Eddic Mythology

Book: Eddic Mythology by John Arnott Macculloch

When this Series was first projected, Professor Axel Olrik, Ph.D., of the University of Copenhagen, was asked to write the volume on Eddic Mythology, and no one more competent than he could have been chosen. He agreed to undertake the work, but his lamented death occurred before he had done more than sketch a plan and write a small part of it.Ultimately it was decided that I should write the volume, and the result is now before the reader.

Throughout the book, the names of gods, heroes, and places are generally given without accents, which are meaningless to most readers, and the spelling of such names is mainly That Which accords most nearly with the Old Norse Pronunciation. “Odin,” however, is preferred to the less usual “Othin,” and so with a few other familiar names, the spelling of which is now stereotyped in English. Several of the illustrations are from material which had been collected by Professor Olrik, with which the publisher supplied me. The coloured illustrations and those in pen and ink drawing are by my daughter. I have to thank the authorities of the British Museum for permission to use their photographs of the Franks’ Casket and of Anglo-Saxon draughtsmen; the Director of the Universitetets Oldsaksamling, Oslo, for photographs of the Oseberg Ship; Mr. W. G. Collingwood, F.S.A., for permission to reproduce his sketches of Borg and Helga-fell; and Professor G. Baldwin Brown, L.L.D., of the Chair of Fine Art, University of Edinburgh, for photographs of the Dearham, Bewcastle, and
Ruthwell Crosses. - J. A. MACCULLOCH

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The Marriage Of Heaven And Hell

"In seed time learn, in harvest teach, in winter enjoy.
Drive your cart and your plow over the bones of the dead
The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom.
Prudence is a rich ugly old maid courted by Incapacity
He who desires but acts not, breeds pestilence
The cut worm forgives the plow
Dip him in the river who loves water.
A fool sees not the same tree that a wise man sees.
He whose face gives no light, shall never become a star.
Eternity is in love with the productions of time.
The busy bee has no time for sorrow.
The hours of folly are measur’d by the clock; but of wisdom, no clock can measure.
All wholsom food is caught without a net or a trap.
Bring out number, weight, & measure in a year of dearth.
No bird soars too high, if he soars with his own wings.
A dead body revenges not injuries.
The most sublime act is to set another before you.
If the fool would persist in his folly he would become wise.
Folly is the cloke of knavery.
Shame is Pride’s cloke.

Prisons are built with stones of Law, Brothels with bricks of Religion.
The pride of the peacock is the glory of God.
The lust of the goat is the bounty of God.
The wrath of the lion is the wisdom of God.
The nakedness of a woman is the work of God.
Excess of sorrow laughs. Excess of joy weeps.
The roaring of lions, the howling of wolves, the raging of the stormy sea, and the destructive sword, are portions of eternity too great for the eye of man.
The fox condemns the trap, not himself.
Joys impregnate. Sorrows bring forth.
Let man wear the fell of the lion, woman the fleeces of the sheep.
The bird a nest, the spider a web, man friendship.
The selfish smiling fool & the sullen frowning fool shall be both thought wise, that they may be a rod.
What is now proved was once only imagin’d.
The rat, the mouse, the fox, the rabbit watch the roots; the lion, the tyger, the horse, the elephant, watch the fruits.
The cistern contains; the fountain overflows.
One thought fills immensity.
Always be ready to speak your mind, and a base man will avoid you.
Every thing possible to be believ’d is an image of truth.
The eagle never lost so much time as when he submitted to learn of the crow."

- The Marriage of Heaven and Hell - William Blake

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The Garden Of Love

"I went to the Garden of Love,
And saw what I never had seen:
A Chapel was built in the midst,
Where I used to play on the green.

And the gates of this Chapel were shut,
And “Thou shalt not” writ over the door;
So I turned to the Garden of Love,
That so many sweet flowers bore;

And I saw it was filled with graves,
And tombstones where flowers should be;
And Priests in black gowns were walking their rounds,
And binding with briers my joys and desires."

by William Blake

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The Wanderer

The solitary looks for the favor of fortune,
For serene waters and a welcoming haven.
But his lot is to plough the wintry seas.
An exile's fate is decreed for him.

Each dawn stirs old sorrows.
The slaughter of lord, kin, village, and keep.
Best to swallow grief, to blot out memories.
Best to seal up the heart's wretchedness.

There is none with whom to speak,
No one alive who will understand.
Best to hide sorrow in one's chest.
The storms of fate suffice to busy me.

