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Óđinn and the Norse Jormunrekkr-Legend

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 December 2020

Caroline Brady
Caroline Brady*
Affiliation:
University of California (College of Agriculture)
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Extract

There existed in Scandinavia a well-defined legendary tradition that, when Hamðir and Sǫrli seemed about to achieve their vengeance upon the Gothic king Jǫrmunrekkr for slaying their sister Svanhildr, the Goths were instructed (or advised) to stone them to death. The two have been sent, against their will and with considerable misgivings, by their mother Guðrún to avenge their sister. On the way they have met Erpr, a third brother, and, after an exchange of sneers and insults, have slain him. Upon arriving at the Gothic hall they have cut down large numbers of Goths and have lopped off the hands and feet of Jǫrmunrekkr. Now they stand, themselves unscathed, Gothic weapons useless against them. Nothing seems to stand in the way of complete execution of their vengeance. Then, at the moment of their apparent triumph, come the instructions (or advice) to stone them. Upon this the ninth-century Eddic Hamðismál, the thirteenth-century Vǫlsungasaga, and the Edda of Snorri Sturluson all agree. Bragi the skald, in his Ragnarsdrápa, recounts only the attack in the Gothic hall, but he too represents Hamðir and Sǫrli as stoned.

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Research Article
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PMLA , Volume 55 , Issue 4 , December 1940 , pp. 910 - 930
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Copyright © Modern Language Association of America, 1940

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References

1 Skáldskaparmál 51 (42), Edda Snorra Sturlusonar, udg. ved Finnur Jónsson (København, 1931).

2 Vǫlsungasaga 44 (42), udg. ved Magnus Olsen (København, 1906–08).

3 Str. 25.2–3: inn reginkunngi, baldr í brynio. I use Neckel's edition, Edda, i (Heidelberg, 1927).

4 Ragnarsdrápa 5.5–8, in Finnur Jónsson, Den Norsk-Islandske Skjaldedigtning, I A: Tekst efter Håndskrifterne; I B: Rettet Tekst med Tolkning (København og Kristiania, 1908), 2.

5 Saxo, Gesta Danorum, ed. J. Olrik and H. Ræder (Hauniæ, 1931), i, vi, 7, p. 23; i, viii, 16, pp. 30 f.; vii, x, 6, p. 207; ix, iv, 12, p. 254; Vss. 13, 18; Hrólfssaga Kraka 26, udg. ved Finnur Jónsson (København, 1904). For other instances cf. von Unwerth, “Untersuchungen über Totenkult und Ódinnverehrung,” Germanistische Abhandlungen, xxxvii (1911), 140 ff.; de Vries, Altgermanische Religionsgeschichte (“Pauls Grundriss,” xii.2, Berlin und Leipzig, 1937), ii, 173 f.

6 Among them, Vss. 3, 11; Saxo, i, vi, 7, p. 23; vii, x, 6, p. 207. On Óðinn's disguises and appearances cf. especially von Unwerth, op. cit., pp. 149 ff.; de Vries, op. cit., pp. 191 ff.

7 Vǫlospá 15.3; Grímnismál 46.6.

8 Hervararsaga ok Heioreks 10 f., Fornaldarsögur Nororlanda, i (Reykjavík, 1891); Saxo, v, x, 1, p. 134 (Gestiblindus).

9 On other names cf. Falk, “Odensheite,” Videnskapsselskapel i Kristiania, Skrifter, Hist. fil. Kl. (1924), no. 10; de Vries, op. cit., pp. 191 f., and the references there cited.

10 With this can be compared the dialogue between the old man and the boy Siguror, who is seeking a horse, Vss. 13. These passages are quoted from Magnus Olsen's edition, which follows the MS in orthography and in omission of indications of vowel-quantity.

11 Vss. 44 (42). Further, these words, with the single variant of vœri for munþi, are to be found also in the Hm. (28.1–2), in a strophe, moreover, which is quoted in part in the Vss. The saga first paraphrases (very closely, 11 of the 14 words being identical with those in the Hm.) Hm. 28.1–4, and then quotes the passage.

