97.
SVIPDAG OUTSIDE OF THE GATES OF ASGARD. MENGLAD'S IDENTITY WITH FREYJA.
In the first stanzas of Fjölsvinnsmal we see Svipdag making his way to a citadel which is furnished with forgördum—that is to say, ramparts in front of the gate in the wall which surrounds the place. On one of these ramparts stands a watchman who calls himself Fjölsvinnr, which is an epithet of Odin (Grimnersmal, 47).
The first strophe of the poem calls Svipdag thursa thjódar sjólr (sjóli), "the leader of the Thurs people." The reason why he could be designated thus has already been given (see Nos. 24, 33): During the conflicts between the powers of winter and the sons of Ivalde, and the race connected with them, on the one side, and the Teutonic patriarch Halfdan, favoured by the Asa-gods, on the other side, Svipdag opposed the latter and finally defeated him (see No. 93).
From the manner in which Fjölsvin receives the traveller it appears that a "leader of the Thurs people" need not look for a welcome outside of such a citadel as this. Fjölsvin calls him a flagd, a vargr, and advises him to go back by "moist ways," for within this wall such a being can never come. Meanwhile these severe words do not on this occasion appear to be spoken in absolute earnest, for the watchman at the same time encourages conversation, by asking Svipdag what his errand is. The latter corrects the watchman for his rough manner of receiving him, and explains that he is not able to return, for the burgh he sees is a beautiful sight, and there he would be able to pass a happy life.
When the watchman now asks him about his parents and family he answers in riddles. Himself "the leader of the Thurs people," the former ally of the powers of frost, he calls Windcold, his father he calls Springcold, and his grandfather Verycold (Fjölkaldr). This answer gives the key to the character of the whole following conversation, in which Svipdag is the questioner, whose interrogations the watchman answers in such a manner that he gives persons and things names which seldom are their usual ones, but which refer to their qualities.
What castle is this, then, before which Svipdag stopped, and within whose walls he is soon to find Menglad, whom he seeks?
A correct answer to this question is of the greatest importance to a proper understanding of the events of mythology and their connection. Strange to say, it has hitherto been assumed that the castle is the citadel of a giant, a resort of thurses, and that Menglad is a giantess.
Svipdag has before him a scene that enchants his gaze and fills him with a longing to remain there for ever. It is a pleasure to the eyes, he says, which no one willingly renounces who once has seen a thing so charming. Several "halls," that is to say, large residences or palaces, with their "open courts," are situated on these grounds. The halls glitter with gold, which casts a reflection over the plains in front of them (gardar gloa mer thykkja af gullna sali—str. 5). One of the palaces, a most magnificent one (an audrann), is surrounded by "wise Vaferflame," and Fjölsvin says of it that from time immemorial there has been a report among men in regard to this dwelling. He calls it Hýrr, "the gladdening one," "the laughing one," "the soul-stirring one." Within the castle wall there rises a hill or rock, which the author of the song conceived as decorated with flowers or in some other ravishing way, for he calls it a joyous rock. There the fair Menglad is seen sitting like an image (thruma), surrounded by lovely dises. Svipdag here sees the world-tree, invisible on earth, spreading its branches loaded with fruits (aldin) over all lands. In the tree sits the cock Vidofnir, whose whole plumage glitters like gold (str. 19, 22, 23, 31, 32, 35, 49).