Old Norse Mythology.

The Old Norse Mythology is rather facinating. The ones aqquinted with the world of Tolkien can to some extent recognize themselves when dealing with this mythology. According to the old tales a man with the name of Gylfe, king of Svithiod, once entered the home of the gods and there he was told how the world begun. He met with three beings which had the names: Hög (High), Tredje (Third) and jämnhög (Even Height or something like that ;-). 

They told him how the world had been created and how everything was done. In the beginning there was the abyss (Ginnungagapet), North of this there was Nifelheim, the world of cold where Cold and Darkness rules. Frosty mists rose from the cold well of Hvergelmer. In the south there was the hot Muspelheim, a place where the being Surte ruled with a flaming sword. The mists from Hvergelmer formed the frozen stream of Elivĺgor which flowed in to the Ginnungagap and filled it with ice. But at the same time flares from Muspelheim fell into the abyss and the falling drops which became the result of the mix of flares and ice formed two giant beings: A cow with the name 'Audhumbla' and a giant named 'Ymer'. Ymer got his food from the cow by means of four mouths which he used to milk the cows four nipples. Audhumbla in turn lived on the white frost ont the rocks. 

Her warm breath created a man called Bure wich by some mysterious way managed to get hold of a wife (it is not described how) and they where the first of the Asa dynasty of which Oden, Vile and Ve would be the greatest. 

Ymer on his side created several different creatures. From his left arm a lovely couple sprung, from which the three fates Urd, Verdandi, Skuld (Guilt) and the wise Mimer came. His feet on the other hand created a three headed monster wich became the ancestor of the Rimtusarnas evil giant family. 

Oden, wich destiny had choosen to become the one who would fullfill the creation, killed the giant Ymer (with help from his two brothers) and used his body as a ground for the new world. His blood became the sea (Where all the Rimtusarnas but one drowned). His skull became the sky. The bones in his sceleton became mountains, his brain the clouds and his tissues was grinded in the great mill 'Grottekvarnen', around whose main axis the universe turned, to become the dirt. The mill was driven by the giantesses Fenja and Menja. Ymers Eyebrows became a wall against the inhabitable surroundings. This new world was called Midgĺrd. 

The world down under was divided into three kingdoms each one with its own well. Hvergelmer, Mimers well and Urda well.From the Ginnungagap a large ash with the name 'Ygdrasil' grow. The branches of Ygdrasil covered all the then known world.In Hvergelmer the dragon Nidh"g lies and gnaws on the rots of the tree. Mimers well on the other hand is the well of wisedom, guarded by Mimer, Oden once gave his right eye for a drink of the water in this well. 

At Urdawell which is guarded by the three fates the gods have their conferences each day. They ride daily over the bridge Bifrost, a bridge which shimmers in all the colours of the rainbow and is watched by the god Heimdal (also called Rig), nine mothers and nine sisters son and beholder of Gjallarhornet which is nordic tales last trump . Heimdal sleeps lighter than the bird, sees one hundred traveldays in each direction from his castle Himinbjorg and has such sharp hearing that he can hear the grass and the wool grow. 
Once when Oden and his brothers where out taking a walk at the shore of the sea in Midgĺrd, he found two Sceptring (?) trees with the names Ask and Embla. They set them free from the earth and gave them blood, power of motion, intelligence, will, fantasy and spirit. They where formed after their own appearence. From this couple the whole humanity evolved. The fate Urd gives every human a being called Fylgia at birth . This being are to follow her throughout his/her life. 

Odens wife is called Frigg, and his sons ar called Tor and Balder. Tor is the strongest of the gods and is allways in war with the giants. He is armed with his 'strength belt' Megingjord and the hammer 'Mjölner' which like a boomerang allways return to his hand after a throw. He is travelling through space in a wagon which is pulled by the goats 'Tandgniostr' and 'Tandgrisner'. About his fights with the giants there is a lot of fascinating stories which have the character of folklore tales and which most certainly never have been accepted by the believing. As the god of thunder he enjoyed respectfull worshiping from the believers which can be proved by among other things the surviving names on villages (Thorsvik) and in other words like 'tordön' (The sound of lightning), torsdag (Thursday). 
Balder on the other hand was the god of battle but got some of the characteristics of christ when the christian faith became known in the nordic countries. There is no certain proof that he really was the focus for some serious worshipping. Any way, the story about Balder is rather fascinating. In Snorre Sturlassons Edda he was portraied as Balder the kind. He was residing in his stronghold Breidablick. He was the kindest and the justest (?) of the gods. He was therefore loved of all the living beings in the world. Therefore his mother took a promise from all the living not to hurt him and cause of this Balder was invunerable. The gods therefore used him for target pracitizing, the arrows they used just bounced of him. But there where one plant which his mother had forgotten to ask and that was the misteltoe. One of the creatures in the 'inner circle' around the gods was the devious Loke (who really was of a giant family allthough he had been taken up by the gods) who when he realized the mistake made by Balders mother, quickly made an arrow of the misteltoe and instructed Balders blind brother, Höder, to shot it in a certain direction. The arrow hit Balder and he was promptly killed. The following story reminds a bit of the greek story where 'Persefone' and 'Prometheus' get's in more or less the same situation. The chocked gods tried to get Balder back from the kingddom of death. But failed due to the sly Loke which had disguised himself as an old woman with the name Töck. Loke got his punishment, he was caught in the river when he was trying to escape in the shape as a salmon. He was chained with his sons (Nares) Bowels to a rock just under a jut where a viper constantly drips his venom on the poor fellows face. Sigyn, his belowed, stays with him and tries to ease the pain by collecting the venom in a bowl but when the bowl is full and she i away to empty it Loke gets the poison in his face and he trembles in his agony, and with him the rest of the world. 

Some of the creatures which stems from Loke is Fenrisulven and Midgĺrdsormen. Midgĺrdsormen was thrown in to the sea where he growed rapidly so that he eventually encircled the earth and bit himself in the tail. Fenrisulven on the other hand was adopted by the gods (which proved to be a big mistake). The playful puppy soon growed into a monster which strength and hostility threatened the other gods. Therefore they tried to bind him with a chain (with name Gleipner) made of iron which he promptly ripped apart. They made a new leash made of, among other things, the beard from women, the roots of the mountains, the sound of steps from a cat, the spitt from the bird and other equally rare materials. This very soft and thin rope was shown to Fenrisulven and he was offered to rip it apart. Fenrisulven, which suspeceted foul play, was rather reluctant to take the offer. Only when the god Tyr put his hand in to his mouth did he allow the rope to be pulled over the head. When he found out that he was tricked he thus in anger bit the hand of Tyr and thats the story behind Tyrs:s lost right hand... 

There are other gods in the family, Like Brage (The god with the long beard) which sits at home in his fathers stronghold and uses his time to drink beer and write poems. There is 'Forsete', son of Balder, who is the god of justice and lives in the heavenly hall Glitner. The silent Vidar which rules over the lower regions where the last battle will be held. 
Njord, son of a allegory daughter to Mimer with the name Natt (Night) and brother to Odens wife Frigg, belongs to a different breed called vanerna and is in the beginning in Asgĺrd as hostage. He is the god of richeness and the protector of sailors. He commands the weather. His wife the skiing Skade is born in the mountains. Therefore she doesn't like beeing in Njords Stronghold 'Noatun' as she can't stand the screaming of the sea gulls. On the other hand Njord can't stand the howling from the wolfs in Skades mountains. Therefore they are living separately. Njords son is named Frej (or frö), and he rules over the fertility on earth. Frö:s sister, Freja (or Fröja) which resides in the castle Folkvang, most fittingly rules over love. 

These brothers and sisters have rather complicated marriage relations. But Frejas husband seems to be Svipdag or Hermod while Frej after some persuasion managed to get a fair looking giantess with the name Gerd. 

Of the dynasty of the vanerna was furthermore Nanna, which became wife to Balder (she got a chrushed heart when he was killed). 

Other gods and godesses comes from the dynasty of elfs which in turn can be divided in to black elfs and light elfs. Only the light elfs are of any importance in this matter. 

To this dynasty belongs, among other, the fairheaded Siv, wife of Tor in the wooden castle Bilskirnir (the greatest of all timebered houses) int the land of Trudvang. They had sons with the name of: Magne and Mode. Idun, wife of Brage, which made the wonderfull apples which gave the gods their eternal youth. Ivalde, which in the beginning of time was the guardian against the Rumtusarerna at Elivĺgor. He had a son , Valand (or as he also was called: Limping Valand or Völand), which was a blacksmith an whom one of the sadest edda stories is about. The seagod Ägir which is related to the giants but neveretheless has good relations to the gods and his wife the unfaithfull Ran which brings unhappiness to the humans. 

To the gods one also counts, Billing and Delling, which is the morning glow and the sunset. The young maid Geifon, the litterary Saga which guards the mead of wisdom which comes from the river of Sökvabäck and fills the horn of the moon. 


A part of Swedish History: The Viking Age.

'A furore normannorum libera nos domine'
'Skona oss herre frĺn nordmännens raseri'
'Oh lord, save us from the rage of the Nordic people'

[A common prayer in the French churches during the 9th century.] 

Perhaps the best known period of Swedish history (internationally), is the time of the Vikings (no, not the football team in America). The stereotype Viking is a tall blond figure possesed with a raging fury which he releases upon other countries..
 
Although this period was short compared to the rest of the long history of Sweden, it is one of the most widely known. 

The 8th of June was a beautiful summer day on the holy Island of Lindisfarne, situated on the Northumberland coast in the north east of England. It had a monastary which was founded in the 6th century and was famous for the fact that some of the finest literature of its time came from here. Some of the books written there are still intact and readable. The monks, who didn't suspect anything unusual, went down to the shore to greet the strangers who had arrived. 

This is what an author said about 100 years later: 'The same year the heathens arrived from the north to Brittany with a fleet of ships. They were like stinging wasps, and they spread in all directions like horrible wolves, wrecking, robbing, shattering and killing not only animals but also priests, monks and nuns. They came to the church of Lindesfarne, slayed everything alive, dug up the altars and took all the treasures of the holy church'. The Vikings had arrived. 
The attack wasn't the first. Numerous smaller attacks had been made earlier. However, they tended to be rather sporadic. This was something completely different. The attack came as a shock to the rulers of Brittany and the rumours about the fearless Nordic men spread over Europe. 
The French king Karl the Great had an English adviser by the name of Alcuin. As soon as he heard of the attack on Lindesfarne, he wrote: 'In nearly 350 years we and our forefathers have been living in this the best of countries and never before has such terror struck Britain as the one we now have to suffer from this heathen race. Nor was it thought to be possible that such an attack could be carried out from the sea. Look at S:t Cuthbert's church sprinkled with the blood of the holy priests, deprived of it's decorations, a room more venerable than any in Britain given as spoils to this Heathen race'. 

The next year the Vikings returned and plundered the convent in Jarrow, just a few miles from Lindisfarne. This was the real start of the Viking Age. The Vikings were to be the first Europeans who passed the winter in Labrador and New foundland. They populated Greenland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, the Shetland Islands, Orkney, the Hebrides and the Isle of Man. They founded states in Ireland and in Britain. They conquered Normandy in France and founded a dynasty which lived and ruled far into the Middle Ages. They built merchant towns in Birka (Sweden), Hedeby (Denmark) and Kaupang (Norway). They even founded the first colony in America long before anyone else in Europe even thought that there existed land that far westwards. 

Vikings also founded kingdoms in Russia and built trade stations along the rivers all the way down to the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. They went to Constantinople and Bahgdad, Gurgan and Chorezm. They even came into contact with Byzantium and they formed a feared elite regiment for the East Roman Emperor, a guard which existed for some hundred years. They conquered London, besieged Lisbon, burnt Santiago, assaulted Seville, attacked Mallorca, and sold European slaves in North Africa. They terrorized Paris (on numerous occasions) and burnt Hamburg and many other German cities. They even went to Jerusalem and possibly also to Alexandria. 

During a quarter of a century, from 8th June 793 until 15th October 1066, these men would come in waves, often young and seeking a fight, and extremely skilled as sailors and warriors. Their activities left traces for eternity. Over 900 of the most common English words come from the Vikings (sky, skin, scrape, skirt, husband (husbonde) and window (vindue) are some examples). There are over 600 village names in England which can be directly related to the Vikings (Grimsby, Thoresby, Brimtoft, Langtoft and so on). There are English counties where about 75 percent of the village names derived from the Vikings. On the Shetland Islands the percentage goes up to about 99 percent. In the North East of England the Nordic languages were spoken until as late as the 12th century, on the Isle Of Man until the middle of the 15th century. 

In Normandy there are still village names which have their originn in the Nordic countries like: Dalbec, Runitot, Bourguebu (Borgeby) and sex la londe (av lund, offerlund). And every French sea captain still gives the commands 'babord' and 'tribord' when he means left and right. 

In Russia, which was founded by the people from Rus (the Swedish Roslagen County), millions of people still hold the name Oleg, Olga and Igor - from the names of the Viking gods Helge, Helga and Ingvar. When Russians politely address each other as 'gentlemen', the word comes from the Viking word 'husbonden'. 