12 Vogt, “Bragis Schild,” APS, v (1930–31), 10, takes flaums with the Foglhildar of 1. 4; but cf. Jónsson's criticism, “Brage Skjald,” APS, v, 264.

13 So, e.g., Jónsson, APS, v, 262.

14 Hávamál 80. 3. Inscription from Stora Noleby: runo fahi raзinaku[n]oo, A. Noreen, Altisländische und Altnorwegische Grammatik (Halle, 1923), p. 383.

15 Skáld. 47 (39): Hreiωarr is called fiolkvnigr in a context which can mean only that he commanded great knowledge of magic; Gylf. 2: Gylfi was fiolkvnigr; Vss. 25: Grímhildr is given the epithet in fiǫlkunnga [ena fiǫlkungu]. Further instances are given by de Vries, op. cit., pp. 63 ff.

16 The instances are cited by de Boor, Deutsche Islandforschung (Breslau, 1930), pp. 80 f. Cf. also de Vries, op. cit., pp. 158 f. For a somewhat different opinion cf. Vogt, “Hroptr Rǫgna,” ZfdA, lxii (1925), 47; Stilgeschichte der Eddischen Wissensdichtung (Breslau, 1927), i, 55 f. Sturtevant, in “A Study of the Old Norse Word Regin,” JEGP, xv (1916), 258 ff., regards it as merely an intensive prefix, in the Hm. as in Helgakvioa Hundingsbana I, 51.2, and the prose texts; cf. also Detter-Heinzel, Sœmundar Edda (Leipzig, 1903), ii, 582. I am inclined to believe, however, that even in the late usage of the word as an intensive it is much more forceful and significant than such prefixes as fjǫl- and mjǫk-, and that it derives its special intensive force from its original literal meaning; cf. regnheard, Beowulf 326.

17 No shred of evidence supports Panzer's theory that Jǫrmunrekkr has the “second sight” of a dying man, Deutsche Heldensage im Breisgau (Heidelberg, 1904), p. 43.

18 Gylf. 11; Grm. 47.7; Svipdagsmál (Fiǫlsvinnsmál) 4.1 and passim.

19 The adjective seems to be baldr: ballr; the meaning is clearly “dangerous” or “destructive,” not simply “bold”: bǫll ráo, Hm. 26.6; bollir draumar, Baldrs draumar 1.8; ballr iǫtunn, Hymiskvioa 17.3.

A number of commentators take baldr in this passage as a noun, cognate to AS bealdor “prince”: Gering, Glossar (1887), p. 16 (but not in 1903 and 1907; in his 1922 edition he emends to ballr); Detter-Heinzel, ii, 583; Boer, Die Edda (1922), ii, 342; Neckel, Edda, ii, 10. But this sense occurs in no other extant Norse text; cf. Detter-Heinzel, loc. cit.—but also Bugge, Studier over de nordiske Gude- og Heltesagns Oprindelse (Christiania, 1881), p. 65, n. 3. And, an even more decisive argument, the phrase does occur in another Eddic poem, Siguroarkvioa in skamma 37.5, this time applied to a woman, obviously then not a prince: Brynhildr stands bǫll í brynio.

20 Cf. such of his names as Hjalmberi, Grm. 46.3.

21 Atlakvioa, Vǫlundarkvioa, Hlǫðskviða (Hunnenschlachtlied), Bjarkamál.

22 Saxo, ii, vii, 25, p. 60.

23 Vsp. 28.7–13; Gylf. 8.

24 Nor can the sem biǫrn hryti of 25.4 be used as evidence against the identification. Óðinn does not always appear balefully composed, but upon occasion has been known to lose his temper; cf. Hrólfss. 30. Moreover, one of his epithets is Bjǫrn; cf. de Vries, op. cit., p. 179; Falk, op. cit., pp. 4 f., 41. Falk, in fact, although regarding the person described in Hm. 25.1–4 as Jǫrmunrekkr, on p. 22 cites this passage as evidence of the connection between Óðinn and the bear: “likesom dette uttrykk [i.e., 1. 4] synes direkte myntet på Oden (jfr. Bjǫrn og Hrjótr) . . .”

