W
An A n investigation o f Gullveig in Old Norse mythology myth ology & her anti-cosmic nexus
GULLVEIG EMBRACED IN
J
EMBELLISHED EMBELLISHED WIT H
TOGETHER WITH a«
illumination on the Old Nors e belief in the adverse adverse powers o f the underworld. An d an an
elaborate elaborate study an d view upon the underworld as a primordial primor dial source source of the the anti-cosmic current. *
*
5
*
GULLVEIGARBOK By Vexior
Text and image image Copyright © 201 0 Vexior Vexior First Edition © 2010 All A ll rights reser reserved. ved. No p a rt o f this book may m ay be reproduced reproduced or utiliz ed in any fo rm or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from fr om the p u b lisher. All A ll Old Ol d Norse reference referencess translated transla ted into English by Vexior ; mostly fro m Bugge' Bugge'ss edition edition o f Sam un dar Edda, and Heimskringla. The author would like like to give credit credit to Heimskringla which has advanced advanc ed and nourished no urished his profou pro found nd research research in rare rare ON O N literature. Illustrations Illustratio ns by Helgorth He lgorth and a nd Vexior Vexior.. uLoki Lo ki finds Gullve Gullveig' ig'ss He art " illustrated illustrated by John Bauer in 1911 fo r "Our r "Our Fathers' Godsaga " by Viktor Rydberg. Calligr Calligraph aphyy fo n t made by Vexior Vexior fo r the Gullveigarbok. www.vexior.se www.fallofman.eu
Explanatory............................. ........................... ........................... ........................... ........ 11 Introduction........................................... ........................... ........................... .................... 14 I: I S o g um ..................................................................................................................... 28 Gullveig In Aldna.......................................................................................................... 32 Gullveig s Misinterpretation as Freyja....................... ........................... ........................ 41 Gullveig, the Wolves and Werewolves' Ancestress & Fosterer ..................................... 47 Gulveig s Brother HrossJ^jofr............................... ........................... ........................... .. 49 Hei3r...............................................................................................................................50 Aurboda..........................................................................................................................56 Angrboda........................................................................................................................61 Hyrrokin.........................................................................................................................67 A Saemundar Edda-Study on Gullveig................... ........................... ........................... .. 71 A Snorra Edda-Study on Gullveig..................................................................................85 Undirheimar...................................................................................................................88 Hel - In Svarta........................................ ........................... ........................... ..................97 The Offspring......................... ........................... ........................... ........................... ..... 109 Fenrir.............................................. ........................... ........................... ...................... 110 Jormungandr...............................................................................................................114 Hati, Skoll, and Garmr....................... ........................... ........................... ................... 116 Gullveig and Lilith........................................................................................................117 Jamvidr............................ ........................... ........................... .......................... ............. 124 Kennings and Meanings................................. ........................... ........................... ........ 133 Gullveig and Lola.........................................................................................................148 The Death of Baldr........................................................................................................170 II : F je lk y ng i................................................................................................. 184 Bl6t...............................................................................................................................189 Seta...............................................................................................................................193 Vitt ....................................... 196 Gullveigar Runar...........................................................................................................197 II I: L j6 d ....................................................................................................................... 210 Hennar......................................................................................................................... 213 Ybldtninaz....................................................................................................................215 The Old Will Climb......................................................................................................217 Granautr.......................................................................................................................219 Ama..............................................................................................................................221 Skassleikr......................................................................................................................223 A p p e n d ix .....................................................................................................................227 In d e x ............................................................................................................................ 234
7
«Tift '- = = S
Plate I:
D fe 1
1
tljusb^Wlf —
—
Gullveig, Heidr, and Aurboda ascendfrom Niflheimr.
Plate II:
Gullveig as the rime-thurs crone Heidr.......................
Plate III: Loki finds
Gullveig's Hea rt .......................................
...30
...35
...39
Plate IV: Angrb oda ..................................................................
...63
Pla te V: Hyrrokin .....................................................................
...70
Plate VI: Loki
comes loose.......................................................
168
Plate VII: Heldrasill ................................................................
22 9
Plate VIII:
232
Chaos’ acosmic current .........................................
9
E x pl a n a t o r y
PRONUNCIATION KEYS
p ( P ) - as in thin d ( D ) - as in this ce (JE) & a (A ) - as in cat. An acc ent d en otin g a long er syllable (ге).
(0 ) &
0
(О ) - close to her. An accent den oting a longer syllable (6).
In early Scandinavia the letter о was frequen tly used for a slightly different o-sound, but it was replaced w ith the ch arac ter о du rin g th e early me dieval age. N ormally I am very picky with keeping to the original spellings and such, bu t due to the ir sim ilarities and mix-ups I have chosen to replace the character о with the 0 in this book.
ABREVLATIONS
A D anno domini BC before Christ Etc. and others; and so forth E.g. for example, such as he. tha t is OE Old English 01 Old Icelandic O N Old Norse; i.e. Old Scandinavian; Scandinavia which for me includes
Iceland. I would also like to explain some of the cho sen words that I use in this book. Some of them may be seen as unusual and old, bu t the reason why I chose these words is tha t they often etymologize with th e O ld No rse words a nd so make for a bette r fit. Take for example the English word “rime”; it derives from the Old N orse w ord hrim. Equally, the O ld N orse words for giant purs and jotunn I have anglicized into “thu rs” (pi- thurses, adj. thursian) and “jotun” (pi. jotuns). In this manner, I can use the more p ure form “rime-thurs” instead of “frost giant” - although they me an the same
11
Gu l l veig a r b Ok thing. Furth erm ore, 1 use the Ol d Nor se nam es in their original approach only, since those are the true names and I think that renaming them just to make it easier for foreigners to pronoun ce and rem em ber them is to patronize people and mock the giants. In my bo ok I will use the nam e He l only for the giantess wh o rules over the dead and N iflheimr, Gullveig’s dau ghte r with Loki. A nd I will only use the name H elheimr for the world of the dead in the u nderw orld (which is otherw ise comm only called only Hel). I do this to avoid unnecessary confusion in an already confusing and complex subject. I would also like to explain m y understanding of the difference between a thursgiant and a jotun-giant. In my profound studies of the O N mythology the thurses from M uspellzheimr and Niflheimr are the only ones who are m alignant and adver saries; as Muspellzheimr and Niflheimr are located beyond the und erwo rld in Chaos. All oth er giants, e.g. jotuns ( je tn ar ) and mountain-giants ( bergrisar ) , belong to the underw orld and are most o ften mythological allies with the vanir and «sir-gods. An example of this can be seen in the O N term hrim- which only belongs to the cold ness and dark ness of Niflheimr, Hvergelmir, and its powers; as the rime-thu rses are always of three im porta nt elem ents: l ) Ice, 2) Darkness, an d 3) Aversion. And as hrim- is exclusively associated with nifl-, the two have adopted each othe r s traits. In Gylfaginning it is told th at Au dhum la licked on the salty ice until Buri was ex cavated. This was before the world and the «sir were yet created, there were only prim ordial en tities; accordin g to GyIfaginning there only existed Ymir the rime-giant and A udhumla the cow. Gylfaginning is the only source tha t testifies to Au dhum las involvement in the creation. However, taken from Gylfaginning's words, the «sirgods came from th e line of Au dhum las race (B uri was her first son, and he is OSinn’s grandfather), and the adverse and primordial giants came from Ymir, hence the thurses. And Gylfaginning speaks o f this adverse thurs-rac e in the line of Ymir: "We do no t acknowledge him (Ymir) god; he was evil and all his kindred. We call them rime-thurses." So the pu rs -race was malevolent and adverse towards the creation. And the jo tunn -
was seen as benevolent; as the jo tunn -
was in time more
adapted to th e creation, and later became allies with the fa ir and vanir. Cleasby and Vigfusson separate th e race Pursar from Jetnar in An Icelandic-English Dictionary: "the Titans o f the Scandin. Mythology were so called, as opposed to and older than the common Jotnar (Gia nts)."
12
E x pl a n a t o r y
Skxmismaly stanza 34, says: «H eyr i jotnar, heyri hrimpursar ; synir Suttungs, sjalfir aslidar», which for me obviously categorizes an d divides the races perfectly in:
1.
jotnar = giants o f the u nderworld
2.
hrimpursar = giants of Niflheimr
3.
synir Suttungs = giants o f Miispellzheimr
4.
sjalfir aslidar = the cesir
Gylfaginning (21,42, and 49) separates them as «hrim pursar ok bergrisar » ; why
do this thre e times if there was no difference betw een them? Bosa saga ok Herrauds says: «Troll ok dlfar ok tofrnornir, buar} bergrisar brennipinar hallir ; ha tip ik hrimpursar; hestar stredipik, strain stangi pik , en stormar ceripik, ok vei verdiper;
т
pu vilja minn gerir». N ot too far from how the Gylfaginning s aga sep -
arates them .
13
G u l l v eig a r b o k
This is my Gullveig-studies and un derstanding thus far - many more arcana will henc efor th be solved, new knowledge will be absorbed, and n umerous m ore riddles will be unraveled. This work can never be comp leted, so consider this bo ok a glimpse into my boundless devotion to Gullveig. ♦
The investigation of a dead religion from the pa st in the pre sent is a challenge tha t craves a sober and realistic perspective in its analysis. The challenge is not just to unde rstand the deep m etaphors in the O ld terminology and big gaps in the limited literature and archeological evidences; it is to un der stan d the Old Nor se peo ples ’ pe rspective of the physica l w orld and th e spiritual. Th rough all the se years of my researching, I have found th at it is too easy to build a m odern unde rstanding o f the Old, instead of trying to think like a poo r farmer in Scandinavia during, for example, 300 AD. That said, it might even be be tter to look upon the Old N orse belief from a modern perspective; it might allow us to reach a deeper understanding: because our research conceives and manifests the past in the present. And as we do so evoking wha t is dead and pu tting it on paper - we analize the facts and try to p ut it togeth er in the be st way we see fit. Some researchers follow the pack - me, I spread my wings and face the he ad w ind like the black dragon.
14
In
t r o d u c t io n
J0TU NH EIM R AND ANTI-COSMIC GINNUNGAGAP-THEORY
I would like to start by giving an illumination o n m y way of beholding the giants (purs and jotun n ) a nd their dark powers in the O ld Norse m ythology and magic. I
also want to start this book by explaining briefly the fou ndation o f my belief, so as to make it easier to un derstand my vision o f the Old N orse m ythology and religion, which I devotedly follow. Chaos-Gnosticism is the innards of my belief, so is anticosmic Satanism. Chaos-G nosticism is inspired by the ancie nt religion called Gn os ticism which was built on the belief that the c osmic demiurge - who in different religions is called Yahweh, Go d, Zeus, OSinn, etc. - is the evil god in the m aterial creation of the cosmos. The light that the demiurge is distributing is a false an d un clean light - a metap hor for a lie and an illusion - and the demiurge is more o f a tyran t than a savior. In Cha os-Gnosticism the Satanist adopts the fund ame ntal roots o f Gnosticism and fuses it togeth er with th e belief in an acosmic Chaos - i.e. a “state” called C haos beyond the cosm os, a “state” whic h I believe is an acosmic pan- dime ntional m ultiverse. Thus, the cosm ic demiu rge is an evil god who enslaves souls and imprisons them so that they become nothing more than a shell of clay; blind and unen lightened , while the true light bringer, Lucifer-L oki-Pro meth eus1, is the savior who will enlighten you with the authentic light, and guide you o ut o f the shackles of the demiurge to finally transcend unto the acosmic Chaos. The anti-cosmic Chaos-powers are thus seen as the destroyers of causal structure s and cosmic bo nd s. This is how I transfer t he anti-c osm ic pu rp oses and essence onto th e thurses, as the thurs-powers are told in the ON sagas to be destroyers; they come out of Ginnungagap which dwells in C haos, and evidently they are the w rathful po wers who relen tlessly aim to de stro y th e worlds o f the vanir, Midgardr-earth, and «sir; Asgardr-heaven. With a
1 Prometheus and Loki's mythos are very much in analogy: light-bringers and pun ished in the same way by the demiurge. 2Hypothetically an original un derstanding of this epithet could have been the void o f the Chaos-powers.
Chaosop hic perspective it’s not ha rd to un ders tand the nexus.
THE CREATION AND THE INVASION
Ginnungagap 2is the infinite abyss beyon d the cosmos, where the everlasting dark ness dwells. This primordial abyss is the pan-dimensional Chaos, which has a lim itless quantity o f time and space dimensions and it is where everything w ithin and throu gho ut the cosmos originally comes from. G innungagap is a formless eternity becau se o f its pa n-dim ensio ns a nd m ulti-po tential traits. And because o f its acausal nature it is not b oun d by the limitations o f the causal law, and thereby it is a lawless
15
G u l l v eig a r b Ok
totality that, witho ut restrictions, is continually evolving: th e eternally dynam ic in finitude. The O N prefix ginn- and the Greek word khaos both derive from the same 1Normally translated into "a yawning gap .
stem: the Sanskrit word ghett , which means emptiness and abyss. This is vital informatio n for us in un dersta ndin g how th e O N p e0pje looked upo n the creation and where it came from. Gap var ginnunga 1
Ginnungagap, as Chaos, held all; which even included the oppo rtunity for cosmic
forces to take form. In Voluspd it is told: In the very beginning when nothing was, nor sand nor sea, nor cold waves; earth was not, nor upper-heaven, a yawning gap, grass was not.
It started with a threefold o f structural forces: 1) The cold in the form of the world of ice, mists, and da rkness called Niflheimr, and its rime-well Hvergelmir, they were located in the no rth; in a place where ex plod ing ice-masses ru led the lan ds; an d roaring crackling gigantic ice-bergs filled its black waters. An d from the bottom less rime-well springs the black poisono us waters called Elivagar which divides in to eleven rivers called Svol, GunnJ)ra, Fjorm, Fimbulj^u], Slidr and Hrid, Sylgr an d Ylgr, Vi3, Leiptr an d GjoD. An d so, imm ense dense fog was created from these waters; hence th e world in the no rth was called Nifl or Niflheimr. A nd the ru ler of this cold wo rld is the giantess Hel. 2) In the south, heat was created and its flaming surroundings were called Muspell or Muspellzheimr - the world of fire and light. It is also the hom e o f the world-destroyers called the Mtispells synir , sons of Muspell, and Suttungs synir , sons o f Suttungr. And the ruler o f this flaming world is the almighty thurs called the black one and the one with a burning sword , Surtr. In Voluspd 52 it is told: Surtr fares from the south with incinerating flames, the warrior's sword shines like the sun; rocks rumble and clash; fiends reel; dead men tread Helvegr and heaven is cloven. *
3) After the world of ice and the w orld o f fire grew so big that the y me t together, the h eat m elted the ice and created yeasty poisonous waters, which have been called kvikudropar, life-drops - supposedly the seed of the spirit. And existence in the form
16
In
t r o d u c t io n
of the Cha os-thurs Ymir (also called Aurgelmir by the rime-thu rses) was created; he was deformed1with four mouths and he was gigantic compared to normal thurses. In Vajprudnismal it is told: Out of tlivagar venom-drops spattered, growing until a giant was; thence are our kindred come all together, so it is they are malignant forever.
In Vajprudnismal it is also told: Under the hand on the giant rime-thurs grew maid and man together: one foot with the other bore, for the wise thurs, a six-headed son.
In Gylfaginning it is told: By no means do we acknowledge him (Ymir) god; he was evil and all his kindred: we call them rim ethurses. Now it is said that when he slept, a sweat came upon him, and there grew under his left hand a man and a woman, and one of his feet begat a son with the other; and thus the races are come; these are the rimethurses. The old rimethurs, him we call Ymir.
O ut o f Ymir s left ha nd 2 a male thurs an d a female thu rs were created; and they were no t spoken o f more in the mythology othe r than that the y were the first ancestors of the thurs-races
1As form as in the shape of a human belonged to the «sir-
- the y are but a m ystery3. But Ymir s third offspring, which he
gods; litrgodaf no t to the giants. The giants were connected to
gave birth to w ith his feet, was spoken of as brudgelm ir; he
the ON saying slcipta litum, to
was a deform ed and wrathful six-headed thurs - w ho in his
change ‘form'.
turn gave birth on his own, like his father did, to a horrible
2Pd ox undir vinstri hond honum madur og kona. Gylfaginning.
thurs called Bergelmir.
3First, I claim that they were thurses jus t like Ymir was. He
Something that should also be considered is that according
was a pure rime-thurs, so his
to the Gylfaginning-saga, Vajprudnismal, Gnmnismdl, and
offspring must be rime-thur ses
V&luspd in skamm a Ymir also gave birt h to Mi'mir and his sister
as well, just like trudgelmir.
Beizla. Since they are also bo th giants, it is self-explanatory in
And secondly, my mo st credi
this early stage o f the creation that all giants come from Ymir.
ble gues s o f wh om thes e two mysterious rime-thurses given by Ymir by his left ha nd (! ) would be Gullveig and Loki; due to the known thursian ge
THE LINE OF THURSES
nealogy. And the flames of
O n each side o f the gaping chasm called Ginnungagap two worlds lay, in the s ou th th ere was the w orld o f flames which
17
Surtr or Muspellzheimr af fected Loki s entity.
G u l l v e ig a r b o k was called Mdspellzheimr, an d in th e no rth a world of mists, darkness and ice which was called Niflheimr. And as imme nse M uspell-flames reached o ut to the o uter rim of Niflheimr, an oozing icy sludge started to bre ak free in dense mists from ages of crystallized stagnation. Black ice turn ed into sludgy water because o f the h eat and as it invaded th e cosmos, it was allegorized to be as poison ous as an alien and a nticosmic power, thu s its definition ‘thursia n pow er’ or in O N pursamegin. And from the icy sludge o f the p oisonous waters an abysmal water-well was created, an d it was called Hvergelmir - father o f all rivers. W hen the Muspell-flames collided with the Nifl-ice an other phen om en on to ok place: the first rime-thurs was born out o f the b lack ice. He was called Ymir, an d the rime-thurses called him Aurgelmir. He can easily be see n as the Cha os-curre nt which is invading the cosmos. Ymir created the g iant race called purs by himself. The first m entio ned race was rime-thu rses after their father Aurgelmir, and the y were all evil in essence, a ttributes and manifesta tions, and most often deformed in appearance. The thursian race would become eternal enemies with the cesir and the vanir: adversaries to the new and definite realm of the cosmos - hence their adjectival umbrella term “anti-cosmic”. Othe r races were created in the beginning, although later, after the thurs-race had grew strong; one of the later races was called jotun, which was in time m ore a dapted to the cosmic realm and adjusted very well, and later they becam e allies with the new non-giant races called cesir and vanir. The jotun-race was seen as a benev olent one. The aesir sprung from the same sou rce as the jotun-race, an d the y all were created much later in time than the thurses. If the giants come from the rime-thurs Ymir and Niflheimr with their poisonous essence, ho w come there are benign giants th at are even friends and allies with the cesir ? The most c omm on answer to this tha t I’ve come across is that the O N mytho l
ogy and religion were n ot “dualistic” or “m ono theis tic”, tha t “all was inspirited with bot h the dark a nd th e l ight”, the re w ere simply “no sides”; “no go od an d evil”. H y po thes es w hich in m y op inion are inco rrec t, as Gylfaginning says in plain words: he (Ymir) was evil and all his kindred ( the rime-thurses). And even Scemundar Edda s old saga Voluspa allegorizes Gullveig as an evil and adverse giantess; and w hat ab out Surtr, NiShoggr, bjazi and Hrimgerdr, for example? They are all antagonists and adversaries to the gods and th e world. Anothe r problem that misleads and obscures things is that the ON word jotu nn is used for all giants; e.g. in 1"He was evil and all his kin dred: we call them rimethurses." Gylfaginning 5.
hrimkalda jotun ; an epithet for a rime-thurs and not a jotun.
Still, according to m e, Ymir and his race a re o f an acosmic and opposing heritage (from Chao s) in comparison to the cosmos; «hann var illur ogallir hans cettmetw,pd kdllum ver hrim pursa»1.
IS
In
t r o d u c t io n
According to my studies, it is clear that thurses from Muspellzheimr and Niflheimr are the only m alignant ones. All othe r giants who exist outside the tw o aboveme ntione d worlds belong to the underw orld instead of beyond it, and are allies with the gods. Let m e take Nifl as an example; why is it tha t only thurses are asso ciated with rime (O N hrim ), as in hrimpurs ? Ne ver have the epithets hrimjotunn or hrimdss ever been used in the ON sagas. The ON term hrim - only belongs to th e
coldness and darkness o f Niflheimr, Hvergelmir, and its pow ers; as the rime-thurses are always of three im po rtant ele ments, l) Ice, 2) Darkness, and 3) Aversion1. If you take a
1Aversion towards the creation or the cosmos, or if you like the world-tree (Yggdrasill) and its
look at the ON prefix hrim-, it can also mean soot black,
ben efic iaries (th at is to say all
which remains for example in the Icelandic word hrimugur,
life).
sooty, and it might be conn ected to the infamous darkness of
21 think Skimismdl 35 confirms
Niflheim r, and in fact th at H el th e giantess; ru le r o f Nifl-
this with the line «Hrimgrimnir
heimr, was seen as a black hue2.
heitirpurs, erp ik hafa skalfy r ndg rin dr п е » , "the thurs is called Hrimgrimnir who you
As hrim- has b ee n exclusively associated with Nifl-, in my opinion both have adopted each other's meanings. ON nifl
shall belong to far below the corpse-gate’"; as it refers to a
derives from the Old High German nibul , German nebel,
threat o f something terrible.
Latin nebula, with the mea ning o f fog, mist, an d darkness. Cleasby and Vigfusson strengthen my arg ume nt that pursar
3Gylfaginning is the only source that has saved the myth of Audhumla s involvement in the
are a separate race from jotnar, if you look under hrimpurs in An Icelandic-English Dictionary the y say: "the Titans o f the
creation. 4 "She licke d the salty ice-
Scandin. Mythology were so called, as opposed to and older than
blocks, and the first day tha t she
ie common Jotnar (G iants)" And in Skimismdl , stanza 3 4 ,1
licked the blocks, there came forth from the blocks in the
think it shows a perfect example o f that th ere was a difference be tw ee n jotnar and pursar: «H ey ri jotna r , heyri hrimpursar, ,nir Suttungs, sj al fr aslidar», "hear me jotuns, hea r me rime-
thurses, sons o f Suttungr, and all the gods".
evening a man's hair; the sec ond day, a man's head; the third day the whole man was there. He is name d Buri." Gylfagitining
6. THE LIGHT BECOMES FALSE
In Gylfaginning it is told th at Au dhum la3licked on the salty ice until Buri was exca vated: «Hun sleikti hrimsteinana ersaltir voru. Oghinnfyrsta dagerhun sleiktisteina ■:ursteininum adkveldi mannshar, annan dagmannshofudpridja d agv arpa rallur
.:::ir . Sd er nefndur Bu ri» 4. 1 un de rstan d this as, taken from its exact words, the :r gods) cam e from a line of A udh um las race (Buri was her first son, and he is
'inns grandfather), and the adverse and primordial giants came from Ymir. faginning says: "We do no t acknow ledge him (Ymir) god; he was evil and all his
19
G u l l v eig a r b Ok
kindred. We call the m rim e-thu rsesM.These lines actually say tha t his evil kind red are called rime-thurses only, n o t « hrimpursar ok bergrisar » , rime-thurses and mou n tain-giants, as in other places in Gylfaginning. Now S urtr an d his offspring were th e th ursian rulers o f the south , an d hriidgelm ir and his offspring were the rime-thursian rulers of the no rth. These sources gave the opp ortun ity for the cosmos to be created, and in time the jotun-family of the jotun Buri1became more adapted to the cosmic forms and laws, which in the lon g run forme d the ne w races called vanir and cesir . The ruler o f this fam 1It is a mystery what he actually was, but in my book Buri is a giant 2 «O k fyrir pvt md hann heita Alfodr,at hann erfadirallragodanna ok. manna ok alls pess, er afhonum ok bans krafti varfuilgert», 'And by
this he must be called All-father: because he is father of all the gods and ofmen, and ofall that was ful filled by him and b y his might" Gylfaginning 9.
3Ymir, also called Aurgerlmir, is in my opinion a representation of the power-flow called "poisonous rivers” moving from acosmic realms into the cosmos. His name Aurgelmir means aur - “(watery) mud” or "humu s”, and -gelmir is translated into “stormy waves”.
ily had the demiurgical place as a god a nd was born w ith the pu rpos e of being the cosmic head re pr esen tatio n and crea tor of form, laws, and the worlds. He was nam ed Odinn - and called by many o the r names: Allvisi, ValfaSir, a nd Herfadir and he had two brothers who would help him create a world fitting to the cosmic nature, which of course could not be as lawless and pan-dimensional as Chaos (this can be compared to the m ythological saga of Tiama t and Marduk, where Tiamat is conne cted to water.) Structure, law and form were the foun dations of his idea. So a demiurge he becam e2; Od inn the god of heaven, the tyrant, a nd his two brothers, H onir a nd Lodurr, the triad which has been explained by Snorri to represent spirit, soul and flesh. However, from the prim ordial sources - Muspell and Nif! - came the true light and the true knowledge, which in other traditions are called gnosis. This knowledge was the pu re un de rs ta nd in g from th e world be yo nd th e cosm os. Gylfaginning says, "first was the world in south, which was
This name actually hints as to Ymir s nature. With earth being a
nam ed Muspell; it is light and hot; the region is glowing and
symbol o f “bringing into cosmic
bu rn ing, an d im pe ne tra bl e to ou tla nd er s an d have not th eir
life”, you could here see the con nection between th e womb called Ginungagap and Aurgelmir - one being the womb, the other being
holdings there" Nifl has similar traits but it is cold and dark; it
the extractions from it
eman ates po isonou s icy waters instead of flaming light. It s a place th at is explained in th e O N sagas as no t being available to the cesir-gods; the g ods could n ot see it, nor rea ch it. It was there where hjazi and his thursian brothers would move the ir smithy
and home to - in the northe rn wintry lands where no god could approach them. It is the oppo sing and wrathful place (i.e. adverse towards the cosmos) of thursian powe rs only, and the light that shines from it is n ot the light of a co smic sun, it is the light of acosmic knowledge a nd languages of Chaos. It invades the cosmos with something the Old Norse peop le called eitr; poison. And its current is m etapho ri cally described as “poisonou s rivers” coming o ut of underw ordly wells. The original
20
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well is called Hv ergelm ir, fa ther o f wells, and its sh ore is called Elivagar3, and Elivagar itself is divided into eleven rivers which are all the main sources o f the acosmic light transformed into anti-cosmic light, and since acosmic light can only exist be yond the cosmos, it has to change wh en it penetrates the cos mos, which in turn are translated as the Hidden Knowledge of Chaos1. All the th urse s and oth er giants are the wielders o f this hidden light. A human recipient of this hidde n knowledge in Old Scandinavia was called jjolkunnigr , one skilled in the black arts (from fjolkyngi, black art); a word th at I believe derives from the same ro ot as the rune kyn (<) - fcunna; which in its turn de rives from the Greek word gnosis (see further dow n for a thor ough explanation). A jjo lkun nigr could also be called a seidberandi - seidberendr (pi.), sorcerer(s) or carrier(s) o f seiftr. And Voluspd in ska mm a says: «seidberendrfra Svarthofda», "all seidhbe rend r come from Surtr".
' The ON people did not have the word "chaos” as what we know of, but ginn- in Ginnungagap can actually be looked upon as the ON word for Chaos, as the ON word ginn and the Hellenic word khaos derives from the same Sanskrit stem ghen, void; and the ON peo ple did believe in the same so-called “void” or “space of emptiness” where Ginnungagap once emerged from. The theoretical sources of the po i sonous waters beyond the un derworldly wells, Utgardr and Ginnungagap, justify this.
Now, OSinn is p u t in t he sagas as the all wise-one, h e is u p held as the demiurgic god who is the creator and rule r of all (the cosmos). This has been a bit misunderstood over time, and 2Snorri forced Odinn into be coming some sort of a twisted more and m ore into the for m o f a monotheistic religious monotheistic god, which is not axiom. From the early times it is proven that the O N mythology historically correct. 6dinn was and religion were polytheistic in nature a nd the different worlds a demiurge and ruler ofAsgardr ha d different rulers, no t one rule r of all as it is often confusedly and Valholl, but he was not a stated. This twist is an influence of mono theistic religions as singular tyrant over all worlds in the original mythology. See Christianity, and as Christia nity came to Scandinavia durin g the further down. tones when the Eddas were collected and transcribe d into new i : cumen ts, the y were naturally influenced by it2. OSinn has al•ivs been looke d up on as the all-wise and a rule r of AsgarSr, Valholl, and even MiSgardr, bu t only the worlds of the gods an d the hum ans, n ot the world of the giants г the world of the dead. Here is where the confusion appears, people te nd to pri' titze only two worlds in the O N cosmology and that 6 5 in n therefore is ruler of _ b u t t he y p ut t he who le un der w or ld aside an d th ey definitely do n ot care a bo ut ■~e realm called UtgarSr. For example, Surtr is the mighty sovereign of MuspelIzheimr, and Hel is queen-ruler o f Niflheimr and the dead in the unde rworld '.rough Helheimr - this proves that the ON belief-system is based on polytheism. I in n has bee n called “god of the de ad” though, bu t that is, by fact, because the say tha t all hu m an w arriors who die in battle will be sen t to О <3inn s halls and in his heavenly armies in Valholl. It has n othing to do with the un derw orldly realm . J e d Helheimr, which is the leading world o f the dead.
21
G u l l v eig a r b o k
Mythological information and rem nants that lead us to the fact that O Sinn was no t the w isest entity in the cosmos can be found, for example, in the saga called Vafyrudnismdl, in the Edda w here OSinn himself recognizes the giant У аф гйдш г1
to be the all-wise one. OSinn uses these words exactly in the saga: «inn alsvinna jo tu n», "the all-wise giant", as he explains to his wife how excited he is to m eet this giant. O Sinn goes to this giant in search for mo re hidden knowledge, and he also in tends to test the g iant s wisdom, a nd it ends up that the giant can richly answer all OSinns questions, as OSinn repeatedly praises the giant as be ing all-wise. I f OSinn already kne w everyth ing , as his e pithet 1 У аф гйдш г is supposedly translated to wise in riddles. Allvisi suggests, the visit of VafJ)ruSnir wo uld be p ointless, and But my own research shows OSinn would no t have uttered his excitement over this inter that the translation the powerful view to his wife. The sagas are in fact full of these small hints entangler would be a more fit that contradict OSinns, and othe r cesirs, absolute wisdom and ting translation. The two tran s po wer over th e thurs es. The qu estio n is w ho ch oo ses to read lations are no t too far from each other, but to use th e word “rid dle” is limiting Vaf[>rudnirs qualities to just riddles when that is no t the actual case. 2Gylfagitining. 3Also called Samundar Edda and the Elder Edda. 4 Also called Snorra Edda and the Younger Edda. s Through out this bo ok I have added the adjective “black” to the thursian magic, runes, and powers, as their essence derives from “the black ones”; namely Surtr, Svarhofti, Hel, In Svarta, and Gullveig.
them. Here you can tell by reading Gylfaginning that Snorri “forced” OS inn to bec om e All-Father, by using com pelling in tentions in sentences like "And this is my belief, that OSin n and his brothers, must be rulers of heaven and earth. And he m ust be so called. So is th at man called w hom w e kn ow to be might iest and m ost worthy of honor, a nd let him be so called."2This way of compelling the reader to cho ose a side reminds me of Christian authorship and approach, and Snorri, who was one of the O N authors behind the w riting and collecting of the ON mythology, was a Christian.
Before I dive into m y Gullveig-investigations I feel I have to mention something abo ut the view upo n the Old Norse sagas, especially the Poetic Edda3 and the Prose Edda4. How th ey were tampered w ith by poets who lived off their poe try and per formance , and dimin ished in to pleasan t tales for kings’ cou rts an d farm-families’ amusement during long cold and dark winters. The original sagas and the dark as pe cts o f the Ch ao s-crea tures such as troll, gia nts an d th eir black magic5 is c ut ou t purpo sely, in th e know ledge that no bo dy w ould hire a po et to tell su ch hor rid sagas. But the conve rting religious mass did no t wipe o ut all traces and left us with small details that can today verify the belief and evocation o f underworld powers; Tolley confirms this: “The term troll was used of giants and o the r beings that were involved
22
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in malicious supernatu ral activities, and came to be applied no t only to the object of this magic, but also to the practitioner (so that it sometimes becomes synony mous with witch). It is clear tha t troll could be sum mon ed in ritual magic, presum ably to impart information, but perhaps also to carry out tasks, as this is explicitly condem ned in Norwegian laws (« a t vekja troll up», "to wake up troll").”1Snorri was Christian and deliberately took out th e dark glorifications and even added many Christian aspects to the old sagas. Even 1Clive Tolley, 2009, Shamanism the episode abo ut the ne w bor n lovely world of the gods after in Norse My th and Magic. Ragna Rok in the Edda has very strong similarities with the Bibles tale of the apocalypse an d the rebirth o f the new world with Jesus (Baldr) in it, which I personally suspect to have been just a Christian influence. Rem emb er that the Scemundar Edda (the Elder Edda is looked up on as the most accurate and credible version of our Old m ythology and religion) was a collection of hand -writ ten sagas most likely found in No rwa y and on Ice land sometimes during the years 800-1000 AD, but hand-transcribed to the book Codex Regius sometime during 1200-1300 AD; a nd it is from this majestic book the today's Edd a (Scemundar Edda) comes from. How accurate the tra nscription is I do n ot dare to guess, knowing that Scandinavia was Christianized arou nd 1000-1100 AD, which makes me wo nder if Christians were the ones making this transcription. Certainly, they were the ones that were versed in the scriptures. An d all this after clearly puttin g in th e complex saga about Ragna Rok that Surtr took his burning sword and burned all of the worlds and all within them . B ut the fact is, Ragna Rok does mean the end o f the gods, which seems to have been ignore d and forgotten. CHAOS THE GERMANIC
i
ANALOGUE PURPOSE
This is a short map of the analo gies between the primordial thurs-powers and their ana logue purpose. This is my ow n hypothesis made from an in tense study of the Old Norse mythology, and it is one o f the foundations o f my work.
Ginnungagap ______ Г _ Niflheimr |
Muspellzheimr 5, <
i
i
NiShoggr
Surtr $
I
Gullveig I
Loki < i
Jormungandr ^ ___ I
Fenrir | Hel
23
111
G u l l v eig a r b Ok THE ICE LINE - fSS:
The |-rune stands for the rime an d ice elements conn ected to these powers, and the ► -rune connected to Niflheimr stands for the spreading o f the thursian powers, the eitr , through Hvergelmir. But eitr is an ou tcome of both Nifl and Miispell, as the |run e represen ts the Nifl, the <-rune represents the Miispell, and the ► -rune repre sents (the o utcome ) o f them b oth as in the eitr . An d if you b ind Iand < togeth er as a bind-run e you will get the ► -rune. N iflh eim r is the w orld o f mists, ice and darkness, a nd the source o f the th ursia n essence: this is beca use th e well Hvergelmir is locate d in Niflheimr, and Hver gelmir is the main source o f the poisonous waters from Elivagar. Elivagar means the icy waves and its na me is a n allegory of its icy source; el means ice/rim e in Old Norse. And Elivagar in turn is split up in to eleven rivers, which are spre ad 1That's why I believe Yggdrasill ing througho ut the underw orld a nd feeding all kinds o f powers. to b e a Yew-tree, beca use Yew They are even feeding its poison to the roots of the world tree carries poison, eitr, while Ash so that it rots and dies from within, and thus everything and does not. everyone that th e tree nourishes.1 N id hoggr is th e primitive Chaos-spawn wh o dwells in the dep ths o f Hvergelm ir recreating himself into legions. He is the transc enden t thursian power and the mir ror-image of the a cosmic Chaos power. He is a black wrathful dragon who feeds on huma n corpses, human s who have died through all the un derworlds dow n to the abysmal bottom where Nidhoggr s darkness lays. This could be seen as those en lightened (i.e. followers o f Thursatru and Satanists) wh o have by their own will trav elled all the way down to Nidhoggr s darkness and been embraced by it. As a twin-essence to Surtr, I see Nidhog gr as the lava running out of Muspellzheimr through Niflheimr, and materializing in the depths of Hvergelmir into the poisonous rivers that flow out of the well. The rivers look like serpents; the b roo d of Nidhoggr. Gullveig is the Teutonic and Germanic highest feminine principle of darkness - the maid, the mo ther, and the crone. She is the sinister arch -mo ther of the giants and the black arts. She is the divine feminine manifestation o f the analogue thursian purpose. THE FIRE LINE - ELDR:
The $-rune stands for the de structive aspect o f fire, and the <-rune stands for the enlighte nm ent o f the divine fire, as in gnosis.
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M iispe llzhe im r is the world of fire, the foundation o f the destructive and en lightening flames1- its fires are variously referred to in O N as muspell, \xyrrf eimrj and eldr. Miispellzheimr s ruler is Surtr and his sons are called suttungar and eldandar. Its flames activated the black poison of Niflheimr s ice and sen t it on its way as
allegorized poisono us waters; here a conn ectio n with the Nifl-mists might be found. The thursian elements o f Miispellzheimr and N iflheimr were thereby u nleashed from a dorm ant status. O ut o f these horrible powers some thing equally horrible was unleashed as well: first came the
1Incinerates your ego and en
massive and overpowering giant called the black one; Su rtr
lightens your spirit.
as the entity of the ever-incinerating force; th en came the
2The Black Flame is corre spo n ding to Chaos Gnosis; the Black Dragon; the Chaos
giant Loki, unlocked from the blazing flames with wrath and bo un dles s inte lligence. These ve ry co nn ec ted gia nts re pr e sent th e very pu rpose of this fiery world.
Flame; L ucifers Flame; Prometheus’ Flame; Kingus Blood, etc.
S u rt r is the highest principle of the giant-race; he is some what o f a parallel to Satan, the y serve closely allied purposes. Surtr is the pu re manifestation o f the destructive fire, his son has been called The red ro oste r' or The fire fiend', and S urtr him self has a bur ning Miispell-sword (Ga m ba nteinn ) - created b y the cu nning Loki a nd p erfected b y the evil I>jazi - which h e will use to burn down e verything within the cosmos. He dwells in the deep abyss be yo nd the un de rw or ld, in the w orld called M iispellzheimr, in a valley o f darkness which is called Sokkdalir (the deep valleys). H e is the pre-em inent anti-cosmic cur rent em erging from the raging Chaos. He is the Chaos-Fires in Miispellzheimr per sonified in the ancien t Scandinavian mythology. S urtr spews black light and flames wh ich are the pur e essen ces o f each Satanic individual's lit Black Flam e2. Loki is the giant of enlightenment and can be compared with Lucifer and Prom etheus in the aspect of being the distributor of the Black Light or the Chaos Gnosis. They share this quality in the Old N orse m ythology and Loki has also the same braveness as Lucifer wh en h e infiltrates Asgardr, a nd there he wields the black po ison s o f Hverg elm ir am on gst fair, vanir and people. Prom etheus shares the same braveness in the act of bringing forbid den enlighte nm ent an d also receives th e same pun is hm ent as Lo ki b y the demiurge for this act. Some call Loki a trickster ; I call him th e H ero an d the Locker, the Scatterer and the Dissolver. In the m ythos, Loki was the son of the hu rricane -and-thu nder-g iant Farbauti (the bale striker), and his m othe r was the giantess Laufey (leaf-isle), it is supposedly an allegory of the light ning that set Laufey aflame, and from this fire Loki emerged. He displays the fiery character that eventually brings about Surtr s destruction with fire of the worlds this fire is called muspilli. And w hen it c omes to Loki's sly plans, he was always long
25
G u l l v e ig a r b Ck
ahead; and he always formed them so that the mo st maleficent plans seemed to be the mo st beneficent and favourable; even the sword he called Gam banteinn - which he created for Surtr to destroy the worlds - was gladly treasured and claimed by the aesir for a while, unk now ing o f its anti-cosmic purpose . Wit, viciousness and bo tto mless spite fulne ss is coalesce d in th e essence o f Loki. *
1Cleasby-Vigfusson, 1874, A n
I would also like to b ring up the difference betw een Ragna
Icelandic-English Dictionary.
Rok and Ragna Rokkr, wh ich I think is relevant. First, the ON
2 Cleasby-V igfuss on, 1874, Aw
word ragna is formed from ON rogn (regin), a nd it was used by
Icelandic-English
Dictionary.
the O ld Scandinavians as an umbrella term for “the god s as the
Palm, 2004, Vikingarnas Sprdk , Heggstad, Hodnebo, Simensen,
makers and rulers o f the universe.”1 Ro k is the o lder usage and
2008, Norron Ordbok. 3 Hellqu ist, 1939, Svensk Etymologisk Ordbok.
it means fate or end 2, and the wo rd rokkr derives from the Old Germanic wo rd rikwiz which means darkness.3 Ro kk ur (rokkr, rokr ) is still in usage toda y in the Icelandic language and it means
darkness or dusk-4 The transfo rm ation fro m rok to rokkr in the
4Leijstrom Magnusson, 1943, Isldndsk-Svensk Ordbok. Cleasby-Vigfusson, 1874, A n
meaning of Ragna Rok is probably an allegory and ma de during
Icelandic-English Dictionary.
the wording Ragna Rok in this bo ok *
the m iddle ages. An d this is why I have chose n to use exclusively
*
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VIKT OR RYDBERG
I would also wa nt to m ention Viktor Rydberg and his Old Norse studies, since he was one of the few that dared to look on the O ld Norse m ythology and see its dark and wra thful na ture as well as it’s good an d calm. Rydbe rg allegorized the th rea ten ing thurses as much as mythologists throug h tim e have allegorized the cesir. H e was discredited by many because he dared to challenge the mainstream o f mythologists and scholars, and this is as typical as shocking. I would like to pay tribute to him and his amazing work on O ld Norse mytholog y and religion called Undersokningar i Germanisk Mythologi 18 86-188 9; with this Rydberg - a mastermind - has inspire
me in m anifold ways.
27
I: I S0gum
Х Ш
1 Х : тН : Ш
т: 31
G u l l v eig a r b o k
H A
GULLVEIG
First-born and first burnt; her death created Jormungandr.
The thursian race was black and wrathful in essence and will - abnorm ally formed because o f their unnatural c onditio n in the cosmos, like Ymir himself. So me of these thurses had special purposes and extraordinary circumstances; two of them were Gullveig and Loki. They were bo th shape-shifters because of their multi-aspectual traits, and their powers wen t beyond those of regular thurses. Gullveig, the Old One, was the originator of magic and transformation, which mad e her into a very pow erful giantess. This is why she could dw ell amo ngst the «esir-gods witho ut be ing de tected as an intruder in AsgarSr; she appeared as a goddess in form and essence, fooling even the demiurgic ass OS inn in his own halls, thou gh Gullveig’s true essence (allegorized as a hea rt in the sagas) was mad e purely out o f the po isonous black ice ofNiflh eim r, an d L ok is out o f the furiou s flames o f Muspellzheim r. Their pur pose was to lead all of th e th ur sian races in bringing the co sm ic existence to its
32
G u l l v e ig In Al d n a
downfall; to infect the soul o f the universe w ith the "poison” of Chaos and let it b u rn an d dissolve from w ithin. This is repres en ted in th e 1-rune , which holds Gul lveig s rune I and L oki s rune <; an d it is also repre sente d in th e X-rune, which is o ne of the sacred runes of Gullveig; it also holds the |-rune and the <-rune, bo th dupli cated to streng then their meanings and magic. Gullveig was from the be ginning know n to be huge and terrible; as AngrboSa she is kno wn as the black formidable m oth er an d crone, dwelling as the sole ruler in the atrocious d ark woods from the und erw orld in Jotu nh eim r called JarnvicSr, ironwood, m othering and spawning legions of deformed thursian wolves and were wolves. This is symbolized in the >f-rune. An d as He idr she is known as the b lack underw orldly crone; giantess o f the black anti-cosmic runes and magic, who comes at midnight up from under ground and walks between houses to visit the practi tioners o f the black arts (or jjolkuntiigr, as they were called), to teach them about the black runes a nd anti-cosmic magic. This is represented in the mysteries of the i-r u n e and the X-rune. She has be en called "she, the old on e”, "she, the wise one”, and "the three thurs-m aids”. This is how Voluspd intro duc e Gullveig early in its fore telling: ...until the three thurs-maids came, very mighty maids, from the worlds of the giants.
The Edda is one of the most im por tant pre-christian Scandinavian manuscripts, holding a wond erful collection of mythological sagas. O ne of them is of course the Voluspd which is a foretelling o f the fate o f the giants, worlds, gods, and men. This rich allegorization starts with e xplaining the creation o f the cosmos, how a Chaosgiant starts to procreate and is slaughtered1for the gods to "bu ild” the cosmos from his slaughtere d remains. It contin ues 1Compare to the Babylonian mythos of Kingu. with the glorification o f the gods and h ow the y lived rich and happy, built mighty temples and nice forges, played happy games in their m ighty yards. Everything was perfect untill three thurs-maids, very powerful , came from the worlds o f the giants. Fro m here on the saga changes drastically and the journey towards Ragna Rok begins. These three thurs-maids are evidently Gullveig-Heirfr-AurboSa which is later called in the same foretelling the thrice burned and the thrice born, someth ing I will verify through out this book. No t many have dared to admit this and they have ac tually kept the ir pen in th eir ink-well on this one, w hich surp rises m e as it is a vital clue in the O N mythology as a whole. I like to unde rstand this as the introduc tion
33
34
G l /l l v e ig a r b Ok THE OLD ONE
One of the primordial determ ined thurses that survived O Sinns tyranny was Gullveig; because her purp ose was too important, nothing could really stop he r - the saga abou t her rim e-he art below will confirm why. The cosmic overlords tried, bu t the black essence of Gullveig was too po werful; h er black rime-cold glacier-made hea rt was created from p rimordial black ice, spewed out from Chaos itself. She is the feminine representation of the acosmic Chaos - the wrath beyond w raths, the all-devourer beyond ail-devourers; she is the anti-cosmic womb and the cosm ic tomb - which is represented in the O-rune. She was called by many different names throug hou t the sagas depen ding o n what era, what aspect and w hat shap e she too k as a shape-shifter. Know n nam es for G ul lveig are Heidr, Aurboda, An grboda a nd H yrrokin. Pr oo f of the analogies will be prov ided thro ug hou t th is boo k. As AngrboSa she to ok th e eastern parts of Jotunheimr, which was called Jarnvibr, ironwood, as he r province. The sagas de pict it as very dark and atrocious, and as an impenetrable forest. It was there where she spawned monster and dem on hordes; the kin of Fenrir - as it is said in Veluspd:
1An interesting detail here is that Egg|)er sits on a pile as a guardian and plays on his harp, and his main purpose is to guard and wait for Fjalarr; Surtr $ son, who will come to Egg^er as a red rooster. The gate-guard at Fjalarr s mighty hall deep in Jotu nhe imr sits on a pile and playing on a harp, just like EggJ>er. Outside the giant ess Gerdr’s yard, she is Gul lveig s daughter, sits a herde r on a haugr too. This analogy be tween EggJ>er, Fjalarr and Gerdr, and Gambanteinn is most challenging. 2For more information about galgvidr see the chapter on Jarnvidr.
In the east she the old one sat in Jarnvidr and there bore Fenrir’s kin.
Inside Jarnvidr it is told that Gullveig lives with th e sword keeper Eggjper, he is her shepherd (gygjar hirdir ) . According to my theory (which I will explain thoroughly later on), he hides and g uards G ambanteinn, the sword of vengeance, for Sur tr until Ragna Rok. As it is told in the beginning o f Ragna Rok, Eggjrer sits on a big pile1, assumedly happy from th e know ledge o f what is to come, playing on his harp (it is, in my opinion, probably be low this big heap wh ere he keeps Surtr s sw ord). Voluspa 42 says: He, the giantess’ herder, the happy Eggfier, sat upon the heap and played on the harp; above him in galgvidr called a light red rooster , his name was Fjalarr.
2
It is not m uch k now n o f Eggj^er, bu t as his name tells us he probably has just
36
G u l l v e i g I n A l d n a
one im portant purpose: to guard the sword of Surtr named Gam banteinn, created by Loki. Egg£>er, sw ord ke eper or servant; his na m e derives fro m th e O N egg, the edge or blade o f a sword, and -per derives from the O N pegn, a thane, liegeman or subject, meaning a servant, which m akes me think of Voluspa, where he is called gygjar hirdir, the giantess* herdsman; hirdir as in hird, a king's or e arl’s body-guar d,
the king's men. This could m ean th at Egg^er was supposed to be the giantess* herds man who was taking care of her mo nster-herd and at the same time, being her ser vant, he was keeping or guarding a sword. The sword is also me ntione d in the above me ntioned stanza from Vriuspd where it is said the Su rtr s son S uttung-Fjalarr will com e as a red roo ster a nd visit EggJ^er to collect the sword. And you ca n com pare the nam e EggJ?er to th e n ame of Be ow ulf s fathe r EcgJ>eow, which m ost likely is an Anglo-Saxo n version o f EggJ>er: OE ecg, O N egg, edge o r sword-blade, and O E peow, O N pegn, thane, subjec t or servant. *
Gullveig; the de scen dan t of the rim e-pow ers - Loki*s female coun terp art and ally - is as beautiful as her true husband Loki and he r daugh ter Gerdr. GerSr was the daughter o f Gullveig-Aurboda and Gymir: « Gymir het madr, en kona han sAu rboda. Ho n var bergrisa cottar. Dottirpeira er Gerdr, er allra kvinna varfegrst » , ’'A man
was called Gymir, a nd his spouse Aurboda: she was o f the giant-race; the ir daughter was GerSr, who was fairest of all wome n."
