by Peter Archer
Loki assumed his own shape and dropped the nut at Odin’s feet. Smirking at the Allfather, he bent over it and spoke magic. Suddenly Idunn stood before them. She saw the gods and how pitiful they had become. She held out her basket to them, and they took apples from it.
Sources
The story of the theft of Idunn’s apples is told in the Skáldskaparmál section of the Prose Edda, although there are other references to Idunn in the Poetic Edda. The basket in which she keeps the apples is made of ash; as we have seen, the ash tree plays an important role in Viking mythology.
The name Idunn is thought to mean “rejuvenator.” Both apples and nuts seem to have been important in Norse ritual. For example, baskets of both were found in the Oseberg ship.
The Death of Baldr
Of all the gods, Baldr was the most beloved and the most beautiful. But he was tormented by dreams that seemed to foretell his death. Odin, his father, determined to find out the meaning of the dream. Mounted on Sleipnir, his swift steed, he traveled from Asgard to the dark, cold depths of Niflheim and to the Gates of Hel itself. There he sought out the mistress of Hel and asked her about the dream.
“Hödr will slay your son,” she told him. “Rind will lay with you, and your son by her, Vali, will avenge Baldr. Loki will be bound and he will not break his bonds until Ragnarök. Now go!”
Odin returned to Asgard with a heavy heart and told the results of his visit to his wife, Frigg. She wept many tears over it and then said, “I shall go through the nine worlds and make everything swear an oath never to hurt our son.” So she traveled from Asgard to Niflheim. All things swore not to hurt Baldr—water, iron, stone—everything said they would not harm Odin and Frigg’s child.
The gods tested the oath. One of them threw a stone at Baldr.
“I don’t feel a thing,” the god said.
The gods laughed and began throwing other objects at Baldr, but none hurt him. Frigg clapped her hands in delight. Her son was safe.
Now Baldr stood against a wall in Gladsheim, and the gods hurled darts and spears at him. None hurt him. They rebounded and fell at his feet. Even when they struck at him with swords and axes, the metal refused to injure the god.
Loki’s Cruelty
Loki alone watched with disdain. His mind turned this way and that, wondering how he could make trouble that was meat and drink to him. At last a plan formed in his mind. He took on the guise of a woman and came to Frigg as she sat in her hall, Fensalir.
“What are the gods doing, O mistress?” he asked.
“They are shooting arrows at Baldr,” replied Frigg.
“Why?” asked Loki. “Are you not afraid for your son?”
“Nay,” replied the goddess. “For nothing can harm him, for all things have sworn an oath to do him no hurt.”
“All things, mistress?” asked the woman. Frigg did not hear the eagerness in her voice as she asked this question.
“There is one that I did not ask,” Frigg replied. “On my travels I saw a sprout of mistletoe, and I deemed it over-young to swear the oath I required.”
Now Loki knew his course of action. He pulled the mistletoe from the earth and carried it to where Hödr stood apart from the gods, who were still playing their game, shooting missiles at Baldr.
“Why do you not take part in this?” Loki asked.
“Because I am blind,” replied Hödr.
“No matter,” said the scheming Loki. “I will guide your arrow. Shoot with this wand.” So saying he gave the mistletoe to Hödr and held the blind god’s arms to keep his shot true.
The mistletoe flew from Hödr’s bow. It struck Baldr in the chest as the others had done, but to the amazement of the gods, it pierced Baldr’s skin. He staggered and fell. Blood gushed from his mouth. His chest rose and fell and was then still.
All the gods cried out in grief at the death of the fairest of them all. They were fain to take vengeance against Hödr for his act, but none wished more violence within the hall.
News was borne to Frigg, and she came, weeping, and bent over the body of her son. “Yet,” she said, “perhaps there is still a chance for my poor Baldr. Who among you will ride to Hel and beg the hag to let Baldr return to Asgard?”
There was silence as the gods looked at one another. Then Hermódr, Odin’s son, spoke. “I will go,” he said. “I will ask for my brother’s life back.”
