ROBIN HOOD, HOTT/ODIN,
HAETHCYN AND HOD: AN ANCIENT GERMANIC PROTOTYPE FOR THE OUTLAW LEGEND?
Several
attempts have been made to link the legendary Robin Hood, the most famous folk
hero of England, with pagan entities.
The problem with all of them is precisely that we have what looks to be,
on the surface at least, quite sufficient evidence for this personage as a
historical character (or characters).
Nice, online summaries of the historical candidates for Robin Hood may
be found on these pages:
While
history does make a good case for Robin Hood, scholars concede that as the
legend evolved all kinds of folkloristic accretions became manifest. Here I would like to explore only one aspect
of the legend – the name Hood itself. It
may be that an exploration of the etymology of this name, and its possible very
early presence in the English landscape, may help us towards finding a truly
ancient pagan element preserved in the later tradition.
To
begin, it is generally agreed that Hood means exactly that – a hood, or perhaps
‘the Hooded One’ in the context of a personal name. This would be from Old English hod and the
name is spelled this way in early records.
In Old Norse the word is found as hottr.
As has been pointed out before in the context of the Robin Hood legend,
Hottr is a name for the god Odin when he is travelling in disguise. This Viking deity is also called Sidhottr or
‘long/hanging/deep hood’.
The
Nottinghamshire of Robin Hood was in the Viking Danelaw. It is, of course, in this part of England
that we tend to find the most relics of Norse paganism embedded in
place-names. A curious example of such
may be Hodsock. The name means
(according to Ekwall) ‘Hod’s Oak’, Hod supposedly being an Old English personal
name found in other places such as a second Hodsock in Worcestershire (which
bordered on the Danelaw), Hodcott, Hoddesdon, Hoddington, Hoddlesden, Hodnell
and Hodson.
The
interesting thing about the Nottinghamshire Hodsock is that not only is it
found pretty much directly between Robin Hood’s two forests of Sherwood and
Barnsdale (in contradistinction to the ‘Major Oak’ associated with Robin, which
is squarely in Sherwood Forest), but the name is recorded as early as the time
of the Domesday Book, i.e. 1086. Such a
date for the name greatly predates our records for the historical Robin Hood.
Now,
the real question is what to make of the name Hod as it is found in the
place-name Hodsoch. As the same element
is found in places well outside of the Danelaw, we must accept the fact that
there is probably an Old English origin for the personal name. Pagan Anglo-Saxon religion was much akin to
the Norse and, therefore, we might be allowed to surmise for the sake of
argument that at some point in their history the pre-Christian Anglo-Saxons
also knew of Odin as ‘the hooded one’.
However,
as Norse mythology makes plain, the oak was NOT Odin’s tree. His sacred tree
was the ash. The oak has always been the
tree of the thunder god, who in Anglo-Saxon tradition was Thunor and in the
Viking Thor.
The
oak is linked in reality and in mythology with the mistletoe, and we are
instantly reminded of the myth of the Norse god Hodr, slayer of Balder. Hodr is a blind god whose aim of the mistletoe
spear (in some later versions an arrow!) is directed by Loki. This weapon kills Balder, who was impervious
to injury by anything else.
Hodr
is believed to mean ‘war, slaughter’ (cf. Old Icelandic hod, OE headu-/heado-,
‘war, battle’, OHG hadu-, ‘fight’, MHG hader, ‘quarrel, strife’). The etymology of Balder is uncertain,
although it may be related (see Simek) to ON baldr, OHG bald, ‘bold’. I will explore in a moment why this possible
meaning for the name of Hodr’s victim may be significant.
Elsewhere,
I’ve shown that Hodr not only has a strong affinity with Thor (for the
mistletoe taken from the Jupiter/thunder god’s tree is emblematic of the divine
lightning weapon, found both in the form of Thor’s hammer Mjollnir and Odin’s
spear Gungnir), but with All-father as well (Odin is not only missing an eye,
but is known by the name Tviblindi, ‘blind in both eyes’). It is not
inconceivable that at some point in the process of legend-making the god
Hottr/Hod, viz. Odin, became confused with Hodr.
