Teutonic Mythology Part 20

I dare say the most characteristic figure of Teutonic mythology is Mimer, the lord of the fountain which bears his name. The liquid contained in the fountain is the object of Odin's deepest desire. He has neither authority nor power over it. Nor does he or anyone else of the G.o.ds seek to get control of it by force. Instances are mentioned showing that Odin, to get a drink from it, must subject himself to great sufferings and sacrifices (Voluspa, Cod. Reg., 28, 29; Havamal, 138-140; Gylf.a.g., 15), and it is as a gift or a loan that he afterwards receives from Mimer the invigorating and soul-inspiring drink (Havamal, 140, 141). Over the fountain and its territory Mimer, of course, exercises unlimited control, an authority which the G.o.ds never appear to have disputed. He has a sphere of power which the G.o.ds recognize as inviolable. The domain of his rule belongs to the lower world; it is situated under one of the roots of the world-tree (Voluspa, 28, 29; Gylf.a.g., 15), and when Odin, from the world-tree, asks for the precious mead of the fountain, he peers _downward_ into the deep, and thence brings up the runes (_nysta ec nithr_, _nam ec up runar_--Havamal, 139). Saxo's account of the adventure of Hotherus (_Hist_., pp. 113-115, Muller's ed.) shows that there was thought to be a descent to Mimer's land in the form of a mountain cave (_specus_), and that this descent was, like the one to Gudmund's domain, to be found in the uttermost North, where terrible cold reigns.

Though a giant, Mimer is the friend of the order of the world and of the G.o.ds. He, like Urd, guards the sacred ash, the world-tree (Voluspa, 28), which accordingly also bears his name and is called Mimer's tree (_Mimameidr_--Fjolsvinsm, 20; _meidr Mima_--Fjolsv., 24). The intercourse between the Asa-father and him has been of such a nature that the expression "Mimer's friend" (_Mimsvinr_--Sonatorrek, 22; Younger Edda, i. 238, 250, 602) could be used by the skalds as an epithet of Odin. Of this friendship Ynglingasaga (ch. 4) has preserved a record. It makes Mimer lose his life in his activity for the good of the G.o.ds, and makes Odin embalm his head, in order that he may always be able to get wise counsels from its lips. The song about Sigrdrifa (str.

14) represents Odin as listening to the words of truth which come from Mimer's head. Voluspa (str. 45) predicts that Odin, when Ragnarok approaches, shall converse with Mimer's head; and, according to Gylf.a.ginning (56), he, immediately before the conflagration of the world, rides to Mimer's fountain to get advice from the deep thinker for himself and his friends. The firm friendship between Alfather and this strange giant of the lower world was formed in time's morning while Odin was still young and undeveloped (Hav., 141), and continued until the end of the G.o.ds and the world.

Mimer is the collector of treasures. The same treasures as Gorm and his men found in the land which Gudmund let them visit are, according to mythology, in the care of Mimer. The wonderful horn (Voluspa, 28), the sword of victory, and the ring (Saxo, _Hist._, 113, 114; cp. Nos. 87, 97, 98, 101, 103).

In all these points the Gudmund of the middle-age sagas and Mimer of the mythology are identical. There still remains an important point. In Gudmund's domain there is a splendid grove, an enclosed place, from which weaknesses, age, and death are banished--a Paradise of the peculiar kind, that it is not intended for the souls of the dead, but for certain _lifandi menn_, yet inaccessible to people in general. In the myth concerning Mimer we also find such a grove.

52.

MIMER'S GROVE. LIF AND LEIFTHRASER.

The grove is called after its ruler and guardian, Mimer's or Treasure-Mimer's grove (_Mimis holt_--Younger Edda, Upsala Codex; Gylf.a.g., 58; _Hoddmimis holt_--Vafthrudnism, 45; Gylf.a.g., 58).

Gylf.a.ginning describes the destruction of the world and its regeneration, and then relates how the earth, rising out of the sea, is furnished with human inhabitants. "During the conflagration (_i Surtarloga_) two persons are concealed in Treasure-Mimer's grove. Their names are Lif (_Lif_) and Leifthraser (_Leifthrasir_), and they feed on the morning dews. From them come so great an offspring that all the world is peopled."