Gullveig should be looked up on as a mother-giantess, because she had procreated m ost o f the h orde s o f baningar, mo nsters and w olf-thurses, which will all gather, fight and triump h on the final day of wrath - Ragna Rok. Her m ost im portan t ragnarokian children w ith Loki are Jorm unga ndr, Fenrir, and Hel. And n ot on ly is she a mother-giantess; un der the name Heidr, the shining one, she is the witch-giantess; the wielder o f the blackest seeds; she was the b rightness crawling out o f the abyss and taking form, up through endless darkness and slithering through the crusty boun ds of midd le ea rth. B right as a sha dowless lig ht sh e came; erec t like a b ur ning spine of a wand she stood, and started a journey to the yards of ungovernable and receptive folk to teach them about the unknow n an d dark arts o f the un derworlds and beyo nd. She was known as the wicked crone; giantess of the ru nes and black magic, and the one who came at midnight up from unde r earth and walked between houses to visit seidr-women to teach the m o f he r ways. She is the inventor o f black magic and rune s - the craft and cunning to seduce giants, humans and gods to gain her end. And from h er bewitched seat, the seidstoll or rokstoll, she taught this magic,
37
G u l l v eig a r b 6 k
which struck as a weapon with confusion, disease and death. She enjoys teaching the hum ans o f the anti-cosmic runes, and these runes are of rime-thursian black magic. This is her crowe-aspect, which is generously emphasized in the Old Norse lore. Gullveig-HeiSr got some pe ople - some black souls which had managed to stay receptive to the black and anti-cosmic light - to truly understand he r magic and purpose. This understanding has been called Free Aurbodu, Aurboda s Seed the carrier of the poison, which is represented with the O-rune - one of the runes partic ularly sacred to Gullveig: 1A free translation by the au thor, originally written by Rydberg.
The destructive seeds, which Gullveig in the dawn of time sowed in the minds of humanity, granting harvests throughout centuries, and with each century henceforth richer.’ *
Gullveig is as intelligent as beautiful - cunning and quick-witted - and she has a very strong pote ntial in foreseeing spiteful moves in he r sinister way of thinking. This weighs heavy for me as I think Gullveig is thought of to be the seeress who foretells the Veluspa. As a female cou nterp art o f Loki, she m ade sly plans from the begin nin g o f th e creatio n of th e cosm os an d follows th em to th e e nd . S he b ro ug ht darkness from th e very depths of the dun geons of Niflheimr, to the brig htest garden of Asgardr. This skilled cun ning is only wielded b y her and Loki o f all the powe rs in existence. So it was not an accidental occu rrence that Gullveig first got accep ted and was very popular with th e cesir - just like her masculine counterpart, and it took a very long time an d a large am oun t o f effort before the cesir became aware of her hate and destructive intentions. In fact, they uncovered he r intentions w he n it was too late, wh en she had already wielded h er pestilent magic for centuries and sown more anti-cosmic seeds than th ere are stars in the sky. She had spawned legions o f horrible m onsters, strength ene d her pow ers in black anti-cosmic seidr, killed many gods and men, and evoked relentless dark powers from within her own darkness and abysmal essence. She has tur ne d so ma ny men, sung endlessly black galdrs, and hailed the c urrent o f Chaos for so long that th e cosmic do om is inevitable. It was already too late wh en th e cesir understood that Gullveig, unde r the name of Aurboda, h ad worked as Frigg s maidservant a nd got Freyjas confidence by trick ery, and with malicious craftiness got Freyja to use black seidr. Furthermore, since Freyja is the goddess o f fertility and was worshipped richly over Scandinavia, one easily understan ds th e devastating conseque nces Gullveig had in m ind. As the cesir und ersto od th e terrible outco me this black witchcraft would have if it spread and
38
G u l l v eig a r b o k
circulated, they panicked. They seized her, tortu red he r by thrusting th eir spears into her body, and held her with the ir spears over a bonfire and bu rne d he r to death in the shim mering halls of Asgardr; instantaneo usly and w ithout trial. This relentless action by the cesir would have a major impact o n the god ’s and vanir's alliance later in the sagas as Gullveig had influence d the vanir to follow her and no t the gods. As self-sacrifice is Gullveig s biggest virtue, I am sure this was a ccording to her plans. Fur ther mor e, as Gullveig is of Ymir’s prim ordial rime-thur s fam ily (Bergelmir’s grandchildre ns blood, th e younger thursian dynasty), it was impossible for the aesir to bu rn h er rim e-heart with cosmic flames - where h er grim soul laid hidden. As they burned her in a bonfire, her rime-heart wou ld not bum , it was only half singed by the cosmic flames. For he r hea rt is as cold as the primordial ice that made Ymir: the source o f Hvergelmir's Venomous Waters - the eitr1. The cosmic 1Poison. flames are impure and c ould only bum Gullveig s/orm and not her essence. There fore her spirit or essence survived and was rebo rn into th e worlds; in the sagas this is allegorized as her hea rt was only half-burnt - the heart of primeval cold. This is how she got the epithet Hyrrokin, “the flame sm oked”, meaning tha t the divine flames were impure by smoke; to o im pure to incinerate Gullveig’s essence. The smoke has be en compared w ith fog and there by link Gullveig with this my th to her “place of birt h” in Niflheimr. She is also know n as ursvol and ursvol gym is volva, Gy mir’s primevally cold witch. Three times sh e got b urn ed w ith imp ure flames, three times she was reborn. After Gullveig, the origin o f the evil runes an d witchcraft, got executed a nd bu rnt by £>6rr and th e cesir, Loki looked in the ashes for her half bu rn t hear t - as he knew of her plans - found it and devo ured it. After a time, he gave bir th to h er infamous children. Many of their siblings are called Baningar. The plague-bringers, o r The de structors. In the beginning o f Ragna Rok hordes of Baningar, such as thurs-wolves and werewolves - Gullveig's and Egg|>er's monster-herd s - storm out from Jarnvidr in the east in order to destroy the world. Loki in thurs-wrath led the vast army of the monster-herd s from Jarnvidr - evil beings of sundry kinds - as Loki has the c on stant an d trium pha nt place as their faithful spearhead.
40
G u l l v e i g I n Al d n a GULLVEIG'S MISINT ERPR ETAT ION AS FREYA
The misinterpretation o f Gullveig as Freyja is a very comm on ph enom enon in mo d ern O N literature; a nd it is as false as it is irritating and disgraceful. M ost o f the peo ple who ma ke this false assumption are the magi of the white-magic: odinists and wiccans. But wha t surprises me the m ost is the fact that respected an d successful au
thors also follow this careless hypothesis, people wh o should have be en well-read in this mythological literature and well-experienced in the Old ways o f Nors e magic. For instance, the A merican Stephe n Edre d Flowers (he has received a doctorate in Germanic Languages and Medieval Studies from the University of Texas, and he is
author of the best-seller books Futhark: A handbook o f rune magic and Runelore though I personally think that his best b oo k is Hermetic Magic: The Postmodern Mag ical Papyrus o f Abaris, which is not even a book on O ld Norse belief) claims that
HeiSr is Freyja in his best-seller boo k Runelore - he says (I quote): This “thrice-born” volva (seeress) is certainly Freyja, and it is in this form that she became 6dhinn’s teacher in the ways of seidhr.
Earlier in the same boo k in chap ter 6 he says: Too many modern rune-magic schools have been forced, either by their ignorance of the timeless traditions or by their inability to gain access to the traditional mysteries, to ignore or to forget the true runic sources handed down to us in lapidary splendor by our ancestors.
Well, that is exactly wha t he has d one himse lf with th e u nde rstan ding o f Gullveig. He might be well-read, but I ask myself whe ther he has the un derstanding in the O N mytholog y that he should. It is obvious that this is wh at he wants her to be, and just claims this to be cer tain . Additionally, ear lier in the sam e paragraph h e says: The / Esir tried to kill her by piercing her with spears and burning her. But each time she was reborn. The third time she transformed herself from Gullveig into Heidh (the Shining One).
1Is Flowers saying here that Freyja taught herself black magic?
First, why would the cesir want to kill the supposed Freyja? And secondly, if Gullveig became Freyja after the burning, I won der why this would happ en. Freyja already existed whe n Gullveig was burne d. This can be seen as G ul lveig, in a disguised appearance and un der the na me AurboSa - Gym ir s wife and Ge rdr’s mo ther -, infiltrated he r way into Folkvangr as Freyja s maid and got Freyja into blac k magic 1, before Gullveig was caught a nd bu rne d. It is told in Fjolsvinnsmal
41
G u l l v e ig a r bo k
that one of the maids o f MengloS-Freyja is AurboSa. So, did h e mean that Gullveig s essence just gave up a nd e ntere d th e already existing goddess Freyja? Strom traces a similarity betwee n Freyja and Gullveig in the m yths o f the Vanirwars as "one skillful in sejd” and the origin o f the first war of people in the world. He speaks very vaguely of this an d I m not even sure he tries to compare them as one. John Lindow makes a weak attem pt to compare Gullveig with Freyja in his boo k Norse Mythology: Since Ynglin ga saga says that Freyja first brought seid to the/ Esir, it is not im pos sible that Gullveig is Freyja, and that she brought seid to the^Esir in the first instance either as a strategy in the war, or that her bringing of seid started the war. Beyond this, many fanciful attempts have been made to interpret Gullveig, some based on a literal understanding of her name as “gold-drink”.
This is a prim e exam ple of ho w poo rly people stud y Gullveig and instead just guess. It is obvious here w here the gold-idea comes from; it is Freyjas gold-thirst that has bee n transm itted to Gullveig throug h misinterpretations. And because pe o ple jus t have b een take n for gra nt ed th at G ullveig s nam e has s om et hi ng to do w ith gold (as in gull-), they just restricted themselves to this hypothesis. Margaret Clunies Ross and many other researchers follow the same line of the ories as Strom. You kind o f get the feeling tha t there is a fixed the ory that n o re searcher dares to cross to keep their academic dignity. Kaldera claims to have consulted with bo th AurboSa a nd An1Freyr owned Gerdr, she was
grboda and unraveled the whole misunderstanding. Suppos
the daughter of Gymir and Au-
edly, they told him that the y are no t the same gigantess, and
rboSa, and of giant-race.
that AurboSa was just Freyjas messenger, but in Vanaheimr n ot in AsgarSr (no co mm ent!).
This is what the Old sagas tell us about Gullveig-HeiSr-AurboSa-AngrboSaHyrrok in, as it is said in Voluspd In Skamma 2: Freyr atti Gerdi , hon var Gym is dotti r, jotna aettar, ok Aurbodu.1
Freyr ma rried the giantess GerSr, daug hter of Gymir and AurboSa, in exchange for his sword ( Gambanteinn ) amo ngst oth er things. (G ym ir and AurboSa are sup-
42
G u l l v e ig I n Al d n a posedly pa rents to the cruel dog -headed giant Beli). T he sw ord was han de d over to Gymir and Aurboda in the sagas, and all of a sudden it was kept unde r Angrbodas com mand in Jamvidr. This shows strong arguments th at Aurboda has the same iden tity as Angrboda. Aurboda was known to wield black magic and was called ursvol gymis volva, Gymir s ever-cold witchwoman, in th e Prose Edda, a nd this links her to
the myth abou t Gullveig-Angrboda-Heidr too - the ever cold one or the one of prim eval cold, referring to Gullveig-Angrboda-Heidr s rime -thurs hea rt that will not
burn be cau se o f its blo od an d essen ce o f primeval ice: eitr - Hrimpurs origin. Sometliing equally imp orta nt from th e same pa ragraph as ursvolgymis volva are the words: «for ir bjorn, pa r er bara brestr, undinna festa, opt i cegis kjopta ursvol gym is volva»,
which say tha t G ymir s primevally cold witch often conveys ships in wild waves, this wind- or storming-zspect links her strongly with Gullveig-Angrboda-Heidr s other
identity Hyrrokin, who “pushed” out Baldr s ship out to sea as a favor to the gods. She is repr esen ted as a storm-gia ntess in some m yths, in Ynglinga saga for example - giantess of the eastern storms. Why Aurboda got represen ted as something from the east can only be linked to the Jarnvidr and Angrboda in the un derwo rld, which are repeatedly explained to be located in the east - as it is said in Voluspd : Austr sat in aldna \ Jarnvidi ok faeddi par Fenris kindir.1
And like (her true husband) Loki, she made her way into the walls of Asgardr, wh ere giants are strictly forbid den, and got Freyja into malicious activities. It is told in Volsunga saga tha t Hrim nir s daug hter com es to Asgardr as a gift, and
1In the east sat the Old One in the Ironw ood and gave birth to Fenrir s children.
Hrim nir s daughter is Gullveig-Angrboda-Heidr, as stated in Voluspd In Skamma.
Maybe the w hole m isund erstan ding of Gullveig being Freyja derives from Loki s spiteful attack on Freyja in Lokasenna : Be quiet, Freyja! You are a witch and full of destruction.
As Aurb oda t augh t her black magic, Freyja was a goddess of witchcraft a nd loved gold, I guess a lazy min d wo uld just dra w parallels from this. Simek suggests tha t Aur boda has similarities wit h the chtho nic beings. Rydberg has proven th at Aurboda is Gullveig-Heidr-Angrboda-Hyrrokin, and I think I just did too.
43
G u l l v e ig I n A l d n a
GULLVEIG, THE WOLVES AN D WEREWOLVES' ANCES TRESS & FOSTERER Gullveig is known through out the mythology to be The Wolf's m other. Voluspd says that she bre d F enr irs progeny in Jarnvidr, and it is believed that she is the m othe r of Garmr, H ati an d Skoll1, too (even if Ga rm r is spoken o f as a dog guarding the gates to the unde rworld just like C erberus). I n Snorri s Edda and in his Gyljaginning he says that at Baldr s funeral the aesir called for Hyrrokin to help them release Baldr s funeral ship, and she cam e ridin g on a wolf2. Just as Lilith, Gullveig has clearly received the role as the demon-mother that eternally begets demon-children. The dark mother-aspect is an important side of her role in the mythology and we can tell a lot from it, we can understand h er func tion and position by comparing her to oth er dark mother goddesses: Oh great Lilith, open your blood filled womb and grant me entrance to your kingdom of unholy desires and unlawful dreams! Mother of all demons, proud mistress of Satan, Oh evil goddess Taninsama, open wide the gates of Gehinnom and let the dark flame of my demonic Self flourish in the purifying darkness of Gamaliel!3
1Petersen, 1869, Nor disk Mytologi. Rydberg, 11886, I I 1889, Undersokningar i Germanisk Mythologi. 2Pd var sent ( Jotunheima eftir gygi peirri erHyrrokkin h it, en er hun kom og reid vargi.
3&4Temple of the Black Light, 2002, Liber Azer ate. Freely
A noth er dark godde ss that is in analogy w ith Gullveig is
translated by the author.
the d og or the w olf goddess, the chthonic and three-fold
5*Pat er nu. sagt, at Frigg heyrir
goddess, ruler of the und erworld hou nd Cerberus: Hecate.
been peira ok segir 6dni, hvers
Many o f he r mythological qualities correspo nd with G ul lveig: the underworldly connection, the dark demon m othe r aspect (they are connected to bo th wolfish and serp ent forces) and the crone aspect:
pau
biSja. Han n
verbr eigi
orprifrada ok tekr oskmey sina, ddtturHnm nis jotuns». "And so it is said that C dinn hea rs their
prayer, a nd Freyja no less hear kens with they prayed to her: so
I invoke the constant blood-thirsty wolfpack of Hecate, whose baying in the elder days drove mankind to insanity! I invoke Vrykolakas, who with his bloody jaws raised to the black moon sings hymns in homage to Hecate! I invoke the undead and the death-bringing!4
she, never lacking for all good counsel, calls to her her maid, the daughter of Hrimnir the giant." Volsunga saga 2.
We can trace evidence that survived the C hristian missionaries throug h the O N literature, th at Gullveig was looked up on as an ancestress and fosterer o f werewolves, and that these werewolves were probab ly bred in JarnviSr, which is allegorized with the wordings dark a nd deep woods. In Volsunga saga it is told tha t a giantess wh o was
47
Gu l l
v k ig a r b o k
a maid at Frigg’s in Asgardr and had b een in MiSgarSr, and w ho is known as Hrim nir s daughte r5, is getting married to a king in MidgarSr and throu gh him be ing a m other and grandm other to werewolves, who are running wild in the da rk woods and killing ma ny men. This is evidently Gullveig, a nd we can notice that she was seen by the O N people as a mother-giantess of the wolves and werewolves. Were wolves have always be en a big issue in the Scand inavian folklore an d sagas, and had a huge im pact on the people. Even in their magical praxis werewolfism had a role. Traces of the b elief in a spiritual werewolf-metamorph osis can be found in the tales of the berserks - the w arriors that me ntally and spiritually invoked the beast within them and we nt throug h a process of werewolf-m etamorphosis. In their case, by the remaining sources, the berserks became bears a nd were receiving the bears' powers and strengths. To help this process to take form they wore “shirts” of bear-hide; hence ber-serkr. If I let my fantasy flow, or rath er pu t myself into their situation, I would believe that they m ost likely wore bear-heads as helmet ad ornm ents and bear-paws an d claws on th ei r hands; even to ca rry a dried be ar -hea rt from a be ar they ritually killed in a leather pouc h du ring the transform ation; to eat smoked o r dried bear-m eat to get poisoned by the bear s wrathful strength; to wear bear-teeth arou nd th eir neck to gain the bears powerful jaws, an d claws aroun d th eir wrists to gain the bears powerful strike - anything to link their spirits to the bear-essence. Howl like Garmr my fa ir beast, and devour my flesh! Le t yo ur fangs blacken my blood, a nd you r essence touch m y spirit! Fenrir ek kalla pik, helulfrinn, kjoptu m blodug rskal Ijos Ufa eta!
48
G u l l v e i g I n Al d n a
GULLVEIG'S BROTHER HROSSl>j6FR Gullveig only has one kn own sibling, and the c onfirmation fo r that is saved only in Voluspd in skamma, whe re it is said: Heidr and Hross^jofr the children of Hrimnir.
So by Voluspa in skam ma Gullveig-Heidr and HrossJ^jofr are ch ildren of Hrimnir. Hr imn ir1whom I believe is analogous to the primordial rime-thurs Bergelmir. If I m right HrossJ)jofr must then be a Nifl-dwelling rime-thurs. In fact, a shor t glimpse into th eir rim e-thursia n blood-line will let us easily see that Heid r and HrossJ?jofr are children of the earliest rime-thurses in the O N mythology. Hrimgrim nir (for me a nalogous to t>rudgelmir) was viewed as one of the mo st horrible rime-th urses in the Old Norse, this is what Skirnismal testifies to in th e lines where Skirnir threat ens Gerdr2with baneful words: Hrimgrimnir is the tours’ name, whom you shall belong to far down below the corpse-gate.
Hrimgrimnir-Prudgelmir is Ymir s first identified son, and Hrimgrimnir-Pnidgelmir himself is father to HrimnirBergelmir wh o is in his turn father to He idr and HrossJ)jofr; so their great grandfa ther is Ymir himself - a key rime-thursian blood-line. That said, HrossJ)jofr is mo st likely abiding in Niflheimr in those mighty rime-thursian halls that Skirnismal 30
1Hrimnir of Niflheimr has his counterpart in Muspellzheimr; Eimnir - the burner, who is pro bab ly Su rtr s left hand and one of the world-destroyers. 2 Gullveig-Heidr s daughter Hrimgrimnir-t>rudgelmir is her great grandfather whom Skirnir migh t not realize (or the autho r of the sagas missed.)
reveals, hrimpursa hollar, by his grandfathe rs’sides. Saxo had access to a different version of Baldrs Draumar, and he says that it was HrossJ>jofr (called by him Rostiop hus Phinnic us) w ho let O dinn know tha t his son and Rind would avenge Baldr s death. In the version we know of today it is from HroSvSj>jofr s sister Gullveig who Odinn gets this information. HrossJ)jofr s name means horse thief, which is definitely an epithet from some old im por tan t mythological saga; sadly this saga is lost and there are no surviving explanations to his name. Both Saxos witness and HrossJ>jofr s name prove that there were m any sagas that have be en lost forever containing very imp ortan t infor mation. However, this is all we know of the rime-thurs HrossJ>jofr.
49
G u l l v eig a r bo k
Second-born and second burned ; her death created Fenrir.
H e iS r - she the shining one, she is the w itch-giantess; the w ielder of the blackest seeds; she was the brig htness crawling ou t of the abyss and taking form, up thro ugh endless darkness and slithering through the crusty bo un dry of the m iddle earth. Bright as a shadowless light she came; erect like a burnin g spine o f a wand she stood, and started a journey to the yards of ungovernable and receptive folk to teach them about the unknown and black arts of the underworld. Heidr is m entioned by nam e twice in the Sazmundar Edd a ; once in Voluspd and once in Voluspd in skam ma, and bo th occasions give key information about h er role in th e sagas. Voluspd introduces her (from Codex Regius): Heidr her name was, to houses she came, the seeress with adequate prophecies. She wielded witchcraft, she conjured disease, she invoked Leikin, always was she loved by wicked women.
50
H e id r
This stanza gives her the role as the crone in the O N mythology and the fact that the saga says "always was she loved by wicked women", « е var hon angan illrar brudar» (the ON word illr means evil and wicked), shows us that He idr turns to
“wicked wom en ” to teach her craft. By this detail we can assure that H ei5r is neither a seeress from the cesir - nor the vanir-races, as they promote the hum ankind to flour ish, and the thursian race aims to dissolve them. Evil seeks evil and in this case that is exactly wha t the autho rs o f Voluspd are saying. So acc ording to Voluspd, H eidr was the so rceress teaching the hu ma ns the evil craft, she was the giantess-sorceress who strode a round in Midgardr, the middle world, to spread her seeds of underw orldly powers, pla nt in g th e cap sules o f diss olution in th e dep th o f th e hu m an spirits. I t is said that she cam e as three in th e daw n of time, powerful ou t ofJotu nhe im r as a giantess. These three - powerful giantesses
1Jotunh eimar, note plural.
- were; Gullveig who was the underw orldly mother, Heidr
2Rydberg, I I 886, II 1889, Un-
who pervade d M idgardr, and A urboda who infiltrated As-
dersokningar
gardr - « u n z prjdr kvdmu jpursa meyjar dmdtkar mjdk or jotunheimum J>>, "until three thu rsia n giantesses came, very
mighty, from the w orlds o f the giants."
I
Germanisk
Mythologi.
3Ymir s two first children were actually a man and a woman, but the re is n o mo re info rm a tion on this subject other than
Voluspd in skamma is a very impo rtan t text because it gives
us good access to the thursian genealogy. And ab out H eidr it
that the y were just a man and a woman - madr ok kona. My
says:
own hypothesis is that it was Loki and Gullveig; the first
Heidr and Hrossf)jofr are Hrfmnir’s children.
born. As He idr is Gullveig s sec ond appearance after the first bu rn ing an d Bergelm ir h er fa ther, it seems logic tha t Gullveig
According to Skirnismal, H rimn ir is a three-heade d rimethurs who dwells in Niflheimr beyond the un derw orld by Hrim grim nir s side; Hrim grim nir is the six-headed rimethurs b om in Chaos as a son o f Ymir-Aurgelmir. Rydberg pr o po se s a th eo ry th at H rim grim nir is th e same th urs as
as her first appearance would have been bo m earlier, and that Ymir wou ld be the only one to be h er father, as I>rudgelmir did not have a daughter.
I>nidgelmir and Hr im nir Bergelm ir2. This would me an th at 1 Aurgelmir-Ymir is the first thurs th at came ou t of Ginnungagap, 2) bnidge lmirHrim grim nir was the first identified son o f Ymir, an d 3) Bergelm ir-Hrimnir was the son of brudgelmir-Hrimg rimnir3. He compares Hrimg rimnir s rank with O dinns, as Odinn also has the epithet Grimnir which names him as the cesir s clan-leader. He suggests that it is the same with Hrimgrimnir, and the prefix hrim is added to his nam e to state what race he rules over. Ryd berg also states that Ymir can't be the sole ruler of the thurs-race, as he created oth er races too. That's why I>ru3gelmirHrim grimn ir would be be tter fitting having that status. A nother connection be-
51
G u l l v eig a r bo k tween E>ruSgelmir and Hrimgrimnir can be the deformity of several heads that al legorizes their characters; f>niSgelmir, son of Aurgelmir, is explained as having six heads in Vajprudnismal 29,33: After lots of winters, before earth was created, at that time Bergelmir was born; b>rudgelmir was his father, and Aurgelmir his father. with his (Ymir-Aurgelmir’s) feet the wise giant bore a six-headed son.
Hrim grim nir is allegorized in Skirnismal 31 to have three heads, which makes me think o f f>ruSgelmir. It is very rare to find a thu rs with several head s in t he sagas and as these sagas are written in different times there is a possibility that the narra tors mix the nu mb er up, as there were no detailed accounts o f the mytho logy and religion back in the time, only oral traditions, and the Scemundar Edda was the first written a ccount what we know of. After my studies in the O N mytho logy I dare to say that Rydberg s theory is most certainly a correct one. This proves that HeiSr is a rime-giantess; a hrimpurs, a nd tha t she is created by powers co nn ec ted to the pr im or dial thur s-po wer Aurge lmir: she is certa inl y the daughter of Bergelmir. Her genealogy gives her a very strong connection to the mightiest powers o f all and by this being a direct source to th e prim ordial powers and knowledge. Furtherm ore, as she is a crone a nd a wielder of runes a nd magic, it makes her the most powerful thursian giantess who has revealed herself out o f Jotunh eim r s black gaping chasm. *
HeiSr appears in the Volsunga saga under the name HljoS, Hrimnir s daughter; there we find fragments o f Old No rse mythos of giants finding a way into AsgarSr without being detected - as a matter of fact it was OS inn who had invited HeiSr into AsgarSr as an oskmey (wishing-maid), obviously unknowing w hat she was. Vol sunga saga is about a king and a queen that had no luck in having children, so they
called for the gods to help them. Frigg answered their call by sending Hrimnir s daugh ter in a crow’s appearance ca rrying an apple for them . O f course, after the queen h ad eaten the apple she ha d a child. HeiSr has here bee n w orking for Frigg as a maid in a fertility errand. H rim nir s daug hter is the same as Gullveig-AurboSa,
52
H e id r
as Voluspa in skamma 4 tells us; «H eidr ok Hrosspjofr Hrinmis kind ar », "Heidr and Hrosspjofr are Hr imn ir s children", as we already know He idr and Gullveig are iden tified as the same giantess.1W hy did just H eidr o f all maids get the job to fly as a crow with this magical apple - this me taphorical seed of achievement? Well, it is pretty logical for the authors to choose the giantess with the m ight of transfor ma tion and witchcraft to bring out this work; she, Heidr, being here the instru m ent for a very powerful magical act, as she is working cunningly for Frigg to c onvert he r into the blackest o f seidr. The Volsunga saga also says tha t H rimn ir s daugh ter gets married to a king called Volsungr, and the y had ten sons and one da ughter (eleven children). This detail connects Hrim -
1Volsunga saga 2, and see Uttdersokningar
I
Germanisk
Mythologi by Rydberg as a good
nirs daughter in Volsunga saga w ith Hrim nir s daughter
reference.
Heidr-Aurboda, as Aurboda is known to have just one
2Or even comp ared to Gullveig who had one daughter (Hel)
daugh ter nam ed G erdr2. Furth erm ore, as Heidr dwelt with the king Volsungr on earth for a while it connects he r with Heidr in the ON mythology as the crone who walks around m the m iddle world. There is an oth er detail in Velsungs Saga that got my attention; it is about the werewolf-aspect. For me it starts in ch apter five, wh ere all ten sons o f Hrim nir s daughter Hljod5 get captured a nd bo und in a battle and the ir father Volsungr gets killed. Fo r nine nights, at midnigh t, a she-wolf comes and kills and eats all nine b rothe rs a nd leaves Sigm undr to live. Now, the line in Icelandic, «m u ncetr isa mt о
sja in samaylgr um midncetti» 4, gives us much imp ortant
magical information concerning black magic and were-
and many sons. 3Hlj6d in Old Norse can mean howling, wh ich is a ver y fitting name for the m other of wolves and werewolves, as she can be looked upon as a pursylgr, a thursian she-wolf. 4"Nine nigh ts in a ro w at m id night she came as a female werewolf." 5Agrell, 1927, Runoma s Talmystik och dess Antika Forebild. Linderholm, 1918, Nordisk Magi.
wolfism: nine is a well documented (black) magical ON num ber5, the ninth run e in the Upark rune-row is the l-r un e which represents Ne cessity and Will; the essence of magical function. O N poe ts did no t just grab details ke this ou t of nowhere; num bers especially always had a deep meaning. The night ./as given to the troll and giants in O N folklore and m ythology, and m idnight, as in the r traditions around the globe, was a very extraordinary time for dark powers to ^c en d from the u nderw orld to en ter Midgardr. Werewolves were seen in Old Scan dinavia to be troll-like shape-shifters derived from Gullveig s kin; they all were of giant-breed. A hum an could possess this ability to shape-shift into a wolf, an d this j s m etam orphic
black magic whic h belongs to Gullveig and her allies. So in the
r.e «m u ncetr ls am t kom sja in sama ylgr um midncetti» we learn that the O N people relieved that werewolf-magic was analogous to the num ber nine, n octurnal praxis, .ir. d particularly to m idnight. Well, the stor y tells tha t H ljod s last and eldes t son Sig-
53
G u l l v e ig a r b Ok
mun dr killed the she-wolf by pulling out h er tongue with his teeth. Later on in chap ter eight Sigmundr and his son Sinfjolti were out in the woods to harden Sinfjolti with manly deeds, which in this saga meant tha t they went out to kill men and steal their wealth. One day they found a house with two m en in it who each had a golden ring; these m en were shape-shifters and h ad the ir wolf-guises hanging on the wall above their beds. In O N folklore people did no t just turn into wolves like in mo dern movies, the y actually had th e wolf-guise as an outfit and "p ut it on” as they trans formed. Anyway, Sigmu ndr and his son Sinfjolti stole them and b ecam e werewolves. They went o ut hunting m en together a nd slew them. One time Sinfjolti found eleven men and slew them by himself. The number eleven turns up several times wh en it comes to Volsungr s siblings; a meta ph or which I see as a riddle to the eitrnexus: the rime-blood. However, my main interest in this saga is that Hljod s son and grandson are werewolves, and she herself is a hrimpurs and her name in this saga, Hljod, means howling, and even a mysterious she-w olf comes at mid night and slaughters and eats (! ) nine o f Hljods younger sons. There is no doub t in my mind that the autho r o f this saga wanted to tell the reader tha t Hljod is Gullveig - rimegiantess and m othe r of werewolves. ★ The small information that Voluspd, Voluspd in skamma, and Skirnismal give us is in itself grand, as it proves tha t a) H eiSr is one of the thre e ho rrible and powerful giantesses who comes out o fjotu nh eim r in the dawn of time, b) she is a seeress and practices evil witchcraft, c) she turn s to wicked folk, an d d) H eiSr originates from Niflheim r an d she has a rim e-thurs as a father, w hich makes h er a rim e-thurs herself. All this conn ects h er strongly with Gullveig and he r essential aspects. Concern ing H eidr s name, there is a word w ith a very interesting meaning that derives from the O N w ord heidr with the meaning heath, and it is heidingi ( heidinn), a heathen, and gentile. However, it is also used as a me taph or for a wolf, meaning someone who lives on heaths and in the w ilderness; very much like the O N wo rd vargr which means the same bu t more of an outlaw-characteristic. This is interesting because first off Gullveig-Heidr is seen as a vargr and all of her children and spouses the same. As her follower you sh ould live like a heidr or vargr - meaning not sub mitting to any law or authority, provoke your sp iritual Chaos-fire, and unle ash the wrathful werewolf within your spirit. C ompare this to H eidr s name HljoS in V 0U sunga Saga.
54
55
G u l l v e ig a r b Ok
Third-born an d third burnt; her death created H el
The purpo se o f Gullveig going und er the n ame Aurboda and being the d augh ter of Hr imn ir had a very im po rtan t function, and 1 shall investigate he r every appearan ce in the O N mythology u nde r her veil of Aurboda. She is the m ost mysterious guise of Gullveig in the mythos, n ot much is said ab out he r and ve ry few people see a connec tion betwe en her and Gullveig in the old sagas - so I present and und erline the nexus here. Aurboda is only mentione d by name twice in Scemundar Edda, first in Voluspa in skamma 2 w hich gives us the impo rtant evidence th at Aurboda is Gymir s spouse;
this detail will make it m uch easier to unde rstan d he r role in the sagas. The second time she is men tioned is in Fj&lsvimsmal 38 where she is named as one of MenglodFreyjas m aids. This is also a very im po rtan t detail that conn ects he r with Heidr, for instance. Im portantly though; just because she is so seldom me ntione d by name does n ot m ean that th at is the only evidence o f he r entity in the Scemundar Edda\ b ut than ks to th os e two tim es she is m en tion ed by n am e we kn ow the following; a) sh e is Gym ir s spouse, which mo st likely me ans th at he r abod e is in G ymir s and Ge rdr s yard in Jotunheimr, this connects her to this place throug hou t the full body of the Ed da . For example, her presence can be found in the saga called Skirnismdl
56
Au
r bo da
witho ut being nam ed in it because of what I just explained, b) she is mentio ned by name to be a maid at Freyjas, which gives us the knowledge that for a period of time she dwells at Freyjas, and as the cunning giantess that she is her intentions with Freyja can only be malignant. Fu rthermo re, in Hyndluljod Freyja says: «Vaki mar meyja, vaki min vina, Hyndla systir ; er xbelli by r»f 'Wake up maid o f maids, wake up
my friend, Hyndla my sister who lives in the cave." Hyndla is most certainly Gullveig, and Freyja calls Hy ndla h er maid, h er friend, an d he r sister; I believe this was supposed to be und erstoo d as Aurbo Sas service as Freyjas maid. I thoug ht I would start with the dramatic marriage that we find in Skirnismdl. It is the mythos of Freyrs bridal p ayme nt o f GerSr and th e highly significance of the Gam banteinn, S urtr s Sword of Revenge. The beginning of the Gam banteinnmythos starts in the saga called Skirnismdl where Freyr sits in wha t can be un der stood as a tower or throne called the HliSskjalf, from where he gazed into Jotu nhe im r and saw, o n Gymir s yard, a very beautiful maid-giantess, whose skin is so pale and lovely that it shined like the sun; this was GerSr. He decided that he wan ted
her as he was bewitched by her beauty, and ordered his servant and m essenger Skirnir to ride to the lands o f the giants to ask for her ha nd in favor to Freyr, and Skirnir did so. GerSr is the daughter o f Gymir and AurboSa and she lives on their property. W he n he a rrived at Gym ir and A urbo Sa s yard he was held back by ang ry and snarling dogs in front of GerSr s house. O utside on a mou nd sat a herder as well and he ke pt watch (I will say more about this detail furthe r down). Skirnir was in vited to GerSr s house b y her and he tries with bribes o f treasures and gold and threats to woo her, but she refuses, as with her mighty and dangerous fa ther and all gold they possess she did n ot fear his words. Skirnir then threatens with a magical sword and curs ing mag ic1, and a fter this Ger Sr all o f a sudd en ju st agrees. This surprising tur n has always troubled me, because it makes no sense; at first she is so confident, she b low s tha t neithe r Skirnir or Freyr have anything to pu t against the m ighty thur-
11have investigated and written about these classic stanzas of Old Norse curses and runemagic thoro ughly in oth er texts dealing with Old Norse witch craft, magic and religion.
sian powers that protect Gymir and AurboSas land and daughter ; th ese two giants alone are very powerful. Equally, by GerS r s answers to Skirnir s previous speech you can tell that she has ne ither respect n or fear towards Skirnir and Freyr. An d the n it struck me; after a deep er analysis of the consequ ences of this myth I und erstood that there was a much deeper end to this odd route; GerSr had he r m oth er s cunning and intelligence, and she was mo st definitly in league with her m othe r s genius plans - Gullveig s emine nt plans, in conspiracy with Loki, of destroying the worlds of the cesir. Freyr gives his well-known magical sword as a bridal payme nt for G erSr - the swo rd that bra ndishes itself ( Skirnismdl 8), the sword
57
G u l l v eig a r b 6 k
1 Skt'rrtismdl 32: « Til holts ek
he later calls by name , G am ban teinn 1, Sur tr’s Sword o f Revenge
gekk... gambantein atgeta,gam -
which will finally come back to Surtr - the sw ord that once be
bantein ek gat», T w ent to the
long to the cesir2 - and w ith which Surtr kills Freyr himse lf with
woods... to procure Gamban
during Ragna Rok. Lokasenna 42 explains the bridal paymen t in
teinn, and Gambanteinn I pr o cured." 2Veluspd 52: «S urt rfe rr sunrxan med sviga Uevi, skinn a f sverdi sdl valtiva», "Surtr fares from the
south with the switch bane, and the warrior s sword shines like the sun."
full: Loki said: With gold you bought Gymir’s daughter and sold also your sword. But when the sons of Muspell will come riding over Myrkvidr3 what weapon will protect you then, scum?
3Myrk vidr is for me equiva lent to Jarnvidr.
In plain words, Ge rdr got forced to ma rry Freyr, but referring to the w ay Ge rdr speaks in this epic I have a stron g feeling that she knows ab out some thing that do esn’t come out in this saga, it would seem tha t she just agreed to the m arriage because she knew it had a malicious purpose accord ing to h er m oth er’s plans. Alternatively, maybe wh en she saw Ga m ban teinn she quickly understoo d that she had to get this sword to he r m othe r (Aurboda-Gullveig) a nd th at is why she chan ged h er m ind so abruptedly. H er replies to Skirn ir’s first attempts to bribe he r with gold and m agical apples were cocky and confident, and the n he threatens to decapitate her with Freyr s sword bu t yet she responds cockily to this as well. She has n o reason to feel seriously threatene d. She is the daug hter o f Aurboda and Gymir, and sister to Beli who is explained to be of a dog heade d thurs-race (this I find particularly interesting as I conn ect this weird defor mity w ith Aurbo da’s skill in tran sfor m ation and werewolfism). Moreover, the bridal paym ent o f the sword has devastating consequences for the izsir , an d it actually leads to a predestined victory of the thurses in the w ar against
the cesir and their worlds. But how the sword went from Gym ir and Aurboda to Angrbo da a nd he r herd er Egg J^r in Jar nvid r is a mystery I will here divulge. It is obvi ous to me th at Aurboda took th e sword to Jarnvidr and to An grboda; this is in my opinio n a strong ground for und erstand ing that the y are the sam e giantess. The fact the Aurboda bewitched Freyr to sacrifice his sword is a typical action of Gullveig and L oki s character. The thing is that the re is a big gap here in the sagas, no thin g is told o r even close to b eing revealed abo ut how the sword wen t from A urboda’s yard to Angrbod a s abode in Jarnvidr. This tells me tha t it must have bee n a co mm on fact how th is went down, a nd all the similarities between these giantesses are strikingly alike, both be ing of thurs-bloo d an d m arried to very powerful and cruel thurses, and bo th having children that will have an essential purpo se for the developm ent
58
Au
rboda
of the Ragna Rok mythos. They are also the only ones with a name end ing with boda in the ON mythology, they both have a herder sitting on a small mo und keep
ing watch, they both are guarded by dogs/wolves, and last but not least Aurboda and HeiSr were the only giantesses ever that ma nage to n estle themselves into Asgardr, which con nects the m strongly and favors my belief that they all are the same as Gullveig. In Skirnismal we find more inter esting d etails; on Gym ir and Aurb oda ’s yard which dwelt in the thursian abode in the underworld, a herd er sat on a small mound and kep t a watch in all directions. This herder rem inds m e very much of the h erder sitting on wa tch on a small mound in Jarnvidr called gygjar hirdir (the giantess’ herder) in Voluspd 42: He, the giant ess’ herder, the happy Едд| эёг, sat upon the heap and played on the harp; above him in galgvidr crowed a light red rooster, his name was Fjalarr.1
Gygjar hirdir being AngrboSa s herde r in h er abode, his
nam e is Egg^er. The latter being AngrboSa s sword-watcher who keeps the Sword of Revenge for Surtr till Ragna Rok, and for som e mystical reason the same kind o f charac ter sits on a small mou nd at AurboSas abode in Jotun heim r accord ing to Skinismdl 11: Skfmir rode through Jotunheimr to Gymir’s yard. There were angry and leashed dogs in front of the path to the yard, where GerSr dwelt. He rode up to where the herder sat and spoke to him: Tell me, herder, who sits on the mound and watches over all: How can I meet the young maid without the snarling dogs?
1See an investigation of galgviSr/gaglviSr further down. 2Graslund sees this connection in the h istory of religions; she says “in many respects dogs seem to be representatives of wolves.” Graslund, Wolves, se pents, and birds: Their symbolic meaning in Old Norse belief. In Andren, Jennbert, Raudvere
(eds), 2006, Old Norse Religion in Long -Ter m Perspective.
This in my op inion c ann ot be a coincidence; i t’s very strong evidence th at Aur bo da a nd Angrb oSa are th e same. Even Aur boS a’s snarling dogs s up po rt this theory; AngrboS as abode in JarnviSr is full of furious wolves and werewolves, and AurboSas yard is guarded my furious dogs. Dogs and wolves in the O ld No rse m ythology could m ean th e sam e2. For example, it is said that all dogs come from Garm r in Grimnismal, en hunda Garmr. This proves n ot th at he is a dog; he could easily have
bee n a dog or a wolf, as all dogs come fro m the wolf originally. In Voluspd we can also read abou t Garmr:
59
G u l l v eig a r b 6 k
Garmr barks greatly from Gmpahellir; the shackles shall shatter, and the wolf shall be free.
This just tells us that Garm r barks greatly and th at the w olf shall be freed. I agree that mo st likely it aims at Fen rir who is chained dow n with his father Loki in a cave until Ragna Rok and that this episode of Voluspd is referring to the beginning o f the gods' d oom. But still it does no t say tha t it is actually Fenrir, it could be Garm r him self that will come free, because he is chained down too to th e rocks of Gmpahellir at the gates of Helheimr. M y point is, there is a widely spread hypothesis that G armr and Fenrir are actually the same, bu t it is even more likely that Ga rmr a nd H ati are the same, and therefore the difference between a mythological dog and a wolf is no t o f great importance. In the Prose Edda, AurboSa was called ursvolgymis volva, th e primevally cold one, referring to Aurboda-Gullveig s heart that will no t b urn because of its essence o f primeval ice. It also po ints to her aspect as a storm -giantess, as she is depicted as the eastern storms from Jarnvidr (isarnvidr), see Ynglinga saga, this conne cts her with AngrboSa the Old One: Austr sat in aldna i Jarnvidi ok faeddi par Fenris kindir.1
And as I stated above, more important information is 1"In the ea st sat the Old O ne in the Ironwood and gave birth to Fen rir s children."
dwelling in the same paragraph as ursvolgymis volva: it is « forir bjorti,par er barn brestr, undinnajesta, opt i cegis kjopta ursvolgymis volva», Gymir s primevally cold witch often conveys ships in
wild waves. This wind- or storming-asp ect links AurboSa with the mythos of Hyrrokin ; who pushed or blew Baldr s funeral ship o ut to sea as a favor to the gods for example. In my opinion, all tha t has been discussed in the previous pages prov es why th e s torm -giante ss A urbo da was in fact th e spouse o f the sto rm giant Gymir.
60
An g r
boda
Austr sat in aldna i Jarnvibi ok foeddi {заг Fenris kindir - Voluspa
AngrboSa is probably her most known nam e as the velva, crone -and m other- gi antess in the da rk woods called JarnviSr; she is well-known as the shadow-drap ed giantess, gygr, tha t comes with anger and hate towards the cosmos, the gods, and mankind. Angrb oda is her infamous an d antagonistic nam e as by now e very living soul in the cosmos knows abo ut her being the terrible w itch-giantess who has only malignant intentions towards the worlds; She the Old One - In Aldna - Angrboda. This is after he r terrible m anifestations as Gullveig-Heidr-Aurboda have be en roving aroun d in the worlds and wielding death and de struction to its very extent, and bee n caught an d killed by th e ass-powers. How eve r, this thre ef old ex ec ution did no t stop he r from coming back as a witch-giantess; as we all know by no w you d on’t really die in the Old N orse mythology, you kind o f die ou t of the world in which you were prese ntly living, an d get se nt to the w orld below. You can even die ou t o f Helheimr, which m eans that you are sent dow n to the horrible world Niflheimr, wh ich lies beyond the underworld.
61
G u l l v e ig a r b 6 k So she came back a final time; in a final manif estation, as the noto riou s thursia n giantess Angrboda. As she was done w ith her workings amo ngst the cesir in the heav ens, she stayed in the und erworld from the n on as Angrboda - together with her mighty daug hter Hel - and mad e preparations for the final infamous battle known as Ragna Rok. However, she still reached hap pily for receptive an d wicked hum ans to teach th em he r proud craft and make alliances. Because her wor k is far from over: she wields the ferocious blackest magic from he r black witch-seat within the abysmal jaws ofjar nv idr . D ark-red bloo d po urs fro m h er bod y und er he r black robe o f dark ness from freshly killed gods and men - blood that spatters on her surroundings wh en she m oves her imm ense bo dy and h er long black icicled hair sways vehe mently a round the worlds - like a giant oak in a storm. She is the hating crone wielding her anti-cosmic staff and singing wrathful runes; untying primordial kn ots on the giant roots o f Heldrasill to unleash Chaos' relentless curses. She is the Old one, older than age and creation - angrboda in aldna. She is the wise one, wiser than the wells and the worlds - angrboda in vitra. W hen Angrboda s essence intruded the cosmic boundaries and go t mixed with its structural flow she immediately adapted and to ok “form”, he r essence struggled betw een lawlessness and m anifestation, be tween freedom and framework. As she is a metam orphic thurs-essence, static form is absolutely unnatural for he r and she cann ot adjust to uniformity. So cosmic de formities is in her character and everything she touches and procreates becomes deformed and m etamo rphic; this is where she becom es the m othe r of werewolves and horrible mon ster-hordes in her blackest forest deep w ithin Jotunheimr, in the east.
1 Loki calls it Myrkvidr in Lokasenna, Scemundar Edda.
Angrboda is her nam e during h er habitation in Jarnvidr - as the Jarngygr, the giantess-ruler of this Ironwood also known as Myrkvidr1.
As the mighty thurs-ruler ofjarnvidr and the mother of all troll-like deformed metamorphic monsters; she is proven to be the same as Gullveig. The sagas tell us abou t this in for example the Voluspd in skamma , whic h says: Loki gave birth to the Wolf with Angrboda and Sleipnir with Svadilfari. Amongst them all one crone seemed worst, she from Byleistr’s brother came.
62
G u l l v eig a r b 6 k
Loki ate a heart; on the burnt linden he found half-burnt a heart of a woman. Loptr became pregnant by the evil woman; from this have all troll come.
This excerpt is pre tty m uch self-explanatory and shows th at Angrb oda is Gullveig. She was also looked u pon as an evil wom an ( illr kona), and the mo ther o f all troll (flagd ) - troll which is the Old N orse term for malignant and bestial demons, viewed
upon as a giant-kin, which are often dwellers of the forests, m ountain s and th e u n derground. Troll being m ythological offspring from Gullveig can be traced in the myths where the troll repeatedly shift shapes from deform ed giants to huma n-look ing individuals; they mim ic the hum an appe arance so they can get close to them to abdu ct them for different reasons. A comm on m yth is that the troll shift shape in to a beautiful young wom an, half naked, to entice lumberjacks to follow them into the shadows. In Scandinavia this is common knowledge in its folklore. So the metamorphic nature o f troll links them to their m ythological source. In Voluspd it is explained how “she the old one” sits in Jarnvidr and bears Fe nrirs kin ( Fenris kindir ): In the east she the old one sat in Jarnvidr and there bore Fenrir’s kin.
The relatively odd episode th at Angrboda is judged to b e killed by the cesir and unsuccessfully bu rn t in the halls o f Asgardr is a strong analogy b etween An grboda and Gullveig, and it is unavoidable evidence that the myths are the same, and that Angrboda and Gullveig are the same giantesses. In Helgakvida Hundingsbana I we also find evidence of Angrbo da s analogy to Gullveig. In an argum ent betw een Sm ooth and Gudm undr, Sinfjotli says: You were a volva on Varinsey, a cunning woman, you lied.
64
An g r
b o ba
* ** you were, a hateful witch, a valkyria, spiteful, awful at 66inn’s. The Einherjar fought everybody for you, disgraceful woman, (they did it) for your sake. Nine we at Sagu’s point wolves bore, I was their father.
And Gu dm und r s answer to this starts with: “Father to Fenrir-wolves you were n o t” This little extract from this saga tells us a lot. The cunnin g, hateful, an d spiteful velva an d m othe r to wolves mus t be Gullveig, as the a utho r gives example of a witch
that had been acting awful at Odin ns hall. And tha t Einherjar, the vanir, have been fighting for her; for her cause - this cannot be anything else then the battle between the cesir and the vanir, called th e first folk-war, after th e killing o f Gullveig in Asgardr, because this is the on ly battle tha t ha d taken place between them. That battle was about the vanir s non-tolerance towards the cesir s act of punishmen t and the killing o f Gullveig witho ut trial: so the vanir fought for G ul lveig. In another saga it is said that Hrimnir s daughter had
1Tn the east sat the O ld On e in the Ironwood and gave birth to Fen rir s children." 2Snorra Edda, Na fnapulur 42.
