Another telling of Sigurd; The Volsung Saga.

Why might you read the Volsung Saga?

The Volsung saga is the full story of the family of Volsung. Though we do see some of the stories in the Edda. It exists to show the movement of the Northern families into the Germanic area and becoming the Germanic tribes. As such it is the myth that links the two people groups. It is worth noting that this was written in Icelandic.

It is in my Self Education project because of this link between the nordic and germanic tribes. Also because it is the prehistory of the germanic people and being English by decent some of my heritage is therefore Anglo-Saxon. These are both germanic tribes. This makes this part of the legacy of my past as well as that of a large chunk of Europe.

The Story of The Volsung Saga

Odin Guides Sigi from the otherworld:

Sigi is exiled for murder. Odin leads Sigi out into new lands far away and Sigi establishes himself as king of Hunland. Here he married and had a son named Rerir. His brothers in law killed him but his son retook the kingdom. Rerir cannot have children so he prays to the gods. Odin sends him an apple and he eats it with his wife and produces a child.

The queen was pregnant for six years. She decides it will kill her and asks for the child to be cut out of her. The child is already well grown when he was delivered. He is named Volsung and grew to be a great king. He married the daughter of Hrimnir, a giant. They had ten sons and one daughter. The eldest was Sigmund and his twin sister was Signy. King Volsung builds Barnstock with a great tree in its centre.

Sigmund draws the sword from Barnstock

King Siggeir comes to king Volsung wanting to arrange a marriage for his son. King Volsung agrees but his daughter, Signy is unhappy. Volsung makes the marriage feast and Signy is married to Siggeir's son.

An old wanderer enters the feast. He strikes the tree with the blade and buries it deep. He announces whoever pulls it out can have it and then he leaves. Many of the men try to pull out the sword but none succeed until Sigmund tries his hand and it comes out easily. King Siggeir tries to buy it off Sigmund but he refuses and Siggeir takes offence. Siggeir takes his wife and leaves the next day. He invites Volsung to come to a feast. 

The fall of Volsung

King Volsung goes to the kingdom of Gautland at the appointed time. Signy comes down to meet him and tells him that her husband has an army to meet them and kill them. Volsung refuses to run away and in the morning forms up his men fully armed. Volsung is killed and his ten sons are captured.

Signy convinces her husband to put the brothers in stocks instead of killing them and he agrees. The brothers are chained to a large log and left in the woods. Every night a she-wolf comes and devours one of them. This goes on for nine nights until only Sigmund is left. Signy sends Sigmund honey to smear on his face and in his mouth. When the wolf came she licked up the honey. When she put her tongue in Sigmund's mouth he bit down and would not let go. He ripped out her tongue and she died.

In the process of killing the wolf, Sigmund broke free of his bonds. He stayed in the woods and see himself up an underground hiding place. Signy bought him all he needed. King Siggeir, however, thought that all the Volsungs were dead.

Signy had two sons by Siggeir but they were weak. They are not fit for taking revenge.

Signy gives birth to Sinfjotli

Signy then swaps places with a sorceress and goes and sleeps with her brother in secret. They conceive a son and when he is of age she sends him to Sigmund. Sigmund asks him to bake bread when there is something living in the flour. Sinfjotli kneads it into the bread. Sigmund is impressed as it was a poisonous snake and tells the boy not to eat it.

Sigmund and Sinfjotli take revenge

Sigmund takes Sinfjotli to take vengeance on Siggeir and they sneak into his estate. One of the children spots them and reports them to Siggeir and his wife. Signy brings the children to Sigmund to kill but he refuses, Sinfjotli does it instantly. The two were then overpowered and bound.

The king buried them in a cairn separated by a huge stone. While they were being buried Signy thew in a bale of straw to Sinfjotli. In the straw, he found food and Sigmund's sword. The sword the used first to cut through the stone and then to cut their way out of the cairn.

The two then set the estate on fire. When challenged by the king as to who they are they replied they were Volsungs. Signy comes out of the fire to talk to her brother and reveal the parentage of Sinfjotli. But she returns to the fire to die with her husband.

