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Baldr's Funeral

Baldr's Funeral
  • Creator: Lorenz Frølich 1820-1908
  • Description: Óðinn saying farewell to the corpse of Baldr with the gods in the background. Óðinn is holding his spear Gungnir, and Þórr is standing while resting his hammer Mjöllnir on his shoulder. The figure riding a wolf in the upper right hand corner is Hyrrokkin, who is coming to push Baldr's funeral boat off shore. This scene is from the Eddaic poem Hyndluljöð in Karl Gjellerup's Den Ældre Eddas Gudesange.
  • Source: Den Ældre Eddas Gudesange
  • Folio or Page: 285
  • Medium: Not known
  • Date: 1895
  • Dimensions (mm): 130 x 105
  • Provenance:
    Gift of Estate of Richard Beck to Special Collections at the University of Victoria. This illustration from Den Ældre Eddas Gudesange was photographed by P. A. Baer in August 2010.
    Call number: PT7234 A2G5
  • Rights:
    This illustration from Den Ældre Eddas Gudesange is in the public domain.
  • Bibliography:

    Editions

    Ældre Eddas Gudesange. Translated by Karl Gjellerup, Kjøbenhavn: P.G. Philipsens Forlag, 1895.

    Secondary Sources

    Cleasby, Richard and Vigfússon Guðbrandur . An Icelandic-English Dictionary. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1957.
  • Identity Number: AldEdGud-1895-285-01
  • Download size: 741 KB
  • Source code of this document: [XML]
Eddukvæði, Poetic Edda   Gjellerup, Karl   Frølich, Lorenz   Hyndluljóð, Song of Hyndla   Ældre Eddas Gudesange   Baldr, Balder   Óðinn, Odin, Wotan   Gungnir   Þórr, Thor, Donner   Mjöllnir, Mjollnir   Hyrrokkin   úlfr, wolf  

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Linked items

Artifacts

Gungnir (non.) Óðinn's spear whose name means "swaying one."
Mjöllnir (non.) Mjollnir (en.) Þórr's hammer that returns to his hand after he throws it.

Giants and Giantesses

Hyrrokkin (non.) The giantess who was summoned to push Baldr's funeral ship off of the shore because the gods were not strong enough. She arrived riding on a wolf and using snakes for reigns.

Gods and Goddesses

Baldr (non.) Balder (en.) The god who was killed by his brother Höðr.
Óðinn (non.) Odin (en.) Wotan (ger.)
The chief god of the Æsir in The Prose Edda. However, in Heimskringla he was a mortal who tricks the King of Sweden into believing that he was a god.
Richard Wagner in The Ring of the Nibelung based Wotan on Óðinn.
Þórr (non.) Thor (en.) Donner (ger.)
In the Prose Edda, Þórr is the son of Óðinn and the giantess Jörð. However, in Heimskringla, he is a mortal.
Richard Wagner based Donner in The Ring Cycle on Þórr.

Nouns

úlfr (non.) wolf (en.)

Source Materials:

Eddukvæði Poetic Edda This collection of eddic poems was compiled by an anonymous scholar in Iceland in the twelfth century. It was for a time mistakenly attributed to a scholar named Sæmundr hinn fróði (1056–1133) and thus was known as Sæmundar Edda.
Hyndluljóð (non.) Song of Hyndla (en.) This Eddaic poem is not part of the Codex Regius manuscript and is found only in the late 14th century Flateyjarbók manuscript.
Ældre Eddas Gudesange (da.) An edition of the Poetic Edda with illustrations by Lorenz Frølich.

Source Persons

Frølich, Lorenz (da.) b. 1820
d. 1908
Nationality: Danish
Frolich was a painter, illustrator and etcher.
Gjellerup, Karl (da.) b. 2nd June 1857
d. 13th October 1919
Nationality: Danish
Gellurup was a Danish poet and novelist who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1917.