Foreigners have never stopped wondering about and being fascinated by the Vikings. They have been called the Giants from the North, 'heathens', 'savages', 'the first knights' and so on. They have been described as barbarians but also as noble poets with female goddesses. Even today some French schoolbooks explain the Viking temperament in terms of the climate in which they lived. Since they came from such barbaric, cold and boring (!) countries, they were forced to break the melancholy by a bit of good old fashioned slaughtering of innocent people (and getting some sun into the bargain!). 

As always, their (admittedly) enormous success as traders and warriors can't be easily explained. How was it possible for such a small population of perhaps about .8 million inhabitants to instil the feeling of fear the way they did throughout the whole of Europe? At the beginning of the Viking era there were no united kingdoms in Scandinavia, and the people who went out on crusades were a minority. Most people spent their time at home, farming and trying to run the matters in general. 

One of the main reasons for their success is the fact that Europe at the time had a hard time getting united. As it was, many small kingdoms fought with each other to form a big country. The Vikings, who from birth were taught how to fight well (and encouraged by their religion to do it) and how to manouvre a boat (which by the way was by far the best ever built in Europe by that time, possibly even the best in the world), were given rather easy targets. When they started to take horses on board the boats, the Vikings were more or less invincible when attacking a town, especially as the attacks came very suddenly and often from the open sea by boats which could travel at a good 15 knots all the way in to the shore. 

The boat was one of the key factors behind their success. It was a long, rather narrow boat built of oak. The boat building skills had been developed over hundreds of years in countries where the only practical way of travelling was by boat. When the wind was not blowing it was possible to row the boats, and when the wind came from the stern the boats were very fast. They didn't need deep water (normally a Viking boat could be used as a landing vehicle) and they could still take a heavy load. They were very easy to manouvre and they could carry large numbers of warriors (there were boats which could take a crew of up to 200 men or more). 

Life on board was rather hard. The normal boat was about 30 metres long and had a maximum width of five metres at the broadest place. The Vikings ate dried and salted meat, and fish which was caught en route. For drink they usually had sour milk, water and beer (or mead). To prevent scurvy they ate cloudberry and a plant called cochleria officinalis. The only protection from the weather was a small tent (in the best of cases). Every man had his own chest with his personal belongings. The chest also served as the bench they sat on when they had to row the boat. The ship was steered by a large oar on the right side, therefore called 'styrbord' (starboard), and the first mate's back pointed to 'babord' (the port side). At the stem and the stern there were small platforms named 'lyftingar'. 

There were many types of boats. In an attack fleet there usually was a couple of battleships with long and narrow design so as to be fast and able to take many men. Then there were the merchant ships which were much broader so that they could take a great load (up to 20000 kilograms of weight). These boats were called 'knarr', possibly because of the sound that they made when they moved in the sea. 

The navigation was handled by specially trained personnel who mostly navigated by the stars and the sun. Sometimes they brought birds with them which they let go and then followed to the nearest shore. They had peloruses (astonishingly similar to the ones used today) and the famous 'sun stone'. The latter was thought to be a fraud, but later findings make it clear that it wasn't. The sun stone is a mineral found in Iceland or Norway which could polarize the sun light. That way you could see where the sun was even if it was cloudy and the sun itself was not visible to the naked eye. 

To measure the sailed distance they used their experience when studying the wash (The flow of water around the stem). But there were no exact methods to measure the speed. Usually the Vikings followed the coasts as closely as possible, but they weren't afraid to make long voyages over the open sea without any contact with land if they had to.

The Vikings go westward...

Some historians try to explain the Travels of the Vikings as a result of some sort of overpopulation. Some French and British literature states that the Nordic people practised polygamy which caused a huge birthrate and thus overpopulating the areas in which they lived. Every free man, according to them, had as many wives as he could possibly afford. This vew is met with scepticism by Scandinavian historians. Nothing whatsoever gives any evidence that there would have been any overpopulation in the villages. It is more likely that the laws regarding the inheritance of the farms had something to do with it. 

In Scandinavia the custom was that eldest son in the family inherited the farm. This meant that there were a lot of people which had to choose between being workers on their brothers farm or going abroad in search of fame and fortune. The rumours about how easy it was to get rich on such expeditions spread like wild fire over the Scandinavian peninsula. 

In Scandinavia there were not yet any uniform states; Sweden, Denmark and Norway didn't exist. All the Nordic people spoke the same language and the differences between the people waere not as great as they are today. Everyone had the same religion where the proud and brave warrior had a central place. Cowards went to Hel's kingdom of the dead, and the ones who died a brave death in combat went to Paradise (Valhall) where they could drink mead, fight and hunt women all day long. 

Quite naturally, the Vikings who lived on the coast of Norway mostly went westward to the British Isles, Ireland, the Faroe Islands, Shetland, Orkney and the Hebrides. England was called Bretland. From Norway it is about 350 kilometers to Shetland and from there you can see the next island, Orkney, and so on. 

According to Landnamabok (The icelandic peoples own book of Icelandic history) it was a Swede with the name Gardard Svarvarsson who discovered Iceland. But the one who colonized the island was a Norwegian called Folke Vilgerdsson. 

Folke got to Iceland in the year of 815 as a refugee, expelled by the Norwegian king Harald Herfagre. Harald Herfagre was the first real king of Norway. He was a very ruthless king who did everything he could to prevent anyone else from taking power. Among other things he condemned many hundreds of the noblest families to exile. In Iceland they saw the chance to start all over again. According to old Icelandic tales the first major colony of Norwegians and Swedes in exile arived in Iceland in 874. They were about 400 and they brought with them poets and writers (some of them where Irish slaves) who were ordered to write down the family histories. It is these people that we have to thank for the rich literature that originates from Iceland. 

The newcomers lived in small, free communities grouped around their different chiefs. As early as in 982 the first Althing was held, a sort of Parliament and court of law. In a sense Iceland can be called the oldest still living democracy. It was here that the chiefs decided, in a democratic spirit (in 1000 AD), to accept the new Christian religion. 

Norwegian Vikings still had the drive to discover new land for themselves. And in 982 Erik Röde and his son discovered Greenland. They had heard rumours about new land only a couple of days' sailing from Iceland. They arrived at Kap Farvel, turned north and discoverd valleys covered with grass. Here they stayed the winter. The next spring they returned to Iceland to try to bring some more people with them to this new country. Erik got over 500 new settlers which followed him to the new country. In 896 the settlers left for Greenland in 25 ships, but a storm hit them on the way and only 14 ships survived the journey. More settlers followed in their path and soon the population on Greenland rose to about 3000 people. 

The colony on Greenland came under Norwegian rule during the 13th century, but the contact with Norway slowly faded away. At the same time the climate changed for the worse. Still they clung to the colony for over 500 hundred years before they had to leave it because of the worsening living conditions. In the 15th century the colony died and left only ruins of some lonely houses. The last colonists are believed to have been killed by the plague, but no one really knows what happened. Perhaps they were killed by the eskimos. 
Pretty soon after their arrival in Greenland the Vikings' wandering spirit led them even further west and they soon discovered what was to be called America. The first one who is believed to have come so far west that he saw the new country and could still return to tell about it was a man by the name of Bjarni Hjerolfsson. He said that the new land was only about four days sailing away. New expeditions were formed and they were soon on their way. The expedition that succeeded was led by a man called Leif Eriksson (Son of Erik Röde). He reached the coast of America around 1000 A.D. He baptized the country 'Helluland' ('flat rock'). Then he continued south along a beautiful shore and came to a land covered with forest which he called 'skogslandet'. 

Even farther south he reached land which he called Vinland ('vin' is a very old Nordic word for 'grass'). Today it is believed that this the first organized Viking expedition to America, reached the northernmost tip of the cape of NewFoundland at St Lawrence Bay outside Canada's North eastern coast. 

A year later Leif Eriksson returned with three ships which contained the immigrants to this new land. They found their way south and stayed the winter on the coast. However, the Vikings on the three ships started to argue about where they should settle down. One of the ships returned north and the other ones continued south. There something happened which they didnt expect - they found other people (which they called for 'skrälingar'). The new people weren't friendly to the invaders from the north and there was a fight between them. Skrälingarna tried to get rid of the Vikings who returned to Vinland where they stayed yet another winter, probably at a place called Cape Bauld. There archeologists have found eight houses built in the typical way of the Scandinavic Vikings, in the form of long halls with roofs made of peat and timber. They also found a smithy which was dated using the C14 method and states to have been built in the 11th century. This is said to have been the first colony in the new land in the west. 

In any case this first colony didn't last long due to different kinds of difficulties. Leif Eriksson's brother was shot with an Indian arrow, and internally the Vikings started to quarrel over their women. Cut off from the rest of the world they knew that they had no one to turn to with their trouble. After some years they decided that they should return to Greenland or Iceland. In the year 1003 a ship commanded by Torfinn Karlsevens finally reached Greenland to tell the sad tale. Several more immigrants tried their luck in America during the next few years. A bishop called Erik Gnupsson arrived in Vinland in 1121 to visit the Christian people. In 1347 the Icelandic Edda tells the tales of a ship with 17 men which arrived in Iceland from Markland. Probably the Viking made routine travels back and forth between America and Iceland/Greenland as it was here they could find the timber they needed to build boats, houses and anything else they needed. It was far closer to go to America than all the way back to Norway to get it. 

The Vikings from Denmark took another route, they started to attack the coast in the neighbourhood of the land of the Friser (That is: the Northern part of the Netherlands. They arrived in great fleets which could contains as many as 200 ships. Behind these crusades stood the Danish king Godfred. He ruled over the Danish Islands and the countrypart skĺne in sweden. Godfred founded the city Hedeby which was used as a trading center for his people. He also built a wall over southern Jylland in Denmark, called Danevirke. The work was completed after onehundred years by the king Gorm the old and his wife Tyra which according to the tales had a great beauty and wisedom. 

In denmark archaeologist have found four large fortified (?) camps built in the same style as the military bases in Konstantinopel. Here Godfred could train up to 5000 men in each camp and it was here that his ships was fitted. 

The danes tried to invade Bretland (the British Isles) and in the end of the 9:th century they succeeded to settle down in NorthUmberland (in the center of England) and in East Anglia norteast of london. Here they tried to live their life as Settlers and they founded several small kingdoms in an area called Danelagen. 

The Vikings kept on comming, partly in big fleets which slaid and took everything they wanted from the natives and partly in small disorganized numbers which just was to get some food or slaves. The Englishmen slowly organized themselves and built a row of stronghold in the south of England. in the 11:th century the danes triumphed over the englismen and their country was finally conquered by the danish king Knut the great. The English king Edmund Ironside recognized Knut as the new king in his own country. 

Now the danes rules over a vast empire which included england, denmark, large parts of Sweden, all of Norway and some countries called Slavonien and samland. Knut lived his life as an english king should have done, got married in to the english royal family by marriage to Edmund Ironsides Mother (what Edmund Ironside thought about htis isn't told anywhere...). But to be on the safe side he kept lifeguard consiting of a Viking Elite force. 
In Ireland the Viking plundered energetically but they also traded with the locals and settled down to do some farming. Vikingarna founded most of the important cities of today (like Dublin, founded by a norwegian named Turgeis in 840, Wexford, Waterford Cork and Limerick). They turned these towns in to real trading and harbour centers. The First church in Dublin was built by the Viking Sigtrygg Silkesskägg at 1038, right on top the street 'High street'. 

The Vikings blended in rather fast with the natives and their customs and language soon got mixed with the locals as they took up their religion and got married to local girls. 

The danes, strengthened with Swedes, also battled on in France. They fought their way up the rivers of Weser, Rhen, Maas and Seine in to France (or Valland as they called it). In the history books from the french monasteries one can read about their triumphs. They tell about the great forces which besieged Paris at easter 845 commanded by no one less than Ragnar Lodenbrok which according to the tales governed over Sweden, Denmark, Finland parts of England and some assorted countries in the east. He came with 120 ships and 5000 warriors. When they closed in on Paris the French King Karl the Bald fled to the monastary of St Denis where he praid to the saints Dionysos, St Germain and St Germanus. Anyhow nothng helped and 28:th of March the great army of the Viking stood outside the walls of Paris. To convince the people of Paris that they should give their gold to the Viking they killed som of their prisoners before the eyes of the Paris people. 

The king could not do anything else than give the Vikings what they wanted and after some trading they left with over 7000 pounds worth of silver (which in those day was an enormous amount of money). This kind of money showed what the city had to offer if they would come back, and they did... 

They came every summer afterwards, especially after the wine harvest. The city of Rouen was destroyed six times. Usually they struck on a religious holliday or during the market period (any time rally when there was a lot of people with a lot of goods in the city). 
After some years Ragnars son Björn Järnsida took over the enterprise from his father and and cidnapped Karl the Greats grandsons Ludvig and Gocelin and the ransom, which the now more or less broke Karl the Bald, had to pay brought his country to the verge of economic ruin. In the year 885 a large number of Viking beseiged Paris but they didn't give in and after some time the Viking gave up and fled towards Bourgogne. 

Ragnar Lodbrok had several sons which all got very famous for their their capacities as warriors and merchants. They had interesting names like: Ivar Benlös, Sigurd Ormöga and in some hstory books: Hastein (in centraleurope: Hastings). According to the tales the two brothers Hastings and Björn Järnsida lead an expedition down the french coast. 

They fought in Aquitanien, went up the river Garonne in to the wine district of Bordeaux. They visited St Emilion (which even in those days was famous for it's fine wine). They threatened Toulouse and plundered a bit at the coast of Asturien and continued to Sevilla (up the river Guadalquivir) to threaten the moores led by Abdal Rahman II. He managed to defend himself, this time, more attacks were to follow... 

