Asgard and the Gods - The Tales and Traditions of Our Northern Ancestors Froming a Complete Manual of Norse Mythology

W. Wagner

Description

This antiquarian book comprises a manual of Norse mythology adapted from the work of Dr. W. Wägner, being a complete and popular English account of the religious beliefs and superstitious customs of the old Norsemen. The author designed this volume to be suitable and appealing to young readers, and as such it is written in clear, concise language and is wholly accessible. This fascinating text will appeal to those with an interest in learning about Norse mythology, and it makes for a most worthy addition to any personal collection. The chapters of this book include: 'Legends and Myths'; 'The Gods, Their Worlds and Deeds'; 'Opponents of the Gods'; 'King Glphi and the Ases'; 'Odin, Father of The Gods and the Ases'; 'The Wanes'; 'Valkyries Leading the Warriors on to Battle'; 'Ogir and his Followers'; 'Loki and His Race'; 'The Other Ases', et cetera. We are republishing this vintage work now complete with a specially commissioned new introduction.

Sujets

• Mythes et fables
• Folklore
• Mythology
• Juvenile Nonfiction
• Social Science

Informations

• Publié par: Read Books Ltd.
• Date de parution: 07 novembre 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 1
• EAN13: 9781447496380
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 5 Mo

Extrait

ASGARD AND THE GODS
THE TALES AND TRADITIONS OF OUR NORTHERN ANCESTORS
FORMING A COMPLETE MANUAL OF NORSE MYTHOLOGY
ADAPTED FROM THE WORK OF
DR. W. W GNER
BY
M. W. MACDOWALL
AND EDITED BY
W. S. W. ANSON
WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS
PREFACE.

A COMPLETE and popular English account of the religious beliefs and superstitious customs of the old Norsemen, suited to our younger readers, has hitherto been left unwritten. The editor feels sure that our elder children can easily be brought to take a beneficial interest in a subject of such great intrinsic worth to all of us, and has therefore brought out the accompanying book.
Our old ancestors were a hardy, conservative race, and tenaciously held by the treasured relics of their former beliefs and customs long after they had been shattered by the onset of Christianity. They retained their primitive Odinic belief as late as A.D . 800, and we therefore possess it in a very complete state, far more so than any other European system of mythology. We English have to this day inherited this conservative trait of their character, and are still continually in every-day life coming across new and unexpected remnants of our earliest beliefs. Paragraphs in the newspapers, containing reports of police trials, etc., very frequently bring forward new and as yet undiscovered superstitions, which clearly hark back to the once popular and all-extensive faith of the North.
Who would think, for instance, that in the time-old Mayday festivals, we should discover traces of the oldest celebrations of the triumph of the Summer Odin over the Winter Odin, or that through the baby rhymes and nursery sayings of to-day, we should be able to trace the common creed of a nation of thousands of years ago? To him unused to this kind of research, such things will appear impossible; but we think our book will considerably extend the sceptic s line of vision, if indeed it does not convert him to an ardent student in the field he has before made light of.
With regard to the translation of the passages quoted from the Old Norse, Icelandic, etc., the original metres, alliterative poems, etc., have been imitated as accurately as possible, though it must be confessed that in one or two places the effect appears somewhat weak and laboured, a result that might have been anticipated, and one which it is hoped the reader will overlook.
With reference to the orthography adopted: in most cases the proper names have been anglicized in form, according to established rules, as far as has been possible. Let us take a few instances:-
The Icelandic nominatival r has always been dropped, as in the words Ragnar k r , Thrym r , etc.
In the case of reduplicated letters, the last has been eliminated, unless an alteration in sound would have been thereby occasioned, e.g ., Jotun has been adopted instead of Jotun n , Gunl d instead of Gun n l d, etc.
W has been throughout used in place of V, since scholars have pretty generally decided that it more nearly represents the original pronunciation than the English V; thus we spell Walhalla, Wiking, Walkyries, etc.
Many words have -heim affixed to them: -heim means abode, dwelling, and is the same word as the English home; as instances, Nifelheim, the dark home; Jotunheim, the home of the Jotuns, giants, etc.
The suffix -gard appended to a word means place (English yard, ward, gard-en), and is found in such words as Asgard, the place of the Ases, the gods; Midgard, the middle place, the earth; Utgard, the out or lower place:
W. S. W. ANSON.
October 1 st , 1880.
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.

THE rapid exhaustion of the first edition of this work has called for its immediate reprint; and the book is therefore issued in its second edition with but very slight alterations.
We have to thank our kind reviewers for their favourable critiques of our work, and to hope that they will extend it to Dr. W gner s new volume, which we are about to bring out, forming a continuation of the present work, and dealing with the Epics and Romances of the Middle Ages, of the Teutonic and Carlovingian cycles. The two books together will, we believe, constitute a fairly complete treatise of the mythical and traditional lore of the Germanic race.
W. S. W. A.
April , 1882.
CONTENTS.

