NOTES TO THE EIGHTH CANTO.
Specimen of the original.
Gud Thor, den Understaerke,
Var ti̱t i̱ Hu saa gram;
Han lod sig i̱ntet maerke,
Dog tyktes det ham Skam,
At Jetter ham turde giaekke, etc.
By way of variety, I have adopted a trochaic metre for my translation of this Canto.
[39] The serpent Jormundgard, type of humidity and its dangerous effects; it is a happy idea of the poet to imagine all the serpent kind engendered by him.
In every mythology the serpent seems to be the emblem of humidity and its noxious qualities. The fable of Jormundgard has evidently given rise to the supposed existence of the kraken, or monstrous sea-serpent.
[40] According to the Scandinavian belief, the half of those who fell in battle fell to the share of Odin, and the other half to Freya. Finn Magnussen thinks this to be a mistake, and that by Freya is meant Frigga, the wife of Odin. The allegory then becomes more clear: Odin typifies the heavens, Frigga the earth; the spirits of the slain ascend to Odin, their bodies remain with Frigga.
Another very ingenious allegory lies in the nature of the nourishment used by Odin at the banquet of Valhalla. In the younger or prosaic Edda it is written, “The food that comes to his (Odin’s) share, he gives to his two wolves, Gere and Freke. He himself requires no solid food, for wine is to him both meat and drink.” In the elder or poetic Edda it is thus written in the chapter called Grimnismal:
“The warlike highly honoured
Father of heroes gives his food
To Gere and to Freke;
For by wine alone
Is the glorious Odin nourish’d.”
By this is meant, that in battle the spirits of the slain mount to heaven (Odin), while their bodies remain a prey to wolves, and other beasts of prey. Spirits are typified by wine, the most spirituous of all fermented liquors.
The above quotations from the two Eddas afford, perhaps, the best illustration of the difference of their respective styles.