Sigmund marries Hjordis

Sigmund hears of the Daughter of Eylimi and goes to his estate to try and secure marriage. King Lyngvi is also there trying to win her hand. Eylimi asks his daughter what she wants. She says she will have the well renowned Sigmund.

King Lyngvi went away and gathered an army and invaded. King Sigmund took out his army. He was killed in the action after his sword was broken by Odin.

The Birth of Sigurd

Hjordis gives birth to Sigmund's son, who is named Sigurd. Sigurd is bought up a foster father Regin. Regin the tells Sigurd about the serpent Fafnir and the gold and tries to get him to go and fight the wurm. He tells about how Odin and Loki killed his brother Otter and paid a gold price for his life. Then his brother Fafnir killed his father and took the gold. 

Regin fashions Gram

Before Sigurd will take on the serpent he makes Regin make him a sword. The first two he breaks on delivery. He then asks his mother for the broken sword of his father and has Regin reforge that. The sword is magnificent.

Sigurd goes to war against those that killed his father. He lands in their lands and lays waste to the countryside. The Kings bring an army out to meet him. He states that he is a Volsung and that he has come for vengeance and slays them.

Regin and Sigurd go after Fafnir

Regin convinces Sigurd to go after Fafnir. They ride out along the path the serpent takes to the water. Regin suggests digging a trench and lying in wait for the serpent. This would allow him to stab him from below. While he was working on the trench an old man with one eye came by and told him to make other trenches as well for the poison. This was Odin and Sigurd follows the advice. The plan works and Sigurd stabs the serpent.

While cooking the heart as Refin has asked, Sigrud has the juice on his hand and licks it. Then he can understand the birds, who give him the advice to kill Regin before Regin kills him. Sigurd cuts of Regin's head and eats half of the heart himself. He then goes and claims the gold from Fafnir's cave.

Sigurd and Brynhild

Sigurd rescues Brynhild from her magical slumber.  She teaches him many things with runes. Brynhild gives Sigurd a raft of advice.

Sigurd rides into Heimei's estate and is welcomed. Brynhild is making a tapestry of Sigurd's battles. He happens to see it and insists on seeing her. They make an Oath to marry.

Concerning King Gjuki and his sons

Sigurd arrives at Gjuki's castle and is welcomed. They want him to stay but he is constantly talking of Brynhild. Grimhild the queen brewed a forgetfulness blend and serves it to Sigurd. Sigurd forgets Brynhild. He then pledges brotherhood with the sons of Gjuki and marries their sister. Gunnar, one of the brothers comes to Sigurd and asks him to help him secure Brynhild as a wife. Sigurd and Gunnar head to King Budli, Brynhild's father. They ask him for her hand but are told she will only take the one who rides through the fire. Gunnar tries to ride through the fire both on his horse and on Sigurd's but they both balk. So Sigurd and Gunnar change places with magic and Sigurd does the deed. He tells her he is Gunnar and she consents to marry him. When the marriage feast ends Sigurd finally remembers Brynhild and his oath.

Dispute of the Queens, Brynhild and Gudrun

Brynhild and Gudrun squabble over who has the best husband. Gudrun reveals that it was not Gunnar who went through the fire but rather Sigurd. Brynhild is so grieved that she convinces Gunnar to kill Sigurd. Gunnar and his brother decide to make their younger brother do it as he is not pledged to Sigurd. Guttorm, the younger brother tries to enter Sigurds room while he is asleep. The third time Sigurd does not wake until Guttorm struck him. When he wakes wounded, he flings his sword Gram after the fleeing brother and catches him in the doorway. His sword cuts him in two. Brynhild cannot live with this and kills herself with a sword. Brynhild requests that she share a funeral pyre with Sigurd.

The Disappearance of Gudrun

Gudrun disappears and spends her time in Denmark. Her family find her and marry her off to king Atli against her wishes. King Atli schemes against her brothers to secure Sigurds gold for himself.