Then, according to the Eddas, the brothers started a mediterranean cruising which has no paralell. They got through Gibraltar (Nörvasund), plundering Algesiras and Murcia on the way. They landed in Mallorca where they took slaves which they sold in North Africa (Blĺland, Marocko). They sailed close to the coast of southern france plundering and taking whatever they wanted. Rousillon, Narbonne, Arles and Nimes was visited. 

They went up the river Rhone and stayed over the winter on an island there. Thereafter they started a spring campaign with a little trip to Italy (Langbardaland, Lombardiet) where they plundered Pisa and the area of Ligurien. They also (according to normandic authors) invaded the city Luna as they thought it to be Rome. In order to invade the city they used a very sly tactic. They convinced the citizens of Luna that their leader had been killed and that they now wanted to give him a christian burial. To do this they where let in through the town gates... As soon as they had gotten inside they supposedly dead person sprung to life and promptly killed anyone in sight, opened the gates and let the rest of the Vikings in... 
On their way home they passed the Island Sikelö (Sicily), Blĺland (where they sold everything they robbed from Sikelö and grabbed some slaves which they in turn sold on Ireland). 

Historically it has been confirmed that Vikings has been in Spain. The largest recorded attack came the 31:st of July 844 when a larger attack force hit the shores of Asturien. After this it continued (probably it was Hastings and his brother) via Galicien to Lissabon which was plundered. Then the turn came to Sevilla and Cadiz. The arabic Historian Ib Al Qotiya has described when the Madjous (the vikings) came up the river of Guadalquivir. After this first encounter the man in power (not surprisingly) hastily built a city wall in Sevilla and they started to ocnstruct battleships which could meet the enemy out in the open water. 

An ambassadour was also sent (a poet and historian with the name Al Ghazal) to the north to meet with this strange people and establish a friendly relationship. The ambassadour wrote about his journey but forgot (!) to tell the name of the country he arrived to. In his books he writes that the kingdom consisted of several Islands far up in he north. There where a lot of fountains and the natives worshipped the fire. There where also many christians there. Probably he had arrived to Iceland. 

Unfortunately he got in a lot of trouble when he tried to have an affair with the kings wife and it took him quite some time to recover from this. He stayed for a year and as result the Viking expeditions expired for some time. 

Rollo, or Rolf the pirate as he was called in french historybooks was a rather fascinating man. He was an outlaw (even by Viking standards) and had been robbing, slaughtering and plundering all over the french coast for some time. When he got tired of this he sailed up thorugh seine and in to Paris which he besieged. After some time the whole county around Paris hade been so thorougly plundered that the french king, in Sweden called Karl den enfaldige (Karl the stupid), had to negotiate with Rollo. 

They met in the little community St Claire at the river Epte between Rouen and Paris. Here they signed a contract which gave Rollo the control over all the land between Epte at Seine to the border of Bretagne, this land is to day called Normandy. The french king had no longer any jurisdiciton over this county (he was not entiteld to get any taxes or enroll men in his army or even appoint a new duke in this county). The treaty was sealed with a marriage between Rollo and the french kings daughter (What she thought about is not told) Gisla. That he was married before this was obviously of no importance. 

To be able to get married he had to be baptized. This was done in the Church of St Clair (where the market place in front of the church still is named Place Rollon). The frenchmen formed a group on one side and the Viking on the other. The ceremony was held by Robert of Francien. After the ceremony and the trety had been signed Rollo was meant to kiss the kings foot to show that he accepted the king as his superior. As Rollo according to himself didn't have any superiors he refused to do this. After a short quarrel a representative was sent forward to do it in Rollos place. He, is it told, stepped forward, took the foot in his hand lifted it up kissed it, lifted the king in his feet and throwed him out the window. Needless to say this wasn't very popular among the frenchmen. 

The treaty is no longer available but has been reviewed by the author Dudos in his book 'Historia Norrmannorum' which deals with the Normandic dukes history. 

Back in Normandy the Nordic King showed what he was worth and surprisingly he turned out to be a very good and rather popular king. He and his people soon settled down in this new country. They got baptized, adopted the christian fate, married local girls and in general blended in with the natives. But the ruling family retained some of the Viking spirit and for several hundred years they where a force to count with. One of his ancestors became Wilhelm the conqueror (his name was Guillaume le Conquerant) which 1066 conquered England and became the new king. Richard Lionheart is one of his ancestors. 
Other persons which was related to Rollos family played important roles. Among them where some christian knights which played an important role in the first crusades the years 1095 and 1099. They founded the kingdom Neapel-Sicily and conquered Libanon and created yet another kingdom in Syria. They stayed here until 1402. The same year a normandic knight his own small kingdom at the Canary Islands. 

The Swedish Vikings 
              De foro manligen
              fjärran efter guld
              och österut
              gĺvo örnen föda
              De dogo söderut
              i Särkland.

Inscription in a stone outside Gripsholms castle. 

While the Vikings from Norway and Denmark went hunting for new land in the west and southwest, the Vikings from present-day Sweden usually went east and south-east. 
There was another aspect to their business abroad. While the Danes and the Norwegians usually conquered and colonized, the Swedes traded (although they were well armed and certainly knew how to fight) and didn't seek to establish kingdoms and colonies. 

There were Swedes that went on voyages with the Danes and Norwegians (at that time the differences between the countries were much less than they are now), but the main stream of Swedish Vikings went eastward. They travelled much farther east than any other European people. The Swedish Vikings even travelled as far as Jerusalem (or Jorsalir as they called it), the Caspian sea, and Baghdad (they called it Särkland). Hundreds of Swedes travelled to the eastern Roman city Constantinople (or Miklagĺrd). Many of them returned rich from their combined trading/plundering expeditions. 

There are more ancient English coins found in Sweden than there are in England, and over 90% of all the coins found in Europe from Baghdad and surroundings have been found in Sweden (Gotland to be precise). 

No one knows exactly when Birka was founded, but it boomed in the 9th century. Birka was situated in one of the more populated areas of Sweden at that time. (It still is, as it is in the Stockhom area, with 1 million inhabitants). It lay somewhere on the Island Björkö. It was ideally= placed in the middle of the counties of Mälardalen, Gästrikland and Dalarna. The total population of the area at that time was around 50,000. 

The city was protected by a wall made of dirt and wood, and had a population of a couple of thousand inhabitants who served and protected the city. 

In the end of the 9th century activity there came to an abrupt end, and we are still looking for an explanation. Perhaps they were invaded by a Viking fleet from Denmark? Or perhaps they moved their business to the more protected city of Sigtuna? 
What historians do know is that the contacts eastward were very profitable, and they reached their highest levels when the city Helgö (not far from Birka) was booming. 
A lot of trading was also done with Finland and the Baltic states. Most of the Swedes who went out traveling were `rospiggarna', the people from Roslagen. That may be one of the reasons why Finns call Sweden `Ruotsi' which means `Roslagen'. And even farther east there was a country named `Tavastaland'. 

The Vikings traveled farther and farther east up the river Neva to Ladoga, where it is believed they founded a settlement, from which they started to travel south. 
A monk named Nestor, who lived in Kiev, wrote a chronicle which tells the story behind the Viking travels and why they settled in Russia. In the chronicle he states that Russia was founded by the Vikings, or as they called them `Varjager'. 

According to Nestor the Vikings levied taxes on the Slavic peoples and therefore were eventually chased out of the country. The local people wanted to have a king of their own. Unfortunately this was not a success, and after awhile there was total anarchy in the country. Then someone came up with a bright idea: Why not get a king from elsewhere? No sooner said than done, they sent for a king from the foreign country Sweden, and after awhile a Viking turned up. Nestor writes: "Let us find a king from another country who will give us justice and rule over us. And they went over the sea to the land of the Varjager, to Ruserna. Because this people is called Ruser as others are called Svear. Yet others are called Norrmaner, Anglianer and some Goter. So even all these have their names." 

When the messengers with their unusual offer from the foreign country turned up in Sweden three men were promptly selected to take on the responsibility. These men were brothers and their names were: Rurik, Sinjeus and Truvor. The oldest (Rurik) of them settled down in Novgorod; the other ones went to White Russia (Sinjeus), and Izborsk (Truvor). 
Nestor writes: "It's after these Varjager that the country of Novgorod now bears the name `land of Rusers'." 

Soon Rurik was the only one left in "Russland"; his brothers went on a trip along the river Dnieper to the city of Kiev (Könugĺrd), which they successfully invaded. From Kiev they made small expeditions down to Constantinople. Rurik died sometime about 879, and another Viking chief took over, Oleg. Oleg also invaded Kiev and declared this city of all Russian cities the mother. Oleg was soon replaced by his former master's son, Igor. The Swedish names after Rurik, Oleg and Igor are: Rörek, Helge and Ingvar. But there are uncertainties about the Swedish connections. 

In any event, there are Swedish names involved in the earliest peace treaties which are quoted in their entirety in the Nestor chronicle. Their names have been a bit misspelled but they can be read as: Sven, Gunnar, Tord, Ulf and Karl. 

These Swedes, as with all other Viking settlements, soon became assimilated with the natives. Igor's son got the name Sviatoslav and founded the Rurikidernas dynasty, Rurkovitch. They in turn ruled over the Volchov-Lovat-Dnieper area until the year 1610, when the last Rurikiden, Vassilij IV Sjusjkij, died and was replaced by the Romanov dynasty. 

Just as in the British Isles and Normandy, the Vikings soon lost their Nordic traditions. They were simply too few to have any impact on the natives. 

The Swedes had four main routes to choose from, traveling through mighty Russia down to the richness of the South. Their ships could be carried against the current on smaller rivers until they reached the tributary rivers of Volga. If they chose this way they would pass Finnish speaking peoples all the way between Ladoga and a place called Bulgar at the bend of the Volga. This was a larger city where Swedes met with Turks and other people from the south. 

From Bulgar a caravan went to China and the silk that has been found in Birka was most probably brought by this route. For the most part the Vikings did business with so-called `radamiter' (Jewish merchants). An= Arab writer, Ibn Khordo Adbeh, described them like this: "These merchantmen speak Arabic, Persian, French, Spanish, Romerska, Slaviska. They travel from the Occident to the Orient. From the Occident they bring with them eunuchs, female slaves, little boys, fabric, skins of different kinds and swords." According to his tales they travel to "Sind, Hind and China". On their trips home they bring different sorts of spices and other exotic things. 

Some of the evidence of the trading is silver coins which have been found in the city of Birka. They show that trade between Swedes and the area between Baghdad and the Volga was rather extensive. 

The reason that we know that the Vikings did travel this route is that the Persian and Arabic diplomats have written about their meetings with the northerners, or Ruser as they called them. They have written in rather great detail about the traditions of the Vikings. 
The Arabic messenger Ibn Fadlan, who was in Bulgar during the summer of 922, saw the Vikings arrive, and he wrote: "I have never before seen such perfect bodies; they were tall like palm trees, blonde, with a few of them red. They do not wear any jackets or kaftaner, the men instead wear dress which covers one side of the body but leaves one hand free. 

Every one of them brings with him an Axe, a sword and a knife. They never leave these things. Their swords are broad, grooved, and of French make. From their bellies to their necks they are tattooed in green with trees and other pictures. All of their women have a small box attached over the breast. This can be made of iron, silver, copper or gold. On each box there is a ring to which a small knife is attached. Around their necks they wear necklaces of gold and silver." 

The Vikings obviously made an impression on the messenger, but he also writes about their bad hygiene. He continues, "Each morning the girl comes early in the morning with a deep dish of water. She gives this to her master who in turn washes his hands, face and hair. When he is through the girl takes the dish to the man nearest the master. This man repeats the process. And so the dish wanders from man to man until everyone has washed himself in the water." 

To Ibn Fadlan's friends this story must have been horrifying, as they were educated Muslims. They would probably never think of washing themselves in anything other than flowing water. 

Another thing which interested Ibn was the Nordic men's sexual habits. This is what he wrote: "At the beach they build large houses made of wood. In one house there live ten to twenty persons. Each one has a bed to sit on (sic). With them they have beautiful women slaves who are to be sold to the slave dealers. They have sexual intercourse with their slaves while their friends are watching. Often a group of men does this in each other's presence." 

One of Ibn=92s most interesting stories is about a real Viking burial which he witnessed in the city of Atil (placed a bit south of Bulgar). According to him the dead person's ship was brought up on shore and was surrounded with fetishes of wood. The body was clothed in its finest clothes, placed on cushions in a sitting position in a tent which was built in the middle of the boat. Around him he had several items which could be useful on his way to the land of the dead. Among the items there were a harp, food, axes and so on. A dog was killed and divided into two parts and thrown on to the ship. The dog was followed by two oxen and two horses and one hen. One of the man's female slaves was chosen to follow the man to the land of the dead (Valhall, hopefully). She was intoxicated with alcohol, brought forward to the chief and then moved to a tent by the chief's six closest men. They each had intercourse with her and then she was killed by an old woman (called the angel of death) with a knife (at the same time as the men were strangling her with a rope). Then the relatives of the man set the ship on fire. Afterwards they would throw a large heap of dirt over the ashes and on top of it all they put a wooden pole on which they wrote the name of the dead man and the name of their king. 

