Njord and Skadi
Page 15
To expand a little on Orchard, I have assembled the most important points about the Vanir in bullet form:
"Vanir" related to Scandinavian words for "friend", and to words in other languages for "pleasure" or "desire"
They live in Vanaheim, which is variously located (see Nine Worlds section)
A war with the Aesir, which they either won or fought to a standstill
Only three named Vanir: Njord, and his children Freyr and Freyja
They exchanged hostages with the Aesir, trading either Njord for Hoenir, or Njord and Freyr for Hoenir and Mimir
In another version, the two groups of gods spat in a vat to make Kvasir, who underwent a series of adventures of his own
Njord had to divorce his wife after he went to live with the Aesir, because they didn't allow marriage between spouses (Ys)
Loki accused Freyr and Freyja of continuing the sibling/spouse relationship (Lks)
Njord will return to them at Ragnarok, but we don't know what happens to them during that apocalypse.
We know about the Aesir - Vanir war from two sources: the Eddic poem Vsp, and Snorri's more detailed version in his book of kingly sagas, Hkr. Since Snorri clearly used the poem as a source, it is worth looking at it in some detail.
Voluspa 21-4
Larrington's trans.
Dronke's trans.
She remembers the first war in the world,
When they buttressed Gullveig with spears
and in One-Eye's hall they burned her;
Three times they burned her, three times she was reborn
over and over,
yet she lives still.
She remembers the war,
the first in the world,
when Gold Brew
they studded with spears
and burned her
in Hárr's hall,
three times burned her
three times re-born -
often, unscantingly -
yet she lives still.
Bright One they called her, whenever she came to houses,
the seer with pleasing prophecies, she charmed them with spells;
she made magic wherever she could, with magic she played with minds,
she was always the favourite of wicked women.
Bright Heiđr they called her
at all the houses she came to,
a prophetess of good fortune -
she conjured spirits to tell her.
Sorcery she had skill in
sorcery she practised, possessed.
She was always the darling
of a bad woman.
Then all the Powers went to the thrones of Fate,
the sacrosanct gods and considered this:
whether the Aesir should yield the tribute
or whether all the gods should partake in the sacrifices.
Then all the Powers strode
to the seats of fate,
sacrosanct gods,
and gave thought to this:
whether Æsir should yield
to exorbitant claims
and all the gods should
get tribute.
Odin hurled a spear, shot it over the host;
that was still the first war in the world;
the defensive wall was broken of the Aesir's stronghold;
the Vanir, indomitable, were trampling the plain.
Óđinn flung
and shot into the host –
it was war again,
the first in the world.
Torn was the timber wall
of the Æsir's stronghold.
Vanir by a war charm
were live and kicking on the plains.
It starts with Gullveig coming to the Aesir, and although it's not stated directly, most scholars assume Vanir sent her. The Aesir, however, attack her with spears, and then try to burn her. (The punishment for a witch, Tolley notes.[246]) In the next stanza, we hear of Heidr, who goes about to women's homes performing seidr. (Assumed to be the reborn Gullveig.[247])
In Dronke's interpretation, the Aesir then debate whether to share their tribute with the Vanir, and, unsurprisingly, vote no. So then the Aesir declare war, and the Vanir break through their wall. The Vanir are left alive (Larrington has "trampling", but Dronke and others prefer "kicking"[248]) and the Aesir debate accepting them.
Snorri's version, in the Ynglinga saga section of Hkr, goes as follows:
4. Odin went with his army against the Vanes but they withstood him well and defended their lands. Each of them was in turn winner; both sides harried one another's land, and did each other great scathe. And when they became weary of it, they arranged to make peace and gave each other hostages.
Snorri goes into some detail about the hostage exchange, although in this version he says that Kvasir was added to the exchange after Mimir, famous for his wisdom, was included. He doesn't say why, but says that Kvasir was the "wisest of their men" so presumably it was to keep up prestige.
