Norse lore & concepts

Loki Steals the Brisinga-Gem

TRANSLATOR'S NOTES

Here is an instance where the naughtiness of Loki sets in motion a train of events vitally connected with the course of human evolution. At the instigation of Odin, once more in his role as destiny, karma, the trickster Loki gains possession of Freya's precious "gem of fire" -- human intelligence. We have seen that Freya represents the higher, spiritual faculty of intelligence and is, as the planetary deity of Venus, the sponsor and protectress of her brother Frey's intelligent kingdom, the human race of the planet earth.

When Freya confronts Odin and asks for her gem, the god imposes a condition which is profoundly meaningful: she must incite a struggle between the world's two most powerful kings, one not to be resolved by the victory of either but by the ultimate slaying of both "by a Christian man." This phrase of course reflects the attitude of an age when Christian missionaries were militantly spreading the gospels of the Prince of Peace over the lands of northern Europe and Iceland. However, the crux is the eternal opposition of the forces of light and darkness: there can be no existence and certainly no progress without the tension between pairs of opposites which denotes life. It is a significant philosophical concept which passes almost unnoticed, lost in the levity of Loki's wiles. In a more farseeing frame, it becomes evident that Freya's battle continues for the duration of existence, alleviated from time to time as another human heart is moved to overcome the opposing armies in himself, to gain, and to give, the peace that passeth understanding. This must lend added luster to Freya's precious gem.


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Loki Steals the Brisinga-Gem
From Sorla Thattr, folktale. The Icelandic thattr, like the Sanskrit sutra, means a strand (in a rope).
It is said that Loki discovered that Freya had obtained the gem from the dwarfs. He related this to Odin. Odin then demanded that Loki should bring him the gem. Loki objected that this was not to be obtained and gave as his reason that no one could enter Freya's home against her will. Odin said that he was to leave and not return until he had obtained the gem. Loki slunk away complaining loudly. He went to Freya's house and found it locked; he tried to enter but could not. It was very cold outside and he soon became frozen. He then transformed himself into a fly and flew around to all the locks searching for a crack but could nowhere find a hole big enough to enter. Finally at the rooftree, under the rafters he found a hole no larger than could accommodate a needle. Through this hole he entered. Once in, he looked about to see if anyone was awake but he found that all were sleeping. He entered Freya's bed and discovered that she was wearing the gem around her neck, but that the lock was turned downward. Loki transformed himself into a flea, sat on her cheek and stung her, whereupon she woke up, turned over, and once more fell asleep. Abandoning his flea disguise he took the gem, opened the house, went away, and gave the gem to Odin.

When Freya awoke in the morning and saw that all the doors were open without having been forced, and that the precious gem was gone, she felt certain she knew what had happened. She went to the hall, to King Odin, just as she was, and told him that he had done ill to let the gem be stolen from her. She requested that he return it. Odin said that as she once had received this gem, so would she never receive it again; "unless" he added, "you can cause two kings, the greatest in the world, who each rule over ten others, to battle each other under the condition that both shall fight, living or dead, until some Christian man were so brave and possess so much fortune that he dare to tackle both these men and kill them. Only then shall their misfortune cease, when the same hero shall release them from the need and trouble of their perilous paths."

Freya agreed and received back her gem.


by Elsa-Brita Titchenell

Grottasongr
(The Song of the Mill)

TRANSLATOR'S NOTES

Though the mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding small. -- LONGFELLOW
Included here are two myths which seem to allude to the fourth (Atlantean) humanity on our globe. Both are the subject of numerous sagas. One is the lay of Grotte, the magic mill, as it applies to a terrestrial cycle, though, as we have seen, it also has a more universal application. The other tale is that of Volund, the smith. This relates how in the fourth great age humanity's soul -- Volund -- was enslaved by evil -- King Nidud -- the most material age of earth's and mankind's evolution.

These events in humanity's history took place some millions of years ago according to the chronology of theosophy, at a time when the human race had made the greatest material advances, surpassing in physical skills, technology, even our present age. But it was a one-sided prodigy, for man had already forgotten the spiritual values that had been given the race in earlier periods when divine influences imbodied among the first humanities and taught and guided our human infancy.

Among the myths that can claim descent from the wisdom-tradition of antiquity the tales of the magic mill are perhaps the most universally known, the most consistent and, in certain particulars, the most mysterious. It has never been satisfactorily explained why people on every continent in ancient times made a particular point of the magical properties of this implement: they endowed it not only with its accepted capacity to grind flour but credited it with grinding every possible substance for the gods. For this was no ordinary tool of man. It was an instrument of divine forces which supplied not only food but health, wealth, salt, happiness, peace prosperity -- of mind as well as of body; it ground up continents on earth and dying worlds on the cosmic scale, and it spewed out homogeneous protosubstance from which new worlds could be formed. In the Finnish Kalevala, the celestial smith after several failures in the beginning of time successfully formed the mill Sampo, and its work of destruction and creation goes on for as long as worlds die and are born. The Maya people of Middle America to this day perform rites of the sacred mill, echoing some long lost lore. In the Edda its name, Grotte, means growth and is semantically connected with evolution.

The mysterious mill of all sacred traditions is featured in fairy tales as a remarkable instrument which was the producer of everything, faculties and properties of beings as well as matter. It was formed by divine agency for the manifestation of life and its sustenance. It was also its destroyer.

In one Edda story, two giant maidens are forced to take turns grinding riches and comforts for King Frode (his name means prosperity) during the early aeons of peace and joy known as the golden age. They work without ceasing to produce endless delights for the king's pleasure. As time goes on the monarch grows greedy for more gold and greater pleasures until he gives the maids only so much time to rest as it takes for a cock to crow or a cuckoo's call. Thus he prepares his own undoing. Inexorably, the tireless giantesses grind their ponderous revenge. Their ceaseless singing, accompanied by the creak of the millstones, grinds forth an army which, under the sea king Mysing, overruns and conquers Frode's lands.

King Mysing takes with him the mill of growth and in time he too falls victim to greed as the magic mill supplies his wants: his continent sinks beneath the waters -- the classic tale of the flood which is told world wide.

As in the biblical account and other mythic tales, the king or principal personage represents a nation or race of people over an undetermined period of time, giving us in capsule form the history of ages. The flood, at once so common and so controversial, is featured in every comprehensive tradition, for it is an experience common to all mankind. Myths relate in story form the periodic rising and sinking of continental land massifs -- both as rapid cataclysmic events and as the prolonged erosion and slow emergence with which we are familiar. Whether the sudden deluge they depict represents a singular happening or one that is periodically repeated, it undoubtedly made a sufficiently deep impression on human consciousness to have justified being part of the scriptural heritage of every people on the globe.

In the light of present-day science the divine mill suggests something even more universally significant than a device to describe seismology on earth. In its versatility, in its being used to produce all kinds of things -- not only physical matter but also other substances -- we see a clue to its character as an implement of creation. In this respect it closely parallels the hammer of Thor, Mjolnir (which means "miller"). Mjolnir is the pulverizer of giant worlds, which reduces matter to homogeneity. It is also the agent of creation: we have seen that Thor and his hammer officiate at weddings to insure continued generation and reproduction.

The possibility of an astronomical black hole being depicted as the mill of the gods is a tempting one, for with each gain in astrophysical science regarding these intriguing phenomena we seem to come closer to a description of the mythic mill. As the whirlpool sucked King Mysing's world into the eye of the millstone, so does the vortex surrounding a rotating black hole draw all matter within reach of its insatiable gravitational field into its event horizon, where it disappears from the perceivable universe. In addition, the mysterious quasars, which emit seemingly impossible quantities of radiation at all detectable wavelengths, from infrared to X-rays, are thought to coexist with black holes in the centers of galaxies. It is an interesting sidelight worth noting that in The Mahatma Letters (p. 47), which was published half a century before black holes were conjectured -- the substances of dead worlds were said to be "ground over in the workshop of nature."

Such divine mills apply on the cosmic scale. As for the terrestrial Grotte, the mill of growth or evolution whose massive wheels are turned by the giantesses of earthly ages, it produces the result of whatever grist is supplied by the current "king" or race of humanity. It can do nothing else. Thus each civilization or wave of characteristic properties must bring its own consequences. During King Frode's early days of peace and plenty, a gold ring lay unclaimed at a busy crossroads for ages, it is said. When it disappeared the golden age was ended. A new age succeeded it -- King Mysing -- who in his turn was overcome by the deluge as his lands sank beneath the waves, an event which may have reference to the sinking of the so-called Atlantean continent and its cultures. In the theosophic records, these marked the midpoint of our planet's lifetime, the most material age of all -- humanity's midnight.

Significantly it was midnight when the giant maids asked of King Mysing if he had enough of salt. It was a moment of decision: to continue the creation of matter, the downward trend of the past age, or turn the evolutionary current toward spiritual growth. The king's choice brought its inevitable result: the deluge sank his ships and drew the cycle of his reign to a close. The fourth age had brought on itself its own destruction by inundation -- an event which offered humanity the opportunity to rise once more toward the divine source from which it had originally descended.


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Proem to Grottasongr
Skold (shield) was the son of Odin. He had one son named Fridleif (lover of peace), whose son was named Frode (prosperity).

During the age when Frode was king, the world was filled with peace and harmony. No man would harm any other; there were no thieves or robbers. For ages a golden ring was left lying openly at a crossroads, untouched. King Frode bought two thralls, two giantesses named Fenja and Menja. They were big and strong, able to set in motion the cumbrous mill which none other could move. This mill possessed the property of being capable of producing whatever was demanded of it. Its name was Grotte.

King Frode had the giant maids brought to the mill and he bade them grind gold and peace and fortune for him. He gave them no rest lasting longer than the cuckoo took to sing its song. It is said that the two mighty maidens sang the Song of the Mill and that, before they stopped singing, taking turns at the quernstone, they had ground out an army against Frode, so that there came a sea king by night who slew Frode and took much booty. This ended the Peace of Frode.

The conqueror, King Mysing, took with him the quern and the miller maidens. He bade them grind salt. At midnight they asked him if he yet had enough salt, but he bade them continue. They milled further, until, after a time his ships sank. There came to be a whirlpool in the sea where the waters pour into the eye of the millstone. The ocean foams as the mill turns, and this makes the sea salty.


