Part 6 (1/2)
When Odin heard this accusation he declared that he would prove the falsity of the charge by a.s.suming the guise of a Wanderer and testing Geirrod's generosity. Wrapped in his cloud-hued raiment, with slouch hat and pilgrim staff,--
”Wanderer calls me the world, Far have I carried my feet, On the back of the earth I have boundlessly been,”--
Wagner (Forman's tr.).
Odin immediately set out by a roundabout way, while Frigga, to outwit him, immediately despatched a swift messenger to warn Geirrod to beware of a man in wide mantle and broad-brimmed hat, as he was a wicked enchanter who would work him ill.
When, therefore, Odin presented himself before the king's palace he was dragged into Geirrod's presence and questioned roughly. He gave his name as Grimnir, but refused to tell whence he came or what he wanted, so as this reticence confirmed the suspicion suggested to the mind of Geirrod, he allowed his love of cruelty full play, and commanded that the stranger should be bound between two fires, in such wise that the flames played around him without quite touching him, and he remained thus eight days and nights, in obstinate silence, without food. Now Agnar had returned secretly to his brother's palace, where he occupied a menial position, and one night when all was still, in pity for the suffering of the unfortunate captive, he conveyed to his lips a horn of ale. But for this Odin would have had nothing to drink--the most serious of all trials to the G.o.d.
At the end of the eighth day, while Geirrod, seated upon his throne, was gloating over his prisoner's sufferings, Odin began to sing--softly at first, then louder and louder, until the hall re-echoed with his triumphant notes--a prophecy that the king, who had so long enjoyed the G.o.d's favour, would soon perish by his own sword.
”The fallen by the sword Ygg shall now have; Thy life is now run out: Wroth with thee are the Disir: Odin thou now shalt see: Draw near to me if thou canst.”
Saemund's Edda (Thorpe's tr.).
As the last notes died away the chains dropped from his hands, the flames flickered and went out, and Odin stood in the midst of the hall, no longer in human form, but in all the power and beauty of a G.o.d.
On hearing the ominous prophecy Geirrod hastily drew his sword, intending to slay the insolent singer; but when he beheld the sudden transformation he started in dismay, tripped, fell upon the sharp blade, and perished as Odin had just foretold. Turning to Agnar, who, according to some accounts, was the king's son, and not his brother, for these old stories are often strangely confused, Odin bade him ascend the throne in reward for his humanity, and, further to repay him for the timely draught of ale, he promised to bless him with all manner of prosperity.
On another occasion Odin wandered to earth, and was absent so long that the G.o.ds began to think that they would not see him in Asgard again. This encouraged his brothers Vili and Ve, who by some mythologists are considered as other personifications of himself, to usurp his power and his throne, and even, we are told, to espouse his wife Frigga.
”Be thou silent, Frigg!
Thou art Fiorgyn's daughter And ever hast been fond of men, Since Ve and Vili, it is said, Thou, Vidrir's wife, didst Both to thy bosom take.”
Saemund's Edda (Thorpe's tr.).
May-Day Festivals
But upon Odin's return the usurpers vanished for ever; and in commemoration of the disappearance of the false Odin, who had ruled seven months and had brought nothing but unhappiness to the world, and of the return of the benevolent deity, the heathen Northmen formerly celebrated yearly festivals, which were long continued as May Day rejoicings. Until very lately there was always, on that day, a grand procession in Sweden, known as the May Ride, in which a flower-decked May king (Odin) pelted with blossoms the fur-enveloped Winter (his supplanter), until he put him to ignominious flight. In England also the first of May was celebrated as a festive occasion, in which May-pole dances, May queens, Maid Marian, and Jack in the Green played prominent parts.
As personification of heaven, Odin, of course, was the lover and spouse of the earth, and as to them the earth bore a threefold aspect, the Northmen depicted him as a polygamist, and allotted to him several wives. The first among these was Jord (Erda), the primitive earth, daughter of Night or of the giantess Fiorgyn. She bore him his famous son Thor, the G.o.d of thunder. The second and princ.i.p.al wife was Frigga, a personification of the civilised world. She gave him Balder, the gentle G.o.d of spring, Hermod, and, according to some authorities, Tyr. The third wife was Rinda, a personification of the hard and frozen earth, who reluctantly yields to his warm embrace, but finally gives birth to Vali, the emblem of vegetation.
Odin is also said to have married Saga or Laga, the G.o.ddess of history (hence our verb ”to say”), and to have daily visited her in the crystal hall of Sokvabek, beneath a cool, ever-flowing river, to drink its waters and listen to her songs about olden times and vanished races.
”Sokvabek hight the fourth dwelling; Over it flow the cool billows; Glad drink there Odin and Saga Every day from golden cups.”
Norse Mythology (R. B. Anderson).