with the Ynglinga-saga and an introductory chapter, the work known under the name of the "Heimskringla," which is generally attributed to Snorri Sturlason, though he was probably more its editor than its author, and may have written himself the Ynglinga-saga, which is much on a par with the prologue and epilogue of the Prose Edda, from materials supplied by the Ynglinga-tal, and the Sagas founded on similar Skaldic effusions. As M. Mallet has devoted a chapter to this part of Snorri's work, and as several of our own writers still imagine that the Icelandic historian had at least a trustworthy tradition for his legend, it may not be irrelevant to remark, in addition to our former observations on the subject t, that the Ynglinga-tal was composed by Thiodolf of Hvina, a celebrated Skald of the ninth century, in honour of Rögnvald, the son of Olaf Geirstad, and his successor to the petty state which fell to Olaf's share on the division of the kingdom of Westfold between him and his brother Halfdan the Black. In this poem Thiodolf, who was no doubt amply rewarded for his ingenuity, did not fail to give his patron a long line of royal ancestors ending in Odinic deities. And it is on such authority as this, on the encomiastic effusions of a mercenary Skald, that the Ynglinga-saga is chiefly founded-a circumstance that will enable the reader to appreciate the value of the erudite dissertations and similar literary rubbish which this Saga has given rise to. The learned, truly learned editors of the Noregs Konunga-sögur," in their "Disquisitio de Snorronis fontibus et auctoritate," contend that the whole story of the so-called historical Odin was the invention of Snorri himself. The Christian historian, they say, could not represent the celestial beings worshipped by his forefathers as gods, and it being repugnant to his feelings to make them devils, as the monks had done, he transformed them into men endowed with many marvellous qualities, and adopting some of the geographical fables of Jornandes and Paulus Diaconus, whose 66 Snorri's work obtained the singular title of Heimskringla, the World's Circle, on account of the Ynglinga-saga, which forms the first book, and immediately follows the introductory chapter, beginning with the words, "Sva el sagt at kringla heimsins," it is said that the circle of the world + See page 84. Vol. vi. p. 247. works were probably known to him, led his anthropomorphized deities from the Tanaquisl to Scandinavia. They chiefly ground this assumption on the fact that Snorri does not cite a single verse from the Ynglinga-tal in the first thirteen chapters of the Ynglinga-saga, although most of the other chapters rest on the authority of that poem. This argument of the learned editors is, however, by no means conclusive; for Snorri begins to corroborate his statements by quotations from Thiodolf's rhapsody in his fourteenth chapter, in which he relates the death of Fjölnir, the son of Yngvi-Frey, that is to say, of the anthropomorphized sun-god, Frey. These and other quotations from the Ynglinga-tal show, as we before observed, that Thiodolf traced up his patron's ancestors to the Odinic deities In what light he may have regarded these deities it is utterly impossible to say, neither is it worth while hazarding a conjecture on the subject; for, when the whole story of the historical Odin is admitted to be mere fiction, it is of very little consequence whether we ascribe this fiction to an ambitious Icelandic chieftain of the thirteenth century, or to a mercenary Skald of the ninth. In respect to the historical Sagas of the Heimskringla, we should not be inclined to go so far as Professor Müller, who contends that Snorri did not even collect the materials for them, but found these materials already collected by his predecessors; nor did he arrange the events chronologically, that having been done by Ari Fródi, to whose chronology he refers; nor narrate them in a more elegant style, for "he narrates events as they had been narrated before his time, without introducing any reflections of his own, nor does his style differ from that of his contemporaries."* Be this as it may, Snorri must have been too much occupied with public affairs and the pursuits of ambition, and too much involved in family feuds, to find time for writing such a voluminous work as the Heimskringla. He probably collected the Sagas, and, after subjecting them to a thorough revision, had them copied by his amanuenses. This might be implied by the expressions cause to be written, have written," which he more than once 66 Sagabib. vol. iii. p. 403. Professor Müller also observes, in corroboration of his views, that the title of the Learned (hinn Fródi) was not given to Snorri, although every one who in those ages, and even at a later period, distinguished himself by his historical studies obtained it. makes use of. At the end of the eighty-seventh chapter of Olaf Tryggvason's Saga, he says, for instance, "what I shall next have written will be respecting the Icelanders."* However, in whatever manner he proceeded, Snorri will always be deservedly regarded as the Herodotus of northern history. Under the head Uncorroborated or partially corroborated Historical Sagas, we should place from thirty to forty Sagas relating to Iceland, and several Thættir concerning Norwegians. 