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i'ki:si;Nii;r) HY i 1 I O 
 
BALDER'S DEATH 
 
 AND 
 
 LORE'S PUNISHMENT 
 
 BY 
 
 CORNELIA STEKETEE HULST 
 
 CHICAGO 
 
 THE OPEN COURT PUBLISHING CO. 
 
 1918 
 
<A^^ 
 
 
 mi s w? 
 
 MAY 24 1918 
 

 THIS WORK IS GRATEFULLY DEDICATED 
 TO 
 
 The Honorable Rasmus B. Anderson! 
 His "Norse Mythology" gave the first impulse to its 
 composition. A poet at heart, he interpreted the myths 
 so that they became vital ; himself a creative scholar, 
 he freely gave his interest and sympathy to this work 
 when he was an entire stranger to the author ; a most 
 generous and stimulating friend, he and his gracious 
 wife have added charm and glory to our years since 
 they have known us. 
 
 C. S. H. 
 GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN. 
 
FOREWORD. 
 
 TN these incidents from Northern Mythology it has been my intention to be 
 ■^ true to the version presented in the Eddas, about 1000 A. D., a version 
 which is poetically consistent and which takes a higher flight, particularly in 
 all that relates to Balder, than pagan literature in general does. This fact 
 seems to be owing to the new ideas and the new spirit that the scalds received 
 through Viking contact with Christianity in the South. The solution here 
 presented for "Balder's Death" was worked out independently from facts given 
 in the Eddas, to accord wnth conditions as stated and to ensure poetic justice ; and 
 this solution is confirmed by Rydberg, who brought a wealth of medieval learn- 
 ing to sustain his argument in his "Teutonic Mythology." Bugge's learned 
 study citing Christian literary sources that probably were influential in form- 
 ing the Balder mytli also tends to confirm this solution. The descent of Balder 
 into Hell and his coming rule in the Realm of the Spirit when the New Heaven 
 and the New Earth have risen, when this Heaven and this Earth pass away, 
 after the Twilight of the Gods, offers the only consistent and adequate solution, 
 not only for this incident, but for others linked to it, notably the epic of Sieg- 
 fried and Brunhilde, which even in Wagner's version is not complete and satis- 
 fying. In the Icelandic version Siegfried is without reproach, and Brunhild in 
 disobeying Odin obeys a higher law, so both merit a future with a perfect king 
 in a heavenlier Heaven than Odin's, which is tainted with evil. When they 
 go to Balder, though in Hell, it will now be seen that poetic justice is satisfied; 
 it will be completely satisfied when both rise with Balder into his New Heaven 
 after Odin and the evil of his dispensation have been swept away. 
 
 The literary form of these poems is a variety of Free Verse, but they were 
 composed mainly before 1900 and therefore before the present school of Free 
 Verse had been developed. This variety was evolved under the influence of the 
 alliterative verse of the Eddas and Beowulf, but was an unconscious product, 
 not in anj' sense an imitation. 
 
 The illustrations are selected from the rare series with which Frolich illus- 
 trated the Eddas. 
 
 May the good and the beautiful that come to us from the Past never die, 
 and may the victory of Balder and the defeat of Odin forever inspire us with 
 hope and courage. 
 
 Mrs. Henrv Hulst. 
 
 GL.^D.sHEIM, Nov. 7, 1917. 
 
PERSONS. 
 
 Odin — All-Father, King of the Asas in Asgard. 
 
 Frigg — his Queen, mother of Balder. 
 
 Balder — the Good, the Just, the Asa of Light, Father of Justice. 
 
 Nanna — his wife. 
 
 HoDER — the Blind, his hrother. 
 
 Thor — the Thunderer, Asa of Battle. 
 
 Tyr — the Asa of War. 
 
 ViDAR — the Silent and Ready, the recuperative power of Nature. 
 
 Vale — the young son of Odin and Rind (the Frozen-Earth). 
 
 Brace — .Asa of Song, inspirer of the Asas. 
 
 Idun — Brage's wife, guardian of the Apples of Youth and Strength. 
 
 Hermod — the Swift, Messenger of the Asas. 
 
 Heimdal — guardian of Bifrost, the Rainbow-Bridge that leads from Earth to 
 Asgard. 
 
 LoKE — son of the Jotun Farbaute, adopted among the Asas, but later a foe of 
 Odin. 
 
 SiGYN — his wife, an Asa, called the Tender and True, deserted by Loke. 
 
 Angerbod.\ — A Jotun witch who bodes anguish, wedded by Loke when he de- 
 serted Sigyn. 
 
 Hel — daughter of Loke and Angerboda, Queen of Hell, the Kingdom of the 
 Lower World. 
 
 Fenrer — the Wolf, son of Loke and Angerboda. 
 
 The Midgard Serpent— son of Loke and Angerboda. 
 
PALACES. 
 
 Valhal — Odin's Hall of Heroes in Asgard. 
 
 Fensal — Frigg's Palace in Asgard. 
 
 Broadblink — Shining Splendor, Baldcr's Palace. It is built in Peace Place, 
 which is a sanctuary. 
 
 Gladsheim — the gold hall of Brage and Idun in the Happy Valley. It lies 
 
 at the East. 
 Anguish — Hel's Palace in Niflhel. 
 GiMLE — the Palace in Alfhcim where Balder will reign after Ragnarok, when 
 
 the New Heaven and the New Earth have risen. 
 
ARGUMENT. 
 
 THE first scene of this story is in the Heaven of Norse Mythol- 
 ogy, or, to be more exact, in Asgard, the city of the Asas ; and 
 the characters are the Asas, the Norse gods, whose King is Odin. 
 Asgard must be imagined as a golden city, not only paved with 
 gold but piled with gold from the foundation to the pinacles of its 
 palaces. It is a wonderwork of the most skilful of the giant race, 
 the Jotuns, who were once friends of the Asas but are now foes, 
 alienated by rivalry for power and gold. 
 
 In the scheme of the Universe, Asgard lies in the upper 
 branches of the Tree of Life, where it rests at the top of the arch 
 of Bifrost, the Rainbow Bridge, by which the Asas descend to 
 earth when they will, riding their horses, except Thor, who is so 
 heavy that he would break through its ethereal substance. As far 
 beneath the earth as Asgard lies above it, is the Lower World, 
 called Hell, or Helheim because it is the home of Queen Hel. a 
 Jotun whose power is matched with Odin's and who will lead her 
 kindred to attack him in Asgard as soon as she is able. 
 
 Hel is the daughter of Loke, the destructive spirit of Fire. 
 
 The Golden City of Asgard shines in splendor against a blue 
 sky, and Odin, its king, is clad in a regal mantle of blue. Among 
 his circle he is kingly indeed, a leader in battle, triumphant in 
 single combat, astute in counsel, and a loving father to his heroes. 
 All-Father is the name with which they chiefly honor him, but they 
 add many other names in honor of his powers and exploits, such 
 as the Many-in-One, Ygg (the Clear-Thinker), and the Wayfarer. 
 Odin's sister, Frigg, is also his wife, and as Queen of Heaven is 
 justly honored, for she is wise and good. The son of Odin and 
 Frigg is Balder, the best loved Asa in heaven. Like Odin, Balder 
 has many appropriate names, among which are the White One, the 
 Peaceful, and the Father of Justice, for his palace has sheltered 
 no evil. He is clothed in radiant white, and rays beam about him 
 as from a sun. Balder is the glory of heaven. As is fit, Nanna. 
 
2 BALDER'S DEATH. 
 
 his wife, is like him though lesser, a moon-white Dis, and their 
 union is the most perfect. 
 
 The nature of Loke is flame, and his color is flame ; but Hel 
 is death-white, and her heart is cold, as her kingdom lies cold in 
 a region of eternal frost and snow. Hel is the most powerful of 
 Loke's evil offspring. Her mother is no less hated, a Jotun witch 
 named Angerboda, because she bodes anguish to all of her friends 
 as well as her foes. This circle of destructive spirits, including 
 also Hel's terrible brothers, the Midgard Serpent and the Fenris 
 Wolf, bide their time to conquer both Earth and Asgard, muster- 
 ing their forces in the Lower World and in the Mirkwood, where 
 Angerboda's wolf-sons congregate. At Ragnarok, the World's 
 Twilight, they will issue forth for the final struggle. In the one 
 great conflict that they have so far had with Odin for the rule of 
 the world, Odin has been able to control them, casting the Serpent 
 far forth into the sea, binding the Wolf Fenrer to a rock on a 
 distant island, LyngA^e, and banishing Hel to the Lower World, 
 where in the lowest of nine gloomy circles she established her throne, 
 called Despair. Hers is a sad, loveless kingdom, and she is the cold 
 sovereign of the dead. The Weird Norns (Past, Present, and Fu- 
 ture), made her supreme in the Lower World, and gave her per- 
 mission to come to Earth only at midnight to select those who are 
 to belong to her. Brave warriors are chosen by the Valkyrie, Odin's 
 War Maidens, to be taken dying from the battlefield to Valhal, his 
 Hall of Heroes in Asgard ; but those who are cowards or who die 
 at peace are taken by Hel. 
 
