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AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION TO THE
ANCESTOR TABLES
NOTES ON THE ANCESTOR TABLES
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Table 1. An Ancestor Table of the Ur-beings of
Germanic Mythology |
COLOR
CODE
Red = Jotuns
Orange = Daughters
of Mimir and Urd
Yellow = Dwarves
Green = Aesir
Blue = Vanir
Purple = Elves |
KEY
(Italics) = Female
beings.
(?) = Relationships or identities that are
speculative or uncertain
(????) = Names of unknown beings
(+) Marital or extramarital sexual relationships
(↓) Non-sexual or non-biological
relationships such as foster parentage |
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Table 2. The Swan-maidens and the Sons of Ivaldi
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Table 3. Heimdall’s Godchildren and the Sons of
Halfdan |
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AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION TO THE ANCESTOR TABLES
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I created these Ancestor Tables (Ger.
Ahnentafeln) as part of a personal project to study
Germanic mythology more deliberately. As someone of
Germanic ancestry, I’ve always had what seems to me to
be an instinctive love for the subject going back to my
earliest memories. Now that I’m a father of my own
family, I wish to pass on my love of the myths of my
ancestors to my children. At the same time, I’ve come to
realize that my earlier understanding of the subject was
limited mostly to fairy tales, comic books, fantasy
role-playing games, and the works of J. R. R. Tolkien.
With that in mind, I’ve since taken upon myself the the
responsibility of gaining a more thorough understanding
of the subject by learning what those myths actually
are. Now that I have the time to do so, I’ve read and
continue to read as many of the sources and resources as
are available, and look for opportunities to discuss
them with others who share the same love so that I can
pass on this knowledge authentically. One particular
challenge that became obvious to me when learning about
Germanic mythology is that there is no one, single
sourcebook containing all the various Germanic myths and
legends — no Germanic “Bible”, as it were. The sources
are found in several different languages, in many
different forms (written, archaeological, or otherwise),
and are often rendered differently by those who’ve
attempted to translate them into modern English. A few
years ago, I was fortunate to have discovered William P.
Reaves’ excellent website
Germanic Mythology: Texts, Translations, Scholarship,
which is clearly a monumental labor of love. There,
Reaves has collected most if not all of the available
online sources, derivations, interpretations, analyses,
and items of tangential interest in one well-organized
location. I’ve spent countless hours reviewing this
website and learning more about the lore. At Germanic Mythology, I discovered XVIIIIth
century Swedish author Viktor Rydberg and learned that
he shared this same passion for the mythology; studied
it thoroughly not as a professional scholar, but as an
amateur poet determined to prove the independence of
Germanic mythology from the Christian; and attempted to
create one coherent epic beginning with the creation of
the Alheimur (Icel. “universe”) and extending all the
way to its destruction and rebirth at Ragnarök, the
well-known Germanic apocalypse. The final version of
Rydberg’s epic,
Our Father’s Godsaga, is now available in
English thanks to Reaves’ labors. I’d often wondered if
there was such a work: Rasmus Anderson, in Norse
Mythology: The Religion of Our Forefathers (1879), asked
if someone would take up the task of giving us “northern
art” (that is, a Germano-Norse epic) to complement the
“southern” (Greco-Roman) and the “oriental”
(Judaeo-Christian). I’ve since learned about a few other
attempts to do so, but I’m glad that Rydberg took up the
challenge... if he was even aware of it! The result is
an intriguing story that includes many elements that
were both familiar and new to me.
Rydberg was also responsible for perhaps a greater
literary achievement: Investigations into Germanic
Mythology, Volumes I and II (UGM, after the work’s
title in Swedish). Having read UGM (Vol. I was
translated into English by Anderson, and Vol. II by
Reaves), I’ve gained a profound appreciation for
Rydberg’s epic method and consider him, along with the
Brothers Grimm, to be essential reading for anyone
serious about studying authentic Germanic mythology.
Taken in conjunction with using an Eddic poetry-based
understanding of Norse Cosmology, as well as a healthy
dose of comparative Indo-European mythological studies,
I think that this is modern man’s best hope for gaining
as thorough an understanding of the subject as possible.
Another challenge to gaining a thorough understanding of
the mythology stems from the fact that the characters
found therein can have multiple names, even in the same
language, which can complicate identifying who he (or
she) is and how he relates to the other characters and
events in the stories. One of the purposes behind
creating these Tables is to help remove some of this
built-in confusion by providing a ready reference of
most if not all of the major characters and their
familial relationships. A second purpose was to help
force me to learn more about each, individual being.
