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The Assembly of The Elder Troth would like to welcome you to our website. Please click on the links to the left to enter the relevant area of our site. Heil and welcome to the Articles section of the Assembly of The Elder Troth website. Here you can find items written by many wide and varied folk. The idea is to provide a venue for discussion, debate and education amongst the folk by giving people an individual flavour to the information provided. Every article here is the work of its' author. The Assembly of The Elder Troth DOES NOT endorse the words or anything that is found herein as being official Assembly of The Elder Troth policy, it is purely the work of the author as provided in each case, and Copyright rests with the Author, reproduction is prohibited without the authors permission. The Aesir and The Elves - by William Reaves Part 1: Thor and The Elves The Aesir and the Elves seem to share a special relationship. They are frequently named together: Havamal 158: "If in the company of men I must enumerate the gods, both Aesir and Elves..." Havamal 160: "Strength to the Aesir, and success to Elves." Lokasenna 30 " Of Aesir and Elves seated herein" and elsewhere (such as in Thyrmskvida, when Thrym, who has stolen Thor's hammer asks "How is it with the Aesir and The Elves?") The skalds often associate the Elves with the Aesir, yet seemingly little is known about the Alf-tribe, esteemed enough by the ancient skalds to be called "tiva," gods (Havamal 158). Through references in the Elder Edda we find that they are a third divine class, closely associated with both the Aesir and the Vanir, quite unlike the images that the word "elf" evokes among us today. In Grimnismal, the homes of the Elves are intimately associated with those of the Aesir: Grimnismal (Benjamin Thorpe's translation, hereafter unless noted): 4. Holy is the land, which I see lying to Aesir and Alfar near; but in Thrudheim Thor shall dwell until the powers perish. 5: Ydalir it is called, where Ull has himself a dwelling made. Alfheim, the gods gave to Frey in days of yore as a tooth-gift. These 3 dwelling places are named first, even before Odin's halls, and in intimate relationship to one another. The poet places the Elves in close connection with both Thor and Frey, the Aesir and the Vans. Ull is named between these two representatives of the known god-clans and his home Ydalir is mentioned in the same breath, so to speak, as Alfheim. This is not without reason. It would be a mistake to assume that all the dwelling-places named in the first several strophes of Grimnismal are located in Asgard. Alfheim is rightly considered as a separate realm, (one of the nine worlds, if you will). So too, Thrymheim, Skadi's abode "where Thjassi dwelt, that all-powerful Jotun." (str. 11) Thus we must consider the possibility that Ydalir is not a hall in Asgard, but that it may lie elsewhere and in possibly in association with Alfheim. We know Ull to be an archer
and a snowshoe-runner. Snorri tells us in Gylfaginning 21 "One is
called Ullr, son of Sif and stepson of Thor, he is so excellent a bowman,
and so swift on snowshoes, that none may contend with him," (Arthur
Brodeur, translation). The name of his home, Ydalir means literally "the
yew-dales." Yew is the common wood used to make bows The Heathen records also mention other mythic personalities that show similar traits. In fact, we find a whole group of characters who are known as hunters and snowskate-runners. Among them we find Skadi, Thjazi's daughter, "fastening on her snow-skates and taking her bow." (Gylfaginning. 24, I.A. Blackwell's translation hereafter unless noted). As a daughter of the giant Thjazi, Haustlaung 7 calls her "öndor-goðs," a paraphrase of Ull's own epithet "öndur-àss," the god of the snow-shoes (Vigfusson Dictionary, p. 764). Thus she too seems to share these unique traits with Ull. Nor is the list of such characters exhausted. In the opening prose to Volundarkvida, the narrator names three brothers Slagfin, Egil, and Volund who "went on snow-shoes and hunted wild beasts." The text of the poem names Volund in particular as "prince of the elves" and a "wise elf." Thus we can assume that he and his brothers are elves. Volund, Egil, and Slagfin are directly called snow-shoe runners and hunters in Volundarkvida 4, 8, lest anyone question the prose. In other sources, Volund's brother, Egil in particular is remembered as an archer. I name the ones closest at hand here, there are several others: Heimskringla (Harold Gråfälls
s. chapter 18), herring are paraphrased as "örum sævar,"
arrows of the sea and arrows as "minar hlaupsildr Egils gaupna,"
the quick herring of Egil's hands. (I do not have an Old Norse text of
Heimskringla, so correct me if I'm wrong. I am following Viktor In Volundarkvida 3, we learn that one of Volund's epithets is "Anund;" (see the Old Norse text, as this is most often rendered simply as Volund to avoid confusion in English Translation) In Saxo Gramaticus' History, he names one Anundus by the side of the archer Toko (Book 7). I will make no attempt to relate the events there to the myths, but know and can show that they are related. Further, in book 10, Saxo relates the famous story told of William Tell, who shot an arrow off his son's head, of the archer Toko. Vilkinasaga relates this same story of Volund's brother Egil. From these references it is clear that Egil-Toko, the brother of Volund-Annund is an archer, and probably a famous one. A comparison of the Heathen records shows these characters, Egil and his brothers, in close association with Thor. First let's examine the record in regard to Egil. In his adventures into the
land of giants, Thor is often depicted as riding his goat-drawn chariot
toward Jotunheim, but a careful analysis indicates that he never actually
drives his precious span into enemy territory. Though the sources depict
him as riding his goat-car toward Jotunheim, he In regard to Thor and his goats, this is the evidence nearest at hand: Hymirskvida 6 & 7 tells us that once, when Thor and Tyr travelled to Jotunheim in order to secure a kettle from the giant Hymir, they stopped and dropped off the goat-span before preceding to Jotunheim. The name of the hús-band is Egil. Hymirskvida 6: "....Rapidly that day they drove forward from Asgard, until they came to Egil's" (Thorpe translates "Egil" with "giant," but the Old Norse text reads "Egil," see Vigfusson's CPB, p. 220, Gudni Jonsson's Eddukvaedi, pg.131, and elsewhere. This is not in dispute. The text reads "unz til Egils kvamu") Hymirskvida 7: "Thor stalled his goats splendid of horn, then turned to the hall that Hymir owned." We know that a body of water separates the home of the sons of gods, from the homes of the sons of giants. Vafthrudnirsmal 16 calls this stream "Ífing." Ulf Uggesson in a strophe preserved in Skaldskaparsmal 4 calls the bay upon which Thor and Hymir row, Vimur. Thorsdrapa 3 characterizes this same stream as "Gandvik," the Magic bay. Hymirskvida 5 tells us that Hymir lives east of the Elivagar, (Icy-waves), "austan elivaga" and in strophe 17, he and Thor "à vàg roa," row out on the waves, which confirms that Hymir's home is located near a body of water. There seems to be no consistancy as to the name of this sea, but that is not unusual since it, like all things in the myths can be called by many names, as long as the name and circumstances are sufficent to distinquish it clearly. This is a hallmark of the skaldic art. Strophes 36, 37, and 38 of
Hymirskvida also speak of this body of water. While it does not specifically
say that Thor crosses this sea, the description makes this sufficently
plain. As this was understood as the usual habit of Thor when travelling
to and from the land of giants, the poet need not directly mention it.
