glens so dark that he could not discern anything, until he arrived at the river Gyoll, which he passed over on a bridge covered with glittering gold. The maiden who kept the bridge asked him his name and lineage, telling him that the day before five bands of dead persons had ridden over the bridge, and did not shake it as much as he alone. "But," she added, "thou hast not death's hue on thee; why then ridest thou here on the way to Hel?"

"I ride to Hel," answered Hermod, "to seek Balder. Hast thou perchance seen him pass this way?"

She replied, "Balder hath ridden over Gyoll's bridge, and yonder lieth the way he took to the abodes of death."

Hermod pursued his journey until he came to the barred gates of Hel. Here he alighted, girthed his saddle tighter, and remounting clapped both spurs to his horse, which cleared the gate by a tremendous leap without touching it. Hermod then rode on to the palace, where he found his brother Balder occupying the most distinguished seat in the hall, and passed the night in his company. The next morning he besought Hela to let Balder ride home with him, assuring her that nothing but lamentations were to be heard among the gods. Hela answered that it should now be tried whether Balder was so beloved as he was said to be. "If, therefore," she added, "all things in the world, both living and lifeless, weep for him, then shall he return to life; but if any one thing speak against him or refuse to weep, he shall be kept in Hel."

Hermod then rode back to Asgard and gave an account of all he had heard and witnessed.

The gods upon this dispatched messengers throughout the world to beg everything to weep in order that Balder might be delivered from Hel. All things very willingly complied with this request, both men and every other living being, as well as earths, and stones, and trees, and metals, just as we have all seen these things weep when they are brought from a cold place into a hot one.

Then the messengers returned, —

… And they rode home together, through the woodOf Jarnvid, which to east of Midgard liesBordering the giants, where the trees are iron;There in the wood before a cave they came,Where sate in the cave's mouth a skinny hag,Toothless and old; she gibes the passers-by.Thok is she called, but now Lok wore her shape;She greeted them the first, and laughed and said:"Ye gods, good lack, is it so dull in heavenThat ye come pleasuring to Thok's iron wood?Lovers of change, ye are, fastidious sprites.Look, as in some boor's yard, a sweet-breath'd cow,Whose manger is stuffed full of good fresh hay,Snuffs at it daintily, and stoops her headTo chew the straw, her litter at her feet —So ye grow squeamish, gods, and sniff at heaven!"She spake, but Hermod answered her and said,"Thok, not for gibes we come; we come for tears.Balder is dead, and Hela holds her prey,But will restore, if all things give him tears.Begrudge not thine! to all was Balder dear."Then, with a louder laugh, the hag replied:"Is Balder dead? and do ye come for tears?Thok with dry eyes will weep o'er Balder's pyre.Weep him all other things, if weep they will —I weep him not! let Hela keep her prey."She spake, and to the cavern's depth she fled,Mocking; and Hermod knew their toil was vain.367

So was Balder prevented from returning to Asgard.

279. The Funeral of Balder. The gods took up the dead body and bore it to the seashore, where stood Balder's ship Hringham, which passed for the largest in the world. Balder's dead body was put on the funeral pile, on board the ship; and the body of Nanna was burned on the same pile with her husband's. There was a vast concourse of various kinds of people at Balder's obsequies. First came Odin accompanied by Frigga, the Valkyries, and his ravens; then Freyr in his car drawn by Gullinbursti, the boar; Heimdall rode his horse Gulltopp, and Freya drove in her chariot drawn by cats. There were also a great many Frost giants and giants of the mountain present. Balder's horse was led to the pile fully caparisoned, and was consumed in the same flames with his master.

Fig. 187. Loki and Siguna

From the painting by Gebhardt

But Loki did not escape his merited punishment. When he saw how wroth the gods were, he fled to the mountain and there built himself a hut with four doors, so that he could see every approaching danger. He invented a net to catch the fishes, such as fishermen have used since his time. But Odin found out his hiding place and the gods assembled to take him. He, seeing this, changed himself into a salmon and lay hid among the stones of the brook. But the gods took his net and dragged the brook, and Loki, finding he must be caught, tried to leap over the net; but Thor caught him by the tail, and compressed it so that salmon ever since have had that part remarkably fine and thin. They bound him with chains and suspended a serpent over his head, whose venom falls upon his face drop by drop. His wife, Siguna, sits by his side and catches the drops as they fall, in a cup; but when she carries it away to empty it, the venom falls upon Loki, which makes him howl with horror and writhe so that the whole earth shakes.

280. The Elves. The Edda mentions another class of beings, inferior to the gods, but still possessed of great power; these were the Elves. The white spirits, or Elves of Light, were exceedingly fair, more brilliant than the sun, and clad in garments of a delicate and transparent texture. They loved the light, were kindly disposed to mankind, and generally appeared as fair and lovely children. Their country was called Elfheim, and was the domain of Freyr, in whose sunlight they always sported.

