Myths of the Norsemen Part 28

Saemund's Edda (Thorpe's tr.).

The giant's wife, however, prevailed upon her husband to welcome Tyr and Thor, and he slew three oxen for their refection; but great was his dismay to see the thunder-G.o.d eat two of these for his supper. Muttering that he would have to go fishing early the next morning to secure a breakfast for so voracious a guest, the giant retired to rest, and when at dawn the next day he went down to the sh.o.r.e, he was joined by Thor, who said that he had come to help him. The giant bade him secure his own bait, whereupon Thor coolly slew his host's largest ox, Himinbrioter (heaven-breaker), and cutting off its head, he embarked with it and proceeded to row far out to sea. In vain Hymir protested that his usual fishing-ground had been reached, and that they might encounter the terrible Midgard snake were they to venture any farther; Thor persistently rowed on, until he fancied they were directly above this monster.

"On the dark bottom of the great salt lake, Imprisoned lay the giant snake, With naught his sullen sleep to break."

Thor's Fishing, Oehlenschlager (Pigott's tr.).

Baiting his powerful hook with the ox head, Thor angled for Iormungandr, while the giant meantime drew up two whales, which seemed to him to be enough for an early morning meal. He was about to propose to return, therefore, when Thor suddenly felt a jerk, and began pulling as hard as he could, for he knew by the resistance of his prey, and the terrible storm created by its frenzied writhings, that he had hooked the Midgard snake. In his determined efforts to force the snake to rise to the surface, Thor braced his feet so strongly against the bottom of the boat that he went through it and stood on the bed of the sea.

After an indescribable struggle, the monster's terrible venom-breathing head appeared, and Thor, seizing his hammer, was about to annihilate it when the giant, frightened by the proximity of Iormungandr, and fearing lest the boat should sink and he should become the monster's prey, cut the fishing-line, and thus allowed the snake to drop back like a stone to the bottom of the sea.

"The knife prevails: far down beneath the main The serpent, spent with toil and pain, To the bottom sank again."

Thor's Fishing, Oehlenschlager (Pigott's tr.).

Angry with Hymir for his inopportune interference, Thor dealt him a blow with his hammer which knocked him overboard; but Hymir, undismayed, waded ash.o.r.e, and met the G.o.d as he returned to the beach. Hymir then took both whales, his spoil of the sea, upon his back, to carry them to the house; and Thor, wishing also to show his strength, shouldered boat, oars, and fishing tackle, and followed him.

Breakfast being disposed of, Hymir challenged Thor to prove his strength by breaking his beaker; but although the thunder-G.o.d threw it with irresistible force against stone pillars and walls, it remained whole and was not even bent. In obedience to a whisper from Tyr's mother, however, Thor suddenly hurled the vessel against the giant's forehead, the only substance tougher than itself, when it fell shattered to the ground. Hymir, having thus tested the might of Thor, told him he could have the kettle which the two G.o.ds had come to seek, but Tyr tried to lift it in vain, and Thor could raise it from the floor only after he had drawn his belt of strength to the very last hole.

"Tyr twice a.s.sayed To move the vessel, Yet at each time Stood the kettle fast.

Then Modi's father By the brim grasped it, And trod through The dwelling's floor."

Lay of Hymir (Thorpe's tr.)

The wrench with which he finally pulled it up did great damage to the giant's house and his feet broke through the floor. As Tyr and Thor were departing, the latter with the huge pot clapped on his head in place of a hat, Hymir summoned his brother frost giants, and proposed that they should pursue and slay their inveterate foe. Turning round, Thor suddenly became aware of their pursuit, and, hurling Miolnir repeatedly at the giants, he slew them all ere they could overtake him. Tyr and Thor then resumed their journey back to aegir, carrying the kettle in which he was to brew ale for the harvest feast.

The physical explanation of this myth is, of course, a thunder storm (Thor), in conflict with the raging sea (the Midgard snake), and the breaking up of the polar ice (Hymir's goblet and floor) in the heat of summer.

The G.o.ds now arrayed themselves in festive attire and proceeded joyfully to aegir's feast, and ever after they were wont to celebrate the harvest home in his coral caves.

"Then Vans and aesir, mighty G.o.ds, Of earth and air, and Asgard, lords,-- Advancing with each G.o.ddess fair, A brilliant retinue most rare,-- Attending mighty Odin, swept Up wave-worn aisle in radiant march."

Valhalla (J. C. Jones).

Unloved Divinities

aegir, as we have seen, ruled the sea with the help of the treacherous Ran. Both of these divinities were considered cruel by the Northern nations, who had much to suffer from the sea, which, surrounding them on all sides, ran far into the heart of their countries through the numerous fiords, and often swallowed the ships of their vikings, with all their warrior crews.

Other Divinities of the Sea

Besides these princ.i.p.al divinities of the sea, the Northern nations believed in mermen and mermaids, and many stories are related of mermaids who divested themselves for a brief while of swan plumage or seal-garments, which they left upon the beach to be found by mortals who were thus able to compel the fair maidens to remain on land.

"She came through the waves when the fair moon shone (Drift o' the wave and foam o' the sea); She came where I walked on the sands alone, With a heart as light as a heart may be."

L. E. R.

There were also malignant marine monsters known as Nicors, from whose name has been derived the proverbial Old Nick. Many of the lesser water divinities had fish tails; the females bore the name of Undines, and the males of Stromkarls, Nixies, Necks, or Neckar.

"Where in the marisches boometh the bittern, Nicker the Soul-less sits with his ghittern, Sits inconsolable, friendless and foeless, Wailing his destiny, Nicker the Soul-less."

From Brother Fabian's Ma.n.u.script.

In the middle ages these water spirits were believed sometimes to leave their native streams, to appear at village dances, where they were recognised by the wet hem of their garments. They often sat beside the flowing brook or river, playing on a harp, or singing alluring songs while combing out their long golden or green hair.

"The Neck here his harp in the gla.s.s castle plays, And mermaidens comb out their green hair always, And bleach here their shining white clothes."

Stagnelius (Keightley's tr.).

The Nixies, Undines, and Stromkarls were particularly gentle and lovable beings, and were very anxious to obtain repeated a.s.surances of their ultimate salvation.

Many stories are told of priests or children meeting them playing by a stream, and taunting them with future d.a.m.nation, which threat never failed to turn the joyful music into pitiful wails. Often priest or children, discovering their mistake, and touched by the agony of their victims, would hasten back to the stream and a.s.sure the green-toothed water sprites of future redemption, when they invariably resumed their happy strains.

"Know you the Nixies, gay and fair?

Their eyes are black, and green their hair-- They lurk in sedgy sh.o.r.es."

Mathisson.

River Nymphs

Besides Elf or Elb, the water sprite who gave its name to the Elbe River in Germany, the Neck, from whom the Neckar derives its name, and old Father Rhine, with his numerous daughters (tributary streams), the most famous of all the lesser water divinities is the Lorelei, the siren maiden who sits upon the Lorelei rock near St. Goar, on the Rhine, and whose alluring song has enticed many a mariner to death. The legends concerning this siren are very numerous indeed, one of the most ancient being as follows:

Legends of the Lorelei

Lorelei was an immortal, a water nymph, daughter of Father Rhine; during the day she dwelt in the cool depths of the river bed, but late at night she would appear in the moonlight, sitting aloft upon a pinnacle of rock, in full view of all who pa.s.sed up or down the stream. At times, the evening breeze wafted some of the notes of her song to the boatmen's ears, when, forgetting time and place in listening to these enchanting melodies, they drifted upon the sharp and jagged rocks, where they invariably perished.