25 So Bugge, Norrœn Fornkvœoi (Christiania, 1867), “Tillæg og Rettelser,” p. 441; Hildebrand, Die Lieder der älteren Edda (Paderborn, 1876), p. 301; Gering, Glossar (1887), p. 18 (but cf. his later editions); Ranisch, Zur Kritik und Metrik der Hampismál (Berlin, 1888), p. 15; Heusler, Zeitschrift des Vereins für Volkskunde, viii (1898), 102; notes to Genzmer's Edda, 2 Aufl. (“Thule,” i, Jena, 1928), i, 57. A number of critics, however, take þann belg as Hamoir's mouth: Detter-Heinzel, ii, 584; Jiriczek, Deutsche Heldensagen, i (Strassburg, 1898), 92, n. 1; Gering, Glossar (1903), col. 95; 1907, p. 19; Die Lieder der älteren Edda, hgb. von Hildebrand, umgearbeitet von Gering (Paderborn, 1904), p. 461; 1922, p. 460; Gering-Sijmons, Kommentar su den Liedern der Edda, ii (Halle, 1931), 443; Boer, Die Sagen von Ermanarich und Dietrich von Bern (Halle, 1910), p. 31; Edda, ii, 342 f.; Hollander, The Poetic Edda (Austin, 1928), p. 381.

26 There is no reason why Óðinn should not be visible to Sǫrli; in the Bjarkamál alone of the older poetry do we find the popular conception of him as the invisible rider over the battlefield. With this one exception, the older Norse and Danish tradition always represents him as appearing in human form, visible to everyone; cf. his appearances to the house of Vǫlsungr in Vss. 3; to Sigmundr in Vss. 11; to Haraldr Hilditǫnn in the Battle of Bravalla, in Saxo, viii, iv, 8 f., pp. 219 f.; to Hrólfr and his champions in Hrólfss. 26 and 30. On this cf. Olrik, Danmarks Heltedigtning (København, 1903), i, 73 f.

27 Hrólfss. 33; cf. also Saga Ketils hœngs 5; HH II, 34. 5–8.

Among the warriors who are killed directly because of Óðinn's evil counsel are Víkarr, Saxo, vi, v, 6 f., pp. 152 f.; Gautrekssaga 7; Hagbarthus, Saxo, vii, vii, 11, p. 196. Often Óðinn assumes the rôle of the evil counsellor who stirs up strife: as Bruno, between Haraldus and Ringo, Saxo, vii, xii, 1, p. 213; as Gizurr, between Hlǫr and Angantýrr, Hervararsaga 13; Hlǫoskvioa (Hunnenschlachtlied) 12, in Heusler and Ranisch, Eddica Minora (Dortmund, 1903), p. 5; as Bolwisus, between the sons of Sygarus and the sons of Hamundus, Saxo, vii, vii, 5, p. 194.

28 This has been suggested by Detter-Heinzel, iii, 584; Jónsson, De Gamle Eddadigte (København, 1932), p. 342.

29 Háv. 109.5; Grm. 47.5; Gylf. 11; Skáld. 6.

30 Saxo, vii, vii, 5, p. 194; cf. also HH II, pr. n. 1: Blindr inn bǫlvísi.

31 The vowel-variation suggests that which occurs in Óðinn's names Bileygr, Báleygr, Bǫlverkr. Cf. Schütte, Dänisches Heidentum (Heidelberg, 1923), p. 123; Falk, op. cit., p. 39 and under the names cited; de Vries, op. cit., pp. 174 f.

32 Von Unwerth, op. cit., p. 142, n. 1, attributes it to the close association between Óωn and the Vǫlsungs. But neither Jǫrmunrekkr nor Hamoir and Sǫrli belongs to the race of Vǫlsungr. Cf. also Simrock, Die Edda, 6 Aufl. (Stuttgart, 1876), p. 507; Rassmann, Die Deutsche Heldensage und ihre Heimat, 2 Ausgabe (Hannover, 1863), i, 271.

