Dear Evan Hansen

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Dear Evan Hansen

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 Dear Evan Hansen

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.
they ride forth on their errand, their armor sheds a strange flickering
light, which flashes up over the northern skies, making what men
call the “Aurora Borealis,” or “Northern Lights.”[37]

OF THOR AND THE OTHER GODS

Thor, the thunderer, Odin’s eldest son, is the strongest of gods
and men, and possesses three very precious things. The first is a
hammer, which both the Frost and the Mountain giants know to their
cost, when they see it hurled against them in the air, for it has split
many a skull of their fathers and kindred. When thrown, it returns to
his hand of its own accord. The second rare thing he possesses is
called the belt of strength. When he girds it about him his divine
might is doubled. The third, also very precious, is his iron gloves,
which he puts on whenever he would use his mallet efficiently. From
Thor’s name is derived our word Thursday.
Frey is one of the most celebrated of the gods. He presides over
rain and sunshine and all the fruits of the earth. His sister Freya is
the most propitious of the goddesses. She loves music, spring, and
flowers, and is particularly fond of the Elves (fairies). She is very
fond of love ditties, and all lovers would do well to invoke her.
Bragi is the god of poetry, and his song records the deeds of
warriors. His wife, Iduna, keeps in a box the apples which the gods,
when they feel old age approaching, have only to taste of to become
young again.
Heimdall is the watchman of the gods, and is therefore placed on
the borders of heaven to prevent the giants from forcing their way
over the bridge Bifrost (the rainbow). He requires less sleep than a
bird, and sees by night as well as by day a hundred miles around
him. So acute is his ear that no sound escapes him, for he can even
hear the grass grow and the wool on a sheep’s back.

OF LOKI AND HIS PROGENY

There is another deity who is described as the calumniator of the
gods and the contriver of all fraud and mischief. His name is Loki. He
is handsome and well made, but of a very fickle mood and most evil
disposition. He is of the giant race, but forced himself into the
company of the gods, and seems to take pleasure in bringing them
into difficulties, and in extricating them out of the danger by his
cunning, wit, and skill. Loki has three children. The first is the wolf
Fenris, the second the Midgard serpent, the third Hela (Death). The
gods were not ignorant that these monsters were growing up, and
that they would one day bring much evil upon gods and men. So
Odin deemed it advisable to send one to bring them to him. When
they came he threw the serpent into that deep ocean by which the
earth is surrounded. But the monster had grown to such an
enormous size that holding his tail in his mouth he encircles the
whole earth. Hela he cast into Niffleheim, and gave her power over
nine worlds or regions, into which she distributes those who are sent
to her; that is, all who die of sickness or old age. Her hall is called
Elvidner. Hunger is her table, Starvation her knife, Delay her man,
Slowness her maid, Precipice her threshold, Care her bed, and
Burning Anguish forms the hangings of the apartments. She may
easily be recognized, for her body is half flesh color and half blue,
and she has a dreadfully stern and forbidding countenance.
The wolf Fenris gave the gods a great deal of trouble before they
succeeded in chaining him. He broke the strongest fetters as if they
were made of cobwebs. Finally the gods sent a messenger to the
mountain spirits, who made for them the chain called Gleipnir. It is
fashioned of six things, viz., the noise made by the footfall of a cat,
the beards of women, the roots of stones, the breath of fishes, the
nerves (sensibilities) of bears, and the spittle of birds. When finished
it was as smooth and soft as a silken string. But when the gods
asked the wolf to suffer himself to be bound with this apparently
slight ribbon, he suspected their design, fearing that it was made by
enchantment. He therefore only consented to be bound with it upon
condition that one of the gods put his hand in his (Fenris’s) mouth as
a pledge that the band was to be removed again. Tyr (the god of
battles) alone had courage enough to do this. But when the wolf
found that he could not break his fetters, and that the gods would
not release him, he bit off Tyr’s hand, and he has ever since
remained one-handed.

