Part 19

Harbard-Loke here speaks of a giant who, in his mind, was a valiant one, but whose "senses he stole," that is, whom he "cunningly deprived of thought and reflection." There are two circumstances to which these words might apply. The one concerns the giant-builder who built the Asgard-wall, and, angry on account of the trick by which Loke cheated him out of the compensation agreed on, rushed against the gods and was slain by Thor. The other concerns Thjasse, who, seeing his beloved carried away by Loke and his plan about to be frustrated, recklessly rushed into his certain ruin. The real name of the giant alluded to is not given, but it is indicated by the epithet _Hlébardr_, which, according to the Younger Edda, (ii. 484), is a synonym of _Vargr_ and _Gyldir_. It has already been shown above that _Vargr_ in Thorsdrapa and _Fjallgyldir_ in Haustlaung are epithets of Thjasse. Loke says that this same giant, whose sense he cunningly robbed, had previously given him a _gambanteinn_. This word means a weapon made by Volund. His sword of revenge and victory is called _gambanteinn_ in Skirnersmal. But _gambanteinn_ is, at the same time, a synonym of _mistelteinn_, hence, in an Icelandic saga from the Christian time, Volund's sword of victory also reappears by the name _mistelteinn_ (see No. 60). Thus the giant Hlebard gave Loke a weapon, which, according to its designation, is either Volund's sword of victory or the mistletoe. It cannot be the sword of victory. We know the hands to which this sword has gone and is to go: Volund's, Mimer-Nidhad's, the night-dis Sinmara's, Svipdag's, Frey's, Aurboda's and Eggther's, and finally Fjalar's and Surt's. The weapon which Thjasse's namesake Hlebard gives Loke must, accordingly, have been the mistletoe. In this connection we must bear in mind what is said of the mistletoe. Unfortunately, the few words of Völuspa are the only entirely reliable record we have on this subject; but certain features of Gylfaginning's account (Younger Edda, i. 172-174) may be mythologically correct. "Slender and fair"--not dangerous and fair to behold--grew, according to Völuspa, the mistletoe, "higher than the fields" (as a parasite on the trees); but from the shrub which seemed innocent became "a dangerous arrow of pain," which _Hödr_ hurled. According to a poetic fragment united with Vegtamskvida ("Balder's draumar"), and according to Gylfaginning, the gods had previously exacted an oath from all things not to harm Balder; but, according to Gylfaginning, they had omitted to exact an oath from one thing, namely, the mistletoe. By cunning Loke found this out. He went and pulled up the mistletoe, which he was afterwards able to put into Hoder's hand, while, according to Gylfaginning, the gods were amusing themselves by seeing how every weapon aimed at Balder hit him without harming him. But that Loke should hand Hoder this shrub in the form in which it had grown on the tree, and that Hoder should use it in this form to shoot Balder, is as improbable as that Hoder was blind.[13] We must take Völuspa's words to mean that the shrub became an arrow, and we must conceive that this arrow looked like every other arrow, and for this reason did not awaken suspicion. Otherwise the suspicion would at once have been awakened, for they who had exacted the oath of things, and Frigg who had sent the messengers to exact the oaths, knew that the mistletoe was the only thing in the whole world that had not been sworn. The heathen songs nowhere betray such inconsistencies and such thoughtlessness as abound in the accounts of the Younger Edda. The former are always well conceived, at times incisive, but they always reveal a keen sense of everything that may give even to the miraculous the appearance of reality and logic. The mistletoe was made into an arrow by some one who knew how to turn it into a "dangerous arrow of pain" in an infallible manner. The unhappy shot depended on the magic qualities that were given to the mistletoe by the hands that changed it into an arrow. The event becomes comprehensible, and the statements found in the various sources dovetail together and bear the test of sound criticism, if Loke, availing himself of the only thing which had not been bound by oath not to harm Balder, goes with this shrub, which of itself was innocent and hardly fit for an arrow, to the artist who hated the gods, to the artist who had smithied the sword of revenge, and if the latter, with his magic skill as a smith, makes out of the _mistelteinn_ a new _gambanteinn_ dangerous to the gods, and gives the weapon to Loke in order that he might accomplish his evil purpose therewith. As Hlebard is a Thjasse-synonym, as this Thjasse-synonym is connected with the weapon-name _gambanteinn_, which indicates a Thjasse-work, and as Loke has treated Thjasse as he says he has treated Hlebard--by a cunning act he robbed him of his senses--then all accessible facts go to establish the theory that by Hlebard is meant the celebrated ancient artist deceived by Loke. And as Hlebard has given him a weapon which is designated by the name of the sword of revenge, but which is not the sword of revenge, while the latter, on the other hand and for corresponding reasons, also gets the name _mistelteinn_, then all the facts go to show that the weapon which Hlebard gave to Loke was the mistletoe fraught with woes and changed to an arrow. If Gylfaginning's unreliable account, based on fragmentary and partly misunderstood mythic records presented in a disjointed manner, had not been found, and if we had been referred exclusively to the few but reliable statements which are to be found in regard to the matter in the poetic songs, then a correct picture of this episode, though not so complete as to details, would have been the result of a compilation of the statements extant. The result would then have been: (1) Balder was slain by an arrow shot by Hoder (Völuspa, Vegtamskvida); (2) Hoder was not the real slayer, but Loke (Lokasenna, 28); (3) the material of which the arrow was made was a tender or slender (_mjór_) mistletoe (Völuspa); (4) previously all things had sworn not to harm Balder ("Balder's draumar"), but the mistletoe must, for some reason or other, have been overlooked by the messengers sent out to exact the oaths, since Balder was mortally wounded by it; (5) since it was Loke who arranged (_réd_) matters so that this happened, it must have been he who had charge of the mistletoe for the carrying out of his evil purpose; (6) the mistletoe fell into the hands of a giant-smith hostile to the gods, and mentioned under circumstances that refer to Thjasse (Harbardsljod); (7) by his skill as a smith he gave such qualities to the mistletoe as to change it into "a dangerous arrow of pain," and then gave the arrow to Loke (Harbardsljod); (8) from Loke's hands it passed into Hoder's, and was shot by the latter (Lokasenna, Völuspa).