 The incidents in this story occur shortly after thfe Wolf Fenrer 
 has been bound, when Loke and Hel have been balked in their 
 purpose to capture Asgard by means of Fenrer's wonderful strength. 
 The action begins on one of Hel's midnight visits to Earth to give 
 warning to those whom she has chosen to die. 
 
N 
 
 BALDER'S DEATH. 
 
 OW the dusk and the nightfall were early 
 And the dawn was late in its corning, 
 
 Nature gives ;\nd the days were so dark that at noontide 
 
 signs that fore- , , ,. .__,,, 
 
 bode disaster. Deep shadows lay brooding in Valhal — 
 
 Strange sights ; and strange sounds smote the hearing, 
 
 Low soughing and sighing and whispers. 
 
 It shook the hearts of the hearers. 
 
 Were Hel and her hordes from cold Helheim 
 
 Stealing on Asgard in darkness?. . . . 
 
 The eyes of the erewhile calm Asas 
 
 Grew gloomy, and heavy their hearts were; 
 
 Sore troubled, they tossed on their couches. 
 
 And, the first time in Asgard, one midnight 
 
 A moaning and crying awaked them .... 
 
 Fear sucked at their hearts like a vampire. . . . 
 
 Then a wailing arose in Bright Broadblink 
 
 Whence naught but joy's sounds had e'er issued ; 
 
 And shrill, as pine shrieks when the lightning 
 
 Has cleft to its heart, Balder shrieked, 
 
 And the ramparts of Asgard echoed 
 
 And its vaulting re-echoed his shrieking. 
 
 They groped their way through the dark, 
 Baider'9 y\n(j ^.s day brokc in Asgard held council 
 
 And heard Balder's dream. 
 His vision of evil impending: 
 
 "All we love, all we hate were in conflict ! 
 
 The Gulph of the Nether World opened 
 
 And Hel sought her lord. . . .to dwell with her. . . . 
 
 And I was her lord, and must follow. 
 
 For Death hurled his dart, and it hit me." 
 
BALDER'S DEATH. 
 
 And Nanna. his spouse, where she lav 
 Nanna pleads With her flowcrHke face on Frigg's bosom, 
 His mother's, shudder'ed and sobbed 
 Ere she spoke in accents complaining, 
 "Aye, Hel came to Asgard, love-hungry ; 
 She sought her a lord. . . .she craves mine. 
 Me she hates— O Father! O Mother! 
 King! Frigg! Help our Balder 
 Or Hel will yet hale him to Helheim!" 
 
 THE HEAVENLY CITY. 
 
 And Frigg answered, comforting Nanna. 
 "Dear child, who would harm our good Balder, 
 Frigg's answer. Beloved Light of the Heavens? 
 
 If Hel does desire him — oh, surely 
 She never will find one to slay him. 
 For all in the world love our Balder!" 
 
 But still Frigg was troubled at heart, 
 Asking why was his slumber afilicted 
 With dreams that foreboded disaster ; 
 And Nanna, still weeping, repeated, 
 "Hel will yet hale him to Helheim." 
 
BALDER'S DEATH. 
 
 Then Odin, the wise, the Clear-Thinker, 
 Odin departs Who loved Balder more dearly then any 
 
 to learn the t^ , i 11 1 • 
 
 future. l^or that best he knew his son s nature, 
 
 So gentle and loving and peace-full. 
 Arose and departed in silence. 
 
 But Frigg, with the Asas remaining, 
 Frigg's efforts Took Oath from all Nature to spare him 
 
 So that Hel could find nothing to slay him. 
 She bound land and water with oaths, 
 And gold, and silver, and iron, — 
 
 All metals, all earths, all plants 
 
 That are growing or grown on the earth. 
 
 In the air or the water ; all birds, 
 
 All diseases, all reptiles, all creatures 
 
 That creep, walk, or fly, to earth's confines. 
 
 And again there was joy in the heavens. 
 The fears of And a marvcl it was, those glad days, 
 
 the Asas are 1 i -r-. 1 1 
 
 relieved. T- o scc how all uaturc lovcd Balder. 
 
 They gathered a circle about him 
 And, pla3'ful, threw missiles upon him 
 In their sports on his plain, the fair Peace Place ; 
 And great was the honor they did him. 
 Hewing, and hacking, and hurling. 
 Most mighty, most skilful, — and harmless. 
 Darts recoiled, and hard flints did not hurt him ; 
 Asa blades bit not, but rebounded 
 Though keen and hero-like wielded ; 
 When it hurtled forth with his thunder, 
 Thor's Hammer to Thor's hand returned 
 And on Balder had left no more mark 
 Than an arrow when cleaving the heavens 
 Can leave on the air it has parted. 
 Frigg smiled, Nanna laughed, and bright Balder 
 Forgot his dream and its portent. 
 
 But Odin, All-Father, forgot not, 
 Nor smiled, as he rode through de 
 Descending and dark, to the Nort 
 Swiftly his steed passed the landmarks, 
 
 Odin journeys Tv^Qj. smiled, as he rodc through deep valleys, 
 
 to the Vala . fc> f .7 ' 
 
 Descending and dark, to the North. 
 
6 B ALDER'S DEATH. 
 
 His Sleipner. fleet-footed and willing, 
 
 Smiting the earth till it trembled 
 
 With the beat of his feet, rune-enristed. 
 
 For nine days successive down Helway 
 
 He traveled, by bridges, o'er chasms 
 
 And wastes, till he came to Hel's kingdom ; 
 
 And never he stopped or turned back 
 
 Though her Hel-hounds he met, slaughter-craving, 
 
 Foam-flecked and blood-stained and gaping. 
 
 That bayed as he passed, 
 
 And though bands of the Dead hailed him, wailing. 
 
 But when Hell-walls loomed black through the darkness, 
 
 With towers and pinacles beetling, 
 
 And heavy-barred Hell-gates denied him — 
 
 W^ould he force them, again to face Hel?. . . . 
 
 To the East he turned Sleipner, to the death-house 
 
 Where the Vala, a seeress, lay buried. 
 
 Three times he circled around it. 
 He practices Three times in widening circles, 
 
 his art to raise ... . i • t~. 
 
 her from her And three tmics three, chantmg Runes ; 
 grave. Then, facing the North, a spell 
 
 He pronounced, most potent, compelling. 
 
 Until, in her grave, Vala wakened, 
 
 And rose in winding-sheet swathed, 
 
 And uttered unwilling. 
 
 In accents grave-hollow, death-husky: 
 
 "My grave has been covered with snow ; 
 Vala speaks. ]y|y grave has been beaten with rain ; 
 Upon it the night-dews have fallen 
 As many a year I have lain ; 
 Pass onward, and leave me in quiet, 
 Thou stranger — What is thy name, 
 That hast wakened my ghost in its grave?" 
 
 And Odin, the Many-in-One, 
 Odin deceives Spokc the name he ever is named 
 
 her as to his ._^ , . . w-r^i -itr r t 
 
 name, and t roui that journey forth: The Wayfarer, I, 
 compels her Veltam's son ; and of Hel I demand, 
 
 to answer. « i i 11 • i • « 
 
 And these benches with rmgs overspread. 
 
BALDER'S DEATH. 
 
 For whom is Hel's banquet prepared? 
 
 For whom are her couches o'erlaid? 
 
 Speak, Vala, and tell ; 
 
 I shall bind thee with runes, that thou answer.' 
 
 "The mead that stands brewed is for Balder — 
 He learns Le|- the racc of the Asas bewail him! 
 must die, Now thou hast Compelled me to speak it, 
 
 And now let me lay me to rest." 
 
 that Iloder 
 will slay him, 
 
 ODIN QUESTIONING VALA. 
 
 But Odin: "Speak, Vala! 
 
 I shall bind thee with runes, that thou answer, 
 
 For yet I must learn of his slayer." 
 
 And Vala: 
 
 "Blind Hoder will slay him. 
 
 Will send his glorious brother 
 
 To dwell in the halls of dark Helheim. 
 
 Now thou hast compelled me to speak it. 
 
 And now let me lay me to rest." 
 
 But Odin: "Speak, Vala! 
 
 I shall bind thee with runes, that thou answer; 
 Thou still must reveal me the vengeance 
 That any may wreak on his slayer." 
 
8 BALDER'S DEATH. 
 
 "Young A^ale and A^idar the 'vengers 
 and that Who his slaycF shall slay, 
 
 vidarand Now thou hast Compelled me to speak it, 
 
 Vale will , , , ,5 ,, 
 
 avenge him; And now let me lay me to rest. 
 
