The book of the sagas

289 Pages·1913·0.692 MB·English

by  Alice Spencer Hoffman, Gordon Browne

TTHHEE BBOOOOKK OOFF
TTHHEE SSAAGGAASS

by
Alice S. Hoffman

Illustrated by
Gordon Browne

London
1913
CONTENTS

Foreword ……………………………………………. 9
The Story of Odin and the Gods …………………….. 13
The Story of the Adventures of Thor ………………. 28
The Story of Baldur ………………………………..... 46
The Story of Frey and Gerda ……………………….. 56
The Story of the Goddess Iduna …………………….. 62
Of the Punishment That Fell On Loki ………………. 67
The Story of Harald Hairfair ………………………... 72
The Story of King Olaf Tryggvison ………………... 84
The Story of Harald the Hardredy ………………….. 140
The Song of the Mill ………………………………... 169
The Story of Volund …………………………………. 173
Stories of Iceland Folk ………………………………. 185
The Story of the Volsungs …………………………… 215
9

FOREWORD

Look at the map of Europe. In the north-west you will see the island
of Iceland. The great oceans are wide around it on every side; its northern
coast is just touching the Arctic circle. How far off and apart from all the
world it seems! How out of touch with the enterprise, the commerce, the
strife, with all the activities that make up our ideas of a living national life!
To most people the Iceland of to-day is little more than a name, and
the Iceland of the past is entirely unknown. Yet the little island in the far
north has a special claim upon all Northern peoples, for she has preserved a
Literature which is the record of a race whose blood runs in their own veins,
and which was written in the language that was in the days long past
common to all of them. In the course of years this one language developed
into many languages, through the influence of different conquering races in
the different lands; but the little island still kept the old language untouched
by foreign invaders, for the rigours of her climate and the wide seas around
her made her unattractive and dangerous, and thus protected her. And not
only was she able to preserve the old language, but also the character and
traditions of her people. And language, character, and traditions were
enshrined in a Literature which in beauty and in human interest is as rich as
any of the classic literatures of the world.
Let us see how this Literature arose. It was not until the end of the
ninth century that Iceland became the home of a settled population. Before
then it was probably uninhabited,
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except for some few holy men who came from Ireland seeking peace and
solitude in the lonely island, and for a few fishermen who came yearly from
Ireland and Scotland and dwelt, during the summer season, on its coasts
pursuing their industry.
But towards the end of the ninth century, many chiefs with their
families and all their followers came over from Norway and settled in the
land. Before this time Norway had been broken up into many small
kingdoms and these chiefs had been as kings, and had ruled their own little
kingdoms, but the mighty Harald Hairfair, himself a King over one of these
kingdoms, had fared through the length and breadth of the land warring
against all who opposed him, until he had made himself master and sole
King of the whole of Norway. And many of the chiefs bowed before him
and became his men, but many there were who went to death or exile rather
than bend the knee to the overbearing Harald.
Some of the chiefs who escaped, having heard from adventurous
seamen of an unpeopled island in the West, set sail for Iceland, and made it
their home. They did not mind the ice and snow, for they had been used to
these in their own land; and fair and smiling was the little island in the
summer season, pleasant with pasture lands, and rich in fish. And for more
than sixty years after the first families had settled there, there was a constant
stream of chieftains, noble men and yeomen, who fled from the tyranny of
Harald. And each chief took a part of the island, and ruled his own people,
just as he had done in his own land of Norway, and they prospered and
multiplied. Simple they were in their domestic life; well-ordered in their
public affairs; brave and adventurous when they fared forth a-warring as far
as the world was then known.
And in the new life and land they did not forget the old life and the
old country. In the long dark nights of winter
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they sat by their fires and, while the men made nets, and the women wove or
spun, one of the household would tell or sing the old stories of their gods
and kings and heroes. And the children listened, and learnt the stories by
heart, and when they were grown to manhood and womanhood, they told
and sang the same stories to their children. And so the past was kept alive.
And not only with regard to the past was this done, but the deeds of
each chieftain and each hero in each community were kept on record in the
same way, so that an almost complete history of the people and the land was
made.
And the years passed on and the stories and songs were at last written
down, most of them between the years 1140 and 1220. Some have been lost,
but many still remain, and it is from these that the stories in this book have
been taken.
In one group you will read of the ideas held by this ancient people
regarding the making of the world, the wonders of nature, and the mysteries
of life. In those early days they were not Christians, but worshipped many
gods, of whom Odin, the All-Father, was the chief.
Other stories deal with their chieftains, with the Kings of Norway, and
with their heroes, both actual and legendary. Perhaps the greatest of the
legendary-heroic stories is the Story of the Volsungs. The story of its hero,
Sigurd, is found in many forms in many Northern lands: in Germany it is the
subject of Richard Wagner’s great music drama of “Siegfried.”
The stories that are collected in this book are few in comparison with
the many that still exist, but it is hoped that they may arouse an interest in
this old and wonderful Literature, in the people who produced it, and in the
land which has preserved it.
13

