Untitled

:
A SERIES OF
Handbooks on the History of Religions
Edited by MORRIS JASTROW. Jr.

Professor of Semitic Languages in the University of
Pennsylvania
The following volumes are now ready
/. THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA

By Edward Washburn Hopkins, Professor of
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sity. 8vo. Cloth. xviii + 6i2 pages. List price,
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//. THE RELIGION OF BABYLONIA AND

ASSYRIA
By Morris Jastrow, Jr., Professor of Semitic
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///. THE RELIGION OF THE TEUTONS

By P. D. Chantepie de la Saussaye, Professor
in the University of Leiden. Translated by Bert J.
Vos, Associate Professor of German in the Johns
Hopkins University. Svo. Cloth, viii + 504 pages.
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GINN & COMPANY Publishers

HANDBOOKS
HISTORY OF RELIGIONS
EDITED BY
MORRIS JASTROVV, Jr., Ph.D.

Professor of Semitic Languages in the
University of Pennsyh'ania
Volume III
IbanDboohö on tbc IfDistorv of IReliqions/
* ^
^* OCT 14 1909 :
THE RELIGION OF THE

TEUTONS
BY
P. D. CHANTEPIE DE LA SAUSSAYE, D.D.

(UTRECHT)
Professor in the University of Leiden
TRANSLATED FROM THE DUTCH
KV
BERT J. VOS, PH.D. (JOHNS HOPKINS)

Associate Professor of German in the Johns Hotkins University
GINN & COMPANY

BOSTON • NEW YORK CHICAGO LONDON
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Entered at Stationers' Hall
Copyright, 1902
By GINN & COMPANY
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Cbe Slttienaeuni freest

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;
PREFACE
The present volume may be allowed to plead its own cause

its plan and scope are explained in the Introduction. It is for
critics to decide how far the author has succeeded in his task,
and wherein he has failed. It is the hope of the author that

his book may at all events prove useful in conveying some
definite information on controverted points, the more so as the

excellent work of F. B. Gummere on Germanic Origins, which
is the only English work of a general character, covers for the
greater part a different field.
I wish to express my
gratitude to several scholars who have
had considerable share in the production of this book. With-
out the repeated and earnest solicitation and the encourage-
ment received from Professor Morris Jastrow, Jr., of the
University of Pennsylvania, this book would not have been
written. Its appearance in English is due to Professor B. J.
Vos of the Johns Hopkins University, who, in view of his own
deep interest was especially qualified to under-
in the subject,
take the translation. The first eleven chapters — also pub-

lished in Dutch — have been carefully revised by Professor B.
Symons of the University of Groningen, who has read the
proof sheets with the keen eye of the speciafist, and whose
numerous suggestions have frequently proved of value in con-
trolling and correcting my own views.
In the chapters devoted to mythology my obligations are less
direct. I have, however, gratefully made use of the material
collected in the latest and best works, and more especially of
vi PREFA CE
the excellent sketch of Mogk in Paul's Grundriss der germa-

jüschcti Fhilologie. The general reader may, however, be
assured that 1 have never accepted data without verification,
and the scholar will observe that^ my conclusions frequently

differ from those embodied in recent publications. It is my
hope, also, that the historical method adopted in the work, and
the endeavor to maintain a sharp distinction between what we
actually know and what we do not know, may be esteemed
advantages which will in a measure redeem other possible
imperfections.
P. D. CHANTEPIE DE LA SAUSSAYE.
Leioen,
January, igo2.
7
CONTENTS
Chapter Pagb
I. Introduction i
II. History of Teutonic Mythology 7
III. The Prehistoric Period ... 49

IV. Tribes and Peoples 65
V. Teutons and Romans 97

VI. Paganism and Christianity 113
VII. The German Heroic Saga 133
VIII. The Anglo-Saxons i49
IX. The North before the Age of the Vikings . . . .163

X. Norway and Iceland History and Literature
: . . iSo
XI. Folklore 210
XII. The Pantheon 221
XIII.Gods and Divine Nature 282
XIV. Animism, Souls, Worship of the Dead 289
XV. Walkyries, Swan-Maidens, Norns 304
XVI. Elves and Dwarfs 3'^
XVII. Giants • 3-^
XVIII. The World: Cosmogony, Cosmology, and Eschatology 338
XIX. Worship and Rites 355
XX. Calendar and Festivals 379
XXI. Magic and - ination 3^5
XXII. Conclusion 39^
Bibliography - 4'
Index ^ 4^5
THE RELIGION OF THE ANCIENT
TEUTONS
CHAPTER I. — INTRODUCTION
SCOPE AND GENERAL PLAN
The country we live in and the blood in our veins constitute

close and permanent ties of kinship between ourselves and the
primitive Teutons. This applies without reservation to the
German, Dutch, English, and Scandinavian peoples, in part
also to the French, and, so far as descent is concerned, to the
Americans of the United States as well. Though our religion
is derived from the Jews, and our culture from the classical
nations of antiquity, our natural origins are to be found among

the ancient Teutons. If we are not their offspring in a spiritual
sense, they are yet our ancestors after the tiesh, from whom we
have inherited, in large measure, our way of looking at things,
as well as numerous ideas and customs.
It is therefore of vital interest to us to determine as accu-
rately as possible what this inheritance consists of, in contra-
distinction to the foreign influences to which we have been
subjected. Moreover, the present century has witnessed a
revival of interest in the heroes and legends of the primitive
Teutonic period. In modern literature the Norse gods and
heroes, the German Nibelungs, have taken on a new lease of
life. This world of myth and saga has a peculiar charm for
2 THE RELIGION OF THE ANCIENT TEUTONS
US, even though it has not been immortalized in masterpieces

of art, as that of ancient (Ireece.
It is the aim' of this volume to present a survey of our knowl-
edge concerning Teutonic heathenism. The term employed for
this purpose, "mythology," includes the myths and stories, as well
as their scientific treatment. This double sense of the term, how-
ever, involvesno real difificulty, any more than in the case of the
term "history," to which the same objection might be made.
On the other hand, what would appear to be a more serious
objection is the application of the term " mythology " to the
whole of the heathen religion, inasmuch as neither cult nor
religious institutions and observances, though connected with

mythology, properly form a part of the concept myth. " History
of religion " and " mythology " areby no means convertible

terms ; in the treatment of the more highly civilized peoples,
whose religious life is known through their literature, it is
essential to distinguish carefully between these two phases.

But in the case of tribes and peoples that stand on a lower
level of civilization, and concerning whom our knowledge is of
a fragmentary character, there seems to be no valid objection
against applying the term " mythology " to the entire field.
While perhaps not strictly correct from a logical point of view,
this usage has been so universally followed in the case of the
Teutons, that we feel justified in adhering to it.
Teutonic mythology, therefore, comprises all that is known

of the religion of the ancient Teutons, that is, the Germans,
the Anglo-Saxons, the Scandinavians, the Gothic, and other
East Teutonic peoples. The termmus ad queiti of our treatment
is the conversion of these peoples to Christianity, which did not
take place in the North until about a.d. iooo. At the same
time survivals of paganism among the Christianized Teutons
in the Middle Ages and down to our own times, while not
forming, in the strict sense of the word, a part of our subject,
must necessarily be taken into consideration.
INTR OD UC TION
That mythology is an historical science may now be regarded

as an established fact ;and this implies that in its deductions
it is absolutely confined to such data as have been definitely
ascertained from records, and which, in addition to being
weighed according to the canons of historical criticism, have
been judged in connection with their origin and character.
Difiicult as such a task is, still greater obstacles are encountered
when we attempt tocombine these isolated facts and to con-

struct a system of mythology from the material thus collected ;
for at this point we touch the apparently simple but in reality

extremely complicated field of myth-interpretation. Nothing,
indee'Ö, is easier than to interpret mythical characters and
stories in accordance with some clever aperû or in keeping
with certain stock ideas. In following such a system the
elements that fit in with the interpretation are made use of,
while the others are completely ignored and the gaps in the
historical data entirely neglected. On the other hand, to com-
prehend and interrelations all the features of one
in their unity
myth, and all the myths concerning a particular god or hero, is

always extremely difficult, and in many cases absolutely impos-
sible. " To hit upon an idea is mere play to follow it out to ;
its logical conclusion is work to fathom a mythological

;
fact, —
what shall we call that ? You know the crowfoot weed that
shoots out its tendrils in every direction ? Wherever the spur

of a runner touches the ground a new root rises up and a new
plant, and in this way a large space is rapidly covered. The
task of laying bare the complete ramifications of this weed on
a large plot of ground, without injuring the least little fibre,
furnishes a faint idea of the trial of patience involved in myth-

^
ological investigations."
The question also suggests itself whether the unity which we
believe to have found really exists. We are liable to all sorts
of misconceptions, we are apt to make hasty generalizations on
1 H. Usener, ReligionsgeschichtUche Unterstichungen, i (1889), p. .xi.

the basis of what has been brought to the surface in some

remote corner, to assume as popular belief what is merely the
creation of a poet's fancy, and to consider primitive what is of
recent date. Doubtless the very recognition of these dangers
constitutes in a measure a safeguard, and the mass of material
itself furnishes many indications of the way in which it is to
be used ; but still it is well never to lose sight of the limits of
the attainable. We must perforce attempt to arrange and to
comprehend the mythological material collected, but we should

at the same time account to ourselves for every step taken,
and justify in each particular instance our right to reconstruct
and to join what lies scattered.
The same holds good in regard to the tracing of religious
development. As with numerous other sciences, so with Teu-
tonic mythology, the highest aim is to unfold its historical
development. Now it is doubtless incumbent upon us to
'render an account of the changes which concepts, legends, and

customs have undergone. On the other hand, whether these
changes follow a single direction, whether we know them with
sufficient completeness to enable us to describe them in their
interdependence, whether, in a word, we can speak of develop-

ment, these are questions, the answer to which requires in
each case a separate investigation.
The above remarks would be out. of place, if they did not
tend to deny to Teutonic mythology this systematic unity and
this uniform development. We shall, indeed, discover a cer-
tain kind of unity, such as is found among products of similar
or identical soil, and shall be able to describe groups of phe-
nomena and parallel phenomena. We shall likewise be able
to point to changes that occur in the course of time. But
development and the construction of a system will be neither
our point of departure nor our final aim. On the contrary, we
shall have to distinguish carefully between the several peoples
and periods.
INTR OD UC TION 5
The plan of the work is in keeping with these considerations.

So far as practicable the various subjects that form a part of
Teutonic mythology will be brought to the attention of the
reader in a connected narrative. The detailed investigation

itself is not presented, nor has any new material been brought
to lio'ht. At the present moment there is at least as much

need of arranging the material already hand and of present-
at
ing the picture it discloses of Teutonic paganism as of search-

ing for new material. The former will, at any rate, be our
task. For this very reason a general survey of sources will be
omitted. Such a survey could be rendered valuable only by a
detailed treatment, and this treatment would in itself involve
a discussion of the material presented. Accordingly, to avoid
needless repetition, the sources will be grouped according to
the subdivisions of the book.
On the other hand, be necessary to devote some space
it will
to the history of the subject. It might, indeed, be supposed
that such a history is essential only to the professional student,
and therefore out of place in a book intended for a wider

circle. Such, however, is not the case. Teutonic mythology
owes its importance in part to the fact that in some of its
aspects its material is incomparably richer than that of other

mythologies. It is to the student of Teutonic mythology that
the investigator turns when approaching questions regarding
heroic saga or folklore, whether it be among the Hindus,
Greeks, or any other people. For this reason a history of

Teutonic mythology is of general importance, and cannot be
omitted in a treatise of this character.
The nature of our subject suggests a treatment in two main

divisions. In the first of these the data are arranged in histor-
ical order, periods and peoples are delineated in. accordance
with their distinctive characteristics ; in short, a fragmentary
historical sketch is attempted, so far as the sources will permit
us to do so. In the second section the individual deities will
6 THE RELIGION OE THE ANCIENT TEUTONS
be dealt with as well as the myths, the various conceptions and

observances, and the cult; and while the various origins of this
material will be kept in mind, the attempt will be made at the
same time to arrange the scattered data, so far as feasible, in
groups. Only then will it be possible to draw general conclu-
sions regarding the religion thus described, to form an estimate
about it, and to determine its character and position in the
family of religions.
CHAPTER II
HISTORY OF TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
A HISTORY of Teutonic mythology which attempts to do more

than furnish a more or less complete bibliography ought to
have three ends in view. Its first aim should be to show in
what manner the sources have been discovered and made
accessible, and in what way the material gained from these
sources has been utilized. Secondly, it should indicate the
results reached, distinguishing between such as maybe regarded
as definitely established facts and such as may be subject to
subsequent modification. Thirdly, it should point out to what
extent the study has been influenced by the general currents of
by the questions to which our attention
civilization, as revealed
willhave been directed, and the points of view from which the
material will have been treated.
In our narrative we shall have to pass constantly from one
country to another. German and Scandinavian investigators
of Teutonic antiquity have, as a rule, followed and are to some
extent still following different paths.
Teutonic mythology bears
less of an international character than most other sciences,
although scholars of different nationalities have mutually in-
fluenced one another.
The study of Teutonic mythology may be traced back to the
seventeenth century, when publications already appeared in
which either the popular beliefs or the antiquities of a particu-
lar region are treated. In 1691 a Scottish clergyman, R. Kirk,
wrote a treatise on " elves, fauns, and fairies," which has
recently been reprinted as a document of historical interest,
'
1 R. Kirk, Secret Commonwealth (1691), with comment by A. Lang (1S93, Biblio-

thique lie Carabas).
7
S THE RELIGION OF THE ANCIENT TEUTONS
while in the Netherlands J. Picardt, in 1660, issued a work on

Teutonic antiquities.^
As early as 1648, however, Elias Schedius^had essayed a

complete Teutonic Mythology, a rather bulky work, in which
the passages of the ancient writers descriptive of various peo-
ples are treated with little historical discrimination. To these
two sources, popular beliefs and the classical writers, there
were soon added the records discovered in the North and the
antiquities brought to light in various parts of Germany. The
books and treatises dealing with this material as a whole or in
part had, by the middle of the eighteenth century, reached

the number of one thousand. Special mention among these
should be made of Trogillus Arnkiel,'^ who first made use of
the works of Scandinavian scholars, and of J. G. Keysler,^ who
drew upon Latin inscriptions and popular beliefs. Nearly all
the writers of this period regarded the heathen gods from a

euhemeristic point of view, as departed heroes. No one of
them was able to establish his work on a sound historical basis
by distinguishing between Teutons and Kelts.
The Scandinavian countries were destined to give the first
impetus to the fruitful study of Teutonic antiquity. It would

be erroneous, however, to suppose that in these regions the
classic period of medieval literature passed imperceptibly into
the period of historic study. Even in Iceland, the centre of
Old Norse literary development, the historic past and the in-
digenous literature were, in the fifteenth and during the larger
part of the sixteenth century, well-nigh forgotten. The renais-
1 Johan Antiquiteiten dcr f rovintiëti en landen gelegen ttisschcn Noord-

V\f\xA\.,
zee IJssel,
^ Emse en Lippe (1660).
2 Elias Schedii, Dc Diis Germanis, sive veteri Germanorum, Gallortan, Britan-
tiornm, Vandaloriim religione (164S).
3 'JVogillus Arnkiel, Cimbrische Ileydenreligioti ; ausfiihrliche Er'ófntmg was
es mit der cimbrischen und mitternachtlichen V'ólker als Sachsen, etc., ihrem Gdt-
zendienst vor eine Bewandtniss gehabt (as early as 1690 4 vos., 1703).
;
* J. G. Keysler, Antiquitates selectae septentrionalcs et celticae

(1720).
HISTORY OF TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY 9
sance does not begin until the end of the sixteenth century,
with the historical and literary labors of Arngn'mr Jonsson and
Björn Jonsson a Skardhsa. Much, indeed, had even then been
accomplished elsewhere ;
the Paris edition of Saxo dates from
the year 1514, andmiddle of the same century the last
in the
archbishop of Olaus
Upsala, Magnus, had made the first
attempt at writing a Norse Mythology, based on Saxo, on the
Latin writers, and on the conditions of his own time.^ Olaus
had also investigated the monuments and drawn up a runic
alphabet. Not until the seventeenth century, however, did the
range begin to widen.
of these studies In Denmark Ole
Worm, Stephanius, and P. Resenius occupied themselves with
monuments and runes, with the editing of Saxo, and the collect-
ing of manuscripts. This was made possible after Brynjolf
Sveinsson, Bishop of Skalholt in Iceland, had, in 1640, dis-
covered the most important manuscript of the prose Edda —
already known at that time —
and had in 1643 first brought to
light the poetic Edda. Despite the fact that the great fire at
Kopenhagen in 1728 destroyed many manuscripts, and that dur-

ing the second half of the seventeenth century many more were
lost, there yet remained an extensive literature, including sagas,
preserved in four great collections, which were destined to
form the basis of subsequent study. These four collections
are :The manuscripts collected by Brynjolf himself and sent

i.
in 1662 to the king of Denmark (codices Regii). 2. The col-
lection of Arni Magnusson made between 1690 and 1728

Both of these collections are to be found in
(codices A. M.).
Kopenhagen. 3. The manuscripts collected by Stephanius,
now at Upsala (codices U.). 4. The codices Holmenses
(codices H.), discovered in Iceland during the latter half of
the seventeenth century, and at present in Stockholm.
1 This work, which appeared in 1555, was entitled Historia de gentium septen-
trionalhim variis conditionibus statibusque. On the map of Olaus Magnus, see O.
Brenner, " Die achte Karte des Olaus Magnus vom Jahre it^T^q" {Christiania Fid.
Selsk. For/i., 1886),
When this literature was

brought to light, and, indeed,
first
for a long time afterward, the most phantastic ideas prevailed

concerning its origin and antiquity. What had been found was
thought to be only a small fragment of an Eddie archetype
attributed to the yEsir themselves or to the princess Edda,
shortly after the time of Odhin. This archetype, it was
thought, contained the patriarchal beliefs of the ancient
Atlantis-dwellers, some three hundred years before the Trojan
war. The oldest runes were believed to date from 2000 b.c.
Following in the wake of Danish scholars and under the
influence of conceptions peculiar to the eighteenth century,
Mallet, a Swiss, wrote a book, the purpose of which was to
delineate the history of civilization. The North was extolled
as the cradle of liberty, and Mallet included in his treatise a
translation of several selections from the Edda. The book was
translated into English in 1770 by Bishop Percy, who added
an important preface, in which a sharp distinction was, for the
first time, drawn between Teutonic and Keltic legends and
antiquities.^
Literature also turned these finds to good account. In
Germany, Herder, with his breadth of view, did not fail to rec-
ognize the value of Old Norse literature. Standing under the
influence of the currents of thought prevailing in the eighteenth
century, he paved the way for the Romanticism of the nineteenth.
His broad and profound intellect combined cosmopolitan inter-
ests with an appreciation of the characteristically national, a
love for the natural with a feeling for historical development.
He took hold of the new material and opened up new points
of view. From near and far he gathered folk-songs, though
among these naive Stwi7neii der Völker, as he called them,
there is many a song which we no longer regard in this light.
Thus he believed Völuspa to be a product of primitive times,
1 p. H. Mallet, Northern Antiquities^ translated by Bishop Percy was reprinted

^
as recently as 1882.
although he recognized that criticism had not as yet passed a

final judgment on the poem. The less known F. D. Grater
also helped to spread a knowledge of Norse mythology and of
folk-song.^ In Denmark the spirit of patriotism served to
heighten the interest in the newly discovered poetry. Öhlen-
schlager, proceeding on the supposition that the Eddie poems
were parts of a single production, sought through his cycle of
poems, Nordens Guder {\Z\()), to infuse new life into the old
myths.
What the elder Grundtvig achieved along this line also
belongs to the domain of literature rather than that of science.
N. F. S. Grundtvig,^ the enemy of rationalism, the champion of
personal faith and the living word as against petrified formalism
in church and dogma, also showed great zeal in advocating the
development of national character, and put the stamp of his
individualityon the intellectual life of his people. His enthu-
siasm for the Norse heroic age, his acumen in the treatment of
myths, whose profound figurative language he sought to inter-
pret, his graceful renderings of these ancient legends in beau-
tiful poems, all this may have borne little or no fruit to the
cause of science, but it unquestionably imbued the heroic age
with new life in the popular mind.
Meanwhile the opinion that the Edda contained a most
ancient, original, and splendid mythology was not held without
opposition. Finn Jonsson, who a century after Brynjolf held
the episcopal see of Skalholt, recognized in the Edda a mixture
of Christian ideas and scandalous fabrications. In a brief
survey of the production he discussed the main features of the
religion in a somewhat dry and prosaic fashion.^ A deeper
impression was rnade by the direction which studies in Teutonic
1 In his periodical Bragitr (8 vos., 1791-1812).
2 N. F. S. Grundtvig, Nordens mythologi eller Sindbilled-Sprog historisk- poetisk
udviklet og oplyst. It appeared in 1832 as a revised form of an outline published in
1S07.
3 Finnus Johannaeus, Historia Ecclesiastica Islandiae (4 vos., 1772).
mythology took in Germany. As early as 1720 Keysler sus-

pected the existence of Christian influences in Norse mythology.
Towards the end of the eighteenth and the beginning of the
nineteenth century this opinion steadily gained ground through
the writings of von Schlözer/ Fr. Adelung,^ and Fr. Rühs.^
The work of these three authors is frequently placed in one
category, but in reality only that of Rühs possesses scientific
value. He distinguished in Norse mythology three factors :
popular conceptions of Teutonic origin, Christian ideas, and

fragments of Greek and Roman mythology. The Edda, he
contended, could not be regarded as the common heritage of
the Teutons, nor even of all was a poetic
Scandinavians. It
production that had originated in Iceland under Anglo-Saxon

influences. The culture of the North was of Christian origin.
The kinship of these ideas with recent theories and results is
self-evident.
The chief centre of these studies remained, for the time
being, Kopenhagen, where collections of manuscripts and
monuments were and where, also, these studies
deposited,
received strong encouragement because they were regarded as
subserving national interests. From 1777 to 1783 a beautiful
edition of Snorri's Heimskringla, in three volumes, was pub-
lished at the expense of the Danish crown-prince. In 1806
the erection of a museum ofNorse antiquities was begun. In
1809 the publication of the Danish KcEmpeviser was com-
menced, while a few years later, in 18 15, the Icelander Thor-
kelin furnished the editio princeps of Beowulf. Rasmus Nyerup
(i759-1829) carried on extensive investigations in Old Danish
popular literature, archaeology, and mythology. R. K. Rask
(i 787-1832), who was one of the founders of modern linguistic
1 Von Schlözer, IslajidiscJie Liter atiir und Geschichte (I, 1773).

2 Fr. Adelung Erholungen (1797)
in Becker'' s
3 Fr. Riihs, Die Edda (1812) Ueber den Ursprutig der isldndischen Poesie aus
;
der angelsdchsischen (181 3).

science, sought the origin of Old Norse in Old Thracian, from

which he also derived Greek and Latin. While Rask did not
extend his comparisons to the Asiatic languages, the Icelander,
Finn Magnusen (i 781-1847), did not hesitate to find parallels
in Oriental and Egyptian mythology, which he regarded as
evidences of a common primitive origin. Both in editions of
texts and in works on mythology he made use of an enormous ^
mass of material, much of which is still of value despite the fact
that no reliance can be placed on his astronomical interpreta-

tions, on the accuracy of his Oriental parallels, or on his theory
of the Trojan origin of the Northern peoples. Thus the hori-
zon gradually widened, notwithstanding the phantastic and
arbitrary combinations that were still being made. Skule
Thorlacius, in a study on Thor and his hammer,^ went so far
as to make an isolated attempt to distinguish between the

earlier and later elements of mythology.
No one of these men, however, produced work of more last-
ing value than P. E. Muller (1776-1834), who took up the

gauntlet in defense of the genuineness of the ^sir-religion in
a manner that carried conviction to the brothers Grimm and
to many of their successors. He was the first to render a rich
and well-arranged collection from
of heroic and historical sagas
medieval Norwegian-Icelandic literature and his accessible,
edition of Saxo, with Prolegomena and Notae uberiorcs, com-
pleted after his death by J. M. Velschow, possesses lasting value.''
Before the advent of the Grimms Germany was far behind
the Danes and Icelanders in the study of mythology. With
1 Priscae veterutn Borealimn mythologiae lexicon (182S) Eddahtren og dens

:
oprindelse (4 vos., 1824-1826). An estimate of Finn Magnusen may be found in

N. M. Petersen, Samlede Afhandlinger, III ; a survey of Norse studies during this
period in an important essay (1820) of W. Grimm, A7. Schr., III.
- In Skandinavisk Museum. 1802.

3 P. E. Muller, Ueber die Echtheit der Asalehrc und den Werth der Snorro-
ischen Edda (in Danish 1812, in German i8ii) ;
Sagabibliothek (I, 1817 ;
II, iSiS ;
III, 1820) ; Saxonis Grammatici Historia Danica (I, 1839 ;

II, 1S58).
the national revival, however, that followed the French domina-

tion, the famous minister of education, von Stein, gave the
first impulse towards the publication of that gigantic collection
of historical sources known as the " Monumenta Germaniae
historica," which, under the editorship of G. H. Pertz, began
to appear in 1826. But indispensable as these sources sub-
sequently proved to be for the study of Teutonic heathenism,
their publication at first exerted little or no influence.
It is difficult to form a just estimate of the value of the

mythological work done in Germany during the first decades
of our century under the influence Romantic move-of the
ment. There can be no question of the good service which
the movement rendered to the cause of science and of culture.
Through the two Schlegels, August Wilhelm and Friedrich,
and through Tieck, the language and gnomic wisdom of the
ancient Hindus, as well as the works of Calderon and Shakes-

peare, and such subjects as the Middle Ages and popular
poetry, were brought within the general horizon. The
first
Romanticists were also strongly attracted towards the study of

the national past and of Teutonic paganism, though this interest
did not proceed from the above-mentioned leaders of the move-
ment. Heidelberg became the centre for the study of mythol-
ogy, with Görres, von Arnim, Brentano, and Creuzer as the
chief representatives. Among these the most gifted, perhaps,
was Joseph Görres^ (1776-1848), who devoted himself to edit-
ing German chap-books. It was he who perceived the relation-
ship between the Norse and German legends of the heroic saga
and recognized the age of migrations as the period which gave
rise to the legends among Goths, Franks, and Burgundians.
He was in error, however, in assuming that the heroic legends
1
J. Görres, Die tcutschen Volksbiicher. Ndhere Wiirdigung der schonen Histo-
riën-, Wetter- und Arzncyhüchlein, welche theils innerer Werih, theils Ziifall,
Jahrhunderte hindiirch bis auf iinsere Zeit erhalten hat (1807) ;

Der gehbrtiic
Siegfried und die Nibelungen (Zeitung fur Einsiedler, 1808).

were fragments of a single colossal poem. Görres subsequently

turned aside from the study of Teutonic antiquity to seek,
after the manner of his spiritual kinsman, Creuzer, in the
myths of Asia the profound symbolical utterances of supreme
wisdom. Creuzer himself did not make a study of Teutonic
antiquity, but in his spirit F. J. Mone^ (i 796-1871) added to
Creuzer's great work two volumes on Slavs, Kelts, and Teutons.
In addition to this Mone brought together what was for that time
a good collection of material for the study of the heroic saga.
Nor are his investigations in this field without value, although
this value is somewhat lessened by his tendency to seek in
myths the ideas of speculative philosophy. There is less to be
said in favor of the Achim von Arnim (1781-1831)
work of L.
and Clemens Brentano (i 778-1842), who from 1806 to 1808
published a collection of folk-songs under the title Dcs Knaben
Wunderhoni. Though the book won great favor, the slovenly
manner in which it was edited and the large amount of worth-
less material it comprised, did not escape the keen eye of that
ruthless critic in matters mythological, J. H. Voss.
The scientific productions of Germany during this period
are conspicuous both for their virtues and their shortcomings.
Though a lively interest was taken in the study of mythol-

ogy and there was no lack of grand conceptions, the methods
of work were uncritical, and marked by wildly phantastic
combinations. The opinion prevailed widely that in the prov-
ince of mythology ideas came to the gifted student through a
sort of poetic inspiration. As a consequence it is not surpris-
ing that the works written during this period do not possess
permanent value. Thus many of the Teutonic divinities
which G. Klemm ^ enumerates never existed, and it frequently
1 Mone, Geschichte des Heidenthtims iiii n'órdlichcn Europa (2 vols., 1822-

F. J.
V and VI of Creuzer's Symbolik tiiid Mythologie) Untersu-
1823, constituting Vols. ;
chungen zur Geschichte der teutschen Heldensage (1836).

2 G. Klemm, Handbuch der germanischeti Altertumskunde (1836).
involved considerable effort to remove such names as Krodo,

Jecha, Hammon, Jodute, etc., from the list of Teutonic deities.
C. K. Earth, ^ in a volume which reached a second edition,
identified Hertha with Demeter, Isis, lo, Thetis, and a number
of other goddesses. Here and there, however, fruitful work
was accomplished, and occasionally ideas were brought for-
ward that gave promise for the future. Thus, H. Leo^ called
attention to the limits to which the worship of " Othin " was
^
confined geographically, and in Berlin F. H. von der Hagen
(i 780-1856) published studies and editions of the Nibelungen
Lay and the Norse sagas which, though marked by less gran-
deur of conception, showed sounder scholarship than the more

brilliant effusions of the Heidelberg circle.
Wehave now reached the brothers Grimm, Jacob (1785-

1863) and Wilhelm (i 786-1859), in whom we may likewise
recognize the products of the Romantic period. They were
connected more or less closely with the Heidelberg circle.
The jurist Savigny, who was Jacob's beloved teacher, was the
brother-in-law of Brentano, and it was von Arnim who gave
the final impulse to the publication of the Mdrchen. Nor
did Jacob keep himself entirely free from the aberrations
of Romanticism. One of his earliest essays, entitled Irmcn-
strasse und Irmensaule, is full of wild etymologies and phan-
tastic combinations. And yet there is from the very outset a
great difference between the brothers Grimm and the Roman-
ticists, both as regards personality and character of work. The
former were thorough, scholarly, modest students, who with
untiring zeal cultivated an extended but withal definitely cir-
cumscribed field, namely, German antiquity ; while the Roman-

1 C. K. Barth, Hertha laid iiher die Religion der Weliniutter ini altett Tentschla7id
(second edition, 1S35).
H. Leo, Ueber Othins Verehrung in Deutschland (1822).
2
Of F. H. von der Hagen's Altdeutsche und Altnordische Heldensagen, in three

3
volumes, Vols. I and II appeared in a third edition in 1872; of Vol. Ill a second
edition revised by A. Edzardi was published in 1880.
ticists, in practice as well as in theory, made an unbridled

geniality their rule of and scorned to impose limits upon
life
the range of their activity. They were engaged in an endeavor

to resurrect the past, whereas the Grimms, though recognizing
a connection between the national past and the life of the

present, endeavored primarily to acquire an historical knowl-
edge of this past. In consequence they occupied themselves
more with detailed investigations. Instead of regarding the
traditions of Teutonic heathenism, after the manner of Creuzer,
as the profound symbolical utterances of a primitive sacerdotal

wisdom, Jacob sees in them poetic creations of the popular
imagination. This sharp distinction between the popular and
natural on the one hand and the products of art on the other,
which latter he considers far inferior, is one of the corner-stones
of Jacob Grimm's system.
That the work of the two brothers did not meet the wishes
of the leaders of the Romantic school was shown among other
things in a trenchant criticism by A. W. Schlegel, in the
Heidelberger Jahrbikher of 1815, of the Altdeictsche Wdlder,
published in 1813. This criticism, which made a profound
impression, dwelt more especially upon what Schlegel considered
the erroneous views entertained by Jacob Grimm concerning
"
poetry and sagas. heaped ridicule on the " lumber
His critic
and " rubbish " of old sagas, which the Grimms regarded with
such reverence, and on what was termed by some one " their '
worship of the insignificant." This expression has survived as

characterizing the activity of the Grimms, and from a term of
reproach has come to be regarded as a term of praise. Schlegel's
criticism, unjust as it was in many respects, did not embitter
Jacob Grimm but induced him to strike out in a new direction,
that of stricter and deeper grammatical study, which resulted,

in the course of years, in such productions as his Get-man Gram-
mar, History of the Ger??ian Language, and the German Dic-
1 Sulpice Boisserée.
IS THE RELIGION OF THE ANCIENT TEUTONS
tionary, the latter produced in collaboration with his brother.
He thus became the founder of the historical study of language.

While his etymologies are at times fanciful and inaccurate, he
is yet one of the greatest of linguists. For our purpose it is of
especial importance to note that Jacob Grimm recognized the

intimate connection that exists between myth and language.
Even the language of to-day is rich in genuinely mythical
expressions, by a true understanding of which we obtain an
insio-ht into a part of the intellectual life of our forefathers.
Mythology does not, however, in the case of Grimm, resolve

itself into an interpretation of words, and therefore the unten-
ableness of many of his etymologies has not impaired the

value of his mythological work.
But there were other fields besides linguistic science in which
Jacob Grimm, either alone or in conjunction with his brother,
became a pioneer. In the production of the Kinder- nnd
Haiismdnhen ^ and the Deutsche Sagen ^ the lion's share belongs
to Wilhelm. In the Mdrchen all the popular tales that were
still current the people of those districts of Middle
among
Germany, where they themselves lived, were collected with
scientific accuracy and made a permanent, living possession of
the whole nation. The Deutsche Sagen did not become equally
popular. In work were collected the legends that had
this
become localized in oral tradition and that in this way had

been handed down in history.
The Deutsche Rechtsalterthilmer'^ are solely the work of Jacob.
While legal subtlety and formalism were repugnant to his nature,
he had learned from Savigny to regard law not as an abstract

system, but in the light of an historical development on the soil
1 The two volumes of the Marchcn first appeared in 1812 and 1S15. They have
been many times reprinted, and a third volume with Notes was added in 1S22.
2 Published in two volumes, 1816 and iSiS.
3 Published in 182S; a fourth enlarged edition, in two volumes, published under
the supervision of A. Heusler and R. Hiibner, appeared in 1899. On J.

Grimm's
study of law, see R. Hiibner, /«cöiJ Grimm mid das deiitsche Recht (1S95).
HISTORY OF TEUTOXIC MYTHOLOGY 19
of national life. He accordingly sought to trace in his study

of law " the subtle workings of the popular imagination " '
in
symbolic actions, poetic formulas, proverbs, and customs. He
drew the material
for this purpose less from official law-books
than from the popular IVeisthiimer, in which we find the cus-
toms of particular localities or regions reflected. He edited
several volumes of these sources, and his work was subse-
quently continued by Richard Schroder.
Even in a history of mythology this many-sided activity of
Jacob Grimm needs to be touched upon, inasmuch as he him-
selfnever drew a sharp line of demarcation between one field
and another. His aim was to grasp the significance of national
life as an entity, and he considered language, law, and myth as
merely so many different expressions of this life.W. Scherer
called Grimm a " combining genius," just as Lachmann was
designated as a " critical genius." His extraordinary powers
of combination are indeed remarkable, and while they at times
led him astray and caused him to see connections, where we
no longer assume such, they also enabled him to view the enor-
mous mass of details at his command as parts of one whole.
Not that he forced individual phenomena into an abstract sys-
tem or an artificial framework, but he regarded them as repre-
senting the living unity of an historical national existence.
From Grimm's point of view everything was imbued with life.
Language, he tells had originally no dead words. He rec-

us,
ognizes the " sensuous elements " in law, and mythology he

derives in large part from the "ever-flowing stream of living
custom and saga." Such was the spirit and such the attitude in
which Grimm approached the study of " German mythology,"^
1Das stille Walten der Volksphantasie."'

"
The first edition of the Deutsche Mythologie was published in 1835, in two
2
volumes; the second, with an important Preface added, in 1S44. The third edition
was unchanged. The fourth, in three volumes, with additions from Grimm's posthu-
mous papers, was brought out from 1875 to 1S7S under the supervision of El. H.
Meyer.
and herein lies the explanation at once of the lasting value of his
work and of its defects. Grimm himself has given an account,
in his now classic preface to the second edition, of the manner
in which he used his sources. The word " deutsch " in the
title is not used in the sense of general Teutonic, as it is
in some works of Jacob Grimm, but excludes Scandinavian.
While it is true that the Edda has been handed down from
" remotest antiquity," Grimm is primarily concerned with set-
ting forth the independent value of the specifically German
material. In this Norse and
way he attempts to show that the
the German mythology mutually support and confirm each

other " that the Norse mythology is genuine, consequently
:
also the German, and that the German is old, consequently

also the Norse." This unity seemed to Grimm and to many of
his successors a plain and scientifically established conclusion.
They held that advanced against the "genu-

all the objections
ineness " of theEdda had been triumphantly refuted by P. E.
Midler, and that the German and Norse material together
formed a harmonious whole. This view is now regarded as a
weak point in the foundation on which the superstructure of
Grimm's mythology rests. The fact is that the matter had
not been as definitely determined as he supposed, and to many
scholars it still appears to be an open question.
Without neglecting use of sources the written records
in his
that have come down to us, Grimm

attached greater value to
the living tradition connecting us directly with paganism, and
to the popular saga. Despite the advantages which this method
undoubtedly possessed, there lurked in it an element of real
danger. According to Grimm, whatever is current in the
mouth and custom, every creation of

of the people, in legend
the popular poetic imagination, constituting a permanent pos-
session of the people, bears the stamp of originality and antiq-
uity. He has, accordingly, frequently ascribed to the genuine
prehistoric period of the German people what we now recognize
as a product of the Christian Middle Ages, and on the same

principle he has found mythical ideas in the figurative language
of medieval poets.
Accordingly, a large part of the material collected in Grimm's
German Mythology can no longer be made use of, at least
not in the form in which he put it. There are other defects
that might be pointed out. So, for instance, attention might
be called to the numerous untenable etymologies, to the arbi-
trary use so frequently made of foreign parallels, to the absence
of mythological data from the heroic saga. It is a more thank-
ful task, however, to emphasize the inestimable wealth of
the material and the many fruitful points of view that the
German Mythology presents. Even at the present day, more
than sixty years after its first publication, no one engaged in
any single problem of German mythology can afford to neg-

lect the section of the work of Grimm bearing on the subject.
The thirty-eight chapters, rather loosely strung together, do not
form a complete system any more than they embody an histor-
ical development, but yet, taken as a whole, they possess unity

and present a vivid picture of the religious ideas and customs
of ancient times. That many details of this picture have in the
course of time been found to be incorrect, does not materially
affect the value and significance of Grimm's work. His book is
still the chief guide of modern study it may be said;
to form
the foundation of all subsequent investigation and constructive

work. Grimm fully succeeded in accomplishing what he had
set out to do : not to retard but to stimulate scientific investi-
gation. That the bad as well as the good qualities of such a
work have found zealous imitators is not surprising. But it is
again due, in large measure at least, to Jacob Grimm himself
that those who followed in his tracks could supply and improve
what was incorrect or deficient in the work both of the master
and of his imitators.
As already indicated, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm labored
22 THE RELIGION O E THE ANCIEA'T TEUTONS
side by side. Among their joint publications that call for men-
tion here are the Irischc Elfaimdrchcu '
and the E(/(/a.- The
former contained a very comprehensive introduction, in which
the figures and the manner of life of the elves are described in
great detail. The heroic lays of the Edda were regarded by
the Grimms as the fragments of a great national epic, once the
common possession of all Teutonic peoples. But aside from the
share that Wilhelm had in the work of his brother, whose fame
somewhat obscured his own, we must not fail to recognize his own
independent merits. His studies were largely concerned with
the North : he devoted himself to the investigation of the runes
and translated Old Danish ballads and songs, ^ to some of which
he assigned dates as early as the fifth and sixth centuries. His
principal work is that on the Heroic Saga,* and he has the
merit of having been the first to collect a rich store of historical
material, which he then turned to account in tracing the origin
and growth of these legends. He detached the heroic saga from
history and mythology, assigning it to a more or less hazy
" intermediate position " as poetry, a view less correct than
that held by Jacob, who recognized the
'^
fact that the material
embodied in epic poetry has its roots in myth as well as in
history.
Thus, notwithstanding the work they undertook jointly, each
of the two brothers had his own field and followed his own
bent of mind. Wilhelm occupied an intermediate position
between his brother Jacob and another scholar, who, although
1 Irisclie E/fcninarchcii, iibersetzt von den Briidern Grimm (1S26).

2 Liedcr der alten Edda, aus der Handschrift iierausgegeben und erklart durcli
die Brlider Grimm (I, 181 5).
^ Altdciniscke Heldcnlieder (181 1). His Kleinere Schriften are far richer in
essays and reviews on Norse subjects than those of Jacob.

^ Die dentsche Heldensage (\%2<^\ second edition, edited by Miillenlioff, 1S67 ;
third, by R. Steig, 1889).

5
J. Grimm, Gedanken iibcr Mythos, Ej>os und Gcscliichtc (1S13), contained in
Kl. Sckr., IV.
less universal in his mental equipment and less exclusively

devoted to Teutonic studies, yet left an impress on these stud-
ies as deep and lasting as that of Jacob Grimm. Karl Lach-
mann (1793-1851) introduced into the realm of Teutonic
studies the stricter critical methods of classical philology, in
which he was a master. He took no active part in mytholog-
^
ical work as such, but through his essays on the Nibelungen
he directed the investigation of heroic poetry into new chan-

nels. What F. A. Wolf had done in the case of Homer, Lach-
mann attempted to do with the Nibelungen Epic, namely, to
dissect and to reconstruct it by means of the so-called " lieder-
theorie." While not indeed failing to express his views on the

contents of the legend, its historical and mythical elements, his
chief aim was to determine the original text by means of the

manuscripts, and to ascertain the separate lays through literary
analysis. In this way the brothers Grimm and Lachmann, each
acknowledging with due appreciation the others' merits, sup-
plemented one another. Lachmann, however, to a far greater
extent than the Grimms, created a school," which, as over
against the extravagant interpretations of mythologists who
appealed to Jacob Grimm as their authority, maintained the
wholesome discipline of philological method.
The Grimms and Lachmann were without compeers among
their contemporaries. A unique and honorable position must,
however, be assigned to the Tubingen professor and poet, L.
Uhland (1787-1862).'^ His comprehensive studies of popular
poetry, his history of the saga and Norse mythology are con-
1 Ueber die urspriingliche Gestalt des Gedichts von der Nibelungen Noth
(1816) ;Kritik der Sage von den Nibelungen (written in 1829, published in 1832) ;
Zu den Nibelungen imd zur Klage. Anmerkungen (1836).

2 This school had, since 1S41, as its organ M. Haupt's Zeitschrift fur dentsches
Alterthnm. In 1873 Miillenhoff became its editor, and subsequently Steinmeyer.
Since 1890 has been edited by Schroeder and Roethe.
it
3 Uhland, Schriften Z7ir Geschichte dcr Dichtiing und Sage (S vols., 1S65-1S73),
collected, and for a large part first published, after his death.
spicuous both for their great learning and for their finished
treatment. His essays on Thor and Odhin are not entirely free
from an allegorizing tendency that would interpret everything
on the basis of natural phenomena, and they also fail to dis-
tinguish sharply enough between the various elements that
enter into the formation of a myth, but the material is always
presented in an interesting and attractive way and is handled
with great care. The best work, however, that Uhland has pro-
duced in this field is his characterization of epic poetry, in
which the various personages and incidents are sketched in
an inimitable manner.
Some mention must be made in this connection of W. Muller.^
He paid dearly for his temerity in attempting, by a combination
of the German data with the Norse framework, to formulate a
system out of the material in Grimm's Mythology. For all that
he does not deserve to be altogether forgotten. In the heroic
saga he recognized historic events, and in its heroes represent-
atives of various lands, and while his work did not yield any
lasting results the attempt to explain the heroic saga along his-
torical lines was in itself meritorious.
The impulse given by Grimm induced many scholars to
study and collect popular tales under the belief that in these
tales the old myths and gods were to be recognized, forming a
kind of German Edda." This was the point of view of J. W.
"
Wolf " and many others. Among the mythologists of this gener-
ation no one achieved greater success than K. Simrock. He was
thoroughly conversant with medieval poetry, and through his
clever translations — including the Nibelungen and Kudrun —
1 \V. Muller, Geschichte imd System der a/fdeiitschen Religion (1S44) ; review
by J. Grimm in A7. Schr., Subsequently he wrote among other things Mytho-
V.
logie der deutschen Heldensage (18S6) Zur Mythologie der griechischeji itnd
;
deutschen Heldensage (18S9).

2
J. W. Wolf, Beitrcige zur deutschen Mythologie (I, 1S52 ; II, 1S57) ; Die dent-
sche G'ótterlehre (1852 ; second edition, 1S74). Of his Zeitschrift fiir dentsche
Mythologie^ subsequently continued by W. Mannhardt, four volumes appeared.
this literaturewas rendered more generally accessible. His

translation of the Edda, though now superseded by the infi-
nitely better one of Hugo Gering/ was also for the time a
useful work. The fame, however, which Simrock gained
through his Mythology'^ was undeserved. His work contains
a large mass of frequently unreliable material, treated without
historical method and characterized by forced interpretations.
It typifies all the shortcomings -of the period in which it was
produced and retarded rather than stimulated subsequent

investigation.
While German mythologists were thus working, unconscious
even of the existence of numerous problems and without
observing any strict method, there gradually arose a school
which was destined to wield a paramount influence for several
decades, namely that of the comparative mythologists. As
pioneers of this school we need only mention F. Max Muller and
A. Kuhn. It is not necessary here to treat at length the well-
known and widely discussed principles of this school. We are
at present in greater danger of underestimating than of over-
estimating the significance of this tendency, which after all is
considerable. As a working hypothesis it has rendered impor-

tant services, but it has seen its day. Linguistic science, which
was expected to be the key to unlock the secrets of mythology,
at first bade fair to fulfil its promise most brilliantly, but as
research widened and deepened, it was seen that the etymolo-
gies advanced were unreliable, and that the fair structure of
comparative Indo-European mythology rested on insecure foun-
dations. In their use of the phenomena of nature for the inter-
pretation of myths, the comparative mythologists by no means

took account of all the existing features, and were moreover
far from unanimous in their opinions. Where one recognized
1 H. Gering, Die Edda (1S92).

'^
K. Simrock, Handbuch der deutschen Mythologie mii Einschlnss der nordisriien
(1853 ; sixth edition, 1887).
everywhere the drama of the thunderstorm, another reduced

nearly all myths to symbols of the dawn and sun.
German mythology was also affected by this tendency.
Sagas and customs were regarded as the popular form assumed
by the old belief in the great gods, the degenerate offspring, as
it were, of mythology proper. In the Mythen- Marchen the old
deities were accordingly regarded as continuing an existence in
a more or less obscure form.^

This led A. Kuhn industriously to collect sagas in Northern
Germany. His work ^ is of importance, not so much on
account of the explanations he offers in the notes attached to
his collections, but because he was one of the first, after the
brothers Grimm, to give an impulse to the gathering of local

material — the necessity for which was afterwards universally
recognized. His brother-in-law, F. L. \V. Schwartz,^ who had
aided him in collecting sagas, cut loose in part from the com-
parative school and followed out a method of his own. While
adhering to the theory of nature-interpretation he no longer
regarded popular tales as distorted myths. According to
Schwartz this body of popular traditions, the " lower mythol-

ogy " as it was called, has a life of its own, quite independent
of the " higher mythology." It is fully as original, represent-
ing amore embryonic form than the " higher mythology " which
is handed down in literature. Schwartz also recognized the
correspondence existing between the " lower mythology " and
the conceptions of savages, and in this way the comparative
1 This is still the point of view in such a book as Fr. Linnig, Deutsche Mythen-
Mdrchen, a mythological interpretation of the M'drchcn of the Grimms.

2 A. Kuhn und W. Schwartz, Norddeiitsche Sageti, Mdrchcn uiid Gcbrduc/ie
(1848); A. Kuhn, Sageti, Gebrdtichc und Marchen aus Westfalen (2 vos., 1S59) ;
A. Kuhn, Mdrkische Sagen und Marchen (1843).

3 The following works of Schwartz come in for consideration here Der Urs/!rung
:
der Mythologie dargelegt an griechischer und deutschcr Sage (1S60) Die poetischen ;
Naturanschauungen dcr Griechcn, Romer ztnd Deutschcn in Hirer Bcziehung zur

Mythologie dcr Urzeii (I, 1864; II, 1S79).
study of myths began to extend beyond the circle of peoples

linguistically akin.
No
less important, though not attracting as much atten-
tion,was the work of the Austrian consul, Johann Georg

von Hahn,^ who devoted himself to collecting Greek and
Albanian popular tales, and in a bulky volume endeavored to
sketch the science of folklore {Sagwissenschaff). Although
differing from the comparative school in important particulars
he did not cut loose from it altogether. Instead of seeking
the solution of mythological problems exclusively in etymologies
he analyzed the narratives and compared and combined the
various elements, and fully recognized the close relationship
existing between god-myths, heroic sagas, and popular tales.
He illustrated these various characteristics by means of sta-
tistical tables, showing the types and the variants. He thus
pursued the path which the modern science of folklore is
accustomed to tread. In this way new ideas arose and were
combined more or less fully with those of the comparative
school. The comparative school has, even at the present
time, some firm adherents. Among these may be reckoned
the Swede, V. Rydberg,- who shows great learning in the
combination of various species of mythical narratives and
according to whom even the cosmogonic myths are to be
classed among the original possessions of the primitive Indo-
European period. Such attempts, however, of which this —
single example will suffice, —
lie outside of the current of
modern development.
W. Mannhardt (1831-1880) joined issue with the compara-
tive school. This scholar, although struggling during his whole
life with sickness and adversity, and possessed of no adequate
1
J. G. von Hahn, Griechische itnd albanesische Mdrchen (2 vos., 1S64) ; Sagu'is-
senschaftlichc Studiën (1876).
2 V. Rydberg, Undersokningar i germanisk mythologi (I, 1886; II, 1SS9). Of
the volume there has also appeared an English translation under the
first title of
Teutonic Mythology (London, 1889).
:
philological training, directed the study of Teutonic mythology

into wholly new paths. He was at first a faithful follower of
the comparative school, as may be seen from an extensive

work^ in which he compared Thor, Holda, and the Norns with
Indian myths, and gave to them a meteorological interpretation.
In addition to this he wrote a survey," in which the results of
comparative investigations were summed up. Shortly after-
wards, however, the works of the anthropologists Waitz, Bastian,
and especially Tylor, caused him to forsake the methods not
only of the comparative school but of Jacob Grimm as well.
His reasons for famous preface to a
doing so are stated in a
volume published in 1877.^ He now looked upon animism,
the belief in souls and spirits, as the most original form of
belief. The proof for this he found in popular customs, to
which, rather than to popular tales, he henceforth attached
prime importance. In Teutonic mythology he was the first to
draw a sharp line of demarcation between manners and cus-
toms on the one hand and popular tales on the other. The
latter, he held, were not original, since Benfey had clearly shown
that the larger part had been derived through historical chan-
nels from Indian tales. Mannhardt, accordingly, concentrated
all his energies upon the investigation of popular customs
and of the beliefs that lie at the basis of these, particularly

upon what was connected with the life and growth of plants
belief in tree-souls and forest-sprites, worship of trees, observ-
ances upon the reappearance of vegetation, at the change of
seasons, and at harvest time. He collected this material by
i Germanischc Alyfhcn. Forsihungen (185S).

'-
Die G'ótterwelt der deutsehen iind nordischen V'ólker (1S60).
3 The brief essays Roggenwolf und Roggenhund (1865) and Die Korndamonen
(1868) are to be regarded as the forerunners of the second period of Mannhardt's
activity. Wald- iind Feldkulte: /, Der Baumkiilius der Germanen
Then follow
(1875) ; Wald- tind Feldkulte (1877, containing the Preface mentioned
//, Aiitike
above) and Mythologische Forschungen, aiis dem Nachlassc, mit Vor reden von
K. Müllenhoff und W. Scherer (1SS4), QuF. LI.
distributing detailed series of questions throughout Germany

as well as among the French prisoners of war in 1870, the
answers to which are now deposited in the Royal Library at
Berlin. Mannhardt himself made partial use of this rich

material and supplemented it by collecting the parallels to be
found in classical antiquity. In this way the correspondence
in many particulars between the official organized cult of
Greece and Rome and the popular customs current in the rural
districts of Germany became evident. The results obtained
by this method opened a new perspective and threw unex-
pected light on the study of mythology. No one who has read
Mannhardt's works can fail to be impressed with the fact that
so large a part of popular superstition and popular custom
finds its explanation in the analogies of vegetable and animal
life. Moreover, Mannhardt, influenced in this respect by
Miillenhoff, possessed a truer historical sense than usually falls
to the lot of the followers of the anthropological school. Avoid-
ing preposterous combinations, he endeavors to explain popular
traditions from their own immediate environment. He dis-
tinguishes between original and secondary elements, between

what is national and what is foreign, and as a consequence his
structure possesses greater solidity than others which have

been reared upon the basis of folklore alone. We should not,
however, lose sight of the fact that Mannhardt has investigated
only a limited group of phenomena and has not produced a
complete mythology. Important as it was to take up the
hitherto neglected "forest and field cults," still this study does
not comprise the whole of mythology any more than it furnishes
an explanation for the belief in the various gods. While Mann-
hardt is not so one-sided as J. Lippert,^ who with Herbert
Spencer unhesitatingly resolves all deities into ancestors or
fetiches, he yet builds too largely on preconceived opinions
Religionen dcr europdischen Cultitrvolkcr. der Litaiier, Slcneit,

J. Lippert, Die
1
Germanen, Griechen und Rottier (1881).

and assumes a priori that the lower conceptions, such as ani-

mism, are also the more primitive. Even over against Mann-
hardt, therefore, a stricter method in the treatment of folklore
may justly be insisted upon. In a closely related domain
U. Jahn^ has furnished a good example of such a method.
Thus both the comparative and the anthropological schools
—^the latter even more than the former — have made their
influence felt in the sphere of Teutonic mythology. The his-
torical school of Lachmann took little part in mythological
work. W. Wackernagel and M. Haupt confined themselves to
their more rigorous philological studies. They looked upon
and capricious followers of the compara-
dilettanti collectors
tive school with scornand derision. They showed the folly of
seeking higher mythology in every popular tradition, ridiculing
the method which identified an ass that excretes ducats with
Wodan who bestows riches, and which saw in every reddish
beard a bit of Thor. By this method they claimed every red
cock and every foul-smelling he-goat would eventually be pro-
claimed ancient Teutonic deities.
An exponent of the historical school, looked up to by many
younger scholars as their master and chief, was Karl Miillen-
hoff''^ Equipped with the strict philological
(i8 18-1884).
method Lachmann, he has more especially made the data
of
pertaining to geography, ethnography, and literary history the
subject of his investigations. While occasionally branching
out into the domain of folklore, as, for example, in his excellent
1 U. Jahn, Die deutschcii Opfcrbrduchc bci Ackcrbaii unci Viehziicht (1SS4),

GA. III.
2 It is impossible to mention all the essays of Miillenhoff published in periodicals
such as the Nordalbingische Studiën (6 vos., 1844-1S54) and the ZfdA. The most
important are : Zttr Geschichte der Nibelungensage, ZfdA. X ; Zettgnisse iind
Excurse ztir deutschen Heldensage, ZfdA. XII and XV Ueber Frija iind den ;
Halsbandmythus, ZfdA. XXX. The elaborate Introduction to the Sagen, Mdrchen

und Lieder der Herzogthiimcr Schlesivig, Holstein iind Lauenbitrg and his Beovulf
(1889) are also very important. The Deutsche Altertumskunde has appeared as
follows: I (1870), II (1887), III (1892), IV (1900), V, I (18S3), and V, 2 (1891).
collection of Sleswick-Holstein legends, he regards this material

also from the point of view of the history of popular poetry,
and emphasizes the necessity of defining it, locally and chrono-
logically, as accurately as possible. Folklore proper, as well as
palaeontology, linguistics, and legal antiquities, lies outside of his
sphere. His Deutsche Alterttwiskunde is not to be regarded as
the torso of an unfinished masterpiece, but constituted from
the very outset a series of special investigations not form-
ing a connected whole. What he sees and describes is not
endowed with life to him as itwas to Jacob Grimm, although
Miillenhoff is not lacking in power of combination, in imagina-
tion, or in devotion to his subject. He subjects his working
material to a far more rigid and searching criticism than did
Jacob Grimm, but in his anxiety to be exact and exhaustive he
is frequently discursive. Lengthy geographical and ethno-
graphical investigations, at times only slightly connected with
the subject proper, fill the first three volumes of his Altertiims-
kimde. The fourth volume, published from the papers left
by him, contains his valuable lectures on the " Gennania of

Tacitus." The the Edda and furnishes,
fifth treats chiefly of
among other things, a detailed commentary on Völuspa, in

which he repels with much feeling the more recent attacks on
the genuineness of this poem.
The labors of Miillenhoff have yielded abundant fruit. First
of all he laid especial stress on the necessity of a rigorous his-
toricalmethod — of which mythologists need to be reminded
again and again. In his collection of documentary evidences
pertaining to the heroic sagas he followed in the footsteps of
Wilhelm Grimm, and his work in this field would seem to rep-
resent finality. The aftermath left for his successors can at
any rate not be large. He was also the first to show how in
the heroic sagas historical elements of the migration period
have mingled with myths. While Zeuss ^ had preceded him in
1 Kaspar Zeuss, Die Deiitschen luid die Nachbarstamme (1837).

the discovery of the ethnographic material, yet Miillenhoff was

the first to on a large scale and to turn it to account
exploit it
for the study of mythology. While not all his observations on

the connection between the tribal life and the gods and cults
of the ancient Teutons are established beyond controversy, he

at least opened up a fruitful point of view and made it incon-
ceivable that in the future any mythological element should,
without further proof, be regarded as common to all Teutonic
peoples. In some particulars Miillenhoff still adhered to
the meteorological interpretations of the comparative school.

Neither his conception of the necklace-myth, nor even his
opinion that Tiu, the ancient Indo-European sky god, was
originally the chief divinity of all Teutons, can be uncondition-
ally accepted. His criticism of the Eddie poems, too, is in no
way final. For all that, Miillenhoff is next to Grimm the most
imposing personality in the field of mythological research. His
work has been preeminently fruitful in reviving investigation
on many points, and while much still remained to be done, and
the work of the master himself stood in need of correction, the
historical method in the study of Teutonic mythology was once
for all established. He who ignores this method need not be
taken into account.
The appearance of various new periodicals ^ alongside of
the older Zeitschrift fur dcutschcs Altertiwi gave evidence of the

many-sided character of the work done in the field of Teutonic
antiquity. Ground that Mannhardt and Miillenhoff had let lie
fallow now began to be tilled. Norse literature, in which Miil-
lenhoff had confined himself almost exclusively to the criticism
of the Edda, began to be investigated by a number of scholars.
1 The Germaiiia dates from the year 1856 ; it was at first edited by F. Pfeifter,
subsequently by K. Bartsch. In 186S E. Höpfner and J. Zacher founded the Zeit-

schriftfur detttschc Pkilologic, at present edited by H. Gering and F. Kauffmann.
H. Paul and W. Braune started in 1874 the Bcitrdgc zur Gcschichte dcr deîtschen
Sprache uiid Liiteratur, now edited by E. Sievers. Since 1S79 there also appears a
Jahresbericht iiber die Erscheinungeti auf dem Gebiete der germanischen Philologie.
HISTORY OF TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY IZ
Among these Th. Möbius ^ devoted himself more especially to

bibliography and to the editing of texts ; K. Maurer,'^ to history
and law. Political and social conditions were investigated by
G. L. von Maurer, G. Waitz, and numerous other scholars,
whom we shall have occasion to mention elsewhere. The
study of history and literature also furnished contributions
to the science of mythology. The activity of K. VVeinhold,^
characterized by taste and thoroughness, lies largely within this
domain. has written a number of important articles on
He
mythological subjects, such as the giants, on Loki, and on the
Vanir war, and, besides furnishing a sketch of Old Norse life,
has championed in his study of folklore the cause of historical
treatment as against the " dilettanteism so greatly in vogue,
that would pass for science."
Before passing in review the more recent work of German
scholars, we must cast a glance at the activity prevailing in
Northern Europe which has been instrumental in bringing for-
ward both new material and new points of view. Taking up,
then, the thread of our narrative where we left it, Kopenhagen
was until the beginning of the nineteenth century the centre
where Danish and Icelandic scholars assembled to pursue
the study of their national antiquity. During the course of
the nineteenth century the other two Scandinavian countries

also have taken part in this work, although not both in equal
measure. In Sweden ancient historical sources were edited,
1 Catalogus libroriim Islandicoritin et Norvcgicoriim aetatis mediae (1856) ;
Verzeichiiiss der auf dent Gebiete der altnordischen Sprache tend Litterattir von
/Sjj bis iSjg erschienenen Schriften (1880).
2 Of his numerous works only the following need here be mentioned Ueber die :
Aiisdriickc : alinordiscfie, altnorwegisc/ic t(7id isldndische Sprache (AM A. 1S67) ;
Die Bekehmng des norwegischcn Stammes znm Christentum (2 vos., 1855-1S56) ;
Island von seiner ersten Ëntdeckung bis zton Untergange des Freistaats (1S74).
3 K. Weinhold, Die deutschen Fraiien in dem Mittelalter (2 vos. ;
third edition,
1897) ; Alttiordisches Leben (1856). Since 1891 he is editor of the Zeitschrift des
Vereins fiir Volkskunde. The words quoted above are taken from a brief but impor-
tant essay entitled Was soil die Volkskunde leistcn ? (ZfVuS. XX).
monuments investigated, and folklore collected, but little was

done for the study of mythology proper.
Not so in Norway, which since 1814 had been separated
from Denmark and united with Sweden, and where the people
were imbued with a passionate love for their own national life.
The enthusiasm with which the Norwegian "historical school "
took up the study of the past suggests a comparison with the
school of German Romanticism. Both schools were full of
enthusiasm over their glorious national antiquity and its pure

mythology ; in Norway this sentiment bore a strongly marked
particularistic character.^ R. Keyser (1803-1864), for example,
is primarily concerned, not merely in vindicating for the Eddie
poems a high antiquity,^ but especially in preempting them for
Norway as opposed to Iceland.'^ The second and greater rep-
resentative of this school, P. A. Munch (1810-1863), published
an elaborate history in eight volumes of the Norwegian people
from its beginnings to the year 1379. Though without archi-
tectonic or historiographic talent, the author's thoroughness
and vastness of learning make his book a veritable storehouse
for all who wish to reach the sources to the smallest details.
While the service rendered by Keyser and Munch to history
and literature is greater than what they did for mythology,
still Munch's outline of Norse mythology is of some value,
inasmuch as it presents the specifically Norse material in a
systematic form, combined, though it is, with some untenable
meteorological interpretations.* The lasting services, however,
rendered by the Norwegian historical school consist primarily
1 Compare for this historical school K. Maurer, Uebcr die norwegische Aiiffassung
der nordisc/un Ltteraiurgeschichte, ZfdPh. I, and the important Introduction in
J. E. Sars, Udsigt oi'er den norske historie (2 vos., 1S73-1877).

2 Völuspa he would even assign to the fifth century.
3 R. Keyser, Efterladte Skrifter (2 vos., 1866-1S67).
4 P. A. Munch, Del norske Folks Historie, appeared from 1852 to 1863 of his Nord- ;
mcBudenes aldste Gnde- og Heltcsagji (1854) a new edition was prepared by Kjaer
in 18S0.
in the gathering of a vast mass of material from the historical

sagas and from Old Norse literature in general, to the study of
which a hitherto unknown scope was given. Besides this, it
brought into sharp relief the national differences existing in the

Scandinavian North even in the earliest times.
Nor did Denmark remain idle. The runes were investi-
gated by L. Wimmer (b. 1839), ^^*^' i" agreement with the

Norwegian, Sophus Bugge, supposed them to have been derived
from the Latin alphabet. The longer runic alphabet of twenty-
four signs (futhark) was accordingly held to be the older, and
to have been subsequently shortened to that of sixteen signs.
G. Stephens, professor at the University of Kopenhagen, a
scholar of vast but dilettantish learning, published a magnifi-
cent volume, with plates, on the Runic Monuments. His inclu-
sion of the English monuments in his treatment was a distinct
gain. The traditional division of archaeological investigation
and iron ages, was retained
into three periods, the stone, bronze,
by a number of meritorious scholars C. Thomsen (i 788-1865),
:
J. Worsaae (1821-1885), and S. Muller. Excellent collections

of folklore have been made in Denmark by J. M. Thiele, in
Norway by P. C. Asbjörnsen and J. Moe. Sv. Grundtvig
(1824-1883) ^ published an unusually copious edition of Danish
popular poetry, including also heroic songs, to some of which
he assigned a date as early as the twelfth century — a view
which met with opposition from some Norwegian quarters. He
also published a delightful little volume on the heroic poetry,
considered solely from its poetic side.
From this outline, which might be extended to include many
more names, it will be seen how many-sided was the work done
by Danes and Norwegians on the various periods of their antiq-
uity. Among the works we have enumerated there are, of
course, not a few containing mythological material or which
1 Danmarks gamle Polkeviser (5 vos., 1853-1890) ; Udsigt over den nordiske

oldtids heroiske digtning. Tre forelastiinger (1867).
have a bearing on the study of mythology. Mythology proper

flourished in Denmark more especially through the efforts of
N. M. Petersen (1791-1862).^ His Norse mythology views
the myths of the Edda as parts of a system, as a drama of
conflict,and brings the ethical and religious ideas into strong

relief. While this standpoint is now antiquated, at the time
when the book appeared it marked an important step in the
right direction, as compared, for example, with the mystic
dreamings of the elder (Jrundtvig. Of more permanent value
than his Mythology is Petersen's History of Detimark in Pagan
Times, an important source for the study of Danish sagas and
pagan culture. The study of these sagas, for which this book
first laid a solid foundation, and the general critical examina-
tion of original sources for the study of the history have since
that time remained indigenous in Denmark (Joh. Steenstrup,''^
Axel Olrik) and Norway (G. Storm, J. E. Sars), although a
somewhat narrow patriotism is now and then reflected in the
various observations made by these authors.
Meanwhile, scholars had gradually begun to realize the
importance of a more critical study of mythology. The idea
that the myths constituted parts of one whole and were accord-
ingly old and indigenous had been abandoned.
all The first
step in the direction of a stricter critical method was taken by
a young Danish scholar, M. Hammerich, in a dissertation on
the Twilight of the Gods, in which he pointed out the later
origin of this myth, without, however, satisfactorily explaining
its rise from historical conditions.^ The criticism of E. Jessen
was more incisive. He championed most earnestly the German
character of the heroic sagas in the Eddie poems and main-
tained that these poems were themselves the later products of
N. M. Petersen, Aôrdisk Mythologi (1849; second edition, 1863);

1 Danmarks
Historie i Hedenold (1834; second edition in 3 vos., 1854-1855).
2
J. C. H. R. Steenstrup, Normannerne (4 vos., 1876-1882), is a classical work
and indispensable for a knowledge of the Viking period.
3 M. Hammerich, Om Kagnaroksmythcn (1836).
Norse poetic art, composed chiefly in Iceland and certainly not

antedating the period of the Vikings.^ Henry Petersen ^ sub-
jected the mythological material to a critical examination.

Cult,names, and monuments, he argues, all go to show that
Thor and Freyr were the true popular gods of the North.
Odhin-Wodan was imported from Germany through the poetry
of the scalds. Petersen's essay contains fruitful observations
and valuable material, but his investigation remains too much
on the surface to support adequately theses so new and far-
reaching as those of the foreign character of the Odhin cult and

the division of the gods into those of the scalds and nobility on
the one side and those of the people on the other. The same
objection is to be urged with even greater force against an essay
of A. Chr. Bang, which attracted considerable attention. Within
the limits of a short article Bang felt had proved that
that he
Völuspa was dependent in a literary way upon the Jewish-
Christian poems commonly known as Sibylline oracles.^
It was reserved, however, for the Norwegian, Sophus Bugge
(b. 1833), to strike the strongest blow at the old belief in the
genuineness and antiquity of Eddie mythology. Even before
becoming prominent as a mythologist, this scholar already en-
joyed an undisputed authority in the domain of philology, as a

student of runes and as editor of the Edda and of sagas. In
his studieson Norse gods and myths he ventured, however, on
far more uncertain ground, though led to do so by the belief
that he had gained a firm footing through the combination of
numerous historical data.* Following" in the footsteps of his
IE. ]&s&&x\., Nordisk GudcUcre (1867); Uebcr die Eddalieder. Hdiuai, Alter,
Charakter (1871), ZfdPh. III.
2 I^ Petersen, Cm Nordbocrttes Giidedyrkclsc og Giidetro i Hede7iold {i?>y6) The .
German translation by Minna Riess is faulty, but contains an Appendix by E. Jessen.

3 A. C. Bang, Völuspaa og de Sibyllinske Orakler (1879). A German translation
by J. C. Poestion appeared in 18S0.
4 Studier over de nordiske Glide- og Heltesagns oprindelse (1880 and following
years; a German translation by O. Brenner, 1889); Helgedigtene (1896); Bidrag
til den celdste skaldedigtnings historie (1S94).
predecessors — Rühs among others — he sought the origin of

numerous Norse myths in Christian conceptions and in classical
mythology, with which the Vikings were supposed to have
come in contact in the British Isles. While similar observa-
tions made by others before him bore the character more or
less of unsupported hypotheses, owing to the lack of accurate
historical knowledge, Bugge provided these speculations with a
solid foundation, in part through his intimate acquaintance with
the historical conditions of the Viking period, in part through
his detailed analyses of groups of myths, as, for example, those
of Baldr and of the tree Yggdrasil, which seemed to show the
strongest evidence of Christian and classical influences.
Bugge's theory let loose a storm of both approval and dis-
approval, which has not yet subsided. A number of shorter and
longer treatises were written in refutation of Among these
it.
must be classed a considerable part of the fifth volume of

Miillenhoff's Deutsche Altcrtumskuiuie, in which protest is
entered against what he regarded as the desecration of the

Eddie myths. Calmer and more convincing are the arguments
of Finnur Jonsson,^ who brought forward evidence to maintain
the development of the myths of the Edda out of the older
scaldic poetry. While not assigning the oldest parts of the
Edda end of the ninth century, and
to a date earlier than the
hence not excluding Christian influences, he yet contends that
the Eddie poems are not to be explained as a mere conglomer-
ate of Christian and classical elements. In that case their
origin would have to be sought in the Western islands {e.g.
Shetland and the Orkneys), an assumption which G. Vigfusson
indeed makes, but over against which Jonsson defends the Nor-
wegian origin of most of the Eddie poems. From other skies,
however, Bugge received considerable support, K. Maurer,
1 Finnur Jónsson first entered the lists against Bugge in AfNF. \'I and XI. His
views are, however, stated more in detail in Den oldnorskc og oldislandske littera-
iurs historie (I, 1894; II, 1900).
O. Brenner, E. H. Meyer, W. Golther, and others rallying to

his side. Some of these scholars did not hesitate to go to the
extreme length assuming that the Norse Vikings in those
^ of
countries where they obtained a foothold more especially in—
Ireland and England —
manifested a lively interest in monastic
learning. They recast Jewish Sibylline books, Christian apoc-
rypha, and Latin or Greek mythographers into the form of
Norse myths, which as a consequence correspond in general
plan as well as in details with the sources mentioned, and even

betray the influence of medieval dogmatic writings. While
such a supposition is in itself improbable and at variance with
established facts, yet the problem as set by Bugge cannot be
ignored in mythological investigation. must be admitted It
that in many respects Norse mythology bears a somewhat

secondary character, and an effort must therefore be made to
determine what elements owe their origin to the poetic art of
the scalds, and what have been introduced from foreign sources.
If it be certain that the poetry of the Edda is not older than
the Viking period, then we should expect it to show numer-

ous points of contact with the culture of more highly civilized
Christian peoples, more especially with that of the inhabitants
of the British Isles. The reciprocal influence which the Kelts
of Ireland and the Icelanders exerted on each other can no
longer be questioned. On the other hand, the science of Teu-
tonic mythology, even though accepting the existence of these
and subjecting them to a critical exam-
later historical elements,
ination, has no reason to despair and to abandon entirely the
path trodden by Jacob Grimm and Miillenhoff. After the
investigations of Bugge and Jessen, Norse mythology cannot
be viewed in any other light than that of a special, later
development of Teutonic mythology, that arose under foreign

influences on Norse soil, but there is certainly no sufficient
warrant to disown it entirely, as an illegitimate offspring.
1 Especially E. H. Meyer, Völiispa (1889) ; Die cddische Kosmogonie (1S91).

At present our science is in a stage in which the views of

Bugge have not as yet been sufficiently digested. This is the
more evident when we again turn our eyes to Germany. We
there find the various theories of the schools that we have
passed in review, either existing in a pure form or in part
combined into the most curious mixtures. To the influences
already mentioned must be added that of C. Gruppe,^ who,
though himself not a special student of Teutonic mythology,
has yet subjected the methods hitherto employed to a most
searching criticism. Gruppe advanced a theory concerning the
origin and spread of religion to which he gave the name of
" adaptionism." According to him religion is not a common
characteristic of all human beings, springing from the very
depths of the human soul, but owes its origin to the existence of
certain social conditions and the satisfaction of certain individ-
ual wants, and has spread over the earth, along different routes,
from a few historical centres, more especially from Egypt and
Western Asia. He accordingly rejects both the common
primitive Indo-European religion of the comparative school
and the animism of Mannhardt, The latter, he urges, pre-
supposes a transition from the worship of nature-spirits to god
cults that cannot be shown to have ever existed. Further-
more, it fails to explain why correspondences should more
especially be found in the higher, semi-philosophic myths, such
as that of the creation. Gruppe seeks the origin of myths, not
like Jacob Grimm among the people, but among the priests.
In keeping with this he maintains that the myths are depend-

ent upon the cult and not conversely. The most reliable sources
of mythology are accordingly hymns used in the cult, prayers,
and ritualistic precepts. We pass by the various routes by
which Gruppe supposes religion to have spread from the land
of its birth in Western Asia over Northern Europe. One of
1 O. Gruppe, Die griechtschcn Cultc und Mythen in ihrcn Bczichungcn zu cten
orientalischen RcUgionen (I, Einleitung, 1887).
HISTORY OF TEUTOaXIC MYTHOLOGY 41
the main roads he believes to have led through Carthage, whose

sway is held to have extended even over the British Isles. Of
greater importance, indeed of especial significance, is the fact
that Gruppe, subsequent to the efforts of Bugge and in a man-
ner different from Bugge, again makes use of the historical
contact of peoples in the interpretation of myths. According
to Bugge it was the contact between the Scandinavian peoples
and those of Western Europe during the Viking period accord- ;
ing to Gruppe, the far more problematical but by no means impos-

sible contact in prehistoric times. Historical investigation must
take account of the one as well as the other theory and must fol-
low up every trace of such influence. Modern research must in
fact bestow an increasing amount of attention on historical in-
tercourse as a factor in the dissemination of myths and cults.

If we take a survey of the present status of mythological
problems, we will still even the most recent myth-
encounter in
ological literature some

same wild combinations and
of the
extravagant theories that we have met with before, and which
seem so difficult to banish from our science. At the same time
much good work has been and is being done. The sources,
both texts and inscriptions, have been exploited critical edi- ;
tions have been furnished monographs on individual myths

;
and heroic sagas have been written; historical facts and con-
ditions have been investigated with great accuracy, and various
periods carefully differentiated. The more important of these
works will be mentioned in the bibliography to the dift'erent
sections. Here we can characterize only the three best-known

compendia of recent years, those of E. Mogk, E. H. Meyer, and
W. Golther. One might feel inclined to add to these the short
meritorious sketch of Norse mythology that F. Kauffmann ^
has given, but it is too brief and too one-sided to be regarded
as representing an independent scientific standpoint.
1 F. Kauffmann, Deutsche Mythologie (1890 ; second edition, 1S93), in the Samnt-

lung G'óschen (No. 15).
Confining ourselves then to the three works mentioned, it

will be seen that, notwithstanding great differences, they agree
in three important particulars. In the first place, all three
scholars are distrustful of the material derived from Norse

sources. Although they include this material in their Teutonic
Mythologies, they have not only abandoned the idea of a
systematic unity and thus drawn a distinction between earlier

and later elements, but they also reject a considerable part of
this material itself as spurious. In this respect E. H. Meyer
is the most radical. Secondly, they all take popular beliefs,
the "lower" mythology, as their point of departure, although
they differ from one another in their estimate of it. Finally,
they entirely set aside, or at least make very light of, the heroic
saga. This latter is at all events a defect, for that the heroic
saga contains a considerable amount of material for the study
of mythology may be seen from the historical treatment ac-
corded to it by B. Symons ^ and O. L. Jiriczek.-
Mogk's outline is conspicuous

E. ^ for the wealth of its
material and for its clear arrangement. To escape the danger
of combining heterogeneous material, he carefully scrutinizes the

sources, following in this respect the injunction of Miillenhoff
" that no evidence of Old Teutonic belief should be dislodged
from the spot where it was found." At the same time Mogk
does not deny the existence of certain primitive elements in
the material once the common possession of the Teutonic
peoples. Among this pro-ethnic material are to be classed the
"
popular beliefs, sagas, and superstitions, in short, the " lower
mythology. Besides, some of the chief deities, Tiwaz, Thonaraz,
Wodanaz, and Frija, were common to all Teutons. Similarly, the
national basis of the Eddie mythology cannot be gainsaid,
1 Symons, Germanische Heldensage, in PG.= also publislied separately (1898).
B. ;
' L. Jiriczek, Deutsche Heldensage (second edition, 1897), in Sammlnng

O.
Göschen; a brief sketch. Of a comprehensive work, Deutsche Heldensagen, the
first volume appeared in 1897.
3 E. Mogk, Germanischc Mythologie, in PG.^.
notwithstanding evidence of later development and foreign ad-

mixtures, Mogk does not indeed attempt to trace an historical
development ; he does not suppose that the demons were origi-
nally souls, nor that the great gods are just as old as the
" lower " mythology. Against the separate treatment of the
religion of each individual tribe, Mogk advances objections of
a practical nature. It is only exceptionally that he urges new
points of view, as, for example, that Wodanaz and Thonaraz
were originally attributes of Tiwaz, subsequently personified
into new deities. So far as a survey of the present state of the
science is concerned, Mogk's essay is undoubtedly the best and
safest guide.
Much more comprehensive is the large work of E. H. Meyer.^
In view of his many-sided preparation for the study of Teu-
tonic mythology, it is perhaps not surprising to find in his sys-
tem the most contradictory views derived from very diverse
sources. Previous to the publication of his mythology he had
prepared the fourth edition of J. Grimm's Deutsche Mytholo-
gie and had written two volumes of essays on Indo-Euro-
pean myths, following largely in the footsteps of A. Kuhn.
He and draws the
retains also the latter's division into periods
lines even more sharply. He is furthermore a loyal champion
of the meteorological system of interpretation, which sees in
the myths clouds, wind, and thunder. In his previously men-

tioned works on Völuspa and the Eddie cosmogony, he accepts
the conclusions of Bugge and, explaining the Norse myths
from the medieval Christian literature, completely sets aside
Völuspa as a source of Teutonic mythology. In spite of these
great differences he does not consider himself unfaithful to the
historical method of Müllenhoff. This historical conception leads
him to accept in part the migration-hypothesis of Gruppe, from
whom he also adopts the division into popular and hierarchic
myths — the latter subdivided into myths of the priesthood
1 E. H. Meyer, Germanische Mythologie (1S91).

and of the nobility — without, however, accepting the priority

of v/hat belongs to ritual and cult over the mythical. Meyer
is more closely akin to the school of Mannhardt, whose ani-
mistic and biological conception of nature-myths he shares.
He has besides turned to good account a discovery of Laistner,^
who regards the dream and nightmare {Alpdnick) as a fruit-
ful source of mythical ideas. It might appear to have been an
impossible task to rear a compact structure from such hetero-
geneous materials, yet, strangely enough, Meyer has actually suc-
ceeded in constructing a system of Teutonic mythology more
comprehensive than any hitherto existing. Critical examina-
tion of sources, interpretation of myths, and study of historical
development — this threefold task of mythology Meyer car- —
ried out in all its ramifications. His system enables us to see
how souls and mares become nature-demons and higher demons,
and how these latter become in turn the gods of the priests
and the heroes of the nobles.
One must not inquire, however, at what cost such a system
has been constructed. The most obvious results, such as the
originality of some of the chief gods, who have certainly not
developed from wind, thunder, and cloud demons, and the
genuine Teutonic nucleus of the Norse myths are abandoned.
In place of these the most unnatural and preposterous hypoth-
eses are set forth as established results. Notwithstanding all
these defects, Meyer's book is a notable production and pos-

sesses permanent value. In the first place, the material has
here been collected more completely than anywhere else from
out-of-the-way corners. But especially the chapter on Sources
is With unequalled completeness, it enumerates
indispensable.
the sources from which we derive our knowledge of Teutonic
mythology. In many respects E. H. Meyer is an unsafe guide,
and his mythological system a warning example, but whoever
1 L. Laistner, Nebelsageti (1879) and especially Das Ratscl der Sphi)ix (2 vos.,
wishes to pursue these studies independently can but be grate-

ful for the large amount of labor that he has saved others.
Of late he seems to have forsaken mythology in favor of
folklore.^
Far more attractive in outward form, and written in an
interesting style, is work of W. Golther.''^ Among
the latest
his great predecessors he renders most homage to L. Uhland.
Grimm he praises almost solely for the collecting of material.
Towards Müllenhoff he is equally unjust. He admits the
primitive character of the chief gods and the genuineness of
the nucleus of the Norse myths, although he reduces both to a

minimum. Sound common sense has with him reasserted its
claims, not merely as over against some excrescences of Meyer's
system, but as against the artificial character of the system
itself. Without making as strong an effort to evolve a system,
Golther seeks to trace the historical development of Teutonic

mythology during the first thousand years of our era. He too
begins with the " lower " mythology and then proceeds to
treat the more philosophic myths of creation and the end of
the world, concluding with a consideration of the cult.

A new
path is struck out by the Dane, H. S. Vodskov,'' in a
work which the long-deferred continuation is eagerly awaited.
of
In a comprehensive introduction he treats of mythological
method. The principles thus evolved he applies in the first
volume, the only one that has as yet appeared, to the Vedic
religion. In a subsequent volume he proposes to apply these
principles to the Edda as well. Having previously combated
Bugge's theories, he here rejects every form of the migration
theory, which assumes that civilization moved across the globe
during prehistoric times. Vodskov, on the contrary, holds that
1 E. H. Meyer, Deutsche Volkskunde (1S98).
2 W. Handbuch der gennanischcn Mythologie (1S95).
Golther,
3 Vodskov, Sjxledyrkelse og naturdyrkche {\, 1897; the Introduction had
H. .S.
appeared as early as 1890). The essay combating the views of Bugge appeared in
1881, under the title Giider og gloser.
the tribes, during the period in which they spread over the
earth,were without culture, and that all culture is bound to the
country where it is found and must have originated there.
This does not preclude the possibility of one people borrowing
from an other whatever subserved its purpose. A broad cur-
rent of civilization does indeed sweep across the earth, and if
we follow up this stream, we shall begin to understand why

some peoples remained behind while kindred tribes moved
forward. In maintaining this view Vodskov is in accord with
recent linguistic investigation, which has gradually allowed the
wave theory to supplant the theory of ramification. As to the
Indo-Europeans, they are the only race who passed beyond

the worship of souls —
so characteristic of the savage state and
beyond which the two other races, the Mongols and Semites,
never advanced —
to a higher form of religion, namely, nature
worship. This conclusion compels us to assign to the Indo-
Europeans the highest position in the scale of development,
even though they have derived not a little of their culture from
the two other races.
Our survey would be incomplete without some account of
the work done in other countries, though this is of less im-
portance than what Germany and the Scandinavian nations

have produced. England has investigated its own Anglo-
Saxon antiquity, although here too Germany has lent a helping
hand. In this field of investigation the student of Teutonic
mythology is in a position to reap a far greater harvest than
has as yet been gathered, and it is rather strange that in recent
large works the Anglo-Saxon material should again have been
notoriously neglected. The folklore of various districts has
also been collected in England. On the whole, however, the
study of Teutonic antiquity England is mostly associated
in
with the work of Norse scholars. So in the middle of the

present century, B. Thorpe largely followed in the footsteps
^
1 B. Thorpe, Northern Mythology (3 vos., 1851-1852).

of N. M. Petersen and Keyser. Besides, Norse sagas have

be'en and still are being translated and edited.^ It was in
England likewise that the Icelander, G. Vigfusson,^ pursued
the study of Norse literature along its entire range, manifesting
in his writings wonderful learning and great acumen, but giving
utterance frequently to wildly fantastic views. Together with

York Powell he edited and translated the poetic thesaurus of
the North, both the Edda and the poetry of the scalds, sup-
plying at the same time valuable introductions and excursus.
Unfortunately this Corpus Foeticnm Boreale is, from a philo-
from trustworthy.
logical point of view, far
Up to the present, America has made few contributions to
the study of Teutonic mythology. The American minister at
Kopenhagen, R. B. Anderson, showed his active interest in
the work by making some of the Scandinavian investigations
accessible in English. P, Du Chaillu^ deserves praise forgath-
ering and arranging the archcEological material. The best that
America has thus far produced is F. B. Gummere's concise but
important study on the origins of the English-speaking peoples.'*
Nor can Holland lay claim to special mention in the history
of the science. The work of the Germanists there can in no
way be differentiated from that of their German colleagues.
B. Symons is an adherent of the historical method of Miillen-
hoff and has given us a critical edition of the Edda. His
pupil, R. C. Boer, is known as an editor of Norse texts, for the
most part published in Germany.

1 The Sea-Kings of Norway {Snor r i's Heimskringla, 3 vos., 1844), not
S. Laing,
directly from the
original. G. W. Dasent, The Story of Burît Njal (2 vos., 1861),
a beautiful translation with a comprehensive and valuable Introduction. G. Vigfusson
has edited several Icelandic sagas and in the Prolegomena to the Stitrlunga Saga
has given us a history of Norse literature. The Saga Library and The Northern
Library give translations of the most important sagas.
G. Vigfusson and F. York Powell, Corpus Poetictim Boreale (2 vos., 1883).
'-
Compare the reviews of Heinzel, AfdA. XI and Symons, ZfdPh. XVIII.

3 P. Du Chaillu, The Viking Age (2 vos., 1889), with numerous illustrations.
4 F. B. Gummere, Germanic Origins (1892).

We have reached the end of our historical survey. In con-

clusion, attention must be drawn to the wealth of available
material for the study of Teutonic mythology. The subject
has engrossed the attention of the various schools of mytho-
and in no other field can one arrive at
logical investigation,
a juster and clearer estimate of the value of the numerous
diverging " working hypotheses " than in that of Teutonic
mythology. A consensus of opinion has as yet by no means
been attained. Not only with regard to mythological method
in general, but also with regard to leading questions, such as
the value of the various sources and the genuineness of the
Norse myths, representatives of different schools stand vio-
lently opposed. The claims of the historical method can,

however, no longer be gainsaid, albeit this method is variously
understood and applied.
CHAPTER III
THE PREHISTORIC PERIOD
" From the ancient grave-mounds no clear voice, but only

confused sounds reach our ears." ^ " These remains afford
but a glimpse of only a few aspects of culture, and these the
"
less important ones."
While acknowledging the value and significance of archaeo-
such statements should warn us against over-
logical studies,
estimating them. We possess numerous material remains from
ages on which history proper sheds no light. We find stone monu-
ments, stone chambers, stone circles, graves, lake dwellings,
skulls, bones, utensils, implements, weapons, and ornaments.
Through these abundant and varied remains, prehistoric archae-
ology seeks for a solution of such problems as the distribution
of races, the conditions of primitive times, and the origin of
civilization. Archaeological research in this way joins hands
with geology, both having positive data at their command.
From finds made in the lakes of Central Europe, in the
grottoes and river-beds of France, along the coast of Denmark,
and in various other localities, conclusions may be drawn that
are unassailable. It has been definitely established, for exam-
ple, that in Europe as elsewhere the age of man on earth is to
be reckoned by thousands of years, and it is equally certain
that the life of our race during this prehistoric period did not
present an idyllic picture. It is hardly possible to form too
1 J. Grimm, Geschichte der deittsche7t Sfrache, p. 797.

- J. E. Sars, Udsigi 0. d. norske hist., I, p. 67. " Det er dog kun ganske enkelte
og underordnede Sider af Culturen, hvorom man of slige Sager kan faa nogen rigtig
Besked."
49
low an estimate of the civilization of these prehistoric people,

who knew no domestic animal other than the dog, were igno-
rant of agriculture, with difficulty warded off the attacks of
wild beasts, found a scanty subsistence by hunting and fishing,
were in certain localities doubtless cannibals, and possessed
only the rudest weapons and implements.
We should, however, be on our guard against basing too bold
and comprehensive theories on the results of these studies.
What these material remains have to tell us, they tell us clearly
enough, but their testimony is not nearly as far-reaching as
many are disposed to believe. The finds, while numerous, are
fragmentary. Alongside of objects whose origin and purpose
are perfectly clear, there are others that allow wide scope for
conjecture. Stones and bones are, after all, mute ; they afford
some indications as to outward conditions, but they do not
allow us to penetrate into man's thoughts and feelings. It is
well therefore to heed the warning of those who would dissuade

us from attempting to give a complete sketch of the culture
of the stone age, or from constructing theories concerning the
origin of civilization on the basis of archaeological study.
Due caution must be exercised in any endeavor to gather
the fruits of these researches. The material found in Scandi-
navian countries is especially important. While much has
been brought to light elsewhere, the remains from Denmark
and Sweden, deposited for the larger part in the museums at
Kopenhagen and Stockholm, are exceptionally valuable for
prehistoric investigations.
The first itself is whether the pre-
question that presents
historic remains on the earliest migrations. Of
shed any light
what race or family were the people whose stone chambers and
implements are found in Scandinavia and elsewhere ? For a
long time it was supposed, though without sufficient reason,
that they must be regarded as of a race entirely distinct from
our own.
THE PREHISTORIC PERIOD 51
The general scheme on which this supposition was based

did indeed seem attractive. During the stone age, it was held,
Finns and other Mongolian tribes extended far into Central
Europe. The bronze age was and the
identified with the Kelts
iron age with the Teutons. was thought that a dolicho-
It
cephalous population of noble Indo-European blood was at

any rate everywhere in Europe preceded by a brachycephalous
people of a lower race. The facts as we now know them have
and have entirely
led to a reconsideration of these theories,
done away with these hypothetical autochthons, of unknown
or at least of foreign race. The skulls from the so-called
giants' chambers in Denmark and the Swedish stone graves
most probably belong, not only according to Scandinavian
scholars but according to such an authority as Virchow,
to ancestors of the same race as the present inhabitants.
Moreover, if successive archaeological periods always coincided
with the conquest and domination of a new people that dis-
placed the old, then there would be a sharp line of division
between those periods. But this is by no means the case.
The transitions are gradual. Neither suddenly, nor indeed
universally, does bronze take the place of stone, or iron that
of bronze.
The oldest remains give no indication of an extermination
or dislodgment of one people by another. This does not,
however, furnish an answer to the question whence these
people came, nor does it exclude the possibility of foreign
influences. The evidence, so far as we are able to penetrate
the past, goes to show that no sudden changes or shiftings
took place, at least not in the North. And while in Central
Europe we know even in historic times of various changes
in population, there are still strong reasons for believing that
even the Alpine lake villages were inhabited by people of
Indo-European blood.
The mode of life of these ancient Europeans has commonly
been held to have been nomadic.^ They were thought to have

come with their flocks from Asia, and until the beginning of
our era, or even later, to have remained nomad shepherds.
Some passages from classical authors were thought to lend color
to this view." Strabo claims that the tribes on the other side
of the Elbe wandered up and down with their flocks. How
this inhospitable, thickly wooded country afforded the requi-
site pasture, and of what these flocks consisted, is not clear.
Caesar's statement, that the Teutons did not engage in agri-

culture, is at variance with the mention of corn by the same
author, and with the picture drawn by Tacitus, from which it
appears that tilling of the soil was not unknown to the Teutons
of the second century of our era.
If we are unable to regard the Teutons at their appear-

ance on the stage of history as nomads, all the evidence in
hand also argues against such a supposition in the case of
the far more ancient prehistoric population. In the first
place, neither Central nor Northern Europe can possibly have

been a country adapted to a population wandering about with
camels and sheep. The evidence gathered from the remains is
to the same effect. When in the Alpine lakes we can count
piles by tens of thousands, this certainly points to fixed habi-
tations. The same argument applies to the large stone buildings

and walls Germany, England, and Scandinavia.
in Nomads
may perhaps here and there erect heaps of stone, but they do
not build hüncjibeddeti (giants' hills), giants' chambers, and stone
walls. Also the so-called Kjökkcmnöddings (refuse heaps), along
the Danish coasts, forming accumulations of remains of crus-
taceous animals and of the implements and utensils of the
prehistoric inhabitants, show clearly that these people had
settled there where the oyster beds along the coast furnished
A contrary view is held, and

1 justly so, by R. Much, Waren die Germanen
Wanderhirten^ ZfdA. XXXVI.
2 Strabo, p. 291 ; Caesar, B. G., VI, 22.
THE PREHISrOKIC PERIOD 53
them with food ready at hand. The oldest inhabitants found

perhaps a scanty subsistence in hunting and
fishing, and in
what nature provided of its own accord, but fixed habitations

must soon have led to the beginnings of agriculture, as in
fact the objects found in the heaps indicate.
Archceological study clearly points to the definite establish-
ment of three periods in the development of man : the ages of
stone, of bronze, and of iron, the material in use indicating
the existing degree of civilization. Danish scholars more espe-
cially have expounded this system at great length, each of
the three periods being again separated into two large sub-
divisions. From the older stone age we possess the remains
along the coast of the Cattegat, the refuse heaps, which are
believed to go back to at least three thousand years before the
beginning of our era. The later stone age is that marked by
the large monuments and therefore known as the neolithic or
megalithic period. Stones.and implements already show better
workmanship, and the beginnings of decorative art make their
appearance. Between the ages of stone and bronze there lies
perhaps a period of transition, in which copper was worked
without an admixture of tin. Then follow the older and later
bronze periods, which bring us up to, and perhaps even across,
the border line of historical times. Last of all, iron weapons
and implements come into use. What dates are to be assigned
to these several periods is subject to great doubt. For Southern
and Central Europe these periods must have set in several cen-
turies earlier than in the Scandinavian North. In the latter
region we know that iron was in use some centuries before the
beginning of the Christian era.
At the same time, it must be noted that this entire theory of
a succession of three periods still encounters occasional oppo-
sition. Lindenschmit
^ among others combats it violently.
While it may be admitted that originally it was merely a
1 C. Lindenschmit, HandbiicJi dcr deutschcn Altcrthiimskundc (I, 1SS0-1SS9).
" working hypothesis," it has yet withstood the test of time and
has on the whole permitted a satisfactory classification of the
material. New discoveries too have tended to strengthen
rather than to weaken it, and the system of three periods, in
an expanded form, is at the present time endorsed not only

by Norse scholars but by the majority of investigators in
every land. The objection frequently brought to bear against

it, that such a division has regard exclusively to the material
of which objects are made, is no longer valid, inasmuch as
more recent investigators, Sophus Muller,^ for example, in

determining dates also attach great importance too great —
according to some to the —
form, ornamentation, and decora-
tive motifs. Moreover, the fact that these periods have been
named from stone, bronze, and iron does not imply that the
character of the culture depended wholly on this difference
in material, but merely that the periods into which their cul-
ture may be divided coincided to ^ large extent with the use

of these materials. Recently scholars have also taken' into
consideration that it is not always feasible to draw a hard
and fast line between what belongs to an earlier and what
belongs to a later period.
The prehistoric remains also shed light on the question of
foreign influences on the inhabitants of the North. The prop-
osition, indeed, that all work in bronze was of foreign importa-
tion, coming from either Phoenicia or Southern Europe, can no
longer be maintained ;
what was unquestionably
for alongside of
obtained through import, the Northern people themselves must

have worked objects in bronze. On the other hand, it is more
than probable that the spiral ornamentation which makes its
appearance for the first time in the bronze age has a connec-
tion with Mycenaian art. This view is favored by the fact that
a continuous strip of land, from Greece through Hungary and
1 Sophus Muller, NorJiuIie Altcrfumskunde (translated into German by Jiriczek,
2 vos., 1S96-1S9S).
Germany down to Denmark, exhibits these spiral ornamenta-

tions on objects of bronze.
We may go farther and maintain that the entire culture of the
bronze period, — the same period in which gold was first worked,
— in the case of a land that produced neither copper nor tin,
points of necessity to intercourse with other countries. On its
side the North possessed elektron (amber), which was so highly

prized in Greece, and which has even been found in Egypt in
graves of the sixth dynasty.* We must accordingly assume
that, even at a very early time, a traftic in bronze on the one
side amber on the other connected Southern Europe,
and in
that Greece and Etruria, with Denmark and the Baltic.

is to say,
Nor was this trade carried on by the sea alone, through the
Phoenicians, with their intermediate stations along the coasts
of Wêstern Europe, or even by way of Southern Russia to the
Baltic ; but we know of a certainty that there existed several

trade routes through the very centre of Europe, both to the
BritishIsles and to Denmark. One of these followed the
Danube, another the Rhone, Aar, and Rhine," though it is to
be noted that this trade did not establish direct connections
between the North and the civilizations of Italy and Greece.
Here too we must assume an undulatory motion. The wares
probably passed from one tribe to a neighboring one, and in
this way the barter of barbarians with one another may have
established communications between Southern and Northern
Europe.
While the thesis here proposed is more or less conjectural,
it is yet a conjecture resting on established facts, and which
furnishes the best explanation of the facts. It is evident in
any case that, from the earliest times, the culture and civilization
of the Teutons were derived from foreign sources and that
1 G. Maspero,/^/jôirtf ancienne des pettples de lOrient classigtie, I (1895), p. 393.

2 H. Genthe, Uebe?' den etruskischen Taitschhandel iiach dem Nordeii (Neue
Ausgabe, 1S74).
whatever the intermediary road may have been, the use of

bronze was derived from the ancients. It is no longer possi-
ble to determine what other features are due to borrowing out-
side of this metal and the ornamental motif, but inasmuch as the
connection was not a direct one, it is not likely that there are many.
Material objects pass more readily from hand to hand than ideas
and customs, but, since the way was open, the possibility of a
certain degree of influence must be taken into account.
We have dwelt upon this subject at length in order to supply
the necessary setting in the pursuit of our main inquiry, namely,
the religion of which these ancient remains give evidence. We
have already warned the reader against entertaining too high
expectations of the results of this inquiry. The remains we
possess are fragmentary, and it is always a hazardous task to
evolve thoughts and feelings from mute monuments. In times
gone by numerous explanations were ventured that are now
no longer regarded within the range of possibility. The well-
known stones near Salisbury, for example, — the so-called Stone-
henge, — were certainly not erected as a memorial to the four
hundred noblemen slain by Hengist in the year 472, as Nennius
thought, who first mentions this monument in the ninth cen-
tury. Nor are they to be looked upon as the remains of a
Roman temple, as Inigo Jones claimed in the middle of the
seventeenth century. Similar remains in Denmark Ole Worm
(1643) regarded as old meeting-places for the "Thing," where
justice and law were administered and kings chosen, or as the
space laid out for single combats or for the erection of altars
on which were made. Thus people groped
sacrificial offerings
about in the dark. There was a disposition to regard as a

sacrificial object every knife brought to light, and to identify
everyhammer without further proof as the insignium of Thor.
Thomsen and Worsaae were instrumental in putting an end to
many arbitrary combinations of this sort, but not without at
times substitutinsf for them others no less dubious.
Even at present all manner of popular tales of giants and

spirits are associated with the Jaettestuer and Troldstuer, but
scholars are generally agreed that hiinenbedden and giants' cham-
bers and the like were in the main graves. The objects found
in them can readily be explained as offerings to the dead or
as magic charms for their protection. What purpose the large
stones on the grave subserved cannot be stated with certainty.
Were they monuments raised in honor of the dead? Or was
the stone to bar the soul of the dead from coming back to the
world of the living, thus serving as a protection to the living
against dangers from this source? Or, since the fate of the
soul in another w*rld depended on the uninjured state of the
body, was the stone placed there as a protection of the corpse

against wild animals ? Each of these views has its advocates ;
and the grounds for giving to any one of them a preference

over the others are forthcoming solely in the uncertain, and by
no means entirely unequivocal, analogies with usages found
among other tribes more or less distant.
The same observations apply to most of the other charac-

teristic features of the remains. A large number of stones in
Sweden have holes apparently made for some other purpose
besides ornamentation. At present it is the custom of the
people to lay gifts for the elves in these holes and then speak
of them as elf-mills {Elfvekvdr7iar) or elf-stones. Among the
objects that have been found, a number seem to be amulets and
offerings to the dead. It has been observed that many of the
skulls are trepanned, and in some cases this surgical operation
was perhaps a magic practice performed long before death

ensued. In the tombs of the stone age, traces of fire are
frequently found beside the buried bodies, be it to cheer and
warm the dead or to ward off evil spirits from the grave.
While all these facts are absolutely certain, their interpretation
remains, from the nature of the case, more or less vague and
divergent. That the objects found are to be connected with
worship of the dead and with conceptions as to the fate of the
soul after death is fairly clear, but it is impossible to define

this general character in more specific terms.
The Hehnskrmgla already tells us that the mode of disposal
of the dead differed in successive periods of the distant past ;
burning of the dead is stated to antedate burial, and a distinc-

tion is drawn between the usage in Denmark and in the other
two countries. Archaeological finds show in the main graves
from the stone age, and traces of burning from the bronze age,
but a sharp line of demarcation does not exist. The transi-
tions are gradual. On the island of Bornholm, as well as

elsewhere, remains of burnt bodies are found with implements
made exclusively of stone, while at the side of buried warriors
occur bronze weapons.^
While we may not, therefore, attribute this change to a sudden
or a general upheaval, it is yet obvious that a different attitude
of mind must be assumed to exist in a people who value the
preservation of the body from those who regard its annihilation
as the very condition of a happy life hereafter. In the stone
age the body was placed in the ground, covered with a large
stone, or put into a stone coffin, or in later times in large tombs.
With the bronze period burning came into vogue, which, ac-
cording to Grimm, ^ was intended as a burnt sacrifice to the
gods. It is more satisfactory, however, to see in this observance
indications of a belief in a separate existence of the soul, which
is freed by the burning of the body, — an idea expressed in
Goethe's Brant von Cormth :
Open up my wretched tomb for pity,
When the ashes glow,

When the fire-sparks flow,
To the ancient gods aloft we soar.^
1 E. Vedel, Bornholm s Oldtidsminder og Oldsager (i8S6).

2
J. Grimm, Ucbcr das Vcrbroinen der Leichen
{KL Si/ir., II).
3 Translation of Aytoun and Martin.

In the iron age, however, we again find burial in use, at least
for the wealthy, in large mounds. It' might be supposed that
from these various forms of disposal of the dead we could
deduce the conceptions entertained in regard to the regions

inhabited by the soul after death : those buried being supposed
to dwell in an abode on or under the earth, while those burnt
ascended to an upper world. But history does not confirm this
view. Whereas the ancient Egyptian kings were laid to rest in
pyramids or graves cut out from the rocks, their souls journeyed
away in the sun ship and visited regions celestial as well
as subterranean. On the other hand, Patroclus in the Iliad

desires that his corpse be properly burnt so that he may not
suffer any harm in Hades. Nothing, therefore, as to the con-
ceptions of the prehistoric Teutons concerning the abode of
the souls can be deduced from their mode of disposal of the
dead.
Nor can conclusions be based on the implements and other
objects found in and near the graves, inasmuch as it is not
clear how far these were intended as sacrificial offerings for
the dead, or were given them with a view of caring for their
needs in the abode of souls. In the graves of the earlier iron

age few weapons are found, but much that was to serve in
eating and drinking, — a clear indication that at this time the

chief occupation in the hereafter was held to be not fighting,
but feasting.
More light seems to be shed by the symbols that are fre-
quently met with on stones, rocks, grave urns, weapons, and

implements. Among these are the Hdleristniiiger (rock trac-
ings) found cut in the granite rocks of Sweden (especially in
Bohuslan), in Norway, and, to a lesser extent, in Denmark. In

addition we find such symbols as hammer, T, wheel, 0, rec-
tangular cross ifyl/ot), and triangle (triskek). While most of
these designations belong to the iron age, that is to say, to the
historical period, in part they revert doubtless to the periods of

60 THE RELIGION OF THE ANCIEN!^ TEUTONS
Stone and bronze. The rectangular cross and the triangle are
found in the North in the bronze age, and on the whole their
distribution throughout the world coincides fairly well with
that of the burning of the dead. In any case, the rectangular

cross {croix gatrunée, Hakenkreuz) and the an sate cross {croix
anséé) are each confined to definite districts, the latter to
Egypt and Western Asia, the former to India {svastikd) and

the whole of Europe.
These results furnish some additional evidence with regard
to the connection and intercourse between the peoples of the
North and those of Southern Europe, but they shed no light on
the signification of the symbols themselves. With some degree
of probability the wheel and rectangular cross have been in-
terpreted as symbolical of the sun.^ Far more doubtful is a
supposed connection with individual deities. While in a later
period the hammer is the well-nigh inseparable attribute of

Thor, and was here and there interpreted
the triangular cross
as symbolical of the three chief gods, Odhin, Thor, and Freyr,
there is nothing to show that this connection was original.
The most important question of all, that which concerns the
use and purpose of these symbols, is also the most difficult to
answer. Frequently, no doubt, they were of a purely orna-
mental character, but originally they must nevertheless have
been made with some useful purpose in view. It is likely that
magic power was attributed to them, but we are in the dark as
to the exact nature of this power. Did they serve to ward off
evil, to bring a blessing, and to secure the protection of some
particular divinity ? The case in hand illustrates in a striking
manner how little is gained by the use of such words as
" magic " and " amulet," when we can only hazard a guess as to
the character of the thoughts and feelings that lie at their basis.
We have now reached the border-line separating the prehis-

toric from the historic, and might, therefore, consider the
1 Goblet d'Alviella, La migration Jcs symbolcs (1S91).
present chapter closed. But, on the one hand, the dividing line
between these two periods is by no means sharply drawn, and,
on the other hand, the light shed by the monuments on the
centuries that may be called the twilight of history is of the
same indistinct, hazy character as that of the preceding period.

We should hence be separating what is homogeneous, if we
did not here add what may be gathered from the monuments
for the centuries that follow.
First of all, the coins demand our attention ; Roman, Byzan-
tine, and, later on, Cufic coins, have been found in large
numbers along the Baltic, on the Danish islands, and in the
southern parts of Sweden and Norway. They testify to the
existence of trade routes from Southern to Northern Europe,

from the first centuries of our era ;
trade routes not by way of
the western islands, but through Germany and Russia, by way
of the Oder and Vistula. They furnish, therefore, a confirmation
of what we already know concerning the channels along which
the bronze and amber trade of the prehistoric era moved. In
the North itself money was first coined in the tenth century.
Of more importance are the signs and representations found
on monuments, with and without runes, on ornaments, and on
the so-called bracteates, thin golden plates chased on one side
and at times used as necklaces. These bracteates date from
the sixth or seventh century onward some have come down
;
from the Viking period. The so-called Runic Monuments have

been found in every part of the Teutonic world. They are
most common in the Scandinavian countries, but are also of
frequent occurrence in England and Germany. Even in so
distant a place as Bucharest, a Gothic, and at Charnay in a —
so-called Merovingian grave —
a Burgundian, ornament with
runes have been found. The runic alphabet of twenty-four
signs {i.e. the older one, futhark, found on the bracteate of
Vadstena, and elsewhere) again yields testimony of the same
general character as that which we have before had occasion
to note ; these written signs reached the North from the South,
— in the present instance Italy, — not through direct communi-
cation, but by gradual transmission from tribe to tribe.
We cannot here enter upon a discussion of these runic signs.

Some attention must, however, be paid to the figures and scenes
depicted on the objects mentioned, inasmuch as some authori-
ties are disposed to attach great importance to them. In the
years 1639 and 1734, respectively, there were. found in Southern
Jutland two large golden horns. At the beginning of the
present century they were unfortunately converted into bul-
lion, but we are stillthem from drawings and
able to judge of
descriptions.' These horns, dating according to Worsaae from
the fifth or the beginning of the sixth century, were held to
show, after the manner of a mythological picture book, the
following persons and objects: Thor, Freyr, Odhin, Freyjawith
the necklace Brisingamen, Hel, Walhalla with the Einherjar
engaged in combat, and finally the tree Yggdrasil ; in the centre
several scenes from the myths of Baldr and Loki were recog-
nized. If the origin of these precious horns is really to be
assigned to so early a date, then their evidence is of great
importance. In that case it would appear that the North about
the year 500 already possessed a splendid cult and a connected
body of myths of gods. The conceptions of this early period
would show a most remarkable agreement with medieval Norse
mythology in its fully developed form, and the latter would
therefore have existed in the North in a practically unchanged
state, from the period of migrations onward. All that has been
said concerning the later and foreign origin of this mythology
would accordingly be refuted by the evidence of these horns.
What is even more significant, the very elements that scholars
are at present inclined to regard more and more as later addi-
1 Compare Ole Worm, Man. Daiiiia : Stephens, O/d Northern Runic Monu-
ments : Worsaae, Nordciis For/iistorie, pp. 161 ff. ; Sophus Muller, Nordische
AltcrtiimskiDide, II, ix.
tions, Walhalla and Yggdrasil, are made to appear especially

prominent on these horns. But all these deductions rest on an
extremely insecure foundation. We possess only the pictorial
representations, and these, unaccompanied as they are by an
explanatory text, permit equally well the allegorical interpreta-
tion of old Ole Worm as the mythical one of Worsaae. There
is no evidence of any consequence that these figures really
represent Norse mythology. With fully as much inherent
probability Sophus Muller recognizes foreign motifs in them.
Even though the horns in question, therefore, are, like the
silver kettle found in Jutland in 1S91, to be assigned to an
even earlier date than does Worsaae, —
something that is quite
within the range of possibilities, —
they would in no wise vindi-
cate the ancient character of Norse myths, but rather point to
that same connection with the culture of Central and Southern
Europe to which reference has repeatedly been made.
Nor can much more be gained from other pictorial represen-
tations, of which we possess more or less detailed descriptions
and investigations. On Swedish rocks are found scenes from
the Sigurd Saga, on an Anglo-Saxon rune casket, scenes from
the Wieland Saga. The former are of uncertain date, but both
show how wide a circulation these motifs had attained. Two
English monuments, the so-called Ruthwell Cross and the '
Gosforth Cross,^ show a curious admixture of pagan and

Christian motifs. Still other monuments might be mentioned,
but they would not alter the final result.
If then we sum up what is actually known concerning the

prehistoric period, it appears that the monuments do not allow
us to draw any safe conclusions as to " origins." Archaeology
1 Stephens {Runic Monitmen/s, I, 405) assigns it to the seventh, Sweet {Oldest
English Texts, p. 125) to the eighth century.

~ On the Gosforth Cross, see Stephens, Buggers Studies on Northern Mythology,
shortly examined (London, iS84),and Bugge, The Home of the Eddie Poems (trans-
lated by \V. H. Schofield, London, 1S99), Introduction, p. Ixiv. Bugge assigns it to
the ninth century.
teaches us that as far north as Sweden there dwelt a Teutonic

population some thousands of years before the Christian era.
At a very early period these tribes borrowed, if not directly yet
extensively, from the cultured nations of Southern Europe.
The undulatory motion through which material objects as well
as the products of man's skill passed from one country to
another no doubt followed various roads and was more rapid at
one time than at another. It required more than nine hundred
years before Christianity reached Scandinavia in this manner.
The dwellings, graves, household utensils, and weapons indicate
to some extent the material conditions prevailing in these pre-
historic times and the degree of practical skill acquired by the
population. We may safely assume that alongside of such
objects as were imported there had also arisen a more or less
free imitation and appropriation of ideas, but we possess no
criterion for discriminating between the one and the other.
With regard to the thoughts and feelings of these people we
are thrown back upon conjectures, with inherent probabilities
and analogies as our sole guides.
Nor is the testimony of the monuments from the historical
period at all of a certain character. Evidence that would at
first blush seem to argue in favor of the originality of Norse
mythology appears in a different light as soon as it is more

closely examined. While much points to a dependence
on Southern Europe, this applies more to ornamentation and
art than to religion and mythology. What may be gleaned
from the monuments for the study of Teutonic mythology is
extremely meagre.
CHAPTER IV
TRIBES AND PEOPLES
I. "The language of a people constitutes a far more potent

witness concerning them than is afforded by bones, weapons,
or graves."^ "The significant periods in the existence of a
people, with the consequent changes, — now rapid and violent,
now slow and gradual, — are bound to leave so indelible an
impress on the language as to betray the traces of every past

-
event, in short of its entire history."
These are the words of Grimm and Miillenhoff, the two great
masters of Teutonic philology. One might accordingly infer,
as has in fact been done, that linguistic science furnishes, in the
hands of trained and painstaking scholars, positive results con-
cerning the remote past, including prehistoric times. And yet

such has not proved to be the case, even as regards the work
of these eminent scholars. J. Grimm stoutly maintained that
Getas and Daci were identical with Goths and Danes. Through
the annexation of these " Thracian " tribes, it was supposed
that our knowledge of the Teutonic prehistoric period could be
carried back much further than was formerly considered possi-
ble. No now and
student of linguistics entertains such views ;
though the by Miillenhoff may perhaps rest on

edifice reared
a more secure foundation, still more than one of its sup-
porting stones has also been loosened. He enunciated the cor-
rect principle that the origins of national existence in the case
of the Indo-European peoples are to be sought in their historic
abodes.^ He held the region between the Oder and the Vistula
1
J Grimm, GddS. I, 5. 2 K. Müllenhoff, DA. Ill, 194.
3 DA. Ill, 168.
65
66 THE RELIGION O E THE ANCIENT TEUTONS
to be the mother country of the Teutons, and the land in

which the Teutonic language first acquired an individual char-
acter. The former of these assertions is undoubtedly correct,
the latter highly probable. On the other hand, results that
Miillenhoff considered equally well established, such as the
pastoral character of the life of the ancient Aryans, a supposed
foreign aboriginal population in Europe, a close kinship
between Teutons and Letto-Slavs, and many other points,
have been in large part rejected by more recent students of
language.
Not only in respect to details, but also as regards matters of
prime importance, has the confidence that was so readily be-
stowed upon the results of linguistic science been rudely
shaken. The study of language was thought to enlighten us
concerning the original home of the common ancestors of the
Indo-European family. At present no scholar ventures to speak
with any degree of positiveness concerning either this original
home or this primitive people.
The cradle of the Indo-European family has been sought in
various localities, — Armenia, and other parts of Asia,
in Bactria,
and even in Europe, from Southern Russia to Southern Sweden.