Ibn tells us further: "When they arrived in this harbour (Bulgar) they left their ships on the shore and brought with them meat, bread, milk and nobid (an alcoholic beverage) and went to a high wooden pole with a carved head. Around this pole there were other smaller statues and behind them other large poles. The merchantman goes forward to the large pole in the center and then he gets down on his knees and puts his head against the ground and says: 'O, my god, I have been traveling a long way and I have brought so and so many slaves and swords. Now I bring you these offerings.' This said, he puts what he has in front of the wooden pole and says: 'I wish that you send me a merchant of great wealth who will buy on my terms without questions.' If the business is good he returns and sacrifices animals; if not, he brings other offerings to the statues and asks them for help." 

The Arabian historian Ibn Miskaweich tells us about the Ruser attacks on Bredaa, just south of Baku, in the year 943. He describes them as a powerful people who didn't seem to know how to yield in a fight. They were equipped with axes, swords and long knifes. They fought with spears and shields. They killed the Arabic governor and chased his people away. The Arabs who survived had to buy their own lives at great expense. The women weren't included in this deal; the Ruserna kept them for themselves. 

According to the chronicles over 6,000 Ruser held the city against repeated attacks from the Arabs. Every time one of the Ruser died he was buried with the women he liked and his weapons. 

In the end the Vikings left Bredaa of their own accord, but only after they had brought everything of value, including the women, to the river Kura where they had their ships. 
One of the other routes south through gĺrdarike which the Vikings traveled was through the city Starja Ladoga on the river Volchov. There was a trading station named Aldeigjuborg, from which the Vikings could make their way to Novogorod, which they called Holmgĺrd. 
From here they crossed Lake Ilmen and went along the river Lovat. When they couldn't travel by ship any more they pulled their ships overland until they reached a navigable river from which they could travel to the Dnieper, which in turn led them through Kiev and eventually to the Black Sea. As soon as they had reached the Black Sea they were near their final target; they just had to pass the Bosporus and then they were in Constantinople, which was called Miklagĺrd, 'the big city', by the Vikings. 

There were two reasons for the Vikings to come all this way, business and war. They even tried to invade the city but for the very first time they found that they had a superior enemy. The defenders were equipped with a form of napalm (oil, sulphur and resin - Greek fire) which they sprayed over their enemies from a kind of flame-thrower. To shield themselves from the heat they had jackets made of asbestos. This certainly made a big impression on the Vikings. Many stories are told in the North about the fire breathing dragons and magical shirt that Ragnar Lodbrok received from his wife Kraka. 

After a while a treaty was signed between the parties and more peaceful trading began. The treaty was rather harsh, the Vikings weren't allowed to travel in groups larger than fifty persons, they weren't allowed to carry arms and they couldn't buy more silk or fabric than they were allotted. They weren't allowed to stay the winter in the town either. In return they were given access to the public swimming halls, their ships were fitted without cost for their return and they got free food and drink. 

The Emperor of Constantinople was very impressed by the fearless men from the North, so impressed in fact that he formed a life guard composed of only Vikings. 
But they weren't satisfied with this, they went even farther east. Exactly how far east we cannot tell today, but we know that they made serious attempts to reach Samarkand. 

Please observe that this document is not ready...

Meanwhile, at home at the farm...

As the viking went to Miklagĺrd and Särkland the life at home in Svitjod continued as usual. The farms was handeld by the wife, the kids and the old ones who where to old to go out on longer trips, and last but not least the slaves ('Trälarna'). 

All in all the population at the time was estimated to be around 200 000 and allthough not everyone of them went on the long trips they almost certainly had relatives which had done it. Most the farms was selfsuporting and nearby farm made up a village which in turn had a leadership called 'byalag'. The fields where cultivated in a two shift scheme. That is, the fileds was sown every second year. 

Every farmer had at least one or two slaves and the richer farms had about ten or more of them. The free women where euqal the man at work and she was expected to do the same work as the man. The man often had several women and he could do whatever he wanted with the women slaves. Every child which the man had with the different free women was considered as his son or daughter. He thereby also had the responsibilities associated with beeing a father. That is, the term 'illegitimate child' didn't exist. This was to be changed when sweden was christened. 

Oficially the practice of having slaves was abandoned as a law proclaimed by the king Magnus Eriksson when travelled through the country in the year of 1335. The original text do not exist any longer but the pieces which survives says that 'every man and women which is born by a christian man and women is to be free in the county of...'. 

The official reason to ban the slavery was the christian faith. In reality other reasons much more powerfull than that existed. Economical resaons... It was simply more profitable to have people which could be hired for shorter periods. Instead of having a large workforce which the owner had the responsibility for all year around, even when didn't need them, he could hire them when it was considered neccessery. 

Instead the farmer could give away a bit of land and let the former slaves pay for cultivating this land with workdays on the his farm. Formally the slaves now where free, but in practice the landowner earned money as he didn't have to pay for food during the winter months at the same time as he got his work done any way. A neat arrangement... 
Theoretically the slaves now was members of the community with equal right but they still didn't own anything. For most of the slaves the situation actually had gone from bad to worse. 

Anyway, all in good time as they say... During the long Viking trips around europe new slaves where gathered from all levels of society from the continent. Many came from the baltic states, Poland and Russia. The wifes of the clan leaders lead the work on the farm when the men was away on their buisness trips. The men went away in the spring time and usually returnd intime for the winter. If they where lucky. 

Over the one who didn't come home there is many rune stones. There are som 3500 rune inscriptions left in sweden (as we know), a third of them is to be found in the county of 'Uppland'. 

The knowledge of how to do inscriptions wheren't meant for everyone. That knowledege was considered to be of utmost importance and gave the prson who had it a lot of respect. In many ways it was considered to be magic. Just to think that you with a few lines carefully done in stone could be able to capture thoughts and heroic deeds for all eternity! 
The first runes arrived in sweden at about the third century, according to the legend with Odin and his family. This first runic alphabet consited of 24 different symbols which where called futharken as it started with the letters 'f', 'u', 'th', 'a', 'r' and 'k'. 

During sixth century the nordic language slowly changed. The old nordic language which was a rather difficult and clumsy language slowly became the old norse (If I have translated it correctly) the language in which the icelandic eddaes and tales are written. The transition between the old and new language was finished (more or less) at about the ninth century. The 24 letter long alphabet was then abandoned in favor of an alphabet consisting of 16 letters. 

As the letters grew fewer the writer had to simplify his use of them. A letter had to stand for several different sounds. One funny thing about this is the fact that the transition between the old and the new alpha bet was more or less imediat. There wasn't any delay to speak of. One day they used their old letters and the next they used the new. It's as if all the people who dealt with runewriting met up and aggreed on the new system and then started to use it. 

Runes wasn't only written on stones. Most of the written material of the day was probably done in less resistant materials like leather and wooden sticks. It's a pity that this kind of material do not survive the years. There is evidence of quite advanced writing besides the ones done on the stones. Several stone inscriptions refers to other inscriptions and the more you read the more you realise that the academic people of it's time must have had efficient ways of communicting with each other. One of the most fascinating rune stones in Sweden is the famous 'rökstenen'. 

Quite simply a must to se for those interested in the Viking area. 
Rökstenen is a large stone with a lot of text. Normally a runestone has text and pictures but this stone is uniqe in the fact it's salut to the written text. It's not a beginner who has done the inscription. Its a man of great knowledge about his time and the litterature available. He refers to tales, other runestones and people from his time. The text is in parts unreadable and thus the message which the writer tries to get across is somewhat blurred. 

The Eddas

The Poetic Edda

The Poetic Edda is the older of the two Eddas and therefore sometimes called the Elder Edda. It is also sometimes referred to as Saemund's Edda after a famous Icelander. It consists of many different tales which were put together by an anonymous person probably around 1250 CE. The date of origin of the various poems has long been under discussion. Birger Nerman, in The Poetic Edda in the Light of Archaeology, puts forward the opinion that the majority of the stories must have been written before the Viking age. This book is quite dated though (1930) and it would be interesting to see a more recent essay on this subject. 

The Poetic Edda can be divided into two sections, a mythical one and a heroic one. There are fifteen mythical poems: 

Völuspá or "Prophecy of the Vala"
A volva chants about the cosmos, from creation to destruction. 

Hávamál or "Sayings of Hár"
Wisdom sayings. Also, the story of how Odin learned the runes. 

Vafţrúđnismál or "Sayings of Vafţrúđnir"
Odin matches wits with a wise giant. 

Grimnismál or "Sayings of Grimnir"
Agnar and Geirrod are brother princes and foster sons of Frigg and Odin. Geirrod the younger does away with his brother so he can be King. Frigg gets Odin to visit his favorite Geirrod, but first she implants evil notions in the King's head so he will treat Odin poorly. Odin arrives at Geirrod's saying his name is Grimnir, gets tossed into a fire, and avenges himself by killing Geirrod. 

Skirnismál or "Sayings of Skirnir"
Frey falls in love with Gerd so he has his servant Skirnir go woo her for him.

Rick McGregor's Skmrnismal as Ritual Drama: A Summary of Scholarship this Century, is very informative. 

Hárbarzljóđ or "Lay of Hárbarth"
Thor and Hárbarth (Odin) have a contest regarding who has more accomplishments. 

Hýmiskviđa or "Lay of Hymir"
Thor and Tyr go to the giant Hymir's in search of a kettle large enough for Aegir to brew ale in for the gods' feast. While with the giant, they go fishing and Thor hooks the Midgard Serpent. 

Lokasenna or "Loki's Mocking"
Loki crashes a party of the gods at Aegir's hall and slanders all. 

A version is available from Loki's Cult page. 

Ţrymskviđa or "Lay of Thrym"
Thrym steals Thor's hammer. Thrym states he will give it back if he can marry Freya. Freya will have no part in the bargain so Thor dresses in drag, pretending to be Freya going to her wedding feast. 

Alvíssmál or "Sayings of Alvís"
The dwarf Alvis wants to marry Thor's daughter Thrud. He ends up in a contest of knowledge and is outwitted by Thor, who keeps the dwarf up until the sun comes up, thereby turning Alvis into Stone. 

Baldrs draumar or "Balder's Dream"
Balder has nightmares so Odin rides to the underworld to talk to a volva to find out what Balder's dreams portend. 

Rigsţula or "Rig's Song"
Rig, another name for Heimdall, journeys about middle-earth siring the three social classes of man: slave, freeman, and noble. 

Hyndluljóđ or "Lay of Hyndla"
Freya rides her lover Ottar (in boar form) to Hyndla's and gets the wise woman to state Ottar's ancestory. 

Vöuspá hin skamma or "The Short Prophecy of the Vala"
A shorter version of the history and future of the universe. 

Svipdagsmál: Grógaldr, Fjölsvinnsmál or "Sayings of Svipdag: Spell of Gróa, Sayings of Fjölsvith"
Svipdag is pushed by his stepmother into finding the love of his life and winning her. 
There are 23 heroic lays, 17 of which are available on-line. 

The Prose Edda
The Prose Edda or Younger Edda, was written by Snorri Sturluson around 1220 CE. It consists of three sections. The first part is "The Deluding of Gylfi", or Gylfaginning. It consists of a story in which Gylfi asks three chieftains -- High One, Just-as-high, and Third -- questions about Norse mythology. The second section, Skáldskaparmál ('Poetic Diction'), gives various kennings and the stories behind them. Háttatal is the final part of the Prose Edda and it is about King Hakon and different meters. 

What does "Edda" mean?
There are many theories concerning the meaning of the word edda. One theory holds that it means "great-grandmother". Another theory holds that edda means "poetics". A third belief is that it means "the book of Oddi". Oddi is the name of a place Snorri Sturluson was educated. Whatever the meaning of the word, students of Norse mythology would be lost without the Eddas. 

On-line versions of the Eddas
Besides those listed above: 

Some of the stories from The Poetic Edda in Old Norse and Swedish from Project Runeberg. 

I haven't been able to find any versions of The Prose Edda, hopefully some will materialize soon. 

Nornor and Dísir

From Nordisk Hedendom: Tro och Sed i Förkristen Tid by Folke Ström, Akademiförlaget, Göteborg 1993, p.201-203. (Norse Heathendom: Faith and Customs in Pre-christian Time" 

On Nornor:

When it comes to the individual, the thought that his fate is shaped in his moment of birth appears. At this crucial moment his families female protective spirits, the dísir, take action. One of the dísirs function -and not the least important one- was to assist the woman in labour and help her to deliver her offspring. This particular function has given the dísir a peculiar and important position as agents of destiny. In their function of agents of destiny the dísir have received a special name: nornor. The nornor measured the life of men and plotted his path of life at the moment of his birth. In the norse literature the nornor are connected to the neutral concept of destiny,skop, which means that they were conceived as the active participant behind the executive one, the fate, of man. It is said that "Nobody escapes the prophecy of the nornor" (norna skop). The conception of the nornors fate-settling actions is realised in one of the poems of The Poetic edda: Helga Hundingsbane. In a visionary stream of images the poem exposes the birth of the prince and the actions of the dísir, unseen by the human eye. 

"It was night in the house/ nornor came/ who settled the prince's age/ they named the prince the most famous to be/ and most prominent among princes." 

