Heimskringla

by Snorri Sturluson

  2 The chief god of the northern pantheon. For a full account of him and the other gods, consult the Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda.

  3 A Celtic word for “gods.” Compare also Latin deus, Greek theós.

  4 A Celtic word signifying “blessing”; ultimately derived from the Latin benedictio.

  1 They are probably hypostases of Óthin.

  1 His name corresponds exactly to that of the goddess Nerthus, the terræ mater of Tacitus (Germania chapter 40).

  2 “Lord,” the god of fertility.

  3 His name and function, like those of Mímir and Kvasir, have not been satisfactorily explained.

  1 The Caucasus (?) which, however, has a northwest to southeast direction.

  2 The present city of Odense on the island of Funen which, next to Seeland, is the largest island of the Danish archipelago.

  3 Progenitor of the Skjoldungs, the royal race of Denmark.

  4 The present town of Leire, the former seat of the Danish kings.

  5 The present Lake Mælaren in Sweden.

  6 The first known Norwegian skald.

  7 The stanza numbers on the right refer to the numbering of the stanzas in the Fornritafélag edition of the Heimskringla.

  8 Kenning for “eyes.” This stanza is an example of the dróttkvætt measure, the typical skaldic unit.

  9 The present town of Sigtuna, like Uppsala not far from Stockholm. Except for Uppsala and Sigtuna these are mythical localities.

  1 “Óthin of the Æsir.”

  1 By popular etymology only. Actually, like Anglo-Saxon Eadwine Edwin, it is from auð “riches” and vin “friend.”

  1 “The hall of the slain warriors,” Óthin’s abode.

  2 That is, a tenth part of an ounce of silver.

  3 A Norwegian skald. His cognomen means “despoiler of skalds,” plagiarist.

  4 “Giant.”

  5 Kenning for Óthin. This stanza, from Eyvind’s poem Háleygjatal, is in kviðuháttr measure, as is the Ynglingatal (see chapters 11 ff).

  6 “Bones-of-the-sea” is a kenning for “rocks.” No doubt Skathi, a mountain (and ski) goddess, was, in this defective stanza, referred to as a dweller among rocks.

  7 See chapter 1, note 2.

  1 The royal race of Sweden.

  2 Both names signify “jewel.”

  1 Hvina is a river in southern Norway. This poem, Ynglingatal, has come down to us, for the most part, in stanzas 4 to 32 (exclusive of 15 and 16). It frequently is obscure, so that many passages must be translated ad sensum.

  1 A dwarf.

  1 An incubus supposed to oppress persons in their sleep.

  2 Óthin; to visit him signifies to be gathered into Valholl.

  1 Kenning for “chest.”

  2 Logi, “fire,” is the brother of the sea-god, Ægir.

  3 Kenning for “fire.” In simple prose the stanza would mean: fire, kindled by Vísbur’s sons deprived of the throne, consumed his body.

  1 A plain at the mouth of the Fýri River near Uppsala.

  2 Dómar.

  3 Kenning for “pyre.” The mythical hero Hálf was burned in his hall.

  4 Dómar.

  1 Úlf’s (the Fenris-Wolf’s) sister is Hel, the goddess of the nether world of the dead. She is also the god Loki’s daughter.

  2 See Snorri’s Foreword, note 1.

  1 Below also called Gotland, which probably is the modern Jutland.

  2 A word for “king,” not used in the following translation.

  1 At the site of the present city of Stockholm.

  2 That is, Hagbarth, who was hanged by Signý’s father, Sigar—a legend well known in the north.

  1 Álf.

  1 Formed by select warriors around the king.

  1 The inhabitants of Hálogaland, northernmost province of Norway proper.

  2 That is, the gallows, which is called Óthin’s steed.

  3 Fjolnir is one of Óthin’s names; his tree, or horse, the gallows.

  1 See chapter 23, note 2.

  1 Province of West Sweden.

  2 “Tenth Land,” according to popular etymology.

