Rydberg: III.33. Review of the Svipdag Myth...
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Part 3
33.
REVIEW OF THE SVIPDAG MYTH AND ITS POINTS OF CONNECTION WITH THE MYTH
OF
HALFDAN (cp. No. 24).
When Halfdan secured Groa, she was already the bride of Orvandel the
brave,
and the first son she bore in Halfdan's house was not his, but
Orvandel's.
The son's name is Svipdag. He develops into a hero who, like Halfdan
himself, is the most brilliant and most beloved of those celebrated in
Teutonic songs. We have devoted a special part of this work to him (see
Nos.
96-107). There we have given proofs of various mythological facts,
which I
now already must incorporate with the following series of events in
order
that the epic thread may not be wanting:
(a) Groa bears with Halfdan the son Guthorm (Saxo, Hist. Dan. 34).
(b) Groa is rejected by Halfdan (Saxo, Hist. Dan., 33). She returns to
Orvandel, and brings with her her own and his son Svipdag.
(c) Halfdan marries Signý-Alveig (Hyndluljóð 15; Prose Edda, i. 516;
Saxo,
Hist., 33), and with her becomes the father of the son Hadding (Saxo,
Hist.
Dan. 34).
(d) Groa dies, and Orvandel marries again (Gróugaldr 3). Before her
death
Groa has told her son that if he needs her help he must go to her grave
and
invoke her (Gróugaldr 1).
(e) It is Svipdag's duty to revenge on Halfdan the disgrace done to his
mother and the murder of his mother's father Sigtrygg. But his
stepmother
bids Svipdag seek Menglad, "the one loving ornaments" (Gróugaldr 3).
(f) Under the weight of these tasks Svipdag goes to his mother's grave,
bids
her awake from her sleep of death, and from her he receives protecting
incantations (Gróugaldr).
(g) Before Svipdag enters upon the adventurous expedition to find
Menglad,
he undertakes, at the head of the giants, the allies of the Ívaldi
sons (see
Fjölsvinnsmál 1, where Svipdag is called þursa þjóðar sjólr
[dubious!]), a
war of revenge against Halfdan (Saxo, 33 ff., 325; cp. Nos. 102, 103).
The
host of giants is defeated, and Svipdag, who has entered into a duel
with
his stepfather, is overcome by the latter. Halfdan offers to spare his
life
and adopt him as his son. But Svipdag refuses to accept life as a gift
from
him, and answers a defiant no to the proffered father-hand. Then
Halfdan
binds him to a tree and leaves him to his fate (Saxo, Hist., 325 ; cp.
No.
103).
(h) Svipdag is freed from his bonds through one of the incantations
sung
over him by his mother (Gróugaldr 10).
(i) Svipdag wanders about sorrowing in the land of the giants.
Gevarr-Nökkvi, god of the moon (see Nos. 90, 91), tells him how he is
to
find an irresistible sword, which is always attended by victory (see
No.
101). The sword is forged by Þjazi, who intended to destroy the world
of the
gods with it; but just at the moment when the smith had finished his
weapon
he was surprised in his sleep by Mimir, who put him in chains and took
the
sword. The latter is now concealed in the lower world (see Nos. 98,
101,
103).
(j) Following Gevarr-Nökkvi's directions, Svipdag goes to the
northernmost
edge of the world, and finds there a descent to the lower world; he
conquers
the guard of the gates of Hades, sees the wonderful regions down there,
and
succeeds in securing the sword of victory (see Nos. 53, 97, 98, 101,
103,
112).
(k) Svipdag begins a new war with Halfdan. Thor fights on his son's
side,
but the irresistible sword cleaves the hammer Mjölnir; the Asa-god
himself
must yield. The war ends with Halfdan's defeat. He dies of the wounds
he has
received in the battle (see Nos. 101, 103; cp. Saxo, Hist., 34).
(l) Svipdag seeks and finds Menglad, who is Freyja who was robbed by
the
giants. He liberates her and sends her pure and undefiled to Asgard
(see
Nos. 96, 98, 100, 102).
(m) Iðunn is brought back to Asgard by Loki. Þjazi, who is freed from
his
prison at Mimir's, pursues, in the guise of an eagle, Loki to the walls
of
Asgard, where he is slain by the gods (see the Eddas).
(n) Svipdag, armed with the sword of victory, goes to Asgard, is
received
joyfully by Freyja, becomes her husband, and presents his sword of
victory
to Frey. Reconciliation between the gods and the Ívaldi race. Njord
marries
Þjazi's daughter Skaði. Orvandel's second son Ullr, Svipdag's
half-brother
(see No. 102), is adopted in Valhall. A sister of Svipdag is married to
Forseti (Hyndluljóð 20). The gods honour the memory of Þjazi by
connecting
his name with certain stars (Hárbarðsljóð 19). A similar honour had
already
been paid to his brother Orvandel (Prose Edda).