Before including these characters from the mythology, I
researched each one, his relationship to the other
characters, his role and actions in the source material,
as well as his ultimate fate. By doing so, and by laying
it all out visually, I think I’ve gained a greater and
more thorough understanding and appreciation for each
character, his motivations, his biases, and (to me) some
possible insight as to why he might have taken the
decisions and actions that he did, for better or for
worse. Moreover, it has allowed me to create a more
solid foundation for extrapolating and imagining
possible motivations and actions for things that are not
found in the mythology... which brings me to my third
purpose. In accordance with my intent to pass these
stories along to my children, I’ve decided to write my
own version of Germanic mythology’s grand epic. To take
nothing away from the excellent, insightful, and
entertaining work done by others including Rydberg, just
as the process of drafting the family trees for all
these beings has helped me gain a greater understanding
for each of them, so too has it caused me to re-imagine
the course of events from beginning to end, fleshing out
the story itself. My starting point was Rydberg’s
Overview of Germanic Mythology’s Epic Order,
but I’ve gone well beyond that now. I’ve made some small progress in putting pen to
paper, but the vast majority of the work is still ahead
of me. I’ve almost certainly made mistakes in drafting
these Tables; and while I consider the majority of the
information I’ve presented accurate to the sources, I
also consider them to be works-in-progress. They’re a
“95% solution”: I don’t know if anyone can ever render
the various identities and genealogical relationships of
these mythological beings with 100% accuracy, but I
think I’ve come pretty close. As an aspiring author,
I’ve also taken a bit of artistic license in attributing
spouses to certain beings that either don’t have them
otherwise, or where the sources are ambiguous, unclear,
or silent on the matter. I’ve indicated in the notes
below where I’ve done so and why. At face value, taking
this approach might seem to contradict my purpose of
passing on the tradition of Germanic Mythology
accurately: I leave it to the reader as to whether or
not this has compromised the overall effort. |
Geoffrey E. Gilbert
Winterfilleth 2020
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NOTES ON THE
ANCESTOR TABLES
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1 — The color code is: red for the Giants
(Jotuns and Thurses), orange for the daughters of Mimir
and Urd, yellow for the Dwarves, green for the Aesir,
blue for the Vanir, and purple for the Elves. This
“rainbow” ordering of colors mirrors, roughly, the order
in which each class of beings was created or came into
being. For simplicity, in the case of “mixed marriages”
the offspring take the father’s color unless otherwise
noted. Names in italics indicate females. Relationships
about which I’ve speculated or of which I’m unsure are
indicated by a single question mark (?). Names of
unknown beings are indicated by four question marks
(????). I’ve opted to use a plus sign (+) rather than an
equals sign (=) to indicate marital or extramarital
sexual relationships. Arrows (↓) indicate non-sexual or
non-biological relationships such as foster parentage,
as in the case of Vingnir, Hlora, and Thor; or
godparentage, as in the case of Heimdall.
2 — The names included in the Tables themselves, are
with few exceptions, in Old Norse or modern Icelandic.
I’ve tried to include the names of most of the more
prominent, well known, and otherwise relevant beings. In
many cases, I’ve given more than one name for the same
being to help in cross-referencing certain
relationships, though obviously I could not include them
all. Those names are presented in English
transliterations or other versions I prefer in these
notes. Some such versions might not be intuitively
obvious to those already familiar with the subject. For
example, for stylistic reasons I like to use the Old
High German name “Frija” for the name of Odin’s wife,
and the more English “Dwalin” for Mimir’s son Dvalin.
Where possible, I’ve tried to place each generation of
beings on the same horizontal level in order to give
further context to their relationship with each other.
For example, I put Bolthorn on the same level as
Aurgelmir in order to imply their identity with one
another. I put Fornjot at the same level, too, though
I’m not currently of the opinion that Fornjot is
Aurgelmir. The ordering from left to right of siblings
is meant to imply birth order, eldest to youngest. Thus,
Thrudgelmir on the left is shown to be the eldest of
Aurgelmir’s offspring, with Mimir and Urd being a
younger set of twins. Likewise, the common naming of
Odin, Vili, and Ve, or Odin, Hoenir, and Lodur is
instead set forth as Lodur, Hoenir, and Odin, with Lodur
as the eldest and Odin as the youngest son of Bor. This
has relevance in my own imagination and interpretation
of the theme of birth order and the role that
primogeniture and ultimogeniture appear to have in
causing enmity among siblings, particularly brothers.
