The name Thjasse, thjazi, in an older and uncorrupted form thizi, I regard to be most ancient like the person that bears it. According to my opinion, Thjasse is identical with the star-hero mentioned in Rigveda, Tishya, the Tistrya of the Iranians, who in Rigveda (x. 64, 8) is worshipped together with an archer, who presumably was his brother. The German middle-age poetry has preserved the name Thjasse in the form Desen (which is related to thjazi as Delven is to thialfi). In "Dieterichs Flucht" Desen is a king, whose daughter marries Dieterich-Hadding's father. In the Norse sources a sister of Thjasse (Alveig-Signe, daughter of Sumbl, the king of the Finns) marries Hadding's father, Halfdan. Common to the German and Norse traditions is, therefore, that Hadding's father marries a near kinswoman of Thjasse.
(15) In the poem Haustlaung Thjasse's adventure is mentioned, when he captured Loke with the magic rail. Here we get remarkable, hitherto misunderstood, facts in regard to Thjasse's personality.
That they have been misunderstood is not owing to lack of attention or acumen on the part of the interpreters. On the contrary, acumen has been lavished thereon.[10] In some cases the scholars have resorted to text-changes in order to make the contents intelligible, and this was necessary on account of the form in which our mythology hitherto has been presented, and that for good reasons, since important studies of another kind, especially of accurate editions of the Teutonic mythological texts, have claimed the time of scholars and compelled them to neglect the study of the epic connection of the myths and of their exceedingly rich and abundant synonymics. As a matter of course, an examination of the synonymics and of the epic connection could not fail to shed another light than that which could be gained without this study upon a number of passages in the old mythological poems, and upon the paraphrases based on the myths and occurring in the historical songs.
In Haustlaung Thjasse is called fadir mörna, "the father of the swords." Without the least reason it has been doubted that a mythic person, that is so frequently called a giant, and whose connection with the giant world and whose giant nature are so distinctly held forth in our mythic sources, could be an artist and a maker of swords. Consequently the text has been changed to fadir mornar or fadir morna, the father of consumption or of the strength-consuming diseases, or of the feminine thurses representing these diseases. But so far as our mythic records give us any information, Thjasse had no other daughter than Skade, described as a proud, bold, powerful maid, devoted to achievements, who was elevated to the rank of an asynje, became the wife of the god of wealth, the tender stepmother of the lord of harvests (Skirnersmal), Frigg's elja, and in this capacity the progenitress of northern rulers, who boasted their descent from her. That Thjasse had more daughters is indeed possible, but they are not mentioned, and it must remain a conjecture on which nothing can be built; and even if such were the case, it must be admitted that as Skade was the foremost and most celebrated among them, she is the first one to be thought of when there is mention of a daughter or of daughters of Thjasse. But that Skade should be spoken of as a morn, a consumption-witch, and that Hakon Jarl should be regarded as descended from a demon of consumption, and be celebrated in song as the scion of such a person, I do not deem possible. The text, as we have it, tells us that Thjasse was the father of swords (mörnir = sword; see Younger Edda, i. 567; ii. 560, 620). We must confine ourselves to this reading and remember that this is not the only passage which we have hitherto met with where his name is put in connection with works of a smith. Such a passage we have already met with in thjaza thingskil.
(16) In the same poem, Haustlaung, Thjasse is called hapta snytrir, "the one who decorated the gods," furnished them with treasures. This epithet, too, appeared unintelligible, so long as none of the artists of antiquity was recognised in Thjasse; hence text-changes were also resorted to in this case in order to make sense out of the passage.
The situation described is as follows: Odin and Hænir, accompanied by Loke are out on a journey. They have traversed mountains and wildernesses (Bragarædur, 2), and are now in a region which, to judge from the context, is situated within Thjasse's domain, Thrymheim. The latter, who is margspakr and lómhugadr (Haustl., 3, 12), has planned an ambush for Loke in the very place which they have now reached: a valley (Bragarædur, 2) overgrown with oak-trees (Haustl., 6), and the more inviting as a place of refreshment and rest, inasmuch as the Asas are hungry after their long journey (Bragarædur, 21), and see a herd of "yoke-bears" pasturing in the grass near by. Thjasse has calculated on this and makes one of the bears act the part of a decoy (tálhreinn = a decoy reindeer—Haustlaung, 3; see Vigfusson's Dict., 626), which permits itself to be caught by the travellers. That the animal belongs to Thjasse's herds follows from the fact that it (str. 6) is said to belong to the "dis of the bow-string," Skade, his daughter. The animal is slaughtered and a fire is kindled, over which it is to be roasted. Near the place selected for the eating of the meal there lies, as it were accidentally, a rail or stake. It resembles a common rail, but is in fact one of Thjasse's smith-works, having magic qualities. When the animal is to be carved, it appears that the "decoy reindeer was quite hard between the bones for the gods to cut" (tálhreinn var medal beina tormidladr tífum—str. 3). At the same time the Asas had seen a great eagle flying toward them (str. 2), and alighting near the place where they prepared their feast (str. 3). From the context it follows that they took it for granted that the eagle guise concealed Thjasse, the ruler of the region. The animal being found to be so hard to carve, the Asas at once guess that Thjasse, skilled in magic arts, is the cause, and they immediately turn to him with a question, which at the same time tells him that they know who he is:
Hvat, quotho, hapta snytrir
hjálmfaldinn, thvi valda?