In support of its statement Gylf.a.ginning quotes Vafthrudnersmal. This poem makes Odin and the giant Vafthrudner (_Vafthrudnir_) put questions to each other, and among others Odin asks this question:

Fiolth ec for, fiolth ec freistathac, fiolth ec um reynda regin: hvat lifir manna, tha er inn maera lithr fimbulvetr meth firom?

"Much I have travelled, much I have tried, much I have tested the powers. What human persons shall still live when the famous fimbul-winter has been in the world?"

Vafthrudner answers:

Lif oc Leifthrasir, enn thau leynaz muno i holti Hoddmimis; morgindauggvar thau ser at mat hafa enn thadan af aldir alaz.

"Lif and Leifthraser (are still living); they are concealed in Hodd-Mimer's grove. They have morning dews for nourishment. Thence (from Hodd-Mimer's grove and this human pair) are born (new) races."

Gylf.a.ginning says that the two human beings, Lif and Leifthraser, who become the progenitors of the races that are to people the earth after Ragnarok, are concealed _during the conflagration of the world_ in Hodd-Mimer's grove. This is, beyond doubt, in accordance with mythic views. But mythologists, who have not paid sufficient attention to what Gylf.a.ginning's source (Vafthrudnersmal) has to say on the subject, have from the above expression drawn a conclusion which implies a complete misunderstanding of the traditions in regard to Hodd-Mimer's grove and the human pair therein concealed. They have a.s.sumed that Lif and Leifthraser are, like all other people living at that time, inhabitants of the surface of the earth at the time when the conflagration of the world begins. They have explained Mimer's grove to mean the world-tree, and argued that when Surt's flames destroy all other mortals this one human pair have succeeded in climbing upon some particular branch of the world-tree, where they were protected from the destructive element.

There they were supposed to live on morning dews until the end of Ragnarok, and until they could come down from their hiding-place in Ygdrasil upon the earth which has risen from the sea, and there become the progenitors of a more happy human race.

According to this interpretation, Ygdrasil was a tree whose trunk and branches could be grasped by human hands, and one or more mornings, with attendant morning dews, are a.s.sumed to have come and gone, while fire and flames enveloped all creation, and after the sun had been swallowed by the wolf and the stars had fallen from the heavens (Gylf.a.g., 55; Volusp., 54)! And with this terrible catastrophe before their eyes, Lif and Leifthraser are supposed to sit in perfect unconcern, eating the morning dews!

For the scientific reputation of mythical inquiry it were well if that sort of investigations were avoided when they are not made necessary by the sources themselves.

If sufficient attention had been paid to the above-cited evidence furnished by Vafthrudnersmal in this question, the misunderstanding might have been avoided, and the statement of Gylf.a.ginning would not have been interpreted to mean that Lif and Leifthraser inhabited Mimer's grove _only_ during Ragnarok. For Vafthrudnersmal plainly states that this human pair are in perfect security in Mimer's grove, _while a long and terrible winter, a fimbul-winter, visits the earth and destroys its inhabitants_. Not until after the end of this winter do giants and G.o.ds collect their forces for a decisive conflict on Vigrid's plains; and when this conflict is ended, then comes the conflagration of the world, and after it the regeneration. Anent the length of the fimbul-winter, Gylf.a.ginning (ch. 55) claims that it continued for three years "without any intervening summer."

Consequently Lif and Leifthraser must have had their secure place of refuge in Mimer's grove during the fimbul-winter, which precedes Ragnarok. And, accordingly, the idea that they were there only during Ragnarok, and all the strange conjectures based thereon, are unfounded.

They continue to remain there while the winter rages, and during all the episodes which characterise the progress of the world towards ruin, and, finally, also, as Gylf.a.ginning reports, during the conflagration and regeneration of the world.