3 — Also, I’ve used the theory “Lodur = Surt”. This
theory was introduced to me by William Reaves, who got
it from his friend and fellow-mythologist Carla O’Harris.
4 — Granted, not every aspect of the mythology needs a
rational explanation. Nonetheless, to aid in giving the
epic a greater sense of realism (as mentioned above),
I’ve provided certain beings with spouses who, as far as
I know, have never before received them. In the eldest
days, the possible candidates are quite limited, so some
improvisation was necessary. Perhaps the most unorthodox
suggestion I’ve made is to imply that Aurgelmir and
Audhumbla together are the natural parents of
Thrudgelmir, Mimir, and Urd. Thus, I’ve imagined
Audhumbla to be an actual female man-like (“humanoid”)
being whose milk gives Aurgelmir the potency to generate
their offspring. “Audhumbla + Buri” is likewise an
improvisation to identify Buri’s wife and Bor’s mother.
Interpreting Audhumbla’s character in this manner seemed
fitting to me, among other reason but for the simple
fact that she is the only female being that we know of
who was present at the beginning of time; both Aurgelmir
and Buri are male beings who have children; and males by
definition do not bear children. I also think that the
idea of Audhumbla as one female desired by two males
sets up a natural tension borne of sexual jealousy among
this trio — not in a Romantic, Victorian “love triangle” sense, but from the standpoint of sheer
survival in an ancient, savage world. If left otherwise
unresolved, this tension could (and in my imagination
did) erupt in murderous violence. Moreover, in Vedic
tradition there is a motif of an evil king slaying the
first cow (Sw. Urkon) being considered the primary
offense. Likewise, I imagine the death of Audhumbla to
be the key event which causes the division of the gods
and the giants into mutually-opposed, hostile camps,
setting into motion the entire chain of events which
leads ultimately to the Götterdämmerung at the end of
time. It seems probable to me that Buri and probably Bor
were the primary objects of that violence during the
events leading to Audhumbla’s death. Thus, the slaying
of Ymir (Aurgelmir’s name among the gods) by Odin and
his brothers becomes justified: they were in fact
seeking vengeance for the murders of their father,
grandfather, and grandmother; and then the Sons of Bor
use the body of their defeated enemy to create the
world.
5 — Following this logic, Thrudgelmir likewise needed a
wife. I’ve suggested Urd, whom I think would most likely
have been espoused against her will. Bergelmir, as
Hrimnir, has a wife named Hyrja though her origin is not
explained. Therefore, I’ve identified her as one of
Mimir and Urd’s 12 daughters (see note 7, below, re:
Verdandi), whose espousal likewise might have occurred
against her will. The theme of taking brides without
their consent occurs elsewhere in the epic, so I think
it wouldn’t be unheard of at this point. For the purist,
these interpretations can be easily disregarded in the
Tables. Audhumbla may simply remain the primeval cosmic
cow, while Aurgelmir, Thrudgelmir, and Buri can somehow
remain fecund bachelors.
6 — I’m currently unsure of how to classify Buri and
Borr, so I’ve kept them in black (normal) text for now.
7 — My interpretation of the “Greater Norns” — the Fates
of Germanic mythology — is based on the “crone, mother,
maiden” motif which seems to fit the “past, present,
future” implied aspect of the Urd, Verdandi, Skuld trio
even if it isn’t explicitly defined that way in the
mythology. Urd is an ancient, powerful being, one of the
eldest in the mythology, so a “past”/“crone” aspect
seems easily justifiable. The Valkyries as unmarried
women/maidens also seems to leave room for Skuld (who is
also a Valkyrie) in the “maiden”/“future” role. The
“missing link” is Verdandi: who might she be? Mimir and
Urd together had 12 daughters, only two of whom are
named: Nott and Bodvild. It seems possible to me that
Verdandi could be one of the remaining ten. But who is
Skuld’s father? Skuld is the foremost Valkyrie listed in
Voluspa 30. This, taken together with her role as a
Norn, could imply that Skuld held some sort of primacy
amongst the Valkyries. If so, then who would be a likely
candidate to father the such a prominent Valkyrie? I’ve
omitted the Dwarves and the Giants as possible fathers,
which leaves the Sons of Bor. It’s perhaps significant
to point out that Mimir and Urd’s eldest daughter Nott
is already known for having been espoused to both Lodur
and Hoenir and becomes the ancestress of both the Elves
and the Vanir, respectively. Odin, the youngest son of
Borr, either could have taken or could have been
assigned Verdandi as his mate even if only for the
purpose of fathering Skuld, the third Norn but first of
the Valkyries. Again, there is no proof of this theory,
and the reader is welcome to dismiss it at his
discretion.
