An overview of the Aesir and a view of Ragnarok; The Edda - Gylfaginning, Snorri

 

Earlier today I have posted a bonus post, you might want to read it first. There is a small natural division in the Edda, the Prologue, and like its name suggests it comes first. That being said this post is going to be a bit of a monster. This is the largest part of the Edda, and it is very tightly packed with events and information. 

Why you might read Gylfaginning from the Edda by Snorri?

The Edda is the first work in which we see the Aesir or the Gods of the Norse pantheon. As such it is an important beginning in the myths and legends of the Norse people. Given the raiding of the Norse, it is part of the history of large parts of European peoples. Whether they acknowledge that or not is another thing entirely.

For my Self Education, it is important for me to gain a wide range of cultural and spiritual backgrounds. Even if those are widely now regarded as mythology. The insights into the ancient Norse religion is a great addition to the collection.

The Story of Gylfaginning from the Edda

King Gylfi gives a tract of land to a woman who comes to his court the size that a team of four oxen can plough in a day. The woman takes for bulls from giant land and they plough deep. So deep that they rent the land and drag it into the water. It is now an island whose peninsulas match with the inlet on the land.

Gylfi sees that the Aesir have all that they do go well so he disguises himself as an old man and enters Asgard.  Odin being all-seeing knows he is coming and sets up an illusion of a great hall for him. He enters and ends up talking to three kings, with rather strange names, most high, just as high and third. They are all stacked upon each other. He asks many questions and first finds out the 12 names or titles of Odin, including all father. He continues questioning and is slowly told about the creation of the world. From what there was before the world was created. From the creation of the Frost giants and to the creation of Odin and his brothers the sons of Bor. Then how these brothers killed the first Frost giant Ymir. From his flesh and blood created the world. How they separated the giants land from Midgard, the humans land, from Asgard the Aesir's land. And how they created man from two logs and each of the three gives a different part of the creation of men. And how with his part in the creation of the whole Odin is the All-Father. He takes the earth as a wife and fathers Asa-Thor (or Thor of the Aesir).

He takes a giantess called night and her son, fathered by an Aesir, day. They were put in chariots to race across the sky, and how the sun and moon were also set up in such a way. They race across the sky because they are being chased by wolves. These are the monstrous sons of an ogress and how at the end of time they will catch them and eat them. We are told that the Bifrost is the rainbow and that it connects the earth with heaven(Asgard). Then with the next question, we start delving into the appointing of rules in Asgard. Then the birth of dwarves and all their names. 

Yggdrasil, the world tree comes next and details the three roots that go into three places. The underworld, heaven and the land of the frost giants, and the three wells that sit under each root. Within this section, we also meet to Norns, the fates of men. There is also an offhand comment that the Bifrost is on fire and that's why the Frost giants can't cross it. It is also implied that the gods can't cross it on foot either. The gods ride to one of the wells of the world tree each day to go to court and pronounce judgments. All except Thor who walks a different route, wading through rivers. There are also monstrous creatures that relate to Yggdrasil. In its branches are deer that eat the leaves as well as an eagle and a hawk. On the ground are an innumerable amount of snakes as well as the parents of swans in one of the wells. 

Other places in Heaven are then listed. These include the home of the light elves as well as Odin's place at Valaskjalf. Gylfi then asks the origin of the wind, which is from the wingbeats of the giant Hraesvelg. Summer and winter are then given names. We then spend some more time discussing the ones which should be called gods. We start with Odin the All-father and the discussion includes a greater list of his names. Then Thor as his firstborn and on through the 12 gods listing their names and their specialties. The highlights are Loki the trickster who is not truly Aesir and thus evil. As well as Heimdall the guard of the Bifrost. It also details Loki's monstrous children and where they ended up. The giant snake that was thrown into the water that surrounds the earth that then grew so large as to eat its own tail. Hel who runs the underworld. Finally, the wolf that is eventually trapped by the Aesir as the prophecy is that he will kill Odin. We then get a shortlist of the goddess' of the Aesir. There are more of them than there were gods. They are also more feminine in their domains, as is to be expected, and are more about love and marriage. 