It
may even be that the famous – though unnamed – Sheriff of Nottingham can be
brought into this picture. The very
first “sheriff”, if such he may be called, was one Hugh fitz Baldric. We can learn a great deal about him from
consulting sources such as these:
http://books.google.com/books?id=Nog9_GJqFZQC&pg=PA37&lpg=PA37&dq=Hugh+fitz+Baldric&source=bl&ots=ffzMK0Axfb&sig=lL1HgcKxB7iDLWkJ5tERpjtjaz0&hl=en&sa=X&ei=C2TZUt39Js3xoASL9oGYAg&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=Hugh%20fitz%20Baldric&f=false
http://www.apl385.com/gilling/history/chapter8.htm
http://books.google.com/books?id=uiUScMEkEGoC&pg=PA35&lpg=PA35&dq=Hugh+fitz+Baldric+archer&source=bl&ots=r81IdK-kMb&sig=z7vQfehXzyXK_nLgpkf9VYwc9_0&hl=en&sa=X&ei=GWXZUsbWD4nhoASgoYCgCQ&ved=0CEIQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=Hugh%20fitz%20Baldric%20archer&f=false
The
name Baldric is to be derived from the same Bald, ‘bold’, we discussed briefly
above, plus the common name component –ric, meaning roughly ‘ruler’. Hugh (or another man of the same name?) was
thought to be not only German, but an archer.
We
thus have a man set over the region known to be the home of the later
historical Robin Hood whose patronymic resembled to an uncanny degree the name
of the god Balder. A region where the god Hottr/Hod, perhaps conflated with
Hodr, may have left an imprint.
For
any of this to work, however, we must ask whether the Anglo-Saxons even knew of
the god Hodr. Fortunately for us, there
is some evidence that they may well have possessed knowledge of the Hodr-Balder
myth.
From
John Lindow’s “Murder and Vengeance Among the Gods”:
“Killings
within the family turn up with considerable frequency throughout Germanic
heroic literature. Perhaps the richest case of homicide between full brothers
is the accidental slaying of Herebeald by Haeðcyn in Beowulf 2425-72, an
analogue that has long been part of the Baldr dossier because of the
similarities of the name components, -beald and Haeð-, to the names of the main
players in the Scandinavian versions, and the fact that a projectile was used
in both cases. The parallels, however, go beyond the names and flying agent of
death. Like Baldr, Herebeald enters the story only to be cut down, but, like
Hötherus, Haeðcyn plays a role in legendary history, for he was killed in
battle by Ongenðeow at Hrefnuwudu. Herebeald and Haeðcyn are the sons of King
Hreðel of the Geats, father of Hygelac and grandfather of Beowulf and thus in
the poem the founder of the dynasty, just as Óðinn stands atop his dynastic
line. The _griðastaðr_ of Gylfaginning is repeated in the incident in Beowulf —
clarified by the focus on the intolerable situation created by this slaying
within a family.
That
was an inexpiable quarrel, a great wrong,
heart-wearying;
nevertheless, the noble had to
depart
from life unavenged.
“The
poet likens the position of Hreðel to that of a old man who sees his son
swinging on the gallows and gives in to his sorrow. A few lines later, Hreðel
tums his face to the wall:
Then
with that sorrow, which affected him so greatly, he gave up the joys of men,
chose the light of God, he left to his sons, as a happy man does, his lands and
ancestral towns, when he went from life.
“With
the death of Hreðel comes chaos, as the tribe of Ongenðeow of the Swedes
attacks the Geats. Bad as this appears to be, it offers an opportunity for
vengeance to occur as it should. Haeðcyn, now king of the Geats, dies in this
unrest, apparently at the hands of Ongonðeow. The sole surviving brother is
Hygelac.
“In
the long scholarly record on Baldr and on Beowulf, various scenarios have been
proposed to account for the relationship between the Herebeald-Haeðcyn episode
and the myth of Baldr’s death. Neckel (1920) thought that the incident at
Hreðel’s court, which he assumed to be based on a real accident, was influenced
by the Baldr myth to assume the form it took; Nerman (1915) and Malone (1962)
argued that the myth may have been influenced by the historical event. The
latest word appears to be that of Dronke (1968), who finds in the
Herebeald-Haeðcyn episode possible evidence that the Beowulf poet had access to
at least some of the Norse myths. Clunies Ross (1994) declines to take a
position, but notes that “the core elements of the myth are all present” in
Beowulf. These include the problem of a dynastic crisis: Herebeald is Hreðel’s
oldest son, and the kingdom is invaded soon after Hreðel’s death. For Clunies
Ross this is a center of the myth: Baldr is likely to be Óðinn’s oldest son and
presumptive heir; as a result of the incident Óðinn loses both Baldr and
another heir, Höðr; he is forced to dispatch a third heir, Hermóðr, on a
fruitless journey to the underworld; finally he must sire Váli for the purpose
of vengeance.”