8 — Also, there are “Lesser Norns” who are drawn from
the Aesir, the Elves, and the Dwarves. As the Dwarven
Norns are drawn from “Dwalin’s daughters”, this also
implies that the Dwarves can take wives and that there
must be female Dwarves. (Whether or not they have
beards, I’ve not yet established!) Thus, I’ve included
Dwalin’s daughters, though none are named.
9 — I’ve assumed a total of seven and possibly nine
Dwarves created by Mimir without the aid of a wife or
lover. That there are seven Dwarven sons of Mimir is
implied by the medieval myth of the Seven Sleepers. The
possibility of nine sons of Mimir arises from the fact
that two unnamed sons were slain by Volund during the
latter’s captivity later in the epic, though there are
yet Seven Sleepers who will awaken at Ragnarok.
Moreover, multiples of three (3, 6, 9, 12) tend to be
more prevalent in Germanic Mythology; so it would be
fitting if there were nine Dwarves, at least originally,
rather than seven. It is equally possible that those two
sons were the natural sons of Mimir and Urd. For now,
however, I’ve included them in the Dvergar, under Mimir
alone.
10 — The genealogy of the Elves is perhaps the most
difficult to establish. Using Rydberg’s theory that the
Elves originate with Lodur (as Mundilfari) via Heimdall,
Heimdall’s identity and relationships become important
to establish. Heimdall had nine mothers. Somehow, Lodur
begat Heimdall upon those nine beings collectively: how
he did so is a “mystery of the faith”. Lodur (as Delling
“Dawn”) together with Nott (“Night”) created Dag
(“Day”). From Reaves’ website, Eysteinn Björnsson
suggested that Heimdall is actually Dag. However, it
seems impossible for Heimdall to be both the son of nine
mothers and of one, especially when the one is not named
as one of the nine. To resolve this discrepancy, I’ve
imagined that Heimdall was “born twice”, at two
different times: by the same father, but by different
mothers. Following Rydberg, we know that Heimdall was
born of the holy friction fire created by Lodur
(Mundilfori) with Heimdall’s nine mothers. After a time,
Heimdall (as Scef) was sent to Midgard in a boat as a
child to bring that same fire, as well as culture,
social hierarchy, and organization to the early Germanic
people. After his mission to Midgard was completed, he
died, and his body was set in the same boat in which he
arrived and pushed out to sea. And yet, that is not the
end of Heimdall’s story. He is alive later in the epic
as guardian of the Bifrost, and will confront Loki at
the final battle during Ragnarok. Thus, somehow Heimdall
must have returned to life after dying in Midgard. I
imagine it’s possible that Lodur (Delling) and Nott
“recreated” Heimdall in his second incarnation as the
“Day”, allowing him to reclaim Sol as his wife (perhaps
after some adventure) and earning the epithet “Glen”
(“the Gleaming One”) for literally having brought light
and enlightenment to Mankind. This of course begs the
question how this is possible and under what
circumstances; for now, I’ve left the matter unresolved.
Heimdall is, afterall, something of an enigma.
11 — As an aside, while Lodur is considered to be the
forefather of the Elves, and Lodur is also Heimdall’s
father, Heimdall is considered to be one of the Vanir:
not the Elves. Hoenir is the forefather of the Vanir.
Consequently, I’ve “corrected” this discrepancy by
putting Heimdall’s name in purple text — that is, as one
of the Elves. I listed Aegir’s nine daughters alongside
Heimdall’s nine mothers, though there’s no known direct
correlation between any of them. Two of Heimdall’s
mothers — Gjalp and Greip — are the daughters of a being
named “Geirrod” (not Aegir), so it’s unclear to me if
all of the daughters are siblings. Greip is also the
mother of the Sons of Ivaldi. Thor slew both Gjalp and
Greip during his adventure to Geirrod’s homestead. This
would, to me, be a factor contributing to the enmity
between the Aesir and the Elves, though Heimdall himself
is not recorded as having become hostile to Thor.