33 Scandinavian tradition knows him as god and eponym of the Gautar: Eddic poets and skalds alike designate him Gautr; the skalds also Gauta-týr, Hergautr, and Gaula spjalli; Snorri, Skáld. 82, relates that the Goths are named after King Goti, who was so called after Óðinn's name Gautr. This tradition was known also to the Anglo-Saxons: Asser, De rebus gest. Ælf. ad ann. 849, knew Geat as especially venerated by the Gauts. Procopius, Bellum Gothicum, ii, 15, states that the men of Thule especially honoured Ares, and immediately thereafter that one of the most numerous nations of Thule was the Gautoi; there can be slight question that Ares is to be identified with Óðinn (cf. below, Mars= Óðinn).

Moreover, place-names show that in southern Sweden, and in Västergötland, Óðinn has an especially prominent position; cf. Wessén, “Studier till Sveriges Hedna Mytologi och Fornhistoria,” Uppsala Universitets Årsskrift (1924: 2), 77 f.; de Vries, op. cit., pp. 170 ff., 199 f. On the close relation between the Gautar and Óðinn cf. especially Wessén, op. cit., pp. 24 ff. But de Vries, “Studiën over Germaansche Mythologie,” TNTL, lii (1933), 195 ff.; Grdr., xii. 2, 200.

Gothic tradition represents Óðinn as eponym and god of the Goths: according to Jordanes, Getica, ed. Mommsen, MGH, Auct. Ant., v (Berolini, 1882), (1) the royal line of Amal kings was descended from Gapt (xiv, 79), the first of the heroes whom the Goths regarded non puros homines, sed semideos id est Ansis (xiii, 78); and (2) Mars was chief god of the Goths (v, 41). Gapt is unquestionably identical with Gautr: Wessén, op. cit., pp. 18 ff., and the literature there cited—cf. also pp. 81 ff. For a contrary view cf. Müllenhoff, “Index Personarum,” in Mommsen's Jordanes, p. 143; Deutsche Altertumskunde, iv (Berlin, 1920), 183. The Ansis are the Æsir. On the identification of Mars as Óðinn, cf. Wessén, op. cit., p. 23. For a contrary view, that Mars=Týr (Tīwaz): among others, Mogk, Hoops Reallexikon, iv (Strassburg, 1918–19), 369; Schütte, Dänisches Heidentum, p. 83; de Vries, “Studiën over Germaansche Mythologie,” TNTL, li (1932), 283 ff.; Grdr., xii. 1 (Berlin und Leipzig, 1935), 170 f. On the close relationship between Óðinn and the Goths: Wessén, op. cit., pp. 18 ff., esp. p. 24; also pp. 81 ff.

34 This is the reason given by Saxo, viii, x, 14, p. 235. In his version Jǫrmunrekkr (Jarmericus) has become king of the Danes, that people which Óðinn paterna semper pietate coluerat.

35 Op. cit.: Odenstypus, p. 37; åbenbarelse, pp. 21 f. And he regards this relation between Jǫrmunrekkr and Óðinn as casting light on Hm. 25.1–4, p, 22.

36 The most notable Scandinavian instance is that of King Víkarr: Saxo, vi, v, 6 f., pp. 152 f.; Gautrekssaga 7. Cf. Chadwick, The Cull of Othin (London, 1899), pp. 16 ff., 36 ff.; Mogk, “Die Menschenopfer bei den Germanen,” Abhandlungen der kgl. sächsischen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften, Phil.-hist. Kl., xxvii (1909), 606 ff., esp. 611; von Unwerth, op. cit., pp. 90 ff.; von Amira, “Die germanischen Todesstrafen,” Abhandlungen der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Phil.-hist. Kl., xxxi (1922), 202 f.; Steller, “Zum Wodanglauben,” Mitteilungen der Schlesischen Gesellschaft für Volkskunde, xxvi (1925), 101 ff.; Höfler, Kultische Geheimbünde der Germanen, i (Frankfurt, 1934), 226 ff.; de Vries, Studia Germanica (Lund, 1934), pp. 392 ff.; Grdr., xii. 2, 131, 169.