The prophecy is followed by a symbolic deed. With divine power the nornor twine the threads of destiny. They fasten them to the midst of the heavens and throw them out in different directions: the land of the conqueror-to-be is measured out in advance. Here we find the nornor in a heroic-royal context, which adds mighty dimensions to the story. But the picture of twining or spinning nornor is firmly linked with the conception of their activities. And the belief in their interfering with the birth of a child has in some areas lived on in folk tradition into modern time. We find a remnant of this belief in Setesdal, Norway, in nornegrauten. (I think it means "porridge for the nornor"/Johannes) It was prepared at the birth of a child and has been thought to be an original sacrifice to the nornor. 

The nornor's allotted destiny is for better and for worse. As life is in general, it is psychologically understandable that the dark aspect of the nornors activities dominates the view on them. We seldom meet them as providers of happiness and success. "The nornor decide both good and evil, toforme thay have decided immense suffering "reads a runic inscription at Borgund's church in Sogn, The expression "the judgment of the nornor" becomes equal to an unfair destiny, misery and death. In Hamdesmŕl we read 
"He who has been called upon by the nornor sees not the night ". 


Oftentimes the nornor are named as evil, cruel, fiendish and vile. The original meaning of the word "norna" is a matter of great dispute. In their fate-settling context it has been connected to the Swedish dialect word "norna" (nyrna), a verb that means "inform secretly". Another etymology ties the word to an Indo-European rooot "ner" which means "twist" or "twine". Behind this meaning of the word the conception about the thread of destiny, which the nornor twist and twine. In the cosmic visions in Voluspŕ the nornor appears as universal powers. Their abode is next to the spring at the foot of Yggdrasil. There are three of them, and their names are Urd, Skuld and Verdandi.Their power is great: they decide the destiny of all humans and the laws of cosmos. 

Laws they gave,
Lives they chose
for the children of men,
the destiny of men.

Their fate-settling activities they practice according to the poem by cutting marks on staves and thus estimates the days and years of men. With this motif the poet depicts a variant of the fate-settling nornor presumably made up by him himself. 

The poets of Voluspŕ treat their material in an independant manner. The name Verdandi has no support in the mythical tradition, Skuld is in another context the name of a valkyrie. Of those mentioned in the poem it is only Urd who stands out as a genuine power of destiny. As such she is of particular interest. It is charcteristic for the shifts in the belief in destiny that Urd not only was percieved as a personal entity of destiny, but also as the consequense of destiny, as the dark destiny and its result: death. 

Which of the meanings are more original is hard to say. Possible is that two different lines of thought has met and merged in the character of Urd. The word Urdhris etymologically related to the temopral verb varda(icl. verdha). However, in certain other Indo-European traditions time is thought of as the fate-settling principle, as the power of fate. The conclusion lies not far ahead, that similar tendencies in thought has been known among the Nordic peoples. When pushing down to the root of the word complex we are dealing with here, we come upon a basic meaning of "twisting" or "turning". At this final point another, in other places existent conception of fate as a wheel, for example the wheel of a distaff, whith the rotation of which the course of existence is linked. 

p.192-196 

Diser (dísir) is the name of a collective of female deities without known individual names. The dísir were worshipped extensively, And the character of this worship gives an ancient impression. They stood close to Freyja- also known as Vanadis- close and in every matter connected to fertility. 

The word diser is linguistically related to the name of ancient India's name for female goddesses of fertility, dhísanas. In the sacred kingdom of Uppsala the cult of the dísir was firmly rooted. It was part of the official cult. The cult seems to have been strong in Oesterrgoetland (Swedish province, east of Lake Vaettern/Johannes) where the place-names Disebergand Disevid(from an older form Disavi) are manifest memories of that tim. In Norway the dis-names are concentrated to the south-eastern part with Disin as the most common compound. 

About the cult of the dísir in the heart of the ancient kingdom of Svea (An older name for the land of the Svear, as opposed to the Goetar. The distinction is kept until this day, when we speak of Svealand and Goetaland as different parts of Sweden./Johannes) the name distingen (disathing) (I will specify this properly when I have looked it up. Dunno what it is right now (blushing)/Johannes) is significant. 

As a name for the well-known market/fair it reminds us not only of juridical proceedings but also of trade as complements to the great cult holidays, when people gathered from all directions and provinces. As profane elements the fairs came to survive during ceturies after the shift of religion. 

Even in modern times they have remained, if a bit faded, a remnant of something that in the beginning was a complex cultural activity, with religious, juridical, mercantile and even political significance. (the following sentence is a very accurate translation, as it really does not make sense in Swedish. I can make it, though, and will./Johannes) "The relationship exemplifies the great significance of the dísir-cult in Sweden." (Sic! Does not make sense, does it?) This (the disting as a cultural and religious event) indicates the great significance of the dísir-cult in Sweden. 

In any case it was part of the Swede's central cult, because of the naming of both "ting" and fair. In concordance with the official character of the Swedish dís-cult were it's practice under direct supervision of the king. One specific detail of the ritual has been kept in one in Ynglingasagan mentioned tradition about a Swedish king named Adils. He is said to have died after having fallen off his hourse, when he rode it around "disarsalen" (the dísar-hall). 
In Ynglingatal as in Historia Norwegiae is mentioned not a multitudeof deities but on a single one, in the latter neamed Diana. (In spite of the fact that disarsalameans "the hall of the dis", i.e. in singular.) 

Several things point to the fact that it is Freyja who is referred to here, that she was seen as the dis-leader and that she were particularly close to the king. 

In the texts that are preserved we can furthermore assume that a ritual ride was part of the cult. The assumption is supported by several hints on relationships between the dísir and the horses. The expression "horse-dísir" apperas in Ynglingatal. Dísir mostly appear on horseback. 

Hence the ritual ride gets a meningful symbolical meaning. The swedish dísablot took place in the spring, more correctly around the vernal equinox. The exact date was settled by the position of the moon. After the advent of Christianity the fair from its former religious context at the heathen blot. 

The fair was subsequently relocated to the Christian Candlemass holiday. As a pious surrogate for the by the heathen tainted disting we find an early mediaeval kyndelting (kyndilthing). But this Christian renaming never gained any foothold. Soon the original meaning of the word dísir and dísablot was forgotten and the ancient dísting was taken up. Even the old lunar connection was manitained, and <"distingstunglet"> was for a long time the name for the full monn of the dísting. 

The West-nordic disablot differs on a couple of points from the East-nordic. It was not celebrated in the spring but in the autumn, at the "winternights" in the middle of October. Further the dísir cult- at least in western Norway and on Iceland- seems to have been kept inside the clan/family. Public worship of the dísir seems to have been limited to the south-eastern parts of the country. 

In a certain way the dísir seems to have been percieved as the protective agent of the family and in this function to have been especially close to head of the family. Their activities are strikingly often tied to actions of war, one part of their being that apparently is of ancient origin. 

The contents of the Indo-European war-chant, that is called the first Merseburgsgaldr, is really an incantation of the dísir, (I am not really sure what word to use- spell, curse, incantation, formula etc/Johannes)here called idisito interfere in the battle in favour of the one who sang it. Icelandic sagas and poems express the same thought: the glorious and vitorious outcome of the battle depended on the dísir. But the ídir were also believed to be able to let their wards down. A sudden defeat was believed to be the result of the dísir's betrayal. 

Another similar way of interpretating the unpredictable shiftings in life is charateristic of the religious attitude. The dísir made their discontent visible through a specific foreboding, that meant an infallible omen about the forthcoming defeat. He who stumbled on his way to battle was sure to have been doomed by the dísir. This is what the eddaic poems say in 
Reginsmal: 

It is very dangerous
If you stumble with your foot
when you into battle walk
deceitful dísir on both sides stand
and want to see you wounded.
(blushing/J.) 

The sagas tell of several cases of similar omnious stumbling, caused by deceitful or angry dísir. In soldiers' superstition of later periods the thought has lived on as a more general conception about the omnious foreboding af stumbling, when going to war. 
In their roles of battle-directing entities the dísir where close to the war-god. They were Odhin's warrior-maidens, Herjans dísir, and were then called valkyrjor, "they who make the choice" (not very accurate/Johannes). 

The valkyries represent the heroical-mythical shape of the dísir. They are portrayed as spear-wielding, helmet-wearing, mounted maidens of war, who on Odhins command interfere with the bloody battles of the princes and call the chosen ones to Valhall. 
Odhin sends them out, Snorri says, to every battle. They choose which of the men who shall die, and they control victory. The Vala of Voluspŕ pictures them in her vision: 

She saw valkyries
come from far
ready to ride to the god-people.
Skuld held her shield,
Skoegul the other,
Gunn, Hild, Goendul
and Spear-Skoegul.

Now are Herjans
war-maidens mentioned
valkyries ready
to ride the earth.

The names of the valkyries give evidence of their war-like nature. Gunn, Hild, Goendul, Sloegul are simply variations of the expression for battle or the sound of battle; other Valkyrie-names have a similar meaning. 

As a more peculiar variant of the same war-like iedology the name Haerfjaetter (Herfjoyur) points to the magical anathema that she (Haerfjaetter) could lay upon the one she had chosen to be defeated. The anathema were thought of as magical links, which made the warrior powerless and restricted his movement. 

Sometimes we find the clan's dísir under the name of fylgjor. This identification with the dísir should not be seen as original. In the beginning the conception of fylgian is related to the belief in the soul, where it is manifested in the belief that the human being or certain human beings have a double in the shape of an animal. Fylgia means "follower" in its original connotation (a nomen agentis to the verb fylgia).(Another alternative interpretation, is the deduction fromfylgia in the meaning "afterbirth" (aftermath?/J.) i.e. that which comes after the child at childbirth, to which a lot of superstition/folklore has been connected.) 

The fylgior have in contrast to the dísir never been the objects of worship. But as time went by the both concepts have attracted each other and partly blended with each other. As a result of this assimilation we meet in the fylgia in the shape of a female deity of protection, also known as fylgjukona. The female fylgia appears closely connected to one of the clan's males, its leader in particular, and is "inherited" on his death to his successor. 

The story of the poet Hallfred Ottarson shed light on this concept: when he felt the hour of his death draw near during a sea voyage, his fylgjukona showed herself. She was visible to all, high of stature and clad in armour. She walked upon the waves behind the ship, as if walking on dry land. Hallfred then ended their relatioship, and she asked his brother Thorvald if he would accept her, and he refused. Hallfred's son, Hallfred the young, declared himself willing to accept her, and then she disappeared. 

A bit of Swedish (and scandinavic) history...

Introduction

My intention with this essay is to try and analyse the character of Loki as he is described in the Eddas: Snorri Sturlasson´s Edda and The Poetic Edda. I will show that Loki is not as evil and mischievous as is his reputation, and that when he is the instigator of conflict and trouble, it is mostly not of his own volition but of others. When analysing his character, I have chosen to focus on three aspects: 1) Loki as the Instigator of Conflict, 2) as the Transgressor of Boundaries, and 3) as Provider. I will also discuss the relative value of the sources, concentrating on the discrepancies between the two Eddas and the possible Christian influence on Snorri´s account of Loki.

In Chapters One and Two I will deal with Loki as the companion of Óin and of órr respectively and discuss the different aspects of his character as we meet them in the myths. In Chapter Three, I will treat his character in a similar manner, but using the other myths in which he appears as my point of departure. These three chapters are mainly descriptive, incorporating concluding remarks of analytical discussion. In Chapter Four I have tried to analyse the character of Loki drawing on the conclusions made in the first three chapters, focusing on the three different Aspects. I will also try and shed some light on the origin and family of Loki.

In Chapter Five I will try and bring forth the strengths and weaknesses of the source material, with the emphasis on Snorri´s Edda. What I want to discuss is how different factors may have influenced him in his work, and how his euhemerism can be explained and analysed. 

1. LOKI AS THE COMPANION OF ÓDIN

In this chapter I will analyse the character of Loki in the myths where he is the companion of Ódin, pointing to the fact that Loki is not always, as he is most often depicted, the malevolent demon. I will show that Loki does not always act of his own volition, but that he often is forced to act according to the desires of others. The myths in question are the part of Voluspá, that chapter of the Poetic Edda which deals with the creation of the first human beings, Askr and Embla, where the question of alleged identification of Lour and Loki poses a problem. Further it illustrates the myth of azi and Reginsmal, both in which Loki is accompanied by both Ódin and Hnir.

The Creation of Mankind

In Voluspá st.17 we find three Aesir , Ódin, Hnir and Lodur, who create the first human beings out of two pieces of wood, a man called Askr and a woman called Embla. It has sometimes been argued that Loki and Lodur are one and the same. The reasons for this claim is firstly that Ódin and Hönir are, when they are mentioned together, always accompanied by a third god, sometimes Lodur and sometimes Loki, and that the two latter gods by this analogy are one and the same. Lodur, however, is not mentioned in the Poetic Edda except for in this passage, and Snorri does not mention him at all. Hence it is easy to believe that Lodur is just another name for Loki, just as he and the other Aesir often use several names. Secondly it has been argued that the names Loki and Lodur are etymologically related, but establishing a positive identification by means of etymology is futile: "We must begin to dismiss all etymological speculations, for they can only confuse the problem " (de Vries 1933 p.49). Therefore we are left with the theory of analogy, which in itself poses one major problem: the discrepancy between the account of the myth in the Poetic Edda and in Snorri´s Edda.

