Page:The book of wonder voyages (1919).djvu/252

 Eric, but he also indicates the purely Norse character of much that occurs, even in this late Saga. He gives on p. 307 an interesting map of Earth, Heaven, and Hell according to the Norseman. In Dr. Rydberg's account of the Swipdag story, he points out that one of the voyages he was evidently destined to go through was a voyage to the nether world; so it is possible that both our stories may ultimately be traced back to the Swipdag legend, of which only traces occur in Icelandic literature. Indeed, Dr. Rydberg claims our Eric as a synonym of Swipdag (p. 555 seq.). From all this it is clear that our stories are practically two variants of the Icelandic "harrowing of Hell."