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Grottasongr
1. Now are come to the palace the foreknowing pair,
Fenja and Menja;
They are at Frode's, the son of Fridleif, mighty maidens
Held as helots.

2. Forth to the mill bench were they brought
To set the grey stone in motion;
He gave them no rest nor peace,
Attentive to the creak of the mill.

3. Their song was a howl,
Shattering silence;
"Lower the bin and lighten the stones!"
Yet he would have them grind more.

4. They sang as they swung and spun the stone
While most of the men were sleeping;
Then sang Menja, her turn at the mill,
The hardminded maid with thunderous voice:

5. "Goods we grind Frode, milling out fortune,
Full fare of riches on the mill of delights;
He shall sit upon gold; he shall sleep upon down,
And wake with a will, then is it well ground.

6. "Here shall none harm another, nor harbor malice,
Nor bring to bane,
Nor cut with sharp sword, even should he find
His brother's bane bound!"

7. The hands stopped, resting; the quern was quiet;
Then called the king his ancient plaint:
"Sleep no more than the cock is silent, rest no more
Than the words I speak!"

8. "Frode, you were not wholly wise, oh, friend of man,
When you bought these thralls;
You chose us for strength and bearing,
Not heeding of what race we are born.

9. "Hard was Rungner, hard his father;
Tjasse was greater than both;
Ide and Orner, sires of our race, brothers of mountain giants,
These are our forebears.

10. "Grotte had never risen from the grey mountain
Earth's hard bedrock,
Nor would be grinding the mountain-maid,
Did anyone know her kind.

11. "Nine winters lasted our playing-time,
Beneath the earth matured our power;
Great works performed we constantly;
We moved the very mountains.

12. "From giants' fields we tore out boulders;
So the earth trembled, subsided, and quaked;
We rolled from thence the singing stone,
The heavy slab, for men to take.

13. "In the land of Svitjod, foresighted,
We two joined the people;
Hunted bears, broke shields,
Marched through the ranks of grey.

14. "We destroyed one prince, supported another,
The good Gothorm we helped with his horde;
No peace there was till we conquered Knue
There we were stopped and captured.

15. "Such was our progress in former times,
Well known were we among warriors;
Then we cut heroes with sharpened spears,
Wounded and reddened with fire.

16. "Now we are come to the house of the king,
In thralldom, with mercy from none;
Grit tears our feet, frost freezes our forms as we turn the peace mill.
It is dreary at Frode's.

17. "Hands shall rest; the stone shall stop;
I have milled my whole life's aim.
Yet the hand may not stay until Frode feels
All has been fully milled.

18. "The hands shall hold handles hard, bloodstained weapons.
Wake up, Frode!
Wake up, Frode, if you would hear our songs and
Our sayings of long ago.

19. "Fire I see burning east of the fort;
Call up the couriers, call for the beacons!
A warrior horde shall o'errun this place
And burn the Budlung's [King's] dwelling.

20. "You shall not retain the throne of Leidre,
Your redgold rings, or your quern of riches;
Grasp the shaft more firmly, sister!
We are not warmed by the blood of the whale!

21. "Surely my father's maid mightily milled,
For she saw many men go to their death;
The mill's great props, though cased in iron,
Burst asunder -- yet more we milled.

22. "Yet still more we milled! May Yrsa's son, scion of Halfdan,
Avenge him on Frode;
He may be held her son, and also her brother.
We both know this."

23. The maids they milled with might and main,
Young they were, in giant-wrath;
The rafters quivered, the boom was lowered,
With deafening din the boulder burst.

24. So collapsed the former world.
Chanted the mountain-giant's bride:
"We have ground for you, Frode, as we were forced.
At the quern the women remained till the end!"

by Elsa-Brita Titchenell

Volundskvadet
(The Lay of Volund)

TRANSLATOR'S NOTES

Volund's is a tale of the degradation of the fourth humanity's soul. The three brothers and their Valkyrie-wives apparently represent the first three ages of the fourth humanity. Oldest was Egil, the innocent, whose children became the servants of Thor. The second was named Slagfinn, the hunter; the third, which in the tale gave the seed of the fourth great age, was Volund, the elf-king -- the soul of humanity during that phase. There may as usual be an analogy drawn with shorter cycles having to do with different types of cultures: first, Egil, the innocent -- the primitive phase; next, the hunter-gatherer stage, and third the technologically skilled. These early races were still under the semidivine guidance of their Valkyries, who serve directly under Odin as divine protectors: the spiritual soul, radiance of the divine source of consciousness. They withdrew from contact with their human spouses, as this tale relates.

Volund is a smith, skilled in the use of metals. He is captured, hamstrung, and imprisoned by King Nidud (nid: evil, treachery) and is compelled to forge treasures for the king. Secretly he forges also the magic sword (spiritual will) which figures in so many hero tales, and the marvelous ring (of cyclic renewal) which reproduces itself -- analogous with the one the dwarfs wrought for Odin. During his forced labor, Volund plots a terrible revenge and in the ripeness of time his opportunity presents itself. He seduces Nidud's daughter and slays his two sons, whom in one version he serves the unsuspecting king at a feast. This cannibalism of the king establishes him as a period of time, for Time devours all his children: all that time brings to birth comes to an end in time. There is a parallel in the Greek myths, where Chronos (who also stands for Time) devours his children. In this version Volund sells the ruler his sons' skulls plated with silver.

Volund thereupon escapes in a "wingwain," a winged wagon of his own making, bearing with him the magic sword and ring, the qualities of determination to grow and the ever-recurring opportunities for renewal; with these priceless treasures of our human race "smiling Volund rose in the air; Nidud, sorrowing, stayed where he sat" (38). Volund is also called "Rungner (roar) of the featherblade." This too suggests that aviation was known and used by the race Volund represents. (Other traditions as well record that select members of humanity escaped the sinking fourth continent which, as noted, has generally been called Atlantis, some leaving it in flying machines, (1) and settled on rising lands where they brought forth the races that belong to our present, fifth, humanity.) The evil king who was left behind was evidently a period when technology reigned, while spiritual values were almost entirely lacking.


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Volundskvadet
Nidud was the name of a king in Svitjod; he had two sons, and a daughter named Bodvild. There were three brothers, sons of the Finn-king; one was Slagfinn, one Egil, the third Volund. They hunted on skis. They came to the Wolfdale and built themselves houses; there is a water, Wolfsea.

Early one morning they found three women on the shore spinning flax, and beside them lay their swan-disguises, for they were Valkyries. Two of them were daughters of King Lodver (Njord), namely Ladgun-Swanwhite and Hervor-Allvitter, while the third, Olrun, was the daughter of Kjar of Valland. The three brothers took them home with them. Egil got Olrun, Slagfinn got Swanwhite, and Volund got Allvitter. (2)

For seven years they lived together; then the women flew away to seek battles, and did not return. Egil ran on skis to find Olrun, Slagfinn sought Swanwhite, but Volund sat in the Wolfdale. He was, according to legend, the cleverest artificer men know of King Nidud had him captured, as the song tells.

1. The maids flew south through the dark woods,
Allvitter the young, to fulfill her fate;
They sat down to rest by the edge of the sea,
These spirits of the south who spun precious flax.

2. One Egil took to wife, the lovely maid
With fine-fleshed bosom; the other Swanwhite
Who had swan's wings; but the third sister
Embraced Volund's white neck.

3. They remained seven winters, but in the eighth
A yearning claimed them, and in the ninth
Necessity parted them; the maids longed for the somber woods;
Allvitter, the young, to fulfill her fate.

4. Came from the chase the waywise hunters;
Slagfinn and Egil found their halls void,
Searched all about: Egil skied east after Olrun,
Slagfinn went south after Swanwhite.

5. Volund waited alone in the Wolfdale,
Hammered the red-glowing gold at the forge,
Letting each arm-ring lock a divine link,
Biding his bright-browed bride's return.

6. Then learns Nidud, king of the Njars,
That Volund alone in the Wolfdale waits;
By night there came men in mailed byrnies;
Their shields shone bright by the sickle moon.

7. They dismounted from their saddles at the gable
And, entering, marched the length of the hall.
Rings they saw threaded on ribbons and straw,
Seven hundred, all owned by the smith.

8. They took them off, they threaded them on,
Except one only, which they left off.
Came from the chase the hunter suspicious,
Volund had wandered a very long way.

9. Quickly he went to brown the bear-meat,
High burned the kindling of dried fir wood,
The windsere wood,
Before Volund.

10. He sat on the bearskin and counted the links,
The ruler of elves. One link was missing;
He thought that Lodver's daughter had taken it,
That Allvitter, the young, had returned again.

11. Long he sat thus, until sleep overcame him.
Awakened to sorrow:
His hands were heavy with hard fetters chained,
On his feet was a shackle laid.

12. VOLUND: "What men are they
Who have bound with bonds
The tamer of winds,
Who have tied me up?"

13. Now called Nidud, the king of the Njars: "How did you,
Volund, wise elf, find our noble gold in the Wolfdale?
There was no gold on Grane's road;
Our land is far from the mountain lode."

14. VOLUND: "I remember we had greater treasure, when all
Together we were at home.
Ladgun and Hervor, children of Lodver,
Olrun was daughter of Kjar.

15. "She entered and strode the length of the hall,
Stood still and quietly said:
'Now evil comes out of the woods.' "

King Nidud gave his daughter Bodvild the ring that was taken from the chain in Volund's hall; but he himself bore the sword of Volund. The queen spoke:

16. "See how he bares his teeth when he sees the sword
And the ring borne by Bodvild.
His eyes gleam like serpents' eyes.
Cut his sinews' strength and place him
In the ships' harbor."

This was done and he was hamstrung and placed in the Savarstad (harbor). There he smithied treasures for the king. None dared approach him, save the king only.

17. VOLUND: "There shines at Nidud's side the sword
I tempered the best I knew, and honed
With all my skill.

18. "My flaming blade is borne far away,
Nevermore to return to Volund's smithy;
Now Bodvild bears my own bride's ring
Of reddest gold, and I can do naught."