We gather this from the weight of the evidence: For example, in Harbardsljod,
Thor must cross such a river. In Skaldskaparsmal 17, Snorri tells us that
Thor once carried the hero Aurvandill in a basket on his back across the
Elivagar river, when returning home from Jotunheim.(Here the Elivagar
are conceived of as lying between the world of the gods and the home of
the giants, compare this to the Hymirskvida stophes examined above.) In
regard to the last statement, remember that Snorri says that the Elivagar
flow up and out of Hvergelmir, one of the world-wells which feed Yggdrassil
(Gylfaginning 5). To this we When speaking of the giants in Hymir's gard, who persue Thor and Tyr, the skald says that Thor swung the murderous Mjollnir and slew all of "Hraunn-hvala," Hraunn's whales (Hym. 36). In other words, he killed the giants who swam or waded out after him into Hraunn, the boundry waters between the land of the giants and the homes of the sons of the gods. But upon regaining his goat-car (which we know was left in Egil's keeping), he finds that one of the goats is lame. In Hymirskvida 38, the skald says that anyone versed in the lore of the gods can tell what reward Thor got from the "Hraunn-bua," the Hraunn-dweller. Vigfusson and others render this as "the rock dweller," interpretting Egil as a giant. But in comparison to strophe 36, we find the skald means something quite different, he means Egil, the one who dwells by the river Hraunn. Snorri further illuminates
this passage for us. In Gylfaginning 45, he preserves a tradition which
tells us that once while stopping at the home of a peasant (which he does
not name), Thor slew his goats and served them as supper to the gathered
folk, with the warning that they were to break none of the bones. But
Loki, ever attempting to thwart the gods,convinced a young boy in the
household, by name Thjalfi, to break open a bone and suck out the marrow.
Hallowing the remaining goatskins and bones with his hammer, Thor caused
the goats to spring to life, but now one of them was lame in its hindleg.
To appease the god's anger, the peasant gave Thor his The key to understanding the difficult kennings contained in Thorsdrapa, which speaks of Thor's journey to Gerriod's gard, is to separate this tale from the one told by Snorri. The two versions cannot be reconciled and though I will not discuss it here, from phrases in the poem, it is apparent that Snorri molded his tale of Thor's journey to the giant Gerriod from kennings he himself misunderstood. In Thorsdrapa, Thor travels
into Jotunheim at the head a whole host of warriors. This is made clear
by several passages in the poem, for example strophe 8 calls them the
"wise men of the viking chalet, sworn to Guat (Odin)" ("eið-svara
Guata setrs víkinga snotrir.") They may be This would indicate that the poet views the giants as sacrificial cattle for the warriors in Alfheim, who live on the opposite shore of the Elivagar river . Alfheim is conceived of as being in the east. Further east across the Elivagar rivers we find Jotunheim. Thus the Elves are the gods' first picket-guard against the forces of cold, and work in close association with them defending Midgard against their attacks. The presence of whales, both in Hymirskvida and Thorsdrapa, tells us that this is no mere "river," but rather the ocean. Thus Jotunheim lies across an open expanse of ocean eastward from Alfheim. In his journeys to Jotunheim, Thor is conceived of as driving his goat-car from Asgard to Alfheim. It is a good day's ride. There Thor refreshes himself and spends the night before continueing on into Jotunheim. The common fare of the house seems to be herring ("sil"), which is not surprising as the house is situated on the shores of the ocean, and he-goat ("hrafa") supplied by Thor. When necessary, Thor can rally a troop of warriors, inhabitants of the house, to accompany him in his campaign against the giants. It seems that the elves themselves also make forays into Jotunheim, independant of Thor. The examples above are intended to illuminate this, by no means are they the only references to this mythic conception. To gain further insight into this relationship between the Aesir and the Elves, we must examine the term "Iðjas setr" as a designation of a hall in Alfheim. This paraphrase which simply means "Idi's chalet" can best be understood in association with two other epithets found in close proximity. They are "Gang" in strophe 4, which forms part of the paraphrase "Gang's Vanir," used here as a kenning for the men of Idi's chalet, whom we have discovered are Elves, and the name Rognir in strophe 3. Once drawn together, these names -- Idi, Gang, and Rognir -- form a group of characters which at once remind us of All-valdi's or Ol-valdi's sons, most often called, Idi, Gang, and Thjazi (The Grotto-song and In the Younger Edda). In my next post I shall attempt
to identify the smiths known as the Sons of Ivaldi and show that the ancient
skalds knew them, not only as giants (and there are reasons for this),
but also as the elf-smiths, the Sons of Ivaldi, who forged Odin's spear
Gungnir, and Frey's ship Skidbladnir. In Part 2: Wayland Smith I would like to discuss Egil's brother, Wayland (Volund), the most famous smith across all of Northern Europe. Seemingly little is known about him outside of the Volundarkvida, but in fact the Germanic documents preserve a wealth of information in regard to this character. He is called both giant and elf, and while this might seem highly improbable, keep in mind that Loki is called both Jotun and As. Rydberg himself expressed doubt about their relationship at the beginning of his investigation, but time and again, the evidence pointed in this direction. Again this argument is best
explained by Viktor Rydberg, in the first Volume of his "Investigations
in Germanic Mythology," which one may find in English as "Teutonic
Mythology, the Gods and Goddesses of the Northland" (1906) by Rasmus