 And Odin: "Speak, Vala ! 
 but when The Maidens, three Jotuns — " 
 Odin asks con- (Qf the Wise Ones he questioned, the Weird 
 
 cerning the _^^ 
 
 Norns OnCS 
 
 Who weave the web of the world, 
 Urd, and Verdand', and Skuld, 
 That-Has-Been, That-Is, and That-Shall-Be) 
 
 Vala knows 
 him for Odin, 
 and taunts 
 him with his 
 impotence. 
 
 But Vala broke forth when he named them, 
 "Not the Wayfarer — Odin ! 
 Now I know ! — thou hast tricked me ! . . . . 
 Hel. help ! I appeal to Queen Hel ! 
 Go, boast of thy knowledge, exulting! 
 The Norns have his thread, and are weaving- 
 Can thy runes cast a spell upon Skuld, 
 Or alter a thread in the pattern 
 That Verdand' is weaving? 
 Hel, help ! I appeal to Queen Hel ! 
 To her the Norns gave dark Helheim, 
 And wanhope is thine in that kingdom ! 
 Henceforth no more cjuestions I answer 
 Till bondage be broken at Doom. 
 I sleep till the sound of the Trumpet." 
 
 Then Odin withdrew him toward Valhal, 
 For Vala took refuge with Hel. 
 And, again for nine days, to the South 
 He rode ; climbing the heights of his city 
 While he pondered what Vala foretold. 
 
 in. 
 
 Loke, dis- 
 guised as a 
 maiden 
 
 Now Loke, the evil, heard laughter. 
 
 As he lurked at the portals of Asgard, 
 
 And in his fell spirit most spiteful 
 
 Were the thoughts and the feelings that wakened. 
 
 Assuming the guise of a maid 
 
B ALDER'S DEATH. 
 
 That is free from all guile, to Fensal, 
 That fairest of gold-halls, he came. 
 Where Frigg sat with Nanna in converse : 
 "Mother, why are the x-Xsas so blithesome?" 
 
 questions 
 Frigg, 
 
 VOLUSPA. 
 
 His tongue that asked it dripped honey. 
 The Mother of Asas made answer, 
 "Our Balder is safe from Hel's clutches 
 Creation has sworn not to harm him, 
 The air and the earth and the water, 
 
10 
 
 BALDER'S DEATH. 
 
 and learns 
 her secret. 
 
 All life that is in, on, or under," — 
 
 The honey-sweet voice interrupted, 
 
 "What, all things have sworn it?" 
 
 "The things I have spoken have sworn it. 
 
 But now I bethink me, a thing 
 
 That is growing nor on earth, nor under. 
 
 Nor in air or water, nor under. 
 
 But, sole of its kind, on an oak tree — 
 
 The mistletoe twig — hath not sworn it : 
 
 But weak is its nature, and tender." 
 
 He seeks 
 Balder, to 
 slav him. 
 
 Odin returns 
 to Asgard, re- 
 joicing to 
 hear that Bal- 
 der is still 
 safe. 
 
 Loke had what he sought, and went forth 
 
 Straightway to seek mistletoe growing. 
 
 From an oak tree he cut it, then hied 
 
 To the sports of the Asas in Peace Place, 
 
 Balder's broad, smiling Mead, 
 
 Where in midst of the Circle stood Balder, 
 
 The White, white-browed and white robed, 
 
 Radiant, beaming around, 
 
 While about him flew missiles, played weapons 
 
 In that game that they made in his honor. 
 
 And as each play failed of effect 
 
 There rose shouts and applause from the players 
 
 So loud and so long that the Wayfarer 
 
 Nearing the portals of Asgard 
 
 Heard, and rejoiced that he heard. 
 
 For they told of the safety of Balder. 
 
 Apart from the Circle stood Hoder, 
 Loke per- The Blind, the twin brother of Balder. 
 suades Hoder fj-jg smile ou his facc spokc contentment 
 
 to throw the .,.,., 
 
 mistletoe, And pride in the prowess of Balder. 
 "And why do you not honor Balder, 
 Hoder?" said Loke; and Hoder, 
 "Because I am blind, and unable." 
 "Stand forth, then, and take thou this missile 
 And hurl with thy might ; I will guide thee." 
 And Hoder, to honor his Balder, 
 Put forth all his might, and the mistletoe 
 
 and strikes Flew from his hand, Death's own dart — 
 
 Balder down. « , . , t-. 
 
 And pierced Balder. . . . 
 
BALDER'S DEATH. 
 
 11 
 
 Balder'a 
 dream is 
 fulfilled. 
 
 And again Balder shrieked, as that midnight, 
 And heaven re-echoed his shrieking 
 From rampart to rampart and vaulting 
 And again from the vault to the ramparts, 
 Through the Halls of the Heavenly City, 
 To Fensal, v^'here Nanna and Frigg 
 Were weaving their wreaths, and to Odin, 
 Who had entered the gates of his City. 
 
 Ah, who can tell of their grief ! 
 
 The grief in Bcyond powcr of speech was their sorrow, 
 ^^^^ ' And a deathlike stillness fell on them 
 
 As still Death had fallen on Balder. 
 The Heavenly City lay hushed 
 As the yard where the dead lie entombed. 
 But when dying — nay, dead, Balder fell, 
 There rose wailing and groans from the Asas 
 From throats that were strangers to weeping, 
 From heroes of godlike endurance. 
 
 of \idar, Tyr, Quly Vidar stood silent, unshaken ; 
 
 Tyr trembled ; Thor shook like an aspen ; 
 Young Vale's breast heaved, tempest-shaken, 
 And through his clenched teeth an oath rattled ; 
 
 Hoder, Apart and unheeded stood Hoder, 
 
 His face as a ghost's strayed from Helheim, 
 
 His blind eyes strained as if seeing, 
 
 His white lips at horrible working. 
 
 Form tense, hand at ear, forward bending. 
 
 and Odin. And thcu Father Odin descended. 
 And gathered his son to his heart 
 And bemoaned him : 
 
 "Oh Balder, my Son, my Beloved, 
 Odin's lament. Would that Wcird had taken thy Father ! 
 Full gladly — my life for thy life — 
 Take it — Oh, would thou mightst take it — " 
 Then his accents were lost in his sobbing. 
 
 And when Frigg and Nanna together 
 The grief of Approachcd, Balder's wife and his mother — 
 Nanna. Too sacred their sorrow. 
 
 Draw the veil and gaze not upon it. . . . 
 
12 
 
 BALDER'S DEATH. 
 
 At last Frigg spoke: "Who will go 
 Frigg advises And pray Hel to take ransom for Balder?" 
 ransom; but "Qjz'c her ransom?" roared Thor, "Give her 
 
 Thor proposes , 
 
 war. Battle! 
 
 I reed you, storm Hel and take Balder \ 
 
 We had better force battle to-day than wait longer — 
 
 First, vengeance! Who was the slayer?" 
 
 The red beard shook on his bosom ; 
 
 From 'neath brows beetling black as his storm-clouds 
 
 Light leapt, levin-red, as he thundered. 
 
 His knuckles gleamed white 
 
 As he tightened his hold on the haft of his hammer. 
 
 Hoder con- 
 fesses his act, 
 and tells of 
 Loke. 
 
 Loke pleads 
 sanctuary 
 
 and escapes, 
 
 Then Hoder groped forward, bowed, broken,- 
 "I give myself to his 'vengers — 
 This hand was the hand that slew Balder — 
 But Loke's the voice — his the purpose." 
 And he told the tale of the slaying. 
 
 The Asas started for Loke 
 
 To tear him to pieces. "Peace Place!" 
 
 Cried Loke, "This is Balder's Peace, 
 
 Where violence cannot be done 
 
 But vengeance will follow the doer." 
 
 And Nanna pled, "This is Balder's Peace, 
 
 Let no one profane it with vengeance." 
 
 So Loke escaped. 
 
 And again Thor thundered, "Storm Helheim 
 
 And rescue our Balder \" 
 
 And the Asas echoed, "Storm Hell!" 
 
 And forthwith they had sworn and departed, 
 But that Frigg spoke, calmly and sadly, 
 "Nay, Asas, storm Hell not, for Helheim 
 The Norns gave to Hel till the Trumpet 
 Shall sound on the morning of Doom — 
 Ye must fail if ye go — but go one 
 And offer our ransom to Hel." 
 
 And Hermod, surnamed the Nimble, 
 
 andHermod Said, "Frigg, I will go on thy mission,' 
 And Odin gave fleet-footed Sleipner 
 
 Frigg gives 
 counsel, 
 
 ilH 
 
 departs on 
 the mission, 
 
 while To Hermod departing for Hell. 
 