Then there are the Valkyries of Valhalla who go to battles and choose who will die. Then once dead, will be brought to Valhalla to swell Odin's army for Ragnarok. There is then an interlude about Frey and the Giantess Gerd, who he saw from Odin's seat. He fell in love with giving away his powerful sword to get her hand. We are told he will miss this in Ragnarok. We then return to discussing Valhalla. Gylfi asks how all the warriors fallen from the beginning of the world fit in Valhalla. The reply is that Valhalla is so large it has over 500 doors and each is wide enough for 800 men. There is also a discussion on food and drink for the multitude. We are told that they eat a boar which is whole every morning and drink mead from the udder of a goat. Another aside, two ravens sit on Odin's shoulders and report to him everything they have heard. So some people call him the raven god. Gylfi is also told that daily the warriors put on their armour and go and fight each other in the field. Even with this fighting, they return each day as friends.

There is a wager between a giant and the Aesir to build a fortress over the winter. The giant's prize Freyja's hand in marriage and the sun and the moon. The gods do not want to give these up so as he comes almost to completion in time the enlist Loki to stop him. Loki turns into a mare and leads off his stallion, who was the one help he was allowed. As an aside, it is from this interaction that Loki gives birth to Odin's stead.

Thor and Loki head into giant land and meet Skrymir. Although Thor tries more than once to kill him with a blow to the head while he is asleep, he gives no injury whatsoever. Just before they meet him the sleep in a great hall with a side room. They find that it turns out to be nothing more than the large man's glove. The group then arrive at the stronghold of Utgarda-Loki and are told that to stay they must win at a contest. Loki tries eating food, Thor tries drinking, one of their companions tries running. Thor also tries lifting a cat and wrestling but they all fail. They are still allowed to stay the night but the next day they are farewelled. Once they are out of the stronghold they are told it was all a trick. Loki ate fire, Thor drank the ocean, lifted the Midgard Serpent and wrestled old age. Thor was angry but when they turned back the stronghold was gone.

Thor again goes out from Asgard and convinces a giant to take him fishing. He goes much further than the giant want and fishes for the Midgard Serpent. He is successfully pulling it up and it spits venom at him but the giant gets scared and cuts the line. Thor in his anger kills him and then wades back to shore as he has destroyed the boat.

Baldr has a prophecy that he will be killed. He goes to Frigg and gets her to get oaths from all things that they could not hurt him. So the gods take sport at throwing things at him and him not getting hurt. This angers Loki and he asks Frigg if there is an exception. She says she didn't get an oath from the young mistletoe. So Loki fashions a sharpened stick out of it and convinces bling Hod to throw it at Baldr and kills him. The Aesir morn and Frigg asks for one to ride to Hel and see if they can get Baldr back. Hermod Odin's son agrees and sets out on Odin horse. While he was going the rest of the Aesir build a funeral pyre out of Baldr's boat. There is a list of the Aesir that attended the pyre. Back to Hermond, he rode nine days and nights to arrive at the bridge, roofed with gold. The bridge leads to Hel and asked if Baldr had passed by, he is told yes and continues on. He rode tot he gates and after tightening the girth strap the horse jumps over the gate. He speaks with Hel about retrieving Baldr but is told he will only be released if all of the world cries for him. the Aesir get all the world to cry but one giant refuses and Baldr is not released. As revenge for the death of Baldr, the Aesir set out to capture Loki and bind him. He has set himself up in the woods by a stream and as they come close he turns into a Salmon. They drag a net through the river a few times. Though Loki is tricky and escapes a few times he is eventually caught by Thor as he tries to jump over the net. Loki is then bound until Ragnarok.

Gylfi asks for more information about Ragnarok. He is told that first there will be three extreme winters back to back. Also, brother will kill brother in greed. The wolves will then swallow the sun and the moon and the stars will disappear from heaven. The whole earth will shake the trees loose from the ground and the mountains will fall. All the fetters will release. Then the Fenriswolf will break free and the Midgard Serpent will advance on the land. The Fenriswolf's jaw stretches from the land to the heavens. The Midgard Serpent spits venom on the land. And in the middle of all this the sons of Muspell will cross and break the Bifrost. Muspell being one of the places outside the world full of fire. The people will come with fire in front of and behind them. They will all meet on the battle plain, and the Aesir will come at the blowing of Heimdall's horn all dressed for war. Odin is killed by the Fenris wolf. The wolf who took his hand is killed by Tyr and he, in turn, is killed by it. Thor and the Midgard Serpent kill each other. Loki and Heimdall are the death of each other. Surt will then throw fire over the earth and burn the whole world. 

Finally, Gylfi asks what is after Ragnarok, the answer comes that a few will have survived. For example, the sun's daughter will take her place in the sky. A couple of good and couple of bad strongholds will survive. The earth will sprout with unsown crops and Thor's sons will have Mjollnir, the great hammer. Baldr and Hod will arrive from hell and finally, the ones called life and life yearner will survive.