Here
is the complete passage from Beowulf (lines 2430-2440, Seamus Heaney translation):
King
Hrethel kept me and took care of me,
Was
open-handed, behaved like a kinsman.
While
I was his ward, he treated me no worse
As
a wean about the place than one of his own boys,
Herebeald
and Haethcyn, or my own Hygelac.
For
the eldest, Herebeald, an unexpected
Deathbed
was laid out, through a brother’s doing,
When
Haethcyn bent his horn-tipped bow
And
loosed the arrow that destroyed his life.
He
shot wide and buried a shaft
In
the flesh and blood of his own brother.
Admittedly,
any such connection of this very ancient mythic material to the Robin Hood legend
must be considered extremely tangential.
One might say it could represent only part of the substratum of the
folkloristic overlay that came to dominate the kernel of historical truth. In any case, none of what I’ve tentatively
proposed above can be convincingly proven.
Nor should it be sanctified by the dictates of neopagan zeal. Instead, it is my hope that future
researchers may find my ideas worth pursuing as a departure point on their own
quest for the elusive outlaw.
For
those who are interested, I’ve pasted below the Icelandic and Danish versions
of the story of Hodr and Balder. The
first translation is by Anthony Faulkes from Edda Snorra Sturlusonar [i.e., the
Edda of Snorri Sturluson], London: Dent, 1987. The second is an edited version
of Oliver Elton’s 1905 translation of the tale (courtesy http://mythsoftheworld.blogspot.com/2012/01/saxos-death-of-balder.html).
SNORRI’S
DEATH OF BALDER
[T]he
beginning of this story is that Balder the Good dreamed great dreams boding
peril to his life. And when he told the Æsir the dreams they took counsel
together and it was decided to request immunity for Balder from all kinds of
danger, and Frigg received solemn promises so that Balder should not be banned
by fire and water, iron and all kinds of metal, stones, the earth, trees,
diseases, the animals, the birds, poison, snakes. And when this was done and
confirmed, then it became an entertainment for Balder and the Æsir that he
should stand up at assemblies and all the others should either shoot at him or
strike at him or throw stones at him. But whatever they did he was unharmed,
and they all thought this a great glory. But when Loki Laufeyiarson saw this he
was not pleased that Balder was unharmed. He went to Fensalir to Frigg and
changed his appearance to that of a woman. Then Frigg asked this woman if she
knew what the Æsir were doing at the assembly. She said that everyone was
shooting at Balder, and moreover that he was unharmed. Then said Frigg:
“Weapons and wood will not hurt Balder. I have received oaths from them all.”
Then the woman asked: “Have all things
sworn oaths not to harm Balder?”
Then Frigg replied: “There grows a shoot of
a tree to the west of Valhalla. It is called mistletoe. It seemed young to me
to demand the oath from.”
Straight away the woman disappeared. And
Loki took mistletoe and plucked it and went to the assembly. Hod was standing
at the edge of the circle of people, for he was blind. Then Loki said to him:
“Why are you not shooting at Balder?”
He replied: “Because I cannot see where
Balder is, and secondly because I have no weapon.”
Then said Loki: “Follow other people’s example
and do Balder honor like other people. I will direct you to where he is
standing. Shoot at him this stick.”
Hod took the mistletoe and shot at Balder
at Loki’s direction. The missile flew through him and he fell dead to the
ground, and this was the unluckiest deed ever done among gods and men. When
Balder had fallen, then all the Æsir’s tongues failed them, as did their hands
for lifting him up, and they all looked at each other and were all of one mind
towards the one who had done the deed. But no one could take vengeance, it was
a place of such sanctuary.
When the Æsir tried to speak then what
happened first was that weeping came out, so that none could tell another in
words of his grief. But it was Odin who took this injury the hardest in that he
had the best idea what great deprivation and loss the death of Balder would
cause the Æsir. And when the gods came to themselves then Frigg spoke, and
asked who there was among the Æsir who wished to earn all her love and favor
and was willing to ride the road to Hel and try if he could find Balder, and
offer Hel >> note 1 a ransom if she would let Balder go back to Asgard.