"They (the gods) said (quotho): Why cause this (hvat thvi valda) thou ornament-giver of the gods (hjálmfaldinn hapta snytrir), concealed in a guise (eagle guise)?" He at once answers that he desires his share of the sacred meal of the gods, and to this Odin gives his consent. Nothing indicates that Odin sees a foe in Thjasse. There is then no difficulty in regard to the roast; and when it is ready and divided into four parts Thjasse flies down, but, to plague Loke, he takes so much that the latter, angry, and doubtless also depending on Odin's protection if needed, seizes the rail lying near at hand and strikes the eagle a blow across the back. But Loke could not let go his hold of the rail; his hand stuck fast to one end while the other end clung to the eagle, and Thjasse flew with him and did not let go of him before he had forced him to swear an oath that he would bring Idun into Thjasse's hands.
So long as it was impossible to assume that Thjasse had been the friend of the gods before this event happened, and in the capacity of ancient artist had given them valuable products of his skill, and thus become a hapta snytrir, it was also impossible to see in him, though he was concealed in the guise of an eagle, the hjálmfaldinn here in question, since hjálmfaldinn manifestly is in apposition to hapta snytrir, "the decorator of the gods." (The common meaning of hjálmr, as is well known, is a covering, a garb, or which hjálmr in the sense of a helmet is a specification.) It therefore became necessary to assume that Odin was meant by hjálmfaldinn and hapta snytrir. This led to the changing of quotho to quad, and to the insertion in the manuscripts of a mun not found there, and to the exclusion of a thvi found there. The result was, moreover, that no notice was taken of the use made of the expressions hjálmfaldinn and snytrir in a poem closely related to Haustlaung, and evidently referring to its description of Thjasse. This poem is Einar Skalaglam's "Vellekla," which celebrates Hakon Jarl, the Great. Hakon Jarl regarded himself as descended from Thjasse through the latter's daughter, Skade (Háleygjatal), and on this account Vellekla contains a number of allusions to the mythic progenitor. The task (from a poetic and rhetorical point of view) which Einar has undertaken is in fact that of taking, so far as possible, the kernel of those paraphrases with which he celebrates Hakon Jarl (see below) from the myth concerning Thjasse, and the task is performed with force and acumen. In the execution of his poem Einar has had before him that part of Thjodulf's Haustlaung which concerned Thjasse. In str. 6 he calls Thjasse's descendant thjódar snytrir, taking his cue from Haustlaung, which calls Thjasse hapta snytrir. In str. 8 he gives Hakon the epithet hjálmi faldinn, having reference to Haustlaung, which makes Thjasse appear hjálm faldinn. In str. 10 Hakon is a gard-Rögnir, just as Thjasse is a ving-Rögnir in Haustlaung. In str. 11 Hakon is a midjungr, just as Thjasse is a midjungr in Haustlaung. In str. 16 an allusion is made in the phrase vildi Yggsnidr fridar bildja to Haustlaung's málunautr hváts mátti fridar bidja. In str. 21 Hakon is called hlym-Narfi, just as Thjasse in Haustlaung is called grjót Nidadr (Narfi and Nidadr are epithets of Mimer; see Nos. 85, 87). In str. 22 Hakon is called fangsæll, and Thjasse has the same epithet in Haustlaung. Some of the paraphrases in Vellekla, to which the myth about Thjasse furnishes the kernel, I shall discuss below. There can, therefore, be no doubt whatever that Einar in Haustlaung's hjálmfaldinn and hapta snytrir saw epithets of Thjasse, and we arrive at the same result if we interpret the text in its original reading and make no emendations.
Thus we have already found three paraphrases which inform us that Thjasse was an ancient artist, one of the great smiths of mythology: (1) thiaza thingskil, golden treasures produced as evidence in court owned or made by Thjasse; (2) hapta snytrir, he who gave ornaments to the gods; (3) fadir mörna, the father of the swords.