BALDER'S DEATH 1.^ 
 
 Then the Asas bore Raider's pale form 
 The Asas deck Where his Ringhorn lay, greatest of vessels, 
 sWp.""^'^ And on its broad deck built his pyre 
 
 Of the boughs that they brought from the forest ; 
 
 And there each laid a gift, jewelled armor, 
 
 Rich rings and broaches, vast riches. 
 
 To pile on his breast and about him. 
 
 There Odin, bowed and sore grieved. 
 
 Laid Draupner. the world's w^ealth and increase, 
 Odin gives j-^jg riug-droppiug-riugs, and spoke bitter: 
 raupner. "j^q^ Earth ccasc to bring forth her increase — 
 
 Let all things with all be confounded .... 
 
 Would that Time itself might run backward 
 
 Or stop in its profitless courses." 
 Frigg, her car- fherc Frigg laid her carpet of verdure 
 
 pet; Fulla, the ._^ , i t^ n 
 
 grain. That covcrs the Earth ; and b ulla. 
 
 The yellow grain of the harvest. 
 
 And through the still watches of night 
 Baider's death- When Nauua and Frigg sat beside him, 
 
 watch is kept. „ , „. . i • i. 
 
 Sad Sigyn came to her sister, 
 The sad wife, truest and tenderest. 
 That Loke abandoned in Asgard 
 To wed the foul witch Angerboda ; 
 And Sigyn mourned beside Nanna 
 For the wrong Loke did to her Balder. 
 
 And, late, Nanna slumbered ; and sweetly 
 Nanna's Peace settled upon her pale features — 
 
 A white flower silvered in moonlight ; 
 And speech passed her lips, to a \'ision 
 Addressed, and then she woke, joyful: 
 "Dear Mother and Sister, farewell ! 
 Your Nanna may go to her Balder. 
 Our lives were so closely inwoven 
 That even in death we are mated — 
 Give thanks to kind \*erdand', the weaver! 
 Dear Mother and Sister, farewell !" 
 And again Nanna slept. 
 And thenceforth did Frigg and sad Sigyn 
 Keep deathwatch for Nanna and Balder. 
 And when his great pyre was built. 
 
 vision. 
 
14 
 
 BALDER'S DEATH. 
 
 She is laid be- Qj-, ^Yiq broad deck of Ringhorn, his vessel, 
 
 side Balder on T-.111 -i 1 i-i-\t 
 
 his pyre. L>y Balder s Side they laid iNanna, 
 
 Till the solemn riteS should be rendered 
 If Hermod returned from his Mission 
 With refusal to Asgard from Hel. 
 
 Hermod's 
 journey to 
 Hell. 
 
 IV. 
 
 In the meantime fleet Sleipner sped northward, 
 And never he stopped or turned back 
 As he galloped through valleys, o'er chasms, 
 Save once, at the Bridge, where a herald, 
 Its keeper, called "Hail !" to challenge 
 His passing. "I am Hermod! To Hel 
 
 HERMOD DEPARTING FOR HELL. 
 
 He enters 
 Helheim 
 
 Is my mission, for Balder!" 
 
 And ready reply came, "Pass on ! 
 
 It was over this Bridge he descended. 
 
 God speed thee ! Greet Balder !" 
 
 And again vast stretches he covered 
 
 Till the Walls and the Gates rose, of Hell. 
 
 "Hail Hermod! hail Sleipner!" said Balder, 
 
 And drew near with Nanna to Hermod 
 
 To fondle the steed, as in Asgard 
 
 Was ever his wont .... 
 
 But when he seemed to embrace them, 
 
 His arms, they were naught but a shadow ; 
 
BALDER'S DEATH. 15 
 
 And a shadow was Nanna, and shadows 
 The ghosts that swarmed 'round them, 
 Each bearing a brand on its forehead 
 Of Hel's, the slothful, the craven, 
 The wicked, but each with a hope 
 In its eyes, and a light as in Balder's, 
 For light still beamed from his eyes 
 And a halo still circled his body — 
 Heaven's Sun midst the shadows of Hell ! 
 
 "Hail, Hermod ! Hail, Sleipner!" said Balder, 
 ami receives "But your journcy to Helheim is bootless, 
 
 Balder's mes- r^ , i • • tt 
 
 sage to Asgard. -save that you may bear witness m Heaven 
 When homeward you carry Hel's message 
 That love such as Nanna's has might 
 Far more than Hel's hate, e'en in Hell. 
 Bitter cruel is Hel, and unyielding — 
 Accept not, believe not her promise, 
 For hate fills her heart full of venom 
 And distrust gnaws her vitals with anguish. 
 Since Nanna has come, Hel has hidden 
 In Anguish, her palace in Nifhel, 
 Where she lies enraged in Despair, 
 For a hope that she trusted has failed her — 
 The sight of love's joy is Hel's sorrow. . . . 
 But let not the Mid-Earth and Asgard 
 Grow gloomy as Helheim with mourning. 
 Charge this on our loved ones, returning. 
 And charge them to comfort each other — 
 And charge them to comfort poor Hoder ; 
 Assure him I love him as ever. 
 For unwitting he slew me. Forgive him, 
 And when our last rites ye have rendered 
 Let Nature increase and be joyous — 
 
 Balder retuinr, ^q ^his cud I scud my bcst gravc-gift 
 
 his gifts. , . , 11 T- 1 1 • T^ 
 
 Agam to All-lr'ather, his Draupner, 
 His ring-that-drops-riches." 
 And Nanna added her grave gifts : 
 "To Frigg I send back her soft carpet. 
 May flowers blossom upon it ; 
 *And to Fulla give back her gay girdle, 
 The maid with the waving gold tresses." 
 
16 
 
 BALDER' S DEATH. 
 
 Hermod's 
 descent to 
 
 Nifhel, 
 
 And now Hermod continued his journey 
 
 To offer Frigg's ransom to Hel. 
 
 Through Shd he swam. River of Venom, 
 
 And kingdom and kingdom he traversed 
 
 Till he came to the lowest and darkest, 
 
 The Ninth, where Hel dwells in Anguish, 
 
 Her palace, and feasts at Famine, 
 
 Her banqueting-board, and rules 
 
 From Despair, her black throne, double seated 
 
 And canopied, waiting a mate — 
 
 But a mate will there never be fonr.d 
 
 To rule in that kingdom despairing, 
 
 For sole of her kind is Oucen Hel. 
 
 SLID. RIVER OF VENOM. 
 
 Delay, her man-servant, led him 
 Across her threshold, Abysm, 
 And her maid-servant. Slowness, 
 Through portals and aisles, long approaches. 
 Led him thence to her audience room. 
 When PTel beheld Hermod approaching 
 and iiis audi- gi-,g j-Qgg from her couch, her hard Care-Bed, 
 
 ence with Hel. , , i i 
 
 Where rest she had sought : 
 
 She ascended Despair, and, haughty. 
 
 She spake as kings speak to war envoys. 
 
 So deathlike her presence, so grewsome, 
 
 Hermod's blood curdled cold, but he hailed her 
 
BALDER'S DEATH. 
 
 17 
 
 Hermod's 
 message, 
 
 And delivered the message he bore her. 
 His eyes fixed unflinching upon her. 
 And besought her send Balder and Nanna 
 To Asgard, and herself fix their ransom: 
 ''Of the Asas choose any, our greatest — 
 So dearly we love him — choose Hoder, 
 Appropriate mate." But Hel shuddered. 
 
 and Hel's 
 answer. 
 
 Bold Hermod spoke on : 
 
 "It is better for thee to give Balder, 
 
 For if Balder thou keep he'll oppose thee ; 
 
 And all Hell will love him and hate thee — 
 
 And Nanna's he is." — Did Hel whiten? 
 
 Dead-cold was her voice as she answered, 
 
 "But does all Creation love Balder? 
 
 If all in the world of the living 
 
 Will weep him, take Balder, and Nanna ; 
 
 Should any refuse, I will keep him." 
 
 All things 
 weep for 
 Balder 
 
 The very ghosts in dark Helheim 
 Wailed loud when they heard her ; gentle 
 
 Nanna 
 Sobbed ; and fleet Sleipner and Hermod 
 Shed tears as Hel's message they bore 
 Speeding back to the Mid-Earth and Asgard ; 
 And wherever they passed Nature wept. 
 Hard stones wept, and metals, and plant life ; 
 The mistletoe wept, and the oak-tree ; 
 Wild beasts wept, and men. and the Asas 
 Who held funeral feast around Ringhorn. 
 And when they carried Hel's message 
 Wherever space stretched through Creation 
 There was weeping from all things that heard it. 
 
 except old 
 Thok, 
 
 And almost the Asas had hope 
 
 That fresh color had flushed his pale face 
 
 And that Balder was rising to greet them, 
 
 When a hag in her cave they espied, 
 
 Evil Thok, an old ogress. 
 