Thus it is explained why the myth finds it of importance to inform us how Lif and Leifthraser support themselves during their stay in Mimer's grove. It would not have occurred to the myth to present and answer this question had not the sojourn of the human pair in the grove continued for some length of time. Their food is the morning dew. The morning dew from Ygdrasil was, according to the mythology, a sweet and wonderful nourishment, and in the popular traditions of the Teutonic middle age the dew of the morning retained its reputation for having strange, nourishing qualities. According to the myth, it evaporates from the world-tree, which stands, ever green and blooming, over Urd's and Mimer's sacred fountains, and drops thence "in dales" (Voluspa, 18, 28; Gylf.a.g., 16). And as the world-tree is sprinkled and gets its life-giving sap from these fountains, then it follows that the liquid of its morning dew is substantially the same as that of the subterranean fountains, which contain the elixir of life, wisdom, and poesy (cp. Nos.

72, 82, and elsewhere).

_At what time_ Mimer's grove was opened as an asylum for Lif and Leifthraser, whether this happened during or shortly before the fimbul-winter, or perchance long before it, on this point there is not a word in the pa.s.sages quoted from Vafthrudnersmal. But by the following investigation the problem shall be solved.

The Teutonic mythology has not looked upon the regeneration of the world as a new creation. The life which in time's morning developed out of chaos is not destroyed by Surt's flames, but rescues itself, purified, for the coming age of the world. The world-tree survives the conflagration, for it defies both edge and fire (Fjolsvinnsm, 20, 21).

The Ida-plains are not annihilated. After Ragnarok, as in the beginning of time, they are the scene of the a.s.semblings of the G.o.ds (Voluspa, 57; cp. 7). Vanaheim is not affected by the destruction, for Njord shall in _aldar rauc_ (Vafthrudnersmal, 39) return thither "to wise Vans." Odin's dwellings of victory remain, and are inhabited after regeneration by Balder and _Hodr_ (Voluspa, 59). The new sun is the daughter of the old one, and was born before Ragnarok (Vafthr., 47), which she pa.s.ses through unscathed. The ocean does not disappear in Ragnarok, for the present earth sinks beneath its surface (Voluspa, 54), and the new earth after regeneration rises from its deep (Voluspa, 55). G.o.ds survive (Voluspa, 53, 56; Vafthr. 51; Gylf.a.g., 58). Human beings survive, for Lif and Leifthraser are destined to become the connecting link between the present human race and the better race which is to spring therefrom.

Animals and plants survive--though the animals and plants on the surface of the earth perish; but the earth risen from the sea was decorated with green, and there is not the slightest reference to a new act of creation to produce the green vegetation. Its cascades contain living beings, and over them flies the eagle in search of his prey (Voluspa, 56; see further, No. 55). A work of art from antiquity is also preserved in the new world. The game of dice, with which the G.o.ds played in their youth while they were yet free from care, is found again among the flowers on the new earth (Voluspa, 8, 58; see further, No. 55).

If the regeneration had been conceived as a new creation, a wholly new beginning of life, then the human race of the new era would also have started from a new creation of a human pair. The myth about Lif and Leifthraser would then have been unnecessary and superfluous. But the fundamental idea is that the life of the new era is to be a continuation of the present life purified and developed to perfection, and from the standpoint of this fundamental idea Lif and Leifthraser are necessary.

The idea of improvement and perfection are most clearly held forth in regard to both the physical and spiritual condition of the future world.

All that is weak and evil shall be redeemed (_bauls mun allz batna_--Voluspa, 59). In that perfection of nature the fields unsown by men shall yield their harvests. To secure the restored world against relapse into the faults of the former, the myth applies radical measures--so radical, that the Asa majesty himself, Valfather, must retire from the scene, in order that his son, the perfectly blameless Balder, may be the centre in the a.s.sembly of the chosen G.o.ds. But the mythology would fail in its purpose if it did not apply equally radical measures in the choice and care of the human beings who are to perpetuate our race after Ragnarok; for if the progenitors have within them the seed of corruption, it will be developed in their descendants.

