Publications of the Milman Parry Collection
of Oral Literature No. 3
OLd NOrse MythOLOgy —
COMParative PersPeCtives
OLd NOrse MythOLOgy—
COMParative PersPeCtives
edited by Pernille hermann,
stephen a. Mitchell, and Jens Peter schjødt
with amber J. rose
Published by
THE MILMAN PARRY COLLECTION OF ORAL LITERATURE
Harvard University
Distributed by
HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS
Cambridge, Massachusetts & London, England
2017
Old Norse Mythology—Comparative Perspectives
Published by The Milman Parry Collection of Oral Literature, Harvard University
Distributed by Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts & London, England
Copyright © 2017 The Milman Parry Collection of Oral Literature
All rights reserved
The Ilex Foundation (ilexfoundation.org) and the Center for Hellenic Studies
(chs.harvard.edu) provided generous inancial and production support for the
publication of this book.
Editorial Team of the Milman Parry Collection
Managing Editors: Stephen Mitchell and Gregory Nagy
Executive Editors: Casey Dué and David Elmer
Production Team of the Center for Hellenic Studies
Production Manager for Publications: Jill Curry Robbins
Web Producer: Noel Spencer
Cover Design: Joni Godlove
Production: Kristin Murphy Romano
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Hermann, Pernille, editor.
Title: Old Norse mythology--comparative perspectives / edited by Pernille
Hermann, Stephen A. Mitchell, Jens Peter Schjødt, with Amber J. Rose.
Description: Cambridge, MA : Milman Parry Collection of Oral Literature,
2017. | Series: Publications of the Milman Parry collection of oral
literature ; no. 3 | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identiiers: LCCN 2017030125 | ISBN 9780674975699 (alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Mythology, Norse. | Scandinavia--Religion--History.
Classiication: LCC BL860 .O55 2017 | DDC 293/.13--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017030125
Table of Contents
Series Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
by David Elmer, Casey Dué, Gregory Nagy, and Stephen Mitchell
Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
by Joseph Harris
Preface: Situating Old Norse Mythology in Comparative Contexts . . . . . . . . . xiii
by Pernille Hermann, Stephen Mitchell, and Jens Peter Schjødt
Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xix
Part One. THEORETICAL AND CONCEPTUAL COMPARISONS
JENS PETER SCHJØDT Pre-Christian Religions of the North and
the Need for Comparativism: Relections on Why, How, and
with What We Can Compare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
PERNILLE HERMANN Methodological Challenges to the Study of
Old Norse Myths: The Orality and Literacy Debate Reframed . . . 29
KATE HESLOP Framing the Hero: Medium and Metalepsis
in Old Norse Heroic Narrative. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
JONAS WELLENDORF The Æsir and Their Idols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Part Two. LOCAL AND NEIGHBORING TRADITIONS
TERRY GUNNELL Blótgyðjur, Goðar, Mimi, Incest, and Wagons:
Oral Memories of the Religion(s) of the Vanir . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
TORUN ZACHRISSON Volund Was Here: A Myth
Archaeologically Anchored in Viking Age Scania . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
OLOF SUNDQVIST The Temple, the Tree, and the Well:
A Topos or Cosmic Symbolism at Cultic Sites
in Pre-Christian Northern Europe? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
THOMAS A. DUBOIS The Mythic Sun: An Areal Perspective . . . . . . . 191
JOHN LINDOW Comparing Balto-Finnic and Nordic Mythologies . . 223
Table of Contents
Part Three. GLOBAL TRADITIONS
RICHARD COLE Snorri and the Jews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
MATHIAS NORDVIG Creation from Fire in Snorri’s Edda:
The Tenets of a Vernacular Theory of Geothermal Activity
in Old Norse Myth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
STEPHEN A. MITCHELL Óðinn, Charms, and Necromancy:
Hávamál 157 in Its Nordic and European Contexts . . . . . . . . . . . 289
JOSEPH FALAKY NAGY Vermin Gone Bad in Medieval Scandinavian,
Persian, and Irish Traditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323
EMILY LYLE Baldr and Iraj: Murdered and Avenged . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341
MICHAEL WITZEL Ymir in India, China—and Beyond . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 381
vi
snorri and the Jews
richard Cole
University of notre dame
Abstract: This essay considers the mythological writing of Snorri
Sturluson (d. 1241) in its most temporally proximal comparative context:
the intellectual culture of thirteenth centur Christian Europe speciically one particular area of the High Medieval imagination: Christian
narratives about Jews. Particular attention is paid to Snorri’s use of
anti-Jewish typology in his depiction of Loki and the Muspellssynir “The
Sons of Muspell” (the agents of the apocalypse who break loose at the
end of the orld). The essa argues that Snorri s coniguration of Loki s
status amongst the Æsir might well have been drawn from contemporary thinking about the status of the Jew amongst Christians: both
were considered outsiders, whose presence was tolerated because they
were thought to have special abilities, even while they were widely
held to be untrustworthy and deleterious to society. Loki’s apocalyptic
comrades, the Muspellssynir, obviously originate in the eddic poem
lusp , but I argue that Snorri’s account of them is strongly colored by
the medieval motif of the “Red Jews”, menacing Jewish warriors who
would break out of their subterranean tomb during the Last Days and
ride forth into Christendom with warlike intent.
For medieval Scandinavians, it was a religion that belonged to the past. Perhaps it
had once o ered spiritual truths but that as before the co ing of Christianit
a belief system which had swept it aside and utterly superseded the old ways.
People had believed in it only because Christ had not yet come to them. That, in
itself, was blameless, but once the Good News had been spread, only the most
stubborn and malevolent mind would refuse to convert to the one true faith.
Nonetheless, it had left behind a precious trove of worthy narratives, tales of
heroic deeds, and beautiful poetry. A good medieval Christian could certainly
appreciate that, but he ought to feel nothing but disdain for any remaining
Richard Cole
adherents of this backwards creed. In the literature of the thirteenth century,
its followers were frequently depicted as witches, troublemakers, and ne’erdo-wells; relics of a bygone age, waiting either for conversion or the righteous
violence of the pious. These are perceptions reasonably attached to paganism,
as it would have been understood by thirteenth-century intellectuals such as
Snorri Sturluson. In this study, however, we will consider the valence of such
attitudes to Judaism, the “superseded” religion upon whose abjection the foundations of medieval Christian identity were built.1
Hostility towards Jews was an unpleasant and recurrent feature of thirteenth-century European life.2 The continent’s Jewish population, numbering
perhaps some 450,000 (Baron 2007: 389), were subjected to rhetorical attacks
by Christian preachers, repressive laws, and occasional outbreaks of violence.
To frame this chronology of persecution within the life and times of Snorri
Sturluson, we might begin by noting that Snorra Edda was written just a few
years after the ruling of the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215. This edict included
the infamous proclamation that Jews and Muslims “utriusque sexus in omni
christianorum provincia et omni tempore qualitate habitus publice ab aliis
populis distinguantur” (Decreta p. 266) (of both sexes in all Christian provinces
and at all ti es shall be di erentiated fro other peoples in the public s e es b
the manner of their dress). The ruling ultimately led to the enforced wearing of
yellow badges or hats in many countries. As I have pointed out previously (Cole
2014: 239), Snorri’s lifetime saw blood libel accusations and massacres against
the Jews in Bristol, Bury St. Edmonds, Fulda, London, Oxford, Winchester and
York. By the time Snorri died in 1241, England had been driven into disorder
by anti-Jewish pogroms following the coronation of Richard the Lionheart
in 1189; crusading mobs had slain over 2,500 Jews in northern France; and
Pope regor I had put the Tal ud on trial in Paris (Mentgen 2005: 155 uval
1998: 113–16).
My aim in this paper, then, is to situate Snorri in what is arguably his most
proximal comparative context: that of intellectual culture in the thirteenth
1
2
Indeed, in a sense there is more Old Norse writing concerning these “worthy narratives” from the
Bible than there are reproductions of pagan narratives. Stjórn, Gyðinga saga, and the Old Testament
exempla from Konungs Skuggs , for example, dwarf Snorra Edda and the Eddic poems. For an argument connecting all three of the former to one author, Brandr Jónsson, see Ian Kirby (1986:
169–81), although cf. Wolf (1990). Studies of Snorri’s attitudes towards paganism are numerous,
but the reader a proitabl be directed to anner (2008: esp. 140 61) and aulkes (1983).
The initial description of medieval Europe as a “persecuting society” was provided by R. I. Moore.
He pays particular attention to the twelfth and thirteenth centuries in the second edition of his
book, The Formation of a Persecuting Society (2006: 144–71).
244
Snorri and the Jews
century.3 Speciicall I ill focus on the editations on udais and often antiJudaism and anti-Semitism, which pervaded that culture. During this period
serious thinkers could hardly avoid engagement with the questions prompted
by the ongoing interaction between Christianity and Judaism. Even if they only
treated the topic tangentially, the place of the Jews as characters in the Gospels,
popular accusations of e ish perid the pervasive t pological associations
of “the Jew” in Christian exegesis, and awareness of Christianity’s historical
beginnings as a Jewish sect meant that most of the important writers of the
thirteenth century made use of the Jewish topos. We might cite any number of
e a ples here: lbertus Magnus ( . 1245) illia of uvergne ( . 1228) and
obert rosseteste ( . 1220s) are all de onstrative of this trend (Liebeschut
2007a: 591, 2007b: 64; on Grosseteste, his anti-Judaism and his problematic
Hebraism, see McEvoy 2000: 120–32; Friedman 1934; cf. Roth 1951: 121, 126–27).
Snorra Edda obviously does not feature any Jewish characters proper, but,
to e plo a distinction coined b e re ero e Cohen in his stud of Marger
e pe (Cohen 2006 2003: 185) there are several igures ho are e -ish .
That is to say, they are not intended to be direct comments upon the Jews or
their religion, but they do freely make use of the potent typological armory of
anti-Judaism.4 I use the word “typology” here in a sense that encompasses both
its literary and exegetical meanings. The most obvious typological project in
Christian narrative is the foreshadowing of Christ projected back into the Old
Testament, an endeavour that began with the authors of the New Testament
and which was enthusiastically continued by the church. Romans 5: 14 is an
early example, and the one that gives us the word “type”: “Nevertheless death
reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the
si ilitude of da s transgression ho is the igure of hi that as to co e
( oin :
ulgate: forma futuri). Importantly, the business
of igurative interpretation as also applied to non-Biblical te ts and concepts.
As Eric Auerbach put it concerning the case of Dante Alighieri’s (d. 1321) Divina
Commedia:
Not only the world of the Christian religion, but also the ancient world
is included in Dante s igural s ste the o an e pire of ugustus is
for Dante a igure of od s eternal e pire and the pro inent part irgil
pla s in Dante s ork is based on this assu ption. Dante is not the irst
3
4
Of course, this is not a novel proposal. See, for example, Fidjestøl (1997: 343–50) or Faulkes
(1993: 59–76).
I have deployed Cohen’s category of “Jew-ishness” before, although I would now reconsider the
previous suggestions of Hebraist in uence in the case of M kkurk li o ered there: Cole 2014:
257–58.
245
Richard Cole
to sub ect all the aterial of hu an histor to the igural conception
[i.e. typological reading]; biblical history, Jewish and Christian, came to
be seen as universal human history, and all pagan historical material
had to be inserted and adapted to this framework. (Auerbach 1952: 6)
Typology in this sense becomes the pursuit of what St. Augustine called
obscura uaeda igura reru (the obscured igure of the thing) (Enarrationes
col. 1788). For the typologically-minded reader, all narrative elements can be
aligned with a predictive type, drawn from the rich dramatis personae of Christian
tradition. The identity of this type will then serve as a predictor for the qualities
and behaviors of the character to whom it has been appended. For instance, the
Roman Empire is aligned with the Kingdom of Heaven, and therefore becomes
a state charged with safeguarding spiritual perfection. Rahab becomes aligned
with Ecclesia (Auerbach 1952: 3–4), and thus the scarlet rope she hangs from
her indo beco es a s bol of Christ s blood: the sacriice that saves Ecclesia
just as the rope saves the harlot of Jericho. For the purposes of this study, we
will focus on the manipulation of one type, namely the Jew(s) as perceived
b thirteenth-centur Christendo and its potential in uence upon Snorri
Sturluson’s Edda, a literary product of that age. Snorri borrows from a given
tradition where its imagery inspires or the typological allusion is particularly
striking, but it should be stressed that I do not believe he was dealing in allegory per se. This is especially true in the case of Snorri’s use of the anti-Jewish
tradition. Snorri did not intend to enter into anti-Jewish polemic, much as the
more astute in his audience might have drawn that inference. Rather, amongst
a
riad of other ore innocent in uences he as inspired b conte porar
ideas about Jews and Judaism, and he then deployed those ideas, liberated from
their original frame of reference, in the fantasy world of his Edda.