Snorri, as stated, does not even mention Lodur in his Edda, and cannot therefore support the claim that Loki and Lodur are one and the same. In Gylfaginning ch.8 he names Odin´s companions Vili and Ve instead of Hönir and Lodur, and gives them credit for being the sons of Bur and the brothers of Ódin, thus establishing the fact that the sons of Bur created both the world and the first human beings. This is partly in concord with Voluspá, where the sons of Bur create the world, but where Vile and Ve are replaced with Hönir and Lodur. That Snorri was familiar with Voluspá is undeniable, but why he chose to deviate on such an important point is not easy to comprehend, as stated elsewhere in this essay. Here we can find no support for the Loki-Lodur identification.
The origin of the narrative of the creation of mankind in the eddas is questionable: the Scandinavian tradition has several motives in common with other myths of creation, and few that are peculiar to itself, the most apparent of these being the the triad of creators where other traditions usually only have one. Further we must conclude that Loki plays no part in the creation of mankind, and that we from this myth cannot draw any substantial conclusion about the characteristics of Loki.

The myth of Pazi

Snorri´s version of the myth in Skaldskaparmál ch.1 differs somewhat from the older poem Haustlong where the original story is told. There is no account of this myth in the Poetic Edda, but the story is hinted at on several occasions. 

We find the Aesir triad travelling together: Ódin, Hönir and Loki. They are confronted with a giant, Pazi, in the shape of an eagle. Loki is separated from the two others by Pazi and forced to promise to bring Idunn and her apples of youth to Jotunheim. He keeps his promise to the giant, but is forced by the gods to bring Idunn and the apples back, and succeeds in doing so by assuming the shape of a falcon and after having stolen the apples he lures Pazi in his eagle shape with him to Asgard where the Aesir can kill him. Pazi´s daughter, Skadi, demands satisfaction for her father´s death, and is offered a god of her own choice in marriage, on the condition that she will only be able see his feet when she makes her choice. She also demands that the Aesir makes her laugh, which is accomplished by one of Loki´s more bizarre tricks.

Loki plays the dominant role in this myth, and Ódin and Hönir are remarkably passive. "...the only real hero of the tale is Loki, the two other gods doing nothing at all " (de Vries 1933 p.38). It is Loki who instigates the conflict between the gods and the giants, but it is also Loki who solves the problem. He is under pressure from both gods and giants: if he does not promise to bring Idunn and her apples to Jotunheim, Pazi will kill him, and if he keeps his promise and the Aesir find out about him, they will kill him. The act of giving Idunn to the giants, as well as bringing her back, is more an act of self-preservation than of malice: breaking his oath would be impossible, just as leaving Idunn in Jotunheim. It can therefore be argued that Loki, in this particular context, is not evil by his own volition, but that he in fact is a victim of circumstance, caught between a rock and a hard place. and doing his best to save his own skin. He who instigates the conflicts is also compelled to solve them: "Er ist es, der das Trio in Scwerigkeiten bringt; er ist aber auch der Listige und Geschickte..." (Ström 1956 p.14).

Here we also meet Loki as a shape-shifter: we are told that he has borrowed Freyja´s falcon shape, but as we shall see he is not restricted to borrowing the shapes of other´s, but that he is most inventive himself in assuming other shapes.

Reginsmal

In Reginsmal in the Poetic Edda we find the same triad of gods as in the myth of Pazi: Ódin, Hönir and Loki. They are again travelling together, and it is again Loki who brings the company into trouble. By slaying a dwarf, Otr, in the shape of an otter, he brings the wrath of the dwarf´s family onto the Aesir. They are forced to pay weregild for the slain dwarf, and Loki is sent away to fetch the gods´ ransom. He catches another dwarf, Andvari, and takes all his gold. The dwarf tries to hide a ring of gold, but Loki finds out and takes that too. The dwarf then lays a curse on that particular ring and leaves. When the ransom is paid, the Aesir are free to go, and take no further part in the story. Snorri´s account of the story is the same in essence, and differs only in insignificant details.

Again we find that Loki is the instigator of conflict, but is everything really his fault, and if so, is it really his intention to create such a conflict? We find that the dwarf has taken the shape of an otter, and that he sits on the shore eating a salmon with his eyes closed, thus making himself not only an easy target but also a double-score target: kill the otter and get the salmon for free! Thus it can be argued that he really is asking for trouble, and hence must take what is coming to him.

Again Loki has instigated the conflict, and again he must solve the problem. Just as in the Pazi-myth, Loki saves the day and produces the weregild as is requested by him. Again we find that the two other Aesir are merely passive spectators, and that the only active role in the story is played by Loki. Again we see that Loki acts not out of malice but that he really is forced to act according to other peoples´ desires. We cannot find any malevolence on Loki´s behalf in this particular myth, neither in the myth of Pazi.

Loki appears in several aspects in these myths: as shape-changer, as the sly companion of greater gods, and as the instigator of conflict and resolver thereof. In all of these myths we find that he seldom acts out of his own free will, but that he "...acts under some sort of compulsion in more cases than of his own free will " (de Vries 1933 p.146).

2.LOKI AS THE COMPANION OF IÓRR

In this chapter I will try to analyse the character of Loki as we find it in the myths where he is the companion of Iórr. My intention is again to show that Loki is not at all as evil as his reputation has it, and that he, just as stated in the last chapter, most often acts not according to his own free will but to others desires. The myths in question here are the Geirrřdr myth, the myth of the giant-builder, the myth of Iórr´s journey to Utgardaloki and of course Irymskvida.

The Geirrřdr Myth

In Snorri´s account of the myth of Geirrřdr in Skaldskaparmál 18 Loki has flown to Jotunheim in the guise of a falcon, and has been captured by the giant Geirrřdr. The giant releases him only if he promises to bring Iórr to him without his hammer, belt and gloves, and after having made his promise he is free to go. He manages to convince Iórr to leave his weapons at home, but on their way he is supplied with a belt of power, a pair of iron gloves and a power staff by a giantess named Grid. After having crossed a dangerous river with Loki hanging on his belt, Iórr confronts the giant and his daughters, kills them and heads back to Asgardr.

The myth of Geirrřdr has some important traits in common with the myth of Pazi : Loki is by some unfortunate accident trapped by the giants, and subsequently becomes the reluctant instigator of conflict both in Geirrřdr and in Pazi, and is in both myths forced to bring one of the gods to Jotunheim, in the first case Idunn with her apples and in the second Iórr without his gloves, power belt and hammer. In the myth of Pazi, though, it is Loki who saves the day, but in the Geirrřdr myth it is Iórr. Loki is not even mentioned after the river incident: "Loki, as it seems, accompanied Iórr on the first part of his journey, but he disappears from the scene " (Turville-Petre 1964 p.134).

Loki is not acting of his own free will when he talks Iórr into leaving his weapons behind: he has made a promise to Geirrřdr and must keep it. To break his oath would be impossible, and hence his bringing Iórr to Geirrřdr is not an act of malice but of necessity for him to maintain his honour. 

Snorri´s account of the Geirrřdr myth differs somewhat from an older version, known as Iórsdrapa, where Iórr is accompanied not only by Loki but also by Ialvi. This is of significance when we read the myth of Iórr´s journey to Utgardaloki, where he is accompanied with Ialvi as well, as there has been some discussion about the thunder god´s servant as a common motif where both Loki and Ialvi fit in.

The myth of the giant-builder

The myth of the giant-builder, which we find only in Snorri´s Edda in Gylfaginning 41, deals with the building of the walls of Valhalla, and with the conception and birth of Odin´s horse, Sleipnr. The Aesir have hired a giant to fortify their stronghold, and has promised him Freyja, the sun and the moon as his reward, provided that the walls would be finished within half a year. On the advice of Loki, the giant is allowed to use his horse to help him in his work. He sets to work with his extraordinary horse Svadilfare, making tremendous progress each day, which of course worries the gods. The gods hold council, and it is decided that Loki is to find a way to stop the giant from keeping his part of the deal. Loki assumes the shape of a mare and lures Svadilfare away so that the giant cannot finish his work, and as he has not kept his part of the deal, the gods are freed from their promise. The giant is slain by Iórr, and later on Loki gives birth to Sleipnir, Odin´s horse.

In this myth we again find Loki as the one who succeeds in saving the day after having caused the Aesir considerable problems. Again we find him under pressure from the rest of the gods, and again he does not act by his own volition: "Loki is again the cunning god, appearing in the well-known role of the man, who gives bad advice and afterwards has to remedy the dangers issuing from it " (de Vries 1933 p.78).

Here we again find Loki as shape-shifter: by assuming the shape of a mare in heat he can succeed in detaining Svadilfare from helping his master. As a natural consequence he becomes pregnant and gives birth to Sleipnr, the eight-legged horse. His giving birth to Sleipnr is also alluded to in Hyndluljód st.40, where we are told that "en Sleipni gat vi Svadilfara", that "Sleipnir he begat with Svadilfare".

Iórr´s Journey to Utgardaloki

Iórr´s journey to Utgardaloki is related in Snorri´s Edda only, in Gylfaginning 43, but "at full length and with evident pleasure " (de Vries 1933 p.82). The story in short reads as follows: Iórr is travelling together with Loki and they come to an isolated farm where they stay for the night. Iórr slaughters his goats in order to provide the company with food and when he on the next morning wants to raise them from the dead he finds that one of them has become lame: the peasant´s son Ialvi has crushed one of its bones to suck out the marrows. It is decided that Ialvi and his sister Roskva are to follow Thor as his servants on his journey until the goat´s leg has healed. They travel on and encounter a giant, whose glove they mistake for a house, and finally arrives at Utgardr, where they are invited in. In Utgardr they are challenged to competitions in which they all lose: Loki loses an eating contest against a man called Logi, Ialvi loses a running contest against Huge, and Thor has to give up a wrestling contest against an old woman, among other things. When they leave Utgardr, they find that everything has been an illusion, and that they had competed against fire, mind and age respectively and therefore had no chance of winning , and that they instead of standing in front of Utgardr find themselves on a great plain.

In Hymiskvída st. 37 we find a small detail that contradicts Snorri´s account of the myth: here it is by Loki´s hand that the goat´s bone has been crushed, not by the peasant´s son. It is nevertheless the peasant who has to make up for the incident by giving away his two children in st. 38.
Loki´s role in this myth is not very prominent: he is only mentioned as Iórr´s companion and as Logi´s opponent in the eating contest. Loki is a ravenous eater, but not even he can compete with the roaring fire. Here it has been suggested that Loki is a fire-demon, based on the etymological likeness between Loki and Logi, but if so, would not he have won the contest instead of Logi? There are other indications pointing to Loki´s connection with fire, but as for this essay it is sufficient to assume "that the combination of the words Loki and Logi was so very close at hand, that such a disrespectful fellow as the author of this novelette has been could use it as an excellent pun " (de Vries 1933 p.84).

Irymskvida

In Irymskvida Iórr wakes up only to find that his hammer is gone. He approaches Loki, tells him about his loss, and Loki assumes Freyja´s falcon shape in order to go looking for the hammer. He finds out that the giant Irym has stolen the hammer and that he keeps it safe, eight miles underground, and that he will not give it back unless he is promised Freyja´s hand in marriage. Freyja herself does not approve of being married to the giant, and the gods are quite at a loss about what to do. They hold council, and Heimdallr suggests that Iórr could disguise himself as Freyja and go to Irym and recover his hammer. Loki readily offers to follow as the false "Freyja´s" bridesmaid, and hence they arrive in Jotunheim in order to celebrate the wedding. Iórr is almost disclosed twice due to his excessive eating and red-hot gaze, but the cunning Loki quickly saves him by his witty explanations. At last the hammer is produced to be used in the ceremony and put in Iórr´s lap, only to be picked up by the most furious of gods and used to smash the giants to atoms.

Here we find Loki excelling in what he does best: transgressing the boundaries of race and gender, and saving the less mentally equipped Iórr by means of his unique way of finding himself in difficult situations. He assumes the shape of a falcon, travels miraculously safe through Jotunheim, dresses up as a woman and saves the day with his wit and gets away with everything he does. Loki and Iórr are not really adversaries here but complement each other: where Iórr lacks the wits, Loki helps him out, and when it comes down to fighting, Iórr does what he does best, with Loki as the passive spectator.

Again we find Loki shape-shifter and simultaneously as transgressor of boundaries: he is just as at home in Jotunheim as in Asgarr, and he has no problems with deceiving the giants when órr´s male attributes such as excessive eating and fiery eyes nearly give him away. 

3. LOKI IN OTHER MYTHS

In the myths where Loki appears on his own, we find that his character is divided in two: one personality who follows the usual pattern of getting into trouble and then saving his skin by means of wit and trickery, and the other where he really lives up to his reputation of being a malevolent demon and acts out of pure malice. Examples of the first part we find in the myth of Sif´s golden hair, where Loki acts as provider, and of the second in the myth of Baldr´s death, where Loki assumes the shape of a woman, examples can also be found in Lokasenna. Lastly, (in a supreme example of his evil nature) we find Loki marshalling the Aesir´s enemies at Ragnarok, where there can be no doubt about his evil intent.

