Chapters 44-95 - Germanic Mythology

the ásmegir demands that he must have his home where his duties are required. To some
extent, this is also true of Dvalin, since the field of his operations cannot have been
utterly foreign to the citadel on whose wonders his sub-artists labored.
The author of the dwarf-list in Völuspá makes all holy powers assemble to consult
as to who shall create "the dwarves," the artist-clan of the mythology. The wording of
strophe 10 indicates that on a being by name Móðsognir, Mótsognir, was bestowed the
dignity of chief of the proposed artist-clan, 9 and that he, with the assistance of Durin
(Durinn), carried out the resolution of the gods, and created dwarves resembling men.
The author of the dwarf list must have assumed -
That Modsognir was one of the older beings of the world, for the assembly of
gods here in question took place in the morning of time before the creation was
completed.
That Modsognir possessed a promethean power of creating.
That he either belonged to the circle of holy powers himself, or stood in a close
and friendly relation to them, since he carried out the resolve of the gods.
Accordingly, we should take Modsognir to be one of the more remarkable
characters of the mythology. But either he is not mentioned anywhere else than in this
place - we look in vain for the name Modsognir elsewhere - or this name is merely a
skaldic epithet, which has taken the place of a more common name, and which by
reference to a familiar nota characteristica 10 indicates a mythic person well known and
mentioned elsewhere. It cannot be disputed that the word looks like an epithet. Egilsson
(Lexicon Poeticum) defines it as the mead-drinker. 11 If the definition is correct, then the
epithet were badly chosen if it did not refer to Mimir, who originally was the sole
possessor of the mythic mead, and who daily drank of it (Völuspá 28 - drekkur mjöð
Mímir morgun hverjan). Still nothing can be built simply on the definition of a name,
even if it is correct beyond a doubt. All the indices which are calculated to shed light on a
question should be collected and examined. Only when they all point in the same
direction, and give evidence in favor of one and the same solution of the problem, the
latter can be regarded as settled.
Several of the "dwarves" created by Modsognir are named in Völuspá 11-13.
Among them is Dvalin. In the opinion of the author of the list of dwarves, Dvalin must
have occupied a conspicuous place among the beings to whom he belongs, for he is the
only one of them all who is mentioned as having a number of his own kind as subjects
(Völuspá 14 - dverga í Dvalins liði). Therefore, the problem as to whether Modsognir is
identical with Mimir should be decided by the answers to the following questions: Is that
which is narrated about Modsognir also narrated of Mimir? Do the statements which we
have about Dvalin show that he was particularly connected with Mimir and with the
lower world, the realm of Mimir?
Of Modsognir, it is said (Völuspá 10) that he was mæztr um orðinn dverga allra:
he became the chief of all dwarves, or, in other words, the foremost among all artists.
Have we any similar report of Mimir?
9 þar (in the assembly of the gods) var Móðsognir mæztr um orðinn dverga allra
10 distinquishing characteristic
11 From Sveinbjörn Egilsson's Lexicon Poeticum, p. 413: Móðsognir, m, dværgnavn ('som suger mod i sig'?
eller af moð 'høaffald'?). Egilsson is unsure of this name's meaning.