The Gods did all to council crowd,
The Goddesses talk'd fast and loud;
And this the theme of their debate,
If Balder's dreams were big with fate.
Heavy the hero's slumbers were, 5
Joy seem'd in sleep to disappear;
To mystic shrines the giants press,
And ask, if this bodes new distress.
The shrines have said, that Uller's friend,*
The loveliest, to death must tend: 10
Frigga and Suafner† grieving hea'r,
And Gods debate with anxious fear;
They send, and sue all things to seal
The peace with oaths for Balder's weal:
* Balder. † A name for Odin.
All nature swore to
hold from strife; 15
Frigga took pledges
for his life.
Yet did the Lord * of slaughter fear,
The sprites of joy must disappear;
He call'd the Gods, and counsel sought;
But each proposed a different thought. 20
"Uprose†
the king of men with speed,
And saddled strait his coal-black steed."
&c. &c. &c.
See
Gray's poems.
*Odin.
†
Literally, “Uprose Odin, guardian of mankind,
And on Sleipner he laid the saddle.”
Thence he rode to the lowest abyss of hell.
&c. &c.
NOTE ON VEGTAM'S
SONG.
The foregoing lines are the commencement of
an old Icelandic ode in Sæmund's Edda, of which the remainder
has been beautifully imitated by Gray. His translation was made
from the quotation in Bartholinus, (Ant. Dan.) who did not
publish the whole poem; but these stanzas are almost necessary
to make the rest intelligible; and on this account I have
translated them closely, to serve as an introduction to that
excellent fragment. An imitation of the whole ode has been
published by Mr. Cottle in a volume entitled Sæmunð’s Edda*
translated into English verse; but Mr. Cottle has taken such
liberties with the Icelandic poetry and mythology, which in some
places he has purposely amplified, and in others misunderstood,
that, if he had published his work as Original, he could
scarcely have been accused of plagiarism. It may be sufficient
to quote his translation of the third and fourth stanzas of this
ode, to shew how much he has departed from the original. The
literal translation of the Icelandic words would be, "The
oracles have said, that the friend of Uller singularly lovely
was doomed to die. That gave sorrow to Frigga and Suafner, and
the other Gods; they came to a decision, that they should send
out to all things, and sue for peace, not to hurt Balder. All
nature gave oath to abstain. Frigg* took the oaths and promises
of all; which Mr. C. has thus amplified:
"The sacred oracles
declare
Balder must for
death prepare
Asi sad the tidings
hear;
Frigga drops the impassiont tear,
Dignify'd in silent grief, .
Odin seeks not such relief:
But deeply ponders in his mind.
Safety for his son to find.
Let us he cry'd,
forbid to fly
The stormy powers,
that rule the sky ;
League with the
light'nings ; thunders chain;
And quell the
uprising, angry main :
Lest, mission'd by
the powers of fate,
They in direful
ambush wait.
For Balder, Odin,
thus afraid,
Peace with willing
nature made ;
And every jarring
element
For once
harmoniously consent." p. 11
* This is a great mistake; for the volume,
which Mr. C. has translated, does not comprehend half Saemund's
Edda, and professes only to contain the mythological odes not
published by Resenius.
Mr. Cottle's ode
begins, " The morn was up; the blast blew loud ;" and ends thus,
"Muspelli their banners raise,
And Surtur wrap the world in blaze." There is nothing
similar to these lines in the original, and the Muspelli and
Surtur are not even alluded to; but they have been drawn out of
a Latin note in the Copenhagen edition, to be placed in the
text. Gray's beautiful imitation is sufficiently close, except
in a few passages, where he has admitted some little
amplifications, that tend to convey notions respecting the
Icelandic mythology, which are not warranted by the original;
such as, " coal-black steed, raven hair, thrice he traced the
Runic rhyme, the portals nine of hell, foam and human gore." But
in every other respect it is a most valuable translation, and
the public cannot desire another, though it may require some
illustration. Frigga, when she took the oaths
of all nature, overlooked the misletoe; Loke, having observed
this, maliciously persuaded Hoder to dart a branch of it at
Balder, which proved fatal to him. Vali, or Ali, the son of Odin
and Rinda, revenged his death by slaying Hoder; which wondorous
feat he performed, when he was but one night old, Ein-nattr; as
is stated in this ode, and in the 32d stanza of Volospa. It is
not certain, what Odin means by the question concerning the
weeping virgins; but it has been supposed, that it alludes to
the embassy afterwards sent by Frigga to try to redeem Balder
from the infernal regions, and that Odin betrays his divinity by
mentioning what had not yet happened. The object of this embassy
was frustrated by the perfidy of Loke; who, having assumed (as
was supposed) the shape of an old woman, refused to join in the
general petition, by which failure the spell was rendered
ineffectual : but the Gods, having with difficulty made Loke
their prisoner, bound him with a strong chain, which he will
not break till the
end of the world, or (as the Icelanders call it) the twilight of
the Gods. To this the prophetess alludes in the last stanza.
Gray's Fatal
sisters is very inferior to his descent of Odin, and in some
passages he has lost much of the strength and spirit of the
original; as for instance in the ninth stanza,
Nu er ogurligt
um at litaz,
At dreyrugt sky
dregr med himui;
Mun lopt litad
lyda Modi,
Adr spar varar
springa allar;
from which the
following lines are translated, without the insertion or
omission of a word.
‘Tis horrid now to
gaze around,
While clouds thro' heaven gore-dropping sail;
Air must be stain'd with blood of men,
Ere all our oracles shall fail.
Gray has translated
it thus,
"Horror covers all
the heath ;
Clouds of carnage blot the Sun."
I have added a
close translation of a few lines from
the descent of Odin
in the Icelandic metre, which is
regulated by a
corresponding letter in the two halves
of each verse,
instead of rhyme. One vowel is allowed
to correspond with
another.
The dog he met from
hell advancing;
His adverse breast
with blood was clotted,
His jaws for combat
keenly grinning,
Fierce he bay'd the
spell's dread father,
Oped his huge
throat, and howl'd long after. 30
On rode Odin; the
deep earth sounded;
He reach'd the
lofty house of Hela;
Ugger rode to the
Eastern portals,
There he knew was
the tomb of Vala.
Strange verse he
sung the slain enchanting, 35
Traced mystic
letters northward looking, &c. &c. &c.
However
inharmonious to an English ear, they may serve to give a more
distinct idea of Icelandic poetry, and to shew exactly in what
degree Gray has varied from the original. Ugger is another name
for Odin. He has many, which are used indiscriminately, as
Tonans or Saturnius for Jupiter. In this metre two corresponding
letters are sometimes required in the first half of the line,
and one in the second, as v. 35. When there is but one in each,
the second generally commences with it, as v. 26 and 28. Some of
the Icelandic metres are much more difficult; as,
Fylli ec flock thin, stillir;
Fellr á hönd mer elli.
Eyvind in Heimskringla