The Prose Edda, passage 113

And although Saturn had given the realm of heaven to Jupiter, the latter nevertheless desired to possess the realm of the earth, and so he harried his father’s kingdom, and it is said that he had him taken and emasculated, and for such great achievements he declared himself to be god, and the Macedonians say that he had the members taken and cast into the sea, and therefore they believed for ages that therefrom had come a woman; her they called Venus, and numbered among the gods, and she has in all ages since been called goddess of love, for they believed she was able to turn the hearts of all men and women to love.

The Prose Edda, passage 420

Then happens what will seem a great miracle, that the wolf[64] devours the sun, and this will seem a great loss. The other wolf will devour the moon, and this too will cause great mischief. The stars shall be Hurled from heaven. Then it shall come to pass that the earth and the mountains will shake so violently that trees will be torn up by the roots, the mountains will topple down, and all bonds and fetters will be broken and snapped. The Fenris-wolf gets loose.

The Prose Edda, passage 785

Vesete settled in Borgundarholm (Bornholm), and had a son, Bue (one who settles on a farm); Vifil sailed further east and settled on the island Vifilsey, on the coast of Sweden, and had a son, Viking (the pirate).

The Prose Edda, passage 367

Then there came into the hall an old woman. Utgard-Loke bade her take a wrestle with Asa-Thor. The tale is not long. The result of the grapple was, that the more Thor tightened his grasp, the firmer she stood. Then the woman began to bestir herself, and Thor lost his footing. They had some very hard tussles, and before long Thor was brought down on one knee.

The Prose Edda, passage 666

Seeing that you have no gift that you can give me with the name, or that would be suitable to me, then he who has must give to the other. Then he took a gold ring off his hand and gave it to the churl. Then said Vog: You give as the best king of all, and therefore I now pledge myself to become the bane of him who becomes your bane. Said the king, laughing: A small thing makes Vog happy.

The Prose Edda, passage 412

Loke immediately sprang up, cast the net on the fire and leaped into the river. When the asas came to the house, he entered first who was wisest of them all, and whose name was Kvaser; and when he saw in the fire the ashes of the net that had been burned, he understood that this must be a contrivance for catching fish, and this he told to the asas. Thereupon they took flax and made themselves a net after the pattern of that which they saw in the ashes and which Loke had made.

The Prose Edda, passage 806

Grimner they called me Here at Geirrod’s, But Jalk at Asmund’s, And Kjalar the time When sleds (kjalka) I drew, And Thror at the Thing, Vidur on the battle-field, Oske and Ome, Jafnhar and Biflinde, Gondler and Harbard ’mong the gods.

The Prose Edda, passage 776

Frey was called by another name, Yngve; and this name Yngve was considered long after in his race as a name of honor, so that his descendants have since been called Ynglings (_i.e._ Yngve-lings). Frey fell into a sickness, and as his illness took the upper hand, his men took the plan of letting few approach him. In the meantime they raised a great mound, in which they placed a door with three holes in it.

The Prose Edda, passage 402

52. But of Hermod it is to be told that he rode nine nights through deep and dark valleys, and did not see light until he came to the Gjallar-river and rode on the Gjallar-bridge, which is thatched with shining gold. Modgud is the name of the may who guards the bridge.

The Prose Edda, passage 333

Then answered Thride: It is evident that he now is bound to know, though it does not seem proper for us to speak thereof. The beginning of this adventure is that Oku-Thor went on a journey with his goats and chariot, and with him went the asa who is called Loke. In the evening they came to a bonde[60] and got there lodgings for the night. In the evening Thor took his goats and killed them both, whereupon he had them flayed and borne into a kettle.

The Prose Edda, passage 363

Then Thor became wroth, set the horn to his mouth and drank with all his might and kept on as long as he could, and when he looked into it its contents had indeed visibly diminished, but he gave back the horn and would not drink any more. Said Utgard-Loke: It is clear that your might is not so great as we thought. Would you like to try other games? It is evident that you gained nothing by the first.

The Prose Edda, passage 459

The eagle flew just high enough so that Loke’s feet were dragged over stones and rocks and trees, and it seemed to him that his arms would be torn from his shoulder-blades. He calls and prays the eagle most earnestly for peace, but the latter declares that Loke shall never get free unless he will pledge himself to bring Idun and her apples out of Asgard.