It is dangerous to employ nature-symbolism as a means of mythological investigation. It is unserviceable for that purpose, so long as it cannot be subjected to the rules of severe methodics. On the other hand, it is admissible and justifiable to consider from a natural symbolic standpoint the results gained in a mythological investigation by the methodological system. If, as already indicated, Hlebard is identical with Thjasse-Volund, then he who was the cause of the fimbul-winter and sent the powers of frost out upon the earth, also had his hand in the death of the sun-god Balder and in his descent to the lower world. There is logic in this. And there is logic in the very fact that the weapon with which the sun-god is slain is made from the mistletoe, which blossoms and produces fruit in the winter, and is a plant which rather shuns than seeks the light of the sun. When we remember how the popular traditions have explained the appearance and qualities of various animals and plants by connecting them with the figures of mythology or of legendary lore, then I suppose it is possible that the popular fancy saw in the mistletoe's dread of light the effect of grief and shame at having been an instrument in evil hands for evil purposes. Various things indicate that the mistletoe originally was a sacred plant, not only among the Celts, but also among the Teutons. The Hindooic Aryans also knew sacred parasitical plants.

The word _gamban_ which forms a part of _gambanteinn_ means "compensation," "ransom," when used as a noun, and otherwise "retaliating." In the Anglo-Saxon poetry occurs (see Grein's Dictionary) the phrase _gamban gyldan_, "to compensate," "to pay dues." In the Norse sources _gamban_ occurs only in the compounds _gambanteinn_ (Skirnersmal, 33; Harbardsljod, 20), _gambanreidi_ (Skirnersmal, 33), and _gambansumbl_ (Lokasenna, 8). In the song of Skirner, the latter threatens Gerd, who refused Frey's offer of marriage, that she shall be struck by _gambanreidi goda_, the avenging wrath of the gods. In Lokasenna, Loke comes unbidden into the banquet of the gods in Ægir's hall to mix bitterness with their gladness, and he demands either a place at the banquet table or to be turned out of doors. Brage answers that the gods never will grant him a seat at a banquet, "since they well know for whom among beings they are to prepare _gambansumbl_," a banquet of revenge or a drink of revenge. This he manifestly mentions as a threat, referring to the fate which soon afterwards happens to Loke, when he is captured and bound, and when a venom-spitting serpent is fastened above his mouth. For the common assumption that _gamban_ means something "grand," "magnificent," "divine," there is not a single shadow of reason. _Gambanteinn_ is accordingly "the twig of revenge," and thus we have the mythological reason why Thjasse-Volund's sword of revenge and the mistletoe arrow were so called. With them he desires to avenge the insult to which he refers in Volundarkvida, 28: _Nu hefi ec hefnt harma minna allra nema einna ivithgjarnra._