HOW THOR PAID THE MOUNTAIN GIANT HIS WAGES

Once on a time, when the gods were constructing their abodes
and had already finished Midgard and Valhalla, a certain artificer
came and offered to build them a residence so well fortified that
they should be perfectly safe from the incursions of the Frost giants
and the giants of the mountains. But he demanded for his reward
the goddess Freya, together with the sun and moon. The gods
yielded to his terms, provided he would finish the whole work
himself without any one’s assistance, and all within the space of one
winter. But if anything remained unfinished on the first day of
summer he should forfeit the recompense agreed on. On being told
these terms the artificer stipulated that he should be allowed the use
of his horse Svadilfari, and this by the advice of Loki was granted to
him. He accordingly set to work on the first day of winter, and during
the night let his horse draw stone for the building. The enormous
size of the stones struck the gods with astonishment, and they saw
clearly that the horse did one-half more of the toilsome work than
his master. Their bargain, however, had been concluded, and
confirmed by solemn oaths, for without these precautions a giant
would not have thought himself safe among the gods, especially
when Thor should return from an expedition he had then undertaken
against the evil demons.
As the winter drew to a close, the building was far advanced, and
the bulwarks were sufficiently high and massive to render the place
impregnable. In short, when it wanted but three days to summer,
the only part that remained to be finished was the gateway. Then
sat the gods on their seats of justice and entered into consultation,
inquiring of one another who among them could have advised to
give Freya away, or to plunge the heavens in darkness by permitting
the giant to carry away the sun and the moon.
They all agreed that no one but Loki, the author of so many evil
deeds, could have given such bad counsel, and that he should be
put to a cruel death if he did not contrive some way to prevent the
artificer from completing his task and obtaining the stipulated
recompense. They proceeded to lay hands on Loki, who in his fright
promised upon oath that, let it cost him what it would, he would so
manage matters that the man should lose his reward. That very
night when the man went with Svadilfari for building stone, a mare
suddenly ran out of a forest and began to neigh. The horse thereat
broke loose and ran after the mare into the forest, which obliged the
man also to run after his horse, and thus between one and another
the whole night was lost, so that at dawn the work had not made
the usual progress. The man, seeing that he must fail of completing
his task, resumed his own gigantic stature, and the gods now clearly
perceived that it was in reality a mountain giant who had come
amongst them. Feeling no longer bound by their oaths, they called
on Thor, who immediately ran to their assistance, and lifting up his
mallet, paid the workman his wages, not with the sun and moon,
and not even by sending him back to Jotunheim, for with the first
blow he shattered the giant’s skull to pieces and hurled him
headlong into Niffleheim.

THE RECOVERY OF THE HAMMER

Once upon a time it happened that Thor’s hammer fell into the
possession of the giant Thrym, who buried it eight fathoms deep
under the rocks of Jotunheim. Thor sent Loki to negotiate with
Thrym, but he could only prevail so far as to get the giant’s promise
to restore the weapon if Freya would consent to be his bride. Loki
returned and reported the result of his mission, but the goddess of
love was quite horrified at the idea of bestowing her charms on the
king of the Frost giants. In this emergency Loki persuaded Thor to
dress himself in Freya’s clothes and accompany him to Jotunheim.
Thrym received his veiled bride with due courtesy, but was greatly
surprised at seeing her eat for her supper eight salmons and a full
grown ox, besides other delicacies, washing the whole down with
three tuns of mead. Loki, however, assured him that she had not
tasted anything for eight long nights, so great was her desire to see
her lover, the renowned ruler of Jotunheim. Thrym had at length the
curiosity to peep under his bride’s veil, but started back in affright
and demanded why Freya’s eyeballs glistened with fire. Loki
repeated the same excuse and the giant was satisfied. He ordered
the hammer to be brought in and laid on the maiden’s lap.
Thereupon Thor threw off his disguise, grasped his redoubted
weapon, and slaughtered Thrym and all his followers.
Frey also possessed a wonderful weapon, a sword which would
of itself spread a field with carnage whenever the owner desired it.
Frey parted with this sword, but was less fortunate than Thor and
never recovered it. It happened in this way: Frey once mounted
Odin’s throne, from whence one can see over the whole universe,
and looking round saw far off in the giant’s kingdom a beautiful
maid, at the sight of whom he was struck with sudden sadness,
insomuch that from that moment he could neither sleep, nor drink,
nor speak. At last Skirnir, his messenger, drew his secret from him,
and undertook to get him the maiden for his bride, if he would give
him his sword as a reward. Frey consented and gave him the sword,
and Skirnir set off on his journey and obtained the maiden’s promise
that within nine nights she would come to a certain place and there
wed Frey. Skirnir having reported the success of his errand, Frey
exclaimed:
“Long is one night,
Long are two nights,
But how shall I hold out three?
Shorter hath seemed
A month to me oft
Than of this longing time the half.”
So Frey obtained Gerda, the most beautiful of all women, for his
wife, but he lost his sword.