Anderson. This post is a pale reflection of the many examples and proofs
contained in his work, so I urge you to not judge his To begin the investigation, let me point out that a group of three names, sometimes referred to as brothers, reoccurs, with variants, in the mythic sources. In Skaldskaparsmal 1 in the Younger Edda, we find the names Idi, Gang, and Thjazi named together. When speaking of Skadi's father, Thjazi, Snorri says: (Brodeur translation) "Thjazi was a mighty man: now of what family was he?" Bragi answered, "His father was called Ölvaldi, and if I tell thee of him, thou wilt think these things wonders. He was very rich in gold." And further on: "One of them was Thjazi, the second Idi, the third Gangr" The variant triad of names Idi, Aurnir, and Thjazi occur in Grotto-song, str. 9; (Patricia Terry translation) "Hrungnir was strong, so was his father, Thjazi was even mightier than either; Idi and Aurnir, those were our kinsman" And in Thorsdrapa we find Idi, Gang, and Rognir, all named in close proximity and in association with a group of men in Thor's retinue. These names occur in strophes 2, 3, and 4. The mere similarity to the above grouping of names should indicate their connection, in an artform in which the use of epithets is commonplace. Thus, for the sake of argument we find these parallels: The brothers Idi As the sons of Aud-valdi or Ol-valdi In my experience, the names Thjazi, Volund, and Rognir all refer to one and the same person. The quickest way to make the identification of the elf-smith Volund and the giant Thjazi-Rognir is to show a connection between Rognir and Volund and then show the connection between Volund and Thjazi. If this is not clear, let me state it plainly: I believe that the names Thjazi, Volund, and Rognir all indicate the same mythic character in the works of the skalds. They are spoken of in identical terms and the story fragments related regarding Thjazi and Volund dovetail themselves into a longer epic which completes and explains the full ring-cycle regarding Wayland Smith. The evidence which best identifies
the epithet Rognir with the name Volund is found in Atlakvida 33. There
Gudrun slays her two young sons, makes a goblet from their skulls, and
presents it to their father Atli upon his arrival home. Carrying the goblet
in her hand, she is said to "present the revenge which Rognir gave"
(reifa giöld rögnis, see Kuhn/Neckel pg. 245) The only other
occurance of this unique type of revenge occurs in Volundarkvida. The
revenge which Volund gave Nidhad is identical to that said to be given
by Rognir. In Volundarkvida strophe 23, Volund kills Nidhad's two young
sons and makes goblets of their skulls, he then presents them to the boys'
father. In Volundarkvida 33, Volund says "I set set their Like Volund, Rognir is also known as a smith. In Forspallsljod 10, Rognir appears by the side of Regin and they are called "viggjar," (str. 8), which is a synonym of "smidar," (smiths), according to Snorri Sturleson. Forspallsljod 10: "Galdr gólo gaundom riþo Rögnir ok Regin at ranni heimis; hlustar Óþinn Hliþskiàfo í let braut vera lànga vego" Gudbrand Vigfusson and others
have identified Rognir with Odin, but the evidence contradicts this. As
you can see, Rognir is said to be a smith and has prepared a revenge on
his enemy, identical to that prepared by Volund on Nidhad. The skald of
Forspallsljod knew them to be seperate personalities as well. In strophe
10, he clearly states that Rognir and Regin "chanted charms at the
edge of the world" while Odin "listened in Hlidskjalf."
Here, it should also be pointed out that the subject of the Forspallsljod
itself refers to a time when Idunn "Ivaldi's youngest elder child"
sinks below Yggdrassil (str. 6), clad in wolfskin (str. 8). Thus we have
a connection between the smith Rognir, and the children of Ivaldi. An
immediate connection between Thjazi and Rognir can be found in Haustlaung
4 which designates the giant Thjazi as "Ving-Rögnir let vagna,"
Rognir of the Winged Cars, a reference that can be related to Sigrdrifumal
15 which tells us that runes are risted "on the wheel which whirls
beneath Rognir's Let us now turn to the connection between the smith Volund and the giant Thjazi. The bulk of the evidence occurs in the poems Haustlaung, which speaks of Thjazi's encounter with Odin, Hoenir, and Loki, and Volundarkvida, which speaks of Volund's capture and enslavement by Nidhad. I will touch on several points of similarity here, which by strength of numbers illustrate that the ancient skalds knew of the identity between Volund and Thjazi, although Snorri, writing 200 years after the Christian conversion of Iceland, and those who followed him did not. 1) Both Thjazi and Volund appear in the form of a winged creature; In Volundarkvida 35, 36, Volund flies out of Nidhad's reach. In Haustlaung 2 & Skaldskaparsmal 1, Thjazi appears in the form of an eagle. 2) Volund, besides wearing a feather-guise, is shown in close association with swan-maids who also wear feather-guises (Volundarkvida 1). One of them is his lover, Alvit. In Haustlaung, Thjazi is called "Rognir of the winged cars" and further on "leik-blaðs reginn fjaðrar," the Regin (creator) of the motion of the Feather-leaf (str. 12). "Feather-leaf" is a kenning for wing. These kennings tell us that Thazi has created winged-cars, feather-guises worn by himself and his others. (His identity as a Son of Ivaldi, creator of the flying ship Skidbladnir, shall be demonstrated below). 3) Both Thjazi and Volund
are said to be rich in gold. Snorri tells us this of Thjazi in the quote
at the opening of this post. In Volundarkvida 14, Volund states "We
were rich in gold at home, when we were all together" We know that
Volund is an elf, therefore his home may be designated as Alfheim, for
the same reason the Aesir are relegated to Asgard and the Vans 5) In Haustlaung 9, Thazi
is called "grjót-Niðuðr", the Nidhad of the stones.
