Thus says the Prophecy of the Vala: Then said Ganglere: Whence comes the wind? Many fair places there are in heaven, and they are all protected by a divine defense. But the gods became wroth at this arrogance, took both the brother and the sister, set them up in heaven, and made Sun drive the horses that draw the car of the sun, which the gods had made to light up the world from sparks that flew out of Muspelheim. The sun moves fast, and almost as if she were afraid, and she could not speed her course even if she feared death. A she-goat, by name Heidrun, stands up in Valhal and bites the leaves off the branches of that famous tree called Lerad. Snorri wrote the Prose Edda using Old Norse sagas as a template to demonstrate how to write Viking poetry. Snorri Sturluson is the author of one of the most prolific historical records of Norse mythology, the Prose Edda. There is also a mansion called Glitner, of which the walls and pillars and posts are of red gold, and the roof is of silver. The eighth is Lofn, who is kind and good to those who call upon her, and she has permission from Alfather or Frigg to bring together men and women, no matter what difficulties may stand in the way; therefore love is so called from her name, and also that which is much loved by men. So he started the Prose Edda with a story of his own about a king of Sweden called Gylfi who disguised himself as a traveler called Gangleri and went on a journey to visit the sir and gain knowledge from them. What game will you now offer me? Har answered: Every morning, when they have dressed themselves, they take their weapons and go out into the court and fight and slay each other. Gylfi was left in an empty room. Gangleri is then challenged to show his wisdom by asking questions, as is the custom in many sagas. what might he owned Still they said the wolf would be able to snap it. Vale they changed into the likeness of a wolf, whereupon he tore his brother Narfe to pieces, with whose intestines the asas bound Loke over the three rocks. He chose the latter, and made a tremendous leap over the top line of the net. Gylfi felt about three inches tall and slumped. The cause of his death is that he has not that good sword which he gave to Skirner. Hymer had then shoved the boat off. The most famous medieval Icelandic writer was Snorri Sturluson (1179-1241). Freyja has many names, and the reason therefor is that she changed her name among the various nations to which she came in search of Oder. Har answered: That is by the ash Ygdrasil. This is why he journeys to Asgard, but on the way he is tricked by the gods and arrives in some other place, where he finds a great palace. Back to Text The old frost-giant we call Ymer. In Norse mythology, specific deities are associated with fate, including mysterious, feminine beings known as the Norns. High-One finished. She has there a great mansion, and the walls around it are of strange height, and the gates are huge. He set them in the sky and told them to ride around every two half-days. lflir). Then said Ganglere: That is a most useful goat, and right excellent tree that must be that she feeds upon. Then said Ganglere: This I must surely understand to be true. He is daring in combat, and a good shot. Back to Text, 3 Vlusp ("The Sibyl's Prophecy")was poem describing the beginning and end of the world. Below he talks about the Sun and Moon.]. Some live a good life and are rich; some get neither wealth nor praise. Answered Utgard-Loke, looking about him on the benches: I do not see anyone here who would not think it a trifle to wrestle with you. When you find that out, you will confess it would rather be wonderful if everybody could not easily go in and out. The Gylfaginning serves as a framework to retell Old Norse sagas sampled from surviving Nordic texts through the eyes of Gylfi. He had a daughter by name Night. He listened carefully. Then happens what will seem a great miracle, that the wolf devours the sun, and this will seem a great loss. For them he prepares Valhal and Vingolf, where they are called einherjes (heroes). Then answered Har: The sons of Bor slew the giant Ymer, but when he fell, there flowed so much blood from his wounds that they drowned therein the whole race of frost-giants; excepting one, who escaped with his household. She answered that Balder had ridden over the Gjallar-bridge; adding: But downward and northward lies the way to Hel. He wondered much that the asa-folk was so mighty in knowledge, that all things went after their will. This is the greatest misfortune that has ever happened to the gods and men. It is good to call on him for harvests and peace. Nörfi or Narfi was the name of a giant who lived in Giantland4. But the gods were angered by that arrogance and took the siblings and set them up in the sky, they made Sun drive that horse who drew the sun's chariot which the gods had shaped to light the world from an ember which flew from Muspell's World. Be the first to contribute! On one of the boughs of the ash sits an eagle, who knows many things. Then says Gangleri: Of him it is said that he gave to a wayfaring woman, as a reward for the entertainment she had afforded him by her story-telling, a plow-land in his realm, as large as four oxen could plow it in a day and a night. Do you suppose that Alfather invites kings, jarls, or other great men, and gives them water to drink? The Deluding of Gylfi. When this was done and made known, it became the pastime of Balder and the asas that he should stand up at their meetings while some of them should shoot at him, others should hew at him, while others should throw stones at him; but no matter what they did, no harm came to him, and