Norse mythology; or, The religion of our forefathers, containing all the myths of the Eddas, systematized and interpretedAnderson, Rasmus Björn
Religion
Norse mythology; or, The religion of our forefathers, containing all the myths of the Eddas, systematized and interpreted
Anderson, Rasmus Björn
Mythology, Norse; Northmen -- Religion; Old Norse literature; Tales, Medieval
Thou shalt not
Pass through
My stone-supported
Dwelling-place.
The weapons of the giants, as the following myths will show, were stones
and rocks; they had clubs and shields of stone. Hrungner’s weapons were
flint-stones. The giants also have domesticated animals. The giant Thrym
sat on a mound plaiting gold bands for his greyhounds and smoothing the
manes of his horses. He had gold-horned cows and all-black oxen. They
possess abundance of wealth and treasures.
The giant is old, strong and powerful, very knowing and wise, but also
severe, proud and boasting. The giantess is violent, passionate and
impertinent. In their lazy rest the giants are good-natured; they may be
as happy as children; but they must not be teased.
The giants representing the wild, disturbing, chaotic forces in nature,
the beneficent gods can subdue or control them in two ways: The one is
to kill them and use their remains for promoting the fruitfulness of the
earth, the other is to unite with them, in other words, to marry them.
This forms the subject of a large number of myths, which, when we have
formed a correct general conception of the giants, need no further
explanation. Odin kills Sokmimer, the destructive maelstrom of the
ocean. Thor crushes Hrungner, the barren mountain. Odin marries Gunlad,
Njord marries Skade, Frey marries Gerd, etc.
When the Odinic mythology was superseded by the Christian religion it
left a numerous offspring of elves, trolls (dwarfs), nisses, necks,
mermaids, princes, princesses, etc., all of which still live in the
memory and traditions of Scandinavia. They may be said to belong to the
fairy mythology of these countries. We give a brief sketch of these
objects of popular belief, chiefly from the excellent work of Thomas
Keightley. A general knowledge of them is necessary in order to
appreciate the rich folk-lore literature of Norseland.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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