Page:Kickerbocker Oct 1847 vol 30 no 4.djvu/13
were compiled; but they were undoubtedly composed at various times and places. Their peculiar versification, striking metaphors, and a few words gathered here and there, furnish the sole guide to the curious, as regards their origin. It is known, however, that they are the productions of the Scalds, and were chanted in the presence of ancient kings, as well as at national feasts and popular assemblies. Judged by their phraseology alone, one would place their origin in the eighth century; while a critical examination of their structure, and especially of the ideas conveyed, will carry them back still farther; and, indeed, to the emigration of the Asiatics to the North. The first in order of the chants which compose the ancient Edda, is the Voluspa; a poem of a strange, solemn and mysterious character, at once sad, eloquent, and obscure. It is throughout enigmatical and broken, like the responses of an oracle. It is, in fact, the prophetic mutterings of the sybil.
At the entrance of one of those interminable pine forests, so common to Scandinavia, with the mysterious ravens hovering above her head, and surrounded by crowds of howling wolves, the prophetess is seated on her tripod, and seeks from the palpitating hearts of her victims the responses of the god. Entranced by the celestial presence, her whole countenance changes its appearance. Her fearful gaze wanders anxiously around, surveying the images she has invoked, as she commences her wild chant of chaos, the birth of the frost-giants, and the combats of the gods. Ever and anon an imperative voice is heard demanding: Is the vision yet complete? when the prophetess apparently revives, and sings of the origin of death, the abodes of the condemned, the final struggle of evil spirits, and the destruction of the world:
'At the birth of Time, nothing existed. There was neither sea, nor sand, nor wind. Earth and sky were not apparent, nor did the least vegetation clothe the mighty abyss.
'The sun appeared in the south, and the moon for the first time opened the Gates of Night; bat the sun know not his route, nor the moon her true position, nor had the stars a place assigned them.
'Then the gods ascended their high thrones, and met in council. They gave a name to night and twilight; they regulated the morning hours and mid-day, and parcelled out the years.
'And the prophetess knows where stands the tree Ygdrasil, that mighty ash, whose white roots embrace the world. From it fails dew, covering the earth, and its leaves are clothed in perpetual verdure.
'From the bosom of the waters come the three daughters of Wisdom, and advance beneath this tree. And the name of the first is Urd, of the second, Verdandt, of the third, Skuld. These are those who regulate man's destiny.
'She knows too where the trumpet of Heimdal is concealed amid the branches of the celestial tree, and she beholds the foaming waters of the River of Wisdom rolling swiftly on beneath the glance of Allfader.
'One day she was seated at the entrance of her abode, and beheld approach the mightiest of the gods, who gazed fixedly upon her. She exclaimed: What do you demand from me? I know that thou art Odin, he whose eye is daily plunged in the Well of Mimer, fed by the Stream of Wisdom."
'And the sovereign of the gods gave her mystic rings and Runic staves, with the farther gift of prophecy. Her sight was purified, and embraced the world.
'She saw the cruel fate reserved for Balder, the son of Onis. The branch of the tree increased, and though small, was beautiful. It became a murderous sword, and was borne by Hander.
'Soon arose the son of Odin, destined to avenge his brother, Balder. In one night he attained to manhood, nor washed he his face or painted his hair until he reaped full vengeance on the murderer.
'And the voice cried: See you aught else?" and the prophetess answered: The wolves howl in the caves of Gnipa. Their chains are broken, and the wolves are free. The prophetess has seen from afar the decline of the Empire of Heaven, and the fall of all the gods.
'Brothers combat with each other, parents forget the bonds which bind them to their children, and the marriage-tie is rent asunder. The bucklers of the warriors are broken. The war-time has come; the season of wolves and tempests!
'Again the wolves howl in the caves of Gnipa. Their chains are broken, and the wolves are free. On one side advances Hyrm. The sea is agitated, and the serpents swell with wrath. The eagle