Praise for the Jews in the Codex Wormianus
While there are no Jewish personalities in the Edda, the Jews as a collective do
make an explicit appearance in one particular recension, namely the Codex
Wormianus from the middle of the fourteenth century. There, in the prologue,
e ind the follo ing elaboration on the device of euhe eris :
Enn se nofn n i lgu u . a t ndi e ui sanleikrinn. Ok af f rstu
uillu a blota i huerr a r epterko and sinn for eistara d r e a
fugla loptin ok hi intungl n ok
isliga dau lega lut ar til er essi
uilla gekk u allan he ok sua uandlegha t ndu eir sannleiknu
at ingi uissi skapara sinn. utan eir nir enn se tolu u ebreska
tungu a se gekk iri st pul s
ina ( or ianus p. 3)
246
Snorri and the Jews
(And as the names [for God] multiplied, the true one was lost. And from
the initial heresy every man and his descendants worshipped as their
master animals or birds, the sky and the heavenly bodies and various
inanimate objects until this heresy went all around the world, and so
they habitually lost the truth, so that no-one knew his Creator, except
for those men who had spoken the Hebrew language preceding the
construction of the tower [of Babel])
Coming from an interpolation found solely in the Codex Wormianus, this
episode is surely “Eddic” even if it probably is not “Snorric”. Nonetheless, it is
enlightening for our understanding of (one particular) Edda’s connections to
the Christian conception of the Jews. There is a reminder here of the antiquity
of Judaism, and implicit therein is a nod to St. Augustine’s paradigm of “Jew
as Witness” (Cohen 1999: 23–65). That is to say, this apparently casual remark
stresses to the reader that the Jews had been the guardians of God’s law even
while Scandinavians and the other gentile nations had been distracted into
worshipping “inanimate objects” (dauðligar hlutir). There is almost a tone of
esteem for Jews in the narrative voice, versus a mocking admonishment towards
pagans. It is signiicant that the e s are not referred to b an of their usual
names in Old Norse, e.g. gyðingr or júði. The somewhat oblique appellation of
“men who had spoken the Hebrew language” seems to anticipate any negative
connotations which might have accompanied the word “Jew”. The separation
of the Jews from their language was a common psychological mechanism in
medieval Christianity which accommodated anti-Judaism with reverence for
one of the languages of scripture. Christian Hebraists who revered the Hebrew
language were still capable of anti-Jewish moments, e.g., St. Jerome, who
attacked e ish ritual clothing (Signer 2004: esp. 26 It ko it 2007: 563 72). e
can observe this “doublethink” elsewhere in Old Norse literature. For example,
in the Messuskýringar (co
entaries on the s bolis of liturg ) e ind the
state ent: v er inu vinstra horni alltaris i hlutr essu sunginn at n
standa a rar
ir undir tr . Enn eir eru n
k tan brautar g ingarnir
(pp. 47 48
standardi ation) (This is h the Mass is sung on the left side of
the altar, so that other nations might submit to faith. But those Jews are now
strayed far from the path). This is in no way at odds with the commentator’s
previous o ous assertion that: ina
tu tungu er ebreska (pp. 45 46) (the
highest language is Hebrew). That being said, there is no reason to suppose
that the author was attempting such anti-Jewish intellectual gymnastics in the
prologue of the Codex Wormianus. It might be an aside, but his intent is clear.
To su
ari e it collo uiall : ou a not like the e s but the ere a great
deal closer to od than e ere back hen e ere orshipping inn rocks
247
Richard Cole
puddles or who-knows-what-other-dauðligar-hlutir”. The Codex Wormianus
thus attests an Edda tempered with a degree of warmth towards Jews.
loki the Jew?
Snorri himself, as opposed to the Wormianus scribe, tends to borrow from the
more dramatic, hostile perception of Jews. The example of Snorri’s putative
anti-Judiasm that has probably received the most attention concerns the role
of Christian typology in Snorri’s account of Baldr’s death and abortive resurrection. It is worth noting as an aside that elsewhere scholars have also investigated parallels and perhaps even borrowings from medieval Jewish literature
in Snorra Edda (see Bugge 1881–1898: 45; Turville–Petre 1964: 119; O’Donoghue
2005: 90–91; Cole 2014), although space does not allow for further discussion
of this trend here. Baldr’s Christ-like credentials are well known, which begs
the question: which character in Snorri’s narrative then represents the people
whom medieval Christians widely saw as Christ’s killers, the Jews? Noting the
long-standing characteri ation of S nagoga as blind rthur Mosher proposed
that H r ust have been intended to refer to the e s ith Loki as the orchestrating power, acting as a cipher for Satan (Mosher 1983: 313–14). Mosher’s
overtly Christological interpretation of this episode has not been universally
accepted (e.g. Liber an 2004: 24 25). His h pothesis can perhaps be odiied
and enhanced with some concomitant examples of the tropes he discusses. To
kno ledge e s are described as blind ive ti es in the surviving Old Norse
corpus, including one reference in the Old Icelandic Homily Book (Maríu saga pp.
890–93, 963–65; HMS 1 pp. 302–08, 308–11; Homiliubók pp. 57–58). In addition to
these textual attestations, one pictorial depiction of the blind Synagoga survives
from the Old Norse-speaking period on an altar panel from Kinsarvik, Norway
(see Figure 1). Moreover, the Gospel motif of the Jews as unwitting instruments
for Satan’s plan to kill Christ also features in Niðrstigningar saga, the Old Norse
translation of the apocryphal Gospel of Nichodemus, which Christopher Abram
(2006: 13, 2011: 220) has argued may have inspired Snorri elsewhere in the Edda,
speciicall his account of Her
r s Helreið (ride to Hel). In Niðrstigningar saga
it is ritten that the Devil ggiat g ing a l iandscapar vi hann (HMS 2 p.
16; cf. pp. 3–4, 19) (incited the Jewish nation to enmity against Him).
I therefore agree that it is not unreasonable to adduce that Snorri would
have been familiar with the trope. But Mosher’s argument is open to criticism on two fronts. Firstly, it implies that Snorra Edda is a sort of roman à clef,
where each character is a façade for one discrete referent. As I have elsewhere
argued concerning the similarity between Surtr, the D kk lfar, and bl menn
(Cole 2015b), such narrow literalism is not how Snorri’s mind worked. Behind
248
Snorri and the Jews
a single character a lie a genealog including an nu ber of in uences
authenticall pagan or other ise and a single in uence a
anifest itself
in an di erent characters si ultaneousl . Secondl Mosher does not dra on
the most tangible and credible source of typology for Snorri’s writing, namely
the kind of preaching aterial no best e e pliied b the Old Icelandic Homily
Book. Abram, who also argues for the presence of incognito Jews in Snorri’s
work, says this on the matter:
Figure 1. blind synagoga with st. Paul, antependium from Kinsarvik Church,
norway, c. 1200. image courtesy of norsk Folkemuseum.
interestingly, many of the published images of this altar frontal are cropped in
such a way as to remove her.
249
Richard Cole
In [Gregory the Great’s (590–604)] eighth homily on the Gospels, [… ]
he speciies that not uite everything acknowledged Christ’s divinity
by their sorrow at his death. Gregory enumerates the ways in which
the di erent ele ents of creation including the rocks sea and
sun perceived Christ as Lord
But continues regor the e s
who turned away from Christ were harder hearted even than rocks,
refusing “to acknowledge him whom […] the elements proclaimed to
be God either by their signs or by being broken” […] When combined
with the relatively well-known idea that all creation wept at Christ’s
death, Gregory’s homily may lead us to suspect that at some point in
the transmission of the Baldr myth it has been susceptible to Christian
in uence. regor s ho ilies ere kno n in Iceland and translated
into Old Norse, and they provided an important source for the types of
sermon that Snorri might have heard preached each Sunday in church.
(Abram 2011: 219–20)
bra s argu ent is fortiied hen e conir that the relevant e cerpt
from the Gregorian homily he describes is indeed attested in an Old Icelandic
sermon on the Apparition of Christ:
En oss er eckianda i llo t cno
ei er s nd ero b e at borno
dr tne oc de ianda. hve ikil ill ca hever veret i hiorto ne verra
g inga er hv rtke ke dosc eir vi gv f r sp r ne f r iarteiner. uiat
allar hofo skepnor v tto o komet hafa scapera si . ui ke do himnarner gu .
er eir sendio stiornona. Hafet ke de hann. uiat at spratt eige vndan f tom
hans a er hann geck yver at. or en kende hann. uiat hon skalf at honom
deyianda. S len kende hann. uiat hon ger e eigi sk na. Ste nar ke do hann.
þuiat þeir sprungo a tíþ daúþa hans. Helv te kende hann. uiat at var
aftr at selia a dau a e es at helt r. En at allar hofo skepnor
v tta e hann gu vera. a villdo llvngis eige hiorto tr ra g inga tr a
hann gu vera. oc har are steino villdo au eige kli fasc til i ronar.
oc vilia eige i ta ei er allar skepnor skilia gu vera. (Homilíubók p. 58,
my emphasis)
(It is known to us in all wonders, those which were seen both at the
Lord’s birth and death, how much evil has been in the hearts of some
Jews, who neither acknowledge God for prophecies nor for miracles.
Because all the elements a rmed that their creator had come. The heavens
acknowledged od for they sent the stars. The sea acknowledged Him because
it did not part under his feet when he walked over it. The earth acknowledged
Him because it shook upon his death. The sun acknowledged Him because it
250
Snorri and the Jews
did not shine. The stones acknowledged Him because they cracked at the time
of His death. Hell acknowledged Him, because it came again to deliver
back those dead men, whom previously it held. But even though all of
the elements attested that He was God, then the hearts of the faithless
Jews would by no means believe Him to be God, and harder than stones
they would not be cracked for [their] repentance, and would not yield
to Him, whom all of creation understands to be God.)
Considered alongside Snorri s o n ords the in uence fro
the Edda becomes quite transparent:
this scene on
v n st sendu sir u allan hei
rindreka at bi a at Baldr v ri
gr tinn r Hel u. En allir ger u at menninir ok kykvendin ok r in ok steinarnir ok tr ok allr m lmr sv sem munt s t hafa at essir hlutir gr ta er
þeir koma ór frosti ok í hita. er sendi enn f ru hei ok h f u vel rekit
s n e rindi inna eir helli nokkvoru hvar g gr sat. Hon nefndisk
kk. eir bi a hana gr ta Baldr r Hel u. Hon segir:
kk un gr ta / urru t ru / Baldrs b lfarar. /
nautka ek karls sonar: / haldi Hel v er heir .
ks n dau s /
En ess geta enn at ar hai verit Loki Laufe arson er est heir illt
gert e su . (Gylfaginning pp. 47–48, my emphasis)
(The next thing that happened, the Æsir sent word around the whole
world, asking for Baldr to be wept out of Hel. And everyone did so, humans
and animals and the earth and the stones and trees and every kind of metalwork, as you will have seen that these things weep when they are brought out
of the cold and into the warm. Then when the messengers came home
and had al ost co pleted their task the ind a giantess sitting in a
certain cave. She as called kk. The ask her to eep for Baldr to get
him out of Hel. She says:
kk ill cr / dr tears / at Baldr s funeral. / Living nor dead /I did
not delight in the old an s son Baldr / Ma Hel keep hat she has.
But most people think this was really Loki, son of Laufey, who committed
the most evil against the Æsir.)
Besides the allusion to Gregory’s homily, there are other factors in Snorri’s
account contributing to Loki’s Jew-ishness. There appears to be a subtle irony in
the choice of Loki s alter ego. kk eans thanks or gratefulness . ichard
251
Richard Cole
Cleasb and u brandur igfusson assert that this is a coincidence and that
kk s na e ust originall have a di erent root (Cleasb and igfusson 1874:
756). But for typological purposes, this double meaning is quite appropriate.
After all, from a medieval Christian perspective, it was gratefulness that was
sorely lacking when Christ revealed himself to the Jews. As Christians told
the history of the early Church, the Jews had been given a great gift, yet they
had rejected it. In the end, it was the gentiles who would show appreciation,
and so form the Church. As the Old Icelandic Homily Book sa s: iorsala l r oc
g ingar geor esc vinstre handar e . at ero recningar f r tr s na. en hann
val c epter p sl s a he gre handar e s r af hei no
onno
r nor re
(Homilíubók p. 37) (the people of Jerusalem and the Jews were made left-handen i.e. ene ies that is a sign of their faithlessness and after his crucii ion
he chose for the honor of his right-hand-men heathen peoples from the North).