this seemed to all a great honor. Back to Text, 16 A possible meaning of the name Vindlni. Skrymer awoke and asked whether some leaf had fallen on his head; whether they had taken their supper, and were they ready to go to sleep. It was gray, and had eight feet, and this is the best horse among gods and men. Thereby the sun will be darkened, the winds will grow wild, and roar hither and thither, as it is said in the Prophecy of the Vala: Then asked Ganglere: What is the path from earth to heaven? They remembered how the dwarfs had quickened in the mould of the earth like maggots in flesh. He sways victory in war, wherefore warriors should call on him. Thor hastened back, answered that he had just waked up, and said that it was midnight and still time to sleep. He thought they only showed up at the end of the world, when they eat Sun and Moon. Do not brag too much of yourselves, for Utgard-Lokes thanes will not brook the boasting of such insignificant little fellows as you are; otherwise turn back, and that is, in fact, the best thing for you to do. There waxed the serpent so that he lies in the midst of the ocean, surrounds all the earth, and bites his own tail. As is here said: Ganglere asked: Whose is that horse Sleipner, and what is there to say about it? There are three such winters in succession, without any intervening summer. When they had proceeded a short distance, there stood before them a great wood, through which they kept going the whole day until dark. Make snippets of your favorite quotes and moments from Chapter 41 | 41 - The Deluding of Gylfi and organize them with all your favorite classic book quotes in a playlist. So it is here said: Then said Ganglere: Do any gods live then? He and his wife went on board his ark and saved themselves in it. Thor clenched his fist and gave the giant a box on the ear so that he fell backward into the sea, and he saw his heels last, but Thor waded ashore. He will catch it, of course, when the world ends. Then Njord sent for Skirner, Freys servant, bade him go to Frey and ask him with whom he was so angry, since he would speak to nobody. Har answered: Much is to be said about it. Odin laid on the funeral-pile his gold ring, Draupner, which had the property of producing, every ninth night, eight gold rings of equal weight. Then they handed it from one to the other and tried its strength with their hands, but it did not break. The present selection includes the whole of Gylfaginning (The deluding of Gylfi)--a guide to mythology that forms one of the great storybooks of the Middle Ages--and the longer heroic tales and legends of Skldskaparml (Poetic diction). In the stories retold in this book of the Prose Edda, we learn much about the Norse gods and their home in Asgard. The Fenris-wolf advances with wide open mouth; the upper jaw reaches to heaven and the lower jaw is on the earth. 473. High-One spoke long about how humans were created and where the gods came to live. There dwelt the gods and their race, and thence were wrought many tidings and adventures, both on earth and in the sky. When he encounters High One, Just-as-High, and Third, they are all sitting on ornate thrones in Asgard. THey had some very hard tussles, and before long Thor was brought down on one knee. Thither come also the sons of Thor, Mode and Magne, and they have Mjolner. In Old Norse texts, such as Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda, Jarnsaxa is described as a goddess of the sea, Thor's lover, and the mother of Magni and Modi. Har answered, and laughed: They ran a great risk on one occasion whereof I might tell you more, but you shall first hear the names of more asas. This woman was, however, of the race of the . At the northern end of heaven sits a giant, who hight Hrasvelg. Hermod mounted him and galloped away. He contends with Tyr, and they kill each other. It's called the delusion of Gylfi because Snorri accepted the Old Norse sagas as nothing more than myths. So he turned and went his way back to Thrudvang. Night rides first on the horse which is called Hrimfaxe, and every morning he bedews the earth with the foam from his bit. Har answered: There is yet an asa, whose name is Tyr. She has the necklace Brising, and she is called Vanadis. In Lokes company are all the friends of Hel. He found the door and headed back home to his people with all of the new information he had found. Then asked the woman: Have all things taken an oath to spare Balder? When it is not wanted for a voyage, it is made of so many pieces and with so much skill, that Frey can fold it together like a napkin and carry it in his pocket. Odin sends them to all battles, where they choose those who are to be slain, and rule over the victory. Inside the palace he encounters a man who asks Gylfi's name and so King Gylfi introduces himself as Gangleri. When she goes abroad, she drives in a car drawn by two cats. Then went Skade up on the mountain, and dwelt in Thrymheim. For instance, at one point in the Deluding of Gylfi the gods resolve to deal with Fenrir, a son of Loki who appears as a monstrous wolf. When they told him these terms, he requested that they should allow him to have the help of his horse, called Svadilfare, and at the suggestion of Loke this was granted him. It is told of him that he gave a ploughland in his kingdom, the size four oxen could plough in a day and a night, to a beggar-woman as a reward for the way she had entertained him. GEFJON's PLOUGHING. Thor answered that he could not deny that he had been greatly disgraced in this meeting; and this I know, he added, that you will call me a man of little account, whereat I am much mortified. Then said Utgard-Loke: This