4th. Romantic Sagas. This class comprises about twentyfive Sagas, of which the Hervarar-saga, and Hedin and Hognissaga, are very good specimens. It may not be irrelevant to observe, that the distinction between a mythic-heroic and a romantic Saga is, that although both may place their heroes in connection with the Odinic deities, the former speaks of these deities as they are represented in the Eddaic Poems whilst the latter mixes them up with the fables and legends of the Middle Ages. These Sagas are, in fact, mediæval romances, and as such, in an historical or ethnological point of view, quite undeserving of attention. The writers of the last century, who were, generally speaking, not aware of this distinction, frequently grounded the most inconclusive arguments on their authority, and still more frequently included all the Icelandic Sagas under some sweeping denunciation, which modern criticism has shown would only be strictly applicable to the romantic class. We may remark, in conclusion, that Professor Müller has given a list of 119 Icelandic Medieval Romances which have been translated from foreign languages, French, German, Dutch, Latin, &c., or for which foreign romances supplied the materials. As, for instance, a translation of Gualteri's "Alexandriad," made by Bishop Brand Johnson at the request of King Hákon Hákonson; the story of Virgil (translated from the Dutch), the said Virgil marrying a daughter of the Soldan of Babylon, founding Naples, &c. With these worthless productions the old Icelandic literature may be said to have reached its term. Its dawn was announced by the significant myths and heroic lays which oral tradition had transmitted *Næst rita láta, next let write, cause to be written, are the words he makes use of. Sagabib. vol. iii. p. 480. through the long night of barbarous ages. Developed by the genial influence of that peculiar constitutional freedom which the discussions at the Al-thing gave rise to, it attained its full maturity in the graphic Saga, flourished with the freedom that imparted to it its originality, and with this freedom decayed: the Al-thing degenerating into a Norwegian tribunal, the Saga into a mediæval romance. With the Reformation began a new epoch-that of modern Icelandic or Islenzka literature, which, although it possesses no great claim to originality, has nevertheless produced several writers of considerable eminence. John Vidalin, Bishop of Skalholt, for instance, who died A. D. 1720, has been called the Icelandic Cicero, his sermons being, it is said— for we never had the curiosity to look at them—as remark. able for their elegance of diction, as they are for their learning and Christian piety. And in the present century Espolin has written a very good continuation of the Sturlunga Saga, and Sigurd Pétursson, and John Thorláksson have acquired a deserved celebrity as poets of no ordinary talents; the former, for his original compositions, and the latter, for his elegant translations of Klopstock's "Messiah," Pope's "Essay on Man," and Milton's "Paradise Lost." Modern Icelandic poetry being still a curiosity in this country, we subjoin, as a specimen, a very smooth flowing verse from one of Pétursson's poems, with an accompanying translation, in which we have attempted, though at the risk of making it more like Icelandic than correct English, to preserve the metre, and, as much as possible, also the alliteration of the original. "Thá eymdir striða á sorgfullt sinn, Og vellyst brosir að thinum kviða :! Theink, allt er hnöttótt, og hverfast lætr, "When grief oppresses the mournful mind, THE PROSE EDDA. PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS BY THE EDITOR. It was our intention to have merely revised the translation of the "Prose Edda" given in Bishop Percy's edition of M. Mallet's Work, but, on comparing it with the Old Norse text, we found that a number of important passages had been omitted, and others rendered not only quite contrary to the spirit, but also to the sense of the original. In fact this could not be otherwise, for Mallet appears to have made his translation from the erroneous Latin version published by Resenius in the year 1665, and Bishop Percy expressly states that he merely turned Mallet's French translation into English, occasionally consulting Goranson's Latin version, which is not much better than that of Resenius. Under these untoward circumstances, it is a wonder that the English translation was not more incorrect than we found it to be. We have, however, naturally been obliged to subject it to a thorough revision, in fact, to retranslate the work; a diligent comparison of Bishop Percy's text, with the Old Norse text of Rask's edition, only allowing us to retain here and there passages conveying the true meaning of the original. We have also inserted the passages omitted, and given most of the extracts from the Elder Edda in a metre resembling the narrative verse, in which all the Eddaic poems are composed †, though without attempting to preserve the alliteration. Neither Mallet nor Bishop Percy deemed the Prologue and Epilogue worth translating, and, as we fully agree with them in this respect, we have not disfigured our pages by reproducing these absurd productions, which, it is needless to say, throw not the least light on the subject they were intended to elucidate. Each editor and translator of the Prose Edda having divided the work into chapters with suitable titles conformable to his own views, we have also taken the same liberty. In Rask's edition of the original text the chapters are without titles, and follow each other as paragraphs, the work being in fact divided into two chapters (parts), one containing fifty-three and the other four paragraphs, but as references to the Prose Edda are now generally made according to the enumeration of the chapters or paragraphs of Rask's edition, we have retained this enumeration, and not numbered our own divisions. To each of the chapters into which he divided the work, M. Mallet added numerous "Notes," which were, however, but too frequently grounded on the most erroneous notions respecting Scandinavian mythology, owing, in some measure, to the ingenious author having adopted the crude theories of Cluverius and Pelloutier, on the origin of the Teutonic and Celtic nations §. Such of these Notes that are still of any value will be given after our "Critical Examination of the Leading Doctrines of the Scandinavian System of Mythology," and referred to in the text by letters in brackets. Many of them reflect great credit on M. Mallet's judgment, especially when we consider the period when they were written. Published at Stockholm in 1818.-See page 378. + See page 382. See page 378. § See Bishop Percy's Preface. |