Authors: Snorri Sturluson
The Prose Edda (5 page)
PROLOGUE
1. IN THE BEGINNING
In the beginning, almighty God created heaven and earth and all that pertains to them. Lastly he created two people, Adam and Eve, and from them came clans, whose descendants multiplied and spread across the whole world. But as time passed, people became dissimilar from one another. Some were good and held to the right beliefs, but the large majority turned to the desires of this world and neglected God's commandments. For this reason God drowned the world and all its living things in a flood, except for those who were on the ark with Noah. After Noah's flood, eight people remained alive, and they inhabited the world and from them are descended the families of man.
Again, as before, when their numbers had grown and they had settled throughout the world, the majority of mankind loved worldly desires and ambition. They abandoned their obedience to God, going so far that they no longer desired to name God. Who then was able to tell their sons about God's wondrous deeds? Thus they lost God's name, and nobody could be found anywhere in the world who knew his maker. Nevertheless, God granted men the earthly gifts of wealth and happiness to enable them to enjoy the world. He also gave them the wisdom to understand all earthly things and all the separate parts that could be seen of the sky and the earth.
People thought about these things, wondering what it could mean that the earth and animals and birds were in some ways similar, even though their natures were not alike. One of the
earth's features is that, when the high mountains are dug into, water springs up, and even in deep valleys it is not necessary to dig down any further for water. The same is true in animals and birds, whose blood is equally close to the surface on the head and feet. A second characteristic of the earth is that grass and flowers bloom every year, but in the same year everything withers and drops off. So it is with the animals and the birds: hair and feathers grow on them, but each year these fall away. The third characteristic of the earth is that when it is opened or dug into, grass grows over the soil that is closest to the surface. People think of rocks and stones as comparable to the teeth and bones of living creatures. Thus they understand that the earth is alive and has a life of its own. They also know that, in terms of years, the earth is wondrously old and powerful in its own nature. It gives birth to all living things and claims ownership over all that dies. For this reason, they gave it a name and traced their origins to it.
From their ancestors, people also learned that the earth, the sun and the heavenly bodies remain constant after many hundreds of years have been reckoned. But the paths of the heavenly bodies change unequally, some have longer courses whereas others shorter. From such observations, people supposed that perhaps a controlling being was guiding the heavenly bodies, deciding their paths according to his wishes, and that this being would be very powerful and mighty. They surmised that, if he ruled over the main elements of nature, he existed before the heavenly bodies. They also perceived that, if he ruled the movement of the heavenly bodies, he governed the sun's shining, the moisture from the air, and also the resulting fruits of the earth and the winds in the sky that raised storms at sea.
People did not know where his kingdom was. Because of this, they believed that he ruled over all things on earth and in the sky, in the heavens and the heavenly bodies, and in the sea and the weather. In order to recount these beliefs and to fix them in memory, they gave their own names to all things, and the nature of their beliefs changed in many ways as different nations were established and languages branched out. People understood all matters in an earthly way because they had been
granted no spiritual wisdom. Therefore they reckoned that all things were fashioned from material substances.
The world was divided into three parts. From the south towards the west up to the Mediterranean Sea is the part called Africa. Its southern region is hot and scorched by the sun. The second part begins in the west and continues northward towards the sea; it is called Europe or Enea. Its northern regions are so cold that no grass grows and no one can subsist there. Starting in the north and continuing across the eastern continent all the way to the south is the region called Asia.
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Everything in that part of the world is beautiful and stately, and the earth produces gold and gemstones. The middle of the world is also there. Just as the earth in that region is more beautiful and better in all ways than other places, so too the people there are most endowed with all blessings: wisdom and strength, beauty, and every kind of skill.
Near the middle of the world, a building and a living hall were constructed, which became the most renowned that have ever been. The place was named Troy and is found in the region we call Turkey. It was built much larger than others and in many ways with greater skill; neither cost nor the resources of the country were spared. There were twelve kingdoms with one high king, and to each kingdom belonged many groups who paid tribute. In the city there were twelve main chieftains. These rulers were superior in all human attributes to the other people who had preceded them in the world.
One of the kings was named Munon or Mennon. He was married to Troan, the daughter of Priam, the chief king. They had a son who was named Tror, the one we call Thor. He was brought up in Thracia by a duke named Loricus, and when he
was ten years old he received his father's weapons. So great was his beauty that, when he was among other people, he stood out as elephant ivory does when inlaid in oak. His hair was more beautiful than gold. By the time he was twelve years old, he had acquired his full strength. Then he was able to lift from the ground ten bearskins, all in a pile. Next he killed his foster-father Loricus and his wife Lora, or Glora, and took possession of the realm of Thracia. We call that place Thrudheim. Afterwards he travelled widely through many lands, exploring all parts of the world, and on his own he overcame all manner of berserkers
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and giants, as well as one of the greatest dragons and many beasts.
In the northern part of the world he came across the prophetess called Sibyl, whom we call Sif, and he married her. No one knows Sif's ancestors. She was the loveliest of women, with hair like gold. Their son, named Loridi, was much like his father. Loridi's son was Einridi, his son Vingethor, his son Vingenir, his son Moda, his son Magi, his son Seskef, his son Bedvig, his son Athra, whom we call Annar, his son Itrmann, his son Heremod, his son Skjaldun, whom we call Skjold, his son Biaf, whom we call Bjar, his son Jat, his son Gudolf, his son Finn, and his son Friallaf, whom we call Fridleif. He had a son named Voden, the one we call Odin, an excellent man because of his wisdom and because he had every kind of accomplishment. His wife, named Frigida, we call Frigg.
