Oldal 115 [115]
A MYSTERY AMONG THE MYSTERIES: ARE THERE OLD ICELANDIC MYSTERIES
the kings Yngvi Tyrkjakonungr and Njerdr Sviakonungr, and were venerated
as gods only thereafter." Snorri in his Prose Edda describes the world of the
Nordic gods, using as a framework the adventure of an imaginary Swedish
king, Gylvi." Searching for Asgard, one evening he arrives at a hall and
asks there three gods, Harr, Jafnharr and Pridi about Nordic mythology.
The answers describe important aspects of Nordic religion. Awakening the
next morning, Gylvi finds himself in an empty open field: both the hall and
the meeting with the gods was an illusion (ginning). The title of the poem
“Gylvi’s Illusion” (Gylfaginning) emphasizes Snorri’s Euhemerism.
The famous Ynglingasaga by Snorri describes the history of the ruling
family of Sweden, the Ynglings.”! Chapters 5-7 recount that Odin and the As
above gods migrated from Asia, where their capital was Asgard, an important
place where sacrifices were carried out. Odin had had 12 high priests, who
migrated together with him to the Swedish town Sigtuna. There Odin and his
companions (among others Njordr, Freyr, Heimdall, Pörr, Baldr) presented
a sacrifice and on that account were later venerated as gods. Snorri’s account
stands at the beginning of his World History (Heimskringla, written about
1230) and offers a well calculated Euhemeristic explanation: important men
of yesterday have become the gods of today. In such a construction, there is
little room for mysteries.”
It is interesting to confront Snorri’s text with the information proffered
by Adam of Bremen (Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum IV, 26-27
and the relevant scholia).”” Adam used several different sources, among them
reports by eyewitnesses. His text was compiled by 1070, when large parts of
today’s Sweden had not yet been Christianized. According to his report, in
Uppsala (also in the vicinity of Sigtuna) there stood a large heathen temple,
made of pure gold. Within it there were three huge golden statues, with Thor
in the centre, Wodan and Fricco (cum ingenti priapo) on his two sides. Hence
just at the time of Norway’s conversion a mighty non-Christian temple was
Islendingabök - Landnämabök. Jakob Benediktsson (ed.), Reykjavik, Hid Islenzka
Fornritafélag, 1968. Ættartala 27.
See Snorri Sturluson, Edda. Prologue and Gylfaginning, edited by Anthony Faulkes, London,
Viking Society for Northern Research - University College, 2005, 7-55.
See for the comparison ofthe three versions of Snorri’s Prologue Diana Whaley, Heimskringla.
An Introduction, London, Viking Society for Northern Research — University College, 1991,
55-57.
The problem is very carefully discussed in various papers by Walter Baetke, Kleine Schriften.
Geschichte, Recht und Religion im germanischen Schrifttum, Weimar, Hermann Bohlaus
Nachfolger, 1973.
See Adam of Bremen, Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum. Bernhard Schmeidler
(ed.), Hannover — Leipzig, 1917. (Monumenta Germaniae Historica - Scriptores rerum
Germanicarum 2.) English edition: History of the Archbishops of Hamburg-Bremen.
Translated by F. I. Tschan, Columbia University Press, New York, 1959. See also A. Buchner,
Adam von Bremen, in RDA, Bd. 1, 1973, 56-57.
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