Years ago, I buried my master in the ground.
Grieving, I crossed winter seas seeking another:
A generous lord to share hall and treasure,
And I a friendless man seeking order anew.

But frostbite and hunger are my lot now.
My sleep is haunted by dreams of the past:
I kneel acknowledging my master's gift.
Gladly I accept a boon of gold in service.

Then the seabirds' shriek startles me.
I shiver in the dark dawn's frost and hail.
My heart recalls the image of my dream.
The pangs of sorrow and exile reawaken.

The present is overthrown by the past.
Rue rash youth's squandering of fortune.
All things dissipate like sea mist.
There is nothing to cling to but memories.

Is not the wise man's virtue patience?
Oaths and intemperance are follies.
The wise man guards his heart with caution.
The cheerful hall will be desolate in old age.

Everywhere the wind blows through empty ruins.
A few walls are left, covered with frost.
Unburied dead, once proud kin, lie wretched.
They are the sad prey of crows and wolves.

The lands were made desolate in a stroke.
Now the halls and remnants are silent.
Stonework empty, wealth dissipated:
Everywhere the same thing meets the eye.

Horse, rider, ring-giver, chalice,
High seats, hall-sounds -- where are they?
So asks my dark mind, full of grief.
Gone, as if never having been.

Storms blast the rocky cliffs.
Blizzards lash earth and sea.
Winter comes, darkness falls.
The world lies silent and empty.

No men or women to be found.
All in this life is suffering.
No good fortune to be expected.
No abode but a house of sorrow.

The wise man cloaks his heart:
Steadfastness and temperance.
He does well to dissemble his feelings.
Let his faith rest in that alone.

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Circle Chant

Circling circling circling round
The sea is the sky is the sun is the ground
And the circle within and the circle unseen
Where the unknown is known and the future has been

~unknown

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More And More By Margaret Atwood

More and more frequently the edges
of me dissolve and I become
a wish to assimilate the world, including
you, if possible through the skin
like a cool plant's tricks with oxygen
and live by a harmless green burning.

I would not consume
you or ever
finish, you would still be there
surrounding me, complete
as the air.

Unfortunately I don't have leaves.
Instead I have eyes
and teeth and other non-green
things which rule out osmosis.

So be careful, I mean it,
I give you fair warning:

This kind of hunger draws
everything into its own
space; nor can we
talk it all over, have a calm
rational discussion.

There is no reason for this, only
a starved dog's logic about bones.

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The Bridge By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I stood on the bridge at midnight,
As the clocks were striking the hour,
And the moon rose o'er the city,
Behind the dark church-tower.
I saw her bright reflection
In the waters under me,
Like a golden goblet falling
And sinking into the sea.
And far in the hazy distance
Of that lovely night in June,
The blaze of the flaming furnace
Gleamed redder than the moon.
Among the long, black rafters
The wavering shadows lay,
And the current that came from the ocean
Seemed to lift and bear them away;
As, sweeping and eddying through them,
Rose the belated tide,
And, streaming into the moonlight,
The seaweed floated wide.
And like those waters rushing
Among the wooden piers,
A flood of thoughts came o'er me
That filled my eyes with tears.
How often, oh, how often,
In the days that had gone by,
I had stood on that bridge at midnight
And gazed on that wave and sky!
How often, oh, how often,
I had wished that the ebbing tide
Would bear me away on its bosom
O'er the ocean wild and wide!
For my heart was hot and restless,
And my life was full of care,
And the burden laid upon me
Seemed greater than I could bear.
But now it has fallen from me,
It is buried in the sea;
And only the sorrow of others
Throws its shadow over me.
Yet whenever I cross the river
On its bridge with wooden piers,
Like the odor of brine from the ocean
Comes the thought of other years.
And I think how many thousands
Of care-encumbered men,
Each bearing his burden of sorrow,
Have crossed the bridge since then.
I see the long procession
Still passing to and fro,
The young heart hot and restless,
And the old subdued and slow!
And forever and forever,
As long as the river flows,
As long as the heart has passions,
As long as life has woes;
The moon and its broken reflection
And its shadows shall appear,
As the symbol of love in heaven,
And its wavering image here.

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The Old Chimaeras Old Receipts By Robert Louis Stevenson

The old Chimaeras, old receipts
For making "happy land,"
The old political beliefs
Swam close before my hand.