This story, entitled “Skirnir For,” and the one immediately

preceding it, “Thrym’s Quida,” will be found poetically told in
Longfellow’s “Poets and Poetry of Europe.”
————
 CHAPTER XXXIX

THOR’S VISIT TO JOTUNHEIM

THOR’S VISIT TO JOTUNHEIM, THE GIANT’S COUNTRY

One day the god Thor, with his servant Thialfi, and accompanied
by Loki, set out on a journey to the giant’s country. Thialfi was of all
men the swiftest of foot. He bore Thor’s wallet, containing their
provisions. When night came on they found themselves in an
immense forest, and searched on all sides for a place where they
might pass the night, and at last came to a very large hall, with an
entrance that took the whole breadth of one end of the building.
Here they lay down to sleep, but towards midnight were alarmed by
an earthquake which shook the whole edifice. Thor, rising up, called
on his companions to seek with him a place of safety. On the right
they found an adjoining chamber, into which the others entered, but
Thor remained at the doorway with his mallet in his hand, prepared
to defend himself, whatever might happen. A terrible groaning was
heard during the night, and at dawn of day Thor went out and found
lying near him a huge giant, who slept and snored in the way that
had alarmed them so. It is said that for once Thor was afraid to use
his mallet, and as the giant soon waked up, Thor contented himself
with simply asking his name.
“My name is Skrymir,” said the giant, “but I need not ask thy
name, for I know that thou art the god Thor. But what has become
of my glove?” Thor then perceived that what they had taken
overnight for a hall was the giant’s glove, and the chamber where
his two companions had sought refuge was the thumb. Skrymir then
proposed that they should travel in company, and Thor consenting,
they sat down to eat their breakfast, and when they had done,
Skrymir packed all the provisions into one wallet, threw it over his
shoulder, and strode on before them, taking such tremendous strides
that they were hard put to it to keep up with him. So they travelled
the whole day, and at dusk Skrymir chose a place for them to pass
the night in under a large oak tree. Skrymir then told them he would
lie down to sleep. “But take ye the wallet,” he added, “and prepare
your supper.”
Skrymir soon fell asleep and began to snore strongly; but when
Thor tried to open the wallet, he found the giant had tied it up so
tight he could not untie a single knot. At last Thor became wroth,
and grasping his mallet with both hands he struck a furious blow on
the giant’s head. Skrymir, awakening, merely asked whether a leaf
had not fallen on his head, and whether they had supped and were
ready to go to sleep. Thor answered that they were just going to
sleep, and so saying went and laid himself down under another tree.
But sleep came not that night to Thor, and when Skrymir snored
again so loud that the forest reëchoed with the noise, he arose, and
grasping his mallet launched it with such force at the giant’s skull
that it made a deep dint in it. Skrymir, awakening, cried out, “What’s
the matter? Are there any birds perched on this tree? I felt some
moss from the branches fall on my head. How fares it with thee,
Thor?” But Thor went away hastily, saying that he had just then
awoke, and that as it was only midnight, there was still time for
sleep. He, however, resolved that if he had an opportunity of striking
a third blow, it should settle all matters between them. A little before
daybreak he perceived that Skrymir was again fast asleep, and again
grasping his mallet, he dashed it with such violence that it forced its
way into the giant’s skull up to the handle. But Skrymir sat up, and
stroking his cheek said, “An acorn fell on my head. What! Art thou
awake, Thor? Methinks it is time for us to get up and dress
ourselves; but you have not now a long way before you to the city
called Utgard. I have heard you whispering to one another that I am
not a man of small dimensions; but if you come to Utgard you will
see there many men much taller than I. Wherefore, I advise you,
when you come there, not to make too much of yourselves, for the
followers of Utgard-Loki will not brook the boasting of such little
fellows as you are. You must take the road that leads eastward,
mine lies northward, so we must part here.”
 Hereupon he threw his wallet over his shoulders and turned away
from them into the forest, and Thor had no wish to stop him or to
ask for any more of his company.
Thor and his companions proceeded on their way, and towards
noon descried a city standing in the middle of a plain. It was so lofty
that they were obliged to bend their necks quite back on their
shoulders in order to see to the top of it. On arriving they entered
the city, and seeing a large palace before them with the door wide
open, they went in, and found a number of men of prodigious
stature, sitting on benches in the hall. Going further, they came
before the king, Utgard-Loki, whom they saluted with great respect.
The king, regarding them with a scornful smile, said, “If I do not
mistake me, that stripling yonder must be the god Thor.” Then
addressing himself to Thor, he said, “Perhaps thou mayst be more
than thou appearest to be. What are the feats that thou and thy
fellows deem yourselves skilled in, for no one is permitted to remain
here who does not, in some feat or other, excel all other men?”
“The feat that I know,” said Loki, “is to eat quicker than any one
else, and in this I am ready to give a proof against any one here
who may choose to compete with me.”
“That will indeed be a feat,” said Utgard-Loki, “if thou performest
what thou promisest, and it shall be tried forthwith.”
He then ordered one of his men who was sitting at the farther
end of the bench, and whose name was Logi, to come forward and
try his skill with Loki. A trough filled with meat having been set on
the hall floor, Loki placed himself at one end, and Logi at the other,
and each of them began to eat as fast as he could, until they met in
the middle of the trough. But it was found that Loki had only eaten
the flesh, while his adversary had devoured both flesh and bone,
and the trough to boot. All the company therefore adjudged that
Loki was vanquished.
Utgard-Loki then asked what feat the young man who
accompanied Thor could perform. Thialfi answered that he would
run a race with any one who might be matched against him. The
king observed that skill in running was something to boast of, but if
the youth would win the match he must display great agility. He then
arose and went with all who were present to a plain where there
was good ground for running on, and calling a young man named
Hugi, bade him run a match with Thialfi. In the first course Hugi so
much outstripped his competitor that he turned back and met him
not far from the starting place. Then they ran a second and a third