Furthermore, there is something very Jew-ish in Loki’s function amongst
the sir. Loki in sgar r and the e in estern Christendo are both positions predicated on the notion of “being in service”. From Augustine describing
the Jews as book-carrying servants for Christian students, to Emperor Frederick
II’s designation of Jews as servi camere nostre “servants of our chamber”, to the
possessive servitude exhibited in the Anglo-Norman udei Nostri, the doctrine of
the “Jew in Christian Service” permeated medieval thinking about Jews (Rowe
2004: 16 ru
el 2011: 28 36 bulaia 2011). But in both cases the servant
is held in contempt, perceived as antisocial and disloyal. Like the Jew amongst
Christians Loki is an ethnic Other because his father rbauti belongs to the
race of the tnar (giants).5 And in both cases, the cunning, magic-wielding
outsider is tolerated only because of his unique qualities. If Loki only insulted
and tricked the gods, and did not at all assist them when they fell into unfortunate predica ents his presence in sgar r ould surel not be sustained.
The parallel also extends perfectly to the way “the Jew” and Loki are treated.
Both are righteousl abused for the proit of their asters. obert rosseteste
a contemporary of Snorri, succinctly articulated the consensus regarding the
status of the Jew within Christendom:
5
The relationship could even be conceived of in postcolonial terms. Miriamne Krummel reads the
“Red Jews” motif in The Travels of Sir ohn andeville as an anxiety that the Christian oppression
of the Jews will be inverted during the apocalypse (Krummel 2011: 80–87). Ragnarøkr will also
see the Æsir fall prey to the giants they have oppressed for so long, led by Loki, a half-giant in
their midst.
252
Snorri and the Jews
et ust p n in ictio est ut terra laboriose operetur u etsi
e operatione illius populi fructiicet non ta en fert illi fructus suos
sed principibus sub quibus captivatur. (Epistolae p. 35)6
(
it is the in iction of a ust punish ent that this people labour
hard at tilling ground that, although it produces abundantly from their
e orts nevertheless bears its fruits not for the but for the princes
under whom they are held captive (Letters pp. 67–68))
This is a metaphor which could just as well be applied to Loki under the Æsir.
the sons of Muspell and the red Jews:
two harbingers of the apocalypse
Loki’s Jew-ish credentials are further enhanced when we consider his fate at
the end of the world. When the Æsir suspect his role in Baldr’s death, their
vengeance is grisly in the extreme. There is a brief allusion to the fact that Loki
has been bound in stan a 14 of Baldrs draumr: er lauss Loki l r r b ndo
(Poetic Edda p. 279) (when Loki gets free from his bonds). Some details are also
given in the prose epilogue to Lokasenna in the Codex Regius, which corresponds
quite closely to the description provided by Snorri. Snorra Edda, however, is our
chief source for the details of the scene. s H r e plains to angleri:
N var Loki tekinn gri alauss ok farit e hann helli nokkvorn.
t ku eir r r hellur ok settu egg ok lustu rauf hellunni hverri.
v ru teknir s nir Loka li ok Nari e a Nari. Brug u sir la vargs
l ki ok reif hann sundr Narfa br ur sinn. t ku sir ar a hans ok
bundu Loka e ir
r steina - einn undir her u annarr undir
lendu
ri i undir kn sf tu - ok ur u au b nd at rni. t k Ska i
eitror ok festi upp ir hann sv at eitrit sk ldi dr pa r or inu
andlit honu . En Sig n kona hans stendr h honu ok heldr undlaugu undir eitrdropa. En er full er undlaugin gengr hon ok sl r
6
The anti-Semitic image of the Jew as a duplicitous servant, making cloying pledges and boasting
indispensable special skills even while he undermines his master’s society, is also brilliantly
e e pliied b the ords Tho as of Mon outh ( . c. 1149) puts into the outh of an i aginary Jewish lawyer: “Nos iudei tui sumus, tui quotennes tributarii, tuisque crebro necessarii
necessitatibus tibi si uide se per ideles regno ue tuo non inutiles (The Life and Miracles of
St. William of Norwich p. 100) (We are your Jews, your yearly payers of tribute, and to you we are
necessary whenever you are in need, for we are always true to you and not at all useless to your
realm (my translation)). That the William of Norwich legend was apparently known in Iceland
and Norway, and that Archbishop Eysteinn (d. 1188) would have been in Bury during the alleged
martyrdom of Robert of Bury, are the matter for a separate study.
253
Richard Cole
t eitrinu en e an dr pr eitrit andlit honu .
kippisk hann sv
hart vi at r ll skelfr. at kalli
r landsk lpta. ar liggr hann
b ndu til ragnar krs . (Gylfaginning p. 49)
(“Now, without mercy, Loki was taken and brought to a certain cave.
Then they took three slabs and turned them on their edges and drilled
a hole in each. Then the sons of Loki ere taken
li and Nari or Nari.
The sir transfor ed li into the shape of a olf and he tore his
brother Nari to shreds. Then the sir took his entrails and bound Loki
ith the over the three stones one under his shoulders the second
under his hips, the third under his knees, and they turned those bonds
into iron. Then Ska i took a poisonous serpent and secured it above hi
so that the poison would drip out of its mouth onto his face. And Sigyn,
his wife, stands by him and holds a cup under the dripping poison. But
when the cup is full then she goes and throws the poison away, and in
the meantime the poison drips onto his face. Then he thrashes so hard
that the whole earth shakes. That’s what you call an earthquake. He lies
there in his bonds until Ragnarøkr”.)
And when Ragnarøkr7 comes, this is what happens:
essu gn klofnar hi inninn ok r a a an Muspells s nir. Surtr
r r f rst ok f rir honu ok eptir b i eldr brennanndi. Sver hans
er gott
k. f v sk nn b artara en af s lu. En er eir r a Bifr st
brotnar hon se f rr er sagt. Muspells egir s k a fra
ann v ll er
gr r heitir. ar ke r ok
enris lfr ok Mi gar sor r. ar er ok
Loki ko inn ok Hr r ok e honu allir hr
ursar en Loka f lg a
allir Hel ar sinnar. En Muspells s nir hafa einir s r f lking er s b rt
k. (Gylfaginning p. 50)
(In this clamor, the sky splits in two and the sons of Muspell ride forth.
Surtr rides out irst before and after hi there is burning ire. His
sword is very great. The shine from it is brighter than the sun. And
as the ride on Bifr st then it breaks as previousl said. The troops of
Muspell head forth to the ield hich is called gr r. enris lfr and
Mi gar sor r also arrive. Loki has also arrived and Hr r and ith
7
I use the spelling agnar kr throughout as it is speciicall Snorri s version of events as
depicted in chapters 50–51 of Gylfaginning, to which I am referring. On this problem, see Haraldur
Bernhar sson (2007). I a particularl grateful to one of
anon ous peer revie ers for
recommending this source.
254
Snorri and the Jews
him all the Ice Giants, and all the champions of Hel follow Loki. And the
sons of Muspell have a fylking all to themselves. It shines a great deal.)8
Snorri uotes stan a 51 of
lusp as his source here:
Kjóll ferr austan
koma munu Muspells
og l g l ir
en Loki st rir.
ar r f
egir
e freka allir
ei er br ir
B leists f r (Gylfaginning p. 51; cf. Poetic Edda p. 12)
(A ship journeys from the East
[the sons] of Muspell are coming
across the waves
There are the monstrous brood
with all the wolves
Those are the brothers
of B leist on their a )
But Snorri’s description of the imprisonment and counter-attack of
the Muspellssynir also has much in common with another popular medieval
narrative. “The Red Jews” is a motif, seeming to emanate most forcefully from
German-speaking Europe in the twelfth century (e.g. Gow 1995: esp. 91-95), in
which a nation of Jews are imprisoned in a remote area, often in a mountain
tomb somewhere around the Caucasus. Upon their release in the build-up to the
apocalypse, the Red Jews will attack Christendom, resulting in an apocalyptic
bloodshed that will bring on the End of Days. There are many variants to the
legend so eti es the ed e s are identiied ith og and Magog so eti es
the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel. Sometimes, as in The Travels of ohn andeville (c.
1350s), they will seek out the Jewish Diaspora, and act as a globally coordinated
threat. Sometimes they are directly answerable to the Anti-Christ or they ride
8
It may be noted that Snorri’s conclusion of his account of the Muspellssynir on the march with
the words er s b rt m k (It shines a great deal) or more closely (It is very bright) is remarkably
similar to the description of the Red Jews on the march in Der Göttweiger Trojanerkrieg (1280): Ir
helm waren hartte glantz (Their helmets had a frightful gleam) (Der Göttweiger Trojanerkrieg p. 273).
However, as the Middle High German account is much later than Snorra Edda there can be no
possibilit of direct in uence. The ost e can sa about this rese blance is that it is indicative
of the similar mental images both the Muspellssynir and the Red Jews were conjuring during the
thirteenth century.
255
Richard Cole
with the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Elsewhere, they are in league with
the forces of Isla ( o 1995). The irst te tual itness to a group of people
actually referred to as “Red Jews” is Der ngere Titurel (c. 1272) but the motif is
undoubtedly dependent on much earlier material from Alexander romances,
going back as far as the tenth century Historia de Preliis Alexandri Magni (Gow 1995:
70–76). Precursor groups to the Red Jews appear in St. Jerome’s Commentariorum
in Hiezechielem (c. 380), Lamprecht’s Alexander (c. 1130), and the Historia Scholastica
(1160s) amongst other Latin and German sources (see Gow 1995: 300–1, 305–6,
308). The Red Jews proper are not attested in the West Norse corpus, although
an antecedent tradition does appear in the Old Norse Elucidarius (c. 1200)9:
nti christus an berast i bab lon h nn iclu or k ni dan fra port
kono ... Oll tacn hans ero l g n. Hann an endr n a h na fornu iorsala
borg. at er herusale . oc lata sic ar gofga se gu . i honu
onu
g ingar taka fegensa lega. oc ko a til hans or ollu he . En e r
monu snuast til tru af kenníngum enocs oc elias. Oc taka mioc sua aller
har ar p n ngar f rir gu s nafne. (Elucidarius p. 84)
(The Anti-Christ will be born in Greater Babylon to a woman of easy
virtue from the tribe of Dan […] All his miracles are false. He will rebuild
the ancient rsalaborg, that is to say, Jerusalem, and have himself
worshipped there as God. The Jews will receive him eagerly, and they
will come to him from all over the world. But they will be converted
to the faith by the teachings of Enoch and Elijah. And they will receive
very harsh punishments in the name of God.)
There is no suggestion here that the Jews have been contained, or that they
will embark on a premeditated annihilation of Christendom. Crucially, though,
there is the notion that the Jews will unite all over the world, and that they
will act in a coordinated fashion in the service of the Anti-Christ until Enoch
and Elijah show them the errors of their ways. These “proto-Red Jews” are a
noteworthy example of the kind of thinking about Jews that was circulating
in the Old Norse world. As shall be seen, it appears that Snorri had access to a
more mature version of the Red Jews legend, which he then allowed to color
his perception (or depiction) of the Muspellssynir: e.g., both Snorri’s “sons of
Muspell” and the Red Jews are held underground until the end of times, both
ride on horseback, etc. If we are in search of a strain of the Red Jews tradition
9
I a grateful to rngr ur idal n for pointing out to e that this tradition as still current in
the early fourteenth century, as it is repeated in Hauksbók (pp. 170–71).
256
Snorri and the Jews
which is more analogous to the apocalyptic agents of Snorra Edda, we must look
beyond Icelandic sources.
As the continental material concerning the Red Jews is so diverse, any decision over which particular source to quote as exemplary will be more or less
arbitrary. Therefore, I have opted to compare Snorri’s Muspellssynir with the
tradition as it appears in Old Swedish.10 Doubtless, there can be no suggestion of
direct transmission between the two, as the Swedish Konung Alexander (c. 1380)
is over a century younger than Snorra Edda. However, the particular Latin text
of which it is substantially a translation, the Historia de Preliis Alexandri Magni,
dates from the tenth century. The Old Swedish account thus has the advantage
of having a strong connection to one of the oldest known ancestors of the Red
e s. urther ore o ing to the linguistic a nit bet een Old S edish and Old
Norse it can also give us a hint at what a rendering of the Red Jews tale might
have looked like in Snorri s o n language not that there necessaril
as a
written vernacular version. The tale could well have been told by foreign guests
or cos opolitan scholars at the Nor egian court of ing H kon H konarson
for e a ple. e kno that people in that ver circle ere discussing and
evaluating the plausibilit of another Orientalist fantas na el the Letter of
Prester ohn. ritten at the court of ing H kon for the king-in- aiting Magn s
H konarson Konungs skuggs (c. 1250s) refers to
bok er gior var a indi a landi
... ar sie argt vndarliga sagt (Konungs skuggsi p. 13; see also Larrington
2004: 96–97) (that book which was made in India […] in which many wondrous
things are said). Indeed, it ought to be noted that some versions of the Letter
actually contained references to the Red Jews (Gow 1995: 307, 309–10). Obviously
we are in the realm of the deeply speculative here, but it does not seem unthinkable that a discussion similar to the one hinted at in Konungs skuggs might also
have taken place concerning the Red Jews.