There is some support for each of these views, but for none of
them are direct proofs available. Most idyllic pictures were
drawn of the material and intellectual culture of this primitive
race the family life of these patriarchal shepherds was marked
:
by great purity, and the shining sky was worshipped as the

heavenly father. As the knights in the fairy tales, were they
thought. to have entered upon the stage of history, with horses
and chariots, subjugating or dispossessing everywhere the
people of inferior race. When this theory was first broached,
doubts arose some quarters as to the possibility of ascribing
in
to the ancient Italians and Teutons in their primitive condition

such a pure and relatively high degree of culture, but the cer-
tainty of linguistic results seemed todispose of all objections.
TRIBES AND PEOPLES 67
The more than' fifty years that have elapsed since the -begin-
nings of these scientific studies have somewhat disillusioned
men's minds. The laws of sound-change in language have been
far more sharply and accurately formulated, and as a conse-
quence a number of etymologies that at one time seemed estab-
lished have now been abandoned. Moreover, together with
the laws of sound-change, more attention has been paid to the
meaning of words, which have often in the course of time been
considerably modified. Finally, scholars have come to rec-
ognize the fact that sameness is not always to be explained

on the score of unity of origin, but may also be due to
borrowing. What is common to a number of languages is
therefore by no means always original. No one, for example,
would conclude from the sameness in all European languages

of such words as "church" and "school," "priest" and
"bishop," "bible" and "altar," that the Indo-European primi-
tive race was acquainted with Christianity.^
In this way the ancestral inheritance, which was held to have

been the common possession of the whole Indo-European
stock, has greatly dwindled. The happy days when every
new etymology seemed to add to that inheritance have forever
passed away. With the linguistic principles that formed its
foundation, the structure itself has collapsed. The one great
result of linguistic science, however, the unity of the Indo-
European family, still stands. Not only has it in no way suf-
fered in the general downfall, but recent methods of study have

even served to confirm the theory. At present, the comparison,
instead of being made between single disjointed words, is
made between entire groups of designations of beings and
objects of a similar nature, and it is such correspondences
which are held to demonstrate a common origin. Questions
concerning the mother country and the primitive race have to
a large extent been dismissed. We no longer suppose that in
1 The illustration is taken from Vodskov, Sjaled. og tiaturd., CXXVIII.
a certain prehistoric period an Indo-European primitive people

dwelt in a definite locality and from there spread over the
earth in groups.
It is evident that with such conceptions there does not re-
main much scope for an Indo-European mythology. We no
longer ask ourselves : What gods and myths did the Teutons
take with them as an inheritance from their ancestral home?

Loose parallels count for nothing, and similarities of names no
longer mislead. Tacitus, for example, mentions the existence
among a Teutonic tribe of the cult of two brothers, whom he
compares with Castor and Pollux. Now the heroic saga also
shows the figures of the Hartungen, and the question might
therefore present itself whether in this mythical motif of Dios-
curi or Agvins, which is also encountered outside of Indo-Euro-
pean territory, a fragment of original Indo-European mythology
has not been preserved. The Teutonic yEsir, the Irish Esir,
have been identified by some scholars with the Indian Asuras,

but here the connection and similarity are again very doubtful.
It is not even certain that the Indian Asuras are truly Indo-
European ; it has been suggested that they are Semitic in

origin. Amid all these storms of doubt and conjecture, the old
Indo-European god of the sky seemed to stand firm as a rock,
Tiu being considered cognate with Dyaus, Zeus, and Jupiter.
But even this equation has not escaped the scalpel of some
more recent, relentless grammarians. That Tiu bears the same
name as the other sky divinities is at present denied by several
scholars of authority, although there are other voices of equal

weight that still uphold the old theory.
We should, however, be on our guard here against misunder-
standings. The view that the individual peoples, among
them the Teutons, set out from the common ancestral home
with a stock of culture and mythology has been abandoned ;
and with this also the problem of tracing this common original
possession by means of linguistic science. However, this does

not exclude the view that the worship of the sky god was primi-
tive among the Teutons, as among other peoples of the same
family, as it was, in fact, among Mongols and Semites.
These remarks are not intended to detract from the value
and importance of linguistic science for the study of ancient
peoples but this value has assumed a different aspect from that
;
which obtained when the school of comparative mythologists

based its results on linguistic studies. Through the progress
made in the study of language, these quasi-x&%v\X^ have been
shown to be ill-founded. Withal, the study of language still
remains our chief guide in the investigation of prehistoric and
of the earliest historic times. By the side of the " genealogical
theory" it has placed the "wave theory," that is to say, it does
assume that individual peoples spread
not, as formerly, ask us to
over the face of the earth equipped with a full stock of knowl-
edge, but rather emphasizes the importance of the historical
connections through which one tribe exerts an influence upon
a neighboring one. This gulf stream of civilization we have
already had occasion to mention. What is common in the life
of different peoples is as much the result of historic contact
as of unity of descent. Such a view accounts better for exist-
ing facts and conditions and while it modifies, it in no wise
;
lessens, the value of linguistic study.

The contradictions between the results of archcxological and
linguistic inquiry also disappear of their own accord. If the
linguistic method of the comparative school of mythologists

were sound, would be impossible to regard the prehistoric
it
population, who have

left behind them the material remains
which we have discovered, as Indo-Europeans, and we should

furthermore be involved in 'the difficulty of having to assume
that the Teutonic tribes mentioned by Tacitus, and even the
Cimbri and Teutones defeated by Marius, already carried about
with them the entire system of " Indo-European " mythology.
The latter inference we could at any rate not escape. No such
chasm lies between these two fields of investigation in the

present state of our knowledge, although the two sciences con-
tinue to yield results differing in kind. If archaeology chooses
to regard the lake dwellers as Indo- Europeans, linguistic science
does not interpose a veto. We no longer demand that lan-
guage study should furnish us with an outline picture of a
vague, nebulous primitive people. On the other hand, it fre-
quently enables us to trace historical connections between

different peoples.
2. We have no definite knowledge concerning the first mi-
gration of the Teutons. We know neither when it took place
nor the immediate occasion that brought it about. It was
tempting to some scholars to connect this migration with the
expedition of the Persians under Darius to Scythia. Miillen-
hoff holds that the origin of the Teutonic people in the region
between the Vistula and Oder is of as early a date as the first
settlements of the other Indo-European groups in Greece and
Italy. However, we really know nothing about this, just as we
are entirely uninformed concerning the motives which induced
the Teutons to settle in lands so inhospitable as to prompt
Tacitus to declare that it was incredible that any people should
have forsaken a more favored abode for such a wild region
with so raw a climate.
From the shores of the Baltic the Teutons spread, princi-
pally in a western direction. They were not shepherds the ;
land, covered with forest and swamp, was entirely unsuited to

grazing. It was only gradually, as scant crops rewarded their
labors, that they became acquainted with the elements of agri-
culture. Even in the time of Tacitus, salt could be obtained in

the interior only through the application of the most primitive
methods, and the tribes waged war for the possession of the
saline streams. The climate and their manner of life made
these tribes hardy and warlike, but the conditions essential
to the development of an indigenous civilization were lacking.
Such a civilization arose on the banks of the Nile and the

Euphrates, but not on the Oder and Elbe, nor on the Rhine
and the Danube. From the very outset the Teutons borrowed
whatever culture they acquired from more highly developed
peoples with whom they had directly or indirectly come into
contact. The results reached by archaeological investigation
are thus borne out by the character of the country and
the nature of the soil. The study of language too has in
various ways thrown light on the foreign relations of the
ancient Teutons, and more especially on the contact with Kelts
and Romans.
The value of linguistic science is not limited to tracing such
external relations. The history of a language, with its various
phonological and morphological changes, enables us to distin-
guish its periods of development; and we are accordingly led to
divide the Teutons into two, or rather three, main groups. To
the East-Teutonic group belong the languages of the Goths
(East and West), as well as those of the Vandals and Burgun-
dians, though of the two latter scarcely any remains have been
preserved. To the North-Teutonic languages, which must be
regarded as a separate group, belong Swedish and Danish on
the one hand, and Old Norse (in Norway and Iceland) on the
other. The largest group is the West-Teutonic ; it embraces
Anglo-Saxon and Frisian, Low and High German with their
various dialects — such as Saxon, Frankish, Bavarian, Aleman-
nic, etc. This division of tribes and peoples into groups
furnishes a secure basis also for a study of the history of
religion.
It would be in vain to attempt to elicit the same results from
what Roman authors tell us concerning Teutonic tribes. While
it was undoubtedly the intention of Tacitus in setting up a
threefold division — Ingasvones, Herminones, and Istaevones —
to embrace the entire people, as a matter of fact his classifi-
cation includes only the West Teutons. But Tacitus does not
adhere strictly to this division. With the words " quidam affir-
mant "^ he introduces other names: Marsi, Gambrivi, Suevi,
Vandili, — all of which are also to be regarded as groups ;
and
what is still more significant, in his treatment of the individual
peoples he entirely loses sight of his own main grouping. In
his treatment of the tribes best known tohim he follows an order
from the West to North and East, distinguishing at the same
time the Suabian from the non-Suabian peoples. Pliny mentions
five groups, adding to those of Tacitus the Vandili and the
Peucini or Bastarnae, along the coast of the Black Sea, whom

Tacitus had classed among the doubtful frontier tribes. We
encounter the Hellusii (who in Tacitus are lost in the mists of
the North) in the Hilleviones of Pliny. Among the names of
the separate tribes in Tacitus there are some which subse-
quently disappear from view : the Bructeri, Cherusci, Sem-
nones, Nahanarvali, etc. Others endure : Suabians, Frisians,
Angles, and Lombards. New names also put in an appearance
in later times : Alemanni, Éurgundians, — the already

latter
mentioned by Pliny and Ptolemy, — Saxons, and Franks. The

value of the ethnographic material furnished by Roman authors
is of course unquestioned, apparent contradictions being in
part due to the lack of sufficient data. Thus we find Tacitus

distinguishing between what he knew with certainty and what
he had from hearsay. Furthermore, during the centuries cov-
ered by the Roman accounts extensive changes were taking
place in the interior of Germany. Tribes were alternately van-
ishing and again appearing upon the scene or seeking new
habitations, and with the help of the geographies, maps, and
historians we now and then catch a glimpse of these great
shiftings. Besides, the peculiarly Roman point of view and
attitude of mind have colored the accounts ; so doubtless in
case of the grouping into five or into three main divisions.
This grouping is a geographical one the Romans naturally ;
1 " Some declare."

taking as their point of departure the West. One may conclude

from the words of Tacitus that the memory of the three sons
of Mannus, the progenitors of the three groups, was still kept
alive in old songs of the Teutons themselves, as is in fact indi-
cated by the alliteration of their names but it is after all by
;
no means certain that the Teutons themselves intended by these

groups a complete division of all tribes. The Prankish roll of
nations, too, does not prove anything in favor of the old tradi-
tion. It makes Romans, Britons, Franks, and Alemanni the
four offshoots from the common ancestor Istio, thus reflecting
the political and geographical conditions existing in the time
of Chlodowech (a.d. 520).
Valuable therefore as the accounts of Roman historians and
geographers are, inasmuch as they transport us to a period con-
cerning which we possess few reliable data, their classification
of the Teutons does not coincide with the grouping based on
the criteria of language. The North-Teutonic (Scandinavian)
group remains almost wholly outside the Roman horizon, and
even the East Teutons, who subsequently played the chief role
in the migrations of nations (Goths, Vandals, Burgundians),
are only incidentally mentioned.
Much attention has of late years been bestowed on the
signification of the tribal names, and while this line of inves-
tigation has neither yielded positive results nor proved very

fruitful in advancing our knowledge of Teutonic religion, it is
a phase of the subject which must not be passed by in silence.
J. Grimm ^ distinguished three kinds of tribal names. The

first class consists of patronymics, such as Herminones from
Irmin and Goths from Gaut. The question at once presents
itself. Which of the two is original, —
the name of the tribe or
that of the eponymous hero ? If we accept the former alterna-
tive, the name of the tribe remains unexplained. A second

class, the most numerous of all, indicates qualities : Frisians,
1 GddS., Chapter XXIX.

Franks (free men), Lombards (Longobardi). Under this head

Grimm ventures a number of bold conjectures, — e.g. when he
explains the Suabians (Suebi) as men who are sui juris. The
third class comprises tribes named from the district which they
inhabited Ubii, Ripuarii, Batavi (men from the Auen), Mat-
:
tiaci(men from the Matten), Semnones (forest dwellers). Here

too the correct interpretation of the names is frequently subject
to doubt. In fact most of the problems raised in this connec-
tion still remain unsolved. In the case of each particular name
the question presents itself whether it was originally native or
whether it was given by neighbors.

to the tribe Probably
there are quite a number of nicknames and encomiastic names
among them. Reference to a cult is found only in the name
Ziuwari, borne by the Suabians. The attempt has been made
to explain Ansivari in a similar manner, and the Nahanarvali
have even been regarded as worshippers of the Norns, but
both of these etymologies are undoubtedly incorrect. It is
worth noticing that among the tribal names no designations

of plants or animals occur; for the Chatti (Hessians) have,
of course, no connection with cats.
We may define more sharply, if not the origin, at least the

" and "deutsch." As to the deri-
use, of the words " germanisch
term "Germanus " the most fantastic theories are
vation of the
current. Most probably the name originated in Northeastern
Gaul in the century preceding our era, be it that the Kelts
called the foreigners " neighbors " or that they were called " the
genuine," in contradistinction to the peoples in whose midst
they lived. The designation deutsch is related to the word
" people " (Gothic thiudd) and means vulgaris. It reminds one
of the ancient " Teutones," which is probably derived from

the same stem.Little, indeed, is definitely known of these
Teutones, who together with the Cimbri were the first Teutonic
peoples that came within the Roman horizon. MiillenhofF
seeks their origin along the Middle Elbe, whereas more recent
scholars are convinced from an inscription found on a bound-

ary stone at Miltenberg on the Main, on which their name
occurs, that the Teutones were originally a Keltic tribe. ^ How-
ever that may be, the name " deutsch " came before a.d. 800
to be used of the language and has since the ninth century
"-
steadily gained in currency, both as a designation for the lan-

guage of the people, lingua Theodisca, and for the people itself.
It is unfortunate that between the words " germani^ch " and
" deutsch " uniform distinction is made. As a
no fixed arid
rule, germanischmore general term, embracing the entire

is the
family —
Germans, Goths, Anglo-Saxons, and Scandinavians.
The tribes and peoples inhabiting Germany are called deutsch
in the narrower sense. We therefore speak of the language of
Germany as deutsch, but of germanische Philologie, in the com-
prehensive sense in which, for example, Paul uses it in his
Grundriss der germajiischen Philologie. This usage is, how-

ever, subject to exceptions in view of the fact that the Romans
called the Germans and other tribes all Gertnani. Jacob Grimm
"
has added to the confusion by using the word " germanisch
only rarely, and by employing " deutsch " sometimes in the nar-
rower, and again in the more comprehensive, sense. In Eng-
" (?nederla/idisch)
lish the terms " German " {deutsch) and " Dutch
have acquired in everyday speech a special signification, so

that for the whole field the name " Teutonic " has been used.
"
This usage is again not uniform, some preferring " Germanic
{germanisch), but this is open to the objection that it does not
admit of the formation of a corresponding substantive. In any
case, it is essential that we should carefully note the usage of
others and be ourselves consistent in the employment of the,
various terms. In the present treatise "Teutonic " will be used

for the entire group, " German " for the special subdivision.
1 Miillenhoff, DA. II, 2S2 ; compare also Kossinna in WestdetUschc Zs., IX,
213 ; R. Much, PBB. XVII, and elsewhere.
2 A. Dove, Das dlteste Zeugniss fur den Namen Deutsch (SMA, 1895).
-
The names that we have just mentioned constitute only a

very small part of the large stock of proper names, of per-
sons as well as of places, that have come down to us. While
these are important witnesses in ascertaining ancient condi-
tions and interrelations, they must yet be used cautiously and
judiciously. A proper name does indeed tell us as a rule to
what language group it belongs, but it does not tell us whether
the people that gave it or bore it dwelt in the place where they
left this token of their presence as strangers or as natives, as
rulers or slaves, whether permanently or for only a brief period.
For the study of religion the numerous names derived from
gods, especially in the North, and the names of persons de-
serve attention.^ They frequently enable us to determine
approximately how far certain legends and cults had spread.
From proper names we know that the worship of Thor was far
more deeply rooted in Norway than that of Odhin. That Baldr
is almost totally absent from names is a fact of great impor-
tance in arriving at an estimate of myths connected with him.

A number of proper names testify to the currency of the Ger-
man heroic saga in England. Proper names, accordingly, reflect
not only the possession of each individual tribe, but also the
intercourse of the tribes with one another.
Our knowledge of the various tribal religions of the ancient
Teutons is derived from their names, their genealogies, their
tribal legends, and the accounts of Roman authors. To the
reader of Tacitus no fact appears more evident than that the
individual tribes had each their own religious centre, that
at times a few neighboring or related tribes united to form

a common cult, and that the main groups in their old songs
glorified their tribal progenitor, who was probably a tribal god.
Compare Weinhold, Altnordischcs Lcben, pp. 270 ff.

1
Examples of monographs in which the evidence from names has been exploited
2
are, among others Henry Petersen, Om Nordboernes Giidedyrkehc og Gudetro i

:
Hedcnold (1S76) G. Binz, Zeiignisse ziir Gcrmanischen Sage in England, PBli.

;
XX ;
Miillenhoff, Zeugnisse iind Exciirse.
Since the publication of an investigation by Miillenhoff ^ it has

usually been assumed that the three great groups mentioned by
Tacitus had separate cults. The Inninsleicte (Herminones) pre-
served the worship of the old heaven god Zio ; the Ingvaeones
worshipped the Vanir god Freyr ; Wodan and
the Istvaeones,
Tamfana. The identification of the eponymous tribal hero with
the great gods is in two or three instances more or less prob-
able : Irmin-Tiu and Ingv-Freyr frequently occur in combination,
whereas this is not the case with Istv and Wodan. Teutonic
mythologists in proposing such an identification of a hero with
a god, or of one god with another, go on the theory that what
is seemingly a proper name is in truth only a surname, the hero
orgod of lower rank being regarded as an hypostasis of the higher

god. That one and the same god is worshipped under various
names is, indeed, not a rare occurrence, but in the case of an
identification of a hero with a god, a greater degree of caution
is required. Taken as a whole, the conjectures here referred
to rest on an insufficient basis.
Many scholars expressed the opinion that this investigation
of Miillenhoff had resulted in establishing a new basis for the
study of Teutonic mythology, and to a certain extent this is
actually the case. Miillenhoff himself never denied the exist-

ence of elements of belief that were common to all Teutonic
peoples. On the contrary, the range within which he allowed
this view was wider than at present seems admissible, but the
results obtained by Miillenhoff do not constitute as great an
advance as at first appeared to be the case. We have already
seen that the division into three groups does not by any means
embrace all Teutons. Thus the Suebi, who, it will be remem-
bered, were styled Ziuwari, correspond only in part to the
Herminones. Furthermore, the lines of demarcation between

groups and tribes are not so sharp as might seem to be implied
in the classifications made. Internal conditions of affairs in
1 Irmin und seine Briider (ZfdA. XXIII, 1S7S).
Germania were in a constant state of flux, and this necessarily
affected the life and existence of the tribes. In addition,

account must be taken of that intercourse between the various
tribes through which, one tribe could borrow legends and cults
from another.
Some students of Teutonic mythology cherish the ideal of
treating the mythology of each tribe separately, and the histor-
ical method would indeed seem to demand this. If no such
attempt is made in the present instance, it is not merely because

we are deterred by the meagreness of the data available for
such a separate treatment, but even more largely on account of
the further consideration that it is impossible to detach with a
sufficient degree of certainty a tribe or group from its environ-
ment. The historical method itself cautions us against ignor-
ing any part of the data at our command, such as that which
concerns the mutual intercourse of the tribes. We may at-
tempt to determine here and there the origin of a legend and

the chief seat of a cult, but we have no right to deny to a tribe
what we do not find expressly predicated of it, in case we find

it existing among other tribes. The main principle, at any rate,
remains undisputed, and we may feel confident of the positive

result that the central point around which the life of an
individual tribe revolved was the worship of a definite god
together. with the tribal legends with which it brought its origin
into close connection.
3. In these tribal legends various elements, in part of later
origin, are intermingled. It is convenient, however, to treat
them in the present If we analyze the tribal
connection.
legends we find: Myths concerning the origin of man in
i.
general, connected more or less closely with accounts of the

ancestors of a particular people. 2. Accounts relating to, or
an enumeration of, eponymous heroes ; or genealogical tables
which derive the royal families from ancient heroes or gods.
3.Legends concerning ancient adventures largely expeditions —
or migrations of the tribes. 4. Various foreign traditions de-

rived from the biblical or the classical world. In the picture
that the individual tribes draw of their origin these threads are
woven together in various ways.
We find even Tacitus bringing the origin of the tribes into
connection with the origin of man. The progenitors of the
three groups {Gennatiia^ Chapter 2) are the sons of Mannus, the
man, and the latter is himself the son of Tuisto, whom Tacitus
designates as " deum terra editum." ^ To infer from this name,
Tuisto, that he was of a dual nature and was conceived as an
hermaphrodite is unwarranted. The emphasis falls on the
autochthonous character and on the divine ancestry, which, it
may be noted, are again expressly mentioned in the case of the

other tribes. Nothing beyond this can be deduced from the
words of Tacitus. This applies also to a recent most arbitrary
emendation of the text of Tacitus,^ according to which man
had sprung from trees. Völuspa 17, to be sure, and Gylfagin-
ning 9, as well, make man originate from Ask and Embla (ash
and elm ?), but this, as well as the descent of the three classes —
thrsl, karl, and jarl — from the god Rig (Heimdallr, in Rigs-
thula), is found only in comparatively late Eddie songs.
We shall begin our treatment of the separate peoples with
the Goths. Their royal family, that of the Amali (among the
East Goths), is regarded as of divine descent, the genealogical
series being Gaut, Haimdal, Rigis, Amal.^ There is no way
of determining from this list whether Gaut is simply an
eponymous hero or, as has been assumed, another name for
Wodan. Rigis, here separated from Haimdal, is elsewhere
usually a surname of this god. Jordanes, to whom we owe this
1 " A
god that had issued from the earth."
to be acknowledged that in the phrase " originem gentis conditoresque " the
2 It is
last word strikes one as strange, but to read, with J. Holub (" Der erste Germane
wurde auch nach dem Zeugnisse des Tacitus aus der Esche gebildet '') (1891),
''
caudicem orni hosque fuisse is entirely fantastic.
''
2 Jordanes, De origine actibusqtie Getartim, Chapters 4, 14, 17.

so THE RELIGION OF THE ANCIENT TEUTONS
account of the divine origin of the Amali, makes the Goths come
from Scandza, the cradle of nations (" quasi officina gentium
aut certe velut vagina nationum "), an island in the North,
where it is too cold for bees to gather honey, but from which
place nations have spread like swarms of bees. In three ships
the Goths crossed the ocean, the foremost two carrying the
East and West Goths, the slower one the Gepidai. Landing on
the coast, these tribes moved onward in a southern direction.
"
The Lombards were also said to have come from the "island
of Scandinavia. Their real name, it is said, was Vinili, and
they constituted the third part of the inhabitants of this over-
populated country. They had been designated by lot to leave
their fatherland, and under two leaders, Ibor and Ajo, they
sought new homes. They came into collision with the Van-
dals, who implored Godan (Wodan) for victory over the
newcomers, but the god replied that he would give victory to
those whom his eyes should first behold at sunrise. The crafty
Gambara, the mother of Ibor and Ajo, sought counsel from Frea,
who gave women should join the men and
the advice that the
let their hang down their faces like beards. When on the
hair
following morning Godan saw this host of Vinili, he asked :
" Who are these Longobardi ? " and Frea rejoined that having
given them their name he must also grant them the victory.^
According to this account, which the Christian historian of the
Lombards calls an absurd story, this people is traced back to
the Baltic. Whether the mention of the divinities Wodan and
Frea is to be regarded as an original element in this account
has been doubted by some scholars.
The genealogical tables tracing the origin of rulers and peo-
ples to eponymous heroes or gods — the Goths to Gaut, the
1 Paulus Diaconus, Chapters i-S. According to Ranke (Paiihis Diaconus, in his

complete works, Vol. LI, pp. 81-84), ^^^ possess the narrative of this Nmnengebting
in four versions, of which the Christian-theistic one (Procopius, B. Goth., II, Chapter
14), in which Wodan and Frea are not mentioned as yet, appears to be the most
original.
Scyldings to Scyld, the Scefings to Sceaf, and possibly the

Batavi to a Baetva (?) — are known to us in detail in the case
of the England only. Bede ^ himself tells us

Anglo-Saxons in
that Hengist and Horsa, and the royal families of many English
nations as well, were descended from Voden. The medieval
English chronicles, with variations as to details, give us these
genealogies of the Anglo-Saxon royal families, and these tables,
dating from various periods, contain side by side with historical
reminiscences also some fragments of myths and legends. The
lists that have been compiled are largely the result of poetic
fancy. Now and then they furnish investigators with a clew
towards tracing a connection between traditions and episodes
that lie seemingly far apart ; so in the case of the two kings
named and of such heroes as Beow (Beaw), Scyld, and
Offa,
Scef (Sceaf). Of the latter it was related that he landed, as a
new-born babe, in a rudderless boat and with a sheaf of grain,
on the coast of Sleswick, the country over which he was after-
wards to rule. The tables contain few traces of legends that
are of native English origin, and almost every feature points to
a connection with the original home in Holstein, Sleswick, and
Jutland. The tables ascend to Woden as progenitor; that his
name is at times found in the middle of the list is probably
owing to later additions. Of the other divinities Seaxneat
(Saxnot) occurs a few times, as for example in the Essex table,
where a number of names representing personifications of the
idea of battle are all designated as sons of Seaxneat.^ Names
compounded with Frea are numerous. That who is
Baeldaeg,
mentioned repeatedly, is Balder is confirmed by the name

Balder itself as found in one of the genealogies. In passing
1 Bede, Hist. eccl. gent. Angl., I, 15.

2 So Miillenhoff, Beoviclf 7, 64, etc., where valuable comments on the
(i^?>c)), pp.
genealogies may The names, with Miillenhoff' s interpretations, are the
be found.
following: Gesecg and Andsecg (Symmachos and Antimachos), Sveppa (one who
causes a turmoil), Sigefugel (favorable omen). Hethca and Bedeca (men of bloodshed
and destruction).
;
itmay be noted that some of the chroniclers have felt called

upon to trace the family back to the common ancestors Noah
and Adam.
Several of the tribes in Germany proper are rich in legend-
ary lore. So the Saxons, concerning whose origin various
traditions are current.^ According to one report their first king,
Aschanes (Ask whose name the medieval chronicle changes

?),
to Ascanius, sprang up from the Harz rocks in a forest near a

spring. A popular rime also makes mention of girls growing
on trees in Saxony. Widukind of the tenth century, who enter-
tained a warm affection for his Saxon people, was, however, of
the opinion that they had come across the sea and mentions
various accounts as to their origin ; they were thought to be
descended from the Danes and Norwegians, or were regarded
as the remnants of the army of Alexander the Great which had
scattered in all directions. Whether it would be possible to
trace a connection between this Macedonian origin and Trojan
descent need not here be discussed. Of more interest is the
fact that this Saxon tribal legend, combined in part with the
Thuringian, contains various semi-historical reminiscences

such as the war between Saxons and Thuringians for the pos-
session of the country, the struggle between the Franks and
Thuringians, whose king Irminfrid had married the daughter
of a Frankish king, and especially the exploits of the Thurin-
gian hero Iring, who played the chief role in this war and who
is usually regarded as a mythical figure.
An unusually rich store of legends was found by Uhland
among his " Suabians." According to an account of the
twelfth century concerning the origin of the Suabians, the
Suevi too, although in the days of Tacitus already possessing
fixed habitations in Middle Germany, had come from the
North. The cause of their exodus, as in the case of the Vinili
and perhaps also of the Goths, is said to have been famine.
1 Compare Grimm, Deutsche Sagen, Nrs. 4 1 3-4 16; Widukind, Kcs gestae Saxonicae, I
That the legends also show a connection between Scandinavia

and the Suebi, Uhland has attempted to show by citing a num-
ber of characteristic episodes from the saga of Helgi, whose
connection with the Suebi does not rest merely on the accidental
resemblance of Svava to Suebi.
We find in these various tribal sagas an unmistakable, though
not historically definable, background of reality. Impercep-
tibly saga passes over into history, and the ancient saga too,
nebulous and mingled with myths as it at times was, no doubt
preserved recollections of an old mother country and of earlier

fortunes. At times a tradition no doubt owes its origin solely
to the attempt to explain a name, just as the inhabitants of the
Swiss canton Schwyz thought that they had come from Sweden.
In the case of some other accounts, we cannot even approxi-
mately state what the basis of reality is. An instance of this
is the curious statement of Tacitus that Ulixes had landed
somewhere along the Rhine and that an altar had been raised
in honor of him and of his father Laertes. There is no doubt,
however, that some of these legends are purely learned inven-
tion, without historical basis. In this latter category belong
the tales, everywhere current in the Middle Ages, of the Trojan
origin of various peoples.
Following, more or less closely, Vergil's account {y£neid, I,
11. 142 ff.) who had escaped from Troy and reached
of Antenor,
lUyria and more distant shores, stories of Trojan exiles who
had made their way to remote regions and distant coasts were
told in the various provinces of the Roman Empire and when ;
we remember how much value was attached by distinguished

Roman families at the end of the Republic and at the begin-
ning of the Empire to Trojan lineage, it will appear altogether

natural that the nations incorporated with the Empire should
have fallen in with this fashion and have boasted of Trojan
descent. Our present sources no longer enable us to trace the
details of the ways in which this tradition was carried out, but
84 THE RELIGION OF THE ANCIENT T/U'TONS
it is clear that distinguished Gauls, more especially, and their

successors the Franks traced their origin from Troy.
Gregory of Tours, to be sure, tells us nothing of this char-
acter in the dryand rather confused account in which he sums
up what older writers had related of the fortunes of his people.
He makes the Franks come from Pannonia and does not refer
to any connection with Greeks or Trojans. We first come across
this latter legend in the Chronicle of Fredegar (of about 660)
and in the Gesta regum Fra7icoru7n (725). According to the
former, Priam at Troy was king of the Franks. After the fall
of Troy the people repeatedly separated. One division went

to Macedonia, another under king Friga (the Frigii) reached
the Danube. Part of this division under Turchot (the Turks)
remained behind, while others under Francio (the Franks)
moved onward and began the construction of a new city of
Troy on the Rhine, which was, however, never completed.
Theudemer and, subsequently, the Merovingi are descended
from this Francio. With a slight variation from the above
account, the Gesta make yEneas the king of the Trojans. The
Franks are descended from the Trojan exiles who built the
city of Sicambria on the frontiers of Pannonia and subsequently
aided the emperor Valentinianus in his war against the Alani

(Alemanni ?). From him they received the name of Franks, that
is, the wild,' proud people In any case the tradition of the
!
Trojan descent of the Franks had struck deep root. Paulus

Diaconus thought that he recognized in the name of a Prank-
ish major domo, Anschis, the Trojan name Anchises.
It is clear that these Prankish accounts do not represent
native traditions, but merely form the continuation of threads
that passed from Latin authors into the later literature. Nor
ismore value to be attached to what is related elsewhere dur-
ing the Middle Ages of Trojan descent. The English highly
prized the tradition, and even in Norse literature belief in it
has assumed a characteristic form.
This whole cycle of legends is still unknown to Saxo Gram-

maticus, who does not seem to have heard of either Troy or
Priam in this connection. He does indeed mention, but with-
out signifying his own concurrence, the opinion of Dudo, a
writer on Aquitanian history of the end of the tenth century,
that the Danes derived their name from the Danai. Saxo
also refers to an ancient king, Othinus, who had established
relations with Byzantium, but he is unaware of any connection
between Asia and Scandinavia.
The latter notion we meet in the Ynglinga Saga {Hehns-
kringld) and in the Preface (of later origin) to the Prose Edda.
Odhin is there said to have come to the North from Asgardh
on the Black Sea, and the narratives of the Vanir war, of
Mimir and Hoenir, are interwoven with the story of that jour-
ney. In the afore-mentioned Preface {fof7nd/i) Troy and the
expedition of Pompey are referred to by name.
There was not the slightest cause for mistaking the true
character of these tales by endeavoring to find genuine tradition
in them, as has been done by. some scholars. There is not
even the least evidence that the ancient Norsemen were eager
to connect their past with the classical world. The instances
just mentioned stand isolated and are the work of mythogra-
phers, who, by combining various unrelated elements and over-
riding all chronology, constructed a pseudo-historical narrative
devoid of all value from either the historical or the mytho-
logical point of view. It would be in vain to seek genuine
fragments of Teutonic legends here.
4. Even in a brief survey some attention must be paid to
the relations of the Teutons to other nations before and at the
dawn of the historical period.
We shall probably never fully succeed in tracing the bound-
aries dividing Kelts from Teutons in the prehistoric times,
or in determining the lands which each of these peoples origi-
nally occupied, or in fixing the tribes of which they were
composed.' However, linguistic investigations, more especially

of names of places, have already shed considerable light upon
the subject, and we now know that the whole west and south of
Germany exhibit Keltic names. The Kelts in their various
expeditions roamed also over the southern peninsulas of Europe,

Spain, Italy, and Greece. These results are firmly established
and cannot be affected by warning cries which have been raised
against the extravagances of Kelto-mania. Such warnings are

to a certain extent justified. Thus we cannot concur in the
view of some scholars that the Kelts, or more especially

the Gauls, were of old a highly civilized people, possessing
great technical skill and a profound symbolism. At the same
time there cannot be any doubt as to the wide extent of the
territory covered by the Kelts in prehistoric times, or their
superiority to their Teutonic neighbors in culture.
The boundary between Kelts and Teutons was doubt-
original
less situated in the country between the Oder and Elbe. Miillen-
hoff locates it in the Harz and Thuringia, which would at once
mark the boundary towards both the south and west. Nothing
is known concerning the relations existing between these con-
tiguous peoples in Central Germany, any more than concerning
the causes for the advance of the Teutons and the manner in
which it took place. Nor do we know what extent the two

to
peoples intermingled. It is clear, however, that they did mix in

various ways, and that there was no such sharp line of divi-
sion or such a mutual aversion between them as we must
assume to have existed between Teutons and Slavs. In Cen-
tral Germany, as subsequently on the Rhine, on the left as well
as on the right bank, the contiguous Kelts and Teutons have

assuredly not always waged war on each other, but have fre-
quently lived in peaceful intercourse. This mutual influence
1 Maps may be found in Miillenhoff's Deutsche Altertiimskunde and in tlie

article of R. Mucli, PBB. XVII. The former treats tlie Kelts and their expeditions
very fully (DA. II).

was so strongly marked that it is not always possible to deter-

mine from the sources at our command whether in a particu-
lar case we have to do with a Teutonic or a Keltic tribe. In
fact, during the first centuries of our era most of the tribes to
the west of the Rhine do not bear an unmixed character.

evident that the Teutons reached the Rhine, and even
It is
crossed it, about the beginning of our era. Roman accounts,

from Caesar onward, as well as numerous inscriptions, inform
us how Kelt and Teuton met in these regions. The question
therefore naturally presents itself, What elements in their religion
belong to each of the two peoples } From the nature of the
case such a question can be fully answered only by a series
of detailed investigations. Common characteristics do not,
however, necessarily imply always either influence from the

one side or the other, or borrowing. There is, for example, no
reason for attributing the worship of springs, which we find
among both nations, originally to the one rather than to the
other. This is a cult which is found among Slavs as well as
Teutons and Kelts, and, in fact, among a large number of
peoples. It does not furnish a sufficient basis for assuming

an historical connection.
The greatest obstacle that we encounter in attempting to
trace the nationality of various gods lies in their foreign, that
is to say their Latin, names. Several divinities bear on inscrip-

tions the name and the grounds on which they
of Hercules,
have been called Keltic or Teutonic are not always conclusive.
There is, moreover, still a third possibility. The Roman
soldiers in the provinces must have brought along their own
divinities. It is highly probable that the Hercules Saxanus of
a number of inscriptions found in the valley of the Brohl

and the vicinity of Metz was not a Teutonic Donar or
Saxnot, but the genuine Roman tutelar deity of the miners.^
1 Compare El. H. Meyer, PBB. XVIII. H. Cannegieter, followed by numerous

other scholars had already suggested this explanation of the Hercules Saxanus in 1 758.
On the whole rather too much has been claimed as the

property of the Kelts.
This latter observation does not, however, apply to the matres,
or matronae,^ that are found represented or inscribed on various
monuments of the first centuries of our era, and whose Keltic
origin is at present quite generally recognized. These mother
goddesses frequently form groups of three they bestow a blessing ;
upon the fields and make them fruitful, and hence are frequently
represented with fruits and flowers, with ears of corn or a horn
of plenty. Their cult must have been very widespread, reach-
ing from Britain to Switzerland. The great extent of this ter-
ritory isno doubt to be accounted for in part by the fact that
the cult was spread by Keltic soldiers in the armies. On the
right bank of the Rhine the matronae are only rarely met with.
Their surnames bear to a large extent a local character. That
among these latter there are some of Teutonic origin — espe-
cially those ending in ims — does not alter the fact that the
?natro/iac themselves are of Keltic origin.
We must assume, therefore, that Teutons and Kelts, living
for many centuries in constant and active intercourse, mutually
influenced each other, the influence of Kelts on Teutons being
undoubtedly stronger than that of Teutons on Kelts. While
the contact between Teutons and Slavs was of an altogether less
intimate character, it too demands some attention. The ancient
accounts all indicate that the Vistula formed the original bound-
ary between Teutons and Slavs. The group that is at times
simply called Slavs really comprises two distinct groups : the
Baits or Letts (the ^'Estii of Tacitus) and the Slavs (the Venedi).
1 The literature and list of names may be found in the article by M. Ihm, in
Reseller's Z,6';ï/Vö«, pp. 264-279. J. de Wal's Dc Moedergodinnen (1846), the first

important treatise on this subject, is now antiquated. The classical work is that of
M. Ihm, in the Jahrb. d. Vereins von Alterthunisfrennden im Kheinlande {iZ?!^).
Compare further F. Kauffmann, in Weinhold's Zs. des Vereins fiir Volksk., II
(1S92), and H. Kern, in Versl. en Med. K. Akad. Amsf. (1S72), who explains a
number of epitheta from Teutonic words.
Tacitus gives us little information concerning these peoples.

That they led a free and rude mode of life was practically all
that his informants could tell him. The ^^stii he still classes
among the Teutons and compares them with the Suebi. That
they too worshipped a mater deum possesses from our point
of view no special significance, inasmuch as the Romans
when interpreting unfamiliar divinities took into consideration
only a single characteristic, and we are, therefore, in no way
compelled to compare this mater (kitm with the terra mater
(Nerthus) of the Teutonic tribes along the seacoast. Tacitus
classes theVenedi with that mass of semi-barbarous peoples
whom he dismisses with a few words expressive of horror,
although he does not deny the possibility that they too were
Teutons. Other Roman accounts furnish little additional
information.
When during the period of the migration of nations one
Teutonic tribe after another — Vandals, Goths, Gepidce, Heruli,
Lugii, Burgundians — began to push forward to the south and
west, the region between the Vistula, Oder, and Elbe must
have become depopulated. The Balto-Slavs to the north- and
south-east took advantage of this opportunity to extend their
domain. With the expedition of the Lombards in the sixth
century these migrations came to an end, and in the seventh
century the power of the Slavs Europe reached its extreme
in
limits, extending from the Baltic and the Black

to the yï'^gean
Sea, and from the Elbe to the Dnieper and the Alps.
From these facts we may infer that the Balto-Slavs and Teu-
tons were brought into contact on every side, and since with
the migration of a people there are always some that stay
behind, the two races must undoubtedly have intermingled in
the region between the Vistula and the Elbe. The influence
thus exerted was, however, not nearly as great as we might be
led to expect. The Teutonic tribes always had their faces
turned to the west and south and it was the contact with
Kelts and Romans, and not with Balto-Slavs, that moulded

them. Besides, what could they borrow from their neighbors
on the east, who were their inferiors in civilization ? The two
peoples had a strong aversion towards one another, which con-
tinued uninterruptedly and to which the medieval chronicles
when speaking of the Slavs constantly recur.^ The wars, as
a consequence of which the Saxon emperors of the tenth cen-
tury again drove the Slavs out of the old Teutonic country to
the east of the Elbe, were characterized by the greatest fierce-
ness and animosity. Nor did the conversion of the Slavs to
Christianity engender more fraternal feelings between them
and the Teutons. From the very outset they declared alle-
giance not to Rome but to Byzantium, and while the schism be-
tween the Eastern and Western Church was not yet in existence,
the Slavs, nevertheless, through this dependence on Byzantium
remained outside the circle of the European body politic of the
Middle Ages. Even at the present day, after the lapse of so
many centuries, the Wends living in various parts of Saxony
are regarded as a class quite distinct from the Germans round
about them.
It is, therefore, not to be expected that a comparison with
Balto-Slavic observances and conceptions will shed any great
light on the religion of the Teutons. Here, again, not much
importance should be attached to similarities of a general char-
acter. That the Balto-Slavs too regarded forests and springs
as sacred, that parallels may be found in the folklore, does not
constitute an argument for the existence of active intercourse
between the two peoples. Such parallels are encountered every-
where. An inspection of the names of Lithuanian gods " will
show that the resemblance to Teutonic mythology is but slight.
1 Adam of Bremen and Thietmar of Merseburg in the eleventh, and Hehnold

in the twelfth, centuries. Illustrations of the hatred and contempt felt by the Ger-
mans for the Wends may be found in Hauck, Kirchcngeschichtc Detitschlands, III,
I, pp. 86-92.
2 1 have in mind here the list given by H. Usener, G'óttcruamcii (1S96), pp. S5-108.
And yet, despite the between the two

aversion existing
races, contiguity of habitation and the wars waged between
them must have left decided traces in legends and customs.
The Scandinavians more especially came into close contact
with the Slavs. Vikings founded, in the country of the
Wends, the Jomsburg, which plays such an important role in
the history of the North during the tenth century and ;

in
Gardariki (Russia) a Swedish family established its rule. It
is perfectly legitimate, therefore, to endeavor to explain certain
characteristic features of the myths and customs of the two

peoples on the score of this intercourse. Such attempts have
actually been made, although they have met with little success.
The prophetess (vqlva), the divine race of the Vanir, Kvasir,
who had sprung from the spittle of ^sir and Vanir, and from
whose blood the poets' mead was made, the phallic symbol of
Freyr, are some of the elements to which a Slavic origin has
been attributed. This, however, is to a large degree conjec-
tural, and in order to support the claim in any one instance
a special investigation is called for. The theory of the Slavic
origin of the Vanir, more especially, runs counter to all that we
know about these gods.
In the case of all such parallels we should hesitate a long
time before assuming an historical connection. The following
may serve as illustration. An Arab, Ibn Fozlan, travelled in
921 as ambassador of the Caliph of Bagdad to the Wolga and
there witnessed the funeral rites of a distinguished Russian.
A wood was erected on a ship, a girl set aside
funeral pyre of
to accompany the body in death, the sacrificial victims, con-
sisting in part of horses, were slaughtered, and finally the
whole was set afire. This union of two modes of disposal of
the dead, first entrusting the body to the sea in a boat and
then burning it, is so characteristically Scandinavian, and it
reminds one so strongly of the well-known episode of the
burning of Baldr's body, that we seem almost compelled to
;
assume a connection. And yet such a connection is stren-
uously denied from both sides, by Slavic as well as by Teutonic

mythologists.^ The agreement is after all of a general char-
acter, consisting of isolated correspondences, such as are

found among various peoples, and side by side with points of
agreement there are also important differences to be noted.
One might venture an opinion in favor of the one view .as
against the other, but certainty cannot be attained.

To sum up, the parallels between Teutons and Balto-Slavs
are doubtful in character and unimportant. We may at any
rate safely assert that no great Slavic current ran through
ancient Teutonic life.
Of far greater significance are the relations of the Northern

Teutons with the Finns. Here again the origins lie hidden
from our view. It was formerly held that all of Central and
Western Europe was at one time occupied by a Finnish popu-
lation, a wild, primitive race which had been subjugated by the
Indo-Europeans. This theory has gone the way of the other
fond dreams of Indo-European splendor. Finns and Lapps
no doubt set foot in Europe at about the same time as the
Indo-Europeans, possibly a little earlier. From very early
times they mutually influenced each other. The Finnish lan-
guage more particularly bears traces of very old borrowings
from Teutonic languages, from a period of language develop-
ment preceding the time of Ulfilas. Evidence of this latter
kind is more reliable than that based on manners and customs,
although an attempt has also been made to show from cere-
monies observed at marriage that there existed prehistoric

relations between the Finno-Ugric and Indo-European families."
In Sweden and Norway the Finns preceded the Teutons ;
it has even been suggested that the name Scandinavia {i.e.
1 G. Krek, Einleitimg in die slavische Litteraiurgeschichte (second edition, 1S87)

J. Grimm, Ueber das Verbreniicn dcr Leichen {Kl. Schr., II).
2 L. V. Schroeder, Die Hochzeitsbrduche der Esten (188S).
Scadinavia) takes its origin from them.'^ Among the Mon-

golian tribes settled in these regions we distinguish the Lapps
(Sabme) and Finns (Suomi). The former, heathen in part
even to the present day, led a more savage life and kept aloof
from civilized peoples. On the other hand, the very language
of the Finns shows how many elements of culture they bor-
rowed from Teutons as well as from Balto-Slavs. They lived
on both sides of the Bothnic Gulf, as well as along the eastern
shore of the Baltic, along whose southern border they occu-
pied the present provinces of Courland, Livonia, and Esthonia,
a semi-depopulated region, which had been abandoned by the
Teutons and only sparsely settled by the Baits. Here they
assumed, before a.d. 800, the name of Esthonians, a designa-
tion that properly belongs to a Baltic tribe.
The testimony of the ancients concerning the Finns is
extremely vague ; even Procopius '^

does not venture beyond
a few astounding statements concerning the savagery of these
Thulitas and With these latter tribes, Tacitus accord-
Scrithifini.
ingly brings his treatment of the Teutons to a close, not sus-

pecting apparently that these Fenni are the same people as
the Sitones, whom he had mentioned some chapters previous
as adjoining the Suiones (Swedes) on the north. His state-
ment by a woman has been explained as

that they were ruled
due to the misunderstanding of a name. The Finns as inhab-
itants of the lowlands were called Kainulaiset,^ and this word
changed to Kvenir (O. N. kona, woman gen. pi. kvenna) gave
;
rise to the fable of female sovereignty.''

While the relations between Finns and Northern Teutons
doubtless go back to very early times, there are good reasons
1 This is, however, extremely doubtful. Compare Miillenhoff, DA. H, 359 ff.,
and Bugge, PBB. XXI, 424.
2 Belhim Gothicum, II, 15. 3 Miillenhoff, DA. II, 10.
i Another interpretation, according to which the Kvenir were originally Scandi-
navians and mingled with the Finns only at a later time, is given by K. B. Wiklund,
Oni Kv'dncrna och deras nationalitct, AfnF. XII.
'M THE RELIGION OF THE ANCIENT TEUTONS
for supposing that the period of greatest reciprocal influence

is approximately coextensive with the age of the Vikings (800-
1000). A discussion of these influences may appropriately be
introduced at this point.
The songs which Lönnrot, during the second quarter of our
century, caught up from the mouths of the people he united
with admirable skill into an epic poem, which, while by no
means merely a product of the poet's art, has yet in its present
form not arisen spontaneously. These features make the
Kalewala unique in
^
the whole range of the world's literature.
Now this epic contains in its diction characteristic features and

episodes that are reminiscences of Norse mythology, without,
however, resembling the latter. It is of some importance that
we should form a correct conception of the nature of this rela-
tionship. After many futile attempts made by various scholars
Comparetti seems finally to have found the correct solution.
A number of these correspondences lie on the surface.
Such are the great value attached to magic formulas, songs,
:
and signs, which are by both peoples called "runes " Waina- ;
möinen, the hero of Kalewa, is like Odhin a great magician ;
Sampo, around which a large part of the action of the Kalewala

turns, is like the millstone Grotti, — an object that produces
all that one wishes. Are we to suppose that the Finns bor-
rowed all these features from the Scandinavians ? The answer
must be that we cannot by any possibility assume literary
dependence, but that we may to a certain extent posit influ-
ence through oral tradition. The Finns were not acquainted
with either scaldic poetry or Eddie song, and they certainly
did not copy their Wainamoinen from Odhin. They borrowed
a few individual words, so doubtless "rune" and probably
1
J. Grimm, Ueber
das finnische Epos {Kl. Schr., II) L. Uhland, Odin {Schr.,
;
VI) ;A. Castrén, Vorlcsungeii iiber die finnische Mythologie (German translation
by A. Schiefner, 1853), pp. 298-303; J. Krolin, Kalevala-Studicii (in Veckenstedt's
ZfV. 1889) D. Comparetti, Der Kalewala (German, 1892).
;
also " Sampo " (= commtvnvealth, according to Comparetti).

Their epic tales bear, however, as a rule a truly national
character what they borrowed from the Scandinavians they
;
have thoroughly assimilated. The Finnish epic rests wholly on

the basis of Shamanism ;
there is not a single myth or char-
acter which has been borrowed woof and warp from Scan-
dinavia. Its magicians are not gods, as are those of the
Teutons ; manners, customs, conceptions, — all are different.
And yet it cannot be denied that intercourse with the Teutons

has exerted an influence on the Finns. Through this influence
theirmagic practices have been more or less modified the ;
magic drum pushed into the background, and the runic

lore into the foreground.Similarly, magic incantation, indige-
nous among the Teutons, has also become of chief importance

among the Finns we even find in use among them, as in
;
the Merseburg formulas, the magic word that serves to cure

the halting horse. Numerous other parallels might be cited,
which all go to show that, while each of the two peoples bor-
rowed to a considerable extent from the other, each preserved
its national character intact.
Not that the Teutons were obliged to learn magic from the
Finns but throughout Old Norse literature, as well as in Saxo,
;
Olaus Magnus, and other authors, the Finns are held in high
repute as magicians, and a distinction was at times drawn
between the arts of Lapps and of Finns. Mention is also
made in the same sources of the state of ecstasy in which
Finnish magicians exercised their power or brought to light
hidden things, as well as of magic knots that brought about
favorable winds or storm. The sagas furnish numerous
examples of Finnish magicians. Harald Fairhair married the
daughter of a Finnish magician, Snaïfrid, and preserved her
body for three years after her death, without decomposition
setting in ; and when finally the linen robe was removed
snakes and insects issued forth from it. Gunnhikl also, the
:
wife of Eric Bloody-axe, son of Harald Fairhair, made frequent

use of Finnish magic arts, mostly for purposes of evil. In
Norse law, going to Finmark for the sake of learning magic is
forbidden under pain of severe penalties. As early as the

time of Olaf Tryggvason we hear of the consequences of such
a prohibition, and not only in the historic but in the romantic
sagas as well Finnish magic is continually referred to.^
Among the divinities of the Norse pantheon there are two

or three that bear an unmistakably Finnish character. First
among these is Skadhi, the daughter of the giant Thjazi, who

became the wife of Njqrdhr. She is entirely Finnish ; she walks
on snowshoes {ski^ and hunts game v/ith bow and arrow. Like-
wise Finnish is Thorgerdh H^lgabrudh, with her sister Irpa,
who was worshipped especially by jarl Hakon and who had a
number of temples in which her images had been installed, of
life size and with golden rings on the fingers. In the battle
with the Jomsvikings this Thorgerdh aided jarl Hakon, but
not until he had sacrificed to her his seven-year-old son. She
then brought about terrific thunder- and hail-storms, in which
the Jomsvikings perished with their entire
-^
fleet.
Norsemen therefore, while at times standing in awe of

Finnish witchcraft, as a rule reposed great confidence in it,
and it is in this field more particularly that the two peoples

kept up constant relations with each other.
Of the rich literature on this subject it will suffice to mention the following
1
Fritzner,Lappcrncs Hedenskab og Trolldomsku7ist {Norsk Hist. Tidskr., IV) E. ;
Beauvois, La magic chcz Ics Finnois {Rev. Hist. d. ReL, iSSi) K. Maurer, Bekeh-
;
rung des norwegischen Slammes, II, 417 ff. L. UhlaiTd, T/ior {Sc/ir., VI, 398 ff.).
;
2 Feereyingasaga, Chapter 23 Njdlasaga, Chapter 87 Jèmsvikingasaga, Chap-

; ;
ter 44 ; Bia,rnVs /oMS7'tki)igadrdpa, CPB. II, 301. Interpretations of this saga as of

others vary widely. Compare G. Storm, AfnF. II; A. Olrik, Kilderne til Sakscs
Oldh.\ Better, ZfdA. XXXII; S. Bugge, Helgedigtenc, pp. 321 ff. Bugge holds
that the conception of Thorgerdh as a Mnnish woman is secondary. From Norse
legends he contends this saga-heroine developed in Ireland into a goddess of battle,
her power of magic making her subsequently pass as a Finn.
Fiom (). ÜreiiiL-r, " Kthnographie der germanischen Staninie,"in PauTs Gruiuiriss der geriiiaiiischct!
Philologie, by courtesy of Kail J. Trühner
K
CHAPTER V
TEUTONS AND ROMANS
" Not for a long time to come will the interpretation of these
passages be definitely established." Thus wrote J. Grimm

in 1844 of the "priceless records"^ of the Romans, and
after more than fifty years the observation still holds good.
These Roman accounts are numerous, but they are fragmen-
tary and frequently obscure. Tacitus, our main source, is
lauded by one scholar as endowed with " a quick apprehension
of ideas otherwise foreign to classical authors," - while another
authority speaks of " an iridescent method of delineation, an
horizon limited to the conventional range of thought of declin-

ing antiquity and a too frequent neglect of the really essential
factors." ^
We must here consider the more important passages
that have a bearing on the religion.
Caesar came into contact with the Teutons only casually, and
no great weight is therefore to be attached to his observations
concerning them. In part, these agree with what we know
from other sources, so, for example, that the Teutons had no
priestly caste corresponding to the Gallic Druids, aiid^ that
before battle the women ButJus_Qther
practised soothsaying.
statements, that they made no sacrifices and knew no other
gods than visible natural phenomena, such as Sol, Vulcan^ and
Luna, are sufficiently refuted by the testimony of Tacitus.
We do not even know from what source Caesar arrived at just
these three divinities ;
perhaps he overheard a Teuton invoking
1
J. Grimm, DM., Vorrede, p. x.
- L. von Ranke, Weltgeschichte, III, 38.
3 Th. Mommsen, Rdmische Geschichte, V, 154.
97
the sun and other celestial bodies, just as Bojocalus, the leader
of the Ansivari, did in solemn fashion when the Romans would
not grant to his people the waste tracts which they demanded.^
More accurate than the notes of Caesar seems the account of
Strabo concerning the priestesses of the Cimbri, who cut the
throats of the prisoners of war above a sacrificial vessel and
then prophesied from the blood that flowed into it.
Tacitus beyond all comparison our richest source, and it

is
is through him that the full light of history is first shed on
the Teutons. His knowledge of Germany is extensive, and

of his love of truth there is no reasonable doubt. It remains
necessary, however, to weigh his testimony and to inquire first

of all from what sources he drew his information. These latter
were doubtless numerous and reliable for more than a century
;
the Teutons had been within the Roman horizon, and Pliny's
extensive work on wars with the Teutons was at the disposal
of Tacitus. At Rome he had the opportunity of seeing and
questioning many Teutonic and prisoners of war. He
soldiers
had himself probably served as an officer in Germany, just as
his father-in-law, Agricola, had been governor in Britain. In
the circles in which Tacitus moved, there were doubtless many
persons who had in a similar manner become well acquainted
with the provinces, and yet even this knowledge had its limits.
It was reliable for those regions that the Roman legions had
actually traversed, less complete for those lands that were
merely to a greater or less degree within the sphere of Roman
influence. Accordingly, Tacitus is well informed concerning
the West Teutons along the Rhine, but less so concerning the
interior of Germany. Whatever incidental information he gives
us concerning the distant Baltic coasts he has only at second
hand. He is himself careful to pay due regard to this differ-
ence in the character of his material ; he explicitly warns us
1 Tacitus, Annals, XIII, 55. The story may also be found in Grhnni, Deutsche
Sagc?i, Nr. 367.
-
TEUTONS AND ROMANS 99
when what he relates is founded on mere rumor, and he not

infrequently leaves a question undecided. At times we see
even more clearly than could Tacitus that the material at his
disposal was inadequate to determine the question at issue,
so, for example, as to the autochthonous character of the
Teutonic people.
The style of his historical writings is rhetorical and, on
account of unnatural twists and turns of phrase, frequently
obscure. Thus in the very first sentence of the Genuania cor-
rectness of statement is sacrificed to style. The author is on
the hunt for telling antitheses and style-efifects. Moreover, his
outlook and judgment are those of a Roman of his time, as may
be seen from the comparison he makes between the Romans
enervated through luxury, and the unspoiled people of nature, —
a comparison that had long since become one of the stock-ideas
of literature.^While these factors have doubtless colored the
picture Tacitus draws of the Teutons, we may yet easily over-
estimate their importance. The Genuania of Tacitus is not
an idyl, nor a romance, nor a political pamphlet ; it contains
a wealth of material, gives evidence of not a small degree
of objectivity, and is, in truth, a scientific document of high
historical value. It is manifestly unjust to the historian of
A.D. loo to reproach him with the fact that in the year 1900
questions are asked to which he furnishes no answer.
The Teutonic tribes which Tacitus knew were not savages.
While lacking the institutions found among peoples of more
advanced culture, they yet did not live in anarchy. They found
a livelihood in the chase and from their flocks ; agriculture,
too, was not unknown to them. The several tribes possessed
territory of their own and had fixed abodes, but various causes
frequently induced or compelled them to change these. Again,
individual tribes might fuse with others or disappear from the
scene altogether. Fixed institutions that furnished a guarantee
1 Compare Horace, Odes, III, xxiv, 9 ; Seneca, De Ira, I, 9.
of stability were lacking. Scholars have, therefore, undoubtedly

gone too far in recognizing in the picture as drawn by Tacitus
various political and judicial institutions that afterwards existed
among the Teutons ; but it is equally unjust to represent them
as a band of savages among whom club-law reigned supreme,
and who had to learn the very elements of law from the
Romans.-^ Established custom, a feeling of honor, and divina-
tion, all served to maintain certain fixed forms that checked
the free course of personal caprice and passion.
Besides, we must not lose sight of the fact that to the
Teuton the past was ever living and present in songs cele-
brating the divine origin of the tribes and the achievements
of their heroes, such as Arminius. From the earliest times
the tribes loved their songs. In them they handed down their
legends, and even at a later period a harp was one of the three
things which a king of the Vandals, at the fall of his kingdom
in Africa, desired in his direst need. At their very entrance
on the stage of history the Teutons possessed songs. In them
are celebrated the traditions of the tribe and the fame of the
hero and leader. We meet with families of leaders at the very
outset,and there are even beginnings of kingship, such as that
of Arminius among the Cherusci and Maroboduus among the
Marcomanni. Too much has been made of the search for
fixed characteristics that distinguished families of royal or
noble blood from the general class of freemen. It is certain,
however, that the Teutons of old held in honor nobilitas
alongside of virtus and, at a later period as well, attached great

importance to descent from noble ancestors."
The Teutonic tribes at the beginning of the Christian era
did not constitute a national unit. They constantly waged
1 So Seeck, Geschichte des Untergangs der aniikeit We//, I, pp. 200, 206, 213.
For examples among the Heruli, at a later time, see Frocopms, Be//um Gothictun,
2
II, 15 compare also K. Maurer, Ueber das IVesen des dltesten Adels der deidschen
;
Sidmtne (1S46).
TEUTONS AND ROMANS 10]
war upon one another so in Ccesar's time the Ubii upon the
;
Suebi, and subsequently the Cherusci under Arminius upon

the Marcomanni under Maroboduus. Similarly, Tacitus tells
us of a war between the Chatti and Hermunduri. Nor did
they present a united front as over against foreigners, and
in consequence we experience considerable difficulty in the
attempt to distinguish between Teutonic and Keltic tribes on

the left bank of the Rhine. Against Rome, too, the Teutons
did not make common cause some eagerly sought alliance,
;
and even entered into the military service of Rome. We

frequently find love of freedom and thirst for vengeance against
injustice and oppression inciting Teutons to war against Rome,
but neither the war under Arminius, nor that under Maro-
boduus, nor that under Civilis bore a general and national
character. Religious consecration by means of divination
doubtless played a part in these wars, but they cannot be
traced to religious motives.
What Tacitus relates of the religion of the Teutons must be
interpreted in the light of the meaning that Roman readers
attached to his words, and is to be taken with such limitations
as are indicated by own testimony. The necessity of this
his
latter restriction is shown by some contradictions occurring
in his works. Whereas the Ger7nania, for example, expressly
denies the existence of temples as opposed to sacred groves,
notwithstanding the fact that a temple of Nerthus is referred
to in Chapter Annals ^ and Histories mention, in addition
40, the
to the sacred groves, a temple of Tamfana, which was razed to
the ground by Germanicus.
The sacred groves constituted the centre of the religious and
political There the tribes assembled to plan common
life.
undertakings, and there the trophies captured from the enemy

were hung up, and prisoners of war slaughtered. We know
of several of these sacred groves : the grove of Baduhenna,
1 Annals, I, 51.
where nine hundred Romans fell the grove of the Nahanar- ;
where a priest in woman's clothing worshipped, without

vali,
images, two brothers by the name of Alois the dread grove ;
where the Semnones sacrificed human victims to the regnator

omnium deus,^ and which no one was allowed to enter unfet-
tered the sacred grove {castum nemns), on that island in the
;
ocean where seven tribes in holy peace awaited the coming

of Nerthus and, lastly, the grove that is expressly mentioned
;
in connection with the sacred saline streams for which the
Chatti and Hermunduri waged war.

Two characteristic features receive especial emphasis in the
account that Tacitus gives of Teutonic religion : the air of
mystery and the intimate connection with the life of the tribe.
Reverence for the mysterious silence of the forest, for the

divine in woman and for her powers of divination, — reverence
that finds its expression in the bloody rites of the Semnones
as well as in the requirement that the slaves who had assisted
in the cleansing of the wagon of Nerthus should forthwith
be drowned, — this fundamental trait of Teutonic religion
impressed Tacitus all the. more since this arcanus terror was
foreign to the Romans. This reverence is in the present
instance a characteristic of popular religion ;
there existed
no priestly ritual or kingly authority that could have instilled
it ; for while priests are repeatedly mentioned by Tacitus as
executing sacred rites, as consulting the signs in augury, and
as presiding at assemblies of the people, they are nowhere
regarded as a caste or separate class with exclusive powers
and prerogatives. The individual state, the civitas, has its
priest (sacerdos), just as the whole religious life is intimately
connected with that of the tribe. Tacitus indeed speaks only
be it of the single tribe or of a league of
of tribal religions,
tribes,such as among the Greeks was called an amphiktuonia.
The latter was the case with the seven Nerthus tribes and with
1 •'
God, the ruler of all."
the Semnones, in whose midst representatives of a number of

tribes, related by blood kinship, assembled for the service of
the supreme god. After the strife between the Chatti and
Hermunduri mentioned above, it would seem, though the pas-
sage is not altogether clear, that the victorious Hermunduri
brought to Mars and Mercury the bloody sacrifice of all the
prisoners of war. On all public occasions, and notably when
about to engage in war, divination was resorted to, from
staves inscribed with runes, from birds, or from the neighing of
horses. In the popular assemblies at full and new moon, the
functions performed by the priests were, next to the influence
and authority of the leaders, almost the only element that
brought some degree of regularity to the frequently unorderly
deliberations. We should be guilty of gross exaggeration if we
were to represent the life of the ancient Teutons as wholly
permeated with religious ideas and observances, but at the
same time various facts cannot be overlooked that the tribes :
traced their origin to their gods ; that on all occasions they

sought in various ways to ascertain the will of these gods ; that
they went to war — their chief occupation — accompanied
by
the sacred images and symbols ; and that after victory had
been won, they offered up their booty to these same gods.
What Tacitus has to say about the Teutonic gods is the
least satisfactory part of his treatment. The reason for this
lies partly in that he defines their character to so limited an
extent and partly in that he calls them, with few exceptions,
by Roman names. Through the veil of this Roman interpre-
tation we must perforce seek to catch a glimpse of Teutonic
deities. The supreme divinity with Tacitus is Mercury- Wodan.
That the Roman Tacitus should call the Teutonic supreme
deity Mercury is no doubt to be accounted for in part by the
Gallic Mercury. Next to Mercury stood Hercules, whom the
warriors in their songs praised as the first of the brave, and
Mars, who has been identified with the regnator omniion of the
-
Semnones. Isis, who occurs among a division of the Suebi,

Tacitus considered a foreign deity on account of the ship sym-
bol which was connected with her worship. Ship processions
are, however, indigenous among the Teutons, and we must
therefore regard this Isis as a Teutonic divinity, who is per-
haps to be identified with Frija, as Miillenhoff has done. ,The
interpretation of the name Alcis, borne by the two brothers in the
sanctuary of the Nahanarvali, offers great difficulties, although

both the Asdingi,^ the long-haired kings of the Vandals, and
the Dioscuri (the Hartungen) of the heroic saga present points
of resemblance. Genuinely Teutonic names are unfortunately
few in number. They include only Nerthus among the Teu-
tonic tribes along the sea and Tamfana among the Marsi.
The former, Tacitus explains as signifying terra viater (mother
earth), an interpretation which has without sufficient reason
been called into question.
Besides the Roman historical accounts we learn a few
particulars regarding Teutonic divinities and their cult through
monuments and inscriptions on coins. But, as has already
been pointed out, these inscriptions originate with the Roman
legions,and the Teutonic element hence plays a role altogether
subordinate to the Roman and Keltic. By far the larger part
of the Jupiters, Mercurys, ApoUos, and Minervas that are
found on inscriptions from the west of the Rhine many of —
them with surnames that are in part local — were doubtless
Keltic and Roman divinities. Nor is there any occasion for
surprise that Roman soldiers in a country where the Keltic
population was the original and dominant element did not
worship many Teutonic gods. There are, however, traces of
Teutonic cults in a few names, Latin as well as native. Among
these is the Hercules Deusoniensis, whom we find depicted on
' Jordanes, De origine actibitsqite Getariiiii, Chapter 22.

- By Mannhardt, Baumkultjis i/cr Germanen, pp. 567-602, who sees in Nerthus a
male vegetation demon.
TEUTONS AND ROMAJVS 105
coins, with attributes, to be sure, that are certainly not Teu-

tonic, but whose cognomen seems to have been preserved in
names of places, such as Duisburg. A richer material is at
our disposal in the case of Hercules Magusanus, found on a

number of inscriptions from the Netherlands, who is at times
joined with other deities of the Lower Rhine region, more
especially with Nehalennia. He has been regarded as the
chief god of the Batavi and is most likely to be identified with
Donar.
A limited number of native names have also been gathered
from inscriptions. A stone was unearthed at Breda, conse-
crated to a goddess Sandraudiga by the cultorcs tevipli ^ , several
inscriptions mention a goddess Hludana, worshipped by fisher-
men {conductores piscatus). This name has certainly no con-
nection with Holda, and probably also none with the Norse
Hlodhyn. Various conjectures have been made concerning
the god Requalivahanus, whose name occurs on an inscription
from the vicinity of Cologne. The name indicates darkness,
and by some this darkness has been referred to that of the
lower world, by others to that of the forest. The best known
figure of all is that of Nehalennia, of whom a large number of
monuments were brought to light near Domburg (on the island
of Walcheren, the Netherlands) in 1647, and near Deutz (in
Rhenish Prussia) in 1776. She is depicted with the attributes
of a horn of plenty, a basket of fruit, and a dog. The goddess
herself is represented in a standing or sitting posture, rarely
with bared head, and frequently in the company of other
gods, such as Hercules and Neptune. Many possible and
impossible conjectures have been made concerning her origin,
her name, her connection or identification with other goddesses.

That she was at any rate a Teutonic goddess may now be con-
sidered established, and her attributes show conclusively that
prosperity and fertility were expected from her.
1 " Priests of the temple."
Teutonic soldiers serving under the Romans in other prov-

inces of theEmpire may also have worshipped their ancestral
gods beyond the borders of their own native land. That such
was actually the case is shown by two inscriptions of the third
century, found in 1883 at Housesteads in the north of Eng-
land, near the Wall of Hadrian. The altar on which they are
found was erected by Frisian soldiers from Twenthe, which —
is rather strange inasmuch as Twenthe belonged to the territory
of the Salic Franks, — and is dedicated "Deo Marti Thingso

et duabus Alaesiagis Bede et Fimmilene." relief above
^ The
the altar shows an armed warrior with helmet, spear, and
shield, at whose right a swan or goose is seen. Both of the
receding sides (the relief is semicircular in form) show the same
figure of a hovering female, with a sword (or staff) in the one
hand and a wreath in the other. The value of these monu-

ments is doubtless great, and yet it has by some been over-
estimated. What we do know is that the Frisian cnnciis,
encamped in Britain under Alexander Severus, worshipped
Mars, i.e. Tiu, doubtless as god of war, as the armed figure in
itself indicates. A fragment of nature-mythology, according to
some scholars, lies concealed in the swan, to be interpreted as

the symbol of either light or cloud, and to be brought into
connection with the Swan-knights of legendary lore. Similar
theories have been advanced regarding the female figures,

but all of this is mere conjecture, possessing a greater or
less degree of probability. It appears likely that the Frisian
cavalrymen, who call themselves citizens, saw in Tiu the god

not only of their squadron but also of their popular assembly,
the thing, and that the two side figures are to be regarded in
the same light, their names having been explained from certain
forms of Frisian legal procedure. However that may be, the

fact that these Frisian soldiers worshipped Tiu does not seem
to show conclusively that this god of the sky was originally the
1 " To the god Mars Thingsus, and the two Altesiagse, Bede and Fimmilene."
TEUTOiYS AND ROMANS 107
chief god of all Teutons. There is no warrant, therefore, for

regarding this hillock at Housesteads as a " high watch-tower "
{Jiohe Warte), from which " we get a broad and far-reaching out-
look over the entire Teutonic world." ^ We have no right to
make these " citizens of Twenthe " of the Frisian ciineus the
spokesmen of the whole Teutonic race.

The struggle between Teutons and Romans continued, in
one form or another, for more than five centuries. Ever since
the time that Tiberius had abandoned his plan of conquering
the country up to the Elbe, the Roman legions stood guard
at the frontiers of the Empire, chiefly along the line of the
Rhine and Danube. The outposts and the expeditions on
the other sides of these rivers served merely to strengthen the
frontier of the Empire. Among the many Augusti and Caesares
who fought against the various Teutonic tribes are : Trajanus,
Marcus Aurelius, Probus, Julianus, Valentinianus, Gratianus.
The West Teutons in both of the Roman provinces that went
by the name of Germania lived as subjects of the Empire.
The tribes that issued forth from the interior were regularly,
with only few exceptions, vanquished by the Roman armies.
The migrations, which it is customary to regard as having
begun with the crossing of the Danube in 378, are merely the
continuation, on the one hand, of the war waged for centuries
past at the limes of the Empire and, on the other, of those numer-
ous trecks that, from causes unknown to us, repeatedly drove
first Kelts and then Teutons from the interior to the frontiers
of the Empire. What the Goths did in 378 was exactly what
Brennus, what the Cimbri and Teutones had before done, what
the Goths themselves had done as early as a.d. 250.
We are not here concerned with furnishing an historic sur-
vey, but with setting forth clearly the nature of the influence
exerted by Romans on Teutons. This influence was confined
to those who appeared at the frontiers of the Empire or who
1 Hoffory, Eddastiidicn, p. 1 73.
los THE RELIGION OF THE ANCIENT TEUTONS
settled within its borders. Romans did not to any extent visit
the Teutons of the interior. The [ rotracted contest at the
limes did not cause a chasm between the two peoples, nor did
it create among the Teutons a feeling, of national unity.
Many Teutons served as faithful allies in Roman armies, and
the posts of honor of the Empire, conferring distinction and

authority, were open to Teutons no less than to Spaniards
and Syrians. In the great battle of nations between Romans
and Huns at Chalons-sur-Marne (451) there served under
Aëtius, West Goths and Burgundians, under Attila, East Goths,
Gepidai, and Heruli that is to say, there were Teutons on both
;
sides. In the fifth century the all-powerful ministers of the

Roman Empire were largely Teutons ; so the Vandal Stilicho,
the Suabian Ricimer. must We into the

therefore not fall
error of representing the battle waged for centuries between

Rome and the Teutons as one that took place between two
peoples. The Roman Empire, which was assimilating Teutonic
elements in an ever-increasing ratio, warded off at the limes the
attacks of the more or less unorganized bands that issued from
the interior Marcomanni, Alemanni, etc. These were almost
:
invariably defeated. The saying of Tacitus, " tam diu Ger-

mania vincitur," ^ may in fact serve as a motto for the entire
period. But although defeated a countless number of times,
these bands were ever able to fill their depleted ranks, belong-
ing as they did to a nation that did not restrict the number of
its children, and which was, therefore, ever rich in men capable
of bearing arms and with no occupation except to join in expedi-

tions of plunder and pillage. As to the immediate causes of
these expeditions and the collisions in the course of centuries
between individual Teutonic tribes in the interior, we are abso-
lutely uninformed. Nor can we account for the establishment
of that kingdom of the Goths in Southern Russia, which is

perpetuated in the heroic saga. Their migration southward
1 " So long have we been endeavoring to conquer Germany."
brought them into collision with the Eastern Roman Empire and
formed the beginning of the so-called migration of nations, which
consisted, however, rather of plundering expeditions of armies
than of changes of habitation of the several tribes from one local-
ity to another. Various tribes might join in such an expedition ;
the result was in some cases the disappearance of the entire

band, — as, for example; when Stilicho annihilated the formidable
army of Radagais, — in others, the establishment of a kingdom.

The Roman power did not therefore succumb to the supe-
rior force of a morally uncorrupted and materially unweakened
people. The Empire crumbled and fell to pieces of itself, and
the Teutonic barbarians entered upon the inheritance. Re-
peating what so many of their predecessors had done, who
had previously allowed themselves to be incorporated into the
unity of the Empire, these Teutons appropriated Roman insti-
tutions to the greatest possible extent, and became, in fact,
Romanized. Such was the case with the West-Teutonic tribes,
who had for so long a period occupied the Roman provinces

of Germania Superior and Inferior, and subsequently with the
East Teutons, who played the chief role in the migration of
nations. As rapidly as they pass from the condition of preda-
tory bands to a more settled state, they assume the forms of
the Roman Empire, some, to be sure, to a greater degree than
others ; West Goths in Gaul and Spain, and the East

the
Goths in Italy, more so than the Vandals in Africa.
What we learn of the religion of these tribes during this
period consists solely of isolated facts, incidentally mentioned
by writers who took no real interest in the paganism of these
barbarians. facts may prove to be of some value for
These
the purpose of comparison with the data of other periods, but
they do not suffice to furnish us with an accurate historical
outline. We are told of sacrifices, frequently human, and of
divination ; we read of Christianized Franks ^ who drowned
1 Procopius, Bellum Gothictim, II, 25.
the captive women and children of Goths as a sacrifice offer-

ing in the river. The historian adds the comment that these
barbarians, although had retained numerous
Christianized,
heathen customs, such as human offerings and other abomi-
nable sacrifices, for the purpose of divination, an observation —
^
doubtless of wide, if not general, application for that period.

For all that, the period of migration yields a valuable har-
vest for the study of Teutonic religion, inasmuch as in it lie
the origins of the heroic saga. The voice of song was evidently,
in these rude times, not wanting among the Teutons. Their
chiefs were not held as ordinary men, but as a race of demi-
gods, for whom we also meet the name Anses,-^ indicating their
descent from the gods. This was doubtless true for other
peoples besides the Goths. In the narrative of the monk
Paulus Diaconus, who in the eighth century wrote a history of
his own we now and then catch a glimpse
people, the Lombards,
of songs in which the Lombards kept the memory of their past
alive. The Teutonic heroic saga, therefore, although devel-
oped only at a later time, and combined with various elements
of other origin, yet has its roots in the period of migrations.
This subject, will, however, demand a separate treatment
later on.
About the year 500, the final result of the migrations seemed
to have been reached, and the condition of Western Europe to
have been permanently fixed. In England the Anglo-Saxons
ruled in Gaul Chlodowech had established the powerful king-
;
dom of the Franks the West Goths had occupied Spain,

;
and the Vandals the old Roman province of Africa in Italy ;
the great kingdom of the East Goths was established, which

also embraced parts of Pannonia and Dacia. Theodoric pos-
sessed a certain degree of leadership and ascendancy over the
other Teutonic kings, those of the Vandals, West Goths, and
Thuringians being allied to him through marriage. He also
1 Jordanes, De origine actibusque Getarum, Chapter 13.

endeavored, with varying success, to incorporate the Franks

into that " system of states " (Staatensystari), as Ranke calls it,
in which he occupied the position of a Teutonic king as well

as of ruler of the Roman Empire of the West.
This first attempt to found permanent kingdoms was frus-
trated through the powerful intervention of the emperor Jus-
tinian, who in the sixth century annihilated the Vandal and
East-Gothic states. While Byzantium could not maintain its
sway in the conquered lands, and long-suffering Italy fell into

the hands of the Lombards, who held it until the end of the
.
eighth century, yet the map of the world had been totally
changed, and the Franks had become the paramount power.
Now these Franks settled in lands that more than any other
province had been the seat of Roman culture. Gaul had been
entirely Romanized, and they entered upon the inheritance of
this ancient culture. In seeking the origin of the French
nation three elements are thus to be taken into account : the
Keltic, Roman, and Teutonic. Of these the Roman, while of
least consequence as regards blood, is yet in other respects the
most important, — another proof of the fact that an historic
result does not exclusively, nor even mainly, depend upon
physical descent.
From what has been said, it is evident that there is a link
connecting the ancient world with the medieval. The Roman
Empire was not overthrown by the Teutons, who put in its place
own institutions and customs. Doubtless the Teutons also
their
made their contributions, but less in the way of legal forms and
usages, although such were not altogether wanting, than by the
way in which they modified Roman institutions according to
their own needs. To show this does not, however, fall within
the province of the history of religion, but within that of the
history of law and politics. What has been said will suffice
to indicate the general historical setting of the centuries under
consideration.
It is in this period, too, that most of the Teutonic peoples
accepted Christianity. With their very entrance upon the stage

of history they become Christians ; their paganism belongs
largely to their prehistoric period. All of the Teutonic king-
doms already mentioned were Christian, mostly Arian, the
Franks alone being orthodox. The Teutonic nations received
their civilization through Roman law and culture, and through
Christianity. We are now prepared to take up the traces of
paganism that come to the surface upon the conversion of the

Teutons to Christianity.
The Teutons appear upon the scene of history in three
stages. First of all, the West-Teutonic tribes come into con-
tact with the Romans since the time of Cffisar ;
these become
disintegrated and disappear. Next, during the period of
migrations, the East Teutons found their powerful kingdoms ;
West and East Goths, Vandals, Burgundians, and last of all

the Lombards, who do not, however, form a part of the East-
Teutonic group. These are all overthrown in turn and vanish
from the scene. Only a third group, of which the Franks were
the leaders and champions, and which embraces the peoples of
Middle Germany, has permanently represented the Teutonic
element in the world's history. The Scandinavian peoples
have a history of their own, to which we shall have to devote
separate chapters.
CHAPTER VI
PAGANISM AND CHRISTIANITY
" The heathen Teutons, almost without exception, allow the

Christian propagandism to proceed undisturbed." " We hear
little of heathen fanaticism or of true Christian heroism."^ In

so far as it is possible to generalize concerning the intricate
and involved conditions of the centuries of conversion, the
words above quoted are true. In the case of the first Teu-
tonic peoples, at least, that went over to Christianity, heathen-
ism did not offer any strenuous resistance. But even on this
point our information is again very meagre, since the Latin or

Greek historians of this period rarely, and then only inciden-
tally, allow a ray of light to fall on the history of the Christian-
ization. Concerning the peoples whose conversion took place
later we are somewhat better informed, but in no case do the
scanty accounts furnish us an historic picture of heathendom,
as it held its ground for the time being or gave up the struggle
against advancing Christianity. We shall have to content our-
selves with gathering scattered items of information concerning
the various peoples.
It is not possible to trace the first Christian influences on
the Teutons. Poetic fancy has at times pictured the soldiers
on Golgotha, and even the centurion who first confessed the
Crucified One, as Teutons. At any rate, during the centuries
of friction and intermingling between Romans and Teutons,
the latter were not cut off from anything that was going on
in the Roman world. Consequently, Christianity too must of
1 F. Dahn, Urgeschichte der germanischen itiid romanischcn V'ólker, I,
pp. 425, 428.

"3
itself have made its way to Teutonic soldiers and colonists. A

recent historian ^ compares this spread of Christianity with
what takes place when by accident seed is scattered unevenly
over a piece of ground. The wind carries the seeds in
all directions, and many are lost, but if this state of affairs
continues for some length of time, not only will single seeds
germinate here and there, but presently large stretches of the

field will show a luxuriant growth.
This view furnishes an explanation of the fact that there are
tribes who went over to Christianity without special preaching
and without outward coercion. Of the great influence which
a Christian was able to exert through his holy life upon the
rude minds of barbarians, the biography of Severinus offers
a striking example. This more or less mysterious man, of
unknown origin, lived about 450 in Noricum, on the great
highway followed by the Teutons in their expeditions to Italy.
His biography furnishes us with a picture of the confusion
that reigned in a Roman province at a time when the death
With the collapse
of Attila subverted all existing conditions.
of thepower of the Huns, the remnant of Roman population in
Noricum was no longer able to maintain itself against the
inroads of the plundering barbarians. During that period of
suffering this saintly man pursues his mission of peace amidst
the surging tide of humanity, ministering to the sick and poor,
and pleading for mercy with princes. His person inspires
respect ; with superstitious awe people relate the miracles he
has done and come to consult him as an oracle. Teutonic
kings even accept his reproofs. To Odoacer the youth, whose
tall figure had to stoop upon entering the hermit's hut, he fore-
told future greatness. Severinus did not convert a people to
Christianity. After his death his cell was plundered by the
savage Rugii ; but in the wildest surroundings his voice often
gave comfort and at times quelled the storms of passion.
1 Hauck, Kirilienocschichie Dcidsclilands.
PAGANISM AND CHRISTIANITY 115
One of the channels through which Christianity gradually

made its way to the Teutons may have been prisoners of war,
who preached the gospel among their heathen conquerors.
According to a fairly well established tradition, Ulfilas, though
born and bred among the Goths, was of Cappadocian origin.
At any rate, when the Goths first settled within the confines
of the Eastern Roman Empire and became converted to Chris-
tianity, the way for this change of belief among them had
already been paved. The conversion did not altogether take
place without friction, although it is hardly likely that it was
solely attachment to paganism that impelled the Gothic king

Athanaric, about the year 350, to persecute the Christians,
whereas king Fritigern readily accepted Christianity. Perhaps
Athanaric and a few other Teutonic kings who put Christians
to death, such as Radagais on his expedition to Italy in the
beginning of the fifth century, combated in the new religion the

Roman Empire On the other hand, there have been
as well.
also Gothic martyrs, and Ulfilas himself was forced to seek the
protection of the emperor within the boundaries of the realm.
With this Ulfilas, German literature, properly speaking, begins ;
its first work is a translation of the Bible. German paganism

has hardly left us any writings of its own.
The Goths and most
special form of Christianity to which the
Teutonic tribes became converted was Arianism. The first of
these came into actual contact with it, and the others followed
the example once set. was not a question, therefore, of
It
choice or predilection, nor is it admissible to speak of a closer
affinity between heathenism and the Arian dogma, which made
the step an easier one for the heathen to take. It is not obvi-
ous just what these connecting links would be in the case of

the Teutons, nor is it credible that the warrior bands and their
chiefs really weighed the matter seriously. We shall see later
on that the Franks, and at first the Burgundians as well, were
converted to the Catholic church with no less ease than the
Goths and others to Arianism. External circumstances drew

the Gothic peoples into this current which exerted so great an
influence upon their subsequent history. The attitude of the
several Arian peoples toward the Catholics varied widely.
Whereas the East and West Goths, in their kingdoms in Italy,
Gaul, and Spain, and especially Theodoric in Italy, lived on the
whole at peace with the Roman clergy, the Vandals in Africa
conducted themselves as conquerors, and the Catholics under
their dominion had to endure severe persecutions. The details
of this movement belong to the history of the Christian church.
For our present purpose it will suffice to emphasize the easy
and rapid passing over from the old belief to the new.
An especially good example of this is furnished by the Bur-
gundians, to whom the emperor Honorius in 413 ceded territory
within the confines of the Empire, and who were baptized by a
Gallic bishop after having been instructed for a period of only
one week. They were followed in 430 by their kinsmen on the
right bank of the Rhine. These Burgundians were the first
Teutons to be admitted to the Roman federation, which,
however, did not prevent their downfall. They were almost
wholly annihilated by Aëtius and the Huns a remnant ;
fled to the Rhone, where we meet them again in the time
of Chlodowech, but, under the influence of the West Goths,

as Arians.
The reasons why the paganism of these Teutonic peoples
showed so little power of resistance are not to be sought in a
decay of their religion, which though frequently assumed has
never been proved, but in their outward circumstances and
relations. We have already seen that they bore the character
of bands of warriors — catervae, as the Roman historians occa-
sionally style them — rather than of peoples. They were quite
willing to purchase the privilege of settling within the Empire,
and obtaining desirable lands, with a conversion to which they
attached to a large extent outward significance only, and which
did not demand any great sacrifices on their part. Further-

more, Roman civilization, of which Christianity constituted a
part, exerted a powerful attraction upon them. They accord-
ingly became foederati of the Empire and Christians, There
were many reasons why they should not have felt strongly
attached to the ancestral belief. They had abandoned their
hereditary lands and with that forsaken a large part of their
traditions. Undoubtedly, the heathen armies had soothsayers
and priests in their midst, for we read of sacrifices to rivers and
to divine beings, but there existed neither a strong organization
nor a living faith to prevent the intrusion of a new religion. In
the hereditary lands lay the sacred places, groves, and springs,
consecrated of old to the gods, and revered as the seats of their
worship. When these had once been left behind, the tribes
had also to a large extent broken with their religion and their
past. That this is not a mere assumption is shown by the fact
that where the tribes remained in their old habitations there
too the heathen beliefs made a far more determined resistance.

This may be more especially observed in the case of the
Frisians and Saxons.
Different causes must be sought to account for the fact that
the tribes which, under the name of Franks, emerged from the
interior about the middle of the third century, and penetrated
victoriously into Gaul, remained heathen in spite of constant
contact with a Roman population and the existence near at
hand of Christian churches on the Rhine. That they did not
at once forsake their heathen gods, was no doubt due to the
fact that both outward pressure and inner need were lacking,
perhaps also in large part to a feeling of pride. We find,
however, absolutely no traces among them of a deep-rooted
heathen belief or cult. The Salic law, which in its main fea-
tures dates from heathen times, contains scarcely any traces
of religion. There is no warrant for interpreting as myths the
legends found in Gregory of Tours, such, for example, as he
tells in II, 12, and -which are probably based upon old songs
concerning Childeric.
After Chlodowech, in consequence of his victories over
the last Roman governor, Syagrius, over the Alemanni and
the West Goths, had subjugated nearly the whole of Gaul, the
political situation necessarily superinduced the conversion
to Christianity. Not that the personal motives which also
prompted the king, as well as the influence of his Burgundian
wife, and the impression made on him by the miraculous
power of the Christian God are not to be considered signifi-
cant. The conversion of Chlodowech is in no wise to be
regarded as hypocritical, any more than that of Constantine.
His baptism in the church at Rheinis on Christmas day of the
year 496 is a date of the utmost importance, the more so since
he embraced not the Arian but the Catholic creed. One
might justly call it the starting point of the history of the
German church. The Bishop Avitus of Vienne, who sent
the king a congratulatory letter, foresaw as a consequence of
this action that the Prankish king would become the successor
of the ruler of the Western Roman Empire, and that the
Christianization of Germany would proceed from the Franks.
Chlodowech's conversion proved to be a powerful example,
which was followed by many. He himself founded churches
and cloisters, made rich grants with the generosity that was
part of the ideal Teutonic king, and protected bishops and
hermits. There were, nevertheless, many, even in the king's
immediate environment, who remained heathen. No coercion
was used against these, at least not by Chlodowech himself,
although Childebert I, fifty years after his father's death, pro-
mulgated an edict that put an end to religious toleration
and forbade heathen images, banquets, songs, and dances.
Gradually, and without a sign of a struggle, paganism disap-
peared among the Franks. While alongside of Christian
belief and usage there still continued to exist for a long time
numerous heathen customs, and the synods, especially those

held at Orleans, had to inveigh against sacrificatory feasts,
conjurations, worship of trees, springs, rocks, and various
kinds of commingling of paganism with Christianity, yet the
organization of the church became gradually more firmly
established and its influence upon the people more marked.
At first this influence was an outward one and did not
penetrate very rapidly into the moral nature of the people.
Chlodowech, after his conversion, was still the same faithless
man, who did not shrink from inciting a son to patricide
or from slaying kinsmen with his own hand. His succes-
sors were even worse. The horrors of the Merovingian
royal house have rarely been surpassed in history, and while
the morals of the royal family in the present instance prob-
ably do not indicate the general standard of morality, that
standard was doubtless none too high. But the church
could abide its time. Its influence gradually percolated
the nation at large, and it was from the kingdom of the
Franks that Christianity was disseminated among the German
tribes.
The German peoples were Christianized first by Goths and

Romans and subsequently by Franks and missionaries from
Ireland and England. In the case of some tribes we know
little or nothing as to the particular circumstances of their con-
version. So the Lombards were converted to Arianism as
early as theend of the fifth century. When Alboin came to
Italy he was a Christian, but it was not until the days of Pope
Gregory I that the union with Rome followed, brought about
more especially through the influence of the queen Theude-
linde, who was a Bavarian princess of Frankish descent. We
notice very little, however, of paganism among this people,
although we have already seen that it was by no means poor
in historical legends — embodying as usual mythical elements
— that had received poetical treatment.
The Alemanni in Southern Germany were still heathen at
the end of the sixth century, worshipping, as Agathias tells us,

trees, rivers, and mountains, and offering horses in sacrifice.
And yet their country, where Romans had so long held sway,
showed decided traces of the presence of Christianity. The
first Irish missionary found Christian priests there who dwelt
peacefully in the midst of the heathen. The earliest mission-
aries among them were Columbanus and his pupil Gallus, who
labored in the seventh century near the lakes of Zurich and
Constance. The former once found heathen and Christians
joifttly taking part in a beer sacrifice to Wuotan. Apart from
this, their vitae furnish few characteristic details concerning
the paganism of this tribe. The matres, whose three images
were worshipped at Bregenz, we have already surmised to be
divinities of Keltic origin.^ The Irish missionaries found
patrons in the Frankish kings, while the pactus Ala7na7inorum^-'
drawn up by Chlotachar II, served the double purpose of
drawing closer the bond of union with the Frankish realm and
of promoting the spread of Christianity. However, not only
did heathen customs continue to survive, but a part of the
population even remained hostile to Christianity. Pirmin,
who labored among them in the eighth century, in the time of
Charles Martel, was still forced to wage a hard battle against
survivals of heathen customs. The people worshipped and
made vows to stones, trees, and springs the women invoked
;
Minerva when spinning for marriages Friday was

; the favor-
ite and in other ways, too, attention was paid to lucky
day,
and unlucky days; herbs and amber served as amulets; cre-
dence was given to weather sorcerers and soothsaying women ;
heathen songs and dances were popular, and magic potions

in use against sickness and evil spirits. In this re'sumé of
1 See p. SS.
2 A code of Alemannic law. See Pertz, MG., Leges, III, 34, and Hauck,
Kirchetigeschichie Deiitschlands, I, 310.
features common to the popular belief of many tribes, the

name of a goddess Minerva is especially striking.
A connected history of the Bavarians before their conversion
is not furnished by any source at our command. Even their
descent is uncertain. Their ancestors have variously been
held to be those Marcomanni, whose queen, Fritigil, had come
into contact with Ambrose of Milan, or those Rugii, Heruli,
and Skiri in whose midst Severinus lived, or else the Quadi,^
of whom the historian .\mmianus Marcellinus tells us that they
swore solemn oaths by their swords. Of their paganism we
know practically nothing. Their contact with Christianity was
at first only sporadical, through Goths and Romans subse- ;
quently Irish missionaries worked among them and they also

came under the influence of the Franks. The ducal family of
the Agilulfingi was itself of Frankish origin.
Among the Thuringians the history of the successive streams
of influence is repeated in a thoroughly typical form. We
meet among them, successively, the Arian-Gothic, the Catholic-
Frankish, the Irish missions, and the organization of the
church by the English Boniface, who became their bishop.
The details belong to church history. Christianity does not,
however, seem to have made its way so very readily among
them. As late as the eighth century we find Willebrord com-
plaining of Christian priests who offer sacrifices to heathen
divinities {Jovi mactantes)^ while, on the other hand, heathen
are fond of administering baptism, which they regard as a
magic charm.
Characteristically heathen traits are better represented among
the Frisians and Saxons than among the peoples that we have
hitherto considered. The Frisians occupied a strip of land,
not extending far into the interior, along the coast of the
North Sea, from Flanders (Sinkfal, near Bruges) up to Sleswick.
1 According to H, Kirchmayr, Der altdeittsche Volksstamm der Quaden (2 vols.,
1888-1893).
"
The history of their conversion (677-785) we know from

contemporaneous Frankish, but not from native sources. It
embraces several periods, intimately connected with their strug-
gles against the Franks, which broke forth ever anew. The
missionaries who preached among them were mostly Anglo-
Saxons : Wilfrid, Willehad, Willebrord, Winfrid (Boniface).
Liudger alone was of Frisian origin. The Frankish kings
did everything within their power to further the spread of
Christianity among^ them. As early as 622 Dagobert, of
Austrasia, had founded a chapel in Utrecht and had given

orders to baptize and evangelize the Frisians, but with little
success. Wilfrid, who had accidentally stranded on the Frisian

coast, was received kindly by king Aldgild. Redbad I, on the
contrary, showed an inveterate hatred towards Christianity.
As often as the Frankish yoke was shaken off, persecution of
the Christians followed.
This marked hostility against Christianity is by no means
to be attributed solely to national pride or political fears. The
Frisians were attached to their heathen religion, which was at
the time still in a flourishing state. We read of sacred groves,
of springs, of temples in which treasures were stored. On
Helgoland there were several temples. The great god Fosite
was worshipped there water from the holy spring might be
;
drawn only in silence, and the cattle grazing round about it

were not allowed to be touched. As late as the eleventh cen-
tury we hear that the island was regarded as sacred by Norse
seafarers. Even after their conversion some observances de-
rived from paganism were still retained in Frisian law. In
the century that marks the period of struggle between the old
and new religion, known to us chiefly from the lives of the mis-
sionaries, the Frisians long remained faithful to their ancient

religious usages. When Willebrord, on his return from his
fruitless mission among the Danes, landed on Helgoland he
defied the wrath of Fosite by baptizing several Frisians with
water from the sacred spring. He is brought into the pres-

ence of the king as one under sentence of death, but Redbad
does not deviate from the custom according to which the lot
was to decide concerning the Hfe or death of the prisoner,
and when this is found favorable to the Christian the king sets
him free. Subsequently Liudger succeeds in accomplishing
on the island sacred to Fosite what his predecessor had failed
in he replaces the heathen temples with Christian churches.
;
Liudger's mother was Liafborg, and of her we are told that,

in accordance with the wishes of a wicked grandmother, she
was to have been put to death immediately after birth, but
the compassionate wife of a neighbor saved the child's life by
placing a honey upon its lips, it being considered obliga-

little
tory that a child which had already partaken of some food

should be brought up. The material at our command is
extremely meagre, but from such accounts it appears that

life was to a large extent bound up in religious observances
and duties. Everywhere the gods play an essential part in
the lives of these Frisian heathen. Chief among them are
Wodan, his sons Thuner and Tiu, and his spouse Fria, all of
whom we know only from their use as names of days of the
week. Concerning Fosite alone are we more fully informed,
but perhaps this too is only another name under which the
chief of all gods, Wodan, was worshipped. That the service
of these gods was by no means dead is proved by the fanaticism
which could be evoked among its followers, a fanaticism to —
which Boniface fell a victim on the 5th of June, 755, near
Dokkum.
The Saxons showed themselves no less hostile toward the
new religion. The first who, towards the end of the seventh
century, preached the gospel among them, the "white" and
the " black " Ewald,^ fell as martyrs. Not long after Suidbert,
1 So called on account of the difference in the color of their hair. Bede, Hist,
eccl. gent. AngL, V, 10.
—
the friend and companion of Willebrord, had converted the

Bructeri ; this tribe fell a prey to the onslaughts of the heathen
Saxons.^ Only with the greatest difficulty and after repeated
expeditions did Charles the Great succeed in subjugating the

Saxons and in compelling them to accept Christianity. They
renounced their new faith again and again, and on such occa-
sions persecution of Christian kinsmen was not lacking. Even
after the chiefs had been baptized in 785,and remained true to
their vows, there broke forth a new popular uprising, though
not under their leadership. The destruction of the Eresburg
(772), where the army of Charles was for three entire days
engaged in the razing of sanctuaries, and where large treasures
were seized, the slaughter of 4500 captive Saxons at Verden
(782), the suppression of the great popular uprising (792),
all these measures proved unavailing. Charles was forced
to transplant large colonies of Saxons to other districts of
Germany ; by this means alone was he able to tranquillize
the country.
These examples will serve to show how deep rooted the
was in the hearts of the people. They wor-
ancestral religion
shipped their dread gods with human sacrifices. From the
capitularies issued by Charles the Great for the observance of
the Saxons, we know something about the heathen customs

that were forbidden on pain of death. Irminsul, the national
shrine near Eresburg, razed to the ground by Charles, is vari-
ously spoken of in the sources as fanum, hicus, or idolum.

Evidently neither temple, nor grove, nor image were lacking.
Of the Irminsul itself, Rudolph of Fulda ^ says: "truncum
ligni non parvae magnitudinis in altum erectum sub divo cole-
bant, patria eum lingua Irminsul appellantes, quod latine

dicitur universalis columna, quasi sustinens omnia," i.e. "a
wooden pillar of unusual size in the open air, worshipped in
1 See Bede, Hist. cccl. gent. Angl., V, lo-iz
2 MG. II, 676.
common, and whose destruction was a national calamity." We

cannot here discuss the various views held concerning this
Irminsul. The pillar destroyed in 772 was not, however,
unique of its kind; we read of other instances of the exist-
ence of an Irminsul among the Saxons. No weight is to be
attached to the view of Widukind, who would identify Irmin
with Hermes, combining the latter with Mars.^ It is not at
all clear whether this Irmin is to be taken as the god of the
sky or of war. More likely the word does not at all indicate
that this pillar was dedicated to the service of any one god.
Irmin here signifies "large," "mighty," and on this people's
pillar, this universalis columna^ the welfare and the existence of
a tribal community, in the present instance of a division of the
Saxons (the Engern), depended. Other statements that have

been made concerning it at one time or another amount to
little more than mere speculation.'^ The Saxons who became
converts were required, on the occasion of their baptism, to
abjure their old gods. The formula of renunciation men-
tions Thuner, Wodan, Saxnot, and the tinholdun, i.e. the other
remaining gods. A large number of ecclesiastical documents
of a similar character, decrees of councils, lists of idolatrous
practices, sermons against idolatry, penitentiaries, and the writ-
ings of such authors as Regino, abbot of Priim in Lorraine

(about 900), and Burchard of Worms (the beginning of the
tell us of the paganism which still continued
eleventh century),
to flourish not only among the Saxons but among other German
tribes as well. A long list might be made of the idolatrous
practices recorded in such documents as the iiidiculus supersti-
tioniim and the homilia de sacrilegiis. We learn from these sources
that in many localities sacrifices to Jupiter or Mercury, the bring-
ing of offerings to the dead, and the worshipping of trees and
Or confounding him with Ares ?

1
Compare more especially Mannhardt, Baumkiiltiis der Germanen^ pp. 303

- ff., and
Vilmar, Deutsche Altertiimer im Heliaiid, p. 62.
springs still continued. On fixed days, especially on New

Year's day, and at eclipses of the sun and moon, people went
about apparelled in the most fantastic manner. Much attention
was paid also to lucky and unlucky days. Witchcraft of various
kinds was resorted to, to ward off evil, to heal sickness, and to
cause storms. Divination practices, in many forms, were in

vogue, the names of the gods on such occasions being fre-
quently invoked. Our sources show very conclusively that it
charms and
cost infinite pains to eradicate the belief in magic
formulas. Much of it remained alive in popular belief; even
to-day there exist phrases that keep the names of the old gods
from being forgotten. Such survivals of paganism fall, however,
within the domain of which will be treated in a subse-
folklore,
quent chapter. The clergy who combated this paganism had

evidently no eye for either its character or its origin. When we
women at
read that night ride with Diana or Herodias " cum
daemonum turba,"^ there may lie concealed at the bottom of
this tradition an indigenous belief in witches, but it does not
appear that this is either original or very ancient. Diana and
Herodias are after all not Teutonic. At the same time it
cannot be denied that this whole literature bears testimony to
the persistent character of Teutonic paganism.

Even richer is the harvest to be gathered from the Old
German literature in the various vernacular dialects. We pos-
sess first of all a fairly large number of magic formulas, in
which, it may be surmised, Christ and the saints have usurped

the places of old Teutonic deities. But among these magic
formulas there are two that are purely heathen, discovered
by G. Waitz in 1841, in a manuscript of the tenth century
in the cathedral chapter at Merseburg. These are presum-
ably somewhat older than the manuscript itself ; according to
some authorities, they go back to the eighth century. They
make mention of a number of gods of a German, possibly
1 " With a horde of demons."
Thuringian, tribe. The two formulas are in alliterative verse,

and are incantations to be sung apparently in a fixed, invariable
measure, and to serve the purpose, the first of loosing bonds,
the second of healing a lame horse. In the latter case the
incantation was doubtless to be accompanied by the use of a
magic charm. The conjuration proper is in each case preceded
by the relation of an occurrence in the divine world, and these
few lines have at times been dignified with the name of epic
narrative. The first of these conjurations, in a literal rendering
which destroys the alliteration, is as follows :
Once the Idisi sat down, sat down here and there.
Some fastened bonds, some held back the host,
Some tugged at the fetters :
Leap forth from the bonds, escape from the enemy.
The second, somewhat longer, is as follows :
Phol and Wodan rode to the wood.

Then the foot of Balder's colt was wrenched.
Then Sinthgunt charmed it, Sun(na) her sister,
Then Frija charmed it, Vol(la) her sister:
Then Wodan charmed it, as he well knew how.
This is followed by the four lines of the incantation proper.

We are not here concerned with pointing out the unques-
tionably close correspondence between these conjurations and
similar ones in the Norse Edda, nor with indicating the more
remote, though by no means forced, parallels in Finnish and
even Hindu magic, but with drawing from these few lines all
the information that they contain concerning Teutonic heathen-

ism. First of all, then, it appears that the magic power, else-
where frequently attributed to the calling out of the name of a

divinity, is here associated with the imitation or repetition of
a formula first used by a god ; so, at any rate, in the second
conjuration. In the first the connection between the opening
scene of the Idisi at their work and the conjuration proper is
not perfectly clear. Of still greater importance is the fact

that we are here introduced to divinities known to tribes in
Germany. First among these are the Idisi, women at work

during the battle, reminding us, therefore, of the Norse Wal-
kyries. They are divided into three groups : one group places
chains on the prisoners of war, another holds back the hostile
army, the third looses the bonds of the prisoners in the hostile
camp. The second conjuration mentions a number of divini-
ties by name. Phol and Wodan rode out together, and the
horse of Balder stumbled or sprained its foot. The question
to just what divinities reference is made here has been vari-
ously answered. If Balder, in the second line, could be taken
as an appellative, in the sense of lord, — a supposition which
is, however, wholly unwarranted, — then might refer it to
Wodan as well as Phol. But who is this Phol } We can

scarcely agree with Bugge, who recognizes in him the ap.ostle
Paul, thus assuming that the conjuration has already borrowed
one of its figures from Christianity. Even if we regard Phol,
which actually occurs in German names of places, as another
German name of Balder, this would still leave the question un-
answered why the proper name Balder receives, in the second
verse, a different designation from what it has in the first. To
read Phol as Vol and to identify the latter with the goddess of
the same name mentioned in the fourth verse is wholly inadmis-
sible. It has been suggested that Phol is merely a corruption of

Apollo. If so, the Apollo-Balder of this conjuration would be
paralleledby the Mars Thingsus and the Hercules Magusanus.
The combination is, however, far from convincing and can in
no way be supported from other sources. The question there-
fore remains an open one. It is possible that Phol and Balder
after all belong together. At any rate, we here possess from a
German source, as in the case of the Anglo-Saxon genealogies
from an English quarter, a confirmation of the originally Teu-
tonic character of Balder. Four goddesses are mentioned, but
;
PAGANISM AXD CHRISTIANITY 129
commentators are not agreed as to whether all four or only two

were present. The translation given above left this undecided,
but probably we shall have to read Siiit/ig/ott, Sun's sister,
:
and Frija, VoV s Of these Frija alone (wife of Wodan),

sister.
chief of the goddesses, is known to us from other sources. In

the present instance she does not seem to occupy an espe-
cially prominent place alongside of the others, unless indeed
we assume a climax in the conjurations first Sinthgunt made
:
the attempt, but in vain; thereupon (the more powerful) Frija,

but likewise in vain ;
Wodan Here too, then,
alone succeeded.
we find witchcraft practised first by the goddesses (women) ;
but as the case proved too serious, Wodan himself had to lend
a helping hand.
The only pure remnants of German paganism that we pos-
sessdemanded this somewhat detailed treatment. The other
monuments that we are called upon to discuss are of Christian
origin, but paganism has left more or less distinct traces of
its impress on them. The first is a short prayer in prose,
prefaced by nine lines of alliterative verse. The manuscript
was found in the Bavarian cloister of Wessobrunn, and the
monument has hence been christened the Wessobrunn Prayer
but the verses themselves are of Saxon origin (eighth cen-
tury), as is apparent from the language as well as from the
contents, which make mention of the sea. The subject-matter
is wholly Christian. The burden is the almighty God, who,
ere earth and and mountain were, ere sun and moon
sky, tree
shone, ere the sea was,when all about was void, was already
then surrounded by many good spirits, he the most bounteous
of men, the holy God. It is extremely tempting to recognize
in this a fragment of heathen Teutonic cosmogony. In that

case a comparison may be made with a few lines from the
beginning of Völuspa, while the correspondences between the
Old German and Norse poems pass as proof that the ancient
Teutons had a conception of a large, void, yawning abyss,
which was at the beginning of things. Many have yielded to

this temptation, and, following in the footsteps of J. Grimm
and K. Miillenhoff, believe that they have rescued a fragment
of genuine Teutonic heathenism. While such an interpreta-
tion is not wholly inconceivable, we shall after all have to
admit with Wackernagel that there is absolutely nothing in

these lines that compels, or even justifies, such a conclusion.
All the features are Christian, so, for example, the almighty
God surrounded by angels, who lived before the world was,
while the description of this God as manno miltisto ^ is strongly

reminiscent of a Teutonic popular king ; this interpretation
seems to me preferable to that of Kern, who would find in it
a mythological formula expressive of the bounteous sun god.

The Bavarian poem Muspilli dates from the ninth century.
It contains altogether somewhat over one hundred lines, in
which the fate of the soul after death, the end of the world,
the universal conflagration, preceded by the struggle between
i.e.
Eliah and the Antichrist, and the last judgment, are depicted.
As will be obvious from this summary, we here too have Chris-
tian and not heathen mythology. It seems forced, therefore,
to assume that Eliah and the Antichrist represent the Christian
rendering of two originally heathen combatants, such as Thor
and the Midhgardh-serpent of Norse mythology. The universal
conflagration, also, is a conception that is of Christian rather
than Teutonic origin. Not but that the Christian idea has
been adapted and developed by the Teutons. The combat
has been put into the foreground the last judgment resembles
;
a Teutonic thing, and the sins to be expiated are those of the

poet's own time. While the contents are therefore in no way
directly heathen, the title itself, Muspilli, is part of the Teu-
tonic word stock. It tells us that the earth was expected to

come to an but does not indicate whether this idea itself
end,'
was old or new in the time of the poet. It is quite conceivable

1 " The most generous of men."
that it arose among the Teutons only through their contact

with Christianity.
The same considerations as in the case of Muspilli demand
that some attention should be paid to the Heliand, a poem that
is intrinsically of far greater importance. It might seem as if
this Old Saxon treatment of the gospel history, dating from

the first half of the ninth century, and based on the gospel con-
cordance of Tatian, could in no way lay claim to be included in
a handbook of Teutonic mythology, and yet on every side the
poem exhibits features that excite interest from a mythological
point of view. The first of these is that the language uncon-
sciously conserves the old word stock, so that not a few expres-
sions in the Heliand bear witness to the heathen mode of
thinking, which had only quite recently been abandoned. In

the things that happen the poet recognizes metodo giscapii,
"
which Vilmar translates as " decrees of the disposing ones
{nieusorufn decreta), but which perhaps merely signifies what has
"
been determined " by fate. For the divine power that measures
and disposes, the word "metod" is used a few times, which is
also known to us from Anglo-Saxon and Old Norse. The
power of fate is called " wurd," and still other traces of pagan-
ism and polytheism surviving in the language might be enu-
meiated. But of still greater importance is the fact that the
Saxon poet reproduces the gospel narrative most naively in
the setting of his own time. Landscape, mode of life, charac-
ter, all has been colored to be in keeping with the Saxon sur-
roundings. Such scenes as the storm on the sea and the

catching of the fish are depicted most vividly, and the feast at
Cana is a merry drinking bout. Combat stands in the fore-
ground ; the devil is the arch-enemy, the disciples are brave

warriors who achieve heroic deeds in defense of their chief.
Their fealty is of a simple and resolute character, not marred
by doubt or hesitancy ; their hatred of the enemy violent.
The struggle has therefore been transferred from the inner to

the outer man, and the conception of Jesus himself is in keep-

ing with this. He is not the Man of Sorrows, nor yet the
heavenly Son of God of the Catholic church, but now the
brave Teutonic chief, who valiantly leads his men to victory,
and then again the wealthy, generous Teutonic popular king,
who gloriously traverses his land to teach, judge, heal, and to
battle, and who in the end in defeat itself outwits the enemy
and gains the victory, —
a Christ different certainly from that
of the gospels, but one that was living and real to the Saxons.
From such works as the Heliand and from the subsequently
discovered fragments of an Old Saxon paraphrase of Genesis,
much can doubtless be gathered that is of importance for the
study of the language and antiquities of the ancient Teutons.
There is evidence on all sides that paganism had only recently
been abandoned. We should, however, seek in vain in these
poems for direct testimony concerning the ancient Teutonic
religion. In fact, one of their salient characteristics is the
naive combination of Christian subject-matter with heathen
thought and feeling. The Saxons took a lively interest in
the gospel narrative. They felt like Chlodowech, who remarked
that matters would have taken a different turn on Golgotha if
he and his Franks had been present. These Teutons put new
wine into old bottles.
CHAPTER VII
THE GERMAN HEROIC SAGA
"The production of an epic poem demands an historic achieve-

ment which shall have laid hold of a people's imagination, to
such an extent as to cause the divine legend to engraft itself
on it, the one element in this way being postulated by the

other." ^ "The time of birth of the Teutonic heroic saga is
the so-called migration of nations." ^ "

The truly typical, ideal
heroes have this characteristic in common, that for all future
time, each in relationship to his own people, they are considered
ideal personages, to whom the people proudly call themselves
akin.'"* These quotations indicate the points of view that are
of paramount importance in a consideration of the heroic sagas :
they belong to the domains of mythology, history, and litera-

ture. Hence, also, the many-sided treatment of which they
are susceptible.
The historical course which we are following involves a
separate treatment of related material. We shall here discuss
only the German heroic sagas that have their historic back-
ground in the period of migrations. Subsequently, we shall
also consider those that deal with the life of the Vikings and
the fortunes of the Scandinavian peoples.
The heroic sagas, accordingly, claim our attention from a
special point of view. The treatment from the literary-histori-
cal side, which is intrinsically the most important treatment,
does not come within our scope. Of the modification and the
1 J. Grimm, Gedmikeii iiber Alythos, Epos unci Geschichte.