Jarnsaxa (another of Heimdall’s nine mothers) becomes
Thor’s lover, and by him the mother of Magni. The
identity of Modi’s (Thor’s son’s) mother is not stated
in any of the sources: I’ve simply assumed that Magni
and Modi are twins solely upon the basis that their
names alliterate; and therefore, Jarnsaxa is Modi’s
mother as well.
12 — Concerning Aegir (a Sea-jotun), he is apparently
the son of a being named Fornjot, and he has brothers
Logi (a Fire-jotun) and Kari (an Air- or Wind-jotun).
I’ve seen Fornjot identified as possibly Aurgelmir/Ymir,
but that would have to mean that Aurgelmir had more
children than Thrudgelmir, Mimir, and Urd; and there’s
no evidence to suggest that, that is the case. Perhaps
Fornjot is either Mimir or Thrudgelmir. I think it’s
unlikely that Fornjot = Mimir. I’m not sure about
Fornjot = Thrudgelmir, but I don’t think so at this
time. Thus, for now, Fornjot is noted as being distinct
from Aurgelmir and Thrudgelmir, though this does leave
open the question of his ancestry. Interestingly, Logi
also appears among Suttung/Skrymir/Utgard-Loki’s retinue
in the Mythology.
13 — Concerning Suttung (Surt ungr or “Surt the
Younger”), as the son of Surt/Lodur he must have a
mother, but none is given. I’ve used Elli, the old Jotun
who wrestles with Thor, as Suttung’s mother even though
she does not seem to command the respect that a mother
would be expected to have at Suttung’s court. Also, I
have no answer as of yet as to Elli’s origin. However,
she wrestles successfully against Thor, so she must be a
being of immense power, of a greater order than Thor.
This implies to me very ancient giant, possibly
Fornjot’s unnamed wife. (Fornjot is, literally, “ancient
giant”, and Elli means “old age”.) To a certain extent,
that might also explain why Logi appears in the company
of Suttung: they could be half-brothers through their
mother.
14 — The names of the nine valkyries listed as Odin’s
daughters by Frija are taken from Wagner’s Der Ring des
Nibelungen (RN) and I’ve translated them into Old Norse.
I know RN is derivative and is not considered canonical.
In RN, Odin begets the Valkyries on Erda, instead; and
Erda (OHG “earth”) = Jord (ON “earth”), so it didn’t
seem completely unbelievable to me that Odin could have
fathered Valkyries with his actual wife. Again, this is
artistic license on my part. I do like the idea of nine
“riders”; again, nine being an important and perhaps
holy number to the ancient Germanic peoples. Also, the
Jotun Aegir has nine daughters as well, so it wouldn’t
be unprecedented for another being of similar stature to
have nine daughters. In any case, if the reader thinks
this idea problematic, he can substitute names of other
Valkyries of his choosing, or ignore the idea
altogether.
15 — Using the proposed genealogy of the Elves at
Reaves’ website (http://www.germanicmythology.com/original/GeneologyoftheElves.html),
I’ve made Sigtryg and Ivaldi the sons of Ulf.
Furthermore, Rydberg stated that Ivaldi’s mother was
Rusla “the Red Maiden”, the mortal daughter of King Rieg
of Telemark. I’ve included her name in the Tables as a
placeholder: I’m not sure that the timing will make
sense with her identified thusly, although the name
could be based on some other mythological character.
16 — I’ve named Loki’s daughter “Leikin-Hel”, in a
manner similar to how Suttung is also named
“Utgard-Loki”. It was Rydberg who identified Loki’s
daughter not as Hel (“Hel” is another name for Urd), but
as “Leikin”. As she has no other name, one could easily
drop the suffix and simply refer to her as “Leikin”,
though this is currently an unfamiliar name for this
particular being. My use of “Leikin-Hel” will hopefully
help the reader maintain the link between Loki’s dauther
and her role as the queen of Niflhel (where damned souls
go for torment in the Germanic afterlife). The being Hel
(that is, Urd) is distinct from Leikin-Hel: Hel is
Mimir’s wife and thus queen of Jormungrund (the
Underworld); she is the mother of Natt, Bodvild, and
their sisters; she’s the mother of the sons of Bor; and
she’s the foremost of the Norns. “Hel” is also another
name for the Underworld.
17 — Also, with regard to Loki’s and Gullveig’s
genealogy... Gullveig, as Heid, is the daughter of
Hrimnir; and I’ve seen Hrimnir identified as Bergelmir.