time, but Thialfi met with no better success.
Utgard-Loki then asked Thor in what feats he would choose to
give proofs of that prowess for which he was so famous. Thor
answered that he would try a drinking-match with any one. Utgard-
Loki bade his cup-bearer bring the large horn which his followers
were obliged to empty when they had trespassed in any way against
the law of the feast. The cupbearer having presented it to Thor,
Utgard-Loki said, “Whoever is a good drinker will empty that horn at
a single draught, though most men make two of it, but the most
puny drinker can do it in three.”
Thor looked at the horn, which seemed of no extraordinary size
though somewhat long; however, as he was very thirsty, he set it to
his lips, and without drawing breath, pulled as long and as deeply as
he could, that he might not be obliged to make a second draught of
it; but when he set the horn down and looked in, he could scarcely
perceive that the liquor was diminished.
After taking breath, Thor went to it again with all his might, but
when he took the horn from his mouth, it seemed to him that he
had drunk rather less than before, although the horn could now be
carried without spilling.
“How now, Thor?” said Utgard-Loki; “thou must not spare
thyself; if thou meanest to drain the horn at the third draught thou
must pull deeply; and I must needs say that thou wilt not be called
so mighty a man here as thou art at home if thou showest no
greater prowess in other feats than methinks will be shown in this.”
Thor, full of wrath, again set the horn to his lips, and did his best
to empty it; but on looking in found the liquor was only a little lower,
so he resolved to make no further attempt, but gave back the horn
to the cupbearer.
“I now see plainly,” said Utgard-Loki, “that thou art not quite so
stout as we thought thee: but wilt thou try any other feat, though
methinks thou art not likely to bear any prize away with thee hence.”
“What new trial hast thou to propose?” said Thor.
“We have a very trifling game here,” answered Utgard-Loki, “in
which we exercise none but children. It consists in merely lifting my
cat from the ground; nor should I have dared to mention such a feat
to the great Thor if I had not already observed that thou art by no
means what we took thee for.”
As he finished speaking, a large gray cat sprang on the hall floor.
Thor put his hand under the cat’s belly and did his utmost to raise
him from the floor, but the cat, bending his back, had,
notwithstanding all Thor’s efforts, only one of his feet lifted up,
seeing which Thor made no further attempt.
“This trial has turned out,” said Utgard-Loki, “just as I imagined it
would. The cat is large, but Thor is little in comparison to our men.”
“Little as ye call me,” answered Thor, “let me see who among you
will come hither now I am in wrath and wrestle with me.”
“I see no one here,” said Utgard-Loki, looking at the men sitting
on the benches, “who would not think it beneath him to wrestle with
thee; let somebody, however, call hither that old crone, my nurse
Elli, and let Thor wrestle with her if he will. She has thrown to the
ground many a man not less strong than this Thor is.”
A toothless old woman then entered the hall, and was told by
Utgard-Loki to take hold of Thor. The tale is shortly told. The more
Thor tightened his hold on the crone the firmer she stood. At length
after a very violent struggle Thor began to lose his footing, and was
finally brought down upon one knee. Utgard-Loki then told them to
desist, adding that Thor had now no occasion to ask any one else in
the hall to wrestle with him, and it was also getting late; so he
showed Thor and his companions to their seats, and they passed the
night there in good cheer.
The next morning, at break of day, Thor and his companions
dressed themselves and prepared for their departure. Utgard-Loki
ordered a table to be set for them, on which there was no lack of
victuals or drink. After the repast Utgard-Loki led them to the gate of
the city, and on parting asked Thor how he thought his journey had
turned out, and whether he had met with any men stronger than
himself. Thor told him that he could not deny but that he had
brought great shame on himself. “And what grieves me most,” he
added, “is that ye will call me a person of little worth.”
“Nay,” said Utgard-Loki, “it behooves me to tell thee the truth,
now thou art out of the city, which so long as I live and have my
way thou shalt never enter again. And, by my troth, had I known
beforehand that thou hadst so much strength in thee, and wouldst
have brought me so near to a great mishap, I would not have
suffered thee to enter this time. Know then that I have all along
deceived thee by my illusions; first in the forest, where I tied up the
wallet with iron wire so that thou couldst not untie it. After this thou
gavest me three blows with thy mallet; the first, though the least,
would have ended my days had it fallen on me, but I slipped aside
and thy blows fell on the mountain, where thou wilt find three glens,
one of them remarkably deep. These are the dints made by thy
mallet. I have made use of similar illusions in the contests you have
had with my followers. In the first, Loki, like hunger itself, devoured
all that was set before him, but Loki was in reality nothing else than
Fire, and therefore consumed not only the meat, but the trough
which held it. Hugi, with whom Thialfi contended in running, was
Thought, and it was impossible for Thialfi to keep pace with that.
When thou in thy turn didst attempt to empty the horn, thou didst
perform, by my troth, a deed so marvellous that had I not seen it
myself I should never have believed it. For one end of that horn
reached the sea, which thou wast not aware of, but when thou
comest to the shore thou wilt perceive how much the sea has sunk
by thy draughts. Thou didst perform a feat no less wonderful by
lifting up the cat, and to tell thee the truth, when we saw that one
of his paws was off the floor, we were all of us terror-stricken, for
what thou tookest for a cat was in reality the Midgard serpent that
encompasseth the earth, and he was so stretched by thee that he
was barely long enough to enclose it between his head and tail. Thy
wrestling with Elli was also a most astonishing feat, for there was
never yet a man, nor ever will be, whom Old Age, for such in fact
was Elli, will not sooner or later lay low. But now, as we are going to
part, let me tell thee that it will be better for both of us if thou never
come near me again, for shouldst thou do so, I shall again defend
myself by other illusions, so that thou wilt only lose thy labor and get
no fame from the contest with me.”
On hearing these words Thor in a rage laid hold of his mallet and
would have launched it at him, but Utgard-Loki had disappeared,
and when Thor would have returned to the city to destroy it, he
found nothing around him but a verdant plain.