[12] Holtzmann and Bergmann have long since pointed out that Harbard is identical with Loke. The idea that Harbard, who in every trait is Loke in Lokasenna, and, like him, appears as a mocker of the gods and boasts of his evil deeds and of his success with the fair sex, should be Odin, is one of the proofs showing how an unmethodical symbolic interpretation could go astray. In the second part of this work I shall fully discuss Harbardsljod. Proofs are to be found from the last days of heathendom in Iceland that it was then well known that the Harbard who is mentioned in this poem was a foe of the gods.

[13] When I come to consider the Balder-myth in the second part of this work, I shall point out the source from which the author of Gylfaginning, misunderstandingly, has drawn the conclusion that the man of exploits, the warrior, the archer, and the hunter Hoder was blind. The misunderstanding gave welcome support to the symbolic interpretation, which, in the blind Hoder, found among other things a symbol of night (but night has "many eyes").

117.

THE GUARD AT HVERGELMER AND THE ELIVAGAR.

It has already been shown (see Nos. 59, 93) that the Elivagar have their source in the subterranean fountain Hvergelmer, situated on a mountain, which separates the subterranean region of bliss (Hel) from Nifelhel. Here, near the source of the Elivagar, stands the great world-mill, which revolves the starry heavens, causes the ebb and flood of the ocean and regulates its currents, and grinds the bodies of the primeval giants into layers of mould on the rocky substrata (see Nos. 79, 80). From Hvergelmer, the mother of all waters, the northern root of the world-tree draws saps, which rise into its topmost branches, evaporate into _Eikthyrnir_ above Asgard, and flow thence as vafer-laden clouds (see No. 36), which emit fructifying showers upon Midgard, and through the earth they return to their original source, the fountain Hvergelmer. The Hvergelmer mountain (the Nida-mountains, _Nidafjöll_) cannot have been left without care and protection, as it is of so vast importance in the economy of the world, and this the less since it at the same time forms the boundary between the lower world's realm of bliss and Nifelhel, the subterranean Jotunheim, whose frost-thurses sustain the same relation to the inhabitants on the evergreen fields of bliss as the powers of frost in the upper Jotunheim sustain to the gods of Asgard and to the inhabitants of Midgard. There is no reason for assuming that the guard of brave sworn warriors of the Asgard gods, those warriors whom we have already seen in array near the Elivagar, should have only a part of this body of water to keep watch over. The clan of the elves, under their chiefs, the three sons of Ivalde, even though direct evidence were wanting, must be regarded as having watched over the Elivagar along their whole extent, even to their source, and as having had the same important duty in reference to the giants of the lower world as in reference to those of the upper. As its name indicates, Nifelheim is shrouded in darkness and mist, against which the peaks of the Hvergelmer mountain form the natural rampart as a protection to the smiling fields of bliss. But gales and storms might lift themselves above these peaks and enshroud even Mimer's and Urd's realms in mist. The elves are endowed with power to hinder this. The last strophe in Thorsdrapa, so interesting from a mythological standpoint, confirms this view. Egil is there called _hneitir undir-fjálfs bliku_, and is said to be _helblótinn_. _Blika_ is a name for clouds while they are still near the horizon and appear as pale vapours, which to those skilled in regard to the weather forbode an approaching storm (compare Vigfusson's Dict., 69). _Undir-fjálfr_ is thought by Egilson to mean subterranean mountains, by Vigfusson "the deep," _abyssus_. _Hneitir undir-fjalfs bliku_ is "he who conquers (or resolves, scatters) the clouds rising, storm-foreboding, from the abyss (or over the lower-world mountain)." As Egil can be thus characterised, it is easy to explain why he is called "_helblótinn_," "he who receives sacrifices in the subterranean realm of bliss." He guards the Teutonic elysian fields against the powers of frost and the mists of Nifelheim, and therefore receives tokens of gratitude from their pious inhabitants.

