Chapters 44-95 - Germanic Mythology

Veit hún Heimdallar
hljóð um fólgið
undir heiðvönum
helgum baðmi.
She knows Heimdall's
hearing is hidden
beneath the bright-accustomed
holy tree.
Near one of the mead-cisterns in the lower world, Gorm's men see a horn
ornamented with pictures and flashing with precious stones.
Among the treasures taken care of by Mimir is the world's foremost sword and a
wonderful arm-ring, smithied by the same master as made the sword (see Nos. 87, 98,
101). 1 Near the gorgeous horn, Gorm's men see a gold-plated tooth of an animal and an
arm-ring. The animal tooth becomes a sword when it is taken into the hand. 2 Nearby is
treasury filled with a large number of weapons and a royal robe. Mimir is known in
mythology as a collector of treasures. He is therefore called Hoddmímir, Hoddrofnir,
Baugreginn. 3
Thus, on their journeys in the lower world, Gorm and his men have seen not only
Náströnd's place of punishment in Niflhel, but also the holy land, where Mimir reigns.
When Gorm and his men desire to cross the golden bridge and see the wonders to
which it leads, Gudmund prohibits it. When they desire to cross the river, in another place
farther up, in order to see what is there beyond, he consents and has them taken over in a
boat. He does not deem it proper to show them the unknown land at the golden bridge,
but it is within the limits of his authority to let them see the places of punishment and
those regions which contain the mead-cisterns and the treasure chambers. The sagas call
him the king on the Glittering Plains, and as the Glittering Plains are situated in the lower
world, he must be a lower world ruler.
Two of the sagas, Helgi Thorisson's and Gorm's, cast a shadow on Gudmund's
character. In the former, this shadow does not produce confusion or contradiction. The
saga is a legend which represents Christianity, with Olaf Tryggvason as its apostle, in
conflict with heathenism, represented by Gudmund. It is therefore natural that the latter
cannot be presented in the most favorable light. With his prayers, Olaf destroys the
happiness of Gudmund's daughter. He compels her to abandon her lover, and Gudmund,
who is unable to take revenge in any other manner, tries to do so, as is the case with so
many of the characters in saga and history, by treachery. This is demanded by the
fundamental idea and tendency of the legend. What the author of the legend has heard
about Gudmund's character from older sagamen, or what he has read in records, he does
not, however, conceal with silence, but admits that Gudmund, aside from his heathen
religion and grudge toward Olaf Tryggvason, was a man in whose home one might fare
well and be happy.
Saxo has preserved the shadow, but in his narrative it produces the greatest
contradiction. Gudmund offers fruits, drinks, and embraces in order to induce his guests
to remain with him forever, and he does it in a tempting manner and, as it seems, with
1 The master being Völund.
2 The word biti = a tooth (cp. bite) becomes in the composition leggbiti, the name of a sword.
3 Hoddmímir, Hoddrofnir, Baugreginn, names of Mimir found in Vafþrúðnismál 45, Sigrdrífumál 13, and
Sólarljód 56, respectively.