————
 CHAPTER XL

THE DEATH OF BALDUR—THE ELVES—RUNIC LETTERS—ICELAND—TEUTONIC

MYTHOLOGY—NIBELUNGEN LIED

THE DEATH OF BALDUR

Baldur 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 Baldur. 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. This Descent of Odin forms the subject of Gray’s fine ode
beginning,—
“Uprose the king of men with speed
And saddled straight his coal-black steed.”
But the other gods, feeling that what Frigga had done was quite
sufficient, amused themselves with using Baldur 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 Baldur. But when Loki beheld
the scene he was sorely vexed that Baldur 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
Baldur, without being able to hurt him. “Ay,” said Frigga, “neither
stones, nor sticks, nor anything else can hurt Baldur, for I have
exacted an oath from all of them.” “What,” exclaimed the woman,
“have all things sworn to spare Baldur?” “All things,” replied Frigga,
“except one little shrub that grows on the eastern side of Valhalla,
and is called Mistletoe, and 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 Hodur 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
Baldur?”
“Because I am blind,” answered Hodur, “and see not where
Baldur is, and have, moreover, nothing to throw.”
“Come, then,” said Loki, “do like the rest, and show honor to
Baldur by throwing this twig at him, and I will direct thy arm towards
the place where he stands.”
Hodur then took the mistletoe, and under the guidance of Loki,
darted it at Baldur, who, pierced through and through, fell down
lifeless. Surely never was there witnessed, either among gods or
men, a more atrocious deed than this. When Baldur fell, the gods
were struck speechless with horror, and then they looked at each
other, and all were of one mind to lay hands on him who had done
the deed, but they were obliged to delay their vengeance out of
respect for the sacred place where they were assembled. They gave
vent to their grief by loud lamentations. When the gods came to
themselves, Frigga asked who among them wished to gain all her
love and good will. “For this,” said she, “shall he have who will ride
to Hel and offer Hela a ransom if she will let Baldur return to
Asgard.” Whereupon Hermod, surnamed the Nimble, the son of
Odin, offered to undertake the journey. Odin’s horse, Sleipnir, which
has eight legs and can outrun the wind, was then led forth, on which
Hermod mounted and galloped away 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 Baldur. Hast thou
perchance seen him pass this way?”
She replied, “Baldur 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, who cleared the gate by a
tremendous leap without touching it. Hermod then rode on to the
palace, where he found his brother Baldur occupying the most
distinguished seat in the hall, and passed the night in his company.
The next morning he besought Hela to let Baldur 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
Baldur 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 despatched messengers throughout the
world to beg everything to weep in order that Baldur 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.
As the messengers were returning, they found an old hag named
Thaukt sitting in a cavern, and begged her to weep Baldur out of
Hel. But she answered,
 “Thaukt will wail
With dry tears
Baldur’s bale-fire.
Let Hela keep her own.”
It was strongly suspected that this hag was no other than Loki
himself, who never ceased to work evil among gods and men. So
Baldur was prevented from coming back to Asgard.[38]

