Towards the Baldur Myth - Germanic Mythology

than that bright form.‖
HÖDUR-LODDFAFNIR. THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE MYTH ABOUT
HÖDUR TO THE STORY OF SIGURD FAFNISBANE’S YOUTH.
The last part of Hávamál, in the form that this song has come into our hands, is
composed of a didactic poem placed in Odin‘s mouth, in which the father of the Aesir
gives good advice to a youth called Loddfafnir.
The poem begins with a verse (Hávamál 111) in which Loddfafnir says that he
received the advice that follows from Odin himself. He says that when he received it, he
was in Valhall (Háva höllu at, Háva höllu í). 81 Now on the other hand, when he speaks of
the advice formerly given to him by Odin, he is not in Valhalla, but in the underworld, on
the speaker‘s chair by Urd‘s well (þular stóli á, Urðarbrunni at). 82
The mythic person who bears the strange name or epithet Loddfafnir
consequently must have been one of Asgard‘s inhabitants and stood in particularly close
connection to Odin, because the skald presents him in Odin‘s own hall, Valhalla,
receiving instruction that should lead him on his life‘s path. Silent and attentive, he
listens to the advice-giver, as a pupil to his teacher, as a son to his father. Nevertheless,
Odin is not convinced that the youth will always take his appeal to heart (compare the
expression: ef þú nemr, ef þú getr) 83 ; even Odin predicts that in the long run, he will not
(verse 162: ljóða þessa mun þú, Loddfafnir, lengr vanr vera). 84 Among the advice must
thus be found some that contains hints about Loddfafnir‘s fate; there must occur warnings
that he brushed aside.
The Song of Loddfafnir is burdened with numerous interpolations. Even a crude
minstrel has had a finger in it (verse 112, line 7) 85 , presumably the same person that
disfigured the poem by turning the phrase ráðumk þér, Loddfáfnir, "I counsel you,
Loddfafnir," etc. into a refrain repeated to the point of being unbearable. Among the
verses and parts of verses whose authenticity no one suspects or need suspect, one must
seek those that contain clues regarding what the myth said of Loddfafnir. In this way, we
can be provided with information about the young inhabitant of Asgard who appears with
this epithet. In this regard, the following verses are important:
113. Fjölkunnigri konu
skal-at-tu í faðmi sofa,
svá at hon lyki þik liðum.
.
―In an enchantress‘s embrace
you may not sleep
81 ―At the High One‘s hall. In the High One‘s hall.‖
82 ―on the sage‘s seat at Urd‘s well,‖ cp. Sólarljóð 51 where the dead man sits á norna stóli, on norns‘ seats.
83 ―if you take it, if you get it‖
84 ―these spells Loddfafnir, you will long lack‖
85 This line speaks of getting up and going outside to urinate during the night.