NOTES TO THE TWENTY-NINTH CANTO.
Specimen of the metre in the original.
Ru Asaṯhor
Med Loke foer
Paa Gyldenkarm
Ti̱l Fieldets Sṯeen;
Og Loke sad
I Hierṯeṯ glad
Ved Gudens Harm,
Ti̱l Jeṯṯers Meen.
Saa reiste de frem medens Klippen skialv,
Med en gabende Klöfṯ Steenbierget sprak,
Og den Hnle saa sort kun aabned sig halv,
Og en Lue med Gni̱st gi̱ennem Mulmeṯ trak.
I have adopted for the translation of this Canto a metre, alternatively trochaic and anapestic.
[101] It was the custom, at the marriage ceremony of the ancient Scandinavians in the pagan time, for the betrothed to swear fidelity to each other, in touching the hammer of Thor. May not this account for the ceremony of marriage at Gretna-green being always performed by a blacksmith? The lowland Scots are of Scandinavian origin, and they have preserved many a custom and many a superstition of their ancestors.
[102] Respecting Hrugner and Mokkurcalf, please to consult the Alphabetical Catalogue.
The following explanation of the foregoing mythe is given by the Swedish poet Ling:
The loss of Thor’s hammer, and its remaining eight miles under ground in the hands of Thrymur the frost giant, denotes the impotence or inactivity of the electrical fluid during the eight months’ winter of the northern regions. The invitation of Thrymur to Freya typifies the struggle of nature at the approach of spring, to renew its vitality.
Stuhr’s opinion of this mythe is much the same as that of Ling. He thinks it to be a hymn in honour of spring, typified by Freya. Thor borrows Freya’s attire, i.e. in spring the electrical heat resumes its force. Thor travels with Loptur (the air) to Thrymur. They are furnished with a copious repast; i.e. at the approach of and by the influence of spring, the unfruitfulness of the earth ceases. When Asa-Lok speaks of the eight nights of longing passed by the pretended Freya, it means the progressive changes undergone by the polar atmosphere during the eight winter months, before the heat finally obtains the mastery. The immense appetite and quantity of mead drank by Thor denote the absorption of the earth’s vapours by the electrical fire of summer, and the death of Thrymur denotes the total disappearance of winter. It is scarcely necessary to remind the reader, that Miölner, the hammer of Thor, typifies, almost everywhere, thunder, or the electrical fire and its effects.
In the Greek poem of Nonnus, called the Dionysiacs, or Actions of Bacchus, we find a mythe having no doubt the same signification as that of the Thrymsqvida. Jupiter at the approach of winter loses his thunderbolts, which fall into the hands of the giant Typhon. He recovers them in spring, by means of a stratagem of Cadmus, and soon after makes use of them to discomfit and slay the giant Typhon.