2 B. Symons, Gcrmanisc/ie Heldensage, p. 2.
3 Sv. Grundtvig, Udsigt, p. S.
additions made in the course of time to the original constitu-

ents, we need take cognizance only in so far as they serve to
bring these earlier elements into clearer light. We are here
concerned solely with the aspect of the heroic sagas as witnesses
to the history of religion, and we must accordingly, as far as

feasible, leave out of account the transformation which they
have undergone at the hand of medieval poetry. In their
origins at least they go back to the period of migrations, when
the Teutonic peoples, while to a large extent already converted,
still adhered to heathen ideas and customs.
This connection with the great migration, and with the
Viking life of the North, is an essential part of the Teutonic
heroic saga. In olden days, as we learn from Tacitus, the
memory of the past and of heroes like Arminius was kept alive
by songs. At a later period, Charles the Great and even medie-
val personages such as duke Ernst of Suabia were celebrated
in the legends, to which a poetical form was given. The various
collections that have been made of the folklore of certain dis-
tricts reveal to us a number of legends associated with definite
localities, castles, forests, and lakes. Not all of this material,
however, is to be included in the heroic saga proper, but only
those traditions in which the memory of the migrations, that
great epic period of the Teutonic peoples, still lingers, and
which are celebrated in the German national epics. The
earliest testimony concerning these heroic sagas goes back to
the time of the migration period itself, and is to be found in
such historians as Cassiodorus and Jordanes. The rapid and

wide spread of this epic material is apparent in the oldest
product of Anglo-Saxon literature, Widsit/i, the nucleus of
which goes back to the sixth century. We there find summed
up, almost in the form of a catalogue, a number of traditions
concerning peoples belonging in part to lands far distant.
Wandering minstrels treated in epic form the fortunes of indi-
viduals and of nations. Even at a very early period mythical

THE GERMAN HEROIC SAGA 135
elements were woven into the fabric of these narratives, although

it is no longer possible in each particular instance to determine
the historical or mythical origin of the individual threads. The
coloring of the whole, as well as the character sketches of the
individual figures, is the handiwork of poetry ; and, in so far as
the ethical element is concerned, it is extremely difificult to dis-
tinguish between what is original and what is of later origin.
We shall first give a brief survey of the historical cycles to
which the most important heroic sagas belong, and shall then
consider the mythical conceptions. The oldest saga-cycle is
that of the East Goths. Over them reigned, about a.d. 375, in
Southern Russia, the mighty Ermanaric, nohilissimus Amalorum,^
who, as the historian Ammianus Marcellinus tells us, slew
himself at the approach of the wild Huns, in dismay, even
before trying the fortunes of battle. Some one hundred and
fifty years later Jordanes furnishes us with a semi-legendary
story of his life. He caused Sunilda, the wife of a faithless
prince of the Rosomoni, to be trampled under the hoofs of
horses. Her
brothers, Sarus and Ammius, longed to avenge
and inflicted a dangerous wound upon the king,
their sister
who, weakened in this way, could not overcome his fear of the
Huns and hence succumbed. The legend received further
development in German chronicles and in some songs of the
poetic Edda.
The second great figure of the East-Gothic saga is Theodoric,
who slew Odoacer and founded the East-Gothic kingdom in
Italy. Legend, however, has made this great and powerful
king preeminently an exile, and such is the disparity between
legend and history at this point that all real connection has
been denied. W. Grimm was of the opinion that the identifi-
cation of the hero of the legend with the historical king was
made at a later period. This view, however, is incorrect. The
memory of the short-lived glory of the East Goths under the
1 " The noblest of the Amali."
great Theodoric having become faint, it appears that the legend,

besides commingling the fortunes of the individual with those
of the people, has confused different periods. Ermanaric and
Theodoric, separated in history by more than a century, have in
the saga become contemporaries, while Ermanaric has sup-
planted Odoacer. Reminiscences of Theodoric's youth, of the
days of his people's servitude among the Huns, of many a strug-
gle of the East Goths, live on in this cluster of legends. Thus
preserved, the legends, without ever being treated in one con-
tinuous epic poem, were further developed by the Alemanni,
the friends and allies of the East Goths. Medieval German
epics deal with a number of episodes from the legends centering
around Dietrich of Bern, as Theodoric is there called. His
heroic personality has furthermore been introduced into other
saga-cycles, more especially into that of the Nibelungen, and
he also plays a role in various local German legends. From
Lower Saxony he was, in the thirteenth century, imported into
the North through the medium of the Thidhreks Saga.
An especially striking feature of the epic narratives that deal
with Dietrich of Bern is the attitude they assume towards the
Huns and their king. The relation between the Huns and
the East Goths, and various other Teutonic tribes, was for a
considerable length of time friendly in character. Accordingly,
the form of the legend that has been handed down by them
pictures Etzel (Attila) as a rich and generous Teutonic king,
without the least trace of the wild Attila of history or of Frank-
ish tradition- The Teutonic heroic saga reflects the varied
character of the relations existing between Teutons and Huns.
Thus the legend of Waltharius, of somewhat uncertain origin,
and known to us only through secondary sources, pictures the
conditions existing at the court of the king of the Huns in the
fifth century. The sons and daughters of kings of allied or trib-
utary peoples are living at the court as hostages, well treated but
under guard. The Franks are represented by the young hero
Hagen, the Aquitani (West Goths) by Walther, the Burgun-

dians by the young princess Hildigund. Hagen having previ-
ously fled, Walther and Hildigund, who are betrothed to each

other, also succeed in escaping from the place of their exile,
carrying away with them a great store of treasure, which is
subsequently the occasion of a combat in the Wasgen (Vosges)

Forest between Walther and the Prankish heroes. Hagen and
the young king Gunther. All the combatants are wounded and
maimed, but in the end they part as friends, each returning to
his own land. Whether we can identify the incidents of this
narrative with actual historical events is extremely uncertain,
but the historical background is at all events unmistakable.^
The legends of Hugdietrich and Wolfdietrich originated
among the Franks. Hugo Theodoricus (the Franks were called
"Hugones") was an illegitimate son of Chlodowech, who at
first experienced some difficulty in maintaining his authority,
but in the end greatly increased the power of his kingdom,
Austrasia, 1-534) the Thuringian power. The
and overthrew (5 1
point of departure of the various forms of the narratives that

we possess concerning him is to be sought in the popular epic
songs, in which the Franks celebrated his deeds. His son
Theodobert likewise had to rely upon the fealty of his men
to maintain himself against his kindred. The main features
of these historical accounts may readily be recognized in the
legends of Hugdietrich and Wôlfdietrich. Poetic fiction of a
later period combined these legends with other narratives, more
particularly with the myth of Ortnit, and transferred the scene
of action to the East, to Constantinople. This would seem to
point to the period of the Crusades.
The latter observation applies also to the German min-
strelpoem of King Rothcr. The king's faithful messengers,
imprisoned at Constantinople, are freed by him, after they had
recognized him through his singing. Without revealing his
1 R. Heinzel, Ucber die Walthcrsage (SWA. 1S88).
identity, he wins the king's daughter, who gladly follows a

prince who had such brave servants, and who had wooed her
in so chivalrous a fashion. The story is told in the style of
a fairy tale. A point of contact in the subject-matter may

be discerned in the history of the Lombards. King Rother
wins the Eastern princess in the same way in which, accord-
ing to Paulus Diaconus, Authari had wooed the Bavarian
Theudelinde.
Through numerous sources the Siegfried Saga is the one
most completely known to us. For its study we have at our
command, first of all, the songs of the Norse Edda, which, while
not in perfect accord with one another, yet represent an older
tradition than the High German sources, and whose gaps are
filled in by the prose V^lsunga Saga. In addition to this, the
Thidhreks Saga gives the narrative in the form it had assumed
in Lower Saxony. The High German tradition finally is rep-
resented by the Nihelnngcnlicd and the Klage. Setting aside

the divergences to be found within each branch, and more espe-
cially in the Norse sources, these are the three great branches
of the legend as it has come down to us. There is also a
later epic treatment in a poem called the Horned Siegfried,
which has been preserved in chap-books and elsewhere, in very

imperfect form. We are here, however, not concerned with
either a survey of this literature or an exhaustive treatment of
the saga. We wish merely to point out that while, unlike the
legends of the Amelungen, it is not entirely based on history,
it yet has strong points of connection with historical facts.
Such are not, however, to be looked for in the case of the chief
hero, Siegfried. I am unable to recognize in him either Armi-
nius, the Cheruscan, or the murdered Austrasian king Sigebert,

the husband of Brunehilde, but believe him to be entirely mythi-
cal in origin. On the other hand, the alliterating names of the
kings Gunther, Godomar (for whom Gemot was substituted),
and Giselher are assuredly those of Burgundian princes ;
and
the catastrophe of the Nibelungen represents a reminiscence of

the downfall of the Burgundian kingdom in the Rhenish Palati-
nate, where king Gundicarius and his race had fallen before
the onslaught of the Huns. The connection of the narrative
with the Huns is therefore founded on historical fact, and it is
possible to go even further in the identification of features of

the saga with real events. Attila died in 453, in the night of
rumor would
his nuptials with a Teutonic princess, Ildico, and
have it had taken bloody vengeance on him for
that the latter
the downfall of her race. She may have been a Burgundian.
In the older Norse version of the Nibelungen Saga, Gudrun
avenges her brothers on Atli not as in the Nibe/imgenlied,
;
where Kriemhild avenges her first husband, Siegfried, on her

treacherous kinsmen. However this may be, whether or not
one recognizes in Gudrun-Kriemhild the Ildico of history, it
remains an established fact that the Nibelungen Saga too

bears in its origin the mighty impress of historic facts, of the
downfall of the Burgundians. It is equally certain that history
constitutes only one of the two sources from' which this saga
has drawn. We must now turn to a consideration of the
mythical elements of the heroic sagas.
By way of preface, it may be stated that we are not to look
for god-myths in the heroic saga. This has indeed been fre-
quently done, involving the further problem as to which gods

lie hidden behind the characters of Siegfried, Dietrich, and
Beowulf. According to this view, the heroic saga is a trans-
formed and somewhat degenerated god-myth, and the ques-
tion then presents itself whether this and that character is a
Wodan-hero, a Donar-hero, a Freyr, or a Baldr. At present it
is recognized that such questions rest on no real basis. The
heroic saga has been formed quite independent and parallel
of,
with, the god-myth. Even though we and there the

find here
same myths, this does not prove that the one is derived from
the other. The opinion that the figures of gods may be
recognized in the persons of heroes is still widespread in Greek

mythology, but so far as Teutonic mythology is concerned, it
has been abandoned by the best scholars. Further-

entirely
more, among the Teutons there are scarcely any traces of hero
cult. The heroes whom we encounter in the heroic saga are,
to a large extent, historical personages and have not been

deified. Even those who are entirely mythical in character are
not objects of worship. The gleanings from the study of the
heroic saga for the history of religion consist solely of a
knowledge of the mythical formulas, the value of which is,
however, not to be underrated.

We find the myth of the Harlungen combined with the
legend of effected by the Alemanni, by
Ermanaric, a union
whom, we have before had occasion to observe, the complex
as
of East-Gothic legends was preserved and handed down to pos-
terity. Several German local names contain a reminiscence of
this myth so, for example, the Harlungen Mountain in Bran-
;
denburg and at Breisach in Baden. In this latter place the

story was localized on account of its agreement in name with
the treasure Brisingamen. The main form of this myth, which
has come down to us with all manner of variations, is as fol-
lows Two brothers, in German sources called Ambrica and
:
Fridila, possess a great treasure, among which is the jewel

Brisingamen. At the instigation of the faithless Sibicho, they
are enticed away from their trusty monitor Eckehart and treach-
erously slain by Ermanaric. Inasmuch as Jordanes, who did
not know the German Harlungen myth, tells the story of two
brothers, Ammius and Sarus, who avenged their sister Sunilda
on king Ermanaric, an historicalelement may have been intro-
duced into the mythical, narrative. The Eddie poems, making
use of later myth-combinations, have linked the story of S9rli
and Hamdir to that of Gudrun, the wife of Sigurd. The youths
who suffer death, because they carried off the betrothed of the
god of day instead of taking her to his home, or because their
adversary covets the treasure of gold which they possess,

appear to be two Dioscuri. They bring the light of dawn,
but are themselves slain by the day. A dawn-myth is, there-
fore, probably the nucleus of these narratives, although the
later development of the saga has added to it various elements
that cannot be explained on the basis of such an origin. In
fact, both in the case of the Harlungen and Hartungen, there
remain objections to an identification with either the Indian
Agviiis or the Laconian Dioscuri. Both of these are horsemen,
the Agvins even taking their name from this fact, while in the
case of the " Teutonic Dioscuri " no mention is made of horse

or chariot. Nor is there in the case of the Harkyigen and Har-
tungen any trace of a connection with stars, while both the
A^vins and the brothers Helen present several details
of
pointing to such a connection. Little more remains, therefore,
than general points of resemblance two brothers that have an
:
unmistakable connection with the morning dawn.

Another form of the Dioscuri-myth among the Teutons is the
so-called " Hartungen Saga " of Ortnit and Wolfdietrich. It has
undergone even greater transformation, and has assimilated

more foreign elements, than the Harlungen Saga. The nucleus,
as reconstructed by Miillenhoff, is as follows : A hero (Ortnit,
Hertnit, the elder Hartung), in combat with a demonic race,
the Isungen, gains possession of a beautiful woman (a Wal-
kyrie), who aids him in this very struggle against her own kin.
After his discomfiture in a fight with a dragon, his younger

brother (Hartheri, for whom Wolfdietrich has been substituted
in the German legend) slays the dragon and takes his brother's
arms and widow. It will be seen that the myth differs somewhat
from that of the Harlungen, and that it cannot be reduced to a
simple dawn-myth, although it also has its origin evidently in the
alternate struggle between light and darkness. In these narra-
tives concerning Wolfdietrich, the faithful (the Berchtungen)
and the faithless (Sabene) are again contrasted. A comparison
of the Hartungen-myth with the two divine brothers of the

Nahanarvali mentioned by Tacitus at once suggests itself.
The kings of the Vandals, the Asdingi, with which the —

Middle High German Hartiinge has been connected, men —
with feminine hairdress,^ were descended from these Dioscuri,
who were worshipped by a priest, muliebri oniatu.
Numerous mythical formulas as well as commonplace epic
motifs are found in the heroic saga. The hero who intended
to be slain is put out as foundling and grows up among
strangers the outcast and wanderer
; the hero who fights ;
dragons, — these are a few of the general mythical features

recurring in numerous legends and which may or may not be
traced back to phenomena of nature. We meet them again
and again in the epic narratives dealing with Dietrich, Wolf-
dietrich, and other Teutonic heroes. The most famous of
these epic types is represented by the oldest epic poem exist-
ing in the German language, the Hildebrand Lay. The combat
between father and son in its different stages, the introductory
dialogue, the token of recognition, and the tragic issue recur

in the mythology of numerous nations, most strikingly in the
Persian epic and in the Irish heroic sagas. An historical con-

nection, more particularly with the Persian tale of Rustem and
Sohrab, has frequently been assumed ; Uhland especially car-
ries this hypothesis very far and also finds correspondences in
names and episodes between Persian and Teutonic sagas. The

Irish narrative of Cuchulin and Conlach, too, presents striking
points of resemblance while the Greek story of Odysseus and
;
Telegonos, the Russian of Ilja, and still other tales, show, at

any rate, important parallels. Unless we seek for the expla-
nation of these parallels in a nature-myth, or, as others would
have it, in a custom of law, then the problem becomes a very
difficult one. It is scarcely possible either to regard the coin-
cidence as accidental, or, considering the wide dissemination
1 Jordanes, De origine actibusque Getarum, Chapter 22.
of the story, to assume a literary dependence, or, finally, to

regard the tale with all its accessory episodes as forming a
part of the common possessions of the primitive race. It
would seem most likely, therefore, that the nucleus of the
story is after all a nature-myth, a supposition which does not,
of course, preclude the possibility that certain correspondences
of detail are due to literary dependence.^
Dietrich is the most popular heroic figure in a large section
of Germany. Of him, as the Quedlingbnrg Chronicle tells us,
" rustic! cantabant olim," ^ and numerous feats are
related, in
which he slays storm giants, engages in combat with dwarfs,
and in general occupies the position of the thunder god.
These myths are as a rule of a strictly local character. That
the hero is represented as a Donar furnishes no ground for
regarding this as his real character. Dietrich himself has
nothing in common with the thunder god, notwithstanding all
that has been said to the contrary. What so often takes place
in mythology has happened to him. As a popular hero he has
in a number of myths the vacant place of the god,
filled — an
interchange which proves nothing as to his real nature.
We have now reached the most mythical of the heroic sagas,
that of Siegfried and the Nibelungen. The main features
of this which shows considerable variation in the
narrative,
numerous forms which it has come down to us, are as
in
follows A hero grows up in the forest, under the care of
:
a cunning smith and without knowledge of his parents. In

combat with a dragon he acquires boundless treasure. Riding
through flames of fire (the Vafrlogi), he liberates the maid on
the mountain, and awakes her from her magic sleep. Under
the influence of a draught of oblivion he forsakes her and comes
into the power of a demonic race of beings, the Nibelungen,
whose sister he weds, and through whom he loses his first
1 Compare O. L. Jiriczek, Deutsche Heldensagen, I, pp. 275-2S9.

2 " The peasants of old sung."
bride, the treasure, and, finally, also his life. Such is the
nucleus of the narrative that may with some degree of proba-
bility be reconstructed from the various types that we possess.
The Norse version narrates in detail the history of the race of
the V^lsungen antecedent to that of Siegfried. The treasure,
and the curse resting on it, is a motif which obtains great
prominence in the Norse version, while in the Nibehingoilied
it has been entirely abandoned. The different sources vary in
respect to the identification of the Walkyrie whom the hero
had first won with Brunhild, the bride whom he secures for
the prince of the Nibelungen, though it is evident that what
was originally a purely mythical narrative has been greatly
modified through a union with historical legends. The demonic
Nibelungen have been combined with the Burgundian kings.
The narrative has, moreover, lost much of its perspicuity, owing
to the fact that most of the poets who have handed down the
poem did not grasp its original character. In the Nibelungen-
lied the characters — or at any rate Kriemhild — no longer
bear any resemblance to a sombre demonic race. It is self-
evident that the story, as thus summarized, does not form a

unit. It embodies various mythical formulas, common to
many narratives, and which, when reduced to their simplest
form, do not admit of further explanation. Among these are
the rearing of the hero in the forest, his invulnerability with
the exception of a single spot, his combat with dragons, the
draught of oblivion, the acquisition of the gold.^ Setting
these aside, there remain the accounts of the winning of the
bride, the ride through the flames, and the destruction of the
hero, who falls a prey to the demons (the Nibelungen). The
first maid on the moun-
of these features, the liberation of the
tain, is paralleled by such myths as those of Freyr and Gerdhr.
Svipdag and Mengl^dh. But here, as always in attempting
1 Compare for " hoard-legends " J. G. von Hahn, Sagv.nsscnschafilichc Biblio-

ikek, Chapter lo.
THE GERMAX HEROIC SAGA 145
to interpret myths and to point out mythological parallels,
the stories, however simple they may seem, do not permit of

an absolutely certain explanation. We recognize in the myth
the youthful day hero (Siegfried), who in the morning, after a
ride through the light of dawn (Vafrlogi), awakes the sun
(Brunhild). But the myth of Freyr and Gerdhr points rather
to the earth awakened in the spring by the god of summer.
Similarly, in the second part of the story, while the hero is at
first victorious, yet the light dies again, day passes into night,
the summer into the winter season, Siegfried falls into the
power Nibelungen and perishes. The general meaning
of the
is clear, but we are left in doubt whether the day or the year is
in the first instance to be thought of. In any case, it remains

certain that Siegfried is a light hero, be it of day or of summer,
who rises in splendor, but succumbs finally to the demonic
powers of darkness.
The Wieland Saga does not date from the period of migra-
tions, and was, in fact, developed in a region. Saxony, not
affected by movement.
this It spread very extensively, and
has come down to us in an Anglo-Saxon version, in one of the

oldest Eddie poems, in the Thidhreks Saga, and, pictorially, on
an ancient Anglo-Saxon runic casket. The cultural background
of this saga, the working of metals and rendering fire sub-
servient to the purposes of mankind, is very ancient. The
cunning smith, no doubt here as elsewhere, represents an old
fire-god or fire-demon. Not that we mean to identify Wieland
(Völund) with one of the gods of the Teutonic pantheon. He
was doubtless never worshipped as a god, but various features of
the legend, more especially Wieland's servitude and vengeance,
point to an old fire-myth. There are no grounds for supposing
that antique motifs have received poetic setting in this myth.^
1 This view is maintained by \V. Golther, Die Wielandsage und die IVande-
rung der fr'dnkischen Heldensage {Germania, XXXIII), and by H. Scliiick,

F£/undsaga>i, AfnF. IX.
It is extremely tempting to see in the heroic saga the con-

ditions and, especially, the moods of the period to which the
tales themselves transport us, but there is no warrant for this
view. The poems are too far removed in time from the period
of migration to reproduce in any way the tone and coloring of
the life of that time. The characters, the ideals, the conditions,
are for the most part those of the later Middle Ages, the period
in which the poems were composed. This does not, of course,
preclude the possibility of itsembodying features which reflect
older conditions; for instance, in the picture drawn of Teutonic
kings, with their long blond hair; in the fealty that constitutes
such a close bond of union between them and their men ;
in
the faithfulness of the wife, who wishes to die with her husband
or avenge him ; in the violence and savagery of the encounters ;
in the uncertainty of the conditions surrounding life, producing

a fatalistic feeling, through the realization that sorrow follows
joy. But this is all of too general a character and too vague
in its outline to be regarded as depicting the life of the migra-
tion period. The fatalistic character of the mood may in its
coloring be Christian as well as pagan.

What then justifies our appealing to the heroic sagas as wit-
nesses concerning this period t The fact that the historical
groundwork dates from the age of migrations, and was then
amalgamated with the mythical material already existing. Only
in the case of a few particulars has the claim been made that
they are derived from classical literature, and even this claim
has met with limited acceptance. We may therefore regard
it as firmly established that both the historical and mythical
elements of the heroic saga are Teutonic.
This result acquires considerable importance, when we con-
sider the meagreness of the early data available for the study
of Teutonic mythology. We now know that the mythic con-

ception of the struggle between light and darkness, as sym-
bolized in the day and year myths, was current among the
Teutons. The characteristic features of nature-mythology are

unmistakable in the story of the Harlungen and in that of
Siegfried and the Nibelungen. Besides, giants and dwarfs con-
stitute an important element of popular belief, though chiefly
in the later epical narratives dealing with Dietrich. A number
of widespread motifs for stories, such as combats with dragons,
with or without a mythical background, are made use of in the
Teutonic heroic saga, while the evidence does not suggest even
the probability that they have been borrowed from other quar-
ters. The clearer we recognize that much among the possessions
of the Teutons is of foreign origin, the greater the need to empha-
size what is of native origin, and in these heroic sagas, the
subject-matter of which in its main outlines goes back to the
migration period, it is the poetic imagination, the blending of

reminiscences of the past with nature-myths, of the mythical
with the historical, as already indicated in the Gennania of
Tacitus, that survive as peculiarly characteristic of the Teutons
until the very end, and even beyond the limits, of the pagan
period.
The mythical formulas that we can deduce from the heroic
saga are, however, few in number. The question whether we
must seek impersonations of the gods in them has already been
answered in the negative. Even though Miillenhoff's con-
tention, supported by such subtle reasoning that in the myths
of heroes several god-myths may be recognized, were proved
beyond the shadow of a doubt, —
even then these hero narratives
would furnish no direct proof that the gods to be detected in
them were actually worshipped.
The medieval epics of the N'ibelimgenlied, the Klage, and
Kudrun also, are entirely permeated with Christianity. While
mention is made of the fact that Etzel was a heathen, and
while the Klage even represents him as a Christian who
became an apostate, we cannot, as in the case of the Heliand,
point to pagan survivals in respect to language, customs,
or ideas. All formulas and observances are Christian.

Brunhild and Kriemhild attend mass, children are baptized,
and the rites at the obsequies of Siegfried are all Christian.^
1 A detailed and thorough treatment of this subject may be found in A. E.

Schönbach, Das Chrisientum in der altdeutschcn Heldendicht iing (1S97).
CHAPTER VIII
THE ANGLO-SAXONS
" There were no reasons of state to lead the German con-

querors in Britain to follow Roman traditions, as in the other
provinces of the Empire. There was no native population
permeated with Roman and ready to communicate this
culture
culture to the immigrants." The Teutons that had crossed
^
the North Sea and settled in England were of far purer stock
than the tribes of the West and South and the East Teutons
of the period of migrations. The Romans, after an occupa-
tion of three hundred and fifty years, had evacuated England,
leaving behind buildings, walls, inscriptions, and other material
evidences of their occupation, but no permanent institutions
that outlived their departure. Roman rule in Britain had
always borne the character of a military occupation, maintained
by the aid of a few legions. England had not, like Gaul,
become permeated with Roman culture that outlasted the fall
of the Empire. Accordingly, when the Romans left Britain,
the British (Keltic) population was thrown practically into a
state of anarchy and was left defenseless against the Teutonic
incursions. Even as late as the time of the emperor Honorius
they in vain besought protection from Rome against these
invaders.
Invasions of seafaring Teutons began as early as the fourth
century. The Viking expeditions run parallel with the migra-
tions, though they cover a by far longer period. No perma-
nent settlement, however, was efifected in England until the
British king, Vortigern, in one of his feuds with his neighbors,
1 B. ten Brink, Geschichte der englischen Litteratur, 1, p. 12.
149
was enough to call in the aid of the Saxon chief,

ill-advised
Hengist. and Horsa remained in the land where
Hengist
their arms had proved victorious (449). They were followed
for about a century by constantly fresh streams of Teutonic
immigrants from the peninsula of Jutland and from the mouth
of the Elbe. From Jutland the Jutes came, who settled in
Kent, from Sleswick the Angles, from Holstein the Saxons.
These tribes established small kingdoms along the entire
eastern coast of England, pushed back the Keltic population
ever further to the west and north, and constantly extended
their dominion.
With good reason Freeman has pointed out the great differ-
ence existing between the Anglo-Saxon settlement in England
and the Frankish in Gaul. While the Franks became wholly

Romanized, taking on the language and civilization of the
antique world, no such heritage fell to the lot of the Anglo-
Saxons. Nor did the conquerors intermingle with the. native
Keltic population. They pushed them back, and the downfall
of the British has been depicted in vivid colors by Gildas
(560). The struggle with the Britons and Scots covered a long
period and broke out ever anew. As late as the year 603 the
Northumbrian Saxons were compelled to drive back the Scots
at Degsastan. The Keltic element has, of course, not been
exterminated everywhere in England. In the western districts,
such as Devonshire and Somerset, it is more widely represented
than in the eastern. In the main, however, the Anglo-Saxon
conquest involved the supplanting of one people by the other.
Christianity too, which the Britons had adopted about
A.D. 200, was rejected by the Anglo-Saxons. For more than one
hundred and fifty years they remained true to their heathen
traditions. Then the new religion penetrated from two sides.

First of all the Keltic (Irish) missionaries, Columba in lona as
early as 563, worked among them. In addition to this, since
the year 600, missionaries were sent direct from Rome, of whom
THE ANGLO-SAXONS 151
Augustine, who settled in Canterbury, was the first. Some fifty
years later Christianity was general among the Anglo-Saxons,

in the form which accepted the primacy of Rome. These are
the same two currents, the more independent one of the Irish
mission, and the papal one, triumphing under the leadership
of Boniface, which we have already met in the history of
missions among the Germans.
If we possessed a native literature from this period of Anglo-
Saxon paganism, it would be of inestimable value as a source
for Teutonic mythology. But here again we must be content
with what we learn from writings of the period subsequent to
the conversion, and with what has continued to live in the tra-
ditions of the people. The value of these latter sources has,
however, at times been underestimated or, at any rate, they
have not been exploited for the study of Teutonic mythology
to the extent that would seem desirable, for the fairly rich
Anglo-Saxon literature is after all the oldest literature that a
Teutonic tribe has produced in a Teutonic language.
Unfortunately, the writer who was most extensively read, and
who, relatively speaking, still stood so near to the pagan period
of his people, forms an exception to this use of the native lan-
guage. Bede (672-735) not only wrote in was so
Latin, but
much preoccupied with the affairs of the church that he viewed
the past of his people, whose ecclesiastical history he wrote,
entirely through the eyes of a monk. Yet there are a few
chapters in Bede that furnish us with some insight into the
history of the conversion to Christianity. In Northumbria it
was effected in a very peaceful manner, through the preaching of

Paulinus during the reign of king Edwin. Bede (II, 13) unrolls
for us the picture of a conference, in which the king consults

his nobles and also his chief priest Coifi, in regard to the
proposition. The latter at once shows his readiness to give
up the old gods. He has never found their service very advan-
tageous, is not convinced of the truth of the old religion, and,
being entirely free from superstitious fear, stands ready to be

the first to desecrate and raze the sanctuary with sword and
spear. Another of the nobles impresses us more favorably.
In a finely conceived simile he tells of the bird that flies into
the warm festive hall from the rain and snow without, only to
pass out again on the other side :
" de hieme in
hiemem." '
Such is man's brief span of life between the unknown past and
an unknown future. Why then should we not take heed of

the new teaching that gives assurance concerning these things?
It is not, however, to be supposed that the introduction of
Christianity among the Anglo-Saxons met with no outward
opposition. The Mercian king Penda (626-655) fought against
it with might and main, till the bitter end. The Northumbrian
king Oswald, who fell in battle against him, is regarded as a
martyr in the Christian cause, and Bede recounts a number of
miracles wrought at his grave or through his relics. The
heathen king had hung Oswald's head and dismembered limbs
on trees, perhaps as a sacrifice to his gods. But Bede's narra-
tive, difiûse as it is in its account of the miracles, gives us no
true insight into the real motives and the significance of king
Penda, who, as we learn from Bede himself, did not exter-
minate the Christians in his realm, although he held them in
great contempt. At any rate, when Penda fell in battle against

Oswin, the last powerful opponent of Christianity perished.
Before the end of the seventh century the organization of the
Anglo-Saxon church under the primacy of the pope was com-
pleted,and while politically the kingdoms were still separate
and had been effected.
distinct, ecclesiastical unity
As in Germany,England the old paganism lived on

so in
after the conversion in numerous magic formulas and observ-
ances. While Anglo-Saxon literature has not transmitted any
such, like the Merseburg Charms, from the heathen period
itself, there are still several in which pagan ideas are clearly
1 " From winter into winter."

discernible ; so in the incantation against rheumatic pains,

conceived of as brought into the blood or limbs by the arrows
or shafts of gods, elves, or hags {Jucgtessaii). In the main the
charms were joined to a belief in, and invocation of, powerful
elemental spirits. Thus running water possessed magic power
for the healing of sickness, a conception which there
is no
need of deriving from the Christian baptism.Mother Earth,

too, called Erce in a field charm, was tilled with all manner of
symbolic rites and formulas, which served to promote fertility.

The introduction of large numbers of ecclesiastical formulas
into these incantations does not conceal their originally pagan
character. Though secular and ecclesiastical laws united in
inveighing against various forms of divination and witchcraft,
such as casting spells on man or beast, magic draughts, the
evil eye, and the like, they were not eradicated.
The Anglo-Saxon genealogical tables have already been

mentioned in connection with the other tribal sagas. ^ These
dreary lists represent in reality the skeleton of numerous
legends, and while we are not told that the latter received
poetic treatment and development, they must at all events
have survived in the imaginations of the people. The gene-
combined names of varied
alogies of the royal families have
origin. Sceldwa (Scyld), who was identified with the pro-
genitor of the Danish kings, Beaw, and king Ofïa have all
three been imported from the original home of the Anglo-
Saxons between the North Sea and the Baltic. Opinions still
differ as to what part of these characters and tales is origi-

nally the property of the tribes themselves, and what is of
Danish origin. While the genealogies, therefore, in their
nucleus point to the pre-English period of the Anglo-Saxons,
they have been localized in England, and have been trans-
ferred to the royal families of the individual kingdoms.
Our knowledge of the deities of Anglo-Saxon paganism is
1 See Chapter IV, p. Si.

based solely on these genealogies and on proper names. It is,
accordingly; impossible to get beyond mere names. Attempts to

define the character of these gods must depend upon material
drawn from other Teutonic tribes. From the sources at our
command, we thus obtain Wodan, Thunor, Tiw, Seaxneat,
Baeldaeg (Baldr), the nicors or water sprites, and possibly
some others. In the first component part of such names as
Oswald and Oswin we recognize the word signifying god, in
Alfred and similar names, the elves. While these gleanings
seem meagre, they suffice to prove that the Anglo-Saxons car-
ried the old Teutonic gods with them from their original home.
In the heroic sagas of other tribes they also took a lively
interest. These Anglo-Saxons celebrated in song the foreign
sagas of Ermanaric, Walther, and Wieland, a fact which—
indicates a lively intercourse with the various Teutonic tribes
of the continent, through whom they became acquainted with
these legends.
The greater part of Anglo-Saxon literature bears a Biblical
and ecclesiastical character, and yet it was written not in
Latin, but in the vernacular. In the vernacular the herdsman
Kaedmon (680), who in a nightly vision had received the gift
of poetry, sang of the fall of the angels and other Biblical

subjects, in poems that maybe compared with the recently dis-
covered Genesis fragments of the Saxon Heliand poet. Kyne-
wulf also, the great Anglo-Saxon poet of the runic verses, of
riddles and the like, sang of legends of saints in Andreas and
Elcne. King Alfred was a generous patron of native letters,
and himself translated into Anglo-Saxon the writings of
Orosius, Bede, Boëthius, and Gregory the Great. It is neces-
sary to emphasize the fact that all these works were written in
the vernacular, inasmuch as this tended to favor unconsciously,
and even contrary to the intention of the author, the retention
of many a pagan conception. As we have seen, the same
observation applied to the Old Saxon Heliand : the language
was involuntarily the vehicle of old ideas. Thus in Kyne-

we frequently find Wyrd used of fate, Wig of the
wulf' s Elctie
god of war. The god of the universe is represented as helms-
man, the cross is regarded as a hidden treasure, and the nails
of the cross as instruments of magic, while hell is depicted
with the characteristics of Nastrand, and very vivid scenes are
drawn from the seafarers' life.^
The chief monument of Anglo-Saxon literature, the epic

Beinuulf^ completed, in its present form, presumably not later
than the eighth century, has preserved for us a great wealth of
sagas. Its contents, however, carry us back to a time ante-
cedent to, or contemporaneous with, the immigration of the
Anglo-Saxons in England. The poem relates how the Danish
king Hrothgar, of the race of the Scyldings, built a splendid
hall, Heorot. A monster, Grendel, carries off from this hall
every night thirty of the king's thanes, and no one is able to
hinder it, until the great Geat, Beowulf, slays first Grendel and
then, in the depths of the sea, Grendel's mother. Laden with
gifts Beowulf returns to his native land, where he succeeds
Hygelac as king of the Geatas. After a long and glorious
reign he undertakes, as an old man, to fight a dragon that
guards immense treasures. In his combat with the monster
he is joined by the young Wiglaf, the Scylhng, who is not,
however, able to save his lord. In the fight Beowulf falls a
victim to the venom of the dragon, but he has slain the mon-
ster, and has the satisfaction of having with his death pur-
chased the treasure of gold for his people. The poem ends
with his solemn obsequies.
It will be apparent from even this brief outline that the epic
Bcorvulf consists of two main parts. The first relates the

struggle with Grendel and his mother, the second and shorter
part the combat with the dragon and the hero's death. The
1 C. \\'. Kent, Teutonic Antiquities in Andreas and Elene (Dissertation),
Leipzig, 1SS7.
connection between these two parts is rather loose. Numer-

ous other legends have, moreover, been introduced by way of
episodes : Beowulf's swimming contest with Breca ; the combat
with a dragon of Sigemund and his nephew Fitela ;
^ tales of
the Frisian king Finn of Offa and Thrydo, in which an Anglo-

;
Saxon hero from the original home has been more or less
fused with an historical Mercian king the story of the Swedish
;
king Ongentheow, and various other personages.

The first question that presents itself is, To what region do
these sagas originally belong ? It is noticeable at the very
outset that the Anglo-Saxons are not even mentioned in the
poem, the scene being laid throughout in Scandinavian coun-
tries, among Danes and Geatas, the latter of whom we regard
not as the Jutes, but as the Götas of Southern Sweden.
Accordingly, some scholars are of the opinion that the Anglo-
Saxon poem is essentially a translation of a Danish original,
or, if not in its present form a translation, that at any rate

the legends it contains had been fully developed among the
Scandinavians and had already been the subject of song."^
Not only do these assertions not admit of proof, but they
are in a high degree improbable. The evidence points decid-
edly in the opposite direction. With Miillenhoff, ten Brink, and
Symons, we must regard the Beo7vulf epic as the development
given by the Anglo-Saxons themselves to various sagas that
they had either brought with them from their original home,
or had subsequently appropriated in their unbroken intercourse
1 For the relation of this legend to other connected legends, compare Uhland,
Schriften, VIII, pp. 479 ff.
2 So, in one form or another, Thorkelin, Grundtvig, Jessen, Bugge, Mone, Ett-
miiller, Sarrazin. Recently E. Sievers has shown that the Danish saga, as trans-
mitted to us in Saxo, has a number of proper names in common with Beowulf. See
his article,Beovulf und Saxo {Ber. iiber die Verh. d. k'ónigl. sacks. Gesellsch. der
Wiss., Phil.-Histor. Klasse, Sitzung 6. Juli, 1S95). Vigfüsson has pointed out a
correspondence between Bcoivulf and the Norse Grettir Sagas, but here Beoindf is
the original from which the Norse author borrowed. Compare H. Gering, Der
Beowulf und die isliindischc Grettissage (Anglia, III).
with their native land. There is no occasion for surprise at

the striking resemblances with Danish sagas in regard to
subject-matter, if we reflect that these peoples came constantly
in contact with one another and that this contact before the
Viking age was apparently never hostile for any length of time.
That these legends should reach their full development on
other than their native soil is phenomenon.
also not an isolated
In a similar manner the East-Gothic sagas lived on principally
among the Alemanni the saga of Hugdietrich andWolfdietrich
;
was transmitted to posterity through the Franks, and the memory

of the downfall of the Burgundians was perpetuated through
other peoples. It is in no way strange, therefore,, that the
Anglo-Saxons, who themselves treated in song the sagas of
other peoples (Ermanaric, Walther), brought with them from
their native home those of their neighbors. It is indeed note-
worthy that the period of the national conflict in England itself
lives only in the Keltic saga of king Arthur, and not among
the Anglo-Saxons themselves, or at least only in what may be
gathered concerning it from disjointed names in the geneal-
ogies. But this may in part be attributed to the fact that other
characters and other narratives had already seized hold of
their imagination.
Miillenhoff's masterly monograph has shown how, by means
of keen historical criticism, the epic of Beoivulf may be made
to do service as an important source for the history of the
seafaring Teutons. There are reflected in Beowulf historical
events as well as historical conditions and relations. While
the two main episodes that constitute the poem are undoubtedly
mythological in origin, and Beowulf is therefore to be classed
as a mythical hero, he has been fused with an historical person-
age, with a warrior from among the following of king Hygelac,
or Chochilaicus,- as he is called in our Latin sources. This
Chochilaicus harried, about the year 515, the Frisian coast up
to the mouths of the Rhine, and inland along the banks of this
river, but was defeated and slain by Theodobert, the son of

the Franconian king Theodoric.-^ This event is subsequent,
therefore, to the first settlement of the Anglo-Saxons on Eng-
lish soil and is contemporaneous with the period of occupation
by the swarms of colonists from Sleswick and Holstein that
followed the vanguard of their kinsmen. It is evident, accord-
ingly, that the period of saga formation had not come to a

close when the Anglo-Saxons arrived in England, and hence
in the historic events reflected in Beoundf we find both such
as are anterior to, and such as are contemporaneous with, the
century of the immigration. While the lists of Danish kings
contain a number of older names that invite a comparison with
the tradition chronicled by Saxo, Hygelac and the historical
Beowulf lived in the sixth century. The latter has, however,
become fused with an older myth hero.
It does not lie within our province to point out all the details
which a critical examination of the narratives and a comparison
with other accounts warrant us in regarding, or at least in surmis-
ing, as historical in origin. The old Danish sagas are especially
rich in this regard, even though the Danes do not play the
poem. But TJciyw//^ preserves also the memory
chief role in the
of more than one important struggle: of the one between the
Geatas and Swedes, resulting in the downfall of the kingdom
of the Geatas; of the conflict between the Scandinavian Vikings
— not improperly so styled, although antedating by several
centuries the so-called Viking period — and the Frisians ; of
the one between the Danes and the Heathobeards. The last-
named tribe, by some identified with the Longobards, by others

with the Heruli, inhabited one or more of the islands which
are at present Danish, and was annihilated in a feud with the
Danes. The memory of this historical event faded to such an
extent that in the later forms of the sagas, found in Saxo, the
heroes of the Heathobeards, Froda and Ingeld, have been
1 Gregorius Turonensis, III, 3 ; Gesta Prancorum, Chapter 19.
classed among the Danish kings. Thanks to Beoivulf and

Widsith, the memory of these valiant bards (such seems to be
the signification of the name) has not been lost. They have
there been associated with the reign of the Danish Hrothgar,
whom our poem pictures as the ideal king, bold and brave in
his youth, in later years wiseand good, generous and peace-
loving. was he who built the hall Heorot (Hleidr, near
It
Roeskilde), which is a centre of the heroic life of the North

in Beowulf, and the scene of the devastation wrought by
Grendel, as well as of Beowulf's subsequent struggle with the
monster.
While all these sagas of kindred peoples have been devel-
oped in the Anglo-Saxon epic, it is perhaps impossible to define
accurately what belongs to the past of their own tribes, in the
narrower sense of the word. Such is doubtless the case, how-

ever, with the characters Garmund, Ofïa, and Eomaer, and most
likely also with the main features of the myths. The links that
serve to connect it with the English period may be detected as
readily as the superinduction of Christian conditions. It is evi-
dent that these do not form a part of the myths proper. They
are probably to be ascribed to the Christian author of the
poem.
That nature-myths lie concealed behind the main episodes of
Beonnilf may be regarded as certain, and a plausible interpre-
tation has been found for at least one, and that the most impor-
tant, of his heroic deeds. We do not refer to the swimming
contest with Breca, the forced and divergent explanations of
which may be passed by. While it is not improbable that here
too a nature-myth lies at the foundation of the story, it is at
least possible that it is merely a greatly embellished account of

an actual occurrence, or, what is even more likely, the creation
of a poet's imagination. Grendel and his mother, on the other
hand, are unmistakable water demons. Grendel's regular
appearance in the hall Heorot may be compared with the
numerous stories concerning water-sprites tliat visit mills. The

high floods and depths of the sea have accordingly been per-
sonified in the savage water monsters of Grendel and his
mother. The original home of the myth is along the coast of
the North Sea, known of old as fraught with danger to the
inhabitants of its shores.^ That the localization at Heorot-
Hleidr on Seeland is not original is evident from the fact that
this place is situated inland. The interpretation of the myth
as suggested above seems the most obvious one. It may,
however, be noted in passing that Laistner has, in a very
ingenious way, offered another explanation, which would seem
to be supported by some descriptive passages of the poem
{e.g. Beowji/f, XXI). According to this view. Grendel and his
mother are the mists that cause so many deadly diseases along
"
the coasts of Jever and Dithmarschen, and Beowulf " Fegewolf
is the wind hero who chases the mists away. Still other inter-
pretations have been proposed, but it does not appear that the
character of Grendel and his mother as water giants can be
gainsaid.
As to the last great adventure of Beowulf, his fight with the
dragon, an interpretation on the basis of a nature-myth is neither
more nor less in place than in the case of the dragon fights of
Siegfried, Dietrich, Ortnit, and many other heroes. The alle-
gory of the Viking life, which bestows the golden booty on him
who braves the sea monster, ingenious as the explanation may
seem, is These
certainly not part of the original conception.
combats with dragons are mythical beyond doubt, but what
phenomenon of nature they represent is wholly a matter of
conjecture.
An important aspect of the subject that has been neglected
by many has with good reason been dwelt upon by Miillen-
hoff. In the Beoûulf we are dealing not only with nature-
myths, but also with a "culture-myth." The ancient heroes are
1 " Die Nordsee ist eine Mordsee."
genealogically the ancestors of peoples or kings, and at the .
same time the beginnings of civilization are ascribed to them.
In the series Sceaf, Scyld (the ancestor of the Danish kings),

Beaw, we find distributed over three heroes what really belongs
to only one. Of Sceaf only the arrival is told, of Scyld the
funeral, while of Beaw we have the entire eventful life of the
hero. Originally, was probably narrated of that one of
all this
the three ancestral heroes who belongs to the Anglo-Saxon

race. The connection of his ancestry with the Danes has come
about through a transference or a commingling of sagas. This
progenitor, Scyld-Scefing, who on the coast in
as a child landed
a rudderless ship, with weapons and treasures, and sleeping on
a sheaf of grain, symbolizes the possessions that are to secure
for his people their rank and position : navigation, war, kingly
rule, agriculture. Beaw is the personification of the " culture-
hero," who slays the sea monsters in order that his people may
dwell in safety. It will be seen that a " culture-myth " of this
character can be analyzed into its constituent parts more readily

than nature-myths.^
In this instance the gleanings from the heroic saga for the
study of god-myths are extremely meagre. \\'hile the identifi-
cation of Scyld-Sceaf-Beowulf with Ingv-Freyr, as urged by
Miillenhoff, is perhaps more plausible than that with any other
deity, we must here also resist the temptation of seeking some
god or other behind the figure of a hero.
All the more vivid is the picture that the epic Beozaii/f gwts
us of the life of the ancient seafaring Teutons. While the
Heliand and the poems of Kynewulf involuntarily preserve
various characteristic details of old Teutonic life, Beowulf
gives us these in a direct way. This life of brute strength in
1 Compare Miillenhoff, Beovulf liwA Sceaf jind seine Nachkomwen, ZfdA. VII.
The identification proposed in the former work of Sceaf with the Longobardian
Lamissio {Paulits Diac., I, 15) is ingenious, but in no way convincing. A story
of Skeaf und Skild, as still told among the people, is the introductory tale of Miillen-
hoff's Sagen, M'drchen und Lieder aus Schleswig, Holstein und Lauciibiirg.
constant struggle with the forces of the sea, this love of gold
so all-powerful that even the dying Beowulf still revels at the
sight of the treasure he has won, the construction and arrange-
ment of the hall Heorot, and the feasts celebrated there, the
obsequies of the hero so circumstantially told, — these and
similar features make this, the oldest Teutonic epic poem
we possess, of especial importance for the study of Teutonic
antiquity, and compensate us for the commonplace character
of the episodes and personages themselves. Beoivulf pictures
only the most ordinary heroic deeds, fights with monsters and
dragons. There is no trace of any delicate delineation of
character. The personages introduced are little more than
abstract types : the brave hero, the wise king, the envious
courtier, the faithful vassal. Women do not play any consid-
erable role, — the queen's character is in no way individu-
alized, —-while the majority of the men are extremely voluble,
given to boasting, and childishly curious. The wisdom shown
by Hrothgar is also of a rather commonplace nature. And yet
we read Beowulf with unfailing interest. It is the epic of the
ancient heroes of the sea, and it furnishes a vivid picture of
the crude manners and conditions of life of the Teutons of the
sixth century.
From O. Bremer, " Ethnographie der germanisclien Stamnie," in Paul's Grundriss der germanischen
Philologie, by courtesy of Karl J. Triibner
CHAPTER IX
THE NORTH BEFORE THE AGE OF THE VIKINGS
what Fontenelle has said be true, that history is merely

" If
a fable agreed upon by common consent, it is no less true that

fable is frequently history misunderstood."^ In various ways
older and recent writers have sinned against the truth expressed
in these words. Medieval authors, such as Snorri in the
Ynglinga Saga (^Heimskringla) and Saxo in his Historia Danica,
simply incorporated the saga with history, and even myths,
euhemeristically conceived, were made to do service as histor-
ical material. Thus Othinus is represented as an ancient king,

and Hotherus and Balderus as having actually existed. At
present, on the other hand, scholars often lose sight of the
historical elements of the sagas heroes and gods, identified
:
with each other wildly and arbitrarily, are alike relegated to

the domain of mythology. In our treatment of German and
Anglo-Saxon sagas, we have already emphasized the historical
elements that they contain. The same holds good to an even
greater extent of the sagas that have been transmitted from the
prehistoric age of the Scandinavian peoples, more particularly
of the Danes, who are the first to appear upon the stage of
history. Frequently interwoven with the Anglo-Saxon legends
treated above, as well as combined with those of the other
Scandinavian peoples," these sagas contain the very pith of

the oldest history of the North. This is gradually becoming
more generally recognized, especially since literary criticism
1
From Michel Servan ; Steenstrup uses the passage as a motto for one of the
chapters of his Normanticrttc.
- Thus among the leading characters of Saxo's Historia Danica we meet with
the Norwegian Eirikr Malspaki and the Swede Starkad.
163
has shed light on the sources from which these accounts were
drawn, and since the unfruitful arbitrary combination of narra-
tives and characters has made way for a critical examination
in accordance with stricter methods.
While none of our sources goes back to a time antedating
the Viking period, there yet exists a large group of sagas that
were indigenous to the North before Danes, Norwegians, and
Swedes through their incursions came into contact with the
peoples of Western Europe, and these can be clearly differ-
entiated from the no less numerous legends that originated

at a later date, or which the Norsemen borrowed from other
nations. To this older group we must first of all direct our
attention. We cannot attempt to give an even approximately
complete survey of these sagas. We are concerned merely
with their general character, and with the light that they throw
on religion.
Like the Anglo-Saxon and other Teutonic royal families, so
the Norse kings claim a god as their ancestor, usually Odhin
or Rig-Heimdallr. Alongside of the Anglo-Saxon genealogies
the long lists of Danish kings deserve mention.^ How much
importance was attached to genealogies may be seen, by way
of illustration, from an Eddie poem, the Hyndluljodh, in which
Ottar, the protégé of Freyja, is instructed by the giantess
Hyndla regarding the descent of various noble families, among
others, of the Skjoldungs, the Danish royal house. Similar
enumerations of names continue to a later period to be char-
acteristic of Norse literature. Even the Icelandic sagas usu-
ally begin by tracing the lineage of their chief characters as
far back as possible, and by inquiring into even the remotest
relationships. Similarly the narratives of battles on land or
sea frequently consist of little more than the names of the
chief combatants.
One of the earliest of the Danish kings that live in the saga
1 They may be found in Petersen, Danmarks Historic i Hcdcnold, I, 137 : II, 5.
NORTH BEFORE THE AGE OF THE VIKINGS 165
is Frodhi of Leire on Seeland. It is not surprising that this

saga should represent the Danish kingdom as constituting, from
the very outset, a unit under the chief king at Leire, whereas
several particulars point to a division under numerous petty
sovereigns. This Frodhi was the Prince of Peace, whom the
wisdom of a later age, accordingly, made a contemporary of
emperor Augustus. Wherever the Norse language is spoken
Frodhi-peace is known. In his day no man did another harm,
even though he should fall in with the murderer of father or
brother. There were no thieves or robbers to be found in the
land. One could safely without fear of its being touched let
a golden ring on the Jellinge-heath (Jutland). This con-

lie
tinued until Frodhi purchased from the Swedish king two

giantesses, Fenja and Menja by name, who, with large mill-
him gold, peace,
stones, with the quern Grotti, were to grind for
and happiness. He allowed them no longer respite than the
short interval between the cuckoo's cries. A Norse song, inter-
calated into Skdldskaparmdl (prose Edda), tells how instead of
Frodhi's meal (gold) they ground out for the king calamity
and vengeance. When the two giantesses were thereupon
taken away by the enemy, they ground salt until the ships
sank under the weight, in consequence of which the sea became
salty. The mythical conception of a golden age of the past
underlies the tale. Its termination is ascribed to the king's
greed of gold. It seems somewhat risky, however, to find a
parallel to this in the lines of Völitspa, where we read that
power of gol5, brought about
Gullveig, also symbolizing the
the war among the gods. This latter conflict between
first
^sir and Vanir will demand our attention under the head of
myths. It is possible that behind it the gods of various Teu-
tonic tribes lie concealed, but it is manifestly impossible to
make use of this narrative in an historical survey for the pur-
pose of deducing from it facts that throw light on the history
of the ancient Teutonic religion.
None of the old kings is more famous than Hrolf Kraki/

the gentle, brave, generous king at Leire, who is said to have
ruled about 600, although other legendary accounts place him

not far from Frodhi, during whose reign Christ is said to have
been born. Of this Hrolf numerous anecdotes are narrated.
One of these undertakes to explain the origin of his surname,
which was given him, when still young, by a peasant lad named
VQggr, who was surprised to see before him a thin man
little
(Kraki) instead of the stalwart figure of a hero. Hrolf was

the son whom king Helgi, without being aware of the relation-
ship, had begotten by his own daughter Yrsa, who subsequently

wedded the Swedish king Adils. Hrolf won fame in combat
with the Saxons, but more particularly in his struggle with the
afore-mentioned Swedish king. Adils having failed to give a
fitting reward to the twelve Danish Berserkers who had aided
him in a fight on the ice of the Vsener Lake, Hrolf accordingly
went to meet him. Hrolf showed his courage by jumping
through the fire, and his sagacity in dividing his enemies and
humiliating Adils by the device of strewing gold behind him,
which his pursuers stooped to pick up. In Hrolf's last fight,
also, in which he was vanquished by the magic arts of his
sister Skuld, the Berserkers, chief among them Bqdhvar Bjarki,
fought at his side. The king fell, but was avenged by Vqggr.
This last fight and the fall of Hrolf form the theme of the old
Bjarkamdl, which we are able to reconstruct from scattered

verses and the Latin imitation of Saxo.^ This song was
famous North and lived in the memories of men. The
in the
scald Thormodr still sang it to the army before the battle at
Stikklestad (1030), in which St. Olaf fell.

The hero Starkad occupies a unique position in Norse
poetry. The original songs have not come down to us, but
Hrólfssaga Kraka : Snorra Edda {Skaldskafannal)

1 Compare ; Heitiis-
kringla {Ynglingasaga, Chapters :^t„ 34) Saxo, HD. II.

;
2 A. Olrik, Dariske Oldkvad i Sakses Historie (1898).

several Norse sagas ^ mention him with more or less detail,
and Saxo gives a circumstantial account of his heroic deeds,

and furnishes even a poetic imitation in Latin of epic poems
on his life. Müllenhofï's '^
keen analysis has distinguished
eight Starkad songs and determined their sequence. These
poems differ greatly from one another in tone and spirit.
Some narrate in an interesting but dignified manner some ad-

venture or achievement of the hero. Others, such as the lam-
poon on the king and queen, are vulgar and obscene, though
not without an element of humor. While Starkad's home is
Upsala, he plays his most important role at the Danish court.
He is the friend of king-Frotho and the foster father of the

latter's children, Ingellus and Helga. He guards their honor,
in part by arousing king Ingellus from his slothfulness and
incitinghim to wreak vengeance for the death of his father,

in partby warding off disgrace from the person of the princess.
It would be idle to seek either history or nature-myths here.
The narratives in their present form do not furnish us with a

clew to their origin : they represent a fusion of sagas of Swedes,
Danes, and Heathobeards. According to Beowulf, Ingellus
belonged to the latter. Starkad is, however, a representative
figure of the North, in the closing centuries of heathenism, the
ideal hero, notwithstanding the shadow cast on his character.
While Odhin has richly endowed him with noble gifts, Thor
has added to these others that neutralize the former, decreeing
more particularly that he was to commit three shameful deeds
{iiiii/iingsverk). On the whole, however, he remains the typical
embodiment of heroic courage, fleet-footed, strong, resolute,
persevering, continuing the combat even when sorely wounded,
full of and in no way resembling the rag-
self-conscious strength,
ing, barking, howling, foaming Berserkers. Starkad's contempt
of all luxury and effeminacy, of excesses in eating or drinking,
1 Hervararsaga, Gaiitrekssaga, Ynglingasaga.

2 DA. V, 301 ff.
16S THE RELIGION OF THE ANCIENT TEUTONS
of every refinement in mode of life, of jugglers and gamblers,

is brought out into strong relief. All these he regards as signs
of decay : they undermine the hero's manhood.
One of the most important events of this prehistoric period
is the helium Bravicum, in which Starkad also plays a role, and

which has been called the Trojan war of the North. We find
it referred to everywhere in Norse literature Saxo and the ;
Icelandic Sqgnbrot furnish a detailed account. Many scholars

regard this battle at Bravallir between Harald Hildetand of
Denmark and the Swedish king Ring as an historical struggle
that took place about 730, shortly before the beginning of the
Viking period. Older historians, such as Munch, even furnish
numerous particulars as to the historical causes and results of
this war. At a later time other scholars recognized only mytho-

logical material, and the battle at Bravallir was regarded as
another variation of the first mythical war that broke out
on earth. Neither the former nor the latter view rests on a
sound basis. Better results have been gained through literary
criticism. From the accounts that have come down to us, Olrik
has attempted to reconstruct the original Norse poem with its
staves, and we now possess a list, some one hundred and fifty
names, of the heroes who faced one another on this field of
battle. At Bravallir representatives of the entire North met

in combat, among them Tylenses, although Iceland was not
discovered until more than a century after the time when the
battle is said to have taken place. The Bravalla song must
have been composed in the second half of the eleventh century.
Various details suggest reminiscences of the sea battles at
SvQldr (1000) and at Helgea (1027). The elaborate naval
preparations, so out of place in the case of a land battle (only
the Danes required transport ships), have simply been trans-
ferred from these naval encounters. The Norse song points
to Telemarken as its place of origin, since archers from this
district are introduced to decide the struggle.
Müllenhoiï has extolled the Brav'alla song as being next to

Voluspa the grandest poem of the North. According to him,
it sounds the funeral knell over the heathen, heroic world.

But its significance can scarcely be as broad as all that, as is
clearly shown by the speeches that Saxo puts into the mouths
of the two kings before the battle begins. Norwegians and
Icelanders are found fighting on both sides, although in general
it may be said that the united forces of Swedes and Norwe-
gians stand opposed to Danes and a majority of foreign peo-
ples, Saxons and Wends. King Ring emphasizes this fact
and refers to the arrogance of the Danes, which must be

checked. Harald, on the other hand, entreats his men to
remember that the Danes are more accustomed to subjugate

than to serve their neighbors. This constitutes the central
thought of the poem, and it contains, therefore, an element of
historical truth, to this extent at least, that it testifies to the
ancient struggle between Danes and Swedes even in the period
of the sagas.
While we are, therefore, not able to attach to the Bravalla
song the significance of a farewell to the old world, it is yet
not wanting in religious conceptions. Aside from the three
Skjaldmeyjar (shield-maidens) who fight on the side of the
Danes, and of whom one is to succeed Harald after his fall,
the role played by Odhin is of especial importance. Through-

out his long, glorious reign Harald has been the favorite of
Odhin, who had taught him the wedge-shaped battle array
{svinfylking). But now Odhin has fanned the flames of war
and, in the guise of the charioteer Brunn, leads Harald on to
destruction, in fact hurls the old, blind king to the ground and,
since he was invulnerable to steel, slays him with the mace.
We must not look upon this act as treacherous on the con- ;
trary, it is the last and highest favor that the god bestows upon
the brave Harald, who as Odhin's favorite is not destined to

suffer a disgraceful straw death, but falls gloriously on the
surrounded by thousands of brave heroes, and

field of battle,
honored with a splendid funeral, which his enemy Ring himself

orders.
The old sagas then not merely supply material for the mental
gymnastics of myth-comparison, but also yield some results
that are of value for the study of the ancient religion. Literary
criticism must of course decide what is to be considered old
and indigenous, and it has by no means as yet said its last
word concerning these intricate problems. Thus we are still
at a loss to decide what features of the three Helgi lays
are originally Danish and which are Norse. These lays are
among the most difficult of the Edda. They tell us of two
Helgis, but the prose pieces, which establish an artificial con-

nection between the various fragments of the saga, mention
three, whom they represent as one and the same person, twice
reborn. Part of this material is no doubt indigenous, but it is
equally certain that it has been fused with elements of later

origin. Attempts, some of them of recent date, have been
made to separate these two elements, but they have not as yet
led to certain results.
The mythical material in Saxo, though euhemeristically con-
ceived, and that found in the Norse sagas can be more readily
distinguished. Saxo himself, to be sure, frequently fails to rec-
ognize it as such. While he understands that it is Odhin who
interferes with the natural course of events at Bravallir, he
does not elsewhere suspect that the same god appears in vari-
ous guises and under various names. Odhin is, for example,
the one-eyed old man, who taught king Hadding. how to array
his men in battle ; he is now called Yggr (Uggerus), then
again Hroptr (Rostarus). Olrik, in distinguishing between the
Danish and Norse sources of Saxo, has pointed out that the
latter are rich, the former poor, in " supernatural " motifs, such
as prophecies, magic, interference of gods with the course of

events, Walkyries and Skjaldmeyjar (the latter, not necessarily
to be identified with Walkyries, also occur in the Danish

sagas), Berserkers/ metamorphosis, and rebirth. While the
ideas of later writers may to some extent have colored their
accounts of sagas, it is certain that these are not literary prod-

ucts in the usual sense of the term, but contain a nucleus of
history from the prehistoric period and reflect ancient manners
and customs. That the queen followed her consort in death
is shown, for example, by the story of Asmund and Gunnhild
at Upsala. These sagas were furthermore current among the
people, as is proved by the numerous proper names, and by
the fact that formerly, and to some extent even now, the graves
of the ancient heroes were pointed out in certain localities.
The Viking expeditions of the second half of the eighth

century mark for the Scandinavian North the beginning of the
historical period, in which the Norsemen" came into contact
with the peoples of Western Europe. Ragnar Lodbrok '^
and
his sons, who fought in England at the beginning of the ninth
century, stand His
indeed only in the twilight of history.
death song Krdkumdl, which he is reported to have sung
is the
in the pit filled with snakes, into which the Northumbrian king
Ella had ordered him thrown. The poem is, however, of far
later date, — about a.d. 1200.
The significance of the Viking expeditions, from the point

of view of religion, must not be underrated. Although this
encounter between heathen and Christians bears in no way

the character of a religious struggle, and while it was certainly
not from motives of a religious nature that these seafarers for-
sook their native land, there can yet be no question that both
sides called for aid upon the gods in whom they put their
1 " A
piece de resistance of the Norse saga writers." Compare the sons of
Arngrim, of whom such wonderful tales are told (Hervarar Saga).
2 This was the generic name under which they passed, no matter whether they
were actually Danes, Norwegians, or, what was less usual, Swedes.
3 See concerning him Ragnarssaga, various other Norse accounts, and Sa.xo,
HD. IX. The opinions held concerning him by such scholars as Jessen, Storm, and
Steenstrup differ widely on numerous matters of detail.
trust. In passing we may remark that these times of great trib-
ulation were not without influence on Christendom. On the

one hand, they served to increase the repute of many a saint,
whose protection was expected or had been enjoyed on the ;
other hand, they brought priests and monks into greater promi-
nence, leading them at times even to wield the weapons of war.
We are at present, however, concerned with what we learn of
the religion of the Vikings themselves, and with such new con-
ceptions as they gathered from the countries with which they
came in contact. Regarding the former, we must remember
that the Norsemen were primarily in search of booty and glory.
When they took captives they at times demanded a renuncia-
tion of Christianity, but as a rule they merely levied contribu-
tions, or demanded to be directed to hidden treasure. At the
same. time, they felt themselves to be the warriors of their gods,
Thor is frequently mentioned, but the prominence given to any
particular divinity was dependent largely on the district from
which the group hailed. It also happened, when they were
defeated or closely pressed, that a superstitious fear of the
powerful god of the Christians seized them, and that they
called upon his aid or made a vow to him. But from the
nature of the case, can be ascertained concerning the
little
and savage warriors. Various accounts

religion of these pirates
indicate that generally a fatalistic frame of mind prevailed
among them. They felt that against the inevitable, against
what is imposed upon a person, even the strongest struggles
were in vain. On the other hand, belief in individual strength
was well-nigh unbounded, and many placed greater reliance on
their valor than on the gods.
is the question as to the influence which
More important
the permanent settlements, more especially in Ireland and
England, —
not the transitory raids and incursions, exerted —
upon the Norsemen. In various ways, through marriage, trade,
and captives, these Norsemen came in contact with Frankish,
English, and Keltic Christians, This intercourse and the

resultant influences extend over many centuries. As early as
A.D.650 we meet on the Shetland Islands with Norsemen from
HQrdhaland, and, until the last centuries of classical Norse
literature, i.e. the twelfth and thirteenth, there was an uninter-
rupted intercourse between Iceland and Ireland, Norway and
the British Isles. The extent, nature, and significance of these
influences constitute the bone of contention among mytholo-
gists of the last decades. Let us first pay some attention
of all
to the intercourse between Kelts and North Teutons, more
especially in Ireland.^
In the early Middle Ages Ireland was the seat of the highest
civilization in Europe. Mention has already been made of the
Irish missionaries, but Irish scholars as well were for several
centuries, down into the Carlovingian period, the teachers of
sciences that had elsewhere fallen into neglect and been lost.
The mind
Keltic has nowhere achieved great things in the line
of material civilization, but from the fourth century, when they
became converts to Christianity, until the tenth, the Kelts of
Ireland were noted for their zeal, their enthusiasm, and their
imagination, and were leaders in both science and poetry.
Several rich saga clusters were developed in Ireland. Other
stories {Mabinogioii) arose in the western part of England,
partly, to be sure, based on French models. In Wales, it is
said, not a house was to be found in which there was no harp.

With these people the Norsemen continually came in contact.
Similarly, in the islands to the north of Scotland they fell
in with Irish hermits, as also subsequently in Iceland, where

these anchorites had preceded the Norsemen. Iceland always
maintained close connections with Ireland. At the close of the
eighth century, finally, the more permanent settlement of Norse-
men in Ireland begins, where they establish petty kingdoms.
1 For a detailed comparison of the Keltic and Teutonic character and disposi-
tion, see Sars, Udsigi, I, pp. 161-168.
What influence the two peoples exerted on each other can

no longer be stated with any degree of accuracy. We know
that insome instances they were united by close family ties,
and we meet with a large number of Irish names among the
Icelandic families. In the practical affairs of life the Irish
were the inferior race, both with regard to politics and the
art of war. Hence the Norsemen experienced no difficulty in
keeping the people, who were so often the prey of internal dis-
sensions, in subjection. But in the arts and sciences they bor-
rowed largely from the Irish. The metrics of the scalds and
of the Irish are related, and the former is most likely dependent
upon the latter.^ The art of prose narration, not developed
so strongly elsewhere in the Teutonic world, the Icelanders
probably learned from the Irish, who themselves excelled in it.
On the other hand, the Irish epics contain elements that have
been borrowed from the Teutonic sagas.
The fact that scaldic and Eddie poetry do not antedate the
Viking period can no longer be disputed. The oldest scaldic
poems of the ninth century are already acquainted with the
most important myths." From this it follows with certainty
that these myths are not the artificial product of a later age,
but not necessarily that they originated in Norway during the
first seven centuries of our era, nor that the system and the
connection in which we find them are equally original. The
centuries during which the Norsemen intermingled with Anglo-
Saxons and Irish must have exerted a powerful influence on
the form as well as on the content of myths and sagas. Much
by Scandinavians is not of indigenous growth,
of the tales told
but has been borrowed from Franks, Frisians, Saxons, or from
the British Isles. We are absolutely certain of this in the case
of heroic sagas of the V9lsungen-Nibelungen cycle. Similarly,
1So according to Edzardi, Hildebrand, Mogk, etc., against Zimmer.

2As has been shown by Finnur Jónsson, Mytiskc forcstilliugci- i dc crldsie skjalde-
kvad (AfnF. IX, 1-22).
Christian ideas may have crept in. But that Norse mythology
as a whole should have first originated during the Viking
period is precluded by the existence of the Old Danish and
Norse sagas and by what we know of the oldest scaldic poetry.

That the Norsemen should have patched their mythology
together as a learned product from Vergil, the Latin mythogra-
phers, Christian and Jewish Sibylline books and apocrypha, is
a theory that possesses still less inherent probability. In a
subsequent chapter we shall examine the character of scaldic
and Eddie poetry more At present it will suffice to
closely.
point out that the Viking period must have given a powerful
impetus to the development of myths. This development,
accordingly, took place under foreign influences, but on the
native soil of Norse myth and saga.
A saga passed by in a previous chapter may appropriately
claim our attention here, inasmuch as it has for its background
the life of the seafaring Teutons. We refer to the Hilde-Kudrun
Saga. Whether we may trace definite historical occurrences
in it is extremely doubtful. It is evident, however, that these

stories reflect the Viking life in many of its phases : expedi-
tions to strange and and Normandy),
distant lands (Ireland
the rape of maidens, and savage combats, in which even
children in the cradle were not spared.

Wedo not possess this saga in as many variant forms as
those of the VQlsungen and Nibelungen. A short narrative
in Skdldskaparmdl, a single Norse saga {Sqria T/idtIr), Saxo's
Historia Danica, an allusion in Lamprecht's Alexanderlied (a

German poem of the twelfth century), and the epic of Kudriiti
form the extent of our sources. In the German epic of Kudrim

three sagas have been united, extending over three successive
generations. The story of Hagen forms the prelude the ;
Hilde story constitutes the main saga, of which that of Kudrun

isan offshoot, modified in a number of particulars and intro-
ducing more especially the new motif of the rival lover. This
;
Herwig Saga, has received a separate treat-

latter, the so-called
ment in a parallel Shetland ballad. The milder spirit of medi-

eval German poetry has on every side tempered or suppressed
the wild and tragic character of the original saga. In its pres-
ent form Kiidnin is a song of fidelity joined with tales of
adventure, and interspersed here and there with genre pictures
that are among the most attractive in literature.^ The leading
motif of the Hilde Saga, however, we know only from the
Snorra Edda.
King H^gni pursues Hedhinn, who has captured his daughter
Hildr. Overtaking Hedhinn at Haey, one of the Orkneys,
H^gni will not listen to offers of reconciliation or atonement
he has drawn his sword Dainsleif, forged for him by dwarfs,
and demands revenge. They fight the whole day and return
at nightfall to their ships. During the night, however, Hildr
has,by her magic arts, brought to life again all the heroes that
had fallen, and so the fight begins afresh the next day. This
combat, the Hjadhningaiig, is to continue until the twilight of
the gods. While the younger Edda thus localizes the struggle
on one of the Orkneys, Saxo places it on the island Hiddensee,
near Riigen, and Lamprecht at the mouth of the Scheldt
{JVii/pc/ncerder). It is self-evident that the entire story is a
nature-myth. The combat ever begun anew points to the
alternation of day and night. This does not, of course, imply
that the characters of the saga are themselves personifications
of nature. The Norse saga makes Freyja {i.e. Frigg, in this
instance) the cause of the conflict. It was she who had to
conciliate Odhin after her infidelity in the quest of the precious

Brisingamen. Müllenhoiï, therefore, regards the Hjadhninga-
vig as merely an historico-epical form of the necklace-myth.
But here again the particular details do not lend themselves to
an exact mythical interpretation, even though it be admitted
1 The merchandise offered for sale near the ships of the Regelingen ;
the singing
of Horant ; the princesses washing clotlies on the seashore.
NORTH BEFORE THE AGE OF THE VIKINGS ^ Yll
that the struggle bears a mythical character. The character

of Wate, the impetuous and raging giant/ is likewise mythical.
Thus the heroic saga of the seafaring Teutons, both in Beo-
tvu/f and Hilde-Kiidnin, is parallel with that of the nations of
the migration period. In both we encounter the mythical strug-
gle between light and darkness, or against the wild powers of
nature. Owing to their historical character the German heroic
legends depict to a greater extent actual personages and
events, whereas the Hilde-Kudrun Saga sketches the more
general historical conditions of the Viking period.
It still remains to cast a glance at the first missionary work
among the Scandinavian peoples, and at what we learn of
paganism in connection with it. Fortunately the historians,
more especially Adam of Bremen, and also Rimbert in his
life of Anskar, are less chary in their statements concerning
heathen conditions than is Bede in the case of the Anglo-
Saxons. Adam wrote a history of the diocese Hamburg-
Bremen, which from the very beginning formed the centre of
the mission work in the North. In the course of this work he
furnishes considerable information concerning Saxons, Slavs,
and Scandinavians, as e.g. his circumstantial account of the
temple at Upsala, the images of the three chief gods (Thor,
Odhin, and Freyr), the human sacrifices, and the festival recur-
ring at intervals of nine years (IV, 26, 27). And yet it cannot
be claimed that either of these writers gives us a clear idea of
the course of events. In the life of Anskar the author is chiefly
concerned in drawing a picture of the missionary, admittedly
one of the grandest and most attractive pictures in the history
of missions. As a rule, we fail to grasp the connection and
the significance of the events narrated, no light being shed on
1 He
has been variously regarded as an " Odhinsheros," a water giant, and a
storm demon. Müllenhoff (ZfdA. VI), Weinhold (ZfdA. VII), and Symons
(G. Hds., § 60) regard him as a sea giant, W. Sauer {Mahabharata und Wate)
and E. H. Meyer {G.M.^ § 385), as wind giant.
their relation to general political conditions. The narrative

lays great stress on the conversions brought about by miracles,
and yet repeatedly leaves us face to face with the inexplicable
fact that paganism remained dominant notwithstanding.
Since the year 823 the attention of Lewis the Pious had
been drawn to Denmark. Archbishop Ebbo, of Rheims, even
proceeded thither and baptized several converts, but a stay
extending over only a few months could produce no lasting
results. The prospect for missions appeared to be brighter
when a Danish prince, driven away by his kinsmen, turned to
Lewis for aid. With great pomp this Harald, with his family
and retinue, was baptized at Mainz in 826. A young monk,
Anskar, was designated by Lewis to accompany Harald back
to his own land, and he proved to be the right man for pioneer
work. While Harald protected the religion of his adoption,
he was at first only a half-hearted convert, and the labors of
Anskar had as yet borne little fruit, when Harald after a few
years was again driven away and was indemnified by Lewis
with a grant of land along the Frisian coast. Meanwhile a
new field had been opened in Sweden. Anskar was well
received there, the king being favorably disposed towards him,
and God had shown his might by signs and miracles at
after
Birka,many asked to be baptized.
Apart from the fact that the German mission of Hamburg-
Bremen was not developed systematically and vigorously,
remaining at a standstill for years at a time, the outward cir-
cumstances were not favorable to it. First of all, the points

of contact between Danes and Germans were very few. The
entire Baltic coast was Slavic and heathen territory the Fris- ;
ian coast, forming the boundary of German rule, was poor ;
Hamburg alone was a welcome prey to the Vikings, who

accordingly plundered it as early as 845. Besides, the Danes,
who during these centuries were the paramount power of
Northern Europe, harrying England and France, and occupying
NORTH BEFORE THE AGE OF THE 'VIKINGS 179
large districtsand establishing kingdoms, were naturally not

inclined to renounce their customs and religion on account
of the preaching of a few German missionaries, even though
now and then a brilliant miracle, such as the carrying of red-
hot iron, appealed to their imaginations. We need not, accord-
ingly, assume a powerful organization or a strong conviction
and zeal for the heathen faith, to account for the fact that the
Danes, like the Frisians and Saxons a century previous, turned
a deaf ear to the strange religion.
It is clear, therefore, why Christianity in Denmark made no
material progress during a century and a half and did not, in
fact, produce any spiritual stir. During the second half of the
tenth century it began to penetrate, but not from Germany.
Several Viking princes and a number of their men had been
baptized in France or England. Among Guthorm
these were
in 878, in East Anglia, and Rollo Normandy. In
in 912, in
Denmark proper, Gorm the elder had maintained paganism

with a strong hand and had tolerated the Christians only under
compulsion. His son, Harald Blatand (941-986), was the
first Christian king. When his successors, Sven and after-
wards Knut, joined the crown of England to that of Denmark,
this did not, of course, take place without a definite change
from the heathen to the Christian religion. The same change
occurred nearly simultaneously in other Scandinavian coun-
tries. In Sweden Olaf Skautkonungr (1008) was the first
Christian king. Concerning the other two Scandinavian coun-

tries, Norway and Iceland, we possess more detailed accounts,
which will demand a separate treatment.
CHAPTER X
NORWAY AND ICELAND: HISTORY AND LITERATURE
"In Denmark and Sweden the religious struggles did not

involve also a struggle between conflicting political interests,
or, at any rate, they could not develop into such to the same
degree as in Norway."^ With these words Sars describes the
Norway in the tenth century. It may
character of the history of
be maintained that here too the heathen belief had not struck
root firmly and deeply enough to offer serious resistance, but
it is true, on the other hand, that "the warlike character of the
Norwegians, their attachment to what had been handed down
from their forefathers, kept them faithful to their old gods,

^
under whose protection they had until now prospered."
While we may attach some weight to the fact that for the
Norwegians, likewise, Christianity was the religion of strangers,
which they were therefore loth to accept, yet the character-
istic difference between the period of conversion of the Nor-
wegians, as compared with that of Danes, Swedes, Frisians,

and Saxons, is undoubtedly the close connection to be observed
between the political and the religious movement. The aris-
tocracy of the noble families remained attached to paganism,
whereas the royal power, whose authority over the whole land
was of only recent date, soon sought to strengthen its position
by an alliance with the cause of Christianity.
The sources dealing with this period, while not wholly con-
temporaneous with the events they narrate, are yet very full.
The oldest, —
and these are in part contemporaneous with their
1 Sars, Udsigt, I, 216.
2
J. Grimm, Kl. Schr., V, 92.
180
ATOJÎVAV AND ICELAND ' 181
subject-matter, — come down

are the scaldic songs that have
to us intercalated in the Snorra Edda and in numerous historical
sagas. The songs of the Edda also come in for consideration,
and the historical sketch to which we now proceed is based on
the results of the critical study devoted to the chronology and
sequence of these documents. We shall be able to sketch
only the main outlines, without entering upon the discussion of
various matters of detail. Not only are we acquainted with a
large number of proper names belonging to this century, but
the individuals that bear them play a role in numerous anec-
dotes. The historical sagas are preeminently stories history ;
is tantamount to the adventures and encounters of king, jarl,

hersir (ruler of a district), bondi (free peasant), of viking and
scald. Our task, then, will be to describe the heathenism
of the century in which Christianity gradually penetrated
Norway in the light that these accounts cast on it. Iceland,
too, falls within our domain.
We know the religious conditions in Norway before the end
of the ninth century through proper names only, which point
chiefly to the worship of Thor. We must not, however, con-
clude from this that no other gods were worshipped. When
we find, for example, the historical sagas making mention of
a libation to Odhin or to Freyr as a usual occurrence, we
must certainly regard this as an ancient religious observance.
The religious element is not, however, made very prominent,
even in the case of the first king on whom the light of history
falls,Harald Fairhair {Hdrfagri), who, about the year 872,
brought the whole of Norway under his rule, breaking the
power of the independent jarls and hersirs, and with a strong
hand subjugating the Western Vikings. The great historical
significance of his reign lies, on the one side, in the unification
of Norway under one supreme king ; on the other, in the
greatly increased emigration, brought about in part by these
internal conditions. In this manner, the islands to the west
were settled: the Orkneys, the Shetland Islands, where from

now on we find Norse jarls in constant communication with
the mother country, and Iceland, which was also occupied by
Norse emigrants during the reign These early
of Harald.
accounts yield, however, but little on reli-
that has a bearing
gion. It does not appear that the Norsemen had brought

back with them from their Viking raids, which had now lasted
more than a century, impressions concerning Christianity.
In Snorri's saga of Harald Fairhair (in Heimskringhi) we read,
in this connection, only of the king's opposition to Finnish
witchcraft, and,on the other hand, of his passionate love for

a fair Finnish maiden, named Sneefrid, who was one of his
many wives. The Hrafusmal (raven-song) of Thorbjqrn '
Hornklofi, one of the oldest scaldic poems, which makes a

comparatively scant use of the technical terms of a later age,
sings the fame of this king, his roaring Berserkers, his fool, and
his pet dog. Freyr and the Yule festival are also mentioned.
was Harald's desire that of his numerous sons, Eirikr
It
should succeed him as chief ruler. Eirikr was not, however,
able to maintain himself permanently, and his brother Hakon

gained control of the kingdom, although he subsequently lost
it to the sons of Eirikr. During these troublous times, covering
a large part of the tenth century, Christianity gradually crept
in from foreign lands, more especially from the British Isles,
where many Norse Vikings and princes had been baptized.
This had also been the case with the above-mentioned Hakon,
one of the younger sons of Harald Fairhair. He had come to
England when a child, and, according to a custom of the time,
had been " laid on the knee " of the Anglo-Saxon king .Ethel-
stan, who thus became his foster father and brought him up
in the Christian faith. When Hakon returned to Norway he
gained the support of Sigurd, the powerful jarl of Throndhjem,
1 This poem is in the form of a dialogue between a raven and a girl who resembles
a wise Walkyrie or a Finn, versed in the language of birds.
JVO/?lVAV AND ICELAND ' 183
of whom he had of old been a favorite, Sigurd himself having

sprinkled him with water at the name-giving. Eirikr, who was
brave, but ungracious and unbeloved, had to flee, and Hakon,
surnamed the Good, or else Adhalsteinsfostri, ruled the land,
but in dependence on the nobles, to whom he owed his eleva-
tion to the throne. This became apparent when in the pop-
ular assemblies {thing) he wished to compel the bondis and
hersirs to accept the Christian religion. This caused great
dissatisfaction and might well have cost him his throne, if jarl
Sigurd had not intervened as peacemaker. The jarls and

hersirs would not abandon their old customs. They were
doubtless partly by a
influenced of the
superstitious fear
wrath of the gods they were asked to renounce, but a stronger
factor was the inborn pride, which would not suffer to have
anything thrust upon it by force, least of all when it came
from a king whom they themselves had raised to the throne,
and when it concerned the service of the gods who had local
centres of worship (fy/ki) in every part of the realm. The
sources introduce us to the solemn ceremonies, on the occasion
of a festive meal, at which Hakon refuses to partake of the
and makes the sign of the cross over his cup,
sacrificial flesh,
though subsequently yielding to popular customs by eating a

bit of horseflesh and pledging a cup to Thor. While Hakon's
personality still remained far more popular than that of the
ungracious Eirikr, the discontent on both sides would doubt-
less have led to a conflict, if Hakon had not been compelled
to face the sons of Eirikr. He falls in battle (961), so that,
despite his good intentions, Christianity made little progress
during this reign.
Meanwhile king Eirikr roamed in the and
West as Viking,
finally acquired a kingdom in There he and
Northumbria.
his family, including his wife Gunnhild, were baptized. This
Gunnhild is painted in the darkest colors, as a vengeful,
faithless princess, an adept in Finnish sorceries. It is worthy
of note that a funeral poem {Eiriksmdl) was composed on this
Christian king Eirikr, in which the scene of his reception in

Walhalla by Odhin and the Ein/ierjar is described. While
thishas been taken to prove that the Christianity of Eirikr
and Gunnhild was not of the best sort, it is still more sig-
nificant that in Hdkoiianna/, an imitation of the beautiful
Eiriksmdl, Eyvindr Skaldaspillir, the faithful friend and scald
of king Hakon, praises this king, at variance with all historic
truth, as a devoted follower of the heathen gods.
The sons of Eirikr, among whom Harald Grafeldr was the
most prominent, accordingly came to Norway as Christians.

They gave evidence of their faith by destroying many a
heathen sanctuary, but they did not otherwise resort to force
in winning over the heathen population to Christianity. Their
short reign was characterized by all manner of calamities,

failure of crops and ill luck in fishing, all of which the people
attributed to the wrath of the gods. They had, moreover,
made many enemies, especially by their murder of jarl
Sigurd. When, therefore, the latter's son, with Danish aid,
and as vassal of the Danish king, took possession of the land,
the period of reaction set in, both against the kingship in the
house of Harald Fairhair and against Christianity.
For nearly twenty years (976-995) Hakon the son of Sigurd
ruled the land. He did not bear the title of king, but is
known in history as Hakon Jarl, or as blotjarl (sacrifice-jarl).
His various achievements, how he avenged his father, won

fame in battle, established peace, and restored the worship of
the gods, read in the poem Vdkkia of his scald Einar.
may be
It must be acknowledged that at first the land flourished under
his rule and that he was a sincere and devoted worshipper of

the gods. The time of jarl rule and of the ancient religion
was, however, a thing of the past.

In the person of Olaf, son of Tryggvi, a king in Southern
Norway, who had played an important role in the disturbances
NORIVAY AND ICELAND ' 185
of the tenth century, there arose a man who was destined to

complete the work of his forbear, Harald Fairhair, to establish
the rule of a supreme king in Norway, and to bring about the

triumph of Christianity, which he had adopted as Viking in the
West. That he succeeded in this during his short five years'
reign, considering that he found but few traces of Christianity
upon arrival in the heathen land, is one of those his-
his
toricalenigmas which are inexplicable, unless one takes into
account the power and magic charm, the authority and venera-
tion that are the attributes of a wholly unique personality.
It is evident, from all accounts, that Olaf Tryggvason was a
man of this stamp. The later legend, in which monastic his-
torians give an account of his life, recounts a number of cruel

deeds, which he is said to have perpetrated in putting refrac-
tory heathen to death, or in forcing them to accept Christianity.
But while the older and better sources make mention of the
severity of the king in connection with a number of incidents
that occurred on his proselyting tours, they speak at least as
frequently of his bountiful gifts and the magnanimity through
which he had won over to his side his scald Hallfred and the
Icelander Kjartan. In reading, in the ffdmskri/ig/a, the saga
that bears his name, we gain the impression that the personal
appearance of the king at the various things created a stronger
impression and exerted a greater influence than mere physical

force, although the latter was also not wanting. That the
paganism, thus formally forsworn, now and then stillhaunted
the memory of the king himself may be gathered from a story
told in this very saga, which later on became the basis of
Nornagests Thdtti'. Odhin, in the guise of an old man with
one eye, is said to have sat down one evening to the festive
meal, and until late at night to have greatly preoccupied the
thoughts of the king. Not until the next morning did they
discover that they had been tricked by Odhin, who had spoiled
the meats and confused their thoughts.
1S6 THE RELIGION OF THE ANCIENT TEUTONS
Everything points to the fact that the king, who had in so
short a time Christianized his reahii, cherished great plans.

The establishment of the Christian religion in the Orkneys,
the Faroe Islands, Iceland, and even Greenland proceeded
from him. The Swedish queen dowager refused to wed Olaf,
because she would not adopt the new religion. She thereupon
became the wife of the Danish king Sven. Just as Hakon
Jarlhad only with difficulty shaken off the supremacy of the
Danes, and defeated their allies, the Jomsburg Vikings, in
Wendland, so king Olaf came into conflict with the same
power, in those days the strongest in Northern Europe.
Perhaps he dreamt of a great Christian empire, which should
bring the Baltic under the Norse sceptre. However this may
be, the year looo (or 999, according to others), he saw
in
himself arrayed on his gigantic ship, "the long serpent,"

against the united power of the entire North : Swedes, Danes,
and Joms Vikings. In this naval battle of SvQldr, one of the
most famous in Norse annals, king Olaf fell. The people
would not, however, believe him dead, any more than in the
case of so many representative men in history. The saga
therefore makes the great king escape from his ship and
wander to Rome and Jerusalem. Norse travellers are said to
have met him in the South many years afterwards.
Norway was divided between the victors, and under Danish
supremacy ruled by the jarls of the Jomsburg. They, also,
were Christians, so that the work of Olaf was not again undone,
although there naturally still remained numerous survivals of
paganism in a country that had only just been converted, and
that too very superficially. This state of affairs continued
some fifteen years, when another descendant of Harald Fair-
hair, a namesake of the great Olaf, and like the latter a daring
Viking, arose to free his fatherland. Under this Olaf Haralds-
son, the holy Olaf, as he is called, the Christian religion and
'
dynastic central rule were permanently established.

//O/^l^VAV AND ICELAND 187
We must now cast a glance at Iceland, the other great centre
of Norse culture. The first settlers on the island were Irish

hermits, called papar by the Norsemen, who left behind them
books, bells, and crosiers. They vanished when, after the year
870, the so-called landndm (land-taking) began, the occupation
of the country by those whom the political conditions under
Harald Fairhair had driven from Norway. They numbered
some four hundred nobles, coming on their own ships, and
accompanied by their families and retinue. The population
that settled in Iceland during the half century over which the
occupation extended may be estimated at about twenty-five
thousand.
To this island these Norwegians accordingly brought from
their fatherland their ancientinstitutions and customs. It
was in order to preserve these that they left Norway, which

had become a new realm under the rule of the great Harald.
On their ships they carried the pillars of the high-seat in their
hall, with the image of Thor carved on it. As they neared
land, they entrusted these to the sea,and where the wind and
waves cast them ashore there they built their new home. In
this way they continued to serve the old gods in the new land,
at times even on Norwegian soil, of which they had taken a
small load with them on board of ship. Many particulars,
however, of the religion of these heathen Icelanders escape
us. They served their ancestral gods, Thor, Freyr, and Odhin.
Their belief in various omens, apparitions, and dreams seems
to have been strongly developed. Catching sight of the tute-
lar genius {fylgjci) or the family spirit portended misfortune

and death, and might also become of significance for affairs
of state.
Notwithstanding the peaceful conditions which this isola-
tion from the world at large seemed to bring to these Nor-
wegians in Iceland, their warlike spirit did not fail to assert
itself. The history of the island is that of the feuds between
families and individuals, — bloody feuds, that were at times,

to be sure, adjusted in a judicial way. Nowhere does the his-
tory of a state coincide with that of individual persons more
nearly than in Iceland. We are not here concerned with
characterizing the political institutions or the administration
of justice, as established by the constitution of Ulfljot (928).
It should, however, be noted how closely these two were con-

nected with religion. The godhi, the successor of the Nor-
wegian hersir, united in his person the offices of magistrate,
judge, and priest. He

was the proprietor of the plainly fur-
nished temple and offered up the sacrifices. The executive,
judicial, and legislative powers, so far as his limited juris-
diction extended, all rested in him. The great assembly, the

Althing, presided over by the law-speaker, decided matters of
general interest as well as feuds involving individuals from
different districts.
Such was the state of affairs at the time when the Republic
attained its greatest prosperity, the classical age, in which the
scenes of the chief and best sagas are laid. These are often
written in a fascinating style, are characterized by great accu-
racy, and introduce us to a number of individuals representative
of this period. The Eyrbyggja, Laxdasla, Gunnlaugs, Egils,
Fostbroedhra, and Njals Sagas, to enumerate only the most

important ones, all transport us to the century extending from
930 to 1030, and more especially to its last half. Among
these the Njala, both in respect to form and content, can cer-
tainly lay claim to the first rank. They are all histories of Ice-
landic families, for a long time transmitted orally, and reduced
to writing in the literary period, i.e. in the thirteenth century.
They tell us of the genealogies, the adventures, the feuds, and

lawsuits of the Icelanders of those days.
On their journeys undertaken for purposes of trade or in
order to come into touch with the outside world, Viking —
expeditions proper were not sent forth from Iceland, — many
NORVVAY AND ICELAND 189
Icelanders during the tenth century became acquainted with

Christianity in England and Ireland, and a few were bap-
tized. One of these latter, Thorwald Kodransson, the travelled
(ind/iforli), even brought back with him a foreign bishop, and,
since 981, this Thorwald and Friedrich, the bishop, preached

in Iceland, encountering some opposition, and without achiev-
ing signal success. The Thorwald Saga relates how several
miracles were how the family spirit (or diviner,
wrought ;
spdmadhr) of Kodran dwelt in a stone and was exorcised by

the bishop, who poured water over the stone how some Ber- ;
serkers were consumed by the fire over which they attempted

to leap, and similar things. At any rate, the question of reli-
gion did not become a burning one until the proselyting zeal
of Olaf Tryggvason began to extend also to Iceland. The
German preacher whom he sent thither, Thangbrand, a disso-
lute and brutal fellow, guilty more than once of manslaughter,
doubtless did the cause of Christianity more harm than good.
But here as elsewhere the attachment to the ancestral religion
did not prove to be very firmly rooted, even though there was
no inclination instantly to relinquish the old in favor of the
new. In the great sagas that carry us back to those days, the
introduction of Christianity does not occupy the most promi-
nent place among the events of the period. The change from
paganism to Christianity was effected at the Althbig of the year
1000, but only after a violent conflict and a permanent rupture
had been narrowly averted. Both sides, the old and the new,
had vehement advocates, who were anxious to have recourse
to arms. A volcanic eruption was interpreted as a sign of the
displeasure of the old gods. The advice of the more thought-
ful people, among whom were the law-speaker Thorgeir and
the godhi Snorri, the most learned Icelander of the time,

finally decided the issue. They saw the danger involved in
the complete severance of family ties and abrogation of legal
forms through internal dissension. They recognized that
Christianity, inNorway under Olaf as well as elsewhere, was

the coming world power, against which eventually no effectual
resistance could be made. Accordingly, in the assembly the
announcement was made from the logberg (law-hill) that all
should be baptized and that the Christian religion should be
the dominant one in the island. Certain concessions were
made heathens as were not willing to relinquish forth-
to such
with all their customs. They were permitted to offer sacrifices
in secret, provided no witnesses were present whose testimony
could render them amenable to law. They were besides

allowed to put out their children as foundlings, and to eat
horseflesh. It was only as Christian morals and ecclesias-
tical discipline gained wider influence that these remnants of

heathenism gradually disappeared.
We have thus attempted to sketch in a rough way the histor-
ical setting of Norse literature. In calling the latter a heathen

literature,more than one reservation must be made. Every-
thing that has come down from the tenth century, as well as
the little that bears a still heathen in origin,
earlier date, while
yet belongs to a period in which contact with Christian coun-

tries was manifold and increasing in influence. After the year
looo Christianity is established, but the old lives on

paganism
in various ways in literature. We
must therefore examine
these literary products somewhat more closely to determine
their position in the history of religion.
In the ancient prehistoric period we see the vague outlines
of the versed in runes, songs, and proverbs, who, from

///////;-,
their seat {thularstbll) in the hall of princes or elsewhere,

recited oracles or songs for the gratification of the company.
Such a thub' was Loddfafnir, whose sayings constitute one of
the parts of Hdvamdl. The tJiulir are mentioned only three
times in the songs of the Edda. As early as the time of Harald
Fairhair they had been superseded by the scalds, who followed
poetry as a profession, and made it subject to fixed rules.
A'ORIVAV A,YD ICELAND 191
On the scalds history sheds abundant light. They lived at

the courts of the kings, whose deeds of prowess they sung, and
from whom they received in return rich gifts and marks of
honor. The craving for gold and fame, which had seized hold
of the men of those days, is reflected also in their lives. The
kings took care that the scalds should witness the battle, and
demanded that a brilliant song of praise should proclaim their
glory, showing dissatisfaction in case they received only a
short /lokkr, where they had expected an elaborate drdpa, with
the accompaniment of the harp. Nor were kings the only ones
who rewarded the scald that had sung their praises. We read
how the famous Eyvindr composed a drdpa on all
Skaldaspillir
the inhabitants of Iceland, and how he was rewarded by a
magnificent gift in silver, to which all had contributed. Dis-
connected occasional poems, half improvised, and single verses
or couplets (Jauscnisiir) are also found. From the numerous
lampoons on opponents {iiidlrAsur), as well as from the love
poems, it is evident that the scald did not lose sight in his
compositions of his personal circumstances. The well-known
scald,Thormodhr, who took part in the battle of Stikklestad,
even bears the surname Kolbrunarskald, after the maiden
whom he loved and celebrated in song. Many of these poems
have been preserved to us in the later historical sagas, although
a considerable part of the poetry introduced in these is of a
more recent date.
A large number of scalds, in all four hundred, are known to
us by name, and of many of these we possess a good bit of
biography, thus giving us a vivid picture both of their own per-
sons and fortunes, and of the conditions prevailing in Norway,
Iceland, the Orkneys, and the other groups of islands, during
the three centuries extending from 900 to 1200. The list of
scalds {Skdldatal^ begins with names with which we are already
familiar from the old saga period: Starkad, Ragnar Lodbrok,
and his wife, Aslaug. Then follows Bragi the Old, concerning
whose existence or non-existence there has been much contro-

versy. He is not to be confused with Bragi, the god of poetry,
who is entirely a creation of mythology. Notwithstanding the
agreement in name, we regard Bragi, in common with most
scholars, as an historical personage, who lived in the early
part of the ninth century, and of whose Ragnarsdi'dpa we still
possess fragments. It belongs to a class of songs for which
ancient Greek poetry furnishes a remarkable parallel. We
are referring to descriptions of scenes represented on shields,
with which the description of the shield in the eighteenth book
of the Iliad and the poem. The Shield of Herakles^ attributed to
Hesiod, are to be compared. There are still other examples
of this in Norse literature, and we also include in this category
the description of scenes depicted on the walls and ceilings of
an Icelandic hall.^ These descriptions are important sources
for the study of myths as well as of pictorial art.
It is impossible to enumerate here even the more important
scalds, let alone give a sketch of their careers. The oldest of

them are from Norway, such as ThorbJQrn Hornklofi, whose
Hrafnsnidl on Harald Fairhair was mentioned above, and
Thjodholf of Hvin, whose Ynglingatal traces the lineage of
a Norwegian king back through thirty generations to Freyr.
Presently Iceland produced the most famous scalds. Even at
the court of the Norwegian kings we soon find that the majority
of the court scalds are Icelanders. Among them there is one
family, that of the Myramen, subsequently known as the Stur-
lungs, which is especially prominent from the beginning of the
settlement until the last years of the Republic. Its first rep-
resentativewas Skallagrim, who was one of the immigrants.

The great mythographer and historian, Snorri, belonged to the
same family, so that the traditions of the first scald were
preserved until the last days of Iceland's independence.
Skallagrim's son, Egil (904-990), whose life was full of stirring
1 The Htisdrapa of Ulfr Uggason, from the end of the tenth century.
JVOA'IVAV AND ICELAND 193
adventure, is a type of the Icelandic scald. He also fought in

England, and there fell into the hands of his bitter enemy,
Eric Bloody- Axe. Among the verses that have been preserved
of him is also the song that he composed in one night as
"a ransom for his head."^ Of the other bards in the tenth
century who played a role in Norway, Glum Geirason, the
favorite of Harald Grafeldr, and Einar Skalaglam, under Hakon
Jarl, were Icelanders. Eyvindr, whom we have already met,
belonged to a distinguished Norwegian family.
When the change to Christianity was made, there were some
scalds who adhered to the old religion. So, for example,
Vetrlidhi of Iceland, who even composed satirical songs on
the new beliefand was slain by the violent preacher, Thang-
brand. At the Norwegian court the scalds soon conformed to
the wishes of the Christian king, although tradition tells us that
Olaf Tryggvason only prevailed with difficulty upon the poet
Hallfred to accept the new belief. The latter, for this very
reason, was called Vandraedhaskald, the " troublesome " poet,
but he remained faithful to his king and is one of the great
figures among the scalds, in every sense a noble and brave
man. Equally great was the fame of the scalds of the holy
Olaf, SigvatThordharson and Thormodhr. The former was
at the same time the confidant, ambassador, and as it were
prime minister of the king. Under king Magnus, too, a —
name he himself had bestowed upon the king, after Carolus
Magnus, —
he still remained the king's counsellor, and even
ventured in some plain-spoken verses {BersöglisTisiir) to cau-
tion him against dealing too harshly with his people, lest it
might endanger his throne. As poet, too, this Sigvat occupies
a place of honor among the scalds.
1 There is an extensive literature on the Egilssaga, of which we may here

mention the following: the edition of Finnur Jónsson in Altn. Sagab., Ill (1894) ;
E. Jessen, v. SybeVs Histor. Zs., XXVIII (1872 ; a fierce attack on the trustworthiness
of the saga) ; K. Maurer, SMA. (1895) G. A.; Gjessing, AfnF. II (1SS5).
Still Others might be mentioned, but it is not necessary to

continue this enumeration. While it is doubtless important
that we should learn to know more about the scalds, their
travels and adventures, their love affairs and feuds, all this is
of little moment so far as our knowledge of Teutonic religion
is concerned. We must, however, examine somewhat more
closely the character and the mythological content of their work.
Their poetry is preeminently artificial, both as regards metrics
and diction. The writing of poetry, according to the terms
that Norsemen themselves apply to it, is building with staves
and beams, a mechanical accomplishment, that requires for its
mastery prolonged study, and is handed down to others. In
no sense is it the free development of individual gifts. Scaldic
poetry is therefore not a product of a healthy imagination, its
pictures are not clearly outlined, it is not based on a poetic

conception of life. It is, on the contrary, rather the product of
the clever and ingenious mind, and as such propounds riddles
to the sober understanding. shown most clearly in its
This is
paraphrases, the so-called kenningar. These kennmgar by no

means resemble the standing epithets in Homer. They are
metaphorical paraphrases that indicate an object more or less
vaguely, and allow us, in fact, to guess at it. Several hundred
such keimingar are known to us from Norse poetry, explained
in part in Skdldskapamidl, in part in glossaries, the so-called
Thiilicr, of rather late origin.'
There are various sorts of kenningat: The house in which
a fire is burning on the hearth is called a fire-ship, the sky the
path of the eagles, the wind the wolf of the forest, the gallows
Odhin's steed, the head the sword of Heimdallr. The relation
1 A list kenningar is given in CPB. II, 447-486. For a detailed treatment

of the
of scaldic poetry, see Finnur Jonsson's Lit. Hist, and Weinhold, Altnord. Lcben,
pp. 327-350. On the Thuliir, see CPB. II, 422 ff. S. Bugge, Aarb. f. nord. Oldk.
;
(1875), PP- 209-246; Müllenhoff, DA. V, 129, 201, 223 fï. Finnur Jonsson, II, 171- ;
181. Views as to the origin of the T/inlur differ: Finnur Jonsson seeks it in
Iceland, most of the others in the Orkneys.
NORWAY AiVD ICELAND 195
between these circumlocutions and the things they signify is at
times transparent : sometimes it is explained by a myth that is
known to us, but frequently such is not the case. As to the

origin of this wholly artificial phraseology, no certainty can
be attained, and we are entirely dependent upon conjecture.
Bugge attributes it to the influence that Ireland exerted upon
the Norsemen, and this possibility can certainly not be totally
ignored. In any case, this artificial poetry did not arise until
the Norsemen and Kelts came into close contact during the
Viking period. It is significant that these kennmgar are prac-
tically lacking in the Old Danish ballad, whereas they are
also found in Anglo-Saxon poetry, although to a far less
extent. The Norsemen borrowed the art without any real

poetic feeling, and developed it in a sober, matter-of-fact way,
giving full play to their love for riddles and enigmas. This
shown by several poems and stories,
predilection for riddles is
among others by the well-known riddles of king Heidhrek in

the Hervarar Saga.
Another factor should perhaps be taken into account in a
discussion of this intentional paraphrasing of the expression of

one's thought. Attention has recently been called to the spe-
cial nautical language, which, like that found in various parts
of the Malay Archipelago, was at one time, and to some extent
used in the Shetland and Faroe Islands and even along
is still,
the Norwegian coast. Through fear of the spirits (the huldre)

certain words are preferably avoided or paraphrased on the
high sea. This religious usage is doubtless older, and has
struck deeper roots in the minds of the people, than the arti-
ficial poetical language of the scalds. In how far the latter is
connected with this nautical language, or has borrowed from
it, is difiicult to determine.^
If this oldest scaldic poetry is the fruit of intercourse with
more highly cultured and already Christianized peoples, then, as
1
J. Jakobsen, Det norr'one sprog pa Shetland (Kopenhagen, 1897).
its form so its content cannot without further proof be regarded

as original and purely Norse. Neither pictorial representa-
tions, such as described in the shield-songs or in the Hi'isdrdpa,
which sings the praises of a hall belonging to an Icelander

whose mother was an Irish woman, nor the oldest kennmgar
furnish mythological material that is above suspicion. While
Finnur Jonsson finds in these oldest kennmgar the proof of
the genuineness of Norse mythology in its main outlines, he
has yet distinguished them very carefully from those found in
later poets, to which he denies all cogency whatsoever. When
we proceed to examine the content of these oldest conceptions
or poetic metaphors, we encounter many features whose origin we
may readily trace to Norway, such as the adventures of Thor,
for example, but there is also a considerable amount of mate-
rial which has certainly not originated in Norway. As exam-
ples of the latter, the story of Hildr and Hc^gni, and an episode
from the history of jQrmunrek in Bragi's shield-song,may be
cited,both of which have probably made their way to the
North from Germany.
As we have repeatedly pointed out, this does not imply that
with Bugge and his school we regard the mythology of the
Edda and the scalds as the result of the artificial imitation of
classical, Jewish, or Christian models. Such an origin is too
inherently improbable to be assumed without strong evidence
being adduced in its favor, evidence which in this instance
is entirely wanting. The Danish sagas show that the Norse-
men possessed a large body of myths and legends of their own.
Everything, accordingly, argues in favor of the assumption that
they developed this native material, although it was frequently
amalgamated with, or augmented by, other matter gathered in
the West or in Germany. In the case of this latter, the Teu-
tonic motifs and stories were unquestionably greater in both
extent and importance than those of classical and Christian ori-
gin. Norse literature borrowed Sigurd, Atli, and Jormunrek
JVO/^^FAV AND ICELAND 197
from kindred nations, but there is nothing to show that it
appropriated an Achilles or a Sibyl. We need, therefore, not

hesitate to call Norse mythology a Teutonic mythology, even
though we do not possess a test by means of which to deter-
mine in the case of each individual episode or narrative what

is originally Norse and what was borrowed by the scalds dur-
ing the age of the Vikings. We must, furthermore, not lose

sight of the fact that the points of agreement between this
Norse pantheon and the meagre material transmitted from Ger-
man sources possess great weight. That the importance of
these parallels was at one time overrated is no reason why we
should undervalue them now.
One fact deserves especial mention on account of its bearing
on mythology. The scalds developed the myths and sagas as
poetic motifs, without regard to their religious significance.
Gods are higher beings, in whom people believe and whom
they worship, but the poetry of the scalds barely shows a trace
of belief and cult. The gods came to be regarded more and
more in the light of characters of whom numerous stories were
narrated, after a time as mere poetical metaphors. While
through this veil we are still able to recognize many a genuine
myth of Odhin and Walhalla, of Hildr and H^gni, to mention

two of a totally different character, the accounts of the doings
of Thor have to a large extent become Mdrchen.
The songs of the Edda trace their origin to the same period
as the poetry of the scalds. And yet there is a great differ-
ence between the two, both with regard to metre and the use
employed with great moderation
of kenningar, the latter being
in the older poems of Furthermore, the Eddie
the Edda.
songs are anonymous, and not a single one can with any show
of reason be ascribed to a known poet. The character of the
poetry is also essentially different. The scaldic poems were
written with reference to actual events of life ; they are inti-
mately connected with the life history of their authors or of the

"
198 THE RELIGION OF I'HE ANCIENT TEUTONS
kings. This in no way applies to the Edda, in which the

.sole aim is to tell a story or to communicate a definite content.
No checkered life of viking and scald serves as background ;
they are myths and stories, poetically treated, either with a

definite end in view, or as mere poetical exercises, in Norway,
Iceland, and Greenland.
The name " Edda " is applied to two collections : the so-
called Poetic Edda, a collection of songs with shorter or'
longer superscriptions and notes in prose, and the Snorra
Edda, written in prose, but with numerous citations in verse,
taken largely from the Poetic Edda. The word " Edda
occurs in the sense of great-grandmother, which is evidently
meaningless as applied to this literature. At present it is
usually interpreted as meaning " poetics," a designation tha£
could properly be applied to the Snorra Edda alone. Other

scholars bring the term into connection with the school of
Oddi, established in Iceland by Ssemund.^
The problems connected with the origin of the sepa-
critical
rate songs, and with their compilation, are extremely intricate.

The criteria employed in determining the origin of the indi-
vidual songs consist, in the first place, of their language and
metrics secondly, of what they tell us concerning phenomena
;
of nature, flora, and fauna thirdly, of historical allusions and,

; ;
finally, of the results — cautiously applied — of the comparison

of myths and sagas. On the basis of the evidence furnished
by these criteria, we conclude that the Eddie poems were
written during the Viking period, in Norway or Iceland." The
work of compilation, however, which furnished the occasion for
So Eirikr Magm'isson in The Saga-Book of the Viking Club (see Academy of

1
Nov. 30, 1S95), and especially B. Symons, Over afleiding en beteekenis van het
woord Edda (Ver si. en Med. k. Ak., 1S98).
2 See the table in Finnur Jonsson's Lit. Hist., I, 65. He assigns most of tlie
songs to Norway and to the tenth century, and regards only a part of Havamal as
old as the end of the ninth century. The Greenland and Icelandic heroic songs he
assigns tc the eleventh century, the Icelandic Gripisspa to even the twelfth century.
JVO/i-lVAy AND ICELAND 1^9
various interpolations, belongs to a later period and was, in

fact, never brought to a close. While the most important poems
are found in all of the manuscripts, yet, in the case of several
songs that occur in some manuscripts and not in others, it is
doubtful whether or not they are to be included in the Edda.

The collection bears in no respect a religious character, and
the Edda is therefore not to be classed among the " bibles,"
but is merely a collection of mythical and heroic songs, only
slightly concerned with religious belief and wholly unconnected
with the cult.
Of the thirty-five songs constituting the Poetic Edda, we

may at once eliminate from our discussion the twenty that
treat of the heroic sagas, namely those of the Volsungen-
Nibelungen, the Helgi Lays, and the lay of Völund. These
pieces have already been treated in a previous chapter. Nor
is it feasible to discuss in detail the thirteen or fourteen songs
that deal with the gods. They bear the names of kvidha (ballad).
7ndl (aphoristic or didactic poem), Ijodh (lay or song), spa
(prophecy), senna {?,\x'\i€)^thula (series). The contents as well
as the general tone of these poems differ greatly. Attempts
have at times been made to classify them according to the
gods that play the chief role, the Odhin songs and the Thor
songs more especially forming two distinct groups. There is,
however, no good reason for forcing the detached pieces into a
definite order. In some of these poems the genealogies receive
especial attention. So in the Hyndluljbdh, and in a different
way in Rigsthula, where the story is related how Rig (Heim-
dallr) begets the progenitors of the three classes : thrael, karl,
and jarl. Others consist in great part of lists of kenningar or

mythical names that are given in more or less of a mythical
setting ; so Grtmnisfiid/, Ahnssjnd/, Vafthrndhnismdl . In some
H. Gering, on the other hand, attributes a larger share to Iceland, V'óluspa among
others, theNorwegian origin of which is, however, according to Hoffory and Symons,
proved by the mention of a certain phenomenon of nature.
the myth has been made to do duty as a poetic Mdrchen.

These tell, e.g. how Thor, disguised as Freyja, fetches back his
hammer from the giant Thrym {Thrymskvidhd), and how Freyr
wins Gerdhr {Skirnismdl). These two are perhaps the best and
most widely known. It cannot be denied that numerous gen-
uine nature-myths, intermingled more or less with foreign
matter, lie concealed in these songs. For illustration we
may mention the account {Svipdagsmdl') of how Svipdag wins
MenglQdh, and the struggle of Thor with the Midhgardh-serpent
{Hymiskvidha). Of a different character are the narratives of
journeys undertaken by Odhin, in various disguises, to take
counsel of wise women or to engage in a contest with a giant
{Vegtamskvidha or Baldrs Draumar, and Va/i/irud/inismdl).
Entirely artificial is the spurious myth of Odhin, who, wounded
by the spear, hung for nine nights on a tree that swayed to
and fro in the wind. These enigmatical verses in Hdvamdl
have been the occasion of much brain cudgelling. The poem
{Hdrbardhs/Jodh) in which Harbardh (Odhin) as ferryman re-
fuses to take Thor across may possess some significance for
the history of culture and religion. Each god recites his deeds,
and great stress ison laid Odhin over the

the superiority of
uncouth, rustic Thor. This has been interpreted as expressing
the antithesis between the old and the new era. That in
the time of the warlike vikings and the poetic scalds Odhin,
the god who welcomes warriors to Walhalla and who won the
poets' mead, gradually supplanted Thor, is a theory that was

advanced long ago and which has found ready acceptance with
many scholars. In Norway, Thor was doubtless of old the
chief god, as he was in Sweden alongside of Freyr, but Eddie
song as well still assigns him a high rank,^ and in Iceland he
was zealously worshipped.
The greater part of these poems were probably written in
Norway during the tenth century. If so, they take us back to

1 Lokasenna especially.
NORIVAY AND ICELAND 201
the closing days of paganism. They show that the ancient

gods engaged the attention and held the interest of men, but
they do not give the least evidence of a living faith. The old
gods occupy men's thoughts, people tell stories about them and
derive a certain degree of pleasure from the recital of their
adventures and accounts of their cunning. They resemble
men, but are their superiors physically and have magic power
at their disposal. Itmore especially, Odhin's
is this latter
ability to assume various disguises, and his control over all
manner of occult wisdom and magic charms, that is held

in very high esteem. There is no suggestion of moral obli-
gation on the part of the gods, while of a spiritual struggle

against the advance of Christianity there is no trace in these
poems any more than of that far-famed melancholy, which,

according to some, forms the keynote of the entire Norse
mythology.
It remains to consider three Eddie poems whose importance
demands a separate treatment. The first of these is Voluspa.
The conception of this poem is grand beyond doubt. The
prophetess {z>qh>a) is represented as telling of the origin of the
world, of the first joyous meetings of the gods, the first war
between ^sir and Vanir, the many evils that fate has in store
for the gods, the final catastrophe, the struggle in which the
gods fall, and finally of the restoration, the return of the
gods reborn to a new existence. Into this general scheme, of
which the above is only the bare outline, a number of myths
have been woven, all told in more or less detail. The text
of Voluspa is here and there corrupt,^ and it also contains
obvious interpolations, such as the catalogue of dwarfs, for
example. So much time and energy have already been
1 CPB., has made an attempt to reconstruct the text, more espe-

Vigfiisson, in
cially with the aid of the Snorra Edda. The result is a " prophecy of the three
sibyls," but much of his work is very arbitrary. Miillenhoff, on the other hand, has
given us a methodical reconstruction of the poem in DA. V, i.
expended upon the study of this poem that it certainly cannot

be considered premature to sum up the conclusions that are
of interest for the history of religion.
The numerous views held concerning Voluspa may be reduced
to three. According to the first of these, the poem is a learned
product pieced together from Christian and classical models.
This is the hypothesis of Bugge-Bang and E. H. Meyer, which
has already been discussed in another connection. Miillen-
hoff, on the other hand, regards Voluspa as the noblest product
of Teutonic antiquity. Triumphantly he refutes the greater part
of the arguments advânced by his opponents, and very properly
points out the parallels with regard to cosmogony and escha-
tology to be found elsewhere in the Teutonic world. He proves
too much, however, and does not satisfactorily explain how a
Norse poet came to develop these lofty conceptions so system-
atically ; the historical background for the lofty flight is wanting.
What induced the poet to sum up the tenets of the ancient
religion What enabled him to do
? it in the way in which he
did These questions Miillenhoff left unanswered.