[Old Swedish]
han foor th dhan o er sitia
ster borter i
rlina fra
enkte land laa thiit wt mere
ther an iste a sighia ere
han fan ther folk rre n trull
th hafdhe tho r t nniskio hull
r dhelikith ok
kith oreent
the gat ngin opa seet
10
An overview of this tradition in East Norse more broadly is provided by Jonathan Adams (2013:
75–77). On Konung Alexander and the sources of the Historia see Mitchell (1996: 37–38), Zingerlie
(1977) and Gow (1995: 77).
257
Richard Cole
the hafdho s n s a gr
at nghin thordhe se a the
th lifdhe alt idh trulla sidh
ngin nniskia ik ther fridh
th aat folk
huld ok krop
inbyrdhis hwart annath op
ok alla handa creatwr
h st ok argh foghil ok di r
h ath so f dhis a iordh ller dher
th ta the alt sa an dher
…..........................................
the pl gha enkte thera iordha
the tar the op a thera bordhe
h ath an kan h l t lif ande n pna
…..........................................
orena gerninga margha handa
sa ale ander a the ganga
ther lo ika ra skri a
th r alt ont th the drif a
dhe iudha on th heta
s a inder han n h a the
il leta
tha alexander hafdhe thetta seet
badhe h rt ok idha leet
at thetta folk dre tholik last
han th nkte i sino hoghe rast
vtan thetta folk forgaar
al rlin pter d e faar
ok s ittas i tholik gerning sn dh
all rlin haf er th s stora n dh
o th skal ganga sin fra gang
pter thera sidh tha s ittas ang
ok lif a i thera pter d e
th are b tra at an the g e
Alexander fan et ful got raadh
th folkith han sa an drif a badh
i en ok badhe n ok inna
swa then mera som then minnda
s a at enkte ater ble
258
Snorri and the Jews
nor i
rlina alla the dre
s a langan gh r t i nor
at thiit ngin fara th r
Th ar ale anders idhelik b n
til gudh so allo gif er l n
at rlin skulle ekke s ittas
a tholikt lif erne ekke hittas
…..........................................
han badh s a l nge gudh h rdhe han
gudh giordhe vnder the ra san
ey stort fore alexanders saka
vtan nniskio helso til aka
han b dh tve bergho the standa n
ganga til sa an badhin i s n
the aro h gh ok
kith lang
gingo saman vtan alt bang
…..........................................
ther r stort r
innan til
so et gan t land iak th sighia il
…..........................................
b rghin ra alt kringo brant
so annar
r th r s nt
the ra so andre
r ggia h ghia
ther kan ngin op fore ghia
the r dha iudha ra ther inne
badhe ere ok s a inne (Konung Alexander 130–33)
[English]
(He goes from there over Scythia.
Away, far to the East of the world.
There was no land out there any more
that anyone knew of. Many say
there he found a people worse than
trolls
Although they had human skin
angry and most unclean
No one could bear to look upon them
They had such an ugly appearance
259
Richard Cole
that no one dared to look upon them
they all lived in the manner of trolls.
No hu an there could ind an peace.
They ate people with skin and body
including each other
and all kinds of creatures,
horses and wolves, birds and beasts,
whatever lives on earth or sea,
they ate it all in the same way
…..........................................
they do not tend to their land.
On their tables, they eat up
whatever living thing you can name.
The committing of many impure deeds [spells?]
Alexander saw them do.
There, it is written in law
that everything they do is evil.
They are called “Red Jews”
so he seeks them, and wants to see them.
When Alexander had seen that,
both heard it and clearly observed,
that this people behaved in such a way
he thinks in his booming voice
all the world will be judged
unless this people are destroyed
and will be smote by such sordid actions.
The whole world is in great need.
If things were to go their own way
according to their custom many would be smitten
and live ever after in their power.
It would be better if one could hide them away
Alexander had a great idea.
He had that people rounded up
in one group, both men and women,
the short and the tall,
so that not one was left behind at all.
He had them driven north in the world,
such a long way north,
260
Snorri and the Jews
that no one would dare to go there.
It was Alexander’s pious prayer
to God who rewards all
that the world would not be smitten
and never encounter such a way of life
…..........................................
he prayed so long that God heard him.
God did it, it’s true,
not for Alexander’s sake alone
but for the good of all humankind.
He co
anded t o ountains the still stand
to come together as one.
They were tall and very long.
They went together without any noise
…..........................................
Inside there is a lot of space
like a huge country, I should say
…..........................................
the mountains are steep all around
like another wall, it’s true.
They are like other tall walls.
No one can climb it.
The Red Jews are in there,
both short and tall.)
There are several striking a nities bet een the co ing of the Muspellss nir
according to Snorri and the Red Jews according to the Alexander romances.
Both are imprisoned underground: Loki in a cave, the Red Jews in the mountains. Both engage in cannibalis . The ed e s aat folk
huld ok krop
/ inb rdhis h art annath op (eat people and their esh and blood / the ll
even unch each other up). Si ilarl according to Snorri Loki s son li eats
his brother Nari. The release of either the ed e s or the Muspellss nir is a
precursor to the apocal pse. le ander as a Christiani ed king in the edieval
tradition, can pray to the one true God and prevent it from happening. Snorri’s
tragicall a ed pagan deities on the other hand ust vainl a ait their doo .
Indeed, concerning one important detail, Snorra Edda is closer to the Red Jews
motif than it is to lusp . In the eddic poem, the Muspellssynir approach over
water with a ship, a kjóll. But in Snorra Edda, despite the citation of the original
261
Richard Cole
Figure 2. der antichrist, fol. 14v (1480).
image courtesy of die bayerische staatsbibliothek.
poem, the accompanying prose clearly states that they ride on horseback
to ards sgar r. This suggests that the i age of the Muspellss nir con ured b
Snorri’s mind’s eye probably resembled something like the example provided
in Figure 2, rather than the nautical setting that would have been drawn from
lusp alone.
If one did not know the actual context for this image (and did not know how
relatively few artistic depictions there are of Old Norse myth from the Middle
Ages versus, say, Christian devotional art), one might very well describe these
horse-mounted warriors and their malevolent leader as the Sons of Muspell and
Loki as depicted b Snorri: r a a an Muspells s nir (the Sons of Muspell
ride forth) (Gyfaginning, p. 50). Of course, it is actually a depiction of the Red Jews
from Der Antichrist fol. 14v (1480). The ueen of the
a ons is also a ongst the
horde. A similar image can also be found in Ms. Germ 2mo 129, fol. 15v (c. 1320).
Otherwise, the earliest surviving pictorial representation pertaining to the Red
e s sho s the ento bed og and Magog eating hu an esh fro the Ebstorf
World ap (1235). See Gow 1995: 383–390.
262
Snorri and the Jews
Appear at the
apocalypse?
How will they
arrive at the
apocalypse?
Where are they
prior to the
apocalypse?
uspellssynir
in lusp
Yes
uspellsynir
in Snorra Edda
Yes
Yes
Sea, by boat (kjóll)
By land, on
horseback (at ríða),
and on foot
Underground,
inside a cave
By land, on
horseback, and
on foot
Underground,
inside a ountain
Yes. They march in
a fylking, a
edieval defensive
formation. They
are also referred to
as the Muspells
megir, ‘men of
Muspell perhaps
intended here in
the sense of ‘troops
of Muspell’
(but cf. f megir).
Frequently, as in
e.g. the Gottweiger
Trojanerkrieg
late 1200s): “Dar
ringe gant / Ir
ringe gant / Ir
helm waren hartte
glant ( o 1995:
193) [There under
[their armor] they
wore huge steel
rings / their
helmets had a
fearful gleam]
Muspell,
ore speciic
whereabouts
unknown
Depicted as
Uncertain,
a military force? described as
f
egir
‘monstrous men’,
perhaps intended
here as ‘monstrous
brood’ rather than
onstrous troops .
However, the point
seems obscure.
The Red ews
As is so often the case with Snorri’s work, the sons of Muspell are not drawn
exclusively from any one tradition. lusp clearly provided the basic structure
upon which Snorri could build his own narrative of Ragnarøkr. But Snorri does
seem to be permitting his ancient, pagan materials to draw color from the potent
images of the high medieval cultural canon in which he was immersed. Snorri
was not insulated from the intellectual climate to which he was contributing,
and thus could no ore avoid being in uenced b the po erful t pologies of
anti-Judaism than he could avoid any other aspect of the medieval Christian
Weltanschauung. Indeed, the emphasis on the “sons of Muspell” as a descent
group based on lineage makes them feel more like a contemporary ethnic group
than a venerable cos ological i ture.11 As if to highlight the originality of the
11
On the notion of descent and race in the Middle Ages, see Robert Bartlett (2001). On the importance
of lineage for understanding Jewishness in Old Norse literature, see Richard Cole (2015a: 239–68).
263
Richard Cole
thirteenth-century eddic hybrid he has created, it is only Snorri (and the singular
e a ple of stan a 48 in Lokasenna) who employs the name “Muspellssynir” to
refer to these agents of the apocalypse. In lusp , they are elliptically named
Muspells, lit. “Of Muspell”. One might rather optimistically attribute the uniqueness of Snorri’s appellation by proposing that he is the only surviving witness
of a naming tradition which was already at least two centuries old by the time
he wrote it down, having apparently survived in oral record from some time
around Iceland s o cial conversion in the ear 1000 until the 1220s. More
soberly, we might consider Snorri’s own era and consider if there were any
group in the thought of that period whose presence was associated with the
apocalypse and who were known as synir, (sons of). Readers will note the similarity between the phrases Muspells synir and Isræls synir, the term frequently
used in thirteenth centur orks such as Stjórn to refer to the e s. Both are
based on the formula of geographical location + synir. They are also phonologicall si ilar. In Snorri s da s the /els s ni:r/ of Muspells synir would have made a
half rh e ith the / :ls s ni:r/ of Isr ls synir. Admittedly, the proposition that
there are resonances of anti-Jewish imagery in Snorra Edda may be unpalatable,
but it is a crucial to considering Snorri in his comparative context. Much as
scholars may employ Snorra Edda to recover details of the pagan past, it is also
necessary to acknowledge Snorri’s Christian present. Thinking about the Jews
was an inalienable aspect of that experience.
Works Cited
Primary sources
Decreta
Conciliorum ecumenicorum Decreta. Ed. J. Alberigo et al. Bologna: 1973.
Der Antichrist
Der Antichrist und Die f nf ehn eichen vor dem ngsten ericht. Faksimile der ersten
typographischen Ausgabe eines unbekannten Straßburger Druckers, um 1480.
Hamburg: 1979.
Der Göttweiger Trojanerkrieg
Pseudo-Wolfram von Eschenbach. Der Göttweiger Trojanerkrieg. Ed. lfred oppit .
Deutsche Texte des Mittelalters, 29. Berlin: 1926.
Elucidarius
The Old Norse Elucidarius. Ed. Evelyn Scherabon Firchow. Columbia: 1992.
264
Snorri and the Jews
Enarrationes
St. Augustine of Hippo. Enarrationes in Psalmos. Ed. J. P. Migne. Patrologia Latina,
37. Paris: 1845.
Epistolae
Robert Grossteste. Roberti rosseteste Episcopi uondam Lincolniensis Epistol . Ed.
Henry Richards Luard. Rerum Britannicarum medii aevi scriptores, 25.
London: 1861.
translation
The Letters of Robert rosseteste Bishop of Lincoln. Transl. F. A. C. Mantello and
Joseph Goering. Toronto: 2010.
Gylfaginning: see Snorra Edda
Hauksbók
Hauksb k. dgiven efter de Arnamagn anske h ndskrifter no.
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268
Index
[Note: Entries beginning with ‘Þ’ are grouped at the end of this index.]