Gudrun carves runes on a ring and sends it with the messenger that Atli sends to her brothers. He is inviting them to feast with him but it is a trap. Gudrun's message is for them not to come but it is intercepted by the messenger and the runes changed.

The brothers set out for Atli, though everyone is telling them not to go.

The battle in the fortress and the victory

They arrive at king Atli's hall and are instantly attacked. They slay many of Atli's champions. The brothers continue to fight even though all of their men have fallen. They are then overpowered and captured. Hogni's heart is cut out and shown to Gunnar. This only makes him more resolute not to tell Atli where the treasure is. Eventually, Gunnar is killed by an adder.

Gudrun kills her sons and feeds them to Atli. She does this as revenge for killing her brothers. She and Hgoni's son kill Atli in his bed. 

Concerning Gudrun

Gudrun takes herself into the sea and instead of being killed is swept to the fortress of King Jonakr. Here she is married to the king and they bring up Svanhild, Sigurd daughter.

Svanhild is married off. She is promised to an older King but his son is the one to fetch her. One of the ambassadors tells the King that Svanhild and his son have been lovers and the king has them both killed. Svanhild is trampled to death by horses.

Gudrun Urges her sons to avenge Svanhild

Gudrun's sons by Jonakr come to an age when they can go to war. Gudrun urges them to go to Jormunrek and avenge their half-sister. The son's of Gudrun were warned that they needed to stay as a team cryptically. Instead of taking that advice two of them get angry with the third and kill him. When they arrive to take vengeance one takes off both hands and the other takes off both legs. It is then they realise that if they still had the third he would have taken of the head and they would have prevailed. They were instead captured and then stoned to death.

Reflections of The Volsung Saga

The whole story of the family of Volsung from start to end has a lot of twists and turns. It starts with banishment from the Nordic countries and ends in the Germanic lands. It is interesting that the family is named for someone in the middle of the line rather than a founder. There is less positive to say about Sigi, though, as he was prone to jealousy. Volsung himself on the other hand has a fortunate and fantastical birth. Most of the saga encompasses Sigmund and especially Sigurd. They both have more time devoted to them in the text because there are more stories about them. Both are dealt with in more granular detail than the one that came before. It is also interesting how quickly it becomes he was the very epitome of a Volsung. Even when Volsungs deeds, while we are told they are great, are not detailed in the text.

Brynhild's descent into suicide is interesting. She starts with not even wanting to make the vow with Sigurd, to making the vow. When she marries another who supposedly succeeded in her test, she is happy until she finds he did not do the deed. At this point her whole persona shifts to despair. This is where things get odd though. First, she plots to have her love killed, I think because he tricked her. Then once he is dead she wants to be dead with him. This seems strange as she has caused his death and she does not seem to be repentant for that. Rather she just decides to die with him. Maybe there is something about honour culture in the time that makes sense of it, but as a modern reader, I can't quite grasp it.

The line keeps improving generation on generation, which is rather interesting. We see the line improving until it dies out. This has the effect of keeping the mythic time separate from the time of writing. It allows for there to no longer be heroes about and yet to have this incline in greatness.

What others have to say about The Volsung Saga

Encyclopedia Britannica says The "Vǫlsunga saga, (Icelandic: “Saga of the Volsungs”) most important of the Icelandic sagas called fornaldarsǫgur (“sagas of antiquity”). Dating from roughly 1270."

"Völsunga Saga (Volsunga Saga or Volsungasaga) was the story of love and betrayal, adventure and tragedy, expanding over several generations, began with the son of Odin named Sigi."  Is how Timeless Myths summarises the opening.

Comparisons with other texts

Here we must start with the Edda as the similarities are profound. Both tell the story of Sigmund through to Sigurd. But the Edda tells the story of Otter's ransom as a current tale and in the Volsung Saga is retold by one of the brothers. The Volsung Saga also tells the story of the family before it intersects with Fafnir the Wurm. As such The Volsung Saga is a more complete retelling of the family. Whereas the Edda only covers what is relevant to the Aesir. We can easily conclude that one was used as a source for the other.