.^ A third
theory, that of Finnur Jonsson, is more satisfactory. According
to him, Voluspa transports us to Norway during the period of
internal ferment under king Hakon, the Christian foster son of
^^thelstan. The efforts of the king to introduce Christianity
set the minds of the people into commotion. Thereupon a
sincere follower of the heathen faith successfully carried out
the plan of uniting in one grand poem the heathen conceptions
of the origin and the end of the world. The heathen myths
furnished the material for the poem. The poet is, however,
unconsciously under the influence of Christianity. He com-
bats the latter without mentioning it by name. He has heard
about the creation, about guilt and judgment, as well as about
resurrection and restoration. The plan of drawing up an
outline, from a religious point of view, of the origin and
destruction of the world would scarcely have occurred to him
NORWAY AND ICELAND 203
without an acquaintance with Christianity, and such an impulse

is not noticeable elsewhere in Teutonic heathendom. He is
therefore working with heathen material on a Christian frame-

work. It is impossible to attempt to analyze here what is old
and what more recent, what original and what borrowed, in
this material. In its main features it is undoubtedly heathen,
but the way in which these have been joined is new. The
myths which in other songs show so few traces of a connection
with belief, the poet of Voluspa attempts to make the basis of
a religious conception of the world. What else than a fear of
the encroachments of the Christian religion can have induced
him to make this attempt?
It is not improbable that the obscure Lokasmna owes its
origin to a similar environment. The gods are assembled for
a banquet in the hall of Mg\x, all except Loki and Thor.

Loki thereupon enters the hall, and in a vivid dramatic style
he and the other gods begin to bandy words, Loki vilifying all
the gods and goddesses. Alluding to' various myths, in part

unknown to us, he rehearses all the scandals connected with
their lives. Finally Thor appears. He alone of all the gods
proves to be a match for Loki and succeeds in silencing him.
A melancholy, a tragic, and a frivolous tone, — all have been dis-
covered in this song. Lucian, Voltaire, Aristophanes have been

called in for comparison. It has even been supposed that the
poet was a Christian, who was fighting the yEsir with ridicule, —
a theory which loses sight of the fact that Thor appears at the
close in the principal role and vanquishes the slanderer. The

poet was most likely a heathen in belief, who indignantly
repudiates the impiety and blasphemy personified in Loki.
Thor is mightier than falsehood and abuse.
Of the Eddie poems, Ifdvamd/ still remains to be considered.
This poem does not form a unit, six heterogeneous pieces,
fragments of myths and magic charms (Ljódhatal), having
been combined under one title. The most important parts are
the first and the fourth, in w]iich moral precepts, the fruit of
wisdom and admonishing caution, are
experience, inculcating
laid down. These poems furnish important
rather detailed
data for a knowledge of the conditions of the times. As
regards religion, they yield only a negative result, inasmuch as
they show to how small an extent morality and life in general
were permeated with religious ideas and motives. In one of
these fragments ^ we even read that it is better not to pray at
all than to make sacrifices to excess.
The sagas present a vivid picture of the life in Iceland
during the tenth and the beginning of the eleventh centu-
ries. Although some two centuries intervene between the
actual events and the time when they were recorded, yet in the
narrow circles of the family, oral tradition not only preserved
the names that made up the genealogical tree, but caused the
deeds and adventures as well to live on in the memory. It
is necessary to enter deeply into the study of the sagas if we
would attain a full knowledge of this period the mere recital ;
of individual episodes, torn from their setting, can never repro-

duce the impression of the life of the time. Not that such
a great amount of care has been bestowed, in literary execu-
tion, upon the delineation of the characters they live because ;
they have been taken from life. For this reason they stand
out clearly before our mind's eye: Kjartan and Gudrun in
the Laxdala; the godhi Snorri in the Eyrbyggja ; the chief
characters in the Njala, Njal and Gunnar, who remain faith-
ful friends, notwithstanding the evil promptings and open

hostility of Hallgerd, Gunnar's wife; the noble Bergthora, who
will not leave the husband to whom she has plighted her troth,
but perishes with him at the Njdlsbrenna (loii) Flosi, who ;
has to expiate his guilt in connection with the latter through

long years of exile and wanderings. These characters are
perspicuous but also somewhat massive, without subtleness of
1 Strophe 145 in the edition of Symons.
any kind. The feeling of honor is strongly developed ; in
feuds or vengeance exacted for homicide, it constitutes an

even stronger motive than hatred or thirst for blood. The
women, too, are strong characters. They are the equals of
men, inciting them to vengeance or faithfully sharing their
fate. Alongside of the feeling of personal honor, the feeling

of respect for law exerts great influence ; the decrees of the
Althing are observed. This regard for law prevents the sub-
version of the state through the numberless private feuds. It
is worthy of note that the law bears so slight a religious

character. The change of faith brought about no important
alterations in the political and juridical institutions.
A number of characteristic traits present themselves that are
always met with wherever religious life possesses little vigor.
The first of these is the luxuriant growth of various forms of
superstition. The sagas are replete with accounts of ghosts
of the dead haunting the earth, of blood-rain, of omens and
of dreams, although the greater number of these dreams are to
be regarded as spurious, i.e. as merely a form of literary fiction.^

A fatalistic mood also frequently makes itself vaguely felt.
The men, at other times nobly holding their own in strength

and cunning, bow their heads when fate draws nigh. At such
a moment they felt themselves y^'/^r (Scottish ƒrl'), consecrated
to death, and they manfully submitted to the inevitable.
The Icelanders began at an early period to pay attention
to the history of the settlement of their own country and to
the history of Norway. The first of these historians was Ari
(1067-T148), to whose work Snorri Sturluson (11 78-1241)
refers as forming, alongside of the scaldic poems, the chief
source of his own history. Snorri himself is one of the great
figures of Icelandic history. He fell heir to the social position,
the political talents, and literary traditions of one of the most
1 See W. Henzen, Ueber die Triiume in der altnordischen Sagalitteratttr

(1890).
distinguished Icelandic families. He was a statesman, and sev-
eral times "law-speaker," was involved in the internal dissen-
sions of Norway, and was assassinated at the secret command

of the Norwegian king, whom he had antagonized. We are
here, however, more directly interested in his literary activity,
which was many-sided and extensive. He is the author of
Heimskringia, a collection of sixteen sagas, giving a connected
account of the history of Norway, and of the Snorra Edda, a
compendium of the mythological and poetical treasures of
Norse antiquity. In the case of both these works, Snorri's
authorship has been denied, but on insufficient grounds. Nor
is it necessary to regard these two collections as essentially
heterogeneous. Poetry and history were of old closely bound
together, the scalds participating in historical ev-ents, and their
songs being intended to keep fresh the memory of great deeds.
The Heimskringla sketches history through the medium of
biographies. The characters are clearly outlined, especially

the persons of Harald Fairhair and of the two Olafs. Ancient
scaldic verses are interspersed. For the study of history it
constitutes a source of the very first rank, the author showing

a clear insight into the connection of events. The first saga,
the Ynglinga Saga, in part based on Thjodholf's Ynglingatal,
is especially noteworthy. Like Saxo, Snorri treats the ancient
myths in euhemeristic fashion. He tells of the arrival of
Odhin from Asia, of his war with the Vanir, his settlement in
Sweden, his prowess in battle, his skill in" magic art, and finally
of his death in Sweden "through sickness." Similarly,
NJQrdhr, Freyr, and Freyja led human lives before being wor-
shipped as gods. In Sweden people still look to Freyr for
fertility of the soil and peace.
Snorri as a mythographer excites our interest even more than
With the zeal of the scholar and collector, who
as an historian.
is same time a descendant of the ancient scalds, he has
at the
worked over the poetic store of Norse literature. The most

JVO/?JVAV AND ICELAND 207
important part of this Prose Edda is the treatise Gylfaginning

(delusion or beguilement of king Gylfi), to which are joined
the narratives of Bragi (^Braganvd/iur). "Then follows Skd/d-
skaparfndi (art of poetry), an interpretation of poetic metaphors
(^ken>ii?igar), and expressions {heiti), by means of myths and
heroic sagas, and finally we have a poem of about a hundred
strophes singing the praise of king Hakon and jarl Skuli,
in which all the strophic forms of Norse metrics are employed

{Hdttatal). In the treatment of individual myths the question
continually presents itself whether they are found in the Snorra
Edda, and if so, in what form. We are at present concerned
only with the point of view of the author, and with the tendency
of his work.
In Gylfaginning king Gylfi receives instruction in mythol-
ogy from the high one, the equally high one, and from the
third (Har, Jafnhar, and Thridhi). The treatise also bears
the name Fra Asiim ok Ynii. The subject-matter is derived
in large part from the best known Eddie poems, from six or
seven of which verses are cited, approximately in the form in
which they have come down to us in the Edda. Material has

been drawn from other sources as well. No strict sequence is
observed in the order of treatment. The cosmogony is given

with much detail, Ginnungagap (the yawning chasm) and Ymir,
the first giant, playing prominent parts. It is, however, not
possible to summarize in a coherent manner the events that
are related, inasmuch as various conceptions cross one another.
Then follows some nomenclature, the dwellings of the gods,
the gods themselves, and a description of the tree Yggdrasil
{Askr Yggdrasils). The two myths that are told at length
are those of Loki and Thor. These are treated essentially

as Marchen, especially the amusing account of the journey
of Thor to Utgardhaloki. Here, too, the close is a descrip-
tion of the last battle of the gods and of the end of the
world.
What is the purpose and meaning of Gylfaginning ? The

treatise itself, as well as its connection with other parts of the
Snorra Edda, furnishes a satisfactory answer. It is a treatise on
poetics, representing as it were an inventory of the ancient
poetry, both as to form and content, and intended to serve as
a manual for the still remaining scalds who were to continue
the old traditions. Bugge has called Iceland the Ionia of the
North and has compared Snorri with Herodotus. While I
would not in any way detract from the merits of the author of
Jleimskrmgla, the compiler of the Snorra Edda reminds one
rather of the learned men of the Alexandrian school. We
cannot, therefore, properly speaking, inquire into the tendency
of this work. A liiythographer may, of course, regard myths
from a definite point of view ; but Snorri is intent only on col-
lecting the poetic figures and expressions. Nothing beyond

this is to be found in either Gylfaginning or Bragarcedhur,
which latter contains some additional myths, those of Idhunn
and Thjazi, and of the acquisition of the poets' mead.
It is a matter of considerable importance to determine in how
far we must assume Christian elements in Snorri. It is cer-
tainly natural to suppose that an author of the thirteenth cen-

tury,more than two hundred years after the conversion, does
not write about creation and eschatology without Christian
ideas coming to the surface. Behind the thinly veiled names
of the three who make answer to king Gylfi, we may readily
detect the trinity. Snorri also tells us of a supreme god, the
All-Father, who existed before all else and whose life is eter-
nal. Aside from this, I do not believe that Christian teachings
constitute an important part of the conceptions of Gylfaginning.
If they do, the dogmas have been concealed with remarkable
skill, and it is difficult to understand with what end in view
this should have been done.^
1 Of the critical essays that have appeared on Gylfaginning, those of Mogk, in

PBB. VI and VII, deserve special mention.
There is another problem, fully as important, connected with

Gylfaginning: How are we to distinguish, in the material as
handed down, between the genuine and the artificial poetic
myths ? While the myths as a whole are told after the fashion
of stories, the forms and figures of the eschatology, and par- •
ticularly of the cosmogony, doubtless represent in part genuine

material, i.e. such as formed a part of popular belief. It is
equally certain, however, that as a system it did not constitute

part of the heathen religion. The same observation applies to
the world-tree, the origin of which is to be traced to the imagi-

nations of the scalds, and which does not, therefore, belong to
popular belief. On the other hand, it would be rash, in the
case of such conceptions as the ice-world, fire-world, primeval

chasm, and numerous others, to draw the sweeping conclusion
that they too are learned artificial products, for parallels to
these conceptions abound in folklore.
Questions such as these did not, however, exist for Snorri
and his contemporaries. He was concerned with collecting
the mythological-poetical material. That in a Christian age
he could do this without inward struggle or outside interfer-
ence shows how little importance people attached to such a
work from the point of view of religion. It does not represent
something that at a certain period was actually an object of
belief. It can therefore serve only as a source for disconnected
episodes of both genuine and artificial poetic myths. The pre-
vailing laws prove that in the North, as in Germany, heathen
customs continued in vogue. Superstition was rife in various
forms. According to Norwegian as well as Icelandic law,
severe punishment was meted out to those guilty of magic
practices in the healing or safeguarding of cattle, for main-
taining the Berserkrga7igr (Berserker-rage), sacrificing to the
heathen gods on the ancient sacred places, faring to the Finns,
and the use of various magic charms in home and field.
CHAPTER XI
FOLKLORE
" Folklore Volkskunde) undertakes to investigate all the

(
manifestations of the life of a people, that is to say, of a
definite complex of human beings, be it thousands or millions,
whose boundaries, historically and geographically, are accu-
rately defined." It is, therefore, " a national and historical
science." In one of its branches it investigates " the popular

religious opinions and observances, usually comprised under
the name of superstitions."^
These are the words of K. Weinhold in a very brief but
excellent essay, in which he pleads for an historical treatment
of what is usually called folklore, a name that has been the
subject of some controversy. Accepting Weinhold's exposition,
we shall, therefore, have to reserve a place in our historical
survey for Teutonic folklore of the Middle Ages and of more
recent times.
The task of mythology in the study of folklore is to point
out the heathen elements in various Miirc/ien, customs, popular
usages, and legal institutions. From the nature of the case,
we can here only draw the main outlines and bring forward
illustrative examples.
At the very outset we must draw a rather sharp line of
demarcation between the stories and the customs. The latter
have struck far deeper root in the life of the people than the
former. Scholars have long given the Aldrchen undue promi-

nence. Myths were traced in them the Mdrchen was "the poor
;
relation " of myth and heroic saga, the " patois " of mythology.
1 K. Weinhold, Was soil die Volkskunde leisten, ZfVuS. (1S90), pp. 1-5.
210
FOLKLORE 211
The Sleeping Beauty in the forest was Brunhild; the tale of

the faithful John, the myth of Freyr and Gerdhr; an account of
the burgomaster of Cologne, who killed a lion in the year 1276,
could be nothing else than the myth of Tyr. But this view,
although apparently supported by a large number of examples,
is now recognized as untenable. In the first place, it is not
obvious how and why so large a number of myths should have
been converted into popular tales. It has, moreover, been
proved that many of these tales are of Oriental origin, hav-

ing reached Europe through literary channels, and were pre-
served only after being recast in the popular imagination.
Finally, a large number of identical story types may be traced
in myths, heroic sagas, and popular tales. Their agreement
and spread do not admit of a further explanation.
The case is numerous elements
different with respect to the
of popular beliefand popular usage that may be reduced to
conceptions which everywhere characterize the lower stages in
the development of the human race. The belief in souls and
spirits that roam about, in demoniac possession, in meta-
morphosis, in a correspondence between vegetable and animal
life, in the universal character of soul, in the magic power of
various formulas and practices, —
in what since the time of
Tylor has passed under the general name of " animism," ^ is —
encountered everywhere. In the case of more highly developed
peoples, this is held to represent a survival of the primitive
savage state. From this point of view " ethnographic paral-
lels " are constantly sought for ; what is found, for example,
among the Teutons is illustrated by similar customs, perchance
of Polynesians, or, nearer at hand, of the nations of classical
antiquity. It is obvious, however, that this method does not
result in reproducing a picture of the life of a definite people ;
that in the present instance not what is characteristically

Teutonic, but Teutonic parallels for general conceptions, no
1 See his Primitive C:<liure, Chapters 11-T7.
matter how rich, are brought into relief. Thus Mannhardt

arranged the material gathered from the series of questions he
had sent to all points of the compass, not historically, but
according to certain general points of view.
The question naturally presents itself, whether there is a
sufficient amount of material at hand for a different, for a truly
historical, treatment of folklore. Fortunately, so far as the
Teutonic nations are concerned, this question can be answered
in the affirmative. The data usually comprised under the
name of folklore constitute part of the material through which
we become acquainted with the civilization, the manners, and
the customs of a people in the different periods of its histor-
ical existence. Folklore is an important study only in connec-

tion with this history of culture, and nowhere are we better
able to study folklore in its historicalenvironment than on
Teutonic soil.
Of a number of usages, we possess direct testimony that

they have come down from heathen times, in that they were
prohibited as such by West-Gothic, Frankish, or Anglo-Saxon
synods, or in ecclesiastical documents. Heathen games, horse
races, banquets immediately preceding Ascension day, worship
of springs, various kinds of magic blessings, and similar cus-
toms, the church strenuously sought to eradicate as surviv-
als of Teutonic paganism. In popular legal forms also and
in symbolic actions there is not a littlethat may be classed
under this head. Even in the late Middle Ages a throw with
a stone hammer determined the boundary of a field, a custom
that must certainly be hammer
of ancient origin, since a stone
was not a tool commonly used by an archbishop of Mainz or
a count of Nassau. The same applies to the figures of the
ancient gods that lie concealed behind the personages of
Christian saints. Donar-Thor, with his hammer, his red beard,
and the dragon that he slays, is clearly recognizable in St.
George and St. Olaf Wodan, with hat, mantle, and dapple-gray
;
FOLKLORE 213
horse, or as a wild huntsman, appears in the guise of St.
Martin and St. Michael.

There is an extensive literature on the subject of pagan ele-
ments in popular belief and observances. In studying these

elements, a distinction must be made, not only between what
is national and what is universal, what is Teutonic and what is
foreign, but also between what has really come down from
heathen times and what originated at a later period. In the
Middle Ages and even in modern times, the people formed
mental images and fashioned customs of life on the pattern of
pagan conceptions. Pagan ideas and pagan figures thus con-
tinue to exist, but not in fixed, immutable forms. The people
are not bound to them, but preserve the old in new and
characteristic combinations, adding to the old various new
features. Only in this way can we account for existing facts
and vindicate for Teutonic folklore an historical character of
its own, as an important element in the general history of cul-

ture. A few examples will serve to illustrate these statements.
We must perforce be brief in our consideration of the subject,
since the detailed treatment does not lie within the scope of
the present volume.
The collections of popular tales and sagas, arranged accord-
ing to districts, show how all manner of stories are associated
with particular places. Especially forests and springs, but also
old castles, are still visited by white women or the old lords of
the castle. What strikes us in these stories is that the refer-

ences to elemental spirits or souls haunting the earth are not
of a general character, but that definite occurrences are related.
Hence these tales constitute an essential part of the life of the
people. Several of their characteristic features have been

derived from prehistoric heathen times.
Forests were held in especial veneration by the ancient
Teutons. Similarly, Christian synods were compelled to in-
veigh continually against the worship of springs. We have

repeatedly pointed out how much value was attached to keep-

ing alive the memory of the old ancestors and to doing homage to
the semi- or totally mythical progenitor of the tribe. But what
the peasantry still tell and believe is not simply the echo of
the belief of fifteen hundred or more years ago. Historical
occurrences from the earlier or later Middle Ages are found
as well in these accounts. A collection such as that which
Miillenhoff made for the district of Sleswick-Holstein shows
this very clearly. Various stories are still current among the
people of the ancient mythical characters of Sceaf and Scyld.
Tales are also told of a black Griet or a tall Pier, people who
have actually existed, but who are treated entirely on the same
basis as mythical characters. Finally, a variety of stories are
told among the people, the origin of which is not to be traced
to either myths or sagas : restricted to a definite locality, they
represent a poetically imaginative continuation of ancient
belief and custom.
The calendar is especially instructive in this regard.^ To
take an example from the months: In Iceland the names of
the first months of the year are Thorri, Goi, Einmanadhr,
four
Harpa. There is no mythology behind these names. They
But a myth has been created
are largely appellative in origin.
out of them Thor and Goi are the parents of Einman and
:
Harpa. Each was fetched in and welcomed at the beginning

of his or her month Thor by the husbands, Goi by the
:
wives, and Einman and Harpa by the boys and girls, respec-
tively. The böndi who brought Thor in limped around his
house, clad in a shirt and with only one leg in his trousers,
and gave a feast, at which there was great merriment. These
are customs that have a heathen look about them, and which
yet do not go back to heathen times.
1 There exists an extensive literature on this subject, extending from the calendar
in Finn Magnusen's Lexicon, an ill-digested compilation with higlily arbitrary inter-

pretations, to the admirable little volume of K. Weinhold, Die deutschen Monatsna-
men (1S69).
FOLKLORE 215
The Nerthus and the ship of Isis show that, as

festival of
early as the days of Tacitus, the change of seasons was cele-

brated among the German tribes with processions. We are
therefore justified in regarding the numerous springtime pro-

cessions in which a ship was drawn about on a wagon,
encountered especially in the region of the Lower Rhine, ^ as
a continuation of a heathen custom. But the people did not
stop there. Everywhere the new season is brought in and the
winter driven out or verdant summer, symbolized by a girl
;
dressed in white and gaily bedecked with ribbons, and winter,

bundled up in straw and furs, sing an alternate song; or
merry guests fetch in the May queen, or the Ffingst/ümmel.
All this represents a new warp on an old woof. It would be
as preposterous to trace all this to Teutonic paganism as to
attribute to it any special religious significance.
Similarly, in the case of the fires kindled to ward off mis-
fortune, the so-called Notfeiier (need-fire),^ and the many
observances connected with the harvest and the breeding of
cattle.^ Doubtless these are survivals of heathen customs.
In the case of the Scandinavian North, it is expressly stated
that Freyr received sacrifices for the fruitfulness of the soil.
But it would be far-fetched to trace all the details of modern

usage to the heathen period. The greater part of it has sprung
up from a root of paganism in a Christian soil. Such religious
significance as may be detected in it bears a heathen character,
even where the customs are of later origin. But in the case
of the " last sheaf," and the magic brooms with which cattle
are touched to drive out the spirits that cause sickness, and
the like, the religious idea has come to be quite secondary.
This much is certain, that the observances as found at present
1 See the description in Grimm, DM.'', pp. 214 ff.

2 Nodfyr is already mentioned in tlie Indicitlus siiperstitionum.
3 Important books on tliis subject are: U. Jahn, Die deiitschen Opfergebrduche
bei Ackerbau und Viehzucht (1884), and H. Pfannenschmid, Germajiische Ertite-

feste im heidnischen und christlichen Cultus (1878).
have become an integral part of German peasant life and,

having been modified to meet local conditions, constitute an
essential element of the historical life of the people.
The conception of the Wild Hunt or the Furious Host plays

an important part in popular belief. Since the Middle Ages,
such conceptions are met with under various names, the former
more commonly in North, the latter in South, Germany.
The general notion underlying this conception may easily be
determined. In the raging and howling of the tempest the
wild hunter and his train are recognized. This hunter is
usuallyWodan, the god of the wind, who is at the same time

the god of the dead. This train is made up of the souls
of the departed. Dying we find occasionally designated as
"joining the old host." While the elements that enter into
the conception are therefore two in number, the wind and the
company of souls, there have not only been added a number
of other features, but in many places and in various localities
the conception has assumed a special character. In one place
the train issues from a particular mountain, in another particu-

lar individuals are designated as forming a part of it.
Here, again, the student of folklore should not seek exclu-

sively for general parallels with conceptions that are current
elsewhere, but should first of all inquire what special features
distinguish the Teutonic conception. The "host" rushing
through the air is found in a large number of special variations.
The " wild hunt " or " furious host " is connected with various
times of the year, with definite localities, — more especially
mountains, — with semi-mythical stories, such as the chase in
pursuit of an animal or woman, with the fate of the soul after

death, with individual persons whose savagery seemed to
deserve this punishment of being compelled to wander about
restlessly, with various prognostications associated in the minds
of the people with wind and aerial phenomena, and with many
other things. We do not, of course, claim that the enormous
FOLKLORE lYl
mass of material gathered on this subject in the way of popu-

lar tales and stories, of observances and superstitions, admits
of strictly historical arrangement. Nor is it maintained that
all of it, as existing in the Christian Middle Ages and in the
life of the peasantry in modern times, has been handed down
from Teutonic heathendom. The popular imagination has
given further development to an already existing germ. It is
clear, at any rate, that in this Wild Hunt the great "hell-hunter,"
Wodan, still survives among the people. If not necessarily,
the Wild Hunt is at least frequently, directly connected with
the god Wodan, and the whole conception attains among the
Teutons a vividness, clearness, and variety that is equalled
nowhere else. The historical element in folklore, therefore,
implies that, apart from the numerous historical reminiscences
to be found in the hunt or the host, one or more of its mem-
bers may be identified with persons of whose memory the
people still stand in awe.
Everywhere in Teutonic folklore we meet with giants and
dwarfs. In whole series of popular tales and narratives
they play the chief role. They persist, furthermore, in a
number of popular customs ; the elves, at any rate, are even
accorded some species of religious worship. It is, of course, an
easy matter to trace general ethnographic parallels for giants and
dwarfs. Elemental spirits of mountain, forest, and water, wild
men of the woods, giant mountain spirits, dexterous gnomes,
teasing goblins, are found among various peoples. To picture
the life of this queer folk, the Grimms turned to Ireland.^
But alongside of these general features the Teutonic world
shows nmch that is characteristic. Not merely that we can
here gather the richest harvest of examples of this widespread
belief, but the giants and elves have also taken on the
character of the land and people. They too are localized, are
'^
I-:schc Elfenmarchcn von den Brüdern Grimm (1S26; with a comprehensive
Introduction).
21S THE KELIGIOX OF THE ANCIENT TEUTONS
connected with definite mountains or springs, are interwoven

with the history of a village or family. Many of them, dwarfs
especially, bear names and have thus become real personages.
While among Balto-Slavic nations the family and house spirits
play the leading role, among Teutons this is taken by the spirits
of nature. The distinction is, of course, not an absolute one,

but merely one of degree. The special characteristics of the
giants are unwieldiness and wisdom, of the dwarfs skill and
cunning. In the Norse mythology of the Edda there are indi-
cations of a conception of the giants as an older race of gods,

a power inimical to the ^^sir. This idea has not, however,
been developed as systematically as in the case of the Greek
Titans and Giants. In German folklore, and in that of France
and England as well, there appears now and then the poetic
conception that elves strive through the love of man to acquire
an immortal soul. The conception is popular, but not heathen
in origin.
In discussing Teutonic folklore, we are continually struck by
the fact that it is not possible to draw a sharp line of demarca-

tionbetween the figures of the "lower" mythology which still
live on in it and those of mythology proper. The theory
which explains the one as the development of the other is as
unsatisfactory as that which sees in folklore merely a popular
degenerated form of mythology. There are several classes of
beings which we cannot group exclusively on either the one
side or the other. So in the case of the giants and dwarfs,
who belong to folklore, but at the same time play a part in
numerous myths, and who even occupy a place in the cult.
The same applies to the Norns and Walkyries. The Norns
especially play a role in many a Miin/ie/i, and yet they also
require consideration in connection with the pantheon, in
which the Teutons believed.
We are here only concerned with giving specific examples,
and there is no need of largely multiplying these. The Norse

FOLKLORE 219
Berserkers alone still remain to be considered. These raging

and foaming heroes, who during the intervals when they are
possessed are endowed with supernatural strength, are also
encountered elsewhere. But who could overlook the charac-
teristically Norse way in which they are treated ? Whenever
the warlike Scandinavians make mention of ecstatic conditions
or supernatural powers, they have in mind exclusively the
exhibition of physical, superhuman strength. Hence the
Berserkers are not to be regarded chiefly in the light of eth-
nographic data, to be grouped under the head of demoniac
possession or metamorphosis,^ but they typify the history of
Norse ideas and sentiments.
In this historical treatment of folklore a question suggests
itself, which has frequently been asked, and whose considera-
tion may fittingly find a place at the close of our historical
survey. What line of historical development would Teutonic
paganism have followed if its course had not been inter-
rupted by the introduction of Christianity? Does not this
enormous mass of folklore, which has struck such deep roots
in the life of the people, prove that paganism still possessed
vitality that when the current was shut off from the higher
;
circles of life it flowed along in another bed, that of the

life of the people, for the sole reason that it was forced to
do so .-'
Questions of this kind, that concern what might have been

but was not, can never be answered with absolute certainty.
And we may, in the present instance, arrive at a decision
yet
with some degree of assurance. We have found no trace,
either among the southern Teutons, who were converted to
Christianity at the time of the migrations, or among the Scandi-
navian nations, of a system of doctrines evolved or handed
down by priests and which became a power among the people.
In the attempts made by the Scandinavians to systematize
1 Berserkers are men who have assumed the form of bears.
their myths, motives of a religious character may be detected

perhaps only in the case of Vöhispa and Lokaseinia, and here
only to a certain extent. The opinion that the Teutons, if
they had not been Christianized, would have arrived at more

spiritual and monotheistic conceptions, has absolutely no basis
on which to rest, and it is in view of our knowledge of existent
conditions wholly inadmissible. An organized form of worship,

too, is altogether lacking among the Southern Teutons, and is
found among the Scandinavian peoples in only the simplest
forms. How little the priests were interested in maintaining
paganism we have seen both in the case of the Anglo-Saxons
and of the Icelandic godhi.
Alongside of the political and national motives influencing
Frisians, Saxons, and Norsemen, the strongest bulwarks of

paganism were the attachment to the ancient sacred places
and observances, the belief in the presence of divine beings in
forest and stream, the old processions at the changing of the
seasons, the vows pledged over the cup to this or that god.
These beliefs and customs survive as folklore, although by
no means all of the survivals date from the heathen period.
Indeed, by far the larger part are of later origin. At the same
time we recognize in this folklore a form of historical continuity,
the bond of union between the life of the people in pagan and
in Christian times.
CHAPTER XII
THE PANTHEON
Wodan-Odhin
The name Wodan (High German Wi/otan, Anglo-Saxon

Woden, Norse Odhvni) is derived from the Indo-European root
7i'rt (to blow) and therefore designates the wind god. While
there is an intimate connection in the language and thought of
various peoples between the notions wind and spirit, we must
yet not think of Wodan as a spiritual deity; such a conception
was entirely foreign to Teutonic paganism. Other etymologies
that have been proposed, such as connect the name with the
Old English wood and German witten,^ or with the Old Norse
bdhr (spirit) or with the Latin vates^ are untenable.
The rendering of dies Mercurii by WodenesdcBg, which we
encounter from the third century onward, makes it certain
that the Mercurius found in Tacitus and other Latin authors
is to be identified with Wodan. The points of resemblance
between the Teutonic and the Roman god are less obvious.
They must be sought in either the attributes of the god or in
special characteristics of his cult. It is furthermore to be

remembered that the Romans had already assigned to the
chief god of the Gauls the name Mercurius. It is hardly
likely that the Romans of the period of the Empire were influ-
enced by the consideration that both Wodan and Hermes-
Mercurius were originally wind deities. A closer connection
is established by the similarity in the nature of the two as
1 " Wodan, id est furor" (Adam of Bremen).

'^
Vigfusson, CPB. I, CIV. So also Kauffmann.
221
gods of the dead, and by the symbols of the hat and staff,
which are common to both. Yet Tacitus shows scarcely a
trace of these connections. He associates the Teutonic Mer-
curius more especially with war. The identification of Wodan
with Mercurius accordingly remains somewhat singular, and
we can readily understand why, at a later age, Saxo should
have taken exception to it, and in one instance even have
used Mars to designate Odhin.
The express testimony of Tacitus, Paulus Diaconus, and
others, as well as Odhin's place at the head of the Norse
pantheon, were formerly regarded as sufficient to establish
the position of Wodan god of all Teutons. This
as the chief
opinion has now gradually been abandoned by the majority
of scholars. Miillenhoff, Weinhold, Mogk, and many others
hold that Wodan was originally a god of the Istvaeones, and
that his worship was disseminated by the Rhine- Franconians,
supplanting that of the old sky god Tiu.
We must ever bear in mind that among the ancient Teutons,
— the German tribes of Tacitus and the peoples of the period
of migrations, —
there existed no pantheon in the sense of
the later Norse mythology. Tacitus merely remarks " Of the :
gods they pay highest honors to Mercury." Paulus Diaconus

observes that Mercury was worshipped by all Teutons, though
this statement is open to inquiry.
The existence of the cult of Wodan in Upper Germany,
among the Alemanni, Bavarians, and Suabians seems doubt-
ful. His name is but rarely met with there, and even the day
of the week, which elsewhere bears the name of Wodan, is
there called Mittwoch. This does not, to be sure, prove abso-
lutely that the god was not worshipped. Opposed to this latter
assumption is the circumstance that the name Wodan is found
in the runic inscription of the so-called Nordendorf Brooch,
and in the Vita Columbaui of the seventh century. The
attempts that have been made to set aside these facts are
THE PANTHEON 223
unwarranted. Besides, here as elsewhere, an argumentnm e

sikjitio is not conclusive. We know so little concerning the
cult and gods Alemanni and Bavarians,^ that the entire
of the
absence or rare occurrence of the name of a god in the sources
at our command by no means proves that the god in question
was unknown to these tribes.
In Middle Germany, among the Chatti and the (Suabian)
Hermunduri, Mercury (Wodan) was found alongside of Mars
(Tiu), according to Tacitus, Annals, XIII, 57.^ We have
already commented upon the occurrence of Wodan in the
second Merseburg magic formula.^ In the Amials of Fulda,
of the ninth century, Uotan as proper name is frequently
found.* Through the entire extent of Northern Germany
Wodan survives in the name of the fourth week-day, and
that his cultwas not spread solely through Prankish influ-
ence would seem to follow from the occurrence of his name
among the Frisians and Saxons. In the formula of abjura-
tion* he is one of the three chief gods. It is, however, at
times difficult to determine where Wodan is original and
where he has been introduced at a later period, as we have
already seen in the case of the tribal saga of the Lombards.*'
Among the Anglo-Saxon tribes who crossed to England, the
cult of Wodan must have been very widespread, as is evi-
denced by the genealogical tables and by the numerous proper

names.'' Concerning the gods of the ancient Danes, we are
not in a position to form a definite opinion, as the data at
hand are insufficient. What Saxo relates of Othinus repre-
sents, in the main, myths of later date, euhemeristically con-
ceived, which are, moreover, not wholly Danish in origin.
See above, pp. 1 20-121.

1 2 See above, p. 103.
Page 128, above.

3 5 See above, p. 125.
4 K. Miillenhoff, Ziir deiifschen Mythologie, ZfdA. XII, 401. Seventeen instances
are cited. ^ See above, p. 80.

'
See J. M. Kemble, T/ie Saxons in England, I, pp. 335-346, whose data are,
however, not altogether reliable.
;
That Wodan-Odhin was not unknown among the Scandina-

vian group of peoples may be inferred from the designation
" Geatas " as the name of a people, derived, like " Gaut " and
probably also "Gapt," the progenitor of the East-Gothic Amali,

from a cognomen of Odhin. And yet the Odhin of Norse liter-
ature was to a large extent introduced from outside and devel-
oped artificially hands of the scaldic poets. Henry
at the
Petersen ^ show conclusively that in Norway
was the first to
the worship of Thor was the national and general one. Thus,
in Harbardhsljódh, Thor is represented as the god of the peas-
ants, Odhin as the god of the nobles and poets. Odhin has
accordingly 'been regarded as the Saxagodh (the Saxon-god),
imported from Germany, the Franks, as in the case of the
heroic saga, being instrumental in spreading his cult. Grant-
ing that this view is correct, it does not follow that the Norse
conceptions and legends connected with Odhin are the result
of arbitrary invention. They require critical scrutiny, but
genuinely mythical features are not absent, although, as has
already been pointed out," it is always extremely difficult to
distinguish in the study of mythology the essential and funda-

mental from the external and artificial elements.
When we inquire into the nature of Wodan-Odhin, we find
that it is not feasible to trace to a single origin his numerous

and greatly diversified functions and attributes. He is the
god of the wind, of agriculture, of war, of poetry, the pro-
genitor of many families, etc. Between some of these attri-
butes it is indeed possible to point out a connection. Thus
the wind god is also elsewhere the leader of souls (^psycJwpovi-
pos) ; tillage of the soil is in part dependent upon the wind

war may be compared with the tempest; some scholars have
even suggested the characteristic variableness and changeable-
ness of the wind as a factor. For all that, the exact transitions
and combinations in thought and conception remain more or
1 See above, p. 37. - Page 3.
THE PANTHEON 225
less obscure, and we shall therefore confine ourselves to a

survey of the chief functions and the myths of the god.
Wodan, the wind god, is encountered in the popular belief
of all parts of Germany as the leader of the Furious Host and
the Wild Hunt.^ Historically we are unable to trace this con-
ception to a date earlier than the twelfth century, unless we
identify the f era/is exercitus of the savage Harii - with the host
of Wodan. ^ While the evidence is of a comparatively recent
date, the conception itself is doubtless old and original, for, as

Usener^ remarks, "the conception of a heavenly host which
rushes through the sky at night is probably not foreign to any
European nation." We recognize this same host in the Ama-
zons, the Th'yades, etc., at times represented as sweeping along
through the air above, and then again associated with one or
another deity, such as Artemis and Dionysos. Among Teu-
tonic nations Wodan as hell-hunter {/leHjagcr) commands Wuo-
tes her (Wuote's host). The journey frequently begins and
ends in a mountain, the so-called Wodan's mountains, or " hat-
mountains " {Hiitberge), that foretell the weather, and are the
abode of the god himself, or of elves and souls. The Wild
Hunt is at times in pursuit of an animal, a boar, cow, deer,
or again of a woman, the Wiiuisbraut. When a storm is
raging, the host draws near. The beginning of the winter,

the ill-famed Twelve Nights, is more especially its chosen time.
When the train approaches, people hide ;
in Suabia an admon-
isher (Êniiahne?-) leads the way, who warns men to stand aside
that no harm may befall them. While at times it presages

fertility, it is usually a sign of calamity or war. The names
used to designate the Furious Host, and particularly its com-
mander, are many. While it is customary to recognize Wodan
1 See above, pp. 216-217.

2 Tacitus, Germania, Chapter 43.
3 So Grimm, DM.*, p. 793; E. H. Meyer, GM., § 319.
4 Götternamen, p. 42.
in this great helljiiger, it is yet not correct to regard all these

names simply as epithets or personifications of this divinity.
Hackelberend, Herodes, Dietrich of I-3ern, Herzog Abel,
Riibezahl, Ruprecht, the storm demon Wode, and others have
all a separate, independent existence, although they are at
times merged more or less completely with Wodan.

Popular tradition pictures Wodan as riding on a dapple-gray
horse, with broad-brimmed hat and a wide cloak. The
a
Scandinavian Odhin, similarly, rides on his steed Sleipnir or
Yggdrasil, wears a soft hat, a long gray beard, and is one-eyed.
He is also frequently represented as a wanderer. Numerous
surnames bear reference to this : viator' indcfessus (indefatigable
wayfarer) in Saxo, Tidhfqnill (the far-traveller) in Snorri, gang-
rddhr and gangleri (wanderer), vegtmnr (wanderer), svipall (the
changeable one), vdfudhr (the hovering one), bmi (the noisy
one), hrbptr and many others.
(crier), F^ven later Norse
literature testifies to the fact that Odhin rules wind and
weather and shows his wrath in the tempest. The scalds have
furnished him with a complete poetic outfit, of which it seems
doubtful whether it demands or even admits a mythical inter-
pretation. If so, his wolves Geri and Freki would be the
hounds of the Wild Huntsman, his ravens Huginnand Muninn
(thought and memory) the air in motion, his spear Gungnir
lightning. But, as already stated, this interpretation is very
uncertain.
If we may place on German proverbs that make the
reliance
fruitfulness of field and orchard dependent not only on sun
and rain, but also on the wind, then Wodan's character as god
of agriculture and of the harvest is intimately connected with
his nature as a wind god.^ In Mecklenburg, as in Sweden, the
last ears of grain are left standing for Wodan's horse. In
Bavaria too the horse and hounds of the god were fed, and as
late as the previous century the harvest was called Waudhmdhe
A. Kuhn, ZfdA. V, 472-494.
THE PANTHEON 221
(Waudl's mowing). Opinions differ in how far observances in
connection with the last sheaf, the Wodel-beer, and other cus-
toms at harvest time were originally connected with the worship
of Wodan. It should be noted, however, that Wednesday, an
unlucky day, as a rule, for other purposes, is regarded as lucky
for sowing and planting.
Some scholars hold that Wodan's character as god of the
dead is even more original than that as god of the wind. The
souls of the dead are represented as sweeping along with him
through the air, or as dwelling in the mountain. It seems bold
to regard both Wodan and the a'Esir as chthonic deities,
opposed to the Vanir as gods of light, — an opinion to which
we shall recur in our discussion of the Vanir, — and still bolder
to deduce from a single inscription, " Mercuri Channini," found
in the valley of the Ahr, a god Henno, who is identified with
the Mercurius-Wodan of Tacitus, and who is also to be recog-

nized in the forest of Baduhenna, in the medieval exclamation
id henne (by Henno, i.e. Henneberg (mountain
Wodan), in the
of the dead), in the Hiinen {i.e. the dead), and in Freund Hein
{i.e. death). It is
^ in any case certain that both German pop-
ular tradition and Norse literature make Wodan-Odhin the
god of the dead in general, and of fallen heroes in particu-
lar (Valfadhir, Valgautr) ; once he is also represented as the
ferryman of the dead.
A curious combination, perhaps solely the handiwork of the
scaldic poets, found at all events in a number of kenningar,
makes Odhin the god of those hung {/langatyr), lord of the
gallows {gaiga Ta/dr), which latter is also called his steed.

His character as god of war is no doubt closely connected
with that of god of the dead. The human sacrifices offered.
1 So Th. Siebs, Bcitrdge ziir deutschen Mythologie, I (ZfdPh. XXI V\ 145-157) ;
Scherer, on the contrary (SBA. 577), regards Channini as a mutilated form,

1884, I,
and proposes to read Channini\^fatium\. It seems strange, however, that the Chan-
nine fates should be met with in the valley of the Ahr.
according to the testimony of Tacitus, to Wodan by tribes of
Western and Central Germany unquestionably were an homage

to him as god of war. Among Anglo-Saxons and Lombards it
is he who dispenses victory, and in the Scandinavian North
princes bring sacrifices to him /// sigrs (for victory) and warriors
whet their swords against the Odhin-stone. The god himself
is called siggautr, sigfadhir (father of victory), and, in a kcii/iing,
battle is designated as the storm or weather of Odhin. In
many a combat he takes an active part ; he teaches the Norse
king the wedge-shaped battle array {sinnfylking) and in the
fight at Bravallir it is he who in disguise leads Harald to a
glorious death on the field of battle.^ It has been maintained

that those about to die a straw death intentionally wound them-
selves with a spear, that they may as warriors go to Odhin,
and in the Ynglinga Saga {Heimskringla), Chapter lo, this is
told of the god himself. All this, however, amounts to little
more than literary fiction.
The Viking period saw the development in the North of the

conception of Walhalla,"'^ the paradise of the heroes who had
fallen in battle, the Ein/ie/yar, who there lead a life of con-
tinuous combat as well as of joyous feasting. This conception

too does not owe its origin to the free fancy of the scalds, but
has its roots in a popular belief common to all Teutonic nations.
Walhalla merely the Norse form of the abode of the spirits
is
that go to Wodan-Odhin, corresponding to the mountains in

which kings and emperors dwell in company with the god.
There is clearly a connection between the Einhcijar and the
combatants of the HJadh/iingavig,^ who begin the struggle
anew every night. The accounts of this unending combat and
the abode of the dead have, however, been greatly elaborated
and embellished in Norse poetry. Walhalla in Gladhsheimr,
1 See above, pp. 169-170.

2 Cf. A. Schullerus, Zur Kritik des altnordischen Valhollglaitbens, PBB. XII,
221-2S2. 3 See above, p. 176.
:
THE PANTHEON 119
the home of joy, is the meeting place of heroes, who daily

issue forth through the five hundred and forty gates to divert
themselves in combat, and who return at night to drain the
cup that is offered them by the Walkyries. An Eddie song ^
gives the following description of this splendid abode
Easily to be known is,

By those who to Odhin come,
The mansion by its aspect.
Its roof with spears is laid,
Its hall with shields is decked,
With corselets are its benches strewed.
Easily to be known is,

By those who to Odhin come,
The mansion by its aspect.
A wolf hangs
Before the western door,
Over it an eagle hovers.
A beautiful song of the tenth century, the Eiriksmdl^ tells

how Odhin awakens joyfully in Walhalla, because a powerful
prince is about to enter, to whom, since he stands in need of
heroes in Walhalla, he has denied victory. With a thundering
tumult, as though a company of a thousand were approaching,
Eirikr and five other kings thereupon make their entry :
Bragi calls out: What is that thundering, as if a thousand men or some

great host were tramping on — the walls and the benches are creaking
withal —as if Baldr were coming back to the hall of Odhin ?
Odhin answers: Surely thon speakest foolishly, good Bragi, although
thou art very wise. It thunders for Eric the king, that is coming to the
hall of Odhin. Sigmund and Sinfjc^tli, rise up in haste, and go forth to
meet the prince Bid him in if it be Eric, for it is he whom I look for.
!
Sigmuttd answers : Why lookest thou more for Eric the king to Odhin's
hall than for other kings .''
Odhin cDtswers Because he has reddened

: his brand and borne his
bloody sword in many a land.-^
1 GiimnismAl, 9, 10. The translation Is that of Thorpe.

2 See above, p. 184. 3 CPB. I, pp. 260, 261.
:
Such is Wodan-Odhin
as god of the dead. The souls of
men him through the air, or live in the mountain
ride with ;
the heroes that the Walkyries have brought him from the field
of battle dwell in Walhalla. That he is also the progenitor
of numerous royal families is probably closely connected with
this same function elsewhere the god of th-e dead is also the
:
first ancestor. At any rate, the attributes that we have con-

sidered up to this point form a part of the common popular
belief, of which traces are found among Teutonic tribes on every
side. They must, therefore, have constituted an integral part

of the life of the people, although we do not know with what
rites or ceremonies they were associated.
While the Norse myths are in the main the creation of
scaldicand Eddie poetry, they nevertheless contain a genuinely
mythical kernel. In them Odhin has become the chief god,
who is the dispenser of all good gifts
He gives victory to some, and wealth to others, readiness of speech to

many, and wisdom to the children of men. He gives fair wind to sailors,
song to poets, and manly valor to many a hero.i
The wisdom and poetry here mentioned we have not

gifts of
touched upon as yet. They are strongly emphasized in Norse

mythology, and in Germany too we have already met Wodan
as the god that pronounced the efficacious magic charm. In
Scandinavia he is the god of runes and of all magic arts, of
which the Ynglinga Saga (Chapters 6 and 7) gives a circum-
stantial account. In knowledge and secret wisdom he excels
the wisest giants {Vafthnidhnistndl), and he imparts these
traits to young Agnar as a reward for having refreshed the
stranger —
no other than the god himself in disguise whom —
the king had maltreated (^Grimnismdl). At times he enters
the hall of kings as a guest {gestr blindt, i.e. blind guest), to
whom he then propounds riddles, such as the well-known
1 Hyndiuljódh, 3.
THE PANTHEON 231
riddles set to king Heidhrek/ or whose senses he confuses, as

in the case of the remarkable visits to the two Christian kings
Olaf, that have been preserved in five different versions.^
On the finding of runes we possess a most curious fragment
in Hdvanuil, 138 and 139:
I wot that I hung

The windy beam upon
Nights all nine
With spear wounded
And given to Odhin
Self unto myself.
With loaf they cheered me not

Nor with no horn,
I spied adown,
I caught up runes,
Crying I caught,
Fell I thence again.^
Concerning the meaning of these lines opinions greatly dilïer.

Müllenhoff recognizes a profound myth in them : the finding of
the runes was brought about through the self-sacrifice of Odhin.
Bugge regards them as patterned after Christ on the cross, but
this does not commend itself. The lines are, however, to be
viewed in the light of a poetic fabrication rather than of a
1 " The frameiuork of this poem, which binds together a collection of riddles of
the same type as those of the early English and medieval riddle poets, is the visit
of Wodan disguised as a blind wayfarer to king Heidhrek, the famous riddle-reader,
at Vule-tide. The king, after. solving all Wodan's questions, at length fails to answer
the one (' What did Wodan
whisper into Baldr's ear ere he was borne to the pyre ? ')
which was fatal to Vafthrudhni, and falls like him a victim to the pride of learn- '
ing'" (CPB. I, 87).

2 The Heidhrek riddles: CPB. I, 86-92, and N. M. Petersen, Danmarks historie
i hedenold-. III, 235-246. See also Hervararsaga, Chapter 12; Olaf Tryggvason
Saga {HeitHskringla), Chapter 71; Pornmamia Sogur, II,- 138, and V, 171, 299;
Nornagests Thdttr. Compare also Uhland, Schr., VI, 305-314.
3 The translation is that of Eirikr Magnusson, in Odin's Horse Yggdrasil
(1895)
p. iS. He considers the second half of strophe 138 interpolated and puts in its
stead the lines that I regard with Müllenhoff and Gering as a later addition, and
which are, accordingly, omitted above.
;
genuine myth. Their feal meaning is in any case no longer

ascertainable.
Greater significance is to be attached to Odhin's intercourse
with Mimir, through which the god obtains wisdom which he
values so highly that he gives his eye for it as a pledge.
Mimir lives in the well at one of the roots of the world-tree,
which he keeps fresh and strong by watering it. Odhin con-

sults him continually. In the extreme need of the gods and
of the world he speaks with Mimir's head, thehead that had
been cut off by the Vanir but which Odhin had kept alive
with magic charms, so that it might tell of hidden things.^
While Norse poetry has also embellished this narrative, it yet
contains, beyond a doubt, genuine mythical material. German
folklore preserves the memory of Mime in names of places
the heroic saga knows him as the wise teacher of Wieland and
Siegfried. The worship of water, and its oracular power, is
met with on all sides, so that it is not surprising to find that

the spirit of the well is the wise spirit. That this is also found
elsewhere may be seen from Jastrow's Religion of BabyIo7iia
and 125, where it appears that among the
atid Assyria, pp. 62
Babylonians and possibly also Nabu, are divinities of
Ea,
the water as well as of wisdom. The pawning of Odhin's
eye has been variously interpreted as symbolical of the dis-
appearance of the sun in the water, or as representing the
cosmic conception that water and sunshine together maintain
the life of the world (Miillenhoff).
Entirely artificial is the scaldic myth of the poets' mead
{pdhroirir). Odhin as B^lverkr (evil-worker) gains the favor

of the giant's daughter Gunnl^dh and thus obtains possession
of the mead.^ At the conclusion of peace between the Ms\x
1 V'ólitspa, 27-29, 46; Sigrdrifumal, 14; Yiiglingasaga, Chapter 4. See on this

myth more especially Uhland, Schr., VI, 1S8-20C); Miillenhoff, DA. V, 101-107.
Havamal, 102-109. The story is
'^
still further elaborated in Bragarxdhur,
Chapters 3, 4.
THE PANTHEON 233
and Vanir all spit into a jar. From tliis spittle Kvasir was
made, who was so wise that he could answer every question
asked him. The dwarfs Fjalar and Galar enticed Kvasir, killed
him, and mixing his blood with honey made from it a drink that
should make poets of all who partook of it. From the dwarfs
this mead came into the hands of the giants, and thereupon
Odhin got possession of it, under circumstances that are imma-
terial in this connection. The whole myth seems invented for
the purpose of tracing the scaldic art to Odhin. There is not

a single point of connection that invites comparison with the
Indo-Persian sacrificial drink soma-haoma. Numerous kenniugar
allude to this story,
A number myths are told or referred to in Norse lit-
of other
erature, manythem solely the work of scalds and mythogra-
of
phers. In these Odhin plays various roles. He is the wise god,
who joyfully each day, in company with Saga (Frigg?), quaffs in
Sökkvabekr^ cool draughts from a golden vessel {Gr'wiuisfnd/, 7).
The Eddie poems frequently allude to Odhin's amours, his
metamorphoses, and his adventurous journeys. Of his role in
the world-drama, we shall have occasion to speak later on.
Twice Odhin is one of a triad with Hoenir and Lodhurr

(Loki) : at the creation of man ^ and at the killing of the otter,
which they are then compelled to fill up with the fatal gold."
It is noteworthy that Norse poetry has also made Odhin into
a god of the heaven and of the sun. His throne Hlidhskjalf

certainly points to this, perhaps also the eye that is pawned
with Mimir and the ring Draupnir that the dwarfs have made
for him. Of this character as god of heaven there are also
traces in German mythology, so, for example, in the tribal saga
of the Lombards. According to Miillenhoff it was in this char-
acter that VVodan was given Frija as wife, of old the consort
of Tiu.
1 That is Fallbrook, the place where a brook plunges down.

2 Volusjia, 18. 3 Prose introduction to Reginsmal,
Odhin bears many names in Norse poetry,^ some of which

doubtless owe their origin to Christian intiuence. This latter
is certainly the case with Alfadhir (Allfather), and the concep-

tions we meet of him as creator of the world and chief god.^
His brothers Vili and Ve appear to be mythical fabrications,
but Vili is already known to the scald Thjodholf (ninth cen-
tury), and both occur in Lokasefina, 26, where they possess
themselves of the person of Frigg. The story, interpreted in a
euhemeristic spirit, is also found in YiigliHgasaga, Chapter 3.

The many sides of Odhin's character that we have encoun-
tered have not been reduced among the ancient Teutons to a
fixed form, or been placed in an ideal light by either poetry or
the plastic arts. The literary remains that have come down to
us, though numerous, are only fragmentary, and while they may
suggest to us correct combinations, they may also tempt us to

make others that are wholly arbitrary. A talented and learned
writer has made Wodan-Odhin a spiritual type, the embodiment
of Teutonic philosophy, poetry, and political wisdom.^ Ingen-
ious though such a hypothesis may
and however ably
be,
worked out, it is not of such a character as to throw light on

the data at hand.
Donar-Thor
Donar was worshipped by all the Teutonic tribes, as is

shown by the universal use of his name to designate the fifth
day of the week. On Alemannic territory his name occurs on
the Nordendorf Brooch. While it is not found among the
Bavarians, our information concerning their gods is too meagre
to allow us to draw a conclusion from mere want of evidence.
Of Thursday bore a peculiarly sacred character, which has
old,
left numerous traces in popular belief and observance, more
particularly in usages on Maundy-Thursday, Ascension day, and
1 Grimnismal, 46-4S. - Gylfaginning, Chapters 3, 20.

3 F. Dahn, Bausteine, 1, 14S, 159.
THE PANTHEON 235
Sacramental Thursday. On Thursday people were reluctant

to perform ordinary work such as spinning and threshing,
while for important matters, holding court, sowing, celebrating
a wedding, Thursday was especially well suited, since Donar
was the p'atron god of agriculture and bestowed consecration
upon marriage.
Thursday is the dies Joris (day of Jupiter), and yet this iden-
tification of Donar with Jupiter is not the most ancient one.

In Tacitus he is Hercules, and "when about to enter battle
they sing of him as the bravest of all men." ^ As a god to
whom brought he occupies a place alongside of

sacrifices are
Mars.^ The tribes led by Arminius assembled in a grove sacred
to Hercules.^ The thunder god is the mighty hero, whose
barditus (beard-call) they imitate before battle.* Many, but
not all,* of the Hercules of Latino-Teutonic inscriptions are to
be identified with Donar ; so doubtless the Hercules Magusa-
nus of the Batavi.*"' Oak trees sacred to Donar, such as that
which Boniface year 730 near Geismar,
hewed down about the
and numerous Donar-mountains testify to the extent of the
worship of the thunder god in Germany.
Among the Frisians we also find Thuner in thename of the
day of the week ; among the Anglo-Saxons, Thunor in names
of places as well. In Sweden, and to a still greater extent
in Norway, his worship is of special importance. Adam of
Bremen (IV, 26, 27 ; 11, 60) states that in Sweden he is "the

most powerful of the gods ; Thor is ruler of the air and
exercises control over thunder and lightning, winds and rain-
storms, clear weather and crops." His image is found in the
popular assembly and to him sacrifices are offered in times of

pestilence and famine. That we hear little about him among
the Danes may be due to the fact that the worship of the
1 Germania, Chapter 3.
•»
Miillenhoff, DA. IV, 134-136.
2 Ibid., Chapter 9. ^ See above, pp. 87, 88.
3 Annals, II, 12. 6 See above, p. 105.
thunder god more especially characteristic of a mountainous

is
country, although, as we have already seen, it was by no means

restricted to such regions.
In Norway Thor is indigenous, as is shown by proper names,
history, and numerous myths. In the medieval literature that
treats of the incursions of the Norsemen, the recollection that
they frequently invoked " the false god " Thor still survives.
History records a number of temples and images of Thor in
Norway. Among these are the temple with not less than a hun-
dred images, which, according to a curious tradition, Hakon Jarl
destroyed ;
the hollow image in Gudhbrandsdalir which the
holy Olaf overthrew ;
temples at Mceri, Throndhjem (Dront-
heim), and elsewhere. The Thor cult was especially popular
among the Norwegians who settled in Iceland. Thor enters
into the composition of numerous proper names : Thorbjörn,
Thorarinn, Thorgrimmr, Thorkell, Thorgerdhr, Bergthora, and
some fifty others, borne altogether by not less than a thousand
men and women, whereas other divinities occur only a few
times in proper names. Of one of these emigrants it is related
that he possessed a temple of Thor in Norway and zealously
worshipped this god. His name was Rolf, but on account of
his devotion to Thor he was called Thorolf. This Thorolf
Most-beard {Mostrarskcgg) got into a quarrel with king Harald
Fairhair. " He thereupon made a great sacrifice, and asked
Thor, his well-beloved friend, whether he should make peace

with the king, or get him gone from out the land and seek
other fortunes. But the Word showed Thorolf Iceland, and
thereafter he got for himself a great ship meet for the main,
and trimmed it for the Iceland faring, and had with him his
kindred and his household goods ;

and many friends of his
betook themselves to faring with him. He pulled down the

temple, and had with him most of the timbers which had been
therein, and mould moreover from under the stall whereon Thor
had sat. And when he had sailed and had come near to the
THE PANTHEON 111
land, Thorolf cast overboard the pillars of his high-seat, which

had been in the temple, and on one of them was Thor
carven withal he spake over them, that there he would abide
;
in Iceland, whereas Thor should let those pillars come a-land.
And when he came a-land, he called the place Thorsness and

the river Thorsa and built a great temple for his god." He
settled there and became the godhi of the temple. The place
was so holy that no shedding of blood was allowed there, and
when this actually happened soon afterwards in a feud, the
place where the thing was held was transferred to another

spot.^
In this story, as is usual in Norway and Iceland, Thor
appears as the great god, on whom all depends, and who con-
stitutes the centre of the thing. In Norway he is called the
landds (god of the country), the most honored {mest tignadhr)
of the gods. The fact that the Hdrbardhsljbdh, as we have
seen, makes him the god of the peasants does not run counter
to this statement, but merely goes to show that among the people
the worship of Thor retained its vitality, even at a time when
among the higher classes, the jarls and scalds, the service of
Odhin had attained greater prominence. The sphere of his
activity is no less comprehensive than that ascribed to Odhin.
In time of danger he is the protector; he relieves distress,
grants favorable winds, bestows victory, consecrates marriage,

and is the friend of man (i<inr verlidha, Hymiskvidha ii). He
is, furthermore, the patron god of agriculture and at Yule-tide
receives sacrifices for the fruitfulness of the ensuing year.
He also presides in the thing. Many of these functions he
shares with Odhin, in so far as he has not been compelled to
renounce them in Odhin's favor. A singular contrast between
the two gods is found in the myth of Starkad. Odhin grants
this hero splendid gifts, but Thor invariably adds something
1 Eyrbyggjasaga, Chapters 3, 4, 10. The part quoted has been taken, somewhat
abridged, from the translation in the Saga Library, II.
that sets them at naught. Odhin promises him a life that is
to equal the length of three mortal lives Thor ordains

;
that in
each of these he is to perform a mdhin^sverk (a dastard's work).

Odhin gives him the choicest weapons and armor Thor denies ;
him the possession of landed property. Odhin accords him an

abundance of chattels Thor imposes that he should ever
;
thirst for more. Odhin confers valor and victory upon him ;
Thor appoints that he is to be sorely wounded in every battle.

Similarly the gift of poetry, which he receives from Odhin, is
vitiatedby Thor's decree that he should always forget what he

had sung. Odhin determines that Starkad shall always be
held in high esteem among the noblest and best, whereupon
Thor adds that he is to be hated by the people. The contrast
is characteristic : Thor is here theenemy of those warriors
and fighters by profession of whom Odhin

is the patron.
That Thor is the god of thunder does not admit of doubt.

His character as such is at times revealed in an interesting way
in connection with various other functions, as for example in
the popular superstition current in Germany, that a thunder-

storm during a wedding augurs a fruitful marriage. In the
thunderstorm three elements are distinguishable: the flash
(^fiilgur), the clap {totiitriis), and the stroke (fnlmeii), and all
three may be recognized in attributes of Thor. To the flash
he no doubt owes his red hair and red beard, with which
he is pictured even in later times, in his visit to Olaf Trygg-
vason among others. Tq the sound made by thunder he owes
his surname Hlorridhi (the roarer), and the same applies to
drawn by two he-goats, from which his
his riding in a chariot
surnames Reidhartyr (god of the chariot) and Qkuthorr (riding
Thor) are derived. A German conception, which explains
thunder as the playing at ninepins of the gods, has been
interpreted in same light. The origin of the hammer
the
MjcjUnir, with which Thor crushes his enemies, and which of
itself returns to the hand of the god, is doubtless to be explained
THE PANTHEON 239
from the thunderbolt. As a symbol we find this hammer repre-

sented on all sides for the purposes of insuring good for-
tune, of warding off demoniac influences, of healing sickness,

consecrating marriage, giving legal force to compacts, and, on
tombstones, as consecrating the dead to Thor. For a similar
purpose the sign of the hammer was made with the hand above
the cup, as at a later period the sign of the cross. Aside from
his hammer, Thor possesses two other precious objects the :
iron gauntlets {Jdrngreipr) and the girdle of strength {inegin-

gjardhar) around his loins.
Norse mythology stands alone in enumerating an extensive

kindred of Thor and in relating a number of myths concerning
him. The scalds make him the son of Odhin. Various per-
sonages are mentioned as his mother, — jQrdh, the earth, Hlo-
dhyn, a rather obscure name, identified by some, on dubious
grounds, with the Frisian Hludana,^ and finally the equally
enigmatical FJQrgyn. This name has

latter to be considered
in connection with the male FJQrgynn, who in Lokasenna 26
appears as the husband of Frigg {i.e. Odhin ?). The clew to
the interpretation of these two gods is usually sought in an
etymological connection with the Lithuanian Perkunas and
the Sanskrit Parjanya, a connection which is not, however,
definitely established.'"^These mothers of Thor are not god-
desses that have a cult, any more than his wife Sif, whose hair
Loki had cut off, whereupon Thor compelled him to have the
dwarfs make new golden hair for her — a Aldrcheti that has
been explained as referring to the golden yellow of a field of
grain. As is apparent from their names, the children of Thor

are mere personifications of his attributes; so his daughter
Thrudhr (power), and his sons Magni" (power) and Modhi
1 See above, p. 105.
2 The most recent discussion is that by R. Much, Der germanische Himmelsgott
(1898), pp. 16-26.
8 The same word has been recognized in Hercules Magusatius. See above,
p. 105.
(vehemence). Whether in the case of Sif and Thrudhr we

are to have in mind the vigorous fertility of the earth, fruc-
tified by the thunder god, we do not venture to decide. As
servants of Thor we find in Gylfaginnifig, Chapter 44, the
peasant children Thjalfi and R^skva. Uhland sees in these
personifications of man's labor, which in the service of the
god must make the earth fruitful, an interpretation that is
ingenuous but of doubtful value.

We cannot here relate in detail, or analyze, the myths which
the Eddie songs and the Snorra Edda narrate of Thor. Refer-
ences to them abound also in other Norse literature, and in
Saxo as well. They tell of his fight with the giants and his
journeys to J^tunheim, the home of the giants, in the distant
northeast. Well known is the entertaining account in Thrynis-

kvidha of his journey to the home of the giant Thrym, who
had stolen and hidden Thor's hammer, and refused to give it
up unless Freyja were given him as his wife. Thereupon
Thor, disguised as Freyja, proceeds in the company of Loki to
visitthe giant, and to the great astonishment of the latter
makes away with incredible quantities of food and drink.
When the hammer is finally brought in to hallow the marriage,

Thor seizes it and kills the giant. This tale doubtless con-
ceals a genuine nature-myth, that of the thunder god, who in
the spring after the long winter regains his strength. It is of
course not possible to extend this interpretation to all the
details. The narrative is told in a humoristic vein, and Thor

assumes the character of the gluttonous giant in nursery rimes
and fairy tales.

Skdldskaparmd] Chapter , i, gives a circumstantial account
of Thor's combat with the giant Hrungnir, which had already
furnished the subject of a song by the scald Thjodholf of
Hvin. Hrungnir in his arrogance had boasted that he would
carry off Walhalla to J^tunheim. Thor challenges him and
they meet in combat. Thor hurls his hammer Mj^llnir, the
THE PANTHEON 241
giant his flint-stone. Hrungnir is slain, but a piece of the

flint-stone penetrated the head of Thor. The magic song of
Groa would have freed Thor of this flint-stone, but for joy at
the return of her husband Aurvandill, which Thor announces
to her, Groa forgets her song. It is clear that this myth -of
Hrungnir represents Thor in his character of the terrible
thunder god, but there is little ground for the theory which
has been advanced that it stands for the struggle with the
stony ground which is everywhere the enemy of agriculture.
Aurvandill, whom the Snorra Edda introduces into the story,
does not belong there originally. He is a constellation, and

certainly in no way connected with Thor. We cannot here
discuss the possibility of a connection with Saxo's Horvendillus
and the Orendel of the German minstrel poetry i^Spiebnanns-
dichtung). The latter is at any rate very problematical.
This narrative is followed in Skaldskaparmal, Chapter 2,
by that of Thor's journey to the giant Geirrödhr, which like
the former is greatly embellished. Loki had been taken pris-
oner by the giant and had been released only on condition
of enticing without hammer, gauntlets, or girdle, to
Thor,
Geirrödhsgardhr. Thor is warned on his way thither by
Gridh, who lends him her girdle, gloves, and staft\ Aided by
these, Thor with difficulty succeeds in crossing the stream
which Gjalp, one of the two daughters of Geirrödhr, was caus-
ing to swell. Arrived at the dwelling of the giant, Gjalp and
Greip attempt to crush him, with the chair in which he was
seated, against the ceiling of the room, but Thor presses the
seat down and breaks the backs of both Gjalp and Greip.
Thor and Geirrödhr now take up the struggle, the latter fling-
ing a red-hot iron wedge at Thor, who catches it with Gridh's
iron gloves, and now throwing the wedge in his turn kills the
giant. The story is an old one it was known to scalds of
;
the tenth century and attained wide circulation. Saxo also

tells many particulars about the " sedes Geruthi." There is
no reason for recognizing in the story a journey to subterranean

regions. Possibly, as in the case of the struggle with Hrungnir,
the mythical kernel consists simply of two thunderstorms that
meet in the mountains.^
Thor's journey to Hymir in quest of the kettle for brewing
ale, which the .'Esir needed for their feasts, and his fishing for
the Midhgardh-serpent are related in Hymiskvidha and Gyl-
fagi/ining, Chapter 48. In fishing for the monster, Thor uses
an ox-head as bait. He succeeds in bringing the serpent to
the surface, when Hymir cuts the line and the monster falls
back into the sea. Though not connected originally, these two
myths have been combined and elaborated in various ways.
I do not venture to interpret the story as symbolical of a
phenomenon of nature. The eschatological element, that Thor

fights the Midhgardh-serpent in the last of all battles, is still
foreign to this myth, but perhaps partly owes its origin to it.
The story of Thor's journey to Utgardhaloki is told at great

length and in a charming manner.^ He is then outside the
real world, and against the illusions of demonic beings such as
Skrymir and Utgardhaloki even his strength does not avail,
any more than that his companions, Loki and Thjalfi, can
cope, the former with Logi (fire), and the latter with Hugi
(thought), which is ever fleeter than the fleetest. In vain Thor
attempts to drain a drinking-horn ; its end rests in the sea. It
is in itself no small matter that his three draughts have caused

the waters of the ocean to ebb. In vain he strives to lift the
cat; it is the Midhgardh serpent, and he succeeds in raising only
one paw from the ground. In vain he wrestles with the old
woman Elli : old age cannot be vanquished. I am unable to
discover genuine myths in this narrative. The poet has given
free rein to his imagination in his treatment of the gods, of
whom the people are ever eager to tell and hear told various
1 Weinhold, Die Ritseti des germanisclien Mythiis, p. 271.

2 Gylfaginnitig, Chapters 45-47.
THE PANTHEON 243
adventures. It does not argue in favor of sagacity on tlie
part of many mythologists that they are constantly endeavoring

to explain what from the nature of the case does not require
or even admit an explanation.
There are a few remaining narratives in which Thor plays
an important role. Among these is an Eddie song, Alvtssmdl,
in which Alviss, a wise dwarf, comes up from the depths of
the earth and demands Thor's daughter for a bride. Thor
detains him with his questions until the dawn of day kills him.
That the latter is fatal to dwarfs was a widespread popular
belief. Uhland has interpreted the story as an allegory of the
corn that has been sown and entrusted to the earth, but this
conception is at any rate not brought out sharply.
Thor's chief role in numerous myths is that of the defender
of Asgardh and Aiidhgardh against various attacks, more espe-
cially of the giants. On more than one occasion he thus
saves the ^sir. He slays the giant who had built the burgh
for the gods, and with whom the latter broke faith so that they
would not surrender Freyja. In Lokasentia he is the only one
who is able to silence Loki when all the other yËsir are at their
wit's end at Loki's abuse.
But the majority of these myths possess little, if any, religious
significance. That the scalds and mythographers assigned so
important a part to Thor in the world of the gods is in keeping
with the high rank which he occupied as a god of the people.
*TiwAZ (Tiu-Ziu-Tyr)
The etymology of the name " Zio " (Tiu) that identifies
the god with .Dyaus (Zeus, Jupiter) as the old Indo-European
god of the sky seemed at one time absolutely certain, but is
to-day questioned by several linguistic scholars. Whether or
not we accept this identification, there can be no doubt that
Tiu was originally a sky god. That he frequently appears as
a god of war among the Teutonic peoples is not surprising,

inasmuch as gods of war are frequently sky gods originally,
as e.g. Ares and Mars, which names are not infrequently used
as translations for Tiu.
The wide dissemination of the worship of Tiu is attested by
a large body of evidence, among other things by the fact that
the name of the third day of the week, Tuesday, is common to
all Teutonic peoples. On this day various functions, such as
the holding of assemblies, judicial procedures, weddings, etc.,
enjoyed the special protection of the god. But that Tiu in the
first century of our era stood practically among all Teutons

"in the centre of the cult," as Mogk would have us believe,
seems a highly extravagant statement. We do, however, know
a number of peoples and tribes that worshipped him the :
Tencteri,^ the Hermunduri, ^ the Frisians, who erected in
England the altar Marti T/iiiigso,^ the Goths,* the distant

Thulitai,^ and especially the Suebi or Ziuwari, in whose terri-
tory lay the Ziesburc, and whose chief tribe, the Semnones,
worshipped in a sacred grove the rcgfiator omnium deus ® with
human sacrifices and barbaric rites (^Gcrinaiiia, Chapter 39).
This god is generally taken to be Tiu. Norse mythology assigns
Tyr to a subordinate place, and it has accordingly been sup-
posed that Freyr is another name for Tiu, and represents an
hypostasis of the same ancient sky god. The assumption has,
however, little in its favor. The word " tyr " is actually found
in Old Norse as an appellative in the sense of god, in such
compounds as " sigtyr," etc. The attempt to conclude from the "
Irish word "diberc" (= tyverk, work for the god of war., consist-
ing in the razing of cloisters and the murder of the clergy) that
1 Tacitus, Hist., IV, 64. 4 Jordanes, DOAG., Chapter 5.

2 Tacitus, Annals, XIII, 57. 5 Frocopius, B. Goth., II, 15.
3 See above,
p. 106. 6 "
God, the ruler of all."
"
Zimmer, Über die friiheslen Beriihritngen der Iren mit den Nordgermatien,
SBA. 1891, pp. 279 ff. Compare also GGA. 1891, pp. 193 ff. Mogk, Kelteti und
Nordgertnanen {Programm, Leipzig, 1896), p. 13, justly attacks Zimmer's position.
THE PANTHEON 245
Vikings of the region of the Hardanger Fjord worshipped Tyr

in the ninth century is certainly a mistaken one.
The opinion was worshipped everywhere as the chief
that Tiu
god of the Teutons in view of his position in the Norse
is,
pantheon, scarcely admissible. This view is, of course, closely

connected with the conception of three large groups of peoples,
whose eponymous heroes, Ingvaz, Ermnaz, Istvaz, have been
taken to represent different forms of the sky god.^
Other names for Tiu are perhaps Dings (in Marti Thingso
and Dinsdag, Tuesday) and, with more certainty, Er (Erchtag)
among the Bavarians, and Sahsnot (Anglo-Saxon Seaxneat, i.e.
sword companion) among the Saxons. The Anglo-Saxon rune
Y (Ear) is also referred to him. Finally Iring, the Thuringian
hero, who with his sword slays two kings," is, according to some,
likewise a form of Tiu.^
The numerous narratives and usages that are current in
Teutonic countries in connection with the sword are doubtless
in large part related to the Thus in the North Tyr was
god.
invoked, while his rune f was engraved on the sword as an
emblem of victory.* Ammianus Marcellinus tells us (XVII, 12)
of the Quadi that " with drawn swords, which they worship
as divinities, they swore that they would remain faithful."
Among other German peoples as well we encounter oaths sworn
by the sword. Attila conquered the world with the sacred
sword of Mars, which a herdsman had accidentally found, —a
tale that has come down to us from a Gothic source.^ Taci-
tus ^ mentions sword-dances, which, while held where all were
assembled, were no doubt in honor of Tiu more especially.
As to the mythological significance of these dramatic dances,
which demanded great dexterity, we are entirely thrown back
upon conjecture. They were probably accompanied by music.
1 Compare p. 77. 4 Sigrdrifiimal, 6.

2 Widukind, I, 13. 5 Jordanes, DOAG., Chapter 35.
3 Compare also Heimdallr, below. 6 Germania, Chapter 24.
Numerous traces of these sword-dances are found during the

Middle Ages and in later times. ^ The sword of Julius Caesar
also, which was carried by Vitellius out of the delubriim
Martis (sanctuary of Mars) at Cologne,^ we may regard as a
sacred sword of the Ubii. Noteworthy are the observances at
Valenciennes on the jour de St. Michel, at which the sword-
players {joiienrs d'épéè) proceed to church, the sword-bearer,

during the reading of the gospel, solemnly holding aloft the
unsheathed sword of St. Michel. After mass the members of
the association sit down to a banquet, and play war-like games.'

Tiu is not a prominent character in myths. Connection
with the sky god has been found in the swan-knights,'' and,
with greater show myth of the Harlungen.'"'
of reason, in the
Miillenhoff recognizes the god in a widely ramified cluster of
myths.''* Scandinavian mythology contains, of course, a greater
number of direct references to the god, but yet Tyr is not the
chief figure in any one of the Eddie songs. He accompanies
Thor on his journey to Hymir, and at the feast in ^gir's hall
also receives his share of the abuse which Loki hurls at the
gods. He is there taunted with lacking his right hand, and
Gylfaginning, Chapters 25 and 34, relates in detail how Tyr lost
this hand in his fight with the wolf Fenrir. The .^sir have bound
the wolf with the fetter Gleipnir, made out of the sound caused
by the footfall of cats, the beards of women, the roots of moun-
tains, the sinews of bears, the breath of fish, and the spittle of
birds. When this chain breaks, the wolf will be released and
this is the sign of the end to come. Then Tyr will contend with
1 See K. Miillenlioff, Uhcr den Schwerttanz (in the Feslgaben fiir G. Homeycr,
1S71).
-Suetonius, Vitellius, VIII.
3 The last two illustrations are taken from J. W. Wolf, Beitrdge zitr dcntschen
Mythologie^ I, 128.
**
Knights who, like Lohengrin, reach the land they are to succor in a boat drawn
by a swan.
6 In the article Fiija und dci- Halsbandmythiis, ZfdA. XXX, 217-260.

THE PANTHEON 247
the dog Garm (a doublet, no doubt, of the wolf), and the god
and the monster will both fall.^ A number of interpretations
of Tyr's struggle with Fenrir, on the basis of nature-myths, have
been proposed, the latest ^ of which regards Fenrir as a constel-
lation. But none of these is at all satisfactory.
THE VANIR
Njordhr-Nerthus, Freyr-Freyja
That the divinities here juxtaposed form a real group is
certainbeyond the shadow of a doubt. As indicated, the first
and the second and the third and fourth are by their very
names closely related. The pairs too are connected: Freyr
and Freyja are the children of NJQrdhr, and Freyr and Nj^rdhr
are together invoked for a blessing at the taking of oaths and
the pledging of the cup. How these divinities have come to
form such a group is less clear. Has a masculine Njqrdhr
been deduced from Nerthus, as a feminine Freyja from Freyr.?
Whether or not they are secondary formations, these gods are
certainly not abstractions ; they live in both cult and myth. A
number of places in Norway bear the name of Nj^rdhr, and he
also was worshipped, although it is perhaps an exaggeration
when an interpolated line of an Eddie song^ credits him with
a thousand sanctuaries and altars. Sacrifices were brought to
Freyja also,* but perhaps only at a later period.
Freyr is an appellative, corresponding to Gothic fraiija,
O. H. G. fro,
Anglo-Saxon frea. A connection with the
German froh, which would make the name signify " gladden-
ing, fair, noble, sacred " (Jacob Grimm) cannot be maintained.
The word means " lord " and was therefore originally no doubt
used as epitheton of some other god. Hence nothing stands
1 Vdlusfa, 44; Gylfaginning, Chapter 51.
2 E. Wilken, Der Fcnriswolf, ZfdPh. XXVIII, 156-198; 297-348.
i*
I'aftlirudhnisma!, 38, •*
Hyndltdjódh, 10.
^
in the way of a complete identification of Freyr and Nj^rdhr.

So far as the name is concerned, we might also regard him as
one with the sky god Tin, but although a few individual traits
in the character of Freyr point to the sky god, he is too essen-
tially different from the war-like Tiu-Tyr to enable us to regard
the two as representing a single divinity. Freyr has more

points of resemblance to a Liber than to a Mars or Jupiter.
To define any one sphere of nature as the special field of
activity of the Vanir is on the whole impossible without a show
of arbitrariness. Nerthus is the Icrra tnater'^ ; Nj^rdhr usu-
ally god of the sea; he dwells in Noatun (the place of ships).
In the case of Freyr, some features point to heavenly light,
others to earthly fruitfulness. It is not possible, therefore,
to regard the whole group simply as gods of the air.
The ethnic basis of the cult of these gods is more firmly

established. For the festival of Nerthus the seven Ingaevonic
peoples assemble ; Freyr is identified with the tribal progenitor
Ingv (Ingvifreyr, Ingunarfreyr) ; the Vnglingen are his descend
ants,^ and he is also mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon genealogical
tables. There is, accordingly, no possibility of regarding the
Vanir as Slavic or foreign divinities. They are truly Teutonic,
and the gods of the Ingaevonic amphictyony. The island
where the festival of Nerthus was celebrated was probably
Seelnnd. We may assume then that this was also the home
of the Vanir, and that from there they came to Sweden, either
by way of Scania or through intercourse over the sea. While
Freyr is preeminently the Sviagodh (god of the Swedes), he
was not originally indigenous in Sweden, as is shown by the
saga of king Hadding, who is said to have introduced the
froblbt (sacrifice to Freyr) at Upsala.* The correspondence
between the festival of Nerthus described by Tacitus and the
procession of Freyr from Upsala at the close of winter is a
1 " Mother Earth." ^ Yjtglingasaga, Chapter 12.

- T/irymskvid/ui, 22 ;
Grimnismal, 16, etc. ^ Saxo, HD., p. 50.
THE PANTHEON 249
very striking one. His wagon was accompanied by a priestess

who figured as his wife, a circumstance which
a Norwegian
exile knew how good account, as we learn from
to turn to
a characteristic story in the longer Olaf TryggTason Saga,
Chapter 173. From Sweden the worship of Freyr came to
Norway, more especially to the region of Throndhjem, and
from there to Iceland. In various sagas ^ we meet with Freys-
godhar (priests of Freyr), with sacrifices of bulls brought to
Freyr, with his image on an amulet, with a stallion Freysfaxi,
on which no one was allowed to ride against its will, and
the like.
While Freyr was thus introduced into Sweden and Norway

from the South, his worship does not appear to have come into
The case seems to
collision with the indigenous cult of Thor.
have been different with the more recent religion of Odhin,
which was also introduced from the South. With considerable
probabilitywe conclude, from the myth of the war between the
^sir and Vanir, that their respective adherents stood violently
opposed to each other. In illustration we cite Völuspa, 21-24:
That I remember as first of the world-wars, when Gullveig they thrust

with spears and in Har's hall burnt her ; thrice burnt her, the thrice born,
oft and not seldom, and yet she still lives.
Heidhr they called her, wheresoever she came to a house, the vt^lva
prophetic. She used witchcraft wherever she could, distracted men's minds
by her magic, practised sorcery she was ever the delight of evil women.
;
Then went all the rulers to their judgment-seats, the most holy gods,
and held counsel, whether the ^sir should pay tribute, or all the gods
should share the sacrifices.
Odhin hurled spears and shot into the host; that also happened in the
first of the world-wars. Broken was the wall of the burgh of the ^sir.
The valiant Vanir were able to tramp over the plains.
Gullveig, who is evidently the queen of the Vanir, was

accordingly shamefully maltreated with spears and fire in the
'^
Glumsaga, Chapters 9, 26; I'atnsdiclasaga, Chapter 10; Hrafnkelssaga^
Chapter 4 ; etc.
hall of Har (Odhin) she was called Heidhr, the sorceress,

;
versed in all manner of magic practices. The Vanir remained

and the ^sir took counsel
victors in the struggle that ensued,
whether they should pay the Vanir tribute or should allow
them to share the sacrifices in common. The latter seems to
have been the result of their deliberations, and from that time
on, the two, M%\x and Vanir, stand side by side in the cult.
Elsewhere we read that on both sides a god was given as a
hostage, NJQrdhr to the ^sir, and Hcenir, accompanied by the
wise Mimir, to the Vanir.^ The antithesis between the two
groups was evidently felt, and from this we may conclude, with
a considerable degree of probability, that a clash took place
between the followers of the two parties. Weinhold, however, is
hardly justified in assigning a date to this "cult-war" ("before

A.D. 800 ") as a definite historical fact.
When we inquire into the meaning of this antithesis, it is to

be noted that in Voluspa, Gullveig-Heidhr and in the Ynglinga
Saga, Freyja are accused of practising evil arts of magic. This
Gullveig-Heidhr-Freyja is the Vanir-goddess whose tears are
gold : the Vanir are the wealthy gods of trade and commerce.
Attention has been called to the fact that in the heroic saga as
well, alluring gold brings danger and death to its possessors
(Hreidmar, Fafnir, Regin, Sigurd). The present myth has
therefore been supposed to contain the ethical thought that
the religion of Odhin is hostile to the cult of the Vanir on
account of the magic power of gold. While it is possible that
such a conception is present in the myth, we should be on our
guard against treating it as an established fact. In Voluspa., 7,
the yEsir are in the Golden Age themselves occupied with gold,
and the stricter religion of Odhin as opposed to the more luxu-
rious cult of the Vanir is, after all, based merely on conjecture.
Nor is it feasible to regard the Vanir war as a nature-myth.
The very fact that we were unable to point to either light or
1 Gylfaginniug, Chapter 23; Ytiglingasaga, Chapter 4.

THE PANTHEON 251
air or any one sphere of nature as their special field of activity
in itself precludes such an interpretation. We must, accord-

ingly, be content with recognizing an ethnic difference between
yEsir and Vanir. The material at our disposal is too scanty to
enable us to ascertain their ethical or physical significance.
Another ethnic difference, but one that has struck less deep
a root in the cult, may be recognized in the marriage of
Nj^rdhr with the Finnish Skadhi.^ The M.?ax owed her an
expiation for the death of her father Thjazi, and she was
accordingly to marry one of the ^sir, but was permitted to see
only their feet in making a choice. She chose NJQrdhr, mis-
taking him for Baldr. The marriage was not a happy one.
Skadhi did not thrive at Noatun, where the screeching of the
birds awakened her in the morning, and Nj^rdhr did not keep
his agreement of living nine nights in Thrymheim in the
mountains, in the midst of the howling wolves. Some strophes
relating an altercation between them, in dialogue form, may be
found in Gylfaginning.
There are in the cult of Freyr a few rude primitive traits

that are at times too little regarded in a treatment of the god.
In the first place we read in Adam of Bremen, IV, 26: " Freyr
(Fricco) bestows peace and joy upon mankind; his image they
fashion with a large ineinbnim Tiri/e." He is the god of fruit-
fulness in every sense. For the vegetable kingdom this is
indicated by the processions in spring, for the animal world by

the symbol of the phallus. In this connection the little statu-
and the processions of Derk met den beer,
ettes of Matineke-pis
are frequently drawn upon for illustration,^ but while these
may possibly represent parallels, it is not at all likely that they
have been derived from the god Freyr.

A second trait is that the Vanir are accused of marriage
with sisters, which was regarded with abhorrence by the
1 Gylfaginning, Chapter 23 Bragaradhur, Chapter

; 2.
2 Wolf, Beitriige zur deutschen Mythologie, I, 107.

yEsir.^ In addition we may mention tlie boar that was conse-

crated to Freyr, and by which on the eve of Yule-tide, in the
hall, the god was invoked for the fruitfulness of the year, and
vows made to him over the cup." In connection with this the
" figures of wild boars," which according to Tacitus ^ are the
" token of superstition " of the /Estii, are sometimes cited, and
it is at least not impossible that here, on the very border of the

territory actually known to him, Tacitus ascribes to the Baits
what really belonged to the Ingajvonic Teutons. In Norse
mythology the wagon of Freyr is drawn by the boar Gullin-
bursti ("with golden bristles").
That Freyr is the god of fruitfulness, love, prosperity, and
peace is also shown by the well-known Frodhi-peace,* and
several details of Saxo's accounts of kings that were called
Frotho may perhaps be explained as due to a euhemeristic con-
ception of the god. In the songs of the Edda and in the
Snorra Edda, his character is sketched with considerable detail.*

He dwells in Alfheim among the light-elves. His treasures
consist of the ship Skidhbladhnir and the boar GuUinbursti.
Myths in which he figures are not numerous. Incidentally we
learn that with bare fist he laid low the giant Beli ("the roarer"),
perhaps a demon representing the storms of winter. The most
circumstantial account is that of the story of Freyr and Gerdhr,
told in one of the most attractive of the Eddie songs.*' From
Odhin's high-seat Hlidhskjalf Freyr was gazing over the world
and caught sight of the fair young giantess Gerdhr. He sent
his servant Skirnir to her, who with mighty threats prevailed

upon the unwilling fair one, after nine nights, to surrender her-
self to Freyr in the flowery grove Barri. The chief meaning
of this myth is doubtless the awakening of the earth in spring,
Lokasenna, 32, 36.

1 ^ Germania, Chapter 45.
Hervararsaga, Chapter 14.
'- " See p. 165.
^Skirnismal; Grtmnismdl, 5,43; ZLö,è(Z5^w;zrt, 35-37, 42-44 ;

Hyndluljódh, i\;
Sigurdharkvidha, 24; Gylfaginning, 24, 34, 37-43, 49. 5i !
Skaldska/>armAl, 3.
6 Skirnismdl.
THE PANTHEON 253
although not all details, of course, are transferable. Similarly,

the spring processions of Freyr are connected with the opening
of the new season. One might be tempted to find a corre-
spondence between the myth of Nj^rdhr and Skadhi and that
of Freyr and Gerdhr in both we have the unwilling, resisting
:
giant's daughter and the period of nine days. The figure of

Gerdhr does not, however, have the same ethnic background
as that of the Finnish
Skadhi. In this myth of Skirnisfqr
(Skirnir's journey) one more feature remains to be noted :
Freyr has entrusted his sword to his servant, and for that very
reason he is in the last combat without a weapon of defense
against the fire-demon Surtr, and falls before the latter.
In various Christian saints, traits of Freyr are recognizable,
e.g. in St. Andrew, the patron saint of marriage, and in Sweden
in St. Stephanus, the patron saint of the fruitfulness of woman
and of the soil.
In the Scandinavian North, Freyr was certainly one of the
chief gods in respect to cult.
In his case no exuberant growth
myths or popular stories make us lose sight, as with
of poetic
Odhin and Thor, of the high place which he occupied in the
cult.
Baldr
The myths connected with Baldr are many and varied, but
he has left few traces in the cult. The later Fridhthjofssaga
alone, which dates from the fourteenth century, mentions, with-
out historical basis, a large temple at Baldrshag. The name
Baldr characterizes him as a god of light. With it are to be
compared Anglo-Saxon genealogies the son of
Bailda^g, in
Woden, the appellative bealdor (prince), and the Old High
German name Paltar. The occurrence of the name in the
second Merseburg Charm we have already discussed,^ and
this evidence in favor of a German Balder is further strengthened
1 See p. 128.
2.S4 THE RELIGION OF THE ANCIENT TEUTONS
by names of places, such as Pfolsau, Pholesbrunno, etc.,

and possibly also by the Pulletag (the second of May). Far
more numerous are similar evidences in Denmark Balders- :
brönd near Roeskilde, in Seeland, where Baldr caused water to

gush forth out of the ground for exhausted warriors Baldrs- ;
höje where he lies buried and throughout the entire North

;
the baldrshrd {supercUlujn Ba/dcri),^ the plant that is named

In the Danish folklore collected by J. M.
after the white god.^
Thiele ^ we repeatedly meet with Baldr, and it seems likely
that Denmark is his original home. It is there that he most
frequently occurs in saga and folklore, although it is not
impossible that these sagas contain Norwegian elements.
Saxo Grammaticus, in the third book of his Historia Daniai,
has given a very circumstantial account of this saga and has
embellished it by the addition of a number of adventures. In
Saxo the leading character is Hotherus, the son of a Swedish
king, who was enamoured of the beautiful Nanna, daughter of
the Norwegian king Gevarus. Inasmuch as the god or demi-
god Balderus was also desirous of winning the favor of the
maiden, a struggle ensues between them, in which after fortune
had favored now this side, now that, Hotherus, aided by the
counsel of the forest maidens, the possession of Miming's
sword with which alone Baldr can be wounded, and of the
ring that bestows riches, finally remains victor. Baldr's death
does not remain unavenged. With Rinda, Odhin begets
another son, Bous, who slays Hotherus, but is himself also
slain. A number of other more or less extraneous features
have been incorporated into this account the magic food :
which increases the strength of Baldr, but is also bestowed by

the Walkyries upon Hotherus the dream in which Hel appears ;
to the wounded Baldr and foretells that he will soon rest in her
arms ;
and the scene of the battle in which Odhin and Thor
1 " Baldr's eyebrow." 2 Gylfagiiniing, Chapter 22.

^ Danske Folkesagn. II, 341.
THE PANTHEON 255
also take part. While it is extremely difficult to separate the

adventitious from the genuine kernel, it does not seem to me
to admit of the least doubt that such a genuine mythical kernel
exists, and that we are here not dealing merely, as the euhem-
eristic interpretation would have it, with an heroic adventure
of love quarrel and combat.
In the Eddie songs and in the SnorraEdda the myth of
Baldr is As early as the tenth century it was
very prominent.
known to the scalds Kormakr and Vetrlidhi, and in the Hi'is-
drdpa which Ulfr Uggason composed on the scenes depicted in
an Icelandic hall, the story of Baldr plays a prominent part ;
he is represented as lying on the funeral pyre, while the giantess

Hyrrokin is pushing off the ship that is to carry the body to
sea, a scene that is also described in detail in Gylfaginiiing,
Chapter 49.
From the above remarks it follows that the myth of Baldr is
at any rate not the product of the Eddie poets and late mythog-
raphers. It is certain, moreover, that the detailed account of
Snorri contains a number of features not implied in the Eddie
poem, Vegtamskvidha {Baldrs Draumar). Baldr is the son of
Odhin and Frigg, the white, the wise god, the most beloved
among the ^sir. His hall is situated in Breidhablik:
In that land,
In which I know exist
The fewest crimes.^
A gloomy fate overhangs him, and he is tormented by evil

dreams. Odhin, disguised as Vegtam (way-wise man), there-
upon betakes himself to a vqlva to obtain information con-
cerning this ill-boding Here he learns
future. that Baldr's
place in Hel is already prepared for him H^dhr ;
is to kill him
with the mistletoe, but Vali is to avenge him. In an epito-
mized form we also possess this story in Voluspa, 32-34:
1 Grimnismal, 12 (Thorpe).
:
I saw for Baldr, Baldr's brother

the blood-stained god, was born full soon ;
The son of Odhin, One night old,

fate's decision. battled Odhin's son.
Fullgrown there towered,
high on the turf. Hands he ne'er washed,
Matchless and slender, head he ne'er kempt.
the mistletoe. Until Baldr's foe
he 'd borne to the pyre.
From this selfsame shrub, But Frigg be wept,
that seemed so slender, in Fensalir,
Came the fatal shaft The woe of Walhalla.
Hc^dhr shot it. Wot ye yet, or what ?
The punishment of Loki, which is described in the strophes

that immediately follow, may, but need not necessarily, be
brought into connection with what precedes. Lokase/ma, 28,
and Gylfaginning, Chapter 49, show that Loki is the one who
is really guilty of Baldr's death. We are there told that Frigg,
subsequent to Baldr's evil dreams, had put all objects under
oath not to harm Baldr. On the thing the gods, certain not to
hurt him, began in jest to throw and shoot all kinds of missiles
at Baldr; nothing could hit him. Now Loki had learned from
Frigg that the insignificant mistletoe {jnistiltemii) had not been
put under oath, and he now put this mistletoe as an arrow in the
hand of the blind Hqdhr, who shot Baldr dead with it. All the
gods wept, but to no avail. The burial on the ship, which serves
at the same time as a funeral pyre, is described in detail. The
^sir thereupon send Hermodhr, the son of Odhin, to Hel, and
he returns with the promise that Baldr shall return in case all
objects, animate as well as inanimate, weep for him. The

^sir prevail upon all objects to do so; the tears are universal.'^
Thcjkt alone, the giantess of the cave in the rocks, — Loki in
1 " As you yourself must have seen that all these things weep when they are
brought from a cold place into a hot one." Thus Snorri interprets Gylfaginning,
Chapter 49.
THE PANTHEON 257
disguise, — will not weep and thus prevents the return of the
god. She says " Neither ; living nor dead was he of any use
to me. Let Hel hold what it has."
It is evident that we are here dealing with a myth, not in the
process of growth, but in that of disintegration. Baldr is origi-
nally one of those invulnerable gods or heroes of whom Achilles

and Siegfried are types. For the invulnerability the Norse
account has substituted the oath not to harm him. The 7nis-
tilteinn has taken the place of Miming's sword and has thus
become a ketmifig for sword. The conceptions and usages
attaching to the mistletoe are of secondary importance. In
respect to both the invulnerability and the sword, Saxo's
account has preserved the original form.
As in the case of other myths, any attempt to explain the
individual features of the myth of Baldr would prove abortive.
Its chief content is doubtless the vanishing of the light of
summer. But the myth has undergone a twofold development.
In the first place, the god of physical light has become the
embodiment of the morally pure and innocent. On the other
hand, the myth of the year has, even in the Eddie poems,
become the myth of the world. The death of Baldr inflicts
great loss and injury on the company of the gods, and thus
forms the ominous prelude to the impending destruction of the
world. It was this latter aspect in which the myth was viewed
on that boundary line of the pagan and Christian ages in

which Völuspa was composed.^
FORSETE (FoSITE)
Forsete is usually connected with Baldr, who, according to

Gylfaginning, Chapter 32, is his father. He inhabits the resplend-
ent heavenly hall "where he allays every strife."'"
Glitnir,
Aside from this, and a few names of places in Norway, little
1 See p. 202. - Griinnis}iial, 15.
mention is made of him in the Scandinavian North. He is a

Frisian god, who has his seat on Helgohind. He probably
came to the North during the Viking period and was there
connected with Baldr, to whom he otherwise bears little resem-
blance. The name Fosite may be an epitheton, possibly of
Wodan Mars Thingsus of the Frisian cuneiis in
or of Tiu (the
England has been compared with him), less likely of Donar.
The accounts furnished by the VitiE of the missionaries con-
cerning the land of Fosite have already been touched upon.^
On this inhospitable island, where the tempest so frequently
cast the shipwrecked mariner, were the sacred well, the cattle,
and the temples of the god. Whosoever profaned these was
offered up by the king as a sacrifice to the god. Helgoland,
just as Seeland, was probably the centre of an amphictyony.
From this latter, and from the line cited above from Gritiifiismdl,
we may infer that Fosite was among the Frisians regarded as
the god of justice.
Heimdallr
Heimdallr we know only from Norse literature ; in the cult

he is not met with at all, in proper names only a few times, in
Norway. Of a magic song {Heimdal/arga/df) dealing with this
god, Gylfagififufig, Chapter 27, quotes a few lines. It might
seem, therefore, that he is to be regarded as a creation of the

poetry of the scalds, and yet such a conclusion would be false.
Heimdallr, who dwells in HiminbJQrg (the mountain of heaven),*
was a genuine and powerful deity.
He is the guardian of the gods and sits at the edge of
heaven to guard the bridge against the mountain giants. He
requires less sleep than a bird, and both by day and night can
see a distance of one hundred miles. He is, moreover, the pos-
sessor of the Gjallarhflrri (loud-resounding horn), whose sound
is heard throughout the universe, and which lies hidden under
1 See p. 122. 2 Gr'niiiiiîiial. 13.
THE PANTHEON 259
the world-tree until the final catastrophe.^ He has nine

mothers, daughters of ^'Egir,'-' whose names are suggestive of
the waves of the sea.
The chief myth connected with Heimdallr is that of his
struggle with Loki for the possession of the precious necklace
Brisingamen, for which they fight on the Singa-stone, in the
form of seals. The Husdrdpa of Ulfr Uggason shows that this
incident also received pictorial treatment. With great learning
and ingenuity, Miillenhoff has shown the mythological connec-
tion of this struggle with the Hjadhningavig of the Hilde-
Kudrun Saga,'' has interpreted the myth as symbolizing the
appearance of the morning dawn on the eastern horizon, and
has traced its wide ramifications in Teutonic saga."* In the
kcfiningar oi the scalds the sword is frequently called Heimdalar
hqfiidh (the head of Heimdallr). In R'lgsthiila, under the name
of Rig (= king in Keltic), he begets by three women, at whose
houses he puts up, Thraell (thrall), Karl (churl), and Jarl (earl),
the progenitors of the serfs, the freemen, and the nobles.

The antithesis between Heimdallr and Loki has been most
poetically expressed by Uhland :
" Heimdallr, who is the dawn
and the beginning whose sword is H^fudh (the
of all things ;
beginning) who hears grass and wool grow from whose keen
; ;
senses the most inaudible processes of growth do not escape."^
Loki
No how one groups oi interprets the data at hand,

matter
Loki and remains the great riddle of Teutonic mythology.
is
In the first place, the question presents itself, whether he is a
1 GyifagiiDiiiig, Chapters 27, 51 ; I'ohisfa, 27, 46.

2 Gylfagitinitig, Chapter 27 ; Hyndhiljódk, 36-40.
3 See p. 176.
* Delling, the father of day (
Hdvamdl, 159 Gylfaginning,
Vafthri'idhjiismcil, 25 ; ;
Chapter 10), and even Thuringian aj-miger regalis (Widukind, Res

Iring, the
Gestae, 1, 13), have by Miillenhoff been identified with Heimdallr.
Schriften, VI, 14.
•">
genuine god or one fabricated by scalds and mythographers.

He occurs nowhere in the cult. He is exclusively Scandina-
vian, and the parallels that have been drawn between him and
figures from the German heroic saga are extremely dubious.
An attempt has been made to identify him with Requaliva-
hanus {i.e. darkness), a god whose name occurs on an inscrip-
tion of the second century, discovered near Cologne, but again
on insufficient grounds. In the North his memory is kept alive
in a number of proverbial expressions. When the fire crackles,
people say, " Loki is beating his children " ;
when in the sum-
mer the hot air is vibrating, " Loki is driving his goats out to
pasture " ^
; listening to lies is called " listening to Loki's
adventures" when the sun draws water "Loki is drinking";
;
"Loki's oats" is a noxious weed; the star Sirius is called

Lokabrenna, etc. But such sayings do not by any means
prove the ancient heathen origin of the god
the later Norse :
mythology may as well have given them currency among the

people.
Loki's name also seems too abstract to be regarded as that
of an original nature-deity ; it signifies "the closer." Weinhold
has accordingly attempted to find another name for him in
Gothic Old Norse On (ovaii, oven), thus identifying him

^«///«j-,
with Agni as god of the fire-hearth, but no evidence has been

adduced in support of this view. The names of Loki's kindred
are likewise abstract. His father is Farbauti, the dangerously
^
striking one, i.e. the storm, or the ferryman, the oarsman (?) ;
his mother is Nal, the fir tree, or Laufey, the leafy isle.
The latter appellation has been interpreted as referring to
Iceland, formerly thickly wooded, which with its boiling and
foaming waters, its subterranean fire, its vapors, and its lava
streams would accordingly be the home of Loki, who would
through this very fact be shown to be of later origin. On the
other hand, Loki is already found in the oldest kenninga?-^
1 In Jutland. 2 uhland. 3 See CPB. II, 471.

THE PANTHEON 261
and the role he plays in the oldest nature-myths is too

important to regard this companion and opponent of Odhin
and Thor as an entirely fictitious god.
If we ask what element of nature he originally represents,
the answer is equally uncertain. He is one of the .^sir,

although his residence is not mentioned among the heavenly
mansions in GrimtüstjiAl. He likewise belongs to the race of
the giants, and is connected with the elves. His other, prob-
ably older, names, Loptr and Lodhurr, signify '
the air ' or ' the
hot air,' and the fire-demon Logi is a doublet, of Loki. Accord-
ing to Lokasenna, 23, he dwelt for eight winters underground,
doing service as milkmaid, and had there even given birth to
children, a reference which is usually brought into connection
with subterranean fire. We find him associated with the water
as well : the sea-monster, the Midhgardh-serpent, is, like Hel
and the Fenris-wolf, his progeny, and a popular song current

in the Faroe Islands also mentions the water as his element,
although not much nature-mythology can be deduced from a
fairy tale in which the three gods, Odhin, Hoenir, and Loki hide
a peasant's son from a giant, by transforming him, in turn, into
a grain of barley, a swan feather, and a grain in the mouth of
a fish.^ If, finally, he also lies concealed behind Utgardhaloki,

he would occur in that story — summarized above under the
head of Thor — in three forms, including those of Loki and
Logi.
Especially frequent are Loki's changes of shape. As a mare
he entices the stallion Svadhilfari, which was helping to build
the gigantic burgh for the gods, and subsequently gives birth to
the steed Sleipnir.^ He frequently and

flies through the air,
arrayed in Freyja's falcon plumage brings back Idhunn from

'Thjazi's dwelling." Similarly, he came flying to the giant Geir-
rödhr in the shape of a falcon.* He readily changes himself
1 Uhland, Schy'iften, VI, 193. 3 Bragaradhur, Chapter i.

2 Gylfaginning, Chapter 42. * Skdldskaparmdl^ Chapter 2.
262 THE RELIGION OF THE ANCIEXT TEUTONS
into a fish/ or into a and thus gains entrance to Freyja's

fly,
chamber, and steals her necklace." These various metamor-

phoses, it will be noticed, bring him into connection with all
the elements.
Equally difficult is the third phase of the problem, namely :
why Loki should one time be classed among the good gods,
at
as companion of the ^sir, and then again as their enemy,

among the dangerous, hostile beings. It is not clear when,
where, and why Loki has been diabolified. His relationship
to the giants is probably a fabrication of Scandinavian mythol-
ogy, due to this antithesis to the ^sir. His two-sidedness is
doubtless best explained from his nature, but here again it is
impossible to advance beyond more or less probable conjec-

tures. The fire god can as well give rise to beneficent warmth
as to consuming flames. The " closer " can make an end to
the good as well as to the bad both deliver up Idhunn to
;
the giant Thjazi, and bring her back again alike struggle ;
with Heimdallr and aid Thor in recovering his hammer from

the giant Thrym. But in the main this "end" inspires fear.
Loki accordingly signifies "the approaching end of things,"
'^
" the goal and limits of divine power in time and space."
Hence also he plays the chief role in the final downfall of the
world. Christian influence in the so-called diabolification of
Loki is in any case not to be rated very high. There is no
apparent reason why he, more than any other of the " false
gods," should have been transformed into an evil spirit. The
conception of a conflict in nature is an old and thoroughly
mythical motif. The sky god, the thunder god, and the fire
god are all capable of generating life as well as of bringing

death. The powers and elements of nature are engaged in
a continuous struggle : Heimdallr and Loki stand opposed.

The character that the Norse poets and story-tellers have
1 Gylfaginning, Chapter 50. - Sorlatliattr, Chapter i,
3 Uhland, Schriften, VI, 14

THE PANTHEON 263
assigned to Loki, as that of the shrewd companiv^n, who is
never at a loss, devises all manner of tricks, and brings dis-
grace and mockery upon the gods, does not, after all, lie out-
side the line of purely pagan development such as we have
been able to trace elsewhere.
The myths of Loki that are actually related, or to which
allusion is made, are very numerous. Those concerning which
^
we are not informed in detail are : his sojourn under ground;
his intimacy with several goddesses ;
^ and his eating a woman's
heart, through which he gives birth to the monsters that are
accounted his progeny.^ Of several of his myths we have cir-
cumstantial accounts, narrated more or less after the manner

of the fairy tale. Thus he delivered Idhunn into the hands of
Thjazi, and brought her back again changed into the form
of a nut ;by an obscene exhibition he made Skadhi laugh ;
he had the dwarfs make Sif's golden hair and two precious
jewels ; he accompanied and aided Thor on his journey to

Thrym and to Utgardhaloki, and is mentioned as aiding the
^sir on various other occasions. The greater part of these
narratives have already been treated in another connection.
A separate class is formed by those myths in which Loki
together with Odhin and Hoenir constitute a triad, which has
been characterized as symbolizing "the rushing wind, the
speeding clouds, and invigorating warmth." * The first men
were formed from and upon these Odhin bestowed
trees,
breath, Hoenir the soul, Lodhurr warmth and color.* The
same three, when making a joint tour, arrive at the abode of
Hreidmar, and kill Ottr, whereupon Loki succeeds in obtaining
from the dwarf Andvari the gold that is to serve as expiation.^
Odhin and Loki are closely connected they had mixed blood, ;
and sworn eternal brotherhood.^ As a hostile power Loki

1 Lokasenna, 23. 5 Voluspa, iS.
"^
Ibid. ^' Rcgitjsmal ; Si-d/dsA-a/nrwti/, Chapter 4.
3 ' Lokasenna, 9.
Hy)idluljódli, 4 J.
4 Hoffory, Eddastudioi, p. 117.
appears in the myth of the necklace, which he purloins from

Freyja, and in the struggle with Heimdallr. Mitothinus {contra-
Odhifi) mentioned by Saxo (I, 43) as having in Odhin's absence
led the people astray, and as being celeber praestigiis^ has
also been identified with Loki. In Lokasenna Loki reviles all
the gods and goddesses at the feast of ^gir, and yields to

Thor alone. He is captured and chained, and Skadhi fastens
a snake above him, whose venom drips down upon his face.
Loki's wife, Sigyn, contrives to catch the venom in a vessel,
and only when this vessel becomes full and has to be emptied
does a drop fall upon Loki, whose frightful convulsions then
cause the earth to quake.
In Norse eschatology Loki is throughout conceived of as an
inimical force. was he who had caused Baldr to perish,
It
although he is not mentioned by Saxo in connection with the

struggle between Hotherus and Balderus. At the final cata-
strophe he is the leader of the creatures from Hel, who advance
against the M,%\x on the ship Naglfar. The monsters. Hel, the
Fenris-wolf, who will then be released and course about, and
the Midhgardh-serpent, are his progeny, begotten by Angr-
bodha.^ While these eschatological myths belong to the last
period of myth-development, they are yet not to be regarded
as mere story and fiction. It is certain, at any rate, that they
are interwoven with genuine mythical material.
The character of Loki is one of the most completely devel-
oped among the gods of Scandinavian mythology. He is the
personification of shrewdness and cunning, of adroitness and
nimbleness, "the true impersonation," as Mogk puts it, "of a
thtclr who takes delight in snapping his fingers at the company
round about him, but who always knows how to escape the net
that is spread for him," The tragic mood that is character-
istic of the eschatology does not find a sufficient basis in the
1 " Celebrated for his juggling tricks."

2 Vdhtspa, 51 ; Gyl/aginnhig, Chapter 51.
THE PANTHEON 265
character of the gods, who — Loki as well as the others — are,
after all, too little cognizant of moral distinctions.
HCENIR
The lesser gods, whom we know from Scandinavian mythol-

ogy alone, and who do not occupy a place in the cult, now
demand our attention. The question presents itself whether
they owe their existence solely to the scalds and mythogra-
phers, or whether they contain a genuine kernel representative
of myths of nature. In the majority of instances this latter
must doubtless be reckoned with. Hoenir we have
possibility
already met in the company of Odhin and Lodhurr.^ As
hostage among the Vanir ^ he cuts a sorry figure. Though stal-
wart in form and fair of face, he is dull in mind. When his
opinion is asked, he invariably replies, " Let others give coun-

sel," so that it is absolutely necessary that the wise Mimir
should accompany him.^ When the world is restored Hoenir
will be one of the gods that return.*
This is about the extent of the information that we possess
concerning this god, the fleet, long-footed As, as he is called.
He has been regarded as a sun god (Weinhold, Mogk), the

swan god, i.e. sky god (Hoffory), a water god (Müllenhoff),
forest god (Kauffmann), cloud god (Roediger, and in part
Golther), the Singer (Uhland, Better, Heinzel), and as the
Biblical Henoch (E. H, Meyer). His name and nature are
obscure.
Ullr
Ullr is undoubtedly a genuine god, who was worshipped
in Sweden, where his memory is perpetuated in a number of
names of places. Oaths, furthermore, were sworn by Ullr's
1 Vöhtspa, iS Reginsmal.
;
'^
Ynglingasaga, Chapter 4.
2 Gylfaginning, Chapter 23, ^ Völusfa, 63.
;
ring.^ He is the son of Sif, and stepson of Thor, and dwells

in Ydalir (yew-tree valley),'^ where the wood grows out of which
bows are made. He occupies a place of honor among the
^sir, and is invoked in single combats.^ In the kenningar he
is the god of the bow, shield, hunt, and skates. He has also
been identified with Holler, the infcrni dominus,^ whom the
Frisians^ worshipped, but this is uncertain; it would consti-
tute the only trace of the god outside of Scandinavia. He

is Saxo (HI, 130), who takes advan-
identical with Ollerus in
tage of Odhin's absence, and at the return of the god flees
to Sweden on a bone (osse, erroneously for skate T). Ullr is

without doubt an ancient Swedish deity.
ViDHARR
Vidharr, who rides about on his steed in Vidhi,^ the wide

grassy plain, isOdhin and the giantess Gridh. He
the son of
is surnamed rather the " silent god," and almost equals Thor in
strength, so that the ."Esir when in peril largely rely upon him.'
At ^gir's feast he gives way to Loki and is the only one of
the gods who escapes Loki's abuse.^ At the final catastrophe
he avenges his father Odhin and slays the Fenris-wolf, whose
jaw he rends open with a thick shoe, or an iron shoe, or a shoe
made out of pieces of leather that have been cast aside. This
last feature, which indicates the way in which men can assist
the gods in this final struggle, viz. by casting aside such scraps
of leather, is doubtless of more recent date. Together with
Vali, Vidharr returns to the regenerated world.'' On the whole,
^ Atlakvidha, 31. *> Grimnisfudl, 17.

'
2 Grimnismal, 5. Gylfaginning, Chapter 29.
3 Gylfaginning, Chapter 31. ^ Lokasennn.
• " Lord of the lower world."

5 Hamconius, Frisia, p. 77, in Wolf, Beitrage zur deittschen Mythologie, I, 204.
•' —
On Vidharr, see Völuspa, 54, an interpolated strophe, according to Miillenhoff
Vafthriullniismal, 51; Gylfaginning, Chapter 51.
THE PANTHEON 267
he is a god that is of importance only from the side of escha-

tology, and whose mythical character is very problematical.
Vali
Like Vidharr, Vali is not met with in the cult. His role in
the myth of Baldr is, however, of some importance. Vali is
the son of Odhin and Rindr, and not to be confounded with a

son of Loki of identical name, but perhaps to be identiiied with
Ran, whose mother, Rindr, chanted magic songs to him.^
Immediately after his birth, with uncombed hair and unwashed
hands, Vali avenges his brother's death, and returns to the
regenerated world. ^ He is also called Ali ^ and Bous.*
Brag I
Bragi Boddason was undoubtedly a scald of the ninth cen-

tury, the oldest scald of whom some fragments have been
preserved. Aside from these, in Ragnarsdrdpa, Gylfaginning,
Chapter i, quotes a few lines of his poetry. In the Eiriksiiidl
and the Hdkonarmdl, which is dependent upon the Eiriksmdl,
he is already mentioned as Odhin's favorite scald and counsellor
in Walhalla.
From this historical Bragi we distinguish Bragi, the god of
poetry. It is not likely that this latter is merely the apotheosis
of the scald Bragi. Bragi, the god of poetry, is the husband
of Idhunn. In Lokasenna he wishes to expel Loki, but creates
in the end the impression of being afraid rather than angry.
Both and in Skdldskaparmdl he is the nar-
in Bragarcedhiir
rator, and in Gylfaginiiing, Chapter 26, he is characterized as a
god who excels in wisdom and eloquence. Not everywhere

where Bragi is mentioned is it clear whether the god or the
1 Grógaldr, 6. ^ Gylfaghiniiig;.
Vdhispa, 33; Baldr s Drauma,

- 11 ; l'afthriuihnismal, 51 ; Hyndhtljódh, 30;
Gylfaginning, Chapters 30, 53. •*
Saxo, HD. Ill, 131.
scald is meant, as, e.g. in Grim/iistna/, 44, and Sigrdrifiimdl, 16.
As god of poetry, Bragi discharges a function which had in

reality been already assigned to Odhin. The vows made
by Bragi's cup show, however, that he was also conceived of
as a separate personality. Ynglingasaga, Chapter 40, tells us
that a new king did not ascend the high-seat of his father in
the hall until Bragi's cup had been handed him, he had made
a pledge by it, and had drained it.
In bringing our survey of the gods to a close, a few other

names may be mentioned in passing. H^dhr is the blind god
who slays Baldr. Hermodhr, the son of Odhin, is sent to Hel
to fetch Baldr back again. Modhi and Magni, sons of Thor,
survive the world conflagration and obtain their father's ham-
mer. Vili and Ve are brothers of Odhin, who, in his absence,
take Frigg unto themselves.^ Har, Jafnhar, and Thridhi, of
Gylfaginning, possibly owe their origin to the Christian trinity.
None of these gods are found in the cult ; most, if not all of
them, are the creation of scalds and mythographers.
Goddesses
Of the goddesses, Jacob Grimm says " They : are thought
who travel round and
of chiefly as divine j>iothers visit houses,
from whom the human race learns the occupations and arts
of housekeeping and husbandry : spin/ring, zoeaving, tending the
hearth, sozving and reaping." '^

The attempt to thus unite the
German goddesses in one general definition is by no means
preposterous. They are individualized to a far less degree
than the gods, and we frequently are at a loss to determine
whether we are dealing with a surname or attribute of another
goddess, or with an independent personage. Both the identi-
fication and the differentiation of the various characters present
^ Lokasenna, 26; Gylfagbining, Cliapter 6; Ynglingasaga, Chapter TfT,.
2 Grimm, DM.* I, 207.