The Prose Edda, passage 532

The Midgard-serpent’s father exhorted Thor, the victor of giants, To set out from home. A great liar was Loke. Not quite confident, The companion of the war-god Declared green paths to lie To the gard of Geirrod.

The Prose Edda, passage 601

There lies Regin, Contemplating How to deceive the man Who trusts him; Thinks in his wrath Of false accusations. The evil smith plots Revenge ’gainst the brother.[95]

The Prose Edda, passage 525

On his way Thor visited the giantess whose name is Grid. She was the mother of Vidar the Silent. She told Thor the truth concerning Geirrod, that he was a dog-wise and dangerous giant; and she lent him her own belt of strength and steel gloves, and her staff, which is called Gridarvol. Then went Thor to the river which is called Vimer, and which is the largest of all rivers. He buckled on the belt of strength and stemmed the wild torrent with Gridarvol, but Loke held himself fast in Megingjard. When Thor had come into the middle of the stream, the river waxed so greatly that the waves dashed over his shoulders. Then quoth Thor:

The Prose Edda, passage 49

In this feud Snorre was defeated, but when Sturle shortly after fell in a battle against his foes, Snorre’s star of hope rose again, and he began to occupy himself with far-reaching, ambitious plans. He had been for the first time in Norway during the years 1218-1220, and had been well received by King Hakon, and especially by Jarl Skule, who was then the most influential man in the country.

The Prose Edda, passage 439

Vigrid is the name of the plain Where in fight shall meet Surt and the gentle god. A hundred miles It is every way. This field is marked out for them.[70]

The Prose Edda, passage 561

Sorry were not the giants After this had taken place, Since from the south Idun had come to the giants. All the race Of Yngve-Frey, at the Thing, Grew old and gray,-- Ugly-looking were the gods.

The Prose Edda, passage 452

The asas now sat down to talk, and held their counsel, and remembered all the tales that were told to Gylfe. They gave the very same names that had been named before to the men and places that were there. This they did for the reason that, when a long time has elapsed, men should not doubt that those asas of whom these tales were now told and those to whom the same names were given were all identical. There was one who is called Thor, and he is Asa-Thor, the old. He is Oku-Thor, and to him are ascribed the great deeds done by Hektor in Troy. But men think that the Turks have told of Ulysses, and have called him Loke, for the Turks were his greatest enemies.

The Prose Edda, passage 988

Also son of Sigurd and Gudrun. SINDRE. A dwarf. SIGTYR. A name of Odin. SIGYN. Loke’s wife. SIGURD. The hero in the Niblung story; identical with Sigfrid. SILVERTOP. One of the horses of the gods. SIMUL. The pole on which Bil and Hjuke carried the bucket. SINFJOTLE. Son of Sigmund. SINER. One of the horses of the gods. SJOFN. One of the asynjes. SKADE. A giantess; daughter of Thjasse and wife of Njord. SKEGGOLD. A valkyrie. SKEIDBRIMER. One of the horses of the gods. SKIDBLADNER. Frey’s ship.

The Prose Edda, passage 977

JAFNHAR. A name of Odin. JALG. A name of Odin. JALK. A name of Odin. JARNSAXA. One of Heimdal’s nine giant mothers. JARNVED. The same as Ironwood. JARNVIDJES. The giantesses dwelling in Ironwood. JORD. Wife of Odin, mother of Thor. JORMUNGAND. The Midgard-serpent. JORMUNREK. King of Goths, marries Svanhild. JORUVOLD. The country where Aurvang is situated. Thence come several dwarfs. JOTUNHEIM. The home of the giants.

The Prose Edda, passage 885

If we add to this list Brage, Vale and Loke, we get fifteen; but the Eddas everywhere declare that there are twelve gods, who were entitled to divine worship.

The Prose Edda, passage 127

Another son of Odin hight Beldegg, whom we call Balder; he possessed the land which now hight Vestfal; his son was Brander, and his son Frjodigar, whom we call Froda (Frode). His son was Freovit, his son Yvigg, his son Gevis, whom we call Gave. The third son of Odin is named Sigge, his son Verer. These forefathers ruled the land which is now called Frankland, and from them is come the race that is called the Volsungs. From all of these many and great races are descended.