If compare Greek Mythology in general with The Volsung saga, we see a difference in understanding of why there aren't great men anymore. We see this referenced especially in Theogony where the decay of the quality of men is specifically discussed. The Greeks saw the slow degradation of man as the reason there were no longer such great heroes. By comparison, the Volsung saga has the men getting better every generation until the line dies out. This I have gone into more detail with above.

Conclusion

The Volsung saga is the story of the family of Volsung. Volsung comes in the middle of the family tree. The line eventually dies out with the daughter of Sigurd. The great feats that they achieved are given in detail, as well as the alliances they married into. In the end, Sigurd's duplicity, in the form of helping his adopted brother, is his downfall. It gives an important Mythical link between the Nordic and Germanic peoples. We see part of this story in the Edda but not in as much detail. Finally, we have looked at how the view of the heroic past differed between this work and the Greek Plays.

Have you read The Volsung Saga? If so what did you think of it? 
 
Want to read The Volsung Saga 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.

Get a copy of the Volsung Saga.

Stories of the Aesir and great Kings; The Edda - Skaldskaparmal, Snorri

 

Why you might read The Edda -Skaldskaparmal

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. The Skaldskaparmal continues these stories in its first section. In its second section, it gives us insight into how to understand the poetry of the same time period.

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. It is also interesting to see the ways in which poetry is playing with words. This does not seem to change around the world. How exactly you play with words though does change from culture to culture.

The Story

Aegir goes to Asgard and Bragi tells him stories of the Aesir and kings:

Odin, Loki and Hoenir we travelling in the woods and had found no food until they found an Ox. When they tried to cook it would not cook. So an Eagle said to them if they let it eat what it wanted it would make sure it cooked. The eagle ate the choicest parts. Loki got angry and hit it with a stick. The stick get stuck and the Eagle dragged Loki around. Until he made an oath to get Idunn and her apples of youth out of Asgard. Loki does as he had pledged and Idunn is taken away by the giant that was the eagle. Without Idunn's apples the Aesir age. After a while, they realise the last place Idunn was seen was with Loki. They threaten to torture Loki but he tells them where she is. He says he will go and get her if Freyja would lend him her falcon shape. He heads out to giant land as a falcon and gets to where Idunn is being held. Luck has it that the giant is out fishing. So Loki turns Idunn into an acorn and flies her back to Asgard, but the giant notices and chases after him. As they approach Asgard the Aesir set up large piles of wood. Once Loki and Idunn are safe they light the wood. The eagle is going so fast he ends up in the fires and dies. 

The giant's daughter comes to seek vengeance. The Aesir convince her to take compensation instead. This compensation is in the form of marriage to one of the Aesir chosen by only his feet and if they can make her laugh. The first she chooses Njord to marry. She chooses Loki to make her laugh. Loki ties a rope between his privates and a goatsbeard and they have a tug of war, which in the end makes her laugh.

The gods were at war with the Vanir. A peace was procured by them all spitting in a bowl, the Aesir kept this and from it made a man Kvasir. He was a man of great knowledge and travelled the world. He travelled until some dwarves killed him and collected his blood. They then mixed the blood with honey and made a mead that makes everyone who drinks it a poet and a scholar. The dwarves then kill some giants. When the son of the giants comes for vengeance they buy the peace with their mead. Odin wants to get his hands on the mead. So he goes and sees the current owners brother and gets an oath out of him to help him try and get some from the brother. The brother refuses but Odin drills through a mountain. Then turns into a snake. Once inside he sleeps with a woman of the house who gives him a drink of mead for each of the three nights. He consumes it all then flies off back to Asgard and spits it out into the vats the Aesir have produced.

Odin rode into the giant lands. He wagered with a giant about who has the better horse. He then outran the giant's horse but the giant followed him all the way to Asgard. Odin then invited him in to eat and drink, from Thor's bowls, who was away. When the Aesir tire of his boasting they call on Thor who comes and threatens the giant. The giant challenges him to a duel once he is armed. Thor agrees and the day of the duel arrives. Thor kills him but is injured and trapped in under the giant as it falls dead. No one can move in until one of Thor's sons, very young about 3 or 4, comes and moves the giant and lo and behold Thor is not dead. Thor gives his son the dead giants mount in thanks.