3Sktmisnidl.
stayed at Varinsey for a time and pro -created werewolves - as we know, Hrim nir s daughter is He idr (G ullveig-Angrboda). And if this was not enough, Gu dm undr s answer proves undoub tedly that it is Angrboda they are talk ing abou t - as we know that Angrboda is Fenrir s mother, an d that she m others his kin in the depths of Jarnvidr - « austr sat in aldna i Jdrnvidi okfceddi par Fenris kindir»l (Veluspa 4 0). Ang rboda is the m othe r of the Fenrir-wolf family, which ac
cording to my studies and conclusions includes Garm r, Hrodvitnir, H ati and Skoll.
KEEPER OF THE ANTI-COSM IC SWORD OF VENGEANCE AND EG Gt^R
In the O N mythology, Angrboda in Jarnvidr is also the keeper of the anti-cosmic swor d o f vengeance, ma de by Lok i and perf ecte d by E>jazi for Surtr. Fjalarr, the son
65
G u l l v eig a r b 6 k
of Surtr, will come as a red rooster and pick up the sword of vengeance called by many names: gamb anteinn, hav ateinn , homateinn, mistilteinn2, tamsteinn, and tamsvendfi. H e will come o n his fathers orders right before the final battle - the day
of wra th - Ragna R ok. Fjalarr is a Muspell-son, a blazing fire-thurs who will also com e as devastating w ild-fire; thus his kenning “the red ro oster”
66
Hy r r
o k in
jffaiokm H yrrok in, "the flame smoked” - the name is created from the O ld Norse words kyrr, fire, an d rjuka, smoke, which is the a ccurate one in my book; an epithe t taken
from the Gullveig-mythos where she is being held over the cesir-gods' unclean and smoky fires. There is also an alternative spelling, Hy rrokkin * However, the use of a double “k” is erroneo us if you base the
1See under rjiika in An Ice-
name on the word rju ka1.
landic-English Dictionary by
Cleasby and Vigfusson 1874,
There is only one saga about Hyrrokin that has survived
and Heggstad, Hodnebo, Simensen, 2008, Norron Ord-
and it is about her appearance during Baldr s funeral; the
bok. Also
original saga is from an anthology called Husdrdpa by Ulfr
Studier over de Nordiske Gudeog Hcltcsagns Oprindclse I, p.
Uggason. The intere sting part is that the Husdrdpa-sagzs were written down as interpr etation s o f sculptures or illustrations
carved into wood in a mighty hall; th e Laxdcela saga tells us
Bugge, 1881-89,
221, footnote 4. And Rydberg, 1889, Undersokningar i Germanisk Mythologi .
tha t a new grand hall was built and all of its interior e mb el lished with illustrations of ON mythological sagas and leg ends. Ulff Uggason was the p oet w ho go t the job of putting these illustrations into •fords as poem s. This actually explains Husdr apas ocassionally confusing sections, an d it definitely explains Snorri s puzzling depictio n in his a cco unt o f the Baldr s
67
G u l l v eig a r b o k Funeral mythos - because it is obvious that Snorri has taken his mythos a bou t Ba ldr’s Funeral from the Husdrdpa- saga. You can actually tell from his account of the Baldr-funeral that Sno rri tries to depict somethin g he does n’t really und erstan d; thus its confusion. Ironically, the most de tailed acc ount o f this saga is the one in Snorris Gylfaginning. Loki and Gullveig were the brains behind th e m urder of Baldr - which I will dis close in detail later in this boo k - and both Loki and Gullveig had to a ttend his fu neral as a sign of power, and to make sure that Baldr descend ed into Helheimr, accor ding to the ir plot. Gullveig arrives as Hy rroki n an d Loki is spying in the shape of a salmon, O N litr, sw imm ing in the waters a rou nd B aldr’s funera l ship. However, t>6rr recognizes him an d kicks Loki into the funeral pyre - wh ich I see from Snorri’s description as a m etap hor of I>6rr spotting Loki by recognizing his pseudo- shape as a salmon, (this wo uld be the second tim e in the m yths th at I>6rr catches Loki as a salmon), a nd strips o ff the pseudo-shape of Loki and turns h im back into his reg ular fiery shape (or it m ight even have bee n a self-explanatory allegorization that he kicks him back into Muspellzheimr, from wh ence Loki came.) Snorri tells us that when the gods had th e funeral for Baldr they placed his body in his ship Hringhorni, which was a mighty vessel, and when they were about to pu t it to sea w ith a fune ral p yre they co uld not move the ship, it was sim ply too heavy. So the gods called for Hyrrokin from Jotunh eim r to help the m p ut the ship into th e water. She cam e riding o n a giant wolf with snakes as reins, and the wolf was so big and strong that Od inn sen t for four berserker-warriors to hold dow n the wild wolf, bu t it just threw them to the ground. In due course they got the beast to fall on his side. This could n ot be a regular wolf; Sno rri called it a horse, O N hestr, and the tksir had struggled with getting an extremely strong wolf to be bo und before; an d tha t is Fenrir, Gullveig’s son. In my opin ion it is unmista kable tha t this is a frag m en t from tha t myth and th at this giant-wolf is supposed to be Fenrir, which means that this is the second time the 6rr, the grum py one, at once grabbed his ham me r to strike her dead, obviously in envy, but the gods begged him to restrain himself and he did. With the m etaph or that Hyrrokin dragged Hringhorni into the sea we understand that the author of this myth w anted to make sure tha t it was un dersto od th at Gullveig wanted Baldr dead, and she succeeded. A few lines later Snorri explains that in fr ont of horr a “dw arf” named Litr came swim ming, and F6rr by an obscure reason kicked the “dwarf” into the funeral pyre, and the dw arf burne d. This is such an odd detail that there had to be a deeper meaning to
68
H y r r o k in this little factor. The c onfusion of Litr being a d warf has its explanation in Voluspd’s list of dwarves which ho lds the dwarf-name Litr. However, with Rydberg s help I am convinced this is a misu nder standing an d that Snorri jumpe d to conclusions a bi t too easily. Litr is actually a bi-nam e for Loki m eaning salmon, and th is Loki-epithet is also used by Snorri h imse lf in Sn orris Skdldskapartnal 5 L So to know indi rectly tha t it was Gullveig and L oki who killed Baldr and the n see Loki and Gullveig aroun d Baldr s funeral-ship makes it easy to see the au tho r’s point: Loki and Gul lveig brou ght B aldr to Helheimr. Giants were often allegorized as sublime nature-phenomena such as storms, earth-quakes, floods, volcanoes, and winter. In the Hyrrokin-saga she is the me taphor for the eastern storm; e astern because he r essence is continuously de scribed to come from austr, the east, she also came from Jotu nh eim r which is located in the east. The mighty push by Hyrrokin on the ship Hringhorni is obviously thou ght of as a strong wind, so strong n ot even I>orr could match his s trength. Call ing for an antago nist to help them bu ry their dead is of course very hum iliating for the eesir . And even worse, this antagon ist helped to m urd er their beloved Baldr. Note that it s no t unusual for giants and gods to help each other, bu t Gullveig and Loki never had a benevolen t inten tion with the ir 'assistance”. There is also one interesting detail in the saga Helgakvida Hjvrvardssonar where Hedinn, son o f the N orwegian king Hjorvard, was on his way hom e a nd went throug h the w oods o n Yule day, and there he m et a "troll-woman” who rode a wolf and had snakes as reins. She asked to keep him company, but he declined, which made h er obviously upset and she told him th at he would pay for that at the vows later tha t night. "Troll-w omen” are the same as giantesses, bu t they are called by all kinds of surnames; flagd, skass,fdla etc. And this "troll-woman” is either HyrrokinGullveig or a JarnviSja, a female dw eller of Jarnvidr, as this way of depicturing a giantess is so rare it could no t be a nything else.
1Bugge, 1881-89, Studier over
Bugge thou gh says; «d eter herns broderHognesfylgje1», "it is his
deNord iske Gude- ogHeltesagns
bro th er H ogn es fylgja", which Lm n ot sure I could agree with.
Oprindelse I.
Hyrro kin is also mentio ned in Skaldskaparmdl 11 in a list of giants and giantesses that t>orr had killed; this which S norri had borro wed from th e fragments foun d by Porbjorn Disarskalds sagas. This is a big mystery as it is not told abou t this anyw here
else in any saga. So we m ust accep t tha t there pr oba bly was a saga, whic h no w is lost forever, about Porr killing Hyrrokin-Gu llveig.
69
A SCEMUNDAR EDDA-STUDY ON GULLVEIG
A big part o f the ON mythology derives from the Eddas, and there are two Eddas. The elder one is called the Scemundar Edda, w hich is foun d in the small bo ok called Codex Regius. This Edda is also called the Poetic Edda and Codex Regius is from ap
pro xim ate ly t he late 1200 AD - it is a collection of peculiar p oe tic sagas, an d the ON mythological poems in this book are appreciated to have been composed be twee n the years 800-1000 AD. Scemundar Edda is the most reliable source as it is older and mo st likely written with fewer Ch ristian influences, but th e conten t of Codex Regius is a transcription from e arlier originals, which can easily lead to sus
picion o f errors an d modifications. The second Edda is called Snorra Edda (Sn or ri’s Ed da ) or the Prose Edda; the Younger Edda. This manusc ript was written by Snorri Sturluson around the year
1220 AD. This version is, in my op inion, less reliable becau se S norri was a C hristian and he certainly brou ght his Christia n influences with him into th e writing of this book , (h e was a m issionary, an d h e did n ot write this boo k prim arily to ho ld on to the Old h eathe n belief, he wrote it to show off his skill in e.g. O N poetic m eter.) W ha t makes this Edda different from the elder one is Snorri ’s own version o f the Edda, which he calls Gylfaginning. He also added the books Skaldskaparmdl and Ha ttatal to this manuscript. It is here w here m y doubts mostly lay; his Ch ristian in
fluences are obviou s in his Gylfaginning, w hich is in itself a very exciting mytho log ical saga, but it em bellishes the original mytho logy too much. This chapter is fundamentally made from the Scemundar Edda. It is impo rtan t to know that I have focused on the Poetic Edda, but also studied the Prose Edda, b e cause 1 strongly suspe ct S norri s Edd a to be inaccurate because o f the Christian in fluences, and tha t makes the sagas in Snorri s version falsified: no thing w ould make me tru st a Christian. So in my investigations I have used, am ongst others, Heimskringla s on-line col lection of Old Norse literature and material, Bugges Edda-w ork from 1867, Ryd berg s in dep th Edda-s tudies from 1886-89, and sundry translations into m odern
71
G u l l v eig a r b o k Swedish o f both Eddas from authors like Brate, "Ihall, Collinder and Ohlmarks. I would like to add that I will no t go throug h all of the Scemundar Edda-sagas from Codex Regius in this book, because some of them have nothing or so little to do w ith
Gullveig as to be irrelevant as I see it.
V0LUSPA
Voluspa means the prophecy of the volva, and volva m eans a wand-bearer believed
to be a prophetess, seeress, and a wise wom an - a woman having magical powers (the w and or staff was a symbol o f this.) The volva had another known and comm on name too and that was heidr, often translated as seeress, prophete ss and witch. Something that needs to be kept in mind when it comes to the volva-heidr is that she was a respected figure in the O N society; she was not the kind of witch reading tarot-cards we have today, nor as depicted in the w itch-hunts during the late middle ages. No, she was a worshipper o f the gian ts/god s an d was in an extremely close conta ct with these powers, its entity e ntangled he r everyday life - that was her full pu rpos e o f existence. She was the r epresen tative in hu man form of the giants/g od s, and back in those days nothing was more respected than the giants and gods.
1In An Icelandic-English Diction ary by Cleasby and Vigfusson troll is explained to mean giant, fiend, demon ; "the heathen creed knew of no 'devil' but the troll"; and troll is even explained to be a werewolf, one possessed by troll or demons, and a destroyer.
The prophecy starts with the volva rem embering h er lineage: I remember giants in the primordial times tha t fostered me. She is
saying that she is a descen dent from the primordial giants, and among the primordial giants are no gods, as they were not yet spawned. This brings me to the conclusion tha t she is a giantess; and in this investigation it is imp ortant to observe that the Edda states that she is foster ed b y “giants ” (jotna ) in plural as in par ents. So this far she is called a giantess-vnlva bo rn in the earliest days o f creation, an d th at definitively crosses out the possibility
and a c omm on hypothesis that this prophecy was made by the norns as a triad of women of fate (Urdr, Verdandi, Skuld - believed as being past, present a nd future), because l ) norns are not volvas, and 2) norns are not archetypal giants, they are more
more, as some of these nam es are know n giantesses and the nam es themselves are links to adversaries and giants, we can assume that m ost o f these names be long to giantesses and giantess-vf/vus:
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G u l l v eig a r b o k ship a nd give the crew to Ran, th e sea-giantess. However, Hr imge rdr calls Atli a fool and says that it was her mo ther, not herself. So who is her m othe r then that comes up from the abyss?1The my th do es no t say, but by a m ysterious reason, a few stanzas away, a giantess is riding in th e w ood s on a wolf w ith sn akes as reins on Yule day. This is with out d ou bt an inspiration o f Gullveig und er the na me Hyrrokin. Equally, if you take a look at all the c onnec tions to Gullveig in this sho rt passage in the Helgakvida Hjorvardssonar, the author m ust have had Gullveig, the m oon-wolf and her
dau ghter G erdr as influences for these characters.
1For a more detailed account on Gullveig and the water con
Imgerdr2, which means Gerdr o f ember - referring to GerSr glowing like the sun, by the witchcraft of her m other
nection see the chapter on Gul-
Gullveig; also Amgerdr which m eans M other-Ge rdr or m ore
lveig’s nam es an d epithe ts.
likely mother of Gerdr which refers to Gullveig herself, be
2Imgerdr is not m entione d any where in the Eddas, so she most
cause G erdr does n ot have any children in the sagas and nor
definitely belongs to a lost saga.
we have the name Margerdr which most certainly means
3It is probably related to the Old Icelandic word amma
Gerdr the maid or Gerdr of the ocean. This ON mar- could
which means “gra ndm othe r”. 4Liljenroth, Den Gomda Gudinnan I Nordisk Mytologi, and Hellquist, 1939, Svensk Etymologisk Ordbok.
is she know n for being co nne cted to a mother-as pect. Lastly,
also derive from the O N verb merja, to crush, and then Marg erdr would mean G erdr the crusher - which goes well with a) the warlike translation “arm or” of her name, a nd b) he r conne ction to wa ter/ice (see Hrimgerdr and the chapter on Gullveig’s names and epith ets.) Mar- could also derive from O N marr, a steed.
Then we have Leikn which is a name for Hel’s mo re chthonic a nd pestilent aspect, which is explained to be a later development of her characteristics - 1 am no t sure though about that, because Hel as a ruler of the d ead and N iflheimr was most likely very early considered to be the influence o f pestilen t epidemics. This does not mea n that H elheim r had to be He l’s equivalence. There have been m any discussions abou t Leikn being Hel, but in my bo ok they share essence, attributes and manifestations. The same goes for the nam e Ama3, it means “m ot he r” and is a very old name for He l4. Then we have Gullveig s dem on-ch ildren fro m Jarnvidr who are said to be spawne d by Gullveig and Fenrir, but m ost likely these ch ildren were just spawned by Gullveig alone, an d they are called jarnvidja and myrkrida; they are she-troll/giantesses. Many o f the nam es and e pithets in the list are from, as of today, unk now n m ytho logical characters, withered sources lost by time; or rather bu rnt and destroyed by the C hristian ch urch while invading the no rth. However, the nam es indicate giant-
74
A S ^ m u n d a r Ed d a -St u d y
on
G u l l v e ig
related words. Mo st often the ir names derive from an epic in the m ythological sagas, for instance the nam e H yrrokin which derives from the epic whe n Gullveig was burn t by sm oky (im pure) flames, hence Hy rro kin - the flame sm oked. Well, could any giantes s-volva in this list be the one prophesying in Voluspd ? The only know n one in the list tha t would fit is Hyrrokkin- Hyrrok in. I will also take a look at other known giantesses ( volvas or no t) that might be relevant: I)
Sinmara - the black one (surtrar)1and the pale giantess (after her mysteri
ous epithet hinfolva gygr), she is only named two times thro ugho ut the whole Seemundar Edda in th e saga called Fjolsvinnsmdl. She is said there to be the keeper o f
the sword called Lcevateinn, i.e. Gambanteinn; the sw ord o f revenge that Su rtr will bu rn dow n the w orld with, it is also called here “the shinin g scythe.” She ke eps it in an iron-chest with nine locks. Sin means tend on, and mara means “the m utilating one ”, mara derives from the verb m erja, so Sinmara me ans roughly “the one who mutilates by ripping o ut te nd on s”.2She is no t spoken of as volva, and there are no analogies whatsoever between he r and the narrato r of Voluspd.
the same as the one o f the nine-fold. O ther than this they are
1Ohlmarks, Brate, and Thall translate this as Surtr. This is probably where peo ple g ot the idea th at Sinmara is Surt r s wife; my personal theory about this matter is split, as no other mythological evidence sup ports that they belong together .
no t spoken o f and the re is no reason to believe that they would
2Cleasby-Vigfusson, 1874, An
II)
There is also the nine-fold of giantesses that bore
Heimdall. They are just me ntioned in Ed da s saga Voluspd in skamma : Gjalp, Greip, Eistla, Eyrgjafa, Ulfrun, Angeyia, Im<3r,
Atla, an d Jarnsaxa. Im d is also m entio ned in Helgakvida Hundingsbana I as having a daughter, but I am no t even sure this is
be the g iantess- volva tha t I am looking for. III)
Hyndla is a giantess-maid, a wise-woman, that the
song Hyndluljdd is about. Hyn dla is in my opinio n analogous to AurboSa-Gullveig, and sh e is only mentioned by the name
Icelandic-English Dictionary. I consider the connection be tween the names Sinmara and Margerdr interesting, bu t I will no t go further about that here.
3Skdldskaparmdl 23.
Hyndla in Hyndluljdd .
4Gylfaginning 33.
IV) Nd l or Laufey is a very mysterious character and very little-known. She is only men tione d an d referred to as “Loki s mo the r” twice in the Scemundar E dd a: in Lokasenna and in Prymskvida. She is mentioned just once in Skdldskaparmdl and Gylfaginning, and also here just referred as “Loki s m oth er”:
Sv^, at kalla hann son Farbauta ok Laufeyjar, Nalar3. Modir hans heitir Laufey eda Nal4.
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A S ^ m u n d a r Ed d a -St u d y
on
G u l l v e i g
As we know, Heidr is one o f Gullveig s bio w n names and she got that nam e from her crone (volva/heidr) aspect. Furthe rmo re, I am p retty sure that the Vb/wspd-stanza 21 and 22 belong to each other. Stanza 21 introduces Gullveig and explains how she was blle d and becam e the reason for starting the first war (folkvig ) in th e world. Stanza 22 explains how she returned as HeiSr and as a crone (volva/heidr ) . If I put them together it is even more obvious; I start whe re the stanza 21 ends: Thrice they burned the thrice reborn, often, not seldom, yet she lives. Heifir her name was, to houses she came, the seeress with accurate prophecies.
After this investigation I think I can con clude tha t it is fair to designate Gullveig as the narrating giantess-vtfh'a or pro phete ss o f th e Voluspd , as Gullveig is called gygr, giantess, and velva, seeress. As for her essence within this saga, I will thoroughly in vestigate it and expose my conclusions in this book.
SKfRNISMAL
This is the saga wher e Frey r sits up in th e tow er Hlidskjdlf in AsgarSr and spies into Jotunheimr, seeing there the m ost beautiful m aid of the m all; th e giantess Gerdr, da ug hter o f Gymir and Aurb oda. As she was walking in her fath er s yard, Freyr was bewitched and told his serv ant Skirnir to go to her and to woo he r on Freyr s behalf. And he does so, at first with promisin g gifts and in the en d with threats. At first GercJr re fuses, but eventually she agrees.
1This “sword of revenge” or
“sword of victory ” has different epithets in the sagas: Gamban teinn (the sumptuous sprout; teinn was an ON poetic metaphor for a sword or a wand, gambanteinn is used in Sldrnismdl, and compare it to the later used wor dgambanreipi in the same saga), Н ж vateinn/Homateinn (it might mean the splendid sprout, used in Fjelsvintismdl), Mistilteinn (the mistletoe sprout, used in Snorra Edda, Nafnapulur 42 as a sword epithet), and Tamsvondr (the taming wand, used in Sh'rnismal). 2See Lokasenna.
This saga is very im po rta nt because it holds clues to the G amb ante inn- my thos 1; the Gambanteinn is the epithet for the sword that Surtr, during Ragna Rok, will burn all o f the worlds with, an d this sword is quick-wittedly snatch ed ou t o f Fre yr s hands w ithout him know ing what this bargain will result in.2This deed is carried out by the thurses, namely Gullveig and her allies. As Aurboda-Gullveig receives the sword Gamba nteinn and takes it to the Ironwood, Jdrnvidr, an d lets her ally and
77
G u l l v eig a r b 6 k
beast-h erde r Egg|>er keep it un til Surtr s son will co me as a red roos ter an d get it for him in the dawn of Ragna Rok. The Gambanteinn-mythos will be further ex plored in other pa rts of this book. Skirnismal tells us how GerSr is the bargain a nd thursian sacrifice to win this im
portant sw ord Gam ba nteinn ; she is in fact b ought w ith go ld and trade d for the sword. A more detail account of this saga is to be found in the chapter on Aurbo da below.
h
Ar
b a r d s l j 6 d
There is actually only one small detail I want to bring up in this saga and it is whe n J>6rr explains that he fought vargytijor, wolf-women, on the Danish island called Hleysey, and no t regular berserk-w omen 1. As it is told th at Gullveig is the m oth er and fosterer o f all wolves and w erewolves, these wolf-women 1Compare this to the ylgr, the spoken of must be o f her descent, ho rr is known to be ou t she-wolf that comes at mid killing and fighting giantesses and th ese wolf-women are most night to kill and eat warriors in likely of a giant-race. The reason why I bring this small detail Volsunga Saga in this book. up is that I want to un derline tha t the be lief in werewolves and the ir strength was intense and it derived from a belief in thu r sian troll-like monsters. If Porr had to fight them an d n ot just slaughtered them it means that they could stand their ground and only prime giants were powerful enough to fight £>orr. These are female ver sions o f Fenrir, Hati and Skoll; u nrestin g, uncontrolled and w rathful beasts that have tremen dous strength. They are amor ph ou s an d rab id pow ers, m etap ho rs for de stru ction and force (th is is why death runes are used within their evocations.) Their am orpho us na ture is a shadow of their true essence; they are so connected to the acosmic Chaos in spirit that they shift from wrath to pseudo-control unrestrainedly. Form canno t dominate them bu t th ey can dominate form . This wild an d unc on trolled side o f th eir spirits comes from Gullveig, as she is the ma nifestation o f an u n-natural existence. We can com pare that to the un tamed spiritual essence of Lilith.
LOKASENNA
Lokasenna is a very enter taining saga, as it tells us much ab ou t the ba d side o f many (zsir. In G ymir s hall most o f the cesir have com e to en joy Gymir’s excellent mead;
the cesir praise his two servants very m uch for the ir service. But Loki loathed and
78
A S./EMUNDAR EDDA-STUDY ON GULLVEIG killed one of them because of it, which reminds me v ery mu ch of the saga of Baldr’s death. This made the cesir upse t and ha rd words were exchanged. Lola was of course superior in this game and humiliated and silenced each and every one of them. To follow up the context of this book, I would like to pu t emphasis on Lok i s ac cusations towards Freyja. He accuses her o f bein g a witch involved in m uch w itch craft, «>» ertfordceda ok meini blanditi m jd k»1, "you are a witch and m uch involved in it." Fordceda is seen as a witch in the worst sense, and for her being accused of prac tic in g th is kind of witchcraft, fordceduskapr, is of course intend ed to remind them all that Aurboda-Gullveig once served Freyja as her maid and lured her into the arts of fordceduskapr. This was a big tragedy for Asgardr and the y burn ed Aur bo da -G ullveig for this w hen th e cesir realized what was going on be tween Freyja and the treacherous and evil Aurboda-Gullveig. As in so many o the r places in the sagas this has b een totally overlooked and misinterpreted; these words by Loki have been in te rp re te d as Freyja be ing in fact Gullveig, bu t this is of course false and dim-witted. Freyja is the opposite of Gullveig.
1 Lokasenna 32. 2 Here Garm r is connec ted to Hel as her ally and champion. 3See appendix for my map of the underworld.
BALDRS DRAUM AR (VEGTAMSKVTOA) In Baldrs Dr aumar it is said that Odinn rides down into the underw orld, towards Niflhel, «nidrpadan niflheljar til», and to H els house, Heljar rann. Garmr came run ning at him, bloody an d baying, from H els abode, «mcetti hann hvelpi, peim er or helju о
».2A t H els gate he turned off to the east where he knew that the volva he
was seeking laid (b uried ): «p a reid Odinn fy ri r au stan dyrr, p ar er hann vissi volu leid». O dinn rode towards N iflhel, which here could be an ep ithet for Hel, Nifl-Hel,
as she is chief ruler of Niflheimr; he cam e to He ls house where he tu rned to the east to visit the volva. Geographically this does not make much sense to me, but I assume tha t he went to the east as that is whe re the infamous Ironw ood is explained to be located, and to make an analogy it is safe to say ‘to th e e ast' for everyb ody to unde rstand tha t it is Jotunh eim r a ndjar nvidr we are dealing with. At the same time it is not too misguiding, because if we say tha t O dinn arrived at H els a bode in Helheim r - which is muc h m ore likely than if he w ould have ended up in Niflheimr in Chaos (!) - it could be imagined according to m ap3and un derstanding that to the north-east the snowy realm of Jam vidr would b e located in the sagas. I am pre tty swayed that it is there where Od inn is suppose d to find the volva.
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G u l l v eig a r b o k Non ethe less, he arriv ed at th e velva’s grave in t he e ast an d sang a de ath -gald r (an incantation ) to her, and there by she was forced against he r will to rise from th e dead and s peak with him. This is actually one o f the few know n ev idence o f the fact that the peop le o f the Old N orse believed in this sort of necromancy and the black art of making the d ead rise. Through this stanza we can learn tha t if you have the pro per runic galdr, runic m agic formula, you could actually raise the dead fro m th eir grave. The stanza says «п
т
hann vittugri valgaldr kveda, unz naudig reis». Odinn orders
the velva to speak from the dead, segdu mer or helju, and he tries to get as much in formation out of her about Baldr s death as he can, as he keeps telling her to speak up and n ot to be silent; « pegj-at-tu, volva, pik vil ek jregna, u nz alkunna, vil ek enn vita». Like Voluspa and Voluspa in skamma she seers about th e future, but this time
abo ut the m urder o f Baldr, and determ inedly she tries to be released of the deathgaldr so she can return, «naudug sagdak, п й
п ekpegja». As the last bu t one stanza
divulges, the volva is Gullveig, « ert-at-tu volva ne vis fcona, heldr ertu priggja pursa modir», "you are the m othe r of the three thurses", and then w ith the knowledge
tha t Gullveig and Loki were the ones beh ind the p lot in murdering B aldr (see my chapter on Baldr s death below) this interview with O dinn seem s to force Gullveig to reveal he r a nd Loki s plans, «naudug sagdak, п й
п ek pegja», "forced am I
to sp eak, now shall 1 rem ain silent". But still, amazingly, O din n do es n ot get it, an d du ring the day of Baldr s death, he watches Loki make H od r kill Baldr. The volva says to O dinn tha t she has been laying there de ad for a long time: « Var ek snivin sncevi ok slegin regni ok drifin doggu, daud var ek lengi». Then there comes
som ething very interesting; the volva says that "here the brewed mead for Baldr is kept, the ethereal brew with a shield upo n it, the sons of the gods are eagerly awaited (en dsmegir i ofvceni)''. Rem ember now that they are in the eastern parts o f the un
derworld, which could only me an that they are somewhere in Jotunheimr, and m ost likely in Jarnvidr. Gullveig is a rime-thurs, whose grave has been snowed on, and she is supposedly dead in this episode, o r has metaphorically descended into the realm o f the dead and giants, which is not the sam e as being dead for a giant; re m em ber th at Gullveig, as Loki, is known to walk betwe en the w orlds at will. This can o f course be confusing for someone unknowledgeable in the subject and with me diocre eyes look upo n as “the dea d lie in graves.” Equally, what she m ean t with “the sons o f the gods are eagerly awaited” m ust be referring to Baldr and Ho dr who will bo th be killed and sent to the underw orld; Baldr by H odr, and H od r by Vali, which Gullveig foresees in stanzas 9 an d 11. She is obviously a w ell-respected volva with a mu ch grand er ability to forsee the future than Odinn himself, because he rides on the road deep down in the underworld
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A S jEm u n d a r Ed d a -St u d y o n G u l l v e i g
where most of the terrible, wrathful and mighty rime-thurses dwell, just to wake her fro m he r Hel-slum ber and ask for he r knowledge to foresee Baldr s destiny. Grimm w rote on the same thing as me in his work Teutonic Mythology. He says: “var ek snifin sniofi (by snow), ok slegin regni, ok drifin doggo (by dew), daud (dead) var ek leingi; it is among the sublimest things the Edda has to shew. This vala mu st stan d
in close relationship to Hel herself.” In my opinion, this whole m yth about this m ys terious volva is entangled in e lements tha t rem ind me of Gullveig. Since I totally agree with Grimm that this volva m ust be in a close relationship with Hel, I will here lay my theories: 1. She is laying in a grave in the east. Gullveig s abo de o r realm JarnviSr lays in the east and she is also called the giantess of the eastern storms. 2. She is a mi ght y volva, a seeress, mightier in knowledge and to seer than OS inn himself. The myths give details tha t there are only a few mythological char acters tha t are wiser than О Sinn, one o f them is Gullveig. 3. She is allegorized as dead and buried, and OSinn seems to know exactly where to find her; this could be a self-explanatory testimony o f wh en the sesir killed Gullveig three times, sent her to the realms of death in the underw orld and thereby believed to have b ee n “bu ried”. 4. The volva has the answer to all of his que stions an d she knows ever ything abo ut Baldr s murder, HoSr s deed and th eir journey to the underwo rld. She knows bec ause she is th e o ne plan nin g the who le strategic de ed to m ur de r Baldr, use H oSr, and to provok e Ragna Rok. 5. An d as the last and strongest proo f of my theory I will quo te what is said in the end of their conversation in Baldrs Draumar, OSinn says: « heldr ertu priggja pursa modir», ’you are rather the m other o f the three thurses"; hence the m other ofJorm ungan dr, Fenrir and Hel, whic h is Gullveig. There is no othe r thurs-m othe r with three known thurs-children.
HYNDLULJ6D a n d V0LUSPA i n s k a m m a
Hyndluljod and Voluspd in skamma, "the smaller Voluspa, are supposedly two sepa
rate poems, w hich have been thoug ht o f as one. Hyndluljod is suspe cted o f having a
81
G u l l v e ig a r b 6 k
man ifold o f additions to its saga and therefore viewed as dis tor ted 1. Even so, with this knowledge at hand, H yndla is de scribed as a very wise wo m an who lives in a cave amongst rocks, «( belli byr», Hyndla has there in her ab ode a stable with wolves, « taktu ulfpinn einn afstalli». In stanza 4 it is indirectly said that Hy ndla is a giantess: Porr mun hon biota, f)ess mun hon bidja, at hann ae vid [oik einart lati; [do er hanum oti'tt
1See commentary on Hyndluljdd in Brate, 1913, Samunds Edda.
vidjotuns brudir. "To Porr I shall sacrifice and pray that to you always be h on est; thoug h he does not favor giantesses." The p oe m is about w hen Freyja goes to H yndla s cave to ask for a favor, Freyja pr om ises her wealth, b ut H yn dla s ees t hr ou gh he r lie imm ediate ly. In th e v er y be ginning of the song Freyja calls Hyndla "you maid of maids", «nicer meyja», and "my friend and sister", «m in vina, Hyndla systir». This implies an intima te and close relationship, which makes me think of Freyja s shocking relationship with AurbodaGullveig. Furthe rmo re, if Hyn dla is supposed to be Aurb oda this mea ns tha t Freyja kne w tha t AurboSa was a giantess and still Freyja tried to ge t Hy ndla to go with her to Valholl - into AsgarSr. She even promises H yndla tha t she would make Porr think good o f her - even when the fact tha t Hyndla was a giantess - with the m eans of blot, worship, and bidja, prayer, which could have been thoug ht o f as means of witch
craft; som ething no t surprising since we already know tha t Au rboda taught Freyja as Frey ja s maid in Asgardr. Hy ndla means d og and she has wolves that she rides in her stable; this is a typical trait for witches, flogd, troll-woman, in the O N folklore and mythology. G armr is explained as being a dog and at the same tim e he shared qualities with the thursian wolves Fenrir, Ha ti and Skoll; the latter two are explained in Gylfaginning 12 to be sons of Fenrir and Gullveig. Ha ti is there called Hati Hrodvitnisson - «Hati, hann erHrodvitnis sonr» in Gnmnismdl 39 -, son of Hrodvitnir (H rodvitnir is another of
Fenrir s nam es). My point is that in Gylfaginning 12 Hati is called by the epithe t Managarmr, "the m oon s Ga rmr” which influences me into believing that G armr is a thurs ian wolf-son to Fe nrir and Gullveig as well, and that d og is just a noth er word for the wolf-guardian of the underw orld, as dogs are used by human s to guard their grounds - which as a hypothesis could mean that the O ld Norse people though t
82
A SiEMUNDARE d d a -S t u d y o n G u l l v e ig wolves and dogs were very much conne cted. I believe Hynd la is supposed to be an epithet for her wolfish nature: “the she-w olf” All of these details depicted in Hyndluljod remind me very m uch of Gullveig, e.g. the relationship between Freyja and Gullveig as in the saga of Aurb oda as Freyjas maid; the fact that Hyn dla means d og or she-wolf, and th at she has wolves in her stable instead of horses co nnects her very m uch to th e saga about Hyrrok in, who rod e a wolf as well. In Voluspd the giantes s-volva reveals the future o f the w orlds in a prophecy, and when the O N people chose to make Hyndla seer Voluspd in skamma they m ust have had a good reason for it, even though the shor t text Voluspd in skamma was originally a separate poem , an d I believe th at this Hy ndla giantess was originally seen as a seeress - 1believe she was actually Aurbod a-Gullveig; as this proph ecy is called Voluspd ' in skamma ) to o it must have been believed tha t the same seeress foretold it. More over, instead of making it fully a prophecy Hyn dla lists a m anifold of giants an d cesir families and r elations with deep insight. This gives you the feeling that H ynd la is as old and knowing as the giantess-tWva of Voluspd. Hyndla could therefore be the same as the m ention ed giantess- volva. Th e sagas say tha t all giants are o ld an d wise; older and wiser than the cesir , bu t only a handful are from the p rimordial family cre ated by Ymir, brudgelmir, a nd Bergelmir, an d only these old thurse s are all-knowing - all-seeing - and it is from this prim ordial family tha t the giantess-V 0/va of Voluspd pre sumably origina tes from. In H yn dl as insightful listing o f families a nd rela tions, and seering of Ragna Rok, she manifests fundame ntally the relations of Aurb oda, Gym ir and G erd r1; Pjazi and Skadi;
1The secret knowledge tha t Au-
Hrimnir, Heidr a nd Hross^jofr; Loki, Angrb oda an d Fenrir;
rbocla was Gymir s wife was only known by Gullveig and
also that Byleistr s bro the r (Loki) had the m ost gruesome giantess daughter ( Hel); she seers abo ut Loki seeking up Gul jveig s ha lf bur nt h ea rt in the ashes and devouring it, and thats how all the mon sters cam e to the world; also that all sorcerers
Loki in the Eddas. This secret knowledge also links Hyndla strongly to Gullveig.
seidberendr) com e from Surtr ( Svarthofli ) and all giants from
Ymir. Hyndla ends h er speech with foreseeing tha t the ocean, storms and snow will prep are fo r the wo rld s dow nfall; she sees Odi nn go in to b attle w ith Fenrir, and fire burning down th e en tire world : I see fire flaming and the earth belch out smoke; almost everybody will die.
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G u l l v eig a r b o k This is und oub tedly in the vein o f the VWuspa-prophecy, and w hen yo u sta rt to think o f how m any giantesses are m entioned in the Eddas, yo u will quickly und er stand that they are very few. Indeed, if you consider th at the giantess has a greater purpose, t he re are far, far fewer. It is no rm al that the sam e ch aracte rs with the same traits show up over and over in the sagas bu t und er different names and epithets, so it is evident to me that Hyndla is the same giantess-valva as the prophetess in Veluspd. Indeed, if the VWuspd-prophetess is Gullveig, Hyndla actually fits pretty
well as Gullveig “in disguise” - cron e o f ma ny manifestations, traits an d nam es; m othe r o f the thurs-wolves, and inventor o f sorcery.
HELGAKVIDA HUND INGSB ANA I
See my cha pter on Angrboda.
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A S n o r r a E d d a -St u d y
on
G u l l v e i g
I would like like to go thr oug h S norri S turluson’s works a nd scrutinize his version of Gullveig s essence in the ON mythology. Even though Snorri was a Christian he still still lived lived in a vital era of the Old Scandinavia and h e had access access to the original belief and the as yet unta rnishe d m ythos. He was brought up w ith the original tales tales of the Old giants and gods a nd had the m all told told to him b y the oral tradition tha t was still still in existence existence at that time. This This makes Snorri a very impor tant source for my O N studies. studies. His texts texts are an impo rtan t part o f the O N literature and mythology, and by reading reading between the lines lines and comparing it to othe r O N mythological mythological texts texts you can, albeit with a fair fair am oun t o f diffi difficu cult lty, y, un ders tand w hat is in line line with th e true O N tradition and w hat are Christian influence influences. s. C hristianity hristianity as a foreig foreign n way of thinking stands ou t from the O N o ne and that is an advantage advantage in this context. I will, will, in this chapter, focus o n Snorri s version of the Edda which is known as Snorra Edda (Snorris Ed E d da ) or the Prose Prose Edda; Younger Younger Edda. Edd a. It was w ritten by
Snorri aro und th e year 1220 AD. AD. As I said said in the previous chapter, what makes this Edda Edd a different from th e e lder one is Snorri s own version o f the Edda whic h he calls Gylfaginning, where he makes up his own story about a sort of an interview with
three wise-men wise-men or gods (obviously (obviously Odinn himself and his two brothers) who an swer the the interview er s questions. Snorri quotes th e Scemundar Scemundar Edd a in addition to his own made u p story. story. Anothe r mythologicall mythologically y impo rtant text that he add ed is the the Skaldskaparmal.
GYLFAGINNING
Gullvei Gullveig g is introduced in chapter 12 as as being the m othe r o f the thursian wolf-ra wolf-race: ce: A giantess dwells to the east of Midgardr, in the forest called Jarnvidr: in that wood
dwell the troll-women, who are known as JarnviSjur (ironwood-women). The old gi antess bears many giants for sons, and all in the shape of wolves; and from this source are these wolves sprung (i.e. (i.e . Fenrir, Hati (whom I believe is the same as Garmr), and Skoll).
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G u l l v e ig a r b Ok
Snorri quotes Voluspd 40-41, 40-41, stanzas stanzas which depict G ullveig ullveig as the Old O ne wh o live livess in the infamous woods called the Ironwood, and tha t she is is there mo thering the horrible offspring offspring of Fenrir from where all all monsters derive. derive. N o t u ntil nt il ch ap ter te r 3 4 is she s he br ou gh t up again agai n a nd this thi s tim t im e by nam e, A ngrbod ngr bod a. She is describ ed as dwelling dwelling in Jotu nhe im r and to have ha d three children with Loki: Fenrisu Fenrisulff lff,, Jorm unga ndr (here also also called called MiSgardsormr), and Hel. However However,, whe n the gods learned that they were brought up in Jotunheim r and that the prophecy called Voluspd had had told the gods that these kindred would bring great misfortune up on them , a nd they realized realized wha t a horrible m onster-bre ed this was, was, considering their evil evil mothe r and their cunning father father (b oth being thurs-giants), thurs-giants), Odinn o rdered the cesir to to bring the kindred to him. W hen they did so he cast the the serpent into the sea at once, once, and the se rpen t grew so so big that it encompassed all all of the land and b it its own tail. tail. Hel was cast into Niflheimr, Niflheimr, and Od inn gave gave her the rulership over the nine w orlds1. orlds1. And Fenrir they bo und w ith 1No te that it is said nine worlds, magical fetters made by dwarves from Svartalfaheimr, Svartalfaheimr, no t by the not the ninth world: «niu heifetter, which was called cesir . Although it was no t un til the third fetter, mum». Gleipnir (the two first fetters which broke were called Lsedingr and Dromi), that the cesir were were able to restrain him, although no t witho ut a figh fight. t. Fenrir refused refused to try o n a nother fetter as as he knew that the cesir were were trying to bind him, so he cunningly said said tha t if he was going to try o n the third fetter, fetter, one of the gods need ed to lay his arm betw een his jaws. jaws. No ne of the go ds were brave brave enough to do this until Тут stepped forward and laid his arm in Fen rir s mou th. As Gleipnir was too strong for Fenrir, Fenrir, he bit T yrs han d off. off. The gods then lau ghed and too k the chain wh ich was attached to the fetter fetter,, called Gelgja, Gelgja, and imp risoned Fenrir on the island called Lyngvi in the midst of the abyss called Amsvartnir. Lastly, they put a sword between his jaws jaws so so he could not snap a nd bite, bite, and from there on F enrir bayed bay ed h or rib ly an d staye s tayed d the t he re till Ra gna Rok. Rok . In ch apte r 37 Gullveig Gullveig is bro ug ht up again as the giantess Aurbo da, Gymir s wife and m oth er to Gerdr. Gerdr. He re Snorri narrates a sho rt version version of the Skirnismdl found in Scemundar Edda. Cha pter 49 is abou t Baldr s death; he re Snorri allegorizes allegorizes Gullveig Gullveig as as Hyrrokin (spelt “Hyrrokkin” by Sn orri), as she comes riding on a giant wolf with snakes snakes for bridle bri dle , «en er hon kom (Hyrrokin) (Hyrro kin) ok reid reid vargi vargi ok hafdi hoggorm hoggorm at taumum , pd hljop hljop Gullveighon ajhestinum ». The w olf is so big Snorri calls it a horse, hestr. This sho rt Gullveigepisode episode is about the time wh en H yrrokin helps helps the cesir to to pu t Baldr s funeral ship into the w ater as the giantess o f the e astern storms.
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A S n o r r a Ed d a -St u d y o n G u l l v e i g s k A l d s k a p a r m A l
The only time time Gullveig Gullveig is mentione d in Skaldskaparmal is amongst the Porsken where she is name d as Hyrrokkin, as one o f the giantesses that f>6 f>6rr had killed. ningar where
NAFNAPULUR
Under the label Trollkonur, for giantesses, giantesses, Hyrrokkin is named. No othe r Gullveig Gullveig name or ep ithet know n by me is in this list list..
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G u l l v eig a r b o k
A MYTH OLOGICAL SURVEY SURVEY AN D A SUMMARY SUMMARY OF THE UNDERWORLD UNDERWORLD
Before Before I get into the study o f Hel and h er m other, and their underwo rldly aspects aspects and conn ections, I would like like to clear up wha t the underw orld in the ON mytho logy looks like and w hat it holds, as a result o f my ow n heavy research on the subject. This This is is a very complex task task because the po or sources o f the ON my thology d on’t on’t leave leave us much information a bou t the cosm ology and the underworldly geography; geography; m ost of the k nowled ge has bee n lost. This has a negative effect, effect, wh ich results in many bad interpretations. There are are several several underw orld-hypotheses and m ere per sonal opinions made out of neglect and indolence o ut the re which I belie believe ve to be erroneou s. So I will will here bring up the sources that we actuall actually y have have and analyze analyze them from my po int o f view iew. As we are today sitting in the shadows of our forefathe rs’ knowledge, I feel it s im por tant to bear in mind that the Christian distortions in the process process of putting the Old Norse oral sagas sagas and mythology into writing and all all the attempts in trans lating have affected the view of the underworld greatly. As we now know, scripts were a Christian Christian tradition and Christianity broug ht the importance ofw riting and doc um entation to Scandinavi Scandinaviaa in the m iddle ages ages.. The O ld Norse people did n’t n’t re ally ally write down mythology an d saga sagass until the early early middle ages ages,, bu t before that the peop le carved memories o f the the ir dead and beloved ones, and even fractions fractions of mythological events events,, bu t n ot long mythological mythological descriptions like like in the Eddas. For example, the Scemundar Scemundar Edda Edd a was collected as several individual hand- writings and then later later transcribed transcribed into into the book Codex Regius approximately approximately two two hu ndre d years after Scandinavia Scandinavia had be en christianized. This worries me a lot, so I have de cided to tr y to see through the assumedly christiani christianized zed versions versions of our O ld religion religion and mythology, and get the tru e un derstan ding and view o f our ancestors. ancestors. However, this is almost almost impossible withou t any other references, references, and there are none. So in stead of trying to fantasize fantasize my own ’’ ’’thou ght-up ” version o f the under world - which is not my intention (I am only after after the truth) - 1 keep the £dda-r £dda-refer eferences ences and out of them them try to see what dwells dwells behind th e lines. lines.
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Un
d ir h e ima r
Initially, there were two Jotunheim r, Jotunh eim ar in p lural1, and according to Ry dberg the prim ary one in the sagas was the on e in the middle world, MidgarSr; and this “upp er” Jotunh eim r was said to be located in the furthest nor th and east of Scandinavia, beyond the icy Arctic Oce an wh ich delimits Scandinavia from the N ort h Pole. Th e cur rent which ru ns ther e was p roba bly looked upon as waters from Elivagar; on e o f the eleven rivers, as it is told in Gnmn ismdl 26: The deer is named Eikbyrnir, which in HerjafoOr’s halls stood and gnawed on Laerabr’s branches; from his horns Hvergelmir’s water poured, it is from where all waters spring.
1For example, the saga Prymskvida in Scemundar Edda continuous ly mentions "Jotunheimar" as in manifold homes of the g iants; h ere’s just a few examples from its contents: (5 ) «Fl6 pa Loki, fjadrhamr dundi,
It migh t even have been the river Gjoll2. This mean s tha t
utiz fyr utan kom dsagarda ok jy r
the no rthern regions of Jotunheim r were the N orth Pole and
innan kom jotna heima», "and
lands around it (which m ight have been including some
he
northern islands of Norway), and the eastern parts might
homes/worlds of the giants", (7 ) «Hvt ertu einn kominn t Jotun-
have been the mo st no rthern part of Russia. It is said by Ry dberg tha t in Jotu nh eim r in M iSgardr there is a cave that
came
within
the
heima?», "Have you come
alone to the homes/worlds of
leads down to M unir's underw orldly land. The entrance
the giants?", (12) «v it skulum
down to the underw orld was in all probability located in Jo
aka tvau \ Jotunheima», "the
tunheimr in Midgardr. Hence the classic direction in
two of us shall go to the homes/worlds of the giants",
Gylfaginning: «en nidr og nordr liggr Helvegr», "downwards
and to th e n or th lays Helvegr", tha t is to say; nidr , east, and
and (13) «... ef ek ek m edp ir i Jotu nheima », "...if I go with
nordr , north, lays the path to Hel (see my chart o f the ON
you to the homes/w orlds of the
cosmology called Heldrasill in the appendix.)
giants." Voluspa (8) also men tions “Jotu nhe ima r” as in man
Now, th e und erw orld em bo dies a great de al o f po we rs and cosmic history, and it is hard for me to acce pt the reason
ifold giant hom es; «uns prjdr kvamu pursa meyjar dmdttkar mjok or Jotunheimum» , "from
as to why it has been pretty mu ch pu t aside while the upper
the
world s and their inha bitan ts have be en in focus. If on e reads
giants,
the sagas the main-focus lays on MiSgarSr the h om e of hu-
2Gylfaginning.
mans and gods, and AsgarSr the hom e of the cesir . Vanaheimr and the underworld have been put aside. This is a
3 Tolley, 2009, Shamanism in
homes/worlds
of
Norse Myth and Magic.
mystery to me as the und erworld holds the very foundation of it all; it holds the sources o f the cesir s strength and knowledge - even the cesir s treasures and weapons are said to have been made by dwarves (O N dvergr), and dwarves were seen in th e earlier times as a giant-race living in the und erw orld; e.g. Svartdlfaheimr. Clive Tolley says “Dvergar were underw orld, deathly beings, most
nearly akin to giants (though they are distinguished from th em )”3Dwarves were
89
the
G u l l v eig a r b Ok
smaller tha n regular giants bu t tall as full-grown trees comp are to human s. This is where it got misunderstood in later times and dwarves became some kind of midget. The impo rtance o f the und erw orld is shown by the O N people allegorizing the world tree; the roots where the tree gets its nou rishm ents are placed in the un de r world, and the “foundation” where the tree is sprung from and rests upon is the blac k so il o f the un de rw or ld . The roots stre tch far a par t so th e tre e ca n g row m uc h in height and width. Snorri tells us that one o f the roots is leading up to AsgarSr, the world of the cesir wh ich lies in the cro wn of the Yggdrasill. How Sno rri gets this to w ork is a big m ystery to me. The above brings me to a very keypoint: according to the O N pe ople everything sprung from G innungagap in Chaos; Ginnungagap held the worlds Niflheimr and Muspellzheimr, and when they grew so big that the y collided, both elements of these tw o worlds created water which streamed into th e cosmos as an invading cur rent from w hich everything in the cosmos was created - and it is those two principal worlds, Niflheimr and Muspellzheimr, which the unde rwo rld is built upon ; which is to say Niflheimr an d M uspellzheimr he in Chaos. The und erwo rld is an entity consisting of two worlds called Jotun heim r and Helheimr. The world o f the dead, H elheimr, stretches deep dow n into the un derwo rld, all the way down to the lowest pits of the abyss whe re C haos once ope ned u p (Gap Ginnunga ). O ne could actually die in the un derw orld, it was called “to die out o f
H elheim r”. Snorri says that only the wo rst spirits reached the depth s o f Niflheimr. This view up on N iflheimr mu st have been an outcom e o f a Ch ristian influence. Al though, at the same time this testifies of how to transc end unto Chaos. M uch like the C haos-G nostic belief, this shows that rebels, outlaws and Satanists - the Old Scandinavian um brella term for this is vargr - would be free to walk on the no rth east path o f the dead, Helvegr, down through out the un derworld into the deepest pit a nd th en to tra ns ce nd unto Chaos int o the w orld o f th e rim e-thurses, and finally arrive at the wintry lands of Niflheimr. This way of dying was looked u pon as a pu n ishment, by Snorri s account, bu t for a follower of Thursa tru and Gnostic Satanism this is a goal. So the worlds which everything sprung from are also the worlds everything comes back to, “the wom b and the tomb.” This m ight be the reason why thurses have bee n looked upo n as terrors and antagonists, because they are already “dead ” and have really nothing to fear, they are already very old (old age was what th e cesir dreaded the mo st); th e “old age” was an allegory for their fear of emerging into the worlds o f the giants: to “die”, to descend an d transcend , a nd be amo ng the rime-
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Un
d ir h e ima r
thurses. The fearlessness of the thurses though, was actually adopted b y the Viking warriors, and the main key to their success in battle was their lack of fear of death. Death was an ho nor for them : to die in battle was a free ticket to the m ightiest of hono rs in their o pinion - to com e to Valholl as a warrior for OSinn himself. Vikings did no t raid for their coun try or king; they upheld the ir gods and the ir spiritual des tiny over anything.