game ended as I expected. Har answered, laughing: Foolishly do you now ask. His horse hight Gulltop (Gold-top). He looked around him, and much of what he saw seemed to him incredible. She answered that all were shooting at Balder, but that he was not scathed thereby. High-One then said, "Odinn took Night and her son, Day, and gave them each a horse and chariot. But how is one ever to know a thing if one does not search for the answer or ask for one? It is now time to get up and dress; but you have not far left to the burg that is called Utgard. It is then implied that as Gylfi returns to his nation, he retells the tales he was told. In Snorri's account Gylfi is supposedly deluded by the sir into accepting their religion; hence the name "Gylfaginning," most often interpreted as the "deluding of Gylfi", although '-ginning' is regarded the same as what we recognise in "beginning", thus "the origin of Gylfi" is also possible. Since then it has been held as a proverb, to get loose out of Lading or to dash out of Drome, whenever anything is extraordinarily hard. ", Gylfi's frown flatted until he smiled, "Yes, I see. The frost-giants and the mountain-giants would go up to heaven if Bifrost were passable for all who desired to go there. The one asa looked at the other, and thought there now was a choice of two evils, and no one would offer his hand, before Tyr held out his right hand and laid it in the wolfs mouth. He is so good an archer, and so fast on his skees, that no one can contend with him. Although Fenrir is prophesied to swallow Odin during Ragnarok, the gods refuse to kill the wolf in advance and instead bind him with the magical fetter Gleipnir (Deluding of Gylfi 57-69). Then they saw a burg standing on a plain, and it was so high that they had to bend their necks clear back before they could look over it. This is why the first section of the Prose Edda is called "The Deluding of Gylfi" (or, in Old Norse, Gylfaginning). There he will lie bound until Ragnarok. As they ride over Bifrost it breaks to pieces, as has before been stated. Back to Text In setting up the deluding of Gyfi, he tells the reader that the sagas told within its pages are tall tales. Frey made no objection to this and gave him the sword. Added Thride: As cold and all things grim proceeded from Niflheim, so that which bordered on Muspelheim was hot and bright, and Ginungagap was as warm and mild as windless air. ", Just-as-High stopped, looked at Gylfi. You will not be deemed so great a man here among us as the asas call you, if you do not distinguish yourself more in other feats than you seem to me to have done in this. The wolf thought that this fetter was indeed very strong, but also that his strength had increased since he broke Lading. When he had put on the ox-head for bait, he cast it overboard and it sank to the bottom. In the morning he asked Hel whether Balder might ride home with him, and told how great weeping there was among the asas. He also sways the wealth of men. And when this ice stopped and flowed no more, then gathered over it the drizzling rain that arose from the venom and froze into rime, and one layer of ice was laid upon the other clear into Ginungagap. Thor answered that they were just going to sleep. Her threshold is called stumbling-block; her bed, care; the precious hangings of her bed, gleaming bale. The tale is not long. His brothers are Byleist and Helblinde. It is one of the reasons that the Prose Edda is continuously under scrutiny by modern Norse scholars. So it was above the Earth before this took place. So it is said in the Valas Prophecy: Then said Ganglere: Where is the chief or most holy place of the gods? Righteous men go to Gimle or Vingolf Wicked men go to Hel and then to Niflhel Bifrost is indeed a good bridge, but there is no thing in the world that is able to stand when the sons of Muspel come to the fight. Very good question. Made answer Har: By no means do we believe him to be god; evil was he and all his offspring, them we call frost-giants. Har answered: Few men, I know, are able to tell thereof, but still he has often been in difficult straits. But under the second root, which extends to the frost-giants, is the well of Mimer, wherein knowledge and wisdom are concealed. The whole of this narrative is metaphysical since the sir, who according to Snorri, have foreknowledge, trick him into a belief in the arcane complexities of the Norse pantheon, ultimately leaving him standing on empty ground. Hymer plied the oars in the bow, and thus the rowing soon ended. It is not necessary to dwell on this part of the story. They gave resting places to all fires, and set some in heaven; some were made to go free under heaven, but they gave them a place and shaped their course. About midnight Thor heard that Skrymer was snoring and sleeping so fast that it thundered in the wood. Third returned from wherever he had wandered off, and sat back down, wiping his eyes a bit and coughing. ", Gylfi wondered about poor Sun driving those horses, keeping them so cool at the same time. He howls terribly, and the saliva which runs from his mouth forms a river called Von. He clutched the hammer with all his might and dashed it at his temples, which he saw uppermost. High-One laughed, and said, a bit sarcastically, "Well, it is not surprising she goes so fast, considering who is following her so closely! Heimdal is the name of one. Har gave him answer: Odins second son is Balder, and of him good things are to be told. Alfather once came there and asked for a drink from the well, but he did not get it before he left one of his eyes as a pledge. Har asked the comer what more his errand was, and added that food