THE FUNERAL OF BALDUR

The gods took up the dead body and bore it to the seashore
where stood Baldur’s ship “Hringham,” which passed for the largest
in the world. Baldur’s dead body was put on the funeral pile, on
board the ship, and his wife Nanna was so struck with grief at the
sight that she broke her heart, and her body was burned on the
same pile as her husband’s. There was a vast concourse of various
kinds of people at Baldur’s obsequies. First came Odin accompanied
by Frigga, the Valkyrie, and his ravens; then Frey 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. Baldur’s horse was
led to the pile fully caparisoned and consumed in the same flames
with his master.
But Loki did not escape his deserved punishment. When he saw
how angry 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
hidingplace 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 salmons 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 twist his body about so violently that the whole earth
shakes, and this produces what men call earthquakes.

THE ELVES
The Edda mentions another class of beings, inferior to the gods,
but still possessed of great power; these were called 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 Alfheim, and was the domain of Freyr, the god of the sun, in
whose light they were always sporting.
The Black or Night Elves were a different kind of creatures. Ugly,
long-nosed dwarfs, of a dirty brown color, they appeared only at
night, for they avoided the sun as their most deadly enemy, because
whenever his beams fell upon any of them they 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, and 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 skilful 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, and
which 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.
 RAGNAROK, THE TWILIGHT OF THE GODS
It was a firm belief of the northern nations that a time would
come when all the visible creation, the gods of Valhalla and
Niffleheim, the inhabitants of Jotunheim, Alfheim, and Midgard,
together with their habitations, would be destroyed. The fearful day
of destruction will not, however, be without its forerunners. First will
come a triple winter, during which snow will fall from the four
corners of the heavens, the frost be very severe, the wind piercing,
the weather tempestuous, and the sun impart no gladness. Three
such winters will pass away without being tempered by a single
summer. Three other similar winters will then follow, during which
war and discord will spread over the universe. The earth itself will be
frightened and begin to tremble, the sea leave its basin, the heavens
tear asunder, and men 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 her 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 Surtur, 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 battlefield 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 engages the wolf Fenris, but falls a victim to the monster,
who is, however, slain by Vidar, Odin’s son. Thor gains great renown
by killing the Midgard serpent, but recoils and falls dead, suffocated
with the venom which the dying monster vomits over him. Loki and
Heimdall meet and fight till they are both slain. The gods and their
enemies having fallen in battle, Surtur, who has killed Freyr, darts
fire and flames over the world, and the whole universe is burned up.
The sun becomes dim, the earth sinks into the ocean, the stars fall
from heaven, and time is no more.
 After this Alfadur (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 spontaneously produce its fruits without labor
or care. Wickedness and misery will no more be known, but the gods
and men will live happily together.

RUNIC LETTERS
One cannot travel far in Denmark, Norway, or Sweden without
meeting with great stones of different forms, engraven with
characters called Runic, which appear at first sight very different
from all we know. The letters consist almost invariably of straight
lines, in the shape of little sticks either singly or put together. Such
sticks were in early times used by the northern nations for the
purpose of ascertaining future events. The sticks were shaken up,
and from the figures that they formed a kind of divination was
derived.
The Runic characters were of various kinds. They were chiefly
used for magical purposes. The noxious, or, as they called them, the
bitter runes, were employed to bring various evils on their enemies;
the favorable averted misfortune. Some were medicinal, others
employed to win love, etc. In later times they were frequently used
for inscriptions, of which more than a thousand have been found.
The language is a dialect of the Gothic, called Norse, still in use in
Iceland. The inscriptions may therefore be read with certainty, but
hitherto very few have been found which throw the least light on
history. They are mostly epitaphs on tombstones.