 "Oh Thok, weep Balder from Helheim." 
 
 They prayed ; but Thok answered, 
 
 "With dry tears of Thok will weep Balder! 
 
18 
 
 BALDER'S DEATH. 
 
 wlio is Loke 
 disguised. 
 
 Old Thok never joyed in his gladness — 
 
 Let Hel keep what she has garnered!" 
 
 She was gone, and the echoes repeated, 
 
 "Hel keep what she has garnered!" 
 
 And again, "Keep what she has garnered !" 
 
 And again, "She has garnered!" and "Garnered!' 
 
 Then, harshly, a laugh without mirth, 
 
 A screech and a cackle — they knew — 
 
 "Loke's laughter, and we must miss Balder, 
 
 For Thok is Loke, who mocks us." 
 
 Hoder asks 
 for death, 
 
 When, hopeless and silent, at sunset 
 
 They wended their way back to Asgard 
 
 And gathered again at the seashore. 
 
 One met them who, helpless. 
 
 Awaited their coming, blind Hoder. 
 
 "Oh, warrior brothers," he prayed them, 
 
 "One who never could join you in battle 
 
 Begs a boon — do ye grant it in pity ! 
 
 Deal me death, that slevv^ Balder beloved, 
 
 And in Hell let me join him to comfort, 
 
 For he loved me, and loves, though I slew him. 
 
 Then slay me, and let me lie dead 
 
 By him that I love. . . .and forgive. . . . 
 
 Unwitting I slew him. . . .forgive!" 
 
 and tlie \'ala's 
 word is ful- 
 filled, when 
 his breast is 
 risted by Vale 
 and Vidar. 
 
 The plea of blind Hoder prevailed ; 
 And young Vale and Vidar, in pity 
 (That thread by the Weird Ones was woven 
 And none could alter that pattern) 
 Deep-risted his breast with the spear-point 
 Till his spirit passed, to join Balder. 
 So atonement he made, and in pity 
 They bore him dead to high Ringhorn 
 And laid him, red-dyed, beside Balder, 
 And in pity they wept and bewailed him. 
 
 And when the Tide had arisen 
 And the Deep and the Distance were calling, 
 Farewells are \ ]^^^ time they bade Balder farewell ; 
 Father Odin stooped and addressed him. 
 
BALDER'S DEATH. 
 
 19 
 
 And, graving a mark on his forehead, 
 
 He set his torch to the pyre ; 
 
 Then the winds and the waves took high Ringhorn, 
 
 And, flame-bound, westward it drifted. 
 
 Away — and away — from their ken, 
 and the ship To regions whence no man returneth. 
 Ringhorn j\^(^ none saw the end, nor can tell it. 
 
 drifts out with _,, ,-, n . r i^ l 
 
 the tide. Surely, that was the float fraught most precious 
 
 Of all, in time past, and forever. 
 
 And when it had passed their horizon 
 
 And Day went, and Night came, blackshrouded. 
 
 ODIN WHISPERING RUNES TO BALDER DEAD. 
 
 Odin's 
 Farewell, 
 
 and resig- 
 nation. 
 
 Odin spoke: "Farewell, we must miss thee. 
 
 Bright son, our hope and our joy! 
 
 Now the Weird Ones have swept thee to Helheim, 
 
 And wise is Weird with a Wisdom 
 
 That passeth our knowledge. 
 
 Let us bow our heads in submission. . . . 
 
 As Weird wills, so be it ! 
 
20 
 
 BALDER'S DEATI-1. 
 
 "Come, Frigg ; come, our children, 
 He gives hope \y^(^ \q^ ^^g comfort eacli other. 
 
 to the Asas, i t i • 
 
 A word I whispered ;to Balder 
 And a sign on his forehead I risted 
 That will quell hateful Hel, 
 A wise Word, fateful and runic. 
 The knowledge I added to knowledge 
 What time I o'erhung the abysses 
 To assuage the rancor of hate 
 And turn evil against the ill-doer. 
 
 and foretells 
 
 Raider's 
 
 glory, 
 
 His attain- 
 ment of wis- 
 dom* 
 
 and of the 
 Blessed, 
 
 His victory- 
 over Hel, 
 
 and his king- 
 dom of Alf- 
 heim, 
 
 "Lo, a Vision is rising before me — 
 
 Humbly T thank thee, thou Weird One ! — 
 
 I see Him, with sight that is certain .... 
 
 And not Death, but Life Everlastinr/. 
 
 For His palace has sheltered no Evil ! 
 
 That Mead that Hel brewed, mingling floods 
 
 Of all Fountains of Life, He will drink, 
 
 x-\nd all Wisdom, all Good will be His. 
 
 And the Dead that in love drink those waters 
 
 Are His, the Redeemed and Blessed, 
 
 For that Mead when they drink will transfigure 
 
 Their ghosts, and new bodies will clothe them 
 
 With Strength and with Beauty immortal. 
 
 "Oh Balder, our White One, our Just, 
 
 Though I gave my eye to buy Wisdom — 
 
 That draught of the flood of Urd's Fountain — 
 
 Thrice wiser art thou than thy Father! 
 
 Hateful Hel can never subdue Thee 
 
 To do her hard bidding. . . .her Lord, 
 
 WHiom she chose — and her Master ! 
 
 And when the World- Web has been woven 
 
 And the fiery flames of Surt's vengeance 
 
 Have climbed from Earth to high Asgard, 
 
 When our Green Tree has sunk in gray ashes, 
 
 Lo, thine the New Earth, the New Asgard, 
 
 The new Dawn... the new Realm of the Spirit! 
 
 "Sustain we ourselves and each other. 
 And keep our world bright, as He bade, 
 after While wc wait the blare of the Trumpet 
 
 Kagnarok. ' 
 
 That summons Creation to Doom." 
 
BALDER'S DEATH. 21 
 
 So Odin. The Asas assented, 
 
 And long as they sat at the seashore 
 
 They spoke of those dear and departed, 
 
 Of the conquest of Hel, and the Judgment, 
 
 And heard Hermod rehearse of his journey — 
 
 How the Dead, even then, loved their Balder 
 
 And how Hel and her kingdom they hated. 
 
ARGUMENT. 
 
 '"piTTS mythology of the North presents a triple tragedy: (1) that 
 1 of Loke and his kindred, the Jotuns ; (2) that of Odin and his 
 Circle of Asas in Asgard ; and (3) that of Balder and those who 
 join him in Hell. Loke's is the blackest tragedy, of evil done and 
 not repented ; Odin's is the tragedy of evil done that good may come 
 of it. but acknowledged as evil ; and Balder's, the tragedy of the 
 good and the just and the peaceful who seem to be overcome by 
 evil, but transcend it and prevail in spirit. 
 
 The cycle of northern myths, then, presents a world-theme, 
 and the utilitarian ethics of Odin in building his Circle is the pro- 
 voking cause of calamity in the whole series. As Rydberg shows, 
 even while the immediate object for which Odin does evil is attained, 
 evil results follow and develop, until at Ragnarok they will over- 
 whelm him and his Circle. But after Ragnarok Justice will prevail 
 in Balder's Realm of the Spirit. 
 
 Before he is caught and bound by the Asas Loke has plotted 
 the domination of the world by his evil offspring, the Serpent, the 
 Wolf and Hel ;. and with his own hand he has slain Balder, the 
 Lord of Light, the Father of Justice, "whose palace has sheltered 
 no evil." But bad as he is, this devil must be given his due. If 
 we find him crafty and dishonest in his dealings with the Asas, we 
 must admit that he is only meeting craft with craft, and bettering 
 the example ; if he does wrong that he and his may rule Creation, 
 he is imitating Odin's policy for his Circle. Loke becomes the 
 personification of destructive fire, a spirit of revenge, but was, 
 until he was perverted, a loved spirit of warmth and brightness. 
 From his own point of view he is more sinned against than sinning, 
 for Odin has tried to exterminate the Jotuns in order to ensure his 
 own dominion, and where he did not destroy Jotuns, bribed them 
 or enticed them to turn traitor to their race and join his. Odin 
 overreached the Jotuns, and stole from them, that he might add to 
 the power of his Circle, thinking it his manifest destiny to prevail 
 
24 LORE'S PUNISHMENT. 
 
 because he had the chance. It is entirely fit that his career should 
 end at Ragnarok by the swords of all whom he has wronged, the 
 dwellers at the ends of the earth. Jotunheim. Muspelheim, Elfheim, 
 and Hell. When all of Creation has been purged by fire, only 
 Balder's Realm of Justice will remain, to become New Heaven and 
 New Earth. In poetic justice, the race of Asas, that seemed the 
 fittest to survive, goes to its doom because it has done all manner of 
 injustice to gain power and prevail. So perish all that do such 
 deeds. 
 
w 
 
 LORE'S PUNISHMENT. 
 