*
This is told in Gnmnismal 31: Three roots in three ways out from the ash Yggdrasill. Hel lives under one, under the second one the rime-thurses, and under the third the humans.
At first this stanza left me with muc h frowning a nd scratching in m y beard. It says that the three roots lead to l) Hel who fives by UrS arheim r/Urdar brunnr, 2 ) Niflheim r and the rime-thurses, and 3) mankind. After many weeks beh ind books, and man y weeks in fr ont o f my altars, I have come to an und erstand ing which differs from all othe rs I’ve come across. The unde rw orld is not split into three, bu t in two; Jotun heim r and H elheimr. They cann ot dwell in each oth er because they are mentioned several times to be each a world (heimr). Why Gnmnismal says that the th ird root leads to h um ankind is most likely a sentence referred to what Vafjjrudnismdl 4S divulges; that humans get stashed away in Mimir s abode. This stanza hints to whe n the worlds will burn by Surtr s wrath and the hum ans in M un irs abode, Mim isheimr, will survive and procreate. So what Gnmnismal really says is tha t the third root leads to Mim isbrunnr in Jotunheimr. And why Gnmnismal says that Hel lives under one roo t is just a way of saying that th e first root leads to Helheimr, and, in my opinion, it was imagined that Urd arbrun nr dw elt in Helheimr. Finally, the roo t which leads to th e rime-thurses is mea nt to be Hvergelmir in Niflheimr, and I believ e th at b o th Niflheim r an d M uspe llz he im r lay in Chaos; be yo nd th e under world. See my ch art He ldrasill in the appendix. *
*
91
G u l l v eig a r b o k Gylfaginning says: Three roots of the tree uphold it and are reaching far apart. One is among the>£sir, another among the rime-thurses, in that place where the beginning of time was called Ginnungagap; the third stands over Niflheimr, and under that root is Hvergelmir, and Nidhoggr gnaws the root from below. And under that root which belongs to the rime-thurses is Mimis Brunnr, wherein wisdom and understanding are stored. And he is called Mimir who keeps that well. He is full of wi sdom ...
I interpre t Snorri s words as his will to make th e O N religion and m ythology into the Ch ristian one: Heaven - Earth - Hell. It is known that Snorri had this intention, so his details abo ut the underw orld are more o f a Christian hellish nature, which does not co rrespond with the primitive O N m ythology.
1The wo rd “Hell” derives from the Old Gothic word halja which mean t underworld. And it was borrowed by the Scandi navian languages: the Old No rse an d Icelandic w ord hel in Swedish the word helvete comes from the Old Norse term Helviti, same goes for the Danish word htlvcde (OSw. hcelvite, Ы . helviti, "the kingdom of the dead" or "Hels punish ment or inferno".)
Niflheimr is th e da rk and misty pla ce w hich was later in spired by the C hristian s infern o called H ell1. Fo r Snorri, this underworldly dark place has all kind of horrors, and it has something the Old Norse people called "pits of suffering”; rivers with sharp blades in them. Blood-soaked G armr lives there an d feeds on human flesh, and in the deepest tracts of Niflheimr, where Hverge lmir s eternal de pths begin, N iSh ogg r and his black drago n-spaw n dwell.
Rydberg explains that in the beginning o f time it was here where Niflheimr was located in Chaos. At the same time he allegorizes Nidafjoll as the da rk horrible m ountains in the cen ter o f the un derwo rld that separate Helheim r from Niflheimr, bu t he also claims that Nidafjoll belon gs to N iflh eim r, w hich means that, a cc ordin g to Rydberg, Nidafjoll - Mimir - M imisbrun nr is no t a neutral region in the unde r world, bu t belonging to the dark and cold world of Niflheimr and its rime-thurses. How is it possible tha t Mimir s wonderful a nd peaceful regions belong to Niflheimr s world? He obviously bases his understanding on both the Scemundar Edda and the Snorra Edd a , which are totally different and just m akes his theorie s con fusing and self-contradictory. Sn orri evidently changed th e wh ole cosmology by freely moving Urdr and Urdarbrunnr s realm to heaven, and let Helheimr become the whole of the unde rworld, a nd made it equal to C hristianity s Hell. Gylfagitinings autho r did all this without even considering that this wou ld have severe consequ ences in the mythology. The underw orld before this dramatic change was partly a place of peace and tranquility, but after Sno rris ruthlessness it became just a place o f death an d anguish.
92
Un
d ir h e ima r
*
In my studies I've noticed that the OI word undirheimar, underworlds, is not used once in the Scemundar Edda or Snorra Edda. The underw orld and its homes are written ab out extensively but no t once is the O I word for the underwo rld used. This seeme d strange to m e in the beginning, bu t after going through th e sagas over and over I realized tha t the poe tic language used in the sagas embellishes the use o f the concept undirheimar, and the underw orld that concerned the human beings was the world of the dead, a specific location in the underworld called He lheimr (often shortened just to Hel), there -
1 Below
fore more dramatic phrases were used for (the descending
dead/corpses.
into) the underwo rld: fy r ndgrindr nedan 1 (Skirnismdl 35),
2Unde r the world.
jara til Hel ja r og pada n / Niflhel ( Gylfagimmg 2>),fyrjord nedan
.. . 2 at solum Heljar (Voluspd 43), a helvegum3 (Voluspa 47), fa ra til heljar hedan (Fdfnismdl 10), nidri i jordu ( Gyflagin-
the
gate
the
3On H els paths. 4 In un der the earth, meaning into the underworld.
wing), and i jord nidiA ( Gylfaginning ). O N Jormungrund, the vast earth, is another name for the underworld, the O ther World, found in Grimnismal 20. The underworld was seen to be an immeasurable void: a reversed and b igger version of the universe, b ut with a different function. The und envo rld was the first void which sprang from N iflheimr and Muspellzheimr, and the demiurgic god OSinn created the universe with his brothers as he wanted his own abode o utside the Giants' worlds. The following hypothesis comes fro m a vision I received in a dream. There is just really one reason for a huma n being to go to the underw orld, and th at is whe n you die, your spirit goes the re with certain chosen objects which are burned w ith you at the funeral in you r grave; the objects' essences bec om e co nnec ted with you during the funeral rite. W he n you descend into the unde rwo rld you still have your bo dy etc.; this can be explained by saying that all cosmic life is an "illusion”: your spirit has been disconnected with your ego and thereby blinded from your true self, and in its turn bec ame tricked into actually believing having a body; w hich in reality it does not (hence the illusion). In the underw orld the remnants o f your former existence stay with you like an echo from the past, and on ce reb orn in the un derw orld you believe that you have a physical body again. It is only when you tran scend un to Niflheimr, i.e. b ey on d th e un de rw or ld an d un to Ch aos, th at th e illusio n en ds an d you r spirit becom es free again and you are able to op en yo ur blinded true eyes. As I said earlier, in the underw orld the re is only one place for the spirit of a dead hu ma n to go and it is to the world o f the dead; Hel's secon dary hom e, Helheimr. All oth er
93
of
G u l l v e ig a r bo k
worlds and space in the underworld belong to divinities and such, e.g. pursar and jotnar. Much like our reality and universe, the humans only live in a small part of the universe, the earth; the rest belongs to oth er powers an d life-forms. So this is why the poets did not use the OI word undirhcimar for the und er w or ld^ ) in the O N p oetry but rather different forms of the phrase *HeTs dominion in the underworld.” The most common phrase used for this in the ON sagas was “go to Н еГ, b ut in a wide variety (see examples above), meaning “for a hum an spirit to descend into one definite location in the u nde rwo rld” It was com mon knowledge in ancient Scandinavia that we humans only went to one specific place in the un derworld: Helheimr. As a devotee of Hel and the rim e-powers o f Niflheimr, 1 personally see the tran scendence unto N iflheimr as an hon or and goal, not a punishment. I also see the rather young concep t of Helviti as a gift, rather than the twisted th eory that it would have anything to do with a penalty. I believe that Helviti could be something like the Hellenic tradition to pay coins for being transported to Hades, as Styx and C er be ru s could easily be co mpa red to Gjoll, He lve gr a nd Garmr.
MY UNDERSTANDING AND CONCLUSION
(Please look at my chart o f the O N cosmology called Heldrasill in the append ix while reading this text). Somewhere in the mid st o f Chaos, the endless black ocean o f tranquility, lies a small intrudin g creation called the cosmos, O I Allheimr. It is a sphere w ith a collec tion o f worlds within it. In the O N mythology and belief the cosmos was allegorized as a tree , a wo rld-tree 1- with 1There has been many disputes the crown being the higher realm, the trunk being the m id weather it is an Ash-tree or dle realm, and the roots the lower realm. This is a simple Yew-tree; in my book it is a map many o ther traditions use in this form or another. In Yew-tree. the O N tradition the bottom of the underworld, undirheimar, is in the east, and the highest peak of the upp er world where the high gods have their do main, AsgarSr, is in the west. Below on the tru nk of the worldtree lay the middle earth, MiSgarSr, the world o f the humans. To the no rth/ ea st o f MidgarSr lies the “up pe r” wo rld of the giants, &jri Jvtunheim, "upper giant-home." It was probably thought of as being on th e b ord er o f the underworld, as there is supposed to be a portal from the uppe r world to the underw orld, and it m ost likely
94
Un
d ir h e ima r
lies in the ofri Jotunheim. The underworld starts at the world-trees roots (undirheimar is written in plural because it is no t one w orld but two); to the north,
right below the efri (upper) Jotunheim, lies the underw orldly version of the giantworld, the nidri (lower) Jetunheim. In the world o f the giants, Jotunheim r, lies the well of wisdom w hich is known as the well of Mimir, Mim isbrunnr. The n orthe rn root o f the world-tree leads to Jotunheim r and M imisbrunnr. At the no rth/e ast of Jotun heim r lies the infamous Ironwood, Jarnvidr, the dark and cold dwelling of Gullveig. The darkness and coldness of the Ironw ood com es from Niflheimr s chaotic blackness and rim e-ocean storms, as Nifl heimr lies right un de r Jo tunh eim r an dj am vidr in the north-east beyond the realm of undirheimar in Chaos. However, the shores of Hvergelmir called the icy waves, filivagar, lies on the border between Chaos and undirheimar , and its poisonous icy waters intrude the underw orld as eleven rivers. The middle root of the w orld-tree reaches all the way down to the well of wisdom which is know n as Hvergelmir in Niflheimr. And the third roo t which leads to the South ends up in Helheimr, which is the second world in the under world; the world o f the dead. The roo t leads to its well of wisdom known as UrSr’s well, Urdarbrunnr. Un der H elheimr to the South-East lies the world o f flames, Muspellzheimr - beyond the realm of undirheimar in C haos. Lastly, betwe en Nifl heim r and Muspellzheimr remains the prim ordial black portal, the once gaping jaws o f Chaos; Ginnungagap. There are three worlds that I have not included; the only reason why I didn 't is that the y have no p art in this work. In the crown o f the wo rld tree Vanaheimr and Alfheimr are supposed to lie, and Svartalfaheimr is supposed to lie in the underworld.
95
G u l l v eig a r b Ok SUMMARY
I. Chaos is all, an d w ithin Chaos t he cosmos lies like an egg. II. The cosmos h olds th e world tree and its worlds. III. The up per worlds are: a) AsgarSr, b) Midgardr, and c) “upp er” Jotun heim r. IV. The unde rwo rld includes: a) Jotun heim r, and b) Helheimr. V. Jarnvi5r (ironwoo d) is a region in the ea st/n or th of Jotun heim r where Gullveig (and Fenrir) has he r abode un der the nam e AngrboSa. VI. The three roots lead to the three wells of wisdom : 1) Mimisbrunn r, 2) Urdar br un nr , an d 3 ) Hvergelmir. VII. Elivagar is Hvergelmirs sea-shore where eleven rivers of Hvergelmir s icy water run out. VIII. The worlds in Chaos are Niflheimr and M uspellsheimr. They both lie on each side o f Ginnungagap.
96
H e l - In Sv a r t a
The name Hel, gen. Heljar, derives from the Gothic wo rd halja, Old High German hella. Halja is commonly translated to “underworld” and according to Rydberg it
derives from the Latin word occulere; to conceal, preserve, which in its turn is cog nate with occultum, a hidd en place. Indirectly it suggests a place in darkness, which could be allegorized as a grave, cave, an d o f course so me thing undir heimar , "under the worlds", or a divinity from such a place. Hel as a term for the und erw orld was no t a place o f suffering in the early ON religion; it was ano ther dim ension wh ere everybody de scend ed into after death. The ON religion was a polytheistic religion and the underw orld as the up per world had many ruling divinities, and therefore also many different purposes. Your death and descent into the un derwo rld did not equal suffering and Helvtti; it gave you another sublime opportunity of existence. Hel could no t simply be compared to Gehen na an d Tartarus, or Hades an d Sheol; that is why the earliest Christian Bible in a Germanic language used the Gothic word halja for Hell instead o f the O N Hel, as the O N concept H el did not represent what
the Christians Inferno embraced. But when Snorri s Gylfaginning- saga was spread through Scandinavia, the O N u nder wo rld-be lief was quickly deviated and slowly turn ed into a m ono theistic belief. Ch ristianity was quick in defiling all good in the ON belief, bu t kept fragments o f it to m ake an example of how bad tha t old heathen religion was. Thats why they kept the O N term helviti and turned it into a word for their burning underw orld inferno Hell: Swedish and No rwegian Helvete and Danish
97
G u l l v e ig a r b Ok Helvede. The new traditions in Scandinavia saved a few more terms connected to
Hel to point out a negative tone around Hel, for example the ON saying {Hel , roughly translated into "to death" (w ith the no tion d eath as the w orld of the de ad), which is still kep t in mod ern Swedish; ihjal, to be at or starve someone to death etc.; OI drepa (Hel, "to kill". Hel, the black giantess - I call her bldrdma and svartheidr - is one of the mo st complex and challenging characters in the ON mythology. Her role in the sagas and the belief is to rule the w orld (s) o f the d ead - Helheimr, and also Niflhel-Niflheimr. There is not much said about Hels characteristics in Scemundar Edda-f it is Snorris inspiration of the C hristian mytho logy that first describes He ls appearance as the giantess of the dead. Gylfaginning describes that Hel was cast down into Niflheimr by Odinn an d m ade h er th e ru ler o f nine wo rlds. Gylfaginning 34: Hel kastadi hann \ Niflheim og gaf henni vald yfi r mu heimum, a<5 hun skipti ollum vistum med t>eim er til hennar voru sendir, (эад eru sott daudir menn og ellidaudir. Hun £ bar mikla bolstadi og eru gardar hennar forkunnar h£ir og grindur storar. tljudnir heitir salur hennar, Hungur diskur hennar, Sultur knlfur hennar, Ganglati braellinn, Ganglot ambatt, Fallandaforad breskuldur hennar er inn gengur, Kor saeng, BHkjandabbl arsali hennar. Hun er bla half en half med horundar lit. Pvl er hun audkennd og heldur gnupleit og grimmleg.
*** Hel he cast into Niflheimr, and gave to her power over nine worlds, to apportion all abodes among those that were sent to her. That is, men dead of sickness or of old age. She has great might there; her walls are exceedingly high and her gates great. Her hall is called Eljudnir; her dish, Hungur; Sultur is her knife; Ganglati her thrall; Ganglot her maidservant; Fallandaforad her threshold, by which one enters; Kor her bed; Blikjandabol her bed-hangings. She is half blue-black and half fleshcolor, by which she is easily recognized, and stooping and grim.
Evidently she was “doo m ed ” to live in Niflheimr, which in itself holds Niflhel, due to he r powerful character and adverse tem pe r towards the cesir, a rime-thursian giantess - daughter o f Gullveig and Loki. As for Hel as a realm, H elheimr, it could be und er stoo d in several m od er n sou rces th a t Hel equals the wh ole un derw orld, so what is the difference between Hel, Helheimr, and Niflhel? After Ive been re searching this in the ON literature I found th at H el later became synonymous with the underworld as an outcome from negligence to specific aspects. Much like the O N n o u n helviti, “H els pun ishm ent” or “the fine o f Hel”, was a concept that got twisted aroun d by the same kind of negligence, an d helviti became the modern word for the Christian Hell, Jewish Gehenna, and Hellenic Tartaros. This is not a rare
98
H e l - I n Sv a r t a
ph eno m en on , it actually h ap pe ns all the time, e ven in m od er n tim es. W hat I w an t to say with this is tha t the na me Hel, for the realm of the dead, was from the b egin ning synonymous with Helheim r and Niflhel as a location of the dead in Niflheimr alone; in its primitive form, as Vafprudnismal 43 informs: ...I went all the way down to Niflhel, where the dead who have died out of Hel dwell.
The underworld all together was from the beginning only seen as and called undirheimar , the un der worlds (note plural). However, with time the whole lower
region which c ontained several worlds became the region o f the dead; henc e the m odern and com mo n und erstanding of the name Hel. So in my opinion, Hel as a name of a realm is just an epithet for a collection of certain worlds, such as the lower ones, which hold the dead. From this hypothesis I chose to use He l only in its prim itive and co rrect form for the giantess and daughter of Gullveig, H elheimr for the world of the dead located in the underw orld (undirheimar) n ot being its equal, and Niflhel for th e rea lm o f th e de ad in Niflh eim r which lies in Ch aos - th re e differ ent entities but strongly interlinked. The fact that Helh eim r and Niflhel were two se p arate heimar (w orlds) is told in Bdldrs Draumar 2 and Vajprudnismdl 43; th is shows however what a big d i f f e r e n c e it e x i s te d b e t w e e n them. To “die out of H e l h e i m r ” and descend unto Niflhel testifies o f the similarity to wh en yo u “die o ut of MiSgardr” and descend u nto the underworld. H ow exactly this functioned the sagas do no t say, but it strengthens m y theory that Niflhel/Niflheimr lays in Chaos - beyond the underw orld and Helheimr. Now, exactly ho w N iflhe im r and Niflhel were separated we d on’t know, so after a thoroug h investigation on this subject I take them for being one and th e same; I believ e the na m e Niflhel jus t em phasize s th e de ath ly a sp ec t of th is rea lm, be cause of the epithe t for Hel as the ru ler in Niflheimr. To me, Nifl-Hel means Hel o f Nifl heimr, which has with time becom e an epithet for Niflheimr too, the hom e o f the dead in the world o f mists and darkness. C ompare this to the OI ep ithets hclvitismyrkr, "the darkness o f Hel s fine”, and Hel blar ( bldr sem Hel)1, "black as Hel". The last one is interesting
1Cleasby-Vigfusson, 1874, An Icelandic-English Dictionary.
bec ause it de no tes the O N people s view up on H el th e giantess; this was before the stagnant and dualistic thinking came to Scandinavia with the Chr istendom , where Hel becam e allegorized as half black and half white to stress the new religions dualistic view upon death (a good one or a ba d on e) , co m pa red to th e primitive pluralistic O N persp ective w he re yo u ha d at least four locations for the dead. Som e people claim tha t it represents the m oon
99
G u l l v eig a r b 6 k phases. I myself rejec t this whole alleg orization o f H els a pp earance being ha lf black and h alf white, I think it degrades he r totality as a mighty thursian rime-giantess. Hel was initially looked upon in Old Scandinavia as a black and livid hue1repre 1Cleasby-Vigfusson, 1874, An Icelandic-Enghsh Dictionary.
senting the pu re blackness and cold o f Niflheimr a nd death. This [s Very inte restin g as she is the ru ler o f Niflh eim r an d is allegorized as bJack; anJ the njfej. Qf Muspellzheim r, Surtr, is called the black-headed one, Svarthojdi. In addition to this I want to
me ntion tha t I suspect that Helheimr and Niflhel were looked upon, in medieval Scandinavia, as being the entire underworld split in two; the bright one and the dark one - hence He ls late appearance as half white and half black, representing just this (nijl is generally translated into m ist or darkn ess). H elhe imr is located above Muspellzheimr and its heat, and Jotunheimr, which by this hypothesis m ust be ex changed with th e m edieval view upon Niflhel, is located above Niflheimr with its cold and darkness; wh ich could have been allegorized as Helhe imr was green and summ ery because o f Muspellzheimr s warmth, and Niflhel dark and cold by Nifl heim r s gloomy cond ition (see char t in app endix). This is probably how Snorri saw it. There is no pr oo f of this though ; this is just my own interpre tation. But w ith the medieval Scandinavians’ turning to the m ono theistic religion, dualism infected their whole world-view, an d this is exactly how the primitive O N religion with ered into oblivion. Niflheimr is pro ve n to lie in Ch aos, which me ans th at according to Gylfagirining 34 Hel descended into the underworld and transcended onto Chaos (be yond the underworld). This is again a hypothesis which I do not agree with; I believe that Hel never ended up in the care of the
100
H e l - In Sv a r t a
have drowned, and I don t think it is as simple as that. First off, Hel is a giantess, a queen of the dead with the particular purpose of guiding the dead and their destiny. She swallows them and makes sure that they do no t return to the u pper world by letting he r guardian Garmr, the blood-soak ed one, watch over them all. Garm r is a thursian dog, Heljarsintii, who guards the dead at Helgrindr (some compare him to Fenrir, I believe he is analogous to H ati). Hel is the daug hter of the C haos-thurses Gullveig and Loki, which makes D eath the ir invention and a pparatus. Hel has the epithe t Loka maer, Loki s daughter; w hich was also used as a synonym for death; “to play with” or “to be taken by Lo ka nicer *for example mea nt to be dead. H els siblings were also archetypes of death. Jorm ungand r is the thursian serpent which is comm only known as a symbol of death. He encircles the u pper or middle world and holds it in his grip; he is the threshold facing the un derw orld. H e is ven omo us a nd gigantic, dwelling in the depth s o f the sea in wait for the day of wrath, Ragna Rok. Fenrir is the violent death unleashed and untamed. He is a symbol of the wolfish jaws of nature th at are always hungry a nd that are always on the prowl. Fenrir dwells in the underwo rld togethe r with his m other Gullveig and procreates unlimitedly; all wolves and werewolves com e from him and his m other. The wolves are attributed with a hellish thr oa t1due to their greed, and Bugge wrote that the wolfish Devil was called lupus vorax2} as in « tn Ftnrisulfr fer med gapandi mun n og er hinn efri kjaftr vid himni en hinn nedri
1Grimm, Teutonic Mythology.
vidjordu 3 (Gylfaginning 51) and «skal alda hverrfara til heljar
2Bugge, 1899, The Home o f the Eddie Poems with Especial Refer -
hedan » 4 (Fdfnismal 10). In symbology the wolf represents
Death and her h unger and greed, swallowing of the dead. The
ence to the Helgi-Lays.
3 "Fenrir shall rise with gaping
ON poetry loved to express this in embellished songs; the
mouth , and his upp er jaw shall
Eddas say for example «p ar erpik Hel hafi, haldi Hel pvt er hepr,
reach the heaven and the lower
and hefir nu Hel », all saying tha t He l shall have you. This is in
the earth."
analogy with the wolfish en tity and desc ent, and the reby self
4 "Though all people shall fare
explains the nexus betwe en D eath and th e Wolf, i.e. Hel an d
hence to Hel."
Fenrir. This archetypal trinity of death, Hel, Jormungandr, and Fenrir, is the spawn of the m ost powerful C haos-giants in the O ld Norse: G ullveig and Loki. An d it is Gul lveig and Loki s attributes th at have created these m onster-children. This is shown especially in Gullveig, Fenrir a nd Hel, and in Loki and h is first-born Jorm ungan dr. It is partly confusing, but at the same time very fascinating and logical. Hel is confirmed to be the daug hter of Gullveig and Loki, also a Chaos-giantess and ru ler of Helheimr and Niflhel/Niflheimr. She is the sovereign of the world of death, she
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G u l l v eig a r b o k
is the quee n of the darkest und erwo rld and the malady-spirits in the form o f a gi antess called Leikn1. There is not mu ch pro of of Leikns existence, but some very interesting details are found in Skaldskaparmdl 11, which is a list of giants and g i ante sses k illed b y f>orr; it says «leggi brauz tpu Leiknar», "you 1Rydberg claims that t he gia nt broke Le ikns legs". C ou ld th is be co nn ec ted to whe n th e cesir, ess Hel is wrongfully called Hel, pr es um ed ly t>orr, th re w Hel into Niflhe im r (acc ording to that her true name is Snorri) and broke ha lf of her body?2This m ight be a direct proo f Leikn/Leikin due to her necro for their identification as the same giantess. The saga Ynglinga mantic and pestilent qualities. tal 7 says: «Yngva pjod arLok a nicer of leikinn hefr», "Yngvi who m 2 Gylfaginning 34. Lo kis child was playing with". And in Voluspd 22 Leikin is also 3 Cleasby-Vigfiisson, 1874, An men tioned as hug Leikin, n ot so surprisingly togethe r with the Icelandic-English Dictionary. explanation of He idr s black magic or necromancy: Heidi hana hdtu, hvars til husa kom, volu velspa, vitti hon ganda, seid hon hvars hon kunni, seid hon hugleikin, ae var hon angan illrar brudar.
*♦* Heidr her name was, to houses she came, the seeress with adequate prophecies. She wielded witchcraft, she conjured disease, she invoked Leikin, always was she loved by wicked women.
Hug - comes from the O N word hugr , mind, with the notion of thought; hugr can
even by itself mean h eart3. The word in its overall sense carries the meaning of in spirited ( with a soul). I like to compare this to the line where Loki is said to devour Gullveig s heart, which he fou nd among her ashes; Veluspd in skamm a 12: Loki at hjarta lindi brenndu, fann hann halfsvidinn hugstein konu; vard Loftr kvidugr af konu illri; t>adan er a foldu flagd hvert komit.
10 2
H e l - In Sv a r t a
♦ *
♦
Loki ate a heart burnt upon the embers, he found the half-singed heart of a woman. Loptr was expectant with child of that wicked woman; and from this all monsters derived.
Hugsteinn, mind-rock, is an O N poetic meta phor for heart; it was thought that
you r soul lived within yo ur he art, here allegorized as an “inspirited rock.” So when Loki ate Gullveig s heart h e g ot inspirited by h er spirit, which in the sagas leads to pregnancy. In these tw o ex am ples abo ve I w an t to put em phasis on hug- and its meaning “inspirited” which is the foundation of my own hypothesis that hugleikin in this case refers to ne crom ancy - sorcery dealing with Hel-powers; the wielding of “ensoule d dea th” which wo uld be the essence o f Leikn or Hel. The line seid hon hugleikin would then m ean, as I und ersta nd it, that He idr is practicing necromancy,
the a rt of her daughter; Leikins black magic. True necrom ancy could more properly in O ld Norse be called; Heleik inn - NflfflMi. After I discovered the true mean ing o f these lines, I found the same theo ry in Rydberg s work from 1886, and he helped me to find even more details on this sub ject (you can co mp are this p art to his work.) He po in ts o ut the tw o sa me b u t differ ent lines in Codex Regius' Voluspd, whic h says: seid hon kvni seif) hon leikin
The first interesting detail is th at kvni here is spelt with a “v” and no t a “u”, and accord ing to Bugge, in Codex Regius “v” is used for bo th “u” and ay n. This mean s that kvni could be the O N neuter noun kyn in dative; kyni, kyn which Rydberg says
means m onstrous or supernatural. He compares this noun kyn to the OI words kyn jamein and kynjasott which are sup posed to me an “a disease received throug h sor
cery.”Jus t like my ow n hypo thesis, in both places o f the two quo ted lines seid is the pa st tense o f the ve rb stda, the process of performing magic/sei^r, and no t the noun seidr itself: see fur the r An Icelandic-English Dictionary by Cleasby and Vigfusson
under Sida, v. > "... of which oc cu r only th e infin. pret . seid, Vsp. 25.” You can trace the ON kyn in the Icelandic words kyngi, magical knowledge, an d jjolkyngi, black magic and witchcraft. It mo st likely derives from th e O N stem kunna, to know, as in
103
G u l l v e ig a r b o k the English word can (know) which derives from the same root as ON
, which
is the Latin gnosco, get to know , gnosis (Greek); knowledge, cognosco, to learn, know. I compare this to the rune Kyn (<); which is, in my understandin g, the tru e name and m eaning of this rune. The O l no un kyngi is a remnant of what the Kyn rune stands for; enlighten men t and gnosis (received as magical/divine kn owledge). The rune belongs to the bring er of the black flames - the M uspell-born Loki. So for Heidr to seid leikin m ust mean that she practiced necromancy by invoking and evoking her d aughte r He l/Le ikin to bring de ath and disease1. This is mos t likely connected w ith the ON belief that diseases arise from the act of being ridden by witche s2: as Hel is allegorized riding h er black gandr w he n she ascends from the un derworld to eat the dead in MiSgarSr, which in its turn could 1Compare to Vigfusson, Ryd berg; and Egilsson, 1931, Lexi
have been an allegory of H els essence possessing the worldtree s roo t and in that way spreading sicknesses and death to all
con Poeticum.
life wh ich is nourishing from the w orld-tree - thus H el is riding
2Cleasby-Vigfusson, 1874, An
her three-legged gandr Heldrasill. In Saga Olafs Tryggvasonar,
Icelandic-English Dictionary.
in S norr i s Heimskringla, we find a very interesting testimony about H els steed, Leiknar hest: Tldhoggvit let tiggi Tryggva sonr fyrir styggvan leiknar hest a lesti, Ijotvaxinn hrae Saxa. Vinhrodigr gaf vi'da vfsi margra Frisa blokku brunt at drekka Ы66 kveldridu stodi.
It is skittish, styggr, foully grown, Ijotvaxinn, black, blokku, it drinks blood, drekka , and it is called a steed of a death-rider, kveldridu stodi. The saga Heimskringla
was written during the years of 1200 AD, which means its a pretty late medieval saga. So wheth er this allegorization of Hels steed is a remn ant from an early ON mythology or n ot we don't know. However, witho ut me being too m odern in think ing, I believe that this kind of a metap hor for H els Nifl-steed could have some tr uth in it Chthonic monsters and troll were strongly believed to be deformed and ma lignant, even before the Christian influences corrupted the original bod y of the O N sagas. Just take Garmr, F enrir and Jormun gand r for example; they are not really friendly pets of the aesir, Fen rir is described as being a horrible giant bea st: «en Fenrisulfr fe rr med gap and i m unn , ok er inn nedri kjd ftr vid jordu, en in efri vid himin. Gapa myndi hann meira, ejrum vceri til. Eldar brenna or augum bans ok
10 4
H e l - In Sv a r t a
nosum» l. Jorm ung andr is called su er god fia, the o ne hated by the gods - they are
giant-monsters, wrathful an d antagonistic. Hymniskvida for example explains multi headed giants from the east: sa hann or hreysum med Hymi austan folkdrott fara fjolhofdada.2
HEL’S ATTRIBUTES
Nec ro m an cy is obviou sly attributed to He l; she is th e qu ee n of deathly powers and kee per of the realm of the dead. She
1"Fenrir shall fare with gaping mou th, an d his lower jaw shall
was viewed as a black shining hue that came to collect the dead
be aga inst the earth, bu t the
or the ones dying. She embraces their spirits and her ally
upper against sky, he would
Nidho gg r gorges on the ir corpses, i.e. th eir dead remains. He l s
gape more if there were room. Fires blaze from his eyes and nose." Gylfaginning 51.
ower in MidgarSr dwells in places o f dea th an d liminal areas, such as burial sites in general and crossroads. In Ban gs irreplaceable work on Old Norwegian magical formulae Norske Hexeformularer ogMagiske Op skrifter( 1901-1902) he
prove s w ha t significa nce certa in black magical actio ns ha d in necromantic praxis, such as the use of crossroads, walking backw ards, th e nu m be r 3, a nd noc turn al workin gs. A ll th ese attributes are given to Hel and sh ould work as a found ation in
2 "He saw a multi-he aded lot fare with Hym ir from the east out of the beep s of rocks." 3Fen rir was called Vitnir in the ON poetry, most likely a rem nant
from
the
Hyrrokin-
mythos which is symbolizing
ON necromantic magic in Hels name. She is death personi
the w olf as being the ‘carrie r' or "conveyor" of ( supernatural)
fied, and she was illustrated in th e medieval sagas as riding on
knowledge as the ON word vit
a rabid and pestilent black three-legged horse, which looked
suggests. Compare this to the wolf's ep ithet gifrs hest, witch-
like de ath itself. This is und oubte dly a m etaph or for Heldrasill itself, drasill in ON means horse and the skeletal roots of the und erw orld were seen as a three-legged horse: Hel-drasill Hels Horse. The Heldrasill also worked as the gandr o f the deathly queen Hel, gandr being he r black magical vehicle she is riding on w hen she travels - Hel rides the black three-legged
horse, i.e. "the conv eyor o f a su pernatural power." 4 Cleasby-V igfusson, 1874, An Icelandic-English Dictionary, and
Egilsson, 1931, Lexicon Poeticum.
horse and her mother Gullveig rides the thursian w o l f (as Hyrrokin). The gandr becam e an attribute to giantesses in general and the gandr (pi. gandar) was originally viewed as a wolf (hen ce the O N w ord vitnir, wolf, whic h derives from the O N word vitt, magic; vitnir 3 then being the magical wolf-gandr of the giantess, witch, a nd fjolkunnigr-s eidberandi)4, bu t also as monster s such as drag-
105
G u l l v eig a r b Ck
ons a nd serp ents (as in Jorm unga ndr), representing the g iantesses’ staffs of power ( voir - velva) w hich in the ir turn beca me the w itches’broo m s in later folklore. This is connected to the O N belief in kveldrida, w hich was a giantess or witch wh o rode a gandr in the night or in the twilight, he r gandar was known to be a w olf ( kveldridu stod; th e wolf, which is a derivation from the primitive O N word gandr, wolf), most
likely remnan ts derived from the primitive Gullveig-mythos. And kveld- is not de rived from the O N word kveld, evening or dusk, but from the ON word kvelja as in to torm ent or kill. So a correct translation of kveldrida would be a d eath-rider or a torment-rider. The view upon the kveldrida fits also better with the equivalent myrkrida. Gifr and tunrida are also connected to the e ntity kveldrida-, « tunridur leika lofti a» (Hdvamal 155), "h edge-riders play in the air". Tunrida, hedge-rider, was a
"witch" or a ghost who flew around in the air, thus the Old Scandinavian people be lieved that tunrida rode on the ir hedges and th e tops o f houses during the nights. The gifr was a nam e for witches or fiends, as in gtfrs hestar , witch-horses, which was an epithet for the wolf. ON hest in mythology meant n ot just horse but many times carrier or conveyor, and th e wo lf was viewed as being the g iants' an d witches' horse, an d ships were called sea-horses a nd even sea-wolves. The raven was also seen as one o f the animals which belonged to the possessors of the death-aspect. In my opinion there is a reason why Odinn's underworld-spies are ravens. Ravens were like mythological serpen ts an d dragons in the way tha t they represented a messenger - Heljarhrafn; he rald o f death. Ravens symbolized the blac k dea th: airb or ne an d intellige nt. To see ravens was o ften se en as a bad om en ; as if Hel herself was present. Solarljod 67 confirms their con nection to Hel: ...Hel’s ravens violently hacked out their eyes from their skulls.
The raven is naturally a symb ol of death; the flying black bird who seeks places of death. The raven is considered an omnivore, b ut h e is very often a scavenger living off carrion, this is how he naturally becom es a m etaphor for death, he is often scout ing for cadavers. Hun ters in Sweden have told me that if you go out in the w oods and shoot a round w ith your rifle ravens will soon gather arou nd you. Indeed, if you have been close to a raven and had the chance to loo k into his black lustrous eyes you kno w that it is no t you who is observing him, it is he who observes you. Wh en you see a flying raven at dusk cawing his melancholy, you soon u nde rstan d why the raven has be en a n om en and herald o f death for ages. The raven also has a hab it of nesting close to hum ans, sim ply because h e is no hun ter a nd it is easy to steal from us. Back in the superstitious times this o f course gave people the uncom fortable feeling that de ath was their neighbor. The scientific nam e o f the species is Co rvus
106
H e l - I n Sv a r t a
Corax, and in the same genus there is a smaller Corvus: the crow. The crow is no t that different from the raven as a bird o r in folklore and mythos. In th e O N sagas Gullveig turn ed into a crow and h er da ughter Hel has ravens, with the attributes given to the raven and th e crow com pared to th e attributes given to b oth Gullveig and Hel, there is no do ubt th at they all are attributed and interlinked to each other.
107
T h e O f f s p r in g
Jormundgandr, Fenrir and Hel are the mythological children of Gullveig and Loki, the m ost feared thursian m onsters throug hout the entire mythology. They were conceived by Loki eating Gullveig s heart th ree times after she had bee n bu rned , as he r hear t was not bu rn t (because o f its rim e-cold essence). Jo rm un ga nd r be ing th e se rp en t that encircles MiSgardr, h en ce his ep ith et MiSgarSsorm r1; he is an allegorization of what snakes through the worlds and encloses them with the thursian venom - Nifl’s tortu ou s venom - Hvergelmis eitrdr. This meta pho r could be seen as a se rpen t-lik e pow er which circulates da rkne ss an d ad ve rsary in th e worlds. He controls the worlds by enfolding them. Jormun gandr represents both wa ter/ice and fire as a sea-monster an d a serpent. Fen rir is the second son and he is a wolf, so big his lowe r jaw rests on the gr ound and his u ppe r jaw touches the sky, so much drool oozes out from his blood-stained m outh th at the river called Van came ou t of it. He is the un controlled force, the flames' hunger a nd the oceans' thirst. Garmr, H ati and Skoll represent him, the restless and ceaseless hunters wh o aim to swallow the m oon and th e sun. Fenrir s abode is Jarnvidr with his m other Gullveig; there th ey spawn thurs-wolves an d werewolves together. Fen rir represents the fire of Miispellzheimr and Loki s trait. He! is the divine manifestation o f death; which is self-explanatory, bu t with a mu ch de eper sense an d purpose. She is th e ruler o f Niflheim r and everythin g with in
1Gylfaginning 34.
it, hence h er ep ithet Nifl-Hel. It is said that she comes at night
2&3Rooth, 1961, Loki in
upon her three-legged pestilent horse to reap humans. Hel
Scandinavian Mythology.
represents the wa ter/ice of Niflheimr an d Gullveig s trait. All three o f them, Jormundgandr, Fenrir and Hel, are part of the supernatural be ings which are conn ected t o the entities called the “children o f Cain”2. Rooth also explains that “Cain bec om es the father, no t only of monsters, bu t also of all defective and d eform ed crea tures”3. This is a mythological aspect that has bee n a dopted by the O N people to describe the mon strous giants.*
*
109
G u l l v e ig a r b 6 k
Fenrir, the wolf o f death, the cesir’s most feared antagonist Fenrir, the wolf ofgreediness, OS inn’s bane and Т ут s enfeebler Fenrir, second born o f Gullveig and Loki Fenrir, pursgandr, Hy rrokin’s cruel comp anion Fenrir, fursvitnir , the mighty wrath ofJarnvidr Fenrir, the grandness of the thurses, His jaws reach from soil to sky Fenrir, the strength of the thurses, once fettered by the weak Laedingr, which He shattered in mockery Fenrir, the powerfulness o f the thurses, onc e fettered by the weak Dromi, which He sha ttered in glory Fenrir, the assiduousness of the thurses, o nce fettered by G leipnir from Svartalfaheimr, which shall shatter at Ragna Rok *
The Antagonist, the Opponent, the Adversary.
FENRIR
The cold and dispassionate eyes wan der over the dark and misty lands from the snow-clad rock where he stands; the w indows of cold hun ger are a legacy from his mother. The inextinguishable hung er stems from the ever-flaming insides of the be ast, his app ea rance is ma de f or cold, b u t his inside is an ever-flam ing to rc h wh ich reach o ut in rage thro ugh his jaws of death. The flaming core is a legacy from his fa ther. He is Fenrir the m ighty; the o ne called The Wolf, because he is the essence of the w olf-entity, h e is the first wolf, father of the wolf-race, a nd father o f werewolves. He spawned abho rrent and d eformed d emo ns with his mother, their lust is his hunger, a loathsome and c orrupt sexual nature which is unnatural and profane lawless and formless - their comm union is above human nature, it supercedes the gods ’ procre ation. It is the way o f para-creation: the act of creating what is not supposed to be created. The y create lawlessness in a world o f law; they create war in a wo rld o f structure; th ey create antithesis and oppos itions; they create world-destroyers and enemies to th e world of the cosmos. The wolf is the allegory of the wild an d u n tamed force that dwells deep within the darkness and encircles you witho ut you know ing it. And like the lightening thru st ou t his burnin g arm, the wo lf springs out of the d ark and locks his jaws around yo u. H e is an allegory of the malice in the abyss; th e hateful fiend an d his allies who wish to de stroy the faith an d hope of the world and to dam n them to perdition.
11 0
T h e O f f s p r in g
As Fen rir is a mythological offspring of Gullveig, the authors wan ted to make an allegory of an aspect o f Gullveig (and Loki) separately from her own entity. G ul lveig s power is such a com plex mass of energies tha t they c ann ot keep together; some p arts of he r essence release themselves from their matrix and strides away by its own will-power and assiduousness, and beco me separate entities; indepe nde nt and self-governing magical wills who turn themselves into thursian giants. Fen rir holds Gullveig s ferocious aspect; he is a rabid an d de structive power which brings fo rth ruin and stun ning potency. He is the bestial thurs-wolf, wrathful and unc ontrolled, something tha t a life-worshipper would do a nything to keep away from - as he is ferocity unleashed. Deformed and untam ed he strides on his own paths only, everything in his way he plows dow n with his talons of hunger; a hunge r of an assiduous purpose, no t for the calming of his belly. He is spawned in darkness and in d arkness he dwells; in Jarnvidr, the depths of the underw orld, he has his abod e - howling in restlessness, bree ding grim races ( cettir ) of wolves and were wolves, and stalking the rim to the worlds, agitated and edgy, with the gaze of a starving and irate hunter. The inner eye fixed upon the main target, this he never loses, this he forever fantasies ab out, this h e is preparing him self for every second of his existence. Indeed, as he is the strongest an d the spearhead of his cettir, he will without dou bt and questioning take ou t the strongest and mightiest of his oppo nents: 6<3inn. Fenrir laughs at the tho ugh t or his m oth er s seering of killing him; he is obsessed with th e idea of it, and he cannot wait until the mo men t when he is standing face to face with Odin n a nd ripping him in two as he spits MuspeJJs flames at his nak ed spirit till it incinerates. Gullveig has a lready seen it, it will be done! The derivation of Fenrir s name has been discussed but I have no t seen a c on vincing or satisfying theory yet. My own theory is that the nam e derives from the OI wor d Jenna, covered with snow; Г т thinking of Fenrir s origin: the snow-covered lands ofJarnvidr, due to its location close to Niflheimr. In Baldrs Dra umar Fe nrir s mother is said to be resting in a snow-covered grave: «Р reid OS innfyrir austan dy rr pa r er harm vissi volu leidi... snivin sncevi», "Then OSinn rode to the east ofth e door, as he knew where the witch lay ... snowed over by snow." This might have been a com mo n idea for the mo nsters ofJarnvidr to do as they wait for the day of wrath: Ragna Rok. If the verb fen na was to be made into a noun,/enr, the one covered with snow, it could easily have been m ade into th e nam e Fettr-ir. Sop hus Bugge discusses Fenrir s name in The Home of the Eddie Poems with Especial Reference to the Helgi Lays, 1899, where he stated that the ending -r rr did n ot exist in the O N language; he says:
II I
G u l l v e ig a r bo k
The name Fenrir, or Fenrisulfr, has been explained as if it were a genuine Scandina vian derivative of ON fen in the poetical meaning of that word, viz. sea,’ and desig nated the monster as a water-demon. But this explanation cannot be correct; for there does not exist in Old Norse any productive derivative ending -nr, gen. -ris.
1Compare the masculine noun hirdir und er я-stems to Fenr-ir. Palm, 2004, Vikingarnas Sprdk.
Well, the ending - ir (genitive -is) did exist1, bo th as no m i native cases in singular an d plural. Fenrir is also called Vanargandr, which connects his name
with his sibling's Jorm unga ndr. V anargandr me ans "the wolf or the mo nster o f the river Van", and it is an epithet recalling Fenrir s im prisonm ent whe n he ha d a sword be tw ee n his jaws, which resu lte d in a p oiso nou s river from his saliva r unn ing fr om his mo uth, and this river was called Van. Bugge also says in his boo k (w hich I me ntion ed abo ve): “While the wolf Fenrir has to some extent its prototype in Behemoth, the Mithgarthsorm has its prototype in Leviathan. In Job xl. Leviathan is associated with Behemoth as a mighty creature similar in nature. In Scandinavian mythical stories, the Mithgarthsorm and the wolf Fenrir appear side by side; they are even represented as brothers. The Icelanders thought of the Mithgarthsorm as lying in the sea, surrounding all lands, and biting its own tail. This concept is taken directly from the Christian concept of Leviathan. Bede says: Leviathan animal terram complectitur tenetque caudam in ore suo. In the Christian Middle Ages, the similarity between the Mithgarthsorm and Leviathan was so striking to the Icelanders that they identified the two. Thus in an old book of homilies, we find Midgardsormr written over levia^an as a gloss.”
Fen rir is of an amo rphou s entity and thereby seen as the fa ther o f werewolves. He is a destructive and constructive power that hates to be bound , he hates form and law. He ha s immeasurable stre ngth which predates the gods by times forgotten. He crushes everything in his way until he finds freedom as in boundless eternity, the lawless state that his entity craves. Fenrir ca nnot be controlled o r dominated, he only strides his own way. If you w ant his guidance you have no o ther choice tha n to follow him in his footsteps or he will tear you ap art like you w ere nothing. This is allegorized in the saga when th e cesir tried to bin d him do wn with magically en forced chains. Tyr was the o nly one brave enough to pu t his arm in Fenrir's giant m outh in p roo f of good will. Although, Fen rir saw right throug h th eir deceitful trick and tore offh alf of Tyr's arm. Fenrir roams in his territory: the darkness of the un derworld in the sunless valleys, as he is waiting impatiently for the day when his leader will unleash him upo n the worlds to spread his darkness and wrath o f sub
11 2
T h e O f f s p r in g limity - and she will, as Angrboda is Fenrir’s mother , com panion, a nd leader. He and his broth ers Skoll and H ati will join their d ark m othe r in avenging the tyrants who call themselves dsmegin, "the heavenly divine power" - the gods who brag about their dsmodr, "the divine streng th o f I>6rr", which is noth ing m ore th an a replica o f the thurses ultimateness , the ir dsrflci,".He ave n", which slowly fades, an d the ir prou d dsajporr , "t>6rr", wh om will soo n d rink th e rime-w ater of Fe nrir ’s sibling.