Gray’s ode on the “Descent of Odin” contains an allusion to the

use of Runic letters for incantation:
 “Facing to the northern clime,
Thrice he traced the Runic rhyme;
Thrice pronounced, in accents dread,
The thrilling verse that wakes the dead,
Till from out the hollow ground
Slowly breathed a sullen sound.”

THE SKALDS
The Skalds were the bards and poets of the nation, a very
important class of men in all communities in an early stage of
civilization. They are the depositaries of whatever historic lore there
is, and it is their office to mingle something of intellectual
gratification with the rude feasts of the warriors, by rehearsing, with
such accompaniments of poetry and music as their skill can afford,
the exploits of their heroes living or dead. The compositions of the
Skalds were called Sagas, many of which have come down to us,
and contain valuable materials of history, and a faithful picture of the
state of society at the time to which they relate.

ICELAND
The Eddas and Sagas have come to us from Iceland. The
following extract from Carlyle’s lectures on “Heroes and Hero
Worship” gives an animated account of the region where the strange
stories we have been reading had their origin. Let the reader
contrast it for a moment with Greece, the parent of classical
mythology:
“In that strange island, Iceland,—burst up, the geologists say, by
fire from the bottom of the sea, a wild land of barrenness and lava,
swallowed many months of every year in black tempests, yet with a
wild, gleaming beauty in summer time, towering up there stern and
grim in the North Ocean, with its snow yokuls [mountains], roaring
geysers [boiling springs], sulphur pools, and horrid volcanic chasms,
like the waste, chaotic battlefield of Frost and Fire,—where, of all
places, we least looked for literature or written memorials,—the
record of these things was written down. On the seaboard of this
wild land is a rim of grassy country, where cattle can subsist, and
men by means of them and of what the sea yields; and it seems
they were poetic men these, men who had deep thoughts in them
and uttered musically their thoughts. Much would be lost had
Iceland not been burst up from the sea, not been discovered by the
Northmen!”

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
In the mythology of Germany proper, the name of Odin appears
as Wotan; Freya and Frigga are regarded as one and the same
divinity, and the gods are in general represented as less warlike in
character than those in the Scandinavian myths. As a whole,
however, Teutonic mythology runs along almost identical lines with
that of the northern nations. The most notable divergence is due to
modifications of the legends by reason of the difference in climatic
conditions. The more advanced social condition of the Germans is
also apparent in their mythology.

THE NIBELUNGEN LIED

One of the oldest myths of the Teutonic race is found in the great
national epic of the Nibelungen Lied, which dates back to the
prehistoric era when Wotan, Frigga, Thor, Loki, and the other gods
and goddesses were worshipped in the German forests. The epic is
divided into two parts, the first of which tells how Siegfried, the
youngest of the kings of the Netherlands, went to Worms, to ask in
marriage the hand of Kriemhild, sister of Günther, King of Burgundy.
While he was staying with Günther, Siegfried helped the Burgundian
king to secure as his wife Brunhild, queen of Issland. The latter had
announced publicly that he only should be her husband who could
beat her in hurling a spear, throwing a huge stone, and in leaping.
Siegfried, who possessed a cloak of invisibility, aided Günther in
these three contests, and Brunhild became his wife. In return for
these services, Günther gave Siegfried his sister Kriemhild in
marriage.
After some time had elapsed, Siegfried and Kriemhild went to
visit Günther, when the two women fell into a dispute about the
relative merits of their husbands. Kriemhild, to exalt Siegfried,
boasted that it was to the latter that Günther owed his victories and
his wife. Brunhild, in great anger, employed Hagan, liegeman of
Günther, to murder Siegfried. In the epic Hagan is described as
follows:
“Well-grown and well-compacted was that redoubted guest;
Long were his legs and sinewy, and deep and broad his
chest;
His hair, that once was sable, with gray was dashed of late;
Most terrible his visage, and lordly was his gait.”
—Nibelungen Lied, stanza 1789.
This Achilles of German romance stabbed Siegfried between the
shoulders, as the unfortunate King of the Netherlands was stooping
to drink from a brook during a hunting expedition.
The second part of the epic relates how, thirteen years later,
Kriemhild married Etzel, King of the Huns. After a time, she invited
the King of Burgundy, with Hagan and many others, to the court of
her husband. A fearful quarrel was stirred up in the banquet hall,
which ended in the slaughter of all the Burgundians but Günther and
Hagan. These two were taken prisoners and given to Kriemhild, who
with her own hand cut off the heads of both. For this bloody act of
vengeance Kriemhild was herself slain by Hildebrand, a magician and
champion, who in German mythology holds a place to an extent
corresponding to that of Nestor in the Greek mythology.

