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Page 57
AEGER. The god of the stormy sea.
AEGER'S BOSOM. The sea.
ALFHEIM (elf-home). Frig's dwelling.
ANGANTYR. A champion who was slain in a duel hy Hjalmar the vigilant, and was
buried with his sword Tirfing. His daughter Hervar called upon her dead father
for the sword, and, according to the story, was answered. See Canto XXIII.
ANGERVADIL (grief-wader). Fridthjof's sword.
ASA. God. It is used as a prefix, as Asa-Thor, Asa-Loke. etc.
ASA-SONS. A people who came from Asia and. settled the North, and who claimed
descent from the gods.
ASGARD. Home of the gods.
ASK. The first man.
ASTHILD. Cupid.
BALDER (the best). The mildest, the wisest and the most eloquent of the gods.
He is the god of innocence, the White God.
"Balder dies in nature when the woods are stripped of their foliage, when the
flowers fade and the storms of winter howl. Balder dies in the spiritual world
when the good are led away from the paths of virtue, when the soul becomes
dark and gloomy, forgetting its heavenly origin. Balder returns in nature when
the gentle winds of spring stir the air, when the nightingale's high note is
heard in the heavens, and the flowers are unlocked to paint the laughing soil,
when light takes the place of gloom and darkness. Balder returns in the
spiritual world when the lost soul finds itself again, throws off tho mantle
of darkness, and like the shining spirit soars on wings of light to heaven, to
God who mgve it." See NORSE MYTHOLOGY, p. 294.
BAUTA-STONE. A rough stone set up at warriors' graves, and having no
inscription.
BERSERK (bear-coat). The old Northern athletes or champions wore the skins of
bears, wolves or reindeer, and went into battle with loud cries, wearing no
armor.
BERSERK-GANG. The onset of the berserks.
BIFROST (the trembling way). The rainbow, the bridge of the gods.
BJORN (a bear). Notice the play upon this word in Canto X, p. 94:
"Bjorn attend the rudder,
Grip it with a bear's paw."
BLOOD-EAGLE. When a foe deserved especial cruelty, he was put to death by
carving the picture of an eagle on his back. see Canto XVI, p. 150.
BRAGE. God of poesy: a son of Odin.
BRAN. Fridthjof's dog.
BREIDABLIK (broad-gleaming). Balder's abode.
BURN SALT. A common expression for making salt.
DELLING (day-spring). Dawn.
DELLING'S SON. Day.
DISARSAL. The temple of the goddesses.
DRAGON. A war vessel. See description of Ellide, Canto III, p. 3O.
DRAPA. A funeral hymn, reciting the virtues of the deceased.
EFJE-SOUND. A sound in the Orkney Islands.
FAFNER. A son of Hreidmar and brother of Regin and Otter. Fafner and Regin
demanded of their father a share of the gold obtained of Odin as Otter's
ransom. Hreidmar refused, and Fafner slew his father, and, taking all the
gold. assumed the form of a dragon and fled. He concealed tho gold on Gnita
heath, where he was found by Sigurd, who, at the instigation of Regin, slew
Fafner. He accomplished this by digging a pit in Fafner's path and concealing
himself therein until the dragon passed over him, when he thrust his sword
through Fafner's heart. See NORSE MYTHOLOGY, p. 377; also the story of the
Volsungs and Niblungs, translated by Magnusson and Morris. Sweden, 1870.
FAFNER'S BANE. The slayer of Fafner; Sigurd.
FENRIS. A wolf, and one of Loke's children. Chained by the gods until
Ragnarok, he gets loose and conquers Odin, but is himself slain hy Vidar.
FOLKVANG (the folk-field). Freyja's dwelling.
FORSETE (the presider). Son of Balder and Nanna. The god of justice.
FOSTER-BROTHER. It was customary in the North, when two persons entered into
friendship for life and death, or, as it was called, foster-brothership, that
each wounded himself and allowed his blood to mingle with the other's. See,
concerning Fridthjof and Bjorn, Canto III, p. 34.
FREY (a lord). The god of harvests: the dispenser of wealth.
FREYJA. Frey's soster, and goddess of love.
FRIGG. The wife of Odin and mother of Balder.
FUTHORC. The runes taken collectively are properly called the futhorc, the
word being made up of the names of the first of the runes. Compare "alphabet".
GEFJUN. The goddess of maids.
GEIRS-ODD (spear-death). Death by the spear, self-inflicted. See Valhal.
GERD. Frey's wife, and very beautiful.
GIMLE. The heaven of heavens, where dwell the righteous after Ragnarok.
GJALLARHORN. The horn of Heimdal, the Saint Peter of the old mythology. It was
heard all over the world.
GLITNER (the glittering). Forsete's golden dwelling.