19. So sat he, never sleeping, beating with his hammer,
Soon forging treachery toward Nidud.
Two lads came running, looked in at the door:
Two sons of Nidud in Savarstad.

20. They went to the chest, they demanded the key,
Apparent was evil as they looked inside:
Jewels aplenty they saw within,
Of purest gold and precious stones.

21. VOLUND: "Come back alone, you two, come back tomorrow
And you shall be given the glittering gold!
But tell neither man nor maid in the hall,
Tell no one at all that you have seen me."

22. Early they called, brother to brother,
Each to the other: "To the smithy, away!"
They came to the chest, they demanded the key,
Apparent was evil when they looked therein.

23. He cut their heads off and laid their limbs
Underneath the water;
But the pale skulls beneath the hair
He silvered and sold to Nidud.

24. The precious stones from their eyes' sockets
He sent to Nidud's cunning wife;
And from the teeth of the two boys
He fashioned a necklace for Bodvild.

25. Bodvild came to praise the ring,
Brought it to Volund
When it was broken.
She dared tell no one else.

26. VOLUND: "I shall mend the break in the gold,
So that it shall fairer seem to your father,
Better than ever to your mother,
The same to yourself."

27. He brought her a beaker,
The best of beer,
And soon in her seat
She sank into sleep.

28. "Now am I avenged
For the harm to me,
For all but one,
The worst of all.

29. "It is well," quoth Volund,
"I stand on my feet
Although Nidud's men
Deprived them of power."

30. Smiling, Volund rose on high;
Weeping, Bodvild left the island;
Fearful for her lover
And her father's fury.

31. Out went Nidud's ill-willing spouse,
And entered into the endlong hall,
Where in the court he sat at rest:
"Wake you, Nidud, champion of Njars."

32. NIDUD: "I ever awaken bereft of joy;
Ill do I sleep since my sons are dead.
Cold is my head, cold is your counsel;
Now will I consult with Volund.

33. "Tell me, Volund,
Wise elf,
What became
Of my sons?"

34. VOLUND: "First shall you swear me by every oath:
By the hull of the ship, by the rim of the shield,
By the heart of the horse, by the edge of the sword,
That you bring no pain to Volund's woman,
Nor be the bane of this bride of mine;
If I own a woman known to you
Or have a child here in this hall.

35. "Go to the smithy that you yourself made,
You will find the bellows bespattered with blood;
The boys' heads I there severed
And laid their bodies beneath the water.

36. "The white skulls hidden beneath the hair
I surfaced with silver and sent to Nidud;
The jeweled eyes from their sockets
I sent to Nidud's cunning queen.

37. "But from the two lads' teeth I fashioned
Pendant gems and sent to Bodvild;
Now goes Bodvild heavy with child,
The only daughter of both of you."

38. NIDUD: "No words could grieve me more than yours,
Nor could I wish you aught worse, Volund.
So high is no man he could unhorse you,
None is so skilled he could shoot you down,
Where you fly in the heavens."

39. Smiling Volund rose in the air,
Sorrowful Nidud stayed where he sat.

40. NIDUD: "Rise up, Tackrad, best of thralls,
Bid Bodvild, the bright-browed,
Go to her father,
To speak with him.

41. "Is it true, Bodvild, what he has said,
That you and Volund met on the island?"

42. BODVILD: "It is true what he told you, Nidud,
That I was with Volund
Together on the island,
For one brief moment of guilt.
I could not withstand him.
I could not resist him."

by Elsa-Brita Titchenell

Lokasenna
(Loki's Flyting)

TRANSLATOR'S NOTES

The Aesir and Asynjor (deities) were assembled in the inviolable, spacious hall, lighted by bright gold, to feast on the ale brewed in Hymer's caldron by Ager. Thor was absent "in easterly ways" and Loki had not been invited. At this point in evolution, when ale was already brewed, Loki, the human mind, had become proud and selfish, intractable to the promptings of the spiritual soul, and therefore he had no place in the banquet hall of the gods. Elves, however, were present: the finest properties of human souls, which had united their essence, their asmegir (godmaker), with the divine Self, and who therefore could enter the sacred precincts.

Loki slew Fimafeng (the nimblefingered), forced his way into the hall and demanded to share in the revels. He reminded Odin of their kinship, calling himself Lopt (lofty -- aspiring human intelligence). At Odin's command Vidar then ceded his place to Loki and served him ale but, before drinking, Loki toasted all the gods, pointedly omitting Brage (intuition, bardic inspiration). He accused that noble virtue (Brage) of cowardice and, when Brage offered him bangles of gold (such as were used for money) and even his horse and sword to keep the peace of the sacred place, Loki still refused to be silenced. Idun rose to defend Brage, whereupon she too became the butt of Loki's ready tongue, and soon each Ase and Asynja, rising to the defense of another (never of himself), received the renegade's insults. At length Frigga intervened. She tried to soothe the angry company, enjoining the gods to forget the follies of their youth and cease upbraiding each other with long forgotten peccadilloes, whereupon Loki turned on her too, accusing the mother of the gods of infidelity. This brought a sharp retort from Freya who reminded Loki that "Frigg knows every being's fate though she herself says naught." Arriving on the scene, Thor too indulged in an altercation with Loki who, when threatened with Mjolnir, the pulverizer, finally ceased and left.

At first reading, the feast of the deities seems a pointless succession of insults but, on closer scrutiny, it illustrates how a materialistic and uninspired intellect looks at nature, and particularly how such a pragmatic mind regards the powers represented as gods in mythic stories. Loki's vituperations read like the language of a Billingsgate fishwife. He sees in the actions of universal powers only the reflection of his own limited and distorted perceptions. Regarded in this way the metaphor becomes quite transparent. In fact, Loki's accusations of infidelity and immorality are exactly duplicated in numerous books of mythology today, where adultery and incest among the deities are taken literally and at face value. But when the gods and goddesses are, more logically, regarded as overlapping, enhancing, or mitigating force fields which interact with one another physically -- gravitationally and in other ways throughout the electromagnetic spectrum -- their combined effects may well accord with what the mythic tales relate. When, in addition, their various spheres of influence are taken to include spiritual and divine interactions, their meaning enters a realm of sacred science.

The mind is dual. Born of giant forebears, Loki is also one of the Aesir and their constant companion, aide, and interpreter when they travel in the giant worlds. His pranks are, on the surface, a rich source of amusement but, as we seek to understand his place in the evolution of beings, we soon see the pitfalls into which Loki alone, uninspired by Brage, can lead us. Allied with poetic inspiration (Brage), the lower practical mind (Loki) becomes lofty (Lopt), the salvation of humanity, and provides the mead for the inner god. When alone, it alienates itself from the heart of Being; unheeding of intuition, it rails against the gods, against universal law, against justice, love, and compassion. Our own civilization illustrates this for, although most human beings are well disposed and inclined to compassionate action, often cleverness is prized above virtue and physical skills above wisdom. If the gentler qualities were entirely lacking our world would truly be a hell, for technology untempered with ethics leads to disaster (which literally means it divorces us from the stars). Human progress is best promoted not by mind alone but by an alliance of mind and heart.

As the Aesir at their revels partake of the garnered spiritual gains of the life just past, the elves rest among them. These are souls that have earned their association with the divinities, leaving "outside" that part of mind -- Loki -- which seeks its own and separate goals. But the sleeping elves are not yet conscious in the sphere of the gods and can take no active part in the festivities; their awareness is not adequate to enjoy those realms. They are the souls' increment of good, dreaming their heavenly dreams in the higher halls of Hel, while awaiting the urge to enter once more into incarnation as men and women.

There is also another explanation for the sleeping elves. In the sacred traditions each of nature's kingdoms in turn has its heyday in any one world; the other streams of life belonging to that world are then relatively inactive. Our earth, as we observe, is presently concentrating its life forces in the human sphere. The mineral and vegetable representatives, though present, are for the most part quiescent. It is said that when the mineral kingdom is active, volcanism is tremendously prevalent and, when the vegetation is most flourishing, plants are not gently rooted but move freely over the earth. When the next succeeding wave of life following the human comes to our planet, ours will "sleep" among the lowest kingdom of the gods who will then be the predominant evolvers of the globe, "quaffing the ale" of life.


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Lokasenna
Ager, also named Gymer, had prepared a drinking bout for the Aesir, after receiving the great caldron, as has been told. (2) To this banquet came Odin and Frigg, his wife. Thor did not, as he was in easterly ways but Sif, his wife, was there. Also Brage and his wife Idun. Tyr also; he was one-handed, for the Fenris wolf had torn off his hand while being bound. There was Njord, and his wife Skade, Frey and Freya, and Vidar, Odin's son. Loki was there, as also Frey's servants, Byggver and Beyla. There was a host of Aesir and elves.

Ager had two servants, Fimafeng (3)and Elder. Bright gold supplied the light instead of fire, the ale served itself, and the place was inviolable and spacious.

Those present praised the excellence of Ager's servants; Loki could not bear this, so he slew Fimafeng, whereupon the Aesir shook their shields, shouted at Loki, and drove him into the forest while they went to drink. Loki returned and met Elder outside. He said:

LOKI: Tell me, Elder, before you take another step: At the ale feast, whereof speak the sons of the triumphant gods?

ELDER: They judge of their weapons and their battle honor, the sons of the triumphant gods. Of Aesir and elves in there none has a good word for you.

LOKI: I shall go into Ager's hall and see this drinking feast. I shall bring scorn and anger to the Aesir's sons and so blend evil in the mead.

ELDER: Know that if you go into Ager's hall to see this drinking feast and heap scorn and abuse on the gentle gods, they may wipe it off on you.

LOKI: And you know, Elder, if we two have it out with words together that I am far better armed with speech than you.

Then entered Loki into the hall. At his entrance all fell silent.

LOKI: Thirsty came Lopt into this hall from far away to beg the Aesir, that one of them might give me a sip of fine mead. Why are you silent, gloomy gods? Have you nothing to say? Either show me a seat or forcibly drive me away.

BRAGE: A seat at the festive board shall you never have from the Aesir because they well know what kind of person they choose to carouse with.

LOKI: Remember, Odin, how in the foretime we two mingled blood together; you then said you never would drink ale were it not served us both.