The Prose Edda, which was intended as a manual for poets, has a more involved Kvasir-myth, in answer to the question of how poetry originated. Here, Snorri tells us:
Bragi replied: 'The origin of it was that the gods had a dispute with the people called Vanir, and they appointed a peace-conference and made a truce by this procedure, that both sides went up to a vat and spat their spittle into it. But when they dispersed, the gods kept this symbol of truce and decided not to let it be wasted, and out of it they made a man.
(Faulkes' trans.)
"The gods" who kept the spittle were presumably the Aesir, since when Kvasir goes missing we're told it was the Aesir who went looking for him. As with the Mimir story, we see the Vanir not valuing a gift that the Aesir are able to convert into knowledge.
In neither version does Snorri tell us what exactly the war was about, but he does tell us a little about how the Vanir differed from the Aesir:
Niord's daughter was Freyja. She was a priestess and she first taught the Asaland people wizardry, which was in use with the Vanes. Whilst Niord was with the Vanes he was espoused to his own sister (for that was lawful with them), and their children were Frey and Freyja. But in Asaland it was forbidden to wed such near kin.
A great deal of ink has been spilled over the incestuous Vanir with their kinky magic (the "seidr" of which we know so little and have speculated about so much).
We have passing references to the Vanir in several other Eddic poems. Alvissmal tells us what different groupings, including the Vanir, call the sun, moon, and other natural phenomena. The Vanic ones sound rather pleasant. Clouds, for example, are Kites of the Wind.
Thrymskivida tells us that the god Heimdall has the power to foresee the future, "as the Vanir also can". As you might expect, there has been much debate on whether that means Heimdall is a Van, or if it means that he just has the same power as they do.
In Sigrdrífumál the Valkyrie Sigdrifa tells the hero Sigurd the mystic lore of runes. She tells him that once sacred runes were carved onto various deities and other creatures, and then "scattered with the sacred mead" (verses 15 - 18). The verse goes on to tell us that the runes are divided among the Vanir, Aesir, elves and mankind.
Unsurprisingly, Skr mentions the Vanir several times. When Skirnir arrives, Gerdr asks him if he an elf, or an Aesir, or of the wise Vanir. After Skirnir finally browbeats her into accepting Frey, she says, rather pathetically, that she had never expected to love one of the Vanir.
Vafþrudismal refers not only to the Vanir, but also to Vanaheim, telling us that Njord was from Vanaheim, but was sent as a hostage to the Aesir, although he will return at Ragnarok.
In Gylf, Snorri quotes a verse about Gna, as she travels through the sky on horseback; some Vanir see her and ask what is flying up in the air. (Although in the passage, it is Snorri who mentions the Vanir, not the verse he quotes.)
What makes the Vanir different from the Aesir?
As I mentioned above, Snorri makes the Vanir's sexual arrangements a
nd their magic distinguishing characteristics. The Aesir practice neither seidr nor sibling marriage.
Snorri's authority for both statements was probably the Eddic poem Lks. Loki taunts both Njord and Freyr by implying that anyone whose parents were brother and sister was never going to turn out very well, and calls Freyja a "witch": fordeađa. This fits with the general uneasiness about and disapproval of seidr, which colours all that we know about it. Women could get away with it, but it was seen as unmanly, and in one saga a man killed his brother because he practiced seidr.
We also know from Ys, which treats Njord and Freyr as kings, rather than gods, that their reigns were noted for peace and plenty. It tells us that Freyr was worshipped as a god after his death because his reign was so prosperous.
So the Vanir gods seem to have specialized in the well-being of society, whether granting prosperity or sexual pleasure, while the Aesir seem to have focused on political power, war and magic. The differences between them are sometimes more of degree than kind, but the Vanir's focus on well-being is clear.