When the prefix "grjót" is added to a name, it designates
the enemy of the person named, thus a giant who fought Thor can be called
"grjót-Þor." Accordingly, Thjazi must have at one
time been an enemy of 6) From Harbardsljod, we know that Thor has made stars out of the eyes of "Aud-valdi's son," there called Thjazi. Volundarkvida 16, makes it a point to tells us that Volund's eyes "glitter like a serpents." 7) That Volund is known by other names is evident from Volundarkvida 3, where he is called Annund (see Kuhn/Neckel footnote pg. 117, "onnundar"). In strophe 9, he is, as noted, called Brunni. And once refers to himself as Byrr. Haustlang calls Thjazi, Rognir, Regin, and Midjung. Like all characters in our mythology, he is polynomous. These are some of the many examples of similarities in the two poems. There are others I omit for lack of space (see Volume 3 of the English translation of Rydberg's first Swedish volume). From this it is clear that the old skalds knew and understood that Thjazi and Volund, whom they also designated as Rognir, were one and the same individual. In Haustlaung 8, this giant, Thjazi, is strangely called Thors "ofrúni," Thor's friend. This kenning is usually taken to mean Loki, rather than Thjazi, when the verse is rendered into English, since no giant could be a friend of Thor (but then Loki, who is a giant was no friend of Thor's either). The epithet can be explained by the fact that Rognir (whom is identical with Thjazi) was once Thor's friend. Thorsdrapa 3 tells us that the journey to Geirrod's gard took place before Rognir had made a pact with "svipti sagna," the leader of the warriors back", which is a parallel to Loki's designation in Haustlaung strophe 9 which is "sagna hræri," the leader of the warriors forward." These paraphrases for Loki as a leader of warriors forward and back, find their explanation in Saxo, where Loki appears as an evil counseller to the human king, Jormunrekr. What this tells us is that, Rognir-Thjazi was at one time a friend of the gods and then later their foe. Like Rognir and Volund, we
also find passages which refer to Thjazi as a smith. In Haustlaung 3,
Odin addresses Thjazi as "hapta snyrtir hjalm-faldinn," the
Ornamenter of the gods concealed in a guise. This passage is reworked
by Gudbrand Vigfusson and others, changing "kvóðo"
to In Volundarkvida 26, Volund escaping from Nidhad's captivity in bird-form, says that he now has avenged all wrongs done to him except one. This must have been a great wrong, worse than his enslavement and the theft of his sword and ring by Nidhad, as recounted in the poem. We know that Volund took revenge for those great wrongs, by slaying Nidhad's sons and impregnating his daughter. But this other wrong is said to be worse and remains unavenged. Do the skalds speak of any such wrong done to Thjazi by the gods? Indeed they do. In various passages in the
Eddas, Thjazi is said to be the son of Aud-valdi, Id-valdi, and Òl-valdi.
In the mythology, we find a group of artists called the Sons of I-valdi.
When we discover that the ancient skalds recognized the giant Thjazi as
a smith (more evidence will be presented below), and one of the greatest
in the mythology, the similarities between the various names of Thjazi's
father (where Aud-, Id, and Ol-, form a prefix to the root Valdi) and
the name "Ivaldi," whose sons are smiths to the gods, the remarkable
similarity between these name variants is at once apparent. Of these smiths,
the Sons of Ivaldi, the skalds tell us: Snorri provides us with of the details of this myth. In Skaldskaparsmal 35, he relates a story in which Loki arranges a contest between the Sons of Ivaldi and the artists Brokk and Sindri. The sons of Ivaldi are not aware that they are involved in competition and are not said to be present when the works are judged. Their works, Gungnir & Skidbladnir are judged by the gods to be inferior to Mjollnir, the work of Brokk and Sindri. Thus, gifts they gave the gods in goodwill are judged as wanting, a most grave insult, designed by Loki to cause enmity between the Aesir and their loyal servants the Elves. Nor is this the only record
of such a contest. In Skaldskaparsmal 1, we find these curious kennings
for gold: Idjamal, Idi's speech, and Thjaza thingskil, Thjazi's evidence
(Remember the trio of brothers mentioned at the top of this post: Thjazi,
Gang, and Idi). Snorri tells a tale in the As we know, Thjazi, in Haustlaung,
uses Loki to kidnap Idunn, and in doing so treats him most harshly, dragging
him over rocks until he is forced to beg for mercy. Surely, this is because
Loki is responsible for the judgement on his work. As we have seen, Volund
and his brothers, in Volundarkvida, retreat to the Wolf-dales, a "winter-cold"
land (Doer's Lament). Forspallsljod 6 tells us that Idunn is "Ivaldi's
youngest elder child," in other words that he had two sets of children,
and that Idunn was the youngest of the elder set. Forspallsljod 5 speaks
of a terrible winter connected with Voluspa 25 in which "Od's maid"
(Freyja a symbol of fertility) was given to the giants. The connection
between these two events is apparent by the skald's choice of words "lopti
með lævi," the air was mixed with evil, and Voluspa "lopt
allt lævi blandit," blended the air with evil. This event was
too important not to be mentioned in that poem. Forspallsljod 10 tells
us that the smiths Rognir and Regin (the very names of Thjazi in Haustlaung)
"went to the edges of the earth," chanted charms and constructed
magic implements." This finds its explanation in Volund's activity