>From this series of events we find that, although the Teutonic
patriarch
finally succumbs in the war which he waged against the Þjazi-race and
the
frost-powers led by Þjazi's kinsmen, still the results of his work are
permanent. When the crisis had reached its culminating point; when the
giant
hosts of the fimbul-winter had received as their leader the son of
Orvandel,
armed with the irresistible sword; when Halfdan's fate is settled; when
Thor
himself, Miðgarðs véurr (Völuspá), the mighty protector of earth
and the
human race, must retreat with his lightning hammer broken into pieces,
then
the power of love suddenly prevails and saves the world. Svipdag, who,
under
the spell of his deceased mother's incantations from the grave, obeyed
the
command of his stepmother to find and rescue Freyja from the power of
the
giants, thereby wins her heart and earns the gratitude of the gods. He
has
himself learned to love her, and is at last compelled by his longing to
seek
her in Asgard. The end of the power of the fimbul-winter is marked by
Freyja's and Iðunn's return to the gods by Þjazi's death, by the
presentation of the invincible sword to the god of harvests (Frey), by
the
adoption of Þjazi's kinsmen, Svipdag, Ull, and Skadi in Asgard, and by
several marriage ties celebrated in commemoration of the reconciliation
between Asgard's gods and the kinsmen of the great artist of antiquity.
Asvinr
Hej Heidi,
Sorry to have been quiet all week. I'm under a lot of stress at the
moment. Once this week is past, I will have more time to respond.
This chapter is basically a review of things that Rydberg will present
in greater detail in chapter 96 forward. If you understand the basic
outline of the epic he is providing here, you will have a context to
understand the first detailed mythic investigation about the giantess
Gullveig-Heid, and the causes and consequeneces of the Van-As war. That
investigation is just about to start.
This summary is the outline of the story of Freya's husband Odr, who
Snorri says wandered the world, making Freyja cry. For the first time,
you can see the outline of that story, which is generally said to have
been lost. It's not lost. Here it is....
Svipdag is the main character in the Eddaic poems Fjolvinsmal and
Groagaldur. Many modern translators such as Larrington leave them out,
but they are Eddaic poems and included in all the Icelandic editions.
Lee Hollander and Benjamin Thorpe translated them in their versions of
the Edda. So has Henry Bellows. He titles the two poems Svipdagsmol.
You can find the Thorpe and Bellows translations here:
http://www.northvegr.org/lore/poetic2/index.php
http://www.northvegr.org/lore/poetic/index.php
The best translation of the poems can be found here:
http://www.hi.is/~eybjorn/ugm/svipdag2.html
Rydberg identifies Svipdag (Bright Day) as the son of the elf Orvandil
(called Aurvandil in Snorri's Edda) and the human sorceress Groa. He is
the man called Odr who will become worthy to marry Freyja (who is
called Menglad in the poem Fjolvinsmal).
The poem is fragmentary and tells the beginning and end of the story.
Saxo must be used to fill in the rest. Taken together, this is the
story that emerges. It is the heart of Rydberg's mythic epic.
In few words:
The elves are friends of the gods and give them weapons and treasures
freely. The primary elf-smiths are called the Sons of Ivaldi. They are
sons of the elf Ivaldi and the giantess Griep. Thus they are half-elf,
half-giant beings. Idunn is the daughter of Ivaldi, by a sun-dis. Thus,
Idunn and her sisters are the half-sisters of the Sons of Ivaldi. The
Sons of Ivaldi are named
1) Volund, also known as Thjazi;
2) Aurvandil, Orvandel, also known as Egil
3) Slaggfin, also known as Hjuki,
Thor and the elf-prince Aurvandil are good friends. They fight the
giants. Aurvandil is a famous archer among the elves. Snorri remembers
a tale that says that after his battle with the giant Hrungnir Thor
once found Orvandil in the water and rescued him. Thor went to
Aurvandil's wife Groa, who was a healer and asked her to remove the
stome flint from Hrungnir's hone from his head. When Groa heard that
Thor has rescued Aurvandil. She got excited and forgot the charm.
Loki causes a contest betwween the elf-smiths and the dwarf-smiths and
both sets of artists leave angry at the gods. When Odin, Hoenir, and
Loki go to the Sons of Ivaldi seeking reconciliation, the "giant"
Thjazi (the greatest of Ivaldi's artist sons) dons his eagle guise and
abuses Loki. He demands that Loki kidnap Idunn and her apples, and
bring them to him. [This is told in the poem Haustlong and in Snorri's
Edda] Idunn is his half-sister [Hrafnagaldur Odins 6].
The Sons of Ivaldi are now enemies of the gods, and allies of the
giants. The giants capture Frey and Freyja and hold them captive. The
sons of Ivaldi betreay Frey. A giantess named Gullveig-Heid (Hrimnir's
daughter) betray's Freyja. They are held captive in Jotunheim.