Fertility of Beast and Soil: Frey controls sun and rain, "and through them the bounty of the earth" (Byock's trans.). He was called the "shower god", skúrgoð, in a face-off between his worshippers and Óláfr Tryggvason. On the other hand, Thor was also frequently invoked for good crops, but with a different spin:
Thor, they say, presides over the air, which governs the thunder and lightning, the winds and rains, fair weather and crops... If plague and famine threaten, a libation is poured to the idol Thor...[249]
(Adam of Bremen IV, 26 Tschan's trans.)
In a late charm, the woman invokes Frigga and Freyja for an easy childbirth, but only Frigg (Aesir) actually helps someone overcome childlessness. Njord, as a sailor's god, is not involved here.
Control of Seas and Weather: Njord, as we know, controls the seas, the winds, and fires, all of which can menace sailors, and Frey looked after weather for farmers. When it comes to weather, though, Thor is the pre-eminent god, who could wreck their efforts with one strike (which might explain their propitiating him). The Vanir gods seem to have been more about good weather. Freyja doesn't seem to have any connection to weather.
Sexuality: On the other hand, Freyja comes to the fore here, as the Northern version of those fierce Middle Eastern goddesses such as Ishtar and Anat. We are told that she delights in love songs, and that it is good to pray to her for love. Loki (in Lks) accuses her of having slept with all the gods and alfs, and in the late story Sorla thattur she trades sex with four dwarves for her emblematic necklace/girdle Brisingamen.[250] Frey's major myth tells how he fell sick with love for Gerdr, and Adam of Bremen tells us people offered a libation to the Frey's image when they were married. He describes this image, in a temple in Uppsala, as follows: "The third is Frikko, who bestows peace and pleasure on mortals. His likeness, too, they fashion with an immense phallus."[251] Njord was married to his sister, otherwise unknown, and later married Skadi, briefly. He seems to have left sexual matters to the younger generation, who, if Loki is to be believed, carried on the incestuous family tradition. In the Saga Herrauds ok Bósa the guests at a wedding drink three minnis (religious toasts): one to Freyja, but the others to Odin and Thor (ch. 12).[252]
Battle: It's hard to know if Njord was involved in the Aesir-Vanir war or not. One has to assume he was. He is not a particularly warlike god, and his role as hostage and husband seems to point to a more diplomatic role. His children, however, seem more like the Aesir in their interest in war. Freyja gets half the slain, sharing them with Odin, and in the late Flt she is charged to prolong a battle until the end of time. Her dwelling, Folkvangr, is also suggestive, since it means either "Field of the People" or "Field of the Army"[253]. Freyr seems to have been the prototype of the young warrior; Ulfr Uggason referred to him as 'battle-bold", and gives his boar's name as "Battle-Tusk"[254]. (Note that Freyr rode the boar, an animal known for its fierceness.) We also know that, unlike his father, Frey fights at Ragnarok, and dies at the hands of the fire-giant Surt. Earlier, he defeats Beli using an antler. (Beli was probably another giant, since Haustlöng uses the kenning bölverðung Belja "Beli's bale-troop" to refer to giants.[255])
Wealth: Both Njord and Freyr were called wealth-giving gods. Frey was invoked for peace and abundance (ár ok frith), and "determined men's success in prosperity". (Gylf: Byock) Of Njord we are told that he was "so rich and prosperous that he could grant wealth in land and valuables to those who ask for his aid." (Ibid) Freyja weeps tears that turn to gold, and her daughter is named Hnoss, "Treasure".
Royalty: Frey and Njord were ancestral kings of the Swedes, making them both god-kings and divine patrons of their line. Frey's by-name, Yngvi, became a synonym for king, as in Yngvi-aettir, "rulers, kings". Freyja helped Ottar onto the throne with her magic in Hyndluljod, thus establishing herself as a patron of royalty. However, the ultimate ancestor of the Swedish kings was Odin, who nominated Njord to rule after him. Odin also established another royal line, the Jarls of Hlaðir, with Skadi, and his son Skiold married Gefjion and founded the line of the Danish kings. He is also the ancestor of the Volsungs. Haraldr hárfagr's lineage went back to Thor in one account. (The god who fits the other 1st function slot, Tyr, does not appear in any kingly role, or as an ancestor of kings.)
