XII.[°] Three hundred. I have used round figures here as elsewhere. Strictly the Norse 100 is 120.
THE THÁTTR OF SÖRLI[°]
I. Vanakvisl. The opening sentence may be compared with Ynglingasaga, ch. 1, in the Heimskringla. From this it appears that Vanakvísl is the River Don, though strictly kvǐsl means the fork (delta) of a river.
Æsir and Vanir, two sets of Scandinavian deities; but the references to the River Don and Asia are due to the learned speculations of later times, suggested partly by the resemblance of Asia and Æsir. According to Ynglingasaga, chs. 1-4, there was war between the Æsir and the Vanir, which was concluded by an exchange of hostages. The Vanir gave to the Æsir three of their leading people—Njörth and his children Frey and Freyja. Othin made Njörth and Frey temple-priests, and Freyja a temple-priestess. What is said about Freyja here is not mentioned in Ynglingasaga; but from the poems of the Edda it is clear that she was the Aphrodite of northern mythology.
Asgarth. For a description of Asgarth, the home of the Æsir, see Gylfaginning, chs. 2, 9, 14, etc.
Men in Asia called Alfregg, etc. For Dvalin, cf. the Saga of Hervör and Heithrek, ch. 2 and note.
Lived in a rock; cf. Völuspá, str. 48.