ODIN: Rise, Vidar, and let the wolf's father have a seat in the assembly, that Loki may not charge us with scorn here in Ager's hall.

Vidar rose and poured for Loki. Before he drank, Loki addressed the Aesir:

LOKI: Hail ye, Aesir, hail Asynjor, hall all holy gods, excepting him who sits inmost on the bench -- Brage!

BRAGE: My horse and sword I give you freely, also a ring I forfeit to you, that you pay not the Aesir with envy and make the gods angry.

LOKI: May you ever be robbed of horse and bangle, Brage! Of all Aesir and elves here you are the most craven.

BRAGE: Were I outside instead of inside Ager's hall I should bear your head in my hand. It would serve your lie right.

LOKI: You are brave when seated, Brage, bench ornament! Go and fight if you want to. A brave man hesitates not.

IDUN: I beg of you, Brage, by your children and your wished-for sons, tease not Loki reproachfully here in Ager's hall.

LOKI: Shut up, Idun. You of all women I think are the most man-crazy since your dazzling arms clasped your brother's bane.

IDUN: I will not tease Loki with accusations here in Ager's hall. I would rather appease Brage who is wrought up; I do not want you two angered to fight.

GEFION (4): Why should you, two Aesir, use sharp words between you? Lopt knows not how he is joking and tempting the gods.

LOKI: Shut up, Gefion, let us not forget how you were seduced by the white youth who gave you the gem and whom you linked in your limbs.

ODIN: You are mad, Loki, out of your mind, angering Gefion, for she knows all the fates of the ages as well as I do.

LOKI: Shut up, Odin; you never did know how to choose justly among warriors; often you gave victory to those you should not, the very worst.

ODIN: And if I gave victory to the worst whom I should not, you spent eight winters in the underworld, a milker of cows, a woman, and there you bore children, offspring of evil. This I call cause to name you wretch.

LOKI: You are said on earth to have used seery, to have cheated in sibyl's wisdom, and walked the world in a sorcerer's guise.

FRIGG: You should not talk of your doings in adolescent years, what you two Aesir practiced in the foretime. Folks forget old grudges.

LOKI: Quiet, Frigg, you are Fjorgyn's maid and have ever sought dalliance, as when you, Vidrer's woman, clasped both Vile and Vi to your bosom.

FRIGG: Had I a son such as Balder here in Ager's hall you would not escape the sons of the Aesir without being badly beaten.

LOKI: Well, Frigg, will you that I tell more of my harmful runes? I shall work it so that you shall not again see Balder riding to the halls.

FREYA: You are mad, Loki, ranting your evil doings; Frigg, I know, knows every being's fate, though she herself says naught.

LOKI: Shut up, Freya, I know you well. You lack not faults: of the Aesir and elves who are here within, you have whored with them all.

FREYA: Your tongue is false and I believe it will babble you evil and ills in the future. You have angered the Aesir and Asynjor. In shame shall you wend your way home.

LOKI: Shut up, Freya, you are a witch full of evil; when the mild gods found you conjuring with your brother, ugly you snorted then.

NJORD: It matters little if the woman embrace a husband or lover, but it is a miracle that the Aesir's hermaphrodite could enter here, as he bore offspring. (5)

LOKI: Shut up, Njord. When eastward hence you were sent as hostage of the gods, Hymer's maids used you for a jar and poured in your mouth.

NJORD: I have the consolation that when I was eastward sent as hostage of the gods, I begot a son whom no one hates, a doughty defender of the Aesir. (6)

LOKI: Stay, Njord, hold your tongue; no longer shall this be hid: with your sister you begot such a son. It was to be expected.

TYR: Frey is the best of all the bold Aesir: no man's wife or maid laments on his account. He loosens all links.

LOKI: Shut up, Tyr, you never made peace between any two; let us speak of your right hand. Fenrer tore it from you.

TYR: I lost my hand, and you your star witness. The harm is ill for us both. The wolf is no better off, biding in fetters till the end of the ages.

LOKI: Shut up, Tyr. With your wife it happened that she bore a son by me; you never received an ell nor a penny for the dishonor, poor fool.

FREY: I see the wolf lying at the river's mouth till the rulers' reign shall be rent. Beside him shall you also be chained if you cease not now, schemer.

LOKI: With gold you bought Gymer's daughter, and so sold your sword; but when Muspell's sons ride over the Mirkwood, how shall you then fight?

BYGGVER: Had I the noble birth of Ingunar-Frey and such a blissful abode, I should grind you finer than marrow, you bird of ill omen, and lame all your limbs.

LOKI: What toddler is this I see sneaking his fare, a sniffer of crumbs? You tattle in Frey's ear and tread the mill.

BYGGVER: Byggver is my name, and I am called smart among gods and men; I am privileged to drink good ale here with all Ropt's sons.

LOKI: Shut up, Byggver, you never could share fairly the food among men; and you were hidden beneath the bench-hay when men came to blows.

HEIMDAL: You are drunk, Loki, and robbed of your wits; why don't you cease, Loki? Overindulgence causes both young and old to lose control of their tongues.

LOKI: Shut up, Heimdal. In the morning of days you were ill-fated to be ever splashed on the back, watcher for the gods.

SKADE: You are funny, Loki, but not for long may you play with a wagging tail; for, tied with your cold son's guts on a sharp rock shall the angry gods bind you.

LOKI: If on a sharp rock the angry gods bind me with my frostcold son's guts, I was both first and last in the battle when Tjasse (7) lost his life.

SKADE: If first and last you were in the tumult when Tjasse gave his life, then from my sanctuaries, my sacred groves, shall you meager counsel gain.

LOKI: Gentler were your words to the son of Lofo when you bade me to your bed; such things must be told if we are to narrate all our faults.

Beyla/Sif came forth and poured the tankard with mead for Loki:

SIF: Hail thee, Loki, take this cup filled with mellow mead, and may I alone of Aesir's children be held free from faults.

Loki took the horn and drank.

LOKI: Alone indeed were you, if you were so faithful and attentive to your spouse, but I know one who has lain in Lorride's bed, and that is sly Loki.

BEYLA: The mountains quake; I believe Lorride is on his way here from home: he will silence the traducer whether god or man.

LOKI: Shut up, Beyla, you are Byggver's woman, full of evil, a more insolent nuisance came not among the Aesir's children, you dirty dairymaid.

Thor entered and spoke:

THOR: Quiet, miserable wretch, I shall rob you of speech with Mjolnir, my fire-hammer; I shall strike your head from your neck, thus shall you lose your life.

LOKI: Now is come the son of Earth. Why so noisy, Thor? You dare not brag of battling the wolf who swallows Victory-father whole.

THOR: Quiet, miserable wretch, my force-hammer Mjolnir shall rob you of speech. I shall hurl you aloft in the eastern space that none may see you again.

LOKI: Of your eastern journeys you never should speak before men since you crouched in the thumb of the giant's mitt, warrior. (8) You seemed unlike Thor then.

THOR: Quiet, miserable wretch, my force-hammer Mjolnir shall rob you of speech; with this my right hand I shall slay you with Rungner's bane, that all your bones break.

LOKI: I mean to live yet a long, long age, though you threaten me with the hammer; dreadfully tight did Skrymir's knots seem to you; though hale and strong you went hungry.

THOR: Quiet, miserable wretch, my force-hammer Mjolnir shall rob you of speech; Rungner's bane shall bring you to Hel, below the gates of death.

LOKI: I sang for the Aesir and for Aesir's sons whatsoever I chose, but only for you do I leave hence, for I know that Thor will strike at last. Ale you brewed, Ager, but never more shall you make feast again; may all that you here have with you be burned over and fire burn your back.

After this, Loki went in the shape of a salmon into the Frananger stream, where the Aesir caught him. He was bound with the guts of his son Nare. Narfi his [other] son became a wolf. Skade suspended a poisonous viper above Loki. The venom drips from it. Sigyn, Loki's wife, sits holding a bowl under the venom and when she goes to empty the bowl, the venom drips on Loki. He writhes in pain so that the earth shakes. These are called earthquakes.

by Elsa-Brita Titchenell

Allvismal
(The Lay of Allwise)

TRANSLATOR'S NOTES

Allvis (allwise or allknowing) is a dwarf who desires to wed the daughter of Thor. Doubting that the dwarf is worthy of this union, Thor nevertheless gives him an opportunity to prove himself and subjects him to an intensive examination concerning the attitudes and vision that characterize different grades of beings which compose the world. Allvis gives satisfactory replies to all questions, but Thor keeps him talking till daybreak when the first rays of the rising sun strike him, and he turns to stone or, in some versions, blends with the mountain from which he had emerged.

Many fairy tales have this surprise ending, where a dwarf or troll turns to stone when faced with the dawn of day. Several possible interpretations present themselves. One is that the forces belonging to the night side of nature, having no business with the concerns of the day, cease from activity when light returns. Allvis, however, conveys something more than this. He is a knowledgeable dwarf, who presumes to demand union with the daughter of the god who is sustainer of life: as a human nature, he is well informed but unenlightened; he is seeking immortality on the strength of his considerable knowledge, but his "dwarf" nature is still immature and, unless inspired and receptive to the solar radiance, it cannot gain the desired union with divinity. When the neophyte faces the solar essence, the dwarf element, unfit to blend with it, "turns to stone."

Many mythologies, including the biblical, use stone or rock to symbolize dogmatic, dead-letter religion. This is exemplified by Moses drawing living water from the rock -- explaining the teachings within the ritual; and later, Christianity reverted to the "rock" (petra or Peter) as the foundation of the church.

This lay is probably susceptible also of other, equally valid interpretations; it is very revealing of different viewpoints that characterize consciousnesses at various stages of awareness and comprehension -- from the simple matter-standpoint of the giants, through the differing perceptions of the dwarfs and of the elves, to the overview of nature commanded by the gods.


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Allvismal
1. ALLWISE: The benches are being adorned.
Now a bride shall go to her home
With great haste it seems.
No rest is awaiting at home.

2. THOR: What dastard is this? Why so pale in the face?
Did you sleep with the dead last night?
Meseems there is something thurselike about you.
You are not born for a bride.

3. ALLWISE: Allwise is my name. I live below ground
And my city lies beneath stone.
The wagon-warrior (1) I come to seek.
Let no one break his word!

