TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. - Centrostudirpinia.it

422 WISE WOMEN.
a like phenomenon. Of the norns, none but Skuld the youngest
(p. 405) can be a valkyrja too : were UrSr and VerSandi imagined
as too aged or too dignified for the work of war ? did the cutting,
breaking, of the thread (if
such an idea can be detected in the
in arms ?
North) better become the maiden practised
Two other valkyrs, Rlock and Herfiotr, have been claimed
above (p. 401) as idisl, and interpreted as restrainers of the fight.
In the Kormakssaga there also occurs Hlokk gen. Hlakkar, for
bellona.
Hildr, Gunnr, Thruffr deserve to be studied the more closely,
because their personality turns up in other Teutonic tongues as
well, and the presence there of some walachuriun argues that of
the whole sisterhood. Even in ONorse, Hildr and Gunnr (mGuSr)
of bellona
got generalized into hildr and gunnr (pugna, proelium) ;
was made bellum : hildr hefir ]m oss verit, bellona nobis fuisti,
Seem. 164 b . Conversely, beside the AS. hild and guff we still
find a personal Hild and Guff: gif mec Hild nime (if H. take me),
Beow. 899. 2962 j Guff nimeB 5069 ; Guff fornam (carried off)
2240 ; as elsewhere we have gif mec dea$ nimeoY Beow. 889, wig
ealle fornam 2154, guSdeaS fornam 4494, Wyrd fornam 2411 (conf.
OS. Wurd farnimid, Hel, 111, 11), swylt fornam 2872, Wyrd for-
sweop (supra p, 406) ; conf. Hilde grap 5009. And as other
beings that do us good or harm are by turns aroused and quieted,
it is said picturesquely: Hildi vekja (bellonam excitare), Ssem. 160*
246 a
; elsewhere merely vig vekja (bellum excitare) 105 a . The
valkyrs, like OSinn (p. 147), are accompanied by eagles and ravens,
who alight on the battlefield, 1 and the waging of war is poetically
expressed as ala gogl yunna systra (aves alere sororum belli), Ssem.
160 a . The
forms in OHG. were Hiltia and Gundia (Gudea), both
found in the Hild. lied 6, 60, though already as mere common
nouns ; composite proper names have -hilt, -gunt. 2 The legend of
Hildr, who goes to the val at night, and by her magic wakes the
fallen warriors into life again, is preserved both in the Edda (Sin.
164-5) and also in the OHG. poem of Gudrun, where she is called
Hilde? Lastly, Thruffr, which likewise sinks into a mere appella-
1 Anclr. and El. p. xxvi. xxvii. Conf. Luke 17, 37 : onov TO o-co/^a,
(Twa\6r](TOVTai KCU ol aeroi.
2 The Trad, fuld., in Schannat no. 443, have preserved the name, well
suited to a valkyr, of Themarhilt (from de mar, crepusculum).
3 Deutsche "heldensage p. 327 seq. Conf. supra p. 285, on Hilde and Hild-.
burg.