 J HEN the plot of that evil one, Loke, 
 Was sped, and Balder the Bright 
 After the ^^g doomed with Hel to abide, 
 
 death of 
 
 Balder, Loke While o'er Balder's bale, save for Thok, 
 
 laughed in 'p^g ^^j^Q|g ^qj.}^ ^^ ^ 
 spite , ^ ' 
 
 Thok's self was Loke, who cackled 
 With laughter and ran to his cavern 
 Refusing to weep for Balder. 
 
 That laugh was the last of his misdeeds, 
 and fled from Poj- ^\^qt^ Lokc kncw that the Asas 
 
 the Asas in,T(r,i r • t i n i ^ 
 
 fear. Would never forgive, and he ned them. 
 
 In many strange guises he fled them, — 
 As fly, bird, beast. 
 As fish in the flood, as earth-elf ; 
 And still as he fled, still transforming, 
 Through the open he glided, a-shrinking, 
 Through the shadows he slunk, a-skulking, 
 And ever he felt in his hiding 
 That Odin's eye was upon him. 
 And ever abandoned his cover 
 To wander afresh. 
 
 He dared not return to green Gladsheim 
 To visit young Idun and Brage 
 Without the And eat of their Apples immortal, 
 
 Apples of ^^ 
 
 Youth and oo apacc old age crept upon him, 
 Strength, he n^he fire in his eye burned to ashes, 
 
 grew aged. 
 
 His cheek hung wrinkled and withered, 
 And his foot dragged heavy and languid. 
 Very many the fears that oppressed him — 
 Was there nowhere a soul would assist him? 
 
26 
 
 LORE'S PUNISHMENT. 
 
 Haunted by 
 fears, and 
 lonely, 
 
 In all the wide world was no creature 
 
 A friend, for all he had injured 
 
 And now of all must be fearful. 
 
 When he swam in the sea, Jormungand, 
 
 His Serpent-son, rose up and hissed him ; 
 
 To an island he neared, but Fenrer, 
 
 His Wolf-son, there snarled 
 
 When he saw him approach — 
 
 He hated the source of his being ; 
 
 In a cavernous hillside he hid him, 
 
 But the Dwarf Andvare crawled forth 
 
 And drove him away with deep cursing 
 
 For wresting from him that Ring 
 
 That has carried gold's curse to Earth's kingdoms, 
 
 "A bane to the bearer shall be, 
 
 Bitter grief to the greedy of gold, 
 
 Haunting sorroiv to all who possess 
 
 Gold zveighted with zvrong." . . . . 
 
 How many and many have sorrowed, 
 
 And alas ! how many will sorrow 
 
 Ere that curse of x\ndvare shall pass ! . . . . 
 
 And when as a hawk Loke soared. 
 
 The son of Thjasse, the Eagle. 
 
 Remembering young Idun, his sister. 
 
 That Loke led forth from her kindred 
 
 With her casket of youth-giving Apples — 
 
 Them the skill of Thjasse had fashioned 
 
 And now her kindred must hunger 
 
 While her foes may feast — 
 
 Pursued him to rend him in pieces. 
 
 So wherever he went some old deed 
 
 That was done in spite or in mischief 
 
 Raised its head like a snake's head, and hissed him, 
 
 And threatened to strike him and sting him. 
 
 Almost he was willing to perish, 
 Or to seek his old hag, Angerboda, 
 And their wolf-sons that lurk in the forest 
 Afar in the North, the dun Mirkwood — 
 But hate was the tie that bound them. . . . 
 And Hel, his cold daughter in Helheim — 
 Her he fain would forget. . . . 
 Not only he hated. ... he dreaded. 
 
LORE'S PUNISHMENT. 
 
 27 
 
 he sought 
 hiding in 
 Helway, 
 
 where he 
 saw his 
 daughter 
 Hel coming. 
 
 but was un- 
 able to flee 
 her, 
 
 and received 
 her curse, 
 
 Grown weary with wandering, haunted. 
 
 At the foot of a rock that looks northward 
 
 He hid in deep shadow. 
 
 Whence downward and nortliward leads Helway, 
 
 Bleak, and steep, and forbidding. 
 
 There never a living thing grows. 
 
 Gray lichens, or grasses, or mosses, 
 
 But hoar frost lies white in the moonshine. 
 
 And when, muffled close in her mantle. 
 
 Dark Midnight had passed on her mission, 
 
 Hel's hounds came a-baying from Helheim 
 
 And a pale form rose from the Deep 
 
 That he knew, as a dream, in his slumber. 
 
 For Hel, his daughter, his tyrant, 
 
 And naught he could do to escape her. . . . 
 
 His heart grew cold with its knowledge. 
 
 It was then for the first time he feared her. 
 
 This child of the worst in his being. 
 
 Supreme of her kind. Queen of Evil.... 
 
 That thought wrung his heart with foreboding — 
 
 His Queen, to himself anguish-boding. 
 
 Loke struggled to rouse him, to flee her — 
 Far less did he dread the wronged Asas 
 Than Hel, as he saw her ascending — 
 But slumber still held him in bondage, 
 For Odin's Rune risted in aether 
 Turned evil upon the ill-doer. 
 
 And Hel came still closer, and closer, 
 Till the cold of her breath blew upon him ; 
 The cold of her hands chilled his body ; 
 Her eyes, cold-gleaming, transfixed him ; 
 And her voice spoke, coldly, his doom: 
 
 "So Loke would flee me? Fool, Coward, 
 And author of what he'll not look on! 
 Nay, yet thou shalt pray and beseech me 
 To take thee to Hell from thy torments! 
 This thy doom, and hope not to escape it: 
 
 Hell on Earth, Death in Life, — 
 
 To know goodness and light, hut still hate them; 
 
 To see joy, but he hanished forever; 
 
28 LORE'S PUNISHMENT. 
 
 To live in the zvorld of the living, 
 
 But still without poiver to injure; 
 
 To zvill still to do, hut lie hound; 
 
 To suffer in sight of Heavens Asas, 
 
 Enduring their scorn, zvhile the pity 
 
 Of her thou hast injured protects thee, — 
 
 Hell itself has no pains worse than thine be, 
 
 A'o chains like the chains that shall hind thee. . 
 
 Live, languish, agonize, 
 
 Impotent, vacant, immortal — 
 
 Nay, look not for end to thy sorrozv — 
 
 And rememher, Loke, remember. 
 
 Wherever thou art, thou art mine." 
 
 And Loke moaned as he listened. 
 And bitter he groaned when he wakened, 
 Though the evil Queen had departed 
 And naught he beheld but bleak Helway 
 Downward and northward extending, 
 in utter y\nid uaught he heard .... There was silence, 
 
 A stillness that throbbed with foreboding.... 
 
 Alone was Loke, so lonely 
 
 He would fain have kept Hel there beside him- 
 
 Her cursing was better than silence. . . . 
 
 Alone with the stars and the heavens. 
 
 And the stars and the heavens were aching. 
 
 He is joined g^^j- j-iq^ alonc to remain, 
 wife, sigyn. For before the first flush of the morn, 
 In the hush that awaits a new Dawn 
 Slow footsteps approached from the South, 
 And a voice, low and soft as a wind-harp, 
 Breathed, "Loke, Loke, my lord!" 
 That he knew ; then a presence like sunshine 
 Illumined the place of his hiding. 
 Fair Sigyn, the True and the Tender, 
 Whom he had deserted in Asgard 
 To wed the foul witch Angerboda. 
 Now she had come down from high Asgard, 
 
LOKE'S PUNISHMENT 29 
 
 Womanly, motherly, wifely; 
 
 And still, if Loke had loved — 
 
 What might not the future have seen? 
 
 For she knew the wrongs he had done — 
 
 And she knew the wrongs he had suffered — 
 
 She would have found joy in forgiving. 
 
 He repulses gyt ^y^s there no love in his heart? 
 
 her, 
 
 Hateful and spiteful and vengeful 
 
 Loke answered. He hardened his heart 
 
 And accused her, suspicious, 
 
 That she from the Asas had come 
 
 To betray him, to bait him ; 
 
 And so he reproached and reviled her. 
 
 And Sigyn looked sadly upon him 
 
 And silently bore his upbraiding; 
 
 And with him she stayed, that fair goddess, 
 
 Still living her dream of devotion. 
 
 Fulfilling the troth that she plighted. 
 
 And still she had hope. 
 
 And patiently went she with Loke 
 
 When later he hid in the mountains. 
 
 And steadfastly held her high purpose,. 
 
 Sustaining her heart in its sadness 
 
 By telling it o'er the sweet tale 
 
 Of the days of their love, in far Asgard. 
 