4. THOR: I break it though, for I, as her father,
Have the best right to decide.
I was not home when she was promised.
I alone among gods am marriage-maker.

5. ALLWISE: Who is this fellow who says he rules
Over the fair and blessed woman?
By your bowshots far there are few who know you.
Who has borne you to golden rings?

6. THOR: Wingthor am I. I have traveled widely
And I am the son of Broadbeard. (2)
Not against my will shall you have the maiden
Or receive her troth.

7. ALLWISE: Soon shall I have your promise, though,
And receive that troth.
I would rather have than forgo
The snowwhite maiden.

8. THOR: Nor shall her love be denied to you,
Wise guest, if from every world
You can give me tidings of all
That I wish to know.

9. ALLWISE: Try me, Wingthor, in all you would ask,
See what the dwarf is good for!
I have traveled in all the nine worlds
And have learned something of all. (3)

10. THOR: Tell me, Allwise, for you must know
The fates of all the kingdoms:
What is that earth disposed for the sons
Of ages in every world?

11. ALLWISE: Men call it Earth, but the Aesir (4) Humus;
The Vans call it Ways.
Giants say Evergreen, elves name it Growth;
The aspiring name it Origin.

12. THOR: Tell me, Allwise, as you must know
The fates of all kingdoms:
What is the heaven, the lofty-domed,
Named in each world?

13. ALLWISE: Men call it heaven, the gods say defense,
Windmaker is he to Vaner;
The giants say upper home, elves say fair-roof,
The dripping hall is it to dwarfs.

14. THOR: Tell me then, Allwise, as you must know
The fates of all kingdoms:
What is the moon that people see
In every world?

15. ALLWISE: It is moon to men but to gods the diminisher,
Turning wheel in the house of Hel;
Giants say hastener, dwarfs call it shine;
Elves name it tally of time.

16. THOR: Tell me then, Allwise, as you must know
The fates of all kingdoms:
What is the sun that people see
In every world?

17. ALLWISE: Men call it sun but gods say the southernmost,
Dwarfs call it Dvalin's toy;
Giants say ever-glowing, elves call it fairwheel,
All transparent is it to Aesir's sons.

18. THOR: Tell me then, Allwise, as you must know
The fates of all kingdoms:
What are the clouds that drench with rain
Named in each world?

19. ALLWISE: Men call them clouds, the gods shower-wont,
The Vans say wind river;
Giants say weatherbode, elves tempest-boder,
Hel's folk say the hiding helmet.

20. THOR: Tell me then, Allwise, as you must know
The fates of all kingdoms:
What is the wind that fares so far
In every world?

21. ALLWISE: He is wind to men, but wafter to gods,
Neigher to the highest gods (Vaner),
Howler to giants, din-maker to elves,
Whirler in the house of Hel.

22. THOR: Tell me then, Allwise, as you must know
The fates of all kingdoms:
What is that calm that shall one day come
And settle on every world?

23. ALLWISE: To men it is calm, to gods the law,
Vaner say end-of-wind;
Giants say stifling, elves a day's sleep,
Dwarfs call it end-of-being.

24. THOR: Tell me then, Allwise, as you must know
The fates of all kingdoms:
What is that sea whereon one rows
In every world?

25. ALLWISE: It is sea to men, the funnel's eye to gods,
Waves to the wise Vaner:
Eelhome to giants, to elves staff-of-law,
To dwarfs the deep sea.

26. THOR: Tell me then, Allwise, as you must know
The fates of all kingdoms:
What is the name of fire that burns for all
In every world?

27. ALLWISE: To men it is fire, to Aesir the spark that lights,
Wagon to Vaner;
Giants say gluttonous, burning to dwarfs,
The swift in Hel's house.

28. THOR: Tell me then, Allwise, as you must know
The fates of all kingdoms:
What is that forest that, shading, grows
In every world?

29. ALLWISE: He is forest to men but earth-man to gods,
To Hel he is barrow-kelp,
Fuel to giants, to elves flower-twigs,
Vaner say willow-wand.

30. THOR: Tell me then, Allwise, as you must know
The fates of all kingdoms:
What is the night, daughter of dark,
Named in each world?

31. ALLWISE: Men call her night, the gods say dark,
The highest gods say the disguiser;
Giants say unlight, elves joy-of-sleep,
Dwarfs call her dream-binder.

32. THOR: Tell me then, Allwise, as you must know
The fates of all kingdoms:
What is the harvest sown by the sons of the ages
In every world?

33. ALLWISE: Men call it grain, the gods yet-to-bear,
Vaner say growth;
Giants, food; elves the staff-of-law,
In Hel's house a heavy head.

34. THOR: Tell me then, Allwise, as you must know
The fates of all kingdoms:
What is that ale the sons of the aeons
Quaff in each world?

35. ALLWISE: To men it is ale, but with Aesir beer,
To Vaner a draught of power;
Pure law to giants, mead in Hel's house,
But festive drink to Suttung's sons.

36. THOR: In one man's breast I never saw so many staves of wisdom.
With subterfuge have I misled you;
Till daybreak, dwarf, you are still up.
Now shines the sun in the hall.

by Elsa-Brita Titchenell

Grogaldern and Fjolsvinns Ordskifte
(The Spells of Groa and Verywise's Exchange)

TRANSLATOR'S NOTES

GROGALDERN
The two lays that follow belong together and it would be misleading to separate them. The first enumerates the necessary qualities that must have been acquired by a candidate for initiation, while the second relates the culminating test itself. Together they tell the story of Svipdag, and his "Appearing as Day."

Od (1) (man) is sent forth by his stepmother Skade on the supposedly impossible errand of finding and gaining admission to the hall of Menglad ("she who enjoys a jewel," a name for Freya, owner of the Brisingamen, humanity). Skade is the sister, wife, and also a daughter of Njord (time). It was she who suspended the venomous serpent over Loki's face when he was confined in the underworld.

To meet the all but insurmountable difficulties of his quest, Od invokes the aid of his dead mother, who is named Groa (growth). She rises from the dead to sing him nine protective charms. Represented as a sibyl, she symbolizes the hero's past, his former selves which have shaped his character and given him birth as he now is. If the lives of preparation have brought him the qualities he needs for success, he will be equipped for the great trial before him.

The "protective charms" are of course the strengths and virtues he has earned. First of these is freedom from all external pressures; the second is self-control; third, immunity from the powerful currents that flow towards the realms of death (of the soul); fourth is the power to turn enemies into friends, to transmute negative traits into positive, useful attributes; fifth is the magic sword which will loosen all bonds, all limiting weaknesses which by now the hero must have overcome. They are the personal ties that attract the soul away from its high purpose. Sixth, she endows him with the aid of the natural elements, even those of that "sea, more dread than men may know" (11) -- the astral light with its baleful illusions; seventh, he gains immunity from the "frost of the high mountain" (12) -- the chilling fear that grips the soul when faced with the unfamiliar heights of purer worlds. Eighth is the power to pass unharmed among the shades of the dead.

From all this a theosophic interpretation shows clearly that the adventure on which Od has embarked is an initiation into a high estate of spiritual awareness. Such initiation demands first a descent into the regions beneath our physical world. Each great Teacher of mankind has to "descend into hell" to render aid to lower grades of beings and to feel and understand their condition, while proving his integrity and remaining unaffected by the noxious miasmas of these worlds.

Ninth, the sibyl enjoins: "If you exchange words with the spear-renowned giant, of words and man-sense of tongue as of heart, may you have enough!" (14)

The nine charms also denote qualities that have been, or should have been, developed by each human being who has traversed the nine worlds we have experienced in this cycle. Certain it is that they are necessary equipment for any soul to become truly enlightened.

FJOLSVINN'S EXCHANGE
We find Od in this lay seeking admittance to the hall of Menglad, whose name we know as a kenning for Freya. The guardian at the gate to Menglad's hall calls himself Fjolsvinn (Verywise) and is none other than Odin, here standing for the man's inner god and hierophants. He rebuffs the traveler, calling him "giant" and "wolf," but Od insists on gaining access to the gilded hall. Asked his name he responds:

"Windcold is my name, Springcold was my father. His sire was Verycold" (6).

Od then asks whose hall this is and learns that it is indeed that of Menglad, "born of her mother and the son of the Sleep-enchanter" (7).

Here is the origin of the tale of the Sleeping Beauty. In Sweden she is Tornrosa (thornrose), the rose pricked with the thorn of sleep: she is man's spiritual soul, the unawakened beauty who is the aim of life for man. The sleep-enchanter is in certain respects identified with Njord, as Time, and also with Springcold, a far-past age of innocence. The seeker and the sought are thus descended from the same divine source, as are the human soul and its inner god. It is the aim of the individual to gain reunion with the universal after fulfilling its self-awareness through evolution in all the realms of matter: with Menglad-Freya -- the higher self of man, his spiritual intelligence -- to become one with the divinity that is awaiting its human champion.

In the guise of Windcold, Od poses questions of the keeper at the gate, and Odin-Verywise responds: he gives the name and function of the gate that binds like a fetter any pilgrim who lifts the latch; and of the court made from the limbs of the mud giant -- the substance from which were made the first forms of men which were rejected as unfit vehicles by the gods and which were superseded by a later creation. Its task is to repel all comers. The two fierce watchdogs, according to Verywise, have eleven watches yet to keep before this life term ends.

When Windcold asks the name of the tree whose branches spread over all the land he is told it is Mimameid, the Tree of Knowledge, "which falls not for fire or iron" (20), and whose fruit helps what is hidden within to be revealed. Not to be confused with the Tree of Life its name links it with the "wise giant" Mimer, owner of the well of the wisdom to be gained through existence in matter. In the biblical Genesis, too, the trees of life and knowledge are quite distinct. It is clear that the "fall" from innocence was an inevitable part of the evolutionary process. Man must leave the childlike condition and enter what the Edda terms the "victory worlds" in order to earn, consciously and self-consciously, his ultimate access to the Tree of Life. Here the human soul or elf, Od, must by its own self-determined efforts attain the godlike state that enables it to unite with its hamingja (immortal essence). We shall see how thorough a familiarity with the 'Tree of Knowledge is needed for the human initiant to gain this union.

