THE TERRIBLE ONE'S HORSE: CHAPTER 18

A BRIEF ESSAY ON NORSE COSMOGRAPHY

Anyone studying the Eddaic version of Norse cosmology, and who bothers to read the remarkable body of secondary literature on the subject, will recognize that the vision preserved in the former can best be described as a pagan world view interpreted through Christian eyes and sometimes altered by the prevailing Christian world-view.  This alteration can be subtle or it can be pronounced, depending on the context.

What I would like to do here is to attempt to dispel some of the Christian overlay on what might have been the original Norse cosmogram.  I delayed writing this piece until I had finished a thorough reading of Neil S. Price’s “The Viking Way: Religion and War in Late Iron Age Scandinavia”.  While I do not agree with all of Dr. Price’s conclusions, his consideration of aspects of Norse culture within the context of Sami and other circumpolar magico-religious practices is an invaluable contribution to Viking studies.  As such, it is has helped me beyond measure when setting out to explore concepts relating to Norse cosmography.

YGGDRASILL/MIMAMEIDR/LAERADR

The axis mundi of the Norse universe is, of course, the world tree Yggdrasill, probably also called Mimameidr and Laeradr.  This tree had as its top the north celestial pole, and it was upon this point that the sky turned.  Because any Norseman would have easily recognized that the further north he got the more directly overhead stood the pole star, the base of the tree can be imagined as standing at the north pole.  We will return to the north pole when we discuss the land of the dead as a place lying “to the north and down”.  The sky/heaven as Ygg, the Terrible One, i.e. Odin the Sky-father, “hung” or rather was suspended atop this pole.  The branches of the tree, like those of a great ash, formed the dome of the sky. Or the sky could be envisioned as Ymir's skull.  This kind of multiple imagery is common in Norse myth, where the same object can be referred to by any number of poetic kennings.

THREE HOLY WELLS

The next most important features of the Norse cosmos are the three sacred wells – the well of Urd, that of Mimir and the Roaring Cauldron/Kettle/Boiler ‘Hvergelmir’.  The two Eddaic accounts on the relative locations of the three roots that run to or under the wells are contradictory.  But there are a couple of poetic motifs that enable us to determine that Jan de Vries was correct when he guessed that, in reality, all three springs are one and the same.

I have in the past shown that the white, clay-like substance the Norns take from the Well of Urd and sprinkle on the tree is, in fact, cloud.  Odin uses his solar eye to get a drink out of the Well of Mimir every morning.  In both cases, we are talking about the wells being representations of the sea.  The Roaring Cauldron is no different.  We are to imagine the great kettle having as its rim the Utgard or Outer Enclosure of the giants.  Midgard, the Middle Enclosure, rises out of the middle of the sea-filled cauldron.  The complete image is of a cauldron whose tight-fitting lid is the dome of the sky.

OTHERWORLD

Although various heavens and heavenly halls are mentioned in the Eddas, we have no way of knowing if these are early Germanic in origin or are due to Christian influence.  But certainly we can detect a fairly major reordering of the Norse Otherworld.  Scholars have shown convincingly (see Simek) that the goddess Hel is a late personification of the grave.  The grave, of course, was not only a portal to the otherworld, but was a symbolic representation of that world.  The sources (see “The Road to Hell” by Hilda Roderick Davidson and similar works) make it plain that early on there was only one Land of the Dead.  Granted, there may well have been different residences in this Otherworld, modeled after the royal halls or farmsteads and such in the world of the living.  Still, there was no a separate “hell” intended for the punishment of the “wicked”.  Valholl, the Hall of the Slain, was within the earth, where the Sun and Moon and other planets set every day or night.  Archaeology and literature unite in making it plain that Valholl was an earthly realm, not a heavenly one.

And this leads us, in turn, to consider the actual location of the Otherworld, along with its entrance.

NIFLHEIM

We need to begin with an examination of Niflheim, which in turn will lead to a consideration of Muspelheim.

Niflheim, “mist/fog-home”, is not an imaginary place, nor is it identical with Hel/the grave or the real Otherworld beyond the grave.  The Home of Fog is a perfectly apt description for the Arctic. From AAR Chapter 2 - Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme, we learn of the Artic and its prevalence for fog:

"2.3.3.5. Fog

A characteristic feature of Arctic weather is fog. Parts of the Arctic are extremely foggy due to the juxtaposition of cold air overlying warmer ocean waters in some areas and warm air overlying cold ice in others. In some areas, it is typical to have more than 100 days per year with fog (SCOR 1979). In summer, the ice retreats northward, exposing open water, and warm air moves in over the ice and cold water. Sublimating ice and condensing water form thick fog fields that envelop the marginal ice zones, with peaks in relative humidity over water in August. In winter ‘sea smoke’ or steam fog forms over open water leads in the pack ice (SCOR 1979)."