Abbo of Fleury, 304
Adalvard the Younger (bishop of
Sigtuna), 167
Adam of Bremen, 128–130, 163–182
Æsir (æsir), 42, 90, 102, 113–14,
121–22, 124, 127–28, 130, 194,
196, 227, 229, 233, 243, 251–54,
272, 291–92
Afghanistan, 364, 369
Albertus Magnus (fl. 1245), 245
Alexander of Lamprecht der Pfaffe
(ca. 1130), 256
Alken Enge, Jutland, Denmark, 294
alliteration, 199–200, 226
Alvíssmál, 74, 193–94, 215
Alþing, 128
Analogy, 8, 70, 233, 269, 276,
280–81, 284
Annales Regii, 271
anthropology, anthropologist(s),
10, 30, 36; anthropological
parallels, xvi
Antichrist, Der (1480), 262
anti-metalepsis, 67, 79, 81
Anund Jacob (Swedish king), 167
archaeology, archaeologist(s), 6, 8,
30, 95, 122, 129–30, 139–40,
143, 147, 149, 169, 172, 177–81,
215–16, 218, 226, 273–74, 280,
289, 294, 302
archetype, 5, 22
Ardeshir (Persian king), 330, 334, 337
Ariovistus (Germanic leader), 18
art, artist(s), 54, 63, 67, 70, 79, 262
artifact(s), artifactual, 6, 40, 54–55, 68,
179, 181, 217
Asdiwal, myth of, 10
Áslaug, 325, 331, 333, 337
Assmann, Jan, 17, 79, 344
Astaroð, 93
Atlakviða, 75
Atlamál, 75
Auðr hin djúpúðga (Auðr the DeepMinded), 344–45
Aurgelmir, 282–84
Australian aboriginals, myths of, 274
Austrfararvísur, 115
Austric populations, 364, 372
avenger, 233, 341, 348, 349–50,
352–53, 355–57
Avestan, 369
axial age, 17; religions, 18
Ælfric. See Marcarius and the
Magicians, Saul and the Witch
of Endor
Baldr/Balderus, 45, 140, 228, 229,
233, 248, 250–51, 253, 276, 342,
347–54, 357,
Baldrs draumar, 291, 293, 298, 309,
349, 353
Index
Balkans, 148
Barthólómeus saga postula, 93
Bellah, Robert, 17–21
Bergbúa þáttr, 280
bergbúi ‘mountain-dweller’, 283
Bergelmir, 283
Bestla, 347
Bible passages: I Chronicles, 168;
(Deutero-)Isaiah, 91; Exodus, 91;
Genesis, xiv, 194, 370; Jeremiah,
91–92; Mark, 303; Matthew, 303,
333; Psalms, 91–92; Romans,
245; I Samuel, 303; Wisdom of
Solomon, 91
“Biejjie-baernien såangoe Jeahnaj
eatnamisnie” (North Sámi
‘Beaivvi bártni soagnju
Jiehtanasaid máilmmis’) (The
Sons of the Sun in the Land of
the Giants), 207–8
“Biejjie-neijten sealadimmie” (North
Sámi ‘Beaivvi Niedda jápmin’)
(The Death of the Daughter of
the Sun), 208
birds, 64, 68–70, 142, 148, 205, 247;
augural, 353
bizarrerie (ativism reflecting older
mythic layer), 364, 369
blót (sacrifice), 93, 94, 98, 100–102,
117, 119–20, 122, 124, 128, 177,
246. See also sacrifice.
blótgyðjur ‘sacrifice priestess’, 117, 122
blóttré ‘sacrificial tree’, 177
boar(s), 118, 147
bones, 144, 145, 149–50, 177, 293, 364,
366, 368, 371, 376
book-prose theory, 29, 31, 33, 35
book-prose vs free-prose debate,
31–46
Borre style, 142
bracteate(s), 70, 71, 140, 145, 216
Bragi Boddason, 120, 232
bridal quest (motif R225), 203–5, 208
382
Brunhilde (queen), 175
bull, 121
Bundahis (Pahlavi cosmological text),
354–55
Byzantine Empire, 143, 151
Capitulatio de partibus Saxoniae
(Ordinances concerning Saxony),
175
Celebremus karissimi, 305
central place(s), 126, 143, 151, 155,
178, 179
Ch’i (son of legendary first Hsia king),
375
Charlemagne, 175; campaign of,
against the pagan Saxons, 176
charm(s), charm magic, 204, 208,
226–227, 289–290, 292–294, 299,
302, 308–9, 330, 336
Charon’s obol, 289, 302, 305–6
China, 18, 271, 350, 364, 371, 372,
374–376
Christianization, 8, 90, 94, 99, 105,
143, 217–218, 244, 264, 305
Chronica Slavorum of Helmold of
Bosau, 181
I Chronicles. See under Bible passages.
Cian, 326–328, 330, 334, 335–336
Clermont runic casket (also known as
the Franks casket), 78, 152
cnuimh (‘worm’ in Irish, variant of
cruimh), 326, 330
Commentariorum in Hiezechielem of St.
Jerome, 256,
communication, 29, 38, 40, 42, 115;
between ‘this’ world and the
‘other’ world(s), 11; oral, 42, 44;
strategies, 17; with the dead, x
comparativism(s), 4–5, 10, 14, 341;
icongraphic method of, 70;
méthode comparative, vii; Mircea
Eliade’s views on, 4–5; and structural models as heuristic tools
for reconstructing traditions, 4
Index
comparison(s), 3–19, 23, 54, 78; of
Baldr’s death and Iraj’s, 341–357;
of Balto-Finnic poetry and West
Germanic poetry, 225–226; of
Finnic and Nordic mythology,
192–219, 224–235; of Hawaiian
and Nordic mythology, 19–23;
of Ilmarinen and the Wayland
tradition, 232; of Old Uppsala and
West Slavic materials, 163–82;
of pictorial representations of
Volund, 155; of Vanir gods to
other gods, 115, 130; of volcanic
activity and Old Norse literature,
273–281; of ‘worms’, 334
composition-in-performance, 32
Conán (the son of the Liath Luachra),
326–329, 334–336
Conciliorum Oecumenicorum Decreta
(Decrees of the Ecumenical
Councils), 244
Concilium Germanicarum, 175
Concilium Turonense, 175
contextualization of performance
practices, 36
conversion. See Christianization
cosmic: birth, 348; egg, 371; elements,
168; hall, 182; knowledge, 230;
model, 182; pillar, 176–178; references, 167; symbolism, 168, 173,
177, 180; travel, 204, 206; well,
174
creation myth(s). See myth(s).
cross(es), 66, 155, 193, 206, 213;
Halton and Leeds, 69; Kirk
Andreas, Isle of Man, 79, 81
cult, cultic, 7, 94, 217–218; activities,
166; feasting, 169, 179; figures,
89–90, 95, 97, 100–101, 103, 105;
functions, 172; hall(s), 172, 178;
houses (hof, h rgar), 143–148, 155,
177, 179, 182; image(s), 176; practices, 91, 94, 102; site(s), 166–167,
169, 173, 175, 176, 178, 181–82;
spring(s), 178; tree(s), 176–178;
well(s), 178. See also ritual
cultural diffusion, 199–200, 215;
memory, 53; studies, 30
dainas: Latvian, 204, 209–210, 212, 214
Dala-Guðbrandr, 95
Dante Alighieri (d. 1321), 245
De Bello Gothico (Gothic War) of
Procopius, 150
De Lapidibus (On Stones) of Marbod of
Rennes, 307
dead, the, 14, 69, 144, 205, 234, 290,
291, 293–294, 299–300, 303,
305–310, 344, 345
decapitation, 303–4
Decreta. See Conciliorum
Oecumenicorum Decreta
Dejbjerg, Jutland, Denmark, 125
demon(s), 92–94, 97–98, 175, 275, 370
demon-king, 350
Denmark, Danish, 60–61, 71, 78,
90, 99, 116, 125, 129, 143, 149,
167, 172, 181, 302, 304, 307, 330,
332, 353
Derrida, Jacques, 54
descent, 21, 149, 263, 337, 369
Descriptio insularum aquilonis
(Description of the Islands of
the North), Book 4 of Gesta
Hammaburgensis, 164
(Deutero-)Isaiah. See under Bible
passages
devils. See demons
diachronism, 342, 357; diachronic and
synchronic approaches, 44–46
dialogic poems, 34, 126
Diarmaid, 324, 326–29, 334–36
diegetic level, 79; extradiegetic
narrator, 71; extra- and intradiegetic worlds, 67
Dievs (Latvian sky god), 210
diffusion, 29, 199–200, 215, 218
383
Index
Dinkard (Pahlavi Zoroastran text), 354
Dioscuri (twin brothers of GrecoRoman mythology), 215–16
direct speech, 73–76
dísablót, 128
Dísarsalr, 128
discourse: as concept, 15, 23; religious, 6, 90, 94; meta-discourse,
54; Óðinn-discourse, 15–16;
textual discourse, 73; Þórrdiscourse, 15
Divina Commedi (Divine Comedy) of
Dante Alighieri, 245
draugadróttinn ‘Lord of Ghouls’, 292
drinking, ceremonial, 143, 171
dróttkvætt, 33, 280
earth-egg creation myth. See under
cosmic
earthquake(s), 254, 276
East Anglia, England, 140, 304
Ecclesia, 246
edda. See eddic poems and Snorra edda
eddic poems, 30, 31, 32–34, 40–41,
73, 120, 122, 130, 215, 225–26;
aesthetics of, 32; composition-inperformance of, 32; dating of, 32;
improvisation of, 33; medieval
collection of (i.e., Codex Regius
of the Elder edda, Poetic edda),
33, 41, 44, 53–54, 69, 79, 118, 227,
230, 234, 253, 255, 365, 367, 368;
memorization of, 33; oral background of, 33; provenance of, 32.