Windcold asks about the golden bird in the topmost branches of Mimameid and is told it is Wideopener. The hero must conquer him, but in order to do this he must enter the underworld and there obtain the magic potion brewed by Lopt (lofty: aspiration), the inspired aspect of Loki, mind guided by its hamingja. The brew was made from remorse in the lower hells and is kept in a tub of tough iron, secured by nine strong locks. He must wrest it from its keeper, the dreaded hag Sinmara who, like Ceridwen of the Welsh, guards the caldron. The brew, like the mystic soma-drink supposedly given to initiants in the East, aids in opening the consciousness to the fearsome hells of the soul. These the candidate must successfully traverse -- "endless woes" concentrated by the Wideopener "in one great sorrow" (23).

But there is a paradox here: in order to obtain from Sinmara the magic potion which will make accessible the Wideopener in the topmost branches of the Tree of Knowledge, the hero must bring her a shining feather from that golden bird!

The candidate who seeks the wisdom of the gods must thus gain access to the spiritual heights in order to descend to the nethermost regions and return unscathed; only after his successful rise from the descent into hell may he claim his bride -- attain union with the immortal essence of himself, the universal heart of his being, and achieve the vistas of unlimited consciousness -- for this world or branch of the Tree of Life.

There is here a story within a story, as so often happens in myths. Od, who stands at the gateway leading to the final revelation, in his exchange with the guardian of the gate who is his initiator, guide, and examiner, receives information which is clearly intended for the listener, or reader: a description of the types of experience and enlightenment of mind and soul which must be undergone by one who aspires to enter the hall named Calm, "long poised on the point of a spear, whereof only hearsay reached the people of old" (31) -- (when there were as yet none who could receive it?)

At length Windcold stands revealed as Svipdag, the radiant -- "Appearing as Day." Now he names himself son of Sunbright, "tossed forth on windcold ways" (46). The Egyptian Mysteries refer to the risen initiate as a "son of the sun," for a radiance is visible about him. This is the long forgotten origin of the ushnisha or halo above or about the heads of Bodhisattvas, Christs, and saints in ancient and mediaeval art. Svipdag, the successful initiate, represents one of such rare perfected humans in the history of mankind. "Tossed on windcold ways" are we all, every monad, each spark of divine fire which emerged from IT at the beginning of time and descended into spheres of life; destined at the end of the cycle to become reunited with its divine parent, every monad of consciousness brings with it the increment of experience earned throughout its existence.

The end of this lay reveals the Edda as a transmission of the one universal theosophy which is expressed through the Buddhist, Christian, and other sacred traditions throughout history. The story of Svipdag points to the true goal of life -- hastened in initiation -- something which has been consistently overlooked by modern mythologers. It is the very crux of the hero's venture, his selfless progress, success, and the crowning reunion with his hamingja. When Menglad welcomes him as her beloved, saying she has long awaited him on the sacred mountain, he responds, "Both have we yearned; I have longed for you, and you to meet me. Atonement is now as we two together share the tasks of the years and the ages" (48).

These few words are among the most important in all mythologies extant: the hero united with his spiritual self -- not triumphant in his glory or content to rest eternally in heavenly peace -- undertakes to aid his higher self in performing henceforth "the tasks of the years and the ages." This final verse places the Norse myths among the noblest scriptures of the world, those which enjoin the divine sacrifice whereby the aspirant aims to serve mankind and gains universal peace only in order to renounce it for the benefit of all beings. This is the ideal of the schools of genuine occultism down through the ages and the motivation of all the world's saviors.


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Grogaldern
1. SON [OD] : Waken, Groa, good woman. I call you at the doors of death.
Mind you not that you enjoined your son to come to the barrow-tomb?

2. MOTHER [GROA] : What fate has stricken my only son, to what ill is my child born,
That you call your mother from the dead, where she is gone from the world of men?

3. SON: An ill trick played me the sly woman who embraced my father;
She has sent me where none may go -- to seek Menglad.

4. MOTHER: Long is the journey, far are the roads: far-reaching human passions;
If you succeed in your desire, Skuld (2) will also be content.

5. SON: Sing me spells that are good, help your son, Mother! On wide ways
Shall I helpless stray. I feel too young for the marriage.

6. MOTHER: First, I sing you the song of fortune that Rane sang to Rind:
Shake all ills from your shoulders and steer your own steps.

7. I sing you a second: As you wander on unwilling ways: Urd's (3) bolts
Hold you fast if you find abuse.

8. I sing you a third: If towering torrents threaten to engulf you,
They shall hasten to Hel and for you they shall lower their level.

9. I sing you a fourth: If enemies lurk, armed, on the roads of men,
That their minds may be turned toward you, their anger soothed to friendship.

10. I sing you a fifth: If fetters be laid on your limbs, a sword I sound over you
That shall spring the locks from your limbs and the fetters shall fall from your feet.

11. I sing you a sixth: If you be on a sea more dread than men may know,
The race of the wind and the roar of the waves shall aid you on your journey.

12. I sing you a seventh: If you freeze from frost on the lofty mountain,
The chill of death shall spare your flesh and your limbs keep their life.

13. I sing you an eighth: If on cloudy paths overtaken by night,
No harm may befall you from the shade of a Christian woman.

14. I sing you a ninth: If you exchange words with the spear-renowned giant,
Of words and man-sense of tongue as of heart, may you have enough!

15. Travel no roads where evil you sense. No obstacle hinders you then.
On the earth-fast rock I stood within the door chanting these spells for you.

16. Take your mother's words, son; take them hence. Let them ever live in your heart.
All that is good shall you ever reap, as long as you heed my words.


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Fjolsvinns Ordskifte
1. Outside the court he saw rising upward a giant toward the fort:
"Who is that wretch standing before the court and turning himself about at the purifying flames?
"Whom do you seek, whose trail do you follow? What seek you to know, friendless one?
"Wander away once more on wet ways. You have no champion here, defenseless one."

2. WANDERER: Who is the wretch who stands at the gate and bids not the wanderer welcome?
Discourteous discourse you dispense. Hie you hence homeward!

3. THE WATCHMAN: Verywise is my name. I am knowing enough but waste not much food.
Into this house you shall never come. Wend your ways, wolf!

4. WANDERER: None turns away from his eyes' delight, when he sees some sweet sight.
The courts seem to gleam round the gilded hall. Here may I happy dwell.

5. VERYWISE: Tell me of what past you are born, of what forebears you are the scion.

6. WANDERER: Windcold is my name, Springcold was my father. His sire was Verycold.
Tell me, Verywise; I must ask and wish to know:
Who rules here and wields the power over lands and sumptuous halls?

7. VERYWISE: Menglad is her name, born of her mother and the son of the Sleep-enchanter.
She rules here and wields the power over lands and sumptuous halls.

8. WINDCOLD: Tell me, Verywise; I must ask and wish to know:
What is that gate than which even the gods have not one more deceptive?

9. VERYWISE: Noisy her name and she was created by the three sons of Sunblind.
Like a fetter she fastens each wayfarer fast who unlocks her and opens her up.

10. WINDCOLD: Tell me, Verywise; I must ask and wish to know:
What is that court than which even the gods have not one more perilous?

11. VERYWISE: Repeller of strangers is his name. I made him of the mud giant's limbs;
So have I made him that he shall stand as long as men live.

12. WINDCOLD: Tell me, Verywise; I must ask and wish to know:
What are these hounds than which I never saw any more vicious?

13. VERYWISE: One is named Gifr, the other Gere, if you must know.
Eleven watches they have to stand ere the Rulers' reign be rent.

14. WINDCOLD: Tell me, Verywise; I must ask and wish to know:
May any man enter while such beasts slumber?

15. VERYWISE: They have been charged with alternately sleeping since they were trained to watch.
One sleeps by night, the other by day. No one enters here.

16. WINDCOLD: Tell me, Verywise; I must ask and wish to know:
Is there any food one could give them and enter while they eat?

17. VERYWISE: Two steaks there lie in Wideopener's members, if you must know.
That is the only food a man might give them and enter while they eat.

18: WINDCOLD: Tell me, Verywise; I must ask and wish to know:
What family tree spreads here its branches over the land?

19. VERYWISE: Mimameid is the tree and no man knows of what roots it is grown;
What evil may fell it but few may guess. It falls not for fire or iron.

20. WINDCOLD: Tell me, Verywise; I must ask and wish to know:
What will cause to languish the glorious tree that falls not for fire or iron?

21. VERYWISE: When its fruit shall be burned on the fire by doting crones, then will go out
What should be within. Then is the tree rotten among men.

22. WINDCOLD: Tell me, Verywise; I must ask and wish to know:
What is that rooster high in the tree, all of him shining of gold?

23. VERYWISE: Wideopener is his name who, shining, perches high in Mimameid's crown.
He amasses in one great sorrow the endless woe from Sinmara's fire.

24. WINDCOLD: Tell me, Verywise; I must ask and wish to know:
Is there a weapon whereby Wideopener may be brought to the house of Hel?

25. VERYWISE: Lavaten is its name. It was made with remorse by Lopt 'neath the chasm's gate.
In the iron vat in Sinmara's keeping, it is guarded by nine firm locks.

26. WINDCOLD: Tell me, Verywise; I must ask and wish to know:
Comes he again who seeks to take that magic lever?

27. VERYWISE: He may come again who seeks to take that magic lever,
If he bear that which few may own to the fruitful earth's healing-woman.

28. WINDCOLD: Tell me, Verywise; I must ask and wish to know:
Is there anything costly a man might own to delight the hag?

29. VERYWISE: The shining pinion on its quill from Wide-opener's wings shall you bear
As a gift to Sinmara ere she deigns give you the weapon.

30. WINDCOLD: Tell me, Verywise; I must ask and wish to know:
What is that hall which is girt about, wisely, by purging fires?

31. VERYWISE: Calm is his name, and long may he poise on the point of a spear.
About that glorious house only hearsay has reached to the people of old.

32. WINDCOLD: Tell me, Verywise; I must ask and wish to know:
Who of the sons of the gods built the hall I saw through the gates?

