Grumpy Lokean Elder

The very first thing to notice is that some translations are lazy/abridged/whatever and cut the entire introduction out, which strips away critical information: who is in the poem, why they are behaving the way they are, what their previous interactions with Oðin are. _If you are reading from a version that is missing the introduction, go seek out a supplemental copy that includes the introduction text.

_The second thing to notice is how close Oðin and Frigg’s interactions in the introduction are to portions of Paul the Deacon’s History of the Langobards (and Origo Gentis Langobardorum, which Paul draws from). Here Oðin and Frigg are both involved in a gamble involving the fates of men, and Frigg intervenes on the behalf of the Winnili against the Vandals. She gives them council and tricks Oðin, who then has to keep his word to give victory to whomever he saw first at sunrise, and the Winnili become the Langobardi in the process. Paul’s retelling of this tale are in Book 1, Chapters 7 and 8.

So Grímnismál isn’t Oðin and Frigg’s first time of competing and trying to outwit one another. It’s worth noting that in each of these instances, Frigg wins in the end. Frigg outsmarts, outmaneuvers, and tricks Oðin. This often gets overlooked by people. Frigg is scary, don’t mess with her, she let’s her own husband get stuck between torture fires to win, and leaves him there for a good long time.

On to the poem stanzas!

I’ve added a link to the top of my page with suggested reading for people interested in runes. It includes both introductory material and some more advanced stuff. I’ll keep adding stuff to it over time, but I think this should keep everyone busy for a while. Plenty of it is available for free online.

After spending a semester learning Old High German, I have decided to put it to use doing a series focused on elements of heathen belief as found in Germanic sources. To start with a bit of a disclaimer, I need to say:

I view Ásatrú as a Norse-specific branch of modern Heathenry, and do not encourage the use of continental Germanic sources as a way of understanding or developing an Ásatrú practice.

I likewise do not agree with assuming that modern folklore effectively reflects traditional heathen belief in these regions, so you won’t find any Perchta or Harz Mountains witches here. I will only be working with Old High German, Middle High German, and Old Saxon texts.

That being said, let’s turn to our first topic: Bavaria.

Mūspilli: 

Although the true origin of the poem is unclear, the extant copy of Mūspilli (ca. 870), scribbled in the margin of a manuscript belonging to Louis the German, bears linguistic features of the Bavarian dialect, including shifted g>c, shifted b>p, abbreviated conjugations of ‘stantan’ and ‘gangan,’ and the ‘ar-’ prefix. Line 16 (“denne der man in pardisu pu kiuuinnit”) suggests that at least part of the poem must have originally been composed in Oberdeutsch (either Bavarian or Allemanic) because the b>p shift is required to preserve alliteration with the latinate pardisu.

The poem tells of the judgment of souls and the end of the world; scholars have pointed out that the “apocalypse” portion (lines 37-60ish) disrupts the primary narrative of the story and thus may be an interpolation, but we have no way of knowing this for sure.

As far as its value for understanding pre-Christian belief in the region, it is generally cited as an Old High German example of the word múspel occurring in relation to the end of the world. I have already discussed this trend extensively here with citations from Völuspá and the Old Saxon Heliand. For this reason, I will not dwell too long on this topic, and only wish to point out that its use in Mūspilli (“dar ni mac denne mak andremo helfan vora demo muspille” or “there no relative may help another before the mūspilli”) occurs, once again, in conjunction with the destruction of our “middle earth” through fire:

"so inprinnant die perga,         poum ni kistentit

enihc in erdu,         aha artruknent,

muor varsuuilhit sih,         suilizot lougiu der himil,

mano uallit,         prinnit mittilagart…” (lns. 50-55)

[“The mountains will burn, no tree will stand, not any on earth. Rivers dry out and the swamps themselves are swallowed up. Heaven blazes in flames, the moon falls, Middle Earth burns.”]

In this way, the poem supports my earlier argument that múspel and destruction reflect a pre-Christian notion of the end of the world found across several Germanic traditions.

