Teutonic Mythology Part 7

In German poems of the middle age ("Wolfdieterich," "Konig Ruther," and others) Borgar is remembered by the name Berchtung, Berker, and Berther.

His mythic character as ancient patriarch is there well preserved. He is _der grise mann_, a Teutonic Nestor, wears a beard reaching to the belt, and becomes 250 years old. He was fostered by a king Anzius, the progenitor of the Amelungs (the Amalians). The name Anzius points to the Gothic _ansi_ (Asa-G.o.d). Borgar's fostering by "the white Asa-G.o.d" has accordingly not been forgotten. Among the exercises taught him by Anzius are _daz werfen mit dem messer und schissen zu dem zil_ (compare Rig Jarl's exercises, Rigsthula, 35). Like Borgar, Berchtung is not a king, but a very n.o.ble and greatly-trusted chief, wise and kind, the foster-father and counsellor of heroes and kings. The Norse saga places Borgar, and the German saga places Berchtung, in close relation to heroes who belong to the race of Hildings. Borgar is, according to Saxo, the stepfather of Hildeger; Berchtung is, according to "Wolfdieterich,"

Hildebrand's ancestor. Of Hildeger Saxo relates in part the same as the German poem tells of Hildebrand. Berchtung becomes the foster-father of an Amalian prince; with Borgar's son grows up as foster-brother Hamal (Helge Hund., 2; see Nos. 29, 42), whose name points to the Amalian race. The very name _Borgarr_, which, as indicated, in this form refers to _bjarga_, may in an older form have been related to the name Berchter, Berchtung.

23.

BORGAR-SKJOLD'S SON HALFDAN, THE THIRD PATRIARCH.

_The Ident.i.ty of Gram, Halfdan Berggram, and Halfdan Borgarson._

In the time of Borgar and his son, the third patriarch, many of the most important events of the myth take place. Before I present these, the chain of evidence requires that I establish clearly the names applied to Borgar in our literary sources. Danish scholars have already discovered what I pointed out above, that the kings Gram Skjoldson, Halfdan Berggram, and Halfdan Borgarson mentioned by Saxo, and referred to different generations, are identical with each other and with Halfdan the Skjoldung and Halfdan the Old of the Icelandic doc.u.ments.

The correctness of this view will appear from the following parallels:[11]

{Saxo: Gram slays king Sictrugus, and marries Signe, { daughter of Sumblus, king of the Finns.

{Hyndluljod: Halfdan Skjoldung slays king Sigtrygg, and 1. { marries Almveig with the consent of Eymund.

{Prose Edda: Halfdan the Old slays king Sigtrygg, and { marries Alveig, daughter of Eyvind.

{Fornald. S.: Halfdan the Old slays king Sigtrygg, and { marries Alfny, daughter of Eymund.

{Saxo: Gram, son of Skjold, is the progenitor of the Skjoldungs.

{Hyndluljod: Halfdan Skjoldung, son or descendant of { Skjold, is the progenitor of the Skjoldungs, Ynglings, 2. { Odlungs, &c.

{Prose Edda: Halfdan the Old is the progenitor of the { Hildings, Ynglings, Odlungs, &c.

{Saxo: Halfdan Bogarson is the progenitor of a royal { family of Denmark.

{Saxo: Gram uses a club as a weapon. He kills seven { brothers and nine of their half-brothers.

{Saxo: Halfdan Berggram uses an oak as a weapon. He 3. { kills seven brothers.

{Saxo: Halfdan Borgarson uses an oak as a weapon. He { kills twelve brothers.

{Saxo: Gram secures Groa and slays Henricus on his wedding-day.

{Saxo: Halfdan Berggram marries Sigrutha, after having 4. { slain Ebbo on his wedding-day.

{Saxo: Halfdan Borgarson marries Guritha, after having { killed Sivarus on his wedding-day.

{Saxo: Gram, who slew a Swedish king, is attacked in war { by Svipdag.

{Saxo: Halfdan Berggram, who slew a Swedish king, is 5. { attacked by Ericus.

{Combined sources: Svipdag is the slain Swedish king's { grandson (daughter's son).