The Myth of Sif´s hair

The myth about Sif´s hair starts when Iórr finds out that Loki has cut off all of his wife Sif´s hair. Iórr threatens to kill Loki, who promises to go to the svartálfar and make the dwarfs produce golden hair for Sif. The dwarfs are eager to please, and produce not only golden hair for Sif, but also a marvellous ship for Heimdallr and a magic spear for Ódin. Loki then challenges two other dwarfs to make even better things, and puts his head at stake. The dwarfs set to work, and Loki who is afraid of losing his head tries to disturb them, and by transforming himself into a fly, he interferes with their work. His attempts are not all in vain: the dwarfs manage to produce a golden boar and a golden ring, both of which are flawless, and a hammer, Mjollnir, which shaft is a bit too short. Who really won the bet becomes a matter of dispute, which is settled by the Aesir, who deem that Loki has lost his bet and that he therefore also must lose his head. Loki escapes but is captured by Iórr and brought back. He then agrees to letting the dwarf cut off his head, as long as he does not touch his neck, which, of course, is impossible. The dwarf then sews Loki´s lips together in wrath with a string called Vartare.

This story only appears in Snorri´s Edda, and his account of the story again leaves us with the usual picture of Loki, he who puts himself in deep trouble because of some more or less harmless trick, only to save his skin in the last second. In one aspect, however, this myth does not conform to the pattern: "First he offends the wife of the thunder god by cutting off her hair, and secondly he succeeds in damaging the hammer of Iórr." (de Vries 1933 p.96). He has, whether willingly or unwillingly, tried to incapacitate the fiercest fighter of the Aesir by means of damaging his weapon. But has he really? The hammer of Iórr seems to work fine anyway, imperfect shaft or not! Moreover, Loki brings more good things to the Aesir than would suffice to cover the loss of Sif´s hair: he provides not only Iórr with a hammer: Ódin receives not only a spear but also a golden ring, Frey a golden boar and a ship that easily can be folded up and fitted into a pocket. 

Loki as the Provider is a very important trait: he supplies the three gods with their indispensable tools, the most important being Iórr´s hammer. I will return to this aspect of Loki when discussing his character in a later chapter.

Baldr´s Death

In the myth of Baldr´s death in Gylfaginning 48 Loki´s demonic aspect reveals itself at full strength: here he lives up to his reputation of being the most evil and malevolent of the gods. The story runs as follows: Baldr has been having dreams which reveal to him that he soon will be dead. The Aesir decide to try and stop this and Frigga makes every creature, living as well as dead take an oath not to harm Baldr in any way. The mistletoe is left out, as it was believed to be too weak to harm anyone. Baldr then becomes practically invulnerable, and the Aesir make it their sport to try their weapons against him, inflicting no harm on him whatsoever. This annoys Loki, who assumes the shape of a woman in order to trick Freyja into telling him how Baldr can be harmed, and he is told that the mistletoe were exempted from the oath. He then designs a missile weapon out of mistletoe, and talks the blind god Höder into using it on Baldr. The missile hits and kills Baldr. The Aesir decide to bring him back from Hel, where he lives after his detah. They send a messenger to Hel, who returns with the answer that Baldr may return to the living if all creatures on earth would cry over him. Every creature does so, except for one giantess, who refuses to shed a tear for Baldr. This is, of course, Loki in disguise, and the Aesir decide to catch and punish him, not only for being the instigator of Baldr´s killing, but also for keeping him from coming back to life again. Loki flees, and hides in a house with doors in all directions, assuming the shape of a salmon during the days. He designs a net out of linen, but throws it into the fire when he realises that his hideout has been spotted, and takes refuge in the river in his salmon shape. The Aesir enter the house, and Kvasir, the most clever of the gods, sees the net pattern in the ashes and figures out how the net works. He designs a net of his own, and the Aesir then go fishing. Loki is captured and tied to three pointy rocks with the bowels of his son Narfi, and has to stay confined until the end of time. A poisonous snake is placed above his head, dripping its venom on his face, thereby causing him tremendous pain. Sigyn, Loki´s loyal wife, then takes a bowl and holds it over Loki´s head to protect him from the venom, but when she has to empty it every once in a while, Loki writhes in pain, causing the writhings of the ground we know as earthquakes in the process.

The role which Loki plays in this myth is the role that has been given most attention: the role of being responsible for Baldr´s death. Being not the obedient instrument but the cunning instigator, his part in the myth is all the more malicious, he is the rabani, not the handbani. Höder´s role is instrumental only, and he cannot really be blamed for causing Baldr´s death: how was he to know that the missile would actually be able to inflict harm on Baldr? Did not all the other gods try their weapons on Baldr too? Nevertheless Höder is slain, but Loki´s life is spared.

This particular version of the killing of Baldr and the binding of Loki have no counterparts in the Edda Sćmundar, where Höder alone is responsible for the killing of Baldr, and where Loki´s insolent behaviour at Ćgir´s feast causes him to be bound, not his suggested part in the killing of Baldr. Nor are there any kennings about Loki´s part as radbani known in any other source. I will return to the deviations in Snorri´s Edda later in this essay.

Lokasenna

Lokasenna deals with the quarrel between Loki and the other Aesir at a feast hosted by Ćgir or Gymir. Loki kills one of Ćgir´s servants, Fimafeng, because he could not stand hearing the gods´ praising of his skill of serving and pleasing the guests. The Aesir kick Loki out, but he returns only to start a quarrel that cannot be stopped by force as the gods had taken a vow of peace inside the hall where the feast was held. Loki is therefore allowed to verbally abuse each and every one of the gods as he sees fit. He starts with reminding Ódin of his promise of blood brotherhood, of which we know nothing else but what is told here. This gives him his rightful place at the table, and once seated, the abuse begins. Time and time again he is asked to be quiet, and he is offered precious gifts in order to keep his mouth shut, but to no avail: he will not stop for anything.

He accuses Bragi of cowardice, Idunn of promiscuosity and of having embraced the killer of her husband. Further he accuses Gefjon of having committed adultery, and Ódin of being unfair in his role of deciding upon which of the combating armies to win when presiding at battles. Ódin then reminds Loki of his own faults , (to us unknown) of having spent time in the underworld as a woman, milking cows and giving birth to children. Loki then accuses Ódin of unmanliness, and goes on to point to Frigg´s affair with Ódin´s two brothers when she thought Ódin to be dead. He also tells her that he is the cause of Baldr´s absence, possibly referring to his refusal to weap over him to keep him in Hel. Freyja is accused of adultery and incest, Njrdr of having been used as a chamber pot by some giantesses and of having committed incest: Tyr of being unable of solving juridical problems and of not being the father of his own son, Loki himself claiming paternity. The abuse goes on with Loki giving air to all the dark secrets of the Aesir, until Iórr comes to the hall and resolves the situation by threatening Loki with his mighty hammer. This does not, however, mean that the peace is broken, as Iórr has not taken the wow, having been away in the east killing trolls. He captures Loki, who has taken refuge in a stream in the guise of a salmon, and he ties Loki down with the bowels of his son, leaving him there with a poisonous snake dripping its venom in Loki´s face. Just like in the myth of the killing of Baldr, Sigyn stays with Loki to keep the venom from him, but when she fails to do so, Loki´s writhing makes the earth tremble.

In Lokasenna we find a lot of references to myths and stories about the Aesir that we cannot find elsewhere. Nonetheless they provide us with important information about the Aesir in general, and Loki in particular. He has had intercourse with Freyja, with Tyr´s wife (of whom we know nothing more than this brief passage) and moreover with Sif, Iórr´s wife. He freely admits his guilt in the killing of Balder, or rather that it was he that saw to it that Frigg would never see her son again, and he also indicates that his was the guilt when Pazi died, both first and last in line: as the instigator and as the actor. 

Ragnarok

In Voluspá, Loki is the helmsman of Naglfari, the ship that carries the army of Hel to Midgardr (st.51). He is also mentioned as "brodur Byleists ", but after this his participation seems to become insignificant, as he is not mentioned more at all. Snorri´s version in Gylfaginning 50 differs somewhat. In his account it is the giant Hrym and not Loki who steers the Naglfari, but Loki is all the more active in the ensuing battle, fighting off Heimdalr, slaying him but is also slain himself.
What is important here is that we find Loki playing a more violent role than before and that he has finally chosen which side to take. Instead of using his wits he actually joins the fray and fights the gods´ sentinel successfully, which in some ways contradicts the very essence of his character as the sly manipulator who would rather run off than take the heat. Instead of balancing between good and evil he makes his stand against the Aesir, joining forces with their enemies. 

4.THE CHARACTER OF LOKI

In this chapter I will analyse Loki´s character from the material which I have already discussed and I will also try to shed some light on Loki´s origin and progeny. It is by no means easy to adequately describe and analyse the multi-faceted character of Loki without ending up with traits that in many ways support, but also in many ways contradict each other. We have found, for example, that is Loki the blood-brother of Ódin, but that he simultaneously has proven himself the arch-enemy of him after having caused Baldr´s death: that he with remarkable ease can travel from Asgarr to Jotunheim and back, feeling almost just as much at ease in either. Three major strands in his character can be discerned, however: Loki as the instigator of conflicts, Loki as the provider and Loki as the transgressor of boundaries.

The Instigator of Conflicts

When Loki appears in the Eddas, it is mostly in his role of Instigator of Conflicts: because of some unfortunate circumstance he is forced to act not according to his own volition but to that of others. Most often his loyalties to the Aesir are in conflict with a promise given to the giants. On other occasions, he has given advice that would have led the Aesir into destruction, had he not managed to solve the situation in his own peculiar manner. He is the Instigator of Conflict, but also the solver thereof: he manages to solve all of the tricky situations he has put the Aesir and himself into, but never without paying the price himself: when saving the day in the myth of the giant builder, he has to suffer the most unmanly act of intercourse with the steed, but also the ignomity of giving birth to the eight-legged fowl, Sleipnir, and when providing the Aesir with their precious gifts he ends up with his lips sown together. 

The Provider

Loki as the Provider is in many ways connected to his function of being a trickster/culture bringer. He does not only provide the Aesir (and hence mankind) in general with the net but he also provides three Aesir in particular with the attributes that constitute their functions in Dumézil´s tripartite system: Tórr with the hammer, Ódin with the spear and Freyr with the golden boar.

Loki´s connection with the net and cobweb has been thoroughly discussed in its folkloristic context by Rooth and Celander, and as that aspect goes beyond the scope of this essay, I will only discuss this connection as it appear in the eddas. According to Snorri, it is Loki who invents the net but that he destroys it when the Aesir approach in order to capture him. The most intelligent of the gods, Kvasir, finds the remains of the net in the ashes and reconstructs it in order to catch Loki. In the Poetic Edda, however, it is the sea-goddess Ran who lends her net to Loki when he wishes to capture Andvari. If Loki is to be seen as the inventor of the net, why does he himself invent the instrument of his own destruction? If not, why does Snorri make him the inventor of the net when the Poetic Edda explicitly makes the net the property of Ran?

In the myth of Sif´s hair, Loki is forced to make up for the loss of Sif´s hair, which he himself has cut off, and returns not only with a golden wig for Sif but also with impressing gifts for other Aesir, namely: the spear Gungnir for Ódin, Sif´s golden wig for Tórr, and the ship Skibladne for Frey. The three gods also receive gifts from the dwarf with whom Loki made his wager and whom he tried to cheat: Draupnir, the magic multiplying ring for Ódin, Mjolnir for Tórr and the golden boar to Freyr. These latter gifts are not, of course, given by Loki but it is he who has instigated their conception. Loki thus becomes the provider of the most powerful, if perhaps not the most perfect, weapon of the gods and therefore their most important protection from the giants: Mjolnir, the hammer of Tórr. This hammer ´, when wielded by Tórr, the fierce warrior, slants the odds in the gods´ favour. Moreover, he provides Ódin with the mighty spear Gungnir and Freyr with Skibladne: "...he is in fact solely responsible for providing the gods with the instruments and symbols of their mythological functions " (Anderson 1981 p.482).

The Transgressor of Boundaries

Loki transgresses boundaries not only as shape-shifter but also as transgressor of gender boundaries, being able to change his sex at will. He is neither áss nor giant, but seems to be able to pass as both whenever feeling like doing so. Most of the situations in which he has become the instigator of conflict relate in some way or another to his shape-shifting ability and/or crossing the border between the land of the gods and of the giants. Hence, Loki is "external to the system, but essential to its function, and thus it is as a mediator between the outside and inside, partaking of both, that he operates " (Frakes 1987, p.477).

Loki seems to have no difficulty with changing his shape: in the eddas he appears as falcon, as salmon, and as mare. His relationship with beasts also manifests itself in his progeny: his two sons Fenrir and Jormungandr are a giant wolf and a monstrous serpent respectively. When guised as mare, he becomes pregnant and gives birth to Sleipnir: it is clear that assuming other shapes does not give him any extraordinary powers except for that of the shape assumed; his actions as a falcon is limited to those of a falcon, and becoming pregnant in the shape of a mare consequently results in giving birth to a horse! In the Pazi-myth, Loki is travelling in falcon-shape and is captured by Pazi just because of the limits of his present shape: no bird can escape when its feet are trapped, not even a god in bird-shape. Loki is subsequently recognised by Pazi because his eyes give him away: here the falcon-guise reveals its weakness. When in salmon shape, Loki is caught by Tórr around his salmon tail, and his grip being so firm that the salmon´s tail is said to get its slim shape from Tórr´s grasp. Here too Loki is restricted in his actions to those restrictions that apply to the shape he has assumed.

