History of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, Vol. 2 (of 2)Dunham, S. A. (Samuel Astley)
History
History of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, Vol. 2 (of 2)
Dunham, S. A. (Samuel Astley)
Scandinavia -- History
According to the vulgar genealogy,—that which the Odinists, in
opposition to the Thorists, were anxious to establish,—THOR was the
eldest son of Odin and Frigga. Even in Sweden he was, after Odin, the
first in rank among the gods. We may even doubt whether by one sect of
the Odinists he was not esteemed the first; for his image at Upsal,
where he is represented seated on a throne, with the attributes of
divine majesty about him,—while Odin, the war god, is standing at his
right hand with a drawn sword, and Frigga, the goddess of production, on
his left, with the fruits of nature in her hands,—clearly establishes
his predominancy. His strength was unrivalled; and his structure so
large, that no horse could carry him: he always travelled in a chariot
drawn by two he-goats. He had three treasures, all unrivalled, all made
by the Dwarfs. Of these the most famous was his hammer, called _Miölner_
(the miller, the bruiser), which, when thrown by his powerful hand, was
irresistible; yet, however far it was thrown, it always returned to him.
Formidable as it was, it was so small that he could put it in his
pocket. No hands but his could touch it; nor even he without his
wonderful steel gloves, the second of his treasures. The third was a
belt,—_Melgingandur_, which doubled his strength whenever he girded it
on. Above all the gods, he was the enemy of the Rimthurser, or Frost
Giants, against whom, with his dreaded weapon, he waged unceasing war.
The very glare of his eyes was tremendous: it was lightning; and
lightning was emitted by his chariot wheels as he rolled along. Every
day did he make the circuit of Asgard, to drive away the giants.
Of this mythos an interpretation is scarcely necessary. Miölner is his
thunderbolt. His antipathy to the giants—the powers alike of darkness
and of cold, and his daily circuit round Asgard, sufficiently explain
themselves. His gloves and belt were an embellishment, which have no
necessary connection with his nature. The latter is to be found in many
oriental fictions, (the Arabian Nights, for instance,) and in many also
current throughout Europe. His wife, _Sif_, is another illustration of
the mythos. She is held to be a personification of the summer earth, and
is represented in the act of distributing fruits and flowers. She, like
her husband, was peculiarly worshipped in Norway. By a former husband
she had a son—Uller, the god of hunters, whose residence was Ydale, or
the Dewy Valley.[58] The most wonderful of her peculiarities was her
_hair_, which was unrivalled for its beauty, and to which we have before
adverted.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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