THE BOOK OF THE SAGAS

_________________

THE STORY OF ODIN AND THE GODS AND OF THE
MAKING OF HEAVEN AND EARTH

Now Odin was the chief of all the gods worshipped by men. They
called him the All-Father, for he was the creator of Man, and the maker of
Heaven and Earth, the air and all things belonging thereto.
In the beginning there was neither sea nor land, nor air, neither was
there nor moon, nor stars. Nothing was there but a great gap or space. But as
the ages passed a region of fire was formed in the south, and this region was
called Muspell and was guarded by a mighty one named Surtur. And in the
north was formed a region of ice and frost. And the cold vapours and ice
drifted
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towards the fire region, and when they met the heat, they melted into drops.
And the drops took human form, and into the human form came the
breath of life. And this being was called Ymir, and he was a Frost Giant, and
from him descended the race of the Frost Giants.
And again the drops took form, and this time it was the form of a cow,
and the breath of life was breathed into the cow, and with her milk she fed
Ymir the Frost Giant. And the cow fed herself by licking the stones that
were covered with salt and hoar frost.
And when she had licked the stones for a whole day, there sprung
from them the hairs of a man, and at the end of the second day, the head of a
man, and at the end of the third day an entire man. Beautiful he was, quick in
movement, and full of grace and strength.
And he was called Bur, and he had a son, who was called Bor. And
Bor had three sons, and they were called Odin, Vili, and Ve. And Odin, Vili,
and Ve ruled the heavens and the earth when they were made, and Odin was
the mightiest of the three.
And it befell on a day that Odin, Vili, and Ve slew the giant Ymir, and
there ran from his wounds so much blood that all the giants were drowned
except one. And that one was a crafty giant, and he went aboard his skiff
with his wife, and so, were they saved. And they lived and from them
descended all the Frost Giants.
And Odin, Vili, and Ve dragged the dead body of Ymir into the centre
of the forest space, and of it
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they formed the earth. From Ymir’s flesh they made the land, from his blood
the seas and waters, from his bones the mountains, and from his teeth and
jaws and broken pieces of bones they made the stones and pebbles, and from
his hair the trees. And they called the earth Midgard.
And when the seas and the waters of the earth had been made, there
was still enough blood to make a vast ocean, which encircled the earth as a
ring, and which none could pass. And on the outer shore of this ocean was
the land of giants; therefore, on the inner shore did Odin, Vili, and Ve raise a
great bulwark to protect mankind from any wicked giants who might wish ill
to them. And this bulwark was constructed from Ymir’s eyebrows.
And from Ymir’s head did Odin, Vili, and Ve form the Heavens, and
placed it over the earth. And they set a dwarf at each quarter of the Heavens,
and the dwarfs were called, North, South, East, and West. And these dwarfs
caught the wandering red-hot sparks that were cast out from Muspell, the
region of fire, and set them in the Heavens to give light unto the earth. Thus
was the sun given his home, and the moon and stars their dwelling-place.
And days and nights and seasons now began.
In this wise did Day and Night come about. There was a giant who
had a daughter called Night. Dark-haired she was like all her race, black-
eyed and swarthy of complexion. And Night wedded Delling, who was of
the race of the gods. And Delling was fair like all the gods, and beauteous,
and radiant with light.
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And Delling and Night had a son, and he was called Day. And he was
glorious, and bright, and beautiful as the god, his father. And Odin, the All-
Father, took the child, Day, and Night, his mother. And he gave to them each
a horse and car, and set them up in the Heavens. And Odin bade them drive
round the world one after the other, and each in twelve hours’ time. Night
drives first, and every morn her horse bedews the earth with his foam. And
when Night has finished her task, Day enters his car, and the mane of his
horse sheds light over all the Earth and Heavens.
And Odin, Vili, and Ve cast Ymir’s brains into the air, and they
became the clouds. And the winds were caused in this wise. At the extreme
northern part of the Heavens there sits a giant in the shape of an eagle. And
the spreading of his wings for flight makes the winds that rush down upon
the earth.
And on a day Odin, and Vili, and Ve walked along the seashore, and
there they found two pieces of wood. And they took the one and fashioned it
into a man, and they took the other and fashioned it into a woman. And Odin
breathed into the man and the woman the breath of life. Viii gave to them
mind and the power of movement; Ve gave to them speech and fair features,
hearing and sight. And from this man and woman descended the whole
human race. And they dwelt within the Earth which is Midgard.
And Odin, and Vili, and Ve built a city for the gods in the middle of
the universe, where they dwelt with their kindred. And they called the city
Asgard. And they raised a lofty throne there. And Odin sat
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upon the throne and surveyed the whole world, seeing all the actions of men,
and understanding the motives of everything he saw.
And next the gods built a bridge between Heaven and Earth. And it
was called Bifröst, but men call it the rainbow. It was of three colours, and
its form and workmanship were of the greatest beauty.
And Odin appointed rulers to judge with him the fate of men. And the
gods erected a great hall in the middle of Asgard where they met in council.
And at one end was a high seat for Odin, and twelve lower seats for the
gods. And the inside and the outside of this great hall were of the finest gold,
and the roof was of pure silver. And they called it Glad Home. And the gods
sat on their thrones and governed the Heavens and the Earth.
But the most sacred meeting-place of the gods was under a great ash
tree which was called Yggdrasil. And this tree was the greatest and best of
all trees. Its branches spread all over the world, and reached above Heaven.
And it had three roots. And one of these roots spread to Asgard, and another
to the land of the Frost Giants, and the third to Niflheim, the land of Death.
And at the root that was in the land of the Frost Giants there was a
well called Mimir’s Well, for it belonged to a giant called Mimir. And
whoever drank of the water of that well was filled with wisdom. And Mimir
was all-wise for he drank of its water every morning. And once Odin the
All-Father came to the well and begged from Mimir a draught of the water.