33. VERYWISE: Une and Ire, Bare and Ore, Varr and Vagdrasil, Dore, Ure, and Delling; also the sly elf Loki.

34. WINDCOLD: Tell me, Verywise; I must ask and wish to know:
What is that mountain where the bride is to be found ensconced in dreams?

35. VERYWISE: Sacred Mountain its name, a haven since of old for the sick and wounded;
Though sick unto death, each woman who ascends here shall be healed.

36. WINDCOLD: Tell me, Verywise; I must ask and wish to know:
Who are the maids who sit at Menglad's knees, in harmony together?

37. VERYWISE: Haven is one, Survivor another, a third Custodian; Bright and Gentle,
Tender and Peace, Compassion, and Commander of Clemency. (4)

38. WINDCOLD: Tell me, Verywise; I must ask and wish to know:
Do they save those who sacrifice to them, if they deem it needful?

39. VERYWISE: They wisely save those who sacrifice in a holy place.
So harsh an evil comes not to man that he be not delivered therefrom.

40. WINDCOLD: Tell me, Verywise; I must ask and wish to know:
Is there a man who may sleep on the lovable Menglad's arm?

41. VERYWISE: No man is there who may sleep on the lovable Menglad's arm,
Only Svipdag; to him the sunbright maid is trothplight for spouse.

42. WINDCOLD: Open wide the gates! Here you see Svipdag!
It is still unknown whether Menglad will deign to take me for her joy.

43. VERYWISE TO MENGLAD: Hear, Menglad. A man is come. Go see the guest yourself
The hounds are content; the house has opened of itself. Meseems it is Svipdag.

44. MENGLAD: If you are lying when you say the man has come from afar to my halls,
Vicious ravens shall tear out your eyes on the high gallows.

45. MENGLAD TO SVIPDAG: Whence have you come? Why did you undertake the journey?
By what name are you known in your own house?
By your kin and your name I shall know by portent if I were meant for your wife.

46. SVIPDAG: Misty Morn is my name. Sunbright is my father. Thence I was tossed forth
On windcold ways. None may lament Urd's decree though the cause be weak.

47. MENGLAD: Be you welcome! What I have wished for I now have; a kiss greet the dear arrival.
Long have I awaited you on the mountain of sleep. Now my hope is fulfilled.
You have once more returned, man, to my halls.

48: SVIPDAG: Both have we yearned; I have longed for you, and you to meet me.
Atonement is now, as we two together share the tasks of the years and the ages.

by Elsa-Brita Titchenell

Skirnismal
(The Lay of Skirner)

TRANSLATOR'S NOTES

Frey, the deity whose embodiment is in the many-mansioned earth, was seated on Lidskjalf whence he espied the giant maiden Gerd in her father's court. He was consumed with love for her and wished to woo her for his bride. The divine being cannot, however, enter the matter worlds directly and therefore Frey sent his henchman Skirner to woo the maiden on his behalf. Skirner introduces himself to Gerd as "not of the elves, nor of Asa-sons, nor yet am I one of the wise Vaner" (18). What, then, is he?

Skirner means Radiance, a ray of divinity, an avatara which descends into a lower world in order to enlighten a race of humanity -- a giant maid. Equipped with the steed and sword of the god, Skirner rides to the giant world and gains speech with Gerd, but she repels all his overtures. The apples of immortality do not tempt her, nor does "the ring that was burned with Odin's son" (Balder), which drops eight like itself every ninth night -- her father, she says, has gold aplenty. Nor is she moved by threats of continuing evils in the giant world with worse to come. However, when her future is revealed to her -- extinction in "powerlessness, witlessness, and lust" -- she finally agrees to meet with the god in the inviolable sacred grove Barre "where one travels in peace" (39).

The lay of Skirner might easily be dismissed as fantastic nonsense were it not for a certain suggestive quality that parallels other tales relating to the incarnation of a divinity in our world: an avataric descent. This, like the "hostages" sent by the Vaner to the Aesir, is the penetration of a divine ray from a superior sphere into a lower world and its embodiment there, to bring an ennobling influence to bear on the thought atmosphere of that world. At certain junctures earth has experienced such events, when a divine teacher has taken human form to teach and inspire humanity. Krishna, Lao-tse, Sankaracharya, the one whom tradition has named the Christ, and others, are examples of such avataras. They come at certain cyclic periods; in the words of Krishna, "I produce myself among creatures, O son of Bharata, whenever there is a decline of virtue and an insurrection of vice and injustice in the world; and thus I incarnate from age to age for the preservation of the just, the destruction of the wicked, and the establishment of righteousness." Each time such an avatara imbodies among human beings, he strikes anew the keynote of truth which resounds for a longer or shorter epoch, depending on the age; eventually a new cycle begins, bringing a fresh dispensation of the eternal message.

In the light of this, Skirner's mission appears as such a periodic event, one which took place in some dimly remembered prehistoric time -- a divine incarnation for the enlightenment of Gerd, daughter race of a grossly materialistic giant race, her father.

Before the descent, however, certain obstacles must be overcome. The radiant messenger must be equipped with the steed that can traverse the "purging fires" that surround the realm of the gods; he must be armed with Frey's sword which wields itself in battling giants "if the bearer is resourceful" (9). In the stories told of Frey, his sword is relatively short: a mere yard long. The one who wields it must be both courageous to approach close to the foe, and resourceful to be able to do so unharmed: the bearer of the weapon of spiritual will is fearless and also wise.

Gerd is evidently an age much like our own, one of material skills and pursuits: she is quite content with the riches of the giant world that are hers and cares not at all for those offered by the god's messenger. Only when the realization of the ceaseless sorrows attendant on a clinging to matter is gradually brought home to her does she choose at last to meet with her divine companion in the sacred grove of peace.

An interesting point raised by this poem revolves around the stepmother, Skade, whose name means "injury." She is the lovely young wife of Njord, the ageless Saturnian god of time. We have seen that she was the one who hung the venomous serpent over Loki's face to aggravate his suffering in the nether worlds; she is also the instigator of Skirner's errand to inquire of Frey what is troubling him. This is not an easy problem to resolve but it is one that bears consideration. Is it possible that Skade could represent the Norse equivalent of the highly mysterious Narada of eastern philosophies -- the power which brings much immediate suffering but whose long-range effects are to clear the way for productive future growth? Whether she is intended to represent such an agent of natural calamity to further the evolution of beings must remain a moot question.


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Skirnismal
Frey, son of Njord, sat on the Shelf of Compassion one day and looked over all the worlds; he gazed into the realm of the giants and there saw a fair maiden walking from her father's hall to the women's quarters. Thence had he much heartache. Skirner was Frey's squire. Njord's wife Skade sent him to engage Frey in conversation.

1. SKADE: Stand forth, Skirner;
Go try to engage our son in speech;
Ask who it is
Who makes the wise one unhappy.

2. SKIRNER: I may expect angry words
If I ask your son
Whom he wishes to espouse.

3. Tell me, Frey, prince among gods:
Why sit you alone
In your infinite hall,
Day after day, my lord?

4. FREY: How can I reveal to you,
Friend of my youth,
My heart's great sorrow?
Though the sun shines
Blessingly each day,
It shines not on my desire.

5. SKIRNER: Surely your wish could not be so lofty
It might not be told to me;
We were young together in ancient days;
We two may trust each other!

6. FREY: In Gymer's courts I saw walking
A maid who pleases me;
Her arms glistened so they reflected
All the heavens and seas;

7. The maid is more dear to me
Than my childhood friend;
But of Aesir and elves
None wish to see us united.

8. SKIRNER: Bring me the horse that can bear me at dusk
Over the protective purging fires;
That sword as well that wields itself
In battle with giants.

9. FREY: I bring you the steed that can bear you at dusk
Over the protective purging fires;
The sword also that wields itself
If the bearer thereof is resourceful.

10. SKIRNER TO THE HORSE:
It is dark outside; our aim is to journey
Over moist mountains, close to the thurses;
We both shall be safe or both shall be taken
By the greedy giant.

Skirner rode into the giant world, to Gymer's courts; there angry hounds were bound by the gate of the yard surrounding Gerd's hall. He rode to a herdsman seated on a mound.

11. SKIRNER: Tell me, herdsman who sit on the mound
Watching all roads;
How shall I gain speech with the maiden
For Gymer's angry hounds?

12. HERDSMAN: Are you condemned to death or dead already,
You so high on your horse?
It will be hard for you to gain speech
With Gymer's maiden, the virtuous one.

13. SKIRNER: There are better things to do than haggle,
When wishing to advance.
One day only is my age waxed now,
And all my destiny laid forth.

14. GERD TO HER SLAVE GIRL: What is the noise,
The roaring din I hear?
The earth trembles
And Gymer's courts quake.

15. SLAVEGIRL: Here is a man, dismounted,
Letting his horse crop grass.

16. GERD: Bid him enter our hall
And drink splendid mead!
Yet I sense a foreboding
That outside stands my brother's bane.

17. Who among elves or of Asa-sons,
Or of wise Vaner are you?
Why came you alone over oak-lighted fires
To see our hall?

18. SKIRNER: I am not of the elves, nor of Asa-sons,
Nor yet am I one of wise Vaner;
Yet came I alone over oak-lighted fires
To see your hall.

19. Eleven golden apples I have
To give, Gerd, to you,
To buy your peace and that you
Be not indifferent to Frey.

20. GERD: Eleven apples I will not take
To have a man;
Frey and I may not build
Our lives together.

21. SKIRNER: Then I offer you the ring
That was burned with Odin's young son;
Eight like itself drop therefrom
Every ninth night.

22. GERD: I care not for the ring
Though it was burned with Odin's young son;
For gold I lack not
In Gymer's courts.

23. SKIRNER: See you this sword,
Supple, adorned with runes,
Which I hold in my hand?
I shall sever your head from your neck
If you refuse.

24. GERD: Force shall never cause me
To take a man;
But I know that if you and Gymer meet in battle,
It will be a lusty fight.

25. SKIRNER: See you the sword,
Supple, adorned with runes?
By it shall fall the ancient giant;
Your father were doomed to die.

26. I smite you with a magic wand,
For I must tame you to my wish;
You shall go where the children of men
Nevermore shall see you.

27. You shall sit on the eagle's mound
With your gaze turned from the world,
Staring toward Hel's house;
Food shall disgust you more
Than the shining serpent does men.