in the Wolf-dales; there he constructs "gand-rings" (magic-rings Forspallsljod 6 tells us that Idunn "Ivaldi's youngest elder child," "advanced away from Yggdrassil" and went to "live in dales" At once this statement reminds us of the Wolfdales, to which Volund and the swanmaids retreat. Strophe 8 tells us that she was wrapped in Wolf-skin. In regard to this, remember that Thjazi is called "Snot-ulfr" in Haustlaung, a parrallel to Idunn's epithet 'Snot," the wise one, and a paraphrase of Volund's Swan-maid Alvit, the all-wise. If you recall, Thorsdrapa 8 calls the elves "eið-svara Gauta setrs vikinga snotrir," the wise men of the viking chalet, sworn to Gaut (Odin)." Again we find a confluance of ideas and words related to the elves, the sons of Ivaldi, Idunn, and Thjazi. They are "wise" workers of the magic arts, devoted to the gods, and in times of trouble, to each other. Undoubtedly, Volund is an
elf. Yet Grimnismal, Hyndlujod, and Harbardsljod all name Thjazi as a
Jotun, and a kin of giants. One explanation of this, is his status as
an enemy of the gods and a bringer of winter. But this alone does not
explain his explicit kinship with Jotuns. Giant-blood runs through his
veins.The key to understanding the Sons of Ivaldi's relationship to both
the Elves and the giants occurs in Grotto-song 9. There they are called
"half-brothers" to the giants that begat Fenja and Menja. In
a difficult kenning occuring in Thorsdrapa, the giantess Greip No one example is the lynch-pin
of this identification. It is a confluance of the evidence that proves
the point conclusively, both to Rydberg and to myself. These are merely
a few of the many, many proofs of the identity between the Sons of Ivaldi
and Volund-Rognir-Thjazi, Aurnir-Gang-Egil, and Slagfinn-Idi-Hjuki, half-brothers
of Idunn and the swanmaids. Rydberg As seen above, the old skalds had a clear vision of the characters they were dealing with in these compositions, it is their use of complex kennings and word-play that make it difficult for us, and the scholars who examined these poems before us, (of which I include the honorable Snorri Sturrlesson,) to understand. The source documents show a remarkable consistancy of ideas through time and place. They are indeed more homogeneous than is popularily recognized. A timeline might be helpful to clear up the order of events, and establish the epic nature of these poems, popularly thought to be independant of one another:
Please check out the references for yourselves~ I have limited myself mainly to the poems of the Elder and the Younger Edda, so you may do this. Let me know what you find, and Happy Hunting! Part 3: The Identity of Ull's Father <<Note I use the words ski, snow-skate, and snow-shoe interchangeably as there seems to be no proper English word for the device described, and as the translations I am using are not consistant regarding their name .>>> The mythic sources that speak of Ull leave us with a mystery, as yet unanswered in the popular presentation of our mythology: the mystery of Ull's paternity. Of Ull, Gylfaginning 31 relates: "Ull, Sif's son and Thor's stepson, is one. He is such a good archer and ski-runner that no one may rival him. He is beautiful to look upon and he has all the characteristics of a warrior. It is also good to call on him in duels." (Jean Young, tr.) Snorri calls Thor Ull's stepfather (Skaldskaparsmal 4). He calls Ull, the stepson of Thor, and Sif, the mother of Ull. Snorri seems wholelly unaware who sired Ull, (even as he was ignorant of the nature of Thor's relationship with Egil and the Sons of Ivaldi, as my previous posts indicate) and with good reason. Nowhere in the surviving record is the name of Ull's father directly recorded. We must therefore examine the remaining heathen materials to discover his identity. In regard to Ull himself, the records are slight. Of the 3 times he is named in the Elder Edda (Grimnismal 5 and 42; Atlakvida 30), only the first provides us with any direct information about Ull: Grimnismal (Benjamin Thorpe's
translation): Not surprisingly, Ull's home Ydalir is associated, by textual proximity and topic, with Thor's. Here, Thor's home is said to lie near the Alfar, the Elves. And then, sandwiched in between Thor's home and Alfheim proper, we find Ull's home. Surely, this cannot be by accident. The reference to the elves at the beginning of strophe 4 and the end of strophe 5 indicate a relationship between what lies in between, namely Ydalir. The poet's clear intention is to associate Ull with Thor and the Elves. The connection to Thor is apparent, but heretofore, the connection to the Elves has been overlooked. Nor is this the only such occurance of a connection between Ull and the Alfar. Ull is said to be a son of Sif. Of Sif, we know that Loki mischeviously cut off her golden hair. Snorri relates this tale in Skaldskaparsmal 43. After cutting off Sif's hair, Loki promises to bid "svartalfum," black-elves, to restore Sif's hair. But in the very next sentence he approaches "dverga," dwarves, known as the sons of Ivaldi ("Ivaldasynir"). Here again we see a connection to "elves," though Snorri is not particularily clear on the subject. At any rate, Sif is associated with the Sons of Ivaldi, whom we have previously seen named Thjazi, Gang, and Idi; as well as Thjazi, Egil, and Idi (the sons of Olvaldi, All-valdi, or Id-valdi). They make golden hair for her at Loki's request, he needn't coerce them in any way. Seemingly, they aid Sif willingly, as well as providing the gift of a spear to Odin and the ship Skidbladnir to Frey. This would seem to imply goodwill toward the gods. Interestingly, when Ull is named beside the gods in stophe 42 of Grimnismal ("Ullr and all the gods favor shall have, whoever first shall look to the fire" Thorpe, tr.), the reference is immediately followed by a reference to the this myth: Grimnismal 43 (Thorpe, tr.) "Ivaldi's sons in days of old Skidbladnir to form, the best of ships, for the bright Frey, Njord's benign son." <<The obscure reference in strophe 42 about looking into the fire, may even be a reference to the workings of a smith, but that is uncertain at best.