Thor heads to Geirrods court. He does so without Mjollnir(his hammer), his belt of strength and iron gloves. He does so because Loki has convinced him to leave them behind. But on the way, he stops the night at Gird's house. She tells him that the giant is tricky and trying to kill him. So she lends him her belt of strength, iron gloves and her weapon, a staff. Thor arrives at Geirrods and is put up in a goat stable with one chair. So he sits on it. He soon realises it is getting closer and closer to the roof so he uses the staff to push on the roof and hears a great crack. The crack was the backs of the trolls two daughters who were under the chair breaking. Then Gerriod called Thor into the hall for a contest. Gerriod grabbed a red hot piece of iron and threw it a Thor. Thor who caught it in his iron gloves and threw it back at Gerriod. Gerriod tried to hide behind a pillar but the rod went right through it and him.

Loki gets one dwarf to make him great things. Then he takes a wager that his brother can't make better things. The price of the bet is Loki's head. The brother makes three items to rival the first brothers three. They then take them to Asgard for the gods to judge and the pronouncement is that the second brother did better. The dwarves then try to take Loki's head. After a while, Loki says you don't have the right to my neck so rather than kill him the sew his mouth shut.

Aegir, a man, holds a feast in the gods at his house, his flours are burnished gold and give light to the whole hall.

Odin, Loki and Hoenir are travelling when they see an otter eating a salmon. Loki kills the otter and retrieves both the otter and the salmon. That night they approach a mans house and give him the otter and the salmon for food for the night. The man called his son and then they set on the Aesir as the otter was their brother. The man makes the otter into a bag and says once it is full of gold and covered in it that will be the ransom paid. Loki leaves to a dwarven hall and takes his gold as a ransom for not killing him. so the Aesir pay the ransom for the otter. the father takes the gold but will give none to his sons, so the sons kill him. Then one brother will not give the other brother any of the gold. So he turns himself into a snake and finds a cave to go and sleep on it in. The other brother travels and goes to Sigurd son of Sigmund. Sigurd's foster father was Volsung, he tells him about the treasure and they travel to go and claim it. Sigurd digs a pit and lays wait in it for the first brother, with his extremely sharp sword, and kills him. Sigurd is to roast the heard of the serpent and give it to the brother. He burns himself while cooking it and sucking on the juices on his hand. He starts to hear the talk of the birds that the living brother is going to betray him so he kills him first. 

Sigurd meets a king names Gjuki. Sigurd marries his daughter Gudrun and swears brotherhood to her brothers. One of the brothers wants to marry. To do so he must ride through flames, which he can't do. He and Sigurd switch bodies and Sigurd does the feat as the brother then switch back. The brother gets to marry the woman. The brother tells his wife about the swap and she was speechless. From then on she urges another brother to kill Sigurd. They wouldn't because of the brotherhood. But a third would and split Sigurd with a sword and they killed his son. Their father then marries Gudrun Sigrurds wife. He kills her brothers, one by cutting out his heart and the other by a snake bite all the way to the liver. But he did not manage to claim their treasure which they had hidden. His wife made the brothers skulls into goblets and gave their roasted heads to her husband to eat. One of the brothers he had killed sons came and killed him while he slept. 

Gudrun throws herself into the sea hoping to drown. She is carried to land and seen by the local king who takes her as his wife. She has three sons. There is a daughter of Sigurd in the land. Another king heard of her beauty and send his son to the first king to get her for himself. The king's advisor though suggests, to the son and the girl, that his son marries the daughter of Sigurd. He also tells the king what happened. The king puts his son to death and thus puts himself in a bad position of being old with no sons. He and his men kill the daughter of Sigurd by trampling her with horses. When Sigurd's wife heard she sent her three sons to avenge her. The sons quibbled on the way. Two killed the third. Then when they killed the king not having the third was their undoing and they died in the process.

