The Edda, Volume 1 | Page 5

threatened Loki: "I will fling thee up into the east, and no one shall see
thee more" (Lokasenna 59); the fire-giants at Ragnarök are to come
from the east: "Hrym comes driving from the east, he lifts his shield
before him.... A ship comes from the east, Muspell's sons will come

sailing over the sea, and Loki steers" (_Völuspa_ 50, 51). It would not,
perhaps, be overstraining the point to suggest that this is a reminiscence
of early warfare between the Scandinavians and eastern nations, either
Lapps and Finns or Slavonic tribes.
Thor is the God of natural force, the son of Earth. Two of the episodical
poems deal with his contests with the giants. Thrymskvida, the story of
how Thor won back his hammer, Mjöllni, from the giant Thrym, is the
finest and one of the oldest of the mythological poems; a translation is
given in the appendix, as an example of Eddic poetry at its best. Loki
appears as the willing helper of the Gods, and Thor's companion. The
Thunderer's journey with Tyr in quest of a cauldron is related with
much humour in _Hymiskvida_: Hymi's beautiful wife, who helps her
guests to outwit her husband, is a figure familiar in fairy-tales as the
Ogre's wife.
The chief God of the Scandinavians is, it must be confessed, an
unsympathetic character. He is the head of the Valhalla system; he is
Val-father (Father of the Slain), and the Valkyries are his
"Wishmaidens," as the Einherjar are his "Wishsons." He naturally takes
a special interest in mortal heroes, from whom come the chosen hosts
of Valhalla. But, in spite of the splendour of his surroundings, he is
wanting in dignity. The chief of the Gods has neither the might and
unthinking valour of Thor, nor the self-sacrificing courage of Tyr. He is
a God who practises magic, and it is as Father of Spells that he is
powerful. He is the wisest of the Gods in the sense that he remembers
most about the past and foresees most about the future; yet he is
powerless in difficulty without the craft of Loki and the hammer of
Thor. He always wanders in disguise, and the stories told of him are
chiefly love-adventures; this is true of all the deeds he mentions in
Harbardsljod, and also of the two interpolations in Havamal, though
one of the two had an object, the stealing of the mead of inspiration
from the giant Suptung, whose daughter Gunnlöd guarded it.
_Völuspa_ makes him one of three creative deities, the other two being
Lodur (probably Loki) and Hoeni, of whom nothing else is known
except the story that he was given as hostage to the Vanir in exchange

for Njörd. The same three Gods (Odin, Loki and Hoeni) are connected
with the legend of the Nibelung treasure; and it was another adventure
of theirs, according to Snorri, which led to the loss of Idunn.
Of the other Gods, Bragi is a later development; his name means
simply king or chief, and his attributes, as God of eloquence and poetry,
are apparently borrowed from Odin. Heimdal, the watchman and
"far-seeing like the Vanir," who keeps guard on the rainbow bridge
Bifröst, is represented in the curious poem Rigsthula as founder of the
different social orders. He wandered over the world under the name of
Rig, and from his first journey sprang the race of thralls, swarthy,
crooked and broad-backed, who busied themselves with fencing land
and tending goats and swine; from his second, the churls, fine and
ruddy, who broke oxen, built houses and ploughed the land; from his
third, the earls, yellow-haired, rosy, and keen-eyed, who broke horses
and strung bows, rode, swam, and hurled spears; and the youngest of
the earls' race was Konung the king, who knew all mysteries,
understood the speech of birds, could quench fire and heal wounds.
Heimdal is said to be the son of nine mothers, and to have fought with
Loki for Freyja's Brising-necklace. His horn is hidden under Yggdrasil,
to be brought out at Ragnarök, when he will blow a warning blast. His
origin is obscure. Still less is known of Vidar and Vali, two sons of
Odin, one of whom is to avenge Baldr's death, the other to slay the wolf
after it has swallowed up the chief God at Ragnarök. Thor's stepson
Ullr (Glory) is probably, like his sons Modi and Magni (Wrath and
Strength), a mere epithet.
Frigg, Odin's wife and the chief Goddess, daughter of Earth, is not very
distinctly characterised, and is often confused with Freyja. Gefion
should be the sea-goddess, since that seems to be the meaning of her
name, but her functions are apparently usurped by the Wane Njörd;
according to Snorri, she is the patron of those who die unwedded.
Baldr.--The story of