See also titles of individual poems
Egill (Volund’s brother), 142, 148, 153
Egill Skalla-Grímsson, 227
Egils saga Skalla-Grímssonar, 227
Egyptians, 18, 306; Egyptian art,
frames on, 55; Egyptian literature, 72
einherjar (slain human heroes), 171
Eiríks saga rauða, 299
Eiríksmál, 126
384
ekphrasis, 40
Eldgjá, 270
Eliade, Mircea, 4–5, 9, 11, 23, 168
Elijah, 256
Ella (king of England), 333, 337
Elucidarius, 256
emergence myth. See under myth(s)
Enarrationes in Psalmos (Expositions on
the Psalms) of St. Augustine, 246
Endor, witch of, 303
Enlightenment, the, 91
Enoch, 256
Enuma Elis (Babylonian creation
myth), 371
epic(s): 200, 202, 228, 355; Estonian,
199; Finnish, 199, 224–25; heroic,
79, 374; Indian, 374; Persian, 341,
345, 352, 355
Epitome of Roman History of Florus,
294n11
estate(s), royal. See central place(s)
ethnopoetics, 34
euhemerism, 246
Everriculum fermenti veteris of Erik
Pontoppidan, 90
evolution of religion. See religion
Exodus. See under Bible passages
Eyjafjallajökull (volcano), 270
Eyrbyggja saga, 118, 120, 292
Eyvindr skáldaspillir Finnsson, 356
Fáfnir, 56, 64, 66–68
Fáfnismál, 127
famine, 171, 271–72
Feldber. See under sanctuary
Fenian cycle, 324
Feraydun, 341, 346, 350–53, 354, 357
Ferdowsi, Abolqasem, 341
Ferryman’s Fee, 290, 305–6, 308
fettering, 230, 353–55; of Loki and
Zaddak, 353–55
feud(s), 146, 348–50, 357
fian (band of heroes), 326, 328
figurative interpretation, 245
Index
Finland, 151, 192, 199–200, 202–3, 205,
215, 223–27, 229–30, 232–35
Finnish Literature Society
(Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden
Seura), 199
fire(s), 69, 73, 96, 99, 120, 126, 146,
172, 193–94, 230, 231, 254,
269–72, 275–77, 280, 283–84,
296–97, 328, 350, 365, 373
lnir 356
folk songs, 192, 199–205, 209–12, 215,
224–28, 230
folklore, 6, 30, 35–36, 217, 273
folktale(s), 7, 231
Fourth Lateran Council, 244
frame: as ‘non-physical boundary’,
54; as physical border (parergon),
54, 58
frame narrative, 54; open, 56, 63;
portal, 60–61; unframed, 58, 80
Franks casket. See Clermont runic
casket
Frazer, Sir James George, 5, 23, 125
Frederick II (emperor), 252
free-prose theory, 29, 31, 33
Freyfaxi (horse in Hrafnkels saga), 117
Freyja, 115, 118, 121, 122, 127, 140,
298; as blótgyðja (sacrificial
priestess), 117, 122
Freyr, 21, 94, 98, 115–27, 140, 165, 168,
170, 177, 234–35, 356; Freyr kings
as ‘peace kings’, 21; Freysgoðar
(Hrafnkell Hallfreðarson; Þórðr
Özurarson), 116
Frigg, 122, 127, 347
Frösön church, Jämtland (earlier
called Hoffs kirkio), 177–78
gallows, 295–97, 301; placement of,
296
Ganander, Christfrid, 224, 230–32
Gangleri (pseudonym for Gylfi,
Swedish king), 41–42, 253, 276
Garz (temple site), 180
Gautreks saga, 296
Geertz, Clifford, 10
Geirrøðr, 231
Genesis. See under Bible passages
genetic comparativism. See comparativism
Genette, Gérard, 71–72
Gennep, Arnold van, 125
Geometric Period. See Greek
Geometric period
geothermal activity, 269–70, 273–77,
281, 284
Gerðr, 126–27, 356
Gesta Danorum of Saxo Grammaticus,
30, 45, 113, 127, 298, 302, 309,
323, 341
gesta episcoporum (‘the deeds of
bishops’): genre of, 164
Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae
pontificum (History of the
Archbishops of HamburgBremen) of Adam of Bremen,
128, 163–173; Leiden manuscript
(Cod. Voss. Lat. 4º 123), 164. See
also Adam of Bremen
gesture(s), 42; hand, 42–44; in Codex
Upsaliensis, 43–44
Getica of Jordanes, 150
ghouls, 292–93
Ginnungagap, 277–78, 280, 365–66
Gísla saga Súrssonar, 34, 113, 116
Glaðsheimr, 170
Glomac (possible sacrificial site), 181
goðar, 116–17; blótgoðar, 122
Goðormr (god of the Danes), 94
Gospel of Nichodemus (apocryphal
gospel), 248
Gotlandic picture stones. See under
runestones and picture stones
Göttweiger Trojanerkrieg, Der, 263
Grænlendinga saga, 299
385
Index
Gráinne (daughter of Cormac, the
high-king of Ireland), 324, 326,
329, 335
Grani (Sigurðr’s horse), 66, 68–69, 71
Greco-Roman philosophical tradition,
91
Greek Geometric period (ca. 900–700
BCE), 56
Gregory I (pope, also known as ‘the
Great’), 175, 250–51
Gregory IX (pope), 244
Grettis saga Ásmundarsonar, 298
Gríma, 331
Grímnismál, 73, 117, 120, 126, 127,
170–71, 173, 197, 215, 281–82,
297, 368
Grógaldr, 291, 298
Groß Raden (possible sanctuary site),
180
Gudme, Fyn, Denmark, 172
Gudmund (Norwegian idol), 89–90,
104
u r narhv t, 75–76
Guðrúnarkviða I, 69, 75
guldgubber, 70
Gunnarr Gjúkason, 338; in the snake
pit, 140
Gunnarr helmingr, 98
Gunnars þáttr helmings, 21, 115, 117,
126, 127
Guta saga, 124
Gutzkow (temple site), 180
Gylfaginning, 42, 102, 103, 127, 150,
170–71, 173, 194, 197, 232, 234,
281–82, 284, 291, 341
Hadingus, 15–16, 298
Haftv d 329 30 334 336 37
hagiographic texts, 92, 94–95, 101
Haithabu (also Hedeby), 18
Hákon Hákonarson (king), 257
Hákon Sigurðarson (earl, often
referred to as Jarl Hákon), 99–100
Hákonar saga góða, 119
386
Hákonarmál, 126
Háleygjatal of E vindr sk ldaspillir
Finnsson, 356
Hálfs saga ok Hálfsrekka, 296
Hallb rn hali (poet) 300
Hallmundarkviða, 270, 273, 280–81, 283
Hamðismál, 75
Hár, 41–42, 232, 253, 276, 277
Haraldr hárfagri (king), 151
Haralds Biezais, 209, 211
Harthgrepa, 298–99, 309
Hatti texts, 375
haugbúi, haugbúar ‘mound-dweller(s)’,
297–98, 300–301, 309
Hauks þáttr Hábrókar, 125
Hauksbók, 116
Hávamál, 74, 174, 289, 291, 294–97,
299, 302, 303, 307–10
Hawaii, 19; traditional Hawaiian
society, 19–22
Hebrew Bible, 72, 370
Hegge, Norway: one-eyed figure from
church in, 300
Heimdallr, 35, 226
Heimskringla. See individual saga titles
Hekla, 270–71, 279
Helgakviða Hjörvarðssonar, 118
Helgakviða Hundingsbana I, 74, 75
Helgö, Lake Mälaren, Sweden, 148,
151, 172, 178
Helmold of Bosau (author of Chronica
Slavorum), 180–81
Hephaistos (Greek god), 152
Herder, Johann Gottfried von, 199,
224
Hermóðr, 248
Hermóðr’s Helreið, 248
hero, 54, 67, 69, 202–5, 209, 227, 301,
324–26, 337, 355; astral hero, 214;
culture hero, 204
heroic legend, 53, 54, 56, 78, 80;
heroic narrative, 53–54, 68,
76–77, 79; ‘heroic Edda’, 79;
Index
Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks, 118, 177
Hevaa, Kaprio, Ingria, 201
hierophany, 5
Historia de Preliis Alexandri Magni
(History of the Battles of
Alexander the Great) of Leo
Neapolitaniensis, 256, 257
Historia Scholastica of Peter Comestor,
256
history of religions, 4–5, 10, 13
Hittite myths, 375
H r 229 347 350 353 54 356 as
a e ish reference 248 H r/
Høtherus, 348
Hœnir, 291
h rgar, 94, 121–22
hofeiðr’ ‘hof-oath’, 119
hofgyðjur, 122; Þuriðr ‘hofgyðja’,
116–17; Steinvör ‘hofgyðja’, 117
Hólar, Iceland, 39
horse(s), 103, 117–18, 120, 166, 196,
211, 212, 215, 260, 293; in relation
to the Vanir, 117; Freyfaxi, 117
Hrafnkell Hallfreðarson (‘Freysgoði’),
116
Hrafnkels saga Freysgoða, 113, 116–17,
118
Husaby, Västergötland, Sweden, 305
Hushang (legendary king in the
Shahnameh), 346
Hvergelmir, 173–74, 276–77, 281–83
Hymiskviða, 74, 102, 281
Hyndluljóð, 118, 121–22, 291, 298
Iceland, 7, 39, 43, 78, 100, 102, 103,
116, 118, 122, 125, 130, 155,
168, 218, 225, 227, 234, 250,
264, 269–84, 295, 308, 349, 363,
374, Icelanders, 115–119, 284,
Icelandic chieftain, 30; Icelandic
oral tradition, 113; Icelandic
place names, 117, 119; Icelandic
sagas (See sagas); Icelandic settlement, 7, 116, 119, 125, 272, 344;
Icelandic skalds, 30, 195
iconographic methods, 53, 70, 79
iconography, Christian, 303; runestone, 63
idols(s), 89–101, 103–5, 171, 180; idolatry, 91–95, 101, 104
Illerup Ådal, Jutland, Denmark, 18
Ilmarinen (god of the heavens), 202,
228, 231–32, 235
image(s), 38, 40–42, 45, 56, 90–91,
92, 98, 100, 124, 125, 171, 174,
176, 192, 193–94, 196–98, 200,
203, 205–6, 208–9, 213–17, 246,
262–64, 270, 273–74, 276–84, 289,
295, 297, 300, 302–3, 333
India, 35, 257, 364, 369, 374, 375;
Indian hymn, 368; Indian Yama,
370
Indiculus superstitionum et paganiarum
(Index of Superstitions and
Pagan Practices), 175
Indo-Europeans, 4, 14, 202, 227,
324, 342, 344, 347, 353, 356–57,
363–64, 368, 370, 372, 374, 375,
376–77
Ingi Steinkelsson (Swedish king), 177
initiation, 151, 152, 155, 296
inquit, 73, 75, 76
Iraj (legendary character in the
Shahnameh), 341, 346, 350–52, 355
Iran, 369
Ireland, 324, 326
Irish analogs, 331; derbfine, 344; tradition, 324, 325–26, 335; cnuimh/
cruimh, 330
Irminsul, 176, 178
Isaiah, (Deutero-)Isaiah. See under
Bible passages.
Isis (Egyptian goddess), 218
Isle of Man. See Man, Isle of
Ívarr inn beinlaussi, 332–33
Jacobus de Voragine, 304
Jafnhár, 41, 42, 102
387
Index
Jamshid (legendary king), 346, 350,
352–53, 355
Järfälla, Sweden, 304
Järrestad, Scania, 179
Jeremiah. See under Bible passages
Jews, 243–64; blood libel against,
244; gyðingr, 247; Judaism and
anti-Judaism, 244–47, 263; júði,
247; massacres of, 244; pogroms
against, 244; ‘Red Jews’, 253–63;
special clothing or badges, 244;
‘Synogaga’ as blind, 248
Jokkmokk, Sweden, 207
Jóns saga ins helga, 39
Jordanes, 150
tunn, tnar ‘giant(s)’, 229, 233, 252,
277, 280, 282–84, 366
Joukavainen (giant), 230–31
Judaism. See Jews
Judei Nostri (Anglo-Norman text), 252
Jüngere Titurel, Der of Albrecht von
Scharfenburg, 256
Kalevala, Old (Kalevala taikka wanhoja
karjalan runoja suomen muinosista
ajoista), 227–28
Kalevala, 192–93, 199, 224, 228–34;
meter, 192
Kalevipoeg, 199
Kárr inn gamli (mound-dweller), 298
Káruljóð, 74
Kashmir, 369–70
Katla (volcano), 271–73
Kayumars, 346
kefli ‘rune stick’, 299, 302, 308, 309
Kiimasjärvi, 204
Kingu (Mesopotamian god), 371
Kinsarvik Church, Norway: antependium, 248–49
Kirk Andreas cross fragments, 79–80
Kjalnesinga saga, 120
Klamath tribe, 274
Konung Alexander, 257–61
Konungs skuggsjá, 257, 276, 279
388
Kráka (Crow), 325, 331–33, 337
Kristnitökuhraun, 273
Ku (Hawaiian god), 20–21
Kuhn, Thomas, 9
Kumlbúa þáttr, 298
Kun (of Hsia dynasty), 375
Kuutar, moon as a female deity in
some Balto-Finnic songs, 204
Kvikkjokk, Sweden, 207
Laki (volcano), 270, 271–72, 279
Lamprecht der Pfaffe, 256
landnám (settlement period), 113, 218,
271–72, 275
Landnámabók, 113, 116–18, 125, 130,
271, 275
landscape(s), 113, 122–26, 149, 172,
210, 270–71; as expressions of
cosmology, 167, 169
lapidary tradition, 307–8
Lateran Council, Fourth. See Fourth
Lateran Council
Latvia, x, 181, 192, 213; dainas
(see under dainas); Latvian
tradition(s), 192, 194, 197, 204,
209–14
lava, 270–84
laws, 79, 169, 244, 260, 275, 304,
308; Icelandic, Grágás, 295–96;
Icelandic, Úlfljótslög (Law of
Úlfljótr), 119–20; Langobardic,
Leges Langobardorum (Lombard
Laws), 175; Norwegian,
Ei sifa ingsl g: Kristinn r ttr hinn
forni (Law of Eiðsivaþing: Older
Christian Law), 100; Norwegian,
Frosta ingsl g (Law of Frostaþing),
308; Norwegian, Gulaþingslög
(Law of Gulaþing), 124; Swedish,
Upplandslagen (Law of Uppland),
128; Swedish, Västgötalagen
(Westgötha laws), viii
law-speaker(s), 43
Leach, Edmund, 10
Index
Legenda aurea of Jacobus de Voragine,
304
Legendary Saga of St Óláfr, 95
Leges Langobardorum. See under Laws:
Langobardic
Lévi-Strauss, Claude, 10–11, 14
Liber Miraculorum (Book of Miracles)
of Herbert of Clairvaux, 273
lightning, 90, 165, 271
líkneski ‘likeness’, 90–91, 98
Líkneskjusmíð, 90
literacy, xi, 30–46, 199; alphabetic,
40, 45
Liutprand (king), 175
Liutprandi Leges. See under Laws:
Langobardic
ljóð ‘charm’, 290
ljóðaháttr meter, 34, 116
Ljóðatal, 289
Lokasenna, 73, 253, 264, 347
Loki, 35, 229, 243, 253–55, 261–62, 276,
347, 349–50, 353–55; represented
as a Jew, 248–53
Lönnrot, Elias, 192, 199, 224–25, 227,
233
Lono (Hawaiian god), 20–21
Lord, Albert B., 32
Luakini ritual cycle, 20–21
Lucius Annaeus Florus. See Epitome of
Roman History
lyng-ormr ‘heather-snake’, 330
Lytir, 99, 125
magic, 11–12, 15, 125, 127, 208, 224,
252, 290, 292–93, 298–99, 307–10,
326, 331, 350, 370, 375. See also
charm(s), charm magic
magician(s), 12, 299, 309, 352
Magnúss saga berfœtts, 296
Makahiki ritual cycle, 20–21
Man, Isle of, 67, 79–80; Manx carving,
68
Mandi (Nuristani god), 370
manor(s), manorial residence(s). See
central place(s)
Manuchehr (legendary king in the
Shahnameh), 351–53, 355
manuscript(s), medieval, 32, 35,
41, 164, 234; art, 63; as arenas
for communication, 40, 44;
Carolingian, 63; Ottonian, 63;
production of in Sweden, 78;
verbal and visual representation
in, 43
manuscript(s), individual: AM 242
fol., Codex Wormianus (Prose
edda), 246–48; AM 748 4to
Fragments of the Elder and the
Younger Edda, 234; Cod. Voss.
