Part 18

Danish genealogies, Saxo's included, which desire to go further back in the genealogy of the Skjoldungs than to Skjold, the eponym of the race, mention before him a King Lotherus. There is no doubt that Lotherus, like his descendants, Skjold, Halfdan, and Hadding, is taken from the mythology. But in our mythic records there is only one name of which Lotherus can be a Latinised form, and this name is, as Müller (_Notæ ulterior ad Saxonis Hist._) has already pointed out, _Lodurr_.

It has above been demonstrated (see Nos. 20, 21, 22) that the anthropomorphous Vana-god Heimdal was by Vana-gods sent as a child to the primeval Teutonic country, to give to the descendants of Ask and Embla the holy fire, tools, and implements, the runes, the laws of society, and the rules for religious worship. It has been demonstrated that, as an anthropomorphous god and first patriarch, he is identical with Scef-Rig, the Scyld of the Beowulf poem, that he becomes the father of the other original patriarch Skjold, and the grandfather of Halfdan. It has likewise been demonstrated (No. 82) that Heimdal, the personified sacred fire, is the son of the fire-producer (by friction) Mundilfore, in the same manner as Agni is the son of Matariçvan. From all this it follows that when the authors of mythic genealogies related as history wish to get further back in the Skjoldung genealogy than to the Beowulf Skjold, that is to say, further back than to the original patriarch Heimdal, then they must go to that mythic person who is Heimdal's father, that is to say, to Mundilfore, the fire-producer. Mundilfore is the one who appears in the Latinised name Lotherus. In other words, Mundilfore, the fire-producer, is _Lodurr_. For the name _Lodurr_ there is no other rational explanation than that which Jacob Grimm, without knowing his position in the epic of mythology, has given, comparing the name with the verb lodern, "to blaze." _Lodurr_ is active in its signification, "he who causes or produces the blaze," and thus refers to the origin of fire, particularly of the friction-fire and of the bore-fire.

Further on (Nos. 90, 91, 92, 121, 123) I shall give an account of the ward of the atmosphere, _Gevarr (Nökkvi, Næfr)_, and demonstrate that he is identical with Mundilfore, the revolver of the starry firmament. All that Saxo tells about Lotherus is explained by the character of the latter as the chieftain of a Vana-clan, and by his identity with _Mundilföri-Gevarr_. As a chieftain of the Vans he was their leader when the war broke out between the Asas on the one side, and the Vans and Elves on the other. The banishment of Odin and the Asas by the Vans causes Saxo to say that Lotherus banished from the realm persons who were his equals in noble birth (_nobilitate pares_), and whom he regarded as competitors in regard to the government. It is also stated that he took the power from an elder brother, but spared his life, although he robbed him of the sceptre. The brother here referred to is not, however, Odin, but _Hænir (Vei)_. The character of the one deposed is gentle and without any greed for rule like that by which Honer is known. Saxo says of him that he so patiently bore the injustice done him that he seemed to be pleased therewith as with a kindness received (_ceterum injuriæ tam patiens fuit, ut honoris damno tanquam beneficio gratulari crederetur_). The reason why Honer, at the outbreak of the war with the Asas, is deposed from his dignity as the ruler of Vanaheim and is succeeded by Loder, is explained by the fact that he, like Mimer, remained devoted to the cause of Odin. In spite of the confused manner in which the troubles between the Asas and Vans are presented in Heimskringla, it still appears that, before the war between the Asas and Vans, Honer was the chief of the latter on account of an old agreement between the two god-clans; that he then always submitted to the counsels of the wise Mimer, Odin's friend; that Mimer lost his life in the service of Odin, and that the Vans sent his head to Odin; and, finally, that, at the outbreak of the feud with the Asas and after the death of Mimer, they looked upon Honer as unqualified to be their judge and leader. Thus Loder becomes after Honer the ruler of Vanaheim and the chieftain of the Vans, while the Vans Njord, Frey, and the Elf Ull, who had already been adopted in Asgard, administer the affairs of the rest of the world. To the mythical circumstance, that Honer lost his throne and his power points also Völuspa, the poem restoring to the gentle and patient Vana-god, after the regeneration, the rights of which he had been robbed, _thá kná Hænir hlautvid kjosa_ (str. 60). "Then Honer becomes able to choose the lot-wood," that is to say, he is permitted to determine and indicate the fortunes of those consulting the oracle; in other words, then he is again able to exercise the rights of a god. In the Eddas, Honer appears as Odin's companion on excursions from Asgard. Skaldskaparmal, which does not seem to be aware that Honer was Odin's brother, still is conscious that he was intimately connected with him and calls him his _sessi_, _sinni_, and _máli_ (Younger Edda, i. 266). During the war between Asas and Vans, Frigg espoused the cause of the Vans (see No. 36); hence Loke's insulting words to her (Lokasenna, 26), and the tradition in Heimskringla (Yngl., 3), that Vilir and Vei took Frigg to themselves once when Odin was far away from Asgard.