The other detail that is generally pinpointed as reflecting pre-Christian belief in the Mūspilli is the battle between Elias and the Antichrist. However, I feel that the existence a battle exists is not enough to claim that this addition to the Biblical narrative is remarkably pre-Christian. Generally, the parallel drawn is between the this conflict and the battle between Þórr and Jörmungandr found in Völuspá. The evidence used to support this claim comes from the following lines:

"so daz Eliases pluot         in erda kitriufit,

so inprinnant die perga…” (lns. 50-51) 

[“So when Elijah’s blood drips onto the earth, the mountains will burn…”]

Compared with Völuspá:

"drepr hann af móði         miðgarðz véor,

muno halir allir,              heimstöð ryðia…”

[“Miðgarðr’s defender kills (the serpent) with courage, all men will leave their halls…”]

in which the destruction/abandonment of Middle Earth is specifically triggered by its defender’s fall. However, I feel that this alone is not enough to justify a Þórr-Elias parallel, and it should not be assumed that this story in Mūspilli is related to details found in the later Völuspá.

In short, Mūspilli adds to our understanding of pre-Christian Germanic belief primarily through its use of a term related to múspel and the way it relates to destruction through fire.

The Wessobrunn Prayer:

Although categorically Bavarian because of the presence of shifted b>p and a few g>c, it has been suggested that the scribe of this poem may have been working with a Low German (Old Saxon, etc.) exemplar because of the presence of the definite article “dat.” The sole surviving manuscript has been dated to around 814, and it was discovered in a monastery near Weilheim.

This manuscript bears two unique features. First, it is divided into two parts: a passage of alliterative poetry about the world’s creation, and a  prose/prayer appeal to God for salvation. Second, the manuscript uses the *gebô/’gift’ rune (X) in place of the “ga-” prefix throughout the poetic lines. However, while this is a mysterious feature, I want to encourage you not to read too far into this choice/assume a ‘magical’ connection/etc. I know how heathens get when runes are mentioned, and I want to stress that we have no reason to believe this is anything but scribal shorthand.

Rather than discussing the presence of this rune, I want to focus instead on another unique feature in these lines. The poem’s discussion of the world’s creation bears a striking resemblance to a similar passage in Völuspá.

In the Wessobrunn Prayer:

"Dat er[d]o ni uuas         noh ufhimil

noh paum <…>              noh pereg ni uuas

ni <…> nohheinig           noh sunna ni scein

noh mano ni liuhta,        noh der mareo seo” (lns. 2-5)

[“The earth was not, nor the heavens above, nor tree, nor mountain. There wasn’t a single thing. The sun didn’t shine, nor did the moon light. The sea did not exist.”]

Compare with Völuspá:

"vara sandr né sær          né svalar unnir;

iorð fannz æva                 né upphiminn,

gap var ginnunga           enn gras hvergi…

…sól þat né vissi,            hvar hon sali átti,

stiornor þat né visso,      hvar þær staði átto,

máni þat né vissi,           hvat hann megins átti” (sts. 3, 5)

[“There was no sand or sea, nor soothing waves. There was no earth to be found nor heaven above. A gap was huge, and grass nowhere…the sun did not know where her hall was, and the stars did not know where they had places. The moon did not know what power he had.”]