  3 Kenning for “horn.”

  4 King Aun.

  5 King Aun.

  1 Týr is the Old Norse god of war; his offspring, here, King Egil.

  2 Kine were the favorite animals of the giants.

  3 Kenning for “forehead.”

  4 A descendant of Queen Skjálf.

  1 Now, the Öresund, the sound between Seeland and Sweden.

  2 Kenning for “king.”

  1 Lake Væneren.

  2 This saga is preserved only in Arngrím Jónsson’s Latin epitome.

  3 To delay pursuit by the Swedes. About this see Hrólfs saga kraka, chapter 45.

  4 King Athils, as one of the Ynglings. See chapter 10.

  1 In the original, the remnant of an alliterating verse.

  1 The present Nærøy, a large island off the west coast of Norway.

  2 The “tang-of-slopes” is a kenning for “forest”; its terror, “fire.”

  1 The mainland of Esthonia, opposite the island of Ösel.

  1 Parts of the Swedish province of Uppland. See chapter 77, “Óláfs saga Helga.”

  2 An illustration of the belief that drinking the blood, or eating portions of the body, of an animal would impart to one the outstanding characteristics of that animal.

  3 The Swedish province of Gotland.

  1 Kenning for “stones.” According to the legend, King Jónakr’s sons, Hamthir and Sorli, were stoned to death by King Jormunrek’s warriors when weapons took no effect on them.

  2 This and the following references are poorly understood.

  3 Kenning for “stones.”

  1 A province of central Sweden.

  2 See chapter 34, note 1.

  3 The present province of Södermanland.

  4 The beaker in which toasts were brought.

  1 A royal race of the North.

  2 Now Mörköfjærden, south of Stockholm.

  1 On which were probably written runes.

  1 In Lake Mælaren.

  1 On an island of Lake Mælaren.

  2 The king, Ingjald.

  1 The present Swedish province of Værmland.

  2 Now, Solör, in Norway.

  1 i.e., “the wolf- [or destroyer] of-buildings,” a kenning for “fire.”

  2 Fornjót is a giant, his son, “fire.”

  3 Between the present Norway and Sweden.

  4 Now Romerike, a district in central Norway.

  1 All in south central Norway, except Westfold, with the old center of Skiringssal, on the west side of the Oslofjord.

  2 As guardian of the graves.

  1 This is by way of a postscript to the preceding chapter.

  1 In Eastfold, on the eastern side of the Folden(Oslo)fjord.

  2 On the coast of Westfold.

  3 Býleist’s brother is the god Loki; his daughter, Hel.

  1 Another name for Westfold (?).

  2 See chapter 46, note 3.

  3 To her assembly in the nether world.

  1 The district at the head of the Oslofjord.

  2 The present rivers Glommen and Göta Elf, respectively.

  3 The southernmost province of Norway.

  1 The central portion of Norway.

  2 Near the present town of Larvik.

  3 The former name of the Oslofjord.

  1 “The Highly-honored.”

  1 i.e., Guðbrands Dale, the upper reaches of the River Glommen (Lougen).

  2 A hersir ranked below an earl.

  3 Now, Mjösen, a lake formed by the River Glommen.

  4 West of Lake Mjösen.

  1 Lands about the Sognfjord in West Norway.

  2 North of the Sognfjord.

  1 At the outlet of Lake Mjösen.

  1 Now Ringerike, the district northwest of the present city of Oslo.

  2 A famous legendary Skjoldung king.

  3 A berserker is a warrior who fights with paroxysmal
fury in his bare shirt (whence the name), insensitive to pain. See “Ynglinga saga,” chapter 6.

  4 His cognomen signifies “magic wand.”

  1 Her dream is strongly reminiscent of that of King Astyages of Media. (Herodotos, The Histories I, 108). For a similar dream see the one of King Sigurth Jerusalemfarer, “Magnússona saga,” chapter 25.

  1 The present Lake Randsfjorden.

  1 The king’s court, consisting of his bodyguard, henchmen, etc.

  2 See Introduction, note 5.

  3 Probably in Eastfold.

  4 North of Oslo.

  1 Here Snorri is guilty of a serious anachronism: Harald was still a heathen. Also, the title of hertogi, here variously translated “marshal, leader of the army,” is a loan word from the Middle Low German, and anticipates a later time.