GRONING-SOUND. A sound between the Danish Islands.
GUDBRAND'S DALE. Canto XIV, p. 138. in the diocese of Aggerhus, celebrated
afterward (1612) for a battle in which the Norwegians slaughtered the forces
of Col. St. Clair, the Scotch ally of Christian IV, of Denmark.
HAGBART. the sea-king, who became secretly betrothed to Signe, of Princess,
thereby gaining the enmity of her father, who captured and hung him. Signe,
unwilling to survive her betrothed, set fire to her dwelling and was burned to
death.--See Cantos XVI and XVII.
HAGRING. Fata morgana.
HA'VAMA'L. The high song of Odin, containing many wise precepts for the
government of men.
HEL. The goddess of death.
HILDER. The goddess of war.
HODER. The blind god; brother of Balder. Tempted by Loke, he slew Balder with
the mistletoe.
IDA'S PLAIN. Where the gods assemble after Ragnarok.
IDUN. Wife of Brage. She is the rejuvenating goddess, the "ever-renovating
spring," and hence she is dressed in green. --See Canto I, p. 5. She keeps
the apples of immortality.
JOTUNHEIM. The abode of the Giants.
LOKE. The evil one. "He is the sly treacherous father of lies. In appearance
he is beautiful and fair, but in his mind he is evil, and in his inclinations
he is inconstant. Notwithstanding his being ranked among the gods, he is the
slanderer of the gods, the grand contriver of deceit and fraud, the reproach
of gods and men. Nobody renders him divine honors. He surpasses all mortals in
the arts of perfidy and craft." -See NORSE MYTHOLOGY, page 373.
MIDGARD. The earth; the abode of man.
MIDGARD-SERPENT. A child of Loke. It was cast into the sea by Odin, and it
grew till it reached around the whole world.
MIMER. The wise giant keeper of the holy well of wisdom.
MORVEN'S HILLS. Hills in the north of Scotland.
MUSPELHEIM. The abode of fire.
MUSPEL'S SONS. Flames.
NANNA. Balder's wife; goddess of flowers. She died heartbroken at Balder's
death.
NASTRAND (the shore of corpses). Where the wicked are punished after Ragnarok.
NIDHUG. The dragon which lives in the fountain Hvergelmar and gnaws the root
of Ygdrasil.
NIFLHEIM. The world of mists; the lower world; the place of punishment.
NORNS. The Fates. They are three: Urd, the past; Verdande, the present, and
Skuld, the future. They control the destinies of gods and men.
ODER. Freyja's husband.
ODIN. The chief of the gods. He is the all-pervading spirit of the world, the
governor of the universe, the author of war and the inventor of runes and of
poetry. In appearance he is old, tall, one-eyed and long-bearded. He wears a
broad-brimmed hat and a many-colored coat, and carries a spear called Gungner.
ODIN'S BIRDS. Odin has two ravens, Hugin and Munin (reflection and memory),
which every day fly around the world and return to him with intelligence of
all that happens.
PEASANT. The piece of lowest rank in chess; a pawn.
RAGNAROK (the twilight of the gods). The day of the destruction of the world,
and of the regeneration of gods and men. See Canto XXIV.
RAN (the robber). Goddess of the sea; wife of AEger.
ROTA. One of Valhal's maidens; a valkyrie.
RUNES. The letters of the ancient Scandinavian alphabet were called runes
(secrets). The runes were sixteen in number, and previous to the introduction
of Christianity they were supposed to have been invented by Odin himself. A
knowledge of them was for a long time confined to a few, who use them for the
purposes of sorcery.
RUNE-STONE. A stone inscribed with runes, and set up at graves or elsewhere as
a monument.
SAGA. Goddess of history; hence a history.
SEMING. A son of Odin. The early kings of Norway traced their lineage
directly to Seming.
SIGNE. See Hagbart
SKINFAXE (shining mane). The horse of Day.
SKOAL. A health.
SKULD. The future. See Norns.
SLEIPNER (the slipper). Odin's course with eight feet.
SOKVABEK. Dwelling of Saga.
SURT. God of fire.
THING (pronounced ting). A deliberative assemblage of Norsemen, composed of
all who were capable of bearing arms. It was held in the open air. The
thingsmen expressed approval of any measure by striking the shield with the
sword.
THOR. The second of the gods; the thunderer; the subduer of the frost giants.
He has a red beard; his weapon is a short-handled hammer called Mjolner. He
is girt with a belt of strength, and wears iron gloves. His sons are Magne and
Mode, strength and courage.
URD. The past. See Norns.
URD'S FOUNT. The fountain from which the norns sprinkled the tree Ygdrasil.
UTGARD-LOKE. The Loke of the Giants,--called Utgard, because he dwelt in the
uttermost parts of the world, Jotunheim.
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