113
G u l l v eig a r b 6 k Jormungandr, the great wand , bo rr s bane Jormungandr, Elivagar’s spittle, cru sher o f the worlds Jormungandr, firs t born o f Gullveig and Loki Jormungandr, the great serpent, the grasp and the terror Jormungandr, \>ursgandr, H yrrokins cruel companion Jormungandr, the great spike, the contagion in the great ocean Jormungandr, the poisonous spear impaled in the h eart of Asgardr
JORMUNGANDR
Is Jorm unga ndr male or female? T hat is a question th at will probably stay una n swered forever. Although Jorm ung andr m ight be androgynous, a quality bo th Gul lveig and Loki show in the O N sagas; Gullveig got Loki preg nant with Jorm unga ndr, Fenrir and Hel. As Fenrir represen ts fire and masculinity and Hel water an d femi ninity; Jorm ung andr re presents bo th fire and water - masculinity and femininity. A mysterious paradox that shows us how com plex the thurses are in the sagas, and how unnatura l they appeared - the y represent, in the sagas, lawlessness an d am or ph ousness. With con fidence I say tha t Jorm un ga nd r has similar mytho log ica l qu al ities as Leviathan in the Christian and Jewish m ythology. The Book of Job allegorizes Leviathan, the great sea monster, with details tha t are analogous with Jormu ngan dr in the ON mythology: Canst thou draw out leviathan with an hook? Or his tongue with a cord which thou lettest down? Canst thou put a hook into his nose? Or bore his jaw through with a thorn? Will he make many supplications unto thee? Will he speak soft words unto thee? Will he make a covenant with thee? Wilt thou take him for a servant for ever? Wilt thou play with him as with a bird? Or wilt thou bind him for thy maidens? Shall the companions make a banquet of him? Shall they part him among the merchants? Canst thou fill his skin with barbed irons? Or his head with fish spears? Out of his mouth go burning lamps, and sparks of fire leap out. Out of his nostrils goeth smoke, as out of a seething pot or caldron. His breath kindleth coals, and a flame goeth out of his mouth... When he raiseth up himself, the mighty are afraid: by reason of breakings they purify themselves. The sword of him that layeth at him cannot hold: the spear, the dart, nor the habergeon. He esteemeth iron as straw, and brass as rotten wood. The arrow cannot make him flee: slingstones are turned with him into stubble. Darts are counted as stubble: he laugheth at the shaking of a spear. Sharp stones are under him: he spreadeth sharp pointed things upon the mire. He maketh the deep to boil like a pot: he maketh the sea like a pot of ointment.
11 4
T h e O f f s p r i n g Just from this qu otation we can draw many parallels with Jorm unga ndr s ON mythos, and I think it is obvious that th ey share essence, attributes and manifestation. Sadly, the very limited mythos about Jorm ung and r and h is/h er relationship with Gullveig do not give us much, bu t by using our imagination we could hypothesize that it was thou ght of, in the Old N orse m ythology, as Jorm ung and r being Gullveig and Lokis conjoined Will: a manifestation of their purpose if you will. Wh en Loki devou red Gullveig s rime-he art he m ight no t really have given bir th to a serpent, it might have bee n an allegory for their conjoined Wills taking form. Jormunga ndr shows up at Ragna Rok and kills I>6rr, but Gullveig is, strangely enough, not men tioned during this final battle. So the serpen t might have been her m ighty gartdr (jormund-f mighty, -gandr, a magical vehicle, or an o bject used b y a so rce rer )1which
she se nt in he r place to kill her arch enem y l>6rr,2As P or r has tried to kill Gullveig s children: Jorm ung and r in the saga Hymiskvida and during Ragna Rok in Voluspd ; Hel according to Skaldskapamal 11, Fenrir, and finally Loki a nd Gullveig herse lf several times (e.g.
1Compare to Fenrir s epithet
in Gylfaginning and Skaldskaparmal 11: Hyrrokkin dofy rr i).
Vanargandr. Gandr also has the meaning of divine monsters
The anti-cosmic poison, eitr, in ON mythology represents the
such as thursian wolves, ser
destructive thursian influence which is absorbed by the world
pen ts, a nd dragons.
trees roots and in that way infecting the gods and all life.
2This however reminds me of Lilith and how she used the serpent.
Within Thursatru3the eitr represents the anti'cosmic gnosis which is spread by the C haos-powers to enlighten the receptive an d to "melt off ” or “kill” the Ego and the cosmic illusions. This po iso n is the arms ofJorm ungand r, an d might as well be his
3See the p art o f this book called Fjolkyngi.
true Self. It is no t strange to allegorize mythical wa ter with a serpen t; rivers norm ally look like giant serpents. Indeed, Jorm unga ndr spit his eitr on h6rr, which kills him, in th e seering of Ragna Rok, so he is definitely interlinked with the ON concept of the eitr. With this said I want to add that the explanation o fJorm ungand r laying in the bo ttom of the ocean and there encircling the world, MiSgardr, is for me a m etap hor for the eitr taking form as Jormu ngandr and holds Midgar5r in its grip - saying tha t the eitr has contaminated the whole creation, through the roots o f the world tree; “from u nde r the bottom of the sea” and that there is no way aroun d it. Jormungandr is called « su er go dfia », "the one the gods hate", in Hymniskvida. It is a very severe appellation and shows that h e/s he was as muc h an antagonist, op pon en t, an d adversary as h is /h e r siblings.
115
G u l l v e ig a r b 6 k
, SK 0L L, A ND GARMR Grimnismdl and Gylfaginning illuminate us with the knowledge that the thursian
wolf Fenrir, also called Hrodvitnir, is the father of Hati, as Hati is called Hati Hrodvitnisson in Gylfaginning 12 and Hati, « hann erHrodvitnissonr» in Grimnismdl 39. Gylfaginning continue s an d says: A giantess dwells to the east of Midgardr, in the forest called Jamvidr: in that wood dwell the troll-women, who are known as Jarnvidjur (ironwood-women). The old gb antess bears many giants for sons, and all in the shape of wolves; and from this source are these wolves sprung (i.e. Fenrir, Hati, and Skoll). The saying runs thus: from this race shall come one that shall be mightiest of all, he that is named M£nagarmr (Moon -Garm r); he shall be filled with the flesh of all t hose men that die, and he shall swallow the moon, and sprinkle with blood the heavens and all the lair; thereof shall the sun lose her shining, and the winds in that day shall be unquiet and roar on every side.
“M anagarm r shall be filled with the flesh of all those m en th at die, and he shall swallow the m o o n ’. This line explains very muc h, it shows us that t he na me M ana garmr is both linked to Garmr, the guardian dog in the underworld, and to H ati who chases the m oon. A nd the words “he shall be filled with the flesh of all those men that die” refers most definitely to Garm r who attacks and d evour the dead in the u nderw orld, a nd the w ords “he shall swallow the m oon” refers to H ati who chases the m oon and at R agna Rok catches and devours it. This in my opinion pro ves th at Garmr an d Hati are in fact the sam e thu rsian wolf. It also means that Fenrir is Ga rmr s father as well as Hati s and their m utual m othe r is then naturally Gullveig: “the giantess dwells to the east of Midgard, in the for est called Jarn vidr... (she) b ears m any giants for sons, and all in the shape o f wolves; and fr om this source are thes e wolves sprung.” An d concerning Ga rmr, dogs have frequently been used by hum an s to g uard the ir grounds, so I dare to hy pothe size th at th e Old Norse p eo ple thoug ht wolves an d dogs were very close in nature.
116
G u l l v e ig
a n d L i l it h
All tha t a wom an wants to be; Gullveig is - because she has no fem inine weakness or submissiveness. She is the repre sentation of the ultimate fem inine power.
FOREWORD
Something that struck me in my Ed da -studies was tha t m ost of the aesir have wives and they are living toge ther in AsgarSr, much like us hum ans. H owever, the giantcouples never live together; it m ight say in some few stanzas that in this or tha t yard a giant couple lives, bu t they are nev er depic ted as both of them really living there un de r the sam e roof. This is a very interesting detail and the sym bolism o f this is som ething that m ust be bro ught up, as I will soon explain. I have an interest in othe r goddesses such as Lilith, Hecate, Kali and Ereshkigal, and this has brought me a deeper u nderstanding of the high feminine principle and its role in the m ythology and of the essence o f the divinities. By unde rstanding o ther traditions a nd m ytholo gies I understand ours better, the O ld Hellenic and M esopotamian ones are funda men tal influences of the G erma nic religion and have thereby had an imp act in universal elements amongst the mythological characteristics and essences. W hat I am trying to say is tha t both Lilith and H ecate are linked in essence to Gullveig and her daughter Hel, as I have explained before, and they share certain funda men tal characteristics such as for example the ultimate elemental fem ininity in the dark goddess. Fundamental aspects of especially Gullveig and Lilith are self-independence, strength, rebellion, and m otherhoo d. Giants represent the lawlessness, e.g. unnatural essence, attributes and manifesta tions, and th e sesir repre sent law and order, e.g. natural essence, attributes a nd m an ifestations.*
*
117
G u l l v eig a r bo k
GULLVEIG; THE UNDERWORLDLY MO THE R, CRO NE, AND M AID
She first саш е out o f Chaos as a black icy essence, infesting creation with a hostile intent. She, the Old One, then embraced the seed of Yggdrasill in the beginning of time and injected th e poison which is metap horically called waters of Chaos. She made h er abode by the young roots of Yggdrasill, in the shadows of the world tree and brilliant stars. Close to the icy and misty world o f eternal w inter she dwells so that its cold and darkness can Unger in her valleys in a world u nd er m en an d gods the rulers o f the u ppe r worlds. She knows the m well as she lurks amongst the m all in the guise o f their own. Cun ning she is, the wise one, draw ing her veil of darkness over their existence - sending he r beast to devou r the silvery eye, sending her beast to devour the golden eye; he guards her realm and gives her sons and daughters. Crafty she is, nourishing m en a nd the gods with th e foul water o f he r icy well; from where all waters, oceans and wells spring. The shining spirit of the old water is black and foul for men and gods. She is the old one o f the lower world and the m other to the ruler of the lower world. She is the wise one who bo re the serpent who keeps the world of men, the wolf who tames the up per world of the tesir’s races, and the keeper o f the un der world. I have sho wn that G ullveig is a mother-giantess, as she in Jarnv ibr produc es the dem on-ho rdes. The sagas say too tha t Barningar are coming from those w oods an d tracts, and also Loki comes with Naglfar out from the east at Ragna Rok. As it is told in Voluspa: In the east in Jarnvidr where the Old One sat, and there she bore Fenrir’s offspring.
And: The ship comes from the east, over the sea the Muspell’s Sons shall come, and Loki steers.
All of Gullveig s offspring are m onsters and hybrids; the re are even incest-related suggestions in Voluspa betwe en Gullveig and Fenrir. Her m ost famous children are of course Jormu ngandr, Fenrir, a nd Hel; a giant snake, a giant wolf, and a giantess
118
G u l l v e ig
a n d L il it h
- all of them are deformed Chaos-creatures - anti-cosmic essences which have taken an unn atural cosmic form. JarnviSr is located in the farthest east in the depths of Jotunhe imr, a dark place, where only malign an d anti-cosmic forces dwell. Their function is com prehen ded as wrathful because they stand for the reaction of the wrathful acosmic Chaos, a so-called dissolving impulse, towards all bou nda ries a nd laws, which are o f cosmic nature (Cha os has no bound aries and laws). JamviS r could be look ed up on as the s ph ere o f th e black moo n; whe re th e dem on- m oth er pr oc re ates he r kin, a portal to the dark powers - to the anti-cosmic and dissolving impulse. Esoterically speaking, I see the thurse s as parts o f the im pulse; in the ir highest as pec ts m aybe t he w ho le im pu lse - w hat C ha os ’ form les s energies hav e be en b ound into, or boun d the m into. The impulse can allegorically be pictured as a storm of anti-cosmic powers, which the O N my thology explains with the hordes of demons, werewolves, thurs-wolves, thurses and all kind o f monsters storming o ut ofjarnvidr w hen the war-cry of Ragna Rok echoes throughout the dark forests o f the Old On e.1 1Its not just from Jarnvidr, in
I want to rem ind you tha t Gullveig-Angrboda is seen as
the sagas the whole world is at
the mother-goddess/giantess, and as Heidr she takes the
tacked from the underworld
form of the witch-aspect and beco mes the giantess of black
and Jotunheimr by this impulse
witchcraft. She is the witch who walks the earth arou nd the
of malevolent thurses. I get the image of the Chaos-ocean
farm-houses under the name Heidr, and teaches "wicked” wom en the dark runes and seidr. As the keeper ofjarnvidr
flooding the universe from all its comers.
and procreator o f the thurs-m onsters she goes und er the name Ang rboda and is called "She the Old O ne” - In Al dna . This shows that she bears the mother- and the witch-aspects. Additionally, it shows that she is linked to the m oon , the wolves, an d werewolves.
LILITH
I would like to m ention that Lilith had b een wo rshiped for more tha n at least two thousand years before the G erman mytho logy and worship appeared, and that we have to bear in m ind th at the Germ anic religion derives from places like for example Me sopotam ia and H ellas. Lilith’s name appeared at the earliest in the Sume rian king list approximately from 2400 BC. Lilith is the female goddess o f darkness, the bride of Satan. She is the first wife of Adam who refused to subm it to masculine d om i nance because she claimed to be equal — and by her rebellious flame she rejected
119
G u l l v eig a r bo k Adam and voiced the secret name of God and took off to the deserted lands at the Red Sea where lecherous d em ons dwelt. At this place she stayed and bore dem onic hordes of hundred s of dem ons every day. This successful rejection o f submission and utterance of enorm ity towards G od could with out difficulty be seen as analo gous with Gullveig's exodus from the world (Midgardr) to the underworld (Jarnvi5r) away from God's residences. Gullveig refused to be overpowered, a nd as she was reborn every time the gods killed her, she obviously showed them that it was impossible to overpower her; th us he r ceaseless repellence of submission. To com pare t he utterance of God's secret na me is proba bly too farfetc hed, a nd it m ight b e too mystical as an allegory, bu t Gullveig s seering of the g od s ( cesir ) and the cosmos' apocalypse could be com pared in the symbolism o f the action of stupefying the po sition of God, to gain the result o f deadening and weakening. So she migra ted to th e dark land called JamviSr, just like Lilith, a nd there Gullveig bo re swarms o f de mon ic m onste rs, loo ked up on as the world-destroyers, just like the spawns o f Lilith are c alled the plagues o f mankind. On the note of procreation of dem ons it is im por tant to b ring up the detail that Lilith is called the soul of all the beasts, and Gullveig th e m ot her of all wolves and werewolves. Ano th er interesting detail in this context is that some believe that Lilith lived in a cave in the deserted land by the Red Sea. An ancient Mesopotamian tablet says 1 Patai, Goddess.
1990,
The Hebrew
abo ut Lilith: “Oh, F lyer in a dark ch am be r”1, which cou ld be imagined to have been a cave. A cave could be a symbol of a place in t he underw orld, “with in th e earth” w hich connects he r abode with Gullveig's Jarnvidr, wh ich lies in the underw orld.
This remin ds m e o f wha t Jacob Grimm once said: “for a cave covers, and so does the nether world.” This metaphoric comparison brings another myth about Lilith to mind; it is whe n Lilith and Adam were created as one and Liliths soul was lodged into the Great Abyss. This Great Abyss could be mythologically equated w ith the Old N orse und erworld, which is many times explained as being an abyss. The same goes, as I und erstan d it, for what the Jewish m ythology calls “The O ther Side.” Lilith is said to have been initially seen as a storm demon associated with de structive winds and to be a spreader o f disease a nd death. This is strongly analogous wit h Gullveig’s aspect as a “giantess o f the easte rn (sea) storms.” This mythological aspect of Gullveig comes from he r role as Hyrrokin, who gets called upo n at Baldr's funeral by OSinn himself, as not even the strongest dss o f them all (porv) could manage to move Baldr's funeral ship to pu t it out to sea. Gullveig came from the east (i t’s where h er abo de JarnviSr is said to be lo cated) as Hyrrokin, riding on a giant wolf ( pursulfr ) , and with one h and she lifted up the ship and blew on it, and it
12 0
Gu l
l v e ig a n d L i l it h
storme d ou t to sea. This my th connects he r with eastern storms and feared feminine powe r. In anot her saga it is said ab ou t Gullveig: "G ym ir s primevally co ld witc h bears ships amon gst s torm ing waves in th e jaws o f AEgir.” Gymir is one of Gullveig's hus band s th rou gho ut the m yths, and Aigir is an ocean giant, and he is also looked up on being the same as Gymir. As I have stated earlier, Gullveig is also looked u po n as a giantess of diseases, de ath and destruction; she carries this out in the w orld in the form o f something the an cient peop le called FrceAurbodu, Aurb odas Seed - the carrier o f t he po iso n. Philo sophically I would say that this "seed” could also be com pared to the noctu rnal an d malicious impulsion and persuasion Lilith has on both men and women, sexually and black magically. However, the seed might be analogous mostly to the theory tha t Lilith is in fact the se rpen t tha t offers Eve the fruit from the tree o f knowledge, the "fruit” here being a symbol o f a seed that im pregnates Eve with Qayin and his br ot he r. Gullveig is not really m en tio ne d anywhere in th e Old sagas as being a sex ual persuader, bu t Voluspd tells us this: Heidr her name was, to houses she came, the seeress with accurate prophecies. She wielded witchcraft, she conjured disease, she invoked Leikin, always was she loved by wicked women.
Lilith is also said to have " attached he rself to” Qayin and bor e his demo n-children, ma ny in numbe r. This correlates perfectly with the myth ofjamv idr, whe re Gullveig bore her son Fen rir ’s children, m an y in num ber. A s it is said in Voluspa: In the east in Jamvidr the Old One sat, and there bore Fenrir’s offspring.
It is also said that Lilith force d h erse lf up on A dam, against his will, and there by bore his children (dem ons, spirits and Lilin), and they
1Patai, 1990, The Hebrew Goddess.
sometimes "ascend from that earth to this world upon which we st an d”1. This ascension m ust me an that these d em ons, spirits and Lilin came from a world below, and as a metaphor and mythological comparison I take this as that they ascended from the underworld - the Other Side. This again is analogou s to Gul lveig and he r hosts of children in the underworldly dominion of JamviSr. Here are
121
G u l l v eig a r b o k some Old Norse thursian analogies: demons; ON flogd, spirits; ON andar, Lilin; O N Jarnvidjur. Lilith is also believed to be Samael's twin-sister and mate, and they were em anated as one below the “Throne of Glory” as androgynous beings. The Teutonic Germans were obviously very inspired by this while the Germa nic mythology was taking shape. Gullveig and Loki, which are the most known vicious husband and wife within the n orthern tradition, are mates and they had bo th a known and rogy nous nature. Ab out the m oon, Lilith is explained as being connected to the m oon, and the m oon pha ses being a symbolism of her transformation. Gullveig is connec ted to the m oon as a m other of dem ons in the forms o f wolves ( pursulfar ) , a nd he r wolfchildren are hunting the m oon and the sun to devour them, attempting to destroy the world. The complex system of Qabalah and Kliffot, and the lunar connections to Lilith canno t be comp ared with Gullveig, as the Old No rse tradition did n ot have that kind of a complex system o f gods and demons. Neither was Gullveig ever m en tioned as being connected to the m oon directly.*
*
12 2
THE DARK FEMININE NEXUS
I have endeavored to show that H el is is the youn ger form o f the d ark feminine god dess in the Old N orse tradition; w here she is the daughter. The The elder dark feminine form of the goddess is her m othe r Gullvei Gullveig. g. With this proven, the y are in certain aspects in in analogy with Lilith Lilith and h er da ughter N aama h in the Kliffot Kliffotic ic mythology and tradition, where Lilith is sometimes called Ama Lilith which means Mother Lilit Lilith, h, and the OI word amma, m other o r grandmother, is obviousl obviously y connected to the same Ama in the old name o f Lilit Lilith. h. Amma has never been c onnected to Gul lveig in the sagas, but as a mother-giantess very closely connected to the Lilith mytho s I would say it it would be correct to give give Gullveig Gullveig the epithet Am A m m a Gullvei Gullveig. g. Furthermore, according to to G unnel and Goran Liljenroth in their their book Den Gomda Gomd a GudinnanlNordiskMytologi (19 95) Hel was called Am A m a in
a pre-Vik pre-Viking ing era. era. I have never c ome across this this information elsewhere; regardless, it is very interesting. Lilith is also called Lilith-Taninsam, Lilith the pois ono us se rp en t1, a name that represents something similar to Gullveig Gullveig and her son /dau ghter Jorm ungand r2. r2.
1 Temple
of the Black Light,
2002, Liber Azerate.
1 Her serpent child connects her to serpents and dragons, as as her children represent hers and Lokis aspects. Remember that bot b ot h F enrir en rir a nd the Se rpe nt o f Midgard possess epithets that end with -gatidr, a word repre senting divine monsters as in wolves, serpents, and dragons.
123
G u l l v e ig a r bo k
'34'WVi>i
It s very very hard to p ut iron into place place in the context of this this book, and I have have thoug ht long and hard in order to be able to really understand why Gullveig s final abode would be called called the hon wo od, Jarnvidr, Jarnvidr, a n d Im stil stilll bewildered. bewildered. I will will first first present sundry theories that Iv e come up w ith concerning the name Jarnvidr - even if if some of them might seem a bit far-fet far-fetched ched - and th en I final finaliz izee with m y conclusio conclusions. ns. It s easy easy for one wh o follows the left hand p ath to think impulsively of traditional blac bl ack k magic ma gic wh er e ir on co rres rr es po nd s to t o M ars an d th e co lor lo r re d - ir on is an attri at tribu bu te of the Egyptian god Set, Set, the R om an war god Mars, the G reek Ares, Ares, and the Baby lonian god Nergal: gods o f war, war, the und erw orld an d the dead, as iron most often reflects weaponry and bloodshed. Rust with its reddish color has a resemblance with coagulated blood and iron has been for long been connected to blood as it smells smells an d tastes like like iron. As for rust, rust, it has be en th ou ght of bein g pestilent, in mag ical symbolism. To a certain e xtent this is analogous to Gullveig s complex character; it s proba bly misleading to call her a war-giantess, war-giantess, bu t she is the instigator of the re be llion lli on o f the thu rs- race ra ce,, the th e rise ris e o f Ragn Ra gnaa R ok, ok , as she s he an d L ok i are a re th e ones on es w ho trigger this downfall o f the worlds. However, the sagas sagas are no t directly calling calling her a war-giantess, neith er a leader of wars, but indirectly represe nting he r as one, one, and conc erning the/oMcvi the/oMcvig-my g-myth thos os in co nne ction to h er n ame she is definitely definitely an ou t come of war. war. She is coming to this world as three ho rrible thurs-giantesses a nd brin br ingi ging ng its do om w ith her; he r; she is in O N sym sy m bolis bo lism m the th e ve ry esse es senc ncee o f the fem i nine destructive principle, principle, an d in ally ally w ith Loki they bo th constitute the absolute absolute destruction - the bloodshed and the curse which OSinn and his his brothers brought upon the cosmos the day they killed and slaughtered Ymir. Thereby Gullveig rep resents war and bloodshed as it is a means for her pu rpose and existe existence. nce. This bro ugh t me to make the sam e discovery Rydberg did; in Hd va md l Rydberg noticed a detail, detail, and it s the nam e of a giant called called Asvi AsviSr, Sr, which mo st likely likely belongs belongs to the giant called “the “the f riend of the god s”, Mimir. An d acco rding to Ryd berg, Asvidr and Asvinr are the same w ord, mea ning dss-fri dss-friend, end, which caugh t my interest. It means tha t the O N suff suffix ix - vidr could could me an “friend”, “friend”, and th at gives a new approach to JarnviSr; which in this inter preta tion cou ld me an “iron-friend”/ ’’friend o f iron”
124
JAr
n v id r
This This inter preta tion is no t far from the analogies analogies concernin g Gullveig’s nam e a nd Jarnvidrs role throughout the whole mythology, especially at Ragna Rok, as it is told in Veluspa: The ship (Naglfar) comes from the east, over the sea the Muspell’s Sons shall come, and Loki steers. Monster’s spawn will follow the wolf.
“Iron-friend” in my opinion has strong arguments in meaning “warrior” “happy in battle” or s ome thing simil similar. ar. It would explain explain its purp ose in the m ythology; to spawn the monster-legions in preparation for Ragna Rok. It is told in the sagas sagas that bo th Gullveig a nd Fenri Fe nrirr are prod pr od uc ing in g mo nster ns ter-p -pro roge geny ny inja rnvicir; rnvi cir; armies. armi es. H ow ow ever, ever, they are are not m ention ed elsewhere in the myth bu t at Ragna Rok, wh en they storm out from this dark place place - which gives gives me the feeling feeling that they are only spawne d for tha t reason. Further mo re, Gullveig’s nam e which could m ean “goddess “goddess of w ar” corre sponds very well well with a place place like this. this. It is pretty clear clear that the pre-C hristian Scandinavian Scandinavian people interprete d iron as something deadly, strong and dark. They called the ass-god Vidarr “the possessor of the Iron-shoe” after after the m yth in the Edda whe re everybody saved their shoe-sole for his one sh oe so he could step on Fenrir s lower jaw jaw.. In the myth about the killing killing of Baldr we find find that Frigg Frigg took an oath o f iron (actually (actually the text explains explains that she took th at oath from everything in the universe universe but the m istletoe - bu t iron is is one of the the things things that is mentioned and thereby one of the the more im portant things, things, im po p o rta rt a n t en ough ou gh to b e w or th m en tio ning ni ng ). Fu rth erm er m ore, or e, we have h ave a prim pri m e examp exa mple le of the Old N orse peo ples’ distinguishing distinguishing of iron as something strong; in this exam ple stro st rong ng er than th an th e m os t fear f eared ed giant gia nt Loki. It is told to ld afte r Loki Lo ki ha d been be en caug ca ught ht and blam ed for having having killed killed Baldr Baldr and been sent to im prisonme nt at the island Lyngvi, Lyngvi, the dsir took took his son’s bowels bowels and tied him down w ith them, and the bowels turn ed into iron - these shackl shackles es kept Loki bound until Ragna Rok. This This shows shows how mighty Old Norse people thoug ht iron was. was. If iron iron could tame the strength of the the m ost powerful powerful thurs o f the underworld it m ust have have been looked upon as one one o f the strong est materials materials known to them. An othe r theo ry of mine is the one related related to the myths a bout Lilith. Lilith. As I can see see the analogies in Gullveig and Lilith’s Lilith’s mytho logies a nd in thei r essence, som e things connect them more than what you firs firstt think when you study both their mytholog ical ical origins. origins. First I want to re mind you o f how Gullveig Gullveig came to dwell dwell in the dark
125
G u l l v eig a r b o k pla ce called cal led Jarnvi&r; after aft er the t he cesir supposedly supposedly had captured her for the third time in her ne w disguise disguise they realized realized that the y could no t kill kill her, and there by banished he r from all all worlds worlds above the und erw orld 1, and for obscured reasons he r place place in the underw orld was called Jarnvidr. Jarnvidr. (The m yth that Gullvei Gullveig g was was banished from the gods a nd h um an s’ worlds by C)Sinn C)Sinn is is no t to be found in the O N sagas sagas bu t in Saxos medieval medieval books, a hypothesis assumed to be tr ue b ut for me very doubtful. Rydberg explains: “That the woman who in antiquity, in various guises, visited Asgard and Midgard was was believed believed to have have had he r hom e in the Ironwood 1It does not directly state in the sagas sagas that the Ironwoo d lies in the underworld, bu t it does says says that it lays in the east of Midgardr, and to the east of Midgardr lays the underworld. If you read the text that only refers refers to the underw orld with no mention of the upper
of the East during the historical age down to Ragnarok is ex plain pl ain ed b y what wh at Saxo Sa xo says - viz., viz., th at Od in, afte r his r e tu rn a nd reconciliation with th e Vans, Vans, banished the agents of the black art both from heaven and from earth. Here, too, the con nection be tw ee n Gu llveig llv eig-H -Heid eid an d A ng urbo ur bo da is m anife an ife st. The war wa r be tw ee n the t he Asas A sas an d Vans was cau c au sed se d by th e b ur ning ni ng o f Gul Gu l lveig lveig by the former. After the reconciliation with the Asas this pu nish ni sh m en t cann ca nn ot aga in be inflicted inflicte d on th e rege re gene nera rated ted witch. witc h.
in
The Asas Asas mu st allow allow her to live live to the end of time; time; b ut b oth
Voluspd, it describes different
the clans o f gods agree agree that she must n ot show her face again again
places in the und erw orld orl d and in
in Asgard or Midgard.”2 The reason wh y I dou bt this m yth
worlds,
passages
34-40
which cardinal poin ts th ey lie, lie, e.g. a river called Slfdr comes from the east (36) and SKdr is one of Hvergelmir Hvergelmir s eleven un derworld rivers ( Grimnismal 28, Gylfaginning 4), in the the nor th lie the fields of darkness called Nidavellir (3 7) , a nd in i n th e east e ast in JdrnviSr the Old One sat (40) . Indirectly Indirectly these coherent stanzas say that jarn vidr lies in the east in the under world. So the Ironwood must lie in the underworld. 2 Rydberg, Rydberg, Investigations into Germanic Mythology, Part I. 3In the mythology and in Old Icelandic called Flagd/Flogd and Troll.
abou t Gullveig Gullveig being banished by OS inn after being burn ed three times to be true is that that why would they all all of a sudden be able able to banish her from their worlds worlds wh en they have been lack lack ing the necessary power to do this before? before? It just does n ot make any sense to me. W he the r she had always always had this dark place or no t is unknow n to us toda today, y, but I mu st say that it makes mu ch m ore sense that she has alway alwayss had the place called Jam vidr as her abode. This This short conclusion conclusion o f Gullve Gullveig ig s "ban ishm ent” and m oth ering o f “de m ons ”3is anyhow very similar to Liliths m ytholo gy and origin, and I suspec t that it is is the the my th o f Lilith that in spired Saxos accoun t o f Gull Gullvei veig's g's “banishm ent” Lilith Lilith was ba nn ed b y God G od and an d cast c ast in to the t he de pths pt hs o f th e sea, se a, also allego alle go rized as the Great Abyss; which could be compared with the depths of the unde rworld where Gullveig Gullveig was metaphorically “cast” by Odinn. There was also also the co mm on knowledge th at
Lilith could be boun d by iron in the anc ient times. A good example of this, this, one of many, many, is found on a bowl found in Persia, Persia, probably from 600 AD; the old inc anta tion is meant to force ou t Liliths hauntings from the own er’s er’s house a nd to bind her:
12 6
JAr
n v id r
Bound is the bewitching Lilith with a peg of iron in her nose; bound is the bewitching Lilith with pincers of iron in her mouth; bound is the bewitching Lilith, who haunts the house of Zakoy, with a chain of iron on her neck; bound is the bewitching Lilith with fetters of iron on her hands; bound is the bewitching Lilith with stocks of stone on her feet...'
The understanding that Lilith could be bou nd b y iron made me com e to the conclusion that this is probably the foundation of how to bind evil in general. The fear of Lilith a nd h er Lilin
1 patai, 1990, The Hebrew
Goddess.
was huge in Eastern Europe in the elder times, and probably still is, and it mos t certainly influenced the Germ anic people w ho travelled through Europe a nd brou ght the mythological and religious influences with them to the no rth whe re the O ld Scandinavian religion was und er developm ent. This strong in fluence is evidently shown in the O N mythology as Fenrir was bo un d by magical iron fetters on the island called Lyngvi in the m iddle o f the black ocea n called Amsvartnir. Three times th e cesir had to ask the dwarves to make these magical fet ters; the tw o first fetters Fenrir sprang lose from, because o f his thurs-str eng th. Loki had a similar fate when the cesir finally und erstood the anti-cosmic intentions of Loki and th ey seized him and bo un d him with magical iron fetters which the sesir ma de from th e intestines of Loki s own son. They pu t Loki in the same location as his furious son Fen rir on th e island Lyngvi in Amsvartnir. Gullveig was eventually unveiled of he r evil and destructive plans an d was captured also, as told above. How ever, she was not bound in fetters, probably because her magic was too powerful for the cesir, which makes a lot of sense. As iron has been used to c apture and bind dem ons and “evil” with, even to trap dem ons o r evil spirits by enclosing them with iron, could this have been th e case with the Jarnvidr? I am thinking ab out the old sup erstit ion th at ghost, souls, witch es etc., are driven back with “cold iro n”, and for example it is a tradition to sur round cemeteries with iron fences to keep th e souls within th e cemetery. Iron was also used to kee p evil out, i.e. from C hristian ch urches. Som ething similar is said in Helgakvida Hjorvardssonar, m ore exactly in Hrimgerdarmal 13: Atli says here that the fleet has ON jdrnborgir, which is here a defense of
iron against witches or troll (falur ) . This view of iron is not far from the myth of Loki and Sif s hair, wh en Loki had made a bet with the dwarf Sindri, and as the dw arf is about to win the bet Loki transforms himself into a fly and “stings” the dw arf just so that h e ca nnot finish his powerful iron ham mer, which would be given to F6 rr and becom e the be st defense against the rime-thurses, «m est vorn t fyrir hrimpursum» (Skaldskaparmal 43). Loki is here trying to m ake the dwarf fail in
making this powerful iron weapon. All this could be com pared with the w ood being symbolically delimited by iron to keep the evil within it. It might have be en a region
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G u l l v eig a r b o k magically imprison ed me taphorically by iron - they basically tried to make a prison o f iron w hich the y tho ug ht cou ld confine Gullvieg. B ut just like her equal, Lilith, she was too powerful to be imprisoned or banished, she always came back for her immortal purposes: Thrice burned, thrice born, oft, not seldom, yet she still lives.
But there are a few things tha t still bo the r me w ith this hypothesis. First; the ac tion of imprisoning Gullveig is no t really of an O N mythological nature, because it is not like any other confinement that you can find in the ON literature. Loki and Fenrir got bo un d and ke pt in a cave, but according to the hypothe sis above Gullveig supposedly got kept in a region, called the Ironwood, free to do whatever she wan ted, e.g. having thursian offspring with h er son F enrir many in number. In deed, nowhere in the O N sagas is it told that she got imprisoned o r cast down into such confinem ent. Also, if she got imprison ed against her will in Jarnvidr, how was it po s sible for G ullveig to ap pear at Baldr s funeral to th e
cesirs aid?
This is what makes
me so unce rtain in w hat this woo d o f iron really is. Iron has m any different meanings in traditions and folklore around the world. But som ething that m ost old cultures have in com mo n is that iron symbolizes evil and darkness; destruction in a sense, as the iron was used mostly for weapons. Gullveig-Angrboda is actually Cha os’ we apon w ithin th e alien creation called the c os mos, an d she and her spouse and ally Loki are the spearheads w ho shall pierce the hea rt o f the demiurge and his creation: the iron seen as a meta pho r for the thurs essence which was bo rn out o f the ore (Chaos). This process o f iron could also be symbolized as a birth and transformation, and is again connected to the function of Gullveig as the mother-giantess. To compare all this and the Ironwood with a bl ac ks m ith an d his wor ks ho p, th e allego riz ation o f a da rk and evil place fo r a mothe r-giantess to proc reate evil is very fitting. She spawns werewolves there; the transformation of Chaos-powers allegorized by wolfish m onsters. To understand the symbolism o f iron and transformation a bit better you can study the m ythos of the thurs Ljazi; the most excellent blacksmith in the Old Norse mythology, his magic was unc onquerable and he transformed himself from the entity Valand into the w rathful thurs Ljazi. Iron born of ore (into weapons and too ls) could be seen as the symbol of productio n and destruction. So if we see her abode o r region as the place o f darkness where evil is continually generated, the nam e Ironw ood all of a sudden makes very much sense.
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n v ibr
♦ The iron-scythe is the symbol of transformation: the tool of produc tion and the weap on of destruction. After Gullveig s seeds are spread the iron-scythe will shed.
* The Gylfaginning saga tells us in sho rt abo ut the troll-women that inh abit the Ironw ood; t hey are called Jarnvidjur: «peer trollkonur er Jarnvidjur heita» . This name gives me a feeling tha t the p refix ja m - is an adjectival form which is suppose to ex pla in a ce rta in aspect of the characters; Jarn vid r the land an d Jarn vidjur t he inha b itants in my theo ry being an allegory o f the inhabitants’ mythological functional essence, no t the law of the region. If we take a look at the older spelling of the O N word ja m , isarrx, it is actually a combin ation of the O N wo rds ($s, ice, and earn, iron, whic h I found ve ry interesting in this case. This might o f course just be a coincidenc e and not have any etymological authen ticity at all, but xsarn does have both iss and earn within its body. We all have m ost c ertainly heard of the saying cold iron or cold steel, this is an old folkloric saying which was supposed to mean that iron always felt very co ld and in folklore was known t o w ard off ghosts and spirits. This was common knowledge even in Old Scandinavia and there seem to have existed par allels betwe en ice and iron. As allegories in po etry I can see many similarities be tween ice a nd iron; the coldness, the de athly aspect, icicles look like daggers and swords, an d their silvery resemblance. It is not impossible tha t the wo rd isarn had a much dee per and ex tended meaning in the O N language, a meaning that has with ered through the ages. Isarn might have been connected to the rime aspect of hrimpursar, it may even have been seen as anoth er usage o f the word hrtm. This is only speculations o f course and w ith allegorizations you can take it very far if you do n ot put an end to it. Anyhow, if the ON word jdrnvidr is an ou tcome of an older version o f the word isarnvidr we have so meth ing very interesting, bec ause isarn- fits much b etter with the inhabitants’ name Jarnvidjur. Isarnvidjur would, according to my theory, con nect them to the rime aspect as in rime-thurses, because they are thurses, a nd as Gullveig’s children th ey m ust be o f the rime essence too; Gylfaginning saga says that the Jarnvidjur are the children of the old giantess - Gullveig - ingamla gygr. With this hypothesis the Ironwood might have mean t to be seen as the region of the rime essence; a dark and cold place deep in the eastern pa rt of the underworld, conn ected to the depth s o f Niflheimr (I believe Jarnv idr lays directly above Niflheimr in the underwo rld, so the Nifl-cold mo st certainly affects Jarnvidr with eternal extreme winters and ice - see my chart He ldrasill in the a ppendix), a place where
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G u l l v eig a r b o k
ice is so old and prim itive that it is as solid as iron and even shimm ers like iron the shade o f silver. The usage o f the wo rd iron in the name Jarnvidr would have me ant "the ever cold” as iron seems to always be cold. Its very impo rtant to re me m b er th at the autho rs o f th e sagas in Old Scandinavia were very much into explaining all elements an d entities in deep m etaphors; the ir allegories were often so complex it is hard to translate and u nderstan d their full meanings today To use iron for a me taph or for ice would be a reasonable thing to do. Snorri tells us that this co nnec tion was noticed in Old Scandinavia, as he tells us in Gylfaginning 1 1:"... horses that drew the chariot of the sun, which the gods ha d fashioned, for the world's illumi nation, fro m th at glow wh ich flew out of Muspellzheimr. Those horses are called: Arvakr and Alsvidr; and und er the shoulders of the horses the gods set two wind bags to coo l them , but in som e rec ord s tha t is called uron-coolness’.”1“Iro n-cooln ess” is called in OI isarnkol, m uch similar to wh at I just discussed.
1« ... hesta, er drdgu kerru sdlarinnar, peirar ergo ftin hojdu ska pa t til atlysa heimana afpeiri sxu, er fl auS ° r Muspellsheimi. Peir hestar heita svd, Arvakr ok Alsvidr, en undir bogum hestanna settu godin tvd vindbelgi at kcda pa, en i sumu m frcedum er pa t kallat isarnkol».
2"In the east sat the Old On e in the Iron wood and gave birth to Fen rir s chiidren." 3"A giantess lives to the east of Midgardr in the f orest which is called Jarnvidr."
Skadi is called a Jarnvidja, and she is the daughter of the rime-th urs I>jazi, he w ho evoked the three terrible winters (fimbidvotr ) that would be the beginn ing of Ragna Rok. Is this no t an obvious “coincid ence ”, that the wrathful thur s who is one of the most dangerous a ntagonist to the aesir and the worlds, and who use win ter and ice as weapons, is the father to a fsamvidja? And as Skadi s moth er is no t known, and that Jarnvidjur are said to be o f the O ld on e in Jarnvidr, who might her m other be? There migh t be a confusion abou t the location o f the Ironwood ; it s easy to get the imp ression tha t it dwells somewh ere in the uppe r Jotun heim r next to Midgardr. However, tha t is impossible as it is told th at the Ironwoo d lies in the east of
Midgardr, and only the underworlds lie there: a) Voluspd 40 «a ustr sat in aldna xJarnvidi okfced dipar Fenris kindir» 1, b) Gylfaginning 12 «Gygr tin byrfyrir austan Midgard xpeim skogi, er Jarnvidr heitir » 3 (please see my cha rt of the Heldrasill in the appendix). This proves that the Ironwood is located in the un derworld.
♦
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n v id r
GALGVIDR AN D GAGLVIDR
In Voluspd 42 i t is said: Sat par £ haugi ok sl6 horpu gygjar hirdir, gladr Eggper; gol of hanum \ galgvidi/ gaglvidi fagrraudr hani, sa er Fjalarr heitir.
"He, the giantess’ herder, the ha ppy Eggper, sat upo n the h eap a nd played on the harp; above him in galgvidr called a light red rooster, his nam e was Fjalarr/' This m ysterious word galgvidr/gaglvidr has been thoug ht by man y as being an epith et for Jarnvidr, even by me, so I thou ght I would examine it; an d here s my sur vey and thoughts on the subject. Galgvidr , which only remains in Hauksbok, seem $ like an erroneous spelling of gaglvidr . Rydberg conn ects galg- with th e Greek wor d Х аЛ ко$ (khalkos), copper, also (po etic) anything made of metal; which seems reasonable depen ding on how old the O I word galgvidr is. However, so far I have no t seen any convinc ing evidence
to sup port this. Although, if galg- derives from O I gdlgi, th e gallows, which it m ost likely does, it sheds a whole new light on galgvidr. If we look at some parts taken from Scemundar Edda, just like the w ord galgvidr, it is m uch easier to see ho w galg[galg - would fit in. Grogaldr 9: «efp igjjan dr standa gorvir agalgvegi», "in case battleready foes meet you on the gallows-way", At lamdl in grcenlenzku 22 « gorvan hugda ekper galga, gengirpu a t hanga», 1Cleasby-Vigfusson, 1874, An Icelandic-English Dictionary, and "I ma de yo u a gallows for you to ha ng in", and Fjelsvimsmal 45 Heggstad, Hodnebo, Simensen,
2008, Norron Ordbok.
Od inn is known to be analogous to th e gallows-tree after Havam dl 138, Ynglinga 'aga 7, etc., from where he got the epithets Galga Farmr, Galga gramr, Galgavaldr, Hangatyr, etc., all deno ting "go d/ruler of the gallows." N ow w hy would Egg{?er sit un de r a gallows-tree an d Fjalarr on to p of it crowing? Well, it does no t have to be
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G u l l v e ig a r b Ck
too d eep as an allegory, we already know the full myth ab out F jalarrs inte nt to visit Egg^er, and it is to collect the magical sword G amban teinn for Fjalarr s father Surtr, the sword th at Egg|>er guards and looks after as it is hidd en deep within Jarnvidr.1 The kenning gygjar hirdir refers bo th to Gullveig (the gygr) and Eggf>er (the hirdir). If we wo uld to allegorize a tree in JarnviSr, a gallows tree w ould actually fit very well in a dark underworld forest full of malignant and hateful werewolves, troll and thurses. Not to forget, haugr in ON was also a grave, and since EggJ>er, the herder of the giantess-witch w ho he lped plan the men, gods, and worlds' downfall, sat und er a gallows-tree on a haugr to protec t the sword that will burn down th e world, I would say that the aut hor trie d to add a deathly aspect to the Voluspd stanza 42. 1 Loki
explains this in Lokasenna 42: «Gulli keypta
Gaglvidr, w hich is found in Codex Regius, means literally
goose tree or wood, and considering the Voluspd stanza above which th e word is taken from, goose has nothing to do with leztu Gymis dottur ok seldir pitt svd sverd ; en er Muspells synir its contents, so it must m ean som ething else. According to rida Myrkvid yfir, veizt-a pu pd / Egilsson's Lexicon Poeticum (1931) and Cleasby-Vigfussons vesall, hve pu vegr». Where A n Icelandic-English Dictionary (1874), the OI word gagl was Gymis dottur is Gerdr, the typically used for various birds in poetry, e.g. Gagl is synony sword; sverd, is Gambanteinn; mo us to raven as in gagl ognar, "gosling of battle", and Hnzgagl, Myrkvidr is analogous to Jarnvidr, and Muspells synir is refer Nagagl, Blodgagl, and Valgagl, as well as puns like Gagls leid, ring to Fjalarr, in Voluspd 42, the air, Gaglfar, enemy, and Gaglhati, enemy. These kinds of and his assumed company. epithets rem ind m e o f Hel s birds, the ravens and (carrion-) crows conn ected to Gullveig. As a bird-epithet, th is leaves me with th e hypo thetical translation " bird tree ” or "bird w ood ”, and the sagas are full of these "w itty” epithets as the O N po ets loved to be clever - it was/is an art. As I und ersta nd it, the a uth or simply chose a more poetic way of saying "tree”, as the roos ter sat up in it and crowed, he called it a "bird-tree” (as birds norm ally sit up in trees and sing in the wood s). Brate s Swedish translatio n o f gaglvidr suggests that it would have to do w ith the plan t Bog Myrtle, wh ich is taken from the above men tion ed b oo k An Icelandic-Eng lish Dictionary. K ocks hypothesis is that gagl would come from the Germ an word gagel (in Latin Myrica Gale), bu t in my opinion it s at the same time n ot too far fetched, neithe r convincing.
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ANGRBODA
I believe -boda is the feminine form o f the ON word bodi, mes senger or forebod er1, derived from ON bud, whic h still remains in mode rn Swedish bud, message, to b&da, bod e as in forebode, which is the English form o f ON bodi, and in m odern Icelandic boda. And angr- is without doubt the ON word angr, g rief and
1Reference; Cleasby-Vigfusson, 1874, An Icelandic-English Dic tionary, and Zc^ga's A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, see under bodi.
woe. So the nam e AngrboSa m eans “she the messenger o f woe.”
AURBODA
Aur- has been m ost often taken as the ON w ord aurr, m ud and wet sand; but I op
po se the idea th at it w ou ld stan d f or all words containing aur-. I believe it derives from the ON prefix or-, wh ich d eno ting a negative meaning as in English un-, and in Swedish o-. In a few sourc es Aurboda has even been written 0rboda: see Teutonic Mythology by Grimm, III, page 1149 where he quotes Fjolsvinnsmal 38, An Icelandic English Dictionary by Cleasby and Vigfusson unde r 0rboda whe re it is said: “the
nam e o f a giantess, Hdl., Edd a”, and Lexicon Poeticum 1860 unde r the word 0rboda where she is called uxor Gymeris; giganteae originis), etc. Indeed, the transition from aur- to or- did occur; see for example under aurgdti in above me ntioned An Icelandic-English Dictionary. 0r-boda, Aurboda would then m ean something equiv
alent to her oth er name A ngrboda: “she the bringer o f bad tidings”, or simply “she the messenger of woe”.
HEIDR
Heidr m eans brightne ss an d as a name of the giantess it is “she the bright one ”, as in ‘the one wh o brings enlightenm ent.” The dictionary An Icelandic-English Dictionary says that the Old Icelandic word heidingi, a heathen, could mean “a wolf” which probably derives fro m th e O N word heidr with the denotation “one who lives on
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G u l l v eig a r b o k heaths a nd wildernesses.” H ei5r was also a com mo n synonym for a velva, an ON seeress or witch.
HYRROKIN
The deno tation is “the flame smoked ” The name is created from the Old N orse words hyrr , fire, and rjuka, smoke; an epithet being made after the three time s Gullveig-Hyrrokin got held over a pyre by piercing spears and got flame smoked to death.
GULLVEIG
First of all I would like to dig into the mind s o f the people from Old Scandinavia and try to find out how the y came up w ith the name, o r rather the epithet, Gullveig (Gulveig, Gullweig, Gullveg). The nam e is clearly a made-up wo rd in an Old Norse - at least north Eu ropean - language. There are so many different explanations of this name, and n ot on e is like the other, so here I will inves 1 Wessen,
1968,
Svensk
Sprakhistoria.
2Later th e co untrie s o f Scandi navia developed their own runic languages which were de veloped throug h dialects of dif ferent parts of Scandinavia, as they still were pretty m uch the same sounding and looking. 3Something tells me that they also used techniques like paint ing runes and magical figures on animal skin, bones, etc. ( I’m thinking about the Swedish Samer which so carefully and understandingly have kept much of our Old heritage and traditions.) If you look into the religious history in the ancient times worldwide, this would be comm on an d credible. But this is just my own speculation.
tigate this and hopefully I will find the tru e m eaning o f the be autiful c arrie r of so many hid de n things. Until the Viking-age, people from Scandinavia were speak ing urnordiska - ancient Nordic. Urnordiska was a runic lan guage, and what we know of it was used approximately be tw ee n the years o f 30 0— 700 AD. After th at it sta rte d very slowly to sh ow slight differences in the fo rm of dialects in the cou ntries and places o f Scandinavia'. It is safe to say that back in that time the Norsem en had pretty much the same lan guage all over Scandinavia: the run ic langu age2. It is very im port ant to look into this in th e inv estigation o f nam es in th e my thology from tha t era, to be able to find traces of the an cient p eople s’ vocabularies and way o f thinking. All the words which have survived from the ancien t times in the Scandina vian languages do not always have the same meaning today. The hard thing about U rnordiska is that the O ld Nordic pe op le on ly carved th eir ru ne s in woo d and softe r na tural mate rials3; some few occasions on sto ne-bloc ks (whic h were
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a n d M e a n i n g s
rather a later cultus and custom) and in metallic items. This means that almost all evidence is lost, molder ed away by natura l causes. There's a big chance tha t Ch ris tianity when it came to Scandinavia in the early medieval times, made sure to bu m the rest o f the remaining relics of antiquity of the Viking age He athendo m. This is why there is so little known about the runic language, runes and its usage. Almost all the evidence o f witchcraft and magical use are lost, most o f the hidden meanings and mysteries o f the runes have gone astray, the same goes for the mythology. There is just a small percentage of surviving evidence left on a variety o f materials e.g. stone-blocks, bracteates, am ulets and some few simplified writings in boo ks b y nonand Scandinavian authors.