Hermod the Bold, Odin’s boy, is the name of the one who undertook this journey.
Then Odin’s horse Sleipnir was fetched and led forward and Hermod mounted this
horse and galloped away. So the Æsir took Balder’s body and carried it to the
sea. Hringhorni was the name of Balder’s ship. It was the biggest of all ships.
This the Æsir planned to launch and perform on it Balder’s funeral. . . . Then
Balder’s body was carried out on to the ship, and when his wife Nanna Nep’s
daughter saw this she collapsed with grief and died. She was carried on to the
pyre and it was set on fire. . . .
Balder’s horse was led onto the pyre with
all its harness. But there is this to tell of Hermod that he rode for nine
nights through valleys dark and deep so that he saw nothing until he came to
the river Gioll and rode on to Gioll bridge. It is covered with glowing gold.
There is a maiden guarding the bridge called Modgud. She asked him his name and
lineage and said that the other day there had ridden over the bridge five
battalions of dead men:
“But the bridge resounds no less under just
you, and you do not have the color of dead men. Why are you riding here on the
road to Hel?”
He replied: “I am to ride to Hel to seek
Balder. But have you seen anything of Balder on the road to Hel?”
And she said that Balder had ridden there
over Gioll bridge, “but downwards and northwards lies the road to Hel.”
Then Hermod rode on until he came to Hel’s
gates. Then he dismounted from the horse and tightened its girth, mounted and
spurred it on. The horse jumped so hard and over the gate that it came nowhere
near. Then Hermod rode up to the hall and dismounted from his horse, went into
the hall, saw sitting there in the seat of honor his brother Balder; and Hermod
stayed there the night. In the morning Hermod begged from Hel that Balder might
ride home with him and said what great weeping there was among the Æsir. But
Hel said that it must be tested whether Balder was as beloved as people said in
the following way, “And if all things in the world, alive and dead, weep for
him, then he shall go back to the Æsir, but be kept with Hel if any objects or
refuses to weep.”
Then Hermod got up and Balder went with him
out of the hall. . . . Then Hermod rode back on his way and came to Asgard and
told all the tidings he had seen and heard.
After this the Æsir sent over all the world
messengers to request that Balder be wept out of Hel. And all did this, the
people and animals and the earth and the stones and trees and every metal, just
as you will have seen that these things weep when they come out of frost and
into heat. When the envoys were traveling back having well fulfilled their
errand, they found in a certain cave a giantess sitting. She said her name was Thanks.
They bade her weep Balder out of Hel. She said, “Thanks will weep dry tears for
Balder’s burial. No good got I from the old one’s son either dead or alive. Let
Hel hold what she has.” It is presumed that this was Loki Laufeyiarson, who has
done most evil among the Æsir.
SAXO’S
DEATH OF BALDER
In
Book Three of his Gesta Danorum, the Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus tells an
alternate version of the death of the Norse god Baldr. In Saxo’s version, Baldr
is a demigod, killed by a mortal rival for a maiden’s hand in marriage.
When
Helgi had slain Hodbrodd, his son Hother passed the length of his boyhood under
the tutelage of King Gewar. While a stripling, he excelled in strength of body
all his foster-brethren and compeers. Moreover, he was gifted with many
accomplishments of mind. He was very skilled in swimming and archery, and also
with the gloves; and further was as nimble as such a youth could be, his
training being equal to his strength. Though his years were unripe, his
richly-dowered spirit surpassed them. None was more skilful on lyre or harp;
and he was cunning on the timbrel, on the lute, and in every modulation of
string instruments. With his changing measures he could sway the feelings of
men to what passions he would; he knew how to fill human hearts with joy or
sadness, with pity or with hatred, and used to enwrap the soul with the delight
or terror of the ear. All these accomplishments of the youth pleased Nanna, the
daughter of Gewar, mightily, and she began to seek his embraces. For the valour
of a youth will often kindle a maid, and the courage of those whose looks are
not so winning is often acceptable. For love hath many avenues; the path of
pleasure is opened to some by grace, to others by bravery of soul, and to some
by skill in accomplishments. Courtesy brings to some stores of Love, while most
are commended by brightness of beauty. Nor do the brave inflict a shallower
wound on maidens than the comely.