Saxo makes Lotherus fall at the hands of conspirators. The explanation of this statement is to be sought in _Mundilföri-Gevarr's_ fate, of which, see Nos. 91, 123.

Mundilfore's character seems at least in one respect to be the opposite of Honer's. Gylfaginning speaks of his _ofdrambi_, his pride, founded, according to this record, on the beauty of his children. Saxo mentions the _insolentia_ of Lotherus, and one of his surnames was _Dulsi_, the proud. See No. 89, where a strophe is quoted, in which the founder of the Swedish Skilfing race (the Ynglings) is called _Dulsa knor_, Dulse's descendant. As was shown above in the account of the myth about Scef, the Skjoldungs, too, are Skilfings. Both these branches of the race have a common origin; and as the genealogy of the Skjoldungs can be traced back to Heimdal, and beyond him to Mundilfore, it must be this personality who is mentioned for his _ofdrambi_, that bears the surname _Dulsi_.

With Odin, _Vei-Höner_ and _Vili-Lodurr-Mundilföri_ have participated in the shaping of the world as well as in the creation of man. Of the part they took in the latter act, and of the importance they thereby acquired in the mythical anthropology, and especially in the conceptions concerning the continued creation of man by generation and birth, see No. 95.

84.

NAT, THE MOTHER OF THE GODS.

It has already been shown above that Nat, the mother of the gods, has her hall in the northern part of Mimer's realm, below the southern slopes of the Nida mountains.

There has been, and still is, an interpretation of the myths as symbols. Light is regarded as the symbol of moral goodness, and darkness as that of moral evil. That there is something psychologically correct in this cannot be denied; but in regard to the Aryan religions the assumption would lead to a great error, if, as we might be tempted to do, we should make night identical with darkness, and should refer her to the world of evil. In the mythologies of the Rigveda-Aryans and of the Teutons, Nat is an awe-inspiring, adorable, noble, and beneficent being. Night is said in Rigveda "to have a fair face, to increase riches, and to be one of the mothers of order." None of the phenomena of nature seemed to the Teutons evil _per se_; only when they transgressed what was thought to be their lawful limits, and thus produced injury and harm, were giant-powers believed to be active therein. Although the Teutonic gods are in a constant, more or less violent conflict with the powers of frost, still winter, when it observes its limits of time, is not an evil but a good divinity, and the cold liquids of Hvergelmer mixed with those of Urd's and Mimer's fountains are necessary to the world-tree. Still less could night be referred to the domain of demons. Mother Nat never transgresses the borders of her power; she never defies the sacred laws, which are established for the order of the universe. According to the seasons of the year, she divides in an unvarying manner the twenty-four hours between herself and day. Work and rest must alternate with each other. Rich in blessing, night comes with solace to the weary, and seeks if possible to sooth the sufferer with a potion of slumber. Though sombre in appearance (Gylfy., 10), still she is the friend of light. She decorates herself with lunar effulgence and with starry splendour, with winning twilight in midsummer, and with the light of snow and of northern aurora in the winter. The following lines in Sigrdrifumal (str., 3, 4) sound like a reverberation from the lost liturgic hymns of our heathendom.

Heill Dagr, Hail Dag, heilir Dags synir, Hail Dag's sons, heil Nott ok Nipt! Hail Nat and Nipt! Oreithom augom Look down upon us litith ocr thinig With benevolent eyes oc gefit sitiondom règr! And give victory to the sitting! Heilir æsir, Hail Asas, heilar asynjor, Hail Asynjes, heil sia in fiolnyta fold! Hail bounteous earth!