37 He is known as Hanga-Týr (Víga-Glúmr, Lausavísur 10.2, I B, 114); hanga guo (Hávaror halti, Lausavísur 14.4, I B, 182; Gylf. 11); hanga dróttin (Yngs. 7); galga valdr (Helgi trausti Óláfsson, Lausavísa 7, I B, 94); galga farmr (Eyvindr, Háleygjatal 1.7, I B, 60; Skáld. 11); Hangi (Tindr, Drape om Hákon 1.5, I B, 136; 7.3, I B, 137; Hásteinn Hrómundarson halta, Lausavísur 5.7, I B, 92). For further skaldic occurrences cf. de Vries, De Skaldenkenningen met Mythologischen Inhoud (Haarlem, 1934), p. 16.

38 Háv. 138.

39 Tacitus, Germania 12. It was specifically the punishment for robbery, von Amira, op. cit., pp. 182 ff.; but was gradually carried over to related crimes, pp. 184 ff., among them treachery to the state, p. 185. Hanging for adultery seems not to have been common until a comparatively late date; cf. the dates of the instances cited by v. Amira, p. 177. But it does appear to have been known: v. Amira, p. 177 and passim; Boniface, Ep. 72, cited by Chadwick, p. 44. The hanging of Hagbarthus, seducer of Sygne, in Saxo, vii, vii, 5 ff., pp. 194 fi., however, is not necessarily a case in point: since he had also slain Sygne's brothers, his status was that of captured enemy; and the hanging of captives was common practice.

40 Von Amira, op. cit., pp. 202 f.—largely by implication; Höfler, op. cit., pp. 226 f., 230, 232; de Vries, Grdr., xii. 1, 252. But cf. Mogk, op. cit., pp. 607, 639 ff. In point of fact, capital punishment of any kind seems to have been regarded as sacrifice to some god: v. Amira, pp. 198 ff.; von Schwerin, Hoops, iv, 328 f.

41 Cf. Chadwick, op. cit., p. 25: “It is curious that the dog and hawk should be mentioned by Saxo . . . in connection with the hanging of Broderus [the name of the son in the Danish version]. Possibly the story had originally a different form.”

42 Von Amira, op. cit., pp. 105, 201, 203; J. Grimm, Deutsche Rechtsaltertümer, 4 Aufl., ii (Leipzig, 1922), 261 ff.; de Boor, “Eine Griechische Romanstelle und ein nordischer Opferbrauch,” Festskrift tillägnad Hugo Pipping (Helsingfors, 1924), pp. 36 f.; “Eddica,” APS, ii (1927), 99 f.

43 Gesta Hammaburgensis iv. 27, Script, rer. Germ., ii (Hannoveræ, 1876).

44 Chronicon i. 17 (9), Script, rer. Germ., xxxix (Hannoveræ, 1889).

45 Tantalizing is the comment of Höfler, op. cit., n. 235, pp. 236 f., on Saxo's “sonderbare Scheinhängung” of Broderus. Bugge, too, regarded the hanging of Randver as sacrifice to Óðinn, “Bemærkninger til norrøne Digte,” Arkiv, i (1883), 251 ff. But he based his view on emendation of a poem which does not give a version of the Jǫrmunrekkr-legend, but merely mentions Jǫrmunrekkr in passing, the Hyndlolióð“.

46 Cf. Einarsson, “Old English Beot and Old Icelandic Heitstrenging,” PMLA, xlix (1934), 975 ff.

47 Jordanes, Getica v, 41; Procopius, Bell. Goth, ii, 15; Tacitus, Germania 12; Annales i, 61 [Helm denies that this is an instance of hanging; he believes that the heads were cut off and preserved as trophies, Altgermanische Religionsgeschichte, i (Heidelberg, 1913), 269, n. 69]; Yngs. 23 f.; Chadwick, op. cit., pp. 16 ff., 36 ff.; Mogk, op. cit., pp. 608 f., 611; Wessén, op. cit., pp. 22 f.

