The Gods of the North: an epic poem. Adam Oehlenschläger
as Gladheim.
GLITNER, name of the palace of Forsete, the god of justice. The word means equalisation. It represents the station of the sun between August 23 and September 23, beginning of the autumnal equinox, corresponding with the sign of the zodiac Libra (the balance).
GNA, an Asynia, messenger and confidante of Frigga. When she executes the commissions of her mistress, she rides on the steed Hofvarpur.
GNYPA, name of a cavern in Niffelheim. Etym.: Icelandic word gnypr (steep).
GUDBRAND, or Guldbrand, name of a fertile valley in the province of Aggerhuys, in Norway.
GULDVEIGE, a female divinity, personifying riches. Etym.: guld (gold), veige (weigh).
GUNLIOD, name of the daughter of Suttung, to whose care her father confided the vase containing the precious beverage called Suttung’s mead. Seduced by Odin, she surrenders to him the vase.
GYLLFE, name of a king of Jotun race, who reigned over a part of Sweden at the time of the invasion of the historical Odin.
GYLLINBORSTE (golden-bristled), name of the mythological golden boar, fabricated by the dwarfs at the instance of Asa-Lok, and presented to Frey to serve him as a steed, mounted on which he travels round the world. According to Finn Magnussen, it is a type of the sun.
GYMER, name of a Jotun or giant, the father of Gerda. Etym.: gima (transmitting light).
HÆNIR, name of an Asa, the god of intellect; he accompanies Odin on his travels. By some he is considered as identic with Vil, the second person of the Scandinavian mythological triad.
HÆRFADER (father of the fight), one of the many names given to Odin.
HAGBARTH, name of a Norwegian prince, celebrated for his valour and his attachment to Signe, a Danish princess. Having had the misfortune to kill Signe’s brother in single combat, he falls into the hands of the mother, who, to revenge her son’s death, causes Hagbarth to be hanged. Signe, in despair at the loss of her lover, destroys herself. The unfortunate love of Hagbarth and Signe has been the theme of many a northern ballad, and Œhlenschläger himself has made it the subject of a most interesting and pathetic tragedy.
HARBARD, in this poem, is the name of a ferryman of Jotun race, who refuses to ferry Skirnir across a river until he has answered his questions and displayed his knowledge.
HEIDRUNA, name of the mythological goat who stands on the roof of Valaskialf, and whose teats afford a constant supply of hydromel to the guests at Valhalla.
HEIMDAL, or Heimdaller, name of an Asa who stands as sentinel at the bridge of Bifrost, to give notice of the approach of strangers by blowing his horn Giallar. He is constantly on the alert to prevent surprise on the part of the giants. Of him it is said, that he was born of nine mothers; that he had a tooth of gold; that he could do without sleep; see at a distance of a hundred miles, as well by night as by day; hear wool grow on the backs of sheep, and grasses shoot. By his doing without sleep may be meant the absence of night from the northern polar regions during the summer months. At Ragnarok, he will blow his horn with all his force, to excite the gods to combat. Etym.: Heim (abode), and dallr (horn).
HEIMKRINGLAS, name given to the universe in the Scandinavian mythology. Etym.: Heim (abode), kring (round about), and lâs (clasp).
HELA, or HEL, name of the queen of death and of the shades below, daughter of Asa-Lok and of the giantess Angurbod. She is frightful and appalling to behold: her body is of white or natural colour below the girdle, but all above is blue or livid, from congealed blood. The gods, terrified at her sight, exiled her from Asagard, and cast her down into Niffelheim, to rule over the dead. There, in her castle Helheim, she receives the ghosts of the worthless and cowardly, and of those who die of old age or sickness, who omit to cut runes to Odin. Of Hela it is said in the prosaic Edda, that her abode is anguish; her table, famine; her attendants, delay and fruitless expectation; her threshold, precipice; her bed, lingering sickness; her bed-curtains, heart-rending care.
HELHEIM (abode of Hela), name of a strong castle situate in Niffelheim, in the midst of eternal damp, ice, snow and darkness. Herein Hela receives and detains her dead guests.
HERMOD, an Asa, the messenger of Odin; from his name and attributes he bears a strong resemblance to the Mercury of the Greeks, Hermes.
HERTHA (the Earth), a purely allegorical divinity, and sometimes used as a synonyme for Frigga. In the pagan time her image was bathed once a year by female slaves, captives of war, who were afterwards drowned by the priests in her honour, that they might not reveal to profane ears the description of the charms and mysteries they had seen and witnessed.
HILDUR, name of a heroine in the northern legends, afterwards deified and enrolled among the Valkyrior. The story of Hildur, as related by Samsoes, is as follows: Her lover Hedin and her father Hogni slew one another in single combat. One night, in the violence of her grief, she by her magic spells evoked the ghost of Hedin; but her spells were so powerful, that the ghost of her father Hogni also arose. The two ghosts commence fighting, and every night they renew the combat, which is destined to last until Ragnarok. Hildur is present and applauds their courage. From this circumstance, War is called by the Skalds Hildur’s game.
HLESEY, an Island in the Cattegat, supposed to be the peculiar residence of Ægir, the god of the sea. Hlesey is now called Lessoe. The word oe in Danish and ö in Swedish means Island.
HLIDSKIALF, name of an immense high tower in Odin’s palace Valaskialf, from the top of which he can see all that passes in the world below.
HLORRIDA, a name given to Thor, when he drives his car through the air, causing thunder. Etym.: Hliod (sound), and rida (to ride).
HLYN, name of an Asynia, sent by Frigga to warn mankind of sudden danger during darkness; from its etymology it evidently typifies the flash of lightning that occurs at intervals during a very dark night. The Danish word lyn signifies “lightning.”
HNOS, name of a beautiful female child, the daughter of Freya. Etym.: hnoss, an Icelandic word meaning a precious thing.
HOEDUR or HOEDER, an Asa, twin brother of Balder; he was born blind. How he slew his brother Balder with a lance made of a branch of mistletoe has been already related. Hôdur is the type of night and darkness, as Balder is that of light and day.
HOFVARPUR, name of the steed mounted by Gna the messenger of Frigga.
HRIMFAX, name of the steed which draws the chariot of Night. It means “frost bringer;” this steed is sometimes mounted by Skada.
HRIMTHUSSER, mythologically, the name of a race of giants; the word means “frost-demon”; and from the word thuss, demon or evil spirit, comes probably the English word deuce. Historically, they were probably the name of some Tartar tribe at war with the Asar, and who harassed them exceedingly on their march. From being good archers, and shutting one eye when they took aim, they obtained the reputation of being one-eyed.
HRINGHORN, name of the bark or vessel of Balder, on board of which his body was placed, and burnt after his death. It derives its name from the circumstance of its prow being decorated with rings of horn. Among the Skalds a ship was often compared to an animal, and its masts to the horns of an animal. These masts were made fast with iron rings round their circumference, and this I take to be the surest origin of the etymology of the name Hringhorn or Ringhorn.
HROSVELGER,