The Journey to Hel
Some led forth Odin’s eight-legged horse Sleipnir. “Ride this,” said Frigg, her face stained with tears, “that you may come to Hel faster. Do not fail me.”
“I will not,” said Hermódr, and he rode away from Asgard.
Down through the nine worlds he traveled and quickly as he might until he reached the dark, cold reaches of Niflheim. Then he came to the Gates of Hel and banged on them with his fist.
“Who comes to Hel?” said a voice.
“Hermódr of Asgard!”
“What do you seek?”
“I seek an audience with Hel to beg for the soul of my brother, Baldr, fairest of the gods.”
The gates swung open, and Hermódr rode into Hel.
The Pyre of Baldr
Meanwhile in Asgard the gods made ready a funeral pyre for Baldr. They brought his body to the sea and placed it in his boat, which was named Hringhorni, greatest of all ships. But when the gods tried to push the boat from the shore, it would not move.
The gods sent word to Giant Land of the difficulty, and soon there came striding across the land the giantess called Hyrrokkin. She grasped the prow of the boat and gave a great push. Fire burst from the rollers beneath it, and the ground trembled, but the boat slid into the water.
Now through the crowd of gods that ringed the shore, Nanna, wife of Baldr burst through. She wept for her lost husband, bending over in agony and letting her tears mingle with the waves. So great was her grief that her heart burst, and she fell down dead. Grieving, the gods lifted her and placed her body on the pyre beside that of her beloved husband.
Now the shore was filled with a great array of gods and others: the Æsir, the Vanir, the frost giants and the hill giants—all these came to watch the burning, so loved was Baldr. Odin stepped onto the ship and from his arm he took the ring called Draupnir and placed it on the pyre.
Thor leaped aboard the boat and thrust a flaming torch into the wood that formed the pyre. He held Mjollnir aloft to hallow the burning. Just then a dwarf ran before him, and in a fury Thor kicked the dwarf so he landed in the fire and was burned up. The smoke from the pyre rose into the sky and spread above the nine worlds, and all mourned the passing of Baldr.
Hermódr’s Journey
Now Hermódr was led to the great hall of Hel, and there he beheld Baldr seated among the dead with Nanna beside him. Hermódr lingered there a day and then he came before Hel.
“What do you desire?” she demanded.
“The soul of my brother, Baldr.”
“Why?”
“Because of all the gods of Asgard, he is the most loved.”
Hel looked at him shrewdly. “Very well,” she said. “We will put your words to the test. If all things throughout the nine worlds mourn him and weep for him, he shall return to Asgard. But if some—if one—does not, he shall remain here with me.”
Hermódr agreed and began a long journey through the worlds back to Asgard.
When he arrived and told the gods of his journey, Odin sent out messengers through the nine worlds, asking each being, even the earth, wood, and stones, that they pray for Baldr to be released from Hel. So loved was Baldr that all beings and things readily agreed and prayed for Baldr and wept for him.
At last the messengers came to a certain giantess named Thökk in her cave. They begged her to pray and weep for Baldr’s return.
She looked at them scornfully and said, “My tears for Baldr will be waterless. Never did I like him, and I will not ask for him to come back. Let Hel hold what she has!”
The messengers, scarcely believing they had
heard aright, asked again.
“No!” she cried angrily. “Begone now!”
The messengers returned to Asgard and told Odin and Frigg that alone of all the beings in the nine worlds, Thökk the giantess would not weep for Baldr and so he must remain in Hel.
Odin sat grimly on Hlidskjalf. “Truly,” he said, “it seems to me that this giantess has some special reason for hating the gods and Baldr most of all.” He pondered and then spoke again. “I believe it was no giantess at all who refused this request. Instead, it was Loki the Trickster, most treacherous of all the folk of Asgard. He shall pay for this.”
The Binding of Loki
The fury of the gods toward Loki knew no bounds. Although he had played tricks on them in the past, none was so cruel as contriving the death of Baldr. Odin was determined to let this happen no more.