>> We find many such curious parallels between these Sons of Ivaldi, and the glorious one, Ull, god of the hunt. Skadi, who is Thjazi's (a son of All-valdi) daughter, is called "öndor-goðs," (Haustlaung 7), goddess of the snowshoes, a paraphrase of Ull's own epithet "öndur-àss," (Skaldskaparsmal 21) the god of the snowshoes (Vigfusson Dictionary, p. 764). Snorri's description of her is amazingly similar to that of Ull's. She "fastens on her snow-skates and takes her bow." (Gylfaginning.24, I.A. Blackwell's tr). Many scholars have noted these similarities, but few can fully explain the connection. Like Ull and Skadi, one of the Ivaldi sons-- Egil in particular--- is also described as a snow-skate runner and an archer. In Volundarkvida, Volund, Egil, and Slagfinn run on skis, and hunt. The opening prose of Volundarkvida informs us that the 3 brothers "skridu ok veiddu dyr," skied and hunted beasts. Ideas which are supported by the text of the poem itself. Vilkinasaga 29 & 30 speak of Volund's brother, Egil, as a skilled archer. Elsewhere, the bow is "Egil's weapon," and arrows are "Egil's weapon-hail" (Younger Edda, 422). Saxo relates the tale regarding Toko the archer, and later told of William Tell, of how he shot an apple from his son's head (Book 10). Vilkinasaga tells the same tale of Egil. In another part of Saxo, Toko is accompanied by one Annundus. Volundarkvida 2 informs us that another name of Volund was Annund ("vardi hvitan hals onondar" Codex Reg.). Nor has Saxo forgotten the magic snow-skates. In his account of Toko, Saxo allows him to run down a precipitous mountain slope on skis and save himself aboard a ship. This is an historical account of Ull's own skates: In chapter 3 of his Danish History, Saxo tells us that Ollerus (A Latinized form of Ull) "was such a cunning wizard that he used a certain bone, which he had marked with awful spells, wherewith to cross the seas, instead of a vessel, and that by this bone, he passed over the waters that barred his way as quickly as if by rowing." (Oliver Elton's Translation). In otherwords, Ull was able to skate across open water by means of rune-risted snow-skates. Skadi too is called "saevar beins dis," the dis of the sea-bone. Thorsdrapa preserves a similar
tale in regard to the men from "Idis setr," that accompany Thor
across the Elivagar rivers. In strophe 3, the skald says that Grimnir's
(Odin's) men, who are called "Gang's warriors" in the next strophe,
"measure Endil's meadow with footsteps." As we have seen, Gang
is the name of one of Ivaldi's sons, most likely Egil. But where we would Snorri preserves another trait
of these remarkable skates; when not used on his feet, they can serve
as a shield. This is demonstrated by a kenning for the shield, "skip
Ullar," Ull's ship; and a paraphrase in the Edda says "Ullr
atti skip that, er Skjoldr het," Ull owns the ship that is called In Book 5 of Saxo's Danish
History, he makes a curious statement about the Finns. He informs us there
that "The Finns, the outermost people of the North, .....are very
keen spearmen, and no nation has a readier skill in throwing the javelin.
They fight with large, broad swords; they are Time and again, what is said of Ull can be related to what is said of Egil. Clearly, there is some connection between these two mythic characters. No one outside of this clan is said to be both a snowskate-runner and an archer, in the whole of Old Norse mythic literature. These traits are alone characteristic of Thjazi's daughter, Skadi; Ull and Egil. It should be noted too that Snorri describes Ull as "beautiful to look upon," a similar description of Egil's brother, Volund in Volundarkvida who is said to have a "white neck" and whose eyes "glitter." (A comparison of Haustlaung and Volundarkvida, reveals the identity of Volund and Thjazi, whose eyes are made into stars, and whose daughter is Skadi). As we know, Egil is said to be Volund's as well as Thjazi's brother--- All signs point to Egil as a likely candidate for Ull's mysterious father. As the Eddas provide no actual
myths regarding Ull, let us turn to the historical documents, which most
assuredly are derived from heathen mythic sources, namely Saxo Grammaticus'
Danish History. There we find two names that Saxo may well have Latinized
from the Old Norse name, Ullr. They are Ollerus (Book 3) and Rollerus
(Book 5). "But the gods, whose chief seat was Byzantium, seeing that Odin had tarnished the fair name of the god-head with diverse injuries to its majesty, thought that he ought to be removed from their society. And they had him not only ousted from their headship but outlawed him and stripped him of all worship and honor at home; thinking it better that the power of their infamous president should be overthrown than that public religion should be profaned; and fearing that they might themselves be involved with the sin of another, and, although guiltless be punished for the crimes of the guilty." In other words, Odin was deposed by the assembled gods for practicing Seidhr, and they do not wish to pay for the crimes he committed. This reflects the sentiment of Voluspa 21-27 which reads in part: (Volupsa) As in Saxo's account, witchcraft
plays a prominent role. In the previous strophes, the Aesir have burnt
Gullveig in Odin's own hall. She is decidely a sorceress, and an evil
one (Voluspa 22). But nonetheless, the Vans take exception to her killing.
Strophe 24 seems to suggest that there is talk they all (Aesir and Vans)
share in the blame, but one or the other party disagrees with this assessment.