Traditions on the skogsrå or huldra depend a bit on where you are talking about. They can have some different appearances: in Norway, the skogsrå appears more often with a tufted cow’s tail, sometimes hidden under layers of clothing, while in Sweden it seems to be reported more often that they have a hollow back. Tufted lynx ears, hooved feet, and other variations have been reported. In Dalarna, huldra have been reported to have green hair. They can also disguise themselves as animals, trees, or bushes, and sometimes the only sign that a skogsfru is nearby is the sound of laughter. (It should also be noted that, in some areas, huldra and related words might not mean the vaettr you are thinking of, but the underjordiske as a group, those who live underground or invisibly around people.)Skogsrå are associated with hunting in some areas (as guardians of the woods) and, as their cow tails suggest, with herding in others, where people report hearing the bells as they drive their invisible flocks of cattle or hearing their herding calls in the distance. They also have a tendency to seduce humans either for brief flings or even marry them, although this usually ends with heartbreak when the huldra moves on, disappears, or is rejected. Sometimes the relationship drives the human mad or seems to sap all the energy and life out of them over time, leaving them looking haunted and gaunt.Unlike some other vaettir who are warded off by silver (as seems to be the case with many folk charms against huldrefolk in later folk tradition), Skogsrå seem to really like silver. An offering of a real silver coin or bits of silver jewelry would be beneficial for gaining their favor or starting a friendship with them. German folklore also records people baking little loaves of bread or cakes or plates of food and leaving them out in the woods to garner the favor of the huldra. Leaving them on stumps is a particularly good way to get them to notice the offering. (Just make sure no caraway is in the baked goods you leave out, as many vaettir find caraway repellant and the huldra are not an exception to this rule.) Huldra also appreciate politeness and kindness - there is a story where a man politely tells a huldra maiden that her tail is dragging and getting dirty and visible to others (who would then recognize what she was), she tucked it up out of the way, thanked the man, and thereafter prey animals came out of the woods to the man’s porch where he could easily shoot them for meat without exerting himself hunting.A piece of steel thrown over a huldra will bind them to you, but I do not recommend this because obviously the vaettr will then resent you for entrapping them so.Huldra also have been said to be insistent on cleanliness and personal hygiene. There are stories of them stopping hunters and refusing to let them encounter prey until they go and wash themselves up.If a skogsrå becomes angry with you and causes you to wander around lost and unable to find your way, a common method to get released from the charm is to turn your outer garments inside out (especially your coat) and wear it backwards. Putting one’s shoes on the wrong foot (or, in later folk tradition, reciting the “Our Father” prayer backwards) also works to break lesser curses if you have managed to anger a skogsrå. Woody nightshade (solanum dulcamarae) and orchis (orchis maculata) are both plants that, when combined with tree sap, ward off huldra. It is also sometimes said that mezeron (daphne mezerum), also called tysbast or tibast, will ward them off and protect you from huldra.What clothing a skogsrå is wearing can also be an omen of what is to come. If the vaettr is wearing all black, it forebodes illness or an accident, while bridal or festival clothing indicates upcoming good luck.The lichen plants Ramalina dilacerata, Ramalina obtusata, and sometimes Evernia divaricata are referred to as huldreplanter in Norway and may be pleasing to the huldra. In addition, the ghost orchid (Epigogium aphyllum), as it is known in English, is referred to as huldreblom in Norway (also called skogsfru).Some stories (vandresagn) featuring the skogsrå or huldra:

Kone av huldreætt

Nærsøkjen huldrejente

Huldrebryllup

Jordmorsegna

Huldrehatten

Den ville jeger

Huldrekrøtter

Resources (mostly in Scandinavian languages, unfortunately):

Skjelbred, Ann Helene Bolstad. Fortellinger om huldra – fortellinger om oss.

Granberg, Gunnar. Skogsrået i yngre nordisk folktradition.

Ottesen, Per. Huldra: Sagn og tradisjoner om de underjordiske.

Bengt Knut Erik af Klintberg’s publications (I’m sorry I cannot remember which ones precisely, as he has quite a lot dealing with Swedish folklore, traditions, and spells)

Christiansen, Reidar Thoralf. (several of his books, I know Eventyr og sagn has some stories in it, but he has put out quite a lot on folktales and legends.)

Kvideland, Reimund. Scandinavian Folk Belief and Legend.

Lindow, John. Swedish Legends and Folktales.

Solheim, Svale. Norsk saetertradisjon.

Recorded pieces of folk belief from Norway (you can route these through Google translate)

Schön, Ebbe. Älvor vätter och andra väsen.

Schön, Ebbe. Älskogens magi.

Gunnarsson, Allan. Träden och människan.

Gagner, Anders. Gammal folktro från Gagnef i Dalarna.

Lundqvist, Eric. Skogens andar.

Julaften is a celebration on 24th December that dates back to Old Norse times. Celebrations traditionally begin at sundown. A great feast, drinking and exchanging presents is part of the celebration in modern times but giving presents, julenisse and juletreet (Christmas tree) are newer additions.