Frodi bought peace to the northern countries, where there was no murder or theft. he visited Sweden with a couple of slave women. There was in Sweden a millstone to large to be moved and yet it did what the miller commanded. Frodi sent the slave women to the mill to grind gold, peace and prosperity. They ground out an army to oppose Frodi instead. Mysing arrived by night and killed Frodi and his peace ended. He took the millstones and the women. While on his ship ordered them to grind salt but the sea became salty and they came upon a whirlpool and sank.

Kraki was king in Denmark a young boy gives him that name and he gives him a gold ring as a gift. He went to war with the king of Sweden and send his berserkers to fight. They were victorious but he refused to pay them. He met them in Sweden and the local king gave them false hospitality. He tried to burn them alive but they leapt over the fire and slew those trying to burn them. He was given a horn of gold and told to ride back to his army. He was chased by the king and his men. So he threw out the coins and the army stopped to collect it. The opposing king kept on coming so he threw a gold ring and got the king to grovel like a pig.

One king, Hogni, has his daughter stolen by another king. So Hogni set out with his army but the other king fled by sea so he chased him. they eventually stopped and fought on an island. Every night his daughter would raise the fallen men. So each day they would fight with full armies again. This is the endless fight.

There is a subdivision here in the text as it moves from stories to instructions on how to write poetry:

First is the explanation of the Kenning Structure. How that if one God is named but with the title or description of another. Then it is actually the second god that is being referenced.

Following the gods are listed with their appropriate titles and descriptions. With a slight aside for the story of Heimdall being struck in the head and how now Heimdall's head can refer to a sword. The same list and descriptions are repeated with the Goddesses, Sun, Moon and Sea. Then we move on to the references for men and women. These are a lot more general as there are many people they could refer to. The one I find most interesting is that men can be referred to by masculine trees and women by feminine trees. Gold has its own section but they are mainly the names for gold we have seen in the preceding stories. Battle, weapons and armour have a lot of references to Odin and his Valkyries. Ships is the smallest section with them just being referenced as animals or the ski of the sea kings. References to Christ goes through the traditional Christian title for him. They also add a few place names.

Time is reckoned in months from Harvest to Corn-reaping and there are 15 in total.|

We have a genealogy of the Kings of the northlands in a story-based form.

 Finally, we have alternate names for positions and actions. These include poets being called greppar. Also, the young men who haven't taken possession of a farm being called drengir. 

Reflections on The Edda - Skaldskaparmal

From what I had read about the Edda I had expected this section to be shorter so its length was a nice surprise. The storied start with stories of the gods, mainly Odin and company. They are on various trips out of Asgard before moving on to stories of men. Nearly all the stories include some turn of phrase that the story is the origin for. It is quite interesting that there are so few stories of Thor and so many more of Odin.

I know Loki is a trickster, but tying a rope to his nethers for a laugh is a bit over the top. I guess it did have the desired effect of laughter. It seems like a story that is an affront to the dignity of the gods. But then Loki isn't truly an Aesir so maybe the dignified portrayals do not extend to him. Also, it is fitting that the laugh is at his expense. Since it was his foolishness that created the situation in the first place.

I find the creation method for the mead of poets rather gross. I have definitely heard in other contexts of using spit to seal a deal. Even if today it is mostly a thing kids do, keeping it to make a man is just an odd concept. but brewing mead mixed with that mans blood and then to be spat out by Odin. I wouldn't care how much of a poet it would make me I would not care to drink it.

Thor's son having the strength to move the giant that has fallen on Thor. The giant fell on Thor as he killed it. All other Aesir had failed to move the giant but Thors son succeeds. This shows that his house and hammer is in good hands. We do not know if this is one of the sons of Thor that will survive Ragnarok. But one of them will take up the hammer, as we see in the previous section.