48 Cf. Chadwick, op. cit., pp. 7 f., 30 ff.; Mogk, op. cit., pp. 607 ff.; von Unwerth, op. cit., pp. 82 ff.; Steller, op. cit., pp. 98 ff.; Höfler, op. cit., pp. 238 f.; de Vries, Grdr., xii. 1, 174 f.; xii. 2, 169.

49 Styrbjarnar-þáttr 2, Hvss. 14, Sǫgubrot 8, Hlǫoskvioa 24 f.

50 Saxo, viii, iv, 9, pp. 219 f.

51 Saxo, vii, x, 3, p. 203; ix, iv, 12, p. 254.

52 Str. 22 in Neckel's edition. I omit punctuation.

53 Bugge, “Tillæg,” p. 440—but cf. his earlier view, NF, p. 320; “Hamoismál,” ZfdPh, vii (1876), 398; Grundtvig, Sœmundar Edda hins Fróða (København, 1876), p. 249; Hildebrand, p. 298; Koegel, Geschichte der deutschen Litteratur, i, ii (Strassburg, 1897), 215; Jiriczek, op. cit., p. 92, n. 1; Heusler, ZdVerfV, viii, 102; notes to Genzmer's Edda, p. 53; Gering, 1904, p. 454; 1922, p. 454; Sijmons, “Das niederdeutsche lied von könig Ermenrichs tod und die eddischen Hamþésml,” ZfdPh, xxxviii (1906), 162—but cf. his earlier view, Die Lieder der Edda (Halle, 1906), p. 482; Kommentar, pp. 426 f. (his own views); Gering-Sijmons, pp. 440 f.; Schneider, “Studien zur Heldensage,” ZfdA, liv (1913), 346; Germanische Heldensage, i (“Pauls Grundriss,” x. 1, Berlin und Leipzig, 1928), 244; Wesle, “Zur Sage von Ermenrichs Tod,” PBB, xlvi (1922), 252 f.; Kienast, “Hamdismal und Koninc Ermenrikes Dot,” ZfdA, lxiii (1926), 51, 53; Hollander, pp. 377 ff.; Neckel, Edda, i, 268; Genzmer, Edda, i, 55.

54 The change is made by Grundtvig, p. 172; Bugge, ZfdPh, vii, 380; Hildebrand, p. 298; Gering, 1904, p. 454; 1922, pp. 454 f.; Genzmer, p. 55; Hollander, pp. 377 f.

55 Ranisch, op. cit., p. 12; Mogk, Norwegisch-Isländische Literatur (“Pauls Grundriss,” 2 Aufl., ii, Strassburg, 1901–09), 655; Detter-Heinzel, ii, 581; Boer, ii, 339 ff.

56 J. Grimm, “Iônakr und seine Söhne,” ZfdA, iii (1843), 154.

57 Die Edda, p. 462.

58 Op. cit., p. 271.

59 No version mentions the mother or a concubine of Ermanaric. The only wives mentioned are Svanhildr, who has already been slain at the time Hamoir and Sǫrli approach the hall, and the seduced wife of the þiorekssaga, who is obviously a reminiscence of Svanhildr.

60 Ranisch, op. cit., p. 12: Hróðrgloð addresses the Goths in general (he suggests striking out ll. 3–4), the essence of her words “Keine Gefahr ist da!” Detter-Heinzel, ii, 582: Hróðrgloð addresses Jǫrmunrekkr, saying, “Auf diese deine Rede drohen sie mit Dingen, die wol nicht angehen werden.” Boer, ii, 340—cf. also Die Sagen, p. 32, n. 1: Hróðrgloð looks out the window, sees that the enemies are only two in number, and addresses the youth who has warned Jǫrmunrekkr to take counsel: “du drohst da mit etwas, was doch nicht gelingen wird” or “diese drohung wird sich nicht erfüllen”; he emends freely. Mogk, Grdr., ii, 655: Hróðrgloð addresses Jǫrmunrekkr, saying, “Sei auf der Hut, denn zwei Männer allein können 1000 Goten binden oder fällen hier in der hohen Halle” [i.e., because they are drunk].