Transgression of gender boundaries is another of Loki´s typical traits, a trait which he shares with Ódin, and which is intimately connected to his appearing as mare in the myth of the giant builder, where he changes both shape and sex. He dresses up as a woman in rymskvida and when consulting Frigg about the mistletoe in the myth of Baldr´s death, and even crosses the border and becomes female: as the giantess okk who refuses to cry over Baldr (Gylfaginning ch.48) and when milking cows and giving birth to children in the underworld (Lokasenna st.23). 

The family of Loki

Snorri tells us about Loki´s family in great detail: "svá, at kalla hann son Fárbauta ok Laufejar, Nalar, bródir Byleists ok Helblinda" (de Vries 1933, p.186). In the Poetic Edda, Loki is referred to as "Laufey´s son" in Trymskvida st.20 and in Lokasenna st.52, and the kennings of Voluspá st.51 and Hyndluljó st.40: "Byleistr´s brother", give further evidence to his relation with Byleistr. Loki´s relationship to Helblinda as being a person in his own right is not as certain as is his relationship to Byleistr, as Helblinda is also used as a name for Odin in Grimnismal st.46. de Vries suggests that Byleistr and Helblinda are two other names for Odin, and finds support for his suggestion in Lokasenna, where Loki claims his rightful place at the table because of his blood brotherhood with Odin, thus establishing the close relation between the two of them.

Of Loki´s parents, Farbauti and Laufey, we know very little. The only time Farbauti is mentioned in the eddas is in the passage quoted above, whereas Laufey´s name is used in kennings in the Poetic Edda as mentioned, in addition to her being mentioned in Snorri´s Edda. Rooth suggests that the names carry symbolical meaning: "Farbáuti,...,which is considered to mean the wind, may well be concerned with the wind as the cause of illnesses "(Rooth 1962 p.173), given the "evil" nature of Loki. The meaning of Laufey, on the other hand, is more problematic, and to correctly define her name as "`lövjerska´,a woman who fiddles with medicines and herbs, seems uncertain" (Rooth 1962 p.173). Her alternative name, Nál, suggests according to Rooth a connection to a shooting pain, just as being pierced with a needle. The names of Loki´s two brothers, Helblinda and Byleistr, also carry symbolical meaning: Helblinda meaning "totally blind" and Byleistr meaning "lame" or "crippled". Here Rooth points to Irish Celtic influences, which will be discussed in detail elsewhere in this essay, where "the transition from monsters and demons to hypostases and illnesses or defects is also obvious " (Rooth 1962 p.169).

Loki is also the father (and mother!) of many beings: he has two sons with his wife Sigyn, Nare or Narve and Vale, and three children with the giantess Angrboa: Fenrir, Jormungandr and Hel; to these children he is the father. He has also conceived a foal with the stallion Svailfare, Sleipnir, and lastly he has given birth to the giantess Hyndla after having eaten the burnt heart of a dead woman.
Rooth points to similarities between Snorri´s account of Loki´s bestial children and that of mediaeval conceptions of the biblical origins of evil: Loki as the father of great supernatural beings corresponds to Cain as the origin of monsters and giants: influences from the Christian traditions cannot be ruled out, as I have stated elsewhere in this essay. 

Loki´s bestial children are strongly connected with the escathology of the eddas: Fenris and Jormungandr as well as their father both play crucial roles in the last battle between the Aesir and their enemies. His daughter Hel falls into a somewhat different category: she is the queen of Helheim, and gathers there her army of the evil dead. Jormungandr is not altogether evil, though: when committed to biting his tail at world´s end he really is a part of the cosmological order, as de Vries claims (de Vries 1933 p.175). 

5.Can Snorri be Trusted?

In this chapter I will try to discuss the relative value of the sources, the mythical poems of the Poetic Edda and Snorri´s Edda. I will discuss the theories about the dating of the different poems of the Poetic Edda and its implications on the portrayal of the gods. When discussing Snorri´s Edda, I will focus on his euhemerism and possible source material.

The problem of dating the mythical poems of the Poetic Edda and thereby establishing in what cultural and social climate they were conceived is that there are no manuscripts available except for those written on Iceland in the 13th Century and later (Turville-Petre 1964 p.8). Thus we are left with a collection of poems of heathen myth that were not fixed until well after the advent of Christianity on Iceland. There is a possibility that these manuscripts were based on older ones, as Turville-Petre argues, but that does not necessarily shed any more light on the problem. Nevertheless, "The Eddaic lays reflect the myths in which their authors believed " (Turville-Petre 1964 p.13). de Vries points out that the mythical poems may have originated in a time when "...the veneration for the ancient gods were nearly gone..." (de Vries 1933 p.25), and he certainly has a point to his argument when considering the unrespectful treatment of the Aesir, particularly in rymskvia and Lokasenna. That does not necessarily mean that the motifs are of the same age as the poems in which they occur, (Britt-Marie Näsström 1995), and that the framework could differ very much from the original story: it is possible to rewrite stories to a certain extent and change the attributes of the characters, but not to such an extent that the distortions makes recognition impossible. Therefore we can quite safely conclude that the mythical poems of the Poetic Edda are relatively original, and that they only differ in minor details from the myths on which they rest.

Not only as a collection of tales, but also as an work of art in its own right, Snorri Sturlasson´s Edda is of immeasurable value as a source of knowledge about Norse mythology. It must be read with great caution, however, as it in many cases is dubious whether Snorri has stuck to the original myths: "The proper meaning of the myth may have been obliterated, its contents modified, the details misunderstood and confused "(de Vries 1033 p.25). He may have been tempted to tamper with the stories to make ends meet, to merge myths with similar motifs, to gild the edges of other myths in order to enhance the literal value. We must keep in mind that Iceland had been Christianised over 200 years before Snorri finished his Edda, and that those of his sources of his that were oral tradition certainly must have differed in many ways from the original stories. But here again, the differences could not have been too great, since a story that everybody knows cannot be changed very much before becoming too distorted to be recognised.

Snorri uses several sources when writing his Edda, among them are the scaldic poems and the Eddaic poems. He must have had access to quite a lot of other sources as well, as we find a lot of material of his that has no counterpart in the older sources that we know of. There may have been written material that now has been lost, but it feels more likely that he used oral material extensively.
Snorri´s euhemerism starts with his explanation of the origin of the Aesir, but is most evident in Gylfaginning, where "begynner den egentlige euhemerisme, forklaring av gudene som mennesker "(Holtsmark 1964 p.11). The Aesir are not really gods, Snorri claims, but human beings from Asia, who came to Scandinavia and settled there and became the forefathers of the kings of Sweden. In Gylfaginning, the Aesir practice magic and convince the people of Scandinavia that they are gods, and hence should be worshipped as such (Holtsmark 1964 p.12).

By using this technique of transforming the heathen gods into human impostors, he evades possible criticism from the Christian church: had he not done so, writing such a book about heathen deities would have been impossible: he can make the myths "...framstĺ som en rent mänsklig villfarelse och de gamla myternas innehĺll som bedrägligt bländverk och gyckelspel " (Ström 1993 p.5).

The social and cultural influences also make themselves visible when Snorri describes Loki by giving him attributes that on an implicit level connects him with the Christian concept of the devil: "[he is] rógberi ásanna, frumkvei flćrdanna, vomm allra goa ok manna, frir ok fagr synum, illr í ska>lyndi, miok fiolbreytinn at háttum "(Gylfaginning ch.32, from Holtsmark 1964 p.65). Loki´s double character echoes that of Lucifer the fallen angel, who was the brightest one but fell nevertheless. Loki´s demoniacal side is all the more strengthened by the contrast to the one he has had murdered, Baldr, who in Snorri´s Edda bears a striking resemblance to Jesus Christ in his Nordic appearance as "Vitekrist". 

Bibliography

Celander, Hilding 
1911: Lokes mytiska ursprung, Edv. Berlings Boktryckeri, Uppsala

de Vries, Jan 
1933: The Problem of Loki, Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia, Helsinki

Dumézil, George 
1959: Loki, Wissenschaftlige Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt
Eddan: De nordiska guda- och hjältesĺngerna, translated by Erik Brate, 1990, Niloé, Uddevalla 

Holtsmark, Anne 
1964: Studier i Snorres mytologi, Universitetsforlaget, Oslo 

Rooth, Anna Birgitta 
1961: Loki in Scandinavian Mythology, C.W.K. Gleerups Förlag, Lund 

Sturluson, Snorri 
1978: Snorres Edda translated by Björn Collinder, Forum, Uddevalla Ström, Folke 
1956: Loki- ein mythologisches Problem, Almquist & Wiksell, Göteborg
1993: Nordisk Hedendom: Tro och sed i förkristen tid Akademiförlaget, Göteborg 

Turville-Petre, E.O.G 
1964: Myth and Religion of the North, Weidenfeld and Nicholson, London

Anderson, Philip N. 
1981: "Form and Content in the Lokasenna: A Re-evaluation", Edda: Nordisk Tidskrift för Litteraturforskning, Scandinavian Journal of Literary Research, 4, Oslo

Frakes, Jerold C 
1987: "Loki´s function in the Tripartite System", Journal fo English and Germanic Philology, October, Champaign 

Näsström, Britt-Marie
1995: Lecture in comparative religion, Göteborgs Universitet, October 

History: Runes & rune stones... 

Rökstenen 

One of the more interesting rune stones is 'rökstenen' (something like: smoke stone ;-). It's one of the bigger rune stones (the biggest to my knowledge) and it's completely covered with text. Unfortunately the wtone has been used as building material to church during it's life time. When it was found in the church wall it was soon taken out but in that process some of the inscriptions where damaged. 

It's from the nineth century and it's located in the county of Östergötland (some have called this county for the cradle of sweden. I do not disagree.) The inscription was made by a (in his times ;-) famous, and by all evidence, very learnd man with the name Varin. 

Varin hasn't tried to hide his knowledge of the classic tales, the myths and the events of the times he lived in. Like any writer he quickly get's in to the mood the text starts live a life of it's own. The text is full of ciphers (look at the file available on the futhark) where he is using the magic numbers associated with the letters. He has a lot of references till classic tales, myths and events and he writes in an ambiguos way which means that his text is open for many interpretations depending on on your angle of view. 

The text was probably obscure even in it's own time and then you have to remember that the learnd of those day hade a better knowledge of the old tales and myths that the writer was refering to. Some look upon 'rökstenen' as a monument over the literature of it's time. 
One of Swedens best rune intepreters has read the following (the start of the text is recited): 

Dĺ rĺdde Tjodrik den djärve,
sjökrigarnas hövding,
över reidhavets strand.
Nu sitter han rustad
pĺ sin gotiska häst,
med sköld över axeln,
den främsta av märingar...

I will not try to translate the text. I wouldn't do it justice. 

Some scientists thinks that Tjodrik was the Eastgothic king Teoderik the great which lived in Verona but ruled over a large kingdom all the way up to Germany and france. 


Gripsholm-stenen - The Gripsholm Stone 

The inscription is dated to the middle of the 11th century. The runes are inscribed inside a snake or dragon, a characterisic trait of the more elaborately crafted rune-stones. The idea is that you start reading from the "head" of the snake and finish at its "tail". The 11th century was the hayday of making rune-stones, especially around Lake Maelaren in Sweden. Of the 3000 known rune-stones, more than 2500 are to be found in Sweden, some 1800 of which in the area mentioned. Most of them are raised in memory of dead relatives, but some say something more than just that "x raised this stone over Y". 

The inscription reads as follows:

tula lit raisa stain 
thinsat sun sin 
haralt bruthur inkuars 
thair furu trikila fiari 
at kuli auk a ustarlar 
ni kafu tuu sunar la 
a sirk lan ti

Tula had raised stone this (over) son her harald brother ingvars they went manly far after gold to (the) east fed the eagle 1) south in Saerkland 2) 

1) kenning for killing (plenty of) enemies in battle

2) Where the muslims ruled. My unqualified guess is that "saerk" means "robes", presumably those of the arabs. 

The Sigurd inscription on Ramundsberget, Södermanland. 

The inscription is dated to the early 11th century, and is beautyfully enclosed in a characteristic snake/dragon. The inscription also shows scenes from the Sigurd-saga: the killing of Favner, the decapitation of Regin, Sigurd roasting the dragons heart and listening to the birds speech and his horse, Grane. The inscription is a "bridge-inscription": it was very popular to "dedicate" bridges to dead relatives and to erect stones not only to commemorate the dead but also to show who built which bridge and for what reason. A picture of this particular inscription can be found in Turville-Petres "Myth and Religion of the North" on picture 32. 

sirithir.kiarthi.bur.thosi.muthir.alriks.tutiR.urms.fur.salu.hulmkirs.fathur.suk.ruthar.buata.sis 
sigrid.made.bridge.this.mother.alriks.daughter.Orms. 

for.soul.holmgers.father.sigroeds.husband.her i.e. Sigrid, Alriks mother, Orms daughter made this bridge for her husband, Holmgers, father of Sigoerd, soul. 

Consider this: Runes were used (to our knowledge) from about 200 AD until about 1100. If there were 100 people who possessed the knowlegde of writing runes in Europe, and these made one inscription each every year, we end up with some 90 000 inscriptions. If the average rate of inscriptions per inscriber was two a year, the sum doubles. It is a pity that they did not use stone for all of their work- then we would know a lot more about the days and ways of our ancestors... 


the end
the end