and drink was there at his service, as for all in Hars hall. But what is the pastime of the einherjes when they do not drink? Back to Text As is here said: Then said Ganglere: If the norns rule the fortunes of men, then they deal them out exceedingly unevenly. When it had become dark, they sought a place for their night lodging, and found a very large hall. Methought, as I awoke, that some moss from the branches fell on my head. Then said Ganglere: It is a great wonder that such a lord as Frey would give away his sword, when he did not have another as good. This water is so holy that all things that are put into the fountain become as white as the film of an egg-shell. From: Bartholin, Thomas. He scarcely deigned to look at them, smiled scornfully and showed his teeth, saying: It is late to ask for tidings of a long journey, but if am not mistaken this stripling is Oku-Thor, is it not? Men should invoke him in single combat. They brought it to the wolf, and bade him try his strength on the fetter. Thus it is said in the Valas Prophecy: It is generally believed that this Thok was Loke, Laufeys son, who has wrought most evil among the asas. They were so fair and beautiful that he called one of them Moon but the other, his daughter, Sun, and married her to that man who is named Glenr. Neither the sea nor Surts fire has harmed them, and they dwell on the plains of Ida, where Asgard was before. Hence is the saying that he hlins who is forewarned. Thor took hold of the handle of his hammer so hard that his knuckles grew white. He was appeased, and took as a ransom the bondes children, Thjalfe and Roskva. 6 Old Norse nagl means "nail", but this is may be a folk etymology for a form related to Latin necare (meaning "to kill"). Thor and his companions went their way and continued their journey until noon. Har answered: The red which you see in the rainbow is burning fire. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. Furthermore, there is a dwelling, by name Himinbjorg, which stands at the end of heaven, where the Bifrost-bridge is united with heaven. He is a master-skald, and from him song-craft is called brag (poetry), and such men or women are called brag-men and brag-women. Then they built another hall as a home for the goddesses, which also is a very beautiful mansion, and is called Vingolf. "Summer's father, named Agreeable, is so fortunate in life that his name is used to describe everything in the world which is nice and pleasant. The wicked, on the other hand, go to Hel, and from her to Niflhel, that is, down into the ninth world. Antiquitatum danicarum de causis contemptae a Danis adhuc gentilibus mortis libri tres [Three books of Danish antiquities concerning the causes of the Danes' contempt of death while they were still pagan]. When he saw their fear, his wrath left him. In the evening Thor took his goats and killed them both, whereupon he had them flayed and borne into a kettle. "Oh," Glyfi said, thinking that was a rather rude thing to do to the giant who spent all of his life lying in the cold snow and having only milk for food. Then they took the first heat, and Huge was so much ahead that when he turned at the goal he met Thjalfe. How does he steer the path of the sun and moon? Why just the other dayhe began to think to himself, but Just-as-High went on, "The grandchildren of these people were three boys named Odinn, Vili, and Ve. The hammer sank up to the handle. When the asas at length, tried to speak, the wailing so choked their voices that one could not describe to the other his sorrow. The Gylfaginning tells the story of Gylfi, a king of "the land that men now call Sweden", who after being tricked by one of the goddesses of the sir, wonders if all sir use magic and tricks for their will to be done. Before his feet ran a dwarf, whose name is Lit. You will also learn about the different types of creatures that populate the world of Norse mythology. Did he get no punishment for this misdeed? The first blow was the least, and still it was so severe that it would have been my death if it had hit me. Thus says Thjodolf of Hvin, that Valhal was thatched with shields: Ganglere then made the following question: Who is the highest and oldest of all the gods? Then they took a large stone, which is called Tvite, and drove it still deeper into the ground, and used this stone for a fastening-pin. Then they took Lokes sons, Vale and Nare or Narfe. He took the ring Draupner and sent it as a keepsake to Odin. The dart pierced him and he fell dead to the ground. It seems to me that they had then accomplished much when earth and the sky were made, and the sun and heavenly bodies were set, and the days divided--and from where came the men who inhabit the world? The first gave them spirit and life; the second endowed them with reason and power of motion; and the third gave them form, speech, hearing and eyesight. Then Third says: What! Their names were High-One, Just-as-High, and Third. Synopsis He is boiled every day and is whole again in the evening. But even if you are unable to break this band, you will have nothing to fear from the gods, for we will immediately loose you again. Balders corspe was borne out on the ship; and when his wife, Nanna, daughter of Nep, saw this, her heart was broken with grief and she died. This place is called Gladsheim. Their fathers name is Vidfin. That age was called the golden age, until it was lost by the coming of those women from Jotunheim. Gylfi was then wondering about the gods of Sun and the Moon, and how they fit in with all of the horses and chariots and embers and things. Gylfi shook his head in agreement, that's why he was here: to learn not to be tested.