Page:History of the Literature of the Scandinavian North.djvu/41

Rh lieved that the author of the work was the Icelander Sæmund, who, on account of his learning, was surnamed hinn fróði, that is the wise or learned, and from him it took its name. The fact that Sæmund, however, has had nothing to do with the work is evident for many reasons, and the most hasty glance at it shows that it is not the production of a single author, but that several persons must have had a share in its composition. The collection of poems was ascribed to Sæmund simply for the reason that it was impossible to think of any other person to whom could be traced the authorship of this book, the great value of which was early recognized and which contained in itself no clue to its origin, than that Icelander, who was celebrated for his knowledge of antiquities, to whom both his contemporaries and posterity looked up with superstitious awe, and with whose name they connected so many wonderful tales, for instance that he had studied the black art, etc.

The lays of the Elder Edda, in reference to the form of which we shall return later, naturally divide themselves into two groups, a mythic and a heroic, into poems that treat of ancient gods and poems on the heroes of antiquity. In the first group, the Völuspá (The Prophecy of the Vala, vala—prophetess) is especially to be noted. It is a series of majestic, grand and poetic pictures of the cardinal features of Norse mythology, beginning with the creation and ending with the destruction and regeneration of the world. It is a great pity that only fragments of this remarkable poem have been preserved. Important sources of knowledge in regard to the details of the mythology are also Vafthrudnismál, Grimnismál and Alvismál, which seem to have been composed more particularly for the purpose of aiding the memory in retaining the mythological facts, while their poetic merit is of secondary importance. In a remarkably successful manner both these features are united in the very ironical poem called Lokasenna, the song on Æger's banquet, where Loke, the representative of the evil principle among the asas, enters into a dis-