Now
it befell that Balder the son of Odin was troubled at the sight of Nanna bathing,
and was seized with boundless love. He was kindled by her fair and lustrous
body, and his heart was set on fire by her manifest beauty; for nothing excites
passion like comeliness. Therefore he resolved to slay with the sword Hother,
who, he feared, was likeliest to baulk his wishes; so that his love, which
brooked no postponement, might not be delayed in the enjoyment of its desire by
any obstacle.
About
this time Hother chanced, while hunting, to be led astray by a mist, and he
came on a certain lodge in which were wood-maidens; and when they greeted him
by his own name, he asked who they were. They declared that it was their
guidance and government that mainly determined the fortunes of war. For they
often invisibly took part in battles, and by their secret assistance won for
their friends the coveted victories. They averted, indeed, that they could win
triumphs and inflict defeats as they would; and further told him how Balder had
seen his foster-sister Nanna while she bathed, and been kindled with passion
for her; but counselled Hother not to attack him in war, worthy as he was of
his deadliest hate, for they declared that Balder was a demigod, sprung
secretly from celestial seed. When Hother had heard this, the place melted away
and left him shelterless, and he found himself standing in the open and out in
the midst of the fields, without a vestige of shade. Most of all he marvelled
at the swift flight of the maidens, the shifting of the place, and the delusive
semblance of the building. For he knew not that all that had passed around him
had been a mere mockery and an unreal trick of the arts of magic.
Returning
thence, he related to Gewar the mystification that had followed on his
straying, and straightway asked him for his daughter. Gewar answered that he
would most gladly favour him, but that he feared if he rejected Balder he would
incur his wrath; for Balder, he said, had proffered him a like request. For he
said that the sacred strength of Balder’s body was proof even against steel;
adding, however, that he knew of a sword which could deal him his death, which
was fastened up in the closest bonds; this was in the keeping of Miming, the
Satyr of the woods, who also had a bracelet of a secret and marvellous virtue,
that used to increase the wealth of the owner. Moreover, the way to these
regions was impassable and filled with obstacles, and therefore hard for mortal
men to travel. For the greater part of the road was perpetually beset with
extraordinary cold. So he advised him to harness a car with reindeer, by means
of whose great speed he could cross the hard-frozen ridges. And when he had got
to the place, he should set up his tent away from the sun in such wise that it
should catch the shadow of the cave where Miming was wont to be; while he should
not in return cast a shade upon Miming, so that no unaccustomed darkness might
be thrown and prevent the Satyr from going out. Thus both the bracelet and the
sword would be ready to his hand, one being attended by fortune in wealth and
the other by fortune in war, and each of them thus bringing a great prize to
the owner. Thus much said Gewar; and Hother was not slow to carry out his
instructions. Planting his tent in the manner aforesaid, he passed the nights
in anxieties and the days in hunting. But through either season he remained
very wakeful and sleepless, allotting the divisions of night and day so as to
devote the one to reflection on events, and to spend the other in providing
food for his body. Once as he watched all night, his spirit was drooping and
dazed with anxiety, when the Satyr cast a shadow on his tent. Aiming a spear at
him, he brought him down with the blow, stopped him, and bound him, while he
could not make his escape. Then in the most dreadful words he threatened him
with the worst, and demanded the sword and bracelets. The Satyr was not slow to
tender him the ransom of his life for which he was asked. So surely do all
prize life beyond wealth; for nothing is ever cherished more among mortals than
the breath of their own life. Hother, exulting in the treasure he had gained,
went home enriched with trophies which, though few, were noble.
Balder
entered the country of Gewar armed, in order to sue for Nanna. Gewar bade him
learn Nanna’s own mind; so he approached the maiden with the most choice and
cajoling words; and when he could win no hearing for his prayers, he persisted
in asking the reason of his refusal. She replied that a god could not wed with
a mortal, because the vast difference of their natures prevented any bond of
intercourse. Also the gods sometimes used to break their pledges; and the bond
contracted between unequals was apt to snap suddenly. There was no firm tie
between those of differing estate; for beside the great, the fortunes of the
lowly were always dimmed. Also lack and plenty dwelt in diverse tents, nor was
there any fast bond of intercourse between gorgeous wealth and obscure poverty.
In fine, the things of earth would not mate with those of heaven, being
sundered by a great original gulf through a difference in nature; inasmuch as
mortal man was infinitely far from the glory of the divine majesty. With this
shuffling answer she eluded the suit of Balder, and shrewdly wove excuses to
refuse his hand.