{Saxo: Ericus is the son of the daughter of the slain Swedish { king.

These parallels are sufficient to show the ident.i.ty of Gram Skjoldson, Halfdan Berggram, and Halfdan Borgarson. A closer a.n.a.lysis of these sagas, the synthesis possible on the basis of such an a.n.a.lysis, and the position the saga (restored in this manner) concerning the third patriarch, the son of Skjold-Borgar, and the grandson of Heimdal, a.s.sumes in the chain of mythic events, gives complete proof of this ident.i.ty.

[Footnote 11: The first nine books of Saxo form a labyrinth constructed out of myths related as history, but the thread of Ariadne seems to be wanting. On this account it might be supposed that Saxo had treated the rich mythical materials at his command in an arbitrary and unmethodical manner; and we must bear in mind that these mythic materials were far more abundant in his time than they were in the following centuries, when they were to be recorded by the Icelandic authors. This supposition is, however, wrong. Saxo has examined his sources methodically and with scrutiny, and has handled them with all due reverence, when he a.s.sumed the desperate task of constructing, by the aid of the mythic traditions and heroic poems at hand, a chronicle spanning several centuries--a chronicle in which fifty to sixty successive rulers were to be brought upon the stage and off again, while myths and heroic traditions embrace but few generations, and most mythic persons continue to exist through all ages. In the very nature of the case, Saxo was obliged, in order to solve this problem, to put his material on the rack; but a thorough study of the above-mentioned books of his history shows that he treated the delinquent with consistency. The simplest of the rules he followed was to avail himself of the polyonomy with which the myths and heroic poems are overloaded, and to do so in the following manner:

a.s.sume that a person in the mythic or heroic poems had three or four names or epithets (he may have had a score). We will call this person A, and the different forms of his name A', A'', A'''. Saxo's task of producing a chain of events running through many centuries forced him to consider the three names A', A'', and A''' as originally three persons, who had performed certain similar exploits, and therefore had, in course of time, been confounded with each other, and blended by the authors of myths and stories into one person A. As best he can, Saxo tries to resolve this mythical product, composed, in his opinion, of historical elements, and to distribute the exploits attributed to A between A', A'', and A'''. It may also be that one or more of the stories applied to A were found more or less varied in different sources. In such cases he would report the _same_ stories with slight variations about A', A'', and A'''. The similarities remaining form _one_ important group of indications which he has furnished to guide us, but which can a.s.sure us that our investigation is in the right course only when corroborated by indications belonging to other groups, or corroborated by statements preserved in other sources.

But in the events which Saxo in this manner relates about A', A'', and A''', other persons are also mentioned. We will a.s.sume that in the myths and heroic poems these have been named B and C. These, too, have in the songs of the skalds had several names and epithets. B has also been called B', B'', B'''. C has also been styled C', C'', C'''. Out of this one subordinate person B, Saxo, by the aid of the abundance of names, makes as many subordinate persons--B', B'', and B'''--as he made out of the original chief person A--that is, the chief persons A', A'', and A'''. Thus also with C, and in this way we got the following a.n.a.logies:

A' is to B' and C' as A'' B'' C'' and as A''' B''' C'''.

By comparing all that is related concerning these nine names, we are enabled gradually to form a more or less correct idea of what the original myth has contained in regard to A, B, and C. If it then happens--as is often the case--that two or more of the names A', B', C', &c., are found in Icelandic or other doc.u.ments, and there belong to persons whose adventures are in some respects the same, and in other respects are made clearer and more complete, by what Saxo tells about A', A'', and A''', &c., then it is proper to continue the investigation in the direction thus started. If, then, every new step brings forth new confirmations from various sources, and if a myth thus restored easily dovetails itself into an epic cycle of myths, and there forms a necessary link in the chain of events, then the investigation has produced the desired result.

An aid in the investigation is not unfrequently the circ.u.mstance that the names at Saxo's disposal were not sufficient for all points in the above scheme. We then find a.n.a.logies which open for us, so to speak, short cuts--for instance, as follows:

A' is to B' and C' as A'' B' C'' and as A''' B'' C'.