Magic: Freyja and Odin come to the forefront here, being the magic specialists among each group. We know that Freyja taught Odin the magic known as seidr, which was so disgraceful and therefore remains mysterious. Odin had his own forms of magic, such as galdr, and of course he found the runes. The was itself shows the difference in their magics: a clash between Odin's ability to unfailingly cause death against Freyja's ability to revive the fallen, so that as fast Odin kills them, she brings them back.[256] Another possible type of Vanir magic is foreseeing the future, since we are told that Heimdall could see the future as well as any Van. (Thrym)
The differences between the two groups, and the war between them, have been explained in two ways. First, the historical school sees the war as reflecting a real conflict between two groups. This idea has faded away, although the new matriarchy theory of Old Europe versus patriarchal invaders has given it some new life. (Lotte Motz, too, saw the Vanir and Aesir as gods of two different groups of settlers in Scandinavia, unlike the earlier historical school who thought that the Vanir were indigenous.)
The other school follows Dumézil's theory that the war between the gods reflects the tension between the producer class (and their deities) and the warrior and aristocratic classes. The Vanir, as fertility deities, would have represented the producers, and the Aesir, whose chief gods are Thor and Odin, the other two.
In India and also Greece, the third-function gods have to fight to be recognized as equals by the other two, who see themselves as superior. Dumézil saw this as the motivation behind the war between the Aesir and Vanir. The lines in Vsp about sharing tribute could certainly be taken that way, and the war ends when the Vanir prove the Aesir's equals in combat.
There are problems with both theories, of course. The first one assumes a lot that isn't actually proven, since we have no records of combat between two peoples that would fit the Aesir - Vanir war. Just because Snorri talks about the two sets of gods as if they were humans in Hkr, doesn't mean that they are rooted in history.
The problem with the second theory is twofold. First, when you step down from broad abstractions to the details of individual deities and their stories, they tend to either contradict the deity's supposed function or overlap with others. There's a very interesting essay by Jens-Peter Schjolt which pairs up deities for each function: Thor and Frey for fertility, Odin and Thor for war, and Odin and Frey for sovereignty.[257] They just have differing specialities within that function: Thor protects the crops from evil forces while Frey provides the sexual power that makes them grow, for example.
Second, I'm not really convinced that you can reach across thousands of years and massive distances just like that. Most of what we
have on Norse myth comes from the medieval period, which is a long time after any expansion of Indo-European peoples across the Eurasian continent. Given that, how do you know what's true Indo-European and what's borrowed from the neighbours or independently arrived at?[258]
Where are the rest of them?
Whether the Vanir are a reflection of a historical people, or a fed-up producer class demanding their share, it seems strange that we only ever learn the names of three of them. If we accept the story of the hostage exchange and Mimir's beheading, then there must have been more of them to sit in council, get angry with Hoenir's silence, and cut off Mimir's head.
There are several different answers to this question, ranging from Rudolf Simek's opinion that the Vanir as an entity are an invention of Snorri's, to the modern pagan tendency to recruit any spare deities as Vans, especially female ones.
Simek set forth his argument in a very controversial paper called "The Vanir: an Obituary", which pretty much sums up the contents. He argues that the word "vanir" is very rarely used in the poetic corpus, and he adduces Lotte Motz's argument that there is little difference between the Aesir and Vanir, and no proof that the Vanir were fertility deities. (He thinks this is a modern invention.) At best, "vanir" is just another word for "god". The expansion of the word to mean a specific set of gods comes with Snorri, who took the kenning vanabrudr (vanir bride) for Freyja, and the reference to vanir in Vsp, and developed a whole mythos of a group of people living in the east, who had a war with the Aesir and eventually exchanged hostages. Snorri envisaged the Vanir as a parallel group to the Aesir, and that is how he writes about them. So Simek's solution to the missing Vanir problem is simple: there aren't any.