This disturbance in heaven is mirrored in a disturbance on the earth.
The winter expands southward displacing northern tribes. Wars result.
Thor's human son Halfdan goes North and kidnaps Aurvandil's wife, Groa.
Groa bears Aurvandil's son in Halfdan's house. His name is Svipdag or
Odr. Groa has another son with Halfdan named Gudhorm. Svipdag acts
insane to survive in Halfdan's house (It's the basis for the story of
Hamlet. It's found in Saxo's history. It's the tale of Amleth, the
Prince of Denmark)
Aurvandil remarries Sif (another half-sister, who later becomes Thor's
wife) and has the son Ull. Halfdan abandons Groa. Groa returns home
with Svipdag and is heartbroken. She dies.
Halfdan returns and steals Sif, this time he also kills Aurvandil.
Halfdan has a son by Sif named Hadding. Halfdan's "sons" Svipdag (his
stepson), Gudhorm, and Hadding are the 3 progenitors of all the
northern tribes. As such they are known as great kings (rekkr):
Eir-rekr (Eric), Jormun-rekr (Ermanrich) and Thjod-rekr (Thidrek,
Dietrich). All human tribes and kings descend from them according to
legend. They fight among themselves. Svipdag and Hadding are bitter
enemies. Ermenrich is caught in between as the half-brother of each of
these men. Swipdag controls the northern tribes. Ermanrich commands the
tribes of central Europe and France. Hadding controls the eastern
tribes. Great wars are fought between them, which mirror the conflicts
in the heavens.
This trio of brothers (which Tacitus says are sons of Mannus, whose
father was an earth-born god-- i.e. Thor) is the basis for all of the
Germanic heroic stories, and can be reconstructed through a comparison
of the sources.
Volund-Thjazi remains in the lower world for 9 years and applies all
of his art to a sword meant to destroy the gods. Idunn and her sisters
get homesick and leave (they are the swan-maidens in Volundarkvida).
Alone now, Volund (Thjazi) is captured and the sword is stolen from him
by a being named Nidhad (the lower one). Nidhad is best identifed as
Mimir, the master of the dwarf-smiths. He keeps the dangerous sword
hidden in his underworld realm.
Volund-Thjazi escapes and dwells with Idunn in his mountain home. Loki
comes and kidnaps her for Asgard. Thajzi-Volund follows in his
eagle-guide, and is killed on the walls of Asgard.
When Svipdag gets old enough. He goes on a quest to find Freyja, who is
still held by the giants. His stepmother Sif urges him to do this. Sif
is raising the boys Svipdag and Ull, the sons of the elf-prince
Aurvandil-Egil, Volund's brother.
Svipdag thinks the quest is to hard and goes to his mother's grave for
advice. She sings spells over him which will foreshadow his adventures.
He goes to the realm of the giants and frees Freyja, but loses her. She
returns home, still under a spell.
On the advice of the moon-god, Svipdag goes to the underworld and finds
his uncle Volund's sword. He hopes to use it as a bride-price for
Freyja's hand (this is the whole point of Fjolsvinsmal which is a big
riddle) He uses trickery to obtain it from Mimir. The gods are not
sure if he is friend or foe. Svipdag wants to kill Halfdan, who killed
his father. But Halfdan is favored by the gods. Svipdag kills Halfdan
and heads for Asgard.
The gods are worried. Here comes Svipdag with a sword capable of
destroying the gods. Is he a friend or foe? What does he want?
Odin (Fjolsvidr) meets Svipdag at the gate and questions him. The
purpose of the questions is to find out if he has the sword, and see
what he wants. Speaking in riddles, it's clear that he has the sword,
and all he wants is Freyja-Menglad. Ultimately the gates fly open and
he enters. This was his fate.The spell Freyja was under is gone.
Svipdag marries Freyja and the sword passes to her brother Frey. In
turn he trades it for a giant-bride, Gerd, as told in the poem
Skirnismal. More on that later.
This story is easily pieced together from the poems Grougaldur, Books 1
and 3 of Saxo's History, the poem Fjolsvinsmal, and a few passages
from the Prose Edda. They all correspond on detailed points, and are
obviously part of the same original story: the story of Freyja's
husband Odr, the far-travelled.
Rydberg will examine all of the data to support this outline in a
full-blown investigation beginning on chapter 96. More on that when we
get there.
You do not have to accept this now. He's putting it forth so you can
have an understanding of the context of what he is coming up on. Soon
he will examine the root causes and consequences of the war between the
Aesir and the Vanir. It occurs after the war between the gods (Aesir
and Vanir) and the Elves (not at the beginning of time as we are taught
to believe).
So sit tight, and soon the first in-depth investigation of the actual
mythic material from the Poetic Edda will begin. All of this has been a
backdrop to that study.
Wassail, William