THE PANTHEOM 269
great difficulties. In the case of some goddesses, the telkiric

and chthonic character is unmistakable, as indeed Mother Earth
is by many, though by no means all, peoples conceived of as
feminine. There are in Teutonic mythology only few traces,

however, of the cosmogonic marriage between heaven and
earth, and they are confined to such Norse myths as that of
Freyr and Gerdhr, if these may be cited in this connection.
We shall probably never succeed in tracing the origin of all
the Teutonic goddesses to one common natural element.

Refraining, therefore, from speculations of a general charac-
ter, we proceed to a consideration of the individual goddesses,
and treat first of all those mentioned by Tacitus : Nerthus,
Isis, Tamfana, and Baduhenna.
Nerthus was worshipped by seven Ingeevonic tribes, prob-
ably on the island of Seeland. Of these tribes Tacitus ^ relates
the following :
They unite in the worship of Nerthus, i.e. Mother Earth, and suppose
her to mingle in the affairs of men, and to visit the nations. In an island
in the ocean there is a sacred grove, in which stands a consecrated chariot
covered with a cloth, which the priest alone is permitted to touch. The
latter becomes aware of the presence of the goddess in the innermost
recess, and with the greatest reverence attends upon her as she is drawn
about by cows. These are days of joy, and every place is a scene of fes-
tivity, wheresoever the goddess deigns to visit and become a guest. They
do not engage in wars they do not take up arms all weapons are shut.
; ;
Peace and tranquillity are only then known, only then loved, until finally
the same priest escorts the goddess, sated with the intercourse of mortals,
back to her temple. The chariot, with its cover, and, if it appear credible,
the deity herself, thereupon undergo ablution in a secluded lake. This
service is performed by slaves, whom this very lake instantly swallows up.
However detailed this account may seem, it yet does not afford
an answer to all the questions that one might be inclined to
ask. Thus we are not told through what sign the priest per-
ceived that the goddess was present in the innermost recess ;
I Gcnnaiiia, Chapter 40.

:
270 THE RELIGION O E THE ANCIENT IE U TONS
what the nature of the temple was; or in what form the god-
dess rode about on the chariot. It is clear, however, that
her cult was of great political importance for the tribes in ques-
tion, who came together for the purposes of worship in sacred
peace, and that the joy of her service was accompanied by
terror, human sacrifices being offered to her, viz. the slaves
that were drowned in her lake. The festival must have been
a festival of spring : the awakening of the earth with the new
season was celebrated with a solemn procession. To be com-
pared with this is the fetching in of spring and summer under
such names as " May queen," " Blumengraf," " Laubmann-
chen," "griiner Mann," " Pfingstklötzel," " Latzmann," etc.,
all customs with which we are familiar through folklore. In

interpreting Nerthus as Mother Earth, Tacitus no doubt had
in mind parallel rites that were observed in Rome in the wor-
ship of the Mater Magna, or some other goddess.
Another procession is referred to in Germania, Chapter 9
A division of the Suebi also sacrifice toIsis. As to the cause and

origin of this foreign worship, have been able to gather little information,
I
further than that the symbol of a galley by which she is represented seems
in itself to indicate that the cult was imported by way of sea.
Here Tacitus is evidently thinking of the 7iavigiutn Isidis ^

at Rome, and is entirely mistaken in his inference that the
cult was of foreign origin. That we are here dealing with a

custom that continued in vogue long afterwards may be seen
from a detailed account, in a medieval chronicle, of a ship
procession led by weavers, that took place between Aachen
and In the spring, when agriculture and naviga-
Maastricht.'^
tion opened up again, the people went around in festive pro-
cessions, with a plough or a ship. But such customs do not in
themselves account for the goddess and her worship. Some
'Teutonic deity must lie concealed behind Isis, not a Frau
1 "Ship of Isis." -Grimm, DM.-*, pp. 214-217.
THE PANTHEON 271
Eisen or Zisa, who are purely scholastic inventions, but possibly

Frija, whose ship would then be symbolical of the clouds.^
Among the Marsi,the great goddess Tamfana was worshipped,
whose temple, "the most celebrated among those tribes,"
Germanicus levelled to the ground." The derivation and
meaning of the name are uncertain. The festival came in the
autumn, and the goddess is therefore probably to be associated
with fertility of the soil and with the harvest. It is worthy of
note that, both among these Ista^vonic Marsi and the Ingse-
vonic tribes previously mentioned, the chief deity of the con-
federated tribes was a goddess. The same may possibly be
true of a division of the Frisians, for the " grove of Baduhenna,"
where the Romans suffered a severe defeat," a.d. 28, lay in
Frisian territory but we have before had occasion to note that
;
Fosite was presumably the god of the confederated Frisian

tribes.
We now proceed to a discussion of goddesses whose names
have been found on Roman inscriptions. Some of these have
already been mentioned. Chief among them is Nehalennia,*
known to us from some thirty altars, with inscriptions and the
figure of the goddess, mostly from the island of Walcheren
(the Netherlands). Her attributes are a dog, a basket with
fruit,and the prow of a ship at times she is represented
;
as accompanied by Hercules and Neptune. Without sufficient

reason, she has been identified by some scholars with Isis.
Her attributes clearly indicate a connection with fruitfulness
and with navigation, and she was probably more especially
the goddess of the seafarers on the coast. The statements
that have been made concerning her magnificent temple on the
i See Mlillenhoff, DA. IV, 218-220. The various conjectures concerning Isis are
summarized by W. Drexler in Roscher's Lexicon, II, 548.
2 Tacitus, Anntr/s, 1, 51.
3 Tacitus, Annals, IV, 73.
* A survey of the monuments and a bibliography are given by M. Ihm in
Roscher's Lexicon, III, 76-86.
island of Walcheren are entirely conjectural. Alcuin ^ relates
how Willebrord had destroyed an antiqui erroris idolinn^ and
had greatly suffered from the rage of the custos idoli,^ but there
isnothing to show that this idohitn either stood in a temple

—
although such was probably the case or that it represented —
Nehalennia. It may have been an image of Wodan. Under
the circumstances, it is difficult to reach any certain con-
clusion. The derivation of the name Nehalennia is also in
dispute, and the very dress of the goddess gives evidence of
Roman manner of representation.

influence on the
Of other goddesses we know little more than the names as
found on inscriptions. Such are Sandraudiga (from the vicinity

:
of Breda, the Netherlands) ;

Hludana (from Friesland) the two ;
AtesiagEe Bede et Fimmilene, at Housesteads in England, on

altars erected Haeva or Awai (Millingen, near
by Frisian soldiers ;
Nymegen, the Netherlands), for whom together with Hercules

Magusanus a man and wife erected an altar to implore fruitful-
ness on their union dea Garmangabis dea Vagdavercustis
; ; ;
dea Vercana; dea Harimella dea Hariasa Vihansa

;
and ; ;
others whose Teutonic character is more or less problematical.
Of the four goddesses mentioned in the second Merseburg
Charm,^ Frija, the consort of the chief "deity (Tiu or Wodan),

from whom the sixth day of the week is named, is the most
important. We shall return to her when considering the
Norse Frigg. Alongside of her stands Volla, and in the North,
too, FuUa is Frigg's handmaid.^ The two others, Sunna and
Sinthgunt, have been explained as the sun and moon, or at
least as the sun and its sister.
The two goddesses of spring, Hreda of the month of March

and Eostre of April, the Easter month, are at present usually
1 Alcuin, Vita Willebrordi, Chapter 14.

2 " An image representative of ancient error."
3 " The keeper of the image."
5 Prose introduction to Grhnnismal ; Gylfaginning, Chapter 35.
THE PANTHEON 273
regarded as an invention of Bede,^ although some scholars,

Mogk among others, still maintain the existence of an ancient
Teutonic goddess of spring, Austro.
we meet, in all parts of
In the oral tradition of the people,
Germany, with a large names of the goddess (or
number of
goddesses) that rides through the air in the Twelve Nights,
shows favor or disfavor toward spinners, blesses marriage, and
performs many other functions. Their names are Fru Freke, :
de Fui, de oil Frie, Fru Wod, Gode, Fru Harke, die Werre,
Frau Stempe, and at times also Herodias, Diana, Abundia.
It is as erroneous to derive some of these names from Frija, as
to regard these figures of popular belief in the light of variant
forms of the great goddess.
This error has gained the widest acceptance in the case of
Holda and Perchta. These two names are derived from helan
and bergan^ respectively, both words that signify " to conceal."
They accordingly seem to indicate a chthonic goddess of death.
Holda is more frequently met with in Northern and Middle
Germany, Perchta or Bertha in Southern Germany. Both are
usually regarded as forms of Frija, and in support of this view
Burchard of Worms (tenth century) is cited, who mentions a
Frigaholda. The theory is, however, untenable. Holda and
Perchta belong to folklore even in the early Middle Ages,
and popular belief and custom have ascribed to them all
manner of attributes, which mythologists have in vain sought
to reduce to a unity. We know that in names of places in
Alemannic territory, the two words occur as early as the fourth
or fifth century.^ The church inveighed — especially for the
days of the nativity — against such customs as processions,
preparare mensam domine Perthe^ and against those who
" on the eighth day of the nativity of our Lord go about with
1 De Temporitm Ratione, Chapter 13.

2 Hauck, Kirchengeschichte Detitschlands, I, go.
3 'I
Preparing a table for Lady Pertha."
incense, cheese, a rope, and mallets." ^ In modern folklore we

meet our goddesses on every hand. Holda leads the host of
the dead in mountains, and during the ride through the air ;
she brings babes from the wells, and is also active in bad
weather, for when it snows people say " Lady Holle is shak- :
ing her bed " or " is plucking geese," and when it rains
she " is washing her veil." In Upper Germany, Perchta is
surrounded by the Heitnc/ien, the children that have died,

and in her train is at times the little girl with the jug of tears,
a poetic motif that is full of pathos. In the Twelve Nights,
food is left standing for both Holda and Perchta. The wild
procession called the Perchtcnlaufen in Tyrol and Switzerland
falls in the time of the carnival ; when it is especially uproari-
ous, the harvest will be good. For this reason the two god-
desses are frequently brought into connection with fruitfulness,
be it of women or of the soil. A similar connection exists
with woman's work, such as spinning : an temps que la reine
Berthefilait ^ as the French saying has it. The same Bertha

is also accounted the ancestress of families. She is not fair of
form, but has a long nose and a large foot i^pedaucd). At
times she is represented as causing calamity and disaster, in
the person of the black Griet or the wild "iron Bertha." It is
clear that these various forms cannot be reduced to a unity.
With its exuberant imagination popular belief has developed

these conceptions on all sides, and we are not warranted in
inferring from them the existence of an ancient and primitive

pagan belief, even though certain individual features may
remind us of an ancient Teutonic goddess; and may have been
actually borrowed from her, —
an observation that applies with
equal force to Venus and the Virgin Mary. These creations
of the popular fancy are, therefore, at present justly eliminated
when the elements of Teutonic paganism are being considered,
1 Usener, Religionsgeschichtliche Untersuchungcn, II, 86.
2 " In the time when queen Bertha span."

THE PANTHEON 275
Turning now to the Scandinavian North, we find there the

Teutonic Frija (Frigg) and the specifically Norse Freyja.
By a critical analysis of that entire cluster of myths which
he calls the necklace-myth, Miillenhoflf has shown that Frija-
Frigg was originally the wife of the sky god Tiu. This much
at least seems certain, that Frija-Frigg, wherever encountered,
is the consort of Wodan-Odhin, notwithstanding the fact that
when seeking to interpret her as a goddess of nature we find
only few traces that point to a chthonic character, over against
numerous features that indicate a connection with the light of
the sky. In Germany, the constellation Orion is called her
Rocken (distaff) or Spindel (spindle), in Sweden, Friggeroken
or Friggetenen (distaff or spindle of Frigg).
In Norse literature the necklace-myth has undergone certain
changes, which do not, however, prevent its complete identifi-
cation. In Sqrla J%i//'r (fourteenth century) it has been trans-

ferred to Freyja, who to obtain possession of the jewel
surrendered her person to the four dwarfs that had forged it.
Loki afterwards stole the necklace, but Odhin restored it to

Freyja, who in return was to incite two kings to unending com-
bat. The motif of self-surrender is also found elsewhere, viz.
in Lokasenna, Vnglingasaga, and Saxo's Historia Datiica, but
in each case of Frigg, the consort of Odhin. A peculiar form
of the myth has come down in Svipdagsmdl, in which an account
is given of the winning of the maiden MenglQdh (" she who
delights in a necklace")by the young Svipdag. Similar refer-
ences are found in Danish and Swedish popular songs.
Both in the songs of the Edda and in Gylfaginning, Frigg
is the chief among the goddesses. She dwells in the halls of
the sea (Fensalir), but from Hlidhskjalf, her own and Odhin's
high-seat, she also surveys the whole universe. Odhin takes
counsel ^ of her. At times she even outwits him, and through
her artifices involves him in difficulties, as when to win a wager
1 VafthriidhnismaL
276 THE RELIGION OF THE ANCIEKT TEUTONS
that his foster-son showed himself inhospitable

Geirrödhr
towards guests, she had the warned against a magician
latter
who was to visit him, so that when Odhin, disguised as Grimnir,

pays him a visit, Geirrödhr has him placed between two fires,
and thus tortures him for eight nights.^ Frigg, who is also
called Fjqrgyns vicer (wife of FJQrgynn, the latter probably a
surname of Odhin), shares Odhin's knowledge of the fate of
men.^ The important part she plays in the myth of Baldr we
have already had occasion to mention.^
Freyja is a goddess invented by the scalds, a female deity
corresponding to the male Freyr. Hence she is also called
Vanabrudhr, Vanadis, i.e. goddess of the Vanir. At the same
time she did not remain a mere poetic abstraction, but was
zealously worshipped, by the side, or in the place, of Frigg, as
may be seen from Oddnhiargrdtr, 8 :
So grant thee aid the gracious powers,

Freyja and Frigg and gods full many,
As thou hast freed me from fear and distress.
Hyndluljód/i, lo, makes mention of an altar on which Ottar

made such frequent sacrifices that the stones melted. Her
function as goddess of the dead she has in common with
Odhin: "She chooses half the fallen each day, but Odhin the
other half."* Her dwelling is called Fo/k vangr (Folk-field),
and in it is situated the hall Sessrymir^ (rich in seats), a name
that probably contains a reference to the abode of the dead. In
other sources " it is not the fallen heroes, but dead women who
go to Freyja. In any case she owes this character as goddess
of the dead Odhin. That towards the close
to her union with
of the pagan period Freyja had entirely taken the place of
Frigg, is shown by a verse of the scald Hjallti Skeggjason,
1 Grimiiismal. * Gr'itnnismdl, 14.

2 Lokasenna, 26, 29. 5 Gylfagimiiiig, Chapter 24.
3 See above, p. 256. 6 Egihsaga, Chapter 78,
THE PANTHEON 111
composed in the year 999, on the occasion of the Icelandic

thing :
Ever will I gods blaspheme.

Freyja methinks a dog does seem.
Freyja a dog ? Aye let them be !
Both dogs together, Odhin and she.i
Freyja is the fairest of the goddesses, beneficent and greatly

honored, and invoked more especially in affairs of love. Like
Freyr she is a deity of sensuous love. In Lokasenna Loki
twits her with having yielded to the wishes of all the ^'Esir and
elves. The reproach affects her only slightly more than the other
goddesses, all of whom Loki with great monotony accuses of the
same immorality. The notion that Freyja rides about in a wagon
drawn by cats maybe derived from a foreign source: elsewhere
she appears equipped with falcon plumage, with which she
flies through the air. According to the Eddie myths, the giants
are continually striving to carry her off. Thus Thrym
endeavored to get possession of her; so also the giant who
built the burgh for the ^Flsir, and likewise Hrungnir.
Somewhat curious is the narrative that constitutes the frame-
work of Hyndhdjódh. Freyja there wishes to ride to Wal-
halla with the giantess Hyndla, in order that the latter, endowed
with prophetic power by Odhin, may give information con-
who had
cerning the noble ancestry of Freyja's favorite, Ottar,
staked his whole property in a wager with Angantyr. It is
extremely doubtful whether we are here dealing with a genuine

mythical idea.
Equally strange is the myth to which Völuspa, 25, and Hynd-
lu/Jódh, 48, allude, and of which Gylfaginning, Chapter 35, gives
a brief account. Freyja is there called Odhs nicer (the wife of
Odhr), and by this Odhr she is said to have a daughter named

Hnoss (jewel). Odhr journeyed to distant lands, leaving
Freyja behind in tears, tears that are drops of pure gold. She
1 Njalssaga, Chapter 98, translated by Dasent.
followed insearch of her husband, and this has given rise

to numerous names borne by the goddess, which she
the
assumed among the various peoples when searching for Odhr,
Perhaps Odhr is simply to be identified with Odhin, while the
roaming about of the goddess mentioned in Gylfaginn'uig may
possibly be a foreign element. This myth, like others, has
been subjected to the most marvellous fantastic interpretations.
By way of illustration, to show to what length such methods
may lead investigators, we may in the present case deviate
from our usual custom of by all such excres-
silently passing
cences of mythological study. Bugge regards Odhr as a copy

of Adonis. While this may seem fanciful enough, it is sober
in comparison with the theories of E. H. Meyer.' According
to him, Ódhs m<c?; with her golden tears and her wanderings, is
the bride of Christ, — for it is Christ who bestows the spirit,
odhr,- — wandering about in the Babylonian vale of tears and

seducing many nations. In union with Odhr (= Christ) she
brings forth the golden oniatiis (/iiioss, jewel) of obedience.
Behind all this scriptural allegory there also lies concealed, we
are told, the kernel of a genuine myth dealing with the god of
the wind and the goddess of the clouds when the wind ceases,
:
rain follows.
Around both Frigg and Freyja there are grouped a number
of goddesses, who are accounted their retinue, and in part owe
surnames and attributes of these two deities.
their origin to the
Fullawe have already met in the Volla of the Merseburg
Charm. The others are of very rare occurrence they are ;
enumerated in Gylfaginning, Chapter 35. The first of these
is Saga, who is also mentioned 7, in Grimnismdl, as drinking

with Odhin out of golden beakers, amidst the murmuring waters
in the hall Sökkvabekr. Like Frigg, therefore, ohe lives sur-
rounded by water and is the consort of Odhin. Eir is the

healer ; Gna the messenger of Frigg, who rides on horseback
1 Germanis^hc Mytholo'îc, §§ 197, 357.

THE PANTHEON 279
through sky and sea, greatly to the astonishment of a Vanr,

who caught sight of her at one time ; SJQfn kindles love in the
hearts of men. Lofn is gracious in the hearing of prayer
and is potent in removing obstacles that stand in the way of
marriage. V^r, who is also mentioned in Thrymskvidha, 30,
is the goddess of vows and oaths {vdrar) ;
Hlin shields against
peril. Syn shuts the doors of the hall, and at the thitig pro-
tects thosewho have to deny something under oath Snotra ;
grants wisdom. Without maintaining that all these names are

mere abstractions and the work of mythographers, there is yet
no reason for believing that these associates of Frigg struck a
firm root in popular belief, and should be compared with the

divinities of the indigitamenta} The following may be
regarded as surnames of Freyja : Mengl^dh, MardÛ (shining
over the sea), Gefn (the giver?), Horn, Syr, and possibly a few
others whose meaning is not clear. As already indicated, the
Vanir goddess, Gullveig-Heidhr of Voliispa, also belongs to this
category.
Aside from these two great goddesses, Frigg and Freyja, we
have already encountered a number of mothers and consorts of
gods that do not call for any further comment. Among them
are: jQrdh, the earth; Rindr, the mother of Vali ; Ran, the
goddess of the sea, who draws men down to its depths ;
- Sif,
the wife of Thor ; Nanna, the faithful wife of Baldr ;

Sigyn, the
devoted wife of Loki ;
Skadhi, the daughter of Thjazi, to whom
temples and groves are consecrated Thorgerdh H^lgabrudh,* ;
^
also a Finnish woman, and some others that need not be here
enumerated. Three, however, deserve special attention : Gefjon,
Idhunn, and Hel.
The first of these, Gefjon, both by her name and in several
other particulars, reminds one of Freyja (or Frigg). Like the

1 Lists of divine powers kept by the Roman pontifices. These deities were
described as separate functions, not as persons.
"^
Helgakvidha Hjorvardhssonar, 18; Helgakvidha Hundbigsbana, 1, 31.
3 Lokasenna, 51. * See above, p. 95.
^
latter, she surrenders herself to gain possession of a precious

ornament, and also shares with Odhin the knowledge of the
fate of the world/ To her also come those who die as maids.
Gylfaginning, Chapter i, and Yngli/igasaga, Chapter 5, tell of
a Gefjon, who with four oxen ploughed a piece of land from

what is now the Meelar Lake and formed the island of Seeland
out of it, an event of which the scald Bragi had already sung.
According to Miillenhoff, this is a Swedish saga, which origi-
nally had no connection whatever with the Danish island of
Seeland, Gefjon being identical with the Swedish Vanir god-
dess Freyja.^ Gering, on the other hand, would draw a sharp
distinction between the goddess Gefjon and the ploughing
giantess, and is of the opinion that the classing of Gefjon
among the ^sir in Gylfaginning, Chapter i, is probably due to
an interpolation by a scribe.''
Idhunn has the golden apples of youth in her keeping.

She falls into the clutches of the giant Thjazi, but the ^]sir
compel Loki to bring her back again.'' The same myth forms
the subject of Thjodholf's JIaustiqng; it is a poetical treatment
of the widely current motif of the rejuvenating apples, a motif
which the Teutons certainly had no need of borrowing from the
Greeks, even though Golther has shown, with great learning,
that Iceland did not produce apples. In the Edda, Idhunn is
the wife of Bragi, whose part she takes at .^gir's feast, where-
upon Loki reviles her with an allusion to a myth that has not
come down to us.®
There is but little to be said of Hel. Grimm regarded Halja
as " one of the oldest and commonest conceptions of Teutonic
paganism," who appeared " the less hellish and the more god-
like," the further we go back in point of time." This position
"^
Lokasenna, 20, 21. ^ Lokascmia, 16-1S.
2 Gylfaginning, Chapter 35.
'
3 DA. II, 361. DM.1, p. 262.
4 Gering, Edda, p. 297, note 2.
5 Gylfaginning, Chapter 26 ; Bragaroedliur, Chapter 2.
THE PANTHEON 281
can no longer be maintained. Hel is only a very weak per-

sonification : as a rule, the word indicates a place. Even where
Hel does appear as a person, she takes little part in the action.^
She is the daughter of Loki and the giantess Angrbodha. To
her come the dead, —
among them Baldr, —
whom she does not
allow to return. At a later period, only those who die a straw-
death go to Hel, whereas the heroes who have fallen in battle
go to Odhin in Walhalla. Hel as a division of the world will
receive consideration later on.
1 V'óluspa, 38,39; Baldrs Dratimar, 3; Grhnnismdl, 31 ; Gylfaginning, Chap-

ters 3, 34, 49.
CHAPTER XIII
GODS AND DIVINE NATURE
In the present chapter we shall attempt to sum up the

results that have been arrived at in our study of the individual
deities as regards divine nature and character. In doing so
the great difference between the German and the Scandinavian
material must constantly be borne in mind. Nor should we
forget that none of the Teutonic heathen peoples evolved
theories concerning the nature of their gods : they had no other
theology than that involved in their rites and myths.
When inquiring into the real significance of a conception, it
has become customary first of all to consult the etymology of

the word in question ; not altogether justly so, inasmuch as
the derivation of a word, which is so often lost to the conscious-
ness of a people, does not by any means always determine the
sense in which it was actually used. For the history of Teu-
tonic religion, it is therefore of little importance to know that
the common Teutonic stem god is originally neuter, and is
probably cognate with the Sanscrit root hit (to invoke), and has
no connection whatever with the word "good." The name ^sir
has been identified with the Sanscrit Asuras. This word, too, is
found among all Teutons ;

Jordanes ^ uses it in speaking of the
demi-gods from which the Gothic nobility is descended. Proper
names with As, A/is, and Os as the first element are encoun-
tered on every side. Among Anglo-Saxons and Frisians we
find the form esc. Among Norsemen we are familiar with the
^sir (feminine Asynjur), and in such compositions as landds
(god of the land), dsmegin (divine power), the word is practically
1 DOAG., Chapter 13.
282
GODS AND DIVINE NATURE 283
synonymous with "god." The Vanir have already been

treated in detail. Other designations for "god" are: disir
(women), tivar (the beaming ones), regin, rqgn (counsellors),
tnetod (the measurers), hqiid, hapt (shackles).
The idea that monotheism lies at the basis of Teutonic
polytheism (Simrock) has no longer any advocates, although
some scholars^ still maintain the view that Teutonic mythology,
when interrupted in its course of development, was tending in
a monotheistic direction. Far more popular, though equally
erroneous, is the animistic conception, according to which the
gods represent an evolution of the higher demons, who in their
turn took their origin from a belief in the existence of souls

and spirits."^ This latter theory is totally lacking in historical
basis. As far as we are able to go back in Teutonic antiquity
we find great gods existing. Even Tacitus mentions them,
whereas he is silent on the subject of souls and spirits.
Through the use of their names in the designations for the

days of the week, Tiu, Wodan, Donar, and Frija are with absolute
certainty ascertained to be ancient Teutonic divinities. While
we cannot infer from this that they were the only ones, this
group of four universally worshipped gods forms, at any rate,
the real centre of Teutonic mythology. Notwithstanding the
divergent opinions of E. H. Meyer and, Mogk, there
in part, of
is very little doubt as to their real natureTiu was the god of the
:
sky ; Wodan, the god of the wind or the dead Donar, the god ;
of thunder ; Frija, goddess of the sky rather than of the earth.

It is likewise evident that they are not exclusively deities of
nature, but that their character as gods of tribes and peoples,
their relation to armed host and to thing, are at least equally
original. These can neither be derived from
latter functions
their character as gods of nature, nor can they be regarded as

of minor importance. Mythologists frequently devote their
attention too exclusively to the general character of the gods
1 K. Maurer ; E. Sars. 2 g, jj. Meyer.
as beings expressive of forces of nature, whereas it is just the

specific features, those which define them locally and ethnically,
to which they in largest measure owe their religious signifi-
cance. This observation holds good also for the Teutons.
Even in the case of the tribes described by Tacitus, the gods
were progenitors of the tribe, and leaders in war, who upheld
justice and maintained peace, rather than exponents of phe-
nomena of nature.
In a previous volume of the present series,^ Professor Jas-
trow has very properly drawn a distinction between the " active
pantheon " and the deities introduced more or less arbitrarily
and for a definite purpose, the latter class having gained no
foothold in popular belief. For Teutonic mythology as well,
this distinction is of great importance : a number of divinities
are merely poetical personifications of Norse literature. It is
not always easy to draw the border line between the active and
the fictitious pantheon ; in numerous instances the opinions of
scholars on this point are divided. The criteria are : the cult
of a god, the role he plays in genuine nature-myths, and the
extent to which his name enters as an element in proper
names. The first of these is the most conclusive : the god
that is worshipped by a tribe or people is a genuine god. We
are treading on less certain ground when we are compelled to
seek for information concerning the gods in the myths, for a
god has frequently been introduced into a genuine myth who
did not originally stand in any relation to it or, again, one god;
may have taken the place of another. At the same time, we

are able to determine, from myths in which they play a role,
that Baldr and Heimdallr were genuine gods, even though
we are almost absolutely in the dark concerning their cult.
Of the third criterion, the proper names, Teutonic mythologists,

owing to the meagreness of available data, have made free use.
At times undue importance has doubtless been attached to it.
'^Religion of Bahylotiia and Assyria, p. 188.
Tacitus furnishes us practically no information concerning

the outward appearance and the manner of life of the gods.
An air of mystery surrounds them. While Nerthus holds inter-
course with men, this intercourse is restricted to very narrow

limits and excludes all The word " fear
familiarity. " (terror)
characterizes the cult. What German popular tales of a later
period tell of the intercourse of gods with men, how they

punish evil and reward the good, must not, as has at times
been done,^ be transferred to the heathen mythology.
In Norse mythology the case is entirely different. The gods
have there been endowed to a far greater degree with human
qualities. They resemble men, but are stronger, more power-
ful, and are invested with superhuman faculties. Of several
(Baldr, Heimdallr, Idhunn) we are told that they were won-
drously fair. The most individualized are :Odhin as a power-
ful, wise, shrewd old man ; Baldr, the beaming hero, beloved
of all ;
Thor, the miles gloriosus,^ who performs incredible
exploits ; Frigg, Odhin's busy housewife, and the anxious
mother of Baldr. These gods are subject also to human needs
and infirmities they eat and drink : Thor, especially, is a —
good deal of a glutton —
and are very fond of assembling for
a feast in the hall of .'Egir. Odhin lacks an eye, Tyr a hand ;
Hqdhr is blind Baldr perishes. Their character and their

;
emotions are entirely human, kindness, anger, shrewdness. —

Their whole life, moreover, is governed by their outward inter-
ests even with the best of them there is not a suggestion of
;
higher moral motives. In general they are human beings that

have been physically exalted ; they are less circumscribed, more
powerful than ordinary men, and above all are endowed with
magic power.
As regards the abodes of the gods, Tacitus would seem to
imply that they dwell in the forest, but it is frequently difficult

to distinguish sharply between the abode of a god and the
"""
1 As by J. W. Wolf, Beitriige, II, 21-64. Boastful soldier."
place where he was worshipped, and it is therefore possible

that in the present instance these forests are to be regarded
merely as " temples of unhewn wood." Popular belief usually
localizes the gods in mountains or springs. Norse literature
enumerates numerous halls and dwellings of the gods/ but
these are to be considered literary fiction. Asgardh is looked
upon as the heavenly citadel, which is reached by the
bridge Bifr^st (rainbow).
It is a matter of some significance that the power of the gods
is in various ways made dependent upon external conditions,
or upon the possession of this or that object. Odhin surveys
the whole world and observes all the doings of men, but only
because he is seated on his throne, Hlidhskjalf ; if any one
else — as Freyr in Skirnismdi — stations himself on it, he sees
exactly the same things. Similarly, other gods may avail them-
selves of the falcon plumage with which Freyja flies through
the air. When Hlorridhi (Thor) has lost his hammer, a large
part of his strength has departed with it, and on his journey to
Geirrödhr he must consider himself fortunate that the giantess
at whose house he stops lends him her belt of strength, gaunt-
lets, and staff. Part of the divine power is always represented

as connected with the precious objects, such as Odhin's ring,
Draupnir, which the dwarfs have fashioned for the gods.
Their youth the gods owe to the apples of Idhunn. Similar
conceptions are met with in various mythologies, but this
dependent nature of the gods receives especial emphasis in
Norse mythology, which gives evidence of it on every hand.
Not to their own nature as such, but to external conditions, do
the gods owe their power.
Again and again we encounter groups of gods among the
Teutons. Usually such groups consist of three : Mercury, Her-
cules, Mars (Tacitus); Thor, Odhin, Freyr (Upsala); Odhin,
Hoenir, Loki (Edda). In formulas of renunciation and in
1 Grimnismal; Gylfaginning.
:
minne-drinkings ^ three gods are likewise frequently mentioned

together, but no especial significance is to be attached to this.
It is probably to be explained on the score of an enumeration

of the chief gods, or of the coupling of the gods ,of various
tribes and peoples. Lists of greater length are found in the
Norse sources. Grimnistndl mentions nine gods (Thor, UUr,
Freyr, Odhin, Baldr, Heimdallr, Forseti, NJQrdhr, Vidharr),
and three goddesses (Saga, Freyja, Skadhi). The Snorra Edda
makes repeated attempts to construct a system of twelve .4^2sir,
be it in imitation of the Greek pantheon, or as the twelve
assistants of the judge. The lists, '^ however, invariably contain
more than twelve names. This is doubtless the work of later
mythographers, and utterly without significance from the point
of view of religion. Nor is there any reason for assuming such
a group of twelve for Germany.' The lists include, without
distinction, ^sir and Vanir, the circle of Baldr (Baldr, H^dhr,
Vali) occupying a prominent place. Alongside of the Msn
stand the goddesses, the Asynjur, who, inclusive of the minor
deities, reach the number of eighteen.* As we have seen, some
of these are to be regarded merely as surnames or attributes of
the greater deities, others as their servants and retinue.
The number of Teutonic divinities is strikingly small. There
are, to be sure, also departed spirits and demons, but Teutonic
antiquity offers no parallel to the countless deities that we meet
with among other peoples, in which the whole sphere of nature
and all the activities of life are deified, every moment of life
as well as every creature being assigned its tutelar genius.
Nor is it allowable, without subjecting the material to a rigid
1See Grimm, DM.", p. 48.

2Gylfaginning, Chapters 20-33; BragaroedJnir, Chapter i Skaldskaparmal ;
Nafnathidur. Hyndluljódh, 30, also makes mention of the fact that there are
twelve /Esir.
3 The may be found in E. Wilken, Untersuchungeji znr Siiorra-Edda,
lists
pp. 92-94. See also K. Weinhold, Die deittschen Zwölfgöfter. ZfdPii. I, 129-133.
* Gylfaginning, Chapter 35.
2SS THE RELIGION OF THE ANCIENT TEUTONS
examination, to supplement our meagre data from folklore,

which is usually of a later date. While our sources only give
us legends and tales from the higher strata of society — those
of the chieftains and the poets — yet this does not in itself
furnish a sufficient explanation for the relatively small number

of deities.
We have thus far purposely passed by the character of the
gods as revealed in connection with the world-drama. This
product of a later, specifically Norse, development will demand
our attention in another connection.
CHAPTER XIV
ANIMISM, SOULS, WORSHIP OF THE DEAD
It would lead us too far and lies beyond the scope of this
volume to examine anew the general question as to the ani-
mistic elements present in religion. The belief in souls, while
nowhere totally lacking, also nowhere constitutes the whole of

religion. While animism is it does not by
doubtless primitive,
any means form the origin of all ideas about higher beings.
Many animistic conceptions are, moreover, of comparatively
late growth. In the present instance we are, at any rate, con-
cerned only with tracing the specific forms which belief in souls
and spirits assumed among the Teutons.
In keeping with the conception of the soul as breath or
wind, which leaves the body at death, the belief has established
itself that souls dwell in the air. The souls flit away through
windows ; in storm and whirlwind they sweep shrieking through
the air, especially during the Twelve Nights, which are ordi-
narily reckoned as falling between Christmas and Epiphany,

although the term does not everywhere designate exactly the
same period.^ We have already seen that the notion of the
Furious Host or the Wild Hunt, with or without Wodan as
leader, combines a nature-myth, i.e. the wind, with the belief in
souls. Similarly, the souls of heroes continue the combat in
the sky, above the field of battle. It is even quite conceivable

that the story of the combat between H^gni and Hedhinn con-
tains an historical reminiscence, and that the souls that are
thus said to continue the combat after death are those of his-
torical personages.^ It is, at any rate, certain that the Norsemen
1 See above, p. 216. 2 Mogk, PG.^, Ill, 256.
289
held the belief that heroes who had fallen in battle entered
Walhalla as Einherjar.
In Norse literature, and in Teutonic popular belief as well,
we frequently meet with the tradition that souls in the guise
of small flames frequent the neighborhood of the place where
the corpse lies buried. They likewise roam about to expiate a
crime. Cross-roads are thought to be haunted by souls, and

the church accordingly inveighed against worshipping at bivia
and trivia; but this latter belief is perhaps of Roman origin.
In Norse sagas it is not an uncommon occurrence that the

body of a person who was believed to haunt the earth was dug
up and burnt.
A permanent abode of souls is mentioned in several sources.
This abode of the souls is at times conceived as lying beyond
the sea souls or corpses must therefore be conveyed across
;
this or be left at the mercy of winds and waves. In a note-

worthy passage in Procopius,^ Britain is called the land of
the dead. On the opposite coast, in Prankish territory, dwell
the mariners who, without catching sight of their passengers,

carry the dead across the channel. At midnight they are
notified in a mysterious manner, and setting out with their
heavily laden boats succeed in reaching the island of Britain
in a single hour. Upon their arrival the souls are called out
by name, and the ferrymen thereupon return with their empty

boats. Claudian (fifth century) likewise tells us that at the
extreme limits of Gaul, i.e. opposite the British coast, "there
is a spot, where Gaul stretches out its furthermost shore oppo-
site the waters of the ocean, where they say that Ulixes with a
libation of blood stiiTed up the silent folk. There the mourn-
ful plaint of shades flitting about with a gentle whir is heard.
The natives see the pallid forms and the figures of the dead
depart."^ According to other sources, the land of souls is
situated in the mountains, and it is there that the historical

1 B. Goth., IV, 20. - Claudian, In Rufiniim, I, 123.
ANIMISM, SOULS, WORSHIP OF THE DEAD 291
and mythical heroes have their abode Barbarossa in the :
Kyffhauser, Holger Danske under the rock of Kronburg

(Denmark), Siegfried in Geroldseck, and the three founders of
the Swiss federation at Griitli in a cleft in the rock near the
Lake of Lucerne. Souls of unknown men issue forth from the
mountains as well: "armed hosts of horsemen," "souls of
fallen soldiers," including even women and others besides
warriors. Icelandic sagas too repeatedly refer to the belief
that the dead dwell in mountains. We have here a special
form of that translation, which Rohde, Psyche,^ was the first to
treat at length, but to which even Jacob Grimm devoted a
separate chapter containing a large number of examples.
Some scholars hold the view that the souls are thought of
as dwelling in ponds and springs, from which children are also
supposed to come. It is clear that the belief in an abode of
the souls must in any case not be represented as having
assumed a thoroughly systematic form." The souls were con-
ceived as roaming about in the vicinity of house or grave, in
the air or in the mountains. The heavenly " sun garden " and
the " subterranean meadow " of the lower world are, like the
Walhalla of the scalds, the product of later poetic invention.

It is impossible to determine with any degree of certainty how
old or how general is the conception of Hel, as the dark and
dismal place, the destination of all the dead. That the latter
include warriors appears from a passage in Widiiki?id, cited
by Grimm,' where Widukind, amazed at the number of those

who had fallen in a battle between the Saxons and Franks,
exclaims, " Where might there be a Hel {in/emus) so large
that it could receive such a multitude of the slain ?
" Baldrs
Draumar, 2, 3; Gylfaginning, Chapter 49; and Helreidh
1 E. Rohde, Psyche: Seelenctilt unci Unsterblichkeiisglaxtbe der Griecken, 1894

(second edition, i8g8).
2 As is done, e.g. by H. Pfannenschmid, Germanische Erntefesfe, pp. 129-165.
8 DM.-», p. 668.
Bryiihildar likewise depict the miseries of Hel ; not, however,

as a place of punishment, such as Nastrand,^ where perjurers
and murderers expiate their guilt.
The Rosengarten (rose garden) is a creation of medieval
German poetry, as the Walhalla is of Norse poetry. A large
number of Rosengarten have been localized in Tyrol and else-
where, the most famous being that of Gibich, Kriemhild's
father, near Worms. These Rosengarten, now pictured as
paradise, and again as churchyards, represent another peculiar
form of the abode of souls. Thither too a ferryman conveys
the souls across the water ; there too the heroes engage in
combat.^
From the finds in graves, both of the prehistoric and of
later times, as well as from accounts in literary monuments,^

and from what we read in Jordanes * concerning the funeral
games of Attila, we learn that the Teutons placed all kinds of
objects in the graves of their dead weapons and horses :
;
jewels and ornaments needles for

;
women and toys for chil-
dren. It would also seem that slaves and widows, willingly or
unwillingly, at times accompanied their lord and master to the

land of the dead. Some of the gifts that were placed on the
funeral pyre or in the grave may have had a sacrificial intent ;
others were no doubt designed for use in the land of the dead.
From this we may infer that the soul when separated from
the body was thought of as still subject to wants similar to
those of men upon earth. The Teutonic conception of the
life after death was therefore probably that of a shadowy
continuation of earthly existence.
Everywhere in Norse literature we meet with the notion
of a man's second ego, his double {doppelganger), his fylgja
1 Voliispa, 38, 39.

2 The material has been collected by E. H. Meyer, GM., § 173.
3 Among these are the brief statement of Tacitus, Germania, Chapter 27, and
the detailed description of Beoiviilf, 11. 3158 ff.
4 DOAÜ., Chapter 49.

(follower). This fvlgja is nothing less than man's soul, which

dwells in the body, and leaves it at death, but which even
during one's lifetime already leads an independent existence,
so that in one instance a person is even said to have stumbled
over his own fylgja. Similarly, Helgi's fylgjur (plural) are
seen before his death. ^ The fylgja stands on the border line
dividing souls from spirits. T\i<t fylgja is the soul which leaves
man in his sleep, which after his death passes over to his son,
so that the personal fylgja (ftiannsfylgja) becomes a family

fylgja {cettaffylgh-i). It may also be feminine in form {fylg-
jiikona), a sort of goddess (^/If) who premonishes man in
dreams, appears to him more especially shortly before his death,

at times vexes, and then again protects him. Swch. fylgjur are
referred to in Atlamdl^ 27 :
Methought dead women came hither by night, poorly clad; they

wished to choose thee ; they bade thee forthwith to their benches.
Aside frorn the animistic basis, the conception of fylgjio'

includes, therefore, the notions of second sight, of dream
spirit, and of guardian or attendant spirit.
Similar notions are associated with the Swedish vard and
the Old Norse hainingja. The latter word is explained by
Mogk as referring to the form (Jiaftir) which the soul assumes
when becoming visible, which is frequently that of animals.
Thus Atli's /lamr appears as eagle. ^ E. H. Meyer, following
out a suggestion of Grimm, ^ connects hamingja withthe caput
galeatum, the caul about the head with which certain " lucky
children " are born. This membrane, the seat of the soul or
of the guardian spirit, is in such cases carefully preserved.
Related to fylgja is the mare,'' nightmare (French cauchemar),
or incubus. The derivation of the word is uncertain. The
1 Helgakvidha HjorvardJissoJiar. 34 (prose).

2 Atlamal, 18. 3 DM.-*, p. 72S.
4 " A mare is a maiutsfylgja." Vatnsdcelasaga.

1
mare torments men at night in their sleep, at times even killing

them, as happened to the Swedish king Vanland, according to
Yngiingasaga, Chapter i6. The story is told us in a strophe
of the scald Thjodholf :
Now the witch-wight

Drove king Vanland
Down to visit
Vilir's brother.
There the troll-wise

Blind-night's witchwife
Trod all about
Men's over-thrower.
The jewel-caster,!
He whom the mare quelled,
On Skuta's bed,^
There was he burning.'^
The origin of the whole conception may be traced to the

nightmare, the distressing dream that is accompanied by the
feeling of physical pressure ; the "mare," usually thought of as

feminine, causes a feeling of suffocation and depression, and,
as incubus or suaubiis, is also represented as holding carnal
intercourse. This nightmare may also attack animals, but
ordinarily it torments only men. Sometimes it is the soul of
a man that issues forth at night to thus visit some other per-
son in his sleep. Numerous names are used to designate

these tormenting spirits : mare,* alp ^
;
Trut or Trude in Bava-
ria and Tyrol ; and in Upper Germany such names as Schret-
tele, Schrat, Ratz, Doggele, Druckerle, Letzel, etc.
But departed spirits do not merely visit men in their sleep
with the physical feeling of suffocation ;

they also appear to
1 King Vanland. - Skuta is the name of a river.
3 The translation from the Saga Library, \'ol. III.
is
4 As in mich reitet die Mahre. " the mare rides me."

» As in micli driickt der Alp, "the alp presses me." Etymologically alp is
connected with elf. From a mythological point of view, the two notions must, of
course, be kept entirely distinct.
: ;:
them in their Thus the dead that cannot gain rest in

dreams.
the grave appear to men for various purposes to avenge them- :
selves ; to make amends for some neglect or to warn men ;
and foretell the future. Such manifestations are closely

related to apparitions of ghosts, for which latter the Old
Norse draugr (Old High German gitroc) was in use. Notwith-
standing the tormenting character that these dreams frequently
assumed, it was still accounted a defect if a person lacked
the susceptibility for them, and was drawjistoU (dream-stolen).
As the dead exert influence on the living, so also conversely
excessive grief of the living disturbs the rest of the dead
witness the story of the Jug of Tears and Burger's Lenore}
Helgi likewise says of Sigrun's constant weeping
Thou weepest cruel tears, thou gold-dight, sun-bright lady of the South,
before thou goest to sleep: every one of them falls bloody, dank cold,
chilly, fraught with sobs, upon my breast.-
But the dead do not merely roam about and become visible ;
they also now and then come to life again. While the account
of Asinius PoUio to be found in Appianus, that the Teutons of
Ariovistus fought so bravely "on account of their hope that
they would come to life again " is ambiguous, several Norse
sources mention this restoration to life on earth in a wholly
unmistakable way. Thus, in the Helgi Lays, Helgi and Svava
are reborn as Helgi and Sigrun, and we know that in the Kara
Lays, which have not come down to us, they were represented as
having once more returned. For " in ancient times," thus the
prose passage at the close of Helgakvidha Hiindingsbana, H,
tells us, " it was believed that men could be reborn, but at
present this is considered old woman's talk." This return was
regarded not as a misfortune, but as a blessing, and we hence
1 See Wackernagel, Z.ur Erkl'drimg itnd Beurtcilung von Biirger^s Lenore {Kl.
Schr., II, 399 ff.) ; Erich Schmidt, Charakteristiken, pp. 223 ff.
- Helgakridha Hiindiiigsbana, II, 44 (CPB. I, 143).

find the curse pronounced on Brynhild " Never be she born :
again." ^ Examples of rebirth are, however, not numerous.

In the person of the holy Olaf it was said that a former king
had been reborn. Here and there, in the naming of a child
after a dead person, the idea of a rebirth of the latter in the
person of his namesake seems also to have been taken in a far
more physical sense than that which we now attach to it.
These animistic conceptions are to be sharply distinguished
from the belief in immortality. This latter, in the Platonic
sense of the term, is entirely lacking. The soul roams about,
appears to men, is at times reborn, and for all these manifesta-
tions no period of time is set, no limit defined. Men continue
to be seen as long as they are not forgotten. Apparitions of
unknown souls at times inspire fear. A definite dogma of
immortality cannot be deduced from animism among such a
people as the Teutons.
When wandering about and appearing in visible form, the
soul may assume various shapes, more especially those of ani-
mals. Norse literature and folklore furnish an abundance of
examples. A number of times the soul is represented as hav-
ing the form of a mouse, as in the well-known story of the
sleeping girl from whose mouth a red mouse was seen creeping
forth. A
companion turned the sleeping girl around, and
when the mouse returned it could no longer find its way back,
wandered about aimlessly for a while, and then disappeared.
But the girl did not again awake she was mausetof (" mouse-
:
dead," i.e. stone dead). The mice

that pursued the cruel bishop
Hatto of Mainz into his tower near Bingen on the Rhine were
likewise the souls of the poor people, whom he had burnt alive,
because he could not furnish them with food. Similarly, the
rats in the tale of the Pied Piper of Hameln are the souls of
the little children. Once upon a time, when king Gunthram
was resting in the forest from the chase, his soul crept out of
1 Sigurdharkvidlia en skamma^ 45.
his mouth in Over the sword of one of

the sliape of a snake.
the king's companions brook and entered a
it passed a little
mountain, afterwards returning again to the mouth of the king

by the way it had come. The king in the meantime had dreamt
that he crossed a bridge over a river, and arrived in a moun-
tain full of gold. The treasure, we are told, was afterwards
actually lifted. Paulus Diaconus considered this account so
remarkable that he inserted it in his History of the Lotjibards,^
notwithstanding the fact that it concerns a Prankish king.
In one of the battles in which Hrolf Kraki was engaged,
his most valiant hero, Bjarki, was nowhere to be seen, but
in his stead a stout bear fought at the side of the king, and
with his claws slew more enemies than five warriors could
have done it was Bjarki's_/)'47'^^> which fought while his body
:
was asleep.
There is scarcely any limit to the examples that might be
added to the above. The fylgja may assume the form of a
great variety of animals of wolf and bear, bird, snake, and
:
other animals that are seen in dreams ^ likewise of all kinds ;
of birds, —
ravens, crows, doves, and swans. Bees, beetles, and
flies are also frequently souls. While in the case of animals it
is not always an easy matter to draw an exact line of demarca-
tion between animistic and various other conceptions, it can in

any case not be gainsaid that the belief in migration of the
soul into the bodies of animals has given rise to an extensive
and varied " soul fauna." At times a connection may be traced
between the character of an individual and the animal whose
shape he takes on, men that are shrewd appearing as foxes,
those that are cruel as wolves.
Less frequent, though not altogether rare, is the mention of
trees as the abode of souls. The conceptions that cluster
1 ni, 34-
2 Compare the list given by W. Henzen, Ueber die Triinme in dcr alinordischen
Sagalittcratur, p. 38. On the whole subject of soul migration, see G. Storm, Vore
forfcedres tro pa sjcelevandring og deres opkaldelsessystem, AfnF. IX, 199-222.
around the worship of trees are of a somewhat complex nature.^

The tree may itself be conceived of as possessing a soul it ;
bleeds when struck, and the violation of trees is in such cases

a real crime. Parallel with this we meet the notion that the
souls of the dead are imprisoned in trees. Trees are also fre-
quently held to be the residence of the life spirit of an individ-
ual (trees of life), or of the guardian spirit of house and home

(the Swedish vardtrdd or botrd). Tree worship represents,
therefore, both a bit of nature-worship and a belief in human
fate, associated symbolically with a definite species of the vege-
table world. Side by side with this there exists the animistic
conception of the relationship of the human soul with the
soul of plants, and of the migration of the human soul into
plants.
The belief in werewolves is not peculiar to the Teutons, but
is found among many other peoples.^ Characteristically Scan-
dinavian, however, is the closely related belief in Berserkers.
They are people that possess the power of assuming other
shapes. They are eigi einhamir, i.e. not of one shape ;
or
hamramr, hamhleitha (feminine), i.e. changing form. Either
by donning a wolf's skin or a belt made out of wolf's skin, or
by reason of a natural tendency through which this metamor-
phosis comes upon them at certain stated times, such men run
about in the shape of wolves, the eye alone retaining itshuman
appearance. The werewolf {i.e. man-wolf) is known to us both
from Norse literature and from medieval and modern popular
belief. Thus the beginning of the Egils Saga tells us that the
progenitor of Myramen was toward evening subject to
the
sudden attacks which made him wholly unlike himself, for which
reason he bore the name Kveldulfr (evening-wolf).
1 The two works dealing with this subject, Mannhardt, Der Baumkultus der
Germanen unci Hirer Nachbarstatnme, and A. Koberstein, Ueber die Vorstellung
von deni Fortleben menschlicher Scelen in der Pflanzcnivelt (1849; reprinted in
Weimar Jalirb.. I, 72-100) differ in their views of the matter.
2 W. Hertz, Dcr IVern'olf (Beit rag zur Sagengeschichte. 1S62),
ANIMISM, SOULS, WOKSHIP OF THE DEAD 299
Norse literature abounds in stories of Berserkers. We hav'C

already mentioned how Bjarki, one of Hrolf Kraki's warriors,
fought at his side in the form of a bear. Ordinarily, however,
these " bear-skin clad " retain their human shape, although
their actions when the Berserkrgangr comes upon them are no
longer human in character. An uncontrollable frenzy seizes
them ; mouths begin to foam they bark like dogs and
their ;
growl like bears they walk through fire, are invulnerable to

;
iron, gnaw their shields, devour glowing coals, and carry all
before them. When the attack has passed by, Berserkers are
no stronger than ordinary men. The Norwegian kings were
fond of having a few Berserkers among their followers and at
times presented them to one another. They are also frequently
mentioned in Icelandic sagas, where they decide the issue of
many a struggle. It not rarely happens that this peculiarity is
characteristic of a family : thus the seven sons of Syvaldus,

the twelve sons of Arngrim, Angantyr and his brothers, were
all sturdy Berserkers. Outside the North traces of Berserkers
are to be found only among the Lombards.^
The belief in witches also contains elements that are drawn
from the animistic conceptions of Teutonic paganism, such as
the riding through the air and the changing of shape. We do
not, therefore, with Soldan," derive the origin of this belief
solely from classical antiquity. At the same time the belief is
of too complex a character, and has been too largely combined

with and foreign elements, to allow us to regard the
later
witches part and parcel of Teutonic mythology and to

as
identify them with the Norse troll and vqliir (wise women),
or with the "dead women " of some of the Eddie songs. We
do not, therefore, consider the witches as properly forming
a part of our subject, and shall not consider them in this
connection.
1 See Symons, GH.-, p. ii6.

2 Geschichte der Hexcnfrocessc, neu bearbeitet von H. Heppe (2 vos., 1880).
The belief in souls gave rise to numerous customs in con-
nection with the dead, which the church sought zealously to

eradicate. Several of these continue in vogue until the present
day. We here mention a few whose animistic basis is at once
apparent : the closing of mouth and eyes of the corpse, either
to prevent the soul from returning through these openings,
or to ward ofif the evil eye ; the carrying out of the body under
the threshold, or through an unusual opening, to keep the soul
from finding its way back again; the burning of a light near the
corpse, to keep evil spirits or the soul itself at a distance ; the
covering of the mirror, that the soul may not see its image and
thus be held fast to the spot ; the burying in a remote place, to
banish the soul to a distance ; the opening of doors and windows,
to facilitate the egress of the soul ; the watching over the corpse ;
the announcing of the death of the master of the house to all
manner of objects in house and yard and to the bees in the
hive ; the calling out of the name of the deceased, which

causes souls and mares that roam about to disappear; the
giving along, or the placing on the grave, of food, at times
also of shoes and staff ; the careful tending of the house-snake,
which is the residence of the soul of the deceased and as
such a beneficent tutelar genius of the home, a sort of lar.
All these customs lie near the border line separating popular
observance from religious worship. While soul-cult belongs
rather to the former, and is not part of a more or less official
and organized worship, it has none the less struck deep roots
in the life of the people. Its purpose is on the one hand to
keep the soul that is feared at a distance, on the other to pro-
vide for its wants,^ but these two phases, the dark and light
sides, frequently coalesce. It is not clear to which of these
two classes the dadsisas belong, against which the Indiculus
Stiperstitioniwi ^ inveighs as constituting " idolatry over the
1 The furnier E. 11. Meyer designates as Sceleiiabwe/n-, the latter as Scelenpflege.

2 " List of superstitious practices," of the eighth century.
dead." These were songs sung for the dead at night (" devil-
ish songs ") and either served to ward off the soul, or were
invocations through which oracular utterances concerning the
future were obtained from the dead.^ Or else they were mere
lamentations over the dead, to which no magical significance
was attached, similar to those that were raised over Attila/'
The fact that the dadsisas were repeated on the grave would,
however, seem to argue against this latter supposition.
Funeral banquets are also met with the church sought to ;
prevent drinking bouts at the grave. In the North the funeral

feast is frequently called erjiql (heir-beer), inasmuch as it was
given not only in memory of the deceased, but also formed the
solemn occasion on which the heir entered upon his inherit-
ance. This latter frequently took place a considerable length

of time after the demise of the head of the house ;
at any rate
not before the exaction of the blood-vengeance, in case the
deceased had been At times a large number of
murdered.
"
guests assembled on these occasions we know of "heir-beers
:
to which more than a thousand persons sat down. The church

sought to give these feasts a Christian dress, and, in order to
make them a source of income, sent priests to be present at
them and consecrated beakers to Christ and St. Michael."
Now and then the soul of the deceased himself is supposed to
take part in the feast. Of a man who had been drowned we
are told that he appeared at his own "heir-beer," which was
held to be a favorable sign as regards his fate with Ran in the
depths of the sea.^
The worship of ancestors and heroes, while related to that
of soul worship, is yet distinguished from it by certain definite
characteristics. Ancestors and heroes are departed ones, but

they likewise possess a personality, and other elements besides
the nature of the soul enter into their cult it serves to maintain
:
1 Mogk. ^ Weinhold, Altnordisches Lcben, p. 500.

2 Jordanes, DOAG., Chapter 49. * Eyrhyggjasaga, Chapter 54.
the continuity of the life of the family, the kin, and the tribe
as well. While it is not always possible to draw the exact line
of demarcation, it is yet perfectly clear that ancestor worship
is a particular form of soul-cult : soul-cult of the family, of
kindred, and of the people.^
Numerous examples of ancestor worship are to be found
among the Teutons. The heroic saga, to be sure, as it has
come down to us in medieval epic poetry, is based on historical
data and myths of nature, and has no connection with religious
worship, but from Tacitus, Jordanes, and the genealogical
tables we know - that the Teutons deified the progenitors of
the various tribal groups, whereas later Norse literature did
exactly the reverse : represented the gods euhemeristically as
men of the prehistorical period.
Adam of Bremen, in a noteworthy passage,^ tells us that the
Swedes also worship men, " whom on account of their mighty
deeds they endow with immortality." In illustration he refers
to an example to be found Rimbert's Life of A/iskar, Chapter
in
26. We there find a detailed account how king Ericus became

one of the gods. Anskar attended a large gathering at Birka,
where he found king and people no longer favorably disposed,
but fallen into great error. A man announced to the king and
his people that he had been present at an assembly of the gods,
at which the latter complained of the neglect into which their
service had fallen owing to the spread of Christianity. " If
you wish," so the gods are reported to have said, "to have a
larger number of gods, and are not content with us alone, we
herewith unanimously admit to our guild your former king
Ericus, so that he be one of the company of gods." They
thereupon built a temple for this new god, offered sacrifices,
and made vows to him. The incident shows very clearly how,
1 This distinction has not been sufficiently observed in the remarks concerning
"ancestor worship" in CPB. I, 413-422.

" See above, 3 Gesta, IV, 26.
pp. 79-81.
in the declining days of paganism, hero worship was called

upon to lend support to the service of the gods.
A nearer approach to a cult of souls and of the dead is
made when we read, in Burchard of Worms, of " the offerings

that in certain places are made at the tombs of the dead."
While the reference is here, no doubt, to graves in general,
Norse literature also furnishes some examples of the graves of
particular persons. Thus we read of a king whose body was
claimed by four different districts, " deeming that they who got
it might look to have plenteous years therewith : so at last they
agreed to share the body in four, and the head was laid in a
mound at Stone, in Ringrick. Then each of the other districts
took away its share, and laid it in a mound ; and all the mounds
are called Halfdan's mounds." ^
Especial importance seems
here to be attached to the head, which is doubtless due to the
fact that it is frequently regarded as the seat of the soul. This
latter would also explain why in some localities headless corpses
have been found.
1 Saga of Halfdan the Black, Hcijnskriiis;la, Chapter 9. The translation,

slightly changed, is taken from the Saga Library, Vol. III.
CHAPTER XV
WALKYRIES, SWAN-MAIDENS, NORNS
These three groups of divine and semi-divine beings do not

play an important part in the cult, traces of religious worship
being confined almost entirely to the Norns. They owe their
characteristic form in the main to the factitious mythology of
the later Scandinavian period. At the same time Walkyries
and Norns are not to be regarded as solely a creation of
While their development is a later growth, it
scaldic poetry.
is rooted in old and genuine popular belief.
This popular basis is of a twofold nature. In the first place,

there is a belief that in woman " there is something sacred and
prophetic," so that she is able to divine the future and is
possessed of magic powers. Hence also the counsel of such

women as Veleda and Albruna was sought. Not that these
were arbitrarily deified, like the Roman divae of the days of
the Empire :
'
they were regarded as actually divine." The
ancient Teutons, accordingly, held women in high honor, and
at times followed implicitly the leadership of an unusually
gifted wornan in battle. The fairy tale of the Teutonic king-
dom of Amazons, repeated as late as the eighth century by
Paulus Diaconus,^ is certainly not of indigenous origin, but was
invented by the Romans under the. influence of the strong
impression made upon them, from the days of the Cimbri
until the age of the migrations, by the wild and warlike
Teutonic women.
^ " Nor as if they were deifying mortal women." Tacitus, Germania, Chapter 8.
2 " They regard them as goddesses." Tacitus, Hist., IV, 6i.
< Hist. Long., I, 15.
304
WALKYRIES, SWAN-MAIDENS, NORNS 305
But the fact that Teutonic women were warUke and filled
the functions of priest and soothsayer does not furnish a
explanation of the belief in Walkyries and Norns.
sutificient
These latter are not deified women, but goddesses of war and
fate, and these divine functions do not admit of an euhemer-
istic explanation. In war, as in the other affairs of life, there

are divine disposing and controlling forces.
A third explanation might be sought in a phenomenon
of nature; But we shall see that although there are points
of contact between Walkyries and Norns and the world of
nature,^ their origin can by no means be derived from per-
sonifications of nature, such as goddesses of storms, water,
and clouds.
The name " Walkyrie " is found in Norse and Anglo-Saxon
only, although the ^üalriderske (" rider of the dead," or mare)
of Low-German popular belief has also been compared. The
Walkyries are at work while the battle is raging ; they choose
the warrior that is to fall in the fight (Old Norse valr), and
in their hand lies also the award of victory (Anglo-Saxon
sigt'7oif). When in Beojuulf' we read of w'igspéda geioiofn
(the weavings of victory), we involuntarily think of Walkyries
(or Norns) as weavers. Walkyries, furthermore, place fetters
on the prisoners, hold back the enemy, and release from their
bonds the warriors of their own side, as is shown in the three
groups of the first Merseburg Charm.^ In this last instance
we identified the German Idisi with Walkyries, because their
functions were so closely allied. In like manner, the Norse
Walkyries were doubtless accounted goddesses Qüsir), even
though not of the first rank, and we accordingly find that
sacrifices (disablot) were offered to them, as in Yiig/ifigasaga,
Chapter t^;^. In any case there are two names of Norse
Walkyries that remind us of the tasks assigned to the Idisi
1 Hclgakvidha Hjorvardlissonar, 28. - Line 69S.

3 See above, p. 12S.
in the Merseburg Charm: HlQck (bond?), and HerfJQtr

("host-fetter," i.e. terror that paralyzes).
In Völiispa, 31, Grimnismd/, 36, and elsewhere, we find a
number of names that we cannot with Golther regard altogether
as the "product of gray theory." They represent poetic
personifications of the goddesses of battle, and are neither
more nor less living and real than such artificial elaborations
of motifs from popular belief are wont to be. In German,
too, there are numerous names of women that are reminiscent
of the goddesses of battle and victory. A few may be men-
tioned of the long list given by Müllenhofï : Hilta, Hildeburc,
Hiltigund, Gundrud, Sigithrud, Grimhilt, Brunihild, Gerdrud,

Gerlind. If we are justified in applying these and other
names to the Walkyries, they would be equipped with helmet,
shield, cuirass, and spear, but not with sword. We meet them
in groups of three, six, nine, twelve, and at times in three
divisions.^ They ride through the air, and even through the
water ; now and then their appearance upon the scene is
accompanied by tempest and hail.
In connecting the Walkyries of the Viking period, on the

one hand with the warlike Teutonic women of the ancient
times, and on the other hand with the goddesses of battle and
victory, it is to be admitted that the exact boundary line sepa-
rating this conception from related ones is not always easily
defined. We have in mind more particularly the shield-
maidens,'-^ who are repeatedly mentioned by Saxo. Three, or

even three hundred, according to another account, of these
skjdldmeyjar took part in the battle at Bravallir. Several of
the martial women mentioned by Saxo are to be regarded as
such skjdldmeyjar, among them " the maidens Sticla and Rusila,"
as well as some married women, like Gynritha, the mother
of Harald Hildetand. Doubtless these characters represent
1 First Merseburg Charm; Hdgakvidha Hj ^rvardhssonar, 28.

WALKYRIES, SWAN-MAIDENS, NOR NS 307
in part historical personages. Rusila has by some been iden-

tified with the "red-haired maid " Inghen Ruaidh, who, accord-
ing to an Irish chronicle, landed in Ireland at the head of
a Viking fleet, in the tenth century.^ While it is doubtful
whether these heroines are to be taken as Walkyries, there
are better grounds for such a supposition in the case of the
"forest-maidens"^ that call Hotherus by name and give him
counsel, for in this instance we are told that, in invisible form,
they are present in battle and award the victory. But they
likewise foretell the future, and hence also remind one of
Norns.
In the heroic sagas Walkyries are repeatedly mentioned both
as valiant fighters, shield-maidens, of whom, for example, a
large number perished at the burning of Atli's hall by Gudrun,^
and as women endowed with supernatural powers, who foretell
the future, ride through the air, and by their divine strength
protect heroes. Such is the nature of Svava and of Sigrun,
into whom Svava is reborn, in the Helgi Saga, as well as of
Sigrdrifa-Brynhild, the godlike maid, won by Siegfried-Sigurdh
in the Nibelungen Saga. The heroic saga does not, however,
attach a sharply defined meaning to the term " Walkyrie " :
it merely designates the heroine of superhuman power. The

hero who possesses himself of the person of such a Walkyrie
becomes through that very fact preeminent among his fellows
and a divine destiny awaits him. The statement* that Bryn-
hild was to become an oskmey (wish-maiden, i.e. Walkyrie) is
to be understood in this sense.
Norse mythology stands alone in clearly tracing the outlines
of this conception of Walkyrie.^ This has been effected mainly

through a combination with Odhin and Walhalla : they are
1 Steenstrup, Normannerne, I, i8 ff. See also A. Olrik, Kilderne til Sakses

Oldhistoric, I, § 12. 2 Saxo, HD. Ill, 112.
3 Ailakvidha, 43. 4 Oddnhiargrdtr, 15.
i*
Völuspa, 31 Gr'tmuismal, 36; Gylfagitinhtg, Chapter 36.
;
Odhin's "battle-maidens," execute his commands, protect his

favorites, grantingthem victory, or conducting them to Wal-
halla. Here they wait upon the Eitiherjar, pass the beakers
around, and replenish the jugs of ale. This connection with

Walhalla, Odhin, and Freyja^ is manifestly of secondary
origin Norse poetry has connected Odhin as god of war with
;
the goddesses of victory, and has also developed the idea of

Walhalla, the paradise of warriors. It would be idle, there-
fore, to seek in these later combinations traces of primitive

nature-mythology, as done by those scholars who connect
is
the Walkyries as storm demons with Odhin as god of the wind.

We have already had occasion to discuss Walhalla and the
Walkyries in connection with the Eiriksmdl and the Hdkonar-
mdl? In this latter song, king Hakon is represented as lying
on the field of battle mortally wounded. He overhears the
Walkyries, who with helmet and shield ride about on their
steeds, saying that the gods have bidden him with a great host
to Walhalla. The king asks why he had
not been granted a
victory, and receives as an answer that he had actually kept
the field and routed the enemy, but that as a mighty hero he
was now also to enter Walhalla, — a twofold favor according to
the conception of the Norse scald.
A vivid picture of the activities of Walkyries is drawn by a
song found in NJalssaga, Chapter 156. It consists of a descrip-
tion of Brian's battle, fought on Good Friday of the year 1014,

inwhich many of those who had helped to burn Njal in his
house were slain. On the one side fight Christian Irishmen,
on the other half-heathen Norsemen. The poem contains
numerous traces of current superstition, great importance
being attached to all manner of apparitions. A man who on
that day set out on horseback " saw folk riding twelve together
to a bower, and there they were all lost to his sight. He went
1 Freyja is even called Valfreyja in her function of welcoming slain heroes.

2 See above, pp. 184 and 229.
: ; ; ;
WALKYRIES, SIVAN-MAIDENS, NORNS 309
to that bower and looked in through a window slit that was in

it,and saw that there were women inside, and they had set up
a loom. Men's heads were the weights, but men's entrails
were the warp and weft, a sword was the shuttle, and the reels
were arrows." He thereupon heard them sing the following
song ^
THE WOOF OF WAR

See warp is stretched
!
For warriors' fall

Lo, weft in loom
'Tis wet with blood ;
Now fight foreboding,
'Neath friends' swift fingers,
Our gray woof waxeth

With war's alarms,
Our warp bloodred,
Our weft corseblue.
This woof is y-woven

With entrails of men,
This warp is hardweighted
With heads of the slain.
Spears blood-besprinkled
For spindles we use,
Our loom ironbound.
And arrows our reels
With swords for our shuttles
This war-woof we work
So weave we, weird sisters.
Our warwinning woof.
Now War-winner walketh

To weave in her turn.
Now Swordswinger steppeth.
Now Swiftstroke, now Storm;
When they speed the shuttle
1 Dasent, Burnt Njal, II, pp. 33S-341.

! ;
How spear-heads shall flash !
Shields crash, and helmgnawer ^
On harness bite hard
Wind we, wind swiftly

Our warwinning woof,
Woof erst for king youthful
Foredoomed as his own.
Forth now we will ride.
Then through the ranks rushing
Be busy where friends
Blows uiithe give and take.

Our warwinning woof.
After that let us steadfastly
Stand by the brave king
Then men shall mark mournful
Their shields red with gore,
How Swordstroke and Spearthrust
Stood stout by the prince.

Our warwinning woof;
When sword-bearing rovers
To banners rush on.
Mind, maidens, we spare not
One life in the fray !
We corse-choosing sisters
Have charge of the slain.
Now new-coming nations

That island shall rule.
Who on outlying headlands
Abode ere the fight ;
I say that King mighty

To death now is done.
Now low before spearpoint
That Earl bows his head.
1 " Helmgnawer," the sword that bites helmets.

;
Soon over all Ersemen

Sharp sorrow shall fall,
That woe to those warriors
Shall wane nevermore ;
Our woof now is woven,

Now battle-field waste,
Oër land and oer water

War tidings shall leap.
Now surely 't is gruesome

To gaze all around,
When bloodred through heaven
Drives cloudrack oër head
Air soon shall be deep hued
With dying men's blood
When this our spaedom
Comes speedy to pass.
So cheerily chant we
Charms for the young king.
Come maidens lift loudly
His warwinning lay;
Let him who now listens
Learn well with his ears,
And gladden brave swordsmen
With bursts of war's song.
Now mount we our horses,

Now bare we our brands.
Now haste we hard, maidens.
Hence far, far, away.
We may regard these maidens who determine the issue of

battle as either Walkyries or Norns.
Walkyries appear frequently as swan-maidens. Agnar forced
Brynhild and her seven sisters, i.e. companions, into his service
by stealing and hiding their swan-shifts.' In Völundarkvidha
we read of three Walkyries who had put their swan-shifts aside
- Hclreidh Bryn/iih/ar, 7.
•3] 2 THE RELIGION OF THE ANCIENT TEUTONS
and were won by three brothers. After staying with them

for seven years they flew away not to return. Both the Norse
and the medieval German literature,^ and the popular saga as
well, constantly make mention of swan-maidens, who fly through
the air, come swimming along to bring tidings, or through put-

ting aside their swan-shift have come
power of himinto the
who has taken it away. While not all of these swan-maidens
are Walkyries, the latter are able to assume the form of swan-
maidens, and when they do so the conception of battle and
victory is usually lost sight of, while that of magic power and
soothsaying gains in prominence.
The power that determines fate is personified in the Norns.
It is not surprising that their functions can frequently not be
distinguished from those of the Walkyries : the powers choos-
ing those who are to be slain in battle are in the last instance
identical with those that weave or spin the net of fate. Both
are called disir.^ The belief in apower of fate, among the
Teutons as among other peoples, is to be regarded as distinct
from, and independent of, animism and nature-myth. We
meet it on every hand in the Teutonic world. It has not,
however, been developed through conscious reflection, and
there hence no need of drawing a distinction between such
is
conceptions as chance, luck, fortune, fate, as has at times been

attempted. We have already encountered a number of desig-
nations for this power of fate, the words at times indicating
the gods themselves, such as regin and metod. The Anglo-
Saxon wyrd, which possesses a cognate in the Norse urdhr,
has also been noticed.^ From the multiplicity of the decrees
of fate it naturally follows that the disposing ones are likewise
plural in number ; they are light or dark beings, according to
whether they dispose of the propitious or the unpropitious
lots. They are frequently represented as three sisters bearing
1 Heizeloide and Sigune in Parzival and Tititrcl.

2 Rcg'uismal, 24 Sigrdrifitmdl, 9.
;
various names : Einbet, Warbet, Wilbet; Chrischona, Ottilia,

Margarita, etc., who are thereupon transformed into Christian
saints,and even into representatives of fides^ spes, caritas,^
whereas popular belief identifies them with water and moun-
tain nymphs, with ancient abbesses and ladies of the castle,
and regards them as guardian fays. There is no ground what-
ever for identifying them with the Keltic matroncE. It is
evident that all these features of popular belief do not date

from pagan times any more than the belief that the medieval
lady Seelde is a pagan goddess of fortune.'- Here, as else-
where, it is extremely difficult to ascertain from folklore the
original and genuine heathen elements. The frequent recur-
rence of the number three is noteworthy. Norse literature has
made these into Norns and future. Three
of the past, present,
Norns, or groups of Norns, are met with in numerous popular
tales so also in the witches of Macbeth, for there can scarcely
;
be any doubt that these weird sisters-represent Norns. Similarly

in the songs of the Edda : according to Völuspa, 8, these three
maids are descended from the giants, while both Fdfnismdl^ 13,
and Gylfaginning, Chapter 15, make mention of three races of
Norns, descendants respectively of .4£sir, elves, and dwarfs
{dvalUi). This latter represents, no doubt, a later artificial
form of which owes its origin to an effort to indicate

tradition,
the many-sidedness of their work and character, inasmuch as
the divine disposition of fate, the various gifts of fortune such
as are within the power of the elves, and the teasing, danger-
ous character of dwarfs are all attributes of the Norns. Aside
from a few particulars that are of more recent origin,
Snorri's account in Gyl/aginning, Chapter 15, reflects in a
fairly accurate way the general Teutonic conception of the

range of These maidens appoint the fate
their activity :
"
of men and we call them Norns. There are, however, still

other Norns (J.e. aside from the three already mentioned,
1 " Faith, hope, and charity." 2 Jacob Grimm.
:
Urdhr, Verdhandi, and Skuld), who come to every new-born

child and dispense its fate. . . . When the Norns determine
the destinies of men, they divide the fortunes very unequally
to some they grant a life full of joy and honor, to others little
happiness and glory ; to some a long life, to others a short
one. .The good Norns, who are of noble descent, dispense
. .
a happy fate. But if men fall upon misfortune, it is owing to

evil Norns." They accordingly weave each man's destiny, in
very unequal fashion. The figure usually employed to repre-
sent this is that of the loom with its threads. That the revolv-
ing wheel of fortune is of foreign origin is acknowledged also
by Jacob Grimm.
The Norns bestow good fortunes and other noble gifts,
but frequently also calamities. Their decrees are invariably

irrevocable :
" No one can withstand the word of Urdhr,
even though it be spoken to one's destruction."^ They fur-
thermore accompany man' through all the vicissitudes of

life. They assist women at childbirth, keep watch over the
new-born child, and weave its destiny :
In the mansion it was night:

The Norns came,
Who should the prince's
Life determine.
They him decreed
A prince most famed to be,
And of leaders
Accounted best.
With all their might they span
The fatal threads.
They stretched out

The golden cord,
And beneath the middle
Of the moon's mansion fixed it.-
1 FjolsvinnsmAl. 47.
2 Hclgakvidlia Hiindingsbana^ I, 2, 3. (The translation, somewhat free, is that
of Thorpe.)
WALKYRIES, SWAN-MAIDENS, NORNS 315
Norns are frequently found at a child's cradle, bestowing

gifts and foretelling the future. These Norns (or wise women)
are usually three in number, two bringing or announcing a
blessing, while the third, from a feeling of envy, or out of
vengeance, because she has not been invited, adds something
that vitiates the gifts of her sisters. How inexorable such
oracular utterances are may be seen from the Marche7i
of Sleeping Beauty: the thirteenth (uninvited) wise woman
there foretells that the princess will in her fifteenth year be
wounded by a spindle and fall down dead. The twelfth wise
woman, who happily has not as yet bestowed her gift, has no
power to avert, but only to mitigate the curse : it was not to
be death, but a sleep of a hundred years. Similarly, in a later
Norse saga, Nornagestr, i.e. the guest of the No'"ns, had been
promised the best of fortunes, but he was to die as soon as
the candle should be burnt out that had just been lit. This
has, of course,been regarded as a copy of the saga of Meleager,
but unjustly so the account does not contain a single feature
:
that cannot be paralleled from Teutonic popular belief.

According to a tradition current among the inhabitants of
the Faroe Islands, the white spots on the nails are tokens
{Nornaspor) of the gifts that the Norns bestow. As at births,
so at marriages, the Norns put in an appearance and grant a
blessing. They likewise dispense the gloomy lot of death,
and at times wyrd, urdhr, signifies simply the doom of death.
We accordingly read of an urdharmdni (moon of weird), which
appears as a sign that " the deaths of men will follow there-
after." ^
It is owing to the decrees of the Norns when a man
falls in battle,*^ or dies in bed.^ Popular belief at times regards
this Norn of death as Hel, the black Griet, or the evil Mar-
garetha, but these combinations of folklore are of too vague a
character to demand serious consideration.
1 Eyrbyggjasaga, Chapter 52. 2 HaiiuUiismdl, 29.

3 Ynglingasaga, Chapter 52.
The Norns are also met with in the cult. Saxo ^ relates how
king Fridlevus at the birth of his son Olavus desired to divine
the future. He speaks of this "consultation of the oracles of
the Parcai " as of a rite which took place after a solemn offer-
ing of vows and prayer in the temple of the gods, where these
" nymphce " had their three seats. That the Norns received
a meat-ofifering at the birth of a child may be gathered not
only from the twelve plates which were prepared for the wise
women at the birth of Sleeping Beauty, but also from the
Norn-grits (^JVornagreytur) of which on the Faroe Islands
women partake after childbirth, no doubt originally a part
of a sacrifice brought to the Norns. About the year looo
Burchard of Worms still speaks of women who at certain
times of the year set the table for the three sisters that are
called the Parcae and placed on it food and drink, together
with three knives.
The Norse designation " Norns " has not as yet been satis-
factorily explained. The true Norn is Urdhr, as is still clearly
evident from the songs of the Edda, where she frequently
^
occurs alone. To Urdhr there have subsequently been added
Verdhandi and Skuld, and the three were then brought into
connection with the past, present, and future, a connection —
which Miillenhoff^ has even recognized in the general plan of
Völuspa. It is a noteworthy fact that now and then the Norns
are regarded as of the race of giants,"* just as in the Greek
theogonies the Moine belong to an older race of gods. It is
in keeping with this, when the power of fate is stated to be
older and stronger than that of the individual gods : Völuspa, 8,
tells us that it was these three powerful maids that put

an
end to the happy life of the gods in the golden age. But such
considerations should not be unduly emphasized, inasmuch as
1 HD. VI, 272.

2 Völuspa, 20 (interpolated); Gylfaginning, Chapter 15.
3 DA. V, 5.
* Völuspa, 8 ; Vafihri'idhnismal, 49.
WALKYRIES, SWAN-MAIDEN'S, NO KNS 317
the occurrences on which they are based are only sporadic,

and are besides found in the Norse sources alone, which, as
we saw above, also give other accounts of the descent of the
Norns alongside of that from the giants.
This is not the place to enter upon a discussion of the rela-
tion of the Norns to the world-tree. This whole conception
will demand our attention later on, and we shall then see that
it cannot be regarded either as an element of popular belief

or as a part of genuine mythology.
CHAPTER XVI
ELVES AND DWARFS
Here, as elsewhere, we must beware of depending upon

uncertain etymologies for an elucidation of the character of
the beings under consideration. The word " alp " (restricted at
a later time to the meaning of "incubus," "nightmare") does
not occur in German literature before the thirteenth century.
It is, however, much older, as isshown by proper names of
which it forms a part, Albruna being found even in Tacitus.
The Anglo-Saxon cvlf (plural ylfe) and the Norse dlfr (plural
dlfar) also occur in proper names. The general use of the
word "elf" in Germany dates only from the preceding century.
Very widespread is the use of the word wichi (Norse vc^tfr),
which is also used as a neuter noun in the sense of "thing."
Other names are Norse hu/dre, linjiifigar, English fairies,
:
and, of foreign origin, ƒ^é'J. There are numerous other names,

some of which we shall meet incidentally in the course of our
discussion.
The elves play a most conspicuous part in the various phases
of popular belief, such as Afdrchen, but they are also met with
in the cult. Norse mythology, in its systematized form, which
assigns such an important role to the giants in their struggle
with the ^sir, while repeatedly mentioning elves and dwarfs,
does not make them at all prominent. The dvergatal (cata-
logue of dwarfs), Völuspa, 9-16, is a later interpolation. Nor
is the notion that the dwarfs owed their origin to maggots in
the flesh of the giant Ymir^ at all original. There are great
differences between various kinds of elves in character and
1 Gylfagitiniitg, Cliapter 14.
318
^
ELVES AND DWARFS 319
outward appearance, although some features constantly recur.

As a rule, they are frail and delicate, a countless host of little
creatures, who have at times been observed to retreat trip-
pingly across a bridge. Some elves are of dazzling beauty,

and elf maids and wives are represented as combing their long
blond hair. They lead a merry life over games, dance, and
song. The dwarfs, on the other hand, are misshapen creatures :
ugly, hunchbacked, and club-headed. Sometimes, but only

by way of exception, they are said to possess a form other
than human, such as that of a bull. At sunrise they turn to
stone.
The relation of elves and dwarfs to man is a peculiar one.
At times they are kindly disposed, bestowing gifts that, while
apparently insignificant, prove of great value, healing people
of sickness, and teaching them the hidden virtues of stones
and plants. On the other hand, they are also playful and
mischievous, given to teasing and deceit, and they may even
become malicious and dangerous. Thus they bewitch man and
beast and bring about sickness. Their shot (elveskud) causes
death. They entice and kidnap girls and exchange children
{Wechselbalg, changeling). In Ruodlieb- a captured dwarf
who is taunted with deceitfulness retorts as follows :
Far from it that such deceit ever obtained among us; we should not
else be either so long lived or so healthy. Among you one opes his lips
only when deceit is in his heart ; hence you will never reach a mature
old age, for the length of each one's life is in proportion to his sincerity.
We speak naught else than what lies in our hearts. Nor do we eat vari-
ous kinds of food that give rise to maladies. Hence we shall continue in
^
unimpaired health longer than you.
While it is somewhat difficult to determine just what ele-
ments of genuine popular belief these lines contain, the contrast
1 Alvissmal.
2 A Latin poem of the tenth century. The lines are cited by Grimm in his
Mythology. ^ Ruodlieb, XVII, i8.

:
between the candor of dwarfs and the deceitfulness of man

certainly does not bear this character. On the other hand, the
long and healthy life of dwarfs must doubtless be included
in the above category, although it is here not, as elsewhere,
ascribed to a knowledge of the secret powers of nature, but to
truthfulness and a simple mode of life.
Elves frequently call upon man for aid, more especially to
assist elf-wives in labor. Through marriages with men, elves,

especially water-sprites (nixes), seek to acquire an immortal
soul. There is, however, always danger that this design may
miscarry, chiefly through the imprudence of the man, who fails
to regard the injunction that he may not call his elf-wife by
name, or see her naked. In such a case the elf must return to
her element. The well-known tales of Undine and Melusine,
and numerous other stories of the same type, will occur to
every one in this connection. A touching story is told of a
water-sprite. Children called out to him :

" Why do you sit
there, nix (neck), and play? You will never be saved." The
nix began to weep bitterly, cast his harp aside, and disappeared
in the water. When the father learned what had happened, he
reproved his children and bade them return forthwith and con-
sole the nix. They did so and called out to him, "Your
redeemer also lives." The nix then again played sweetly on
the harp. Though these and similar conceptions of popular
belief may have a Christian coloring, and have acquired in
modern poetry a deeper meaning, which no longer bears a pagan

character, there is at least a nucleus, which cannot be accurately
defined, that goes back to pagan belief. We cite, therefore,
although with considerable reservation, the beautiful words with

which Grimm concludes his chapter on elves and dwarfs
" Through the entire character of elves, nixes, and goblins there
runs an undercurrent of dissatisfaction and disconsolateness :
they do not quite know how to turn their noble gifts to good
account, and are always more or less dependent upon man. . . .
^
ELVES AMD DWARFS 321
Hence too their doubt whether they can become partakers of
salvation, and their unrestrained grief when they receive a

negative answer."
Snorri, in Gylfaginning, Chapter 17, draws a distinction
between Ijbsdlfar and dqkkdlfar : "The light-elves are out-
wardly brighter than the sun, while the dark-elves are blacker
than pitch." The former dwell in Alfheim, which in Grinmis-
mdl, 5, is stated to be the home of Freyr. Elsewhere as well,
as in Skiniismal, 7, light-elves and /Esir are associated. Di^k-
kdlfar are at times identified with dwarfs, so in Skdldskaparmdl,

Chapter 3 at other times, as in Fdfiiismd/, 13, and Gylfagin-
;
Chapters 14 and 15, dwarfs are mentioned separately and

nitig.
are expressly distinguished from the race of elves. Many

scholars accordingly, following in the footsteps of Grimm,
assume alongside of the light- and dark- elves a third class, the
svartdlfar, who are then considered identical with the dwarfs.

But this whole attempt at systematization is doubtless the
artificial work of Norse mythographers. We shall do better,
therefore, to distinguish these beings with reference to their
habitation and the sphere of their activity. They are con-
nected with light and sky, with field and forest, with water,
with subterranean regions, and with the house.
Generally the place where elves live and work is situated on
the earth. There they appear in visible form, or sweep past,
at times only audible, in a wild_tp>ia, carrying in their midst

some woman or child that bJty^Wave stolen.'^ Unlike the Wild
Hunt, which courses through the air, this procession passes
over field and heath. There are, however, also features that
establish an unmistakable connection between the elves and
the air and sunlight. They effect an entrance through the rays
of the sun, are clad in white garments, and possess a radiant,
dazzling beauty. Snorri^ assigns to these light-elves a dwelling
1 DM.-*, p. 368. 2 /,.. Elf. XXVI.

3 Gylfcxginning, Cliapter 17.
in a hall on the mountain of Gimle, where, according to Völ/tspa,
64, in the regenerated world, " the hosts of the righteous shall
dwell, and forever abide in bliss." If it be contended that
Snorri has put these light-elves in the place of angels and the
souls of the blessed, there yet must have been, in the concep-
tions entertained concerning elves, a connecting link that made
such a substitution possible.
Like the Greeks and many other peoples, the Teutons also
conceived nature as peopled with hosts of animate beings. In
forest and field there are found Wi/de Leute, Fa?iggen, Holz- and
Moosfraidein, the Hollunderfrau, the Hyllemor (Danish), the
Skogsfru (Swedish). Besides, there are male beings, such as
Waldmannle'm, Norgen, Schrat. As late an author as Burchard
of Worms speaks of " rustic women, who are called wood-wives
(si/vaiiae), and who are said to possess a bodily form. They
say that they make themselves visible to their lovers whenever
they wish and that they divert themselves with them, and again
that they steal away and disappear whenever they wish." In
this same connection we may refer to the well-known and widely
current story of the Waldfrdulein, the so-called Witidsbrant,
that was pursued by the wild man. The wild and savage
elements are in the case of wood-sprites made far more promi-
nent than the pleasing features.
There is promote the fruitfulness
also a class of spirits that
of the field Kornmianme, Roggenhund, Ha/erbock, Getreidemann,
:
and numerous others including also the Feneshiite and fairies

that on the newly ploughed field bake cake for the men at work.
Other beings do damage to the crops, especially the Pilwiz or
Bilwis, who is repeatedly mentioned in medieval literature, and
who devastates the fields, teases men, and tangles their hair.
Not in the case of all of these beings are there sufficient
grounds for classing them among the elves. The demons
of vegetation, whom we know through folklore, are not con-
sidered as such. At the same time it is difficult to draw a
hard and fast line, and there

is no doubt that the elves are
also to be found and forest, that they promote the

in field
fruitfulness of the soil, and dance on field and meadow (elf-

dance). The spot where the grass grows luxuriantly is called
a " fairy circle." He who tramples this grass under foot becomes
blind, or the elves breathe sickness and death upon him. Thus
we read in Shakespeare's Tempest (V, i):
You demi-puppets that

By moonshine do the green-sour ringlets make
Whereof the ewe not bites.
An important class of elves are the water-elves, or nixes,

to whom incidental reference has already been made. They
are usually small of stature, represented at times as enticingly
beautiful women, whose song bewitches,
at times as bearded
men with green and green teeth. Frequently they are
hat
invisible, or are seen emerging from lake or spring, or their
voice is heard from the depths of the lake, where lie also the
sunken bells (named Anne Susanne) that come to the surface
at St. John's.
The worship prominent place in the Teu-
of water occupied a
tonic religion was regarded as a purifying, rejuvenating, as
;
it
well as a soothsaying element, and was accordingly conceived of

as inhabited by various beings. Sea and waterfall were usually
thought to be the abode of giants, although, in the Introduc-
tion to Reginsmdl, we also find the dwarf Andvari dwelling in
a waterfall. Lakes and springs were regarded as the home of
elves, especially so in Thuringia, the Black Forest {Afummelsee),
and some other localities.
The water-elves pass under numerous names : nix, neck,

nicor^ (Anglo-Saxon), marbendi/l (Icelandic), meermin, meer-
meit (mermaid), meerwip, waterman and watervrouw, tnuhme,
mümmelchen, etc. The Danish havmcetid ^nd hanfnier are used
1 Hence the appellation " Old Nick " for the devil in England.
to designate giants as well as elves. In popular tales the

soothsaying character of the water-elves is made especially
prominent.^ Thus the mermaids, with the upper half of their
body above the water, give expression to oracular utterances
in song. Similarly, the merman, on being caught, regains his
liberty by foretelling the future to his captor. Nicks are
likewise summoned to bring about the accomplishment of
wishes. The best-known example of this is contained in the
fairy tale of Grimm, Voti dem Fischer tin syner Fnij^ all of
whose wishes were realized by the
Manntje, Manntje, Timpe Te,

Buttje, Buttje in der See,
until finally thewoman wished to become like unto the dear

Lord himself, and was thereupon suddenly carried back to her
former home in the " Pissputt." Of a similar character is the
story of the king on the Danube, who inquired of people what
their wishes were, and thereupon cast them in the water, where
all these wishes would be realized.
Water nicks are, therefore, by no means harmless. They
draw men, in part by seduction, in part by force, down to the
depths " Half drew she him, half sank he down."
: Traces of '^
blood on or near the water are signs of vengeance that they

have exacted. They hold numerous men as prisoners, who
have come into their power through a draught of water, or by
playing or dancing with them. These warn others against
a similar fate, but usually in vain. As a rule, it is impossible to
free these prisoners : at times people suppose this end to be
accomplished by making a small, flat stone skip and jump
back over the water. Nicks that roam about among mankind
are recognizable by the wet skirt of their dress.
1 Examples from the Netherlands are cited by J. W. Wolf, Beitriige, II, 286.
2 "The Story of the Fisherman and his Wife," Kinder- and Haicsmdrchen, No. 19.
3 Goethe's Fischer.
Dwarfs closely resemble the elves in character, and one of

their kings bears, in fact, the name of Alberich. They dwell
in the mountains and under the earth. The mountains they
share as a place of habitation with the giants and souls, but
the dwarfs preferably dwell there where treasures are hidden
and where mining is being carried on. This latter occupation
men have learned from the dwarfs. Their voice may be heard
to answer in the mountains the echo is called dwerga mdl
:
(the speech of dwarfs) in Old Norse. There is no certainty

'
as to the etymology of the word " dwarf " other names by which
;
they are known are : bergmannetjes, aardmaiinetjes, iinderjor-

diske. They are invariably small of stature, at times not larger
than a man's thumb, ugly, old, bearded, gray, filthy, misshapen,
at times club-headed, and with feet like those of geese. By
means of a cloak or cap that is called Tarnkappc, or dwarf-hat,
they are able to make themselves invisible. In their own
realm, under the ground or in the mountains, they lead a merry
life with song and dance. Medieval poetry and popular tales
mention a number of names of dwarf kings : Goldemar, Laurin,

Gibich (Harz region), Hans Heiling (Bohemia). They are
frequently dangerous, kidnapping children, or carrying off
beautiful maidens, incidents which medieval German poetry

has at times combined with stories dealing with Dietrich of
Bern and the motif of the Rosengarten.^ In Mdnhen the girl
is compelled to marry the ugly dwarf who has aided her in her
task, unless she should know his name on the following day.
Fortunately the dwarf himself betrays this name through singing
out aloud that he is so glad that no one knows that he is called
Rjimpelstilzchen (^Purzinigele in Tyrol, Tom-Tale-Tit in Eng-
land), — another illustration, therefore, of the quest after ties
of human relationship that is so characteristic of the elves.
Dwarfs are not, however, invariably malicious : witness the
kind-hearted dwarfs that so carefully tend little Snow-White.
1 Svmons, GH,2, § 48.
Dwarfs are rich and are skilful artificers, especially as

smiths, themost famous swords of the Norse sagas being
the handiwork of dwarfs. Wieland (Völund), the smith, is
called an elf-king,ând the incidents of the ravishing of the
maiden and of the ring whose possession confers superhuman
power, from the same saga, are also elfish in character.^ An
old fire-demon has been fused with the dwarf of this saga.^
Of the great skill of the dwarfs, the account in the Snorra
Edda {Skdldskaparmdl^ Chapter 3) affords the most striking
example. The sons of Ivaldi there fashion for Loki the golden
hair of Sif, the ship Skidhbladhnir that is given to Freyr, and
the spear Gungnir, which Odhin possesses. In a wager with
Loki two other dwarfs succeed in forging three objects that
show a still more consummate skill : the ring Draupnir for

Odhin, from which every ninth night eight rings of equal
weight will drop ; for Freyr, the boar with the golden bristles,
which is speedier than a horse, can run through air and water,
and sheds light in the darkest night; for Thor, the greatest
of all treasures, the hammer Mjqllnir. This account conveys
the impression that the author had different groups of dwarfs
in mind, and similarly, in the dwarf catalogue, Voluspa, 9-16,
the more than fifty names are arranged in three divisions,
while in Gyl/aginning, Chapter 14, some dwarfs are said to
dwell in the earth, others in the rocks, still others go " through
marshy valleys to sandy plains." We find in this latter list
dwarfs who take their names from the four points of the
compass. Alongside of some that are unknown to us, we also
meet others that occur elsewhere, such as Regin and Andvari.

Closely related to the dwarfs are the spirits of house and
home, passing under such names as Kobold {Kabouter), Heinzel-

mannchen, Wichtelmiitinchen, Poltergeist, Rumpelgeist, Popanz,
Bullerkater, Butzemann, Tatertnann, Clans. In England and
1 Völundarkvidha, ii. 2 See O. L. Jiriczek, DH. I, 9.
3 See p. 145, above.

along the coast of the North Sea we also meet with the names
"puck," "brownie," "good fellow," and others. The Kobold,
as a rule, likes to lend a helping hand and stable he
in the field ;
feeds the cattle and threshes the grain, fetches water, and per-
forms all manner of domestic duties. At the same time he is
also capable of teasing, but, as a rule, only those who have
deserved punishment. On account of the riches possessed by
dwarfs, such domestic spirits, or Alrauneii, as they are some-
times called,may bestow a blessing of money upon a particular
house. What the Kobold is for the house the Klabautermann,
or Kalfatennaiin, is for the ship.
Elf-cult is repeatedly mentioned. In the Norse sagas we
read of sacrifices to the elves (dlfablót, frequently consisting of
a bull), from which good fortune or restoration to health were
expected. In Sweden, likewise, bloody sacrifices of animals
were made to the elves, on altars consecrated to their worship.
These offerings usually took place onThursday and at Yule-

tide, a period of the year with which numerous cult observ-
ances are connected. Gifts to the elves are also met on

every hand in popular customs people brought them offer-
:
ings of porridge, bread, cake, and beer, placed a coin on a

stone or threw it in the water. We likewise meet with various
usages that are designed to ward them off or keep them at a
distance. Elves and dwarfs abhor uncleanliness, and they may
hence be driven away by human excrements (dlfrck'), by spit-
ting straight ahead, or by pungent herbs. Elves and children
of elves (changelings) may also be driven off by means of
water that has been boiled in eggshells. If one wishes to
capture them, the keyhole must be stopped up, or they must

be held fast by the hair. There are, in addition, numerous
magic formulas and incantations that may be used for forcing
elves to withdraw, or for safeguarding oneself against any
peril that their presence might cause.'
1 Grimm, DM.", Ill, 504, No. 42.
CHAPTER XVII
GIANTS
As compared with the elves, the giants maintain a less
constant intercourse with mankind, and are to a lesser extent

objects of worship. They are, however, equally well repre-
sented in the Mdrchen, take a more active part in the heroic
saga, and also play a far more important role in Norse mythol-
ogy. They are personifications of savage, untamed natural
forces, such as the storm and the wild roaring sea. Their real
home is, accordingly, in regions that are mountainous and near
the coast, in Tyrol and Norway, and to a slighter degree in
England and the plains of Northern Germany. Giants are on
the whole invested with a more pronounced individuality than
the elves : they usually appear singly, less often in groups or
large collective bodies. Not a few giants, especially those of
particular mountains, such as Watzmann and Pilatus, are wholly
bound to a single spot, and may be regarded as mythical

personifications of specific localities. It frequently happens,
therefore, that giantsand elves (dwarfs) inhabit, though in a
different manner, the same realms of nature. Nor are they
always kept entirely distinct. Regin and Fafnir are brothers,
but the former is represented as a dwarf, the latter as a giant.
The following designations for giants may be noted : i. Old
Norse jgûnn (plural j'^fnar), Swedish Jd^fe;
Anglo-Saxon eofcn,
2. Old Norse t/iurs (Middle High Germsin fürse) 3. Swedish ;
^ro// ; 4. German Riese ; 5. Anglo-Saxon ent; 6. hüne (in

Westphalia and part of Drenthe). Here and there we also
meet the loan word gigant. To designate giantesses the Old

Norse employs gygr.
328
GIANTS 329
Giants differ in form and stature

greatly their general ;
characteristics are a huge body and superhuman strength.

They are frequently beautiful witness Gerdhr, Skadhi,
: and
numerous other giantesses who move
the hearts of both
gods and men to love. There are also monsters among
their number, with many heads ^ and hands, one-eyed, ugly,
misshapen, and repulsive. The dogs and wolves that bring
about the eclipses of sun and moon (Managarmr, Hati, Sk^ll)
are also thought of as giants, and such names as K^tt (tom-
cat), Hyndla (bitch), Trana (crane), Kraka (crow), likewise
contain a reference to animal shape.

The traits of character that are ascribed to giants reveal
similar contradictions. They are kind of heart and possess

a childlike joyousness, but are also uncouth and awkward.
They possess a great store of wisdom, as e.g. Vafthrudhnir,
who is visited by Odhin, and Hyndla, who informs Freyja
concerning the genealogies, but their knowledge differs in char-
acter from the shrewdness and nimbleness of the elves and

dwarfs. They are preeminently faithful trolltryggr (faithful :
as a giant) became proverbial. They reward services done

them, but if their wrath {jqtiawiódhr) has been provoked,
nothing is secure against their violent onslaughts.
These various phases in the character of giants, their faith-
fulness and kind-heartedness as well as their frightful wrath,
play a part also in Marchen. They are immoderate in the use
of food and drink, and at times hanker after human flesh, as
in the tale of Tom Thumb. Their hostility to agriculture is
likewise frequently mentioned, — a trait that is not at all sur-
prising in the case of spirits representing the forces of wild

and inhospitable nature.
By the elements is hated

What is formed by mortal hands."^
1 Hymiskvidlia, 35.
2 Schiller, Lied von der Glocke (translation of H. D. Wireman).
:
This antithesis between giants and tillers of the soil is
encountered in numerous sagas, as e.g. in that well-known story

from Alsatia in which the daughter of a giant playfully cap-
tures a farmer in the act of ploughing and puts him in her
apron, and is greatly delighted with her new-found toy. But
her father admonishes her that this is not a fit toy, for if
the farmer does not till the soil bread will be lacking also
in the rocky castle of the giant.
Giants are famous builders. They do not produce works
of art like the dwarfs, but colossal structures, castles, walls
(compare the Cyclopean walls of antiquity), hiitmibedden,
roads built from blocks of stone, and bridges across rivers.^
Under this same category falls also the account" of the giant
builder of the burgh of the ^sir to which reference has repeat-
edly been made.'*
We now turn to a consideration of the giants as identified
with the various domains of nature. There are first of all the
water giants. The North Sea is especially rich in these
Grendel and his mother from Beowulf^ and Wate from
Kudrun ^ will at once occur to the reader. In part they are
monsters, like the eight-handed giant of the Alu waterfalls in
Norway, and Starkad," who has been blended with the hero
of the saga.The shape of horses and bulls assumed by giants
is also of common occurrence, the former, for example, in the
case of the giantess Hrimgerdhr.^ The Midhgardh-serpent
and the Fenris-wolf are likewise examples of sea monsters
belonging to the race of giants. With the former we may
compare the stories abounding in sea lore of sea-serpents that
have been seen rising to the surface.

Chief among the sea giants is .^gir (called also Hler and
1 Examples are given by Grimm, DM.'', p. 453, and Golther, GM., p. 165.
2 GylfagtHHtng, Chapter 42. 5 See above, p. 177.
3 See above, p. 277. ^ See above, p. 166.
* See above, p. 159. ^ Helgakvidha HJorva7-dhssonar, 20.
GIANTS 331
Gymir), whose name the scalds in a few instances even

employed appellatively to designate the sea. His relations
with the .'Esir are of the most friendly character he prepares :
a banquet for them at which Fimafengr and Eldir are the

attendants/ and is in turn Odhin's guest" on Hlesey, the isle
of Hler. He is generally regarded as personifying the calm
open sea. Less benign
in nature is his kin. His wife is the
fierce Ran, who with her net draws drowning men to the
depths. She is the death deity of the sea. The nine daughters
of ^gir and Ran represent, as is evident from their names,''
the surf and the turbulent waves of the sea. Gerdhr too is
called a daughter of the giant Gymir, and her beauty is highly
extolled, but there is nothing in the myth of her union with
Freyr that suggests the water demon on the contrary, it is
;
rather reminiscent of the earth in springtime.

The principal water giants that play a role in the god-myths
have already been mentioned. Among them was the wise
Mimir, between whose wisdom and his character as water
demon there is doubtless a connection. The inhospitable
nature of the sea is personified in Hymir,* who with frosty
beard dwells in the midst of icy peaks, as is graphically told
in the Eddie song that bears his name.The myth itself has
been treated under the head of Thor. Hymir should not be
identified with the primeval giant Ymir, who is also associated
with the water, but whose chief place is in the cosmogony.
Fenja and Menja,^ the giantesses with the quern, are likewise
to be classed among the water demons.
The wind giants are no less numerous, although not all
beings that move about in the air are to be grouped under this
category, certainly not Odhin with the souls constituting his
train. There is an utter lack of such evidence as would con-
1 Lokaseniia. - Bragarcedhur.
3 See Weinhold, Die Riesen des germanischen Myt/ms, SWA., 26, 242.
* Hymiskvidha and Gyl/aginning, Chapter 48. 5 See above, p. 165.
nect the Wild Hunt with the giants, and the views of those
more recent mythologists who assume such a relationship are
erroneous. Nor are the demons of vegetation, mentioned
under the rubric " Elves " to be classed as wind giants. With
greater show of reason, certain poetical expressions used by
the scalds for the wind, such as brjbtr (shatterer), (â/w' (slayer),
skadhi (harm), might be cited under this head, but the personi-
fication contained in these kentiingar is after all of too incom-
plete a character to serve as the basis for such conclusions.
The wind giants are really storm giants, so e.g. Ecke and
Vasolt of the German heroic saga, with whom Dietrich of
Bern enters into combat. Norse mythology boasts of a large

number of wind giants. Thrym and Thjazi, who in the shape
of an eagle carries off Loki, have before been referred to. At
the edge of heaven, in the form of an eagle, sits Hraesvelg, who
sets the sea in motion and fans the flames of fire.^ Kari
causes ice and snow, and in general wind giants are frequently
giants of winter, hrimthiirsar, rime or frost giants, several names

being compounds that have hrim as first component part.
Hrungnir has also been counted among the wind giants,
because he rides on the stallion Gullfaxi, but the myth dealing
with him even less simple and transparent than those of
is
Geirrödhr and Suttungr, which we discussed in connection with

Thor and with Odhin. In these and other accounts the elabo-
ration of the story-motif at the hands of the mythographers
and poets has entirely obscured the nucleus of original nature-
myth which they may contain. It is, at any rate, impossible
to determine to what sphere of nature these giants belong.

The mountain giants {bergrisar), although necessarily re-
stricted to definite localities, are very numerous. By their
fantastic and grotesque forms certain rocks involuntarily sug-

gest the idea of petrified giants, and stories are accordingly
told of savage giant kings who on account of their cruelty were
1 Vafthri'idhnismal, 2,7, and Gylfaginning, Chapter i8.
GIANTS 333
changed into rocks. On the other hand, we also hear of
benevolent giants and giantesses inhabiting the mountains,

such as Dofri and his daughter Fridhr in Norway.^ While
giants also dwell in the forest, there are hardly any instances
of individual forest giants.
There is no need of continuing this enumeration of giants.
Among them are some figures that belong only in part to the
race of giants thus jQrdh and Rindr are sometimes classed
;
among the giantesses and again among the Asynjur.^ The

giants of night and day that inhabit Jqtunheim do not rest on a
basis of popular belief : their genealogy is artificial.^
It would, however, be a mistake to suppose that giants in
general did not constitute an integral part of popular belief.

Such was most decidedly the case, the more so because they
were, even to a greater extent than the elves, identified with
definite localities. They stand in all manner of relations to
mankind, friendly as well as hostile, but are generally feared

and held in awe. There are, however, only slight traces of giant
warrant the conclusion that there existed at
cult, too slight to
an earlier period a widespread giant worship. Giants are

invoked now and then in incantations, as e.g. Vasolt in a
weather charm of the eleventh century, and a certain Tumbo,
who is called upon to heal wounds and to staunch blood. In
Norway a certain giant, Dumbr, is styled heitgudh {i.e. a god
who is invoked) and bjargV(Zttr (guardian spirit), and in the
Kormaks Saga, Chapter 27, a blotrisi (a giant to whom sacri-
fices are made) is mentioned, whose indigenous character is,
however, not above suspicion. Finally, in the North, at Yule-
tide, beer is also brought to the giants' hill for the giants.
It is of more importance, therefore, to inquire what position
literature has assigned to the giants. Norse literature has pro-
vided them with a systematic genealogy : they are descended
1 Kjalnesingasaga, Chapters 12 and 14. - Gylfaginning, Chapter 36.

3 See VafthriiJhnismal, and Gylfaginning, Chapter 10.
from Fornjotr (the ancient giant), whose three sons, Hler,

Logi, and Kari, represent respectively water, fire, and wind, a
trilogy, accordingly, that is parallel to that found in the world of
the gods. This genealogy unquestionably specifically Norse,
is
the parallels among other Teutons that have been claimed for
it being extremely weak. Its home is in the region of the Cat-
tegat. Norr, also, the eponymous hero of Norway, is stated to
be a descendant of this ancient giant. Kari is furthermore
made the ancestor of a number of semi-personified beings, the
appellative origin of whose names is still perfectly clear. They
are : J^kull (glacier), Frosti (cold). Sneer (mountain snow),
pQnn (heap of snow), Drifa (snow-whirl), MJ9II (snow-dust).
A number of these personifications of nature are at the same
time thought of, in euhemeristic fashion, as ancient kings, of
whom various stories are told and whom numerous Norwegian
'families regard as their progenitors. Sporadically we also
find Fornjotr identified with Ymir, from whom the giants
are descended according to Hyndluljodh, 34, and again with
Thrivaldi or with Allvaldi, the father of Thjazi.^
The home of the giants was regarded as lying in the north-
east, or, at a later time, in the southeast. A distinction is
sometimes drawn between J^tunheim and Risaland. In Ahnss-

mdl, the giants, like the yEsir, Vanir, and dwarfs, have sepa-
rate and and objects. Similarly,
distinct designations for beings
things have different names with Hel and with men, but these
five or six different languages are mere scaldic fiction.
In both the Eddie poems and the Snorra Edda essentially

different conceptions regarding giants frequently stand side by
side, or are even commingled. The part giants play in the
cosmogony (viz. Ymir) and in the eschatology (viz. Surtr) will
receive consideration in the following chapter.
In both Eddas the conception of kinship and close relation-
ship between giants and Msn is dominant. Odhin and his
1 Harbardhsljódh, 19; BragarocdJiitr, Chapter 2.
GIANTS 335
brothers constitute a younger race that has succeeded the

giants.^ Tyr is the son of Hymir^; Thor and VaU have as
their mothers the giantesses J^rdh and Rindr, respectively.
Thor, notwithstanding the fact that he is the sworn enemy of
numerous giants, yet greatly resembles them, and Loki too is
of their race, and is, in fact, even designated "the giant."/^
The ^sir have intercourse with giantesses, Odhin with sev- —
eral, Freyr with Gerdhr, Nj^rdhr with Skadhi. Odhin seeks
wisdom from Vafthrudhnir, and Mimir is his friend. Freyja
visits Hyndla in her cave to learn hidden things.
But in the myths to which we alluded in the above resume
the giants and ^sir also frequently appear as each other's
enemies. In the case of Thor and Loki, the mere mention of
their names will suffice to make this fact evident. The union
between Freyr and the giantess Gerdhr is condemned by ^^sir
and elves alike.* Eddie mythology is full of the struggle be-
tween ^-Esir and giants, the latter ever showing a keen desire
to get Freyja in their power. It is noteworthy that the giants
have no share in the death of Baldr. Nor do they play an
important role in the final catastrophe, except in so far as the
monsters, the Midhgardh-serpent and the Fenris-wolf, are to
be accounted of their number.
At first blush it would seem that these two conceptions of
the relationship between .F^sir and giants are contradictory,
and that we must choose between two alternatives : either that
the giants are an older race of gods, or that they are the
expression of a dualistic conception of the world. It is to be
noticed, however, that in Greek mythology also we find the
same two notions the Titans are the older race from which
:
the Olympians have sprung, and with whom they have to battle,
the new order of things being established only after the supreme
Olympian, Zeus, has entered into union with the Titanides,
1 Gylfaghiiiing, Chapter 6. 3 Völuspa, 54.

2 Hymiskvidha. * Skirnismdl, 7.
Themis and Mnemosyne. While Norse mythology has not

been moulded by a power of art and thought such as that
which created the figure of Prometheus for the Greeks, yet
these two aspects found in the Greek Titans are also present
in the Norse giants : they represent the hostile forces as well
as the ancient and the immutable ones : the Norns are the
mighty maids from Thursenheim.^ Such conceptions as these
lie athand, and there is no need of supposing them to have
been introduced from foreign sources by scalds and mythog-
raphers. The scalds have merely drawn the giants, who are
properly figures of the "lower" mythology, within the sphere
of the poetic and systematized mythology. They are the same
ancient and wise beings that play a part in popular belief, from
whom, accordingly, even the gods have something to learn.
They also represent the wild and untamed forces of nature,
with which the gods come into conflict. An absolute or philo-
sophic dualism, as chaos and order, matter and spirit, or good
and evil, the Norse mythographers certainly did not have in
mind, or at least only in so far as Christian ideas had influ-
enced their own conceptions.