 And Loke half feared her, and wondered 
 but finally T^^t Still shc should Stay, but endured it, 
 
 suffers her 111-11 1 • 1 
 
 to stay with i hougli he felt her presence but irksome, 
 him and bring j^^(^ i^q sufifcred her suuimou their children, 
 
 their sons. ... . ^^ , ^j 
 
 ihe wilful Vare and JNare, 
 
 Whom she loved wnth the love of a mother 
 
 Though they tore her heart with unkindness. 
 
 And Loke, too, had no kindness 
 
 From them, but dread and dire danger. 
 
 For his sons did not care for his safety. 
 
 But under the vault of the heavens. 
 
 In the crystalline light of the Day Star, 
 
 They threatened and shouted. 
 
 Though Odin was watching on Air Throne. 
 
 He lives in jj-, ^\-^q loug, auxious days that succeeded 
 
 retieat, 
 
 Loke sat in his house with wide windows 
 
30 LORE'S PUNISHMENT. 
 
 To all quarters of space, whence he watched 
 For the Asas to come from the North, 
 From the South, from the East, from the West, 
 While in thought he did over the deeds 
 Of his life. And not in the least 
 Was he sad for the wrongs he had done. 
 But all for the tricks that had failed him. 
 And those long anxious days was he busied 
 In netting a net, cunning meshes. 
 That seemed, as he made them, a symbol, 
 His life and the lives his had met. 
 Intermingled and knotted together. 
 The knots were the deeds he had done, 
 For each knot that he knotted was hard 
 And not to be loosened .... 
 Each life his had met had been marred, 
 And was not to be mended. 
 But he joyed in the life he had lived 
 And the net he had made, as he pondered, 
 And so intently he netted 
 That the shouts of the Asas surprised him, 
 but is discov- Pqj. he had forgotten his danger. 
 
 ered by the . 
 
 Asas. War-ready, their ranks closed upon him — 
 
 Wise Odin, strong Thor, calm Tyr, 
 Shining Frey, swift Hermod, white Njord, 
 And Heimdal, that hated him ever — 
 The band that fills Asgard with glory. 
 
 With shouts hateful \"are and Nare, 
 Hi? sons j^ig sons, wished him ill 
 
 rejoice at his , , , . i , r , ar t i 
 
 danger. And mocked their old father: Lo, Loke, 
 
 The Asas ! What youth, and what splendor ! 
 
 Such the gods are, but thee! Art not jealous? 
 
 And such might we also now be 
 
 But for thee, thou old Jotun and wizard. 
 
 Whom we hate — Alas, for our birthright ! 
 
 Flee? Do, but they'll catch thee — 
 
 And may they!" 
 
 III. 
 Loke hides in A,-,(j flgg Loi^-g ^\^^ y^\\^ ^jth terror. 
 
 the guise of _ ^ . , r 
 
 a salmon, He tiung his net to the nre 
 
LORE'S PUNISHMENT 
 
 31 
 
 And flew to the Force, in whose flood 
 He leaped and he phinged, in the guise 
 Of a salmon, so seeking escape. 
 But the Asas saw him and knew him. 
 And taking a net, woven meshes 
 Like his, that they found in the ashes. 
 They followed him down in the water. 
 Twice he sought to pass to the ocean .... 
 To dive under the net. . . .to leap over. ... 
 but is caught -Q^-^i ^\-^Qy caught him, strong Thor and wise Odin, 
 net, They caught him and, spite his guise, held him. 
 
 and is bound 
 to the rocks 
 in a valley. 
 
 And when Loke's struggle was over. 
 
 And he lay there, no longer a salmon. 
 
 They dragged him into a valley 
 
 Where ledges of rock beetled o'er him 
 
 And mountain crests rose and enclosed him 
 
 That the heavens themselves scarce could see him — 
 
 None save Odin when seated on Air Throne. 
 
 And there to three rock-ribs they bound him 
 
 For a bed, and the thongs that they used 
 
 (A horror — he scarce could endure it!) 
 
 Were the entrails of wolfish Vare, 
 
 His son, that hated and mocked his old father 
 
 And killed and devoured his brother. 
 
 Loke struggled, and groans shook his body, 
 He struggles Though proudly he strove to control him 
 While the Asas stood by looking on him. 
 Then a Serpent from over the summit 
 Came to torture and feast, as a spider. 
 When a fly is caught in its meshes, 
 Comes to play with it struggling, and kill it. 
 But so fearful the play of the lightning 
 That leaped from his eyes when he saw it, 
 So piercing, so hunted, so blinding. 
 And so fearful those serpent-eyes stony 
 That, alike fixed in terror, they gazed. 
 The Serpent and Loke, bound both 
 By a spell that neither can break, 
 And binding each other forever 
 By a spell that neither can lessen. 
 
 but is tor- 
 tured by a 
 serpent 
 
32 
 
 LORE'S PUNISHMENT. 
 
 Prone lay the snake, 
 
 Its thin neck stretching down 
 
 And its flat head depressed, 
 
 Its cleft tongue han'ging limp, 
 
 Dropping venom distilled 
 
 Where Loke lay rigid beneath it. 
 
 As it dropped, drop by drop, 
 
 It encrusted his body, and burned. 
 
 That he writhed in his anguish 
 
 And fought with the strength of his godhead, 
 
 While the Asas stood by, and derided. 
 
 until his 
 pride is 
 broken. 
 
 The Asas 
 torture him 
 with taunts, 
 
 Then his pain broke his pride, spite of Loke, 
 
 Cries of agony startled the mountains. 
 
 And backward and forward they hurtled 
 
 Through the vales, o'er the plains, up to Asgard, 
 
 And down to the nether abysses. 
 
 In all places their tidings were welcome 
 
 That the days of his misdeeds were done 
 
 And that Loke lay helpless and harmless. 
 
 The wide world listened, rejoicing, it seemed, 
 
 And with mocking and laughter : 
 
 "Thy desert now thou hast, dost thou like it?" 
 
 Said one, and "Could we but do so 
 
 With usury we would repay thee!" 
 
 "Aye, aye," cried the rest, taunting Loke. 
 
 "Thy chickens come home to their roost 
 
 With their broods; count them, Loke!" 
 
 "Thou wert wont to pour vials of torments 
 
 On victims in sport. Dost remember? 
 
 Now ours is the sport, thine the torment ; 
 
 And remember the pain of thy victims !" 
 
 His base deeds to remembrance they brought 
 
 In wrath, and for vengeance, 
 
 To requite ill with ill in like measure, 
 
 For so it seemed good to the Asas 
 
 To torture their prisoner, Loke. 
 
 but his wife, fg all savc his sad-eved wife Sigyn. 
 
 Sigyn, in t- u ^ j i <. ' • • 
 
 io her tender heart, wise m sorrow. 
 
 mercy 
 
 No rejoicing it brought that Loke 
 Must sing that terrible song 
 
LOKE'S PUNISH^IENT. 
 
 33 
 
 pleads for 
 him, 
 
 reproaches 
 the Asas 
 with their 
 own wrong 
 doing. 
 
 In torment, but she pitied his pain, 
 An added weight to the woes 
 Of a world but too woful without it. 
 Her soul was sad as she heard them, 
 Mourning her mood : 
 
 "Oh Father, oh brothers, have pity ! 
 Our world is too heavy with sorrow 
 To wring one cry that is needless 
 From the bitter breast of a captive, 
 Long bitter with wrongs ye inflicted 
 On those dear to him, as his kindred. 
 Now Loke is bound and harmless. 
 And Loke's children are outcast, 
 The Wolf, and Hel. and the Serpent. 
 
 and an- 
 nounces her 
 purpose to 
 slay with him. 
 
 SIGYN, LOKE AND THE SERPENT 
 
 Enough let it be that the safety 
 Of Asgard and Earth are assured — 
 The brave never injure the helpless. . . . 
 Leave Loke to me, give your blessing. 
 And perhaps, some day in the Future — 
 Perhaps — for he may repent him — 
 Perhaps I may bear to glad Valhal 
 
34 LORE'S PUNISHMENT. 
 
 A word for peace and forgiveness. 
 If not — but let me not think it — 
 Still here will I stay, 
 And will labor to lessen his anguish ; 
 And still I can hope for a whisper 
 Of love, that will long to be voiced 
 When it wakens to life, toward one. . . . 
 And toward all. . . . 
 In mercy now go ... . 
 I will bear it !" 
 
 The Asas were touched by her pleading, 
 
 That goddess' so sad and devoted ; 
 
 The laughter died from their voices. 
 
 And their taunting, scornful and biting, 
 
 Lay hushed on their lips into silence. 
 
 And pity entered their hearts 
 
 For Loke, that he must be lorn 
 
 Of her love, that his heart had cast from him. . . . 
 
 And awe came upon them at Evil 
 
 Itself. Whence came it? How comes it? 
 