To get to the Otherworld, then, spirits of the dead must travel north, passing through Mist or Fog Home, i.e. the Artic.  The entrance to the Otherworld would be at the very base of the World Tree/Pole, i.e. the North Pole.  It is interesting to reflect upon the fact that the magnetic force of the earth ENTERS the planet via the north magnetic pole.  We do not know what kind of knowledge the Norse may have had concerning the magnetic properties of the north magnetic pole.  Well after the Viking period we have evidence for beliefs of a magnetic island or rock or mountain in the far north, surrounded by a massive whirlpool (which sounds vaguely reminiscent of Hvergelmir):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Magnetic_Pole

http://listoffigures.wordpress.com/category/geography/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rupes_Nigra

It is this same magnetic force, entering by way of the north magnetic pole, that creates the Aurora Borealis or the Northern Lights.  Dr. Price discusses the Sami belief that the Northern Lights were caused by the everlasting battle of those slain in warfare – a motif echoed in the afterlife warriors enjoyed in Valholl.  The Arab writer Ibn Fadlan described the same phenomenon of armies or spectral warriors fighting in the sky when he was traveling in the Volga region.

MUSPELHEIM

The counterpart to Niflheim is Muspelheim.  Muspel has not been satisfactorily etymologized, even though we know it is probably derived from the Mudspelles or Mutspelles/Mutspelli found in the Old Saxon "Heliand", Muspilli in the Old High German poem of that name.  There it is used in a Christian poem that recounts the end of the world in fire.  As Surtr “the Black” (found also spelled 'Svartr') rules Muspelheim, an extremely hot place to the south, and is a sort of god or giant of destructive fire, past derivations of mutspilli/mudspilli have sought to make the word a kenning for fire.

In modern Iceland, Surtr is a personification of volcanism. So where did Surtr and mutspilli/mudspilli come from?

In keeping with my earlier model of the Norse cosmos as a closed boiler, it is likely the original home of volcanic fire was thought of as cooking flames under the suspended Hvergelmir.  Any fire demon would come up from below, passing through the earth – as the writers of the Eddas in Iceland could well attest to.  Yet Surtr is possessed of a “sun sword”, and this may not merely be a poetic description of a brightly flashing weapon.

The hottest place on the earth, at least for awhile now, has been the Lut Desert area in what was Zoroastrian Iran. The Vikings, in Spain and Western Europe, were called al-magjus or the Magi by the Arabs, because they were erroneously thought to be fire-worshippers like the Zoroastrians.  While I realize the Zoroastrians were not themselves fire-worshippers, this was apparently the Arabic perception of them.

Why might this be significant?  According to the Norse tradition, the hosts of Muspelheim, Muspel-"home", will come and destroy the world with fire at the end of time. A similar purification by fire awaited the world according to Zoroastrian eschatology.

I would see in mutspilli or mudspilli something akin to Old Norse modr, 'angry’, found as a first element in several mythological personal names, plus spilla, "to destroy".  For cognates of modr:

got. mōÞs (-d-) `courage, rage, fury' (mōdags `angry, irate'), ahd. mhd. muot `power of spirit; ghost, courage, rage, fury, Begehren, Entschluß', nhd. Mut, Gemöt, ags. mōd ds., aisl. mōðr `rage, fury, wrath';

Old English has mod, spirit, soul, mind, heart, etc.

This sounds an awful lot like the Zoroastrian deity of darkness/blackness and evil, Angra Mainyu or Ahriman, whose name means 'destructive spirit'.  Far-fetched, perhaps. But the Vikings did travel to Arabic lands and it is not impossible some of the Zoroastrian stories made it home with them.

An alternative for Surtr the Black would be to identify him with Satan, called 'the Black One' in the third century Epistle of Barnabas.  And Mudspelli/Muspilli itself, even if ultimately to be derived from Angra Mainyu, came to be used for either Elijah or the Christian God, as is made clear from the context of the 'Muspilli' poem itself (here in English translation):