Of the Germans in the first century after Christ, Tacitus writes (_Germ._, 3): "They do not, as we, compute time by days but by nights, night seems to lead the day" (_nec dierum numerum, ut nos, sed noctium computant: nox ducere diem videtur_). This was applicable to the Scandinavians as far down as a thousand years later. Time was computed by nights not by days, and in the phrases from heathen times, _nótt ok dagr_, _nótt med degi bædi um nætr ok um daga_, night is named before day. Linguistic usage and mythology are here intimately associated with each other. According to Vafthrudnersmal (25) and Gylfaginning (10), Nat bore with Delling the son Dag, with whom she divided the administration of the twenty-four hours. Delling is the elf of the morning red (see No. 35). The symbolism of nature is here distinct as in all theogonies.

Through other divinities, _Naglfari_ and _Ónarr_ (_Anarr_, _Aunarr_), Nat is the mother with the former of _Unnr (Udr)_, also called _Audr_, with the latter of the goddess Jord, Odin's wife. _Unnr_ means water, _Audr_ means rich. It has above been shown that _Unnr-Audr_ is identical with Njord, the lord of wealth and commerce, who in the latter capacity became the protector of navigators, and to whom sacrifices were offered for a prosperous voyage. Gods of all clans--Asas, Vans, and Elves--are thus akin to Nat, and are descended from her.

85.

NARFI, NAT'S FATHER, IDENTICAL WITH MIMER. A PSEUDO-NARFI IN THE YOUNGER EDDA.

Nat herself is the daughter of a being whose name has many forms.

_Naurr_, _Nörr_ (dative _Naurvi_, _Nörvi_, _Nott var Naurvi borin_--Vafthrudnersmal, 25; _Nott_, _Naurvi kenda_--Alvism., 29).

_Narfi_, _Narvi_ (_niderfi Narfa_--Egil Skallagr., 56, 2; Gylfag., 10).

_Norvi_, _Nörvi_ (Gylfag., 10; _kund Nörva_--Forspjallsl., 7).

_Njörfi_, _Njörvi_ (Gylfag., 10; _Njörva nipt_--Sonatorr.).

_Nori_ (Gylfag., 10).

_Nari_ (Höfudl., 10).

_Neri_ (Helge Hund., 1).

All these variations are derived from the same original appellation, related to the Old Norse verb _njörva_, the Old English _nearwian_ meaning "the one that binds," "the one who puts on tight-fitting bonds."

Simply the circumstance that Narve is Nat's father proves that he must have occupied one of the most conspicuous positions in the Teutonic cosmogony. In all cosmogonies and theogonies night is one of the oldest beings, older than light, without which it cannot be conceived. Light is kindled in the darkness, thus foreboding an important epoch in the development of the world out of chaos. The being which is night's father must therefore be counted among the oldest in the cosmogony. The personified representatives of water and earth, like the day, are the children of his daughter.

What Gylfaginning tells of Narve is that he was of giant birth, and the first one who inhabited Jotunheim (_Norvi eda Narfi hét jötun, er bygdi fyrst Jotunheima_--Gylfag., 10). In regard to this we must remember that, in Gylfaginning and in the traditions of the Icelandic sagas, the lower world is embraced in the term Jotunheim, and this for mythical reasons, since Nifelheim is inhabited by rimthurses and giants (see No. 60), and since the regions of bliss are governed by Mimer and by the norns, who also are of giant descent. As the father of the lower-world dis, Nat, Narve himself belongs to that group of powers, with which the mythology peopled the lower world. The upper Jotunheim did not exist before in a later epoch of the cosmogonic development. It was created simultaneously with Midgard by Odin and his brothers (Gylfaginning).

In a strophe by Egil Skallagrimson (ch. 56), poetry, or the source of poetry, is called _niderfi Narfa_, "the inheritance left by Narve to his descendants." As is well known, Mimer's fountain is the source of poetry. The expression indicates that the first inhabitant of the lower world, Narve, also presided over the precious fountain of wisdom and inspiration, and that he died and left it to his descendants as an inheritance.