OLD AND MO DERN SCANDINAVIAN WORDS ASSOCIATED WITH THE NAME GULLVEIG
Initially I will split up the nam e Gullveig and try to find any associations, connec tions or unders tandings con cerning the mea ning of her name. I will divide the name into two word-stems; gul( 1)- an d -veig. The Icelandic has the nou n gull which in mod ern Icelandic noun, gull, which in m ode rn Icelandic means “outgro wth”,
1Gunnar Leijstrdm and J6n Magnusson, 1943, IslandskSvensk Ordbok.
“unevenness”; an d “mouth cavity”1. There’s also th e Icelandic
2“Giilsot* in Swedish.
adjective gulur ( gul-ur ) , which means yellow. There is an
1Cleasby-Vigfusson, 1874, An
other m odern Icelandic word which has caught my attention
Icelandic-English Dictionary, and Heggstad, Hedneb o, Simensen,
means ‘gold ”, “treasu re”; and “excellent perso n”, and a second
and I would like to look into, guluveiki , also called gula and gulusott2 in Icelandic, which m eans jaund ice3. It derives from
2008, Norren Ordbok.
the Icelandic words gulur (yellow) and veiki (disease). The g-sound and the k-soun d are related and no t far from each other. This was com mon in the ancie nt runic language; for example: it was no t od d to use the <-rune for both letters “g” and “fc” So co nce rnin g the wor d guluveiki I just want to look at it in a different way: If I split it up ( stem \case\stem \suffix) gul-u-veik-i, the w ord already re minds me o f the name gullveig. If I the n presume that the
was originally a g, or
supposedly the O ld Norse people just thought o f it as the same consonant, and then I also remove the case (-u-) and th e suffix (-i) th e wor d would look like this: gulveig (gul-veig). The word guluveiki and its association with the name gullveig is inter esting for me because it is a disease - seen by the a ncients as a seed of the devil, brou gh t by de mons, tau ght to witches: “I say th at fr om t he m ost po te nt p oisons he (the dem on) extracts a quintessence with wh ich he infects the very spirit of life, and
G u l l v eig a r b Ok
so establishes his devil-made disease tha t hum an skill is hardly able to find a remedy, since the de vils poison is too subtle and tenuous, to o swift and sure in killing, and reaches to the very marrow of the b on es”1Lilith is also known to be a wielder of diseases, illnesses and death, and in my opinion Gullveig and Lilith are strongly connected. The disease itself is just an allegory o f the danger that the goddesses (an d gods) could bring. As I have show n above Gullveig was know n to spread a disease upon mankind called FrceAurbodu, the destructive seed of Gul lveig, as she is the carrier of the poison. As in m any oth er tra 1 Francesco Maria Guazzo, ditions, Gullveig was the m othe r of all monsters, and these 1988, Compendium Malefimonsters were regarded as bringers o fsickness, and sent sickness carum. as poisonous arrows which struck men. It was known as Elf2Rooth, 1961, L o b in Scandina vian Mythology. shot, Hexenschuss, Alveskudt, Alvablast, and Skott2. We can compare this to Forspjallsljod 13: Eins kemr austan ur Elivagum pom af akri purs hrtmkalda, hveim drepr drbttir Dainn allar maeran of MiSgard теб natt hver.
It reads: "From the east ou t o f Elivagar come rime-cold th urs arrows which kill the huma ns and destroy the land of MiSgarSr”, which is to say tha t it was believed tha t the rime-thursian m onsters, Gullveig s progeny, shot the se fatal arrou/s ofsickness (skott) at people. I also see a link to Loki and the Mistilteinn-myth here. This might feel a bit farfetched, but w ith her attributes this assumption is no t that strange.
♦
In the Swedish lexicon Svensk Etymologisk Ordbok by Elof Hellquist (second edi tion 1939), under the word Gullmaren (Old Norse godmarr, god-lake), it is ex plained th at in the Sca ndinavian histor y of langu ages a tra ns ition was m ad e from the letter d to 1, as in th e a ssum ed na mes Gullbratid-, Old Swedish Gulbrander next to Gudbrander, and dialect Gullmund as Gudmund. In my studies of the Old Scan
K e n n i n g s
a n d M e a n i n g s
dinavian languages I have foun d tha t the transition d to / took place during the m e dieval times. M ore examples of this transition are traced in the R unic Swedish word gulli which is considered to be an abbreviated form of gudh- which in English means
god, and the same goes for the nam e Gudhlef-Gullelf. This proves that the re was an actual transition from god-/gud- (meaning god) to gull-/gal-, and that the gull- in the name Gullveig could be the Old Norse word god-/gud-, and thereby giving a whole new meaning to her name.1 I personally consider this theory as much more appropri ate and truthful than the other ones, which to me seem like guesses and unexplored hypotheses. According to CleasbyVigfusson s dictiona ry o f the Old Icelandic language, the Old Nor se word god was from the beginning a ne uter which is to say that it had no gender, and it was almost exclusively used in plural, as in the O N w ord regin, (with very much the same
11 have confirmed this theory with the Institute o f language and folklore in The Swedish Academy, and th ey agreed with its authenticity. 2Cleasby-Vigfusson, 1874, An Icelandic-English Dictionary.
deno tation as god) the powers, which might no t have me ant a plurality of gods but rather their po wer conjoined as in a “godh ead”.2The very old saga Voluspd 6 gives us a good example of how the wo rd goS was used: «pa gengu regin dll d rokstola, ginnheildg god», "all powers wen t to their power-seats, the all
holy gods". However, on rare occasions god was also used in singular and feminine form as in Vanagod for Freyja. Thu s as a hypothe sis let's say Gullveig was a tran sition from GoSveig, and let s say tha t god- was a plural neuter, this would m ean that the name m eant “the ba ttle o f the powe rs”, powers as in the godly power, e.g. the Old No rse two-f olded godly power: th e cesir (heaven) and the vanir (earth). So was there any reason for the O N peo ple to name Gullveig the battle o f the powers or shou ld I say name d after a battle o f the powers? I believe eve rything is explained in th e Voluspd stanza 21: She remembered the folk-war the first in the world, when Gullveig they with spears pierced, and in the hall of 6dinn burned her, thrice burned and thrice born, oft, not seldom, yet she still lives.
The/o/fcvig-myth (folk-war) and the account on Gullveig s executions are to be found in Voluspa and in Saxos Gesta Danorum ( The History o f the Danes) which
G u l l v eig a r b o k com pleme nt each other. The/o/fcwg-myth is abo ut the vanir, the lower god-power wh o co nsidered Gullveig as an ally, and whe n the cesir, the h ighe r god-power, killed Gullveig because of her illr witchcraft, wh en O Sinn him self used witchcraft at Rinds, the vanir became furious and ac ted with war as the cesir refused to compensate what they had unjustly done. This can be read in Voluspa 21-26. So this war between the two-folded god-power, god, was because of Gullveig and he r evil witchcraft, « volu velspa, vitti hon ganda ; seid hon kyni, seid hon leikin, ce var hon angan illrar brudar» ( Codex Regius).
It is evide nt to m e th at G ullveig is an ep ithet e mb odyin g this/e/fcvig-myth which her nam e suggests, and he r nam e Gullveig is only me ntioned once in the Scemundar Edd a all together and it is in th e same stanza where it is explained abo ut the war be
tween the vanir and the cesir, i.e. th efolkvig. As you will see below -veig derives from the ancient Germanic waijd, pow er or strength, which is also connect to the O N word v(g, battle, as in folkvig.1
*
In the age o f the Old Norse, Scandinavians had pretty much 1Peterson, 2002, Nord iskt runnamnslexikon. 2 How even this comparison
was accepted amazes me, no
the same language. Equally, the literal transition from d to l that I presented above was a pan-Nordic transition, not just a Swedish one. For example, in a grave found at Herjolfsnes
bo dy wo uld co mp are Lilith
(H erjo lfs Point) in Greenland a piece of wood was found with
with Eve. This only shows,
Runic inscriptions: «Pessi kona var lagdjyrir bord i Grcenalands
again, how igno rant people can
hafi, er Gudveig bet» , which reads in English "this wom an, who
be and ho w easily th ey jus t ac cept any hypothesis presented.
was named GuSveig, was laid overboard in the Greenland
To believe this com pariso n is to defile the giantess’ name itself. 3Palm, 200 4, Vikingarnas SprdL
ocean." In Run ic language we find that the nou n gull/goll generally meant gold, and I m pretty sure that the classic A n Icclandic English Dictionary ( of Old Icelandic) by Cleasby and Vigfusson
already gave people during the 1800s the idea that Gullveig meant "the one who loves gold; th e one w ho d rinks go ld” or som ething similar; the gold-hypothesis was also triggered by the m odern erroneous com parison between Gullveig and he r con tradictory goddess of light - Freyja2. Gull- in the meaning gold has also been used in Nordic literature in kennings for a wom an ( gulls selja); "the on e who wears gold or valuables."3
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I don t get it, and I have never found a n auth entic sourc e in the original sagas that says that Gullveig loved gold, something too many authors claim: Wagner claims tha t Gullweig means gold-ore1, Grim m in his Teutonic Mytho logy talks abo ut Aurinia and tran slates Gullveig to gold-cup2, and Rydberg talks abo ut the similarity between the nam e Aurinia and Gullveig s bi-name A urboda in his work Undersiikningar I Germanisk Mythologi: he points out that aurum is gold in Latin, which he though t could
have a connection w ith Gullveig s name3.1 am convinced that b oth Grimm and Ry dberg got diverted by Cleasby and Vigfussons A n Icelandic English Dictionary, as it says that Gullveig means “gold- drink ”
and “gold -thirst”; in Latin auri fames. Something they both overlooked (as well as Simek, am ongst ma ny othe rs), was that aurora in Latin means, among st othe r things, east This, in my
opinion, has a mu ch bigger relevance beca use o f Gullveig s abode in the eastern p art o f Jotunh eimr; Jarnvidr. She even
1Wagner, 1917, Asgard and the Gods.
2Grim m, Teutonic Mythology. 3Rydberg, 1 1886, II 1889, Undersoknitigar I Germanisk Mythologi.
has the epithet “the giantess of the eastern storms.” I have never come across any good reason for why Gullveig should have been c onnected to gold in the way people have shown so far. If the Old Nordic peo ple nam ed he r after gold there m ust have bee n a good reason, and I just do n t see it in the repre sentations yet. Gullveig is conn ected to the m oon, no t the sun - gold has always corresp onded to the sun in religions worldwide. She is not known for looking for wealth as in gold and s he is often called The Old One in the darkest woods o f them all - e.g. the black sphere o f the m oon, or the shadow side o f the world; the black earth - JarnviSr is located in the u nderworld. She is thirsting everlastingly for victory and she is covetous a nd greedy, tha t wolf like hung er and greediness cou ld be allegorized as the gold-thirst tha t spread like the plague through out the world. In the “Viking” society too o f course; gold there was a very treacherous symbol and was offered to gods in sund ry rituals, and the sagas tell us mu ch of its usage in blothus, skurdgod, etc. G old has also bee n looked up on as “evil” in many cultures, as well as the me tal o f “the sun -god ”. Indeed, wh at the gold-thirst did to people we all know, and if you d o n 't know you can surely imagine; it drove (and still does) people insane, it drove people to fighting and killing each oth er - and it created wars. So if I use the O ld Norse w ord veig with the me aning “a drink”; gull-veig could m ean “gold dr ink ” as in “gold th irst ”: it could be a possibility of an ep ithet for the way Gullveig s essence allured pe op les weak minds. It is this th at only convinces me why the Old N orse pe ople would give Gullveig this name: she came as the ice-cold maid a nd seduce d and allured men as well as women. A g ood testimony of this is allegorized in the Eddas Voluspd as it says:
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G u l l v e ig a r b 6 k
She remembered the folk-war the first in the world, when Gullveig they with spears pierced, and in the hall of Odinn burned her
An d a few lines later it says a bou t Gullveig-HeiSr: Always was she loved by wicked women.
This is where 1 can easily see the conn ection b etwee n th e war-creating goldfrenzy and Gullveig as the enchanting volva - h er essence is irresistible a nd it will allure your wrathful unnatural self. Pe tersen n otice d this in his rare and sim ple wor k1, in which he also points out that the golden age ended when the three horrible giantesses came out from Jotunheimr (see 1 Petersen, 1869, No rdisk Voluspa) - if Г т right that those three giantesses are a Mytologi. me tapho r for Gullveig, the gold-thirst the ory seems weak. However, I have ano the r theo ry that is close to the gold-drink and gold-cup one. As I und ersta nd it, Grimm, Petersen a nd Rydberg amongst many others co uld have be en rig ht, bu t it see ms like none o f th em unders to od th e mea ni ng o f their own discovery. The name Gullveig might derive from such a metaphor, bu t with a much deepe r significance. My th eory has its basis in the meaning of gull- as golden colored water and in -veig as in cup or well. Giants have been c onnected w ith water throu gh out the sagas; they rep resent the extreme and ph enomen al sides of nature, as in the stormy waves of the oceans, the huge un inhabited m ountains, and the p erm anent glaciers, and w intry storm s a nd lands. Even big waterfalls and roaring rivers are b e lieved to rep resen t giants, and ma ny names of giants derive from unco ntrolled and destructive waters such as those. Water is known to carry powers, and it has been used in most traditions through time in magical workings. Water could be seen as liquid power-flows. The earliest testimony o f the creation of the cosmo s in the ON mythology for example starts when the p rimordial ice of the w orld o f rime Niflheim r melts because o f the heat from the world o f flames Miispellzheimr, an d the sludgy waters stream out o f the gaping chasm as an enorm ous icy river wh ich was called Hvergelmir - the primordial well. Hvergelmir is the source of the ancient hidden knowledge of Chaos that the giants possess, and which the gods did not possess. This knowledge - gno sis - is a pa rt of the gia nt-essence ( pursaafl ). And as I’ve ackno wledged earlier Hvergelmir is e nding w ith a 'sh ore ” called Elivagar which in its turn is divided into eleven rivers which are reaching ou t throu gho ut the un
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derworld and are distributing its water all through the rest of the worlds - this is the origin o f all oceans and waters. This allegorization is the axis o f the giant race as a whole, evidently all giants cam e from this source; Ymir, father o f all thurse s - Ymisnidjar - was an ice-giant, and Au3hum la, the cow, produ ced the jotuns by licking
on salty icebergs. Ice here is a me taph or for sluggish water o r dor m ant po wer which is waiting to be released. For me, th e ice which melts a nd sets its water free in a vi olent flood is a very good metaphor for the sleeping powers of Chaos which gets woken by force by the disturbance o f the creation of the cosmic powers. The sleep ing powers of Chaos - the dorm ant ice - then awake and become at once wrathful - the ice melts and flood - the disturbances which awakes the Chaos-powers are the struggle by this new imposter called the demiurge - the creator of the cosmos. Thereby Chaos floods the cosmos w ith its wrathful powers to try to prevent the demiurge in succeeding with the creation o f the cosmos - this opposition towards the cosmos is apparent in the O N M ythology in the giants’ action towards the gods and humankind. A nothe r im portant issue is that the acosmic powers of Chaos are too complex for the limited realm o f the cosmos, so C haos’ manifestations always become deform ed, unna tural an d lawless. W ith this Gnostic view upo n th e creation, the ice- and water-m etaphor and th e deformed e xterior of the giants make good sense, in compa rison to othe r mythologies. So the storm ing waves o f Hvergelmir are in fact the w rathful powers storm ing o ut o f the Jaws o f Chaos: Gap Ginnunga. By my understanding of the nexus between the storming waves of water and the wrathful giants (thurses) the giants’ essence is mythological interlinked with the
wild ocean, the alarming and foaming waterfalls, and the violent and destructive rivers; this and all other violent, harsh and destructive nature-forces. Indeed, as water is a represen tation of sources of power, especially well-water which is know n to car ry the und erwo rldly powers, this eleme nt fits well as an aspect o f the giantessence. In this aspec t I w ant to brin g up Aurgelmir-Ymir first as he was the proto-giant and the foundation o f its races ( cettar ); his
1Simek, 2007, Dictionary o f Northern Mythology.
first named and known son and grandson E>ru5gelmir and
2 Cleasby-Vigfusso n, 1874, An Icelandic-English Dictionary, and
Bergelmir. Ymir is his m ost know n n ame w hich is suppo sed to
Heggstad, Hednebo, Simensen,
be derived from Sa nskrit Yama; Latin geminus; and the Indo-
2008, Norron Ordbok.
Germanic root iemo- “twin, he rm aph rod ite”1, and this c onclu sion is of course made out of his herm aphroditic fathering of the two mysterious thurses by his left hand and th e d eform ed thu rs t>ni3gelmir from his feet. However, it is his second name Aurgelm ir that is more o f interest in this subject; this na me is explained to be his name among st the rim e-thurses (the one s with the deep and ancient know ledge). Aur- derives from the O N word aurr, we t clay or loam2, even
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G u l l v eig a r b Ck sa nd 1. This refers to the slaugh ter o f Aurgelmir-Ymir wh en e.g. his flesh was u sed to make the earth ( Ymishold ) and his blood to make the oceans ( Ymisblod ). In Fjelsvinnsmdl Aurgelmir gets the epith et Leirb rim ir 2; far-, m ud3, an d brim, surf or
the oce an by the poets4: 'm ud dy wa ters” which is unmistakably an epithet he recieved from th e m ythos w here he got slaughtered and his flesh 1Palm, 20 04, Vikingarnas Spr&k. 2"Leirbr imis limum". 3Cleas by-V igfuss on, 1874, An Icelandic-English
Diction ary ,
be ca m e " m ud or wet clay” as in th e ea rth’s crust, an d h is bloo d the oceans. Furthermore, -gelmir means roaring, and this "roar ing” is speculated to symbolize the roaring of waves; as in stormy waters. So the name Aurgelmir becomes somewhat of
Heggstad, Hodnebo , Simensen,
an ep ithet for maybe a stormy sea-shore, or a violent flood; "a
2008, Norren Ordbo k, and HelIquist, 1939, Svtn sk Etymologisk
storming m uddy flood”, which makes me think of water that
Ordbok.
comes rushing down as a flood from the m ountains after a cruel rainstorm or a melting snow-cap. This - plus the fact that he is
4Palm, 2004 , Vikingarnas Sprdk, Heggstad, Hodnebo , Simensen, 2008, Norron Ordbok, and CLeasby-Vigfusson, 1874, An Icelandic-English Dictionary.
a rime-giant made of ice/wa ter - gives the proto-giant YmirAurgelmir a role as the origin of the waters and oceans - pretty m uch like how 1 allegorized the wrathful C haos-powe r which came storming out of Gap Ginnunga. A urgelmir s first nam ed son is hrudgelmir which m eans the powe rful roaring, which in
this con text wo uld m ean a "powerful roaring flood” or "powerfully roaring waves.” br ud gelm ir is said to have num er ous he ad s, w hic h he re wou ld symbo liz e several m ou ths o f a river. This is a very fitting me taph or o f Elivagar wh ich is explained as be in g an end or a shore o f a fierce riv er w ith eleve n m ou th s - th is type of aggressive po wer-flow is allegorized in o th er traditi on s as e.g. a b lack dr ago n w ith m an ifo ld heads: as the Bringer o f the Wrathful Current. So th e still remaining essence o f Au rgelmir could be represented by H vergelmir - the vast power-well o f "poisonous wa ter”, and ou t from it Elivagar as a wrathfu l storm ing flood is deluging with black icy waters - manifested as the multi-headed rime -giant Erudgelmir. By this fm no t saying that this is the actual fact, I m merely exploring their icy, watery and stormy nexus. Now, brudg elm irs son is Bergelmir, and his name is suppo sedly derived from the O N w ord berg, mo untain. Tm no t convinced, even thoug h it s not an unlikely epithet, b ut if you instead look at the O N word berja, to strike, beat, sm ite (at times as a punishm ent), it seems mo re fitting. Berja is used in violent situations, and I be lieve her - in Bergelmir is taken from the w ord berja in the present tense berr, strikes, beats, smites. In this sense Bergelm ir wou ld m ea n th e s triking a nd roar ing on e. This could easily be a m etaph or for the violent m ountain-rivers or waterfalls which be at and crush everything in their way. After I have made clear that the thre e first and m ost imp ortan t thurses are some how conne cted to or symbolizing vehem ent waters or waves, we can now move on
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K e n n i n g s a n d M e a n i n g s to oth er giants; thurses and jotuns. Petersen1put emphasis on Munir, guardian of the well of wisdom (one o f three under-
1 Petersen, Mytologi.
1869 , Nord isk
worldly wells). First off, Mimir is said to be the kee per o f the
2According to Sn orris Gylfagin
water o f all ancient and h idden w isdom; this alone shows his
ning.
con nec tion to water and primordial power. Mim ir is from the be nign jo tu n race (dtt) from A udhu m la2. Pete rsen also claims tha t Mim ir s well (Mtmisbrunnr ) is the origin o f th e oceans, the ocea n being th e origin o f all life. Well,
I have to disagree with that; only if he means th at Mtm isbrunnr and Hvergelmir are the same would this be true - bu t they are not the same. There are three underworldly wells, according to m y investigations: l ) M imisbrunn r (located in the N ort h o f th e underw orl d), 2) U rd arb ru nnr (loc ate d in th e Sou th of th e under world), and 3 ) H vergelmir (located in the east beyo nd the un derwo rld). This would me an tha t Mimir, Urdr, and the ruler o f Hvergelmir are all connec ted to the w ater and the primordial current. A very predictable happ ening com ing from Snorri in his Gylfaginning 5-8, bu t still interesting, is the saga whe n O dinn and his two b rothe rs (Vili and Ve) slaugh tered Ymir and used his limbs and blo od to create the world: his blood bec am e the ocean. There was so m uch bloo d in Ymir s huge body, as he was huge even to the giants, it was said, that w hen th e blo od gu shed o ut o f Ymir s wou nds it drow ned all rime-giants but the rime-giant called Bergelmir. So according to Gylfaginning , Bergelmir rose from the “ocean” and thereby becam e a sym bol o f the rim e-giant s race springing from the water. I feel confident e nough to say that this is wh at Snorri had in mind whe n he presented such a geographic allegory - All life spring fro m water.
We have the mysterious Hrim gerdr who is explained in Helgakvida Hjorvardssonar to be a water-giantess, conn ected with Ran b ut n ot the same. H rimgerdr s mothe r seems to be a m ons ter from the depths, an d the saga does not reveal her, which is too bad . The prefix hrim- in her n ame is a suggestion o f her heritage, and this would be th at she belongs to th e icy realms in Niflheimr. H er na me means Gerdr of rime and c ould be co nne cted to Gullveig s daughter G erdr an d Gullveig s icy blood. After all that has bee n said and prove d, we have to see by now th at Gullveig clearly has he r origins in the water; she s explained to be a giantess of ice, and she is the spouse to the ocean -giant Asgir-Gymir, as she is called “Gy mir s primev ally cold witch bea rs ships am ong st storm ing waves in the jaws of Aigir.” (Gy mir is the pa rent of Gerdr, so is Gullveig, and Aigir is explained to be the same as Gymir.) He re G ul lveig is allegorized as the eastern ocean -storms - he r spouse is the ocean an d she is
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G u l l v e ig a r b Ok the storm w hich makes its waves untam ed. H ere we can find very interesting con nections, first offAigir s m ost know n wife is Ran, and R an is the ocean-giantess wh o is the m oth er of Aigir s nine daughters; the ocea ns storm y waves. Now Gullveig is also allegorized as the “m ot he r” of the storm y waves in the line “Gy mir s primevally cold witch bear s ships am ong st storm ing waves in the jaws of Asgir” this gives Ran and Gullveig the same cha racter and attributes. Also, Ran is only me ntione d as a death-giante ss; in the sagas she is idiomatically conn ecte d to th e saying “falling into the ha nds of Ran” as in drowning in the sea. This gives he r the role as a death-gi antess in the de pths of the oceans abyss where she rules over the dead. This can be reflected in Gullveig s daughter Hel, the queen -ruler of the underw orldly realm o f the dead. I m ust say tha t the co nnec tion betwee n the alliance of storm, wave, and ocean -Gullveig and Ran, Gullveig and Hel- is unique. The fact that Gymir s name mo st likely derives from Ymir and tha t Gullveig might be the first rimethur s Ymir created, makes indeed the connec tion be tween stormy ocean-Ymir-Gymir-Gullveig as unique. An other theory could be th at it was believed that Gullveig s power was repre senting the golden water that you find in Scandinavian lakes and rivers - it was known that all waters in the wo rld came from the wells of wisdom (e.g. Mimis br un nr , Urd ar br un nr and Hv ergelm ir), and th at th e g old en co lor could easily have bee n lo ok ed up on as a wa ter colored by its rich ness: richness as in p rim ordia l wis dom - biologically this is true as well. W ith this lore the waters in wells would be even more sacred than of those of lakes and rivers. Naturally made wells were actu ally looked u pon as filled with magical powers - pure waters which came up directly from the underw orld. Such wells are com mo n in Scandinavian woods and are even saved in a few villages to this day - in folklore they have always carrie d stron g mag ical powers. They a re called sacrificial wells or w ishing wells, you sacrifice into it to receive a gift in return. This all derives from the be lief of spiritual powers o f the un derworld or within the earth that would empow er this holy water that poure d up from the mighy wells un de r the r oots o f Yggdrasill. Scientifically, in many lakes and rivers in e.g. north er n Eu rope the w ater has a yellowish and brownish color which is a result of dissolved organic carbon (D O C ). This could be one argu men t for the gull - usage in the nam e of Gullveig. W ith this said; I am convinced that au thors throug h time have bee n too lazy to even both er to research her nam e properly and just taken for granted that Gullveig me ant “the one who loves gold” - especially if you un ders tand all meanings o f the ON word veig.
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A sacrificial well fro m the Viking-age. Photography by the author.
Let's take a loo k at the suffix -veig in the nam e Gullveig. The
1Peterson, 2002, Nordiskt run-
suffix -veig is very com mo n in Norse wom ens names and it
namnslexikon.
has not been a riddle to unde rstan d its etymological meaning,
2 See Palm, 2004, Vikingarnas Sprdk , and Peterson, 2002,
but we know th at it d erives from th e ancien t G erman ic wo rd waijd, power or strength.1The primary the ory amongst experts
is that it origins from the Old Norse suffix -vig of the Old Norse no un vig; whic h m ean s battle.2 Vig has survived in m od ern Icelandic with th e same meaning.
Nordiskt runnamnslexikon. Also under vig in Dahlgren, 1914-16, Glossarium dfver Fordldrade eller Ovanliga Ord och Talesatt i Svenska Sprdket.
A secondary -veig theory is that it derives from the Old Nor se wo rd ve whic h m eans "a sacre d place” or "a sacrificial place ” We have the noun veig in m od em Icelandic which means wine, which drives from the Old Icelandic and O ld Norse word vieg, which me ans “a drink” - this meaning is use d in Gullveig s name as the 4gold drink.” The m od ern Icelandic wo rd veigur -
145
G u l l v eig a r b 6 k which drives drives from the same O ld Icelandic Icelandic word above veig with the secondary meaning of pith, strength, a nd gist - is mu ch m ore interesting, as as it means power, power, strength an d solidi solidity, ty, which makes m e interested and I defiantly defiantly see see a con nection. veig - veigur derives I would say that is no t a very bold guess to affirm affirm that veig derives from the
Old Norse word vig. To conclude this survey I would say that that I think I have proven that the name GulGullveig lveig actually actually means "the battle o f the powe rs” or something simila similar, r, an d derives derives from the/o/fcvig-myth.
14 6
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SUMMARY
L The ON 'word gull in the name Gullveig is most likely a literal transition from the ON word god, god - and not the O N word for gold gold.. II. II. The ON w ord veig in the nam e Gullve Gullveig ig m ost likely likely derives derives from the O N w ord trig, battle.
III. In conclusion and by all evidence I have hereby presented, I consider that the nam e Gullveig is based on the/o/fcwg-myth the/o/fcwg-myth foun d in Voluspa, in which Gullveig Gullveig was allegorize allegorized d as the trigger of the w ar between the gods; an d the reby was called called the “divinity/p rovok er of war”. war”.
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G u l l v eig a r bo k
vie) Angrbod A ngrbod u... )1ulf Lok i vie Loki at hjarta lindi brenndu, fann ha nn halfsvidinn hugstein konu; varS Loftr kvidugr a f konu illri; illri; £>a5an er a foldu flagd hvert komit. -Voluspd in skamma
The abyss abyss yawned immensely, as eleven eleven black projections reac hed o ut o f the ab solute darkness, uncontrolled and beyond measure the energetic limbs entangled the em ptiness o f the nothingness. They were to be called called poisonous serpents - bale pow ers extru ex trudin din g from the th e abyss. All of thes th esee power po werss had ha d an esse nce w ith a pu rpos rp os e and they took form - elemental and deformed. Darkness spawned darkness, darkness, and its light was black. black. One of the black serpents carried The The Flare - The On e who was two - he was bo m in the image of his originator; and as inferno in essence, attributes and m anifestations anifestations he came, horrible a nd giant, out of the pr imordial world and o f the oldest o f slumbering entities. entities. Through th e flames flames he was broug ht, a nd o f the flame flamess he became - bringing bringing the heart of the powers powers unknown to unleash unleash Hel upon whatever that w ould be called called life life.. He unleash ed the ever-hungry iron-night w ith a blo od -sta -s tain ined ed veil vei l up o n th e unb u nb or n seed s eed o f the th e creat c reation. ion. H e brou br ou gh t from fro m the th e abyss the om nipo tent scepter: his ever-evo ever-evolvi lving ng axis axis,, which would run throu gh th e coming egg. egg. He was perceived as the core o f fire fire,, som ething that only lightening lightening could be co m e in the th e m om en t o f strike, strike , or th e blind bli nding ing ho rn s o f the sun, or the th e infer inf ernal nal tongue of the raging volcan volcano. o. The lightening is is his arm reaching ou t o f the und er world as he grasps whatever his cunning plans have hunted down. H e is wrath, seen as wildfire wildfire driven by the eastern winds - devouring, burning a nd co rroding eyes and lungs; suffocating from all angles as a heavy black smoke. He is called Loki, Keeper Keeper o f Keys - The Dissolver Dissolver - Gullveig Gullveig's 's Companion.
As a thu rs spawne d o ut o f the Muspell-fi Muspell-fires, res, Loki Loki is the perfect illustration of an ally ally to to S urtr. His essence in the sagas sagas being like like extreme extreme he at; it pierces thro ugh anything. Unstoppable, Loki runs through all all cosmic cosmic entities with his heat as if the world tree itself were aflame (w ith eitr) and dissolves the m from inside. inside. The cosmic
148
G u l l v e i g a n d L o k i illusions illusions are are like a temple temple made ou t of gla glass ss for Loki, Loki, he sees right thro ugh it and with su ndry strategic strikes from his part it will will fall fall into pieces and rem ain un re pairable pair able.. The complex essence o f Loki Loki is extremely hard to divul divulge, ge, am ongst m any names and ep ithets he is known as inn Icevisi Loki, "the cunn ing Loki"1, Loki"1, and GeSreynir, which m eans som ething like "challen "challenger ger of the m ind or patience." patience." In Loki s true essence he is a thurs giant which various episodes in the ON sagas testify testify to: 1)
In Voluspa Voluspa in skamm a 11 it says “Loki bore a wolf to
AngrboSa, an d Sleipnir to Svadilfa Svadilfari; ri; am ongst all a witch w ho
1 I n Grogaldr a mysterious
This stanza explains explains m any things abo ut Loki s giant-descent, giant-descent,
threaten ing witch is called bin lavisa kona, this epithet is a feminine version of the Loki
he gave birth to th e gian t wo lf Fenrir, ‘the ‘the w olf’, and according
one. The Old Icelandic word
to Gylfaginning he transforme d himself into a mare and bore
lavfss means often crafty or
seemed the w orst, she was begotten from Byleistr Byleistr's 's brother.”
the eight-legged horse Sleipnir, and only giants have the traits of deformity and inborn su perna tural powers (as in eight legs legs on a horse ). The ‘witch ‘witch wh o seem ed the wo rst’ is the thurisan giantess of Niflheimr Hel, she is said to be begotten from Byleistr’s bro the r wh om we know is Loki, Loki, an d as Byleistr Byleistr is is mo st likely likely a giant, giant, his brother, Loki, Loki, m ust be one too. Note tha t Byleistr’s Byleistr’s name, “ea “easter ster n sto rm ”, and L oki’s oki’s epithe epi the t Loptr, air, are connected.
cunnin g in an evil sense (skilful in finding out how to bring harm upo n others, says Bugge), Bugge), as in the Old Icelandic Icelandic word la, bane , and th e saying blanda lopt lavi, "to poison the air", and Loki is called both Lo ptr and Laviss which is very interesting in this con text. This saying can be tra ced to Voluspa 25: «Pd gengu
2)
In Voluspa 47 it is said that, “the tall Ash Yggdrasill
trembles, the old tree wails whe n the gia nt comes loose. loose.”” C on sidering sidering the big drama the saga sagass have have presen ted o f the c aptur ing of Loki Loki and h is imp risonm ent, I think it is is safe safe to say this this pa rt is referr ref erring ing to t o h im - Lo ki the t he giant. gia nt. T o sup s up po rt thi t hiss Gu l lveig says in Baldrs Draum 14, “Loki will be free o f his fetters Dr aum ar 14, and all all Ragnarokian d estroyers will come.” come.” 3)
regin
dll
d
rdkstola,
ginnheildg god, ok um pat gattusk, hverjir hefdi loft allt lavi blandi blanditt е а att jotuns jotuns 6ds mey mey gefna», which refers to the
story, found in Gylfaginning, when the cesir on on Loki s advise and guidance lets a giant build Asgardr in trad e for Freyja, Ods Ods understood mey, and the cesir understood
that Loki wanted the cesir to In Voluspa 51 it says “the “the ship fares from the east, the lose the bet and Freyja, and
Muspell-folk shall come over the sea, and Loki steers; the monsters come with the wolf, with them comes Byleistr's
thereby Loki is the one wh o loft allt lavi blandit
br othe ot he r.” r. ” Her H er e it expla ex pla ins h ow th e th ur sian si an powe po we rs, mixe mi xed d races, races, are coming with th e Naglfar-ship Naglfar-ship over the poison ous Elivagar waters from the east as Ragna Rok has begu n. An im portan t detail is m entio ned here: only Loki Loki and Byleistr Byleistr are are nam ed am ongst these ragnarokian ragnarokian thurses, (wh y Loki s other
149
G u l l v e ig a r b 6 k
1Bugge theorizes: "Loki was tho ugh t of as the d em on o f fire... We have, however, further evidence that Loki was regarded as the dem on
“brothe r” Helblindi is not m en tione d here has an obvious expla
of fire in several expressions in use am ong the Scandinavian peasantry. In Iceland Loka spa nir was formerly u sed as 'shavings to light fires
nation to me, w hich is that he is
with/ and Lokabrenna is a nam e o f the dog-star. In Telemark, Norway, the commo n people say, 'Lokje is striking his children/ when there is
OSinn), which only means that
loud crackling in burnin g trees. This conce ption of Loki as the de mon of fire is based on the w ord s o f St. Luke: 'I beh eld Satan as lightning falling from heaven/ and on the belief of Christian theologians, that the body of the demon consists of fire and air. In the Cornish drama,
no t a thurs n or a giant, bu t the ass the author wanted to emphasize their involvement in the Ragna Rok mythos; which in its turn proves th at th ey are bot h thu rsian
'The Creatio n of the World,' Lucifer says: 'I am the la ntho m o f heaven, certainly, like a fire shining.' L oki is also called Lop tr, i.e. 'air.'” - 1899, The Home of the Eddie Poems with Especial Reference to the Helgi-Lays. Cleasby-Vigfussons An Icelandic-English Dictionary from 1 874 ex
giants. Gyljaginning complements this with the words “Loki and
plains this a bout Loki s derivation from a fiery origin: “Loki, the name of the terrible fire-demon, ha lf god, half giant, the friend a nd co m
with him all the rime-giants. All
pan ion of the gods, and ye t th ei r most fearful foe. We have a new sug
Loki” Neither, rime-giants nor
gestion to make as to the origin o f this name. The old No rthern Loki and the o ld Italic Volcanus are, we believe, identical; as thus, - the old Teutonic form of Loki, we suppo se, was Wloka, whence, by dropping the w before l, according to th e rules o f the Scandinavian tongue, Loki. A complete analogy is presented in Lat. voltus, vultus, A.S. wlits, but Icel. lit (in and -fit, a face); and, in p oint o f the character of the two demons, the resemblance is no less striking, as we have on the one hand Vulcanus with Etna fo r his worksh op (cp. the mod . volcano), and on the o ther hand the N orth ern legends o f the fettered fire-giant,
Hrymr shall come there also, and the champions of Hel follow Mu spell-sons would follow an dss, which proves again tha t Loki is a thurs. 4)
Gyljaginning also explains
that “Loki shall have battle with Heimdallr” and Loki kills him.
Loki, by whose struggles the earthquakes are caused. O f all the per
Loki evidently fought on the
sonages of the N orthern heath en religion, the three, Odinn, W it , and Loki, were by far the most prom inent; but n ot even the name of Loki is preserved in the records of any other Teutonic people. C an the
thurse s side an d killed an dss-god;
words of Caesar B.G. vi, x. xi, Solem 'Vulcanum' et Lunam. refer to our Loki? Probably not, although in Caesar's time the form would have been Wlokan in acc., a form wh ich a Rom an ear mig ht well have
this line itse lf proves his descent. 5)
To conclud e this list I be
lieve we all can agree that in mo st
identified with their own Vulcanus. The old d erivation from loka, to shut, is inadmissible in the present state of philological science: a Wodan from vada, or Loki from loka, is no bette r tha n a 'Juno a ju-
unyieldingly tries to trick, mislead
vand o/ or a 'Ne ptunus a nando.' May no t Loki (Wloka) be a relation to the Sansk. vrilca, Slav, vluku, Lith. vilkas, Icel. vargr, iilfr, m eaning a destroyer, a wolf? It is very significant that in the Norse mythology
ants - wh ich includes theft, lies,
of the sagas that involve Loki he and give the cesir away to the gi abduction, and m urder - which
Loki is the father of the world-destroying monsters, - the wolf Fenrir,
could only be seen as an antago
the World-serpent, and the ogress Hel; and, if the etymology sug
nistic, adverse, an d evil trait.
gested be true, he was himself originally represented as a wolf” And on Ic eland Loki was conn ected to Volcanoes, like Surtr, which connects th em to both; as a result o f this the smell of sulfur was called on Iceland Lokadaun. And the Old Icelandic had Lokabrenna (the blazing o f Loki) as a sy nonym to fire.
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Loki is also known as a fire giant1: «S a er nefndurLoki е а Loftur, sonur Fdrbauta jotuns», "His
G u l l v e ig
a n d L o k i
nam e is Loki, also Loftur ( Lo ptr), son o f the giant Farb auti” and Loki bore G ul lveig s childre n: «var d Loftr kvidugr afko nu illri» "Loftr (Lo ptr) got pregnant by an evil wom an” - ( «padan er afoldufla gd Invert ko mit» , "from this all mons ters derived", which m eans tha t according to this Loki and Gullveig are the ancestors of all m on sters and troll in the O N m ythology.) Loki is also called ulfsfodur, "the wo lfs fath er”. He is also consid ered an dss-god, for a certain am oun t o f time, with m any conflicting qualities, Gylfaginning says: Among the >£sir is he whom some call the slanderer of the >£sir, the originator of falsehood, and blemish of all gods and men: he is named Loki or Loptr, son of Farbauti the giant; his mother was Laufey or Nal; his brothers are Byleistr and Helblindi. Loki is beautiful and fair to look upon, evil in spirit, very false in habit. He surpassed other men in that wisdom which is called cunning, and had crafts for all occasions; he would ever bring the /Es\r into great hardships, and then get them out with craft y counsel . His wife was called Sigyn, their son Nari or Narfi. Yet more children had Loki. Angrboda was the name of a certain giantess in Jotunheimr, with whom Loki begat three children: one was Fenrir, the second Jormungandr, which is the Serpent of Midgard, the third is Hel.
As his parents are giants, why call him ass? The father is called the bale striker1, and his m oth er ’s name is Laufey which
1F^ba uti w hom I believe is th e
has be en com m on ly trans lated into a "leafy isle”; sup pos edly
same as ^urtr*
be ing a m eta phor for th e crow n of a tree. Here w e have to re mem ber that the giants' names and epithets were not made up at the time when the Eddas were wr itten down, the names are very old and have been saved throug h gen
erations o f oral tradition. The names are hundreds of years older than the dates of the Eddas ; some names might even be remnants from times before the Co mm on Era. This is som ething I have noticed th at has been overlooked too often. For me, Laufey does n o t necessarily have to m ean a leafy isle, thou gh I agree that it is very fitting and logical that Farbauti is an allegorization for th e lightening and Laufey is a "tree isle” - the tree crown, an d by Farbauti to strike it which sets it aflame and by that creating Loki. However, I am still uncertain of this translation, so I like to bring up th e h ero called BjoSvar Bjarki in Landndm abok who owns a sword called Laufi, this leaves me wi th the gut-feeling that lauf- had ano ther m eaning back in the age of the runes. If lauf o r laufi once was an epithet or a synonym for a sword the name Laufey on Loki s mo ther w ould make m uch sense as Lo ki is "the swor d s fathe r”; as he created the vindictive sword called Gam banteinn - ano ther nam e for LaevateinnHaevateinn - as it is said in Fjolsvinnsmdl:
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G u l l v e ig a r b Ok
Laevateinn hann heitir, en hann gerfli Loptr ryninn fyr nagrindr nedan; \ seigjarnkeri liggr hann hj£ Sinmoru, ok halda njardlasar mu.
Snor ri s Na fnap ulur actually confirms tha t laufi is a kennin g for a sword; which in turn confirms my finding. C oncer ning the stanza quo ted above, it says tha t Loki created the sw ord Laevateinn-Gambanteinn, and in S nor ris list of mythological ep ithets he mentions Ulfr, wolf, as one a mo ngst m any wolf-related epithe ts for a sword (Nafnapulur 43). F urtherm ore, Loki is called ulfsfedur, "the wo lf s father", (Lok i is
also called fa di r mo rna, "the swords father"), an d this epithet has been taken for granted to be a name after his wolf-child Fenrir, bu t as it also could inte nd the sword Gam banteinn I think we should think again - considering his epithet fa dir mo rna. The same list men tions Nidhoggr (48) and Naglfari (47 ) as epithets for a m ytho logical sword, this is very interesting and could give the Ragna Rok m ythos a whole new perspective. NiShoggr, the on e who strikes with scorn, is a very good e pithet for a sword, especially the sword Gambanteinn. Now, I do not exclude that Nidho gg r is a C haos -dra go n dwelling in th e de pths of Hvergelm ir, I am just s pe cu lating on different aspects of the sagas. This rich list, Na fnap ulur, also mentions many nam es tha t mean fire or flame, which reminds m e very mu ch of the flaming sword given to or made for Surtr: Gambanteinn.
1The ON word hrimkalki is only used three times in the Edda ; two times in Lokasenna
and one time in Sh'rnismdl 37 where Gerdr, daug hter of Aur bod a-G ullv eig , offers Skirnir a hrimkdlki with yearlong mead,
but he rid es ho me instea d of taking
it; compared to Lokasenna 53 wh ere Loki takes the hrimkdlki and drinks o f it: in both cases the “rime-chalice” belongs to t he (rim e-) giants.
Something very strange is that Loki is also connected to the rime-thurses in a paradoxal way, which we can trace in these lines from Lo kas enna : pa gekk Sif fram ok byrladi Loka \ hrimkcilki mjo6 ok maelti: Heill ver pu nu, Loki, ok tak vid hrimkalki fullum foms mjadar... *** Then Sif walked up to Loki and poured mead in a rime-chalice, and she spoke: Hail to you, Loki, take this rime-chalice full of yearlong mead...
Hrim - is only connec ted with rime-thurses in the O N mythology, and Loki is the
only one in Lokasenna who gets served m ead in hrimkalki, a rim e-c halice 1. This is
15 2
G u l l v e ig a n d Lo k i evidently a way for the au thor to connec t him with the rime-thurses, hrimkalki for a hrimpurs; which reminds me of Gylfagitining where it is said: “Loki and H rym r shall come the re also, and with h im all the rime-giants.” Indee d, the rime-thu rsian pre fix hrim- is used once more in Lokasenna 49: Lett er [эёг, Loki; mun-at-tu lengi sv£ leika lausum hala, pvi at f)ik a hjorvi skulu ins hrimkalda magar gornum binda доб.
For Brate and many othe rs it is just taken for granted that this stanza says that Loki will be bou nd by “his own s ons rimecold bowels,” bu t it says no thin g ab out his son in this stanza, it is Snorri in his later Edda wh o says tha t it is his so ns bow els1. Here it just says that Loki will be bou nd with hrimkalda bowels, they could be his own or a me taph or for magical chains of rime-
1«Brugdu cesir Vila i vargs tiki og reifhan n i sundur Narfa, brdtiur sinn. Pd toku xsirparma hans og bundu Lok a tried . . . »
2Cleasby-Vigfusson, 1874, An Icelandic-English
Dictionary.
thursian strength. It is also com mo nly assumed tha t the stanza
Zc^ga, 1910, A Concise Diction ary of Old Icelandic. Egilsson,
says that Loki will be pu t on sharp rocks, wh en it actually says
1931, Lexicon Poeticum, and
on a sword: hjorr2, sword. For me, Hjorr here being hypo thet
Heggstad, Hodnebo, Simensen,
ically an allegory for sharp rocks is actually misplaced and mis leading. In Lokasenna it is said that Loki shall lie on a hjorr, a sword, and in Gylfaginning it is said that he shall lie on three eggsteinar (prjd eggsteina): eggsteinn, an edge or a sharp sto ne 3.
2008, Norron Ordbok. 3Cleasby-Vigfusson, 1874, An Icelandic-English Dictionary.
4Fjolsvinnstndl.
But in Nafnapulur, Snorra Ed da, under epithets for swords we find Eggsteinar (49) . This shows that eggsteinar are no rocks, the y are three swords. This connects Loki even more with the sword-mythos. Loki is the son of the h urrican e- and th und er-gia nt Farbauti, “the bale striker”; wh om I believe is the same as Surtr, supreme ru ler o f Muspellzheimr. This could mean that Loki is Surtr s burning sword that he plans to thru st the demiurge and the creation s heart with. Inde ed, as Loki is said to be th e c reator o f Gam banteinn 4, Surtr s sword o f vengeance, pieces s tart to fall in place, at least for me, and I star t to see the co nnec tion m ore clearly. Gam banteinn is mostly likely an aspect o f Loki as he is always involved in the m yths and developm ents o f this sword. Loki made this sword out o f the flames of Muspell and with the incinerating thursian runes of his father, and it is analogous with M istilteinn and lays as ground fo r th ejjolkyngiweap on he killed Baldr with.
1S3
G u l l v eig a r b o k I will not go further into the Gam banteinn-myth here as it is too m uch o f a big work an d it does no t belong in this bo ok o f Gullveig, but I will investigate this ex tremely imp ortant G ambanteinn-m yth elsewhere. Now, ba ck t o Gullveig an d Loki s relation, th e m os t classic e vid ence for th eir al liance is found in some lines from Voluspa in skamm a 11,12: Loki begat the wolf with AngrboSa Loki ate a heart burnt upon the embers, he found the half-singed heart of a woman. Loptr was expectant with child of that wicked woman; and from this all monsters derived.
The wo lf is Fenrir, and A ngrboSa is, as you know by now, Gullveig; L op tr is an other name for Loki which m eans “the one aloft” and the wicked wom an is Gullveig. Then we have the classic par t from Gylfaginning 34: Yet more children had Loki. Angrboda was the name of a certain giantess in Jotunheimr, with whom Loki gat three children.- one was Fenrir, the second Jormungandr, which is the Serpent of Midgard, the third is Hel.
These two examples are the fo unda tion o f Gullveig and Loki s relationship and then many sagas with themselves individually elaborate their companionship and unconquerable purposes. Like Niflheimr and Muspellzheimr they came out o f no th ingness, one was created from rime an d one from flames, Gullveig and Lo ki came as a two-fold fiend to co unteract an d antagonize the creation and its demiurge. Bo th came storm ing ou t of Utgardr, Logi and Ursvol, to dissolve from all ends - fire and ice striking from each side. Two heroes w ho sacrifice themselves fearlessly - warriors and rulers: liberators and avengers. In addition, I wa nt to ad d an other strong piece of evidence of their relations, Loki s ep ithet/a rm r arma galdrs hapts in P6rsdrapa-,farmr arma , "the arm-burden", which mean s spouse, and galdrs hapt , "the deity o f sorcery ".farmr arma galdrs hapts for me refers to Gullveig as she is known in the O N mythology as the sorcerous spouse to Loki.