When
Hother heard this from Gewar, he complained long to Helgi of Balder’s
insolence. Both were in doubt as to what should be done, and beat their brains
over divers plans; for converse with a friend in the day of trouble, though it
removes not the peril, yet makes the heart less sick. Amid all the desires of
their souls the passion of valour prevailed, and a naval battle was fought with
Balder. One would have thought it a contest of men against gods, for Odin and
Thor and the holy array of the gods fought for Balder. There one could have
beheld a war in which divine and human might were mingled. But Hother was clad
in his steel-defying tunic, and charged the closest bands of the gods,
assailing them as vehemently as a son of earth could assail the powers above.
However, Thor was swinging his club with marvellous might, and shattered all
interposing shields, calling as loudly on his foes to attack him as upon his
friends to back him up. No kind of armour withstood his onset; no man could
receive his stroke and live. Whatsoever his blow fended off it crushed; neither
shield nor helm endured the weight of its dint; no greatness of body or of
strength could serve. Thus the victory would have passed to the gods, but that
Hother, though his line had already fallen back, darted up, hewed off the club
at the haft, and made it useless. And the gods, when they had lost this weapon,
fled incontinently.
As
for Balder, he took to flight and was saved. The conquerors either hacked his
ships with their swords or sunk them in the sea; not content to have defeated
gods, they pursued the wrecks of the fleet with such rage, as if they would
destroy them to satiate their deadly passion for war. Thus doth prosperity
commonly whet the edge of licence. The haven, recalling by its name Balder’s
flight, bears witness to the war. Gelder, the King of Saxony, who met his end
in the same war, was set by Hother upon the corpses of his oarsmen, and then
laid on a pyre built of vessels, and magnificently honoured in his funeral by
Hother, who not only put his ashes in a noble barrow, treating them as the
remains of a king, but also graced them with most reverent obsequies. Then, to
prevent any more troublesome business delaying his hopes of marriage, he went
back to Gewar and enjoyed the coveted embraces of Nanna. Next, having treated
Helgi and Thora very generously, he brought his new queen back to Sweden, being
as much honoured by all for his victory as Balder was laughed at for his
flight.
At
this time the nobles of the Swedes repaired to Denmark to pay their tribute;
but Hother, who had been honoured as a king by his countrymen for the splendid
deeds of his father, experienced what a lying pander Fortune is. For he was
conquered in the field by Balder, whom a little before he had crushed, and was
forced to flee to Gewar, thus losing while a king that victory which he had won
as a common man. The conquering Balder, in order to slake his soldiers, who
were parched with thirst, with the blessing of a timely draught, pierced the
earth deep and disclosed a fresh spring. The thirsty ranks made with gaping lips
for the water that gushed forth everywhere. The traces of these springs,
eternised by the name, are thought not quite to have dried up yet, though they
have ceased to well so freely as of old. Balder was continually harassed by
night phantoms feigning the likeness of Nanna, and fell into such ill health
that he could not so much as walk, and began the habit of going his journeys in
a two horse car or a four-wheeled carriage. So great was the love that had
steeped his heart and now had brought him down almost to the extremity of
decline. For he thought that his victory had brought him nothing if Nanna was
not his prize. Also Frey, the regent of the gods, took his abode not far from
Uppsala, where he exchanged for a ghastly and infamous sin-offering the old
custom of prayer by sacrifice, which had been used by so many ages and
generations. For he paid to the gods abominable offerings, by beginning to
slaughter human victims.
Meantime
Hother learned that Denmark lacked leaders, and that Hiartuar had swiftly
expiated the death of Rolf; and he used to say that chance had thrown into his
hands that to which he could scarce have aspired. Thereupon he took possession,
with a very great fleet, of Isefjord, a haven of Zealand, so as to make use of
his impending fortune. There the people of the Danes met him and appointed him
king; and a little after, on hearing of the death of his brother Athisl, whom
he had bidden rule the Swedes, he joined the Swedish empire to that of Denmark.
While
Hother was in Sweden, Balder also came to Zealand with a fleet; and since he
was thought to be rich in arms and of singular majesty, the Danes accorded him
with the readiest of voices whatever he asked concerning the supreme power.