Hrimnir’s wife is identified as Hyrja (whom I’ve
suggested is a daughter of Mimir and Urd). Loki is the
son of Farbauti and Laufey/Nal. It’s possible that Loki
= Hrossthjof, and that would mean Hrimnir = Farbauti:
possible, and if so, either Laufey/Nal is another name
for Hyrja or she is another female being altogether.
(Perhaps another of Mimir’s unnamed daughters?) I think
that if Farbauti = Hrimnir, then it’s more likely that
Laufey/Nal and Hyrja are two distinct female beings,
since Loki is also supposed to have two brothers
(Byleist and Helblindi) who are not listed as sons of
either Hrimnir or Bergelmir. Either way, that would make
Loki and Gullveig either full siblings or half-siblings.
Of course, Loki and Gullveig could not be siblings at
all. Loki and Gullveig’s children — Fenrir, Jormungand,
and Leikin-Hel — are listed. As Gullveig is identified
as Ran (the wife of Aegir), Loki and Gullveig’s
monstrous children are half-siblings to Aegir’s nine
daughters, the nine Wave-maidens.
18 — Of minor note,
Rind (whom Odin bewitches and rapes in order to father
Vali) is the daughter of Billing; and Billing can be
identified with Hoenir, Odin’s brother. If true, this
would make Rind not a Jotun, but one of the Vanir,
possibly another daughter of Hoenir and Natt.
19 — With regard to Eir, I’ve listed her as a sister to
Njord and Frija, though this is nowhere stated in the
lore. She could simply be part of Frija’s entourage.
20 — Also, I’ve indicated Grid the mother of Vidar (by
Odin) as possibly the (bastard?) daughter of Geirrod. As
such or perhaps because of her relationship with Odin,
she could have been excluded from her kinsmen; and that
could explain why she was willing to give Thor aid and
comfort during his adventure to Geirrod’s homestead.
21 — Regarding the matter of Tyr’s unnamed wife, I’ve
included her as Sigyn, known to be Loki’s wife from
Lokasenna. This is a theory advanced by William Reaves.
22 — Concerning Heimdall’s godchildren, I use the term
"godchildren" to describe the relationship between
Heimdall, Thrall, Karl, and Jarl. It could be that he
was their natural father, or it could be that he just
hallowed their parents marriage by virtue of visiting
them and accepting their hospitality. Rigsthula suggests
fairly strongly the possibility of Heimdall (interpreted
as Rig) having fathered Thrall, Karl, and Jarl by
sleeping between their parents, while their mothers
nonetheless became pregnant; yet it does not state this
explicitly. To me, any tale of serial, divine cuckoldry
would bring dishonor upon the fathers and could not be
portrayed in a positive light. Consequently, I interpret
the events of Rigsthula as Heimdall visiting Ai’s,
Afi’s, and Fadhir’s households, spending time with them
as an honored guest, blessing each marital union, and
thereby sanctioning the three traditional classes of
ancient Germanic society. Again, the chart can be read
and interpreted either way.
23 — With regard to the Sons of Halfdan, it’s important
to remember that there are two, not three, natural sons:
Gudhorm (by Groa) and Hadding (by Almveig). Swipdag/Od
is Groa’s son by Egil whom Halfdan slew before taking
Groa captive and later impregnating her with Gudhorm.
It’s highly doubtful that Swipdag considered himself
Halfdan’s son in any meaningful way. Moreover, the fact
of Egil’s slaying and Groa’s captivity and impregnation
is what sets up the conflict among Swipdag and Halfdan’s
sons.
24 — Another item of possible interest is the alignment
of Swipdag, Gudhorm, and Hadding as lords (jarls?) of
the Ingvaeonians, Irminonians, and Istvaeonians with the
three branches of the Northwestern Germanic languages:
North Sea Germanic (“Ingvaeonic”), Elbe Germanic
(“Irminonic”), and Rhine-Weser Germanic (“Istvaeonic”).
I’ve provided a map (“Epic Heroes and Germanic
Dialects”) to supplement these Tables that demonstrates
how and where these lords and languages would be found,
roughly. The map includes the Eastern Germanic
(“Gothic”?) people under Hamal son of Hagal (who
fostered Halfdan at Skjold’s request and was present
during Halfdan’s kidnapping of Groa, and later provided
refuge to Hadding during the war between Swipdag and
Halfdan’s sons) as well as the Northern Germanic
(“Norse”?) people under the kingship of Asmund son of
Swipdag.
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