Chapters 44-95 - Germanic Mythology

dead. Another road went to the south. As Urd's realm is situated south of Mimir's (see
Nos. 59, 63), this second road must have led to Urd's fountain and to the thingstead of the
gods there. From the Sun-song we learn that the departed had to continue their journey by
that road. The deceased skald of the Sun-song came to the norns, that is to say, to Urd
and her sisters, after he had left this road behind him, and he sat for nine days and nights
á norna stóli 20 before he was permitted to continue his journey (Sólarljóð 51). Here, then,
is the end of the road common to all, and right here, at Urd's fountain and at the
thingstead of the gods something must happen, on which account the dead are divided
into different groups, some destined for Asgard, others for the subterranean regions of
bliss, and a third lot for Niflhel's regions of torture. We shall now see whether the mythic
fragments preserved to our time contain any suggestions as to what occurs in this
connection. It must be admitted that this dividing must take place somewhere in the lower
world, that it was done on the basis of the laws which in mythological ethics distinguish
between right and wrong, innocence and guilt, that which is pardonable and that which is
unpardonable, and that the happiness and unhappiness of the dead is determined by this
division.
69.
THE TWO THINGSTEADS OF THE AESIR. THE EXTENT OF THE AUTHORITY
OF THE AESIR AND OF THE DIS OF FATE. THE DOOM OF THE DEAD.
The Aesirs have two thingsteads: one in Asgard, the other in the lower world.
In the former, a council is held and resolutions passed in such matters as pertain
more particularly to the clan of the Aesir and to their relation to other divine clans and
other powers. When Baldur is visited by ugly dreams, Valfather assembles the gods to
hold counsel, and all the Aesir assemble á þingi, and all the asynjes á máli (Vegtamskviða
1; Baldur's Draumar 4). 21 In assemblies here the gods resolved to exact an oath from all
things for Baldur's safety, and to send a messenger to the lower world to get knowledge
partly about Baldur, partly about future events. On this thingstead efforts are made of
reconciliation between the Aesir and the Vanir, after Gullveig had been slain in Odin's
hall (Völuspá 23, 24). There (á þing goða) comes Thor with the kettle captured from
Hymir, and intended for the feasts of the gods (Hymiskviða 39); and here the Aesir hold
their last deliberations, when Ragnarok is at hand (Völuspá 48: Æsir eru á þingi). No
matters are mentioned as discussed in this thingstead in which any person is interested
who does not dwell in Asgard, or which are not of such a nature that they have reference
to how the gods themselves are to act under particular circumstances. That the thingstead
where such questions are discussed must be situated in Asgard itself is a matter of
convenience, and is suggested by the very nature of the case.
20 "on the norn's seats"
21 á þingi, in counsel; á máli, in conference; In reality Vegtamskviða and Baldur's Draumar are the same
poem. This reference refers to a paper manuscript of the poem Baldur's Dreams which contains 4
additional introductory stanzas and several additional lines, which are now generally regarded as spurious,
but may in fact be authentic. Sophus Bugge includes these additions as footnotes in his Sæmundar Edda;
They are also included as part of the poem in Benjamin Thorpe's translation of the Elder Edda (1865).