With such wavering judgment was the opinion of our forefathers divided. Hother
returned from Sweden and attacked him. They both coveted sway, and the keenest
contest for the sovereignty began between them; but it was cut short by the
flight of Hother. He retired to Jutland, and caused to be named after him the
village in which he was wont to stay. Here he passed the winter season, and
then went back to Sweden alone and unattended. There he summoned the grandees,
and told them that he was weary of the light of life because of the misfortunes
wherewith Balder had twice victoriously stricken him. Then he took farewell of
all, and went by a circuitous path to a place that was hard of access,
traversing forests uncivilised. For it oft happens that those upon whom has
come some inconsolable trouble of spirit seek, as though it were a medicine to
drive away their sadness, far and sequestered retreats, and cannot bear the
greatness of their grief amid the fellowship of men; so dear, for the most
part, is solitude to sickness. For filthiness and grime are chiefly pleasing to
those who have been stricken with ailments of the soul. Now he had been wont to
give out from the top of a hill decrees to the people when they came to consult
him; and hence when they came they upbraided the sloth of the king for hiding
himself, and his absence was railed at by all with the bitterest complaints.
But
Hother, when he had wandered through remotest byways and crossed an uninhabited
forest, chanced to come upon a cave where some maidens whom he knew not dwelt;
but they proved to be the same who had once given him the invulnerable coat.
Asked by them wherefore he had come thither, he related the disastrous issue of
the war. So he began to bewail the ill luck of his failures and his dismal
misfortunes, condemning their breach of faith, and lamenting that it had not
turned out for him as they had promised him. But the maidens said that though
he had seldom come off victorious, he had nevertheless inflicted as much defeat
on the enemy as they on him, and had dealt as much carnage as he had shared in.
Moreover, the favour of victory would be speedily his, if he could first lay
hands upon a food of extraordinary delightsomeness which had been devised to
increase the strength of Balder. For nothing would be difficult if he could
only get hold of the dainty which was meant to enhance the rigour of his foe.
Hard
as it sounded for earthborn endeavours to make armed assault upon the gods, the
words of the maidens inspired Hother’s mind with instant confidence to fight
with Balder. Also some of his own people said that he could not safely contend
with those above; but all regard for their majesty was expelled by the
boundless fire of his spirit. For in brave souls vehemence is not always sapped
by reason, nor doth counsel defeat rashness. Or perchance it was that Hother
remembered how the might of the lordliest oft proves unstable, and how a little
clod can batter down great chariots.
On
the other side, Balder mustered the Danes to arms and met Hother in the field.
Both sides made a great slaughter; the carnage of the opposing parties was
nearly equal, and night stayed the battle. About the third watch, Hother,
unknown to any man, went out to spy upon the enemy, anxiety about the impending
peril having banished sleep. This strong excitement favours not bodily rest,
and inward disquiet suffers not outward repose. So, when he came to the camp of
the enemy he heard that three maidens had gone out carrying the secret feast of
Balder. He ran after them (for their footsteps in the dew betrayed their
flight), and at last entered their accustomed dwelling. When they asked him who
he was, he answered, a lutanist, nor did the trial belie his profession. For
when the lyre was offered him, he tuned its strings, ordered and governed the
chords with his quill, and with ready modulation poured forth a melody pleasant
to the ear. Now they had three snakes, of whose venom they were wont to mix a
strengthening compound for the food of Balder, and even now a flood of slaver
was dripping on the food from the open mouths of the serpents. And some of the
maidens would, for kindness sake, have given Hother a share of the dish, had
not eldest of the three forbidden them, declaring that Balder would be cheated
if they increased the bodily powers of his enemy. He had said, not that he was
Hother, but that he was one of his company. Now the same nymphs, in their gracious
kindliness, bestowed on him a belt of perfect sheen and a girdle which assured
victory.
Retracing
the path by which he had come, he went back on the same road, and meeting
Balder plunged his sword into his side, and laid him low half dead. When the
news was told to the soldiers, a cheery shout of triumph rose from all the camp
of Hother, while the Danes held a public mourning for the fate of Balder. He,
feeling no doubt of his impending death, and stung by the anguish of his wound,
renewed the battle on the morrow; and, when it raged hotly, bade that he should
be borne on a litter into the fray, that he might not seem to die ignobly
within his tent. On the night following, Proserpine was seen to stand by him in
a vision, and to promise that on the morrow he should have her embrace. The
boding of the dream was not idle; for when three days had passed, Balder
perished from the excessive torture of his wound; and his body given a royal
funeral, the army causing it to be buried in a barrow which they had made.
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