The black elves, ugly, long-nosed dwarfs, of a dirty brown color, appeared only at night. They avoided the sun as their most deadly enemy, because his beams changed them immediately into stones. Their language was the echo of solitudes, and their dwelling places subterranean caves and clefts. They were supposed to have come into existence as maggots produced by the decaying flesh of Ymir's body. They were afterwards endowed by the gods with a human form and great understanding. They were particularly distinguished for a knowledge of the mysterious powers of nature, and for the runes which they carved and explained. They were the most skillful artificers of all created beings, and worked in metals and in wood. Among their most noted works were Thor's hammer, and the ship Skidbladnir, which they gave to Freyr. This vessel was so large that it could contain all the deities with their war and household implements, but so skillfully was it wrought that when folded together it could be put into a side pocket.

281. Ragnarok. It was a firm belief of the Northern nations that a time would come when all the visible creation, the gods of Valhalla and Niflheim, the inhabitants of Jötunheim, Elfheim, and Midgard, together with their habitations, would be destroyed. The fearful day of destruction will not however be without warning. First will come a triple winter, during which snow will fall from the four corners of the heavens, the frost be severe, the wind piercing, the weather tempestuous, and the sun impart no gladness. Three such winters will pass without being tempered by a single summer. Three other like winters will follow, during which war and discord will spread over the universe. The earth itself will be afraid and begin to tremble, the sea leave its basin, the heavens tear asunder; men will perish in great numbers, and the eagles of the air feast upon their still quivering bodies. The wolf Fenris will now break his bands, the Midgard serpent rise out of his bed in the sea, and Loki, released from his bonds, will join the enemies of the gods. Amidst the general devastation the sons of Muspelheim will rush forth under their leader Surter, before and behind whom are flames and burning fire. Onward they ride over Bifrost, the rainbow bridge, which breaks under the horses' hoofs. But they, disregarding its fall, direct their course to the battle field called Vigrid. Thither also repair the wolf Fenris, the Midgard serpent, Loki, with all the followers of Hela, and the Frost giants.

Heimdall now stands up and sounds the Giallar horn to assemble the gods and heroes for the contest. The gods advance, led on by Odin, who, engaging the wolf Fenris, falls a victim to the monster. Fenris is, in turn, slain by Vidar, Odin's son. Thor wins great renown by killing the Midgard serpent, but, recoiling, falls dead, suffocated with the venom which the dying monster vomits over him. Loki and Heimdall meet and fight till they both are slain. The gods and their enemies having fallen in battle, Surter, who has killed Freyr, darts fire and flames over the world, and the universe is consumed. The sun grows dim, the earth sinks into the ocean, the stars fall from heaven, and time is no more.

After this Alfadur (not Odin but the Almighty) will cause a new heaven and a new earth to arise out of the sea. The new earth, filled with abundant supplies, will produce its fruits without labor or care. Wickedness and misery will no more be known, but the gods and men will live happily together.

This twilight of the gods is aptly described in a conversation held between Balder and Hermod, after Hermod has a second time ridden to Hel:

And the fleet-footed Hermod made reply:368—"Thou hast then all the solace death allows,Esteem and function; and so far is well.Yet here thou liest, Balder, underground,Rusting for ever; and the years roll on,The generations pass, the ages grow,And bring us nearer to the final dayWhen from the south shall march the fiery bandAnd cross the bridge of heaven, with Lok for guide,And Fenris at his heel with broken chain;While from the east the giant Rymer steersHis ship, and the great serpent makes to land;And all are marshal'd in one flaming squareAgainst the gods, upon the plains of heaven.I mourn thee, that thou canst not help us then."He spake; but Balder answered him, and said: —"Mourn not for me! Mourn, Hermod, for the gods;Mourn for the men on earth, the gods in heaven,Who live, and with their eyes shall see that day!The day will come, when fall shall Asgard's towers,And Odin, and his sons, the seed of Heaven;But what were I, to save them in that hour?If strength might save them, could not Odin save,My father, and his pride, the warrior Thor,Vidar the silent, the impetuous Tyr?I, what were I, when these can nought avail?Yet, doubtless, when the day of battle comes,And the two hosts are marshal'd, and in heavenThe golden-crested cock shall sound alarm,And his black brother-bird from hence reply,And bucklers clash, and spears begin to pour —Longing will stir within my breast, though vain.But not to me so grievous as, I know,To other gods it were, is my enforcedAbsence from fields where I could nothing aid;For I am long since weary of your stormOf carnage, and find, Hermod, in your lifeSomething too much of war and broils, which makeLife one perpetual fight, a bath of blood.Mine eyes are dizzy with the arrowy hail;Mine ears are stunn'd with blows, and sick for calm.Inactive, therefore, let me lie in gloom,Unarm'd, inglorious; I attend the courseOf ages, and my late return to light,In times less alien to a spirit mild,In new-recover'd seats, the happier day."He spake; and the fleet Hermod thus replied: —"Brother, what seats are these, what happier day?Tell me, that I may ponder it when gone."And the ray-crownèd Balder answered him: —"Far to the south, beyond the blue, there spreadsAnother heaven, the boundless – no one yetHath reach'd it; there hereafter shall ariseThe second Asgard, with another name.Thither, when o'er this present earth and heavensThe tempest of the latter days hath swept,And they from sight have disappear'd and sunk,Shall a small remnant of the gods repair;Höder and I shall join them from the grave.There reassembling we shall see emergeFrom the bright ocean at our feet an earthMore fresh, more verdant than the last, with fruitsSelf-springing, and a seed of man preserved,Who then shall live in peace, as now in war.But we in heaven shall find again with joyThe ruin'd palaces of Odin, seatsFamiliar, halls where we have supp'd of old,Reënter them with wonder, never fillOur eyes with gazing, and rebuild with tears.And we shall tread once more the well-known plainOf Ida, and among the grass shall findThe golden dice wherewith we played of yore;And that shall bring to mind the former lifeAnd pastime of the gods – the wise discourseOf Odin, the delights of other days.O Hermod, pray that thou may'st join us then!Such for the future is my hope; meanwhile,I rest the thrall of Hela, and endureDeath, and the gloom which round me even nowThickens, and to inner gulf recalls.Farewell, for longer speech is not allow'd."

