Northern mythology

196 NORTHERN MYTHOLOGY.
iioui'isli). He is supposed to be identical with the German
goddess NerthuSj the Gothic form of which, Nairj^us ^,
may be either mascuHne or feminine-. Niord^s habitation
is Noatun, the place of ships, i. e. the sea, from nor, nos
{vavf;, navis) ship, and tun, an enclosed place, house and
land. Ska^i signifies the hurtful. Her habitation, Thrymheim,
is from J>rymr, 7ioise, uproar, and bears allusion to
the stormy wdnds.
Far more conspicuous than Niord are his children, Frey^
and Freyia"^, who spread the fructifying power of the air
over the earth, and bring abundance around and into
the
dwellings of men. Frey gives fruitfulness to the earth,
Freyia to human beings.
Frey rules over the Light-elves,
and their united influence brings good years and prosperity.
In the most spirited of the Eddaic poems, Skirnir's Journey^,
is described Frey's longing to impart his blessings
to the earth. Earth, with the seed deposited in it, as
Gerd, resists his embraces. His messenger, Skirnir, who
impels the seed forth into the light, vainly promises her
the harvest's golden fruit,
and a ring dripping with abun-
From her giant nature, not yet quickened by the
dance.
divine spirit, she has no idea of the benefits that will
accrue to her through Frey's love ; Skirnir must impress
on her mind how, without Frey's embraces, she will to all
eternity be the bride of the frost-giant Hrimnir, and never
feel the joys of conception.
She yields herself up to Frey,
and they embrace when the buds burst in the woods.
Freyia's abode is Folkvang; she has her dwelling amid
the habitations of people, and fills them \\'ith abundance.
Her hall is Sessrymnir, the roomy-seated. But her influ-
^
The identity of the names seems unquestionable ; but how is the account
here given of Niord as " the universal nourishing power in air and
water," and "as god of the ocean and the wind," etc. to be reconciled
with what Tacitus says of Nerthus :
" Nerthuni, id est Terram matrem,
colmit "?
^
Grimm, D. M. p. 197. ^ page 25. ^ page 32. ^ p^gg 46.