Lögberg-Heimskringla - 05.12.1980, Page 2

2-WINNIPEG, FÖSTUDAGUR 5. DESEMBER 1980
by Haraldur Bessason
The myth of the flaming
Gods and mortals
In reading the Old Icelandic or the
Old Norse heroic lays or poems one
notes that these ancient accounts sel-
dom admit heathen gods to the world
of humans. The Icelandic Elder Edda,
a book of poems or lays composed
some time in the period from the ninth
to approximately the llth or even the
12th century A.D., contains two kinds
of poetry; one kind is devoted to the
heathen gods, the other to outstanding
men or heroes. Even though the heroes
of Elder Edda are noted for extra-
ordinary endowments, their ac-
complishments are to a large extent
confined to the sphere of human capa-
bilities. Unlike the ancient Greeks the
Norse authors of Eddic poems were
careful to maintain a boundary-line be-
tween the realm of heroes and the
world of gods, even though, as we shall
soon see, these two realms eventually
came to be measured against each
other.
The performer and his influence
To a large extent a truly heroic poem
was designed to afford an ordinary
human being the opportunity of ex-
panding his limited experience in a
positive fashion by presenting him
with an impressive account of a splen-
did feat performed by a fellow-human.
Such expansion of the sphere of indi-
vidual experience was not to be con-
fused with the kind of escapist desires
that find fulfillment in magic flights
and other comparable happenings.
Ráther this literary experience was in
complete harmony with the highly
democratic view that the performance
of praise-worthy deeds should not be
for the benefit of the performer alone,
but also for those who remained out-
side the precincts of the heroic stage,
whatever the range of their mental and
physical endowments might be. Thus a
heroic accomplishment was not just an
event that called for conventional
terms of praise. It was indeed a magni-
ficent contribution designed to enrich
the collective experience of all people.
This design or plan placed a heavy em-
phasis upon orðstir which in literal
translation would mean 'the flame of
good reputation'. Further, it must be
added that deeds giving rise to such
reputation had to originate within the
' realm of human capabilities where the
laws of nature prevail. This again ex-
plains why devine beings or deities
could not be allowed to perform on the
heroic stage. Ordinary mortals, it was
felt, would be unable to relate their
own experiences to the superhuman
accomplishments of gods.
Internal and external forces
This distinction which has now been
made between a man and his god
should not be taken to mean that the
Old Norse or the Old Germanic deities
were free from human shortcomings.
Indeed the numerous flaws of the
heathen gods eventually brought about
their demise. However, it must be
borne in mind that on the part of the
gods neither their frailty, which in it-
self could be regarded as a human
trait, nor their reduction to the level of
mortal men would entitle the gods to
join the ranks of heroes. Having
entered upon their path of decline,
these gods could not be merely
demoted to a lower plane of existence;
their downward journey could only
lead to destruction. In considering the
decline of the northern gods as it is
depicted in literary sources from ap-
proximately the 9th and the lOth cen-
turies A.D., one is aole to distinguish
between two kinds of views that were
to effect a very significant change in
the spiritual and religious outlook of
the Norsemen. One kind had its roots
within the Norse community and was
partly created by the persistent tend-
ency among people to compare their
gods with mortal heroes; the other
kind of view was of external nature
and to a large extent it was brought
about by a steadily increasing aware-
ness among the pre-Christian Norse-
men -of the gradually approaching
Christian faith and civilization.
Two significant poems
With these two kinds of views in
mind it is now appropriate to single out
two Norse or Icelandic mythological
poems for further comment. Both
these poems were composed in pre-
Christian Iceland or Scandinavia
before the year 1000 A.D.
A dangerous journey
The first poem Skimismál contains
an intriguing story about the fertility
god Fréyr. In this poem Freyr has been
placed in the hall of the mighty Odinn
himself from where it was possible to
see into the most distant corners of the
world. Thus Freyr is able to see into
the world of the giants - perhaps a little
too clearly - since his eyes become fix-
ed upon a certain lady by the name of
Gerd. This lady, one is told, was the
daughter of a mighty giant. For the
sake of propriety, we must surmise
that this giantess, by some supernatur-
al means, must have effected a
considerable change in her true ap-
pearance, since Freyr finds her to be
the fairest of maidens and quite ir-
resistible. Freyr's father, Njord, now
becomes concerned about his son's
emotional upheaval and solicits the
aid of Freyr's servant and faithful
friend, Skírnir. Through a brief
dialogue between Freyr and Skírnir,
one learns that the latter is immediate-
ly given the assignment of undertaking
a journey to the home of the fair giant
maiden to present her with Freyr's
proposal of marriage. Freyr decides to
have his representative well equipped
for this important mission and pro-
vides him with a horse and a sword.
After his long journey Skírnir
reaches the home of the giantess Gerd
and immediately presents her with
Freyr's proposal, which she flatly re-
jects. Skírnir then tries to persuade the
giantess by offering her splendid gifts,
but as it becomes evident that offers of
bribery will not get Skírnir anywhere,
he proceeds to deal out threats, which
also prove to be unsuccessful. Finally,
as he resorts to the use of magic, the
giantess helplessly yields to his re-
quests and agrees to accept Freyr's
proposal. At the end of the poem about
Freyr, Skírnir, and the giantess Gerd,
one learns that a rendezvous has been
arranged between the two of them.