Lat. 4º 123, Leiden manuscript
of Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae
pontificum of Adam of Bremen,
164; DG 11 4to Codex Upsaliensis
(Prose edda), 42–44; Ny. kgl.
Samling 66, 8vo Gamle danske urtebøger, stenbøger og kogebøger, 307;
Ups C 528, Codex Bildstenianus
(Ett fornsvenskt legendarium), 304;
*Vatnshyrna manuscript, 280
Maori traditions, 372–73
Marbod, Bishop of Rennes, 307
Marcarius and the Magicians, Saul and
the Witch of Endor of Ælfric, 303
Margery Kempe, 245
Maríu saga, 100, 248
Mark. See under Bible passages
Matthew. See under Bible passages
medium, media, xvi, 30, 34, 39, 40–45,
53, 56, 68, 71–78, 81, 274; differences in, 34, 44–45, 78; and
mediation, 40, 53, 68; ‘medium
theory’, 53, 54, 76, 81; strategies,
42–43; studies, 30
389
Index
memory, 38, 66, 81, 343; collective,
45; communicative, 130, 344;
cultural, 53; function of in oral
and written cultures, 38; and
image(s), 38; toast ‘minni’, 120
Merovingian France, 147–48, 151, 172,
177–78, 181
Messuskýringar (commentaries on the
symbolism of liturgy), 247
metalepsis, 57, 71–72
Metamorphoses of Ovid, 276
Midas (king), and the Donkey’s Ears,
327
Middle East, 271, 324, 329
Midgard serpent (Old Norse
Miðgarðsormr), 140, 254
Mikael Agricola (‘father of Finnish
literature’), 223–32
Mímir/Mímr/Mími, 148, 235, 291–92,
303
modeling: as external memory
device, 343; heuristic value of,
343–57
models: scholarly or scientific, 7–9
M kkurk lfi 103 4 245
Molda-Gnúpr, 271
mortuary practices and beliefs, 294,
302–3
Moses, 168, 245
mound dweller(s). See haugúi, haugbúar
Mount Mazama, 274, 281
Mount Sinai, 168
multiformity, 324
Mundilfœri, 195–96
murder, 91, 341, 350–51; -and-revenge
theme, 344–48, 350–53, 354–57;
triad, 343, 347; weapon, 329
Muspell, Muspellzheimr, 194, 196,
243, 253–56, 262–64, 277, 301,
366–67
myth(s): of Adam and Eve, xiv,
101, 245; of Cain and Abel,
390
370; creation, 269–70, 276–77,
280–82, 284, 363–77; of Ho-wori
and Ho-deri, 370–71; of Jacob
and Esau, 370; mythic, 191–219;
Nordic solar, x, 203–4, 212–16;
performance and non-verbal
aspects of, 45–46; of primordial giant being dismembered,
196–97, 282, 369–75; of sun as
bird-egg, 200–202, 215, 230–31,
371, 373, 376; of sun as deified
earthling consigned to the sky,
191; of sun as female, 191, 195,
198, 204, 209, 212, 214; of sun as
unpersonified flame or disk, 191,
193, 196, 198, 213, 217; of sun
perennially chased by wolves,
191; of sun’s movement in Bronze
Age, 215; Snorri’s terms for, 193;
verbal dimension of, 30
myth-ritual configurations of temple,
tree, and well, 169
mythic oaks, 181, 204
mythological relationship, genetic, 4,
14, 16, 23, 323, 342
mythologies: Austric, 371, 373–74;
Austro-Thai, 371; Balto-Finnic,
205, 224–25, 234–35; Chinese,
4, 364, 375; Finnish, x, 223,
226, 228, 232; Greek, 274, 303;
Hawaiian, 19–22; Hittite, 104,
375; Indian, 372, 374–75; IndoEuropean, xv, 14, 104, 357, 377;
Indo-Iranian, 364, 369; Iranian, x,
342; Japanese, 373; Laurasian, 4,
14, 363–64; Maori, 372; Nuristani,
369–70; Roman, 153
narratology, 71; narratological levels,
relationship between, 79
necromancy (necromantia, nás orð
‘corpse-words’), 290–91, 293, 309;
confusion with nigromantia, 290
Neoplatonism, 269, 282, 284;
Index
Neoplatonic dualism, 277
New Philology, 40
Niðungr (king; also Niðhad), 148, 153
Niflheimr, 276–77, 281–82
N r r 115 16 119 120 23 126 and
Skaði, now-lost ljóðaháttr poem
about, 116
noose, 289–90, 296
Nordic-Baltic peoples, intercultural
relations of, 217
Norway, 56, 68, 89–90, 94, 98, 113, 115,
119, 125, 130, 147, 149, 248–49,
278, 300–302, 308, 356
Nuori-Juokawainen, 230
Nuristan, 369
oath(s), 96, 100–101, 118–20; hofeiðr,
119; lýrittareiðr, 100–101;
sónargöltr, 118
Oddrúnargrátr, 752
Odensbrunn (Óðinn’s well), Uppsala,
Tuna in Vendel (also Onsbrönn),
175
Odin. See Óðinn
Óðinn, 11–15, 97, 115, 118, 122–23,
127, 130, 232–33, 235, 247, 282,
347–50, 357, 369; cognomena
for (e.g., hangatýr, hangaguð,
hangadróttinn, heimþinguðr
hanga), 299–300; and creation,
196–97, 231; and Germanic
Mercury-Wodan, 15; as ‘god
of the Saxons’, 94; idol/image
of depicted, 140–41, 155, 165,
170–71, 193; as ‘Lord of Ghouls’,
293–98; and magic, 289–310;
as master of verse, 230; and
Mímis brunnr (Mímir’s well),
174, 291–92; ‘Óðinn-discourse’,
15–16; ‘Óðinn kings’ as ‘war
kings’, 21; as progenitor of
kings and chieftains, 21, 234;
and Rindr, 356; self-sacrifice on
Yggdrasill, 21–22, 102, 368; as
shaman, 11–15; and Väinämöinen
compared, 230–31; with Þórr and
Týr as a divine trilogy, 228–29
Ögmundar þáttr dytts ok Gunnars helmings, 21, 98, 115, 117, 126
Oisín (son of Fionn), 327–28, 335
Ólafr Geirstaðaálfr (king), 123
Óláfr Tryggvason (missionary king of
Norway), 97–99, 124
Óláfr Haraldsson (saint and king of
Norway), 94–95
Ólafs saga helga, 115, 122, 128
Ólafs saga Tryggvasonar en mesta, 117,
123, 124
Ólafs þáttr Geirstaðaálfs, 123
Old Icelandic Homily Book, 248–49, 252
Old Kalevala. See Kalevala, Old
Olof Skötkonung (Swedish king), 305
oral: art forms, 31; background of
sagas and poems, 31, 33, 44;
-derived texts, 32–33, 35; literature, 34, 207; poetry, 33, 76, 227;
‘remediation’ of oral poetry in
written medium, 76–78; tradition, 29, 31, 32, 114, 115, 120,
122–23, 125, 129–30, 224, 227,
230, 233, 325
orality and literacy debate, 29–45
ormr, Old Norse, ‘snake’, ‘dragon’
(cognate with Irish cnuimh/
cruimh, Persian kerm, and English
worm), 330
Oseberg, Norway, 125, 130
Othinus, 348–50, 356. See also Óðinn
Ovid. See Metamorphoses
pagan revival: among the Wends
(1134), 180
Päivätär (sun as a female deity in
some Balto-Finnic songs), 204–5
Päivölä songs, 204
Paltamo, Finland, 202
Pangu (P’an ku), 363–64, 371, 374
Parchim (possible sanctuary site), 180
391
Index
Parry, Milman, 32
Passio Sancti Eadmundi of Abbo of
Fleury, 304–5
performance, 29–30, 32, 34–36, 54, 68,
76, 226, 309; of myth, 38–45, 126.
See also under myth(s)
performance practices, conxtextualization of. See contextualization
of performance practices
Persia, 337, 350–51. See also Iran
petroglyph(s): Bronze Age, 215
philology, 30, 36–37
Phoenicians, 152, 306
picture stones. See runestones and
picture stones
place names, 115–19, 124, 172, 216.
See also individual toponyms
Poetic Edda. See eddic poems; and
names of individual poems
Polynesian traditions, 377
pre-Christian: Scandinavia, 14–16,
22–23, 29, 39, 95, 127, 129, 163,
168, 176–77, 180–81, 192, 293;
Baltic mythology, 209; cultic
practices, 102, 115; deities, 102;
Icelanders, 273; oral formula,
102; Sámi beliefs, 206–7
Prester John, 257
primordial giant: emerging from
chaos ( ir Puru a) 376
emerging from primordial egg
(Polynesia/China), 376; of stone,
375–76; universe created from
body of slain (motif A642),
196–97, 282, 369–75
processional roads, 125–26, 130, 179
Procopius, 150
prophecy, 70, 92, 102–3, 149, 290, 299,
303; summoned, prophesying
dead (motif M301.14), 293, 299
Prose Edda. See Snorra edda
protagonist(s), 34, 76, 331, 344, 348,
392
352–53
Psalms. See under Bible passages
Puru a 363 65 371 374 376 77
Radogosc (temple site), 180
agnar k 197 212 227
Ragnarr loðbrók, 99, 103, 323–25,
330–38
Ragnars kvæði (Faroese ballad), 323
Ragnars saga loðbrókar, 99, 323, 330
k asa (de on) 370
Ralsiek (possible sanctuary site), 180
Ramsund. See under runestones and
picture stones
Randalín, 325, 331, 333–34, 337–38
reception of materials, 37, 39, 205,
234
reconstructing myths and religions,
xv, 3–11, 15–17, 23, 35–36, 191,
364
Red Jews, 252–63; identified with
the Four Horsemen of the
Apocalypse, 255–56; identified
with Gog and Magog, 255; identified with the Lost Ten Tribes of
Israel, 255;
religion(s), 4–23, 30, 79, 113, 115, 126,
129–30, 166–69, 177, 180, 225,
227, 244–45, 291, 304; ‘archaic’,
18; ‘axial’, 18; ‘different’, 6; Old
Norse, 4–7, 9, 11, 16–17, 23, 180;
Robert Bellah on evolution of,
17–22; ‘tribal’, 18
Remus, 153, 353, 370, 374
renewal of ritual structures. See under
ritual structures
gveda, 364, 368–69, 375
Richard the Lionheart (king), 244
riddle(s), 224, 332, 349
Rígsþula, 21
Rindr/Rinda, 233, 348–349, 356
ritual(s), 7, 9–12, 15, 17, 19–22, 40,
113, 118–22, 125–30, 143–47,
Index
152, 155, 166, 169, 171–72, 175,
178–82, 206–10, 214, 216–18, 247,
293–97, 306, 308, 373–75; cycles,
20; landscapes, 169; pagan, 7, 175
ritual structures: renewal of, 146–47
Robert Grosseteste (fl. 1220s), 245,
252
Romans (book of the Bible). See under
Bible passages
Romulus, 153, 353, 370
Rösaring, Uppland, Sweden, 125
royal burial(s), 129, 166, 177; court,
148; dynasties, 153, 218, 323, 355;
ideology, 234, 347; lineage, 20,
140, 149, 151–52, 217, 234, 328,
347, 353; manor, 151, 178
Rudolf of Fulda, 176
runestones and picture stones, 53–81,
139–40, 154–55, 193, 212, 215–16,
297; Denmark, Ålum (Ålum 3, DR
96), 58; Denmark, Hunnestad 3
(DR 284), 60; Denmark, Jelling 2
(Dr 42), 61, 78; Norway, Alstad,
59, 65; Norway, Dynna, 59, 65;
Norway, Eggja, 59; Norway, Vang,
59; Sweden, Altuna (U 1161),
58, 139; Sweden, Ardre VIII,
154; Sweden, Årsunda (Gs 9),
139; Sweden, Drävle (U 1163),
140; Sweden, Gök (Sö 327), 53,
59, 66–71, 78–81, 139; Sweden,
Krogsta (U 1125), 58; Sweden,
Lärbro Stora Hammars I stone,
55, 297, 300; Sweden, Ledberg
(Ög 181), 140; Sweden, Möjbro (U
877), 58; Sweden, Ockelbo (Gs 19),
139–40; Sweden, Österfärnebo
(Gs 2), 139; Sweden, Prästgården
(U 855), 64; Sweden, Ramsund
(Sö 101), 53, 59, 65–71, 78, 80,
139; Sweden, Sanda stone, 216;
Sweden, Stora Runhällen (U
1164), 62, 63; Sweden, Tjängvide I
(G 110), 140; Sweden, Västerljung
(Sö 40), 140; Sweden, Vittinge (U
1175), 139
sacrifice, 93, 97–103, 118, 120, 122–24,
127–28. See also blót (sacrifice)
Sæmingr (first of the Hlaðajarl line of
earls in Norway), 356
Saga Heiðreks konungs ins vitra. See
Heiðreks saga
sagas, 30–31, 33, 36–37, 95, 114, 117,
120, 122, 130, 275; fornaldars gur,
30, 80. See also titles of individual
sagas
saint(s): cephalophoric, 303, 308;
decapitated, 303; severed head of,
speaks so that searchers can find
it (motif V229.25), 304–5; statues
of, 90, 105
saints (individual): Saint Augustine,
246, 252; Saint Boniface, 175;
Saint Denis, 304; Saint Edmund,
304–5; Saint Erik, 178; Saint
Jerome, 247; Saint John the
Baptist, 303, 305; Saint Jón of
Hólar, 90; Saint Óláfr, 94–96; Saint
Sigfrid, 305
Salm, 346, 350–52, 355
Sámi (also Saami), x, 4, 11, 15,
149–51, 102, 191–92, 197, 205–9,
211, 214–18, 224, 376; ethnic
markers of, 149; noaidi (shaman),
206; reputation as smiths, 150;
shamanic drums, 206; as skridfenni, 150
I Samuel. See under Bible passages
sanctuaries, possible Slavic sites:
Feldber, 180; Groß Raden, 180;
Parchim, 180; Ralsiek, 180; Wolin,
180; Wroklaw, 180
Sanskrit, 342, 364
Saul and the Witch of Endor, 303
393
Index
Saxo Grammaticus, 15, 31, 127–30,
279, 291, 296, 298–300, 303, 308,
323, 341, 348–50, 353–56
Schweindorf, East Frisia, 152
sculpture, 56, 63, 67, 71, 90, 141
seiðr, 114, 122
Sgáthán, 327, 335–36
Shahnameh (Book of Kings) of
Ferdowsi, 324, 329–30, 324, 326,
337, 341, 345–46, 350–55
shamanism, 11–15, 192, 223, 234, 368
Shingu (Kii Peninsula), 375
Sictona. See Sigtuna
Sigrdrífumál, 127, 291
Sigtuna (Sictona), 78, 164–65, 167
Sigurðarkviða in skamma, 75
Sigurðr Fáfnisbani, 54, 67–71, 75–81
Sigurðr Hlaðajarl, 119
Sigyn, 253–54, 276
singing contest, 230
Skaði, 116, 121, 253–54, 356
Skáldatal, 43
skald(s), 6, 43–44, 100, 195, 232, 234,
300
skaldic poetry, 30, 33–35, 40, 76, 78,
104, 126, 234
Skáldskaparmál, 103, 127, 193–95, 234
Skedemosse, Öland, Sweden, 118
Skírnismál, 73, 116, 126–27, 211, 356
Sk ld god of the Scanians 94
Skrýmir, 232
Sleipnir, 140
Snorra edda (Snorri’s Edda. Also
called The Younger Edda and The
Prose Edda), 30–31, 42, 44, 75,
104, 244–45, 248, 253, 257, 261,
263–64, 269, 273, 276–77, 280,
281. See also Gylfaginning and
Skáldskaparmál
394
Snorri Sturluson, 30, 31, 45, 113–15,
122–23, 126–30, 151, 170–74,
192–98, 218, 243–57, 261–64,
269–70, 272, 276–77, 281–84, 342,
348–51, 356
Soikkola, Finland, 203
solar myths. See myth(s).