  1 The populous region around the Trondheimfjord. Note that the present city of Trondheim was called Nitharós, or simply, “‘the town,” Kaupang.

  1 A symbolic act.

  1 A warship with a carved dragon’s head as bowsprit. The warriors’ shields reinforced the gunwales.

  2 This was his (unexplained) cognomen. His real name was Thorbjorn, and he was a Norwegian. Portions of his Glymdrápa (Resounding(?) drápa) are preserved in stanzas 33-36, 40, 41, 48. A drápa is a longer, encomiastic poem with a refrain.

  3 South of the Trondheimfjord.

  4 Kenning for “ships.” Rollers were used for hauling ships on shore for the winter.

  5 Frequent kenning for the “king” as upholder of the law.

  6 Kenning for “sword.”

  7 Kenning for “ships.” They were often stained above the waterline.

  8 Kenning for “sea.”

  1 Kenning for “ship.”

  2 This was generally accomplished by exacting hostages.

  1 A thing is an assembly; the whole, here, a kenning for “battle.”

  2 Hild is a valkyrie; the whole, a kenning for “battle.”

  1 Noted for its storms.

  2 Note that, because both the main coastline and the mountain spine of Norway have a general northeast-southwest trend, a ship sailing from, say Bergen to Oslo was said to be headed east (not south, then north), one sailing in the opposite direction, north. Likewise, a person travelling overland from Trondheim across the mountains to Oslo was thought of as proceeding east (not south).

  3 The legendary King Hogni’s daughter is Hild (“battle,” a valkyrie), the inciter of the everlasting “battle of the Hjathnings.” Her tree is “a warrior.”

  4 Hákon.

  5 Ygg is one of Óthin’s names; the whole, a kenning for “battle.”

  1 That is, all the land around Fold, the present Oslofjord. These districts are also called Vík.

  2 In old Scandinavia, as in medieval Germany, the king had no fixed residence but made visitations with his retinue to various parts of his realm to see to rights. It was the obligation of prominent men in each district to entertain the king on his “royal progress,” in lieu of taxes.

  1 In his poem Haraldskvæði (Lay of Harald) in málaháttr measure, to which belong also stanzas 42-47.

  2 Kenning for “battle.”

  1 Kenning for “warrior.”

  2 Kenning for “ships.”

  3 Kenning for “swords” (as chewing the shields).

  1 Both “Westland” and “Welsh” refer broadly to western lands.

  2 Identical with “berserkers.”

  3 i.e. Norwegians.

  4 Kenning for “ships.” Nokkvi here is the name of a sea-king.

  5 “Slovenly Person,” nickname of Harald, referring to his growth of hair.

  6 Óthin’s hall, which is shingled with shields. See the Eddic “Grímnismál,” stanzas 8, 9.

  1 So called because of his fierce, bloodthirsty nature.

  2 The lands on both sides of the gulf between Ranríki and Grenland.

  1 The River Oykell in Scotland, between Sutherland and Ross.

  1 That is, Ganger-Hrólf.

  2 A hǫldr is the possessor of an allodium; hǫldr’s brother, hence, a kenning for “franklin, freeholder.”

  3 A wolf is, metaphorically, an “outlaw.” To be wolfish against such a one is to treat him as such; and to run to the forest, “to act as an outlaw,” and here, to commit depredations.

  1 Kenning for “generous prince.”

  1 The same is told about him in the Orkneyinga saga, chapter 7. Actually, the digging and curing of peat must have been a very old practice in the treeless portions of the North. Pliny in his Natural History XVI, 1 describes it as practiced in his times on the shores of the North Sea.

  1 “Improver of the seasons and their produce.”

  1 In dróttkvœtt form, like the following three stanzas by him, but without regular hendingar (rimes).

  2 His part, as being the fourth son of Rognvald.

  1 The allodium is land held as absolute property in fee simple, free from any tax or rent.

  1 Bóndi signifies “farmer, freeholder.”

  2 “The flat (plain) of fleets” is a kenning for “sea.”

  1 This locality is close to the town of Túnsberg, and the tumulus is still to be seen.

  1 In North Mœr (as are Thórsbjorg and Reinsletta) and not to be confused with the cape of the same name.