Part 21

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.