SJÖFNARILLSKA.

(THE MALICE OF THE GODDESS OF LOVE.)

Mær er mer tíðari,

Enn manni hveim

Ungom í árdaga.

Ása ok Álfa

Dat vill engi maðr

At vip samt sem.-För Skirnis, st. vii.

I love the maiden more

Than e'er loved youth before

In spring time of the heart;

Yet I know that both

Gods and Elves are loth

That we should e'er consort.

Journey of Skirnir, st. vii.

NOTE 1, PAGE 38, LINES 21 & 22.

His sire from Odin sprung; his mother's stock
Was of the giant king Utgardelok.

Utgardelok (Utgarða-Loki) was the famous monarch who reigned over the Hrímðursar, or FrostGiants. He was deeply skilled in magic, and defended himself so successfully against Thor by the illusions of his art, that the indignant god was compelled to quit his realm (Jötunheim) without being able to wreak the revenge he had meditated.

Utgardelok was the symbol of evil and obscurity, and his kingdom was buried in perpetual darkness.See note 18, p. 171.

NOTE 2, PAGE 38, LINE 24.

His shapely form declared his Asa race.

Ása (Ásanna), divine; Ása, or Æsir, Gods; Ásynja, Ásynjor, Goddess, Goddesses. The holy

Æsir were twelve in number; Odin, Thor, Baldur, Njörd, Frey, Tyr, Bragi, Heimdall, Vidar, Vali, Ullur, and Forseti. They were all deemed worthy of adoration and sacrifice. Hödur and Loki also resided in the abode of the gods; but the former was blind, and the latter malignant, and no man thought it worth his while to invoke them.

The fair complexions and graceful forms of the Æsir, contrasted very favourably with the sallow skins and huge figures of the inhabitants of Utgard.

NOTE 3, PAGE 38, LINES 25, 26.

But magic dark which Odin could defy—
The Jötna spell spoke from his jet-black eye.

Odin and the other Æsir were proficient in magic; but it was of a different nature from that of the Jötnar. The art of Odin was called a divine mystery, but the practices of the giants were stigmatised as fiendish and deadly. Yet Odin knew that his enemies were possessed of secrets unknown to himself, and often visited their land in disguise to satisfy his curiosity.

NOTE 4, PAGE 39, LINE 27.

His raven locks which clustered as they fell.

The ancient Danes and Northmen took great pains with their hair, and prided themselves much in its beauty. Sigurd, the son of Bui, when he was about to be executed, petitioned only that his hair might not be touched by a slave, or stained with his own blood. Such high regard for this natural ornament, was, however, not peculiar to the ancient Scandinavians, for the Spartans and other warlike nations,

appear to have held it in equal estimation. It was, indeed, in some countries, the peculiar privilege of noblemen to wear it long; and in others, the principal distinction of the king. "Les Rois des Francs, des Bourguignons, des Wisigoths, avoient pour diadème leur longue chevelure."-Montesquieu: Esprit des Loix, liv. xviii. chap. xxxiii. "Les Rois Francs

et les Princes de leur race portoient une longue chevelure, et étoient par là distingués de leurs sujets ;ce qui sert à expliquer ce qui se pratiquoit lorsque l'on vouloit rendre un roi inhabile à la couronne: on le rasoit, et dès-lors il rentroit dans l'ordre des sujets."-Abrégé Chronol. de l'Hist. de France, tome i. pp. 46, 47, 5me edit.

NOTE 5, PAGE 39, LINE 28.

Held waving charms no Runic could excel.

The Runic letters (Rún; plu. Rúnar, or Rúnir), were chiefly used by the Scandinavians for magical purposes. Sixteen was their original number, but other characters were subsequently added to make the Runic alphabet correspond with the Latin. Persons skilful in the art of their disposition, could effect almost anything; but the slightest error in their arrangement was sometimes fatal to the magician himself.

NOTE 6, PAGE 39, LINE 29.

Yet the weird letters on his Galldra vest.

Galldr, or Galldrakunst, was the mystery of runes and the art of incantation. The Galldra-Kona wove invulnerable tunics, and presented her favourite with talismanic charms which rendered him invincible.

NOTE 7, PAGE 39, LINE 33.

Beneath his angry glance the peasant shook.

The superstition here alluded to has obtained with almost every nation in the world. Finn Magnusen supposes that it originated in the ancient belief that immortal spirits in disguise could not veil the unearthly brilliance of their eyes. It is, however, so natural that we should rather attribute it to the

power of the eye to express the "unutterable things" of love and hate. I have seen the glance of an angry man almost strike his enemy; and what sceptic will not admit that a "wondrous" strength

is revealed in

"The light

Of a dark eye in woman?"-BYRON.