THE NIBELUNGEN HOARD

This was a mythical mass of gold and precious stones which
Siegfried obtained from the Nibelungs, the people of the north
whom he had conquered and whose country he had made tributary
to his own kingdom of the Netherlands. Upon his marriage, Siegfried
gave the treasure to Kriemhild as her wedding portion. After the
murder of Siegfried, Hagan seized it and buried it secretly beneath
the Rhine at Lochham, intending to recover it at a future period. The
hoard was lost forever when Hagan was killed by Kriemhild. Its
wonders are thus set forth in the poem:
“ ’Twas as much as twelve huge wagons in four whole
nights and days
Could carry from the mountain down to the salt sea bay;
Though to and fro each wagon thrice journeyed every day.

“It was made up of nothing but precious stones and gold;

Were all the world bought from it, and down the value told,
Not a mark the less would there be left than erst there was,
I ween.”
—Nibelungen Lied, XIX.
Whoever possessed the Nibelungen hoard were termed
Nibelungers. Thus at one time certain people of Norway were so
called. When Siegfried held the treasure he received the title “King
of the Nibelungers.”

WAGNER’S NIBELUNGEN RING

Though Richard Wagner’s music-drama of the Nibelungen Ring
bears some resemblance to the ancient German epic, it is a wholly
independent composition and was derived from various old songs
and sagas, which the dramatist wove into one great harmonious
story. The principal source was the Volsunga Saga, while lesser parts
were taken from the Elder Edda and the Younger Edda, and others
from the Nibelungen Lied, the Ecklenlied, and other Teutonic
folklore.
In the drama there are at first only four distinct races,—the gods,
the giants, the dwarfs, and the nymphs. Later, by a special creation,
there come the valkyrie and the heroes. The gods are the noblest
and highest race, and dwell first in the mountain meadows, later in
the palace of Valhalla on the heights. The giants are a great and
strong race, but lack wisdom; they hate what is noble, and are
enemies of the gods; they dwell in caves near the earth’s surface.
The dwarfs, or nibelungs, are black uncouth pigmies, hating the
good, hating the gods; they are crafty and cunning, and dwell in the
bowels of the earth. The nymphs are pure, innocent creatures of the
water. The valkyrie are daughters of the gods, but mingled with a
mortal strain; they gather dead heroes from the battle-fields and
carry them to Valhalla. The heroes are children of the gods, but also
mingled with a mortal strain; they are destined to become at last the
highest race of all, and to succeed the gods in the government of
the world.
The principal gods are Wotan, Loki, Donner, and Froh. The chief
giants are Fafner and Fasolt, brothers. The chief dwarfs are Alberich
and Mime, brothers, and later Hagan, son of Alberich. The chief
nymphs are the Rhine-daughters, Flosshilda, Woglinda, and
Wellgunda. There are nine Valkyrie, of whom Brunhild is the leading
one.
Wagner’s story of the Ring may be summarized as follows:
A hoard of gold exists in the depths of the Rhine, guarded by the
innocent Rhine-maidens. Alberich, the dwarf, forswears love to gain
this gold. He makes it into a magic ring. It gives him all power, and
he gathers by it a vast amount of treasures.
Meanwhile Wotan, chief of the gods, has engaged the giants to
build for him a noble castle, Valhalla, from whence to rule the world,
promising in payment Freya, goddess of youth and love. But the
gods find they cannot spare Freya, as they are dependent on her for
their immortal youth. Loki, called upon to provide a substitute, tells
of Alberich’s magic ring and other treasure. Wotan goes with Loki,
and they steal the ring and the golden hoard from Alberich, who
curses the ring and lays the curse on all who shall henceforth
possess it. The gods give the ring and the treasure to the giants as a
substitute for Freya. The curse at once begins. One giant, Fafner,
kills his brother to get all, and transforms himself into a dragon to
guard his wealth. The gods enter Valhalla over the rainbow bridge.
This ends the first part of the drama, called the Rhine-Gold.