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Odin had the gift of prophecy, as his wife also did, and through this learning he became aware that his name would become renowned in the northern part of the world and honoured more than other kings. For this reason he was eager to set off from Turkey, and he took with him on his journey a large following of people, young and old, men and women. So, too, they took with them many precious things. Wherever they went on their travels, tales of their splendour were told, making them seem more like gods than men. They journeyed without stopping
until they had reached the north, where they entered the region now called Saxland. There Odin settled down for a long time, taking possession of much of the land.
Odin had three of his sons guard the country. One of them, Veggdegg, was a powerful king who ruled over East Saxland. His son was Vitrgils, whose sons were Vitta, the father of Heingest, and Sigar, the father of Svebdegg, whom we call Svipdag. Odin's second son, named Beldegg, we call Baldr; he held the land that is now called Westphalia. His son was Brand, and his son was Frjodigar, whom we call Frodi; his son was Freovin, his son was Wigg, whose son Gevis we call Gavir. Odin's third son was named Siggi, whose son was Rerir. The men of this family ruled in what is now called France, and from them come the family called the Volsungs.
From all of them, numerous and great families descend.
Then Odin set out, travelling north, and arrived in the country called Reidgotaland. He took possession of all that he wanted in that land and made his son Skjold ruler. Skjold's son was named Fridleif and from him are descended the kindred known as the Skjoldungs, the family of the kings of Denmark. What is now called Jutland was then called Reidgotaland.
He then went northward to what is now called Sweden, where a king named Gylfi lived. When the king learned of the journey of these Asians, who were called Ãsir, he went to meet them, offering to grant Odin as much authority in his kingdom as he wanted. Wherever they stayed in these lands a time of peace and prosperity accompanied their journey, so that all believed the newcomers were the cause. This was because the local inhabitants saw that they were unlike any others they had known in beauty and intelligence. Recognizing the land's rich possibilities, Odin chose a place for a town, the one that is now called Sigtun.
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He appointed leaders and, in accordance with
the customs of Troy, he selected twelve men to administer the law of the land. In this way he organized the laws as they had been in Troy, in the manner to which the Turks were accustomed.
Then he went north, continuing until he reached the ocean, which people believed surrounded all lands. There, in what is now called Norway, he placed his son in power. This son was named Saeming, and Norway's kings, as well as its jarls and other important men of the kingdom, trace their descent to him, as it is told in
Haleygjatal
.
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Odin also had with him his son named Yngvi, who after him became a king in Sweden, and from whom those kinsmen called the Ynglings are descended.
The Ãsir and some of their sons married women from the lands where they settled, and their families increased. They spread throughout Saxland and from there throughout all the northern regions so that their language â that of the men of Asia â became the native tongue in all these lands. People think, because the names of their ancestors are recorded in genealogies, they can show that these names were part of the language that the Ãsir brought here to the northern world â to Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Saxland. In England, however, some names of ancient regions and places lead one to believe that the names originally came from another language.
1. KING GYLFI AND THE WOMAN GEFJUN
King Gylfi ruled over the lands now called Sweden. It is said that he offered a travelling woman, in return for the pleasure of her company, a piece of ploughland in his kingdom as large as four oxen could plough in a day and a night. But this woman, named Gefjun, was of the Ãsir. She took four oxen from Jotunheim [Giant Land] in the north. They were her own sons by a giant, and she yoked them to the plough, which dug so hard and so deep that it cut the land loose. The oxen dragged this land westward out to sea, stopping finally at a certain channel. There Gefjun fastened the land and gave it the name Sjaelland.
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The place where the land was removed has since become a body of water in Sweden now called Logrinn [the Lake],
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and in this lake there are as many inlets as there are headlands in Sjaelland. So says the poet Bragi the Old:
Gefjun dragged from Gylfi
gladly the land beyond value,
Denmark's increase,
steam rising from the swift-footed bulls.
The oxen bore eight
moons of the forehead and four heads,
hauling as they went in front of
the grassy isle's wide fissure.
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King Gylfi was a wise man skilled in magic. He was amazed that the Ãsir knew so much that everything went according to their wishes. He wondered whether this was because of their own nature or whether it came from the divine power of the gods they worshipped. He set out on a secret trip to Asgard and changed into the likeness of an old man to disguise himself. But the Ãsir, because they had the gift of prophecy, were the wiser in such matters. Before his arrival they foresaw his coming and, in preparation for him, they conjured up visual illusions.
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When he entered the fortress, he saw a hall. It was so high that he could scarcely see over it, and golden shields covered its roof like shingles. As Thjodolf of Hvin
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says, Valhalla [Hall of the Slain] was roofed with shields:
On their backs they let shine
hall shingles of Svafnir [Odin],
when bombarded with stones,
those resourceful men.
Gylfi saw a man in the doorway of the hall. He was juggling short swords and had seven in the air at once. The man spoke first, asking the visitor's name. Gylfi named himself Gangleri, saying that he had travelled over trackless paths. He asked for a night's lodging and inquired who owned the hall. The man answered that it belonged to their king.