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G u l l v e ig a n d L o k i The ON sagas tell us how this two-fold concu rrent powe r - dynamic and de structive - Gullveig and Loki came ou t of Chaos, took form, pen etrated th e cosmos as alien and unknown powers, and infiltrated the worlds undetected and actually got recognized as gods; Loki got called dss and Gullveig was assume d to come from the race of the vanir, as far as the surviving myth-fragm ents go. If two thurs ian giants were able to transform even in essence so that the wisest of the gods could no t rec ognize them as invaders from th e antag onistic races of hrimpursar and muspells synir, they must have been superior to all the powers within the cosmic worlds. Indeed, like Gullveig, Loki was a unique shape-shifter; they b oth knew th e rare a rt o f tran s forming bo th in manifestation and essence. They were also very sharp observers of others character, and used it quick-wittedly to others' disadvantage. In that, Loki misled and tricked everybody and m ade a fool out o f them. Furthermore, wh en it com es to Lok i s sly plans, he was always long ahead, an d he always forme d th em so that the m ost maleficent plans seemed to be the mo st beneficent and favourable. Wits, viciousness and bo ttomless spitefulness are coalesced in the essence of Loki, some thing he shares with Gullveig - also the dem onized thursian aspect that brings evil and vexation, mockery and frustration amongst the gods and goddesses, and to the hum ans in M idgardr as well. Even if Loki mostly is looke d up on as a jester like troublemake r on the surface he plants de vastating seeds in the ign orant souls of the cesir wit hou t them seeing it, and the reby reveals his super ior intelligence. Even OSinn, th e so-called “all seeing on e”, gets profoun dly deceived from day one by his mysterious blood-brother Loki. As the father and mo ther o f Jormungandr, Fenrir, and Hel, Loki and Gullveig represent the true emb odime nt o f all that underlies the very essence o f all the Ragna Rok forces: the emanations a nd current o f an anticosmic Chaos - seen from a C haos-Gnostic perspective of course. However, even if the sagas clearly illustrate the m b o th as a co uple an d allies, it is no t once told tha t the y ever lived together. This is a mystery th at follows every giant and giantess in the un derw orld in the sagas. For me, it is an un solved mystery, and it haunts my mind. I believe the only reasonable motive for this is that the giants are representations of the wild, forceful, adverse, a nd alienated powers; and thereby they canno t submit to causality. I believe Gullveig and L oki could be the absolute represen tations o f the fem inine an d masculine acausal powe r ascending from Niflheimr and Muspellzheimr. Another mystery amongst the giants is their siblings, most often there are only names but n o furth er details. However, a good thing is that the n ames are often ep ithets. Epithet is explained by an English dictionary as “a characterizing word or ph rase firm ly associate d with a pe rson or thing a nd often u se d in place o f an a ctual
155
G u l l v eig a r b o k name.” The O N epithets often explained cha racters’ actions in the old sagas, which in turn helps you with ide ntifyin g the charac ters. E.g. Loki is called Litr, salmon , as he twice (th at we know o f) transforme d himself into a salmon in the sagas, and Gullveig is called Hyrrokin, flame-smoked, as she got burned thrice by the desir . Now, Loki has two b rothers, o ne is called H elblindi, and O N blindr normally means blind, b ut c ou ld on rare occasions mean dark or hidden , and I thin k his na me h as ju st that de no tatio n; th e exact m ea ning of Helblindi is ver y h ard to figure out but “the one blinded from Hel or the one who shuns death” are, for me, two possible translations. Helblindi is never m entio ned in the Scemundar Edda , but in Gylfaginning is he mentioned b oth as Lokis brother and as an epithet for OSinn (20). This
makes me think of Loki and Odum's mysterious blood-bro therhood , blddi, Helblindi is only mentioned once in Gyljaginning as Lokis brother, bu t it does not say if they share parents, it is no t said there, which have been comm only 1 «S d er nejndr Loki е а Loftr,
taken for granted, that Farbauti is specifically Helblindi s father,
sonrFdrbauta jotuns. M6dir bans
Helblindi is only men tione d as being Lo kis b ro th er 1. The saga
heitirLaufey eba Ndt г с е Ъ г hans
called Soria pdttr makes it even clearer as it says that Far bauti jus t
erupeir Byleistr ok Helblin di».
got one son in its second chapter: «Р
и dttu ser einn son barna.
Sd varLoki nejndr», "They had one son, and he was nam ed Loki".
With this I strongly suspect th at Helblindi is exclusively an epith et for OS inn. Indeed, as OSinn ju st has on e eye and c anno t see as far as to Nifl-Hel (Niflhe imr) the name ma kes sense to me. Lok is othe r broth er is called Byleistr , his nam e is put together from the O N words bylr , a whirlwind o r a violent gust o f wind, and eistr, the o ne coming from the east, eistr bein g an e pithe t for a giant. Byleistr, "the wh irl wind or the storming one coming from the east" kind of reminds me of a certain gygr who is called “the giantess of the eastern storms.”
Furthermore, b oth Loki and Gullveig-Aurboda were adopted by O Sinn into Asgardr in the ON sagas, a very odd thing for him to do as Allvisi. This can only me an that Gullveig and Loki tricked OSinn and the rest of the cesir into believing that they were one o f them. Gullveig and Loki are the only antagonistic giants wh o have bee n adopted into the realm which otherwise is strictly forbidden for any rime-thurses and m uspell-thurses to enter. But long after Loki had fooled the gods and brou ght his evil cunning u pon them, his final act was to kill Baldr, (see m y chap ter on the killing of Baldr for a detailed survey of Gullveig and Loki s conspiracy), they finally unde rstoo d his true self, and Loki withdrew from their realm AsgarSr. It is said that th e gods eventually found Loki hiding ou t in a river:
156
G u l l v e i g a n d L o k i
En eftir betta falst Loki i Franangrsforsi \ lax liki.
So when Loki was revealed as Baldr s murderer he left Asgardr and hid trans form ed into a salmon in a river called Franangrsfoss. First off, I wan t to pu t emphasis on Loki s transformation into a salmon. Fo r me it was no accident that a salmon was chosen to allegorize Loki in the myths, because the salmon is a very strange fish and it has extraordinary qu alities that fit Loki s essence in the my thology very well. The most kno wn cu riosity with th e salmon, an d trout, is its remarkable trans formation, the salmon is something called anadromous; bo rn in freshwater then migran ts to th e ocean and lives the bigger pa rt o f its life in saltwater, a nd finally it returns to the freshwater where it was born, the same location, to reproduce and die. The salmons life span witness, strangely enough, o f Lok is o dd existence in the sagas: he is master o f disguises, as well in transform ation, regardless in wha t situa tion; and Loki started his journey in the u nderwo rld - or in M uspellzheimr if you will - and travelled to MiSgarSr and to Asgardr to live the m ost pa rt o f his life. In this context I compare Mi3gar3r and Asgardr - the u pper worlds - to the salty ocean water: salt being here a me taph or for “the repellence of evil” or the “dayside” of the world “free” from thursian influences, and Loki had n o pr oblem in adjusting to this, be ca us e his M iispell- core is eternally glow ing an d forever co ncea led for anyone o r anything to perceive. Subsequently Loki returns to the “nightside” - the und erworld - to finish his ragnarokian journey. Analogous to th e salmon, Loki goes through several major transformations throu gh out his journey, to best adjust to the situation at hand, this is exactly what makes him a superior thurs w hich n o god can defeat. Now, a na tural th ing f or Loki to do whe n he is h unte d by the cesir for the m urder o f one o f their m ost beloved gods is to withdraw to his hom e lands; to Jotunheim r in the underworld,
1Cleasby-Vigfiisson, 1874, An Icelandic-English
Dictionary,
Zoega, 1910, A Concise Diction
o r even to Muspellzheimr. The last location is no t reasonable,
ary o f Old Icelandic, and Palm,
an d as neithe r o f the sagas Lokasenna o r Gylfaginning explain
2004, Vikingarnas Sprdk.
in what direction he went (normally the sagas add cardinal po ints) or whe re this river was located, we have to guess whe re he withdrew , and my be st guess is of course Jotu nhe im r in the unde rworld. A nd wh y of all places does he hide in a river as a salmon? If he w ent back to Muspellzheimr he would be per fectly safe. There m ust have been som ething else the story-teller wanted to manifest with this strange allegorization - and I think the answer lies in the choice of na m e/ep ithet of the river Franangrsfoss. Fran- can only come from o ne O N word: fra nn, which m eans gleaming and flashing, which was only used in p oe try as an ep
ithet for serpents, swords an d sharp w eapon s1* -angr- is unmistakably the same angr , woe, as in Angrbo5 a. -foss simply mean s river. So franan gr would m ean some-
157
G u l l v e ig a r b Ok thing like the shining woe, wh ich by me is an undeniable epith et for Gullveig: she is called Heidr, the shining one, a nd AngrboSa, the messe nger of woe. Equally, the fact that I have already established that Gullveig is originated from water and ice connects h er with rivers too o f course. F urthermore, the ingenious choice o f the word fran n w hich is a metaph or for a gleaming river - rivers which look m ost often like giant serpents - and the wo rd frdn n's connec tion with swords in poetry in this context m ust have been though t of as the underworldly rivers which spring from Hvergelmir, rivers with poison, eitr , which is allegorized in the ON sagas as rivers with swords and sharp weapons on th eir beds. In Jotun heim r lays the abode of Angrboda and Hvergelmir s rivers m ost likely run throu gh o r into her abode, which is of course Jarnvidr. So for me, Loki withdrew after the m urde r of Baldr to his coun terpart and com panions tracts in Jarnvidr in Jotunheimr. And at Ragna Rok Loki comes with the ship called Naglfar, the ship holds Fenrir, his mo nster kin an d Heljarsinnar. Gylfaginning says: Thither shall come Fenrir also and Jormungandr; then Loki and Hrymr shall come there also, and with him all the rime-giants. All the champions of Hel follow Loki.
And Voluspa says: Hrymr steers from the east, the waters rise, Jormungandr is coiling in jotun-rage. The serpent beats the water, and the eagle screams: the beak tears corpses; Naglfar is loosed. That ship fares from the east: come will Muspell’s people over the sea, and Loki steers. The monster’s kin goes all with the wolf; with them the brother is of Byleist on their course.
This shows that Loki does dwell in the east in Jotu nh eim r close to Ragna Rok, and th at Fen rir and all his kin follow him. Fe nrir a nd his kin dwell in JarnviSr to-
158
G u l l v e ig a n d Lo k i gether with Angrboda , she is the m othe r to Fenrir's offspring. Naglfar mu st have gone by water from Jotunh eimr (Jarnvidr) a nd the only known waters in the un derworld are the eleven poisono us rivers from Hvergelmir and its shore Elivagar. This can't mean anything else th en th at Loki abides in JarnviSr for some time. It is here m y poin t actually lies, I dare to go as far as to thi nk th e river Franan gr tha t Loki hides in as a salmon, Litr, is in fact a metap hor for (a river in) G ullveig-Angrbodas abode. Com paring this m yth with Ba ldrs funeral I see ma ny similarities: Gullveig ap pe ar s in b oth as a po werful fem inine for ce: a riv er th at concea ls Lo ki an d as Hyrrokin being a powerful eastern storm. Loki also appears in both sagas as a salmon swimming in the water, and in both sagas I>orr discovers him, catches him and “reveals" Loki s tru e “form".
LOKI AS A L UCIFERIAN ESSENCE
Loki could be an epithet built on the me aning “to lock" or “the locker"1, and thereby Loki could be looked u pon as the one w ho brings the anti-cosmic light and locks up the Thursian Gates: Loki Thurs of Destruction, the one w ho triggers the day of wrath; Ragna R ok and the end of the world.
1A hypothesis that has been harshly criticized by many. 2Rooth, 1961, L ob in Scandina vian Mythology.
Ro oth tells us in her bo ok on Loki that “according to an othe r popular concep tion, the supernatural beings are of Lucifer's race'"2 As I've co mp ared Gullveig to Lilith, I wo uld like to, in short, repr esen t Loki as a Luciferian essence. Loki viewed from an anti-cosmic perspective grants him many qualities linked directly to the god Lucifer - bringe r of light. This is of course an angle which relates to the anti-cosmic Chaos-theo ry. Loki is therefore the bringer of light. The light is a representation of the forbidden knowledge, which the gods of cosmos have secluded from th e hum ans to avoid conflict and resistance. This knowl edge, called gnosis, is the wisdom o f and from Chaos; the understanding and the awak ening - which leads to e volution and strength. To make this all less confusing, one
usually refers to the light of Lucifer as the Black Light , because C haos is wrathful against the creation of cosmos, all its stagnating forms, weakness and all life enslaved to it. However, the one who sees through the cosmic light; false light , those who have opened their third eye and received the black light of Lucifer, only they look up on th e Luciferian light as the bright and true one. For them, a nd only them, the
159
G u l l v e ig a r b Ok light of Lucifer, the light/fires o f Chaos, are true. Such an awakened individual sees the cosm ic light as filthy, deceiving, weak and enslaving. Mythologies a nd traditions m ention that Lucifer had sacrificed a great am ount to com e out o f Chaos with Chaos-essence and -gnosis, into this world o f cosmos in orde r to enlighten th e few chosen ones. So to a Cha os-G nostic, Lucifer is re garded as heroic, a nd all those who have truly received the light of Lucifer; the gno sis of ones black flame, are very grateful, living beyond question as warriors, worshippers an d upho lders o f the supreme gods of Chaos. For those o f weakness and adv ersary towards C haos, the fires of Lucifer are annihilating a nd exterminating. His flames incinerate all to nothingne ss and show no mercy. For only the awakened, the allied and strong are to be kept. Everything else belongs to the demiurge o f the cosmo s - the enslaving force; and is therefore an enemy. All qualities o f Lucifer are visible in Loki, and u ndeniably so. Otherwise, witho ut these attributes, the character o f godly form some call Loki, is anoth er form entirely. These people m isund erstan d Loki s nature and essence. Loki is a symbol an d aspect of the in cense d C haos-fire1, an aspect tha t reaches out from C haos into the cosmos and distrib utes Chaos-gno sis to those receptive. Loki, like Lucifer, burns w ith the bla ck fires of Cha os all illusive form s, a nd th ro ug h th at brings all that is be yo nd (e.g. the Chaos-essence) into light. If one studies the Norse sagas, one quickly notices tha t Loki, early in the dawn of gods, insinuated into the cosmic gods’ world, know ing that he was to be m urde red o n the spot because of his thurs-bloo d. Yet, Loki still doubtlessly undertook the risks and managed to infiltrate, which leads to the fall of the World. This allegory of the very primitive Chaos-essence co ncerning Loki can be interpre ted and un derstoo d in m any sagas in the ancient Scandinavian my thology, w he re he “kills”, “deceives” and “misle ads” manifo ld o f the cosm ic gods and purposes, ju st to guide the thurs-race into th e World. Loki is the suprem e leader of all that is da rk2, with a brig ht torch in his left hand; wh ich he reaches above his hea d as he always travels anterior in the front-line. This is the f und am ental an d prime essence of Loki in th e sagas, in which th e giant-race alluded to 1In the ancient times it was
the Chaos-essence, and the cosmic World and its gods to the
called Muspilli - as from the
illusive forms in cosmos.
fires of Muspellzheimr. 1 All that belongs to the anticosmic Chaos.
Clearly, Loki is the messenger, liberator , defender and leader he bears the same h eroic role as Lucifer. Heill Loki! He ill Lokaj^rekr!
160
G u l l v e ig a n d Lo k i Importantly, one cannot simply transfe r all qualities, facts and my thologies from Lucifer to Loki, or the reverse. Mytho logy is my tholog y and it is simply a tool for humanity to chronicle spiritual experiences and revelations. Yet, Hie fun dame nta l significance o f the deities' existence is the core of importance and the very relevant source o f understanding, and this m ay transfer fro m o ne d ei ty to another. O ne must
know the difference between Lucifer and the Luciferian Powers. The Luciferian teac h ings m ention Lucifer as the Highest Principle of the Illum ination . Yet, b elow h im, so to speak, resides other emanations that are Luciferian in form, effect and essence. Let us take th e go d Azazel for example; he is no t Lucifer, bu t Luciferian. This becau se he is included in a syste m where
1According to the Nephilistic Luciferian tradition.
Lucifer /Satan already is the highest principle and by tha t he
2Rooth, 1961, Loki in Scandina
be co m es a lower aspect of the sam e essenc e, an essence
vian Mythology.
equalling The Heralds o f the Black Light
Lucifer is not in himself fallen, bu t has let his light fa ll into the cosmic abyss to enlighten those who are receptive and of his essence.
G U L L V E IG A N D LOKI ANDROG YNOUS It is pretty obvious tha t bo th Gullveig and Loki were viewed as being androgynous, something tha t mus t have been passed dow n from the ir thursian forefathers as an adaptation, as this is not a quality known amongst the gods. The very first known thursian giants, Aurgelmir and I>ruSgelmir, were and rogynous and this aspect seems to have just been passed dow n to c ertain ragnarokian an d sym pathetic thurses, amongst these are NiShoggr, Gullveig and Loki. Loki in, what Rooth calls it, the AsgarSr My th2 by Sn orri ( Gylfaginning 42) turns himse lf into a mare a nd lures the stallion Svadilfari away with her neighing, some time later Loki as a m are gives birth to th e eight-legged giant horse Sleipnir. Sleipnir s deform ity testifies o f its giant-de scent. Voluspd in skamma supports Snorri's saga: «61 ulfLo ki vidAngrbodu, en Sleipni gat vid Svadilfara», "Loki bore the wolf with Angr boda, a nd Sleipnir with Svadilfari",
and Lokasenna 33 testifies that Loki has given birth: « hitt er undr, er ass ragr er her inn ofkominn ok hefirsa born ofbo rit » , "it is incredible tha t a such unm anly dss-god
has com e here, w ho has given birth to a child", which m ost likely refers to Loki transformed into a mare. Rooth, amongst others, d oub t that this is an authentic ON Loki trait, bu t I feel that they m isunderstand the essence of the tra it itself. De formity and androgyn y are thursian traits only, and they were no t added to the sagas
161
G u l l v eig a r b o k
1An acosmic lineal remnant*
for them to be comical, they were ad ded as testimonies o f essential thurs ian aspects, and their aliena tion to static form 1.
*
A s a
supernatural curse upon the cosmos,
I would say that Gullveig is the impulse and Loki is the co nsequence.
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G u l l v e ig l o k a sk r
a n d L o k i
A
The seering of the worshipper
Synf
I am the almighty god, I live in the shadows of the dsir. I am no small god, I am th e greatest. I dwell in darkness, I jump from a shadow to another, I carve active runes on everything I touch. No one ca n lo ok in to my abyss, as my ma nifesta tion is manifold. One I acknowledge, one I conceal, accessible for they w ho seek. On e I call Helh eim r for those w ho see black, another I call Jotunheim r to the dsir and men. Yet ano the r I call Amsvartnir, where I conjure Gullveig s runes and spin b lack threads, which I fasten upo n gods, men, and the world's all comers. I spin and spin, we alone k now all the worlds* com ers. Its rim rests on t he edge of my sword. H ie w orlds are in m y flaming grip. I manifest t hro ugh P. My name is Loki and I have influenced the en tity of god. Sewn it shut.
163
G u l l v eig a r b o k As a fly I defy, asawolflamwry, as a falcon I spy, as a salmon I am sly. As a man I am, as a werewolf I damn, as a god I sham, as an ally I am. As a shadow I haunt, as one I am all and nothing, as a power I drink from the horn of Chaos. As enigma s I act, as wisdom I am created, as light I obscure the worlds. I am smokeless flames. Thus I am Loki. They call me o ath-breaker, thus I care n ot for promises, thus I care n ot for life. Though th ey all are o f my taste, thoug h the y all are food for m y hungry flaming jaws. Thus they all feed my devotion. They call me oath-breaker, thus oaths are my forebode, thus it does not burden me. My flaming tong ue always scorns and deceives, thus it is my truth, thus it is my wisdom. Dvergsknifr tried to h inder me, what a mockery!
16 4
Gu l l v e i g a n d Lo k i Nothing can hin de r Loki. Dvergsband tried to keep me, what a mockery! Nothing can ke ep Loki.
165
G u l l v eig a r b Ok
Syn < The Muspell-flames are my tru e m anifestation, the god know this, and dare n ot to seize me, because I crus h th e en tity o f god at will. I am the restlessness in the flames, ma nkind know s this, I am their leader, I devour the shining and incinerate the blind. I am the first-born o f the Muspell-flames, from the south I am invoked, I only acknowledge blazing will. I spin the destruction, I spin the ru nes o f M uspells carriers of iron-wolves to ride the golden waves of wrath. I dissolve in purpos e to stre ngthen. I am Surtr s blade. I am S ur tr’s purp ose. I hold th e key to the on ly lock, the apparatus which is called contraction. I devour illusions. I cu t divine pow er like clay. My essence feeds the sons ofMuspell. I am the black fire and de structo r o f weakness. I am the provoker o f power and supernatural reasoning. I am unlimitedness and lawlessness.I I am the spider, I am the net, I am the wra th the god should n ot have upset.
16 6
Gu l
l v e ig a n d L o k i
SUMMARY
I. Loki and Gullveig s relation is based on a compan ionship to act as a twin-power which com plemen t each other as a masculine and feminine alien opposition to the world a nd its demiurge. II. Loki and Gullveig are the begetters and ancestors of all monsters, e.g. troll, werewolves, wolves, a nd su perna tural beings. III. Loki is the f ather of Jormungandr, F enrir and Hel. IV. Loki and Gullveig s purpose is evidently to infiltrate the very essence of the wo rld’s “god hea d”, god or regin, in Asgardr a nd M iSgarSr to poison it from w ithin and there by killing it. V. Loki is a thurs ian giant, no t an iss. H e tran sform ed himself into a n ass to mis lead the vanir and the aesir; just like Gullveig un de r he r disguise AurboSa. VI. Loki is strongly connected to the Gamba nteinn-myth. VII. Loki is a m aster o f transformation. VIII. Loki s name d “bro the r” Helblindi is m ost likely Odinn, and he is therefore just linked to Loki by an unsolve d bloo d-br othe rh oo d. IX. Loki s mythological essence and traits in the sagas can be compa red to those of Lucifer and Pr om ethe us’. X. An d Loki, as well as Gullveig, had and rogyn ous traits in the O N sagas, a very rare quality only inb orn in giants.
167
bail И /T luspelljburs a n a w arrior o f /T luspellsbeim r! Com e loose a na fulfill pour p urpose! 2 lnlea sb pour b lajing wratlj! *
5 inuofee pour flam ing essen ce! 3 inuofte pou r illum inating power! *
Lobi* illuminate me with pour flam ing tf lu sp elN igljt s o that mp ego aisso foe a ana mp sp irit becom es free!
G u l l v eig a r b Ok
This survey is mainly bor n from Hdvam dl and Helgakvida Hjorvardssonar found in Scemundar Edda, and Gylfaginning found in Snorra Edda. As well as Rydbe rg s Undersokning i Germanisk Mythologi I 1886, II 1889, Bugges De 1Rydberg 1 1886, II 1889, Un dersokningar Mythologi.
i
Germanisk
Nordiske Gude- ogHeltesagns Op rindelsell: Helge-Digterne 1896,
and Saxos Gesta Danorum.
A STRATEGIC DEED TO PROVOKE THE WRATH O FRAGNAR0K “Hyrrokin retaliated on the cesir with the h elp of Loki causing Baldr s dea th ” 1
BALDR MYTHOS OVERVIEW
I. Baldr got horrib le nightm ares: de ath bringing illusory apparitions visited him at night and indicated that he w ould die. II. Ho5 r went to war against Baldr and the cesir . III. Frigg, Baldr s mo ther , go t every thing to sw ear an oath: life, fire, water, earth, ore an d iron, roc k and stone, tree, disease and animals.IV .I IV. The gods amused themselves with throwing and shooting at Baldr in the cour tyard of Valholl. V. Loki disliked that n othin g hu rt Baldr. VI. In the disguise o f an old woman, Loki we nt to Frigg and learned from h er that she h ad n ot taken an oath from a small sapling o f mistletoe which grew west of Valholl, becau se she tho ug ht it was too young to de m and an oath from.
170
T h e D e a t h
VII.
o f Ba l d r
Loki took that very mistletoe and made an arrow from it assumedly with
help from the thu rs I>jazi. VIIL He we nt back to the courtyard, to the gods and helpe d Baldr s “blind" br ot her HoS r to sh oo t the arrow at Baldr. Baldr fell de ad. IX. The death o f Baldr was the bigge st misfortun e o f all ma nkin d an d all the gods. X. OS inn took this the hardest and un derstood at once what this meant for them all. XI. The gods could not dem and re taliation because it all hap pen ed o n holy and peace able g round. XII. By Friggs will, OSinns son HermSSr took the assignment to go to Hel to offer a ransom for the dead Baldr. XIII. But the co rpse o f Baldr was brou ght to his ship Hringho mi. XIV. And n o o ne of the g ods co uld dislodge the ship. XV OSinn then sent for the giantess Hyrrokin which came riding on a thurswolf with snakes as bridles. And she freed th e ship w ith ease. XVI. This made t>6rr mad as he grabbed his hammer to crush the witchs head. But all the gods asked him n ot to an d stoppe d him. XVII. And they b urne d B aldr s corpse, toge ther with his wife Nanna, OSinn s ring Drau pnir and Baldr s horse. XVIII. OS inns son got the pro mise of Hel for Baldr to r etu rn to the living, if all the living things in th e wo rld cried for Baldr. XIX. All cried for Baldr bu t one being, the giantess-witch called ftokk. XX. O Sinn uses forbid den w itchcraft at Rindr s, and H oSr is killed by OSinn s son Vali. XXI. Loki gets pu nishe d for the deed of killing Baldr.
171
G u l l v eig a r b Ck Note: Sno rr is ac co unt of this mythological saga is co ns truc ted fro m both pre served poe tic sources and lost. Baldr, the dss-god and protector o f the su n - the pro mo ter 1Depicted by some medieval auth ors as a Scandinavian Jesus figure.
of cosmic goodness an d righteousness1, is the perfect target to destroy if you want the cesir and the ir worlds to weaken as a result of confusion and finally collapse. Indeed, this is ex
2This direction and loc ation of the mistletoe sapling is most curious to me. I figure that Snorri chose west for the sapling to grow as it is the clos est way to the oute r rim o f the world from Valholl and heaven, where the abyss Amsvartnir lies and sur rounds th e worlds. West migh t even have suggested that the sapling was supposed to grow in Utgardr. 3 1 find this d etail as be ing a pr oo f of how excellen t Loki was in the magical trait of transfor mation. He just transformed himself into a woman and the goddess Frigg, who being a god and should be more powerful and sharper than a giant, just bo ug ht his trick and gave away wha t could be u sed to kill Baldr. In contrast, when P6rr tried to “transform” into a woman to fool brymr in brymskvida he failed as brym r was very suspi cious, and it was Loki who had to “convince” brymr that the dressed up b 6rr was a woman.
actly what the cunning and trium phan t primordial thurses Loki and Gullveig thought of. I will here expound my per sonal the ory o f Gullveig s role in this strategic move; taken from the ON m ythology and some medieval sagas.
THE DARKNESS' PREPARATION AND FORMATION
Before the killing of Baldr, he had nightmares, which he called visions of his own death and was sure that he would soon die. All the gods became troubled and thought of some thing that could save him. They agreed that Frigg would ask for safety for Baldr from all kinds o f dangers - fire, water, iron and me tal of all kinds, stones, earth, trees, sicknesses, beasts, birds, venom an d serpents - and to swear an oath n ot to ha rm Baldr. This kind of an oath ha d to be a magical spell otherw ise arrows and rocks would be harmful. It is said that they all agreed, but rime-thurses were no t included in this list; Gu l lveig and Loki did not swear any oath, nor did the worlds' now m ost feared being, th e furious world -hater t>jazi, who after being known as Valand and bec omin g his own wrath turn ed in to a terrible rime-thurs. The saga explains further that a certain small sapling, a teinn, o f Mistletoe which grew to th e w est o f Valholl 2had not
sworn the oath not to hurt Baldr. Loki, the Ragnarokian prospector , who I believe was involved in this plot from th e beginning, kn ew exactly where to find this plant; as he and Gullveig could have pu t a protective spell on the p lant to be overlooked by Frigg, a the or y th at I feel c orrespon ds to th e O N myth olo gic al na rration tra di tion. However, Gylfaginning clarifies tha t Loki transform ed himself into a woman and w ent to Frigg to ask wh ere this sapling grew, and Frigg gladly spoke of this.
172
Th
e D e a t h o f Ba l d r
W hen Loki had gathered the M istletoe11like to imagine that he bro ugh t it to his and Gullveig s ally Pjazi who made, with his incredible blacksmith-craft, a perfect arrow from the Mistletoe and cast o mino us black magical powers into it, and it was thereby called Mistilteinn, syno nymous to the we apon Gam ba nteinn in the O N myth olo gy; w hich is proven by the fact that Mistilteinn is actually in a list for sword-kennings in Sn orri’s Nafnapulur 42. Indeed, that is how I connect I>jazi to this myth.
1Snorri says here that «L oki t6k mistiltein ok sleit upp»f "Loki pulled up the Mistletoe", as if it was growing in the gro und. It is evident that Snorri had no knowledge of the Mistletoe
Teinn me ans branch, also rod and sapling, and it is often
used as a word for a sword in the old myths, as in laevateinn/haevateinn2, ga m ban teinn 3, etc. The interestin g thing is that M istilteinn became a name for the sword o f re venge belonging to Surtr, which is the same sword which is called gambanteinn in the old sagas and laevateinn/haevateinn/homateinn: Saxo called it cuspis in Latin after trans
plan t, I d ou bt tha t h e ha d ever seen one, because it is impossi ble to make an arr ow fro m it, even more impossible from a Mistletoe sapling.
2Fjolsvinnsmal. 3Sk(mismdl.
4Broddr means pike and in
lating Fjolsvinnsmdl’s name of the sword Broddr 4.5 All these
Fjolsvinnsmdl it is the nam e of
sword-synonyms are in analogy with the sword of retaliation
Hsevateinn.
that Loki made 6and t>jazi fulfilled.
5Rydberg, 1 1886, II 1889, l/wdersokningar
From the day, or even earlier I wou ld say, the m istletoe re fused to swear the oath, it was connected with the sword
i
Germanisk
M yth ol og i. 6 Fjolsvinnsmdl.
which was going to trigger Ragna Rok and to scythe down the gods a nd th e cosmos. If Loki went to Ejazi and asked him to forge it into an adversary-teinn and cast black runes upo n it, I think it indirectly com plements the mistletoe s transform ation from a plant to a Ragnarokian weap on - the sword o f revenge.
But why did Frigg just leave the mistletoe out? O r did this lonesome teinn reject the oath? S omething must have influenced this res ult Better yet, som ething must have given it this purpose for a very devastating reason. As stated above, Baldr started to get severe nightmares: dea th bringing illusory apparitions visited him at night and acknowledged his death. Frigg, O din ns wife, quee n o f AsgarSr, made a magical oath no t to hu rt Baldr, and supposedly she had the pow er to make everyone in the whole cosmos to agree with this oath. This depiction o f her pow er is mighty; the m yths said that Frigg just let the mistletoe be: “because she th oug ht it was too young to d em and an oath from ”. Well doesn't that sou nd like a fraud to escape the actual explanation? There must have been an imm easurable am oun t of “too yo ung” plan ts thro ugh out th e world. W hy ju st le t thi s pa rticu lar sapling be? It makes no
173
G u l l v eig a r b 6 k
sense. So, the little tiny plant jus t simply gets away with no t making th e oath, su p po se dly it ha d th at m uc h po wer th at it co ul d ju st say no an d no t be affected b y Frigg s mighty spell. Has this tiny mistletoe in some way more pow er than Frigg? I don t think so; there must have been something that supp orted this mistletoe.
1In Cleasby-Vigfusson, 1874, A n Icel andi c-En glis h D ict io na ry
and Zoega, 1910, A Concise Dic tionary of O ld Icelandic flagd is explained to mean an ogre (ogress) or giantess, which is analogous to ON troll, both being sup ernatural gian ts and monsters. Egilsson, 1931, Le xi con Poeticum confirms fl a g d to be equivalent to troll. 2Cleasby-Vigfusson, 1874, An Icelandic-E tiglish D ic ti o n a ry and Hellquist, 1939, Svensk Etymologisk Ordhok.
3Hellquist, 1939, Svensk Etymologisk Ordbok under а г а . 4 Cleasby-Vigfusson, 1874, An Icelandic-E nglish Di ctio na ry, and Zoёga, 1910, A Concise Diction
1. Baldr got struck by nightm ares in the form o f death bring ing illusory apparitions th at visited him at night. This is a rep resentative aspect of Liliths craft, genius and succubus demo n-daug hters Lilin in Judaic my thology, and I found a rel evant co nnection here with her an d Gullveig. Gullveig is the mo ther of all fla gd l, giants, monsters, and troll, which Voluspa in skamtna 12 tells us: "Loptr got preg nant with th e evil woman (Gullve ig); from th is have all troll (flagd ) come.” A nd ON а г , as in nigh t-mare2, was in Old Scandinavia an ogress, z flagd, who came to peop le at night and terrorized the m. A very interesting detail is explained by H ellquist3*that а г derives from the G er manic root mer, to crush, as the ON w ord merjaf, whic h actually would make the mara some kind o f (or connected to) a deathgiantess, which makes the supernatural en tity а г interlinked with other supernatural beings (giants) as Margerdr, Sinmara, and kveldrida. Gullveig herself is not narrated as being a bringer of nightmares in the O N myths, bu t as 1 just proven she is very much connected to it.
ary o f Old Icelandic.
5Snorri s narration says, from his own personal conception and understanding of the old sagas, “in the disguise of an o ld woman, Loki went to Frigg and learned from her that she had not took an oath from a small sapling of mistletoe which grew west of Valhall, because she thought it was too young to crave an oath from”.
2. If Frigg was that mighty in magic to make everything no t be able to h urt Barldr, there is o nly on e w itc h in t he sagas th at can ov erpow er a strong dss-spell like that, which I have proven above, a nd th at is Gullveig. Gullveig was created in the begin ning of the worlds by the ancestors of the ur-thurses Ymir, tru dg elm ir and Bergelmir. The dark powers o f witchcraft and runes were entang led a nd a part of Gullveig s essence, she was the origin o f the art. This was before even Frigg was bom.
3. Loki, Gullveig s coun terpart, was the one wh o found this sapling. In the who le cosmos, there was just one tiny plant that refused the oath and Loki knew wh ere to find it5. An d the only ones who assumedly would be able to kno w abou t this sapling and its rejection would be Frigg and the one sup porting the teinn an d "put the protective spell upon it.” And I must say that the wise Frigg have seen Loki trick the gods m any times and the god s have had sus-
174
T h e D e a t h
o f Ba l d r
picion tow ards Loki because of it, an d I have a h ard tim e thinking she wou ld let Loki know a bout this sapling, even thou gh Loki was a “trus ted ” giant within AsgarSr and h er hu sban d s blood -bro ther1. This is a paradox though, because we have to re m em ber that Loki could transform him self into anything, and thereb y would be able to trick Frigg by having an appearance of a woman. I believe it was no t Loki alone wh o ma de this happen , at least no t in the original sagas, before S norris account, because he had such a delicate position am ongst the gods already. Remem ber, this Baldr-scheme happ ened near Ragna Rok a nd the xsir were already suspicious of Loki, an d you could say he was abo ut to get caught, ac tually this was the last adverse de ed he did until the cesir caught him and punished him. I suspect that it was from the beginning a deed carried ou t both b y Loki and the Old O ne in Jarnvidr, Gullveig. 1This is one version, bu t in the sagas the gods were at this time
A NOT E ON THE MISTLETOE
It s interesting for me th at the old poets picked ou t the mistletoe o f all plants to be the deadly weapon, because the non-fictional plant s stalk is pretty frail and you w ould n ot be able t o m ake a stron g arrow fr om it. However, if yo u look at the fact that th e juices from the plant's leaves, berries and stem are fatally poisonous whe n it comes in contact with blo od2, wh ich hu nter s in ou r an cien t tim es knew an d u sed on their arrowheads, and easily killed their prays with, it
of conflict on the verge of not trusting Loki, so I think this was jus t an easy way for the auth ors to go around the facts. 1But you can eat the leaves, ber ries and stem a nd it will not hu rt you. It is even said that it will make you r immune-system stronger and that it is effective against some cancer-cells.
makes it pretty obvious that the old poets used this pla nt as the lethal arrow which killed Baldr. However, someth ing which surprises m e is that Snorri disregarded th e fact that the mistletoe is a parasitic plant, which is depends on and lives on o ther trees and shrubs. In the Edda the author is talking abo ut this lonely sapling growing by itself on the ground, « m Loki tok mistiltein ok sleit upp», well tha t is just im possible. This “disrega rd” tells me, onc e again, th at th e au tho r is just oblivious to th e sin ister sides o f the mytho logy - meaning th at h e allegorize Baldr in detail and everything around him, even the asir, but misses a full moon clear thing such as the fact that the mistletoe is not able to grow by itself on the ground, or be made in to an arrow. An othe r interesting fact is tha t o f an old saying; the mistletoe grows where light ning has struck a tree. This is interesting because Loki is said to have bee n created from lightnin g hittin g a tree, i.e. Farbau ti and Laufey.
175
G u l l v eig a r b Ok And lastly, with the m istletoe’s infamous rep utation of being able to o pen the gates to th e w orlds of death, 1 thin k it fits pr etty well in this myth.
H 0 D R KILLING BALD RA ND VALI KILLING H 0D R
So, the gods amused themselves by throwing spears and shooting arrows at Baldr. An d Loki felt disg usted by watch ing it. However, as cunningly as always, Loki in a disguise of a woman had already gone to Frigg and learned w here to get this mistle toe, and I believe, made a weapo n from it with P jazis help. Then, he so meho w got Baldr s broth er Ho Sr to shoot the black magical arrow at Baldr and he struc k him dead. Hodr, son of Odinn, known by earlier sagas to be an excellent hunter, wa rrior and archer, was the perfect “puppet* for Loki to choose. Loki naturally wanted the be st archer f or his a nd Gullveig s gra nd endeavor - so meb od y close to Odinn and Baldr who could easily join the ir game and aim at Baldr with precision w ithou t at tracting any suspicion. Indeed, Ho dr s earlier hostile inc ident w ith Baldr over Baldr s wife Nanna makes H odr an even more ideal “pu pp et”, which will bring him death by brothe rly retaliation an d make him descend, too, into th e un derworld. That Baldr and H od r have been enem ies in the Old Norse my thology is proven in the ep ithets dolgr Hadar and Baldrs andskoti.
Now, let s take a look at H odr s “blin dn ess”. Ho w is it tha t on e of the mos t suc cessful warriors and archers - he is also known for being a fine hu nte r - in the race all of a sudden is called blind a nd has to get help from a malicious giant to be able to aim his bow at a standing target? It makes no sense. I have a hard tim e believing that the ancient poets just forgot about Ho5r s skills and mistake him for a blind fool. No way, evidently, it is Snorri tha t just ma de this up to fit his story. I am pr etty convinced tha t Snorri and othe r interpreters of the olde r sagas got it all wrong and translated the words to o literally. Because of the fact that H oSr was n ot aware of the sly plans by Gullveig and Loki, he was kept in the dark and unaw are (henc e blind) of the purp ose of that lethal mistletoe-arrow; which fits in a com mon saying - which is informal and slang - that reads that to be “blind” means tha t you “do n ot know abo ut som ething that o ther people know a bou t”, and does n ot m ean physically blin d.
♦
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T h e D e
a t h o f Ba l d r
Here is my summ ary of the battle between Ho 3r and Baldr. H od r who is called Baldrs and skoti in Voluspd 33, Baldr s adversary, and Baldr wh o is called dolgr Hadar
in Skdldskaparmdl 12, H ou r’s enemy; e pithets which prove the ir history o f enm ity towards each other. It all began when H o3 r was out hu nting in distan t woods so far away that no one had set foot there before him, he had gone so far in mists that he got lost. Suddenly he ran into three witches ( he met o ne or three witches, depending on the version o f the saga) w ho knew his name and claimed they could make him trium ph in battle. They told him th at the y would come invisibly to the battleground and aid him, and the y supposedly gave him an impene trable chain-mail. They also told H od r that Baldr wanted Nanna; H odr s own half-sister that he h imself was in love with, an d she with him. (According to Saxo, H odr was adopted by the moo ngod Gaevarr; father to N anna, so Na nna is Hodr s foster-sister). After this me eting with the wom an/wo men , H odr wen t hom e to his foster-father Gaevarr and asked for N an na s hand, Gaevarr said that he w ould love to see him get ma rried to his daughter, bu t Baldr had just asked for he r hand and Gaevarr was afraid that Baldr wo uld be enraged a nd kill him i f he d eclined his reque st. However, Gaevarr told Hodr that there was a sword that would kill Baldr (this mythological sword of vengeance is analogous to Gam banteinn-M istilteinn.) Un fortunately for HoSr, the sword was almost impossible to get, it was hidde n in an abnorm ally cold and m ost impe netrable land, and g uarded with in a mo untain by a forest-being called Mimingus - who also wore an arm -ring which increases richness. After fo llo wing all o f Gsevarr s advice in getting to M imingu s’ abode, H o5 r manage to o btain the m ighty sword an d the enriching arm-ring. So when Baldr we nt to Gsevarr to ask for Nanna s hand, Ho5r decided to go to war with Baldr with Gaevarr s advice and foreseeing. The first war betw een H od r and Baldr, H od r w on 1. After the war, he w ent to Gaevarr to ma rry
1The tesir fought on Baldr s side in this war, which means that
Na nna. However, Baldr did no t give up, this tim e he w en t to
Hodr went to war against the
war with Hodr and won. By this time Baldr started to be
izsir.
haun ted in his dreams by apparitions in Nan nas shape. Then, Ho dr we nt to war with Baldr a second time, but lost the war and ha d to retreat all alone. Grieved by his loss he wen t ou t to the woods to wander the m ost deserted lands where no hum an had yet set foot. In this land, all of a sudden, he came across a cave where three unknow n wom en sat. He recognized them because he h ad m et them before, a nd it was from them he got the impenetrable chain-mail he used in the w ars with Baldr. They asked him wh y he was wan dering in the ir lands and he told them about his failed war. He blamed the m because they had prom ised him victory the last time the y spoke. They answered him th at he ha d heavily weakened his enemies and th at he would probably win if he got some of the w onderful no ur ishm ent tha t strength ened Baldr s powers. In so saying they caused H od r to go into
177
G u l l v eig a r b 6 k ba ttle w ith Ba ldr a th ird time. Dur ing the war, H od r w ent ou t one night to spy on his enemy, when he saw three disir, which Hod r presumed were the ones making the strengthening nourishm ent, leaving Baldr s camp. He followed them back to their abode, and after they had been acquainted with him one of the disir wanted to serve Ho dr som e of the strengthening nourishment. However, the older one said that it would be an act of treachery towards Baldr to give Ho dr it too, bu t H odr as sured them that he was just one of Ho dr s men, no t Ho dr himself. So doing, he got the n ourishm ent an d a mighty belt of victory. On his way back to his camp he me t his enem y Baldr and stru ck him with a fatal wo und w ith his sword. Later Odinn, at Rin dr s, used w itchcra ft to sp awn Vali to kill Hodr. In Saxo's hero-version of the B aldr-myth, Ho dr as Hoth erus 1Rydberg, 1 1886, II 1889, Undersokningar i Germanisk
Mythologi.
gets help in th e war by som eone Saxo called Helgo o f Halogaland (in Porsteins saga Vikingssonar , Saga of Thorstein son of Viking, known as Halogi of Halog aland), w hom Rydberg proves to be Lo ki1.
This is obvio usly an O ld saga, which ju st leaves us traces of its originality in sundry newer sagas; e.g. Saxos Gesta Danorum and the Hd vama l episode about Loddfafhir, wh ich can be com pared to the H oSr-myth. W hat I suspect in the drama ab out Ho dr and Baldr s battle is that H odr went as far as the da rk woods in the east which are often explained to lay in Jotu nhe im r in O N sagas, and vast woods o f mists, where H od r got lost, which are often suggested to be Jarnvidr, Gullveig s residence. It was in this misty an d d istant woo d tha t he m et a witch, or three (3 is Gullveig-Heidr-Aurbodas magical and m ythological cor responding nu m ber), wh o offered to help him in the battle against Baldr and the cesir. I believe this referred to Gullveig as a giant-witch co nnec ted m ore th an once
to war-myths. If we look at the w hole B aldr-myth and extract eleven fund am ental events it would be:1 6 5 3 4 2 1.
Gullveig and Loki plan a strategy to kill Baldr.
2.
Ho dr goes to war against Baldr and the cesir.
3.
Baldr is afflicted with visions of his own death .
4.
Od inn visits Gullveig in the underw orld to ask abo ut Baldr s future.
5.
Loki collects the weap on called Mistilteinn.
6.
Loki trick s H od r into killing Baldr.
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T h e D e
a t h o f Ba l d r
7. Baldr descends into the underw orld where he is kept by the giantess Hel. The cesir visits Hel in the und erw orld to beg h er to release Baldr, but she re 8. fuses un til all cry for him. 9. A giantess na me d f>0kk refuses. 10. The cesir revenge Baldr s dea th by killing Н ойг. 11. The cesir also caught Loki for being the m asterm ind beh ind this who le plot, and as they cannot kill him, he gets sent to Lyngvi and stays bound until Ragna Rok. Loki s part in this plot is evident, bu t Gullveig s is not. As there is no t muc h w rit ten pro of of her involvement we have to un derstand the background to the m yth. Several things point to her involvement though; l ) it was most likely Gullveig or her Jarnvidjur in the Ironwood who cunningly inspired and supp orted Н оЙ г to go to battle with Baldr and th e cesir to prepare a solid wedge be tween H odr a nd Baldr, as it seems like a typical and cunning thing for her and Loki to do, 2) the strong protective magical spell on the mistletoe teinn, 3) th e deathly visions and nightmares that Baldr had, 4) Gullveig made sure tha t Baldr s funeral ship would n ot move, so that the cesir had to call for her aid to "push” it ou t to sea as a giantess o f the eastern storms ; an allegorization for Gullveig as Hyrrokin to send (as in killing) Baldr into the und erw orldly realm of he r daughter Hel - I am convinced that this strange episode was a proo f by the authors of Gullveig s involvement in Baldr s death, 5) Gullveig s daugh ter Hel is of course in alliance with Loki and Gullveig and there fore refuses to let Baldr go, 6 ) Gullveig as the giantess t>okk refuses to weep for Baldr so that he stays in the un derworld b ound by the giants.
BALDR’S FUNERAL AN D HYRROKIN
The cesir took Baldr s corpse to the sea to give him an hon orable funeral in his ship ou t to sea; his ship was well-known an d called Hring hom i. The ship was big and the cesir could not find the strength to move the ship from land, not even their strongest ass ]>6rr. So Od inn called for the giantess Hy rrokin from Jotunh eimr. She came, riding on a thursian wolf, as big as a bear, with poison ous snakes as reins ( I dare to guess that it was supposed to be F enrir she came riding on; because the struggle by Odinn s berserks to toss him to the ground, shows the w olf s immense giant-strength and this allegory is familiar with the myth when Fenrir was in his youth and got too big and wild for the cesir to control, an d finally they capture d him with big difficulty. Fenrir just ripped the magically strengthened chains made by dwarves into pieces. It took th em three attem pts and Tyr s hand before the y were
179
G u l l v eig a r b Ok
1«Р а var sent \ Jotunheima eftir
able to chain Fenrir down.) She jum ped off the wolf and O dinn
gygi peirri er Hyrrokkin het, en er
ordered four berserks to hold it down bu t they could no t find the
him kom og reid vargi og hafdi
strength until they heaved him to the ground, a wolf this big and
hoggorm ad taumum, pd hljop
strong must have been Fenrir. Hyrrokin w ent up to the ship after
hun a f hestinum, en dd inn kalladi til berserki fiora ad gceta
Odinn had asked her to launch it in the sea, and in one move
hestsins ogfengu peir eigi haldid а peir felldu hann. Pd gekk
m ent she tossed the ship with such speed that flames burst out from o ut un der the ship and the grou nd q uake d1. l>orr with his
Hyrrokkin dfram stafn nokkvans
childish and grumpy temper got so mad that he grabbed his ham
og hra ttfram ijyrsta vidbragdi,
m er in or de r to crush Hy rrokin s head2. However, the sesir asked
svo ad eldur hraut ur hlunnunu m
frorr not to kill her, saying that the y wanted peace betwe en h er
og lond dll sku lfu» . - Gylfaginning.
2If you read a bout £6rr you will
and them.
see that he is known as a
An interesting thing is to compare the sagas an d see the de
grumpy and childish killer of
velopm ent of its contents. The Old No rse rune-m asters warned
women - take Gullveig and Hel
about one staring blind o n the text because the y were written
as examples.
down hun dreds of years after being orally spread. The Gylfagin
3My pe rsonal translation wou ld
ning was inspired by the older Hiisdrdpa which explained the
be: "The ve ry st ro ng giante ss
my th ab out the giantess' arrival and her transpo rtation:
made 6<3inns ship lumber forth, and 6<3inns warriors top ple d o ver her hor se.” 4 Because Litr is a n am e of a
Husdrapa:
Gylfaginning:
Fulloflug l et fjalla
£>a var se nt f Jo tun he im a eftir
fram hafsleipni gram ma
gygi peirri er Hyrrokkin h^t,
Hildr, enn H ropts o f gildar
en er h un kom og reiS vargi og
hjalmelda m ar felldu .3
hafSi hoggo rm a b taumum,
dwarf in Voluspd:
s «Pa stdd Por ad og vigdi bdlid
hljop hu n af hestinum, en
med Mjollni, en fyr irf otu m bans
OS inn kalladi til berserki fjora
rann dvergur nokkur, sd er Litur
ad gaeta hests ins og fengu J>eir
nefndur, en Por spymtifceti smum
eigi haldid nema ]>eir felldu
a hann og hratt hon um i eldinn,
hann.
og brann han n» . - Gylfaginning.
