Teutonic Mythology: Gods and Goddesses of the Northland, Vol. 2

by Viktor Rydberg

Translation: "And the ásmegir required in war, turn themselves to the sacrificial feasts. The mighty promoter of the meeting of the red target of the goddess of war has honour and advantage thereof. Now grows the earth green as heretofore."

There can be no doubt that "the ásmegir required in war" refer to the men in the territory ruled by Hakon, and that "the mighty promoter of the meeting of the red target of the goddess of war" refers to the warlike Hakon himself, and hence the meaning of the passage in its plain prose form is simply this: "Hakon's men again devote themselves to the divine sacrifices. This is both an honour and an advantage to Hakon, and the earth again yields bountiful harvests."

To these thoughts the skald has given a garb common in poetry of art, by adapting them to a mythological background. The persons in this background are the ásmegir and a mythical being called "the promoter of the red target," raudbríkar rækir. The persons in the foreground are the men in Hakon's realm and Hakon himself. The persons in the foreground are permitted to borrow the names of the corresponding persons in the background, but on the condition that the borrowed names are furnished with adjectives which emphasise the specific difference between the original mythic lenders and the real borrowers. Thus Hakon's subjects are allowed to borrow the appellation ásmegir, but this is then furnished with, the adjective hertharfir (required in war), whereby they are specifically distinguished from the ásmegir of the mythical background, and Hakon on his part is allowed to borrow the appellation raudbríkar rækir (the promoter of the red target), but this appellation is then furnished with the adjective phrase hlakkar móts (of the meeting of the goddess of war), whereby Hakon is specifically distinguished from the raudbríkar rækir of the mythical background.

The rule also requires that, at least on that point of which the skald happens to be treating, the persons in the mythological background should hold a relation to each other which resembles, and can be compared with, the relation between the persons in the foreground. Hakon's men stand in a subordinate relation to Hakon himself; and so must the ásmegir stand in a subordinate relation to that being which is called raudbríkar rækir, providing the skald in this strophe as in the others has produced a tenable parallel. Hakon is, for his subjects, one who exhorts them to piety and fear of the gods. Raudbríkar rækir, his counterpart in the mythological background, must have been the same for his ásmegir. Hakon's subjects offer sacrifices, and this is an advantage and an honour to Hakon, and the earth grows green again. In the mythology the ásmegir must have held some sacrificial feast, and raudbríkar rækir must have had advantage and honour, and the earth must have regained its fertility. Only on these conditions is the figure of comparison to the point, and of such a character that it could be presented unchallenged to heathen ears familiar with the myths. It should be added that Einar's greatness as a skald is not least shown by his ability to carry out logically such figures of comparison. We shall later on give other examples of this.

Who is, then, this raudbríkar rækir, "the promoter of the red target?"

In the mythological language raudbrik (red target) can mean no other object than the sun. Compare rödull, which is frequently used to designate the sun. If this needed confirmation, then we have it immediately at hand in the manner in which the word is applied in the continuation of the paraphrase adapted to Hakon. A common paraphrase for the shield is the sun with suitable adjectives, and thus raudbrik is applied here. The adjective phrase is here hlakkar móts, "of the meeting of the war-goddess" (that is, qualifying the red target), whereby the red target (= sun), which is an attribute of the mythic rækir of the background, is changed to a shield, which becomes an attribute of the historical rækir of the foreground, namely Hakon jarl, the mighty warrior. Accordingly, raudbríkar rækir of the mythology must be a masculine divinity standing in some relation to the sun.

This sun-god must also have been upon the whole a god of peace. Had he not been so, but like Hakon a war-loving shield-bearer, then the paraphrase hlakkar móts raudbríkar rækir would equally well designate him as Hakon, and thus it could not be used to designate Hakon alone, as it then would contain neither a nota characteristica for him nor a differentia specifica to distinguish him from the mythic person, whose epithet raudbríkar rækir he has been allowed to borrow.

This peaceful sun-god must have descended to the lower world and there stood in the most intimate relation with the ásmegir referred to the domain of Mimer, for he is here represented as their chief and leader in the path of piety and the fear of the gods. The myth must have mentioned a sacrificial feast or sacrificial feasts celebrated by the ásmegir. From this or these sacrificial feasts the peaceful sun-god must have derived advantage and honour, and thereupon the earth must have regained a fertility, which before that had been more or less denied it.

From all this it follows with certainty that raudbrikar rækir of the mythology is Balder. The fact suggested by the Vellekla strophe above analysed, namely, that Balder, physically interpreted, is a solar divinity, the mythological scholars are almost a unit in assuming to be the case on account of the general character of the Balder myth. Though Balder was celebrated for heroic deeds he is substantially a god of peace, and after his descent to the lower world he is no longer connected with the feuds and dissensions of the upper world. We have already seen that he was received in the lower world with great pomp by the ásmegir, who impatiently awaited his arrival, and that they sacrifice to him that bright mead of the lower world, whose wonderfully beneficial and bracing influence shall be discussed below. Soon afterwards he is visited by Hermod. Already before Balder's funeral pyre, Hermod upon the fastest of all steeds hastened to find him in the lower world (Gylfag., 51, 52), and Hermod returns from him and Nanna with the ring Draupnir for Odin, and with a veil for the goddess of earth, Fjorgyn-Frigg. The ring from which other rings drop, and the veil which is to beautify the goddess of earth, are symbols of fertility. Balder, the sun-god, had for a long time before his death been languishing. Now in the lower world he is strengthened with the bracing mead of Mimer's domain by the ásmegir who gladly give offerings, and the earth regains her green fields.

Hakon's men are designated in the strophe as hertharfir ásmegir. When they are permitted to borrow the name of the ásmegir, then the adjective hertharfir, if chosen with the proper care, is to contain a specific distinction between them and the mythological beings whose name they have borrowed. In other words, if the real ásmegir were of such a nature that they could be called hertharfir, then that adjective would not serve to distinguish Hakon's men from them. The word hertharfir means "those who are needed in war," "those who are to be used in war." Consequently, the ásmegir are beings who are not to be used in war, beings whose dwelling, environment, and purpose suggest a realm of peace, from which the use of weapons is banished.