The Gods of the North: an epic poem. Adam Oehlenschläger
TO THE TWELFTH CANTO.
NOTES TO THE THIRTEENTH CANTO.
NOTES TO THE FOURTEENTH CANTO.
NOTES TO THE SEVENTEENTH CANTO.
NOTES TO THE EIGHTEENTH CANTO.
NOTES TO THE NINETEENTH CANTO.
NOTES TO THE TWENTY-FIRST CANTO.
NOTES TO THE TWENTY-SECOND CANTO.
NOTES TO THE TWENTY-THIRD CANTO.
NOTES TO THE TWENTY-FOURTH CANTO.
NOTE TO THE TWENTY-FIFTH CANTO.
NOTE TO THE TWENTY-SIXTH CANTO.
NOTES TO THE TWENTY-SEVENTH CANTO.
NOTES TO THE TWENTY-EIGHTH CANTO.
NOTES TO THE TWENTY-NINTH CANTO.
EXTRACTS FROM THE VAFTRUDNISMAL (Discourse of Vaftrudner) .
EXTRACTS FROM THE VOLUSPA (Vala’s Prophecy) .
ETYMOLOGIES OMITTED IN THE CATALOGUE.
PREFACE
BY THE TRANSLATOR.
The argument of the poem by the author is the sole document that accompanies the original work; there are neither notes nor preface to the edition from which I have made my translation, and which is the only one I have ever seen. To the people of education in Scandinavia, who are well versed in the ancient mythology of their country, notes are perhaps not strictly necessary, inasmuch as this poem is based upon the Edda, which is universally read; but since, to the generality of English readers, the Edda and the Scandinavian mythology are but little, if at all familiar, I feel myself bound to furnish them with all the information on the subject that I have been able to collect from various sources; by which they will be enabled to read this poem with additional pleasure and profit.
The Scandinavian mythology, like that of all other nations, is founded on the personification and consequent adoration of the powers of nature, which may be expressed by the word “Demonism,” used in its Greek sense; to this may be added the deification of national heroes.
The first source of Demonism (I here borrow the words of Wieland in his admirable work called Agathodemon) lies in the ignorance of mankind, in the early stages of the world, of the real causes or laws by which the powers of nature act, on the one side; and on the other, in the innate propensity of man to reflect the image of the things which he can and does see, on the things which lie beyond the contact of his senses.
This induces us to personify the causes of the effects that we behold in nature; we assign to them our manner of thinking and acting, and we endow them with a form like our own, because we can conceive no higher model. Thus we give a supposed existence to an infinite number of divinities in heaven and earth, whose operations are seen and felt, though the agents themselves are unseen or unknown. Thus the earth, the sun, the moon, the stars, the sea, rivers, woods, mountains, etc., all have their peculiar divinities; and as these were considered as the cause of light or of darkness, of warmth or of cold, of fertility or of barrenness, of the eternal vicissitudes of the year, month or day, as well as of the destructive effects of storms, tempests, floods, volcanoes, earthquakes, etc., to the idea of their existence became conjoined the belief of their superhuman power. They were therefore recognised as the arbitrary rulers of nature, who had their separate principalities, circles, and districts in her empire; and as we ascribe to them our own passions, caprices, and necessities, we naturally endeavour to captivate their good will, or avert their anger, by prayers, sacrifices, presents, or penances.
On the principle of Demonism, therefore, did the earliest legislators establish the basis of their fabric of social order, civilization and religion; and it was by profiting by this innate inclination of mankind, that priests and mystagogues succeeded in consolidating their power and influence, which became necessarily augmented and enhanced by the right they arrogated to themselves of canonizing or deifying those heroes or princes, whom they were disposed to hold up as worthy of adoration, or as examples to be followed by the people.
History thus became blended with allegory and mythology; and this circumstance, combined with the total want of chronology, which seems to pervade the early records of all nations, renders it extremely difficult to give to any mythology a consistent form, proportionate in all its parts, and presenting an invariable doctrine or system of action.
Proceeding thus from a similar source, the Scandinavian polytheism has a remarkable coincidence with those of Greece, Italy, Egypt and India; and from its classification of the superior powers into good and evil genii, it bears a still more striking resemblance to the religion of the ancient Persians, the doctrine of the Magi, which admits the co-existence of, and the eternal struggle between, the two opposing principles of Good and Evil, under the types of Ormuzd and Ahrimanes.
It seems generally admitted that the Gothic mythology was introduced into the north-west of Europe by the Asar or Asiatic Goths, when, under the guidance of the historical Odin, they emigrated from the borders of the Black Sea and penetrated into Scandinavia, where they founded their empire; and had they at that time been acquainted with navigation, they would most assuredly not have stopped there, but would have invaded the British Islands, which would have afforded an easy conquest, and a more alluring resting-place, from the superior fertility of their soil, and far greater mildness of the climate.
The word Asa may be derived from Asia, or both may be derived from the word As or Az,[1] which in the Zend or ancient Persian dialect (the link between the Gothic and the Sanscrit) signifies “powerful, elevated;” and may have been applied to that part of Asia bordering on Europe by its own inhabitants, as a country, par excellence, occupied by a super-excellent people; on the same principle that the word “Svensk” (Swedish) is derived from “Sven” (man), and denotes a man,