Loki heard the rage of the Æsir and Vanir, and he knew he must hide. He fled to a mountain and there he made a house for himself. It had four doors so he could see in all directions. During the day he became a salmon and hid beneath a waterfall, but in the evening he sat before a fire and wove a fishing net.
There was no hiding from Odin as he sat on his high seat of Hlidskjalf. The Æsir raced toward the house, but Loki heard them coming. He cast the net into the fire and, running to the waterfall, became a fish. The Æsir entered the house and searched for him, but he had seemingly vanished.
Then Kvasir, wisest of the gods, noticed that although the net had burned in the fire, it had left a pattern.
“Behold, my brothers!” he said. “The Trickster has become a fish.” Then, swiftly, the gods wove their own net after the pattern of that made by Loki. They went to the river and cast it in. Thor held one end and all the Æsir held the other. They drew the net along the river to the waterfall, but crafty Loki had seen it coming and hid between two stones. They drew the net along the river a second time, and this time Loki leaped over the net. Now Thor waded into the water and the gods drew the net toward him. Loki tried to dart past the Thunderer, but Thor seized him and held him by the tail.
The Salmon’s Tail
According to the account of this in the Prose Edda, this incident is why the salmon’s tail tapers toward the end.
Loki’s Sons
The gods now set out to capture Loki’s sons, Váli and Narfi. When this had been accomplished, Odin changed Váli into the form of a wolf, and Váli tore his brother to pieces. With the guts of Narfi, the gods now bound Loki over three stones. His bonds changed to iron.
The Trickster howled and begged to be released, but the hearts of the gods were adamant. Loki had played them for fools too long. None shed a tear at his fate. They carried him to a dark cave and left him there.
Skathi brought a venomous snake and fastened it above Loki’s face so the venom should drip continuously on him. Sigyn, Loki’s wife, entered the cave and stared at her husband, bound and helpless. Then she produced a wooden bowl with which to catch the venom. When at last the bowl was full, she carried it away to pour into a rocky basin, and the venom dripped over Loki’s face until she returned.
And so Loki was bound, and so he will remain bound until the coming of Ragnarök.
Chapter Eleven
Sigurd the Volsung
Sigurd is the central hero of the Völsunga Saga. Although the version of the saga that we have today was composed in the thirteenth century, it clearly reflects much older traditions, ones that would have been known to the Vikings. Many of the poems in the Poetic Edda are concerned with characters in the story.
The tale contains many of the elements of traditional Viking mythology: angry gods, a young man with a divine destiny, mysterious artifacts, and a magical sword. It also tells a sad love story—sad because the love of Brynhild for Sigurd goes unfulfilled—and speaks of a cursed treasure.
In the late nineteenth century, the story was the subject of a long poem by the great pre-Raphaelite painter, writer, and craftsman William Morris, who published it as The Story of Sigurd the Volsung and the Fall of the Niblungs. The story played a considerable role in shaping the fiction of Tolkien, as can be seen in many common elements: the sword that is passed from father to son, the young man seeking to avenge the death of his ancestors, and so on.
The Volsungs
Sigurd’s story is only part of the larger tale told in the saga, one describing the rise and fall of the Volsungs. The story begins with an account of Sigi, a son of Odin. Sigi had killed a thrall, Bregi, because he was jealous of him, and for this he was forced out of his lands. But he dwelt apart and still became mighty. He had a son, Rerir, who in turn bore a son, Volsung, who became king over Hunland and a mighty man in his own right.
Volsung wedded a giant’s daughter, Ljod, and they had ten sons and one daughter. Of the son, one was named Sigmund, and the daughter Signy. They were accounted the fairest in all the land as well as the wisest. And Volsung built a great hall; within it was a tree whose branches stemmed out and merged with the roof beams, and the tree was called Branstock.
The king of Gothland, Siggeir, begged for the hand of Signy in marriage. Volsung was reluctant at first, but his daughter pleaded with him as well, and at last he acceded.