The grand old communistic myths
In a middle state of grace,
Quite dead, but not yet gone to Hell,
And walking for a space,

Quite dead, and looking it, and yet
All eagerness to show
The Social-Contract forgeries
By Chatterton - Rousseau -

A hundred such as these I tried,
And hundreds after that,
I fitted Social Theories
As one would fit a hat!

Full many a marsh-fire lured me on,
I reached at many a star,
I reached and grasped them and behold -
The stump of a cigar!

All through the sultry sweltering day
The sweat ran down my brow,
The still plains heard my distant strokes
That have been silenced now.

This way and that, now up, now down,
I hailed full many a blow.
Alas! beneath my weary arm
The thicket seemed to grow.

I take the lesson, wipe my brow
And throw my axe aside,
And, sorely wearied, I go home
In the tranquil eventide.

And soon the rising moon, that lights
The eve of my defeat,
Shall see me sitting as of yore
By my old master's feet.

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Storm

Lightning flashing, wind howls through trees,
Storm is rising, Mortals flee.
Like armies marching, clouds parade by,
Thunder shaking, rain hides the sky.

Earth trembles under Titan's fist,
As Elementals meet in their violent tryst.
Jagged bolts from Heaven descend
and Tree their goal to rend.

Fierce are the powers of the storm,
Chaos rules and dissolves Reality's form.
Fear walks the Earth in the Lightning's stark Kiss,
While rain hides the Shadows in Unholy mists.

But like all things this to must pass,
And after a time, storm ceases to harass,
The wind abates and the thunder mutes,
And Lightning ends it's violent pursuit.

Sun peeks shyly from behind Thunderhead,
And a faint rainbow across the sky does thread.
One lone frog begins to sing,
And a few bright birds take to wing.

Slowly the mortal creatures crawl forth,
To bask in the Sun's strengthening warmth,
But even as the light returns to day,
Elsewhere Storm will enter the fray.

Storm into peace, night into day,
This is the circle, the Divine at play.
First one then the Other is the cycle of Life,
No stagnation, no quiet, just unending strife.

The Circle of Life is the Game we play,
While upon this Earth our bodies decay,
And when our storm of Life goes by,
Into the Light we must all die.

Life into death, dark into light,
This is the Circle, the Divine delight,
To experience death, and be reborn from the night,
To once again behold Divine Starlight.

Circling endlessly Eons fly past,
But even this too in the end won't last,
When the last sparrow falls and night draws to a close,
The last to die is one final rose.
When all is merged in Divine Bliss,
And nothing is left the Divine to kiss,
Then up from the wells of Chaos will flow,
New Life, new forms the Divine to know.

Cycle upon cycle, Life upon death,
The Eternal cycle, Brahman's breath,
Form into Chaos, Chaos into form,
This is the Rule to which Life will conform.

One rule for life, one rule alone,
That nothing is Changeless, and Chaos follows form,
One Rule for Day and One rule for Night,
That Nothing is Eternal in the Eternal's sight.

Shadow Hawk , 03-12-89

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A Call To The Lord And Lady

She lives and breathes upon the Earth
Her wheel spins round the hub of June
She is the web of life and birth
Her smile floats softly with the moon
Heart of life, and caring mother
Loving sister, noble princess
Firebird spirit, restless lover
Shadowy hidden sorceress
His strength is there in mountains high
His lightning flys from air and cloud
His horn heralds the wild hunt's ride
He quickens forest, roaring proud
Children's friend, protecting father
Watchful Brother, noble fighter
Laughing wise one, dark magister
Player of pipes, thoughtful sheperd
Their faces many, countless names
Pan, Diana, Zeus, Astarte
Teachers from dreams, oracle's flames
Speak, and guide us within our hearts

J.A.B. 14 Feb 89

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The River

In the midst of death and violence
A light kindling in my heart
Is Beginning to warm my soul
With new life.

I look back at the white water boiling behind me
With a shuddering anger at the treacherous, roiling white light.
I look ahead at the broad, black expanse
Smooth, yet turbulent and rich with wonderful power.

Deep moments of peace are the essence of what is Coming
Deep pools of bliss are the essence of what is coming
Troubles are the food that nourishes a peaceful life
Troubles gently feed bliss with subtle flavours of delight

I bow to all the Deities who are Bringing me wealth unmeasured
And I thank the Lord, and I thank the Lady, and I thank my Self.

Hugh Read 02-15-89

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