Muspilli

... his day will come when he must die. As soon as the soul starts on its way and leaves

the corpse behind., a legion comes from the stars of heaven and another comes from the

fire of hell: they fight over the soul. The soul must worry until the decision is made to

which host the soul must go. For if Satan's followers obtain it, they will lead it

immediately to where only pain awaits, in fire and darkness: that is truly a terrible

sentence. But if those who come from heaven fetch it and it belong-s to the angels, they

will bring it immediately to the kingdom of heaven. There, there is life without death,

light without darkness, shelter without cares; no one is ill there. For if a man gains a

place in paradise, a dwelling in heaven, he will receive much help. Therefore it is very

necessary for each man that his heart force him to do God's will gladly and heartily to

avoid the fire and pain of hell, where old Satan awaits with hot flames. He who knows

that he is a sinner should consider this with care. Woe to him who must pay for his sins

in darkness and burn in the fires. It is truly a horrible fate if the man cries to God and

no help comes to him. The miserable soul still hopes for salvation, but it no longer rests

in the thoughts of the heavenly God for it did not show itself worthy of this according

to its acts here in the world. Thus when the mighty king sets the time and place of the

judgement, each family must come, for no man dare avoid the order thinking that not

every man need come to the judgement. There before the judge he must account for

everything which he did in the world.

I have heard the men who are learned in the law of the world tell about how the

Antichrist will come to battle with Elias. The enemy is armed; then the battle will begin

between them. The fighters are so powerful, the cause so great. Elias fights for the

eternal life, he wishes to strengthen the supremacy of the righteous: therefore he who

rules heaven will help him. The Antichrist stands with the archfiend, with Satan who

must allow him to be destroyed: therefore he shall fall wounded on the battlefield and

be defeated there.

But many men of God believe that Elias will be injured in the battle and when

Elias' blood drips on the earth, the mountains will burn, no tree will remain standing

on earth, the rivers will dry up, the swampland will consume itself, the heaven will

slowly perish in flame, the moon will fall, the earth will burn, no stone will remain

standing (or: when these signs appear on earth). The day of judgement will be at hand

and it will come with fire to punish men. No person's kin can help him before the

Muspilli. For when the entire earth is consumed and fire and air sweep everything

away, where then is the allotted ground for which a man fought with his relatives? The

ground is burned away, the soul stands there not knowing what to do nor how to make

amends and thus it goes to hell.

Once we get away from the "boxed-in" notion that Mudspellli/Muspilli must be a kenning for fire, and can accept it instead as an epithet for a person, the reading of this poem's final section becomes quite clear: the Mudspilli or "Furious Destroyer", here probably God, but possibly Elijah, will burn the world with fire.

In "Heliand", we are told (v. 2591) that

"M. comes in the dark night (like a thief hiding his deeds).'

and (v. 4358) that

'until M.'s forces [force/might?] comes over men, the end of the world'

The famous Biblical passages which echo the "like a thief in the night" passage refer to the thief as a metaphor for the 'Day of the Lord', i.e. the time when Christ returns to judge the world with fire.  In Old Testament passages, the Lord's Day is often the time of God's Wrath, and is equated with destruction.  So my etymology for Mudspelli as "Angry or Furious or Wrathful Destroyer" would work equally as well for Christ.

Here is the Biblical reference to the Christian end of the world by fire:

“But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist have been stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. 8 But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow about his promise as some count slowness, but is forbearing toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and the works that are upon it will be burned up. 11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of persons ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be kindled and dissolved, and the elements will melt with fire! 13 But according to his promise we wait for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

2 Peter 3:6 2 Peter 3:7-13 2 Peter 3:14”

Given these obvious correspondences, the question becomes whether we choose to see the whole Surtr/Muspelheim complex as coming not from Scandinavian tradition, but instead from either the Christian doctrine of the end of the world by fire and/or the Zoroastrian parallel, or if we opt for designating Surt himself as the "Angry Destroyer" and propose that he is a relic of Germanic heathendom who was later incorporated into Christian imagery.

A possible way out of this quandary is to recall a footnote in Jacob Grimm's Teutonic Mythology, p. 931, Volume 3, in which he suggests, quite reasonably, that the Furious Host associated with Wotan (Odin), which has as its first component the same word I have used above to etymologize the mud-/mut- of Mudspelli, is a substitute for wuot, "fury", the root of Wotan's name.  If this is so, then the 'Furious Destroyer' might once have been Odin himself.  I do not think there is much currency in the idea that Christ as the vanquisher of the pagan god Odin was referred to as the 'Fury (i.e. Odin)-destroyer', but this cannot be wholly discounted.

Lastly, it is possible the Angry Destroyer is a partial though literal rendering of Revelations' Abaddon or Apollyon.  Abaddon meant originally "place of destruction" (see the Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible), but came to be personified as "the destroyer".  Apollyon "the Destroyer" is the Greek equivalent, and was a title of Apollo as god of pestilence and destruction.  In Revelations, Abaddon/Apollyon comes up from the Abyss with smoke as if from a gigantic furnace, while the word abaddon is used in Job 31:12 in the context of consuming fire of destruction.