On the day of the wedding, as the wedding guests gathered in Sigmund’s hall, a man entered whom none recognized. He bore a great sword, and without a word to anyone he walked up to Branstock and smote it a blow. The sword sank into the roof tree to the hilt. Then the man said, “Whoso draweth this sword from this stock, shall have the same as a gift from me, and shall find in good sooth that never bare he better sword in hand than is this.” At this the old man departed, and none knew from where he came.
All the men in the hall set their hands to the sword, but none could draw it forth from the roof tree. Then Sigmund, son of Volsung, laid hands on it. His muscles strained, and sweat burst forth on his brow, and with a mighty heave he pulled the sword from the tree. Some of those present offered to buy the sword from him, but he refused, declaring that since he had drawn it forth, it was his to keep and his alone to wield.
The Sword in the Stone
Students of Arthurian legend will recognize the parallels to the story of Excalibur, Arthur’s sword, which was set in a stone with the injunction that only the true king of England could pull it from the rock. Eventually, although many tried, Arthur succeeded and was thereby acclaimed ruler of England.
The Treachery of Siggeir
Signy recognized almost immediately that she had made a mistake in wedding Siggeir, for she detected a rottenness in his heart. She begged her father to annul the marriage, but Volsung refused, and Siggeir and Signy returned to Gothland. Siggeir asked Volsung and his sons to visit the couple in three months. So at the appointed time, Volsung and his sons sailed to Gothland and were welcomed by Siggeir.
But Signy drew her father aside and told him that Siggeir planned to strike them when they were unprepared. “Wherefore,” she said, “you must return over the sea and only come back when you have assembled the greatest army that may be.”
Sternly, her father reminded her that he had sworn an oath never to flee any foe. Signy began to weep and begged that she might not go back to her husband, but her father declared, “You shall return to him as his wife, no matter how matters fare with us.”
The next day, as Signy had warned, Siggeir fell upon them and would have slain them all had they not been ready for his coming. Eight times, Volsung and his sons stormed through Siggeir’s line, slaying and destroying. But at last Volsung fell among his folk and his ten sons were captured by the enemy.
Now Signy prayed to her lord and husband that her brothers might not be slain outright but that they should be placed in stocks. Grudgingly Siggeir agreed, and a great beam was laid across the legs of the brothers, who sat under it in a deep place of the woods.
At midnight, there came from the woods an old she-wolf of evil aspect, and she seized one of the brothers in her teeth and tore his body asunder. She devoured all of it before s
linking off into the forest.
The next day, Signy learned of what had happened. Yet she was powerless to prevent a recurrence of the tragedy. For each night, the she-wolf reappeared, and each dawn another brother was dead. Now, when only Sigmund remained, Signy had an idea about how to save her remaining brother. She sent a messenger to Sigmund with a jar of honey. Sigmund spread the honey all over his face and put some in his mouth.
When the she-wolf came that night, she smelled the honey. She began to lick Sigmund’s face. He kept his body rigid as the wolf’s foul tongue licked him, devouring the honey. Then the she-wolf reached her tongue into Sigmund’s mouth to taste the honey therein. Quick as a flash, Sigmund clamped his teeth around the wolf’s tongue. The wolf struggled to free herself, but Sigmund held on tighter, and at last the wolf’s tongue was wrenched from her jaws. Howling, she fled into the forest, and Sigmund spat the tongue onto the ground. Some say the wolf was the mother of Siggeir and that she had been turned into a wolf by the enchantment of a troll.
Sigmund’s Son
Sigmund, freed from the threat of the she-wolf, contrived to loose himself from the stocks. When Signy heard what had happened, she came to him, where he was living in the forest. Then she carried to the king the falsehood that all the Volsungs were dead.
Siggeir and Signy had two sons. When the eldest was ten years old, his mother sent him to Sigmund. But Sigmund tested him for his will and his nerve, and the lad failed the test. Sigmund sent word of this to his sister. “Kill him then,” said Signy. “For why should such a one live longer.” And her brother did so. Later Signy sent the other son to Sigmund, and the same thing befell.