CHAPTER XXVIII

MYTHS OF NORSE AND OLD GERMAN HEROES

282. The Saga of the Volsungs. 369 Sigi, son of Odin, was a mighty king of the Huns whom Odin loved and prospered exceedingly. Rerir, also, the son of Sigi, was a man of valor and one who got lordship and land unto himself; but neither Sigi nor Rerir were to compare with Volsung, who ruled over Hunland after his father Rerir went home to Odin.

To Volsung were born ten sons and one daughter, – Signy by name; and of the sons Sigmund was the eldest and the most valiant. And the Volsungs abode in peace till Siggeir, king of Gothland, came wooing Signy, who, though loath to accept him, was, by her father's desire, betrothed to him.

Now on the night of the wedding great fires were made in the hall of the Volsungs, and in the midst stood Branstock, a great oak tree, about which the hall had been built, and the limbs of the tree spread over the roof of the hall; and round about Branstock they sat and feasted, and sang of ancient heroes and heard the music of the harp that went from hand to hand.

But e'en as men's hearts were hearkening some heard the thunder pass370O'er the cloudless noontide heaven; and some men turned aboutAnd deemed that in the doorway they heard a man laugh out.Then into the Volsung dwelling a mighty man there strode,One-eyed and seeming ancient, yet bright his visage glowed;Cloud-blue was the hood upon him, and his kirtle gleaming-grayAs the latter morning sun-dog when the storm is on the way;A bill he bore on his shoulder, whose mighty ashen beamBurnt bright with the flame of the sea, and the blended silver's gleam.And such was the guise of his raiment as the Volsung elders had toldWas borne by their fathers' fathers, and the first that warred in the wold.So strode he to the Branstock, nor greeted any lord,But forth from his cloudy raiment he drew a gleaming sword,And smote it deep in the tree-bole, and the wild hawks overheadLaughed 'neath the naked heaven as at last he spake and said:"Earls of the Goths, and Volsungs, abiders on the earth,Lo there amid the Branstock a blade of plenteous worth!The folk of the war-wand's forgers wrought never better steelSince first the burg of heaven uprose for man-folk's weal.Now let the man among you whose heart and hand may shiftTo pluck it from the oak-wood e'en take it for my gift.Then ne'er, but his own heart falter, its point and edge shall failUntil the night's beginning and the ending of the tale.Be merry, Earls of the Goth-folk, O Volsung Sons be wise,And reap the battle-acre that ripening for you lies:For they told me in the wild wood, I heard on the mountain-sideThat the shining house of heaven is wrought exceeding wide,And that there the Early-comers shall have abundant restWhile Earth grows scant of great ones, and fadeth from its best,And fadeth from its midward, and groweth poor and vile: —All hail to thee, King Volsung! farewell for a little while!"So sweet his speaking sounded, so wise his words did seemThat moveless all men sat there, as in a happy dreamWe stir not lest we waken; but there his speech had endAnd slowly down the hall-floor, and outward did he wend;And none would cast him a question or follow on his ways,For they knew that the gift was Odin's, a sword for the world to praise.

Then all made trial, Siggeir and his earls, and Volsung and his people, to draw forth the sword from Branstock, but with no success, till Sigmund, laying his hand carelessly on the precious hilt, drew forth the naked blade as though it were loose in the oak. Whereupon Siggeir offered money for the sword, but Sigmund scorned the offer.