Solomon, Wisdom of. See under Bible
passages
Sonatorrek, 227
song traditions: Balto-Finnic,
199–200, 202; Karelian, 202;
Latvian, 194, 209; Russian
Orthodox, 205; Scandinavian
ballad, 192, 200
soul traveling, 14
source(s): archaeological, 6, 95, 114,
122, 127–30, 95, 139–50, 169,
172, 177–82, 215–18, 226, 273–74,
280, 289, 294–95, 302–6; -critical
perspective, xv, 3, 6, 16, 23, 33;
‘indigenous’ vs ‘foreign’, 6–7;
textual, 29, 70, 164, 302. See also
titles of individual works
Speculum lapidum (The Mirror of
Stones) of Camillus Leonardi, 307
Spitiiura, 369–70
Starcatherus, 21
Steinvör ‘hofgyðja’, 117
Stjórn, 101, 264
Sturlunga saga, 115
Styrmir Kárason (prior of the
Augustinian house of Viðey), 94
sun. See myth(s)
Suomen Kansan Vanhat Runot (Ancient
Songs of the Finnish People), 199,
224
Surtr, 248, 254, 272, 282–83
Sutton Hoo, East Anglia: boat burial,
140; helmet, 140
Sveinn Ástriðarson, Danish king, 167
Index
Sveins þáttr ok Finns, 95
Sv l 197 98
Sweden, 65–67, 77–79, 98, 113–118,
123–30, 139–41, 144, 148–51, 155,
172, 177–79, 226, 302, 348
symbolism, 10, 168, 173, 177, 180–82,
247
Synagoga, 248–49
Szczecin (temple site), 180
Ta’aroa (Tahiti creator god), 371, 373
Tacitus, Cornelius (author of Germania),
21, 97, 118, 124, 294, 369
Tågaberg, Scania, 304
Tähemõrsja (The Star Bride), 205, 209
Tahmures, 346, 353
Talmud, 244
Tantalos, 33, 46
Telemark, Norway, 90, 68
temple(s), 20, 96–99, 102, 117–18,
144, 147, 150, 153, 163–73, 180;
literary evidence for pre-Christian Slavic, 180; and sacrifices at
Uppsala as described by Adam of
Bremen, 163–73; Slavic configurations of temple, tree, and well,
180. See also names of individual
Slavic temple sites
tephra, 271, 275, 281
Teutoburg forest, 293–94
text-context, 35–38; -image relationships, 42; textualization
(Verschriftlichung), 78–79
thick description, 10, 34
Thietmar of Merseburg (author of
Chronik), 181
Tikopia, 19
Tissø, Zealand, Denmark, 178–79
tongue, 294, 299–302, 305–10; ‘objects’
(See Charon’s obol)
topography, cultic, 163–82
topos, topoi, 78, 163, 167, 181, 245, 294
Torslunda, Öland, 140
Torsmyra, ‘bog dedicated to the god
Þórr’, 179
Tóruigheacht Dhiarmada agus Ghráinne
(Pursuit of Diarmaid and
Gráinne), 324
Translatio S. Alexandri (Transfer of [the
Relics of] St. Alexander) of Rudolf
of Fulda, 176
transmission: of myths and narratives, 29, 37, 39–40, 45, 54, 68,
250, 257, 324, 332, 342; oral, 76;
written, 68; written and oral, 73
treasure, 275–76, 331; buried, 275;
motif, 68–69
tree(s), 70, 94, 101, 163–82, 203–4, 207,
211, 216, 251, 289–97, 326, 329,
343, 368–69
trémaðr ‘tree-man’, 91, 99, 332, 337
treuddar, triangular-shaped stone
settings, 178
Triglav temple at Szczecin. See
Szczecin, temple(s)
tripartite structure, Dumézilian, 14,
343, 365
Troy, 42
Trundholm sun chariot, 196, 215
Tu Shan (Chinese legendary figure),
375
Tur (Iranian legendary figure), 346,
350–52, 355
typological comparativism. See under
comparativism(s)
Týr, 178, 228, 232; hand of, in Fenrir’s
mouth, 140
Ukko (god of thunder and/or the
sky), 202, 232
Ullikummi (giant of stone), 104, 375
universe: created from body of slain
giant (motif A642). See primordial giant
Upelluri (primordial stone giant), 375
Uppåkra, Scania, 139–49, 154–55
395
Index
Uppsala, 21, 122–25, 127, 129–30, 149,
151, 163–82, 207, 234, 297, 356,
as cultic center, 21, 122, 124, 125,
127, 129–30, 164–82, 234, 297,
356; as economic and political
center, 123, 128, 151, 234
Urðr, well of (Urðar brunnr), 164, 167,
174, 368
Útgarðar, 232
Vaðgelmir, 283
Vafþrúðnismál, 74, 120, 126, 230, 231,
281–84
Väinämöinen (god of the waters),
202–3, 227–28, 230–35,
valgaldr ‘corpse-magic’, 293, 309
alh ll 69 163 167 170 74 234 298
Váli, 253–54, 261, 348–50, 355
valkyrjur (valkyries), 171, 232
Vanir deities, 14, 113–30, 291; and the
álfar, 117, 124; association with
Uppland, Sweden; and female
ritual specialists, 116–17; incestuous activities of the Vanir, 129;
and the landscape, 124; ‘obituary’
by R. Simek, 113; ‘otherness’ of,
114; and place names, 116; ritual
activities connected to, 118–19,
130
Vápnfirðinga saga, 117
Varuna, Vedic, 15
Varus (Roman general), 18
Vatnajökull, 271
Växjö, Småland, Sweden, 305
Vé, 196, 347, 367
Velent. See Volund
Venerable Bede, the, 8
vengeance, 253, 341, 351. See also
avenger
verbal aspects, 30, 34, 42, 79, 227, 231,
234; and visual representations
in manuscripts, complementarity
of, 43
396
vermin (including worms, small
serpents, and maggots), 60, 61,
90, 216, 324–37, 372
Viaticum, 306–8
Viðarr, 140
Víga-Glúms saga, 116, 118
Víkarr, 296
Vili, 196, 347, 367
Virgil, 245
Virgin Mary, the, 90, 204, 212
Vita Anskarii auctore Rimberto (Life of
St. Ansgar of Rimbert), 181
Vita Prieflingensis (Prüfening Life), 180
itast ( helu ) iver 370
volcanic activity, volcanism, 269–84;
Icelandic types, 270
Völsunga saga (also lsunga saga),
67–69, 332, 338
lsungakvi a, 74
olund (also elent
lundr
lundr a land
land) 69
74–75, 139–55, 232
lundarkvi a, 74, 75, 139, 141–42,
149, 151, 154–55, 232
lundr
lundr. See Volund
volundu, Anglo-Frisian runic inscription, 152
lusp , 74, 121–22, 126, 150, 174, 195,
225, 227, 231, 244, 255, 261–64,
272–73, 282, 291, 298, 353, 365–67
v lva ‘seeress’, 293, 298, 309
wagons, 114, 212; journeys by, and
their connections to the Vanir,
125
Wayland. See Volund
land. See Volund
well(s), 163, 167, 173–76, 178–80, 182.
See also Óðinn: Mímis brunnr; Urðr,
well of
Widukind of Corvey, 176
Wielent. See Volund
William of Auvergne (fl. 1228), 245
Index
Wisdom of Solomon. See under Bible
passages
witch of Endor, 290, 303
Wolgast (temple site), 180
Wolin (sanctuary/temple site), 180
worldview, 10; Christian, 217; pagan,
6–7, 39, 115, 274, 284; religious, 7;
Slavic, 181
Wroklaw (possible sanctuary site),
180
Yama (Vedic mythic figure), 346, 356,
369–71
Yggdrasill, 163, 167, 173–74, 178, 368
Yima (Iranian mythic figure), 369–71
Ymir, 197, 282, 284, 364–77
Ynglinga saga, 113, 117, 122–23,
127–29, 150–51, 230, 291–92, 300,
347, 356
Ynglings, 168
Younger Edda, the. See Snorra edda
Yü (first king of the Hsia dynasty),
375
Zahhak (Iranian legendary figure),
346, 350, 352–55
Þiðreks saga af Bern, 142
Þjazi, 232
Þóra, 330–31, 333–34
Þórðr gellir, 344–45
Þórðr Özurarson, as ‘Freysgoðar’, 116
Þorgarðr (wooden man), 99–100
orger r H rgabr r 100
Þorleifr jarlsskáld, 100, 300
Þorleifs þáttr jarlsskálds, 99, 300
Þórr, 15, 90, 94–99, 103–104, 114, 115,
116, 118, 119, 122, 128, 130, 139,
165, 170, 179, 193, 228, 231–32,
235, 242, 348–49, 376; as god of
the Englishmen, 94; and Hrugnir,
103; idol of, 90, 95–99, 165, 170;
and Ilmarinen, 228, 231–34; and
the Miðgarðsormr, 76, 140; and
M llnir 95 232
Þorsteins þáttr bœjarmagns, 281
Þorsteins þáttr uxafóts, 298, 301–2, 309
Þrándheimr, 117–19, 123–24
Þriði, 41, 42, 253
Þrúðgelmir, 283
Þrymskviða, 74, 127, 226
Þuriðr ‘hofgyðja’, 116–17
397