The medieval heroic saga has made use of giants in a
variety of ways. King Rother has several savage giants
among his following : Asprian who slays a lion, Widolt who is
led about on an iron chain, and others. There is also a Lom-

bard saga in which the giants bear a close resemblance to Ber-
serkers. Giants are furthermore made to do duty as watchmen
at the gates of castles or as guardians of treasures, at times in
the shape of dragons. In several accounts of combats the
motif of a struggle between giants is unmistakably present, as
in the stories connected with the Alpine region of Tyrol, which
have been transferred to the cycle of Dietrich of Bern*^ (Ecke,

Vasolt, etc.), and in the narratives dealing with the faithless
warriors, Witege and Heime. Here, as elsewhere, a mythical
1 Völuspa, 8. 2 See Jiriczek, DH. I, 185 ff.
GIANTS 337
element has blended with the historical saga. Another original

and very old motif is that of the wise giant who brings up
young heroes. In German poetry this motif has been crowded
into the background, but such is not the case with Norse litera-
ture. In the songs of the Edda and in the V^lsunga Saga
Sigurd is reared by Regin and Fafnir, and Harald Fairhair
similarly spent his youth with the giant Dofri.^ According to
Saxo, Hadding also is brought up by a giant, but this belongs

to a somewhat different type of story, viz. those picturing
relations of love between heroes and daughters of giants.^
1 Flateyarbók^ I, 564.
^ Additional examples may be found in A. Olrik, Kilderne til Sakses Oldhistorie,
I, 40-43-
CHAPTER XVIII
THE WORLD
Cosmogony, Cosmology, and Eschatology
In Norse mythology alone do we find cosmogonical and

eschatological views systematically developed. Beginning with
the cosmogony, to which this observation applies with especial
force, it seems proper to treat the Norse conception not merely
in its elaborated form, but also to examine separately the vari-
ous elements that have entered into it. Before considering,
therefore, the artificial structure that owes its existence to the
efforts of the Norse mythographers, it is necessary to inquire
whether for some of its features parallels can be found else-
where in the Teutonic world. It would be very singular
indeed if such parallels did not exist, for notions concerning
the origin of man and the world are of well-nigh universal
occurrence. Although such data are rare among the Teutons,
they are yet not altogether wanting. From the lament of the
Anglo-Saxon nobles concerning their ignorance of the origin
of things,^ we are as little justified in inferring that all con-

ceptions of this kind were lacking among the Teutons, as an
opposite conclusion would be justified on the basis of the
answer of the great Chlodowech, when his wife attempted to
persuade him to have their little son baptized: "All things
are created by the decree of our gods." - Such anecdotes,
even supposing that they are genuine and have not been
retouched to any great extent, prove very little. The
2 Gregory of Tours, Historia Francormit, II, 29.
338
THE WORLD 339
correspondence between certain lines of the so-called Wesso-

brunn Prayer and the third strophe of Voluspa would at first view
seem to possess greater significance, but in our previous dis-
cussion of this matter we have already seen that there is no

warrant for recognizing in this German monument a fragment
of genuine pagan cosmogony.^
The points of agreement of which we are in search are in
fact very few; and we must accordingly make the most of what
is actually found. One such parallel we recognize in the
account given by Tacitus - of the sacred saline streams near
the Saale. At that river, in spots where the tribes in question
thought themselves in especially close proximity to the gods, the
salty water was made to evaporate on burning coals, salt being
thus obtained " from two opposing elements, fire and water."
With this we may compare the account in Gylfagiiining,
Chapters and 6, where the elements of water and fire also
5
play a role in the cosmogony, and where the cow Audhumla

licks the salty stones. While the correspondence is hardly
close enough to allow us to see in this passage of Tacitus
additional evidence for " the creation of the world out of the
elements,""' it is yet worthy of note that creation from hetero-
geneous elements and the significance of salt are features that
Tacitus and the Norse cosmogony have in common.
There is one other important document to which Kauffmann,
in this connection, was the first to call attention. It is a long
and detailed letter addressed by the bishop Daniel of Win-
chester (about A.D. 720) to Boniface, and containing advice
regarding his mission work in Central Germany. The bishop
admonishes Boniface that the preaching should not be at
haphazard, but that the missionary should give evidence that

he is acquainted with the cult and legends of the heathen.
Boniface is accordingly counselled to attack the contradictions
1 See above, p. 130. - Aiuials, XIII, 57.

3 Uhland, Schriften, \'II, 479.
:
and absurdities pagan ideas concerning the gods and

of the
the origin of the world. Either the world was created, or it

existed from the beginning. If created, by whom > By gods
that themselves were begotten, and that before the creation
had no possible place
.
of habitation t If without beginning,
who then ruled the world before the birth of the gods ? While
little can be gathered from this letter concerning the actual
content of the current pagan ideas, it yet seems clear that
these heathen Germans busied themselves with the problem of
the origin of things.
However meagre these German parallels may appear to be,
they would seem to afford a sufficient basis for the assumption

that Norse mythology had no need of deriving its ideas regard-
ing the origin of things from classical or Christian sources.
Although such foreign influences are by no means to be
excluded, it is probable that the material which formed the
basis was in the main Teutonic in origin.
An apparently connected account of the cosmogony is
furnished by Gylfaginning, Chapters 3-9. The connection

between the various conceptions found there is, however, only
an artificial Thus the statement that
one. Allfather {Alfadhir)
is the supreme deity, who is eternal, rules all, and has created
heaven, earth, and sky, is at variance with what follows. The
material is in part derived from Voluspa and Vafthrudhnismdl,
a strophe from HymUuIjódh being likewise cited. Voluspa, 3
and 4, have the following
In times of old it was, where Ymir dwelt. There were nor sand nor
sea nor cool waves ; earth there was nowhere, nor heaven above a yawn- ;
ing chasm there was, but grass nowhere.

Early Bor's sons uplifted the lands, and created the fair Midhgardh.
From the south the sun shone on the stones. then was the ground
. . .
overgrown with green herbage.
Strophe 3 contains a hysteron proteron : the void was first,
and from it Ymir came forth. No further description of this

: ;
THE WORLD 341
void, as a confused chaos in which all the elements were min-

gled, is essayed, nor is an attempt made to define it as a
philosophic concept. The gods {i.e. Bor's sons) seem rather
to reduce things to order than to create from nothing. The
role played by Ymir is not made clear ; instead of the words,
"where Ymir dwelt," Gy/fagi?ining, which cites this passage,
has " there was naught," a change which is probably not to be
set down, with Miillenhoff, as due to a desire to make the
connection more logical, but to be explained, with Gering, as
an efifort to rescue the Christian idea of a creation from
nothing. Other strophes supplement this brief account. So
we read in Vafthn'idhtiismal, 2 i :
From Ymir's flesh was the earth created, and from hisbones the moun-
tains ; the heaven from the skull of the rime-cold giant, and from his blood
the sea.
The interpolated strophes, Grimnismdl, 40 and 41, elaborate

this as follows
From Ymir's flesh was the earth created, and from his blood the sea
the mountains from his bones ; the trees from his hair, and from his skull
the heaven.
And from his eyelashes the gracious gods prepared Midhgardh for the
sons of men, and from his brain all the hard-hearted clouds were created.
We find the same notion, that various parts of the world

were formed from members of the body of the primeval giant, in
kcnninga?- of the scalds. The conception may, of course, have

been developed or modified at a later period, but there is
nothing to prevent our ascribing to the Teutons what is found

among so many different peoples : the idea that the world has
arisen from the body of the primeval giant.
Ymir signifies " the sounding, the rustling one." His own
origin is thus described {Vafthnuihnismdl, 31) :
From the Elivagar dripped venom drops, which grew until a giant sprang
from them.
Elivagar means "stormy waves." The word also occurs

Jlymiskvid/ia, 5, but there as the home of Hymir, and without
having reference to the cosmogony. Now according to Gyl-
Chapters 4 and 5, there flowed from Niflheim, from
Jaginniiig,
the fountain Hvergelmir, the twelve rivers Elivagar, whose
venomous and half-frozen waters reached Ginnungagap (the
" yawning chasm " of Voluspa, 3). These icy strata there
encountered the fiery sparks from Muspellsheim, and from this
there arose, " through the might of the ruler of the universe,"
as Gylfaginniiig adds with a characteristic Christian coloring,
the giant Ymir, who is also called Orgelmir (the mighty roarer).
Ymir, as we have seen, was the ancestor of the giants, and
from him the dwarfs are also descended. We here have the
opposition between water and fire to which attention was
directed above. The origin of Ymir is accordingly in the
main a Neptunian one. There is no need of deriving these
conceptions, at least not in so far as the general thought is
concerned, from foreign sources.

What follows bears a decidedly more artificial character.
From the sweat in his armpits Ymir brings forth the frost
giants, and by touching one foot with another he begets his
own progeny. Still another race was born when the cow
Audhumla, who had fed Ymir with her milk, licked the salty
stones. Thus arose Buri (the born one), whose son Bor
(Bur) begat Odhin, Vili, and Ye by the giant's daughter
Bestla. These latter slew Ymir and in his blood drowned
the whole race of frost giants. Bergelmir alone saved himself
in and became the founder of a new race of giants.^
a boat
From Ymir's body, which they had dragged into the middle of
Ginnungagap, the gods now formed the world, in the manner
just described, each of the various parts of the world origi-
nating from a member of the giant's body.
It is doubtful whether all these various features can ever

1 Vafthn'idhnisvial, 55.
1
THE WORLD 343
be satisfactorily explained. We do not gain anything, for

example, by interpreting the cow Audhumla as symbolical of
the clouds. In this entire account the cosmogony is evidently
at the same time a theogony, a cosmogonic significance having
been imparted to the struggle between giants and gods. The
gods are designated as Bor's sons also in Voluspa, 4. It is
quite impossible to ascertain what elements in the story as
told in Gylfaginning are really derived from older sources, and
what is the product of Snorri's own fancy. There are no
grounds for regarding the drowning of the giants in the blood
of Ymir as a deluge legend.
Still another fragment, which long remained unintelligible,
has reference, if not to the origin, at any rate to the organiza-

tion of the world. We refer to the interpolated strophes,
V'óluspa, 5 and 6 :
The sun from the south, with the moon her fellow, cast her right hand
on the edge of the heaven. The sun knew not her inn, nor the moon his
dominion, nor the stars their place.
Thenall the powers, the most high gods, assembled to their judgment-
seats and took council together, giving names to night and the new moons
(phases of moons) they called morningtide and midday, afternoon and
:
eventide by their names, for the counting of seasons.
The phenomenon which is pictured here with perfect accu-

racy is that of the Northern midnight sun, which is seen in
the heavens at the same time with the moon, —a sight that
creates in the poet the feeling of a disordered state of things,
as if the heavenly bodies were bewildered and had lost their
way. But the gods take council together, and appoint again
a regular succession of times and seasons.^ They are here,
accordingly, again the organizing powers of the universe. In
their present position, which is not the original one, these
iCPB. I, 194.
2 The correct interpretation of these strophes we owe to J. Hoffory {Eddastu-
dicn, 73-85).
strophes seem to be connected with the cosmogony, but

whether this connection was original can no longer be deter-
mined. In any case this fragment is the most noteworthy,
and the most truly mythical, of all the passages that deal with
the heavenly bodies. The interpretation which Gylfaginning,
Chapter 8, gives, is untenable.
Both day and night are of the race of giants the steed of ;
day is Skinfaxi, of night Hrimfaxi.^ Sun {sbl, feminine) and

moon {7fidiü, masculine), through whom time is measured, are
the children of Mundilfceri.^ In the interpolated strophes,
Gnmiiismal, 37 and 38, steeds of the sun and a shield of the
sun are mentioned. Gylfagimiing, Chapters 10-13, elaborates
these artificial genealogies still further. These chapters dis-
turb, however, the connection of thought between what pre-
cedes and what follows, and are regarded as an interpolation.

In the case of the greater part of the proper names occurring
there, the appellative signification is still clearly manifest.
Among the stories told are several that are aetiological in
character, such as were no doubt invented by the people.

Thus the children in the moon were stolen by Mani, as they
were returning from a spring, and similar tales are told to

explain the eclipses of the sun and moon (caused by the
wolves SkQll and Hati), and concerning the rainbow Bifr^st,
which forms a bridge between heaven and earth. Of the same
general character are the observations on summer and winter
(^Gylfagilining, Chapter 19).
The accounts of the origin of man are few and meagre. We
may refer in this connection to the words of Tacitus" {Ger-
mania, Chapter 2) :
They honor Tuisto, a god who has sprung from the earth, and
. . . his
son Mannus as the originators and founders of the race.
1 Vafthritdhnistnal, 12, 14. - Vafthri'idlinismal, 23.

3 See above, p. 79.
^
THE WORLD 345
While Tacitus here doubtless has in mind the origin of the

tribes, and not of the human race in general, this ethnogony
nevertheless includes an anthropogony, Mannus signifying
simply man. It is not likely that behind the words " sprung
from the earth " we are to seek a myth of a cosmogonic
marriage between heaven and earth, or of a divine phallus
which was cut off and whose blood fructified the earth.
Another account is found in Völuspa, 17 and 18 :
Until three yEsir, mighty and gracious, came out of this host to the
house. They found on the land, devoid of power and destiny, Ask and
Embla.
Breath they possessed not, reason they had not ; neither warmth nor
expression nor comely color. Odhin gave breath, Hoenir gave reason,
Lodhurr gave warmth and comely color.
Gylfagiiiiiiiig, Chapter 9, gives the same account with only

slight variations. Men sprang from trees (ash and elm ?),
endowed with life and spirit by the gifts of that triad of gods
which we have repeatedly encountered.
While we do not in any of these accounts of the cosmogony
find the idea of a creation out of nothing, there is also no
trace of an eternally existing matter as a philosophic concept.
Creatures and objects have either come into existence of their
own accord, or have been formed by the disposing hand of
the gods out of preexisting matter.

A similar condition of affairs meets us in the case of the
cosmology : the world-idea of Norse mythology has also never
been united into a consistent and harmonious whole. In the
cosmogony we already had occasion to mention the worlds
Niflheim in the North and Muspellsheim in the South, as well
as the abyss Ginnungagap. An attempt has at times been

made to define geographically this "huge chasm of an abyss,'"^
by locating it now in the Polar Sea, then again in Vinland
iSo MuUenhoff, DA. IV, 113-114.

2 Adam of Bremen, Gesia, IV, 38.
346 FHE RELIGION OF THE ANCIENT TEUTONS
(America). However may

be, the ^sir created in the
this
centre of the universe the fair Midhgardh ^ as an habitation
for men. This name Midhgardh occurs among all Teutonic
peoples, and indicates either the inhabited earth as the centre
of the universe, situated between heaven and the lower world,
or the centre of the earth conceived as a disk, surrounded by
the sea (Midhgardh-serpent). Likewise in the centre of the
universe — perhaps as the smallest a number concentric of of
circles^ — Asgardh, which however, situated on high,
lies is,
the gods surveying the various worlds from the high-seat

Hlidhskjalf. The greater part of the dwellings of the gods,
which Grimnismdl,. ^-i"], and Gylfaginning, Chapter 17, enu-
merate, are also situated on high, as is evident from the
derivation of the names in question, but they are merely the
creation of scaldic fiction. According to Voluspa, 7 and 60,
the ^sir in the golden age dwell in Idhav^ll (the field of
incessant effort), and return to it at the restoration.^
In our sources reference is more than once made to the
nine worlds,'* but scholars have had little success in attempts
to identify these with some degree of certainty, and still less
in trying to locate them. A classification into three super-
terrestrial, three terrestrial, and three subterrestrial has been
attempted (Simrock). It has also been conjectured that
according to the Norse conception the earth sloped down-
wards towards the north and upwards towards the south
(VVilken). Others have toiled to define the geographical situ-
ation of each regionmore or less accurately, but all in vain :
no certainty has been attained in any of these particulars.

Among the nine worlds Niflheim, Muspellsheim, Midhgardh,
Asgardh, and J^tunheim are to be regarded as certain, and to
1 Voliispa, 4 ; GriiiDiiiiudl, 41 ; Gylfaginning, Chapter 8.

2 So Weinhold, Altnordischcs Lclien, p. 358.
3 Compare also Gylfaginning, Chapters 14, 53.
••
V'óhispa. 2 Vafthri'idhiiismdl, 43 Alvissiudl, 9; Gylfaginning, Chapter
; ;
3.
THE WORLD 347
these we may add Vanaheim, Alfheim, though in the Grini- —

nisvid/,5, this is classed among the heavenly mansions and
assigned to Freyr, —
and Svartalfaheim but even then we have ;
only reached the number of eight. The ninth world must

accordingly be obtained, either by distinguishing Hel from
Niflheim, or by adding a water world which is not anywhere
expressly mentioned.^ It is obvious that it is impossible to
derive from these data an accurate conception of the arrange-
ment of the world. We should also be on our guard against
attaching too much weight to a few detached observations,
such as that the gods must dwell in the west, since Wodan
looks out of his window towards the east, Thor on his jour-
neys against the giants proceeds in an easterly direction, and
at the abjuration of his pagan faith the convert turned his face
towards the west.^
Eddie topography is, however, not exclusively, nor even
primarily, concerned about places, but rather about the beings
inhabiting them : the v^lva, the giant Vafthrudhnir, the dwarf
Alviss are so wise because they have traversed all the worlds,
i.e. have had converse with all manner of beings. Alongside
of this latter, which is after all the matter of prime importance,
we find expressions of praise and admiration for the fair Midh-
gardh, the world of men.
The expression "ni'o I'vidhi " used in Vö/uspa, 2, seems to
designate the nine worlds as divisions of the world-tree. This
world-tree bears various names. In Völuspa, 2, it is called
pijqtvid/ir, i.e. the tree that metes out the fate of men. In
keeping with this, one of his roots is located near the fountain
Urdhr.^ Usually, however, it is called Yggdrasil, but inasmuch
as this word is merely a kenning for Odhin's steed (Sleipnir),
it cannot be the name of a tree, and Askr Yggdrasils, which
we find in Grifnnistnd/, 29 and 30, is doubtless the more correct

1 Compare the note of Gering on Vafthrudhnisindl, 43.
2E. H. Meyer, GM., § 250. 3 Vöhispa, 19.
designation. It is the ash in which is Odhin's steed (the

wind). The name Lseradh, witli which, as is evident from
the connection, the same world-tree is designated in Grimnis-
mdl, 25 and 26, still awaits an explanation. A fourth name is
Mimameidhr (the tree of Mimir),^ which indicates its close rela-

tionship to Mimir, one of its roots being located at Mimir's
fountain.
Voliispa, without anywhere giving a detailed description, tells
us incidentally^ that this gigantic tree, besprinkled with dew,

stands ever green at the fountain of Urdhr, that the horn of
Heimdallr lies hidden under it, and that it will tremble at
the final catastrophe. FJqlsvinnsmd/, 13-18 (with a lacuna
between strophes 15 and 16), which are only loosely connected
with the remainder of the poem, and which break the conti-
nuity of thought, relate how the tree Mimameidhr springs
from unknown roots, how destruction is impending over it,
and how the cock Vidhofnir (identical with the one which in
Völuspa, 43, summons to the final conflict.-') is seated in its
boughs and causes the hostile forces, Sinmara (?) and Surtr,
great anxiety. GrimnismdP stands alone in the Eddie songs
in giving a detailed picture of Yggdrasil's ash. We are there
told that the goat Heidhrun bites from the boughs of L^radh,
and fills the bowls with its milk, of which, according to Gylfa-
ginning, Chapter 39, the Eiuherjar drink. The hart Eikthyrnir
also bites from its leaves, and from his horns water drips into
the fountain Hvergelmir, in Niflheim, whence all rivers flow.
On their steeds the yEsir daily ride forth to sit in judgment at

Yggdrasil's ash.
Three roots stretch out in three directions under Yggdrasil's ash. Hel
dwells under one, the frost giants under the other, the race of men under
the third.
A wise eagle is seated in the top of the tree ; at its roots

gnaws the serpent Nidhh^ggr. The squirrel Ratatoskr runs
'^
FjolsviiiHsinal, 14. 2 Strophes 19, 27, 47. 3 Strophes 25, 26, 29-35.
THE WORLD 349
up and down the tree, and carries words of strife from the
eagle down to the serpent. Besides, four harts gnaw at the
branches and countless serpents lie at the roots, so that the tree
has greater hardships to bear than men are aware of. With
some modifications the same description is repeated in Gylfagin-
?ii?ig, Chapters 15, 16, and 39, where the utter lack of harmony
between the various elements of the conception shows itself
even more clearly. As Miillenhoff^ has remarked, a perusal

of these passages can leave in the mind only the most incon-
gruous ideas concerning the character of the world-tree.
It would be a thankless task to attempt to analyze the Norse
conception of the world-tree in all its details and to trace the
origin of the separate features. While it admits of no doubt
that some of the latter represent genuine myths, elsewhere it is
equally certain that the introduction of mere scaldic para-

phrases, poetic and symbolic conceptions, has considerably
modified the original picture. It is quite unlikely that we are
to attribute any share in this transformation to classical and
Christian influences ; in any case this could apply to minor
points only. The picture that is unfolded before our eyes is
that of the world-tree, under which the gods hold thing, which
is sustained by Mimir and by Odhin's pawn (his eye), i.e. by
water and sun, in which the wind rustles, which is continually
menaced, and which trembles at the end of things.
This end of things had long before been announced and pre-
pared, by the appearance of the three Norns on Idhav^ll,-
by the war with the Vanir, and by the ^sir's violation of their
oaths. ^ In Voluspa these myths constitute part of the world-
drama in the mouth of the vQlva they have assumed the sig-
:
nificance that through the guilt of the ^sir the golden age was
terminated, peace broken, and the end prepared. Everything
1 DA. V, 103. 2 Voluspa, 8.

3 Vdltispa, 21-26. No express mention is made in Voluspa of the construction
of a burgh for the iEsir by a giant builder.
else is brought into connection with this end : the hiding of

the horn of Heimdallr under the tree/ and Baldr's death,
which is the greatest calamity that could befall Walhalla, for
although Loki is in power is by no means broken
chains, his
forever.^ The words thatOdhin whispers into the ear of
Baldr before he is placed upon the pyre ( Vafthrïidhnisnidl,
54, 55) also refer to the final catastrophe. The connection
existing between these myths in Voluspa is, of course, the
work of the poet.
The scene of the final struggle is preceded in Voluspa,
36-38, by a sketch of the worlds that are hostile to the .'Esir :
From the east there flows through venomous dales a stream with knives
and swords. It is called Slidhr (the fearful).^
There stood in the north on Nidhav9llir (Dismalplains) a hall of gold

of the race of Sindri. Another stood on Okolnir (Uncold), the beer-hall
of the giant, who is called Brimir.
A saw stand far from the sun, on Nastrand.
hall I Its doors are turned
northward. Drops of venom fell in through its luffer : the hall is entwined
with the backs of serpents.
All these worlds are the habitations of giants and other enemies
of the ^sir. Then follows a description of the end to come,
in part based on popular belief, and in part the creation of the
poet's fancy. Foreign sources do not constitute a factor in

the production. In a forest a giantess gives birth to the
progeny of Fenrir, more especially to that sun-devouring wolf,
who feeds on the flesh of the slain.* On the hill of the giantess
sits the watchman Eggther and strikes the harp, and in each
of the three worlds, with the giants, with the .-Esir and with
Hel, a cock crows.^
The dog Garm also begins to bay loud before Gnipahellir, and the chains
that hold the Fenris-wolf are rent asunder, and the wolf courses about.^
1 Voluspa, 27. * Voluspa, 40, 41.

2 Voluspa, 32-35. 5 Voluspa, 42, 43.
3 Here follows a lacuna of two lines. * Voluspa, 44.
^ 1
THE WORLD 35
It is a period of great degeneracy in the world of men ;
Brothers shall fight and slay one another, sisters' sons shall break the
bonds of kinship. It shall fare hard with the world : great whoredom, an
axe-age, a sword-age, shields shall be cloven, a wind-age, a wolf-age, ere
the world sinks in ruin. No man shall spare the other.
There is no need of assuming that in the depicting of this

scene Christian influences have been at work. The touch, at
any rate, that the ties of blood will be dissolved, is thoroughly
in keeping with Teutonic ideas. In another passage ^ floods
and snowstorms announce the approaching end. Of this com-
motion J^()7uspa, 46-53, furnishes a description :
Mimir's sons[/.<?. the waters] are in motion, and the end is drawing nigh
at the sound of the old gjallarhorn. Loud blows Heimdallr, the horn is
raised aloft, Odhin talks with the head of Mimir.
Yggdrasil's ash towering trembles, the old tree groans, and the giant
[Loki] breaks loose.
The ^sir are thereupon attacked from three sides : from the
east come the giants with the Midhgardh-serpent ; from the
north the ship manned by the 'people from Hel and steered by
Loki, and also the Fenris-wolf from the south Surtr and his
;
followers from Muspellsheim. Odhin engages in combat with

the Fenris-wolf, Freyr with Surtr, Thor with the Midhgardh-
serpent, and all the three gods fall in the struggle. There-
upon,
The sun begins to darken, the earth sinks into the sea, the bright stars
vanish from heaven. Vapor and fire rage, the high flame licks the sky.^
Among the features that the Snorra Edda {Gylfagirming^

Chapter 51) adds to this scene is, first of all, the Fimbul-winter
— three winters without intervening summer — that precedes
the end. Then there is also the ship Naglfar (nail-ship), built
from the nails of the dead, in which Hrymr makes his way
1 VÖIII spa, 45. 3 Vóliispa, 57.
2 Voliispa Inn skamma in Hyndluljódh, 44.
from the land of the giants. To the three pairs of combatants

a fourth has been added : Tyr and the dog Garm, who kill
each other. Finally, Gylfagimiing also carries out the motif of
the vengeance taken by Vidharr (the son of Odhin) upon the

Fenris-wolf. Strophe 54 of Völiispa, which also refers to this
latter incident, seems to be spurious.
But this is after all not the end of things : a new earth and
^
a rejuvenated race of gods arise from the waters :
A second time I see the earth come forth from the sea again, in fresh
verdure. Cascades fall, the eagle soars on high, which in the mountains
preys on fish.
The gods meet on Idhavcjll, talk of the mighty earth-encircler, and there
call to mind the great events, and the ancient runes of Fimbultyr.
There shall again be found in the grass the wonderful golden tables
which in days of old they had possessed. . . .
Unsown the fields shall yield, all evil shall be amended, Baldr shall
come. ll(j)dhr and Baldr inhabit Hroptr's fields of combat, the abode of
the gods of battle. Know ye yet or what ?
Then can Hoenir choose and the sons of the brothers
his lot-twig . . .
of Tveggi inhabit the spacious Vindheim. ye yet or what ? Know

A hall I see, fairer than the sun, thatched with gold, on Gimle there :
shall the hosts of the righteous dwell, and forever abide in bliss.
The powerful one comes to hold high judgment, the mighty one from
above,who rules over all. . . .
The dark dragon comes flying, the glistening serpent from below, from
NidhafJ9llir : in his plumage bears — he flies o'er the plain — Nidhh(;)ggr
the corpses; now he will sink away.
This picture supplemented by ]âfthrüdlniis?ndl^ 44-53,

is
where the giant Vafthrudhnir makes answer to the questions

that Odhin, in disguise, propounds concerning the end of
things. Two human beings, Lif and Lifthrasir {i.e. " life "
and " desiring life "), survive the catastrophe, by hiding in the
world-ash. The sun (AlfrQdhull, e/f-ray) before being devoured

by Fenrir has given birth to a daughter, and three groups
of Norns protect the new race of men. Of the ^-Esir, Vidharr
1 Volusfa, 59-66.
THE WORLD 353
and Vali, Modhi and Magni alone remain. In Gylfaginning,

Chapter 53, these various episodes have simply been combined
to form a connected narrative.
While the presence of Christian influences in this escha-
tology cannot be gainsaid, it is yet not a mere copy of the apoc-
alypses. The expectation that the world would be destroyed,^
and even that a restoration would follow, is not necessarily an
idea that was foreign to the Teutons. Its present elaborated
form, however, belongs to the period of ferment which pro-
duced Voluspa^ viz. the tenth century, when Christianity was
exerting both a direct and an indirect influence, thus giving
rise to these and similar conceptions of a mixed character.
The poet was himself probably not entirely conscious of a
distinction between the pagan and the Christian elements enter-
ing into his conceptions, but involuntarily borrowed various
Christian notions. As belonging to the latter class, we may
mention the conception of the mighty one, who comes from
above to pronounce judgment ( Völuspa, 65),^^ and more espe-
cially the entire framework of the poem as a world-drama.
It is obvious that this view is by no means tantamount to
regarding Völuspa as a deliberate and artificial imitation of
Christian dogmas.
It still remains to consider what Völuspa has to say concern-
ing life after death. Hel and Walhalla have before been dis-
cussed. To these Völuspa^ 38 and 39, adds a notion which
was doubtless originally foreign to Teutonic paganism, viz.
that of a retribution. In Nastrand stands the hall where no

sunlight penetrates, where venom drips through the roof, where
the savage river (probably again the Slidhr) drags along per-
jurers and murderers, where Nidhh^ggr sucks the corpses of the
dead, and the wolf rends men. Völuspa, 64, on the other hand,
pictures the life of bliss of the hosts of the righteous, on Gimle,
1 See Muspilli, p. 130. 2 ggg above, p. 202.

3 Miillenhoff, DA. V, 34, would vindicate Teutonic origin for even tliis feature.
^
after the restoration. Gylfaginning^ has once more juxtaposed

these two sides.
In conclusion, a passage from Saxo (I, 51) containing an
account of a journey to hell may find a place here. King
Hadding is visited at mealtime by a woman bearing, in the
middle of the winter, a fresh green plant. She conducts him
to the subterranean world to show him where this plant grows.
Along paths that are worn smooth, and through mists, they
pass by richly attired, distinguished men, and reach the sunny
fields where the plant grows. They also see a swift stream
(the Slidhr ?), with a bridge leading across, and fallen warriors
that still continue the combat (Êiiilierjar). They finally arrive
at a wall over which the woman throws the head of a cock,

that is at once restored to life. With this the story ends. Of
retribution in the hereafter there is not a single trace.
1 Chapter 52.
2 In Muller and Velschow, Saxo, II, Notm Uberiores, pp. 64-65, the various parts
of this narrative are submitted to a critical examination.
CHAPTER XIX .
WORSHIP AND RITES
I. Temples and Idols
Various names were in use among the ancient Teutons for

"
a sanctuary. In the Gothic translation of the Bible, " temple
is rendered by alhs^ a. building being always referred to in the
particular connection. The Old High German ïüi/i (Norse 7'é)
and hariic are rather indefinite in their meaning, being applied

without distinction to fa/ium, delubnini. Incus, and Jie?)ius alike.
Both occur in a number of names of places. Tacitus^ repeat-

edly mentions sacred forests in which the tribes assembled and
worshipped their gods"-; the "temple" of Nerthus is perhaps
also identical with the sacred grove {castum neniiis) of a few
lines previous. The sanctuary of Tamfana of the Marsi, that
Germanicus razed,'^ was probably a building, although it is not
inconceivable that even this was a sacred grove with its enclo-
sure, which were levelled to the ground.
In these sacred forests the ceremonies connected with the
cult took place, sacrifices were offered.
and the They were
also regarded as the abode of the gods, and were approached
only with a feeling of awe and terror, as may be gathered from
the remarks of Tacitus on the sacred forest of the Semnones.*
In these forests were kept the figures and emblems^ at —
times representing animals —
that accompanied the armies
into battle.*' Here also the prisoners of war were sacrificed
1 Germa)iia, Chapters 9, 39, 40, 43. *Geiinania, Chapter 39.

2 See above, pp. 101-102. 5" Effigies signaque."
3 Annals, 1,51. '' Gcrmania, Chapter 7 ; Historia, IV, 22.
355
on altars, and their heads hung on the trees, as we know was

done with the soldiers of Varus.^
Survivals of this reverence and of these usages are met with
even in the Middle Ages. The church inveighed against them
and sought to destroy the sacred forests and hew down the
sacred trees. Thus we are told by Adam of Bremen (II, 46)
that archbishop Unwan built churches with wood from forests
that had formerly been held sacred. In the fifth century
there existed in the city of Auxerre — the possibility of this
being Keltic must therefore be reckoned with —a pear tree,
on whose spreading branches, according to a poem of the

ninth century, quoted by Grimm,- hung heads of wild beasts.
When Grimm remarks in the same connection,^ " The
transition from the notion of a forest temple to that of a
single tree to which divine honors are paid is an easy one,"
he places the two rather too closely together : the forest as
temple, and tree worship, are two distinct and separate things.
In Tacitus, as a matter of fact, only the former is to be found,
but in popular belief numerous observances point to the con-
ception of trees as possessing a soul and as constituting objects
of worship.'*
Even in the days when the cult itself was carried on in the
temple the forests did not lose their significance. The beech
groves in Seeland were none the less sacred because a temple
had been erected at Lethra. Near Alkmaar (formerly Alcmere,
i.e. the temple near the sea, in the Netherlands) lies Heilo
(the sacred forest). At the sanctuary at Upsala the sacrificial
animals were hung up in the forest. Not merely the building

of a temple but all the environs were sacred, as in the case
of Fosite's land (Helgoland), with its temples, springs, and
pastures.^ From the centuries immediately succeeding the
1 Tacitus, Annals, I, 6i. 2 DM.-t, p. 63. 3 DM.'», p. 61.

* We
have in mind here the material collected by Mannhardt in Dcr Baiiinkullits
der Gcrinaneu. See above, p. 122.
>'»
WORSHIP AND RITES 357
time of Tacitus the names of very few temples have come

down to us. From the sixth century on we possess con-
siderable evidence concerning the existence of sanctuaries and
temples among the Burgundians, Franks, Lombards, Alemanni,
etc., but as a rule these references consist of a bare mention.
We are acquainted with Frisian sanctuaries through the biog-
raphies of the missionaries ; such existed on the island of
Walcheren, near the Bordena,^ near Dokkum, and on the island
of Fosite. Among the x\nglo-Saxons the temples must have
been both numerous and large. Bede repeatedly mentions
both sanctuaries and images, among others the sanctuary
'•
with all its enclosures " which the chief priest Coifi himself
destroyed." In the remarkable letter in which pope Gregory
discusses the missionary methods to be followed, he advises
that the people be won over " by steps and degrees and not
by bounds," and that the heathen sanctuaries are accordingly
not to be razed, but to be arranged for Christian use, " in
order that when the people see that their own sanctuaries are
not being destroyed they may banish their error from their
hearts, and knowing and adoring the true God, may the more
freely assemble at the accustomed places."
Important temples are actually known to us only in the case
of the Scandinavian peoples. Especially prominent among

these were the temple at Lethra in Seeland and the temple
at Upsala, which, while not as yet mentioned in the life of
Rimbert, is described with considerable detail by Adam of
ïiremen (IV, 26). It was wholly equipped with gold, and was
situated not far from that ancient sanctuary at Sigtun (Sictona)
where, according to the Ynglinga Saga, Chapter 5, Odhin had
taken up his abode and had instituted the bloody sacrifices.
On the island of Gotland stood another large temple, with hun-
dreds of images and large treasures, which Hakon Jarl seized.^
1 For tlie Boidena see von Richthofeu, Fricsisclic Rcchlsgeschiclitc, II, 100.
2 See above, pp. 1 51-152. Jomsvikiiigasaga, Chapter 12.
-^
In Norway there likewise existed a large number of temples :
we know of about one hundred by name. They are frequently

mentioned in the sagas, especially those at Throndhjem,
Gudhbrandsdalir, and Hladir. For the most part these were
consecrated to the worship of Thor or of Freyr, of whom they
contained images of all dimensions. hof Such a (the Norse
name for " temple ") was usually constructed of wood, only rarely
of stone. In Iceland it was at times built of peat, or wood
brought along from Norway, as in the case of the temple of
Thorolf, a description of which, to be found in the Eyrbyggja
Saga, we cited under the head of " Thor."
In view of meagre knowledge of ancient Teutonic
our
temples, the construction and arrangement of these Norwegian
and Icelandic temples possesses the greater interest for us.
Such a temple consisted of two separate but adjoining build-
ings, together forming an oblong, which on one of its sides
was semicircular. The following figure will serve to make this
clear. The open spaces represent doors. The dimensions of
these temples varied, but one part was always larger than the
other. This larger division was designed for use at the sacri-
ficial and was arranged like a common halV with the

feast,
hearth-fire in the centre and the seats arranged on the two

sides. Prominent among the latter was the high-seat for the
priest {qjtdvegi), with its pillars {qndvegisstilur), which were
adorned with a row of nails, and also at times with carved
images of the gods. The smaller building was called the
af/ii'ts (off-house), and contained the images of the gods and
1 For a representation of such a hall see Dasent, The Slory of Buy 11/ Njal, I, c.
the stallr, a sort of altar, on which lay the ring that the
godhi put around his arm at the sacrifice. On the stallr burnt
also the sacred and there likewise stood the sacrificial
fire,
bowl {hlautlw/ii), with its sacrificial whisk (Jilautteinn), with

which the priest sprinkled the images and at times also the
walls. Around the temple was an enclosure (^gard/ir, skidh-
gardhr) of about a man's height. That the plan of such
an Icelandic temple is an imitation of the architecture of a
Christian church, with nave, choir, and apse, as Golther ^
its
would have us believe, is not at all probable for the centuries

(ninth and tenth) of the Icelandic emigration.
We know from Tacitus that the forests, among the Semnones
and the Nerthus tribes, were regarded as peculiarly sacred,
and were dreaded. Among the Frisians severe penalties were
attached to profanation of temples. " Whoever has broken
into a temple and has taken any of the sacred things, is con-
ducted to the sea, and in the sand which the tide of the sea
is accustomed to cover, his ears are slit, he is castrated and
offered up to the gods whose temples he has violated."^ In

the North the carrying of arms within the temple enclosure
was forbidden, and he who violated the sacred peace of the
temple was put under the ban as an outlaw, as a vagr i véum,
a wolf in the temple.
The holy places were of old closely connected with the
political life, as we know from Tacitus and from the conditions
among the Frisians and Saxons of a later period. This applies
to the Scandinavian countries as well. The four large Danish
temples, at Viborg (Vebjorg), at Odhinsve (on the island of
Funen), at Lethra, and at Lund (from /imdr, sacred grove) in
Scania, formerly belonging to Denmark, are also political
centres. The same is true of Upsala, in Sweden, and of the
Norwegian temples, to be found in each separate fylki (shire).
IGM., p. 602.
2 Vita Gregorii episcopi Ultrajecti.
Scholars have at times gone too far in assuming a complete

religious organization in these countries, such as really existed
in Iceland alone. This island was divided into four parts, one
of which had four things^ while the others had three each.
Each of these thirteen things had three temples {godhonih),
each with its own /iqfgodhi, who also levied the temple tribute.
These thirty-nine temples coincided with the religious organi-
zation of Iceland, each godhi being at the same time priest
and political head. Private persons also possessed the right

of erecting a temple of their own, but without performing in
that case the public functions or enjoying the public rights and
privileges of the godhi. These political conditions survived
paganism and continued until the very end of the Icelandic

republic.
Tacitus that the Teutons had no idols (" nulla
states
simulacra "), and he attributes this to the lofty ideas they
entertained of their gods ("ex magnitudine caelestium"),^ a
philosophic observation in which we need scarcely follow him.
Just what was the outward form of the symbols to which he
refers by such phrases as " efifigies signaque," " signa et
formas," "ferarum imagines," we have no means of ascertain-
ing. Nor do we know whether the nunien ipsian of Nerthus,
which rode about on a wagon and was cleansed in the lake,
was an image or a symbol. The Irminsul was, however, not

an image. ^ Nor are images mentioned in connection with
Fosite's island. The I'itcE of Willehad, Willebrord, and Liudger
repeatedly refer to images, among which the great idol on
Walcheren, which Willebrord himself destroyed, is to be espe-
cially noted.''' The earliest testimony concerning an image of
a Teutonic divinity is that of Sozomen,'* who states that the
Gothic king Athanaric had an image (^óavov) drawn about on
a wagon, commanding the people to worship it and to offer up
1 Gci iitania, Chapter 9. ' Vila WUlcbro di, Chapter 14.

2 See above, pp. 124-125. ^ Historia Ecclcsiastua, VI, îl-
—
WORSHIP AND KITES 361
sacrifices to it. When we are told that the Christian Burgun-

dian consort of Chlodowech says to him, " Your gods are only
gods of stone, wood, and metal," this is perhaps nothing more
than a conventional phrase of Gregory of Tours, which proves
nothing at all in regard to Frankish idols.
In the Scandinavian
North there were numerous images
either in the temples proper or on the stallr, where several
^
stood side by side. Now and then we hear of a large number

in one temple. Images were also found on high-seats and on
prows of Miniature images were frequently carried
ships.
about on one's person. Images were usually made of wood'^
— at times also of gold and silver, —
were richly adorned and
often accompanied by their attributes, Thor by his hammer,
Freyr " ingenti priapo." A number of images were famous,
such as the colossal statue of Thor erected on the island of
Samsö by the sons of Ragnar Lodbrok ; the stone statue of
Thor, splendidly adorned with gold and the temple at silver, in
Gudhbrandsdalir, of which the peasants expected, even in the

age of the holy Olaf, that it would annihilate its adversaries ;
and, likewise at Gudhbrandsdalir, the image of Thor, together

with those of Thorgerdh H^lgabrudh and Irpa, on a wagon,
all three adorned with golden rings. '^
Of greater importance than a further multiplying of examples

is the question. What ideas were associated with these idols in
the minds of the people ? Von Richthofen denies that the
Frisians thought of their images as animated. In the case of
the Scandinavians, however, it is evident from a number of
stories that thegods were conceived of as operative in the
images. Thus in the example cited above, in which the statue
of Thor was expected to make a stand against the enemy. In
the tale of Thrond of Gate, embodied in the Foereyinga Saga,
we are told how there stood an image of Thorgerdh in a
1 At Upsala and in Gotland. ^ NjaUsaga, Chapter 87.

^ Hence called ircgod/i, skurdhgodh (carven image).
temple, just opposite the entrance, and how, from the attitude
that the image assumed, the petitioners were able to infer the
answer of the goddess. " We shall have it as a mark of what
she thinks of this, if she will do as I wish and let the ring
loose which she holds in her hand." But she held fast to the
ring, and not until he had repeated his prayer was the jarl
able to wrest the ring away.^ The story also of Gunnar and
the young priestess of Freyr, to which we have before referred,
is based wholly on the belief " that Freyr was a living person
. . , and the people supposed that the woman lived with him as
his wife,"^ Freyr being throughout this story identified with
his image. Chapter 150 of the same saga affords another
example. King Olaf makes every effort to persuade a certain
Raudhr to adopt Christianity, but the latter puts his trust in
Thor, inasmuch as the god by blowing in his beard caused a

tempest All this, however, was to no
to rise against the king.
purpose, Thor himself had predicted, the king reaches

for, as
the island of Raudhr notwithstanding. Finally a decisive test
was proposed and agreed upon Thor and the king were to :
stand on opposite sides of a fire, and, in order to show which

was the stronger, each was to attempt to draw the other into
the fire. Thor proved to be the weaker of the two, and was
burnt to ashes. This image accordingly was made of wood.
It is hardly possible to regard this conception, that the god
is actively present in his image or symbol, as a more recent
development. The ancient tribes would certainly not have

brought forth their symbols from the forest, to accompany
them into battle, if they had not been of the opinion that with
these the gods themselves took part in the conflict. While
images among the Teutons, as also elsewhere, seem to be of
later date than symbols, we may yet assume that the idea of
vitality present in the image was there from the very beginning.
I
Tale of Thrond of Gate, Chapter 23 in the Fcereyinga Saga, Northern Library.
- T1t2 greater Olaf Ti-yggvasonssaga, Chapter 173.
WORSHir AND RITES 363
II. Priests
The earliest testimony regarding Teutonic priests, or rather

regarding the absence of priests, is to be found in the well-
known words of Caesar:^ "They neither have druids, who
superintend divine worship, nor do they make frequent use of
sacrifices." The evident contradiction between these words
and the data has never been satisfactorily explained.
of Tacitus
It has, indeed,been contended that Ccesar is merely intent

upon drawing a contrast between the Teutons and the Gauls,
the latter being accustomed to frequent sacrifices and having
an organized priesthood ; but such considerations do not alter
the fact that he expressly denies the existence among the
Teutons of priests "who superintend divine worship," whereas
from Tacitus we are absolutely certain that such priests existed.
To maintain that in the century and a half which separates
Caesar and Tacitus a development took place which would
account for this difference, is a gratuitous assumption. As a
solution of the problem, Seeck'^ suggests that the Gallic druids,
when driven from Gaul by Roman persecution, crossed the
Rhine and became the nucleus of the Teutonic priesthood.
Wresting divination from the hands of the old women," they
founded a power that was ever increasing, and which might
have led to a theocracy, if its course had not been interrupted
by foreign dominion and by the spread of Christianity. Ingen-
ious as this hypothesis is, it does not harmonize with the data
at hand : there is not a single trace to indicate that the Teutonic
priests were of foreign origin, a fact which would also certainly
not have escaped the eye of Tacitus. It is equally inconceiv-
able that the Gallic druids reached, for example, the Frisians,
among whom priests also play an important role.
1^. G., VI, 21.

-O. Seeck, Gcsch'uhte des Untcrgangs der alten IVe/t, I, 210.
3 Compare the priestesses among the Cimbri, Strabo, Geogra/i/tüa, p. 294.
:
364 THE RE LIG 10 JV O E THE ANCIENT TEUTONS
As is usual, the evidence of Tacitus on this point is weighty

but fragmentary. We learn to know the priests more espe-
cially in their political capacity. While they also perform the
sacred functions of the state, bring sacrifices, and consult
omens, they are equally important from the political point of
view they administer justice (the priest being in fact called
:
êwart, " guardian of the law ") and preserve peace in the army
and popular assembly. When Tacitus (^Germania, Chapter 7)
discusses the limited power of the kings and leaders, he adds :
" But only the priests have power to put to death, to put in
chains, or even to inflict stripes ;

not by way of punishment,
nor at the command of the leader, but as if ordered by the

god, whom they believe present with those engaged in war."
By way of an anticlimax the power of deciding over life and
death {anifuadvertere), of casting in chains, and of inflicting
the ignominious punishment of scourging are here denied the
leaders and assigned to the priests alone, who acted in the
name of the god, the latter being present in the army as well
as in the popular assembly. There is no good reason for
invariably identifying this god with Tiu: the divinity was
doubtless a different one among different tribes.
In Germania, Chapter 10, the priest is regarded as the
saccrdos civitatis (priest of the state), who consults the omens
for the state, as does the pater familias in the personal and
domestic afïairs of life. Together with the king or chief, the
priest accompanies the wagon drawn by the sacred horses

and gives careful attention to the neighing of these horses,
priests and chiefs alike regarding themselves as servants of
the deity. Chapter 1 1 of the Gennatiia tells us of the
functions performed by the priests in the popular assembly
" Silence is commanded by the priest, who also has the right
to enforce it." They were not what we are accustomed to
call leaders or presidents of an assembly, but they invested
judicial procedure with a certain sanctity, and guarded justice

WORSHIP AXD RITES 365
and peace in both the thing and army, meting out punishment
upon the violators. With the office of law-speaker, such as
existed in the Icelandic republic, Tacitus was not acquainted.
It is, however, quite generally assumed that the office of the
Frisian asega also bore a priestly character.^

It is certainly imputing a meaning to the words of Tacitus
that they do not of themselves possess, when, to the exclusion
of the chieftains, we invest the priests, apart from their priestly
functions, with the entire criminal jurisdiction." If such had
been the case, the public life of the Teutons would practically
have borne a theocratic character, which is scarcely conceivable
in the absence of a fixed organization of the priesthood. The
priests belonged most likely to, noble families and were accord-
ingly of the same rank and station as the chiefs. The office
may even have been a hereditary one. Their political func-

tions, consisting of the maintenance of peace in thing and
army, were important and doubtless gave them considerable
influence and power. Only few priests are mentioned by
name ; by chance the name of a certain Libus, a priest of
the Chatti, who took part in the triumphal procession of
Germanicus, has come down to us. Sinistus, a name that
occurs for the chief priest of the Burgundians, seems to have
been a title, signifying ''the oldest." Ammianus Marcellinus
(XXVIII, 5, 14) tells us that he was irremovable,^ whereas
the king could be deposed in case of failure of crops or of
defeat. We do not anywhere else meet such a chief priest,
but only priests of particular sanctuaries. Tacitus usually

speaks of priests (sacerdotes) in the plural.
1 So DA. IV,
Miillenhoff, 239; von Richthofen, Priesische Rechtsgeschichtc, II,
456 ff. Von Amira (GGA. 1883, p. 1066), on the contrary, denies this and, in
general, greatly restricts the juridical functions of the priest.
2 This is done, in an otherwise important study, by E. Rifterling, Das Priester-
thmn bet den Germajicn {Hisforisches TaschenbticJi, 6. Folge, Jahrgang, 1888),
PP- 177-232-
3 « Perpetuus, obnoxius discriminibus nullis, ut reges."
;
366 THE RELIGION OF THE ANCIEA'T TEUTONS
111 the discussion of the individual tribes, in the second part

of the Gennania, priests are occasionally mentioned. The
goddess Nerthus has a male priest, whereas the god Freyr,
at Upsala, had an attendant priestess. At the cult of the

Dioscuri, among the Nahanarvali,^ there presided a priest
bedecked like a woman {mii/iebri ornatii). This latter prob-
ably refers to the hairdress.'- Among the Lugii and the

Vandals the royal family was called Hazdiggos, men with
i.e.
the hairdress of a woman, like the Merovingi among the

Franks. The priesthood therefore shared this characteristic
Neither the Norse vqlur, nor such godlike
with the nobility.
women as Veleda and Albruna, of whom we hear occasionally,
are to be classed among the priests.
In the case of a number of Teutonic peoples our information
concerning their priests is very meagre. Among the Goths

the priests, like the kings, belonged to the nobility {pileati,
"wearing a cap"), as over against the people {capillati, "with
flowing hair"). Among the Anglo-Saxons it was not "lawful
for a priest either to bear arms or to ride on horseback, except
on a mare."''
Least of all are there traces of a priestly caste among the
Scandinavians. In Norway it is the king or jarl who at the
thing conducts the sacrifice, presides at the festive meal, and

makes the libation. While temples possessed officiating
priests {blófmadkr, spdmad/ir), it nowhere appears that these

possessed exclusive powers or prerogatives. It is difficult to
estimate just what role they played in public and private life.
In Iceland the godhi-* was the proprietor of the temple and
the leader at the thing. They were not exclusively nor even
primarily priests they combined priestly and political func-

:
tions, and retained the latter even after the conversion to

^ Bede, HE. II, 13.
2Müllenhoff. ZfdA. X, 556; XII, 346.

4 See G. W. Dasent, The Story of Burnt Njal, I, Introduction, pp. xlvi-li
K. Maurer, Zur Godenwiirde, ZfdPh. IV, 127; Island, p. 211.

WOKSHir AND RITES 367
Christianity. The organization of Iceland, with its office of
law-speaker, had in any case little of a priestly, theocratic

character.
III. Prayer and Sacrifice
Jacob Grimm^ was of the opinion that prayer owed its origin
to sacrifice. He distinguishes three stages: sacrifice without
prayer, sacrifice with prayer, and prayer without sacrifice.
This view, however, is erroneous. From the very outset the

gift bestowed was accompanied by the words with which it
was tobe dedicated to the gods, and through which its purpose
was indicated, just as divination was accompanied by the
invocation of the gods. Tacitus tells us that when a priest
or the father of a household sought to divine the future by
drawing lots " he invoked the gods and lifted up his eyes
to heaven." '^
When the magic runes are employed for obtain-
ing victory Tyr is invoked, while for the safe delivery of a
woman in labor the disir are called upon.^
As regards ritualistic practices, the baring of the head and

bending of the body seem of old to have been in vogue. The
Gothic priests formed, however, an exception to this customary
baring of the head :
" They made sacrifices with caps' {tiai-cè)
on their heads," and were accordingly called ///<?«'/'/.* Whether

'"
the bending of the body was meant to signify, as Grimm

thinks, " that the human suppliant presented and submitted
himself as a defenceless victim to the mighty god, his van-
quisher," we do not venture to decide, but the notion seems
rather lofty. In the Norse sagas men kneel or even cast
themselves down upon the ground before the divine images.
While praying, the suppliant looked towards the north.
1 A^/. Schr., II, 260. 4Jordanes, DOAG., Chapters 5, 11.

2 Geniiania, Chapter 10. 5 DM.*, p. 25.
3 Sigrdrifumdl, 6, 9.
:
Christianity introduced the custom of looking towards the east,

and by way of contrast, at the abjuration of the heathen gods,
the convert was made to face the west. A trace of a ritual,
upon the observance of which the success of sacrifice and prayer
depended, is thought to be contained in some lines of Hdvamdl,
1 43 and 1 44
Knowest thou how one is to pray ? Knowest thou how one is to

sacrifice ? . . .
It is better not to pray than to make sacrifices to excess.
Oaths were likewise sworn with invocation of the gods.

Von Amira maintains that this adjuring of the gods is
^
unessential,and that the oath consists of the pledging of

certain Thus one swears by one's beard, sword,
objects.
and various other things, that are thereupon touched with
the hand.^ But it is obvious that, when a person taking an
oath touched the staff of the judge, or the ring of UUr dipped
in sacrificial blood, these were not objects that were being
pledged. There can be no doubt whatever that oaths were
sworn by water and rocks, and by numerous gods that are
known to us by name.
For sacrifice especially common in Old
the usual word,
Norse, is blot. We Old High German kelt, Old
also find in
Saxon geld. The oldest Teutonic sacrifice of which we possess
a record is that of the Cimbri, related by Strabo.^ Among the
women accompanied the army were soothsaying priest-
that
esses, with gray hair, robed in white, with an upper garment
of fine linen fastened on the shoulder, wearing a girdle and
going barefoot.'* With drawn swords they advanced towards
the prisoners, crowned them with wreaths, and conducted them
to a bronze sacrificial vessel which held about twenty amphorae.
1 PG.2, III, 214. 2 Grimm, DRA. 894 ff. 3 Geoi^raphifa, p. 294.

4 On ritualistic nakedness, see the important essay of K. Weinhold, Ziir
GescJtiilite dcs heidnischen Kitus, ABA. 1896, pp. 1-50.
One of the priestesses ascended a ladder and bending over

the caldron cut the throats of the prisoners. Some prophe-
sied from the blood that flowed into the basin, others from the
entrails of the victims. The three characteristic features of
this account to which attention may be called are : (i) that
prisoners of war are slaughtered; (2) that the sacrifice is
exclusively for purposes of divination ; (3) that no god is
named to whom the sacrifice is made.

The sacrifices mentioned by Tacitus have already been
touched upon. They comprise : that of the Roman prisoners
whose skulls were fastened to trees ^ the great sacrifice with ;
which the war between the Chatti and Hermunduri was to

end the sacrifice in the forest of the Semnones, in which
;
'^
a man was slain in behalf of the state, but where it is not clear
whether the victim was a prisoner of war, a criminal, or simply
a member of the tribe the drowning of the slaves of Ner-
; ''
thus.'* In Germania, Chapter 9, we are told that on stated days

human sacrifices were brought to Mercury, which must, of
course, not be taken as implying that no other gods received
human offerings. ''
Hercules and Mars," Tacitus continues,
"they appease with allowable animals," which we must not
interpret as meaning that the offerings consisted of the special
animals sacred to each of the two gods, but that the sacrifices
were admissible from a Roman point of view, i.e. not horrible
human sacrifices. The term for appropriate sacrificial animals
was Ziefer, Geziefer (German). Only the exuvicB, the hide and
head, were given to the gods, the rest being eaten at the
sacrificial feast.
A large number of sacrifices are mentioned by the historians

of the period of the migrations, in the vitcc of the missionaries,
and in the laws enacted against paganism. At his invasion of
Italy Radagais vowed that he would bring the blood of the
Ânnals, I, 61. ^ Gcv mania, Chapter 39.

'Ânnals, XIII, 57.
•*
Germania, Chapter 40.
Christians as a libation to his gods. The Goths sacrificed

their prisoners to Mars. The Franks threw the captive women
and children into the Po before crossing the river.^ Among
the Frisians prisoners of war and those who had violated a
temple were sacrificed. Among the Saxons Charles the Great
had to forbid human must not suppose that
sacrifices. We
criminals and prisoners of war alone were sacrificed.
Of the
Franks, Heruli, and Saxons we are told that "they were
confident that the wrath of the gods was appeased by the
shedding of innocent blood that they might be restored to
;
the good favor of their gods, they had been accustomed to

sacrifice their kinsmen."^ Similarly, the Vita Wu/frami, Chap-
ter 2, relates how the two sons of a widow had been desig-
nated by lot "for sacrifice to the gods and for death in the
waves of the sea."
There is no reason for supposing that the ancient Teutons
possessed a fixed sacrificial ritual any more than they pos-
sessed an organized priesthood. While offerings were made
at stated times {certis diebus), and in the sacred places which
formed the centres of the amphictyonies (Semnones, Nerthus

nations, Marsi, Frisians), there also were sacrifices on special
occasions, as when a victory had been won or a river was to
be crossed. Three kinds of sacrifices may be distinguished :
those subserving purposes of divination human sacrifices to

;
appease the wrath of the gods ; sacrifices of animals followed

by the sacrificatory feast. We frequently read of song and
dance accompanying the sacrifice, as among the Lombards
at the sacrifice of a goat :
" At this same time, when the
Lombards had obtained nearly four hundred prisoners of war,
they offered up to the devil, in accordance with their custom,
the head of a she-goat, consecrating it to him by running
1 Procopius, BG. II, 25.

2 Ennodius, Vita Aiihmii, p. 3S2, quoted by Miillenhoff, Znr daitschen Mytholo-
gie, ZfdA. XII, 406.
about in a circle and by impious songs." ^ The sword-dance

in honor of Tiu and the choral songs were likewise from an
early time accompanied by sacrifice.^ Even Saxo still mentions
in connection with the sacrifice at Upsala " the effeminate
gestures and the clapping of the mimes on the stage, and the
unmanly clatter of the bells." '^
There are numerous detached references to heathen sacri-
fices in the religious literature of the early Middle Ages.In

Burchard of Worms we read of " nocturnal sacrifices to the
devils " on graves and at funerals, of song and festive meals,
of jest {joca) and dance, of the bringing of tapers, bread, or

gifts in general, to wells, stones, and cross-roads. Similar evi-
dence may be found in Eligius, the Indicuhis Superstitionum
and elsewhere. These observances are doubtless partly old
and partly new, partly universal and partly local. They fur-
thermore represent soul cult, nature-worship (more especially
of water and wells), and gifts to the gods, without our being
able in each particular instance to distinguish sharply between
these several sides. Most of the gifts here named were blood-
less, but in the case of persons sacrificed to water, as was at
times done, the victims were drowned. The customs here
forbidden must from the nature of the case, even in prehistoric
pagan times, have been popular observances rather than part
of the public cult.
For the Scandinavian peoples the material at our disposal is
far more abundant. Numerous instances of human sacrifices
are recorded. The Norsemen were dreaded in Western Europe

more especially on account of their practice of cutting the
1 From the Dialogues of Gregory in Waitz, Scriptores rertim LangobardorMn,

p. 524.
Proceeding from Tacitus, Germania, Chapter 24, and Sidonius Apollinaris,
^
Carmen, 5, 246, Miillenhoff has treated this union of dance, music, procession, and
sacrifice in his essay Über den ScJnverttanz (1871) and in an earlier program»!,
Dc aiitiqitissima Germa}toriti>i pocsi chorica (1847).
HD. \'I, 278 (Elton's translation, p. 228). Concerning bells, see Pfannen-
•*Saxo,
schmid, Germanische Eriitefeste, pp. 395 ff., and Otte, Glockcukitnde (1858),
" bloody eagle " (J^lódhqm), in which they cut away the ribs of
their victim near the spinal column and through the openings
thus made drew out the lungs, doubtless as a sacrifice to their
gods. In their own land criminals and slaves were, on the
occasion of the meeting of the thmg, still sacrificed on the
altar or drowned in the sacred pond. At times royal and even
sacred blood had to flow;, in a period of great famine the
Swedes had during the first year sacrificed oxen, the second
year men, and still the crops continued to fail. " Then held
the great men council together, and were of one accord that
this scarcity was because of Domald their king, and withal that
they should sacrifice him for the plenty of the year yea, that ;
they should set on him and slay him, and redden the seats of
the gods with the blood of him and even so they did."^ For
;
similar reasons the Swedes burnt king Olaf Tree-shaver {tré-

telgja) in his house and " gave him to Odhin, offering him up
for the plenty of the year."^ Another king, Aun or Ani by

name, at Upsala, had contrived to prolong his life to an
unusual limit by sacrificing nine of his ten sons to Odhin.
Although already imbecile from old age, he would have slain
the tenth also, had the people not prevented it.^ When king
Vikarr and his men were detained by adverse winds, the lot
designated the king himself as the victim to be offered up for
obtaining favorable winds, and Starkad obeys the decree by
hanging king Vikarr on a tree, and piercing him with a spear.*
Not from the sagas alone, but from times that are wholly
historical, accounts of human sacrifices have come down to us.
Thus jarl Hakon in his fight with the Jomsvikings offers up

his son to Thorgerdh H^lgabrudh, and king Olaf Tryggvason
threatened that if he was to return to paganism, he would have
1 Ynglingasaga {Hcimskriitgld), Chapter i8 {Saga Library, III, 29).

2 Ynglingasaga {Heimskringla), Chapter 47 (Saga Library, III, 66).
3 Ynglingasaga, Chapter 29.
* Gautrekssaga, Chapter 7.
to hold a big sacrifice ;

" and neither will I choose hereto
thrallsand evildoers ;
but rather will I choose gifts for the gods
the noblest of men," whom he thereupon proceeds to call out by
name from among those present.^ The Kristni Saga relates,
in connection with the period of conflict between heathen and
Christians in Iceland, how the former proposed to sacrifice to
their gods two persons from each district, but were unable to
secure the victims, whereas the Christians easily found two
who were willing "to devote themselves to a purer life." On
the island of Gotland the inhabitants sacrificed their sons and
The accounts
daughters, as the Historia Gotlandia' informs us.
that Thietmar of Adam
Bremen give of the
Merseburg and of
great human sacrifices at Lethra and Upsala may be somewhat
exaggerated even though we allowed large deductions, what
;
remained would still be considerable. When a ship was

launched, it was let run over the body of a victim, whose
blood thus colored the rollers {hlunn-rodh, "roller-reddening"),
a custom that is parallel to that of walling up a child in the
foundations of a building. There is no trace, however, of this

latter custom among the Scandinavians, although there are a
number of instances of it on record among other Teutonic
peoples.
A description is given in the saga of Hakon the Good of a
sacrificial feast on the occasion of the thing.
It was the olden custom that when a blood-offering should be, all the
bonders should come to the place where was the temple, bringing with
them all the victuals they had need of while the feast should last and at ;
that feast should all men have ale with them. There also was slain cattle
of every kind, and horses withal and all the blood that came from them
;
was called hlaut, but hlaut-bowls were they called wherein the blood stood,
and the hlaut-tein a rod made in the fashion of a sprinkler. With all the
hlaut should the stalls of the gods be reddened, and the walls of the temple
within and without, and the men-folk also besprinkled but the flesh was ;
to be sodden for the feasting of men. Fires were to be made in the midst
1 Olaf Tiyggvasonssaâ {Hcbnskriiigla), Chapter 74 {Saga Library, III, 319).

1
of the floor of the temple, with caldrons thereover, and the health-cups
should be borne over the But he who made the feast and was the
fire.
lord thereof should sign the cups and all the meat and first should be ;
drunken Odhin's cup for the victory and dominion of the king, and then
the cup of Njordhr and the cup of Freyr for plentiful seasons and peace.
Thereafter were many men wont to drink the Bragi-cup and men drank ;
kinsmen dead who had been noble, and that was

also a cup to their called
the cup of memory.
Those who sat down to this feastwere called sudhnautar,

i.e. partakers of the sodden. was not permissible to omit
It
the cup in memory of the dead. Vows made over the cup
occur, Helgakvidha Hjqrvardhssonar, 32, 33. On the occasion
of such a sacrificial banquet Hakon was reluctantly prevailed
upon to take part in the heathen ceremonial, which the nobility
refused to abandon.
In the Scandinavian North these sacrifices were usually
designed to promote and in German folklore too we
fertility,
meet with a number of usages, connected with agriculture and

the breeding of cattle, that are to be classed among sacrifices.^
They sought to ward off harmful influences and to promote

the fruitfulness of the soil. It is obvious that the same cere-
monies that were employed to conjure pestilence, hailstorms,
and similar calamities would, from their very nature, also serve
to insure the success of the harvest and the welfare of the
cattle.
A prominent place among the expiatory sacrifices was occu-

pied by the need-fires, which doubtless owed their existence
to the presence of plague among the cattle, but gradually fell
1 Saga of king Hakon the Good {Heimskringld), Chapter 16 {Saga Library, III,
165-166).
2 J. Grimm had
already collected a considerable amount of material regarding
these customs, whichwas still further increased by Mannhardt. The more impor-
tant recent works on the subject are: H. Pfannenschmid, Germatiischc Erntefcstc
ill! hcidnischen mid chrisflichcn Cultus, iiiit besondcrer Bczichung aiif Nicder-
.<ach$cn, and especially U. Jahn, Die dattsc/icn Opfcrgebrciiiche bei Ackerbaii and
Viehzucht (1884).
;
together with the St.John fires. We do not venture to decide

whether this custom is based solely on the idea of the puri-
fying power of fire as a natural element, or whether the sun is

also concerned in the matter, although the use of the wheel
(as emblem of the solar disk) might seem to point in the latter
direction, one method of generating this fire being the turn-

ing of a piece of wood inside a wheel ; a burning wheel was
also hurled in the air or rolled down a hill. As a rule, the
flame was kindled by rubbing two pieces of wood against each
other, all the fires in the village having previously been extin-
guished. The Indicuhis Supeistitionnm et Pagatiianwi, drawn
up in the year 743 by the synod of Listines, speaks of "fire
produced by friction, i.e. ?iod/yr,'^ and in the preceding year
another synod had referred to " those sacrilegious fires which

are called nied/yr." Through this fire the infected flocks are
driven : swine, cattle, horses, and geese. Men also leap
through the flames and blacken their faces with the cinders.
With the firebrands and pastures are fumi-
fruit trees, fields,
gated, and they are also used to start fires on the hearths. new
Burnt-out cinders and ashes are placed in the mangers and
strewed about in the fields. There is nothing to show that
these usages were connected with particular deities. That
their origin is to be traced back to heathen times is at least
probable.
Pagan origin is certain in the case of the processions held
of old for Tsis, Nerthus, Freyr, etc. These are also condemned
in the Indicuhis under the head of " the image which is carried
about through the fields {per campos)." The greater part of
these processions may be explained as representing the entry
of a particular deity at the beginning of a new season. They
too are connected with the yearly increase of field, pasture,
and orchard. With songs the images were carried per campos
people went about with a plough or with animals for the
sacrifice, to promote the fertility of the soil.
On every hand there still exist among the people various

sacrifices and observances at sowing and reaping, either to
insure fruitfulness for the coming year or to obtain some omen
in regard to it, the observances frequently bearing a decidedly
magic character. The question has been raised, whether these
disjecta jnembra can be combined to form a connected whole ;
whether, in other words, these separate observances constituted

part of an ancient pagan sacrifice ritual. Observing certain
necessary restrictions, Jahn has attempted to reconstruct such
a whole. According to this point of view, both the expiatory
sacrifices in time of disaster and the animal sacrifices for the
furtherance of agriculture and the breeding of cattle, including
the private sacrifices of a family and the public ones of a com-
munity, represent ancient pagan customs that persist among
the people.^
We shall here attempt to give a sketch of such a public
sacrifice, without presuming to determine whether it actually
ever took place with this degree of completeness in an his-
torical jnilieu. At the approach of the heat of summer, both
the herdsman and the husbandman fear the perils with which
this season is fraught : the plague that attacks the flocks, the
hail that beats down the grain. To ward these off, they choose
for a sacrifice their finest animals (or those which on that
particular day were the last to reach pasture) and adorn them
with garlands, horses, cattle, and dogs being set apart for
Wuotan, swine and cats for Frija, he-goats, geese, and fowl
forThunar. Twigs are cut from special kinds of trees, and,
interwoven with flowers, these are fastened to the tails of the
animals intended for the Drenched with dew, these
sacrifice.
switches are turned into magic brooms, which are put to various
uses: cattle are struck on the back with them to drive away
the demons of sickness stables and barns are swept with
;
1 In what follows we give a summary of the Sclilussbetrachtiing of Jahn,

PP- 323-330-
WORSHIP AND KITES 377
them ; they are planted on the dung-hill ; and they are hung as
a talisman over the door of the house. The milk of the cows
thus exorcised is, with eggs and herbs, prepared for the sacri-
ficial meal. The procession now begins. Leading the sacri-
ficial animals, bedecked with garlands and colored ribbons,
and preceded by an image of a god, the procession passes
through the village, thereupon makes a circuit of the fields, a
halt being made at each of the four corners to pray to Thunar
that he may spare the fields, and finally ends up at the village
well, into which each of the participants throws a sacrificial
cake for Frija, and from which he thereupon takes a drink.
From the height of the water in the well predictions are made
concerning the success of the year's harvest. Water is drawn
into a cask and taken home to act as a safeguard, in time of
need, against misfortune and the evil spirits.
While the herdsmen and husbandmen are thus making the

rounds, the children visit the houses of the village, gathering
fuel to start a big fire on the village square or a neighboring
hill. In it they burn the figure of a doll, i.e. the evil spirit or
witch.
Meanwhile evening has come. The heads of the animals to
be sacrificed are cut offdogs and cats are burnt on the pile
;
in their entirety, of the other animals only the hide, the bones,
and the With dance and song they circle around the
entrails.
flaming and from the smoke all manner of things are

fire,
prophesied regarding weather and harvest, and life and death

in the family. As in the case of the need-fire, people run
about with the flaring brands or leap through the flames. The
meal has now been made ready : the meat sodden, the sacrificial
cakes baked, beer and minne-drink prepared. All make merry
at the banquet that follows, every one taking part, and even
the stranger not being excluded. The feast continues through
the night, and remnants of the food are taken home ; they are
powerful magic charms against sickness and calamity. Similarly,
37S THE RELIGION OF THE ANCIENT TEC TONS
at the slaughtering of the sacrificial animals people show great

eagerness to get possession of certain leavings.
It is evident, therefore, that the various observances are
capable of being united to form a connected whole, even
though we are unable to assign it to any particular pagan
period.
CHAPTER XX
CALENDAR AND FESTIVALS
The ancient Teutons had no religious calendar, any more

than they had an organized priesthood or a fixed ritual. They
did, however, have certain stated times for coming together
and for sacrificing. In the later calendars, both the runic
calendars still found here and there among the peasants, and
in the popular and ecclesiastical calendars, we find observa-
tions and rules of the most diverse origin. Of these, Teutonic
paganism has furnished by far the smaller share, later popular
customs and rules derived from the Roman and Christian cal-
endar predominating. For all that, it is worth the while to
consider what may be gathered from the division of time
concerning pagan ideas and customs.
First of all, it is to be noted that in the names of the days
of the week the heathen gods lived on with such persistency
that no opposition on the part of the church was able to dislodge
them. In vain did Jonas Ogmundi (Jon Ogmundsson), bishop
of Holum in Iceland, attempt to replace them by numerals.
These names themselves are, however, of comparatively recent
origin, having been translated from Latin in the fourth or
fifth century. This is clearly shown by the correspondence
between the Roman and Teutonic gods for each day of the
week, a correspondence which cannot be accidental. Hence,
also, the Teutonic Sunday and Monday can in no way be
adduced in support of Caesar's account of the worship of Sol

and Luna by the Teutons. For the dies Satiirni no corre-
sponding Teutonic divinity suggested itself. In Norse the
day is called bath-day or wash-day (Löverdag).
379
Old and genuinely Teutonic is the counting, not by days and

summers, but by nights and winters. We cannot, to be sure,
infer from this with any degree of certainty that they regarded
darkness and cold as " the germinating period of warmth and
light." The year seems have been originally divided into
to
two parts, as is indicated by various legal observances and

phrases: " im rise und im love," " im ruwen und im bloten,"
"bi stro und bi grase " (Weistiimer).^ By taking into account
the solstices and equinoxes this division is then extended to
four seasons. Of old the winter marked the beginning of the
year; October is called Winterfylleth (winter full moon) in
Bede. Of the ceremonies observed at the beginning of the
year there are still some survivals in the customs connected
with Michaelmas. We also class under this head that feast

lasting three days which the Saxons celebrated their victo-
in
ries." In any case far more evidence can be adduced in sup-

port of an original division into two than into three seasons,
notwithstanding the fact that Tacitus mentions hiems, ver, and

aestas?
A large number of names were in use to indicate the
months; the glossary in Weinhold's book enumerates more
than two hundred. Ever since the time of Charles the Great
the church attempted to replace these indigenous names by
Latin ones, at first without success.^ In the case of some of
these names the meaning is doubtful, others are perspicuous,
referring to time and weather, pastoral and agricultural pur-
suits. Only a few have religious significance; among these
are certainly not to be classed the names of those spring months
from which Bede deduced the goddesses Hreda and Eostre
(Ostara). Folklore at times attributes a mythological significance
Weinhold, Übcr die dcutschc Jahrtcilung, p. i6;

1
Widukind, Res gestce, I, 12.

-
3 " Winter, spring, and summer." Gcriiiania, Chapter 26.

4 A number of Teutonic names of months may be found in Einhard, Vita Karoli
imperatoris, Chapter 29, and in Beda, Dc tempor itm ratiotie, Chapter 13.
CALENDAR AND FESTIVALS 381
to names where we do not recognize any such sur-

these
vival of Thus February is called Sporke
Teutonic paganism.
(Spurkele)^ and Wiwermond, the month in which the women
rule, make the weather, and strew out the snow.'^ Cult is
indicated by such names as Halegmonad'' (September), the

month of the great harvest festival that brought the year to a
close. Charles the Great transferred the name to December,
the month that was hallowed by the birth of the Saviour.
Blótmónad points to heathen sacrifices, Bryllepsmun to the

bridal processions in November.
The connection of individual gods with set periods of the
year is extremely uncertain ; assigning definite months to them
is entirely arbitrary. What has direct reference to cult is, of
course, better established, although the data are meagre. The

Tamfana festival of the Marsi, during which Germanicus in a
star-lit night surprised the drunken multitude,^ seems to have

fallen in the beginning of winter, that of Nerthus in spring.
Set times are indicated also by the "ungebotene Gerichte,"^

continuing down to the Middle Ages, which point now to a
division into three, and again into two, seasons. We read

sometimes of three yearly gatherings, — held on different dates
in different localities, — at other times of four, and then again
of two (the May thing, on Walpurgis, the first of May, and the
autumn thing, at Martinmas), or even of one, as in the case
of the Merovingians, who held a campus Martins, and the
Carlovingians, who had a campus Majus. The Icelandic all-
thing came in June. Distinct from these stated times are the
expressly convoked "gebotene Gerichte.""
The Ynglinga Saga, Chapter 8, as also the later Olafshelga
1 See Grimm, GDS.'», p. 64. 3 « Holy month."

2 Another example, already mentioned on p. 214 and taken from Jon Arnason's
Islcnzkar Thjodhs'ógitr og Aijïiiiyi-i, may
be found in Liebrecht, Zin- Volkskunde,
p. 362. * Tacitus, Annals, I, 50.
Tribunals not specially summoned." E.xamples may be found in Grimm,

5 "
DRA., pp. 821-826. 6 •' Tribunals specially summoned."

Saga, Chapters 104 and 112, mentions three annual sacrifices:

towards winter offerings were made for a prosperous year (///
ars), in the middle of the winter for fertility {til gródhrar), and
towards summer for victory (/// sigrs).
not, however, We do
regard these three divisions as representing three seasons, as
many scholars have done, for these three sacrifices all take
place during the winter, at the beginning, the middle, and the
end. The first probably came in the early part of October,
and the last in April. That the second one coincided with the
Yule festival is hardly likely. No mention is made of special
gods to whom these sacrifices were made.
The great festival in Scandinavia was the Yule festival. We
do not regard it as ancient, or as common to all Teutonic
tribes. Such traces as are found of it in the folklore of the
other Teutonic peoples are of Roman and Christian origin. It
is probable that the festival is of a relatively recent date, of
about the ninth century perhaps, and that the characteristics
of the festival of the dead have been transferred to it. In the
last century of heathenism, whose history we some know with
detail, it was held in high esteem by the Scandinavians. At
first it was perhaps celebrated in October or February, while
later on it was merged with the Christian festival of the nativity.
From the very beginning the time (seasons) of the year in
which the Teutonic festivals were held was intimately asso-
ciated with the character of the festival itself. At first they
were concerned with the administration of justice and the pur-
suit of war under the Frankish kings the campi still bear in
;
large measure the character, of military reviews. Gradually

and, so far as folklore is concerned, entirely, justice and war
yield to the tillage of the soil and the breeding of cattle.
Their original nature, that of a popular gathering and of peace-

ful converse,such as we find it in the festival of the Nerthus
nations, was still retained in the last period of paganism in
Iceland, where the autumnal assemblies were characterized by
CALENDAR AND FESTIVALS 3S3
all manner of festivities and games, such as ball-play, for which

"play-halls" were erected, as we are told in the Eyrbyggja
Saga, Chapter 43.
In the North we also read of great festivals, recurring at
intervals of nine years. Thietmar of Merseburg (eleventh
century) gives the following account^ of such a festival among
the Danes: "There is in those regions a place by the name of
Lederun, the capital of that kingdom, in the district which is
called Selon, where every ninth year, in the month of January,

after the time when we celebrate Epiphany, all the people
assembled and sacrificed to their gods ninety-nine men and
the same number of horses, together with dogs and cocks, —
the latter in default of hawks, — feeling assured that these
would render them services with the gods of the lower world,
and appease the gods for the crimes which they had com-
mitted." The reasons which Thietmar assigns for this great
sacrifice at Leire {Lethrci) in Seeland cannot be considered
satisfactory: prisoners of war — if we may consider these vic-

tims such — and animals of the chase (hawks) are unheard of
as an expiatory sacrifice. Concerning the festival at Upsala
Adam of Bremen"- tells us that no one was exempted from the
ceremonies, king and people alike sent their gifts. Even those
who had already become Christians had to provide a ransom.
As to the sacrifice itself " From every living thing that is
:
male, nine heads are ofiêred, with the blood of which it is cus-
tomary to appease the gods. The bodies are hung up in the
grove which adjoins the temple." Each tree of this grove is

considered sacred "on account of the death and the putrefac-
tion of Dogs and horses hung there in the
the victims."
midst of human bodies a Christian had counted seventy-two
;
bodies altogether. At this sacrifice are sung "divers unseemly

songs." From this account, which is not altogether free from
1 Chronicle, I, Chapter 9.
2 Gesta, IV, 27, 28.
embellishment, it would appear that the victims were hung up

on the trees, as in the days of Tacitus. The victims were male
persons and animals, including, as at Leire, dogs and horses.
These later accounts of sacrificial ceremonies are not lacking,
therefore, in genuine old Teutonic features.
•CHAPTER XXI
MAGIC AND DIVINATION
Jacob Grimm begins his chapter on Magic ^ by drawing a

distinction between divine Wundern and devilish Zaubern, not
altogether justly so, inasmuch as Teutonic paganism did not
observe the distinction. He is happier when he defines the
various notions entering into the conception as including
"doing, sacrificing, spying, soothsaying, singing, sign-making
(secret writing), bewildering, dazing, cooking, healing, and
casting lots."" For the same notions we commonly use the
expressions practising magic, witchcraft, divination, sooth-
saying, and conjuring (Frisian tjoene, Danish trylle).
Magic constitutes an important part of every religion, some

scholars regarding it as the most original element, others as
"a disease of religion."'' Such questions, however, form part
of the general phenomenology of religion and not of the history
of each special religion. Without entering, therefore, upon
this general problem, we shall here attempt to arrange what
is known to us of magic and divination among the Teutonic
peoples. Both folklore and Norse literature furnish a wealth

of material, although much of what is found in the former is
of more recent origin.
The first question that confronts us is that of the connection
between magic on the one hand, and mythology and cult on
the other. Many a magic charm and many an incantation is
efiïcacious in itself, without resort to higher powers, but as a
iDM.-i, 86i. 2 DM .'t,

867.
3 See the more recent discussion by Jevons, The Science of Religion {Infer-
national Monthly, April, May, igoi).
rule witchcraft is connected with a belief in souls. ^ Thus the

young Svipdag learns from his deceased mother Groa^ the
magic songs which are to shield him from all manner of
danger. The magician and the vQlva stand in relationship
with the spirits. At the same time magic power proceeds
from the ^sir, Vanir, giants,^ dwarfs, and elves as well. It is
a well-known fact that Odhin is preeminently the god of magic,
but Thor, Tyr, Heimdallr, etc., are also invoked in the practice
of magic. The power of magic in such cases rests ultimately,
as Uhland^ has put it, upon the basis of an actual event that
has taken place in the world of gods or spirits.
The exact connection between the magical and the mythical

is by no means always clear. In the first Merseburg Charm*
the effect of the incantation for the loosing of bonds seems
to be intimately connected with the work of the Idisi. But
Hdvamal, 148, and Grógaldr, 10, mention incantations that pro-
duce the same result without a single hint of a mythological
basis. Magic of a similar kind, but covered with a Christian
varnish, is to be found in Bede. He tells us" of a youth who
had been picked up on the field of battle and been taken
prisoner. him were in vain, because his
All efforts to bind
brother, an abbotand presbyter, thinking him dead, was saying
masses for the repose of his soul. The mass for the dead is
here attended by the same result as the magic incantation that
looses bonds. In the second Merseburg Charm the connection
between the mythical incident contained in the introduction
and the charm proper is even less apparent. It is at any rate
of some importance to know that myth and magic charm are
linked together. Hence, also, at the dawning of the light of
1 This connection was pointed out as early as 1830 by Walter Scott in his Letters
on Demotiology and Witchcraft. Among more recent writers Mogk and Finnur
Jónsson may be mentioned.
2 Grógaldr, 6-14. 6 See above, pp. 127-128.
3 For an imprecation by the giants, see Atlamal, 32.
4 Schriften, VI, 253. « HE. IV, 22.
. :
MAGIC AND DIVINATION 387
day, some incantations lose their power, as may, for example,

be inferred from an otherwise somewhat obscure^ strophe
(^Hdvamdl, i6o) "
Before Delling's^ doors the dwarf Thjodrerir sang his magic song:
wisdom to Hroptatyr.
strength he sang to the ^sir, skill to the elves, and
Various gods are invoked in the practice of magic : Tyr, for

example, at the graving of sword runes, which conferred magic
power'* on certain swords, such as Tyrfing in the Hervarar
Saga. The names of the ^^sir and elves seem to possess
special magic power.'' The magic effect produced by partic-
ular words is likewise seen in the practice of erecting a

so-called spite-stake {jiidhstqiig). These bore an inscription
and were surmounted at times by a human figure, or again by
the head of a horse turned in the direction of the dwelling of
the enemy." The best known example is that of the scald
EgiV who erected a iiidhstqng against king Eirikr and his

wife, bearing the following words :
" I here erect a nidhstqng
and direct this spite {tiidh) against king Eirikr and queen
Gunnhild ; I erect this spite against the spirits {landvcettir)
that inhabit this land, so that they may all fail of the right
path, and none find or reach his destination before they have
driven king Eirikr and queen Gunnhild out of the land."
The magic stake and the conjuration were accordingly also
thought to be effective against the spirits of the land {land-
7>(Bttir)
The Edda gives a list of magic charms at three various

times : Havatndl^ 145-163 ; Grbgaldr, 6-14 ; Sigrdrifmndl, 6-13.
In these passages a number of things are enumerated which
*
1 See Uhland, Schriften, III, 244; VI, 238, and also Miillenhoff, DA. V, 273, who
offers a slightly different interpretation.
2 Edition of Symons. SDelling, the father of day.
4 See the Saga Book of the Viking Club, I, 130, 150.
^ Havamal, 158. See also Krist Myrop, Navus magt (1887).
6 Examples are cited by K. Maurer, Bekchntiig des Norwegischcn Stainmcs, II,
~
64-65. Egilssaga, Chapter 57.
were sought to be obtained by magic, such as help in sickness

and danger, aid against enemies, safeguard against harmful
influences, acquisition of knowledge and skill, safety in jour-
neys on land and on sea, power to heal wounds. It would be
quite impossible, in the case of the Teutons as with other
peoples, to enumerate all the benefits that were looked for from
magic in both public and private life, the pursuit of agriculture,
of cattle breeding, etc. Magic also plays a considerable part
in the art of healing. In all this it is quite impossible to draw

a sharp line of division between what is pagan and what is
Christian : much that comes under this rubric may be of
medieval origin, such as the accounts of supernatural powers,

of metamorphoses,^ of magic food and draughts of forgetful-
ness, of magic hoods {Ihrnkappe) and of hidden treasures.
The same observation applies to the practices condemned by
the Indiciilus Supcrstitioniim and the Homilia de Sacrilegiis,
such as philacteries and incantations."

is effected by means of the magic song (Norse
Conjuring
and the magic charms employed usually derive their
gald?-),
power from the runes that are graven on them. These runes
among the Teutons are older than the runic letters, which they
borrowed from the Latin, alphabet, and with which the marks
(jiotcE) on the magic lots in Tacitus have accordingly nothing
in common. Run occurs in numerous proper names of an

early date Sigrun, Hildrun, Albrun, Heidrun,^ etc. Halibruna
:
in Jordanes^ is another early example. The word "run," from

the same root as the German raJincn (to whisper), " signifies,
in the first instance, whispering, secret speech, and then mys-

tery in general, in doctrine, witchcraft, song, symbol, or letter."^
The designation applies to magic sign as well as to magic
song (Old Norse Ijödli, spjqll, galdr). Thus the lists of magic
ISee K. Weinhold, MHrchen vom Eselsmcnschen (SBA. XXIX, Berlin, 1893).
Îndiaihts, X, XII. ^ Uhland, Schriften, VI, 225, 226.
3 See Försteinann, Altdeidschcs Navienbiich, I, 1062 f.
4 DOAG., Chapter 24.

. :
charms in the Edda referred to above are called runes. The

ancient connection between incantation and runic symbol
crops out in a later romantic saga/ in which the sorceress
Busla utters specially potent galdrar (plural of galdr, magic
song), to bewitch king Hring. To these incantations a
series of runic letters, six in number, are subjoined, which,
while also forming a sort of riddle, are at the same time
thought to possess magic power.- The Egils Saga, Chapter 72,
furnishes another example of the great power of runic signs.
In an effort to cure a sick peasant girl, false runes had been
graved on fish gills {tdlhi) ; Egil discovers this, replaces
the false runes with and an instant cure results.
the true,
It is therefore not surprising to find the knowledge of runes
embracing practically every domain of superhuman power

he who is possessed of " ever-during runes and life-runes " is
all-powerful and is safeguarded against every misfortune.'^
A specifically Norse form of witchcraft is called scidhr. By
some it has been thought that seidhr was introduced from
Finland, but while this is not impossible, it has at least not
been clearly proved. Seidhr is attributed to Odhin, Yjiglinga-
saga, Chapter 7, and Lokasenna, 24; to GuUveig, Voluspa, 22.
The word is usually employed in an evil sense, referring to
base, harmful arts which cause tempests and thunderstorms,
kill enemies, and create delusions. However, it also occurs as
applying to magic arts that are used as safeguards, or which
serve to divine the future.^ King Harald Fairhair, we are
told, was violently opposed to these sorcerers and had eighty
of them burnt, among them one of his own sons.'^
Seidhr was practised on an elevated seat {seidh-hJaUr), and

consisted of beautiful, alluring, majestic songs, sung by the
1 Saga Herrmidhs ok Bósa, Chapter 5.
2 See Uhland, Schrifteji, VI, 248. ^ Rigsthitla, 44-46.
•t
Numerous examples are cited by K. von Maurer, Bekehriing des Norivegischen
Stammes, II, i ^6 ff
5 Saga of Harald Fairhair {Heimskringla), Chapter 36.
I
seidhmadhr (man) or scidJikona (woman), or by their attend-

ants. Thus the Orvarodds Saga^ tells of a vqlva and seidhkona
Heidhr, who was accompanied by fifteen boys and fifteen girls,
all with good voices, who were to sing the song. The seidhkona
seems have been of more frequent occurrence than the

to
seid/imad/ir. The Ynglinga Saga, Chapter 7, explains this as
due to the contemptible character of the magic arts, hardly
correctly so, inasmuch as the sorceress and prophetess were
highly esteemed and wielded great power.
Women who practised magic and soothsaying were called
7'qhir (plural of vqlvd). While the v^lva, or spdkona (wise
woman), is not necessarily a seidhkona (jY/V//;--woman), the dis-
tinction between the two classes is frequently lost sight of, and
more than one vqlva is also said to be versed in seidhr. The
word "vQlva," derived from vqlr (staff), signifies staff-bearer,
the name referring either to the magic staff of the vQlva or to the
staff with which she wanders from place to place." To acquire
her supernatural power the v^lva sometimes for several nights
in succession sat out in the open air {spdfqr, wisdom-faring ;
utiseta, where she then received revelations

sitting outside),
from Odhin, or from spirits and the dead. Finnur Jonsson
is of the opinion that such v^lur, in the character of wander-
ing sorceresses and soothsayers, were found in Norway alone,
whereas in Iceland they retired into the background, only a

few women who otherwise followed the ordinary walks of life
possessing magic power. But wandering v^lur are to be
found in Iceland and Greenland'' as well : witness for Iceland,
OddbJQrg Viga Glums Saga, Chapter 12, and for Green-
in the
land, ThorbJQrg, "the little v^lva," whose doings are so pic-

turesquely described in the Eiriks Saga Raudha. We quote
the passage in its entirety, because it presents the clearest
picture of a heathen ceremony that we possess. On account
1 Chapter 2. 2 See Miillenhoff, DA. V, 42.
3 Greenland derived its culture from Iceland.

of dearth, famine, and failure in the catch of fish, it was

resolved in Greenland that Thorbj^rg, " the little vqlva," should
be consulted. She was the only one remaining of nine sisters,
who had all " It was Thorbj^rg's custom
been prophetesses.
in the winters to go to entertainments, and she was especially
sought after at the homes of those who were curious to know
their fate, or what manner of season might be in store for
them." Thorkel, "the chief yeoman in the neighborhood,"
was accordingly to consult her regarding the famine.
A high seat was prepared for her, in which a cushion filled with poultry
feathers was placed. When she came in the evening, with the man who
had been sent to meet her, she was clad in a dark-blue cloak, fastened with
a strap, and set with stones quite down to the hem. She wore glass beads
around her neck, and upon her head a black lamb-skin hood, lined with
white cat-skin. In her hands she carried a staff, upon which there was a
knob, which was ornamented with brass, and set with stones up about the
knob. Circling her waist she wore a girdle of touch-wood, and attached
to it a great skin pouch, in which she kept the charms which she used when
she was practising her sorcery. She wore upon her feet shaggy calf-skin
shoes, with long, tough latchets, upon the ends of which there were large
brass buttons. She had cat-skin gloves upon her hands, which were white
inside and lined with fur. When she entered, all of the folk felt it to be
their duty to offer her becoming greetings.
She received the salutations of
each individual according as he pleased her. Yeoman Thorkel took the
sibyl by the hand, and led her to the seat which had been made ready for
her. Thorkel bade her run her eyes over man and beast and home. She
had little to say concerning all these. The tables were brought forth in
the evening, and it remains to be told what manner of food was prepared
for the prophetess. A porridge of goat's beestings was made for her, and
formeat there were dressed the hearts of every kind of beasts which could
be obtained there. She had a brass spoon, and a knife with a handle of
walrus tusk, with a double hasp of brass around the haft, and from this
the point was broken. And when the tables were removed. Yeoman
Thorkel approaches ThorbJ9rg, and asks how she is pleased with the
home, and the character of the folk, and how speedily she would be likely
to become aware of that concerning which he had questioned her, and
which the people were anxious to know. She replied that she could not
give an opinion in this matter before the morrow, after that she had slept
:
there through the night. And on the morrow, when the day was far spent,
such preparations were made as were necessary to
enable her to accom-
plish her soothsaying. She bade them bring here those women who knew
the incantation which she required to work her spells, and which she
called Warlocks but such women were not to be found. Thereupon a
;
search was made throughout the house, to see whether any one knew this
incantation. Then says Gudrid " Although I am neither skilled in the
:
black art nor a sibyl, yet my foster-mother, Halldis, taught me in Iceland

that spell-song which she called Warlocks." ThorbJ9rg answered : "Then
art thou wise in season !
" Gudrid replies :
" This is an incantation and
ceremony of such a kind, that I do not mean to lend it any aid, for that
I am a Christian woman." ThorbJ9rg answers :
" It might so be that thou
company here, and still be no worse woman
couldst give thy help to the
than before however, I leave it with Thorkel to provide for my needs."
;
Thorkel now so urged Gudrid, that she said she must needs comply with
his wishes. Th'e women they made a ring round about, while Thorbj^rg
sat up on the spell-dais. Gudrid then sang the song, so sweet and well,
that no one remembered ever before to have heard the melody sung with so
fair a voice as this. The sorceress thanked her for the song, and said
" She has indeed lured many spirits hither, who think it pleasant to hear
this song, those who were wont to forsake us hitherto and refuse to sub-
mit themselves to us. Many things are now revealed to me, which hitherto
have been hidden, both from me and from others. And I am able to
announce that this period of famine will not endure longer, but the season
will mend as spring approaches. The visitation of disease, which has been
so long upon you, will disappear sooner than expected." Thorbjcjrg also
prophesies a happy marriage and a safe return to Iceland to Gudrid, and
besides foretells the future of many others.^
We see from this account how much importance was attached

to dress and even to food, and also that the vqlva was herself
dependent upon the women that knew the " warlocks " {vardh-
lokkur), to lure the spirits. Whether only soothsa3'ing is intended
here, aswould seem to be the case, or whether the sorceress,
through the influence that the songs exert upon the spirits,
effects the cessation of the famine, is not altogether clear. At

any rate, the v^lva represents a remarkable combination of
inward and outward witchcraft. She is herself prophetess and
1 A. M, Reeves, The Finding of Wineland the Good (1890), pp. t,t„ 34.
sorceress, but is at the same time dependent, in the practice of

her art, upon her seat, her dress, and her song. These do not,
however, constitute signs which she interprets, but are merely
aids to her magic and divination. While descent (nine sisters)
and tradition (Gudrid has learned the song from her foster-
mother) influence the possession of this art, there is not a
single trace of Shamanism, the being inspired by the spirits of
deceased Shamans. At the same time the magic power bears
the character of divine art rather than of human skill. Grimm's
words, " Imagination, tradition, knowledge of medicinal proper-
ties, poverty, and idleness turned women into sorceresses, while
the last three causes also turned shepherds into sorcerers," ^
apply to later medieval conditions alone.

Up to this point we have not always been able to distinguish
sharply between sorcery and soothsaying. We now pass to a
consideration of divination proper. From Tacitus^ we know
that the Teutons attached great importance to " omens and
lots." Ariovistus' refusal to fight ^ was explained by the pris-
oners on the score of " the custom which obtained among the
Teutons that the mothers should by means of lots and prophe-
cies determinewhether or not it would be advantageous to fight
a battle." According to Ammianus Marcellinus (XIV, 9, 10),
the Alemanni felt all their courage desert them when the aus-
pices or the authority of the sacred rights prohibited their
entering battle. A number of other passages that deal with
divination might be cited, from the historians {e.g. Agathias,
II, 6), from the vitce of the missionaries, and from the Norse
sagas, but it will be more profitable to subject the passages
of Tacitus to a somewhat closer scrutiny* and to group our
material around these.
1 DM.^ p. S6S.
- Gcrmania, Chapter 10.
3 Caesar, B. G., I, 50.
* See the commentary of Miillenhoff, DA. IV, pp. 222-233.
: i
Tacitus distinguishes omens and lots {auspicia and sortes).
Concerning the latter he remarks
The mode of consulting lots is simple. They cut off the twig of a fruit-
bearing tree and cut it into little wands. These they thereupon distinguish
by certain marks, and scatter them at random and fortuitously upon a
white garment. Thereupon the priest of the state, if the occasion be a
public one, or the father of a household, if it be private, after an invocation
of the gods, and lifting his eyes up to heaven, thrice takes up one wand at
a time, and interprets the wands taken up in accordance with the marks
previously made on them. If they forbid, no further consultation concern-
ing thesame matter takes place on that day but if they ; permit, a confir-
mation by means of omens is still required in addition.
However simple this mode of consulting lots may have been,

the words of Tacitus are hardly such as not to require com-
ment. The first question that presents itself is just what was
the nature of the marks upon the wands. If they stood iox yes
and which forsooth would have been the most simple of all,
no,
then what need was there for more than two pieces of wood,
and for an interpretation besides ? The marks from which the
priest or father of the family divined with prayer {avlion suspi-
ciens) the will of the gods must, therefore, have been something
else than mere signs for yes and no, although the answer was
in the main positive or negative (perfnissinn ox prohibihini).
With these bits of wood (siirciili) in the account of Tacitus
the Norse blotspdnn ("sacrifice-chip," divining rod; plural
blótspccnnir), showing that the lot was accompanied with sacri-
fice, and the Frisian foii {feina, twig), which we meet in Frisian
judicial procedure, are to be compared. On these teni of the

Frisians certain marks (signa) were made, belonging to indi-
viduals concerned in the suit. The procedure is described in

the /i'x Frisionum. If a murder has been committed, lots are
drawn by means two pieces of wood, on one of which there

of
is a sign of the cross, while the other is unmarked. Seven
1 Gil iiKiiiiii. Chapter lo.
MAGIC AND D/VIA-AT/ON 395
persons suspected by the plaintiff are brought forward, and if
the unmarked lot be drawn, the guilty person isamong these

seven. Each of the latter thereupon makes his own sign upon
a teina, the seven lots are covered over, an innocent child
draws six of them, and the owner of the seventh is the guilty
man. In like manner lots were drawn in case of disputes
involving property. Here, accordingly, the lot designates
particular persons.^
Tacitus places omens and lots alongside of each other, as is
also done in Hymiski'idha, I :
Divining rods they shook and blood inspected.
Concerning omens {auspicid) Tacitus notes the following:
They also know how to consult the cries and the flight of birds : it is pecul-
iar to this people that they in addition deduce presages and admonitions
from horses. These are fed at public expense in sacred forests and groves,
are milk-white and undefiled by human labor. Yoked to the sacred chariot
they are accompanied by the priest and the king, or chief of the state, who
carefully observe their neighing and snorting. In no other omen is greater
faith reposed, not only by the people but also by the nobility, for they
regard the priests- as the ministers of the gods, and the horses as cognizant
of the divine will.^
The cries and the flight of birds were, therefore, looked

upon as omens.* Some birds, as the swallow, stork, and eagle,
bode good fortune; others, as the dove i^Leichentauhe), owl,
and cuckoo, bode ill fortune. Tacitus dwells at some length
on the most important oracle of all, the omens derived from
horses. These horses were kept in the sacred groves, as were
the white horses of Freyr near his sanctuary at Drontheim.
They performed no daily tasks, but on the occasion of the
1 von Richthofen, Friesische Rechisgeschichie, II, 451.

F.
•
Perhaps " themselves " {se), i.e. the priests and nobles, is here the better reading.
2
Compare the collections of folklore, such as J. M. E. Saxley, Birds of Omen

•*
in Shetland (Viking Club, October, 1892), and L. A. J. W. Sloet, De dieren in het

gennaansche volksgeloof en volksgebruik (1887).
sacred procession were yoked to the chariot, as at the proces-

sion of Freyr in Sweden. The chariot of Nerthus, on the
other hand, was drawn by cows. The remark that not only
the people but also the nobility believed in these auspices is
doubtless made in view of the sceptical attitude prominent

Romans assumed toward such matters.
A third kind of divination through which the Teutons sought
to forecast the outcome of war, Tacitus describes as follows :
A prisoner of the tribe with which they are at war, taken in any manner
whatsoever, they match with one of their own men, chosen for this purpose.
Each fights with the weapons peculiar to his own country. The victory of
either is regarded as an augury of the result of the war.^
It will be observed that this combat is not designed to bring

the war to a close, but merely to obtain some presage as to
its final issue. The combats mentioned by Gregory of

single
Tours (II, 2) and Paulus Diaconus (I, 12), that put an end
to wars, are therefore not at all parallel.
A Scandinavian form of the single combat to decide disputes
is the hblmganga (" holm-going "), which one could not refuse
to make without being branded as infamous. Von Amira is
sceptical towards the supposed religious significance of these

combats and regards, in fact, most of the so-called ordeals
{Gottesurteilé) as Christian in origin.-^
Tacitus does not make mention of divination in connection
with sacrifice — soothsaying from blood and entrails and pos-
sibly also from the brains of animals'' nor of conjuring of —
the dead, although both of these forms of divination are
doubtless to be regarded as Teutonic.
Alongside of these official forms, numerous conceptions and
usages in connection with divination can be gathered from
folklore, a few of which may here be briefly referred to.
1 Gcrmania, Chapter lo. 2 PG.2, III, 217-220.

3 Ind'u'ulus SiiperstHio)ium, XVI.
Dreams are of very frequent occurrence in both Norse and

German literature, the best known example being perhaps
Kriemhilt's dream in the Nibelungenlied. In the main these
dreams bear, however, the earmarks of conscious literary
fiction,^ and Grimm, in his mythology, has accordingly attached
little importance to them, despite the fact that certain special

dreams, such as that of the treasure on the bridge,^ as well as
the putting faith in dreams new house, in the wedding
in a
night, in New Year's night, have obtained wide currency
etc.,
in popular tales. The Teutons, at any rate, never possessed

systematized oneiromancy. Omens from what is encountered
on the street {Angatig) and other occurrences are enumerated
{Reginsmdl, 20-24). Careful attention was paid to sneezing,
slips in speech, stumbling, falling, and various aerial phe-
nomena. Belief in lucky and unlucky days was also very
widespread, Friday being, for instance, generally shunned for
setting out on a journey, for contracting a marriage, or starting
any undertaking. of these things are, however, to be
Most
regarded in the light of " ethnographic parallels " rather than
as relics from pagan antiquity, although it is to be acknowl-
edged that ecclesiastical regulations and such writers as
^
Burchard of Worms, Regino of Priim, and Pirmin combat these

popular customs as pagan in character.
1 In the case of dreams in Norse literature this has been shown by \V. Henzen,
Ucber die Tr'dumc in der altnordischeii Sagalitteratur (1890).

2
J. Grimm, A7. Schr., Ill, 414-428.
3 Indiciilus Super stitiomim ; Homilia de Sacrilegiis.
CHAPTER XXII
CONCLUSION
From the remarks made in the opening chapter, which we

have found confirmed in the entire subsequent course of our
study, it is evident that it will not be feasible to attempt to
trace the characteristics that are common to the various phe-
nomena with which we have been dealing. The pagan Teutons
embrace so many tribes and peoples, scattered in lands so far
apart, living under such widely different social and political
conditions, exposed to so many foreign influences and spread
over so long a period of time, that at the end as at the begin-
ning of our survey we are forced to conclude that unity and
uniform development are not to be found.
In bringing this study to a close, we cannot, however, refrain
from casting a retrospective glance at the paths we have
traversed, in order that we may indicate the rank that Teu-
tonic religion, disjointed as its character undoubtedly is,
deserves to occupy in the family of religions. The impor-

tance of the religion of the Teutons has frequently been over-
rated :
^ it has been compared with the Hindu, Persian, and
Greek and been held "
religions, to represent a " spiritualization
of original monotheism. The myths, it is argued, contain a
deep spiritual meaning,
day and year myth has
in that the
been broadened into a world-myth, and more especially in that
this world-drama has been invested with a moral significance.
1 More especially by P. Asmus, Die indogermanische Religion in den Haitpt-

punkten Hirer Eiitwickelttng (I, 1875; II, 1877), and also by E. von Hartmann,
Das religiose Bewitsstsein der Menschheit ittt Stiifengang seiner Entwickeliing
(1882).
398
CONCLUSION 399
everything being based on the guilt of the gods. This

mythology, therefore, not only possesses a poetic beauty and
an elegiac melancholy, but also represents a tragico-ethical
sublimation ( Vertiefung) of monotheism. Such theories appear
very attractive, but it is hardly necessary to point out that
Teutonic religion is not to be judged in accordance with the
alleged philosophic content of the later mythical fragments of
the Edda.
Teutonic paganism is, in fact, neither a simple growth on
the soil of Indo-European life, nor has its mythology a philo-
sophical or semi-philosophical content. We must never lose
sight of the actual conditions prevailing among the Teutonic
tribes of the days of Tacitus, or of the Anglo-Saxon migration
to England. With their organization in army and things their
castes, and their wealth of sagas, these tribes certainly were
not savages. And yet they cannot be classed among the
civilized peoples, enjoying settled conditions of life and pos-
They belong to that middle class to
sessing literary culture.
which Tylor has given the name of barbarians, though to its
higher representatives. Notwithstanding von Ranke's weighty
objections,^ we do not hesitate to include them among this
class. Every comparison with other peoples fails us here, the
one that is open to the least objection being perhaps that
which likens the popiili and civiialcs of Tacitus and the Anglo-
Saxon tribes of the fifth century to the Greeks of the Homeric
age.
For the rich literature of the heroic saga, of the Anglo-Saxon
and Norse monuments (^Beowulf and the Edda), we have
vindicated a genuine Teutonic kernel. It is, however, not
possible to recognize in them products of the purely pagan
period, and, besides, their contents were only to a limited
extent religious in character. These writings contain a wealth
of material in the form of old sagas and myths, which although
1 Weltgeschichte, III, 41.
only indirectly connected with religion, — inasmuch as the lit-
erature has neither sprung from religious needs nor received

a religious setting, — supply data of an inestimable value for
the history of religion. Not until we reach the period of
do we meet with
transition in the North, the tenth century,
a few songs, more especially Voluspa, that have a religious
character.
It also deserves to be pointed out that in the whole course
of our investigation not a single figure has beenmet with in
which the pagan religious ideas can be said to have found a
typical expression, or which exerted a dominant influence on
the trend of religious thought, —
no king, no priest, no prophet,
no poet. For neither the scalds, whose adventures and poems
captivate us, nor Saxo, who has preserved such a wealth of
sagas, nor Snorri, who arranged and codified mythological
traditions, can be regarded as such, and the great Norwe-
gian kings, more especially Olaf Tryggvason, are those who
introduced Christianity.
The spirit of paganism is still most clearly felt in the char-
acter of the ancient gods, such as has been described in
Chapter 13. At various times we have noted the fact that
numerous Teutonic peoples clung with great tenacity to a cult
which had become interwoven with their life and traditions,
and which was associated with their sacred places. When we
ask what influence this religion exerted upon life in its various
relations, we enter upon the domain of the history of morals.
What the Germans have called history of morals {Sittefige-

schichte) represents, however, not a sharply marked off, but a
well-nigh boundless, field ; on the one hand it is closely related
to the history of legal and political institutions {^Verfassungs-
geschic/ite), on the other to folklore. While the history of

morals is distinct from both of these, it may yet not overlook
the ethical significance of either constitutional and legal insti-
tutions or of popular customs. An inquiry into the social
;
CONCLUSION 401
relations existing between commanders and subordinates, free-

men and slaves, man and wife, parents and children, falls no
less within the province of the history of morals than does the
investigation of customs at childbirth, at marriage and death,
at festivals, and in connection with the various pursuits of life.
What either public law or public opinion stigmatizes or pun-

ishes as wrong, what is esteemed or abhorred in certain circles
at certain and sentiments that govern the
periods, the ideas
life of individuals, the ideals, motives, and moods, all this —
furnishes material for the history of morals. Only he, there-
fore, should undertake to write this history who is able to make
use of the sources for the history of a specific period, and who
in addition possesses a faculty of nice perception and correct
judgment, which will enable him to discover, to discriminate,
and to group the data of which he stands in need.
It is at no time an easy task to deduce from words and actions

either the motives and moods from which they proceed, or the
general spiritual atmosphere from which they have sprung. It
is equally difficult to sketch on the basis of a few isolated facts

the moral atmosphere of a particular time, The Siitenge-
schichte of the extensive period —^no less than a thousand years

— which our treatment embraces has not as yet been written
but he who does undertake to write it will undoubtedly have
occasion to deplore, in the case of numerous portions of his
subject, the scantiness of the material at his command.
Much of what such a history would contain lies outside the
scope of the present volume. We are not concerned with
either the perpetuation of the antique or the introduction of
the Christian morals, and yet Teutonic pagan customs have
been so woven together with both of these that a sharp
dividing line cannot possibly be drawn.
The question accordingly suggests itself : What influence
did pagan belief exert on morality? or, rather, What religious
significance attaches to morality among the ancient Teutons .''
Tacitus is again the first author to be considered. From

the remarks made above ^ on the subject of religion, the main
characteristics of Teutonic morality may be deduced. It was
there stated that " the air of mystery and the intimate connec-
tion with the life of the tribe " constituted fundamental traits
of Teutonic religion. The feeling entertained by the ancient

Teutons towards their gods partook far more of the nature of
awe and fear than of intimacy and familiarity. It was not a

joyous worship of nature. The gods were "unapproachable,
dreaded," and the people " bowed their heads in silence before
the indomitable power of these invisible and dread beings."^

And yet these gods, by virtue of the auspices, were present in
the popular assembly, and through the standards that were
taken along from the forests accompanied the army into battle.
Festivals were celebrated in their honor and those days were
days of rejoicing {Iceti dies), but withal it is evident that gods
who demanded human offerings inspired terror rather than
confidence. The gods are the tribal progenitors ;
there is no
indication of the existence of a closer relationship between
them and specific persons. Not that the life of the individual
had become completely merged with that of the tribe on the ;
contrary, Tacitus takes pains to point out how strongly Teu-

tonic institutions developed the feeling of personal honor.
This is evidenced in his remarks both on the comitatus^ and
on marriage and on the purity of morals.^ To emulate one
another in bravery and to be faithful to their chief, — these
are the highest virtues of the comitatus in both peace and war.
The sexual purity of the Teutons is depicted in colors carefully
chosen to bring out the contrast with the moral corruption of
Rome. None of these personal virtues, neither bravery, nor
fidelity, nor chastity, are, in the account of Tacitus, given a
1 Page 1 02.
2 Hauck, Kirchengeschichte Deictscklands, II, 330, 359.
3 Chapters 13, 14. * Chapters 18, 19.
CONCLUSION 403
religious setting. Thus the gods belong solely to the cult,
which was, to be sure, intimately connected with the political

and social order of things. That the punishment inflicted upon
criminals bore a sacred character, just as every breach of the
peace was an offence against the gods, while not expressly
stated in Chapter 12, may yet be inferred from it in connec-
tion with the remarks made in Chapter 7 and elsewhere con-
cerning Teutonic law. The standard of morality held up by
this law is strikingly high ; while giving full weight to the fact
that Tacitus ever has in mind the contrast with the depravities
of Roman civilization, yet the epithets tiirpe and i/ifame'^
applied to treason, faithlessness, base crimes, unnatural vices,
etc., cannot but testify to the purity of ancient Teutonic
morals, however boisterous and violent may have been their
revels over their cups and at gambling.
As in the days of Tacitus, so for the centuries that follow,
the moral functions of the gods are identical with their position
as guardians and defenders of fhifig and host. In so far as we
are actually acquainted with the part they play in Teutonic law
and in the cult, we find the gods punishing those who trans-
gress against them, or who violate the sacred peace, i.e. the
regular order of legal procedure or of the military camp. This
forms the whole extent of their moral significance. They have
in no sense become the embodiment of certain moral qualities
or ideals. By way of exception, popular imagination has now

and then invested them with a special form, Wodan being, for
example, thought of as a rider ; but an individualized character
is borne only by a few, in the poetic mythology of the Edda.
Even the number of their functions is extremely limited as
compared with the gods of the more highly developed mytholo-
gies, Wodan-Odhin again being the only one whose connec-
tions, as god of the storm, of the dead, of war, of poetry, of

magic, and of agriculture, are somewhat varied, although not
1 •'
Shameful " and " infamous."
:
404 r//£ RELIGION OF THE ANCIENT TEUTONS
all of these are, of course, equally original. The Teutonic gods

are in no way the expression of lofty ideas or sentiments, be
they aisthetical or ethical, such as would make the servant of
the gods, at the sight of their images or at the thought of their
deeds, feel himself in their presence imbued with new moral
strength. The myths that are recounted of them either stand
on the plane of phenomena of nature or have undergone free
poetical elaboration ; no moral standards are applied to the
gods. Those Scandinavian myths that would seem to contro-
vert this statement can, as we have seen in our. treatment of
the myths of the Vanir war and the world-drama, not be
accounted original.
Of greater importance than the god-myths, when we wish
to inquire into the moral ideals embodied in living personali-
ties, are the heroic sagas. No one has treated this subject
with such delicate feeling and exquisite taste as Uhland, who
describes in detail the chief types that the heroic saga depicts
the kings, the masters, the heroes, the comrades, the faithless,
and the women. ^ According to Uhland, in both the principal
modes of Teutonic life, among those settled in fixed habitations,
and those who roam on land and sea, the main
in enterprises
bond and the leading virtue is fidelity " in it we dis-

of union :
cern the power that animates and sustains Teutonic life.""

We meet it in all the varied relations of life it knits the closest ;
ties and inspires also the most implacable vengefulness. Here

lies the secret of those two wonderful creations of medieval
epic poetry : Hagen, at once the most faithful and the most
faithless ;
Kriemhilt, before Siegfried's death the most tender
wife, but after his death a very she-devil towards her enemies.
1 See particularly the section entitled " Das Ethische" of his masterly study on
the Heldensage in the first volume of his collected works (I, 211-347). The seventh
volume of works also treats of the Norse and German heroic saga. Of more
his
recent works, the book of W. P. Ker, Epic and Romance (1897), contains thoughtful
observations on this phase of the subject.
'^Schriften, VII, 555.
CONCLUSION 405
Much as the various heroic sagas differ from one another, this
motif constantly recurs, now in the form of a glorification of
fideUty, as in the Gothic Amelungen Saga, and again in that
of a tragedy of infidelity, as in the Frankish-Burgundian Nibe-
lungen Saga. Uhland is fully aware of the fact that these
sagas have assimilated numerous new elements traceable to
various centuries, and that they are even to some extent under
the influence of the medieval conceptions of chivalry and courtly
love {Mitine), but this one fundamental trait, he holds, is never-
theless old, original, and common to all Teutons, meeting us,
as it does, even in the picture drawn by Tacitus. "Epic poetry
has its roots in the sum-total of the life and customs of the
people."
While it is to be acknowledged without reservation that the
centuries in which the development of the epic poems that
deal with the heroic saga lies have left their impress on the
contents, the persons, the conceptions, and sentiments of these
poems, there is yet no doubt that the characters of these sagas
represent figures from the stormy days of the times of the
migrations and of the Viking period, characters full of noble
simplicity. Teutons with all their characteristic traits of faith-
fulness, bravery, roughness, and vengefulness. These are the
very respects in which the characters of the heroic lays of the
Norse Edda, of Beowulf, and the medieval German epics agree,
— characters that are otherwise so utterly different because
they lie so far apart in space and time. Perhaps the judgment
above passed on the characters of Beowulf, that they were
mere abstract types, was after all somewhat hasty in any case :
they are not the result of conscious reflection, but are living
persons, even though this on account of the massive forms
life,
into which it is assume a certain uniformity. This

cast, tends to
is not the case with either the Norse or German forms of the
heroic saga, especially not in the latter, where the more tender
and delicate shades of character have received their just due.
What strikes us in all these characters is their perfect assur-
ance and firmness as regards duty and right. They lived in
an age of tumult in which all bonds seemed to be severed.