28. You shall be a monster on the road;
Rimner shall stare at you;
Your aspect confusing all;
Better shall you be known
Than the watcher of the gods,
As you greedily gawk at the gate.

29. Emptiness, lamentation, compulsion, impatience,
Your tears shall swell in anguish;
Sit while I conjure over you a flow of bitter curses,
Double lust and disgust.

30. You shall be hagridden from morning till night
In the giants' courts;
To the frost giants' hall shall you daily walk
Defenseless and lame,
Weeping shall be as joy to you,
And sorrow suffered with tears.

31. With a threeheaded thurse shall you walk,
Or be without man and mate;
Lust shall burn you, yearning tear you,
You shall be like the thistle that grows under the eaves.

32. I went to the woods,
To the damp willow thicket,
The wand to take.
The wand I took.

33. Wroth at you is Odin,
Wroth at you is Brage,
Frey shall heartily hate you;
Ill-willing maid,
You have provoked
The wrath of the gods in a matter of import.

34. Hear ye, titans,
Hear ye, frostgiants,
Sons of Suttung (fire),
And even you, Aesir:
Hear how I curse, how I ban the maid
From pleasuring with man.

35. Rimgrimner is the giant that shall hold you
Beneath the gates of death;
There shall slaves by the roots of trees
Give you sour liquid of goats;
No nobler drink shall you ever have, maid,
By your desire, by your own decree.

36. "Giant" I carve you three rune-staves:
Powerlessness, witlessness, and lust.
Then I tear off that on which I scribed it,
If need be.

37. GERD: Hail you, lad, rather now
Receive the festive beaker filled with aged mead!
Never dreamed I that I ever would wish
The Vana-son well.

38. SKIRNER: I would know all
Before I ride homeward:
When shall you at Ting
Plight your troth to the son of Njord?

39. GERD: Barre is the grove where one travels in peace,
As we both know.
Nine nights from now shall Gerd there plight her troth
To the son of Njord.

Skirner rode home. Frey stood outside, greeted him and asked for news.

40. FREY: Tell me, Skirner, before you unsaddle
The steed and take one step:
How went the matter in the giant world?
According to your way or mine?

41. SKIRNER: Barre is the grove where one travels in peace,
As we both know.
Nine nights from now shall Gerd there plight her troth
To the son of Njord.

42. FREY: Long is one night;
Longer two;
How shall I for three be yearning?
Often a month seems less to me.

by Elsa-Brita Titchenell

Vagtamskvadet
(The Lay of Waywont)

TRANSLATOR'S NOTES

This much-told story is well known in many versions. Balder, the sun-god, was beset by ominous dreams, which alarmed the Aesir. When Odin learned that the House of Hel, goddess of death, was being prepared to welcome his son, Odin's consort Frigga, mother of the gods, set out to exact an oath of all creatures that they would not harm Balder. All gladly gave her the assurance she craved, and it seemed the danger was averted. One thing only had been overlooked: the mistletoe, too slight and frail to pose a threat.

Loki learned of this oversight. He plucked the little plant, fashioned a dart from it and went to where the gods were amusing themselves hurling weapons against Balder, who stood laughing and invulnerable as the missiles rebounded and fell harmless to the ground. Only Balder's twin, the blind god Hoder, stood apart. Loki approached him and asked if he would not like to join the sport and he offered to guide Hoder's aim so that he too might enjoy the pastime. But the dart he placed on Hoder's bow was the fateful mistletoe. It pierced the sun-god's heart, and Balder forthwith journeyed to the House of Hel.

Disguised as Hermod (divine courage) Odin rode to entreat the queen of the dead to relinquish the sun-god, which she agreed to do if all beings without exception would weep for him. Frigga resumed her weary round and all creatures wept for the beloved Ase. When all appeared to be well she encountered an aged crone -- Loki in disguise -- who refused. It was decisive: Balder must remain in the House of Hel.

The sun-god was laid on his pyre ship; his loving wife Nanna (the moon) died of a broken heart and was laid beside him. Before the burning ship was set adrift, Odin is said to have bent and whispered something in his dead son's ear. (1)

There are many keys which fit this story: the sun-god dies each year at the winter solstice and is reborn, as his successor "but one night of age" strides to avenge his death, whereupon a new year dawns with the returning sun. The festival of the "unconquered sun" was celebrated throughout the lands north of the equator at the sacred season which later became Christmas. It is the time of the "virgin birth" when the divine self is born within the successful aspirant initiated into the Mysteries. Christ's birth was given that date to identify him as one of these initiates.

Another interpretation refers the tale to the end of the solar or golden age. In the days of humanity's youth, innocence prevailed in the newly aroused mind of man. It was an age of peace and serenity, of instinctual obedience to nature's laws, when the influence of the gods governed the lives of creatures. As the budding human intelligence began to test its power, freedom of choice and will led to inevitable wrongs and the law of moral responsibility came into play; together with the forces of ignorance and darkness, represented by the blind god Hoder, they were instrumental in bringing to an end this gentle vegetating existence. Similarly, in the biblical tale, Adam and Eve were driven from Eden after tasting the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, because they had become as the gods (elohim), responsible for their evolution. The human mind must be free to choose its course; the automatic drifting of childlike innocence no longer became the human soul which must now begin to direct, purposefully and intelligently, its own progress toward perfection and manifest its divinity ever more fully.

The evolutionary urge of intelligence in action -- Loki, disguised as the aged crone -- refused to mourn the passing of that golden age, for the real work of man's inner growth must take its place. Bound in the underworld, Loki must suffer torment until the end of the cycle. Beautiful Skade, the adverse aspect of Njord, the Saturnian age, suspends a serpent over his face, and its venom drips unceasingly on the bound titan, compounding his agony, while his devoted wife Sigyn remains by his side, catching the poison in a goblet. It is when she must go to empty the cup that Loki writhes in agony and the earth quakes.

It is a sad reflection that in most, if not all, scriptures, the agent that forced man's ejection from the innocence of infancy into adulthood and responsibility, is regarded as evil. Perhaps it has been so regarded because, as a humanity, we have been reluctant to grow up. Even now, there are many who would prefer to lay their shortcomings at the door of some deity, real or fictitious, and who resent having any burden to bear, though a little observation and reflection must convince us that in order to fulfill a greater destiny evolving beings must leave childhood behind and undertake purposeful participation in the functions of the universe. Thus Loki is forced to abide in the depths of matter and to suffer until the cycle's culmination. His pain is enhanced by the venom produced by the serpent of knowledge, just as that of Prometheus is aggravated by the vulture gnawing at his liver. Both torments represent human misuse of the divine gift of mind. The enlightener's sacrifice will end only when the human travail shall have been successfully accomplished; when Fenris, Loki's offspring, shall be free and shall devour the sun at the end of its life, and Vale shall continue the sun-god's work on a grander level of existence. Then, maybe, we too shall know what Odin whispered in Balder's ear.


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Vagtamskvadet (2)
1. All the Aesir, gods and goddesses
Sat in session together at Ting;
The mighty powers took council of this:
Why Balder was troubled by terrible dreams.

2. Mighty slight was the sun-god's slumber,
Rest and refreshment seemed gone from his sleep;
The giants requested prophetic response
As to how this might affect his creation.

3. The lots cast thereon showed that doomed to die
Was the dearest of Ull's kin; (3)
Anguish assailed Frigga and Svafner (4)
And the other rulers. They agreed on a plan:

4. Word was dispatched to all of creation,
Seeking assurance that Balder be spared;
All gave an oath that he would be unharmed.
Frigga received all agreements and promises.

5. Yet Allfather feared an uncertain outcome.
He felt that hamingjas were keeping away;
He summoned the Aesir, demanded decision.
Much was discussed at this congregation.

6. Up rose Odin, father of eons,
Saddled Sleipnir, his eightlegged steed;
Thence rode he downward, the road toward Niflhel,
Met here the hound that hails from the hollow.

7. Bloody the beast was on brisket and breast,
Long did he bay at the father of runes.
Odin rode forth; loud thundered the fields
As he halted at Hel's high hall.

8. Eastward rode Odin before the door,
Where he knew the sibyl's barrow to be.
Death-runes he sang to the magic maid
Until, forced to rise, she spoke from the dead.

9. "Who among men, unknown to me,
Compels my heavy journey?
I was covered with snow, lashed by rain,
Drenched with the dew. Long was I dead."

10. ODIN: Waywont my name, I am son of Deathwont,
Speak you from Hel's home as I speak from Life's:
For whom are the benches adorned with rings
And the couch covered over with gold?

11. SIBYL: The mead is made, for Balder brewed,
The precious draught sheltered by a shield;
The kin of the Aesir anxiously wait.
Forced have I said it. Now may I cease.

12. ODIN: Cease not, sibyl. I will inquire
Until I know all. More will I know:
Who shall the bane be unto Balder
And rob Odin's son of his age?

13. SIBYL: Hoder (5) brings hither the lovely scion.
He shall be unto Balder his bane
And rob Odin's son of his age.
Forced have I spoken. Now may I cease.

14. ODIN: Cease not, sibyl. I will inquire
Until I know all. More will I know:
Who shall avenge him harshly on Hoder
And bring Balder's bane to the pyre?

15. SIBYL: Rind (6) bears Vale (7) in western halls.
But one night old shall Odin's son battle;
He laves not his hands, nor combs he his hair
Ere he bears Balder's foe on the pyre.
Forced have I spoken. Now may I cease.

16. ODIN: Cease not, sibyl. I will inquire
Until I know all. More will I know:
Who are the maidens who then shall weep
And their kerchiefs fling to the skies?

17. SIBYL: No pilgrim you, as the sibyl thought.
You are Odin, father of eons.

18. ODIN: Nor sibyl you, nor wise seeress.
Rather are you three thurses' dam.

19. SIBYL: Ride home, Odin, with mind at rest!
So close comes no one again to me
Until Loki from fetters is free, and the forces,
Dissolvers of all, come to Ragnarok. (8)

by Elsa-Brita Titchenell

Hey Nephilim can you make this post permanente I felt it deserves that and thanks for info.

I say 10 out of 10
-Nero

Why yes i already have and im glad you enjoyed it.