LOVELORNNESS
AFTER THE MANNER OF THE EDDA
Baldur was once obliged to go away out of Asgard and leave Nanna all alone. So Nanna was very sad. She knew that no one would hurt her Baldur, but still it was to her as though he had been swallowed up by the mists of Niflheim, and as though she would never see him again. So she went to the Norns who dwell by the tree Ygdrasil, and she said:—
Nanna: “Tell me, oh Norns, who know all things. What can the body do, when the soul has left it?”
Norn: “The body when the soul has left it can do nothing; it is lifeless and inert, and turns to dust.”
Nanna: “Tell me, oh Norns, who know all things. What can the thoughts do, when the master-brain has left them?”
Norn: “The thoughts fly hither and thither when the master-brain has left them. They seek their director, and finding him not, fall fluttering to the ground lifeless and useless, or lose their way along paths that have no ending.”
Nanna: “Tell me, oh Norns, who know all things. What can the eyes do, and the ears, when the lord they love to see, and the voice they love to hear, have gone from them?”
Norn: “The eyes grow dim with watching and longing, and the ears deaf with hearkening and listening—nought else can they do.”
Nanna: “Tell me, oh Norns, who know all things. What can the limbs do, when the support they twine round has been removed?”
Norn: “The limbs fall powerless to the earth when their support has gone; they cannot raise themselves nor stir themselves; they await a wakening voice, which shall bid them live once more.”
Nanna: “Tell me, oh Norns, who know all things. What can the heart do, when the body is lifeless, the thoughts scattered, the eyes and ears worn, the limbs powerless?”
Norn: “The heart is no longer in the body. It went away with the soul, with the master-brain, with the lord the eyes loved to see and the ears to hear, with the support the limbs clung to. And not till that great awakening lord brings back the heart, will the body become quickened, the thoughts reach their mark, the eyes and the ears revive, the limbs stir and raise themselves once more.”
So Nanna went back to Asgard, and shut herself up forlornly in her golden palace till such time as Baldur should bring back her heart.
AN ESTHONIAN FOLK-TALE:
KOIT AND ÄMARIK
Dost thou know the lamp that shines in the All-Father’s halls? Just now it is resting; it has gone out. But its reflection still glows through the heavens; and already do the rays of its light turn round towards the East, whence, in its full might, it will ere long salute the whole of Creation.
Dost thou know the hand that receives the sun and leads it to its rest when it has run its course? Or the hand that rekindles it when it has gone out, and sends it forth again on its road through the heavens?
The All-Father had two true servants, whom he endowed with eternal youth. And when the lamp had finished its course the first evening, he said to Ämarik:—
“To thy guard, my daughter, do I commit the sinking sun. Quench it, and have a care with the fire, that no hurt come to pass.”
And again, when the time for morning came, he said to Koit:—
“My son, it shall be thy concern to light the lamp and make it ready for a new journey.”
Both did their duty faithfully, and on no one day was the lamp wanting from the vault of heaven. And when in winter it wanders along the edge of the sky, then it goes out earlier in the afternoon and sets forth later in the morning. And when in spring it awakens flowers and the songs of birds, and when in summer it ripens the fruit with the heat of its beams, then it has but a short time to rest; Ämarik gives it up at once when it is quenched into the hands of Koit, who breathes a new life into it.
The fair time was now come when the flowers open their perfumed cups, and birds and men fill with songs the hollow of Ilmarinen’s tent.[17] Then Koit and Ämarik looked each other too deeply in the eyes, dark as whortle-berries; and when the sun, as it went out, passed from her hand to his, then hand pressed hand, and the lips of the one stirred the lips of the other.
But an eye which ever wakes had marked what was happening in the secrecy of the midnight stillness; and on the morrow the Ancient of Days called them both before him and said:—
“I am fully content with the way in which you fulfil your duties, and I wish you to be completely happy. Marry, then; and wait on your task together as man and wife.”
And as with one voice they answered:—“Father, disturb not our gladness. Let us remain ever betrothed groom and bride; for we have found our happiness in this state where loves are ever young and new.” And the Ancient of Days granted their request and blessed their resolution.
Once only in the year, during four weeks, do the two meet at midnight. And when Ämarik puts the sun that has gone out into the hand of her lover, there follow a pressure of the hand and a kiss; and Ämarik’s cheeks grow red and their rosy hue is reflected through the heavens, until Koit lights the lamp again and the golden sheen in the sky announces the upgoing sun. For that joyous meeting the All-Father adorns his fields with the most lovely flowers; and nightingales cry jestingly to Ämarik as she lingers on Koit’s breast:—“Careless girl, careless girl. The night is long.”
Translated from the Fosterländskt Album.
TWO TRANSLATIONS FROM THE ITALIAN OF ADA NEGRI
(From “Tempeste,” by kind permission of Messrs. Fratelli Treves).
These translations, although they have not received final revision, are included because of the striking character of the originals.