Distant expeditions, and the rapidity with which kingdom after
kingdom fell, combined to make people feel that all outward
support was failing them. And yet in all this uncertainty no
state of moral anarchy prevails. Men know what to do : their
duty lies before them, clear and simple, and the moral order is
not subverted. This morality is not hallowed by religion : it
would be a very difficult task indeed to collect from the heroic

saga examples of pagan Teutonic piety. But the material that
represents the moral side is all the richer. The contrast that
we have just indicated pervades Teutonic heroic poetry in its
entirety. In the midst of the storms that upheave all else,
man remains true to his lord, to his word, to his vengeance, to

all that duty prescribes. Not a trace of inward struggle is to
be found. It is this very trait in the characters of Hagen and

Kriemhilt that afifects us most powerfully, — that they commit
the horrible and inhuman with as ready a heart and hand as
the noble and great.
A second thought also, the realization that all things are
transient and uncertain, has left its imprint on all the heroic
poetry, and dominates, in fact, the whole mood of the period of

the migrations and of the Vikings. The motifs that we meet
in the Teutonic heroic poetry are deeply tragic ;
witness the
Gothic Ermanaric Saga, or the Lombardian saga of Alboin, the

bold and brave king, —
celebrated in epic songs that may still
be clearly recognized in the Latin prose of Paulus Diaconus,^
— who falls a victim to the vengeance of his wife. To quote
the remark of the old Vandal —a remark exemplified by the
subsequent history of his own people "no human structure —
stands firm, nothing existing has its future assured, nothing is
1 Paulus Diaconus, I, 24; II, 28.

CONCLUSION 407
impossible in the future."^ Accordingly, the medieval epic of

the Nibelungen never wearies of enforcing the truth that sorrow
follows joy, a thought in which we may recognize the echo of
the dominant mood of an entire period.
This perception of the transient and uncertain character of
all which nothing is certain but death, from which
things, in
there no escape, but which, on the other hand, also does not
is
strike until the appointed day has dawned, this fatalism is —

characteristic of the Norse Vikings as well as of the peoples of
the migrations. Of the belief in fate, the Heliand'^ and Anglo-
Saxon still show distinct traces
literature ^ Norse literature * ;
is full of it. All is predestined and no one escapes his fate.

This mood has little or no connection with piety it is a blind :
fate to which men bow in submission. But people live on in this

uncertainty, not with a feeling of dull and stolid resignation,
but with bold and undaunted hearts. Grimm * has very aptly
called this " sorgenfreier Fatalismus." If the warrior knows '^
that he is to fall in battle, then let him fight all the more
bravely, for he has no reason to spare himself. If he knows
that he will come out unscathed, then too let him fight a good
battle what is most to be feared, is to be struck down in
:
flight.' As it is impossible to know which of the two alterna-

tives will happen, one acts in accordance with the conclusions
that will fit either case. To die laughing, when the hour of
death has struck, as does Ragnar Lodbrok in Krdkumdl ; or
dauntless, like the Jomsvikings, who gloriously without sem-
blance of fear fall under the sword of Thorkel,* that is what —
behooves men. Norse abounds in examples of this
literature
kind, and we may safely regard them as correctly depicting the
1 Procopius, Dc Bello Vandalico, I, 22. 6 " A fatalism that is free from care."
2 See above "
p. 131. Sverrissaga. Chapter 47.
3 See above p. 155. **
Jómsvikingasaga, Chapter 47.
4 Xumerous illustrative passages are cited by Maurer, BNS. II, 162-165.
5 DM.", Vorredc, XLI.
^
mood of the Teutons in the centuries covered by their expedi-

tions on water and on land. Glory is more than life :
We have gotten a good report though we die to-day or to-morrow. No

man can live over the evening when the word of the Norns has gone forth.
Thirst for glory and upon one's own

absolute reliance
strength do not constitute a religious mood.
At the same
time, it would appear that too much has been made of the
so-called scepticism of Norsemen in the Viking period. We
have in mind more Dahn, who defended his
particularly Felix
somewhat ostentatious novel, Sind GottcrV' by collecting a
dozen examples of scepticism from Norse literature.^ While
in the tenth century there doubtless were many persons who
no longer sacrificed, or believed in Odhin, but who, putting
their trust in their own strong arm, "believed in themselves,"
this does not prove the existence of a speculative scepticism.
Such unbelief has unquestionably existed in every period, and
it is certainly also not an unusual phenomenon to find savage
warriors relying upon their own might rather than upon the gods.
As opposed to this, we also possess from Vikings expressions
of trust in Thor, who lends aid to warriors. On the whole,
however, the influence that the belief of the Vikings in their
gods exerted on their conduct and mental attitude cannot have
been great. Many were godless, and this very word (^gódhlauss)
is applied to several, though without the implication of free
thinking that we ordinarily associate with the word.
An abundance of data bearing on morals may be gathered
from Saxo, who, although a Christian and writing in Latin, has
yet preserved, as has repeatedly been pointed out, a large
amount of genuine ancient material, of Norse as well as of
Danish origin. The ideals of bravery and magnanimity that
characterize the heroes, the chastity of the women, the old-
1 Hamdltismal, 31 (CPB. I, 2 " Dq gods exist? "

59).
3 SkepticisiHiis mid Götterleitgnung iin nordgcr7nanischcn Hcidcnilntm (Bau-
steine, I, 133-135)- Compare also Finniir Jónsson, Litteratur Historie, I, 30 ff.
CONCLUSION 409
fashioned aversion of Starkad towards the luxuries and refine-

ments of life, the numerous proverbs especially in the —
speeches of Ericus Disertus,^ —
some of which also occur else-
where in Norse form, while the others as well reflect, to a large
extent, wisdom that had long been current, — all this breathes
the spirit of Teutonic antiquity. In passing, we may point out

that this wisdom already shows a predilection for the pointed
gnomic form, which is so efficient an aid to the memory. Its
content is, in the main, the same as that of the gnomic wisdom
of other ages, colored by the warlike character of the times,
full of disdain for cowards and fools, and highly extolling the
noble and the free above the slaves ("A slave is a false friend,"
" Noble fathers have noble sons "). Images borrowed from
the ordinary surroundings of life are of common occurrence
("Sailing is quicker than rowing," "When we see a wolf's ear
we know he is not far off").^ One feature deserves particu-
lar attention, viz. the esteem in which truthfulness was held.
Saxo tells us that " the illustrious men of old thought lying
most dishonorable,"^ with which another statement is to be
contrasted :
" We who do not account lying and deceiving
as wicked and despicable." ^ Similarly, great importance is
attached to the fact that Amleth (Hamlet), in all the cunning

measures which he devises and executes to elude danger and
to avenge the murder of his father, yet does not once resort to
lies.^ This last example is the more important, because it
shows us that truthfulness did not by any means preclude
everything that we are accustomed to regard as deceit. If
truth was only adhered to from an external and formal point

of view and the feeling of personal honor thereby preserved,
there was felt to be no objection against relying upon the
1 " Eric the Speech-wise." * IV, 179.

2 A hst is given in the Introduction by York Powell to Elton's translation of
The First Nine Books of Saxo Grammaiiciis (1804), PP- Ixxxv-lxx.xix. A list of Old
Norse proverbs may be found in the Icelandic Prose Reader (1879), pp. 259-264.
3 IV, 167. 5 III, -o.
^
deceit contained in an equivocal word, or a dissembling mien,

by which the enemy was misled. Such shrewdness was viewed
as redounding to a man's honor and glory rather than to his
shame. Keeping this distinction in mind, it will be seen that
the notorious faithlessness with which so many medieval
writers charge the Norsemen is not at all incompatible with
their love of truth. With great subtleness and acumen, they
made use, in the terms of a treaty, of ambiguous expressions :
theirhonor thus remained unstained, their word unbroken.^

The liar and the traitor, on the other hand, are to be despised.
To the very last days of paganism this view continues to pre-
vail : in the period of deep moral degeneracy that precedes
the end of the world, perjury is, next to murder, accounted
the greatest crime.

Like Saxo, the poetic Edda furnishes only a few disjointed
utterances on the subject of morals. These have been com-
bined in several collections of proverbs, most notably in
Hdvamdl. Here again morality has little of the religious char-
acter,êven though we should put these wise saws in the mouth

of Odhin, as the title {Hdvamdl, the sayings of Har, the high
one) might seem to demand. But the mythical strophes, 13
and 14, in which Odhin is introduced as speaker, are probably
an interpolation, and the fiction that the god is the speaker is
likewise foreign to the proverbs of the first part of the poem.'*

In the fourth part, finally, which according to Miillenhoff forms
the nucleus of the entire poem, we may suppose the minstrel
Loddfafnir, and not Odhin, to be the speaker. In any case,
apart from the question whether the imputing of proverbs and
gnomic poems to Odhin may not, in view of his character as
god of the runes, be more or less ancient and original, the
content of this moralizing certainly does not bear a religious
See Steenstrup, Normanncrne, II (Vikiugefogc7ic), 354 ff.
1
Voluspa, 26, 39 compare also Sigrdrifiimal, 23.

2 ;
See above, p. 204.
<*
On Havamal sue Miillenhoff. DA. V, 250-2S8, and Finnur Jonsson, Litterafur

4
Historic, I, 223-244, where Miillenhoff's views are attacked.

CONCLUSION 411
Stamp. does not extend beyond the ordinary

Its horizon
relations of and of intercourse between men. It counsels
life
rather than commands, and is intent solely upon the useful

and advantageous. Experience and understanding teach the
need of prudence and wisdom be on your guard, therefore, :
against injuring yourself by incautious speech or immoderate

drink beware of the false friend, of the fool, of the wife of
;
another meet the man whom you distrust with a friendly

;
smile, paying him like with like. On what behooves the guest,
on friendship, on the advantages of silence, on distrust which
is ever on its guard, but also on prudent judgment, which
retiects that no man is so good as to have no faults, and no
man so bad as to be good for nothing, on these and similar —

subjects these verses contain pointed and at times striking
observations. Old age is esteemed, the gray hair of the min-
strel held in honor, for the aged man often utters words of
wisdom, —
a feeling which, to judge from the sagas, was by no
means general in the North childish old age, bringing in its :
train spitefulness and peevishness, is at the most an object of
pity, at times even the butt of mockery.^ These maxims do

not, of course, furnish us with a connected picture of Norse
life ; the virtue that is here most emphasized is not bravery,
which is, to be sure, presupposed, but wisdom in the sense of
prudence, caution, distrust. The horizon is limited to earthly
things : under all circumstances, it is better to live than to be
dead. After death only fame still lives on : the good name
which a man has acquired does not perish with him.
We find the same kind of wisdom inculcated in still other
passages, more especially in the strophes (22-37) that are
joined in the form of an appendix to Sigrdrifiimal. Of these
maxims, eleven are numbered, four or five intervening ones
being unnumbered. They evidently did not originally belong
in this connection : in the mouth of the Walkyrie, to whom
1 See K.. Kaluiid, Sitte, PÜ.-, HI, 424,
they are assigned, they seem most inappropriate. The same

maxims, in the main, are also found in the V^lsunga Saga,
Chapter 21. Here, too, weight is attached to "enduring
fame," and the conception prevails that not only courage but
also wisdom behooves the hero, — the wisdom through which he
shuns the friendship of the man whose father he has slain, for
vengeance never slumbers. Among the duties that are pre-
scribed, the ninth deserves mention : the man who is found
lying dead must be buried. It is extremely doubtful, however,
whether this duty really has the mythical basis that the wolf
who threatens to devour the sun feeds on the flesh of unburied
corpses.^
The relations of life in whose midst these proverbs place us
are very simple. Public and political life play an unimportant
role. The thing is referred to now and then. In the way of
combat, only private feuds and the vengeance of families or

individuals are mentioned. The circumstances and reflections
of a man who knocks at a door as a stranger, not knowing what

his welcome will be ;
who must not allow the way — frequently
a long one — which leads to the house of his friend to become
overgrown wath grass ; who is aware that small gifts at times
knit bonds of friendship between men, and that moderate

wisdom gladdens the heart more than excess of knowledge ;
who knows how to shun the malevolent woman seated by the

roadside, and the deceitfully smiling enemy who remembers ;
that he must rise early if he would secure booty and see his
work well done, —
in short, matters which concern the outward
circumstances of life have here in the main been scrutinized

with a keen eye, and expressed in terse and pointed form.
But to the inner depths of the truly personal life 'this wisdom
does not penetrate ; character and disposition are not consid-
ered, even virtues are scarcely mentioned: for the most part,
we have only rules of practical conduct. Even the realization
1 Vöiitspa, 43.
CONCLUSION- 413
that life is transient has not cast over these precepts the soft
elegiac haze which we so frequently find in the epical heroic
saga. In fact, in this whole gnomic wisdom there is little or
nothing that indicates mood, or testifies to depth of feeling.
is supplemented, and invested with
Fortunately this picture
lifeand color, by the characters and scenes found in the
Norse sagas, although here too the history of morals has to
deal less with feelings and moods than with established cus-
toms and with was pointed out above, ^ the
actions. For, as
keen sense for right and honor, for fidelity and vengeance,
forms the keynote of these stories, and constitutes the ever-
recurring motif in the action. How little this period was given
to sentimentality may be seen from the relations of the sexes :
love before marriage is as rare as fidelity after marriage is
general.^ Not only Bergthora, who refuses to be rescued from

the house in which her husband and children are to be burnt,
furnishes an example of this faithfulness, but even Signy, in
the Vqlsunga Saga, who has from the outset hated her husband
Siggeir, and has been unfaithful to him in various ways, still
considers it her duty to die with him, now that her vengeance
on him has been executed. Nor is it likely that our judgment
concerning the absence of such a world of feeling as animates,
for example, modern lyrical poetry would be modified, in case
we still possessed the specimens of erotic poetry in which the
scald Thormodhr sang the praises of his beloved and on account
of which he even received the surname Kolbrunarskald. To
Norwegians and Icelanders sentiment was doubtless as foreign
as the contemplation of problems dealing with life and death,
that "pale cast of thought" which hinders manly doing and

daring. Little developed as the relations of life were, the
spirit remained fixed upon the outward world, formulated no
theories, and made no explorations in the unknown regions of
the human mind. The yearning of the human spirit for the
1 Pages 204 ff. 2 See K. Kalund, Sitte, PG.2, III, 421.

vast, the boundless, and the mysterious, fed in the case of these
Norsemen by narratives of adventure in distant parts, and by
active participation in feuds at home, was in large part satisfied
by voyages on sea and by expeditions to foreign lands. Down

to the very last days of paganism, the intellectual horizon
remained narrow and circumscribed. Even among the Scandi-
navians of the tenth century, it is ever the more solid virtues
that we hear extolled, qualified only by wisdom in the sense of
shrewdness. That this double-faced shrewdness was incom-
patible with truth and good faith was never realized by them ;
for all that, life, though concerned with the external world, did
not become superficial. On the contrary, the characters show
great firmness and concentrated power. Men do not fall short
of the frequently difficult tasks that life imposes. They bravely
confront death, and dauntlessly face danger, adversity, and
foe alike.
These moral conditions likewise explain why the conversion
to Christianity took place with so relatively few conflicts. Life
proper was little interfered with: it remained approximately
the same after as before the conversion. Morality possessing
in the last period of Scandinavian paganism in so Hmited degree
the consecration of religion, the Christianization, while abolish-
ing the heathen gods and the heathen cult, did not to any con-
siderable extent come into collision with existing usages, a few
pagan customs alone, which were too much at variance with
Christian precepts, being proscribed. When Njal at his death
says, " Put your faith God, and believe that he is so merciful
in
^
that he will not let us burn both in this world and the next,"
he is, of course, speaking as a Christian, but in reality this
hardly affects the spirit of the story as a whole. Christianity
was not preached to the Norsemen as a new moral ideal.

Hence the continuous, unbroken character of the history of the
Scandinavian peoples. The Christianization did not usher in
1 Dasent, The Story of Burnt Njal, Chapter 128.
CONCLUSION 415
a new period. Not until after the lapse of a great number of
years did it become evident that Christianity was a leaven in
the moral life of the human race.
It is a fruitless task to attempt to trace the exact influence

of Teutonic paganism on the development of the human race.
Such an influence must everywhere be assumed in the Teutonic
world, both in Europe and America, i.e., in three-fourths of the
civilized world, but it can nowhere be definitely pointed out,
in folklore no more than in legal observances, in which
latter it is certainly not absent. Teutonic paganism has not
bequeathed us a doctrine, a poem, a book, or an institution
that has put its stamp on humanity for all time to come it ;
has given us no personality that has become a typical figure

for all future generations. However numerous the links that
connect us in manners, customs, and laws with ancient Teu-
tonic life, our civilization none the less remains classical and
Christian in origin. However typical the figures of Beowulf,
Siegfried, and Kriemhilt may be, and with however living a
personality they may have been invested anew at the hand of
modern poetry, it can in no wise be maintained that from
them a mighty current of pagan Teutonic culture has passed
into the life of the human race.
While no direct connection can accordingly be shown to
exist between Teutonic paganism and the later extensive devel-
opment of religion and civilization amongst the peoples of the
Teutonic group, the ancient religion we have sought to depict
shows numerous traces of that strength of character and serious
cast of mind through which the Teutonic nations have won
and maintained their paramount place in history. Regarded
in this light, the growth of the pagan centuries bears ample
testimony to the fruitfulness of the soil from which it sprang.

NOTE
The bibliography, in its main outlines, is arranged according to
the sequence of the chapters of the book. It does not aim to give
an exhaustive list of either historical or literary works : only the
prominent books in these subjects are mentioned. The comprehensive
treatment of the history of Teutonic mythology in Chapter 2 further-
more relieves us of the necessity of here citing those older investiga-
tions that are at the present day of no real value to the student. A
few monographs also, dealing with more special subjects, and cited
occasionally in the footnotes, are not again entered here.
Aside from omissions, certain repetitions have to be accounted
for : it was deemed advisable to give not only a list of general works,
but also again to such portions of them as were of permanent

to refer
value for the study of the special subjects. Thus, in giving the litera-
ture of the pantheon, the classical portions from the general works
on mythology are again referred to.
As a guide to students some remarks on the value of the books in
question have been added. The literature is arranged with regard
to chronology and to affinity of treatment.
416
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ABBREVIATIONS
Aside from those that are self-explanatory, the following abbreviations have been
employed in text and bibliography.
AfdA . Anzeiger fur deutsches Altertiim.
AfnF . Arkiv for nordisk Filologi.
AfnO . Aarböger for nordisk Oldkyndighed og Historie.

AfsPh . Archiv fur slavische Philologie.
AG. . Acta Germanica.
AMA . Abhandlungen der Königlich Bayerischen Akademie der Wissen-
schaften (München).
AZfG . Allgemeine Zeitschrift fur Geschichte.
CPB . Corpus Poeticum Boreale, edited by G. Vigfiisson and F. York
Powell, Oxford, 1883.
DA . Deutsche Altertumskunde.
DM . Deutsche Mythologie.
EuG . Ersch und Gruber, Allgemeine Encyklopiidie der Wissenschaften und
Kiinste.
GddS . Jacob Grimm, Geschichte der deutschen Sprache, 2. Auflage, Leipzig,
1853-
GddV . Geschichtschreiber der deutschen Vorzeit.
GGA . Göttingische Gelehrte Anzeigen.
GHds . B. Symons, Germanische Heldensage, in PG.-, IH, 606-734.
GM . Germanische Mythologie.
HD . Saxo Grammaticus, Historia Danica.
MG . Monumenta Germanias Historica.
MPSG Migne, Patrologia Series Graeca.
MPSL Migne, Patrologia Series Latina.
NTfO. Nordisk Tidskrift for Oldkyndighed.
PBB . Paul und Braune's Beitrage zur Gescliichte der deutschen Sprache
und Literatur.
PG. . Paul's Grundriss der germanischen Philologie.
QuF . Quellen und Forschungen.
RC. . Revue Celtique.
SBA . Sitzungsberichte der Königlich Preussischen Akademie der Wissen-
schaften zu Berlin.
417
SMA . . . Sitzungsberichte der Koniglich Bayerischen Akademie der Wissen-

schaften (München).
SWA . . . Sitzungsberichte der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften
(Wien).
TvnTeL . . Tijdschrift voor nederlandsche Taal- en Letterkunde.
TT . . . Theologisch Tijdschrift.
VAA . . . Verhandelingen der Akademie te Amsterdam.
VMAA . . Verslagen en Mededeelingen der Akademie te Amsterdam.
ZfdA . . . Zeitschrift für deutsches Altertum.
ZfdPh . . . Zeitschrift für deutsche Philologie.
ZfV . . . Zeitschrift für Volkskunde.
ZfVuS . . Zeitschrift für Völkerpsychologie und Sprachwissenschaft.
ZSS . . . Zeitschrift der Savigny Stiftung.
I. HISTORY OF TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Survey of Methods and Results Lives of Prominent Scholars—

— General Works on Teutonic Antiquity and Mythology —
Periodicals
(a) Methods and Results — Biographies

Raumer, R. von. — Geschichte der germanischen Philologie.
Geschichte der Wissenschaften in Deutschland, Bd. IX.
(München, 1870.)
Paul, H. —
Geschichte der germanischen Philologie in Paul's
Grundriss der germanischen Philologie', I, 9-158. (Strass-
burg, 1 90 1.)
Grimm, Jacob. —
Kleinere Schriften. (8 vols., Berlin, 1864-1890.)
Grimm, Wilhelm. Kleinere Schriften. — Herausgegeben von
G. Hinrichs. (4 vols., Berlin, 188 1-1887.)
Petersen, N. M. — Samlede Afhandlinger. (4 vols., Kopenhagen,
1870-1874.)
Brief surveys in :
Meyer, E. H. — Germanische Mythologie, §§ i-io. 1891.) (Berlin,
Golther, W. — Handbuch der germanischen Mythologie, pp. 1-54.

(Leipzig, 1895.)
SVMONS, B. — De ontwikkelingsgang der germaansche mythologie.
(Groningen, 1892.)
:
BIBLIOGRAPHY 419
For the biographies of the more prominent scholars the articles in

the Allgemcine Deutsche Biographie under such heads as J. Grimm,
W. Grimm, Mannhardt, Miillenhoff, Uhland, etc., should be consulted.
Of the two greatest scholars in this field of research we also possess
special biographies
SCHERER, W. —
Jacob Grimm. (2d ed., Berlin, 1SS5.)
Karl Miillenhoff. (Berlin, 1896.)
(U) General Works on Teutonic Mythology and ArchcEology
Only the more valuable works are mentioned here ; critical estimates will be
found in Chapter 2.
Grimm, Jacob. — Deutsche Mythologie, (ist ed., in 2 vols., 1S35 ;
2d ed., 3d ed., unchanged 4th ed.,

with an Introduction, 1844 ; ;
in 3 vols., " mit Nachtragen aus Grimm's Nachlass. Heraus-

gegeben von E. H. Meyer," 875-1 878.) 1
Muller, W. — Geschichte und System der altdeutschen Religion.

(Göttingen, 1844.)
Wolf, J. W. — Beitrage zur deutschen Mythologie. (I, 1852 ;
II, 1857.)
— Die deutsche Götterlehre. (Göttingen, 1852 2d ed., 1874.) ;
SiMROCK, Karl. —
Handbuch der deutschen Mythologie, mit Ein-
schluss der nordischen. (Bonn, 1853; 6th ed., 1887.)
Schwartz, F. L. W. — Der Ursprung der Mythologie, dargelegt an
griechischer und deutscher Sage. (Berlin, 1860.)
Die poetischen Naturanschauungen der Griechen, Romer, und
Deutschen in ihrer Beziehung zur Mythologie der Urzeit.
(Berlin ; I, 1864; II, 1879.)
Rydberg, v. — Undersökningar i germanisk Mythologi. (I, 1886 ;
II, 1889.)
Of \o\. I an English translation by R. B. Anderson has appeared, under

the title Teutonic Mythology, London, 18S9.
Mannhardt, W — Germanische
. Mythen. Forschungen. (Berlin,
1858.)
Die Götterwelt der deutschen und nordischen Völker. (Berlin,
i860.)
Wald- und Feldkulte. I. Der Baumkultus der Germanen und
ihrer Nachbarstamme. II. Antike Wald- und
(Berlin, 1875.)
Feldkulte aus nordeuropaischen Überlieferungeii erliiutert.
(Berlin, 1877.)
Mannhardt, W. — Mythologische Forschungen aus dem Nachlass,
mit Vorreden von K. Miillenhoff und W. Scheren QuF. LI,
1884.
Grundtvig, N. F. S. — Nordens Mythologi eller Sindbilled-Sprog
historisk-poetisk Udviklet (Kopenhagen, 1832.)
og Oplyst.
Keyser, R. — Nordmaendenes Religionsforfatning Hedendomen. i
(Christiania, 1847.)
Munch, — Nordmaendenes
P. A. Gude- og Heltesagn. (Chris-
aeldste
1854; a new edition by Kjaer appeared

tiania, 1880.) in
Petersen, N. M. — Nordisk Mythologi. (Kopenhagen, 849 2d 1 ;

ed.,
1863.)
Heiberg, J. L. — Nordisk Mythologie udg. af Chr. Winther. (Kopen-
hagen, 1862.)
Jessen, E. —
Nordisk Gudelaere. (Kopenhagen, 1867.)
Petersen, H. —
Om Nordboernes Gudedyrkelse og Gudetro i Heden-
old. (Kopenhagen, 1876.)
Translated into German by Minna Riess, witli an Appendix l^y E. Jessen,
under the title, " Über den Gottesdienst und den Götterglauben des Nordens
wahrend der Heidenzeit," Gardelegen, 1882.
BuGGE, S. — Studiën über die Entstehung der nordischen Götter- und

Heldensagen, deutsch von O. Brenner. (Miinchen, 1889.)
VoDSKOV, H. S. — Sjasledyrkelse og Naturdyrkelse, Vol. I. (Kopen-
hagen, 1897.)
The Introduction, which appeared as early as 1890, is important from
the point of view of methodology.
Thorpe, B. — Northern Mythology. (3 vols., London, 1851-1852.)

Kauffmann, F. — Deutsche Mythologie. Sammlung Göschen.
No. 15. (Stuttgart, 1890; 2d ed., 1893.)
A very brief sketch.
Meyer, E. H. — Germanische Mythologie. (Berlin, 1891.)
Chapter 3, §§ 21-8S, gives the most detailed account of the sources.
GOLTHER, W. — Handbuch der germanischen Mythologie. (Leipzig,

1895.)
GuMMERE, F. B. — Germanic Origins. (New York, 1892.)
BIBLIOGRAPHY 421
MÜLLEXHOFF, K. — Deutsche Altertumskunde. (Berlin; 1,1870;

II, 18S7; III, 1892; IV, 1900; V, I, 1883; V, 2, 1 89 1.)
\'ols. I-III are especially important for the study of etlinography ;

\'(il. W
contains a commentary on the Gertnatiia of Tacitus : Vol. V deals more
particularly with the Edda.
Paul, H. —
Grundriss der germanischen Philologie. Herausgegeben
von H. Paul, (ist ed., I, II, i, 2, Strassburg, 1891-1893 ;
2d ed., 3 vols., i898ff.)
Gives an encyclopaedic survey, by different scholars, of the various

departments of Teutonic philology. The two titles that follow constitute
part of this work.
MoGK, E. — Mythologie. PG.% III, 230-406.

Symons, B. — Heldensage. PC, III, 606-734.
(c) Periodicals
It is very difficult, if not impossible, to draw a line of demarcation between the

periodicals that bear on Teutonic mythology and those of a purely historical, archae-
ological, or philological character. Nor are all periodicals that occasionally publish
articles on mythology enumerated here, inasmuch as the list, more particularly in
view of the large number of collections of folklore in different parts of Germany and
England, could scarcely be made complete. A bare reference to tlie publications of
and similar societies must accordingly suffice.
the Folklore Society, the Viking Cine,
The same remark applies to French periodicals and collections, such as Mclusine and
others. The proceedings of academies {Sitzimgsberichte, Abhandliingen) as well as
works appearing in such series as the Germanistische Abhandliingen and Qiiellcn
iind Forschitngcn will, however, be cited in their proper places.
Bragur. Ein Magazin der deutschen und nordischen

litterarisches
Vorzeit. Herausgegeben von Grater unter Mitwirkung von
Bock, Ha.slein, und Nyerup. (8 vols., 1 791 -18 12.)
Of historical interest as the first German magazine devoted to Teutonic

mythology.
Neues Jahrbuch der Berliner Gesellschaft fur deutsche Sprache und

Alterthumskunde. Herausgegeben von F. H. von der Hagen.
(10 vols., 1835-1853.)
Zeitschrift fur deutsche Mythologie und Sittenkunde. Herausgegeben
von J. W. Wolf. (4 vols., 1853-1859.)
Vol. IV edited by W. Mannhardt.
Nordalbingische Studiën. Neues Archiv der Schleswig-Holstein-

Lauenburgischen Gesellschaft fur vaterlandische Geschichte.
(6 vols., Kiel, 1S44-1854.)
Valuable on account of contributions by K. Miillenhoff.
Orient und Occident, insbesondere in ihren gegenseitigen Bezie-

hungen. Forschungen und Mittheilungen. Herausgegeben
von Theodor Benfey. (3 vols., 1862- 1864.)
Especially valuable for the migration of tales.
Zeitschrift fiir deutsches Altertum. Edited successively by M. Haupt,

K. Miillenhoff, W. Scherer, E. Steinmeyer, E. Schroeder,
G. Roethe. (Leipzig and Berlin, 1841 ff.)
The chief organ of the school of Lachmann ; rich in valuable articles,

containing, for e.xaniple, the more important essays of K. Miillenhoff.
Germania. Vierteljahrschrift fur deutsche Altertumskunde. Edited

successively by F. Pfeiffer, K. Bartscb, O. Behaghel. (37 vols.,
Stuttgart and Wien, 1 856-1 892.)
Zeitschrift fur deutsche Philologie. Edited successively by E. Höpfner,
J. Zacher, H. Gering, F. Kauffmann. (Halle, 1868 ff.)
Beitrage zur Geschichte der deutschen Sprache und Literatur.

Founded by H. Paul und W. Braune ; now edited by E.
Sievers. (Halle, 1874 ff.)
The chief organ of the " Junggramniatiker "' ; occasionally publishes

contributions to the study of mythology.
Jahresbericht liber die Erscheinungen auf dem Gebiete der germani-

schen Philologie. Herausgegeben von der Gesellschaft fiir
deutsche Philologie in Berlin. (1879 ff.)
Zeitschrift fiir Volkskunde. Herausgegeben von E. Veckenstedt.

(4 vols., 1889-1892.)
Zeitschrift des Vereins fiir Volkskunde. Neue Folge der Zeitschrift
fiir Völkerpsychologie und Sprachwissenschaft von Lazarus

und Steinthal. Herausgegeben von K. Weinhold. (1891 ff.)
Compare .Section VII, Animism and Folklore.
Aarböger for nordisk Oldkyndighed og Historic. Udgivne af der
Kgl. Nordi.ske Oldskrift Selskab. (1866 ff.)

The annual transactions {Aarsberctitiiigci) of the same society have
appeared since 1837.
BIBLIOGRAPHY 423
Arkiv for nordisk Filologi. (Lund, 1883 ff.)
Contains important articles by Scandinavian scholars, such as Bugge,

Wimmer, Noreen, Axel Olrik, G. Storm, etc.
II. ARCHEOLOGY
Worm, Ole. — Monumenta Danica. (Hafniae, 1643.)
Ledetraad til nordisk Oldkyndiglied. (Kopenliagen, 1836.)
A brief treatise, by N. M. Petersen and C. J. Thomsen, published by the
Nordiske Oldskrift Selskab. The description of the objects is by Thomsen,
who here first enunciates the theory of the three ages.
WoRSAAE, J. J.
—
Danmarks Oldtid. (Kopenhagen, 1843.)
A.
Nordens Forhistorie. (Kopenhagen, 1881.)
MULLER, SoPHUS. —
Nordische Altertumskunde. Übersetzt von
O. L. Jiriczek. (2 vols., Strassburg, 1 896-1898.)
MONTELius, O. — The Civilisation Sweden in Heathen Times.
of
From the Swedish by F. H. Woods. (London, 1888.)
Much, M. —
Die Kupferzeit in Europa. (2d ed., Jena, 1893.)
LiNDENSCHMiT, L. —
Handbuch der deutschen Altertumskunde, Bd. I.
(Braunschweig, 1880-1889.)
The first volume deals with the monuments of the Merovingian period.
The work is an attempt to overthrow the archaological system evolved by
Danish scholars. An unfavorable, but just, review by K. Miillenhoff will be
found in AfdA. VII, 209-228.
Stephens, G. — The Old-Northern Runic Monuments of Scan-

dinavia and England. (London, 1 866-1867.)
Evans, J.
— Ancient Bronze Implements, Weapons, and Ornaments
of Great Britain and Ireland. (London, 188 1.)
Henning, R. — Die deutschen Runendenkmaler. (Strassburg, 1889.)

Meyer, E. H. — Germanische Mythologie, §§ 86-88.
Contains a brief survey of Teutonic archaeology.
ScHRADER, O. — Sprachvergleichung und Urgeschichte. (2d ed.,

Jena, 1890.)
Schrader's conclusions are assailed by von Bradke in the work cited
below.
Bradke, p. von. — tjber Methode und Ergebnisse der arischen

(indogermanischen) Altertumswis-senschaft. (Giessen, 1890.)
:
Schmidt, J.
— Die Urheimath der Indogermanen und das europii
ische Zahlsystem. ABA. II, 1890.
Jhering, R. von. — Vorgeschichte der Indoeuropaer. (Leipzig,
1894.)
An English translation by A. Drucker, under the title The Evolution oj

the Aryan, appeared in New York, 1897.
Hehn, V. — Kulturpflanzen und Haustliiere in ihrem Obergang aus

Asien nach Griechenland und Italien sowie in das iibrige
Europa. (6th ed., Berlin, 1894.)
Still of great value ; treats the material, as the title indicates, from a
special point of view. An English translation, under the title Cultivated
Pla7its and Dotnestic Animals in their Migration from Asia to Europe,
appeared in London, 1891.
Grimm, Jacob. — Geschichte der deutschen Sprache. (2 vols.,
Leipzig, 1848.)
Grundriss der germanischen Philologie. Herausgegeben von H. Paul.
Sections entitled " Sprachgeschichte," I, 283-1537.
III. ETHNOGRAPHY
{a) Sources
Language, in its structure and history, its stock of words, more especially of
proper names, constitutes the chief source of our knowledge of the distribution and
reciprocal relations of the various tribes. This is supplemented by the data furnished
by ancient historians and geographers.
Pytheas of Massilia (± 330 B.C.) A. Schmekel, Pythea Massilicnsis qua supcr-
:
siint fragmciita. (Merseburg, 184S.) (See the detailed discussion by Miillenhoff,

in DA. I.)
Other works on geography that should be mentioned are

Eratosthenes; Strabo; Ptolemseus ; Tabîla Peutingeriana {i\\e:Ox\gm».\'pxoh3h\\
ixClVs\ the third century a.d.) ;
Julius Honorius; Codex 'Veronensis (from the fourth
century a.d.) ; Cosmographus Ravennas (from the seventh century a.d.).
Of literary sources Tacitus alone deserves special mention. The tribal sagas
might also be classed as sources, but they require close critical scrutiny. They
differ greatly in character, some being mere lists of names, such as the .\nglo-Sa.\on
genealogical tables, others more or less elaborate accounts of tribal origins or of

ancient expeditions, that have received a literary setting.
:
BIBLIOGRAPHY 425
{b) Proper Names and Word-Stock
Obermüller, W. — Deutsch-Keltisches Wörterbuch. (Leipzig,

1866-1872.)
Untrustworthy on account of its fantastic comparisons of German proper
names with those of Western Asia, Northern Africa, etc.
FÖRSTEMANN, E. — Altcleutsclies Namenbuch. I. Personennamen
(ist ed., 1854; 2d ed., 1900 ff.). II. Ortsnamen (ist ed.,
1856-1859; 2d ed., 1872).
The standard work on tlie subject.
Egli, J. J.
— Geschichte der geographischen Namenkunde. (2d ed.,
Leipzig, 1893.)
Gives a survey of the literature up to the year 1885.
Behm, E — Geographisches Jahrbuch. (Gotha, 1866 ff.)
Bibhograpliical.
Petersen, N. M. — Om danske og norske Stedenavnes Oprindsele

og Forklaring. NTfO. II, 1833.
Treats Danish and Norwegian names of cities.
Glück, C. W. — Die bei Cssar vorkommenden keltischen Namen.

(Miinchen, 1857.)
Holder, A. —
Altceltischer Sprachschatz.
^
(Leipzig, 1891 ff.)
An important work, whicli is still in progress.
(r) Aticient Geographers
Among the smaller contributions to our knowledge of ancient geography the

following deserve special mention
HoFF, L. — Die Kenntnis Germaniens im Altertum. (Leipzig, 1890.)

HOLZ, G. — Uber die germanische Völkertafel des Ptolemaeus.
Beitrage zur deutschen Altertumskunde, Bd. I. (Halle, 1894.)
WiLSER, L. — Stammbaum und Ausbreitung der Germanen. (Bonn,
1895.)
Stein, F. — Die Völkerstamme der Germanen nach römischer Dar-
stellung. (Schweinfurt, 1896.)
Muller, S.Hz. — De germaansche volken bij Julius Honorius en
anderen. VAA. 1895.
{d) Ethnography
Zeuss, K. — Die Deutschen und die Naclibarstamme. (Miinchen,

1837.)
The first comprehensive treatment of Teutonic ethnography.
MÜLLENHOFF, K. — Deutsclie Altertumskunde. 1(1870), Erstes

Buch, Die Plioenizier ; Zweites Buch, Pytheas von Massalia.
II (1887), Drittes Buch, Die Nord- und Ostnachbaren der
Germanen; Viertes Buch, Die Galliër und Germanen. Ill

(1892), Fiinftes Buch, Der Ursprung der Germanen.
Characterized by a wealth of material, incisive criticism, and brilliant
combinations; also contains maps and excursus.
Much, R. —
Die Siidmark der Germanen. PBB. XVII, 1-136. Die
Germanen am Niederrhein. PBB. XVII, 137-177. Goten
und Ingvaeonen. PBB. XVII, 178-221.
Bremer, O. —
Ethnographie der germanischen Stamme. PG.^, Ill,
735-950-
At present the best and most comprehensive treatment ; has maps and
very full bibliographical references.
(1?) Tribal Sagas
Brüder Grimm. —
Deutsche Sagen. (Berlin; I, 1816; II, 1818.)
Grimm, Jacob. —
Deutsche Mythologie 4, 1 1 1, 377 ff.
Uhland, — Schriften zur Geschichte der Dichtung und Sage.
L.
VIII. Schwabische Sagenkunde.(Stuttgart, 1873.)
Rydberg, V. — Undersökningar germanisk Mythologi, (Stock-
i I.
holm, 1886.) (See p. 27, note 2.)

Contains an excellent treatment of the tribal sagas.
IV. HISTORY AND LITERATURE

{a) Ancient Sources
C^SAR.— De Bello Gallico, I, 50; IV, 7 ;

VI, 21.
Plutarch. —
Vitae Marius and : Cassar.
Strabo. —
Geographica, VII. 2.
Pliny. — Historia Naturalis, IV, 27-31.
BIBLIOGRAPHY 427
Tacitus. — De Origine, Situ, Moribus ac Populis Germanorum.

Annals, I, 51, 59, 61 ; II, 12,88 IV, 73 XIII, ^'^, 57.
; ;
Histories, IV, 14, 22, 61, 65 ; V, 22.

Agricola, 28.
For Latin inscriptions in Germania and in other provinces where Teutonic legions
were quartered the two chief collections are the great Berlin edition, Corpus Iiiscrip-
:
iionitm Latinarum ; and Brambach, Corpus IiiSiriptioiiniii Rhciianariiin (Elber-

feld, 1867).
(J>)
Later Historians
To most of these authors the remark made by Giesebrecht on Gregory of Tours is

applicable, — that they furnish us with " Geschichten, keine Geschichte " they con- ;
stitute, however, our chief source for the history of this period.
Ammianus Marcellinus. — Roman History. GddV., Urzeit,
Bd. III.
Of the end of the fourth century. The books that have been preserved
narrate the history of the years 353-378.
Procopius of Ctesarea. — De Bello Gothico, libri IV. GddV.

6. Jhdt., Bd. III.
Of the middle of the sixth century.
Joruanes. — De Origine Actibusque Getarum. MG., Auctores, V, i
(1882); GddV. 6. Jhdt, Bd. I.
Of the year 551 ; is more or less dependent upon the lost work of Cassio-
dorus. The treatise reflects the dissensions of the period and makes a plea
for a fusion of Gothic and Roman culture.
Agathias. — Historiarum libri V. MPSG., Vol. LXXXVIII;

GddV. 6. Jhdt., Bd. III.
Of about the year 578 ; a continuation of Procopius.
Anonymus Valesianus. — GddV. 6. Jhdt., Bd. III.

Of the sixth century its most important parts deal with the struggle
;
between Theodoric and Odoacer.
Paulus Diaconus. —
Historia Longobardorum. Edited by Waitz,
Scriptores Rerum Geriuanicarum. (Hanover, 1878.) MPSL.,
Vol. XCV GddV. 8. Jhdt., Bd. IV.
:
Is permeated with an ecclesiastical and classical spirit, but furnishes many

sagas tl;at are significant for the history of his people.
Gregory of Tours. — Historia Francorum. MG., Scriptores Merov.,

I, I (1884) ; MPSL., Vol. LXXI. GddV. 6. Jhdt., Bd. IV, V.
The chief source for the history of the Franks.
Fredegar. —
S. Gregorii Episcopi Historia F'rancorum Epitomata.
MPSL., Vol. LXXI GddV. ; 7. Jhdt, Bd. II.
Fredegar, and the Gesta below, have in part used sources other than those
upon which Gregory is dependent.
Gesta Regum Francorum. MPSL., Vol. XCVI.

IsiDOR. — Historia Gothorum, Vandalorum, et Suevorum. MPSL.,
Vol. LXXXIV.
Deals with the period from .\.u. 176-628.
Salvianus. —
De Gubernatione Dei libri VIII. MPSL., Vol. LIII ;
MG., Auctores, I.
An important treatise, of the beginning of tlie fifth century, in which
Salvianus, a presbyter of Massilia, trenchantly criticises the moral corrup-
tion of the Christianized Romance population among whom he lived. Inci-
dentally, the pagan Saxons and Franks and the heretical Goths and Vandals
are also dealt with.
(<r) Books dealing with Sources
Of the numerous editions and commentaries of the Germania of Tacitus the follow-
ing may here be mentioned. Commentaries: Baumstark, A., Attsfiihrlichc Erldii-
fcrung dcr Germania dcs Tacitus (2 vols., Leipzig, 1.875-1S80) Miillenhoff, K., ;
Deutsche Altcrtumskiiiide, Bd. IV (1900). Editions: Schweizer-Sidler, U. Zernial,

E. Wolfif (German); H. Furneaux (English).
MÜLLENHOFF, K. —
Deutsche Altertumskunde, Bd. II.
Waitz, G. Deutsche —
Verfassungsgeschichte, Bd. I. (2d ed., Kiel,
1865.)
Uhland, — Schriften zur Geschichte der Dichtung und
L. Sage,
VII, 468-515.
MOMMSEN, T. — Komische Geschichte, Bd. V, Chapters i, 4.
Seeck, O. — Geschichte des Untergangs der antiken Welt, Bd. I. (2d

ed., Berlin, 1897.)
Contains an important chapter on the Teutons, wlio. in contrast with
earlier idealizing notions, are in vivid colors depicted as barbarians.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 429
{d) General Works and Articles on Inscriptions
RosCHER, W. H. — Ausführliches Lexikon der griechischen unci
römischen Mythologie. (Leipzig, 1884 ff.)
More especially the articles Hercules and Mars and the literature there
cited.
Kern, H. — NomsGermaniques dans Inscriptions Latines. RC.les II.
Janssen, F. — De romeinsche beelden en gedenksteenen van

L. J.
Zeeland. Uitgaven van 't Zeeuwsch Genootschap. (Middel-
burg, 1845.)
With plates.
Kauffmann, f. — Mythologische Zeugnisse aus römischen Inschrif-

ten. I. PBB. XV, 553-562. II. Mars
Hercules Magusanus.
Thingsus et duas Aleesiagae. PBB. XVI, 200-210. III. Dea
Nehalennia. PBB. XVI, 210-234. IV. Dea Hludhana.
PBB. XVIII, 134-157. V. Deus Requalivahanus. PBB.
XVIII, 157-194.
(e) Mars Thingsus
On Mars Thingsus the following important articles are to be noted:
HÜBNER, E. — Westdeutsche Zeitschrift für Geschichte und Kunst,

111,120,287. SCHERER.W. — SBA. i884,pp.57i ff.Pleyte,
W. — VMAA. IV, 109 (1885). Brunner, H. — ZSS.,
2, ff.
Germanistische Abteilung, V, 226 (1884).

Weinhold, K. —
Tius Thing.s. ZfdPh. XXI, 1-16.
Jaekel, H. — Die alaisiagen Bede und Fimmilene. ZfdPh. XXII,
257-277.
SiEBS, Th. — Beitrage zur deutschen Mythologie. ZfdPh. XXIV,
433-461.
Heinzel, R. — Über die ostgothi.sche Heldensage. SWA. CXIX,
50-54.
HoFFORY, J.
— Eddastudien. (Berlin, 1889.)
Pp. 145-173; with plates.

:
{/) Migration of Nâtious
CoüLANGES, FusTEL DE. — L'Invasion Germanique. Vol. II of

Histoire des Institutions Politiques de Tancienne France.
(Paris, 1891.)
Sheds an entirely new light on this period.
Ranke, L. von. — Weltgescliichte, Bd. Ill, IV.

A work of prime importance, both on account of the character of its nar-
rative and its Analecta (a critical discussion of sources).
Dahn, F. — Urgeschichte der germanischen und romanischen Völker.

(4 vols., Berlin, 1881-1889.)
In Oncken's AUgemeiiie Geschichtc in Einzcldarstellnngen.
(g) Paganism and Christianity
For a bibliography consult
PoTTHAST, A. — Bibliotheca Historica Medii yEvi. (2d ed., 2 vols.,

Berlin, 1896.)
Vol. I contains lists of the works contained in the great collections, such
as the Momcmenta GertnanicB Historica, etc.
rieschicht-schreiber der deutschen Vorzeit. Zweite Gesammtausgabe

von W. Wattenbach. (1884 ff.)
Consists of translations of the important historical sources. Is cited

above as GddV.
MÜLLENHOFF, K., and SCHERER, W. Denkmaler deutscher Poesie—

und Prosa aus dem VIII-XII Jhdt. (3d ed., by Steinmeyer,
Berlin, 1892.)
Dahlmann, F. C. — Quellenkunde der deutschen Geschichte. (5th
ed., by G. Waitz, Göttingen, 1883.)
A list of titles.
Ebert, a. — Allgemeine Geschichte der Literatur des Mittelalters

im Abendlande. (ist ed., 3 vols., Leipzig, 1 874-1 887 ; 2d ed.,
1889 ff.)
Wattenbach, W. — Deutschlands Geschichtsquellen im Mittelalter

bis zur Mitte des 13. Jhdts. (5th ed., 2 vols., Berlin, 1885-
1886.)
BIBLIOGRAPHY 431
LoRENZ, A. — Deutschlands Geschichtsquellen im Mittelalter von der

Mitte des 13. bis zum Ende des 14 Jhdts. (2d ed., 2 vols.,
Berlin, 1876-1877.)
KÖGEL, R., and Bruckner, W. — Althoch- und altniederdeutsche
Literatur. PG.-, II, 29-160.
Geschichte der deutschen Litteratur bis zum Ausgange des
Mittelalters. (I, 1,2: bis zur Mitte des i i. Jhdts., Strassburg,
1894-1897.)
On a more extensive scale than the sketch in PG.^.
Vita S. Severini, Noricorum Apostoli. MPSL., Vol. LXII.

By his pupil Eugippius; Severinus died in 482.
Vita S. Columbani. MPSL., Vol. LXXXII.

By Jonas of Bobbio ; Columbanus died in 615.
Vita Bonifacii. MG., Scriptores, II.
By Willibald, who died in 786.
Vita Willibrordi. MG., Scriptores, XXIII.

Written by Alcuin, in Soo.
Vita Liudgeri. MG., Scriptores, II.
Written by Altfrid, in S50.
Vita S. Galli.
Various versions exist ; the best known, that by Walafrid Strabo, who
died in 849, is later than that published in MG. II.
Vita Anskarii. MG., Scriptores, II ; MPSL., Vol. CXVIII ;

GddV.,
Vol. VII.
By Rimbert, of the ninth century.
Vita Sturmi. MG., Scriptores, II.
Sturm was the first abbot of Fulda ; his vita is written by Eigil, who
died in S22.
Vita Leobae. MG., Scriptores, XV, i.
Like the following, by Rudolph of F"ulda, who died in S65.
Vita Rabani. MPSL., Vol. CVII ;

MG., Vol. XV.
Annales Fuldenses. MG., Scriptores, I.
The years 83S-S63 are from the hand of Rudolph of Fulda.

Martinus of Bracara. —-De Correctione Rusticorum. MPSL.,

Vol. LXXII.
Martinus lived, in the sixtli century, among the Suabian peasantry in
Spain.
Dicta Abbatis Pirminii. MPSL., Vol. LXXXIX.

Indiculus Superstitionum et Paganiarum. MC, Leges, L
Saupe, H. a. — Der Indiculus Superstitionujii. Ein Verzeichnis
heidnischer und aberglaubischer Gebrauche und Meinungen.
(Leipzig, 1 891.)
Homilia de Sacrilegiis ; Capitula de Partibus SaxoniiE ; Lex Saxonum ;
Pactus Alemanniae.
Hessels, J. H. — Salic Law. Enc. Brit.'', XXI, 212-217.
Summarizes the above-mentioned laws.
WiDUKiND. — Res Gestae Saxonicae. MG., Vol. Ill; MPSL.,

Vol. CXXXVII.
Widukind was a Saxon monk in the monastery at Corvey. His work
was completed about 967.
Meyer, E. H. — Germanische Mythologie, §25.

Enumerates the sources of ecclesiastical literature. The next two titles
supplement his work.
Gaspari, C. P. — Kirchenhistorische Anecdota, Bd. I. (Christiania,
1883.)
Eine Homilia de Sacrilegiis. ZfdA. XXV, 313-336.
Texts Merseburg Charms, the Wessobrunn Prayer, and Muspilli will be
of the
found in MSD.', Braune's Althochdeutschcs Lesebitch, and elsewhere. Of the editions

of the He-Hand those of Sievers, Heyne, and Piper may be mentioned.
Moll, W. — Kerkgeschiedenis van Nederland vóór de Hervorming,

Deel I. (Arnhem & Utrecht, 1864.)
German translation, abridged by P. Zuppke (Leipzig, 1895).
Hauck, a. — Kirchengeschichte Deutschlands. (I-III, i, Leipzig,
1887-1893; 2d ed., I, 1898; II, 1900.)
RiCHTHOFEN, K. Freiherr von. — Untersuchungen iiber die frie-
sische Rechtsgeschichte. (2 vols., Berlin, 1880-1882.)

OzANAM, A. F. — Études Germaniques. (6th ed., 2 vols., 1893-
1894.)
Popular in character.
BIBLIOGRAPHY 433
Wasserschleben, f. W. H. — Die Bussordnungen der abendlandi-

schen Kirche. (Halle, 185 1.)
SCHMITZ, H. J.
— Die Bussbiicher und die Bussdisciplin der Kirclie.
(Mainz, 1883.)
PypER, F. — Geschiedenis der boete en biecht in de christelijke
Kerk. (The Hague, I, 1890; II, i, 1896.)
More especially, II, 153-245.
Knappert, L. — Over de vita Liudgeri. TT. 1892.

Vita St. Galli. TT. 1894.
Albert, F. R. — Die Geschichte der Predigt in Deutschland, Bd. I.
(1892.)
Of the extensive literature on the Merseburg Charms, the Hdiand, and the
Wessobrunn Prayer the following works may here receive mention ;
Grimm, J.
— Über zwei entdeckte Gedichte aus der Zeit des deut-
schen Heidenthums. Kleinere Schriften, II, 1-29.
Gering, H. — Der zweite Merseburger Spruch. ZfdPh. XXVI,
145-149; 462-467.
Grienberger, Th. von. — Die Merseburger Zauberspriiche. ZfdPh.
XXVII, 433-462.
Vilmar, A. f. C. — Deutsche Altertümer im Heliand. (2d ed.,
Marburg, 1862.)
MÜLLENHOFF, K. —
De Carmine Wessofontano. (Berolini, 1861.)
Wackernagel, W. — Die altsachsische Bibeldichtung und das
Wessobrunner Gebet. ZfdPh. I, 291-309.
(Ji) The Anglo-Saxons — Sources

It is evidently impossible to enumerate in the present connection the various
editions of Anglo-Saxon texts. Aside from what is indicated below, editions of
Beowulf. Bede, Gildas, and Nennius may be mentioned. On the latter the work of
H. Zimmer, Nennius Vindicaiiis (Berlin, 1893) should be consulted.
Grein, Chr. — Bibliothek der angelsachsischen Poesie, neu bear-

beitet von R. P. Wülker. (Kassei, 1881-1898.)
Bibliothek der angelsachsischen Prosa, fortgesetzt von R. P.
Wülker. (Kassei, 1872-1900.)
Cockayne, O. — Leechdoms, Wortcunning and Starcraft of Early
England. (3 vols., London, 1864-1866.)
ScHMiD, R. — Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen. (Leipzig, 1832:

2d ed., 1858.)
LiEBERMANN, F. — Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen. Herausgegeben
im Auftrage der Savigny-Stiftung. (Halle, 1897 ff.)
Histories of Literature
Ebert, a. — Allgemeine Geschichte der Literatur des Mittelalters

im Abendlande. (3 vols., 2d ed., Leipzig, 1889.)
Brink, B. ten. — Altenglische Literatur. PG.', II, i, 510-608.
Unfinished owing to the author's death.
Geschichte der englischen Litteratur, I. (2d ed., Strassb., 1899.)
An English translation by H. M. Kennedy appeared in New York, 1S89.
MORLEY, H. — English Writers. An Attempt towards a History of

English Literature. I. Introduction. Origins. Old Keltic
Literature. Beowulf. (3d ed., London, 1891.)
WÜLKER, R. — Grundriss zur Geschichte der angelsachsischen Lit-
teratur. (Leipzig, 1885.)
The most complete history of Anglo-Sa.xon literature; bibliographical
references are very full.
General Works on the Anglo-Saxons

MoMMSEN, Th. — Römische Geschichte, Bd. V. The chapter entitled
"Britannia."
Lappenberg, J. M. — Geschichte von England. I. Angelsach-
sische Zeit.
Hamburg, 1834; an English translation by B. Thorpe appeared under
thetitle Anglo-Saxon History (London, 1845) ^ revised edition of this latter
^
was published in 1S83.
Winkelmann, F. — Geschichte der Angelsachsen, in Oncken's All-
gemeine Geschichte in Einzeldarstellungen. (1883.)
A brief but good survey.
Freeman, E. A. —Teutonic Conquest in Gaul and Britain. Four

Oxford Lectures. (London, 1887.)
Weiland, L. — Die Angeln. Ein Kapitel aus der deutschen Alter-
tumskunde. (Tubingen, 1889.)
A short ethnographical study.
BIBLIOGRAPHY 435
Rhys, J.
— Celtic Britain. Publications of the Society for the Pro-
motion of Christian Knowledge. (London, 1884.)
Allen, Ch. Grant B. — Anglo-Saxon Britain. Publicauons
of the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge.
(London, n. d.)
Kemble, J. M. — The Saxons in England. (2 vols., new ed. by

W. de Gray Birch, London, 1876.)
The extensive chapter " Heathendom " must be used with great caution.
Über die Stammtafel der Westsachsen. (Miinchen, 1836.)

Haack, O. — Zeugnisse zur altenglischen Heldensage. (Kiel, 1892.)
BiNZ, G. — Zeugnisse zur germanischen Sage in England. PBB. XX,

141-223.
Bede
Werner, K. — Beda der Ehrwiirdige und seine Zeit. (Wien, 1875.)

Knappert, L.— Christendom en heidendom in de kerkgeschiedenis
van Beda den eerwaardige. TT. 1897.
For additional Hterature on Bede the references in Wiilker should be

consulted.
Beowulf
Bugge, S. —
Studiën über das Beowulfepos. PBB. XII, 1-112.
—
Brink, B. ten. Beowulf. Untersuchungen. QuF. LXII. (Strass-
burg, 1888.)
Sarrazin, G. — Beowulf-Studien. 1888.) (Berlin,
MÜLLENHOFF, K. — Beowulf. Untersuchungen über das angelsach-

sische Epos und die alteste Geschichte der germanischen
Seevölker. (Berlin, 1889.)
A work that is characterized by great acumen ; its results have to a large

extent been made use of in Chapter 7.
A general survey of the various opinions held concerning Beowulf will be

found in Morley's History of English Literature mentioned above and in
Symons' Gei-manische Heldensage, VG?, §§ 23-25. Gummere's Germanic

Origins takes special account of the Anglo-Saxons. Attention may also
be called to the work of G. Stephens on the Old-Northern Runic Monu-
ments and that of Steenstrup on the Danish and Norse settlements in
Britain.
(/) 77/1? North before the Viking Period
Saxo Grammaticus. — Historia Danica.

There are two editions of Saxo : that of Miiller-Velschow, with Not<e
Uberiores, Kopenhagen, 1S39-1858, and a critical edition by A. Holder,
Gesta Danorum, Strassburg, 18S6. The English translation by Elton will
be found mentioned below. Recently (Berlin, 1900) there has also appeared
a German translation, with notes, by H. Jantzen. Of the sixteen books of
which the Historia Danica is composed, nine deal with historical saga.
—
Agesen, Sven.^ -Gesta seu Compendiosa Historia Regum Daniae.
MG., Scriptores, XXIX Ex Suenonis Aggonis Gestis Regum
:
Danorum.
Of the twelfth century.
Annales Lundenses. MG., Scriptores, XXIX.

Covers the early period approximately up to 1265. Compare Waitz in
Nordalbingische Stndicn, V.
Grundtvig, Sv. — Danmarks gamle Folkeviser. (5 vols., Kopen-

hagen, 1853-1S90.)
The first volume, published in 1853, is of special importance.
Grimm, Wilhelm. — Altdanische Heldenlieder, Balladen und Mar-

chen. (Heidelberg, 181 1.)
Among the Old Norse material the Ynglinga Saga — the first part of the Heims-
kriugla of Snorri Sturluson — is a source of the first The Fornaldarsögur,
rank.
dealing with the period preceding the reign of Harald Fairhair, also contain much
Of the poetry some Eddie songs and other pieces such as
available material.
Bjaikainal and Krakmnül are important. Under the head of Norway and Iceland
(/) the Norse material will be treated with greater detail.
Alongside of the aforementioned sources, scholars have recently made a more

extended use of medieval historians and cloister chronicles, both of Scandinavia and
the countries of Western Europe, which had hitherto been largely neglected. For
the history of the Viking incursions, the expeditions of the Norsemen, and of the
kingdoms they established, these constitute the best and richest source of information.
History of the Christian Church
Adam of Bremen. — Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesia Pontificum

usque ad Annum 1072 a.d. MG. VII; GddV. 11. Jhdt.,
Bd. VL
BIBLIOGRAPHY 437
General Historical Works
Petersen, N. M. — Danmarks Historie Hedenold. (Kopenhagen, i
1834; 2d 1854-1855.)
ed., 3 vols.,
MULLER, Chr. — Danmarks Sagnhistorie. (Kopenhagen, 1836;

L.
4th ed.,
1874.)
MULLER, E. — Sagabibliothek.
P. Kopenhagen, 7- 820.)
(3 vols., 1 8 1
1
Sars, J.E. — Udsigt over den norske Historie, Vol. I. (2 vols.,

Christiania,1873-1877.)
Munch, A. — Det norske Folks Historie,
P. Chris- I, i. (8 vols.,
1852-1859.)
tiania,
Jessen, a. E. — Undersögelser
C. nordisk Oldhistorie.
til (Kopen-
hagen, 1862.)
Steenstrup, C. H. R. — Normannerne.
J.
Indledning Nor- I. i
mannertiden. II. Vikingetogene. III. Danske og norske

Riger pa de brittiske Öer. IV. Danelag. (Kopenhagen,
1876-1882.)
Storm, G. — Kritiske Bidrag til Vikingetidens Historie. (Christiania,
1878.)
Worsaae, J. J. A. — Minder om de Danske og Nordmasndene i
England, Skotland, og Irland. (Kopenhagen, 1851.)

Keary, C. F. — The Vikings in Western Christendom, a.d. 789-
A.D. 888. (New York, 1891.)
Chaillu, p. B. Du. — The Viking Age. (2 vols., New York, 1889.)
Saxo Grammaticus
Elton, and Powell, F. York.

O., —
The First Nine Books of
the Danish History of Saxo Grammaticus. Publications of
the Folklore Society. (London, 1894.)

The comprehensive Introduction by York Powell discusses the various
questions that arise in connection with Saxo: in regard to mythological
matters the arbitrary theories of V. Rydberg are followed too blindly.
Ettmüller, L. — Altnordischer Sagenschatz. (Leipzig, 1870.)
Contains also the greater part of the material from Saxo.
Olrik, a. — Kilderne til Sakses Oldhistorie. (2 vols., Kopenhagen,
1892-1894.)
:
Continues the scientific consideration of the Historia Danica, which had

been sorely neglected since the publication of the Notes Uberiores of Miiller-
Velschow makes a detailed attempt to distinguish between the Norse and
;
Danish sources of Saxo, which was followed by a discussion between Steen-

strup and Olrik cited in the two following titles
Steenstrup, J.
— Saxo Grammaticus og den danske og svenske
Oldtidshistorie. AfnF. XIII, 101-161.
Olrik, A. — Tvedelingen af Sakses Kilder. AfnF. XIV, 47-93-
Song and Saga

— Bravallakvadets Kaemperjekke. AfnF. X, 223-287.
Olrik, A.
MÜLLENHOFF, K. — Deutsche Altertumskunde, Bd. V.
On the Bravalla song and the songs of Starkad.
BuGGE, S. — Helge-Digtene i den aeldre Edda, deres Hjem og For-

bindelser. (Kopenhagen, 1896.)
A translation of this by W. H. Schofield has appeared under the title
Home of the Eddie Poems, with Espeeial Reference to the Helgi-Lays
(London, 1899).
Boer, R. C. — Zur danischen Heldensage. PBB. XXII, 342-390.
Norsemen and Kelts

MoGK, — Kelten und Nordgermanen im und Jahrhunderte.
E. 9. 10.
(Leipzig, 1896.)
Zimmer,H. — Keltische Beitrage. ZfdA. XXXI 196-334 XXXIII, 1, ;
129-220, 257-338; XXXV, 1-172.

Über die friihesten Beriihrungen der Iren mit den Nordger-
manen. SBA. 1891, pp. 279-317.
Meyer, K., and Nutt, A. —
The Voyage of Bran, the Son of Febal.
With an Essay upon the Irish Vision of the Happy Other-

world and the Celtic Doctrine of Rebirth. Grimm Library,
IV, VI. (London, 1895-1897.)
Early Missions
Hauck, a. — Kirchengeschichte Deutschlands. (3 vols., Leipzig,
1887-1896; 2d ed.. Vols. I, II, Leipzig, 1898-1900.)
Steenstrup, J. —
Vort forste Naboskab med Tyskerne. Dansk
Tidsskrift, 1898.
;
BIBLIOGRAPHY 439
(y) N'orway and Iceland
For a survey of the extensive Norse literature bibliographies and histories of
literature should be consulted. The more important of these are cited below.
MÖBIUS, Th. — Catalogus Librorum Islandicorum et Norwegicorum

.(Etatis Mediae. (Lipsiae, 1856.)
Contains also the Skdldatal sive Poetariim Recensus.
Verzeichnis der auf dem Gebiete der altnordischen (altisliin-
dischen und altnorwegischen) Sprache und Literatur von

1855-1879 erschienenen Schriften. (Leipzig, 1880.)
Maurer, K. — Über die Ausdriicke : altnordische, altnorwegische,
und islandische Sprache. AM A. 1867, pp. 457-706.
This and the following essay of Maurer mark the beginning of a new
period in the study of Norse literature.
Über die norwegische Auffassung der nordischen Literaturge-

schichte. ZfdPh. I, 25-88.
V1GFÜSSON, G. — Sturlunga Saga, I. Prolegomena : XVII-CCXIV.
(Oxford, 1878.)
Contains a history of literature.
MoGK, E. — Norwegisch-islandische Literatur. PC', II, i, 71-142.

JÓNSSON, F. —
Den oldnorske og oldislandske Litteraturs Historic.
(Kopenhagen; I, 1894; II, 1901.)
The most important history of Norse literature.
The sources consist (i) of scaldic songs, of which we possess a large number, in
part intercalated in various sagas ; (2) of the poetic Edda, composed of some thirty-
five lays, divided into two classes, — those dealing with gods and those deaUng with
heroes; the Snorra Edda, consisting of Gylfaginnitig, which treats of myths,
(3) of
and of Bragarcedlmr, Skaldskaparmal, Hditaial, which have to do with poetics

(4)of sagas, narratives in prose, that differ greatly in contents, including ancient
sagas, heroic sagas, Icelandic family histories, political history, and, at a later time,
fiction as well.
V1GFÜSSON, G., and Powell, F. York. — Corpus Poeticum Boreale.

(2 vols., Oxford, 1883.)
An edition of all that we possess of Old Norse poetry, both scaldic and
Eddie songs, with a translation. Introduction, and excursus. Should be
used with circumspection, as it is frequently untrustworthy. Compare p. 47,
above.
Edda. We possess editions by S. Bugge (Christiania, 1867),

Grundtvig (Kopenhagen, 1874), K. Hildebrand (Paderborn,
1876), B. Symons (I, Götterlieder, Halle, 1888; II, Helden-
lieder, Halle, 1901), F. Jonsson (Halle, 1888-1890). There
is also a complete glossary to the Edda by H. Gering (2d ed.,
Halle, 1896). The first part (A-K) of a " Vollstandiges
Wörterbuch zu den Liedern der Edda," by the same author,
which gives exhaustive references under each word, has
just appeared (Halle, 1901). Among the German trans-
lators of the Edda the following deserve to be mentioned :
the GrimmBrothers (Berlin, 181 5); F. W. Bergmann (in

several volumes, partly in French, Strassburg, 1871-1879),
now antiquated ; K. Simrock (Stuttgart, several editions), until
H. Gering, Die Edda (Leipzig
recent years in general use ;
und Wien, 1892), with brief luminous notes; indispensable.

In English, aside from the prose translation in CPB., there is
a metrical rendering by B. Thorpe (London, 1866).
WiLKEN, E. —
Untersuchungen zur Snorra Edda. (Paderborn, 1878.)
Jessen, E. —
Uber die Eddalieder. Heimat, Alter, Charakter.
ZfdPh. Ill, 1-84, 251-252, 494.
Symons, B. —- Bijdrage tot de dagteekening der Eddaliederen.
VMAA. 1887, pp. 220-242.
HoFFORY, J. —
Eddastudien. (Berlin, 1889.)
MÜLLENHOFF, K. —
Deutsche Altertumskunde, Bd. V.
Of Norse sagas we possess a number of good editions, by such scholars as S. Bugge

and G. Vigfusson. At present an Altnordischc Sagabibliothek (Halle, 1892 ff.) is
in course of publication, in which sagas are provided with notes and introductions
by various scholars. A considerable part of the material is also accessible in the

form of translations. Thus the German translation of the Volsunga Saga by
von der Hagen has been revised by Edzardi (.Stuttgart, 1880). Are's Isldndcrbiick
was both edited and translated by Th. Möbius (1869). There are also translations
into Danish by P. A. Munch, Norj;cs Konge-Sagacr (2 vols., 1859 and 1871), as
well as others undertaken under the direction of the Nordiske Oldskrift Selskab. Of
translations into English there are the following:
Dasent, (t. W. — The Story of Burnt Njal. (2 vols., Edinburgh,

1861.)
Unsurpassed in the field of translations from the Norse; preceded by an
e.xcellent Introduction.
BIBLIOGRAPHY 441
The Saga Library. Edited by William Morris and Eirikr Magniisson.

(5 vols., London, 1891 ff.)
Vols. Ill, IV, V contain the Heimskruigla.
The Northern Library. I. The Saga of King Olaf Tryggwason,

translated by J. Sephton. (London, 1895.) II. The Tale of
Thrond of Gate, commonly called Fasreyinga Saga, englished

by F. York Powell. (London, 1896.) VI. The Saga of King
Sverri of Norway (Sverrissaga), translated by J. Sephton.
(London, 1899.)
The saga ofThorwald Kodransson and the Kristni Saga are of special importance
The Norwegian and Icelandic laws
for the history of the Christianization. the —
latter are the so-called Gragas —
and monographs dealing with them occasionally
throw light on pagan usages and conditions.
Lasonder, E. H. — De Saga van Thorwald Kodransson den

Bereisde. (Utrecht, 1886.)
Brenner, O. — Über Kristni-Saga. (München, 1878.)
die
DÖRING, B. — Bemerkungen über Typus und der islandischen Stil
Saga. (Leipzig, 1877.)

Heinzel, R. — Beschreibung der islandischen Saga. SWA. 1880,
pp. 107-306.
Storm, G. — Snorre Sturlassöns Historieskrivning. (Kopenhagen,
1873)
Magnusson, a. — Vita Ssmundi. (1787.)
Still of some value.
Petersen, N. M. — Danmarks Historie Hedenold. i (See p. 437»

above.)
Steenstrup, J. C. H. R. — Normannerne. (See p. 437, above.)
Petersen and Steenstrup deal more particularly with Denmark. For
Norway the standard works are the following two books:
Sars, J. E. — Udsigt over den norske Historie. (See p. 437, above.)

Munch, P. A.— Det norske Folks Historic. (See p. 437, above.)
Keyser, R. — Efterladte Skrifter. (2 vols., Christiania, 1 866-1 867.)
Somewhat antiquated, but still valuable ; also contains a comprehensive
history of literature.
Weinhold, K. — Altnordisches Leben. (Berlin, 1856.)
An excellent and readable account.

GuDHMUNDSSON, V., and Kalund, K. — Sitte. Skandinavische

Verhaltnisse. PG.-, Ill, 407-479.
Maurer, K. — Die Bekehrung des norwegischen Stammes zum
Christenthume. (2 vols., Miinchen, 1 855-1856.)
Island. (Miinchen, 1874.)
Written on the occasion of the festival in celebration of the one thousandth
anniversary of the settlement of Iceland. The SMA. and EuG. also con-
tain many articles on Norse literature and law by the same scholar.
V. PANTHEON
Wodan-Odhin
Leo, H. — Ueber Othins Verehrung in Deutschland. (Erlangen,

1822.)
Leo was the first to call attention to the geographical limits of the worship
of Odhin.
Wachter, F. — Othin. EuG. VII, 288-332 (1836).

Magnusen, F. — Priscas Veterum Borealium Mythologiae Lexicon,
pp. 261-377. (Havniae, 182S.)
Magnusen collected the data from Saxo, the Edda, and other Norse
sources ; his Asiatic parallels are as untenable as his interpretation of
Odhin as " director anni Solaris."
Grimm, Jacob. — Deutsche Mythologie^ I, 109-137; 111,48-61.

Grimm has here been led astray through transferring the medieval per-
sonification Wuiisch, "den Inbegriff von Heil und Seligkeit," to Odhin.
Grimm's conception of Wodan as the all-pervading spirit — "qui omnia
permeat " —
is met with in the works of many other scholars, as, e.g. in the
two that follow below.
Petersen, N. M. — Nordisk Mythologi. (Kopenhagen, 1849;

2d ed., 1863.)
Menzel, W. — Odin. (Stuttgart, 1855.)
Full of the wildest speculations ;

practically worthless.
Uhland, L. — Odin. Schriften, VI, 129-426.
A detailed and valuable study, more especially as regards the Norse

myths of the poets' mead and the finding of the runes.
Here, as elsewhere, Miillenhoff (the special essays are noted below) gave a new
impetus by attacking what had hitherto been the fixed point of departure, viz. that
BIBLIOGRAPHY 443
Wodan was the chief god of all Teutons. According to Miillenhoff, Wodan usurped
the place that originally belonged to the old sky god Tiu. This view has been accepted
by most of the recent investigators.
MoGK, E. — Mythologie. PG.-, 111,328-346.

Mogk makes an attempt not merely to group the various aspects and
functions of Wodan, but also to trace the historical development of his
cult ; the latter he believes to have existed among the tribes of North and
West Germany only, not among those of Upper (Southern) Germany. He
regards Wodan as constituting originally one of the functions of the sky
god Tiwaz-Wodanaz, who thereupon entered upon an independent develop-
ment as god of the wind, and was equipped with numerous new functions
and attributes at the hands more especially of the Norse scalds.

Meyer regards the god of the wind as the development of a wind demon
and discovers numerous foreign and Christian elements in his myths.
GoLTHER, W. — Germanische Mythologie, pp. 283-359.

Golther is likewise of the opinion that Wodan was developed to a large
extent from the storm demon Wode he believes this development to have
;
taken place in the region of the Lower Rhine under the influence of the
Roman-Gallic Mercurius.
WisÉN, Th. --Oden och Loke. (Stockholm, 1873.)
Donar-Thor
Magnusen, f. — Priscce Veterum Borealium Mythologiae Lexicon,

pp. 617-696.
Grimm, Jacob. —
Deutsche Mythologie-*, I, 138-159.
Über die Namen des Donners. Kleinere Schriften, II, 402-438.
Grimm has here collected Keltic {Tai-anis), Slavic {Perkuiias), a.nd
Finnish {Ukko) parallels.
Mannhardt, W. — Germanische Mythen, pp. 1-242.

This study dates from the earlier period of Mannhardt's development, for
a characterization of which see p. 28. Mannhardt here occupies himself
with fancied resemblances between Thor and Indra.
Petersen, H. — Om Nordboernes Gudedyrkelse og Gudetro i
Hedenold. (Kopenhagen, 1876.)

Points out the national character of the Thor cult in Norway; compare
p. 37, above.
Uhlaxd, L. — Der Mythus von Thor. Schriften, VI, 1-128.
Interprets in a very attractive manner the Norse myths of Thor, in large

part allegorically, as symbolizing the reclaiming of the rocky soil to the uses
of agriculture.
MoGK, E. — Mythologie. PG.-, Ill, 353-365.
Regards Donar as a special aspect of the ancient sky god Tiwaz-Thunaraz.
Meyer, while also recognizing in the myths of Thor later Christian ele-
ments, especially in the role that Thor plays in the world-drama, still regards
most of the accounts of combats with giants as representing genuine myths
of seasons, and it is as such that he proceeds to analyze them.
On the whole, views respecting Donar-Thor are less divergent than those respect-
ing Wodan-Odhin, all scholars whose opinion is worth having being agreed that he
represents the god of thunder.
TiWAZ (Tiu, Ziu, Tyr)
Magnusen, F. — Priscae Veterum Borealium Mythologiae Lexicon,

pp. 482-491.
Grimm, Jacob. —
Deutsche Mythologie^ I, 160-172.
Grimm recognized the points of resemblance between Tiu and Zeus, as

well as the lofty character of the ancient sky god.
MÜLLENHOFF, K. —
Über Tuisco und Seine Nachkommen. Schmidt's
AZfG. VIII, 209-269.
Miillenhoff enters a strong plea for Tiu as the original chief god of the
whole Teutonic race, who was subsequently displaced by Wodan ; direct
historical testimony, as well as tribal names and heroic sagas, still bear
evidence to the high position Tiu once occupied. These conclusions have
been accepted by many of the younger generation of scholars, e.g. by Hoffory,
Mogk, and Symons.
Hoffory, J. —
Eddastudien, pp. 143-173.
Mogk, E. —
Mythologie. PG.-, Ill, 313-328.
GOLTHER, W. —
Germanische Mythologie, pp. 200-217.
Accepts the results of Miillenhoff in a somewhat modified form.

His view that Tiu is the god of lightning to be placed alongside of Thor,
the god of thunder, is untenable.
BIBLIOGRAPHY 445
Much, R. — Der germanische Himmelsgott. Festgabe fur Richard

Heinzel, pp. 189-278. (Halle, 1898.)
The most recent study on the subject. Much, while adhering to Miillen-
hoff's main contention, combats in this comprehensive investigation, which
deals with a number of Teutonic deities, the identification of Baldr, Heimdallr,
and Freyr with the sky god, such as is usually advocated by the followers of
Miillenhoff.
The Vanir
Njqrdhr-N'ert/nts, Freyr-Freyja
Magnusen, F. — Priscae Veterum Borealium Mythologias Lexicon,

pp. 77-100, 251-255, 537.
Regards the Vanir as gods of the air reaches the height
; of absurdity in
combining Freyr with the Egyptian sun god Phra.
Grimm, Jacob. — Deutsche Mythologie-*, I, 173-181.

Uhland, L. — Schriften, VI, 150-188.
Regards the Vanir as the bountiful, beneficent gods of the atmosphere.
Mannhardt, W. — Baumkultus, Chapter 7.
Considers Nerthus a male demon of vegetation and explains the procession

in the light of parallel processions in spring.
Weinhold, K. — Über den Mythus vom Wanenkrieg. SBA. 1890,
pp. 61 1-625.
A classical treatise ; defines the opposition between /Ksir and Vanir as a
cult war, applicable also to the moral and natural world ; the Vanir are the
joyous, wealthy gods of light, opposed to the dark, chthonic Wodan.

Regards Freyr as the Norse form of the sky god Tiu, derived from the
IngEEVOnes.

Describes, most curiously, Freyr as the idealized elf of thunder, just as
Thor is the idealized giant of thunder. Similarly, Njordhr is the elf of the
wind (§ 347).
Golther, W. — Germanische Mythologie, pp. 218-241.

Accepts the cult war of Weinhold.
KocK, A. —
Die Göttin Nerthus und der Gott Njordhr. ZfdPh.
XXVIII, 289-294.
Treats of the pairs NJQrdhr-Xerthus, Freyr-Freyja.
Detter, F., and Heinzel, R. —

Hoenir und der Vanenkrieg. PBB.
XVIII, 542-560.
Zur Ynglingasaga. PBB. XVIII, 72-105.
In these two essays the Vanir and their myths have been combined with
various sagas from Saxo and other sources, reconstructions that are very
ingenious but without a sufficient basis of reality. The latter remark
applies also to the essay of Much mentioned below.
Much, R. — Der germanische Himmelsgott. Festgabe fur Richard

Heinzel.
Commentaries on Tacitus, Gcrmania, Chapter 40, Vohtsfa, 21-24, Ynglingasaga,

Chapter 4, which constitute the chief passages where these gods are mentioned, may
also be consulted.
Baldr
Magnusen, F. — Priscae Veterum Borealium Mythologie Lexicon,

pp. 20-29.
Regards Baldr as the god of summer, the Semitic Baal.
NiLSSON, S. — Die Ureinwohner des scandinavischen Nordens.

(Hamburg, 1865.)
Accepts the identification of Magnusen.
Grimm, Jacob. — Deutsche Mythologie-», I, 182-189.

In this and the next essay of Grimm most of the available material will
be found collected.
Über zwei entdeckte Gedichte aus der Zeit des deutschen Hei-
denthums. Kleinere Schriften, II, 1-29.
Bugge, S. —
Studiën über die Entstehung der nordischen Götter-
und Heldensagen, deutsch von O. Brenner, pp. 1-135.
Finds the origin of the Danish accounts in great part in the history of
the Trojan war, Baldr representing Achilles, Hodhr Paris, and Nanna
CEnone. The Norse form of the myth he traces to the gospel of Nicodemus
and medieval English sources, making use of such features as the death of
Christ, the spear thrust in the side of Christ by the blind Longinus, etc.
Loki is Lucifer. The putting of plants under oath is derived from a Jewish
work. Olrik, Miillenhoff, and Rydberg attack Bugge's views in the works
cited below.
Olrik, A. — Sakses Oldhistorie, 13-46. II,

BIBLIOGRAPHY 447
MÜLLENHOFF, K. —
Zeugnisse und Excurse zur deutschen Helden-
sage. ZfdA. XII, 329, 353.
Rydberg, V. —
Undersökningar germanisk Mythologi, II, 202.
i
Frazer, J. G. —
The Golden Bough. (2d ed.. Ill, 236-350.)
The two main features of the Baldr myth, the mistiltcinn (mistletoe) and
the burning of the dead god, are to be explained from popular ritualistic
ceremonies, viz. from the gathering of the mistletoe, which was viewed as
the seat of the life of the oak, and from the fire-festivals, the essential feature
of which was the burning of a man who represented the tree-spirit.
Weinhold, K. — Die Sagen von Loki. ZfdA. VII, 1-94.

Weinhold interprets the myth of Baldr allegorically : blind war (H^dhr)
slays peace (Baldr), but itself falls on the field of battle (V'ali) ; noble
courage (Nanna) also succumbs, and the return of peace is prevented by
vengeance (Thokt).
Considers Baldr as a form of the sky god and his myth as a year-myth.
Baldr is originally an Odhin of summer his myth, however, is largely

;
made up of classical and Christian elements, as Bugge has shown.
Explains Baldr as the god of light and of summer ; does not regard the
details of his myth as capable of analysis.
Kauffmann, F Deutsche Mythologie, pp. 83-89.

Is of the opinion that the heroic
saga of Saxo ismore original than the
Eddie account, which has made Baldr into a god ; Kauffmann also assumes
Christian influences.
Detter, F. —
Zur Ynglingasaga. PBB. XVIII, 72-105.
Der Baldrmythus. PBB. XIX, 495-516.
Better in these two essays attempts, in a very arbitrary manner, to sketch
the development of the saga.
Niedner, F. — Baldr's Tod. ZfdA. XLIV, 305-335.

Describes the development of the myth as it appears in the sources ; a
sober and fruitful study.
FORSETE (FoSITE)
Grimm, Jacob. — Deutsche Mythologie'*, I, 190-192.

Grimm here cites in full the passages bearing on Forsete and his cult
on Helgoland from Alcuin's Life of Willebrord, Altfrid's Life of LiuJger,
and Adam of Bremen's De Siin Danice.
RiCHTHOFEN, K. Freiherr VON. — Untcrsuchungen über die frie-
sische Rechtsgeschichte, II, 434-437.

Hettema, F. Buitenrust. — Fosete, Fosite, Foste. TvnTeL.
1893, pp. 281-288.
Considers Fosite a form of Donar.
Heimdallr

pp. 145-149-
Regards Heimdallr as a god of summer, of the month in which the sun is
in the sign of the Cancer ; also identifies him with the rainbow.
Meyer, E. H. — Germanische Mythologie, §§310, 311.

Assumes extensive Christian influences.

Likewise makes much of Christian influences.
MÜLLENHOFF, K. — Frija und der Halsbandmythus. ZfdA. XXX,

2 1
7-260.
An important essay; regards Heimdallr as god of the sky.

Accepts the view of Miillenhoff.
LOKI
Grimm, Jacob. — Deutsche Mythologie'*, I, 199-204.

Connects Loki with Grendel in Beozv ii If a.nd with the bound Prometheus
as well.
Meyer, C. —
Loki und sein Mythenkreis. (Basel, 1880.)
WiSLlCENUS, H. Loki. —
(Zurich, 1867.)
WisÉN, Th. —
Oden och Loke. (Stockholm, 1873.)
BIBLIOGRAPHY 449
Weinhold, K. — Die Sagen von Loki. ZfdA. VII, 1-94.

An important study ; regards Loki as an ancient chief divinity, subse-
quently diabolified, but originally a cosmogonic force, representing the
elements of iire, water, and air.
MÜLLENHOFF, K. — FHja und der Halsbandmythus. ZfdA. XXX,

217-260.
Regards his origin as due to a genuine nature-myth.
BuGGE, S. —
Traces the origin of Loki to Lucifer.
Mock, E. — Mythologie. PG.^, Ill, 346-353.

Attempts to distinguish between the old genuine mythical constituents, in
which Loki is a sky god, and the later abstract scaldic myths.
Meyer, E. H. — Germanische Mythologie, §§217-223.

Classes him among the "higher demons" originally he represents sheet-
;
lightning ; his role in the myth of Baldr is wholly derived from Christian
conceptions.

Believes Loki to be a product of the Norse eschatology, which arose under
Christian influences and was fused with an ancient fire demon.
HiRSCHFELD, M. — Untersuchungen zur Lokasenna. AG. I. (Ber-

lin, 1889.)
Contains an important chapter on Loki, in which an attempt is made to
separate the various sides of the god.
It somewhat startling to find, on examining this literature, with how many

is
characters from myth and saga Loki has been identified: Agni, Vritra, Prometheus,
Vulcan, Lucifer, Grendel, Wieland the smith. Hagen, Sibeche-Sabene, Reinecke
Fuchs, and Louki, the wife of Pohjolen from Kalewala.
ViDHARR
Kauffmann, F. — Deutsche Mythologie, pp. 93-95.

Deus Requalivahanus. PBB. XVIII, 157-194.
Kauffmann regards Vidharr as the great Teutonic god of the forest, identical
with Heimdallr, Hcenir, and the deus Requalivahanus, whose abode is the
darkness. He is the god of justice and order, who dwells apart from the
world, who, when the world threatens to go out of joint, again restores
the accustomed order of things, and who upon the fall of the other gods will
fill the vacant throne. There is no good reason, however, for assigning, with
Kauffmann, so high a place to this god of the forest when we remember
was the place of worship of all the
that the forest chief Teutonic deities.
ROEDIGER, M. — Der grosse Waldesgott der Germanen. ZfdPh.

XXVII, 1-14.
Attacks the position of Kauffmann ; Roediger considers Vîdharr the god
of the heath ; so also Golther, Gcrmatiische Mythologie, p. 395.
Much, R. — Der germanische Himmelsgott, pp. 222-224.

Vali
MuLLENHOFF, K. — Nordalbingische Studiën, I, 11-40 (1844).

An attempt to identify Vali with Welo, an Old-Saxon spring deity, who
brings light and blessing.
Bragi
Uhland, — Schriften, VI, 277-305.

L.
V1GFÜSSON, G. — CPB. II, 2 ff.
Gering, H. — Kvtedliabrot Braga ens gamla. (Halle, 1886.)

MOGK, E. — Bragi Gott und Dichter.
als PBB. XII, 383-393.
BuGGE, — Der Gott Bragi den nordischen Gedichten. PBB.
S. in
XIII, 187-202.
MoGK, E. — Bragi. PBB. XIV, 81-90.
JÓNSSON, F. — Om Skjaldepoesien og de aeldste Skjalde. AfnF. VI,
121-155.
Den oldnorske og oldislandske Litteraturs Historie (Kopen-
hagen, 1893 ff.), I, 417-425.
BuGGE, S. — Bidrag til den aeldste Skaldedigtnings Historic. (Chris-

tiania, 1894.)
Bugge denies, whereas Jónsson and Mogk maintain, the historical existence of the
scald Bragi.
Goddesses
Grimm, Jacob. — Deutsche Mythologie4, 1,207-262.

Grimm includes a number of goddesses, such as Zisa, Abundia, etc., which
later mythologists have justly eliminated. He is correct, however, in suppos-
ing that the several goddesses are closely related and readily pass over the
one into the other. He regards them as variant forms of the goddess of
the earth.
BIBLIOGRAPHY 451
Grimm, Jacob. — Kleinere Schriften, V, 416-438.

Discusses various goddesses ; the / 'anadis, which he identifies with the
Thracian goddess of the moon, Bendis (pp. 430-438), is in reality the Vanir
goddess Freyja.
Weinhold, K. — Die deutschen Frauen in dem Mittelalter.
Contains, in the second chapter, a survey of the goddesses.
MoGK, E. — Mythologie. PG.^ III, 366-376.

Mews the goddesses as representatives of Mother Earth ; in this second
edition he has, however, grouped Holda and Perchta under the rubric
" Seelenglaube."

Recognizes goddesses of the clouds alone, of which those of the sun and
earth are offshoots. The various conceptions of cloud goddesses he groups
according to the seasons.

Maintains the untenable position that goddesses are invariably younger
than gods; he too classes Frau Holle and Perchta among the "alleged
goddesses."
MÜLLENHOFF, K. — Frija und der Halsbandmythus. ZfdA. XXX,

217-260.
According to Miillenhoff the myth of the Himnielskönigiii is part of
the original Zeus worship of the Teutons, F"rija having of old been the
consort of Tin.
Jaekel, H. — Die Hauptgöttin der Istvaeen. ZfdPh. XXIV, 289-

311-
Regards Nehalennia- Aiwa-Tamfana as goddess of the earth and of fire, of

the hearth and the harvest, of fruitfulness and death.
Kauffmann, F. —
Nehalennia. PBB. XVI, 210-234.
Dea Hludhana. PBB. XVIII, 134-157.
Knappert, L. —
De beteekenis van de wetenschap van het folklore
voor de godsdienstgeschiedenis onderzocht en aan de Holda-
mythen getoetst. (Amsterdam, 1887.)
Knappert reduces the functions of Holda to four heads: she is goddess of
vegetable and animal fruitfulness, of birth and death, of domestic work, and
of atmospheric phenomena.
VI. THE GERMAN HEROIC SAGA

Sources and General Works of Reference
Muller, P. E. — Sagabibliothek med anmierkninger og indledende

afhandlinger. (3 vols., Kopenhagen, 181 7-1 820.)
Deals in large part with Norse material, but also takes some account of
German sagas.
Grimm, Wilhelm. — Die deutsche Heldensage, (ist ed., 1829;

2d ed., by Müllenhoff, 1867 ;
3d ed., by R. Steig, 1889.)
The whole work is divided into two sections : Zeugnisse and Ursprung
7ind Fortbilditng.
MÜLLENHOFF, K. — Zeugnisse und Excurse zur deutschen Helden-

sage. ZfdA. XII, 253-386; XV, 413-436.
Frija und der Halsbandmythus. ZfdA. XXX, 217-260.
Grimm, Jacob. —
Gedanken über Mythos, E:pos und Geschichte.
Kleinere Schriften, IV, 74-85.
JiRiczEK, o. L. — Die deutsche Heldensage. Sammlung Göschen,
No. 32. (Stuttgart, 1894; 2d ed., 1897.)
A succinct and clear account ; the surveys are in part taken from Uhland.
Deutsche Heldensagen, Bd. I. (Strassburg, 1898.)
In process of publication ; an excellent work whose aim is to trace " die
Entwickelungsgeschichte der Stoffe."
Grundtvig, S. — Udsigt over den nordiske Oldtids heroiske Digt-

ning. (Kopenhagen, 1867.)
Valuable for its estimate of the ethical and poetical sides of the heroic
saga ;
deals with the Norse material alone.
Uhland, L. — Schriften zur Geschichte der Dichtung und Sage,

Bd. I, VII.
Contains excellent surveys ; is unsurpassed in its characterizations.
Meyer, E. H. —
Germanische Mythologie, §§ 379-386.
Symons, B. —
Heldensage. PG.", Ill, 606-734.
An accurate and exhaustive account gives a complete survey of the ;
contents as well as of the literature of Teutonic sagas.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 453
GoLTHER, W. — Studiën zur germanischen Sagengeschichte. I. Der
Valkyrjenmythus. 11. Über das Verhaltnis der nordischen

und deutschen Form der Nibelungensage. A MA. 1888,
pp. 401-502.
Heinzel, R. — Über
^ die ostgothische Heldensage. SWA. CXIX
(1889), 1-98.
Lichtenberger, H. — Le Poème et la Légende des Nibelungen.
(Paris, 1891.)
Dietrich Saga
Meyer, K. — Die Dietrichssage in ihrer geschichtlichen Entwicke-
lung. (Basel, 1868.)
Storm, G. — Sagnkredsene cm Karl den Store og Didrik af Bern
hos de nordiske Folk. (Christiania, 1874.)
Paul, H. — Die Thidhrekssaga und das Nibelungenlied. SMA.
1900, pp. 297-338.
VIL ANIMISM AND FOLKLORE

{a) Animism
Grimm, Jacob. — Deutsche Mythologie-*, II, 689-700 TiViè. passim.
Both Grimm and Wolf (see the next title) deserve mention as having to
a considerable extent made use of evidence from folklore long before, under
the influence of Tylor and other scholars, other mythologists set out to gather
similar material.
Wolf, J. W. — Beitrage zur deutschen Mythologie, I, 205-254 and

passim.
Laistner, L. — Das Ratsel der Sphinx. (2 vols., Berlin, 1889.)
First introduced the notions of mare and incubus into the study of
mythology, notions that play a prominent part in the works of the three
scholars mentioned below.

As works on mythology, this phase of the study is emphasized
in all recent
by Mogk Walkyries and Norns he treats under the head of " Seelenglaube."
;
He differentiates quite sharply between souls and demons of nature.

Meyer classes Walkyries and Norns under the "higher demons"; he
regards souls, demons, and gods as the sahie beings in different stages of
development.
: ;
Golther also supposes Walkyries and Xorns to have originated from the
belief in souls.
{b) Folklore
Sources and works dealing with sources largely coincide. They consist of collec-
tions of talesand legends, of manners and customs. The vastness of the material
may be seen from the bibliographical surveys in Paul's Grundriss (first edition),
under the headings Skandinavische Volkspocsic, by J. A. Lundell (II, 1, 719-749);
Deutsche tind nicderldndische Volkspoesie, by J. Meyer (II, i, 750-836) Englische ;
Volkspoesie, by A. Brandl (II, i, S37-860) and Die Behandlimg der volkstiimlichen

;
Sitte der Gegenwart, by E. Mogk (II, 2, 265-286). The sectional character of most
of the folklore collections should be noted. By way of supplement we may add
A. Olrik, Folkeminder Salmonscns Kotiversaiiotts Leksikon, Kopenhagen, 1S97.
;
Most German mythologists have laid special emphasis on the study of folklore so ;
J. and W. Grimm, J. W.
Wolf, F. Panzer,'A. Kuhn, F. L. W. Schwartz, \V. Mann-
hardt, L. Laistner, E. H. Meyer, E. Mogk, and W. Golther this is perhaps least ;
true of K. Miillenhoff, despite the fact that he collected the legends of Schleswig-
Holstein.
Of special periodicals the following are important
Zeitschrift fur Völkerpsychologie und Sprachwissenschaft. Heraus-

gegeben von Lazarus und Steinthal (the last volume in con-
junction with U. Jahn). (20 vols., 860-1 890.) 1
Zeitschrift des Vereins für Volkskunde. Herausgegeben von K.

Weinhold. Neue Folge der Zeitschrift für Völkerpsychologie
und Sprachwissenschaft. (1891 ff.)
Folklore Record; since 1883 under the title Folklore Journal.
Published by the English Folklore Society ; the other miscellaneous pub-
lications of this society also possess considerable value.
There are also serial publications of traditions fopidaires in France, which need
not be enumerated here.
Of medieval literature important for the study of folklore we possess, from the
thirteenth century : Gervasius of Tilbury, Otia Imperialia : Csesarius of Heister-
bach, Dialogiis Miracnlorum ; Jacobus a Voragine, Legenda Aiirea ; and, some-
what less important, the so-called Gesta Romaiwrum. The Zimmersche Chronik,
of the sixteenth century, likewise contains a wealth of material. Popular law, the
so-called Weistiimer, usages and sayings that Jacob Grimm utilized for his Rechts-
alterthiimer. the Sachsenspiegcl of the beginning of the thirteenth century, and the
Sch-wabcnspiegel also contain material of this character.
BIBLIOGRAPHY 455
Grundtvig, S. — Danmarks gamle Folkeviser. (5 vols., Kopen-

hagen, 1853-1890.)
As a collection of popular songs equalled only by the following work of
Child.
Child, F. J.
— English and Scottish Popular Ballads. (5 vols.,
Boston, 1 882-1 898.)

Brand, J.
— Popular Antiquities of Great Britain. (i795; ^ new
edition in three volumes, prepared by H. Ellis, was pubhshed
in 1882.)
Still valuable as a record of numerous ancient observances.
Uhland, L. — Schriften zur Geschichte der Dichtung und Sage.

(8 vols.)
An excellent collection of German popular sagas, treated historically,
which has hitherto been too little regarded.
(c) Methodology of Folklore and Mythology
— Deutsche Mythologie. Einleitung.

Grimm, Jacob.
Mannhardt, W. — Antike Wald- und Feldkulte. Vorwort.
MÜLLENHOFF, K. — Sagen, Marchen, und Lieder der Herzogthiimer
Schleswig, Holstein, und Lauenburg. Einleitung. (Kiel,
1845-)
The three aforementioned Introductions treat, in wholly different ways,
the general question of the use that is to be made of folklore in the study
of mythology.
CoSQUiN, E. — Contes Populaires de la Lorraine . . . precedes d'un

essai sur I'origine et la propagation des contes populaires
europeens. (2 vols., Paris, 1886.)
Cloustox, W. a. — Popular Tales and Fictions, their Migrations
and Transformations. (2 vols., Edinburgh, 1887.)
Both Cosquin and Clouston follow in the footsteps of Benfey and attempt
to vindicate the Oriental (Indian or Egyptian) origin of the tales.
LiNNiG, F. — Deutsche Mythen-Marchen. Beitrag zur Erklarung

der Grimmschen Kinder- und Hausmarchen. (Paderborn,
1883.)
An attempt to give a mythological interpretation of a number of Grimm's
Marchen.
:
LlEBRECHT, F. — Zur Volkskunde. (Heilbronn, 1879.)

Hahn, J. G. VON. — Sagwissenschaftliche Studiën. (Jena, 1876.)
Griechische und albanesische Marchen. (Leipzig, 1864.)
Of special importance on account of its tabular representations of
Marchen- imd Sagformclii.
Cox, G. W. —
An Introduction to the Science of Comparative
Mythology and Folklore. (London, 1881.)
Now antiquated.
Cox, M. R. — An Introduction to Folklore. (London, 1895.)

An outline.
GoMME, G. L. — The Handbook of Folklore. Publications of the

Folklore Society for 1887.
More succinct and trustworthy than the book of M. R. Cox.
Meyer, E. H. — Deutsche Volkskunde. (Strassburg, 1898.)

Deals in large part with material differing in kind from that of the books
mentioned previously.
WuTTKE, A. — Der deutsche Volksaberglaube der Gegenwart.

(i860; 3dby E. H. Meyer, Berlin, 1900.)
ed.,
GuDHMUNDSSON, V., and Kalund, K. Sitte. Skandinavische — •
Verhaltnisse. PG.-, Ill, 407-479.

A detailed account.
ScHULTZ, A. — ^ Sitte. Deutsch-englische Verhaltnisse. PG.^, Ill,

480-492.
Only gives suggestions in regard to the methodology.
MoGK, E. — Die Behandlung der volkstümlichen Sitte der Gegen-

wart. PG.% III, 493-530.
Indicates the sources in a number of titles.
VIII. DEMONIC BEINGS

{a) Walkyries, Swan-maidens, Norns
Grimm, Jacob. — Deutsche Mythologie^, I, 328-362.

Grimm includes these three groups under the rubric Weise Fraiten
their position is midway between gods and heroes : un the one hand they
are descended from gods and elves, on the other the\ aro deified womsn.
Grimm also recognizes the connection between Norui and WaUIiitriiin.
BIBLIOGRAPHY 457
Mannhardt, W. — Germanische Mythen. Forschungen. (Berlin,

1858.)
Representative of the first period of Mannhardt's development; he inter-
prets Norns and Walkyries as Wasserfraiien, Wolkenwesen.
Panzer, F. — Beitrage zur deutschen Mythologie, I, 1-210 ; II,

1 19-160.
Relates a number of Bavarian legends concerning the " three sisters."
MÜLLENHOFF, K. — Walkiiren. Nordalbingische Studiën, I, 210-222.

Explains a large number of names.
GoLTHER, W. — Der Valkyrjenmythus. Studiën zur germanischen

Sagengeschichte, I. AM A. 1888, pp. 401-438.
The general attitude of the more recent mythologists (Mogk, E. H. Meyer,

Golther) has already been characterized under the head of Animism and Folklore,
Section VII.
{b) Elves and Dwarfs
There is a great diversity of opinion among scholars as to the origin and character
of elves and dwarfs. They are sometimes regarded as belonging to the Indo-European
primitive period and are identified, etymologically as well, with the rbhiVs of Vedic
literature (H. Oldenberg, Die Religion dcs Veda, p. 235, 1894, " ce qui n'avance pas
\ grand chose," as A. Barth rightly remarks in his noteworthy review of that book
in the Journal des Savants, 1S96). Skilled dwarfs are met with everywhere, inside as
well as outside of Indo-European territory, and neither these general parallels of
folklore nor the numerous definitely localized conceptions can be held to represent
the common heritage of a family of peoples. Nor is the other view admissible,
according to which elves and dwarfs represent historical reminiscences of earlier
populations that have long ago disappeared, an opinion which, while not advocated by
Jacob Grimm, was still referred to by him
in passing (DM.*, Ill, 131, and Irische
Elfetimdrchen, p. Ixvii), met with elsewhere now and then (e.g.

and which is also
D. McRitchie, Testimony of Tradition, London, 1S90). Recent mythologists regard
elves and dwarfs as souls and demons, now emphasizing the former (Mogk), then the
latter (E. H. Meyer), side. It is doubtless true that there are instances in which
elves stand in relationship both with the souls of the dead and with the more delicate,
silently working forces of nature; and yet we must H. Meyer andnot, with E.
Laistner, regard all accounts of the imprisonment, marriage, deliverance, and flight
of elves as symbolizing ever anew the mythical union of the Wolkenfraii with the
Gcuntteralb. Nor is it admissible, whenever elves stand in relationship to natural

phenomena, to assume forthwith " seelischen Ursprung" (Mogk, Golther), whether it
be derived from the wind or from the worship of water, the latter either tecause —
wells are conceived of as the gates through which souls and spirits issue forth from
mountain and earth (Mogk), or because water calls to mind the souls of those who
have been drowned (Golther). Elves and dwarfs are beings that have largely b. n
developed by free popular fancy and cannot be explained on the basis of either
animism or myths of nature.
Grimm, Jacob. — Deutsche Mythologie-*, 363-428. I,
Wolf, J. W. — Beitrage zur deutschen Mythologie, II, 228, 349.
MoGK, E. —
Mythologie. PC', III, 285-298.
Meyer, E. H. —
Germanische Mythologie, §§ 159-177.
Paragraphs 175-177 deal with the evidence for elf cult.
Golther, W.^ — Germanische Mythologie, pp. 1 22-1 58.
For the roles that elves and dwarfs play in popular tales the collections, more
especially, of Asbjörnsen and Moe (Norway), of Thiele (Denmark), and of Vernaleken
(Austria) should be consulted.
Kirk, R. — The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns and Fairies.
(169 1 ; new edition by A. Lang, Bibliothèque de Carabas,

Vol. VIII, London, 1893.)
Gives a description of the mode of life of elves and dwarfs ;
still very
readable, although superseded by the essay of the Grimms mentioned below.
Grimm, Jacob, and Wilhelm. — Irische Elfenmarchen. Einleitung.

(Leipzig, 1826.)
The body of the book is a translation of an English original entitled
Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland.
Mannhardt, W. — Roggenwolf und Roggenhund. (Danzig, 1865.)

Die Korndamonen. (Berlin, 1868.)
((-) Giants
Grimm, Jacob. — Deutsche Mythologie, I, 429-462.

Represents the giants as a race that has perished or is perishing, who are
endowed with the strength, innocence, and wisdom of an earlier age (p. 438).
Grimm also attaches considerable importance to correspondences between
designations for giants and names of peoples ; thus he compares /{'/««// with
Jntc, thurs with Etruscan, hiinc with Hun.
SiMROCK, K. — Handbuch der deutsche Mythologie. Passim.

Maurer, K. — Die Bekehrung des norwegischen Stammes zum
Christenthume, II, 11 -17.
Both Simrock and Maurer see in the giants a proof of an original or

secondarily developed dualism of Teutonic religion the classical treatise on ;
this subject is the work of Weinhold mentioned below.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 459
Weinhold, K. Die Riesen— des germanisthen Mytlius. SWA.

XXVI, 225-306 (1858).
The giants are the oldest race of gods ; Weinhold treats them under the
rubrics water giants, air giants, fire giants, and earth giants.
Meyer, E. H. — Germanische Mytliologie, §§ 178-21 1.
Regards the giants as demons of nature, thunder, storm, and cloud, and
also of fog, night, and the subterranean world they are, like the elves, the
;
prototypes of gods and heroes.

The giants are demons of nature, not deposed gods ; Mogk divides them
into water giants, wind giants, and mountain giants.

Golther treats them under three heads : water giants, wind and weather
giants, mountain and forest giants.
IX. COSMOGONY. ESCHATOLOGY

Darmesteter, J.
— Les Cosmogonies Aryennes. Essais Orientaux.
(Paris, 1883.)
Represents, like the book of Rydberg below, a standpoint now entirely

antiquated, viz. that the cosmogony and eschatology are part of the common
inheritance of the Indo-European peoples.
Rydberg, V. — - Undersökningar i germanisk Mythologi, Vol. II.
Gives an excellent collection of material.
Grimm, Jacob. — Deutsche Mythologie, pp. 463-482, 659-688,

700-713.
Grimm's treatment is rather discursive ; Chapter 19 deals with the Crea-
tion ; 25Time and the World; 27 with Death. Besides the frag-
with
mentary German evidences, Grimm also gives most of the details of the
Norse system, which, strictly speaking, lies outside of the plan of his work.
Many head are unprofitable; some, more
of his observations under this
especially those on macrocosm and microcosm, have even caused considerable
confusion in the study of mythology.
Petersen, N. M. —
Nordisk Mythologi, §§ 1-36, 79-82. (2d ed.,
Kopenhagen, 1863.)
Both Petersen and Simrock (see the next title) have made the Norse
cosmogony and eschatology the framework of their entire treatment of
Teutonic mythology.
SiMROCK, K. — Handbuch der deutschen Mythologie, §§ 6-53.

MoGK, E. — Mythologie. PG.^ 376-383. III,
Like all recent mythologists, Mogk regards the cosmogony and eschatology
as the creation of the later artificial Norse mythology ; he accordingly treats
it more or less in the form of an appendix.
Golther's treatment somewhat more detailed than that of Mogk he

is ;
has collected the available data from the German heroic saga, and while he
does not accept the cosmogony and eschatology as representing genuine
popular belief, he yet extols them as a fitting climax to the history of
'•
Teutonic religion."
Meyer, E. H.— Völuspa. (Berlin, 1889.)

Die eddische Kosmogonie. (Freiburg, 1891.)
Meyer has attempted at great length to prove the foreign origin of these
doctrines he traces them to Christian dogmas and the apocalypses. In the
;
last combat he sees the struggle between Christ and Eliah reflected. Com-
pare the unfavorable reviews by Kauffmann, ZfdPh. XXV, 399-402, and by
Chantepie de la Saussaye, VMAA. 1S92, pp. 336-364.

Contains Miillenhoff's commentary on Völuspa, which, notwithstanding
all the labor of the school of Bugge-Meyer, has as yet lost none of its value
and authority.
Yggdrasil

pp. 588-598.
Regards it as an " universae naturae emblema " the tree in the temple at
;
Upsala described by Adam of Bremen is a copy of it, as, in fact, Nyerup

had already recognized. The Innhisdulen of the Saxons are also to be
connected with the world-tree, as is also maintained by Jacob Grimm.
Grimm, Jacob. — Deutsche Mythologie-*, II, 664-667.
Grimm suggests a connection with the tree of the cross, but here the
Norse world-tree is the original, features of which have been transferred to
the cross. Grimm's very sensible utterance on this subject is the follow-
ing : "The attempts that have been made to explain Vggdrasil do not
concern me."
BIBLIOGRAPHY 461
Mannthardt. — Baumkultus der Germanen, pp. 54-58-

Mannhardt's starting point is that of guardian trees for houses and vil-
lages ; the world accordingly also has its guardian tree {vardtrcid), and the
tree at Upsala is therefore the prototype and not a copy of the world-tree.
BuGGE, S. —
A detailed study of the subject ; Yggdrasil, the steed of Odhin, is the
gallows on which Odhin hung — to the same effect Gering in his note on
Hdvaindl, 13S — and is an imitation of Christ on the cross.
Meyer, E. H. — Germanische Mythologie, § 112.
Meyer's conclusions are even more fantastic than those of Bugge he ;
discovers everything imaginable in the world-tree: the cross, the river of

Paradise, the Jordan, the cedar of Assyria of Ezekiel, scenes from apoca-
lyptic writers, from Lactantius, Honorius of Autun, and fables of Phsedrus.
MÜLLENHOFF, K. — Deutsche Altertumskunde, V, 16, 103-106.
Adam of Bremen's description of the tree at Upsala— " Near that temple
there is a very large tree that spreads out its branches far and wide, and is
ever green, in winter and summer alike ; no one knows what kind of a tree
it is. In the same place there is also a fountain . . ." — Miillenhoff finds
reflected feature by feature in the world-tree. The tree is tended by Mimir,

Odhin's friend; it is supported, therefore, by water and sun, i.e. Odhin's eye.
Blind, K. — The Teutonic Tree of Existence. Eraser's Magazine,

January, 1877, pp. 101-117.
An extreme example of wild combinations ; Blind compares Hindu,
Persian, and Semitic trees, and declares Yggdrasil to be a profound symbol
of life and the world.
Falk, H. — Martianus Capella og den nordiske Mytologi. AfnO.

1 891, pp. 266-300.
Falk traces some of the animals on the world-tree to Martianus Capella ;
his observations are of some interest.
Wesselofsky, a. — AfsPh. XIII, 149.

Cites a parallel from the Slavic world: "In certain Slavic Christmas
songs a tree appears as tree of the cross, and likewise as world tree, with a
falcon in the top, bees or otters in the middle, and a snake at the root."
Something similar occurs in a Roman lamentation for the dead. In the
main Wesselofsky upholds the views of Bugge.
Magnusson, E. — Odin's Horse Yggdrasill. (London, 1895.)

A valuable essay ; Yggdrasil is identical with Odhin's horse Sleipnir, ie,
the wind which rustles through the trees.

:
GoLTHER, W. — Germanische Mythologie, pp. 527-531-

Concurs in the main with the views of Rugge ; tlie tree is a copy of
the cross.
MoGK, E.— Mythologie. PG.', Ill, 379-380.

Gives a sober and scholarly survey of the material.
X. CULT
{a) Calendar and Festivals
Magnusen, F. — Priscae Veterum Borealium Mythologiae Lexikon,

pp. 727-852.
Gives a " specimen calendani gentilis veterum Gothorum, Danorum aut
Scandinavorum ex Asia oriundi, ductu carminis Grimneriani ac antiquissi-
marum reipublicx- islandica; leguni breviter adumbratum." The whole is
an ill-digested compilation with the most arbitrary astronqmical mytho-
logical observations.
NoRK, F. — Der Festkalender. Das Kloster, Bd. VII. (Stuttgart,
1847.)
Not greatly superior to Magnusen; treats primarily- the Christian rather
than the pagan calendar.
Grimm, Jacob. — Geschichte der deutschen Sprache, Chapter 6.
Feste und Monate.

Deutsche Mythologie^, II, 613-658.
Grimm was again the first to call attention to important data.
Weinhold, K. — IJber die deuJische Jahrtheilung. (Kiel, 1862.)
Die deutschen Monatsnamen. (Halle, 1869.)

Altnordisches Leben, pp. 372-383.
The essays of Weinhold are the best we possess on the subject.
Considerable material may also be found in books on folklore, in the works of
Brand, Mannhardt, Pfannenschmidt, U. Jahn, etc. The following deserve special

mention
Reimann, F. a Deutsche Volksfeste im neunzehnten Jahrhundert.

(Weimar, 1839.)
One of the few older works that is still of importance.
Cassel, P Weihnachten. (Berlin, 1862.)

Weinhold, K. —
Weihnacht-Spiele und Lieder aus Siiddeutschland
und Schlesien, mit Einleitung und Erlauterungen. (Neue
Ausgabe, Wien, 1875.)
-
;
BIBLIOGRAPHY 463
USENER, H. — Das Weihnachtsfest. Religionsgeschichtliche Unter-

suchungen, Bd. (Bonn, 1889.)
I.
TiLLE, A. — Yule and Christmas. Their Place the Germanic in

Year. (London, 1899.)
(b) Magic and Divination
Grimm, Jacob. — Deutsche Mythologie, Chapters 34-38, pp. 861

1044.
The various chapters are entitled Zaiiber ; Aberglaiibe ; Krankheitcn ;
:
K) a liter unci Stcinc Spriiche unci Segen. The material under these heads
;
is very full.
Bergh, L. Ph. C. van den. — Proeve van een kritisch Woorden-

boek der nederlandsche Mythologie. (Utrecht, 1846.)
Especially important for the subjects magic, magic agencies, and charms
see the headings Tooverij , Tooveriiiiitdckii, Tooversf reuken.
MÜLLENHOFF, K. —
Zur Runenlehre. (Halle, 1852.)
Weinhold, K. —
Die altdeutschen Verwiinschungsformeln. SBA.
1895, pp. 667-703.
Uhland, L. — Wett- und Wunschlieder. Schriften, III, 181-382.
JÓNSSON, F. — Um galdra, seidh, seidhmenn og volar. Thrjar
ritgjördhir tileinkadhar Pali Melsted. (1892.)
Compare K. Maurer, ZfV. Ill, loi.
Homeyer, K. G. — Über das germanische Loosen. Monatsberichte

der Berliner Akademie, 1853, pp. 747-774.
Christexsen, C. V. —
Baarepröven, dens Historie og Stilling i For-
tidens Rets- og Naturopfattelse. (Kopenhagen, 1900.)
Advocates the Keltic origin of the criiciitatio, which did not reach German
territory until the thirteenth century; its origin is primarily to be explained
as a natural phenomenon, not as an ordeal.
;
INDEXi
Abitndia, a goddess in popular be- Aldgild, receives Wilfrid, 122.
lief, 273. Alemanni, reputed descendants of
Afvins, Teutonic, 68, 141. Istio, 73 still heathen in sixth
;
Adam of Bremen, value and limita- century, 120; their conversion,

tions of his history, 177-178. 120; develop legends of East
Adaptionism, Gruppe's theory of, 40. Goths, 136, 140.
Adelutig, Fr., estimate of, 12. Alfheim, abode of Freyr,.252; of
Adils, Swedish king, outwitted by elves, 321, 347.
Hrolf Kraki, 166. Alfred, king, patron of Anglo-Saxon
yEgir, banquet of gods in hall of, letters, 154.
203, 331 ; as sea giant, 330. Alfr^dliiill, 352.