The parallels given in the text above are a concrete example of the above scheme. For we have seen--

A=Halfdan, trebled in A'=Gram, A''=Halfdan Berggram, A'''=Halfdan Borgarson.

B=Ebbo (Ebur, Ibor, Jofurr), trebled in B'=Henricus, B''=Ebbo, B'''=Sivarus.

C doubled in C'=Svipdag, and C''=Ericus.]

24.

HALFDAN'S ENMITY WITH ORVANDEL AND SVIPDAG (cp. No. 33).

Saxo relates in regard to Gram that he carried away the royal daughter Groa, though she was already bound to another man, and that he slew her father, whereupon he got into a feud with Svipdag, an irreconcilably bitter foe, who fought against him with varying success of arms, and gave himself no rest until he had taken Gram's life and realm. Gram left two sons, whom Svipdag treated in a very different manner. The one named Guthormus (_Gudhormr_), who was a son of Groa, he received into his good graces. To the other, named Hadingus, or Hadding, and who was a son of Signe, he transferred the deadly hate he had cherished towards the father. The cause of the hatred of Svipdag against Gram, and which could not be extinguished in his blood, Saxo does not mention, but this point is cleared up by a comparison with other sources. Nor does Saxo mention who the person was from whom Gram robbed Groa, but this, too, we learn in another place.

The Groa of the myth is mentioned in two other places: in Groagalder and in Gylf.a.ginning. Both sources agree in representing her as skilled in good, healing, harm-averting songs; both also in describing her as a tender person devoted to the members of her family. In Gylf.a.ginning she is the loving wife who forgets everything in her joy that her husband, the brave archer Orvandel, has been saved by Thor from a dangerous adventure. In Groagalder she is the mother whose love to her son conquers death and speaks consoling and protecting words from the grave.

Her husband is, as stated, Orvandel; her son is Svipdag.

If we compare the statements in Saxo with those in Groagalder and Gylf.a.ginning we get the following result:

Saxo: King Sigtrygg has a daughter Groa.

Gylf.a.ginning: Groa is married to the brave Orvandel.

Groagalder: Groa has a son Svipdag.

Saxo: Groa is robbed by Gram-Halfdan.

Saxo: } Hostilities on account of the robbing of Hyndluljod: } the woman. Gram-Halfdan kills Skaldskap.mal:} Groa's father Sigtrygg.

Saxo: With Gram-Halfdan Groa has the son Gudhorm.

Gram-Halfdan is separated from Groa. He courts Signe (Almveig in Hyndluljod; Alveig in Skaldskaparmal), daughter of Sumbel, king of the Finns.

Groagalder: Groa with her son Svipdag is once more with her first husband. Groa dies. Svipdag's father Orvandel marries a second time. Before her death Groa has told Svipdag that he, if need requires her help, must go to her grave and wake her out of the sleep of death.

The stepmother gives Svipdag a task which he thinks surpa.s.ses his strength. He then goes to his mother's grave. From the grave Groa sings protecting incantations over her son.

Saxo: Svipdag attacks Gram-Halfdan. After several conflicts he succeeds in conquering him and gives him a deadly wound.

Svidpdag pardons the son Gram-Halfdan has had with Groa, but persecutes his son with Signe (Alveig).

In this connection we find the key to Svipdag's irreconcilable conflict with Gram-Halfdan. He must revenge himself on him on his father's and mother's account. He must avenge his mother's disgrace, his grandfather Sigtrygg's death, and, as a further investigation shows, the murder also of his father Orvandel. We also find why he pardons Gudhorm: he is his own half-brother and Groa's son.

Sigtrygg, Groa, Orvandel, and Svipdag have in the myth belonged to the pedigree of the Ynglings, and hence Saxo calls Sigtrygg king in Svithiod. Concerning the Ynglings, Ynglingasaga remarks that Yngve was the name of everyone who in that time was the head of the family (Yngl., p. 20). Svipdag, the favourite hero of the Teutonic mythology, is accordingly celebrated in song under the name Yngve, and also under other names to which I shall refer later, when I am to give a full account of the myth concerning him.

25.

HALFDAN'S IDENt.i.tY WITH MANNUS IN "GERMANIA."