Chapters 44-95 - Germanic Mythology

Hakon's men are designated in the strophe as herþarfir ásmegir. When they are
permitted to borrow the name of the ásmegir, then the adjective herþarfir, if chosen with
the proper care, is to contain a specific distinction between them and the mythological
beings whose name they have borrowed. In other words, if the real ásmegir were of such
a nature that they could be called herþarfir, then that adjective would not serve to
distinguish Hakon's men from them. The word herþarfir means "those who are needed in
war," "those who are to be used in war." 14 Consequently, the ásmegir are beings who are
not to be used in war, beings whose dwelling, environment, and purpose suggest a realm
of peace, from which the use of weapons is banished.
Accordingly, the parallel presented in Einar's strophe, which we have now
discussed, is as follows:
MYTHOLOGY:
Peaceful beings of the lower world
(ásmegir),
at the instigation of their chief,
the sun-god Baldur (rauðbríkar rækir)
go to offer sacrifices
HISTORY:
Warlike inhabitants of the earth (herþarfir
ásmegir),
at the instigation of their chief,
the shield's Baldur, Hakon (Hlakkar móts
rauðbríkar rækir),
go to offer sacrifices.
The peaceful Baldur is thereby benefited.
The shield's Baldur (Hakon) is thereby
benefited.
The earth grows green again.
The earth grows green again
In the background which Einar has given to his poetical paraphrase, we thus have
the myth telling how the sun-god Baldur, on his descent to the lower world, was
strengthened by the soma-sacrifice brought him by the ásmegir, and how he sent back
with Hermod the treasures of fertility which had gone with him and Nanna to the lower
world, and which restored the fertility of the earth.
14 Because of the context of this verse, herþarfir is commonly taken to mean "required by men" even
though compound words with the prefix her- most frequently refer to war and battle (cp. Her-fjöturr, war
fetter; her-maðr, a warrior; her-skip, warship. Vigfusson-Cleasby Dictionary, p. 259) Herr can mean a
"host" but also a "people" in general.