Something must have been said to anger Odin, for he throws his spear amid
the gathered gods, declaring war. And the Vans win, they burst through
the wall of Asgard. From the context, and from what has been stated above,
it is likely that the Vans accused Odin of engaging in illicit seidhr
practices as well, and therefore refused to share in the blame. As we
know, Odin seduced Rind by this type of magic. Saxo says he "touched
her with a piece of bark whereon spells were written and made her like
one unto frenzy." Saxo expands this tale in Book Six and fully describes
the seige of Asgard by the Vans. There Fridlief (Njord) Returning to the tale told by Saxo in Book Three, he continues: "Not wishing Odin to
drive public religion into exile, they exiled him and put one Ollerus
(Ull) in his place, to bear the symbols not only of royalty but of godhead,
as though it had been as easy to create a god as a king. ...........For
nearly ten years Ollerus held the presidency of the divine Grimnismal 42 seems to suggest that Ull held a high rank among the gods ("Ullar hylli hefr ok allra goda"). Nor is that the only corroborating evidence from the poems of the Elder Edda. In Book One of his Danish History, Saxo speaks a time when Odin dwelt away from the gods in Upsala: "Returning from exile, he forced all of those those who had used his absence to assume the honors of divine rank to resign them as usurped; and the gangs of sorcerers that had arisen he scattered like a darkness before the advancing glory of his godhead." We need not assume that Odin's wrath was directed upon Ull, who actually replaced him, but rather, as Saxo states, on one Mid-Othin, who had taken "the opportunity to feign godhood and wrapping the minds of the barbarians in fresh darkness. ....He said (to the faithful) that the wrath of the gods could never be appeased nor the outrage to their diety expiated by mixed and indiscriminate sacrifices and therefore forebade the prayers for this end should be put up without distinction, appointing to each of those above his especial drink offering." In other words, while Odin was in exile, one Mid-Othin took the opportunity to play god, and ordered the worshippers to give sacrifices to each individual god, rather than the gods as a whole. Odin dispelled this edict upon his return, as Havamal 145 says: "Tis better not to prayer than offer too much; a gift ever looks for return. Tis better not to send, than too much consume; So Thrund graved before the origin of men, where he rose up, when he came back." That this Mid-Othin is none other than Loki becomes apparent when one looks closely at the record in regard to him. Saxo says of Mid-Othin: "Even in death his abonimations
were made manifest, for those who came near his barrow were cut off by
a kind of sudden death; and after his end, he spread such pestilence that
he seemed to leave a filthier record in his death than his life. It was
though he would extort from the guilty a Saxo describes the chained Utgard-Loki, which the adventurer Thorkill discovers in the underworld in Book 8, in similar terms. In this Utgard-Loki, we recognize Loki bound in the underworld. Saxo has again historicized a mythic account. Of his Utgard-Loki, Saxo says that when Thorkill plucked a hair from the giant's chin "a noisome smell reached the bystanders, that they could not breathe without stopping their noses with their mantles" and later referring to him as a "false god," Saxo says that the "reek of the hair" "plucked from the locks of the giant...was exhaled upon the the bystanders so that many perished from it." Loki alone can properly be classified as both a "false-god" and a "giant." Nowhere else does Saxo describe such a character. Surely, Mid-Othin is his Utgard-Loki, whom we know simply as Loki. Loki, as Mid-Othin, can properly said to have died, because he has been imprisoned to the underworld. Saxo's account of Rollerus in Book 5 is the best evidence for the identity of Egil as Ull's father. There we encounter a pair of brothers named Roller and Erik: "sons of Ragnar, the champion, and children of one father by different mothers. Roller's mother and Erik's stepmother was named Kraka." Two statements in the narrative make it likely that this Roller is the Ull of our mythology. Of Roller's mother, (who, if this were Ull, would be Thor's wife, Sif,) Saxo states: "She trusted partially in her divine attributes, and that consorting as she did in a manner with the gods, she wielded an innate and heavenly power" Upon returning home, the half-brothers "found that Ragnar was dead and that Kraka had already married one Brak." Later this Brak fights side by side with Roller and Erik against King Gotar, who no doubt from the context is a giant. It is possible that Saxo Latinized Thor's epithet "Asa-Bragi" into Brak, thus making Roller's stepfather the same as Ull's. But, in regard to the question at hand (Who is Ull's father?), the names Ragnar and Kraka offer little assistance, thus we must approach this question from another angle. In the main text of the tale, Roller and Erik embark on a mission to enter the court of King Frodi and his sister Gunvara "surnamed the Fair, because of her surpassing beauty." From the description of the court, it is apparent that the gentle King Frodi and his sister are in the company of giants. Of these men, Saxo informs us that "their behavior was so outrageous and uncontrollable, that they ravished other men's brides and daughters," (pg. 122); one among them can "raise tempests by his spells" (pg. 128); and the whole lot of them "utter gruesome sounds like things howling" (pg. 135). Prominent among them is a woman named Gotwar whom "no man could subdue" and who "trusted not only in (insolent) questions, but was armed with stubborn answers." Her brother-in-law Westmar is said to have "12 sons, three of whom had the name Grep in common." These sons were "bold in spirit and let their courage become recklessness, and devoted their guilt-stained minds to foul and degraded orgies." and, of the three Greps specifically, one "ventured to seek a haven for his vagrant amours inthe love of the king's sister," but Saxo assures us this love is never consumated, as Gunvara loathes her suitor. This eldest Grep has inherited his mother's glib tongue, for upon their arrival, Erik immediately enters into a flyting with him. Not surprisingly, we can find references in the Old Norse literature that confirm this episode was drawn straight from the mythology. In King Frodi and his beautiful sister Gunvara, we discover the Van-gods Frey and Freyja. Voluspa 25 tells us that Freyja was once held in giant captivity when it asks "Who gave Od's maid to the giants and mixed the air with evil?" In a loose verse by the skald Kormak, poetry is referred to as "the seething flood of the sea-ranks of Syr of the Greps." (Skaldskaparsmal 66). Here we find a byname of Freyja (Syr; Gylfaginning 35) associated with "greppa," Greps. The explantion of this kenning for poetry is explained in Saxo, where one of the Greps engages Erik in a battle of tongues. In Saxo, Erik is known for his eloquence. And in an allusion to Freyja's beloved ornament Brisingsamen, the giantess Gotwar wages a "heavy necklace" against Erik in one of the many contests he and Roller must face in the court of Frodi and Gunvara. That Frey was also in Jotunheim at one time is suggested by his common epithet as "Beli's slayer" (Skaldskaparsmal 14 and elsewhere). Beli means "the howler," which at once reminds us of Saxo's description of the giants surrounding Frodi, and a poetic fragment by Eyvind Skaldaspiller calls an uninhabited northern land "the most remotely situated abode of Beli's slayer." That Frodi's kingdom is situated in a cold, remote land can be inferred from Saxo's narrative. It lies across a vast sea made treacherous by magical storms. <<Also recall Gand-vik, the Magic-bay, as a designation of the Elivagar river.>> At the end of the story, Saxo
informs us that Erik marries Gunvara; and, in Book 7 he tells a related
tale in which the low-born hero Otharus rescues the high-born Syritha
from enslavement by a giantess. Here we recognize the names Odr and Syr,
thinly disguised. Like Erik and Gunvara, Otharus also weds Syritha. These
two tales are clearly episodes in the "lost" myth of The Eddic poems Groagaldr
and Fjolsvinsmal complete this myth. It is an accepted fact that these
two poems, which describe how the hero Svipdag wins the hand of the maid
Menglad, are related. They belong together, and are two pieces of the
same story, but between them lies a large lacuna. In Groagaldr, Svipdag
is commanded by his stepmother to find "Menglodum," the Ornament-Lovers,
here used in the plural (Seen as an 'error," this word is usually
emended to the singular. See Vigfusson Corpus Poeticum Bor, pg. 94 footnote;
as this poem is curiously absent from the Neckel-Kuhn text), and in Fjolsvinsmal
he finally is reunited with Menglad (singular) who is his "fated
bride" (strs. 43 & 46). Long has she waited for him to "return
to my >From the extant records, it is possible to establish the identity of Erik-Svipdag's father, and thus by extention that of Ull (Roller). This is the most expedient: (As you read this, please bear in mind the previous two posts, thus I can avoid pointing out the obvious parallels) Svipdag's mother, the sorceress Groa is married to Aurvandil (Orvandel). When her husband travels in the land of giants, she remains safe in the home of Thor. Once on such an adventure, Thor rescued Orvandel from near-death and carried him in a basket across the Elivagar river. On the way thither, Orvandel's toe is exposed; Thor breaks it off and places it in the heavens, where it becomes a star (Skaldskaparsmal 17). From the narrative, it is clear that Thor dropped Orvandel off somewhere along the way, presumeably at Orvandel's own home, before returning to Asgard. Like Egil, Orvandel is intimately associated with Thor and has a residence somewhere on this side of the Elivager river. In Fornaldarsaga (iii, 241), Groa is said to find an orphan boy in a "flaedarmal" (a place which is flooded part of the time); she brings him home and rears him with her own son. In Chapter 15 of Paul the Deacon's History of the Lombards, King Agelmund (Egil) finds an abandoned boy, the son of a giantess, in a dam and raises him as his own son. As he fished him up out of a dam, Agelmund names the boy Lassimo, which means "dam." The boy grows up to be a great hero. As previously stated, the
boy Thjalfi is found in Egil's home. He is later adopted by Thor and becomes
his companion, and a hero in his own right felling the muck-giant Mist-Calf
during Thor's battle with the giant Hrungnir. Like Lassimo, the name Thjalfi
suggests a dam. Vigfusson notes a possible connection between the OE "delve,"
a dyke and the AS "delfan," and Dutch "delven," to
dig, to work the ground with a spade. These meanings may unlock the symbolism
behind Thjalfi's battle with the giant Mist-Calf. Since the giant is made
of clay, Thjalfi floods his feet, washing them away and felling the monster.
I make no conclusions from this, I merely point Thus in one source, Thjalfi
is adopted by Groa, the husband of Orvandel "the arrow-worker,"
and in another he is the adopted son of the archer Egil (see Aesir and
the Elves, 1 of 3). As we know, Orvandel's toe has been made a star (as
have Egil's brother's Thjazi's eyes). From a hymn to Christ preserved
in Codex Exoniensis and noted by Jacob Grimm in his Deutsche "O Earendel (Orvandel), brightest shining of Angels, thou who over Midgard art sent to men, thou true beam of the sun, shining above the lights of heaven, thou who always of thyself givest light" In Fjolvinsmal 47, Svipdag, the son of Groa, euphemistically calls his father "Solbjartr," Sun-bright, which also illuminates his own name Svipdag, "shining countenance." Further on, Svipdag says that he was driven along "wind-cold paths from home." This undoubtedly is a reference to his adventures in Jotunheim, when he freed his bride Menglad-Freyja from the giant powers. That Solbjartr is not the actual name of his father, but rather a mere descriptive epithet, we can rest assured by Fjolsvinsmal 6 where he says "Wind-cold, I am called; Very-cold is my father." The poem itself is characterized by this sort of word-play and few things are given their actual names. (For example, Fjolsvidr's wolves are called Gifr and Geri, str. 14. Whereas Odin's wolves are named Geri and Freki.) These are just a few of the many references that point to Egil as Svipdag's father. Thus it seems that Egil has two sons who take up important roles in Asgard, and a third adopted son who does the same: Svipdag who marries the goddess Freyja and befriends her brother Frey; Ull who at one time actually replaces Odin on the throne of Asgard; and Thjalfi who is a loyal companion of Thor. It is interesting to note that, like the sons of Ivaldi who forge treasures one each for Frey, Odin, and Thor; Egil's sons too are associated, one each, with these three same gods. It is no wonder that the Aesir and the Elves are so often named together. In this way, have we discovered
the identity of Ull's father; To the ancient Heathens, he was the archer
Egil, the middle son of the elf Ivaldi and the giantess Greip; Volund's
brother, and one of the clan of elf-smiths, the Sons of Ivaldi. Idunn
is their sister. Thus there is no mystery why Ull FINI William Reaves, February 1998 HOME | Articles Home | Top Of Page Images and Contents Copyright © Assembly of The Elder Troth 2002 - 2007 or as specified. For communications regarding this website please e-mail webmaster@aetaustralia.org Page maintained by Schmitt Services Last Update: Saturday, June 28, 2003
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