Nature symbolisms
The exact dating of this poem is not
of prime importance in our context;
rather its apparently ancient and pure-
ly heathen mythological basis would
have to be regarded as more signifi-
cant. It undoubtedly reflects a fertility
cult and sacred ceremonial observance
associated with a devine wedding. An-
other sign indicating ancient roots of
the myth about Freyr and the giantess
is found in the neatly constructed se-
quence of nature symbolisms in
Skírnismál where the god Freyr in all
probability represents the sun and the
giantess Gerd 'mother earth' (oné re-
calls here that in Old Norse mythology
the earth was created out of the body
of a giant). Skírnir, Freyr's faithful
messenger, who so forcefully presents
his god's proposal to the giantess,
would then, if one wishes to carry this
theory of symbolic use futfher, have to
be equáted with the rays of the sun. In
fact, this kind of symbolism seems to
be suggested by the name of the mes-
senger. In the Old Norse language the
adjective skírr which constitutes' the
core element in the name Skirnir
means 'bright' or 'filled with
brightness'.
Óðinn and Freyr
Having considered this primitive
myth about Freyr, one may recon-
struct very briefly a parallel myth
about the god Óðinn's eye being seen
in the well of Mímir. Understandably,
these allusions have been explained as
nature symbolism, i.e., the reflection
of the sun on lakes and waters must
have given rise to the story about the
eye of the supreme god being seen at
the bottom of a particular well. Having
established this connection between
the mighty Óðinn and the sun, it is
well to mention a mythological refer-
ence to Óðinn's son, Thor the God of
Thunder. This reference describes
Thor as 'jarðar burr', which means 'the
son of mother earth’. As a rule, our
mythological literature refers to
Óðinn's wife by the name of Frigg.
This mention of Thor as the son of
'mother earth' must be explained on
the basis of an early and primitive
stage in northern mythology when
Óðinn's wife was no other than Jörd.
(i.e., 'mother earth'). Thus one is able
to present two comparable nature
myths, both of them admittedly recon-
structed, in which Óðinn and Freyr
were equated with the sun. More
myths of the same kind where other
gods would appear as protagonists
could be reconstructed, but space does
not permit further indulgence in that
kind of luxury. It is not possible to sug-
gest with any accuracy the period to
which this kind of mythology belong-
ed. Nonetheless, one is justified in
claiming that nature myths must have
belonged to the era in northern history
when little attempts had been made as
yet to evaluate in human terms the
conduct of divine beings. Also they no
doubt reflect the times when Christ-
ianity was still a long way from taking
root in Scandinavian soil.
The reconstruction of a myth
Let us now attempt to reconstruct
the Myth of the Flaming Sword, since
it, too, from the scholarly standpoint,
can be presented only in hypothetical
form. In the preceding summary of the
Freyr's myth mention was made of a
sword which the god Freyr handed
over to his servant Skírnir before the
latter set off for the world of the giants.
The original myth as well as the poem
Skírnismál, which in part forms the
sword
basis for this essay, do not seem to
have attached any importance to
Freyr's parting with his sword; instead
one gets the impression that it was on-
ly natural that Skírnir should have a
weapon with which to protect himself
on his long and arduous journey. It
need not concern us here that in a
secondary source Freyr's sword is des-
cribed as having been of an extraordin-
ary kind. To summarize this point: the
references to Freyr’s sword in the old
myths about him (i.e., if there were
any such references) as well as the
mention of his sword in Skírnismál
may be taken as purely incidental. But
purely incidental acts may in due
course assume significance, and even
divine beings cannot hope to remain
unaffected by the continuous changes
that characterize human conditions.
A code of ethics
In the 9th and the lOth centuries
these changes and their resultant ef-
fects upon the spiritual and religious
attitudes of men were no doubt keenly
felt among northern peoples. At that
time they already possessed a remark-
ably detailed code of ethics which pro-
vided honourable men with important
guidelines for honourable conduct.
This code, which may well be describ-
ed as consisting of heroic viking-princi-
ples, is contained in one of the best
known Norse poems called Hávamál
('The Sayings of the High One'). Of the
many human qualities discussed in
this poem the greatest emphasis is
placed upon a certain attribute describ-
ed in the Norse language as mannvit,
which may be translated into English
as 'good sense' which again suggests a
person's capability of consistently
judging surrounding circumstances in
a sensible and realistic manner. Ac-
cording to the code, a person is to be
both brave and generous without ever
resorting to irrational or reckless
behaviour. This remarkable poem em-
phasizes caution at every turn of the
road and, bearing in mind that in
Scandinavia the 9th and the lOth cen-
turies constituted the greater part of
the Viking Age, one is not.surprised to
find a reference to personal safety
which each and every individual is to
provide for himself. Accordingly, the
opening lines of Hávamál impress
upon the individual that he must exer-
cise caution as he enters strange
abodes, because "one never knows
where enemies may lie in wait". In a
subsequent verse one is strongly advis-
ed against "walking ahead of one's
weapons".
Emotions and intellectual powers
Moderation is a natural corollary of
good judgement, and this is indeed one
of the valuable human qualities ac-
cording to the code of ethics of
Hávamál. One may indeed summarize
this ancient code by stating that its
numerous examples concerning hu-
man behaviour are intended to help
the individual bring his emotions
under the control of the powers of the
intellect. At this point one may go fur-
ther still by saying that the demand for
a high degree of intellectual control on
the part of each individual gave rise to
quite concrete methods by which-hu-
man qualities were measured.
Continued next week.