The Prose Edda, passage 292

From Gna’s name it is said that anything that fares high in the air gnas. Sol and Bil are numbered among the goddesses, but their nature has already been described.[48]

The Prose Edda, passage 341

Meanwhile the man woke, and immediately arose. It is said that Thor this once forbore to strike him with the hammer, and asked him for his name. He called himself Skrymer; but, said he, I do not need to ask you what your name is,--I know that you are Asa-Thor. But what have you done with my glove? He stretched out his hand and picked up his glove. Then Thor saw that the glove was the hall in which he had spent the night, and that the adjoining room was the thumb of the glove.

The Prose Edda, passage 349

Do not brag too much of yourselves, for Utgard-Loke’s thanes will not brook the boasting of such insignificant little fellows as you are; otherwise turn back, and that is, in fact, the best thing for you to do. But if you are bound to continue your journey, then keep straight on eastward; my way lies to the north, to those mountains that you there see.

The Prose Edda, passage 79

From here went forth daring vikings, who discovered Greenland and Vinland, and showed Columbus the way to America. From here the courts of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, England and Germany were supplied with skalds to sing their praises. Here was put in writing the laws and sagas that give us a clue to the form of old Teutonic institutions. Here was preserved the Old Norse language, and in it a record of the customs, the institutions and the religion of our fathers.

The Prose Edda, passage 929

“Why, where in the world have you been?” said the woman. “Here I have been sitting hour after hour waiting and waiting, and I haven’t as much as two sticks to put on the fire so as to cook the Christmas porridge.”

The Prose Edda, passage 1052

Typographical errors (all from “Notes”, Vocabulary and Index):

The Prose Edda, passage 896

(Auber Forestier’s Echoes from Mistland; Introduction, xliii, xliv.) We also find this story repeated again and again, in numberless variations, in Teutonic folk-lore; for instance, in The Maiden on the Glass Mountain, where the glass mountain takes the place of the bickering flame.

The Prose Edda, passage 791

This story about the ploughing of Gylfe reminds us of the legend told in the first book of Virgil’s Æneid, about the founding of Carthage by Dido, who bought from the Libyan king as much ground as she could cover with a bull’s hide. Elsewhere it is related that she cut the bull’s hide into narrow strips and encircled therewith all the ground upon which Carthage was afterward built. Thus Dido deceived the Libyan king nearly as effectually as Gefjun deluded King Gylfe. The story is also told by Snorre in Heimskringla, see p. 231.

The Prose Edda, passage 63

Their author is unknown, but they are thought to have been written about the year 1300. To sum up, then, we arrive at this conclusion: The mythological material of the Younger Edda is as old as the Teutonic race. Parts of it are written by authors unknown to fame. A small portion is the work of Olaf Thordsson.

The Prose Edda, passage 385

It must be admitted that Thor now beguiled the Midgard-serpent not a whit less than Utgard-Loke mocked him when he was to lift the serpent with his hand. The Midgard-serpent took the ox-head into his mouth, whereby the hook entered his palate, but when the serpent perceived this he tugged so hard that both Thor’s hands were dashed against the gunwale. Now Thor became angry, assumed his asa-might and spurned so hard that both his feet went through the boat and he stood on the bottom of the sea.

The Prose Edda, passage 913

Wagner has done this for us in his famous drama; Jordan has done it in his Sigfrid’s saga; Morris has done it in the work mentioned above; but will not Auber Forestier gather up all the scattered fragments relating to Sigurd and Brynhild, and weave them together into a prose narrative, that shall delight the young and the old of this great land?

The Prose Edda, passage 537

Thor and his companions Put before him the staff; Thereon he rested Whilst over they waded: Nor sleep did the stones,-- The sonorous staff striking the rapid wave Made the river-bed ring,-- The mountain-torrent rang with stones.

The Prose Edda, passage 1029

Na, 70. Naglfar, 65, 112, 141, 144. Nain, 70. Nal, 91. Nanna, 81, 134, 136, 153. Nare, 91, 139. Narfe, 65, 91, 139. Nastrand, 9, 147. Nep, 89, 134. Neptune, 41. Niblungs, 101, 193, 199, 201, 202, 262, 263, 266. Niblung Story, 30, 266, 267. Nida Mountains, 147. Nide, 70. Nidhug, 9, 72, 75, 148, 249. Niflheim, 5, 56, 58, 72, 92, 243, 247, 249, 259. Niflhel, 55, 111, 259. Niflungs, 193-199, 201, 202, 266. Night,65. Nikar, 54. Nikuz, 54. Nile, 41. Niping, 70.