/Esir, compared with the Indian Alkmaar, meaning of name, 356.
Asuras, 68; conflict with the Va- Allvaldi, 334.
nir, 165, 201, 249-251; derivation Alp, tormenting spirit, 294 ; use of
and use of the word, 282-283 ! i" the word, 318.
the eschatology, 349-353- Alratifien, 327.
^stii, a division of Slavs, 88 Althing, the great Icelandic assem-
classed by Tacitus among Teu- bly, 188; influence of, 205.
tons, 89, 252. Alviss, the dwarf, 243 ; wisdom of,
ALthelstan., foster father of Hakon, . 347-
182. Alvissmdl, character of, 199; out-
Aetius, Teutonic allies of, 108. line of, 243.
Afhi'is, meaning of term, 358. Amal, ancestor of East-Gothic royal
Agriculture, knowledge of, among family, 79.
Teutons, 70, 99. Amali, East-Gothic royal family,
Ajo, a leader of the Lombards, So. 79-80.
Alcesiagce, on an inscription, 106, 272. Amber, distribution of, and trafiic
A lb r una, 366. in, 55, 61 ; as amulets, 120.

Aids, worship of the two brothers, Ambrica, one of the Harlungen, 140.
102; interpretation of the name, Amelungen Saga, a glorification of
104. fidelity, 405.
1 The Index has been prepared by the translator.
465
;; ;
Animhis, avenges Sunilda, 135, 140; hiswork among Danes, 178; his
the Eddie Hamdir, 140. work in Sweden, 178.
Amulets, among Alemanni, 120. Antichrist, struggle with, in Mus-
Ancestor worship, not identical with pilli, 130.
soul worship, 301-302; examples Apollo-Balder, in Merseburg Charm,
of, 302-303. 128.
Anderson, R. B., 47. ArchcEological studies, value and limi-
Andvari, the dwarf, 263, 326. tations of, 49-50, 56 ; conclusions
Angang, 397. to be drawn from, 64 solution of ;
Angantyr, his wager with Ottar, 277. apparent contradictions between

Angles, mentioned by Tacitus, 72 archaeological and linguistic sci-
invade England, 150. ence, 69-70.

Angio-Saxons, of pure stock, 149; Ari, first Icelandic historian, 205.
not dependent on Roman tradi- Arianism, prevailing form of belief
tions, 149, 1 50; invasion of Eng- among Teutons, 112, 3-1 14; 11
land, 149-150; do not intermingle due to external circumstances,
with Kelts, 150; Christianization, 1
1
5-1 16; attitude of Arians
150-152; the age of their litera- toward Catholics, 116; conver-
ture, 151 ; their genealogies point sion of Lombards to, 119.
to pre-English period, 153; gods Arminius, celebrated in song, 100,

of, 153-154; their literature writ- 134 ; character of war under, loi.
ten in the vernacular, i 54 brought ; Arnim, L. A. von, 14, 15, 16.
sagas with them from native home, Arnkicl, T, 8.
157; period of national conflict Asbjbrftsen, P. C, 35.
not perpetuated in sagas, 157 Aschanes, first king of Saxons, 82.
period of saga formation not Asdingi, see Hazdiggos.
ended at time of conquest, 158. Asega, the Frisian, 365.
Angrbodha, mother of monsters, Asgardh, home of Odhin on Black
264. Sea, 85; conception of, 286, 346.
Animism, Mannhardt's views on, 28, ^j-/a?<_f, wifeof Ragnar Lodbrok, 191.
30; universal character of, 211 ;
Asmund, story of Asmund and
regarded as survival of primitive Gunnhild, 171.
savage state, 211 ; animistic con- Aspriati, the giant, 336.
ception of Teutonic mythology, Asuras compared with the Teutonic
283 relation to religion, 289.
; /Esir, 68.
Ansate cross, as symbol, distribution Asynjiir, derivation of term, 282
of, 60. number of, 287.
Anses (cf. yEsir), designation of Athanaric, persecutes Christians,

Teutonic chiefs, iio; recognizable 115.
in Anglo-Saxon Oswald, etc., 154. Atli (cf. Attila), in Norse version of
Anskar, Rimbert's life of, 177-178 ;
Siegfried Saga, 139, 196.
;
INDEX 46:
Attila {Etzel), in history and East- 89; brought into contact with the
Gothic saga, 136; story of his Teutons, 89 correspondences be-
;
death, 139; represented as a tween religion of Ralto-Slavs and

heathen, 147. Teutons, 90-92.
Andhumla, cow, in cosmogony, 339, Balls, or Letts, a division of Slavs,
342, 343- 88 ; halîtations of, 93.

Attgustine, missionary among the Bang, A. Chr., views on Vohispa, yj.
Anglo-Saxons, 151. Bani, 332.
Ann, king, sacrifices his sons, 372. Baptism regarded as a magic charm,
Aiirvandill, husband of Groa, 241. 121.
Aiisfro, alleged Teutonic goddess, Bart/i, C. A', i6.
-73- Bastarna, see Peucini.

Batavi, derivation of name, 74 pro- ;
Badnhen7ta, grove of, 101-102, 271. genitor of, 81 chief god, 105.
;
BceldcEg^V>i\di&x, 81 ; among Anglo- Bavarians, theories as to their de-

Saxons, 154. scent, 121 ; their conversion, 121.
Balder, see Baldr. Beaw {Beow), in Anglo-Saxon gene-
Baldertis, in Saxo, 163. alogies, 81, 153; as the "culture-
Baldr, or Balder, scenes from myths hero " in Beowulf, 161.
of,on golden horns from Jutland, Bede, wrote in Latin, 151 ; his eccle-
62 very rarely found in proper
; siastical history, 151.
names, 76; in Anglo-Saxon gene- Bell, the giant, slain by Freyr, 252.
alogies, 81 in Merseburg Charm,
; Bellum Bravicitin, historical and
127-128; few traces of cult of, mythical in character, 168-170
253; is god of light, 253; addi- reconstruction of Olrik, 168; date
tional evidence for German, 253- and place of origin of Bravalla
254; evidences in Denmark, 254; song, 168; Miillenhoff's criticism
Denmark probably his original of song, 169; opposing forces,
home, 254; Saxo's account of the 169; religious conceptions in song,
saga of Balderus and Hotherus, 169-170.
254-255, 257 pictorial represen-
;
Beowulf, the hero, 155; his swim-
tation of story of, 255; myth of, ming contest with Breca, 156;
in the Edda and Gylfaginning, mythical hero fused with an his-
255-257 ; originally an invulner- torical personage, 157-158; date

able god, 257; original content, of historic Beowulf, 1 58 wind ;
and development of myth, 257 ;

hero according to Laistner, 160;
character of, in Norse mythology, interpretation of his fight with the
285; in the eschatology, 350. dragon, 160.
Baldr s Dranmar, see Vegtamskvidha. Beowulf, editio princeps of, 12; out-
Balto-Slavs (see also Slav's), extend line of, 155 ; consists of two main
their domain at time of migrations, parts, 155-156; other episodes,
156; Anglo-Saxons not mentioned Bqd/ivar Bjarki, the Berserker, 166.

in, 156; scene of, 156; not trans- Boer, R. C, 47.
lation of Danish original, but Bqnd, designation for " god," 283.
Anglo-Saxon product, 156-157; Bóndi, meaning of term, iSi.
resemblances with Danish sagas, Boniface, bishop of Thuringians,
1 56 ff. ;
parallel of, with East- 121 ; missionary among Frisians,
(lothic sagas among Alemanni, 122 ; falls victim to Frisian fanati-

I
57 ; history reflected in, i 57- 1 59 ;
cism, 123.
main episodes mythological, 1 57 ;
Bor, or Bur, father of Odhin, 342.
characters and features belonging Boiis, avenges Baldr, 254.
to Anglo-Saxon tribes proper, 1 59 ;
B)-acteates, explanation of term, 61 ;
Christianity superinduced, 159; date of, 61 ; bracteate of Vad-

nature-myths in, 159-160; loca- stena, 61.
tion at Heorot not original, 160; Bragar<rdhiir, part of Snorra Edda,

culture-myth in, 160-161 ; does 2P7 ; character of, 208.
not contain a god-myth, 161 ;

pic- Bragi, god o'f poetry, not identical
tures life of seafaring Teutons, with Bragi the Old, 192, 267 ; char-
161-162; estimate of poem, 162. acter of, 267 ; Bragi's cup, 268.
Berchtungen, in Hartungen Saga, Bragi the Old, or Boddason, contro-

141. versy concerning, 191-192, 267;
Bergelniir, the frost giant, 342. his Ragnarsdrdpa, 192.
Bergthora, character of, 204, 413. Bravallir, see Belliim Bravicuni.
Berserkers, aid king Adils, 166; fight Breca, his swimming contest with
at the side of Hrolf Kraki, 166; Beowulf, I 56, I 59.
character of, 167, 29S-299; char- Breidhablik, home of Baldr, 255.
acteristic of Norse sagas, 171; Brenner, O., 39.
mentioned in Hi-afnsmdl, 182; in Brentano, Clemens, 14, 15.
theThorwald Saga, 189; Icelandic Brimir, 350.

and Norwegian laws against, 209; Brisingamen, on golden horns from
the characteristically Norse in, Jutland, 62; agreement in name
219; meaning of name, 219, note. with Breisach, 140.
Berserkrgangr, meaning of term, Britons, reputed descendants of
209, 299. Istio, •]'^.
Bertha, see Perchta. Brjótr, 332.

Bestla, mother of Odhin, 342. Bronze age, 51 older and later,
;
Biblical traditions, in tribal legends, 53; meaning of the term, 54; not
79- all work in bronze of foreign im-
Bifrqst, the bridge, 286, 344. portation, 54; points to intercourse

Bilwis, 322. with other countries, 55 traflic ;
Bjarkamal, its theme, 166. in bronze, 55, 61 burning of the ;
Bloody Eagle {blód/i^rit), 371-372. dead in, 58.

INDEX 469
Brownie, 327. Caput galeatum, 293.

Bructeri, mentioned by Tacitus, 72 ;
Castor and Pollux, two Teutonic
converted, and fall prey to Fris- deities compared by Tacitus with,
ians, 124. 68.
Brunhild, in Siegfried Saga, identi- Catkolicism, conversion of Franks
fication of, with a Walkyrie, 144 ; to, 115, 118; conversion of Bur-
stands for the sun, 145; alleged gundians to, 1
1
5, 1 16 persecution
;
parallel of Sleeping Beauty, 211. of Catholics by Vandals, 116;

Brunn, the charioteer, Odhin dis- attitude of Goths towards, ii6.
guised as, 169. Chaillu, P. Du, 47.
Bugge, S., 37-40, 196; compared Charles the Great, subjugates and
with Gruppe, 41. converts the Saxons, 124; cele-
Bullerkater, 326. brated in song, 134.
Burchard of Worms, 125. Chatti {Hessians), 74 ; war with Her-
Burgundiatis, East Teutons, 71 ;
munduri, 102, 103.
mentioned by Pliny and Ptolemy, Cherusci, mentioned by Tacitus, 72.
72, 73; migrations of, 89; serve Chlodowech, ruler of Franks, no;
under Aëtius, 108 ; kingdom of, his conversion and baptism, 118;
112; converted to Catholic church, his character, 119, 132.
115, 116; annihilated by Aëtius, Chochilaicus, historical personage,

116; become Arians, 116; remi- fused with mythical Beowulf, 157-
niscences of Burgundian history in 158.
the Nibelungcnlied, 138-139. Christianity, in medieval German
Buri, origin of, 342. epics,147-148 rejected by Anglo- ;
Burial, see Dead, Funeral rites. Saxons, 150 superinduced in Beo-

;
Grave. wulf, 159; influence of, on early

Busla, the sorceress, 389. Norsemen, 172-175; attitude of
Bntzeniann, 326. Norwegian aristocracy and king
tow'ards, 180; Christian frame-
Ccssar, value of his observations on work of Völuspa, 202-203; Chris-
Teutons, 97-98 his testimony
; tian elements in Gylfaginning,
concerning Teutonic priests, 363. 208.
Calendar, myth-creation in connec- Christianization, of Teutons, 1 1 2,
tion with the Icelandic names of 1 13 ff. ;

prisoners of wars as chan-
months, 214; religious calendar nel of, 115; opposition to, in part
of Teutons, 379; heathen gods in political, 115; Arianism prevailing
names of days of the week, 379; form of belief,! 15-1 16 ; of Franks,
counting by nights and winters, 8-1 19; of Teutons by Goths,
1 1
380 division of year into two parts,

; Franks, Irish, and English mis-
380 ; names of months, 380-381 ;
sionaries, 119 ; of Alemanni, 120 ;
set festivals and tribunals, 381. of Bavarians, 121 ; of Thuringians,

;;
121 ; of Frisians, 122-123; of Sax- Conflagration, universal, in Mus-

ons, 123-124; of Anglo-Saxons, pilli, of Christian origin, 130.
1 50-1 52 ; Anglo-Saxons accept Conlack, connection with the Hilde-

primacy of Rome, 151, 152; early brand Lay, 142.
mission work in the North, 177- Cosmogony, in the Wessobrunn

179; of Danes effected through Prayer, Christian, 129-130, 339;
Vikings, 179; first Christian kings in Gylfaginning, 207, 339, 340 ff.
of Denmark and Sweden, 179; German parallels to Norse, 338-
close connection between politi- 340 in the Eddie poems, 340 ff.
;
cal and religious movements in Norse cosmogony not foreign in

Norway, 180; no traces of, through origin, 340, 342.
early Norwegian Vikings, 182 ;

Cosmology, Norse, 345-349-
gradual, of Norway, 182-1S6 ;
Creuzer, G. F., 14, 15.
of Orkneys, Faroe Islands, Ice- Cuchulin, connection with the Hil-
land, and Greenland, 186; office- debrand Lay, 142.
land, 188-190; character of, in Cult, interdependence of cult and

North, 414-415. myths, 40, 44; value of the evidence
Civibri, 74. of golden horns for early existence
Civilis, war against Rome, under, of, 62 ; reference to, in names, 74 ;
lOI. importance of cult of gods, 284.

Civilization, Vodskov's views on Culture, see Civilization.
origin of, 45-46; of prehistoric Customs, see Popular customs.

peoples in Europe, 50 of the Teu-
;
tons derived from foreign sources, Daci, identified with Danes by
55, 71, H2; culture of primitive Grimm, 65.
Indo-Europeans, 66; historic con- Dadsisas, character of, 300-30J.

tact as factor in diffusion of, 69. Dagohert, founds a chapel at
Classical traditions, in tribal legends, Utrecht, 122.
79-
Daitisleif, sword of H(jgni, 176.
Clans, 326. Danes, alleged derivation of name

Coins, testify to existence of trade from Danai, 85; Danish saga,
routes, 61 ; coining of money in 1 56-161, 163, 164 ff., 196; an-
the North, 61. cient struggle between Danes and

Colnmba, or Colntnbanns, missionary Swedes, 169; missions among,
among the Alemanni, 120 among ;
178-179; not inclined to renounce
the Anglo-Saxons, 150. their religion, 178-179 Christian- ;
Comitatus, 402. ity penetrates through Vikings,

Comparative vtythologists, the school 179; first Christian king, 179;
of, 25-26, 27, 69. power of, 186.
Comparetti, his views on the Kale- Dasent, G. IV., 47, note i.
wala, 94-95- Day, of the race of giants, 344.

;
INDEX 47]
Dea Garmangabis, 272. 395-396 ; by single combat, 396 ;
Dea Hariasa, 272. in connection with sacrifice, 396 ;
Dea Harimella, 272. through dreams, 397 ; Angang

Dea Vagdavercttstis, 272. and other omens, 397.
Dea Vercana, 272. Divining rods, 394-395-
Dead, different modes of disposal of Dofri, y:y2,.
the, 58; meaning of burning and Doggele, tormenting spirit, 294.

burial of the, 58-59 ; offerings to Dqkkdl/ar, 321.
the, 125; restoration of, to life, Domald, king, sacrificed by Swedes,
295-296 ; customs in connection 372.
with the, 300; burial of, enjoined Donar, or Thor, view of Petersen,
in Edda, 412. See Funeral rites. 37, 224; view of Mogk, 43; on
Delling, identified with Heimdallr, golden horns from Jutland, 62
259; in Havamdl, 387. evidence from proper names, 76,
Deutsch, derivation and use of the 181, 236; proposed identification
term, 74-75- with Hercules Saxanus, 87 ; identi-
Diana, women riding with, 1 26 ; in cal with Hercules Magusanus?

popular belief, 273. 105; among the Frisians, 123;
Dietrich of Bern (cf. T/ieodoric), as among the Saxons, 125 does not ;
popular hero, 143 no real con- ;

correspond to Eliah in Muspilli,
nection with Donar, 143. 130; not connected with Dietrich,
Dings, another name for Tiu, 245. 143; among the Anglo-Saxons,
Dioscuri, Teutonic, 68 ; resemblance 154; part in Starkad Saga, 167,
to Alcis, 104 ; from La-
differences 237-23S ; frequently mentioned in
conian Dioscuri and from A^vins, connection with the Vikings, 172 ;
141. images, 177, 361-362 ;

pledging of
Disir, designation for " goddesses," cups to, 183; image carved on
2S3 ; invoked for women in labor, high-seat, 187; in Iceland, 187,
367- 236-237 ; adventures of, traceable
Divination (cf. Omens and Magic), to Norway, 196; adventures re-
before battle, 97, loi, 103; from semble Mdrchen, 197, 200 ; adven-
blood of prisoners, 98 ;
power of, tures with the giant Thrym, 200
in woman, 102; modes of, 103; 240 ; fight with the Midhgardh
human sacrifices for purpose of, serpent a nature-myth, 200; orig
no; among the Saxons, 126; inally chief god in Norway, 200
among the Anglo-Saxons, 153; ac- 237 ; has high rank in the Edda
companied by prayer, 367 among ; 200; position in Hdrbardhsljódh
the Cimbri, 369 ; importance at- 200, 224, 237 ; silences Loki in
tached to, 393 ; by lot, in Tacitus, Lokasenna, 203, 243 journey to ;
394 ; by lot in Frisian law, 394- Utgardhaloki, 207, 242-243 rec- ;
395; from birds and horses, ognizable in St. George and St.
;; ;
Olaf, 212; diffusion of his wor- house-spirits, 326-327; driving off,

ship, 42, 234-237 ; identification 327 ; views concerning, 457-458.
with Jupiter and Hercules, 235;
not common among Danes, 235- East Goths, serve under Attila, 108 ;
236; temples of, 236; spheres of in Italy, 109, iio; kingdom of

activity, 237-238; god of thunder, East Goths annihilated by Jus-
238-239, 283; surnames, 238; tinian, III; saga-cycle of East
hammer, 238-239; gauntlets and Goths, 135 ff. ; sagas of East
girdle, 239 ; kindred, 239-240 Goths developed by Alemanni,
combat with Hrungnir, 240-241 ; 1 36 relations between East Goths
;
combat with Geirrodhr, 241-242; and Huns, in history and East-

journey to Hymir, 242; in Alviss- Gothic saga, 136.
mdl, 243 defender of Asgardh
; East Teutons, 71 only incidentally ;
and Midhgardh, 243 character in ; mentioned by Roman authors, 73.

Norse mythology, 285 resembles ; Ebbo, archbishop, baptizes Danish
giants, 335 ; in the eschatology, converts, 178.
351 ; animals sacrificed to, 376; Eckc, as storm giant, 332, 336.
invoked for the crops, 377 ; in- Eckehart, monitor of the Har-
voked in magic, 386. lungen, 140.
Drdpa, meaning of term, 191. Edda, poetic, discovery of, 9; beliefs
Draupnir, Odhin's ring, 286, 326. concerning its origin and antiq-
Dreams, as source of mythical uity, 10, II, 12, 39; J.Grimm's
ideas, 44; belief in, strongly devel- views, 20; edition by J. and W.
oped in Iceland, 187, 205; dreams Grimm, 22 ; Petersen's views, 36 ;
and nightmare, 294 apparitions ; Jessen's views, 36-37; Bugge's

in, 295. views on mythology of, 37 ff.
Dri/a, 334. Miillenhoffand Jónsson on Eddie

Druckerle, tormenting spirit, 294. myths, 38; date of Eddie poetry,
Dumbr, the giant, tît,. 174, 197, 198, 20G-201 ; as source
Dutch, meaning of term, 75. for early history of Norway, 181;
Dwarfs, as element of popular be- character of foreign influences on,

hef in heroic saga, 147 ; in folk- 196-197 moderate use of kcn-
;
217; belong to folklore and

lore, ningar in, 197 songs anonymous,
;
mythology proper, 218; daylight 197 ;

poetry essentially different
fatal to, 243; origin of, from from that of scalds, 197-igS the ;
Ymir, 318; outward appearance two Eddas, 198; criteria for de-
and nature, 218, 319-320, 325- termining origin of individual
326 ; dqkkd/far and svartdlfar songs, 198 ; date of compilation,

identified with, 321 ; abode of, 198-199; not a "bible," 199; at-
325; names of,325; in Mdrchcn, tempts at classification of songs,
325; skill of, 326; groups of 326 , 199; nature-myths in, 200.
INDEX 473
Eggther, 350. Eostre, alleged goddess, 272-273, 380.

Egil, the scald, story of, 192-193 ;
Eponynnous heroes, tx\hiS. names con-
erects a spite-stake, 387. nected with, 73 identification of
;
Egils Saga, trustworthiness of, 193, eponymous heroes with gods, 77 ;
note; runes in, 3S9. accounts of, 78.
Eikthyrnir, 348. Er, another name for Tiu, 245.

Einar Skalagla7)i, the scald, 193. Eresburg, destruction of, 124.
Ehihe7-jar, recognized on golden Erfql, nature of, 301.
horns from Jutland, 62; mentioned Erie, see Eirikr.
in Eiriksmdl, 184 ; life of, in Wal- Ermanarie, legend of, 135 con- ;
halla, 228-229, 290, 308, 348 ; in temporary of Theodoric in the

Saxo, 354. saga, 135; legend combined with
Eir, the goddess, 278. the myth of the Harlungen, 140;
Eirikr, son of Harald Fairhair, loses saga known to the Anglo-Saxons,
kingdom of Norway, 182-183; ac- 154; J^rmunrek in Bragi's shield-
quires kingdom in Northumbria song, 196.
and is baptized, 183 pagan setting ;
Ernst {Duke) of Suahia, celebrated
of funeral poem on, 184. in song, 134.
Eiriksmal, funeral poem on Eirikr, Eschatology, Norse, 349-354; ques-
184; pictures Walhalla, 229. tion of Christian influences on,

Eisen, Fran, fictitious goddess, 270- 351, 353; eschatological myths,
271. 264-265.
Eldir, 331. Esthonians, a name assumed by the
Elf-mills, in Sweden, 57. Finns, 93.

Eliah, struggle of, with Antichrist, Ethnography, Müllenhoff's exploita-
in MtispilU, 130. tion of ethnographical material,
Elivagar, the, 341-342. 32 ; value of ethnographical mate-

Ella, Northumbrian king, 171. rial in Roman authors, 72.
Elves, in proper names, 1 54 ; strive Else I, see Attila.
after immortahty, 218 ; names des- Ewald, the " white " and the " black,"
ignating, 318; in popular belief, 123.
318; cult of, 318 ; in Norse my- Eyvitidr Skaldaspillir, author of
thology, 318; outward appearance Hdkonar7nal, 184; his drdpa on

and nature, 318-319; connection inhabitants of Iceland, 191 ; his
with man, 320-321; light and family, 193.
dark elves, 321; activity of, 321;

elf-culture, 57, 217, },i-] \
driving Fafnir, 328.
off, 327; views concerning, 457- Fairy circle, 323.
458. Faithfulness, exemplified in German

Ent, 328. sagas, 404-405 ; in Norse sagas,
EomeBT, character in Beowulf, 159. 204-205, 413.
; ;
Fanngen, 322. mutual influences of Finns and

Faroe Islands, Christianization of, Indo-Europeans, 92-93 distinc- ;
186. tion between Lapps and Finns

Fate, idea of, in Heliand, 131 ; fatal- proper, 93 habitations of, 93
;
istic feeling in the heroic saga, testimony of ancients concerning,

146, 407; wyrd as fate in Elene, 93 ; fable of female sovereignty
155; fatalistic frame of mind among, 93 relations between
;
among Vikings, 172, 407-408; Finns and Northern Teutons, 93-

fatalistic mood among Iceland- 96; divinities in Norse pantheon
ers, 205 ; idea of fate personified bearing a Finnish character, 96
inNorns, 3 1 2 ff. fatalism not con-
; high repute of, as magicians, 95-
nected with piety, 407. 96, 182-183, -°9-
Feast, sacrificial, description of, 373- FJqrgyn, as mother of Thor, 239.
374- F/i^rgynn, as husband of Frigg, 239,
Fenesleute, 322. "276.
Fe»ja, grinding giantess, 165, 331. Flosi, character of, 204.
Fetini, identical with the Sitones, Folklore, von Hahn's Sagwissen-
93- schaft, 27 ; MuUenhoff's attitude
Fenri}-, see Fenris-wolf. towards, 31 ; historical treatment
Fenris-wolf, or Feniir, fights with of, 33; differentiated from the
Tyr and is bound, 246 ; will break heroic saga proper, 134 ; character
loose, 246; a constellation ? 247; and domain of the science of, 210;
offspring of Loki, 261, 264; is difference in value between cus-
slain by Vidharr, 266, 352 ; as sea toms and stories, 210-21 1; "eth-
monster, 330 ; in eschatology, 350, nographic parallels" in, 211-212,
35J. 35^- 216, 217,219; historical treatment
Festivals, Adam of Bremen's account of Teutonic folklore possible, 212;
of recurrent festival, 1 77, 383-384 ;
important for history of culture,
the Yule festival, 3S2 ; character 212, 213, 216; myth-creation in,
of Teutonic festivals, 3S2-383; 214; difficulty of distinguishing

account of Danish festival, 383. between figures of " lower " my-
Fetc/ihig 171, of months in Iceland, thology and mythology proper,
214; of May queen, 215. 218; character of survivals in, 220.
Fimafengr, 331. f'\>i>'^ 334-
Finihultyr, 352. Forest-viaidens, in Saxo, 307.
Fini bill-winter, 351. Forests, regarded as sacred by Teu-
Finn, tales of king Finn in Beo- tons and Balto-Slavs, 90; men-
wulf, 156. tioned by Tacitus, 102,359; forests
Finns, former opinions as to the in popular tales, 213; ceremonies
extent of their settlements, 92 insacred forests, 355-356.
time of entrance into Europe, 92 ;
Fornjotr, 334.
;
INDEX 475
Forsch', or Fosite, worship in Helgo- transferred to, 275; character,

land, 122, 258; defied by Wille- 276-277 ; usurps place of Frigg,
brord, 122-123; temples of, re- 276-277; her wagon, 277 myths, ;
placed by Christian churches, 123; 277-278; wife of Odhr, 277-27S;

identical with Wodan ? 123; in surnames, 279, 308.
Scandinavia, 257-258; the name Freyr, as popular god of the North,
possibly an epitheton, 258; god yi on the
; golden horns from
of justice among Frisians, 258. Jutland, 62 ; worshipped by the
Fosite, see Forsetc. Ingvffiones, 77; identification of
Foundlings, in Iceland, 190. Ingv and Freyr, 77, 248; phallic
Francio, Trojan progenitor of the symbol of, 91, 251 ; Freyr and
Franks, 84. Gerdhr, parallel in Siegfried Saga,
Prankish roll of natiojis, 73. 144; myth of Freyr and Gerdhr,
Franks, reputed descendants of Istio, a year myth, 145, 252-253; image
73 meaning of the name, 74, 84
; ; of, in temple at Upsala, 177; evi-
struggle with Thuringians, 82 dence for worship Norway, of, in
Gregory of Tours on the origin 181 ,249; mentioned in Hrafnsmal,
of the, 84;Trojan descent, 84; 182; worshipped in Iceland, 187;
under Chlodowech, 1 10 ; relations descent traced to, 192 ; Freyr and
to Theodoric, 1 1 1 ; become para- Thor the chief gods in Sweden,
mount power, III, 112; influence 200; Snorri's euhemeristic account
of Roman culture on, iii, 150; of, 206 ; not another name for Tiu,
are orthodox Christians, 112; re- 244, 248 the son of Njcjrdhr, 247
; ;
main heathen at first, 117; con- derivation of name, 247 identity ;
verted to Catholic church, 115, with Njcjrdhr, 247-248; the Svia-

118-119; share of, in Christianiza- god/i, 248; the y>'^/'/f?V established
tion of Teutons, 119, 120, 121, by king Hadding, 248 ;
proces-
122, 124. sions of, 248-249, 253, 396;
Frau Ste?npe, in popular belief, 273. migration of 248-249 con-cult, ;
Frea, in Lombard legend, 80 ; Eng- flict between adherents of Freyr
lish names compounded with Frea, and Odhin, 249-251 primitive ;
81. traits in cult, 251-252; god of

Fnki, see Geri. fruitfulness, 206, 215, 251-252;
Freyja, on the golden horns from his home, 252 ; his myths, 252-
Jutland, 62 ; Snorri's euhemeristic 253; is without a sword in the
account of, 206; the daughter of combat with Surtr, 253; traits of,
Nj^rdhr, 247 ; connection with in Christian saints, 253 impor- ;
Freyr, 247, 276, 277 ; sacrifices to, tance of his cult, 253; in the
247 ; accused of practising magic, eschatology, 351 ; attended by a
250; identical with Gullveig- priestess, 366.
Heidhr, 250, 279; necklace-myth Fria, see Frija.
;
Friday, favorite day for marriages, Funeral feasts, 301.

1 20. Funeral rites, in ancient Russia, 91;
Fridhr, 333. connection of Russian with Scan-
Fridila, one of the Harlungen, 140. dinavian rites questionable, 91-92.
Frie, de oil, in popular belief, 273. See Dead.
Frija, or Frigg, a deity, common to Furious Host (see Wild Hunt), usual
all Teutons, 42 ;
part played by name in South Germany, 216.
'
Frea ' in legendary history of Fylgja, the tutelar genius, 187 ;
Lombards, 80 ; identical with notions connected with, 292-293 ;
Isis ? 104; among Frisians, 123; in the form of an animal, 297.

in the Merseburg Charm, 127, 129, Fylki, meaning of term, 183.
272 ; as wife of Tiu and of Wodan,
233, 275 ; her role in the myth of Gallus, missionary among Alemanni,
Baldr, 256; her connection with 120.
the sky, 275, 283 ; in the necklace- Gambara, motherof Il:)or and Ajo, 80.
myth, 275; character of, 275-276, Gambrivi, mentioned by Tacitus, 72.
285 place of, usurped by Freyja,
;
Gardariki (Russia), ruled by a
276-277 ; swine and cats sacri- Swedish family, 91.
ficed to, 376 ; sacrificial cakes Ganu, the dog, fights with Tyr, 247;
offered to, 377. in the eschatology, 350, 352.
Frisians, mentioned by Tacitus, 72 ;
Garmund, character in Beowulf, 1 59.
meaning of the name, 73-74 Gaut, as eponymous hero, 73 ; an
extent of their territory, 1 21 ; their ancestor of the Goths, 79; another
conversion, 122-123. name for Wodan .''
79.
Fritigern, accepts Christianity, 115. Geatas, in Beowulf, 155; are Gotas
Froda, the Heathobeard, 158-159. of Sweden, 1 56 ; memory of strug-
Frodhi, in Danish saga, 164-165; gle between Geatas and Swedes
the golden age of Frodhi, 165; preserved in Beowulf 58. i
legendary date of, 165, 166. Gefjon, as goddess and giantess,

Frodhi-peace, golden age, 165; its 279-280.
connection with Freyr, 252. Gefn, surname of Freyja, 279.
Frodhi'' s meal, 165. Gcirrodhr, his combat with Thor,
Frost giants, origin and drowning of, 241-242; Odhin's visit to, 275-
342, 343- 276.
Frosti, 334. Genealogies, in tribal legends, 78, 79-
Frotho, kings in ,Saxo, 252. 80; in English chronicles. Si, 153;
Fru Freke, in popular belief, 273. importance attached to genealo-
F7U Harke, in popular belief, 273. gies in Norse literature, 164.
Fru Wod, in popular belief, 273. Genesis, Old Saxon, 132, 154.
Fui, de, in popular belief, 273. Gepidir, origin of, 80 ; migrations
Fulla, Frigg's handmaid, 272, 2 78. of, 89; serve under Attila, 108.
;
INDEX 477
Gerdhr, parallel to Freyr and Gerdhr older race of gods or, representing
in the Siegfried Saga, 144; myth a dualism ? 335-336.
of Freyr and Gerdhr, a year myth, Giants^ chambers,'^! not constructed
;
145, 252-253; outline of myth of by nomads, 52; mainly graves, 57.

Freyr and Gerdhr, 252-253; com- Gigant, 328.
pared with Skadhi, 253 as daugh- ; Gimle, 352, 353-354-
Gymir, 331.
ter of Ginnungagap, meaning of term, 207,
Geri and Freki, Odhin's wolves, 342; part of popular belief? 209,
226. location of, 345-346.
Gering, H., 25. Giselher, in the Siegfried Saga, 13S.
German, meaning of term, 75. Gjallarhorn, of Heimdallr, 2 58,
Germani, use of name by the 351-

Romans, 75. Gjalp, daughter of Geirrödhr, 241.
Germanic, use of term, 75. Gleiptiir, the fetter, 246.
Germanisch, derivation and use of Glum Geirason, the scald, 193.

term, 74-75. Gna, messenger of Frigg, 278-279.
Gemot, substituted for Godomar in God, etymology of the word, 282.
the Siegfried Saga, 138. Godan = Wodan, 80.
GeicE, identified with Goths by Goddesses, Teutonic, Grimm's char-

Grimm, 65. acterization of, 268 ; not traceable
Getreidemann, 322. to one element, 269; number of,
Geziefer, meaning of term, 369. 287.

Giants, in the heroic saga, 147, 336- Gode, in popular belief, 273.
337; in Teutonic folklore, 217; Godhi, functions of, 188, 366-367.

characteristics of, 218, 328-329, God-myths, not present in the heroic
330 giants as an older race of gods,

;
saga, 139-140; to be rejected for
218, 335; belong to folklore and Beowulf, 161.
mythology proper, 2i8 ; compared Godomar, king, as Gemot, in the
with the elves, 328 ; abodes of, Siegfried Saga, 138.
338 ; designations for giants, 328 ;

Gods, Petersen's views on gods of
giants in Marchen, 329; hostility the nobility and of the people, yj ;
to agriculture, 329-330; giants as gods common to all Teutons,

builders, 330; water giants, 330- according to Mogk, 42 ; Meyer's
331; wind331-332; moun-

giants, and Golther's views on the origi-
tain giants, 332-333; in popular nality of the chief gods, 44, 45
belief, 333 ; traces of giant cult, Cassar's statement concerning

giants in Norse literature, Teutonic gods, 97-98 account
333 ;
;
333-334; home of giants in Norse of Tacitus of Teutonic gods,
mythology, 334 kinship between ;

103-104, 285; Teutonic gods on
giants and ^'Esir, 334-335; enmity Roman inscriptions, 104 ff. ; of
between giants and .I'.sir, 335; Frisians, 123; of Saxons, 125;

; "
no god-myths in heroic saga, 57, 59, 292; stones on, 57; traces
139-140, 147; of Anglo-Saxons, of fire in tombs of the stone age,
153-154; gods worshipped in Ice- 57, 58; in the stone age, 58; in
land, 187 ; light in which gods the iron age, 59. See Burial.
are regarded in scaldic poetry, Greenland, Christianization of, 186.
197; character of the Eddie gods, Greip, daughter of Geirrödhr, 241.

201 ; enumeration of, in Gylfagin- Grendel, monster in Beowulf, 155;
iiing, 207 ;
gods not an evolution Grendel and his mother, water
of higher demons, 283 ; universall/ demons, 159-160,330; Laistner's
worshipped gods, 283; not exclu- interpretation, 160.
sively gods of nature, 283-284 Gridh, the giantess, 241, 266.
criteria for active and fictitious Griet, the black, 274.
pantheon, 284 ; in Norse mythol- Grimm, Jacob, his h-menstrasse, etc.,
ogy, 285; abodes of, 285-286; 16; German Grammar and His-
character of divine power, 286 tory of the Gertnan La)igiiage, 17 ;
groups and lists of, 286-287 ; few- founder of the historical study of
ness of, 287-288 ; the dwellings of language, 18 ; Deutsche Rechts-
the Norse gods, 346-347 ; extent alferthiimer, 18-19; IVeisthiimer,
of moral significance of, 403-404 ; 19; "German Mythology," 19-21 ;
Teutonic gods not strongly indi- compared with Miillenhoff, 31 ;
vidualized, 403-404. mistaken conclusions of, 65 his ;
Golther, IV., 39, 41-42, 45. use of the terms " germanisch
Good fellow, 327. and " deutsch," 75.
Gorm, the elder, upholds paganism Grimm, facob and Wilhelm, relation
in Denmark, 179. to the Heidelberg circle, 16 ; differ
Gorres, J., 14-15. from the Romanticists, 16-17;
Gosforth Cross, 63. Schlegel's criticism, 17; their Ger-
Goths, East Teutons, 71; only inci- man Dictionary, 17—18; Md7-chett
dentally mentioned by Roman and Deutsche Sagen, 18; Irische
authors, 73; derivation of name, Elfenmdrchen, 22; Edda, 22.
73 account of Jordanes of origin
; Grim 771, Wilhel77i, 22.
of, 79-80; migrations of, 89, loS- Gri77inir, Odhin disguised as, 276.
109; kingdom of, in Southern Gri7nnismdl, character of, 199.
Russia, 108; their Christianiza- Gripisspd, date of, 198, note 2.
tion, 115 ff. ; converted to Arian- Groa, magic song of, 241.
ism, 115; attitude towards Cathol- Grotti, the quern, 165.

icism, 116; share of, in the Gro7tpi7ig, of the Teutons, 71-73, 77-
Christianization of the Teutons, Groves, sacred, 101-102, 122, 124.
119. Grundtvig, N. F. S., character and
Grater, F. D., 11. influence of, 11, 36.
Graves, purpose of objects placed in, Grundtvig, Sv., 35.
. ; .;
INDEX 479
Gruppe, O., 40-41. brought upin Christian faith, 182 ;
Gudrun (JCrievihild), in Norse ver- his efforts to introduce Chris-

sion of the Siegfried Saga, 1 39, 1 40. tianity, 183; falls in battle, 183;
Gudrun, in the Laxdaela Saga, 204. pagan setting of poem on, 184.
Gulliiibursti, Freyr's boar, 252, 326. Hakon Jarl (jarl Hakon), sacrifices
Gullveig, symbolizes power of gold, his son to Thorgerdh, 96, 372
165; queen of the Vanir, 249-250; rules Norway as vassal of Den-
Gullveig-Heidhr identical with mark, 184.
Freyja, 250, 279. Hdkonarmdl, pagan setting of, 184;
Gummere, F. B., 47. outline of, 308.
Gungnir, spear of Odhin, 226, 326. Halja, as Teutonic goddess, 280-28 1
Gunnar, in the Njals Saga, 204. Hallfred, the scald, 185, 193.
Giinnhild, follows Asmund in death, Hallgerd, wife of Gunnar, 204.
171. Hamburg, diocese of Hamburg-Bre-
Gunnhild, wife of Eric Bloody-axe, men, 177-178; city plundered by
95-96; character of, 183-184. Vikings, 178.
Gutither, king, in the Waltharius Hamdir, the Ammius of Jordanes,
legend, 137; in the Siegfried leg- 140.
end, 138-139. Hamingja, meaning of, 293.
Gtithorm, baptized Danish Viking, Hammer, as symbol, 59 as attribute ;
179. of Thor, 60 in folklore of late

;
Gygr, 328. Middle Ages, 212.

Gylfagin7iing, coii\.&w\.s oi, 207; pur- Hammerich, M., 36.
pose of, 208 ; idea of trinity in, Hapt, designation for " god," 283.
208 ; the genuine and artificial in Har, in Gylfaginning, 207, 268.
Gylfaginning, 209. Harald, converted Danish prince,
Gylfi, king, in Gyl/aginning, 207. 178.
Gyniir, other name of yEgir, 330. Harald Blatand, first Christian Dan-
ish king, 179.
Hadduig, king, 248, 354. Harald Fairhair, marries Snsefrid,
Hteva, or Awai, 272. 95 first historical Norwegian king,
;
Haferbock, 322. 181 ;

great significance of his reign,
Hagen, or Hqgfti, father of Hilda, 181-182 ; Snorri's saga of, 182 ;
175, 176. Hrafnstndl ow, 182 ; has sorcerers

Hagen, in Waltharius legend, 137. burnt, 389.
Hagen, F. H. von der, 16. Harald Grafeldr, son of Eirikr, 184.
Hahn, J. G. von, 11 Harald Hildetand in battle at Bra-
Haimdal, an ancestor of the Goths, vallir, 168-170.
79- Harlungen, myth of, combined with
Hakon, Adhalsteitisfóstri, ousts Ermanaric legend, 140; outline of

Eirikr from kingdom, 182-183 J
myth, 140-141 a dawn-myth, 141
;
; ;
;
objections to identification with eschatology, 348, 350, 351; in-
Dioscuri or A9vins, 141 ; convoked in magic, 386.

nected with Till ? 246. Heime, 336.
Hartheri, the younger Hartung, Heimskriiigla, value as a source, 206
identical with Wolfdietrich, 141. its euhemeristic treatment of
Harttingen, significance of the, 68 myths, 206.
resemblance to Alcis, 104, 142; Heiiizelnidnncheit, 326.
saga of Hartungen, a Dioscuri- Hel, on golden horns from Jutland,
myth, 141-142; connection of 62 ; appears in dream to Baldr,
name with Asdingi, 142. 254; offspring of Loki 261,264; ;
/i'rtrz/fj'/jobservances connected with, extent of personification, 280-281 ;
215. as destination of dead, 291-292

Hati, 329, 344. Hel and Niflheim, 347.
Hdttatal, character of, 207. Helga, daughter of king Frotho, 167.
Haiipt, M, 30. Ilelgea, sea battle at, reminiscences
Hdvamal, date of, 198, note 2 ; not of, in Bravalla song, 168.
a unit, 203-204 ; maxims in, 410- Helgi, king, father of Hrolf Kraki,
411. 166.
Havfricer, 323. Helgi lays, difiicult character of, 170.
HavnicEiid, 323. Helgoland, temples of Fosite on, 122-

Hazdiggds {Asdingi), meaning of 123-
term, 142, 366. Heliand, paganism in, 1 31-132;
Heat/iobeards, memory of struggle Saxon setting of, 131.
with Danes preserved in Beowitlf, Helleristniiiger, 59.
158-159; meaning of name, 159. Hellusii, mentioned by Tacitus, 72.

Hedhinn, in Hilde-Kudrun Saga, Ilengist, descent from Woden, 81 ;
176. Vortigern invokes his aid, i 50.
Heidhrek, riddles of king Ileidhrek, Ilenno, alleged god, 227.

195, 231, note I. Heorot, the hall, 155; localization
Ileidhrmi, the goat, 348. and character, 159, 160, 162.
Heilo, meaning of name, 356. Hercules, divinities bearing the name
Heinidallr, as Rig, progenitor of the of, 87, 103; H. Saxanus, 87; H.
three classes, 79, 199, 259 ; Rig- Deusoniensis, 104-105; H. Magu-
Heimdallr, as ancestor of the sanus, 105, 128, 235, 239; identi-
Norse kings, 164; the sword of fication with Donar, 235.
Heimdallr, as kenningiox " head," Herder, J. G., influence of, 10.
194, 259 known only from Norse

; Herfjqtr, name of Walkyrie, 306.
literature, 258; character of, 258- Herviinones, one of the divisions of
259; chief myth, 259, 264 ; antith- Tacitus, 71 ; derivation of name,
esisbetween Heimdallr and Loki, 73 worshipped Tio, 77
; not ;
259; horn of Heimdallr in the wholly identical with the Suebi, 77.
s ; ;;
INDEX 481
Hermodhr, his mission to Hel, 256, indebted to classical literature,
268. 145, 146 ; its mythical and histor-

Hermunduri, war with Chatti, 102, ical elements Teutonic, 146; blend-
103. ing of history and nature-myth
Herodias, women riding with, 126; characteristic of Teutonic, 147
in popular belief, 273. current among Anglo-Saxons, 1 54 ;
Heroic saga, views of Görres, 14-15; Beowulf, 155-162 ;

period of saga
collection of material by Mone, formation not ended at time of
1 5 ; absence of data from the, Anglo-Saxon conquest, 158 made ;
in Grimm's Mythology, 21 views ;

to do duty as history, 163; his-
of W. and of J. Grimm, 22 W. ; torical elements in the, often neg-

Miiller's views, 24; Miillenh off' lected, 163; historical character
contributions, 31 ;
Jessen's views of the, of the North, 163-164;
of the heroic sagas in the Edda, Danish and Norse sagas, 164 ff.
36 ; attitude of Mogk, Meyer, and characteristic difference between

Golther, 42 ; currency of German Danish and Norse sources of
heroic saga in England shown by Saxo, 1 70-1 7 1 ; ancient manners
names, 76 ; origin of the, in period reflected in Northern saga, 171;
of migration, no, 133, 134; be- currency of Northern saga, 171 ;
longs to domains of mythology, secondary character of large part

history, and literature, 133; differ- of Norse heroic sagas, 174;
entiated from folklore, 134; ear- Hilde-Kudrun Saga, 175-177 ;
liesttestimony concerning, 134; Eddie songs treating the heroic

mythical elements in, 134-135; saga, 199; moral ideals in the,
East-Gothic cycle of, 135-136; 404-405 ; characters of migration

legend of Waltharius, 136-137; period, 405 ; feeling of transient-
legends of Hugdietrich and Wolf- ness of things in the, 406-407.

dietrich, 137; king Rother, 137- /('^;- J-/;-, meaning of term, 181 ;
power
138; Siegfried Saga, 138-139, of hersir broken by Harald Fair-
143-145; the heroic sagas not hair, 181.
degenerated god-myths, 139-140, Hertha, identified with Demeter,

147, 151 development parallel to
;
etc., 16.
that of god-myths, 1 39 few traces ; Hertnit, identical with Ortnit, 141.

of hero cult among Teutons, 140; Heruli, migrations of, 89 ; serve
myths in, 139-147; common motifs under Attila, 108.
in, 142 Harlungen Saga, 140

;
Hervarar Saga, riddles of king Ilei-
Hartungen Saga, 141 HiUiebrand ; dhrek in, 195.
Lay, 142; Wieland Saga, 145; Herwig Saga, in Kudruit and Shet-
does not reproduce life of migra- land ballad, 176.
tion period, 146; some older con- Hildebrand Lay, correspondences in
ditions reflected in the, 146 ; not Persian and Irish, 142 ;

parallels
;
in Greek and Russian stories, 142 ;

Hixnir, story of, S5 ; hostage to the
correspondences to be explained Vanir, 250, 265; associated with
on basis of nature-myth, 142-143. Odhin and Lodhurr, 233, 263, 265 ;
Hilde-Kudrun Saga, reflects Viking at restoration, 265, 352 ; opinions

life, 175, 177; variant forms of, concerning, 265.
175; milder character of, 176; Hof, meaning of term, 358.

account of Snorra Edda, 176; II{>gni, see Hagen.
various localizations, 176; founda- Holda, not connected with Hludana,
tion a nature-myth, 176-177 ;
char- 105; in popular belief, 273-274.
acter of Wate also mythical, 177 ;
Holler, Frisian god, 266.
story of Hildr and Hcjgni intro- Ilolhinderfran, 322.
duced from Germany? 196. Ilólmganga, 396.
Hildigund, in Waltharius legend, Holzfraulein, 322.
137- Horti, surname of Freyja, 279.
Hilleviones, identical with the Hel- Horned Siegfried, 138.
lusii, 72. Horns, golden, from Jutland, 62

Himinbj<irg, home of Heimdallr, evidence uncertain, 63.
258. Ilorsa, descent from Woden, 81 ;
History ofreligioti, use of the term, 2. invasion of England, 150.

H/ad/inhigav/g(comh2it of theH jadh- Hotlierus, in Saxo, 163, 254, 264.
nings), 176; mythical character of, wind giant, 332.

Ilrtrsvelg, the
176-177, 289; connection with the Hrafnsmdl, of Thorbj(jrn Hornklofi,

Einherjar, 2 28 connection of
;
182.
struggle between Heimdallr and Hreda, alleged goddess, 272, 380.

Loki with the, 259. Ilreidmar, father of Ottr, 263.
Hler, other name of ^gir, 330 ; son Hrimfaxi, steed of night, 344.
of Fornjotr, 334. Hrimgerdhr, giantess, 330.
Hlesey, 331. Hrlml/ntrsar, meaning of term,
Hlidhskjalf, throne of Odhin, 233,
2S6, 346. Hrolf Kraki, date of, 166; origin
Hliri, the goddess, 279. of surname, 166; parentage, 166;
Hlqck,name of Walkyrie, 306. achievements, 166.

Hlodhyn, probably not connected Ilroptatyr = Odhin, 387.
with Hludana, 105; as mother Hroptr, name of Odhin, 170, 352.
of Thor, 239. Ilrothgar, in Beowulf, 155, 162 pic- ;
Hludana, goddess of fishermen, 105, tured as the ideal king, 159.
272; connection of name, 105. Hrungnir, combat with Thor, 240-

Hnoss, daughter of Freyja and Odhr, 241 ; nature of, 332.
277. Hrymr, 351-352.

Hoard-legends, 144, note. Hitgdietrich and Wolflietrick, of
Hqdh?; slays Baldr, 255, 256, 268. Frankish origin, 137.

;
INDEX 483
Huginn andiT///«?«;/,Oclhin's ravens, ization of, 188-190; Olaf Trygg-

226. vason's share in the Christianiza-
HugoTheodoriaiSi history and legend tion, 1S9 ; Icelandic scalds, 192-
of, 137- 193 ; religious organization of, 360.
Humatt sacrifices, 98, loi, 102, 103, Icelandic historians, 205 ff.
109-110,369,370,371-373; Adam Icelandic sagas, character of, 1S8;

of Bremen on, 177. importance of, 204 ;
characters in,
Hilne, 328. 204-205; luxuriant growth of su-

Hiinenbedden, not constructed by perstition in, 205, 209.
nomads, 52 ; mainly graves, 57 IdAavqll, meaning of, 346.
reputed work of giants, 330. Idhiinn, myth of Idhunn and Thjazi,
Huns, relations between Huns and 208, 261, 280; wife of Bragi, 267,
East Goths in history and saga, 280.
136; in Waltharius legend, 136; Idisi, in Merseburg Charm, 127 ; re-
in the Nibelungenlied, 139. semble Walkyries, 128, 305.

Husdrapa, of Ulfr Uggason, 192, Idols, evidence for existence of, 357,
note, 196. 35^' 359' 360-361 ; testimony of
Hvergeh?tir, the fountain, 342, 348. Tacitus regarding, 360 ; in Scan-
Hygelac, king of the Geatas, 155, dinavia, 361 ; ideas associated with,
157, 158. 361-362.

Hyllenior, 322. Ildico, story of, 139.
Hymir, the giant, 242 ;

personifies Ilja, parallel with Hildebrand Lay,
the inhospitable sea, 331. 142.
Hymiskvidha, content and character Immortality, belief in, 296.

of, 200, 242, 331. Incubus, 294.
Hyndla, the giantess, instructs Ottar, fndiciihis Superstitionum, 300, 375.
164,277; meaning of the name, 329. Indigitamenta, divinities of, 279.
Hyndlidjódh, deals with genealogies, Indo-Europeans, original home of,
164, 199. 66, 67-68 ; idyllic pictures of life

Hyrrokm, in saga of Baldr, 255. of primitive, 66 ; unity of the Indo-
European family, 67.
Ibor, a leader of the Lombards, 80. IngcEVones, or Ingvceones, one of the
Iceland, early intercourse with Ire- divisions of Tacitus, 71 ; wor-
land, 173 ff.; Icelanders probably shipped Freyr, 77; the Vanir, the
learned art of prose narration from gods of the, 24S.
Irish, 174; settled during reign of Ingeld (cf. Ingellus), the Heatho-
Harald Fairhair, 182, 187 ; Irish beard, 158-159.
hermits first settlers, 187 ; the Ingellus, son of king Froth o, 167 ;
landndfn, 187 ;
gods worshipped a Ileathobeard in Beowulf, 167.
in Iceland, 187 ; Icelandic feuds, Ingz', identification of Ingv and
187-188; sagas of, 188; Christian- Freyr, 77, 248.
h-eland, early intercourse with Ice- /t'Xv///, 334.

land, 173; its high civilization, /omshurg, founded by Vikings, 91.
173; Irish missionaries and her- /om s I 'ikitigs, discomfiture of,
mits, 173; settlements of Norse- through Thorgerdh, 96 allies of ;
men in, 173; nature of Irish Danes, 186; rule Norway, 186.
Norsemen, 174; bor-
influence on Jónssoti, A., 9.
rowings from Teutons in Irish Jónsson, Björn, 9.

epics, 174. Jónssoii, Finn, attitude towards
Iring, Thuringian hero, 82, 245; Edda, II.
identified with Heimdallr, 259. Jónssott, Finnur, •^, 202.

Irnii7i, as eponymous hero, 73; iden- Jordanes, his account of the origin
tification of Irmin with Tiu, 77 ;
of the Amah, 79-80.
meaning of term in Irminsul, 125. /qrdh, the earth, as mother of Thor,
Irminfrid, Thuringian king, 82. -39. 279. 335; character of, 333.
Irniinsleute, see Herminones. /qmunrek, see Ermaiiaric.
Irminsul, character of, 124-125, 360. Jqtunheim, 334, 346.
Iroti age, 53 ; meaning of the term, Jqticnn, 328.
54 ; burial of dead in, 59. Jupiter, sacrifices to, among Thu-
Irpa, sister of Thorgerdh H^lga- ringians, 121; among Saxons, 125;

brudh, 96. identification with Donar, 235.
Isis, worshipped by the Suebi, 104; Justinian, annihilates Vandal and
as Teutonic divinity, 104, 271; East-Gothic states, ill.
ship of, 215; account of Tacitus, Jutes, invade England, 1 50.
270.
Istavones, or Istvaones, one of the Kcedmon, Anglo-Saxon poet, 154.
divisions of Tacitus, 71 ; wor- K(E7upeviser, publication of, 12.
shipped Wodan and Tamfana, 77. Kaimilaiset, name of Finns, 93.
Istio, as common ancestor, 73. Kalewala, character of, 94 ; reminis-
Istv, not found in conjunction with cences of Norse mythology in,
Wodan, 77. 94 ff. ; on basis of Shamanism, 95.
Isunge7t, a demonic race, 141. Kalfatennanti, 327.

Ivaldi, sons of, 326. Kari, the wind giant, 332 ; son of
Fomjotr, 334.
Jcettestuer — giants' chambers, 57. Karl, traditional origin of, 79, 199,
Jafn/iar, in Gylfagintiing, 207, 268. 259-
Jahn, U., 30. Kaiijfmann, F., 41.
Jarl, traditional origin of, 79, 199, Kelto-ma)iia, 86.
259; power of jarls broken by Kelts, influence of, on Icelanders, 39;

Harald Fairhair, 181. boundaries of Kelts and Teutons,
/essen, E., 36-37. 85-86; influence of Kelts on Teu-
Jiriczek, O. L., 42. tons, and of Teutons on Kelts-
INDEX 485
86-88 ;
expeditions of, 86, note i ;
A'lihn, A., 25, 26.
not a highly civilized people, 86; Kvasir, story of, 91, 232-233 ;
ques-
in 149-150; intercourse
Britain, tion of Slavic origin, 91.
with North Teutons, 173 ff. A'veiiir, Finns or Scandinavians } 93,

Kenniiigar, explanation of term, 194; note 4.
examples of, 194-195; origin of, A'vidha, meaning of term, 199.
195; as source for mythological Kyiiewulf, Anglo-Saxon poet, 154,

material, 196; moderate use of, in 155-
older Eddie poems, 197 ; lists of,
in Eddie poems, 199; interpreta- Lach)iiaii)t, A'., 19, 23 ; school of 30. ,
tion of, in Skdldskaparmal, 207. Laradh, 348.

Keyser, R., 34. Laistner, L., 44.
Keysler,J. G., 8, 12. Lake villages, inhabited by Indo-
Kingship, beginnings of, among Teu- Europeans, 51, 70; fixed habita-
tons, 100. tions, 52.
A'irk, R., author of treatise on Landiidm, meaning of term, 1S7.

" elves," etc., 7. Lapps, more savage than the P'inns,
Kjartan, won over to Christianity by 93-

Olaf Tryggvason, 185. Lausa7'lsnr, meaning of term, 191.
Kjökkenmöddings, point to fixed hab- Law-speaker, presiding officer of the
itations, 52 ; age of, 53. Althing, 188 ; office unknown to
Klabautertnanii, 327. Tacitus, 365.

A'/agf, as source for Siegfried Saga, Laxdcvla Saga, characters in, 204.
138; Christian atmosphere of, 147. Leo, H., 16.

Klemm, G., Altertu9?iskunde, 15, Letts, see Baits.
note 2. Letzel, tormenting spirit, 294.
Knut, Danish king, 1 79. Lewis the Pious, his efforts in behalf
Kobold, character of, 326-327. of Danish missions, 178.

Kornmunime, 322. Liafborg, story of her childhood, 123.
K(>tt, 329. Libiis, priest of Chatti, 365.
Kraka, 329. Lif, 352.

Krdkumdl, death song of Ragnar Lifthrasir, 352.
Lodbrok, 171. Linguistic j(-/,f;/rt', certainty and value
Kriemhild, connection with the his- of its results, '65, 66, 67, 69, 71 ;
torical Ildico, 139; corresponds present method of linguistic com-

to Gudrun in the Norse version, parison,67; the "genealogical
139; modification of her character theory" and the "wave theory,"
in the Aîhelungenlied, 144. 69; contradictions between lin-
Kudrutt (epic). Christian atmosphere guistic science and archaeology
of, 147; unites three sagas, 175- only apparent, 69-70.
176. Lippert,J., 29.
;; ;
Liitdger, Frisian missionary, 122; Mitothinus = Loki? 264; in
replaces temples of Fosite with chains, 264 ; in Norse eschatology,

Christian churches, 123. 264; character of, 264 ; designated
Ljódh, meaning of term, 199. " the giant," in the eschatol-
335 ;
Ljósdlfar, 321. ogy, 350, 351-

Loddfafnir, the thulr, 190; in Hdva- Lombards, mentioned by Tacitus, 72 ;
mdl, 410. derivation of the name, 74, 80

Lodhurr, name of Loki, 233, 263. legendary origin of, 80 ; real name
Lofn, the goddess, 279. alleged to have been Vinili, 80;
Logberg, meaning of term, 190. collide with Vandals, 80; expedi-
Logi (cf. Loki), son of Fornjotr, 334. tion of, completes period of migra-
Lokaseima, outline and character of, tions, 89 ; songs of, 1 10 ;
gain con-
203. trol of Italy, in; overthrown,

Loki, scenes from myths of, on 112; not East Teutons, 112; con-
golden horns from Jutland, 62 version to Arianism, 119; union
in Lokasenna, 203, 264 ; in Gy/- with Roman church, 119; few rem-
faginning, 207 ; in story of Thrym, nants of paganism among, 119.
240; in story of Geirrödhr, 241 ;
Longobardi, see Lom hards.
in journey to Utgardhaloki, 242, Lonnrot, discoverer of Kalewala, 94.
261 ;
guilty of Baldr's death, 256, Lot, use of, among Frisians, 123,
264 ; disguised as Thc^kt, 256-257 ; 394-395 ; in Tacitus, 394.
the great riddle of Teutonic my- Luckydays, among Alemanni, 120;
thology, 259-260, 449; not to be among Saxons, 126; belief in,

identified with Requalivahanus, 397-
260 ; in proverbial expressions, Lttgii, migrations of, 89.
260 ; meaning of name, 260 ; at-
tempt at identification with Agni, Magic, among the Finns, 94-96; in

260 ; kindred, 260 ; Iceland, home Norway, 95-96; attitude of Norse-
of? 260-261 ; connection with ^sir, men towards Finnish magic, 96,
giants, and elves, 261, 262; other 182, 183; among Saxons, 126;
names, 261 ; sojourn underground, inMerseburg Charms, 127, 386;
261 ; connection with various ele- practised by women, 129;
first
ments, 261 ; changes of shape, among Anglo-Saxons, 1 53 in ;
261-262; twosidedness, 262; as Elene, 155; more common in
"closer," 262 ; Christian influence Norse than in Danish sagas, 170;

in diabolification of, 262 ; myths practice of, in Norway and Ice-
of, 263-264 ; associated with land, 209 ; magic brooms in folk-
Odhin and Hoenir, 263 ; close con- lore, 215, 376; magic charms in
nection with Odhin, 263 ; in myth popular belief, 376-378 ; notions
of necklace, 263-264, 275 ; strug- entering into the conception, 385;
gle with Heimdallr, 259, 264 importance of, in religion, 385;
;;
INDEX 487
connection between magic and of prehistoric relations between

belief in souls, 38 5-386 gods in- ;
Finns and Indo-Europeans, 92.
voked in practice of, 386-387 ; Mars, the regnator omnium? 104;

connection between magic and Mars Thingsus, 106, 12S.
mythology, 386-387 ; in Bede, Mar si, mentioned by Tacitus, 72.
386; the spite-stake, 387; magic Mater deicm, of ^ïlstii, 89.
charms in the Edda, 387-3S8 Matres, of Keltic origin, 88, 120;

pagan and Christian elements in, diffusion of their cult, 88.
388 runes in, 388-389

;
seidhr, ; MatroncE, see Matres.
389-390 V(ilur, 390-393 no trace
; ; Mattiaci, derivation of name, 74.
of Shamanism in the art of the Maiirer, G. L. von, t^t,.
v^lva, 393; divination, 393-397- Maurer, A', 38.'^'}^,
See Divination. Men, traditional origin of, 79, 344-

Magni, son of Thor, 239, 26S ;
sur- 345-
vives final catastrophe, 353. Menglqdh, parallel to Svipdag and
Magnusen, Finn, 13. Mengl^dh in the Siegfried Saga,
Mdl, meaning of term, 199. 144; song of Svipdag and Men-

Mallet. P. H., Northern Antiquities, myth of nature,
gl^dh, a 200, 275 ;
10. surname of Freyja, 279.

Managarmr, 329. Menja, grinding giantess, 165, 331.
Maiii {moon), stories of, 344. Mercury -Wodan, in Tacitus, 103,
MannJiardt, IV., 27-30. 221-222 ; sacrifices to, among

Mannus, three sons of, 73; son of Saxons, 125.
Tuisto, 79, 344-345- Merovingi, descent from Francio, 84.
Mdrchen, regarded as myths, 24, 26 Merseburg Charms, distant parallel
distinction in value between Mdr- among the Finns, 95 ;

discussion
chen and customs, 28, 2 10-2 11 ;

of, 126-129.
untenableness of myth-theory, Metamorphosis, common in Norse

210-21 1 ; in part of Oriental sagas, 171.
origin, 21 1; identical story types Metod, designation for "god," 283,

in Mdrchen, myths, and heroic 312.
saga, 211 ; character of, 213; medi- Meyer, E. H., 39, 42, 43.
eval historical events in Mdrchen, Midhgardh, meaning of, 346; beauty
214 ; myth, saga, and fiction in of, 347.
Mdrchen, 214; gods in, 285. Midhgardh-serpent, does not corre-

Mardqll, surname of Freyja, 279. spond to Antichrist in Muspilli,
Mare, origin and nature of, 293- 130; struggle of Thor with, 200,
294. 242; offspring of Loki, 261, 264;
Marohodinis, chief of Marcomanni, as sea monster, 330; represents
100; character of war under, 10 1. the sea, 346; in the eschatology,
Marriage ceremonies, as evidence 351-

; ;
4SS THE RELIGION OF THE ANCIENT TEUTONS
Migrations, earliest, 50-51, 70; in ard of Teutonic morals, 403

Roman 99; legends
times, 72, moral significance of the Teutonic
concerning, 79; migration of na- gods, 403-404 ; fidelity leading
tions, 89; nature of the, 107, 109; virtue in the heroic saga, 404-405 ;
origins of the heroic saga in the certainty regarding duty in heroic

period of, no, 133, 134; final saga, 406 ; data bearing on, in
result of, no; reminiscences of, Saxo, 408-410; moral maxims
in the heroic saga, 134. in the Edda, 410-412.
Mimameidhr, 348. Mouse, soul appearing as, 296.
Mimir, story of, 85 ; his intercourse Miillenhoff, A', 30-32 ; his Deutsche
with Odhin, 232 ; wisdom of, 232 ;

Altertufuskunde, 31, 38 ; com-
in the heroic saga, 232 ; accom- pared with Jacob Grimm, 31 con- ;
panies Hoenir among Vanir, 250; clusions of, rejected by recent

as water demon, 331; in the scholars, 66 ; his view of the
eschatology, 351. origin of the Teutons, 70; his
Minerva, among Alema.nni, 120- investigation on Irmin, etc., 77.
121. Mailer, F. Max, 25.
Minne-driitk, or metnory-cup, 2S7, Mailer, P. E., editor of Saxo, 13, 20.
374. 377- Muller, S., 35.
Mistletoe, in the myth of Baldr, 255- Mailer, IF., 24.
257. Munch, P. A., 34.
Mitothinus 264. , Mundilfccri, father of sun and moon,

Mjq^ll, 334. 344-
Mjqilnir, origin of, 238-239, 326. Munin)t, see Huginn.
Mobiles^ Th., ^-î-
Muspcllsheim, one of the worlds, 345,
Modhi, son of Thor, 239, 268 ; sur- 34Ö-
vives final catastrophe, 353. Muspilli, discussion of, 1 30 ; mean-
Moe, ing of word, 30-131.
J., 35. 1
Mogk, E., 42-43- My ramen, family of scalds, 192.

Mone, F.J., 15. Mythology, use of the term, 2 ; an his-
Monotheism, in Teutonic mythology, torical science, 3, 32 ; J. Grimm's

2S3. views on the relation of Norse
Moon, descent 344 worship of,

of, ;
to German mythology, 20; the
not supported by " Monday," 379. " lower " and " higher " mythology,
Moosfrdulein, 322. 26,218; " higher " mythology and

Morals, history of, its connection popular tradition, 30; beginnings
with other branches of science, of a more critical study of, 36
400; its wide field, 400-401; dif- " lower " mythology the point of
ficulties attending its study, 40T ;
departure of Mogk, Meyer, and
religious significance of Teutonic Golther, 42, 45; possibility of an
morality, 401-403; the high stand- Indo-European mythology, 68;
;;
INDEX 489
possibility of treating the mythol- Nautical language, connection wit'i
ogy of each tribe separately, 78. the use of keuningar, 195.

Myths, popular and hierarchic, 40, Necklace-myth, role of Loki in, 263-
43 interdependence of myths and

; 264; in Norse literature, 275.
cult,40, 44 evidence of golden ; Need-fires, 374-375-
horns as to early existence of, Aêhaleniiia, associated with Her-

62 concerning the origin of man,
;
cules Magusanus and with Nep-
78 ; mythical elements in the tune, 105, 271 ;
attributes of, 105,
heroic saga, 134-135- i39-i47 ;

271; on inscriptions, 271; not
day and year myths, 144-145, identical with Isis, 27 1 ; her alleged
146-147 ; no god-myths in the temple, 271-272.

heroic saga, 139-140, 147, 161; in A'crthus, not necessarily identical
BeoTüulf, 159-160; culture-myth with the mater deiim of the ^stii,

in Beowzdf, 160-161 made to do ; 89; temple of, loi ;
grove of, 102 ;
duty as history, 163 mythical con- ;

wagon of, 102, 396; the seven
ception of a golden age, 165; Nerthus tribes, 102; interpretation
in Saxo and Norse sagas, 170; of name, 104 ; festival of, 215, 24S,
important myths already known 270; connection with Nj^rdhr,

to oldest scaldic poetry, 174; 247 ; terra mater, 89, 248, 270
impetus to development of, given her festival probably celebrated in
by Viking period, 175; nature- Iceland, 248; correspondence be-
myth Hilde-Kudrun
at basis of the tween the festival of Nerthus and
Saga, 176 nature-myths in Eddie
;
the procession of Freyr, 248-249
songs, 200 genuine and artificial
;
account of Tacitus, 269, 285 her ;
myths in Gylfaginning, 209 little ;

mimen, 360; attended by a male
importance attached by people to priest, 366; time of festival, 381.
myths from the point of view of AHbehmgen, demonic race, 143;

religion, 209 alleged myths in ;
combined with Burgundian kings,
Marchen, 2 10-2 11 ; role of the 144.
gods in myths, 284. Nibelungenlied, as source for the
Siegfried Saga, 138 ;
combination
Naglfar, the ship, 264, 351. of myth and history in, 138-139;
Nahanarvali, mentioned by Tacitus, modification of original characters
72 ; not worshippers of the Norns, in, 144; Christian atmosphere of,
74; grove of, IC2. 147-148.

A^ü!««rt,in thesagaof Baldr, 254, 279. N'icks, 324.
Nastrand, reflected in the Anglo- Nicor, among Anglo-Saxons, 154,
Saxon hell in Elenc, 155; con-

trasted with Hel, 292 ; in Völuspa, A'îdhafjqllir, 352.
Aldhavqllir, 350.
350. 353-
Nature-worship, 371. Nidhh^ggr^^l^Z, 352, 353.
;
Nidhingsverk, of Starkad, 167. Norse mythology, secondary char-

Nidhstqng, 382. acter of, 39 ; attitude of Mogk,
Nldhvisitr, meaning of term, igi. Meyer, and Golther towards, 42,
Niflheim, one of the worlds, 345, 43' 45 >
present attitude towards,
346, 347- 48 ; reminiscences of, in the A'ale-

Night, of the race of giants, 344. ivala, g^-c)^ ; evidence concerning,
Nigktmai-e, as source of mythical from scaldic poetry, 174-175 for- ;
ideas, 44. eign influences on, 174, 196-197 ;
Nixes, 320, 323. possibility of Christian ideas in,
NJal, in Njals Saga, 204, 414. 175; as a whole, antedates Viking

Njdlsbrenna, 204. period, 175 not a learned patch-
;
Njals Saga, best of Icelandic sagas, work, 175; henningar as source

188; characters in, 204. for, 196 ; is a Teutonic mythology,
Njqrdhr, Snorri's euhemeristic ac- 197; combination of pagan mythol-
count of, 206 ; connection with ogy and Christian framework in
Nerthus and with Freyr and Voluspa, 203.
Freyja, 247; his cult, 247 ; usually Norse sagas, reflect ancient manners
god of the sea, 24S ; hostage to and customs, 171, 413-414 ; cur-
the yïisir, 250; his marriage with rent among people, 171 ; character
Skadhi, 251. of historical sagas, 181.
Noatun, abode of Njfjrdhr, 248, 251. Nôrsemen, foreign influences on,
N'obility of descent, among Teutons, 172-175; settle in the Shetland
100. Islands and in Ireland, 173 ;
Aôrgen, 322. nature of Irish influence on, 174 ;
Nornagests Thdttr, basis of, 185 "faithlessness" of Norsemen, 410;

outline of, 315. character of, in the sagas, 413-
Nornaspor, 315. 414.
Norn-grits, 316. North Teutons, 7 1
; outside Roman
Norns, belong to folklore and to the horizon, 73.
pantheon, 21S ; traces of religious N'orway, close connections between
worship of, 304 ;
popular basis religious and political movement,
of belief, 304-305 ; in the Njals I So; unification of Norway under
Saga, 308-31 1 ; characterand func- Harald Fairhair, 181 ;
gradual
tions of, 312-315 ; representedas Christianization of, 182-186 ; vas-
three sisters, 312-313; in Norse sal state to Denmark, 184 ; reign of
literature, 313-314; inexorableness Olaf Tryggvason, 184-186; rule of
of decrees of, 315; in cult, 316; jarls of Jomsburg, 186 ; early inter-
meaning of name obscure, 316; of course with the British Isles, 173.
the race of giants, 313, 316-317 ;
Norwegian historical school, com-
in the eschatology, 349. pared with German Romanticism,
Norr, descendant of Fornjotr, 334. 34-
.;
INDEX 491
Notfeuer, or tieed-firc, in folklore, Ordeals, origin of, 396.

215. Orendel, connection with Aurvan-
Nyeriip, A'., 12. dill, 241.
Orgelmir, other name of Vmir,

Oaths, invocation of gods in, 368. 342-
OJkr, as husband of Freyja, 277- Orkneys, settled from Norway, 182;
278. Christianization of, 186.
Odoacer, prophecy of Severinus to, Ortnit, myth of, combined with

114; supplanted in saga by Er- legends, 137 ; the elder Hartung,
manaric, 136. 141.
Odysseus, parallel with the Hilde- Oswald, regarded as martyr, 152.

braiid Lay, 142. Othinus (Od/iin), ancient king men-
Offa,two kings of that name, 81 ;
tioned by Saxo, 85, 163.
Offa in Anglo-Saxon genealogies, Ottar, instructed in genealogies, 164,
153 ; Offa in Beowulf, 156, 159. 277; sacrifices to Freyja, 276.

Ogmundsson, Jon, ^yg. Ottr, story of, 263.
Ohleiischlager, Nor dens Gudcr, \ 1.
Okobiir, 350. Pactus Alamannorutn, 120.

Olaf, St., falls in battle of Stikkle- Paganism, Teutonic, decline due to
stad, 166; king of Norway, 186. outward circumstances, 116-117;
Olaf Skaiitkonungr, first Christian character of paganism of the
king of Sweden, 179. Franks,! 1 7-1 19; paganismamong
OAi/ 7)-6'^-j'/irtZ'é'r,king, sacrific ed 3 7 2 ,
the Alemanni, 1 20-1 21; pagan-
Olaf Tryggvason, establishes su- ismamong the Thuringians, 121 ;
preme rule and Christianity in among the Frisians, 121-123;

Norway, 184 ff. ; his unique per- among the Saxons, 124-126; in
sonality, 185 ; falls in battle, 186; the Merseburg Charms, 127-129;
his share in Christianization of in the Wessobrunn Prayer ?
Iceland, 189; threatens to offer 1 29- 30;

1
in Muspilli? 130; in
up human sacrifices, 372-373. Heliand, 131- 132; no paganism

Ola us Magnus, 9. in the A'ihelungenlied, A'lage, and
Ollerus, identical with Ullr, 266. Kudrun,\i,-i; Anglo-Saxon pagan-
Otnens (cf. Divination), belief strong- ism, 152-153, 154-155; glimpses
ly developed in Iceland, 187, 205 ;

of, in the North, in Adam of Bre-
consultation of, by priests, 364 ;

men and Rimbert, 177-178; attach-
omens in popular belief, 377 ment of Norwegian aristocracy to,
omens from birds and horses, 180; pagan setting of the Eiriks-
395-396 Angang and other

;
fudl a.nd Hakonarmdl, 184; pagan
omens, 397. conceptions haunting Olaf Trygg-
Ongetitheoiv, Swedish king, in Beo- vason, 1S5 ;
concessions made to,
wulf, 156. in Iceland, 190 ; extent of,in Norse

.
literature, 190 ; in Norway and Ice- Popanz, 326.

land, 209 ; survivals of, which the Popular assemblies, character of, 103.
church sought to eradicate, 212; Popular ctistoms, Mannhardt's in-
pagan conceptions in folklore of vestigation of, 28-29 ; superior to
ancient and modern times, 213- Marc hen in value, 2 10-21 1 ; differ
219; character of pagan elements in time of origin, 213.

in folklore, 215, 217; line of de- Powell, F. York, 47.
velopment of Teutonic paganism, Prayer, inseparable from sacrifice,
219 ; no trace of doctrinal system 367 ; attitude assumed at prayer,
among the Teutons, 219-220; in- 367-368.
fluence of Teutonic paganism on Prehistoric population, in Europe,
the human race, 415. Indo-Europeans ? 69-70.
Paulinus, converts the Northumbri- Priests, no priestly caste among Teu-
ans, 151. tons, 97, 102; priest in woman's
Paulus Diaconus, on the origin of clothing, 102; functions of, 102;
the Lombards, 80 his history,; at popular assemblies, 103; in
no. Teutonic armies, 117; testimony

Penda, Mercian king, combats Chris- of Caesar and Tacitus, 363 ;
politi-
tianity, 152. cal functions, 364-367 of ; special

Perchta, in popular belief, 273-274. gods and tribes, 366 ; of same rank
Perchtenlaufen, 274. as chiefs, 365, 366; in Scandina-
Percy, bishop, translator of Mallet's via, 366-367 ;
priestesses of the
Northern Antiquities, 10. Cimbri, 368-369.
Pertz, G. H., 14. Proper names, use which can be
Petersen, H., yj. made of them, 76 importance of ;
Petersen, N. M., 36. proper names derived from gods,

Peucini, 72. 76, 284.
Pfittgstliimmel, fetched in, 215. Proverbs, in Saxo, 408-409 ; collec-
Phallic sytnbol, of Freyr, origin of, 91 tions of, in the Edda, 410-412 ; as
Philology, see Linguistic science. reflecting Norse life, 412-413.
Phol, in the Merseburg Charm, 127- Puck, 327.
128.
Picardt, /., 8. Radagais, defeated by Stilicho, 109;
Pilatns, as giant, 328. puts Christians to death, 115;
Pilwiz, 322. vow of, 369-370.
Pirmin, missionary among the Ale- Rag)iar Lodbrok, accounts of, 171;
manni, 120. in the Skaldatal, 191.
Pliny, groups the Teutons, 72. Ragnarsdrnpa, character of, 192.
Poets^ mead, origin of, 91, 232 ; story Ran, goddess of the sea, 279, 301,
of its acquisition, 208, 232-233. 331 ; identical with Vali? 267.
Poltergeist, 326. Rask, R. A' 12-13.
; ;
INDEX 493
Ratatoskr, 348-349. Rqgn, designation for " god," 283.
Rats, souls appearing as, 296. Roller-reddening, 373.

Ratz, tormenting spirit, 294. Rollo, baptizedDanish Viking, 79. i
Rebirth, oi Helgi, 170, 295; common Romans, contact with Teutons, 97 ff.
in Norse sagas, 171 ;
belief in, struggles between Romans and
295-296. Teutons, 107-109; extent of influ-
Rectaiigtilar cross, as symbol, 59 ence of, on Teutons, 107-109, in.

perhaps symbolical of the sun, 60. Rosengarten, conception of, 292.
Redbad I, shows hatred towards Rqskva, servant of Thor, 240.

Christianity, 122; his treatment of Rostartis, name of Odhin in Saxo, 1 70.
Willebrord, 123. Rother, king, legend of, 137-138;

Refuse heaps, see Kjökkentnöddings. connection with Lombard history,
Regin, a dwarf, 326, 328 ; designa- 138.

tion for "god," 283, 312. Rilhs, Fr., I2.
Regino, abbot of Priim, 125. Rujnpelgeist, 326.
Reqiialivahanus, on an inscription, Rmnpelstilzchen, 325.
105. Runes, supposed age, 10 ;
Wimmer's
Resenilis. P., <). investigations, 35 ; runic monu-
Restoration, in Norse mythology, ments, 35, 61 ; older runic alpha-
352-354- bet, 61 ; among the Finns, 94-95 ;
Retribution, in Völuspa, 353 ; absent in divination, 103; finding of, in
in Saxo, 354. Hdvanial, 231-232 ; runes and

Ricimer, 108. runic letters, 388; meaning of the
Riddles, predilection of Norsemen word "run," 388-389; examples

for, 195. of the power of, 389.
Rig, see Heimdallr. Rusila, a shield-maiden, 306-307.
Rigis, ancestor of the Goths, 79. Rustem, connection of tale with the
Rigsthula, subject of, 199. Hildebrand Lay, 142.
Rimbert, his life of Anskar, 1 77-1 78. Riithwell Cross, 63.

Rinda (cf. Rindr), mother of Bous, Rydberg, V., 27.
254.
Rindr, mother of Vali, 267, 279, 335; Sabene, in the Hartungen Saga, 141.
character of, 333. Sabme, see Lapps.

Ri7ig, at Bravallir, 168-170. Sacred processions, 104, 215,248-249,
Ripuarii, named from district inhab- 253, 269-270, 375, 377.
ited, 74. Sacrifice (cf. Human sacrifices), ac-
Risaland, 334. companied by prayer, 367 ;

ritual-
Ritual, at prayer and sacrifice, 367- istic practices at, 367 ;

terms in
368, 376-378 ; no fixed Teutonic use for, 368 ; Strabo's account of
sacrificial ritual, 370. Teutonic sacrifice, 368-369 sacri- ;
Roggenhund, 322. fices mentioned by Tacitus, 369 ;

other evidence for sacrifices, 369- invade P^ngland, 150 ; at Bravallir,
370 ; three kinds of, 370 ; account 169.

of a Lombard sacrifice, 370-371 ;
Scalds, metrics probably dependent
evidence from medieval litera- on Irish, 174; date of scaldic
ture, 37 1 ; Scandinavian sacrifices, poetry, 174; scaldic songs as
371 ff.; description of a sacrificial source for early Norwegian his-
feast, 373-374 ; sacrifices for fer- tory, 181 ; supersede the thtilir,
tility, 374; need-fires, 374-375; 190 ;

position occupied by, 191 ;
sketch of ancient public sacrifice, known to us, 191 ff. ; fame of Ice-
376-378 ; three annual sacrifices, landic scalds, 192 ; attitude of, to-
381-382 ; at Leire, 383 ; at Upsala, wards Christianity, 193; artificial
383-384. character of poetry of, 194-195;

Stride, lady, not pagan, 313. foreign influences in scaldic po-
Saga, the goddess, 278. etry, 196-197 ; few traces of belief
Sahsnot, see Seaxneat. and cult in scaldic poetry, 197;

St. Olaf, see Olaf. essential difference between scal-
Salic law, little trace of religion in, dic and Eddie poetry, 197-198;
117. Gylfagi tilling, a manual for, 208.
Salt, methods of obtaining, among Scandinavia, as cradle of the Lx)m-
Teutons, 70 war between Chatti
; bards, 80 ; contact between Scan-
and Hermunduri about saline dinavians and Slavs, 91 ; origin of
streams, 102. name, 92-93 ; relations between
Sampo, resemblance to millstone Scandinavia and the Finns, 94-
Grotti,94 name probably bor- ;
96 ; its two groups of sagas,
rowed, 94-95- 164.
Sandrandiga, on an inscription, 105, Scandza, cradle of Goths according
272. to Jordanes, 80.
Sams, avenges Sunilda, 135, 140; is Sceaf, as progenitor, 81, 161 ; stories
the Eddie Sorli, 140. of, still current, 214.
Saxnot, see Seaxneat. Sceldwa {Scyld), in Anglo-Saxon

Saxo Grammaticus, Paris edition of, genealogies, 153.
9; fuses saga and history, 163; Scepticism, alleged, of Norsemen,

fails to recognize mythical mate- 408.
rial, 170 ;
data bearing on morals Schedius, E., 8.
in, 408-410. Schlegel, A. IV., 14 ; his criticism of
Saxo7is, traditions concerning origin the Grimms, 17.

of, war with the Thuringians,
82 ;
Schlegel, F., 14.
82 ;
of the
preaching Ewalds Schlözer, von, A. L. 12.
among, 123; subjugation and Sckrat, tormenting spirit, 294, 322.
conversion of, by Charles the Schrettele, tormenting spirit, 294.
Great, 124; paganism of, 124 ff. ;

Schwartz, F. L. IV., 26.
;
INDEX 495
Scrithifini, mentioned by Procopius, formulas, 144; interpretation of,
93- 145; Norse Sigurd borrowed from

Scyld, as progenitor, 8i, i6i; stories Germany, 196.
of, still current, 214. Sif, as wife of Thor, 239, 279 mytho- ;
Seasons, change of, celebrated with logical interpretation of, 240.

processions, 215. Sigemund, fights a dragon, i 56.
Seaxneat, Saxnot, or Sahsnot, occurs Signy, character of, 413.

in Essex table, 81, 154; not iden- Sigrdrifumal, moral wisdom in, 41 1-
tical with Hercules Saxanus, 87; 412.

among the Saxons, 125; another Sigurd, jarl of Throndhjem, 182-
name for Tiu, 245. 183 ; murdered by sons of Eirikr,

Seidhr, Norse form of witchcraft, 184.
389-390- Sigurd Saga, see Siegfried Saga.

Semnoiies, mentioned by Tacitus, 72 Sigvat Thordharson, famous as a
derivation of name, 74 ;
grove of, scald, 193.
102; bloody rites of, 102; assem- Sigytz, Loki's wife, 264, 279.
blage of kindred tribes among, for Simrock, K., 24-25.

worship, 1
03 ; identity of regnator Sindri, 350.
onifiium of, 103-104, 244. Sinistus, meaning of term, 365.
Senna, meaning of term, 199. Sinmara, 348.
Sentimentalistn, absence of, in Norse Sinthgunt, in the Merseburg Charm,
sagas, 413. 127, 129, 272.
Sessrymir, hall of Freyja, 276. Sitones, identical with the Fenni, 93.
Severinus, influence of, 114. S/qfn, the goddess, 279.
Shamanism, no trace of, in art of Shadhi, Finnish character of, 96;
v^lva, 393. marriage with NJQrdhr, 251 ; com-
Shetland Islands, Norsemen settled pared with Gerdhr, 253; made to
on, 173, 182. laugh by Loki, 263 fastens snake
;
Shield-maidens, see Skjdldmeyjar. above Loki, 264 her temples and

;
Shield-songs, 192, 196. groves, 279.

Ship, symbol of, in worship of Isis, Skadhi, as kenning, 332.
104, 215 ; ship processions in Ger- Skdldatal, list of scalds, 191.
many, 215, 270. Skdldskaparmdl, character of, 207.
Sibicho, entices the Harlungen, 140. Skallagrim, scald and Icelandic im-
Siegfried, day or light hero, 145. migrant, 192.
Siegfried Saga, scenes from, on Swe- Skidhbladhnir, Freyr's ship, 252,
dish rocks, 63; sources for, 138; 326.
in part historical, 138-139; Sieg- Skinfaxi, steed of day, 344.
fried mythical in origin, 138, 145; Skirnir, servant of Freyr, 252.
older Norse version, 139, 144 ;
Skirnistndl, subject and character
nucleus of, 143-144; its mythical of, 200, 252-253.
;;
Skjdldmeyjar, or shield-maidens, at Söklcvabekr, meaning of name.

Bravallir, 169; more common in
Norse than in Danish sagas, 170- Songs, among early Teutons, 100.
171; character of, 306-307. Sqrli, the Sarus of Jordanes, 140.
Skjoldtings, Danish royal house, 164. Sold, Vodskov's observations on

Skogsfru, 322. worship of, 46 ; indications of
Skqll, 329, 344. worship of,57-58 abode of souls, ;
S/cryviir, the giant, 242. 59, 290-292 conceptions of the,

;
Skuld, one of Norns, 316. 289-290; disfylgja, 2()2-2^T,; souls
Skuld, vanquishes Hrolf Kraki by appearing in dreams, 294-295 ;
magic, 166. shapes assumed by, 296-297 ; trees
Sky god, primitive character of, 69. as abode of, 297-298 ; cult of the,
Slavs (cf. Balto-Slavs), aversion of 300-303, 371.

Teutons towards, 86, 90 original ;
Spa, meaning of term, 199.
boundary between Slavs and Teu- Spdmadhr, family spirit, exorcised,
tons, 88 two distinct groups of 88

; , 189.
account of Tacitus, 89 extreme ;
Spiral ornamentation, connected with
limits of power of, 89 ; driven out Mycenaean art, 54-55.
of old Teutonic lands, 90 ; con- Spite-stake, 387.
version of, to the Eastern Church, Spring processions, 215.

90 ; contact between Slavs and Springs, worship among Teutons,
of,
Scandinavians, 91. Kelts, and Slavs,

87, 90 among ;
Sleipnir, offspring of Loki, 261, 347. the Franks, 119 among the Ale- ;
Slidhr, the stream, 350, 353, 354. manni, 120; among the Frisians,
Sttafrid, wife of Harald Fairhair, 95, 122-123 among the Saxons, 125
; ;
182. in popular tales, 213.
Snar, 334. Stallr, meaning of term, 359.

Snake, soul appearing as, 297. Starkad, our sources for, 166-167 ;
Snorra, or Prose Edda, meaning of home at Upsala, 167 ; role at
term, 198; authorship, 206; con- Danish court, 167 ; narratives
tents of, 207. represent a fusion of sagas, 167 ;
Snorri, the godhi, 189, 204. character and story of, 167-168,
Snorri Sturluson, his Ynglinga Saga, 237-238 in Skdldatal, 191
;
;
giant
163; his family, 192, 205-206; blended with hero, 330.

his life, 206 ; his literary activity, Steenstriip, Joh., 36.
206 ; as mythographer, 206-209 ;

Stephanius, 9.
compared with Herodotus, 208 Stephens, G., 35.

Christian elements in, 208. Sticla, a shield-maiden, 306.
Snotra, goddess of wisdom, 279. Stikklestad, battle of, 166.
Sohrab, connection of tale with the Stilicho, 108 ; annihilates army of
Hildebrand Lay, 142. Radagais, 109.

INDEX 497
Stone age, 51 older and late, 53

; ;
Svipdag, parallel to Svipdag and
period of transition between the Mengl^dh in the Siegfried Saga,
stone age and the bronze age, 53 ; 144; story of Svipdag and Men-
meaning of the term, 54 tombs ;
gl^dh, a nature-myth, 200, 275 ;
of the, 57 ; disposal of the dead learns magic songs, 385.
in the, 58. Svipdagsmal, represents a nature-
Stonehenge, origin of, 56. myth, 200, 275.

Sturlungs, family of scalds, 192. Srqldr, naval battle at, reminiscences
Snabians, and non-Suabians distin- of, in the Bravalla song, 168;
guished by Tacitus, 72; derivation account of, 186.
of name proposed by Grimm, 74 ;

Swan, as symbol, 106.
called Ziuwari,74; correspond only Swan-knights, 106, 246.

in part to theHerminones,77 said ;
Swan-maidens, popular basis of be-
to have come from the North, 82 ;
lief in, 304-305 Walkyries as, ;
connection -with Scandinavia, 83. 312-312; in Norse and German

Succubtis, 294. literature, 312.
Sudhnautar, meaning of term, 374. Swedes, ancient struggle between

Suebi, or Suevi, see Siiabiaiis. Danes and Swedes, 169; mission
Suidbert, converts the Bructeri, 123- among, 178; first Christian king,
124. 179.
Suiones, mentioned by Tacitus, 93. S%vord, sacred, 245-246.
Sun, descent of, 344. Sword-dances, 245-246, 371.

Sun god, in Wessobrunn Prayer, 130 ;
Symbols, on stones, etc., 59 ham-;
worship of sun not shown by mer, 59 ;

wheel, 59 ;
rectangular
" Sunday," 379. cross, 59 ; triangle, 59 ; age of, 59-
Sunilda, legend of, 135, 140. 60 ; distribution of, 60 ; ansate
Sun{iid), in the Merseburg Charm, cross, 60 ; svastika, 60 ; distribu-
127, 129, 272. tion of the ansate cross and svas-
Suomi, see Finns. tika, 60 ;

meaning, 60 ; use and
Surtr, vanquishes Freyr, 253 ;

Vidh- purpose, 60.
ofnir and Surtr, 348 ;
in the Symons, B., 42, 47.
eschatology, 351. Syn, the goddess, 279.

Svadhilfari, the stalUon, 261. Syr, surname of Freyja, 279.
Svartalfaheim , 347.
Svartalfar, 321. Tacitus, his classification of Teu-
Svasiika, distribution of, 60. tonic tribes, 71-73; value as
Sveinsson, Brynjolf, discoverer of the a source, 97, 98-103; sources
poetic Edda, 9. of, 98-99; his style, 99; contra-

Sven, Danish king, 179. dictions in, 101 ; features of his
Svinfylking, the wedge-shaped battle account of Teutonic religion, 102,
array, 169. 103-104.

;; ;;
Tamfatia, temple of, loi, 271 ; men- 403 morality in heroic saga
;
tioned by Tacitus, 104; festival not hallowed by religion, 406 ;
of, 271, 381. alleged scepticism of Norsemen,

Tarnkappe, 325. 408.
Tatermann, 326. Teutons, not nomads, 52; mother
Temples, statements of Tacitus con- country of the, 65-66; not shep-
cerning, loi, 355; temple at Up- herds, 70 ; culture and civilization
sala described by Adam of Bremen, of the, 70-71; groups and peoples,
177; Teutonic names for "temple," 71 ; the three groups of Taciftus,
355; forests and temples, 355-356; 71-73; the five groups of Pliny,
evidence for the existence of, 356- 72; boundaries separating Teu-
357 ; Scandinavian, 357-359; con- tons and Kelts, 85-86; influence
struction of Norwegian, 358-359; of Teutons on Kelts, and of Kelts
penalties for profanation of, 359 on Teutons, 86-88 aversion of ;
as political centres, 359 ff. Teutons towards Slavs, 86, 90

Terra mater, see Nerthus. reached Rhine at beginning of
Tetctones, probable derivation of the Christian era, 87 ; original
term, 74 doubtful whether Kel-
; boundary between Slavs and Teu-
tic or Teutonic, 74-75. tons, 88 brought into contact
;
Teutonic, use of term, 75. with the Balto-Slavs, 89 ; con-

Teutonic religion, historical develop- tact with the Kelts and Romans
ment of, 4 ; importance of the more important than that with the
history of, 5 aims of the history ;
Slavs, 90 ; correspondences be-
of, 7 air of mystery in, 102, 402
; ;
tween the religions of the Teutons
connection with tribal life, 102, and Balto-Slavs, 90-92 borrow- ;
402 ; importance of, in Teutonic ings of Finns from the language of

life, 103 ; account of Tacitus of, the, 92 contact with the Romans,
;
103-104; alleged decay of, 116- 97 ff. ; character of Teutonic tribes

117;- negative result for, yielded known to Tacitus, 99-100; their
by Eddie poems, 204 ; little reli- love of song, 100; beginnings of
gious significance in observances kingship among them, 100 ; wars
of folklore, 215; ultimate charac- between Teutonic tribes, loo-ioi
ter of, 219-220; monotheism in, did not make common cause
283 animistic conception of, 283
; against foreigners, 10 1 ; relations
importance and character of, 398- to Rome, loi, 107-109, iii, 116-
399 ; importance of Anglo-Saxon 117; appearance in history in
and Norse monuments for history three stages, 112; permanently

of, 399-400 ; absence of a great represented in history by the group
personality, 400 ;
personal virtues led by the Franks, 112; causes of
without religious setting, 402-403 ;
conversion, 1 16-1 17 ;
character of
sacred character of punishments. ancient, 399.
;
INDEX 499
Thangbrandy missionary in Iceland, Thorlacius, Skiile, 13.

189 ; slays Vetrlidhi, 193. Thormodhr, the scald, at Stikklestad,
Theodobert, son of Hugo Theodori- 166 his surname Kolbrunarskald,
;
cus, 137 ; slays Chochilaicus, 157- 191, 413; fame of, 193.
1 58. Thorpe, B., 46-47.

Theodoric, leadership of, iio-iii; Thorwald Kodransson, his share in
attitude toward Catholics, 116; the Christianization of Iceland,
legend of, 135 ff- ; called Dietrich 189.
of Bern in medieval German epics, Thorwald Saga, 189.
136 ; imported into the North, 136. Thral, traditional origin of, 79, 199,
Theudelinde, effects union of Lom- 259.

bards with the Roman Church, Thridhi, in Gylfaginning, 207, 268.
119; reminiscence of, in king Thrivaldi, 334.
Rother, 138. Thrudhr, daughter of Thor, 239
Theudemer, descent from Francio, mythological interpretation of,
84. 240.
Thidhreks Saga, imported from Sax- Thrydo, in Beowulf, 156.
ony, 136 ; as source for the Sieg- Thrym, the giant, 200, 240; as wind
fried Saga, 1 38. giant, 332.
Thiele,J. M., 35. Thrymskvidha, subject and charac-

Thing, Teutonic, resemblance to ter of, 200, 240.
last judgment of Muspilli, 130; Thula, meaning of term, 199.

times of meeting, 381. Thularstóll, seat of the thulr, 190.
Thjalfi, servant of Thor, 240, 242. Thulir, character of, 190; super-
Thjazi, myth of Idhunn and Thjazi, seded by the scalds, 190.

208, 280 ; as wind giant, 332. Thtilitcc, mentioned by Procopius,
Thjodholf oi Hvin, his Ynglingatal, 93-
192 ; his Haustlqng, 280. Thulur, glossaries, 194.
Thjodrerir, the dwarf, 387. TJninar, Thuner, Thunor, see Donar.
Th^kt, role in myth of Baldr, 256- Thuringians, wars with the Sax-
-57- ons and Franks, 82 ; conversion,
Thorn sen, C, 35. 121.
Thor, see Donar. Thurs, 328.

Thorbjqrg, the little V9lva, 390-392. Tieck, L., 14.
Thorbj(irn Hornklofi, author of Tiu (Zio),ox Tyr, Mullenhoff's views

Hrafnsmal, 182, 192. concerning, 32 ; views of Mogk,
Thorgeir, the law-speaker, 189. 42,43; etymology of the name, 68,
Thorgerdh Hqlgabrudh, Finnish char- 243; worshipped by the Hermi-
acter of, 96 and note 2, 279 aids ;
nones, 77 identification of Irmin
;
jarl Hakon, 96 images of, 361-

;
and Tiu, 77; as Mars Thingsus,
362. god of war, 106, 244; among the
Parisians, 1
23 ; among the Anglo- Troll, 328.
Saxons, 1 54 ; as sky god and war Trut, tormenting spirit, 294.
god, 243-244, 283 ; dissemination Tuisto, character of, 79.
of his worship, 244 ; his place in Tumbo, 333.
Norse mythology, 244 ; not origi- ^z"?*":?"'. 352-
nally the chief god, 245 ; other Twelve Nights, character of, 289.
names for, 245, 248 ; his connec- Ty lenses, at Bravallir, 168.

tion with the sword, 245 ; in
myths, 246-247 ; Tiu and Garm, Ubii, named from district inhabited,
352 ; in army and popular assem- 74-

bly, 364 ;invoked for victory, Uggerus, name of Odhin in Saxo,
367 ; sword-dance in honor of, 170.
371; invoked in magic, 3S6. Uhland, L., 23-24.
Tivar, designation for " gods," 283. Ulfilas, of Cappadocian origin, 115;
Tiiv, see Tiu. his translation of the Bible, 1

1
5.
Trade routes, between Southern and Ulfljot, constitution of, 188.

Northern Europe, 55; existence Ulfr Uggason, his Hiisdrdpa, 192.
shown by coins, 61 evidence from ; Ulixes, statement of Tacitus con-
golden horns, 63. cerning, 83.
Trana, 329. Ullr, Swedish deity, 265-266; iden-
Tree worship, among the Franks, tical with Holler ? 266.
119;among the Alemanni, 120; Upsala, temple at, 177.
among the Saxons, 125; nature Urdharmdni, 315.

of, 297-29S, 356. Urdhr, cognate with Anglo-Saxon
Triangle, as symbol, 59, 60. wyrd, 312 ; signification of, 315 ;
Tribal legends, analysis of, 78-79; the true Norn, 316 ; the fountain,
background of reality in, 83. 347-
Tribal names, signification of, 73-74; Utgardhaloki, journey of Thor to,
three classes of, 73-74 ; reference 207, 242-243.

to a cult in, 74 ; no designations
of plants or animals in, 74. Vafrlogi, of the Siegfried Saga, 143 ;
Tribal origins, according to Tacitus, symbolizes the light of dawn, 145.

79, 103; celebrated in song, 100. Vafthrudhnir, the giant, 329 ; wis-
Tribal religions, sources of our dom of, 347, 352.
knowledge of, 76 ; character of, Vafthrudhnismdl, character of, 199,
76; tribal religions alone men- 200.

tioned liy Tacitus, 102. Vali, son of Loki, 267.
Trojati origin, 83-85 of
tales of, ; Vali, son of Odhin, 267 avenges ;
Franks, 84 ; of Danes and Norse- Baldr, 255, 267 other names, 267
; ;
men, 85. survives final catastrophe, 353.

Troldstuer, 57. Vanaheim, 347.
,
INDEX 501
Vandals, East Teutons, 71 ; only Vigfi'isson, G., on the origin of Eddie

incidentally mentioned by Roman poems, 38, 47 and note i.
authors, 73 collide with Lom-
; Vikansa, 272.
bards, 80 ; migrations of, 89 in ; Vikarr, king, sacrificed by Starkad,
Africa, 109, no; annihilated by 372.
Justinian, in persecute Catho-
;
Vikings, expeditions of, 1 49 memory
;
lics, 1 16. of conflict of Scandinavian Vikings

Vandili, mentioned by Tacitus and with Frisians preserved in Beo-
Pliny, 72. wulf, 1 58 ; expeditions of, mark
Vanir, war with ^sir, 85, 165, 201, the beginning of the historical
249-251 ; not Slavic in origin, 92, period, 171 ; significance of Viking
248 ; the Vanir as a group, 247 ;

expeditions for religion, 1 71-172 ;
activity not restricted to one sphere character of expeditions, 172 ;
of nature, 248 ; ethnic basis of their fatalistic frame of mind, 172 ;
cult, 248 ;
gods of Ingaevonic impetus given by period of, to de-
amphictyony, 248 ; Seeland their velopment of myths, 175 life of, ;
home, 248 the Vanir the gods of

;
reflected inHilde-Kudrun Saga,
trade and commerce, 250; power 175 ; Christianity penetrates Den-
of gold connected with myth of mark through Vikings, 179; West-
Vanir? 250; accused of marriage ern Vikings subjugated by Harald
with sisters, 251-252. Fairhair, 181 no Viking expedi-
;
Viird, meaning of, 293. tions from Iceland, 1S8.

Vasolt, as storm giant, 332, 333, 336. Vili and Ve, brothers of Odhin, 234,
Ve, see Vili. 268 ; role in the cosmogony, 342.
Vegtamskvidha, or Baldrs Draiiniar, Vindheini, 352.
general character of, 200, 255. Vinili, name of Lombards, 80 ; cause
Veleda, 366. of exodus, 82.
Vellekla, poem of the scald Einar, Vodskov, H. S., 45-46.
184. Vqggr, avenges Hrolf Kraki, 166.
Venedi, a division of the Slavs, 88 ;
Vol{la), in the Merseburg Charm,
account of Tacitus, 89. 127, 129, 272, 278.
Verdhandi, one of the Norns, 316. Vqlstmga Saga,'' as source for the
Vc'trlidki, the scald, slain by Thang- Siegfried Saga, 138 ; foreign in-
brand, 193. fluences in, 174.
Vidliarr, son of Odhin, 266 ; avenges Vqlsmigen, in Norse version of the

his father, 266, 352 ; mythical Siegfried Saga, 144.
character doubtful, 267 ; survives Völund, see IVieland.
final catastrophe, 352 ; views con- Vqlur, see Vqlva.
cerning, 449-450. Vöhispa, Bang's views on, 37 ;
Vid/ii, home of Vidharr, 266. Meyer's attitude

43 towards, ;
Vidhofiiir, the cock, 348. correspondences between Vöhispa

;
and the Wessobrunn Prayer, 129- Walt/ier, in the Waltharius legend,

130 ; origin of, 199, note ; out- 137-
line of thepoem, 201 the three ; Wate, in the Hilde-Kudrun Saga,
main views held concerning, 202- mythical in character, 177, 330.
203 the eschatology
; of, 349-354 ;
IVater, magic power of, 153, 232;
notion of retribution in, 353. worship of, 323.
Vqlva (plural vqliir), of Slavic IVater-elves (cf. Aîxes), names, 323;

origin? 91 ; wisdom of the, 347; soothsaying powers, 324 ; danger-
Norse not priestesses, 366
V(^htr ous character of, 324.
derivation of the word, 390 char- ; IVatzJuann, as giant, 328.
acter and doings of, 390-393. Weinhold, A'., 33.
Vqr, goddess of vows, 279. IVends, still regarded as a distinct
Voj-tigern, invokes aid of Hengist, class, 90 ; the founding of the
149-150. Jomsburg in Wendland, 91; at
Voss,/. H., 15. Bravallir, 169.
Werewolves, belief in, 298.
IVacker nagel, JV., 30. Werr-e, die, in popular belief, 273.
IVdtnamötnen, resembles Odhin, 94. Wessobrujin P?-ayer, 1 29 cosmog- ;
JVaitz, C, 23 > discoverer of the ony Christian, 129-130.

Merseburg Charms, 126. West Got/is, serve under Aetius, 108;
Waldmdnnlein, 322. in Gaul and Spain, 109, no.
Walhalla, on the golden horns from West Teutons, 7 1 classification of;
Jutland, 62, 63 reception of

; Tacitus includes only, 71.
Eirikr in, pictured in Eiriksmdl, Wheel, as symbol, 59 perhaps sym- ;
184 ; development of conception, bolical of the sun, 60.

228-229, 308. Wich telm dn nchen, 326.
Walkyrie, in the Hartungen Saga, Widolt, the giant, 336.
141 ; in the Siegfried Saga, 144 ;
Widsith, epic material from the
Walkyries common in Norse period of migration in, 134.
sagas, 170; belong to both folk- Wieland {J'dliind), as elf-king, 326.

lore and the pantheon, 218 popu- ;
J V/'elajid Saga, scenes from, on Anglo-
lar basis of belief in,
304-305 the ; Saxon runic casket, 63, 145; of
name,305; functions and character Saxon origin, 145 versions ; of,
of,305-306 sacrifices to, 305 ; ; 145; represents old fire-myth, 145;
equipment of, 306; in the heroic known to the Anglo-Saxons, 154.
sagas, 307 in Norse mythology,
; Wild Hunt (see Eitrions Host), usual
307-308 in Hdkonarvial, 308 in
; ; name in North Germany, 216 ;
the Njalssaga, 308-311. Wodan the huntsman, 216-217,

Waltharhis legend, outline of, 136- 225-226; the train of souls, 216;
137 ; known to the Anglo-Saxons, connection with semi-mythical sto-
154- ries, 216; age of the conception.
;
TNDEX S03
225; character of, 225; names of 123; among the Saxons, 125; in
commander, 225-226 ; not con- the Merseburg Charm, 127-129;
nected with the giants, 331-332. among the Anglo-Saxons, 154; as
Wilde Leute, 322. ancestor of the Norse kings, 164
Wilfrid, missionary among Frisians, role in the Starkad Saga, 167
122. role played at Bravallir, 169-170
Willebrord, among the Thuringians, various guises and names in Saxo,
121; among the Frisians, 122; 170; image of, in temple at Up-
defies the wrath of Fosite, 122- sala, 177; evidence for worship of
123; among the Danes, 122; Odhin in Norway, 181; in Eiriks-
destroys an idol, 360. fndl, 184; "tricks" Olaf Tryggva-

Willehad, missionary among the son, 185 worshipped in Iceland,
;
Frisians, 122. 187 ;

" Odhin's steed " a kenning
Wimmer, L., 35. for "gallows," 194; his journeys
Windsbratit, 322. in Eddie songs, 200 ; spurious
Winfrid, see Boniface. myth Odhin in Hdvamcil, 200
of ;
Wish-maiden, meaning of the term, superiority of Odhin to Thor ac-
307- cording to the Harbardhsljódh,

Witchcraft, see Magic. 200 ; power of magic, 201 386
his , ;
Witches, belief in, among Saxons, euhemeristic treatment of Odhin

126; character of belief in, 299. in Heitnskringla, 206 ; recogniz-
Witege, 336. able in St. Martin and St. Michael,

Wodan, or Odhiii, limits of worship 212-213; as "hell-hunter," 217;
defined by Leo, i6; Petersen's etymology of the name, 221 as ;
views on the importation of Odhin Mercurius, 221-222; originallygod

from Germany, 37, '224; one of of the Istvjeones, 222 ; existence
the chief deities, 42 ; Mogk's of his South Germany

cult in
views on, 43 on the golden

;
doubtful, 222-223 in Middle Ger- ;
horns from Jutland, 62 worship ;

many, 223; as proper name, 223;
in Norway compared with that in the name of the fourth day,
of Thor, 76; not found in con- 223 ; in the formula of abjuration,

junction with Istv, 77 appears ; 223 among the Anglo-Saxons,
;
as Gaut, the ancestor of the 223 among the Danes, 223

; ;
Amali? 79; as Godan in legen- among the Scandinavians, 224 ;
dary Lombard history, 80; said introduced into Norse literature

to have come from Asgardh, 85 largely from outside, 224 ; the
resembles Wainamöinen, 94 Saxagodh, 224 ; and

functions
called Mercury in Tacitus, 103; attributes of, 224-225; as wind

beer sacrifice to,among the Ale- god, 225 ; as commander of Wild
manni, 1 20 ; among the Frisians, Hunt, 216-217, 225-226; outward
123; identity of Fosite with, appearance, 226; surname.s, 226;
;
as god of agriculture, 226-227; as Worm, Ole, 9.
god of the dead, 227, 230; as god Worsaae, /., 35.

of those hung, 227 as god of war,
; Worship, see Cult.
227 ff.; as progenitor, 230; Odhin Wuotan, see Wodan.
in Norse myths, 230, 233 as god ; Wyrd, designation for "fate," 155,
of wisdom ;.-id poetry, 230 ff.; as 312,315.
god of runes, 231-232; his inter-
course with Mimir, 232 Odhin ; Ydalir, home of Ullr, 266.
and the poets' mead, 232-233 ;
Yggdrasil, on the golden horns from
Odhin in company with Hoenir Jutland, 62, 63; description of, in
and Lodhurr, 233, 263 Odhin as ; Gylfaginning, 207 ; not part of

god of heaven and sun, 233; as popular belief, 209 origin of term,
;
Alfadhir, 234; as creator, 234; 347-348 ; in Eddie songs, 34S-

as a spiritual type, 234 ; conflict 349; in the eschatology, 351.
between Odhin and the Vanir, Yggr, name of Odhin, 170.
249 ff. close connection between

; Yniir, the first giant, 207 ; associated
Odhin and Loki, 263 ; Odhin's with water, 331 identified with
;
visit to Geirrodhr, 275-276; origi- Fornjotr, 334 origin of, 340-342

;
;
nally god of wind or dead, 283 slainby the sons of Bor, 342.
character of, in Norse mythology, Ynglinga Saga, based on the Yng-
285; connection with Walkyries, lingatal, 206.
307-308; not a wind giant, 331; Ynglingatal, of Thjodholf, 192 basis ;
in the cosmogony, 342 ; in the of the Ynglinga Saga, 206.

eschatology, 351; animals sacri- Yrsa, mother of Hrolf Kraki, 166.
. ficed to, Hdvamdl,

376; in 410. Ynle festival, mentioned in Hrafns-
Woden, see Wodan. mdl, 182 ; origin and character of,
Wolf, J. W., 24. 382.

Wolfdietrich, legend of, 137; substi-
tuted for Harthari, 141. Zeiiss, A', 31-32.
Womati, reverence of Teutons for, Ziefer, meaning of term, 369.
102, 304. Zio, see Tin.
Wood-wives, 322. Zisa, fictitious goddess, 271.

World-tree, 347-349. Zinwari, derivation of name, 74,
Worlds, the nine, 346-347. 244.
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Edited by MORRIS JASTROW. Jr.

The following volumes are now ready

/. THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA

//. THE RELIGION OF BABYLONIA AND

///. THE RELIGION OF THE TEUTONS

GINN & COMPANY Publishers

MORRIS JASTROVV, Jr., Ph.D.

THE RELIGION OF THE

P. D. CHANTEPIE DE LA SAUSSAYE, D.D.

TRANSLATED FROM THE DUTCH

BERT J. VOS, PH.D. (JOHNS HOPKINS)

GINN & COMPANY

By GINN & COMPANY

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Cbe Slttienaeuni freest

The present volume may be allowed to plead its own cause

and wherein he has failed. It is the hope of the author that

definite information on controverted points, the more so as the

greater part a different field.

take the translation. The first eleven chapters — also pub-

the excellent sketch of Mogk in Paul's Grundriss der germa-

and the scholar will observe that^ my conclusions frequently

II. History of Teutonic Mythology 7

III. The Prehistoric Period ... 49

V. Teutons and Romans 97

VII. The German Heroic Saga 133

VIII. The Anglo-Saxons i49

IX. The North before the Age of the Vikings . . . .163

XI. Folklore 210

XII. The Pantheon 221

XIII.Gods and Divine Nature 282

XIV. Animism, Souls, Worship of the Dead 289

XV. Walkyries, Swan-Maidens, Norns 304

XVI. Elves and Dwarfs 3'^

XVII. Giants • 3-^

XVIII. The World: Cosmogony, Cosmology, and Eschatology 338

XIX. Worship and Rites 355

XX. Calendar and Festivals 379

XXI. Magic and - ination 3^5

XXII. Conclusion 39^

The country we live in and the blood in our veins constitute

nations of antiquity, our natural origins are to be found among

US, even though it has not been immortalized in masterpieces

religious institutions and observances, though connected with

of religion " and " mythology " areby no means convertible

essential to distinguish carefully between these two phases.

Teutons, that we feel justified in adhering to it.

Teutonic mythology, therefore, comprises all that is known

That mythology is an historical science may now be regarded

when we attempt tocombine these isolated facts and to con-

for at this point we touch the apparently simple but in reality

myth, and all the myths concerning a particular god or hero, is

its logical conclusion is work to fathom a mythological

shoots out its tendrils in every direction ? Wherever the spur

furnishes a faint idea of the trial of patience involved in myth-

of misconceptions, we are apt to make hasty generalizations on

1 H. Usener, ReligionsgeschichtUche Unterstichungen, i (1889), p. .xi.

the basis of what has been brought to the surface in some

comprehend the mythological material collected, but we should