61 The text reads heita; but neither grammatically, syntactically, nor sensibly can it be construed in this passage. Emendation to hœtta “danger” is justifiably urged by Hildebrand, p. 298; Bugge, “Tillæg,” p. 440; ZfdPh, vii, 380, 399; Ranisch, p. 12; Jónsson, Eddalieder, ii (Halle, 1890), 99—but not in 1932; Gering, 1904, p. 454; 1922, p. 455; Boer, ii, 340; Gering-Sijmons, p. 441.

62 The text reads myni. But it is difficult to see why Hróðrgloð should address his (or her) listener in the third person. There are two possible solutions: emendation to mynir; or rendering of the mœlti vio of ll. 3–4 as “spoke concerning” rather than the more common “spoke to”—that is, Hróðrgloð reflects about the danger to mǫg þenna rather than addressing him directly. Unfortunately, there is no indication that at the date of the Hm. mœla vio might mean “speak concerning,” although the usage is found in the sagas: Fritzner, Ordbog over del gamle norske Sprog, ii, 767.

63 In accordance with Grundtvig, p. 172, taking hlýoigi as the adjective *hlýoigr= hlýoinn “obedient.” But it is not necessary with him to emend to hlýoigir. The form hlýoigi might very well be the nom. sg. masc. hlýoigr+the negative particle -gi.

Less safely can we follow Hildebrand, p. 298, in taking hlýoigi as *hlýoi for hlýoi “obedience”+-gi: nam hoc (est) periculum, si obedientia non fuerit; the advantage of this rendering, of course, is that it resolves the difficulty of the 3 sg. myni.

64 So Bugge, ZfdPh, vii, 399: emends pví at þat heita (22.5) to því er þar hœtta and takes hlýoigi as *hlýoi“silence” (<hljóor) with the neg. -gi; the lines are then to be rendered “therein is danger there (in the far distant land) that there be not silence.” He is followed by Koegel, loc. cit., and Jiriczek, loc. cit.

65 So Hildebrand, p. 298; Jónsson, Eddalieder, ii, 99; Sijmons, Die Lieder der Edda, p. 482—but he has since changed his opinion; Gering, 1922, p. 455.

66 Neckel, i, 268 f., and Sijmons, Kommentar, pp. 426 f., completely revise strs. 11–17 of the extant text; their order is str. 16.2, 16.1, 16.3–4; 11.1–2, 12.1–2; str. 22 intact; 12.3–4; str. 13 intact; 11.3–6; str. 14; str. 15; str. 17. Cf. also Genzmer-Heusler, p. 55.

67 Ll. 3–4, mefingr mœlti vio mǫg þenna, are sometimes regarded as such evidence, by construing mǫg as “son” or “young man.” But though this is a common meaning of the word, it is by no means the only one; mǫgr frequently means simply “man,” with no implication of youth: cf. the instances cited by Jónsson-Egilsson, Lexicon Poeticum (København, 1931) p. 419; Fritzner, Ordbog, ii, 772; Cleasby-Vigfússon, An Icelandic-English Dictionary (Oxford, 1874), p. 443. E.g., Fáfn. 16.6; Guor. I 5.4, 11.4; HH I 47. 8. The most telling example is the mogr of Hm. 15. 7, which, used in narrative, referring to Erpr, is modified by the adjective ungr, and therefore obviously means simply “man,” since the poet would hardly use the adjective “young” to modify a noun which itself implied “youth”; cf. also Sg. 6. 7: mǫg frumungan.

Rassmann interprets as “son” in the sense that Jǫrmunrekkr is a son of Óðinn, loc. cit. If, as Falk has urged in Festskrift tilegnet Førstebibliothekar A. Kjœr (Christiania, 1924), p. 8, the expression “gudesønn” denotes the relationship between a man and the god to whose cult he has belonged during life and into whose fold he will be taken after death, then Rassmann's interpretation might be correct, and, moreover, ll. 3–4 might be further indication that Norse poets believed Jǫrmunrekkr to be an adherent of the cult of Óðinn.

