THE FOURTEENTH FABLE. H Of the God Tyr. AR answered, There is the God TYR, who is the most bold and intrepid of all the Gods. "Tis he who difpenses victories in war; and therefore warriors do well to pay their addreffes to him. It hath become proverbial to say, of a man who furpaffes others in valour, that he is as BRAVE AS TYR. Let me give you a proof of his intrepidity. The Gods one day would fain have perfuaded the wolf FENRIS, their enemy, to permit himself to be chained up; but he, fearing left they should never afterwards unloofe him, perfifted in his refufal, till Tyr put his hand, by way of pledge, into the mouth of this monster. The Gods not judging it proper to redeem the pledge by unchaining the wolf, he bit off the God's hand, fevering it at that part, which has been ever fince called ' Uflithr, "or' THE WOLF'S JOINT. From that time this God hath had but one hand. His femarkable prudence has given occafion te this form of expreffion, fuch a one is "fa gacious as Tyr:" but it is believed, that he does not love to see men live in peace. There is another God, named BRAGE; who is celebrated for his wifdom, eloquence and majestic air. He is not only eminently skilled in poetry, but the art itself is called from his name Brager, and the most distinguished poets receive their names from him. His wife is called Iduna. She keeps in a box certain apples, which the Gods tafte of, whenever they feel old age approaching; for thefe apples have the virtue of reftoring youth to all who eat them: it is by this means that the Gods will fubfift till the darkness of the laft times. Hereupon Gangler cried out, Certainly the Gods have committed a great treasure to the guardianfhip and good faith of Iduna. Har smiling, fays to him, And hence it happened, that they once ran the greatest risk in the world a's I fhall have occafion to tell you, when you have learnt the names of the other Gods. REMARKS ON THE FOURTEENTH FABLE. TYR was fome inferior divinity, who prefided particularly over battles. I do not believe that men tion is made of him any where elfe, except in the EDDA } EDDA and other Icelandic monuments. And yet it is certain that this God hath been adored by all the northern nations; fince in all the different dialects of this people, the name of the third day of the week, which the Romans confecrated to Mars (Dies Martis) hath been formed from the name of Tyr. This day is called Tyrfdag in Danish and Swedish and in the other dialects by a fomewhat fofter modulation, Thifdag, Diftag, Tufdag, TUESDAY. (See Vol. I. pag. 99.) Tacitus, here, as almost every where else, perfectly agrees with our monuments. He renders the name TYR, by that of Mars, and makes him a fubaltern, and inferior divinity to the God ODIN, whom he defcribes under the name of Mercury. As to the God BRAGE, we know nothing more of him than what we learn from the EDDA; and yet the Gauls had likewife a God of eloquence, named by the Romans Herculus Ogmius; but whether he was the fame with Brage does not appear. The apples of Iduna are a very agreeable fiction. In this part of the story we again difcover the favourite fyftein of the Celtes, refpecting the infenfible and continual decay of nature, and of the Gods, who were united to it, and depended upon it.` VOL. II. G THE THE FIFTEENTH FABLE. T Of Heimdall, and fome other Gods. HERE is another very facred and powerful Deity, who is called HEIMDALL. He is the fon of nine Virgins, who are fifters. He is likewife called the "God with the Golden Teeth," because his teeth are of that metal. He dwells at the end of the bridge Bifroft, or the RAINBow, in a caftle, called "the Celestial "Fort." He is the fentinel or watchman of the Gods. The poft affigned him is to abide at the entry into heaven, to prevent the Giants from forcing their way over the bridge. He fleeps less than a bird; and fees by night, as well as by day, more than a hundred leagues around him. So acute is his ear, that he hears the grafs growing on the earth, and the wool on the fheep's back; nor doth the smallest found efcape him. Befides all this, he hath a trumpet, which is heard through all the worlds. worlds. This God is celebrated in the fol lowing verfes: "The CELESTIAL FORT is the caftle where Heimdall refideth, that facred guardian of heaven, who "drinketh divine hydromel in the fecure and tranquil palaces of the Gods." Among the Gods we reckon alfo HoDER, who is blind, but extremely strong. Both Gods and Men would be very glad if they never had occafion to pronounce his name*; yet Gods and Men will long preferve the remembrance of the deeds performed by his hands. The ninth God is the filent VIDAR, who wears very thick fhoes, but of fo wonderful a contexture, that by means of them he can walk in air, and tread upon water. He is almost as ftrong as the God THOR himself; and in all critical conjunctures, affords the Gods great confolation. The tenth God, VILE, or VALI, is one of the fons of ODIN and RINDA. He is bold in war, and an excellent archer. The eleventh is ULLER, the offspring of Sifia, and fon-in-law of THOR. He is fo quick in shooting his arrows, and fo nimble in the ufe of his fkates, that nobody can stand before him. He is alfo very handsome in his perfon, and poffeffes every quality of a hero; wherefore it is very This, I prefume, alludes to FABLE XXVIII. proper G 2 |