Finally, we learn that Narve was a near kinsman to Urd and her sisters. This appears from the following passages:

(_a_) Helge Hundingsbane (1, 3, ff.). When Helge was born norns came in the night to the abode of his parents, twisted the threads of his fate, stretched them from east to west, and fastened them beneath the hall of the moon. One of the threads _nipt Nera_ cast to the north and bade it hold for ever. It is manifest that by Nere's (Narve's) kinswoman is meant one of the norns present.

(_b_) Sonatorr. (str. 24). The skald Egil Skallagrimson, weary of life, closes his poem by saying that he sees the dis of death standing on the ness (Digraness) near the grave-mound which conceals the dust of his father and of his sons, and is soon to receive him:

Tveggja bága The kinswoman of Njorve (the binder) Njörva nipt of Odin's (Tvegge's) foes a nesi stendr. stands on the ness. Skal ek thó gladr Then shall I be glad, med gódan vilja with a good will, ok úhryggr and without remorse, Heljar bida. wait for Hel.

It goes without saying that the skald means a dis of death, Urd or one of her messengers, with the words, "The kinswoman of Njorve (the binder) of Odin's foes," whom he with the eye of presentiment sees standing on the family grave-mound on Digraness. She is not to stop there, but she is to continue her way to his hall, to bring him to the grave-mound. He awaits her coming with gladness, and as the last line shows, she whose arrival he awaits is Hel, the goddess of death or fate. It has already been demonstrated that Hel in the heathen records is always identical with Urd.

Njorve is here used both as a proper and a common noun. "The kinswoman of the Njorve of Odin's foes" means "the kinswoman of the binder of Odin's foes." Odin's foe Fenrer was bound with an excellent chain smithied in the lower world (dwarfs in _Svartalfheimr_--Gylfag., 37), and as shall be shown later, there are more than one of Odin's foes who are bound with Narve's chains (see No. 87).

(_c_) _Hofudlausn_ (str. 10). Egil Skallagrimson celebrates in song a victory won by Erik Blood-axe, and says of the battle-field that there _trad nipt Nara náttverd ara_ ("Nare's kinswoman trampled upon the supper of the eagles," that is to say, upon the dead bodies of the fallen). The psychopomps of disease, of age, and of misfortunes have nothing to do on a battle-field. Thither come valkyries to fetch the elect. _Nipt Nara_ must therefore be a valkyrie, whose horse tramples upon the heaps of dead bodies; and as Egil names only one shield-maid of that kind, he doubtless has had the most representative, the most important one in mind. That one is Skuld, Urd's sister, and thus a _nipt Nara_ like Urd herself.

(_d_) Ynglingatal (Ynglingasaga, ch. 20). Of King Dygve, who died from disease, it is said that _jódis Narva_ (_jódis Nara_) chose him. The right to choose those who die from disease belongs to the norns alone (see No. 69). _Jódis_, a word doubtless produced by a vowel change from the Old Germanic _idis_, has already in olden times been interpreted partly as horse-dis (from _jór_, horse), partly as the dis of one's kin (from _jod_, child, offspring). In this case the skald has taken advantage of both significations. He calls the death-dis _ulfs ok Narva jódis_, the wolf's horse-dis, Narve's kin-dis. In regard to the former signification, it should be remembered that the wolf is horse for all giantesses, the honoured norns not excepted. Cp. _grey norna_ as a paraphrase for wolf.

Thus what our mythic records tell us about Narve is:

(_a_) He is one of the oldest beings of theogony, older than the upper part of the world constructed by Bur's sons.

(_b_) He is of giant descent.

(_c_) He is father of Nat, father-in-law of Nagelfar, Onar, and of Delling, the elf of the rosy dawn; and he is the father of Dag's mother, of _Unnr_, and of the goddess Jord, who becomes Odin's wife and Thor's mother. Bonds of kinship thus connect him with the Asas and with gods of other ranks.