INTRODUCTION.
M YTHS and stories of the gods - The gods, their worlds and deeds - Odin, Wodan, Wuotan - Frigg, or Freya, and her handmaids - Thor or Thunar - Tyr, Tius or Zio - Heru, Cheru or Saxnot - Heimdal or Riger - Bragi and Iduna - The Wanes, Ni rder, Freyer, Freya - Fate, Norns, Hel, Walkyries - gir and his companions - Loki - The other gods - The Golden Age - Sin - Iduna s departure - Baldur s death - gir s banquet - Loki in chains - Ragnar k - Lay of the Norse gods and heroes
PART FIRST.
L EGENDS AND M YTHS .
Creation of the world- Day and Night -Two first human beings- Allfather - Yggdrasil, the World-Ash - The divine kingdom -Influence of Christianity-The Runic language
PART SECOND.
T HE G ODS , T HEIR W ORLDS AND D EEDS .
The Norns - Dwarfs and Elves - Giants - Worlds and heavenly palaces
PART THIRD.
O PPONENTS OF THE G ODS .
Loki and his kindred -The giants-Muspel and his sons-Surtur
PART FOURTH.
K ING G YLPHI AND THE A SES .
Gefion - Gylphi in Asgard
PART FIFTH.
O DIN , F ATHER OF THE G ODS AND OF THE A SES .
i. Wodan, according to the oldest conceptions - The myths of the Wild Hunt and of the Raging Host - The sleeping heroes - The higher conception of Wodan - Odin at Geir d s Palace - Odin, the discoverer of the Runes, and god of poetry and of wisdom - The draught of inspiration; Odin s visit to Gunl d; Journey to Wafthrudnir - Odin s descendants.
ii. Frigg and her maidens - Other goddesses related to Frigg.
iii. Holda, Ostara - Berchta -The White Lady.
iv. Thor, Thunar (Thunder) - Thor s deeds and journeys; Making of Mi lnir - Journey to Utgard - Duel with Hrungnir - Journey to Hymir - Journey to Thrymheim to get back Mi lnir - Journey to Geir d s-gard - The Harbard Lay.
v. Irmin.
vi. Tyr or Zio.
vii. Heru or Cheru, Saxnot.
viii. Heimdal, Riger.
ix. Bragi and Iduna -Giant Thiassi steals Iduna.
x. Uller
PART SIXTH.
T HE W ANES .
xi. Ni rder and Skadi.
xii. Freyer or Fro -The wonderful Quern Stones-Skirnir s Journey to Gerda-Young Swendal.
xiii. Freya, Frea or Frouwa -Freya and the young huntsman-Rerir and his love Helga-Swipdager returns to Menglada s Castle
PART SEVENTH.
Fate-Legend of Starkad-King Fridleif-The Norns-Hel- The Walkyries -Legend of King Kraki-Dises-Mandrake root
PART EIGHTH.
GIR AND H IS F OLLOWERS .
Legend of the Lake Maiden- Legend of the Loreley -The Water-Neck
PART NINTH.
L OKI AND H IS R ACE .
The giant Skrymsli and the peasant-Loki s progeny-Loki s race
PART TENTH.
T HE O THER A SES .
Widar - Hermodur the Swift - Wali or Ali, Skeaf -Legend of King Skeaf- Baldur and H dur - Forseti
PART ELEVENTH.
S IGNS OF THE A PPROACHING D ESTRUCTION OF THE W ORLD .
The Golden Age - Sin - Iduna s departure
PART TWELFTH.
B ALDUR S D EATH .
How Wala was conjured up -Loki visits Frigg in the dress of an old woman-Death of Baldur-Hermodur sent to the realm of the shades-Wali appears at Walhalla, and avenges Baldur
PART THIRTEENTH.
L OKI S C ONDEMNATION .
gir s banquet-Loki reviles the gods-Loki flees, is captured and put in chains-The faithful Sigyn
PART FOURTEENTH.
R AGNAR K, THE T WILIGHT OF THE G ODS .
The Fimbul-Winter-The Last Battle-Surtur flings his fire-brands over the nine worlds-Renewal of the World-Lif and Lifthrasir-The Field of Ida-The Lay of Wala
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

Frigga engaged in hunting
Ancient Hindu idea of the world
Statue after Prof. Engelhard
Day
Night
The Ash Yggdrasil
A Northern landscape
Elves
Rocks in the Riesengebirge
The sleeping giant
Surtur with his flaming sword
Gylphi beholding Asgard
Odin between two fires in Geir d s palace
Odin s visit to Gunl d
Frigg and her maidens
Hilde, one of the Walkyries
Holda, the kind protectress
Thor and Loki s journey in women s clothes
Skrymir attacked by Thor, when asleep
Chaining of the Fenris Wolf
Tyr, the Sword-God
Bragi and Heimdal receiving the warriors in Walhalla
Uller the Bowman
Ni rder and Skadi on their way to Noatun
Skirnir conjures Gerda to follow him
Walkyries conducting the fallen heroes to Walhalla
Walkyries leading the warriors on to battle
Fingal s Cave
gir and Ran
Freya among the Dwarfs
gir s banquet
Loki in chains
Ragnar k, the Last Battle
Freya in her chariot
INTRODUCTION.

JUST as in the olden time, Odin, the thoughtful god, gave his eye in pledge to the wise giant, Mimir, at Mimir s Well, for a draught of primeval wisdom, so men, longing for knowledge and loving the history of old Germany, sought for the great goddess Saga with untiring diligence, until at length they found her. She dwelt in a house of crystal beneath the cool flowing river. The eager enquirers went to her, and asked her to tell them about the olden times, and about the vanished races which had once ruled, suffered, fought and conquered, in the north of Europe. They found the goddess sunk in dreamy thought, while Odin s ravens fluttered around her, and whispered to her of the past and of the future. She rose from her throne, startled by the numerous questions addressed to her. She pointed to the scrolls which were lying scattered around her, as she said: Are ye come at last to seek intelligence of the wisdom and deeds of your ancestors? I have written on these scrolls all that the people of that distant land thought and believed, and that which they held to be eternal truth. I went with these mighty races to their new homes, and have faithfully chronicled their struggles and attainments, their deeds, sufferings and victories, their gods and their heroes. No one has inquired for these documents in the long years that are past; so the storms of time