In the Edda all the gods together form a regularly organised community. Their home is called Ásgarðr, and they hold their meetings beside the 'world-tree,' Yggdrasill's Ash. It is to be observed that Ásgarðr is a totally different conception from Valhalla[590]; it is not an abode of the slain. Indeed in this connection Othin himself does not appear to be represented as a god of the dead. But apart from Ásgarðr each god has a special abode of his own—Thor at Thrúðheimr, Ullr at Ýdalir, Niörðr at Noatún, Balder at Breiðablik, etc. All these localities are mythical—or at all events incapable of identification. It is a striking characteristic of Northern mythology that the gods are not associated with any known localities. Practically the only exceptions are Frey and Gefion, who are connected by tradition with Upsala and Sjælland respectively; and neither of these connections is preserved in the poems of the Edda. In order to understand this feature we must of course bear in mind the fact that our mythological records are almost entirely derived from Iceland, which lies far away from the old national sanctuaries.
It is probably due to the same cause that we hear but little of special cults. In Iceland the only noteworthy exception is that, beside the more usually prevailing cult of Thor, we find a number of persons who are devoted to the service of Frey. Certain chiefs bear the title Freysgoði ('priest of Frey'); in one case a whole family bore the surname Freysgyðlingar. Temples apparently sometimes contained the figures of a number of gods, though Thor's or Frey's is usually the only one mentioned by name. In Norway however the case is somewhat different. We hear frequently of temples and statues of Thor, occasionally also of those of Frey. But in addition to these there are notices of sanctuaries belonging to other deities—though not to Othin. In Friðþiófs Saga, cap. 1 (and passim), mention is made of a temple and image of Balder in the district of Sogn. It is the fashion to treat this incident as a product of antiquarian speculation; but there is little in the story itself to justify such a view, and the fact that the worship of Balder is not found elsewhere proves nothing. More important however is the fact that in a number of records we hear of statues and temples of Thórgerðr Hölgabrúðr, with whom her sister Irpa is sometimes associated. There can be no doubt that under the rule of Earl Haakon of Lade the cult of Thórgerðr was more prominent than that of any other deity, at least in the district of Trondhjem. This fact is the more remarkable because Thórgerðr and Irpa are never associated in any way with the rest of the gods; in the poems of the Edda and even in Gylfaginning their existence is ignored.
A very interesting illustration of the practice of special cults occurs in Niáls Saga, cap. 88, which describes a temple owned in common by Earl Haakon and Guðbrandr, a powerful hersir (hereditary local chief) in the highlands. This temple contained figures of Thórgerðr and Irpa and also of Thor in his car[591]. We know from other sources that the cult of Thor was hereditary in the family of Guðbrandr. Indeed it appears to be generally true that families adhered to the same cult from generation to generation[592], though in one case we do hear of an Icelander bearing the title Freysgoði, who belonged to a family distinguished for its service to Thor.
The relations between the worshipper and his deity were of a personal and intimate character; he regarded the latter as friend, counsellor and protector. Where the two are of different sexes the relationship is apt to take a conjugal form. Thus in the Flateyiarbók, I p. 107 f., Olafr Tryggvason, after robbing one of Earl Haakon's temples, and carrying off the image, calls out in derision: "Who wants to buy a wife? I think Thórkell and I are now responsible for this woman, since she has had the misfortune to lose her husband who was exceedingly dear to her." One of the bystanders then addresses the image: "How is it, Thórgerðr, that thou art now so humiliated and stripped in unseemly wise of the splendid apparel wherewith Earl Haakon had thee clothed when he loved thee?" So in the poem Hyndlulióð Freyia speaks of her devoted worshipper, Óttarr the son of Innsteinn, as her husband. We may compare with this the fact that in the Flateyiarbók, I 337 f., the priestess in charge of Frey's temple in Sweden is said to have been called his wife. I see no reason therefore for supposing that Snorri was giving rein to his imagination when he stated (Yngl. Saga, cap. 5) that Gefion was the wife of Skiöldr who, though a mythical character (cf. p. [131] f.), was not a god.
Sometimes again we meet with a definitely hostile attitude towards a deity—generally Othin—and it must not be supposed that such ideas first arose after the introduction of Christianity. In Saxo's translation of the lost Biarkamál the hero suspects that Othin is among the enemy and expresses his eagerness to attack him. If once he can catch sight of him, he says, the god will not escape from Leire unharmed[593]. Such ideas can only be explained by a vivid anthropomorphic conception of the deities.
The same attitude appears elsewhere. In Gautreks Saga, cap. 7—a story which contains many archaic features—we find the destiny of a man being determined by Othin and Thor, the former of whom is friendly to him, the latter hostile. In the introduction to Grímnismál as the result of a disagreement with Othin Frigg plays a trick upon him which leads him into serious trouble. Nor is the married life of Niörðr and Skaði as happy as might be wished. But the chief cause of discord among the gods is the malicious Loki. In the poem Lokasenna he charges most of the chief goddesses with unfaithfulness or unchastity, while at the same time he reproaches the gods with unseemly conduct or with being involved in humiliating positions. The picture of the divine community which the poem presents to us is anything but pleasant. No doubt Loki is representing every circumstance in the most unfavourable light possible; but there appears to be a definite mythical foundation for most of his charges.
Loki serves as a connecting link between the gods and the iötnar ('giants'), a class of beings who are represented as generally hostile to both gods and men. Yet there are exceptions to this rule; and some of the gods, e.g. Niörðr and Frey, have wives from the iötnar. Next to them we must mention the dwarfs, who are distinguished for their cunning and skill in metallurgy. Neither of these classes however can properly be regarded as objects of worship. Elves were certainly worshipped, but only collectively, as far as we know. In early records they are scarcely ever spoken of as individuals. Most probably their origin is to be sought in animistic conceptions, connected with the cult of the dead. On this last subject enough has been said above; we need only add that the formal deification of dead men was not unknown[594]. Sacred trees and groves also figure as prominently as in other parts of Europe.
Thus far we have been dealing with the religion of the Viking Age, primarily as we know of it in Iceland and Norway. But we have seen that the actual records of religion in Iceland agree in no way with the theology of the Edda. Nor can it truly be said that the evidence for Norway shows a better case. Here too we find the worship of Thor and Frey. But for the worship of Othin, Niörðr, Freyia and Balder the evidence is slight and generally doubtful. For that of the rest of the gods there is no evidence at all. On the other hand we find that the deity who after Thor figures most prominently of all in these records is one who is entirely unknown to the theology of the Edda. The only conclusion which it seems to me legitimate to draw from these facts is that the mythology of the Edda is not a true reflection of Norwegian religion, at all events as it existed in the Viking Age.