 Why did Loke succumb? — and why they? 
 
 For they — they, too, were infected. 
 
 Each knew in his secret soul 
 
 Of hopes and desires and deeds 
 
 That he wished he need not remember ; 
 
 And it softened their hearts toward Loke 
 
 To know that no Asa was blameless, 
 
 And that they themselves had been tempters. 
 
 And it seemed an inscrutable Other 
 
 Moved him and moved them divers ways. 
 
 Were they puppets alike? and warped 
 
 By the stuff that was theirs from their forebears? 
 
 Thor agrees "Sigyn is right," Asa Thor spoke, 
 
 with her ^J t, ' t- > 
 
 words, "Bound is Loke, and harmless. 
 
 And the brave never injure the helpless!" 
 
 IV. 
 
 "Aye, Sigyn is right," said All-Father ; 
 and Odin also. "Nqw that Lokc is bouud and harmless. 
 For us 't is enough that the safety 
 Of the Heavens and the Earth are assured. 
 
LORE'S PUNISHMENT. 
 
 35 
 
 Odin shows 
 the present 
 perils of 
 Asgard 
 
 And bound are the children of Loke, 
 
 The Serpent, the Wolf, and that other. 
 
 The Queen of ravenous Hell. 
 
 Do ye see the shade in the valley? 
 
 It is spread by the wings of the Eagle; 
 
 Do ye hear his screaming eerie ? 
 
 'T is Thjasse's son threatening Asgard — 
 
 Alas for our Heavenly City 
 
 That its gold must be weighted with wrong! 
 
 Do ye hear the call from the Sea-Stream 
 
 Sucked down in a whirlpool? The Serpent. 
 
 And the howl of the Wolf? 'T is wild Fenrer. 
 
 The baying? Hel's hounds — Angerboda's. 
 
 Ye know those sounds and their portents. 
 
 Ye know the mustering foes 
 
 To be met in the Future as erewhile. . , . 
 
 And not the less to be feared 
 
 Because they give evil for evil 
 
 To destroy the fair world that we fashioned 
 
 By seeking advantage from theirs. 
 
 It was I for myself and my Circle — 
 
 Was it well? Was it well? 
 
 "Do the Norns themselves know the outcome, 
 They that sit at the roots of the World-Tree 
 And weave the web of the World-Life? 
 Know they the End and Beginning?. . . . 
 Or draw they the threads from the Unknown, 
 And toss the torn shreds to the Unknown?. . . . 
 and reminds Yc kuow how, late, iu our Valhal, 
 
 the Asas of . . -n i i • j i 
 
 their vows of In wmter, smce Balder is dead, 
 
 brotherhood. Y/e sat at our tables, heroes 
 
 Eating and drinking, and singing 
 The hero-deeds we remembered, 
 In the warmth and light of our fires. 
 While without all was hoarfrost and storm. 
 Then in swam a swallow, skimming 
 From one wide door to the other. 
 For a moment he circled, he twittered, 
 Enjoying the warmth — 
 Welcome guest with feathers at banquet — 
 And then, in a twinkling, was off. 
 
 He compares 
 life to the 
 flight of a 
 swallow. 
 
36 
 
 LORE'S PUNISHMENT. 
 
 He glories 
 in action 
 
 and urges the 
 Asas to action 
 
 against Hel 
 and her 
 brood. 
 
 He rejoices 
 in Vala's 
 prophecy of 
 the kingdom 
 of Balder, 
 and 
 
 inspires the 
 Asas to meet 
 Fate as 
 heroes. 
 
 And had passed— from Winter, to Winter. . 
 
 E'en such, methinks, is our Hfe. 
 
 It comes from no man knows whence, 
 
 It goes to no man knows whither. 
 
 It flutters a space, and in it 
 
 We build for ourselves and our Circle 
 
 And strive to do action heroic. . . . 
 
 And at last we may fail of our purpose. . . . 
 
 "But ah! the glory of striving, 
 
 The joy of our work for our World's Good ! 
 
 If vanquished, victors it leaves us. 
 
 Foes surround us, and we must endure it. 
 
 Foes surround us: shall Asas surrender? 
 
 Nay, Asas, life is a Battle, 
 
 The day of the Present is passing. 
 
 The darkness is coming, Time's flying; 
 
 Let each ere he die do the deeds 
 
 That he may, and rejoice in the doing 
 
 Though he know not the end .... 
 
 Else belong he to Hel and her sluggards. 
 
 If we die, as the Yala foreshadowed. 
 
 Let us die dealing death for our Circle, 
 
 To Hel and to hers ; 
 
 And after, as Vala foreshadowed. 
 
 When the Battle that Last Day is ended 
 
 Our Balder, the Bright, will arise. 
 
 For his Palace has sheltered no evil, 
 
 The Peaceful and White, — 
 
 Him our souls still sigh for — 
 
 And Nanna will rise from dark Helheim. 
 
 And the same World will rise that bred us, 
 
 But refreshed and ever renewed, 
 
 As Asgard the Golden anew, 
 
 But higher, more splendid, new named. 
 
 Will rise in the glorified heavens, 
 
 In the Land of Spirit eternal. . . . 
 
 "And we— shall we, too, spring anew? 
 We know not and we need not to know. 
 And Evil — will it spring anew? 
 We know not and we need not to know. 
 Enough that to-day is our own. 
 
LORE'S PUNISHMENT. Z7 
 
 Let us gather the brave to our banners 
 And trust that cause to wise Skuld — 
 To a hero will death come but once. . . . 
 Come gather about me, and hear me. 
 I will rist you the Rune I created 
 What time I o'erhung the Abysm. 
 Touch ye each the hand of a brother, 
 Fix your eyes on Asgard above us, 
 Lift up your voices in union 
 And sing the New Song that I sung." 
 
 Heriststhe Then Odin the mighty Rune risted 
 
 runes of Peace . i i i a 
 
 and Strength, That givcs pcace and strength to the Asas, 
 
 for them, ^j-j^j together they chanted his verses. 
 Brave hearts ! — the song they will sing 
 When he leads them into the Battle 
 
 sings the That Last Day, in the Dusk of the Nations. 
 
 gives courage, Rising and falling like breakers 
 
 That beat on the sands of the seashore 
 It sounded under their shieldboards, 
 And deep, like the roll of far billows, 
 Rolled the voice of All-Father in union. 
 
 Then, lifting their hands over Sigyn, 
 and finally They wcudcd their way from the valley, 
 
 leads them . • i i a i 
 
 back to Asgard, Ascending to pinacled Asgard; 
 
 And Loke, the wanton and Evil — 
 Very willingly would they have eased him. 
 But Hel's dread curse was upon him 
 And on hers she must work out her will. 
 
 leaving Sigyn Alouc bcsidc Lokc stood Sigyn. 
 
 w-ith Loke, to „, , , , , . , i j a. 
 
 render him She could uot loosc him, and would not, 
 service and But shc strove to Icsscu his auguish 
 
 win him from . , i n i i i • j 
 
 vengeance And opcu the floodgates by knidness 
 and hate. That the streams of his love might start flowing. 
 A cup she made, joining her fingers. 
 To catch the withering venom 
 That fell from the fangs of the Serpent, 
 
38 
 
 LORE'S PUNISHMENT. 
 
 To spill it or ever it burned him. 
 So, unsleeping, his pain she endures. 
 In the glare of the sun in the summer, 
 In the pinch of the cold in the winter, 
 Through the watches of noon and of midnight 
 And she listens, by hope still sustained, 
 Again to-night, and forever. 
 Till he whisper that Word. 
 
 DutLokewiii B^it i^oke relents not, and speaks not, 
 
 not relent, _ n • 
 
 Save when, her cup overflowing 
 
 THE ASAS ASCENDING TO ASGARD OVER BIFROST. 
 
 And the venomous drops on him spilling 
 
 And rankling, he cries aloud and he curses, 
 
 And save when, at midnight, 
 
 When the stars are most awful in heaven. 
 
 The howling of hounds heralds Hel. 
 
 Then he moans and he mutters, by turns 
 
 Praying Hel, nozv to pass. . . .nozv to take him. 
 
LORE'S PUNISHMENT. 39 
 
 though sigyn Still si-,e jisteiis and watches, lone Sigyn, 
 
 IS steadfast, /-- i i r r- =>-' ' 
 
 1 hat Goddess of Sorrows ; and her face 
 Is ahght with a passion of pity. 
 Transfigured by self-abnegation 
 And unthanked devotion — the steadfast! 
 
 But who shall say it is thankless? 
 And who shall say it is useless? 
 Still Weird will go as it will, 
 until Ragna- Surcly Mercy is better than Vengeance, 
 
 Mayhap Love will prove stronger than Justice 
 And Sigyn win Loke from Hel. 
 

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 UBBABV OF COSgS , 
 
 
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