Has the mythology forgotten to meet this logical claim? The demand is no greater than that which is made in reference to every product of the fancy of whatever age. I do not mean to say that a logical claim made on the mythology, or that a conclusion which may logically be drawn from the premises of the mythology, is to be considered as evidence that the claim has actually been met by the mythology, and that the mythology itself has been developed into its logical conclusion. I simply want to point out what the claim is, and in the next place I desire to investigate whether there is evidence that the claim has been honoured.

From the standpoint that there must be a logical harmony in the mythological system, it is necessary:

1. That Lif and Leifthraser when they enter their asylum, Mimer's grove, are physically and spiritually uncorrupted persons.

2. That during their stay in Mimer's grove they are protected against:

(_a_) Spiritual degradation.

(_b_) Physical degradation.

(_c_) Against everything threatening their very existence.

So far as the last point (2_c_) is concerned, we know already from Vafthrudnersmal that the place of refuge they received in the vicinity of those fountains, which, with never-failing veins, nourish the life of the world-tree, is approached neither by the frost of the fimbul-winter nor by the flames of Ragnarok. This claim is, therefore, met completely.

In regard to the second point (2_b_), the above-cited mythic traditions have preserved from the days of heathendom the memory of a grove in the subterranean domain of Gudmund-Mimer, set aside for living men, not for the dead, and protected against sickness, aging, and death. Thus this claim is met also.

As to the third point (2_a_), all we know at present is that there, in the lower world, is found an enclosed place, the very one which death cannot enter, and from which even _those_ mortals are banished by divine command who are admitted to the holy fountains and treasure chambers of the lower world, and who have been permitted to see the regions of bliss and places of punishment there. It would therefore appear that all contact between those who dwell there and those who take part in the events of our world is cut off. The realms of Mimer and the lower world have, according to the sagas--and, as we shall see later, according to the myths themselves--now and then been opened to bold adventurers, who have seen their wonders, looked at their remarkable fountains, their plains for the amus.e.m.e.nt of the shades of heroes, and their places of punishment of the wicked. But there is one place which has been inaccessible to them, a field proclaimed inviolable by divine command (Gorm's saga), a place surrounded by a wall, which can be entered only by such beings as can pa.s.s through the smallest crevices (Hadding's saga).[37] But that this difficulty of entrance also was meant to exclude the moral evil, by which the mankind of our age is stained, is not expressly stated.

Thus we have yet to look and see whether the original doc.u.ments from the heathen times contain any statements which can shed light on this subject. In regard to the point (1), the question it contains as to whether the mythology conceived Lif and Leifthraser as physically and morally undefiled at the time when they entered Mimer's grove, can only be solved if we, in the old records, can find evidence that a wise, foreseeing power opened Mimer's grove as asylum for them, at a time when mankind as a whole had not yet become the prey of physical and moral misery. But in that very primeval age in which the most of the events of mythology are supposed to have happened, creation had already become the victim of corruption. There was a time when the life of the G.o.ds was happiness and the joy of youthful activity; the condition of the world did not cause them anxiety, and, free from care, they amused themselves with the wonderful dice (Voluspa, 7, 8). But the golden age ended in physical and moral catastrophies. The air was mixed with treacherous evil; Freyja, the G.o.ddess of fertility and modesty, was treacherously delivered into the hands of the frost giants; on the earth the sorceress Heid (_Heid_) strutted about teaching the secrets of black magic, which was hostile to the G.o.ds and hurtful to man. The first great war broke out in the world (Voluspa, 21, 22, 26). The effects of this are felt down through the historical ages even to Ragnarok. The corruption of nature culminates in the fimbul-winter of the last days; the corruption of mankind has its climax in "the axe- and knife-ages." The separation of Lif and Leifthraser from their race and confinement in Mimer's grove must have occurred before the above catastrophies in time's beginning, if there is to be a guarantee that the human race of the new world is not to inherit and develop the defects and weaknesses of the present historical generations.

[Footnote 37: _Prodc.u.n.tibus murus aditu transcensuque difficilis obsistebat, quem femina_ (the subterranean G.o.ddess who is Hadding's guide) _nequicquam transilire conata c.u.m ne corrugati quidem exilitate proficeret_ (Saxo, _Hist. Dan._, i. 51).]