(_d_) He is near akin to the dis of fate and death, Urd and her sisters. The word _nipt_, with which Urd's relation to him is indicated, may mean sister, daughter, and sister's daughter, and consequently does not state which particular one of these it is. It seems upon the whole to have been applied well-nigh exclusively in regard to mythic persons, and particularly in regard to Urd and her sisters (cp. above: _Njörva nipt_, _nipt Nara_, _nipt Nera_), so that it almost acquired the meaning of dis or norn. This is evident from Skaldskaparmal, ch. 75: _Nornir heita thær er naud skapa; Nipt ok Dis nú eru taldar_, and from the expression _Heil Nótt ok Nipt_ in the above-cited strophe from Sigrdrifumal. There is every reason for assuming that the _Nipt_, which is here used as a proper noun, in this sense means the dis of fate and as an appellation of kinship, a kinswoman of Nat. The common interpretation of _heil Nótt ok Nipt_ is "hail Nat and her daughter," and by her daughter is then meant the goddess Jord; but this interpretation is, as Bugge has shown, less probable, for the goddess Jord immediately below gets her special greeting in the words: _heil sia in fiolnyta Fold!_ ("hail the bounteous earth!")

(_e_) As the father of Nat, living in Mimer's realm, and kinsman of Urd, who with Mimer divides the dominion over the lower world, Narve is himself a being of the lower world, and the oldest subterranean being; the first one who inhabited Jotunheim.

(_f_) He presided over the subterranean fountain of wisdom and inspiration, that is to say, Mimer's fountain.

(_g_) He was Odin's friend and the binder of Odin's foes.

(_h_) He died and left his fountain as a heritage to his descendants.

As our investigation progresses it will be found that all these facts concerning Narve apply to Mimer, that "he who thinks" (Mimer) and "he who binds" (Narve) are the same person. Already the circumstances that Narve was an ancient being of giant descent, that he dwelt in the lower world and was the possessor of the fountain of wisdom there, that he was Odin's friend, and that he died and left his fountain as an inheritance (cp. _Mims synir_), point definitely to Narve's and Mimer's identity. Thus the Teutonic theogony has made Thought the older kinsman of Fate, who through Nat bears Dag to the world. The people of antiquity made their first steps toward a philosophical view of the world in their theogony.

The Old English language has preserved and transferred to the Christian Paradise a name which originally belonged to the subterranean region of bliss of heathendom--_Neorxenavang_. _Vang_ means a meadow, plain, field. The mysterious _Neorxena_ looks like a genitive plural. Grein, in his Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, and before him Weinhold, refers _neorxena_ to _Narve_, _Nare_, and this without a suspicion that _Narve_ was an epithet of Mimer and referred to the king of the heathen regions of bliss. I consider this an evidence that Grein's assumption is as correct as it is necessary, if upon the whole we are to look for an etymological explanation of the word. The plural genitive, then, means those who inhabit Narve's regions of bliss, and receive their appellation from this circumstance. The opposite Old Norse appellation is _njarir_, a word which I shall discuss below.

To judge from certain passages in Christian writings of the thirteenth century, Mimer was not alone about the name Narve, Nare. One or two of Loke's sons are supposed to have had the same name. The statements in this regard demand investigation, and, as I think, this will furnish another instructive contribution to the chapter on the confusion of the mythic traditions, and on the part that the Younger Edda plays in this respect. The passages are:

(_a_) _The prosaic afterword to Lokasenna_: "He (Loke) was bound with the entrails of his son _Nari_, but his son _Narfi_ was turned into a wolf."

(_b_) _Gylfaginning_, ch. 33. (1) _Most of the codices_: "His (Loke's) wife is hight Sygin; their son is _Nari_ or _Narvi_."

(2) _Codex Hypnonesiensis_: "His (Loke's) wife is hight Sygin; his sons are hight _Nari_ or _Narvi_ and _Vali_."

(_c_) _Gylfaginning_, ch. 50. (1) _Most of the codices:_ "Then were taken Loke's sons _Vali_ and _Nari_ or _Narfi_. The Asas changed _Vali_ into a wolf, and the latter tore into pieces his brother _Narfi_. Then the Asas took his entrails and therewith bound Loke."

(2) _Codex Upsalensis_: "Then were taken Loke's sons _Vali_ and _Nari_. The Asas changed _Vali_ into a wolf, and the latter tore into pieces his brother _Nari_."

(_d_) _Skaldskaparmal_, ch. 16. (1) "Loke is the father of the wolf Fenrer, the Midgard-serpent, and Hel, 'and also of _Nari_ and _Ali_.'"

(2) _Codex Wormianus_ and _Codex Hypnonesiensis_, 3: "Loke is father of the Fenris-wolf, of the Midgard-serpent, and of Hel, 'and also of _Nari_ and _Vali_.'"