The transition from the stories of the gods to the stories of man happens mid-story. We follow the gold used for the payment for Otter. This leads to Sigurd of the Volsung's killing the serpent who guards the same gold. Which also leads to the brothers of Sigurd's wife hiding the gold in the river where it is lost. It is very smooth and at first, you think it is just where that story leads. The next few stories are also of men, mainly kings, doing great things.

The final three stories are all about kings but they are more compact and singular in nature. The continual battle is the most interesting. Why would the daughter of one king kidnapped by the other want the battle to go on indefinitely? Surely she would want to go home with her father, which would require him to be able to win. It is also interesting that her name means battle as it is what she has made continual by her actions. 

What Others have to say about the Edda - Skaldskaparmal

"But now one thing must be said to young skalds, to such as yearn to attain to the craft of poesy and to increase their store of figures with traditional metaphors;" Says the Honest Modern Heathen

From Function and Relevance of the Kennings "The role that these "higher" or "proper" kennings play within individual poems can be illustrated by looking at the Völuspá of the Poetic Edda."

Comparisons with other texts

The obvious comparison here is of the story of Sigurd seen in the Nibelungenlied. Which relates closely to this part of the Edda. Here we see the origins of the gold and of the serpent that Sigurd kills as well as his untimely end. In the Nibelungenlied, we see a lot more about Sigurd's family. Also their interaction with the world with Sigurd being more of a side story. Whereas here in the Edda, his wife is the main focus. That is once the focus is off the gold. Her life after Sigurd becomes central. The main contents of the Sigurd story are the same between the two works. Though some of the more minor characters names are different the main ones are the same or very similar.

To compare this section with the second section of the Edda. As I previously noted we see a lot more of stories featuring Odin that we did in the second section. Also, we see a lot less of Thor. Though in both cases they travel with Loki and that is the beginning of all the troubles that follow. The characterisation between the two sections is consistent. Even as the style of the story changes slightly. In both sections, we see Thor called back from the giant lands to deal with something in a physical manner. It seems the other gods are perfectly happy to get Thor to do the fighting and killing. 

Conclusion

The third section of the Edda covers some more stories of the Aesir. It also covers Kenning, a poetic device used by the Icelandics and other Norse at the time. Those stories covered more about Odin and less about Thor than we saw in the section before. Some of the stories seemed a bit gross or vulgar to me as a modern reader but that does not diminish their worth. We compared the stories of Sigurd from the Nibelungenlied and found that the Edda gave us more context. 

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.

Get a copy of the Edda

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.

Get a copy of the Edda

BONUS POST: Tying one Mythos to another; The Edda - Prologue, Snorri

 

There is a natural division in the text between the Prologue and the following two sections.  So that is the reason for this bonus post.  So it works best to have its own post, but the Prologue is only about ten pages so it is far too small for a weekly post. 

Why you might read the Edda's Prologue?

While this seems to be a later addition to the content of the rest of the Edda. It is still important as it gives us a snapshot of what was important to peoples beliefs at the time the story moved from oral to written history.

The Story of the Edda's Prologue

First, we go back to the creation of Adam and Eve and then the flood. They are covered in very little detail they are visibly based on the Biblical creation story. Then we look at the three parts of the world namely Africa, Asia and Europe or Enea. The author has much praise for the Asian peoples.

Connecting Troy with the name Thor and eventually though decent to Odin is the next step. This thereby connects Norse mythology with the peoples and siege of the Iliad. Finally, we move on to Odin moving his people first into the north. Into Saxland and its surround and therefore being the father of the Germanic tribes as well. they continue from here in the Scandinavian countries where they settle. 

Reflections on the Edda's Prologue

This short section of the Edda tries to tie the Norse Mythology, with the Christian world view. As well as the history of the Greek greats, that were becoming more popular in the Scandinavian world. They wanted their great people to be linked to all the great peoples that they knew of. It was also probably a later addition to the book. At least a latter addition to the oral tradition that spurned the book. 

Comparisons to other texts

The creation account given is a loose and condensed paraphrase of  Genesis in the Bible. 

Conclusion

You could read the rest of the Edda without having read the prologue. However it does bookmark the time in the Norse history when the Edda was committed to written form.