The Prose Edda, passage 1040

Thor, 6, 8, 29, 41, 44, 65, 73, 82, 83, 89, 100, 109-153, 165-192, 205-243, 251, 259, 260, 263. Thorarin, 235. Thord, 20. Thorer, 235. Thorin, 70. Thorleif, 176, 184, 187. Thorn, 179. Thorodd (Runemaster), 27. Thorpe (Benjamin), 15, 252, 257, 259, 262. Thorre, 241. Thorstein (Viking’s son), 241. Thrace, 44, 221. Thride, 81, 243-246. Thro, 71, 81. Throin, 71. Thror, 245. Thrud, 99. Thruda, 183. Thrudgelmer, 250. Thrudheim, 44, 259. Thrudvang, 82, 127, 173, 232, 259. Thrym, 7.

The Prose Edda, passage 134

And men think they can understand from the way in which the names of their forefathers is written, that these names have belonged to this tongue, and that the asas have brought this tongue hither to the north, to Norway, to Sweden and to Saxland. But in England are old names of places and towns which can be seen to have been given in another tongue than this.

The Prose Edda, passage 713

Odin had two brothers, the one hight Ve, the other Vile,[113] and they governed the kingdom when he was absent. It happened once when Odin had gone to a great distance, and had been so long away that the people of Asia doubted if he would ever return home, that his two brothers took it upon themselves to divide his estate; but both of them took his wife Frigg to themselves. Odin soon after returned home, and took his wife back.

The Prose Edda, passage 632

[Footnote 96: The drink of the Volsungs = venom; the tortuous venom-serpent = the Midgard-serpent.]

The Prose Edda, passage 350

Skrymer then took the provision-sack and threw it on his back, and, leaving them, turned into the wood, and it has not been learned whether the asas wished to meet him again in health.

The Prose Edda, passage 282

When the asas saw that the wolf was sufficiently well bound, they took the chain which was fixed to the fetter, and which was called Gelgja, and drew it through a large rock which is called Gjol, and fastened this rock deep down in the earth. Then they took a large stone, which is called Tvite, and drove it still deeper into the ground, and used this stone for a fastening-pin.

The Prose Edda, passage 750

[Footnote 125: Berserk. The etymology of this word has been much contested. Some, upon the authority of Snorre in the above quoted passage, derive it from berr (_bare_) and serkr (comp. _sark_, Scotch for shirt); but this etymology is inadmissible, because serkr is a substantive, not an adjective. Others derive it from berr (Germ.

The Prose Edda, passage 142

[Footnote 9: Heimskringla: Harald Harfager’s Saga, ch. xix.]

The Prose Edda, passage 453

1. A man by name Æger, or Hler, who dwelt on the island called Hler’s Isle, was well skilled in the black art. He made a journey to Asgard. But the asas knew of his coming and gave him a friendly reception; but they also made use of many sorts of delusions. In the evening, when the feast began, Odin had swords brought into the hall, and they were so bright that it glistened from them so that there was no need of any other light while they sat drinking.

The Prose Edda, passage 105

[Footnote 5: Dasent translates “hövuðtungur” (chief or head tongues) with “lords,” which is certainly an error.]

The Prose Edda, passage 225

18. Then said Ganglere: Whence comes the wind? It is so strong that it moves great seas, and fans fires to flame, and yet, strong as it is, it cannot be seen. Therefore it is wonderfully made. Then answered Har: That I can tell you well. At the northern end of heaven sits a giant, who hight Hrasvelg. He is clad in eagles’ plumes, and when he spreads his wings for flight, the winds arise from under them. Thus is it here said:

The Prose Edda, passage 226

Hrasvelg hight he Who sits at the end of heaven, A giant in eagle’s disguise. From his wings, they say, The wind does come Over all mankind.[30]

The Prose Edda, passage 534

The giantess Gjalp, Perjured Geirrod’s daughter, Sooner got ready magic to use Than the god of war and Loke. A song I recite. Those gods noxious to the giants Planted their feet In Endil’s land,

The Prose Edda, passage 346

He arose and went over to him, clutched the hammer tight and hard, and gave him a blow in the middle of the crown, so that he knew that the head of the hammer sank deep into his head. But just then Skrymer awoke and asked: What is that? Did an acorn fall onto my head? How is it with you, Thor? Thor hastened back, answered that he had just waked up, and said that it was midnight and still time to sleep.