Viktor Rydberg's Investigations into Germanic Mythology, Vol. II

III. THE TRANSITION FROM PEACE TO WAR.
15. Runes of Witchcraft. Gullveig’s First Burning. 8 The forces of the giant-world,
the descendants of Ymir's feet, who dwell in Niflhel and Jotunheim, hated the race of
men that the gods had created and protected. They hated the holy songs Odin received
from Mimir, and all the good learning that our race received from Heimdall. Their
purpose is to destroy the world's order and bring back Chaos, from which they trace their
origin. Gullveig and Loki were their secret allies in Asgard. Gullveig devised the evil
sorcery and the runes of witchcraft, an antithesis to Heimdall's teachings. 9 She wanted to
entice Freyja, whose handmaiden she was, to practice this art, but it was discovered and
the gods sentenced Gullveig to burn. Then for the first time, flames learned to become
blended with smoke and thus could only half-burn her heart.
16. The Birth of the Midgard Serpent. Loki found and swallowed the half-burnt
heart. Thereby, he became pregnant and bore the Midgard serpent, which he threw into
the sea. The Midgard serpent grows in direct proportion to the evil in the world.
17. Thor’s First Giant-slaying. The giants Vingnir and Hlora treacherously
wanted to take their foster son Thor's life when they noticed that he had grown
enormously strong. But Thor, while still young, killed them both and traveled to Asgard
with Vingnir's vafur-laden 10 stone hammer. By that time, the giants had become
numerous in Jotunheim and comprised many mighty clans.
8 The exact placement of Gullveig-Heid's three burnings is problematic. Völuspá informs us that she was
"thrice burnt and thrice reborn, ...yet she still lives.” Based on a passage in Hyndluljóð 40-41, Rydberg
connects her to Angrboda, the mother of three monsters: the Midgard Serpent, the Fenris Wolf, and the
half-livid giantess Leikn, who becomes queen of Niflhel (See Vol. 1, no. 63-67). Each time the witch is
burned, Loki finds her heart, consumes it, and is impregnated by it. Rydberg makes the original suggestion
that one monster was born after each of the three burnings. Völuspá appears to indicate that she was burnt
once for spreading witchcraft across Midgard [22], once for betraying her mistress, Freyja, to the giants
during the first fimbul-winter [25], and once in Odin's hall just before the war between the Aesir and the
Vanir [110]. At the time of Gullveig-Heid's final burning, her daughter Gerd has become the wife of the
Vanir god Frey, thus she is now a protected member of the Vanir clan.
Here, Rydberg seems to add an additional burning (no. 15, where Heid is punished for teaching
Freyja witchcraft). In my opinion, no. 15 and no. 19 are best combined. This would constitute the first
burning, followed by the birth of the Midgard serpent. The second burning (rather than the third) would
then occur at no. 46, signaling the birth of Fenrir, and the third at no. 110, after which Leikn, the queen of
disease is born (the same being whom Snorri Sturluson identifies as 'Hel').
9 The Eddaic poems refer to this type of magic as "seiðr." From its known uses in the mythology, it seems
to involve influencing the minds of others (see 87). In Völuspá 22, Heid "seið hón leikinn," deluded with
seiðr; she is ever the delight of evil women. From the statement in Heimskringla that Freyja was the first in
Asgard to practice seiðr comes the mistaken conclusion that Freyja is Gullveig. The thrice-born and thriceburnt
Gullveig is called Heid when she comes among men, and in Hyndluljod, Heid is a daughter of the
giant Hrimnir. In Volusungasaga, we find Hrimnir's daughter as a maidservant in Asgard under Frigg. She
plays as important a role as Loki does in the corruption of order.
10 In Þórsdrápa 14 Thor's chariot is called hreggs váfreiðar, the "storm's hovering chariot" which Rydberg
interprets as the "storm's vafur-chariot,” leading him to conclude that the vafrloga mentioned in the Elder
Edda was lightning. Thus he depicts Thor's hammer as "vafur-laden.” Vafrloga or vafræyði literally means
"wavering fire.” Vafra means "to hover about,” "to wander to and fro" and is applied to the motion of
flames and ghosts, which has led some to conclude that these fires in their natural state represent the Aurora
Borealis. In Fjölsvinnsmál 31, Menglad-Freyja's hall is surrounded by "vafur-fire," as is Gerd's hall in
Skírnismál 8, 9. The fire is said to be "wise" and can distinguish friend from foe. As seen in Fjölsvinnsmál,
these fires surround and protect Asgard from intrusion. Thus in Haustlöng 13 when the Aesir raise the