68 The theory that she instructed Hamoir and Sǫrli to take Erpr with them (so first Sijmons, ZfdPh, xxxviii, 161 ff.) or instructed Erpr to help the other two (suggested by Heusler, ZdVerfV, viii, 102) is based upon the version set forth in the very late Low German ballad, Koninc Ermenrikes Dot. This poem does contain a few distorted and vague reminiscences of the Norse story of Hamoir and Sǫrli, but they have been transferred to Dietrich von Bern; its every detail shows it to be a fine example of the distortion of heroic legend which can take place when a story is transmitted from one people to another with a wholly different body of legendary knowledge, and when it has been passed about among the folk for several hundred years.

69 Ranisch's criticism of Bugge, op. cit., pp. 1 f., is pertinent.

70 The two most significant to the present discussion, perhaps, are: Guorún gives to her sons magic armour (Vss.; impenetrable armour: SnE); after having slain Erpr, both brothers slip and the one supports himself with his hand (Sǫrli: SnE; Hamoir: Vss.), the other with his foot (Vss.).

71 On this rôle of Óðinn cf. especially de Vries, Grdr., xii. 2, 174 ff.

72 Saxo, vii, x, 3, p. 206; viii, iv, 9, p. 220. So also does he with his spear break the sword which he had once given Sigmundr, Vss. 11.

73 Eiriksmál 7. Cf. also Saga Ketils hœngs 5; Lokasenna 22.

74 Hákonarmál 12.

75 Cf. Ranisch's criticism of the Guorún-theory, op. cit., pp. 12 ff.

76 heita to hœtta; possibly myni to mynir.

77 “Sjældne Ord i norrön Skaldskab,” Tidskrift for Philologi, vi (1865), 96; NF, p. 320; “Tillæg,” p. 440.

78 Codex Regius of the Elder Edda (“Corpus Codicum Islandicarum Medii Aevi,” ed. Ejnar Munksgaard, x, Copenhagen, 1937), p. 90; Codex regius af den œldre Edda i fototypisk og diplomatisk gengivelse, udg. ved Ludv. F. A. Wimmer og Finnur Jónsson (København, 1891), p. 90. The accent is noted by Jiriczek, p. 92, n. 1; Gering, 1904, p. 454; 1922, p. 454; Sijmons, p. 482; Boer, i, 263.

79 Cf. Noreen, Altisländische und Altnorwegische Grammatik, §253. 2, p. 186.

80 J. Grimm suggested that Hróorglǫo might be a scribal error for Hroptr glaor, ZfdA, iii, 154. This suggestion is tempting, for Hroptr is a rather common name for Óðinn; but its very commonness lessens the probability that the scribe was stupid enough to make the mistake.

81 Cf. such of his epithets as Herteitr, Grm. 47. 3; hróoigr Heriafǫor, Grm. 19. 3.

82 Cf. the place-name Mœveio. The characteristic u (f at the end of the Viking Period) of this wa-stem adjective would remain before the i of the suffix.

83 Edda Sœmundar hinns Fróda (Holmiæ, 1818), p. 272.

84 If de Boor, “Das schwert Mæring,” ZfdPh, xlv (1913), 297, is right in taking mœringr, like Gautr and Danr, as a tribal name which has become an appellative, then might not mœringr like Gautr have been a name for Óðinn?

85 On them cf. especially Falk, Norsk Vidsk. Skrift. (1924), esp. pp. 35 f.; also de Vries, Grdr., xii. 2, 191 ff.

86 Gylf. 11; Grm. 46. 5.

87 Suggested by Bugge, NF, p. 320. To be sure, he and Jónsson, Lex. Poet., p. 418, derive these names from már (mor) “gull.” This derivation, too, would be possible: many of Óðinn's names are connected with animal- and bird-names; cf. Falk, Norsk Vidsk. Skrift. (1924), 39 ff.

88 Falk, Norsk Vidsk. Skrift. (1924), 36 ff.; Festskrifl Kjœr, pp. 2 f.