Then s om ething really interesting happens, before the very feet o f t>6 rr runs a litr (often interpreted as a dwarf), which means salmon and is also an epithet to
Loki. Port kicks Litr into th e flames of the funeral pyre and he bu rns 5. This is so out of context that the authors h ad to have been signifying some thing with this Litr character. O ne of my personal understandings of this is that the author w anted to
18 0
T h e D e a t h
o f Ba l d r
allegorize bo rr as Lok is captor; because of the saga o f Franangrsfors where b 6rr captures L oki in the guise of a salmon. Instead o f just giving borr an epithet, the au tho r m ade a n epic allegory of bor r kicking Loki into the fire. First o f all, Hyrrokin is anoth er nam e for Gullveig, and in some way the authors wa nte d to have Gullveig s essence pres ent, a nd assume dly show ho w Gullveig is fol lowing her task from the beginn ing and to th e very end. The same goes for Loki, he arrives in the m yth as a salmon, which the tricky Old Norse authors try to hide by calling him Litr. Maybe the tra nslators and inte rprete rs o f the o ld sagas got it all wrong, th at instead it was Loki as a salm on com ing swimming in the sea to spy or enjoy the burning of Baldr’s corpse and funeral. An d tha t b 6 rr spotted him and kicked him into the flames of the pyre, wh ich would no t kill him bec ause Loki was created from flames and instead he would take pleasure in it. Both h e and Gullveig are flame-resistant according to the old sagas. The author of this epic myth most likely wa nted to emphasize the intelligence and m astermind s beh ind this strategic dee d - Loki-Litr and G ullveig-Hyrrokin. Loki, just as Gullveig, is here following his task from the beginning and to the very end by showing up in this funeral episode. As an ending o f the my th o f Baldr’s death - the wh ole m yth of Baldr’s fu neral - Hyrrokin and Litr holds so many allegories and indications to Gullveig and Loki s plot, th at I personally believe that the authors wa nted to reassure th e readers and listeners of this m yth tha t Gullveig and Loki were the found ation of the killing of Baldr and the trigger o f Ragna Rok. Although, the saga did actually no t end there.
BAL DR IN HEL'S GRIP
After the death o f Baldr and wh en he is staying in Niflhel, O dinn an d the aesir asked Hel; goddess o f the u nderworld, to give Baldr and his wife Nanna th e chance to re turn. H el cunningly told O dinn and th e aesir tha t she could grant Bald r and his wife this und er the condition that all the beings througho ut the world will weep for his death. But there was one, one grim b eing that rejected this action: bokk her name was, the giantess sitting outside he r cave and refused to we ep for Baldr. She said: “bokk will weep d ry tears for Baldr.” Because o f this, Baldr and his wife never re turn ed to the living. This mysterious being is no t me ntioned elsewhere in the sagas, not anywhere in the m ythology as a whole. I think it is obvious tha t the authors wanted the evil behind this plot - the killing of Baldr - personified and disguised, and b etwe en the lines it was self-evident that bokk was a man ifestation o f Gullveig, Loki, and Hel’s opposition. Furtherm ore, isn’t it curious that she ha d the name bokk which means “than ks”? «B ald r vceri gratinn or helju», "that Baldr shall be wept o ut
181
G u l l v e ig a r b 6 k of hd" j is it Hel the giantess, the dead, or H elheimr? I think £>okk s wonderful answer is as diffuse as everything else conc ernin g Hel: « haldi Helpv(, er hefir», "Hel shall keep wh at Hel has". Again, is it Hel th e giantess, the dead, o r Helheimr? In my opin ion, logically E>okk is Hel, as it is Hel w ho asks for e very thing in the worlds to weep for Baldr s dea th for her to release him. Just one refused to weep 1 *finna peir i helli nokkurum,
and it was a gian tess sitting in a cave, { belli1; Old Ic elandic hella
hvargygr sat Hon nefndist Pokk.
is a rock, like th e Swedish word “foaZZ”. Lilje nroth in his bo ok Hel
Peir bidja hana grata Baldr or
- den gomda gudinnan claims that Hel was from the beginning a
Helju».
mother giantess worshipped as a rock, hall-hella, and this is where h er nam e derives from. Snorri might have been familiar with th is assume dly primitive rock-w orship, as in the sagas author s preferably con nected characters with c ertain objects o r locations, just as they c onnected Gullveig with dark a nd deep forests in the m ythos. W hy this mysterious giantess in the rockcave has the nam e £>okk, thanks, is for m e an evidently ironic nam e for He l to to r m ent the gods a little extra with he r mo rbid spectacle - a trait not far from her father s. My point is that I believe Hel was just messing around w ith the gods and Baldr, as she had the p ower to just say no w hen the gods asked for Baldr back.
*
Pokk
и
grata purrum tdrum Baldrs bdlfarar ;
kyks ne daubs nautk-a ek Karls sonar, haldi Hel pvi, er hefir ;
*
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Th
e D e a t h o f Ba l d r
Baldr has to suffer death an d do es no t get the chance to re turn to life, now Gullveig and Loki have him exactly where the y wanted him and by this the ragnarokian chain-reaction will follow. It is bit ironic that 0 3i nn , god of the dead, has to let his own son und ergo eternal death, and Odinn himself had no po wer to free his own son from it. Indeed, even th oug h it is said that O dinn is the “wisest one” and “knows all” - whic h includes the fu ture (according to e.g. Voluspa and Lokasenna ) - he lets Gullveig and Loki kill his own son and send him to the underworld where he has to live amon gst giants. In the m yths Od inn grieves the m ost over his son, but still he just stood aside and let th em kill him. This my th tells almost more abou t O dinn s foolishness tha n th e killing of his son.
*
In my interp retation of this, either the an cient Scandinavian authors patronized the hig hest god, saying he is too oblivious to foresee the killing of his own son, or they were so haphazard themselves that they did no t unde rstand what they were saying in their o wn sagas.
183
II: Fjolkyngi
G u l l v eig a r b Ok FOREWORD
This part o f the bo ok holds the esoteric aspects and praxis of my own workings of witchcraft in the line of what is called the Thursatru T radition - burs atni siSr - and it divulges a small pa rt o f my magical Gullveig-workings. I share this black a rt as I know tha t it will benefit the rim e-thu rsian po wer o f Gullveig. I wifi no t go into detail, merely give examples o f good ways to w ork with Gullveig. It must be rem emb ered that these are m y individual workings; the O ld Norse tradition, Gullveig and Loki, together wi th my assorted so rcerous background have assisted me in developing my individual sinister path and tradition. C ertain litera ture, traditions, a nd pe ople have inspired m e as well, and in tha t way helped me with understanding and enlightened my eclectic approach to a Gnostic Left Ha nde d path. W hat I present below in this part o f the bo ok I would call a pure inspirational text rather than a com plete system that can be ad opted just by anyone. There are certain principles I consider im porta nt in a successful and resultant practice in th e line o f th e Th ur sa tru T raditio n, an d th a t is wh at I w ill p ut e mph asis on in this chapter; I split my sidr into three: Sidr - The Tradition
• Blo t - Worship • Seta - Meditation • Vitt - Practic al magic
TH E MJRSATRTJ SIDR
Here I want to bring up in short the Pursatru and Jotnatru; anglicized to Thur satru and Jotnatru. I will focus more on th e concep t o f Thursatru because it is more of a correct nam e for this line of religion, tradition and praxis, according to the O ld Norse fdrnsid r (Old tradition: I rather call it sidr tha n fdrnsidr (w ith of course the full understanding of the essence o f fornsidr), as this tradition should move on and expand, no t stagnate in a previous era; tha t would be to fail the worship and witc h craft of our O ld ancestors, which the sidr is built upon. They considered it to be vital for the nex t one to c ontinue the ir sidr.) First I want to make clear that there
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was no Pursatru or Jotnatru known in Old Scandinavia; these are modern names designed to poin t out the line o f Old N orse religion, tradition and praxis - even though the foundation and essence of Pursatrii has an established tradition today. Thursatru mean s basically the belief in thurses, it is the nam e of the w orkings with pursa r (anglicized to thurses p i) , the whole o f their religion, tradition and praxis. W ith th e usages o f the Old Nor se plural form p ursa r it aims at th e thursia n powers, th e tr ue essences of the da rker and adversa ry aspect of the gian t-clans in the u nderw orld as a whole. The essence o f the thu rsian powers dwells as a whole in the ► -rune, and this rune is the sym bol of the entire Thursatru. Runic com binations known as bind-run es will only strengthen the ► -rune's meaning and p ower an d are used in many sundry ways; this is by the O ld tradition - fornsidr . The ► -rune itself holds bo th the ► -rune and the T-rune in ► ursatni, if you just take the top v-shaped figure of the t-rune and p ut it vertical on its stem, which makes the ► -rune a perfect bind -run e o r sigil for th e b od y o f Pursatru. Indeed, to use the ► -rune as a bind-r une it is all of a sudde n a run e o f taufr, which m eans sorcery or even a talisman, and this is what the t-r un e represents here: taufr as in non-static dynamic pow er of the cultus. So what powers are we talking about, who is J>urs and who is jo tu nn ? Here Г11 bring up a few pu rsar who all are of great impo rtance: The primordial ur-thurs is Ymir who is called by his own rime-thu rs race Aurgelmir: th e first of them all. « En padan a fk om u cettir, pad eru hrimpursar. H inn gamli hrimpurs, harm kollum ver Ym i» .
He created Erudgelmir the six-headed thurs, Bergelmir was his son («pa var Bergelmir borinn; Prudgelmirvarpessfadir, enn Aurgelmir afi» .) Indeed, many more thurses were created from this race; many are men tione d thro ugh out the mythology, mostly rime-thu rses a nd adversaries to the aesir. Loki and Gullveig are two key char acters in mythology and worship; both are thurses and eminent enemies with the cesir , probably two of the o ldest thurses. Their children are of course thurses: Jormu ngandr, F enrir and Hel; to my u nder standing and studies Fe nrir belongs to the Muspell-race (like his father Loki) and Hel is chief-ruler of Niflheimr (of the Nifl-race like her m other Gullveig.) Surtr an d all his sons of Muspellzheimr are thurses and the y all have a very imp orta nt role in the Ragna Rok mythos. I>jazi and his bro thers I5i and G angr turn ed into thurses after being betrayed by the cesir. NiS hoggr dwells in Niflheimr, the ho me of all rimethurses. NiShoggr and his breed are gnawing on the roo ts of the world-tree to poison it and kill it from within - this allegorizes the sole purpos e o f the thursian powers. Beli and his dog -headed clan belong to the rime-thurses, etc.
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The Thursatru worship has its foundation in the un derworld; Jotunhe im r and Helheim r, and in Chaos; Niflhe imr and Mtispellzheimr. The anti-cosmic and sinister powe rs of Jo tu nh ei m r an d H elhe im r are worsh ippe d as adverse entities. Equally, the rime-w orld in Chaos, Niflheimr, with its deformed and icy thurses, the world where Gullveig once walked out from and w here he r essence still dwells, and wh ere Hel is the chief-ruler (Nifl-Hel) is worshipped as an acosmic and anti-cosm ic eitrcurre nt invading the cosmos. M tispellzheimr, also in Chaos, with its ruler S urtr is worshipped as the flaming world, where once Loki sprang out from. The worship is devoted to the thurses, to u pho ld them and sacrifice to them so that they will grow in power. The traditio n tha t comes with this worship holds O ld Norse rituals in man y forms, a tradition th at com es with d evotion a nd black magical praxis. The practical so rcery o f this trad iti on is very im por ta nt an d has b een sin ce ages before the Com mo n Era. All of this is very importa nt to respect. The rune-row is a central tool in the Thursatru Tradition, the calling for the powers includes it, and the black magical praxis is based on it an d its mysteries. So therefore it is very im po rtan t to understand all of the rune s, its old language, and its usage - this is an essential part
of the Thursatru tradition. Jotna tru is the name based on the word jotunn, which is in analogy with the m ore be ni gn gia nts who m os t often are friend s with th e cesir. I t’s very confusing in the Old sagas because many authors m ix the words pur s and jotunn in sentences as if the words m eant the same, bu t they do n ot. That is the main difference betwe en Pursatru and J&tnairu, and this is w hy jotna tru is an inappropriate nam e for a cultus
opposing the cesir.
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After the sun has gone dow n he r power opens u p akin to the eyes of the night-owl. She likes the dark of the night - the nightside of time - like her abode deep in the east of the underworld, where it is cold and dark, and where the Nifl-mists drift heavily. This is the time for calling her name and to give homage to her, and doing so she will com e climbing from the d epths and o ut o f the earth to a nswer you r call. She, the Old One comes as the old wise crone, and sits with you; leaning on her black staff of thu rsian power, a tool holding the ver y essenc e of Cha os ’ wrath. In her black robes she sits in d elight o f yo ur de votion. She hun gers for you a nd t he essence of you r offerings to her, she ab sorbs it like ravenous flames. There it is, high u pon a hill, the big rocks with heavy snow-caps look like giants are sitting and w atching the star s in the night. This is the wilderness , no civilization close to the se woods, no cars o r filthy city noises. It is winter, and the long w inter mo nths are corre sponding to Gullveig and he r Nifl-blood. I consider the winters to be Gullveig s m os t d om inan t time o f th e year, especially Midw inte r, whic h I see as one of the m ost im por tant nights in homage to Gullveig, Hel and th e Nifl-powers. The winter n ights in my area are normally abo ut -20°C to -35°C, a trait which helps you in feeling the cold o f Niflheimr in your very ow n core. The trail which leads up to this place is old and on ly animals use it today. Brown bear s and wolves are know n to stroll in these w oods - with out fire you are a potential targe t for the wild beasts’ curiosity, aggression, an d hunti ng instincts. This knowled ge makes you alert; as the adrenaline infecting you r blood th e m otivation is infecting you r spirit. Their pres ence can be felt as a lingering reek of their urine a nd fur, their essence dwells here but th ey the ms elves have ru n away as so on as th ey he ard m y ca r pullin g up b elo w the hill and smelled the smoke from m y torch. These woods are old, you can tell by the intensity of the entities dwelling here, the darkness is so thick it feels like it chokes you, b ut it is only the effect of its unsee n pre sen ce, as th e darkn ess h er e is like a th ick fog, you can actually feel it em bra ce you. The tree giants are standing tall and m urm uring in the non -prese nt wind, they look like dark giant defende rs protecting the primeval hill of the thurses. The edgy flames o f m y torch are dancing eagerly and cast shadows in the dark, the flames
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G u l l v eig a r bo k make th e wo od com e alive alive,, and its heat is wa nted in this rime-clad home . The deep snow a nd th e up-hill trail tests your strength as it it is like walking in water up-stream, it is is like like the snow wants you to give give up and go home. But the very thoug ht o f what awaits awaits you mak es you n ot care ab out small distractions like like this. As I arrive I first first see them, the big rocks which are acting ritual mon um ents repre sent Loki, Gullveig Gullveig and their adverse purpose, at the same time time are they they re presenting Jormun gandr, Fen rir and Hel. They are waiting patiently patiently for the flames to rise again in their lair. lair. Thoughts on Gullve Gullveig ig and mem ories of my last visit visit going around in my head as I carefully carefully stack the fire-wood in place place in the fire-pit fire-pit I once ma de b y digging a big deep hole in the rocky ground, a nd I p ut large large rocks around it to hold the flames. flames. A long time ago I and som e bro thers made this place with just shovels shovels and pick-axes; pick-axes; it took m onth s o f hard labor. An d at last last the flames lit lit up th e gian t rocks at the Gullveigarblot, *Heil GullveigГ Specially gathered herbs and resin are mixed in the stone-m ortar and the pestle roughly grinds grinds the mix to nice incense granules. granules. W ith my hand-m ade spo on - made out of YewYew-tr tree ee and which has GullveigGullveig-runes runes burn t into it - the incense mix is is pu t on glowing glowing charcoal charcoal with my left left hand; “
й Gullveig!
awakes my spirit, a certain Heil Heidr! Heil Aurboda Г The smo ke is well-known and awakes focus. focus. Heavy breathing m akes you dizzy dizzy and all of yourself getting warm and in spired. Wit h m y inne r eye I envision Gullveig s essence filling filling the darkness, m y sigil sigilss and fetishes are activated an d call for her, like like howling wolves wolves in a Feb ruary night, mist is steaming from the jaws of the hun ters, reeking and rising, the smoke c omes from th e und erworld, from h er abode, it is her essence, essence, like like the foul breath o f Garmr. I fall fall into m editation, a prepar ation for the receiving of Gullveig Gullveig s presence. With my inne r voice voice I call call,, materializ materializee runes w ith my inn er voice voice an d cast them smoking and icy down into the d epths ofJarnv ofJarnviSr. iSr. Semi-improvised and wordless rune-songs flow flow in my thoug hts; celebrating and glorifying glorifying In Aldna. The void spreads like the bla ck wing s o f N iSho iS ho gg r ar ou nd m e; I can feel fe el th e m ight ig ht o f th e abyss a byss an d the t he cla us troph obic clasp clasp.. I can feel the freedom of my spirit ripping th e shackles apa rt like like the father o f Fenr Fenrir. ir. I have now awoken the anti-cosmic powers and they climb up from u nd er the earth like like black shadowy shadowy mists. mists. The crystal crystal fetish fetish which is repre senting Gullveig Gullveig s hea rt is as cold as ice ice and bites m y left left ha nd as I devotedly touc h it, it, the clay-po clay-pott which represents the well well of thursian wisdom - Hvergelmir Hvergelmir - is boil ing with eitr and the black magical runes inscribed are no w glowing brigh t bloody red. red. So does the master bind-run e Pursakross, which is placed in the east together with the fetish Gullveig-ido Gullveig-idol. l. The black black magical magical wa nd is held with bo th h and s and used as a focal focal point of Gullveig Gullveig s influence influence as the w ords o f pow er are u ttered:
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“Heil He il Gullveig: Gullv eig: heil Gullveig: Gullveig: heil gygr seids seids oksvar oks vartra tra runa: heil Gullveig: undir ok ajerdu: heil Gullveig: med rwfnin Heidr Angrboda Hyrrokin Aurboda:" “Gullveig Gullveig - The giantess giantess o f darkness from fro m dr-Chaos! I cast runes consecr consecrated ated in your yo ur alluring name, burning and an d smoking, smoking , into the hungry arms ofMyrkvidr ; to seek to uphold upho ld your yo ur wise wise monstrosity." "Gullveig "Gullveig - The thurs-powers’giantessfro m Jarnvidr! See me from fro m y our mighty and black seidr seidr-th -thron ronee; fro m the deepest darkness darkness in which you dwell." dwell." “Gullveig, Gullveig, I invoke you ! Wise an d old giantess! giantess! I implore you yo u to posse possess ss my spirit with your yo ur black and an d anti-cosmic power. power. I implore you yo u to take me as your yo ur disciple disciple in the thursian knowledge and runes. runes. 1 implore you yo u to embrace and infuse my devoted devo ted spirit with your you r thursian strength and rime-thursian wisdom." “Gullveig, Gullveig, I invoke you ! Wise giantess! giantess! Le t my rune-songs rune-songs link your yo ur powers powers with mine; and bind my rune-songs to your black magic. magic. Le t my rune-songs rune-songs hail you yo u as my dark and a nd almighty alm ighty queen." ".Hail Hai l Gullveig! Gullveig! Distributor Distributo r o f the words o f darkness!" "Pau "Pau hetu hana prjar prj ar hrcedilegarpursam hrcedilegarpursameyjar: eyjar: pursamcerin sem er ein ein ok prjar: prysvar prys var brend: prysvar borin: borin: mcer cer okfelagi Loka: vordr ok drottningMyrkv dro ttningMyrkv idar:" "Drottning jarnvidja, pursameyja, pursamey ja, gygja, myrkrida, illra illra bruda: Drottning Drottn ing jarnulfa, pursarekka, jotna, svartbldtm sv artbldtm anna, illra vera:” "heil Gullveig in vitra: heil Gullveig in aldna:"
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G u l l v eig a r b o k I then open up and receive the attention from Gullveig, she always comes and sits with me, faceless faceless she smiles at at me and no ds in approval and shows m e tha t she is willing willing to share. Fo r a long tim e 1 just sit as if me ditating a nd studying Gullveig Gullveig with m y inner eye as as she shows me things, things, things of impo rtance , this could take an hou r or two. two. Then, when the time is is right I bring ou t my Blotsp Blotspcetii cetiir, r, they are my special specially ly made divination divination tools - which I use to c omm unicate with Gullve Gullveig ig above above all. all. I call the m my “claws” “claws” because the y are m ade from genuine w olf cla claws ws,, for m e the y symbolizes the restless wo lf who stroll in in the dark to scou t out w hat he is look look ing for, no rest and no mercy. My claws have been through these journeys as they come from a wild wild wolf: wolf: the y have hunted, the y have have killed killed,, and th ey have devoured their victims. victims. F or me, wh at this represents in m y workings workings is very important. They repre sent Gullveig Gullveig s child Fenrir and the ir offspring, offspring, e.g. e.g. H ati an d Skoll; Skoll; Gullveig Gullveig leads leads them and they are are enlightened by her: so am I, and they are very much c on nected to h er and she has accepted my claws claws as a means to com municate. After my com munication and receiving receiving I prepare prepare an d start m y Seta; to gain all the understand ing o f wh at I have receiv received ed this night. night. Then, I en d m y blot by by giving sacrifi sacrifice ce an d praise Gullveig for all that she has given me. This night I bro ug ht my sacred bowl with red Gullveig-run Gullveig-runes es inscribed on it an d I fill filled ed it with raw meat w h i c h s w a m i n bloo bl oo d, s o m e t h i n g the Old One fancies. Even the Old O n e s J a r n -
viSjur viSjur gather from the scent o f fresh fresh blood and meat, thirsting for its its essence. essence. “Heil Gul Gullvei veig! Н
й Heidr Heidr!! Н
й Aurboda! Aurboda!” ”
"Heil Gullveig Gullveig in vitra! Heil Gullveig Gullveig in aldn a!”
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calls for for a longer m editation out in the wild Utiseta is a meditative tech nique that calls to connect with the divinities and exchange power and hidden knowledge. There is also the 01 term ndttseta, night-sitting, night-sitting, which m ight fit better with the workings according to the Thursa tru tradition. B ut I just just call call this praxis Seta, sitting, as I use this form o f invocatory me ditation both outside and inside during nights. Some will probably disagree with this, as the known (m ode rn) practice o f Utiseta is par ticularly ticularly described as being p erform ed outside in the wilderness. Wel Well, l, I d on 't like like to limit myself with p redes tined bound aries, such as stasis stasis in praxis praxis - even though I consider tradition highly imp imp ortant. Instead I use the fund am ental ideology o f the Gno stic Le Left: ft: Ha nd Path an d thurs ian traditions w ith my person al lawless lawless develop ments to form any praxi praxiss into the best adapt one for me - unrestrained. unrestrained. After After more than a decade o f experience o f O N praxis praxis,, I figu figure re that as long as I reach the purpose with this form of invocatory me ditation I can adjust it to to m y individual individual practice and fulfillment. In the line of Thursatru the point w ith Seta is for exampl examplee to reach the depths o f the underw orld and grasp its its knowledge, knowledge, and /or during a ritual ritual become one with the invoked thursian powe r - it could also be used as an extensive extensive m editation to achieve achieve u nde rstand ing of previously previously received knowledge. knowledge. I I often use incense during my Seta which I prepare and m ix beforehand according according to th e type o f working f m doing. doing. After all all these years of praxis my brain are used to the incenses and c onnec ts its its scents routinely with certain states. states. I use all all kinds of herbs and resin to get certain scents. For inside-workings I rather burn oils, and the se oils I ma ke m yself by mixing ca rrier oil (e.g. (e.g. sweet almo nd o il), essen tial oils, oils, herbs and resin till till I get the sc ent I want. I think oil is is bette r for inside inside Seta because it gives gives a more pleasant scent as you sit in front of it for a very long long time, incense smoke tends to m ake you a bit too dizzy after after a longer while because o f the lack of oxygen oxygen in your brain, and you can get poisoned from it, too. Ajiother bad thing with using incense on an inside Seta is that you have to refill it often, and that distracts your m editation. However, However, for outside Seta I always always bu m incense mixes on charcoal as it lasts for a long time, an d to avoid distractions distractions as I sit outside heavier doses of incenses are need ed, so I alway alwayss prepare 3-4 times times of a batch.
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Gu l l v e ig a r b Ok Fetishes are very important to me, and they were very imp ortant in the ON magic. I always have several different fetishes for every single thursian powe r tha t I’m working with. All have their exact purpose. A fetish is an item th at has be en worke d with for a long time, interlinked and “inspirited” with cer tain chosen p ow ers. These items I always bring to my Seta sessions of course, as it is the ir purp ose to work w ith you anytime and anywhere. Your fetishes are the links between you r Will and you r spirit; your magical praxis and the thursian powers. I beho ld them as my extended roots; which I have, by m y controlled Will, descended into the unde r world and connected w ith whatever power o r source I wish. The last item I regularly bring to the Seta is my black wand. It is my black serpe nt o f power th at stabilizes m y black magical focus.
*
I have several places where I like to go and have my Seta an d rituals; m y two fa vorite places are one u pon a moun tain and one by a certain lake in the outskirts of my town. A thirty minutes car-ride and I arrive at this deserted lake. The water is absolutely still this cold night; it makes a perfect giant mirror; which reflects the black mou ntains an d tree s. Thick an d heavy mis ts stroll slowly ar ou nd the lake a nd be tw ee n th e trees, a sign that even c olde r we athe r is ap proa ching due to th e c loud less night sky. The darkness is bluish as the full mo on s sharp light illuminates it, it is something very magical with the blue darkness, and it reminds m e o f Hels spirit, Gullveig s deathly daughter. As my be ard and fingertips start to freeze I make a fire on a natural made shore by the lake; the shoreline is very narrow, perfect though for a fire and room for me and my ritual belongings. The flames soon give me warmth and the ground gives me cold, it has an odd effect upon me, something I cann ot experience inside a house. I always start by having a short and relaxing me d itation, to calm dow n and to blend in with this rare nocturnal o utside environment. It takes time to get used to all the w ilderness sounds, a nd at the sam e time I have to get used to the awkward silence. Unusual, silence can b e a distraction. After I feel tha t I am one w ith the n ight I place ou t my ritual items, everything has its place and I need it that way. I put the m ortar in my knee a nd start to grind my gathered herbs and resin wit h the pestle in my left han d into a rough mix to nice incense granules, this night I used dried M istletoe and M yrrh resin as a base. W ith the hand-m ade spoo n m ade of Yew-tree I put the incense mix on glowing charcoal with my left hand and utter: “Heil Gullveig! Heil HeiSr! HeilA urboda !”I started to evoke the pow ers o f Niflheimr with the he lp o f Gullveig, and I can see with m y inner eye how
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everything around me freezes over and how darkness and ice springs up from the below. Ic y mis ts su rrou nd me a nd th e a rea w he re I sit e mbraces m e like dark ness. I feel the presence of the rime-thurses, and Gullveig nods at me w ith a co ntent stature. Then I powerfully thrus t my black wand into the g round so that its poisonous snakehead digs deep down in the black earth, at the same time I proclaim m y will and start to say my runic formulae in my head. The Nifl-powers are already alert and me et my w ands head u ndergroun d a nd grasp it as an ally. I mentally envision rime bitin g an d em brac ing my black w an d like crystallized smoke, eve n my h an ds and arms covers with rim e until my wan d an d my bod y is covered by this Nifl-hue. Then I stay there, in tha t state, just gazing into the rim e-thursian abyss. Som etimes I spir itually dive into the dark void o f the underw orld an d som etimes I stay semi-con scious and comm unicate with the powers.
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c& U v u v i
GULLVEIG’S RUNE S & THE BLACK R UNES
This is a text which I have com plied along w ith my oth er bo ok URAM, bu t this text focuses only on runes which are related to the runic Gullveig-workings. Som e runes are only for Gullveig, a nd oth er are vital in an y black thursian magical practice. These runes be long to a tradition a nd should be trea ted thereafter. W ithin the thursian tradition Thursatru, the runes with a thursian purpose are called black, the runes came from the giants and their runic wisdo m belongs to them. From a thursian perspective the runes are black magical practical tools of comm unication and understanding of hidde n knowledge - the giants are commu nicating through th e rune s to you. This nightside knowledge is represe nted in the adjective black in black runes. And this nigh tside knowledge comes from the wra th ful bloo d o f the giant-race purs. The thursian race is the black curre nt of Chaos which invades the cosmos; symbolized as the black dragon with eleven heads, or Hvergelmir with its eleven black heads. This anti-cosmic po ison is an allegory for the hidde n knowledge or communication th at the thursian powers bring through the UJ)ark rune -row allegorized as black light All runes of the UJ?ark rune-row orig inate from the primordial thurses; as a matter of fact they were created by Gullveig - the thursian giantess who invented witchcraft and th e runes. H er black essence is entw ined in th e craft and the runes, as Ymir s black blood in the creation. My understanding of the кф агк rune-row and the runic practical magic has its foundation in the anti-cosmic Satanic tradition, and the Chaos-Gnostic tradition. This does no t mean th at I have made up my own run es and meanings; it means that I have embrace d the thu rsian aspects of the ru nes and th eir magic, I have embraced the Old lore and inventions, developed it with modern and personal expansion. I am very careful to no t neglect the O ld lore an d traditions; I rather sieve ou t the purs -aspects and upho ld it in my black thursian magic and tradition.I I have studied a nd worked w ith rune s for many years now, and I have gained un derstand ing in the depths o f the rune s by exploring them exoterically and esoteri-
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G u l l v e ig a r b 6 k cally. I pretty much rea d everything I can get my hands on whe n it comes to runes, everything from Scandinavian history, run ology to m odern rune-magic books. I m ust say that old runological texts interest me th e m ost, because of their undefiled knowledge. They may hold a lot of scientific speculations and guesses because o f the rimes’ poo r evidential history, but at least their authors do n ot make up fictional groundless reports. Many mo de m texts and books are overlooked hypotheses made up fr om “au tho rs’” fantasies o f a “lord o f the rings” reality, which n eve r existed. So I can proudly say that I have based my rune-theories on credible sources from known and respected runologists, scientists and authors, and from that I have worked and exp erime nted by myself with th e run es in magical and ritualistic praxis for man y years - forming a personal black magical svartriinsidr following the anticosmic tradition. To interpret the runes in an anti-cosmic way is no t easy and it does no t mea n just looking at runes as som e black magical tools. First, you have to have deep un de r standing in the anti-cosmic tradition a nd paths, an d this is nothing you receive dur i n g a m o n t h o f r e a d i n g s o m e b o o k s , t h i s ta k e s y e a rs o f e cl e c ti c p ra x i s - lectita et
scribe, antiquum novumque. Secondly, you have to understand the runes. So this text
is my personal outcome from m any years of understanding of the black side of the runes and their thursian magic. M ore detailed and com piled texts abo ut the runes a nd their magic you will find in my nex t book URA M in th e chapters “Black Runes” and “Black Rune M astery ”.
runir erpursum о
и
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G u l l v e i g a r R u n a r
URKAOS
The first and most imp ortan t rune is a bind-rune which I call Urkaos (primordial Chaos), an d it is a combina tion between the [Vrune which in thursian magic repre sents the origin of the primordial powers or curren t of Ginnungagap or Chaos. The u-rune is a rune represen ting origin and the original source. The second rune is the К rune which in thursian magic holds all of the thursian power; which means every thing that the essence and race o f thurs stand for (purs cett). By now we can agree upo n tha t it is the thursian po wer which is the anti-cosmic cu rrent originating from Ginnungag ap or Chaos. I will investigate these tw o run es individually in my book URAM for a more detailed understanding. ( holds both the aspects off) and К and as a combination it represents the ad
verse powe r-current which came out of Chaos and becam e anti-cosmic as an alien cosmic power. ( represents the primordial thursian current; the anti-cosmic current; the orig
inal essence o f the Jjurs-powers. The ( bin d-r une is a ce ntra l symb ol which sh ou ld be us ed in all t hat involves prac ticing the black mag ical workin gs o f th e th ur sian powers, w he th er it’s Gullveig, Loki or Surtr workings. This bind-rune connects the m all and is more o f a founda tion of the thursian workings. It is used as a central talisman o n th e altar or in the blot-area, preferably hanging or stan ding in the center as a symbol of ho no r and leadership. This migh ty bin d-ru ne stand s before the giants themselves.
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G u l l v eig a r b o k
MJRSAKROSS The powers of Chaos, which are represented by the anticlockwise movement, will re-invoke everything to its origin: Ginnungagap - The Abyss - Chaos.
I ^ 9 * ■
Another, as impo rtant rune, is the bind-rune w hich I call Pur sakross (th e thu rses ’ cross, or the thurs ian cross.) The Pursakross has the thursian purpose of invoking the mighty powers of Chaos, which are represented by the anticlockwise movemen t, to re-invoke everything within the cosm os to its origin: Ginnunga8aP “ Abyss - Chaos. Pursakross is the fund am ental symbol o f the anft-sunwheel, henc e the four 5-runes which sitting on
the fo ur reverse pru ne s which are representing the anticlockwise mo vem ent. This is the black sun-wheel that goes backwards and bringing everyth ing back to its origin in Chaos. It is the sym bol o f Ragna Rok. The bind-rune above ( \ a nd1 ) ) is the Surtian Chaos-power Focus rune, a rune I use very often too.
Within Pursakross you see the Krone: an impo rtant notation o f the K rone is that it holds within itself several impo rtant runes in analogy with the Pursatru belief: l) the |-rune; belonging to Nifelhe imr and its ruler Hel, and also the hnmgygr Gullveig, 2) th e <-rune; belonging to Loki; an d it represents the black light and gnosis, and 3) the 5-rune; belong ing to M uspellzheimr and its ruler Surtr.
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Gull
v e ig a r R u n a r
The black poin t in the middle symbolizes Ginnungagap, the jaws to the acosmic Chaos. The jaws or por tal is also called The Eye of Lucifer, The Eye of Taniniver and The Black Sun, and can signify the dark porta l in th e sigil of Azerate1. Pursakross is also an active rungaldr, an evocatory sigil,
made from bind-runes, calling upon the hastening of Ragna Rok or the Day of Wrath.
1 See Temple of the Black Light, 2002, LiberAzerate.
THE FOCAL POINT OF TRANSCENDING
Transcending in this context means to go beyond; beyond the boundaries and causal ity of the cosmos. The Pursakross as an anti-sunwheel is the focal point and sigil
i вяг.cl ckwise movement, f - The Abyss - Chaos.
bfa d -run e which I call Pur jarsian cross.) The Pursakross kir.g the mighty powers of ae anticlockwise movement, aosmos to its origin: Ginnunwoss is the funda mental symKbD- -runes which sitting on 7 re>enting the anticlockwise nee', that goes backwards an d te lymbo l of Ragna Rok. The ns nuie, a rune I use very often
notation o f the Krone is that у with the Pursatru belief: l) id ai>o the hrimgygr Gullveig, e black light and gnosis, and Surtr.
which will lead your acosmic and black spiritual flame back through the black gaping jaws of Ginnungagap. The Pursakross is the wheel that spins anticlockwise and it spins like a spiral more than a circle, because its pur pose is not limited as a closed circle; instead it is as lawless and acausal as the pandimentional Chaos. In my Chaos-Gnostic belief and spiritual workings I view my spirit is being linked to the Urkaos, and its essence being acausal - as my spirit has been bu rnt b y the acausal Muspell-flames and bitten by t he Nifl-ice; and by this enlightened an d awak ened from the hylic slumber; and by so opened my pneumatic eyes. I have identified karma - 1will now assiduously strive to rise above karma - and from this, work to spiritually transcend back into Chao s. With this Self-knowledge I have the advantage to aim my spiritual workings and reach out to powers tha t can guide me to my ob jective. So I uphold the sigil Pursakross over my black altar and make it into a gateway to Ginnungagap. That’s what the b lack poin t in the c enter o f the sigil represents: the gaping chasm called Ginnungagap and Chaos. As I stare with my inner eye upon the Pursakross I envision it to be black, flaming and icy - it turns slowly and heavily anticlockwise in a spiral-way, absor bing my focus into its cen ter - its black hole. In my visions it looks like a gigantic axel pulling in my black flames; seeking to connect its own overwhelming black flames with mine; as I call for the cr one to watch over me; as I call for the light-bringer to guide me; as I call for Chaos to embrace my spirit.
Fursakross correspondences: Chaos, anti-cosmic gods, thursian pow ers and th eir purposes, Satanic elemen ts in the Old N orse religion, all-devouring fire, incineration o f all forms, carbon ization,
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G u l l v eig a r b o k volcanic power; o utburst and destruction, black fire and flames, S urtr and S urtr s sons, Sur tr s bur ning sword o f vengeance, Nidh ogg r’s pur pos e and entity, conce n tration, discipline, self-control, fire-meditation, m ental strength, unconqu erable, fight, perspicacity, unbreakable purposefulness, creativity, inventiveness, elitism, total victory, Satanic triumph, superiority, earned honor, greediness, Satanic and glorifying reward, respectability an d dignity, unlimited wis dom - unlimited strength. Gim stein n: Lava Stones, Lignite, Hematite, Onyx, Obsidian and B lood stone. Carve the
Pursakross
in stone, clay, bone or wood, paint on leather or
pa pe r/pa rc hm en t, paint w ith bo dily fluids on yo ur body. Blo od s hall fill the rune, sper m or saliva if you wish it to be invisible.
20 2
G u l l v e ig a r R u n a r
> -l
X ---- O ANDAGIPT
For continuous inspiration in my workings I use this stave, whic h is called Andagipt. As cosmic forces are all aro und us and naturally go against ou r choice o f sinister path, physically and spiritually, I chose to always su rro un d myse lf with strengthe nin g tools. Such as this sta ve Andagipt, th e gift to your spirit; the stave wh ich will always make sure th at no intruding force can defeat my ded ication a nd loyalty. This is not a protection, this is empow ering o f your Self and yo ur black magical work. Andagipt represen ts your Satanic will. If you chose to work with this stave you need to com e up with a fitting galdr song to it, to activate this stave in your personal workings.
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G u l l v eig a r bo k
GAUMI
Gaumi is
the bind-rune or the stave which helps you to keep focus on the enlight
enm ent given from the Chaos-powers. I use this stave in most o f my magical runic workings, for example, to stabilize my focus on my aim and true ambition. Bu m it into the black skin which you throw your divination chips on, cu t it into your m ag ical wand and fill it with blood, carve it into you r altar, draw it onto your left han d befor e magical acts, em bellish it into th e leather pou ch w hich ho lds blac k magical herbs, fetishes and gems, etc. If you chose to work with this stave you nee d to come up w ith a fitting galdr song to it, to activate this stave in your p ersonal workings.
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G u l l v e i g a r R u n a r GULLVEIGIAN BIND-RUN ES
The three bind-run es below are holy runes given as gifts to o r from Gullveig and can only be used with absolute dedication a nd respect. Used in the wrong way they will becom e destructive to its user and they will become a curse! These bind-runes are energize d with and linked to he r black wrathful essence a nd her blackest magic, so it’s crucial for everybody to n ot m isuse these bind-ru nes in anyway. Fo r the true Gullveig-worshipper they are blessings - for the unfaithful a horrible curse. They are all her malicious seeds created in this world to invoke her and spread he r essence and purpose. The unna tural ways of these bind-ru nes are as unnatural as her o wn essence as the thurs-werewolves’ mo ther and inventor of magic: fero cious and attacking - beautiful and generous. All o f these bind-rune s should be inscribed (w ith your left han d only) w ith ice, bl oo d, a crystal qu ar tz or bla ck Onyx. Ma gica l tools fo r inscription sh ou ld be a charged po isono us wand, wolf-claw, icicle, or crystal qu art z/b lac k onyx-pointer. If carved, they should be carved with your left hand in to fitting material.
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G u l l v e ig a r bo k
KEMIR Kemir is
a bind -run e w hich evokes Gullveig s limitless knowledge an d un der stan d
ing of the runes. This sigil has always been on my altar and I consta ntly keep it there to help my spirit to be aided in the complex understandings of the runes' essence.
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G u l l v e i g a r R u n a r
This is an a lternative way to use Kemir in Щ эагк rune-magic. The bind-run e mad e out o f ^ and К helps your magical purp ose to focus on the thursian aspects and it is also guidance in the depth s o f the u nderw orld. The UJ)ark-runes are written anti clockwise to em phasize the will and pa th o f Chaos.
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G u l l v eig a r b Ok
Lykil is Loki w ithin Gullveig.
Only Gullveig herself can explain its meaning and pu rpose.
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G u l l v e i g a r R u n a r
1SARN tsarn is
the bind-rune which evokes the current ofJarnvidr. It calls for the O ld O ne
and her thursian werewolf breed.
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Ill: Ljod
H e n n a r
As
darkness she came
Like a shadow out o f shadows a black crone with a black flam e Old, wise and all-seeing She took the worlds in her grip, prevailing against them as a rime-being The ice-cold current then woke An d the gods knew she would outlast fire and smoke And spawned the serpent and the bane And giants and wolves and the gods knew they will be slain Runes she brought from her own abyss And the blackest magic which no god dare to reminisce A ll fe ar her as the Old m other The Death which will embrace them one after another As the mother o f the pale queen she came Three in number - cold in essence Unleasher of the untame Anger she loves - squirming unlight Like earth she consume and like space she is Cunning and bright
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G u l l v eig a r b 6 k Her magic is the keeper of the grave-worm Aby smal - dark - death-striking Iron fir m Black moon water colors her dress Pockets that hold an ocean Depthless Under m an’sfoundatio n she dwells Seering - striving - reflecting Underneath the wells Do you know the crystal cave? Where the seed of three spirits live The mother stave Do you know the hidden iron gate? Unnatural dimensions rule behind it Rim e and hate O f her name do no t ask me “Ages of Wolves" they call her I call her SHE
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Y b l
ot r una z
An anti-cosmic traditional rungaldr to supplicate the Yew tree, its spirits and the IhwaR-rune. yr - ihwaR: grd med Helju: ek hylli anda ys ok herulfa: y r -ih w a R : gro med eitri: ek hylli an da ys o kpursulfa: yr - ihwaR: gro med myrkri: ek hylli andays ok heidulfa: gro t Gullveigar nafni gro free Hyrrokinjar: yr - ihwaR: yand ar ek kalla: ek heitiys a nda a t mcela mersa tt ok at leida mi k i myrkri ok riinum: y r - ihwaR: yand ar ek kalla: gro t Gullveigar nafni gro free Hyrrokinjar: yr - ihwaR: ek hylli helulfar: ek hylli heidulfar:
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Gu l l
v e ig a r b o k
Heldrasill: ek virdi pik: ekfor na per blodi: yr ihwaR: -
lat drekann med ellifu hofud frd Utgardipda pik:
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Th
e O l d W il l
C l
im b
Jiwt In the sinister night I call Under the obsidian star And with my myrrh resin I color the air In you r shadowy name Black wax carries my blessed torch Flames o f a falcon-spine wander in my thoughts I see the companion luring grimly Eyes of a predator thrust me like a spear But it gives me joy, no t wounds And there, tall and black she rose Ice holds the mo ment with us in darkness Sharing, showing, taking And she moves, like an old tree in the wind As her hands are of black icicles As her hair is long and o f black ice He r fac e picks me up like a mother her child Into a caress of the deepest shadow And she speaks with runes of iron Burning into my spirit The great snake shall now come Black within a nd like you without Poison isfrozen in its fo rm And Will is manifested upon m y grip Thrust it into the underworlds she said And the old will climb
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G r An a u t r
Hungry he bays as he hunts in the sky The unnatural e ntity from a land of shadows Drooling like a rain-storm without a sky The one with dried blood on hisfur, reeking Chasing the black swaying in the cold black sky It's an unconquerable game with a predestined end Mother, don’t yo ur children gather there? Mother, isn't tha t your abode? Black, lonely, blocker o f the round fire Cold, haunting, keeper o f the threshold of worlds He has been hunting it as an infant He has been hunting it as the mighty horn He has been hunting it as the shady eye Snapping, growling, crying Crying like winds caressing the shaded crowns of trees Sadness I hear - victory I seer O' mother o f darkness, enlighten me as your grey and unleashed companion
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А м а
1 ~ 2
Су и и
Hail, hail, hail! Gullveig; first-born mother Bringer o f adverse power Queen-Giantess of darkness Hail, hail, hail! Heidr ; second-born crone Bringer o f sinister dreams Women's true luster Hail, hail, hail! Aurboda; third-born m aid Bringer o f ascending seeds Eclipse o f the cosmic sun Blackness I call your throne The gaping space in Chaos From where you shine through all worlds Robes I witness flu tte r A s you rise like an icy night sky With your wand like Chaos' axis Queen o f the wrathful giants Below, upon and in the middle Mo ther o f the deathly race Sallow earth you trample And blacken it with your breath Wordless darkness begets
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G u l l v eig a r b Ok To mart you came as a crone Proud in vigorous spirit With light fr om the world below A s Queen over abysmal lands A n d Queen over man and woman; Queen-witch over the essence of magic A s two you firs t came Sootless darkness and pure light The ocean, the soil, and the below A s three you came before the powers A s a wintry cloud o f bewilderm ent Do minant prevailing, and cruel ,
Blackness lick the soil o f heaven Terrible shadows poun d on its walls Thefir st time you eclipsed its room Wholesome like fr om the chasm you came Unfolding like the infinite rebound Dynamic as the fertile jaws Keeper o f thefir st race Moth er o f its line Queen-giantess Source o f the blackest poison Holder o f the fa te Key to the rim Ma id, mother, crone Three in all aspects
r r r
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Sk a s sl
e ik r
The giants stood dark Deep in the valley Still as January snow Silence Cold I looked around Old paths crossed my view And a rabbit’s left pa w came Triggered the witch And she came as the crone Black and frightening Num erous links ran around her spine Around and around She spun like a wo lf Bu t the black stretched out Like spikes Lik e icicles Like iron rods Darker she grew Lighter I grew She envisioned fo r us both The vortex is the wand The wand is the spine And the spine holds the links Like iron-talons they swept Aroun d like dead and falling leaves But the spine is everlasting Lik e a spiral in the abyss
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G u l l v eig a r b o k A n d him Swept the valley like a shadow A n d she spun Ha ppy and alluring The runes danced in the bats’field Am ulets she said Are the flo ating good In m y dance and ga te Gaze and incantation Incantation and thirst Thirst and hunger Hunger, hunger You shall collect Ma nifold is better Let them embrace your neck Like a scarf in the cold Touching your breast Like my long hair Burning intense Glowing in knowledge M y word in one rune Shall m ake you descend In m y home blend In my house stay With my hound bay In m y heart dwell Me and Hel I I do it fo r you Look a t me Bare Wanting Hungry Spinning Snapping Biting Teaching
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Sk
a ssl e ik r
Taking Giving Embracing Lusting I do i t fo r you Look a t me Bare black Crone-dance Black spike wheel Confusing Pulling Fulfilling the charm Creating the deformed desire
*
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A pp e n d ix
I do not include all worlds in the ON cosmology o f the mythology in this chart, as they are not relevant in this book. •The darke r outer pa rt of the illustration is Ch aos/K aos, I have written it anticlockwise because of its opposite n ature towards the cosmos. •N, E, S, W stands for the cardinal points; N orth, E as t... •The world tree and its worlds he within the cosm os/Allheim r, I have shaped it as an egg, please do the same. The cosmos is surro unde d by Chaos. •The world tree is a Yew tree; please look up Yew tree on the ne t to get a good und erstand ing of its shape, I like the world tree to look like a Yew tree. I will add a pictur e o f a Yew tree th at I like. •AsgarSr lies in the crown of the Yew tree. •Mi3gar5r lies on th e Yew tree s trun k. •The “up pe r”Jotun heim r lies to the n orth of/ in MiSgarSr, above the underworld. It has a gateway down to th e und erworld. •The underwo rld starts at the roots o f the Yew tree. Mark the border w ith a horizontal line. •To the N orth lies Jotunhe imr, I like the form to be like an egg or a testicle. On top ofJotu nhe imr lies first well of wisdom; Mim isbrunnr, and the first Yew tree roo t leads to i t Under Jotunheim r to the E ast/N orth lies Jarnvidr. •To the Sou th lies Helheim r, I like the form to be like an egg or a testicle. On top of Helheimr lie another well of wisdom; Urdarbrunnr, an d the third Yew tree roo t leads to it.
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G u l l v e ig a r b 6 k •Below these two u nde rwo rldly worlds lies Ginnungagap, the black portal o ut to Chaos. G innungagap, Niflheim r and Muspellzheimr all lie in Chaos; th at’s why I’ve put them on the bord er between Chaos and the underw orld. •Niflheimr lies on the N or th side o f Ginnungagap, Niflheimr is the wo rld of ice and mists. And in N iflheimr the last well of wisdo m lies; Hvergelmir, and the secon d Yew tree ro ot leads to i t A nd on th e ou ter rim o f Hvergelmir lies the ‘sea-shore ” called Elivagar, and from Elivagar runs 11 rivers which are spreading throughout the underw orld, feeding Jotunheim r, H elheimr, the roots etc with their poisonous waters. •Muspellzheimr lies on the South side o f Ginnungagap, Muspellzheimr is the world o f flames.
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G u l l v eig a r b o k A SUMMARY
1. Chao s is all, and within Ch aos the cosmo s lies like an egg. 2. The cosmos holds the world tree and its worlds. 3. The u ppe r worlds are: a) AsgarSr, b) MidgarSr, and c) “up pe r1 " Jotun heim r. 4. The unde rworld includes: a) Jotunhe imr, and b) H elheimr. 5. JamviSr (ironwood) is a region in the ea st/no rth of Jotu nhe im r where Gullveig (and Fenrir) has her abode unde r the name Angrboda. 6. The three roots lead to the thre e wells of wisdom: l ) Mim isbrunnr, 2) UrSar br unn r, an d 3) Hvergelmir. 7. Elivagar is a sea-shore at Hverg elmir wh ere 11 rivers of Hvergelmir s icy water run out. 8. The worlds in Cha os are Niflheim r and M iispellsheimr. They bo th lie on each side o f Ginnungagap.
Note: th e uppe r world, hen ce th e tre e-crow n, starts to withe r as the po ison ou s underworld water feeds its roots.
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