Gylfi is sudden in a plain with no sign of the hall, he goes home to tell the stories to his people.

The Aesir then gave these names to people and places so that their great deeds would be attributed to them. 

Reflections on Gylfaginning from the Edda

The very first story in this section seems to have no connection to the rest of the text. Which is about Gylfi's questions of the Aesir. As such it is easy to overlook and yet it tells the story of a specific and non-fantastical piece of land. Though its creation is a bit fantastical.

The creation story we see in this section does not relate to the one we have seen in the previous section. though we do still see humanity coming from two individuals we see no flood event. It is quite an interesting story as we see Odin is not the eldest of those created or begotten. Rather it takes some time for us to see him in the passing of events. Once we do he is instrumental in all of creation that follows and so is called All-Father. It is also interesting that his two brothers. These brothers were instrumental in helping him create man. Yet they seem to fall by the wayside after this is done.

The world tree is an interesting image reaching into all three major realms. Three if you count Midgard and Asguard as part of the same. It does not seem to support them but rather is supported by them. As such I do not quite understand its purpose and it does not come up again in Ragnarok so I wonder what happens to it.

Valhalla is something we have all heard of but it is interesting to see the scope. We see this when Gylfi asks how so many fit. Its provision for the warriors is rather fantastical but it is the hall of the honoured dead. These warriors are then used in the battle at Ragnarok. We find that although they are a multitude there is not enough of them.

The stories of Thor wandering around in giant lands are an interlude. They break up the questions of who the Aesir are and how the world was created. This is before we get into Ragnarok. The first story is interesting as it seems to take the storyteller some time to find a story where Thor was bested. Even the story that is given, in its eventuality he is not bested but tricked. None the less shows great feats of strength by Thor.

Baldr's death shows Loki in his true light as an enemy of the Aesir. Before this we have seen him as a trickster but not as an enemy. His binding until Ragnarok is a fitting punishment for the death he caused. It may have been more prudent to kill him, but the Aesir seem to always shy away from killing and enemy that can be bound.

Ragnarok is the destruction of most of creation. It is not the end of time and creation but rather a remnant remains. This is something that was a surprise to me as in my passing knowledge it was seen to be the end. and it is the end of the Aesir as gods but no the end of the earth.

The bit at the end about the Aesir putting these names into general human usage is interesting. It seems like a prewritten rebuff to the idea that the Aesir gods were just ancestors. And the idea that they had gained a huge and embellished mythos over time. 

What others have to say about Gylfaginning from the Edda

From the Ancient History Encyclopedia, "Perhaps truest to ancient sources, this book is a mythological story in the form of Odinic poems that explain the origin of the Norse cosmos and the chaos that will ensue."

"The Icelandic Eddas are the only vernacular record of Germanic heathendom as it developed during the four centuries which in England saw the destruction of nearly all traces of the heathen system" From Project Guttenburg

Comparisons with other texts

The Saga of burnt Njal does deal with a similar people group, the Icelandics. By comparison, The Edda's Gylfi is Swedish. Though in general these story's are thought of as more generally Norse. The saga of burnt Njal deals with the closer to real-life stories of great heroes of the people. By contrast, this part of  The Edda's is focused on the gods and is thus more fantastical. 

I have already spoken to the differences in creation in this part of the Edda. So I will not rehash it here.

Unlike the Egyptian book of the dead which gives a list of burial rites. Even so, it gives some understanding of their pantheon of gods. This part of the Edda is far more straight forward, this is who the gods are and what they are like. This is also unlike the view of the Greek gods we come to overtime through the plays and the epics. They do not set out to tell you about the gods, the gods are just characters in what is going on. In this part of the Edda, we do not see the gods interact with man, except the Valkyries in battle. By contrast in the Greek texts we see them meddle in everything. 

Conclusion

This section of the Edda covers the deceiving of Gylfi. This is a collection of stories detailing who the Norse gods are and what they are like. It also details Ragnarok the Norse end of the world. We discussed how the world tree does not support the world. Instead, it is supported by it. As well as how the Aesir ascribed their names to people. We discussed the similarities with the Saga of Burnt Njal. But we concluded that the saga was more about real life.

See you next month for the third and final section of the Edda!

Have you read the Edda? If so what did you think of it? 

 
Want to read the Edda but haven't? Please leave me a comment and let me know why you want to read it.

Hopefully, this post inspires you to take the time to look into it on your own journey of Self Education.

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