The vocation of the sons of Ivalde, as the keepers of the Hvergelmer fountain and of the Elivagar, has its counterpart in the vocation which, in the Iranian mythology, is attributed to Thjasse's prototype, the star-hero Tistrya (Tishya). The fountain Hvergelmer, the source of the ocean and of all waters, has in the Iranian mythology its counterpart in the immense body of water Vourukasha. Just as the Teutonic world-tree grows from its northern root out of Hvergelmer, the Iranian world-tree Gaokerena grows out of Vourukasha (Bundehesh, 18). Vourukasha is guarded by Tistrya, assisted by two heroes belonging to the class of mythological beings that are called Yazatas (Izads; in the Veda literature Yajata), "they who deserve offerings," and in the Iranian mythology they form the third rank of divine beings, and thus correspond to the elves of the Teutonic mythology. Assisted by these two heroes and by the "fevers of the just," Tistrya defends Vourukasha, and occasionally fights against the demon Apaosha, who desires to destroy the world (Bundehesh, 7). Tistrya, as such, appears in three forms: as a youth with bright and glistening eyes, as a wild boar, and as a horse. Can it be an accident that these forms have their counterparts in the Teutonic mythology in the fact that one of Thjasse's brothers (Egil-Orvandel-Ebur) has the epithet "wild boar," and that, as shall be shown below, his other brother (Slagfin) bears the epithet Hengest, and that Thjasse-Volund himself, who for years was possessor of, and presumably invented, the "remedy against aging," which Idun, his beloved, has charge of--that Thjasse-Volund himself was regarded as a youth with a "white neck" (Volundarkvida, 2) and with glittering eyes (Volundarkvida, 17), which after his death were placed in the heavens as stars?

118.

SLAGFIN. HIS IDENTITY WITH GJUKE. SLAGFIN, EGIL, AND VOLUND ARE NIFLUNGS.

I now come to the third Ivalde son, Slagfin. The name Slagfin (_Slagfidr_) occurs nowhere else than in Volundarkvida, and in the prose introduction to the same. All that we learn of him is that, like Egil, he accompanied his brother Volund to the Wolfdales; that, like them, he runs on skees and is a hunter; and that, when the swan-maids, in the ninth year of their abode in the Wolfdales, are overcome by longing and return to the south, he goes away to find his beloved, just as Egil goes to find his. We learn, furthermore, that Slagfin's swan-maid is a sister of Volund's and a kinswoman of Egil's, and that she, accordingly, is Slagfin's sister (half-sister). She is called _Hladgudr Svanhvit_, likewise a name which occurs nowhere else. Her (and accordingly also that of Volund's swan-maid) mother is called Swan-feather, _Svanfjödr_ (Slagfin's beloved is _Svanfjadrar drós_--str. 2). The name Svan-feather reminds us of the Svanhild Gold-feather mentioned in Fornm., ii. 7, wife of one Finalf. If Svanfeather is identical with Svanhild Goldfeather, then Finalf must originally be identical with Ivalde, who also is an elf and bears the name _Finnakonungr_, _Sumblus Phinnorum rex_. But this then simply confirms what we already know, namely, that the Ivalde sons and two of the swan-maids are brothers and sisters. It, however, gives us no clue by which we can trace Slagfin in other sources, and rediscover him bearing other names, and restore the myth concerning him which seems to be lost. That he, however, played an important part in the mythology may be assumed already from the fact that his brothers hold places so central in the great epic of the mythology. It is, therefore, highly probable that he is mentioned in our mythic fragments, though concealed under some other name. One of these names, viz., Ide, we have already found (see No. 114); and thereby we have learned that he, with his brother Egil, had a citadel near the Elivagar, and guarded their coasts against the powers of frost. But of his fate in general we are ignorant. No extensive researches are required, however, before we find circumstances which, compared with each other, give us the result that Slagfin is Gjuke, and therewith the way is open for a nearer acquaintance with his position in the heroic saga, and before that in the mythology. His identity with Gjuke is manifest from the following circumstances:

The Gjukungs, famous in the heroic saga, are, according to the saga itself, the first ones who bear this name. Their father is Gjuke, from whom this patronymic is derived. Through their father they belong to a race that is called Hniflungs, Niflungs, Nebelungs. The Gjukungs form a branch of the Niflung race, hence all Gjukungs are Niflungs, but not all Niflungs Gjukungs. The Younger Edda says correctly, _Af Niflunga ætt var Gjuki_ (Younger Edda, i. 522), and Atlakvida (17) shows that the Gjukungs constitute only a part of the Niflungs. The identity of the Gjukungs in this relative sense with the Niflungs is known and pointed out in Atlamal (47, 52, 88), in Brot Sigurdarkvida (16), in Atlakvida (11, 17, 27), and in "Drap Niflunga."

Who the Niflung race are in the widest sense of the word, or what known heroes the race embraced besides Gjuke and his sons--to this question the saga of Helge Hundingsbane (i. 48) gives important information, inasmuch as the passage informs us that the hostile race which Helge Hundingsbane--that is to say, Halfdan Borgarson (see No. 29)--combats are the Niflungs. Foremost among the Niflungs Hodbrod is mentioned in this poem, whose betrothed Helge (Halfdan Borgarson) gets into his power. It has already been shown that, in this heroic poem, Hodbrod is the copy of the mythological Orvandel-Egil (see Nos. 29, 32, 101). It follows that Volund, Orvandel-Egil, and Slagfin are Niflungs, and that Gjuke either is identical with one of them or that he at all events is descended from the same progenitor as they.

The great treasure of works smithied from gold and other precious things which the Gjukungs owned, according to the heroic traditions, are designated in the different sources in the same manner as inherited. In Atlakvida (11) the Gjukung treasure is called _arf Niflunga_; so also in Atlakvida (27). In Gudrunarkvida (ii. 25) the queen of the deceased Gjuke promises her and Gjuke's daughter, Gudrun, that she is to have the control of all the treasures "after (_at_) her dead father (_fjöld allz fjar at thin faudur daudan_)," and we are told that those treasures, together with the halls in which they were kept and the precious carpets, are an inheritance after (_at_) _Hlaudver_, "the fallen prince" (_hringa rauda Hlaudves sali, arsal allan at jofur fallin_). From Volundarkvida we gather that Volund's and Slagfin's swan-maids are daughters of Hlaudver and sisters of their lovers. Thus Hlaudver is identical with Ivalde, Volund's, Egil's, and Slagfin's father (see No. 123). Ivalde's splendidly decorated halls, together with at least one son's share of his golden treasures, have thus passed as an inheritance to Gjuke, and from Gjuke to his sons, the Gjukungs. While the first song about Helge Hundingsbane tells us that Volund, Egil, and Slagfin were, like Gjuke, Niflungs, we here learn that Gjuke was the heir of Volund's, Egil's, and Slagfin's father. And while Thorsdrapa, compared with other sources, has already informed us that Ide-Slagfin and Gang-Egil inhabited that citadel near the Elivagar which is called "Ide's chalet" and Geirvadel's (Geirvandel's) chalet, and while Geirvandel is demonstrably an epithet of Ivalde,[14] and as Ivalde's citadel accordingly passed into the possession of Slagfin and Egil, we here find that Ivalde's citadel was inherited by Gjuke. Finally, we must compare herewith Bragarædur (ch. 2), where it is said that Ivalde (there called Olvalde) was survived by his sons, who harmoniously divided his great treasures. Thus Gjuke is one of the sons of Ivalde, and inherited halls and treasures after Ivalde; and as he can be neither Volund nor Egil, whose fates we already know, he must be Slagfin--a result confirmed by the evidence which we shall gradually present below.

[14] In Saxo Gervandillus (_Geirvandill_) is the father of Horvandillus (_Örvandill_). Orvandel has been proved to be identical with Egil. And as Egil is the son of Ivalde, Geirvandel is identical with Ivalde.

119.

THE NIFLUNG HOARD IS THE TREASURE LEFT BY VOLUND AND HIS BROTHERS.